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THE

HORTICULTUEIST

JOUEML OF RUEAL ART ASD RURAL TASTE,

DEVOTED TO

HORTICULTURE, LANDSCAPE GARDENING, RURAL ARCHITECTURE, BOTANY,
POMOLOGY. ENTOMOLOGY. RURAL ECONOMY, &c.

Edited by A. J. DOWNING,

AffTHOB OP ''lANQJCAPE gardening." " DBSIGNS for COTTACE RBSIDBNCBS," " PROrXS ANO 1?1«)IT TRKIW

OF AMERICA.'' BTC. BTC

Vol. III.— July 1848 -June 1849,

ALBANY:

PUBLISHED BY LUTHER TUCKER.

BOSTON JOSEPH BRECK AND CO., NO. 51 NORTH MARKET -STREE I'.

NEW-YORK M. H. NEWMAN AND CO., 199 BROADWAY.

PHILADELPHIA W. B. ZIEBEB .

,0B7
V.3

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

JULY, 1848.

No. 1.

One of the most striking proofs of the pro-
gress of refineraent, in the United States,
is the rapid increase of taste for ornamental
gardening and rural embellishment in all
the older portions of the northern and mid-
dle states.

It cannot be denied, that the tasteful im-
provement of a country residence is both
one of the most agreeable and the most
natural recreations that can occupy a culti-
vated mind. With all the interest, and, to
many, all the excitement of the more se-
ductive amusements of society, it has the
incalculable advantage of fostering only
the purest feelings, and, (unlike many
other occupations of business men,) re-
fining, instead of hardening the heart.

The great German poet, Goethe, says —

" Happy the man who hath escaped the town.
Him did an angel bless when he was born."
This apostrophe was addressed to the de-
votee of country life as a member of a
class, in the old world, where men, for the
most part, are confined to certain walks of
life by the limits of caste, to a degree
totally unknown in this country.

With us, country life is a leading ob-
ject of nearly all men's desires. The
wealthiest merchant looks upon his country
seat as the best ultimatum of his laborious
Vol. III. 1

days in the counting-house. The most inde-
fatigable statesman dates, in his retirement,
from his "Ashland," or his "Lindenwold."
Webster has his " Marshfield," where his
scientific agriculture is no less admirable
than his profound eloquence in the Senate.
Taylor's well ordered plantation is not less
significant of the man, than the battle of
Buena Vista. Washington Irving's cottage,
on the Hudson, is even more poetical than
any chapter of his Sketch Book ; and Cole,
the greatest of our landscape painters, had
his rural home under the very shadow of
the Catskills.

This is well. In the United States, na-
ture, and domestic life, are better than
society, and the manners of towns. Hence
all sensible men gladly escape, earlier or
later, and partially or wholly, from the tur-
moil of the cities. Hence, the dignity and
value of country life is every day augment-
ing. And hence the enjoyment of land-
scape or ornamental gardening — which,
when in pure taste, m>ay properly be called
a more refined ki?id of nature, — is every day
becoming more and more widely diffused.

Those who are not as conversant as our-
selves with the statistics of horticulture
and rural architecture, have no just idea of
the rapid multiplication of pretty cottages

10

HINTS TO RURAL IMPROVERS.

and villas in many parts of North America. | Granting all this, it cannot be denied
The vast web of railroads which now
interlaces the continent, though really
built for the purposes of trade, cannot
wholly escape doing some duty for the
Beautiful as well as the useful. Hundreds
and thousands, formerly obliged to live in
the crowded streets of cities, now find
themselves able to enjoy a country cottage,
several miles distant,— the old notions of
time and space being half annihilated;
and these suburban cottages enable the
busy citizen to breathe freely, and keep
alive his love for nature, till the time shall
come when he shall have wrung out of the
nervous hand of commerce enough means
to enable him to realize his ideal of the
" retired life" of an American landed pro-
prietor.

The number of our country residences
which are laid out, and kept at a high
point of ornamental gardening, is certainly
not very large, though it is continually
increasing. But we have no hesitation in
saying that the aggregate sura annually
expended in this way for the last five
years, in North America, is not exceeded
in any country in the world save one.

England ranks before all other countries
in the perfection of its landscape garden-
ing ; and enormous, almost incredible sums
have been expended by her wealthier class
upon their rural improvements. But the
taste of England is, we have good reasons
for believing, at its maximum ; and the
expenditure of the aristocracy is, of late,
chiefly devoted to keeping up the existing
style of their parks and pleasure grounds.
In this country, it is quite surprising how
rapid is the creation of new country resi-
dences, and how large is the asfg-resfate
amount continually expended in the con-
struction of houses and grounds, of a cha-
racter more or less ornamental.

that there are also, in the United States,
large sums of money — many millions of
dollars — annually, most unwisely and inju-
diciously expended in these rural improve-
ments. While we gladly admit that there
has been a surprising and gratifying ad-
vance in taste within the last ten years, we
are also forced to confess that there are
countless specimens of bad taste, and hun-
dreds of examples where a more agreeable
and satisfactory result might have been at-
tained at one-half the cost.

Is it not, therefore, worth while to in-
quire a little more definitely what are the
obstacles that lie in the way of forming
satisfactory, tasteful and agreeable country
residences ?

The common reply to this question, when
directly put in the face of any signal exam-
ple of failure, is — "Oh, Mr. is a man

of no taste /" There is, undoubtedly, often
but too much truth in this clean cut at the
(BSthetic capacities of the unlucky improver.
But it by no means follows that it is al-
ways true. A man may have taste, and
yet, if he trusts to his own pov/ers of direc-
tion, signally fail in tasteful improvements.

We should say that two grand errors
are the fertile causes of all the failures in
the rural improvements of the United States
at the present moment.

The first error lies in supposing that
good taste is a natural gift, which springs
lieaven-born into perfect existence — need-
ing no cultivation or improvement. The
second is in supposing that taste alone is
sufficient to the production of extensive or
complete works in architecture or landscape
gardening.

A lively sensibility to the Beautiful, is a
natural faculty, mistaken by more than
half the world for good taste itself. But
good taste, in the true meaning of the term>

HINTS TO RURAL IMPROVERS.

11

©r, more strictly, correct taste, only exists
where sensibility to the Beautiful, and good
judgment, are combined in the same mind.
Thus, a person may have a delicate
organization, which will enable him to
receive pleasure from every thing that pos-
sesses grace or beauty, but with it so little
power of discrimination as to be unable to
select among many pleasing objects, those
which, under given circumstances, are the
most beautiful, harmonious, or fitting. Such
a person may be said to have natural sen-
sibility, or fine perceptions, but not good
taste ; the latter belongs properly to one
who, among many beautiful objects, rapid-
ly compares, discriminates, and gives due
rank to each, according to its merit.

Now, although that delicacy of organi-
zation, usually called taste, is a natural
gift, which can no more be acquired than
hearing can be by a deaf man, yet, in most
persons, this sensibility to the Beautiful may
he cultivated and ripened into good taste
by the study and comparison of beautiful
productions in nature and art.

This is precisely what we wish to insist
upon, to all persons about to commence
rural embellishments, who have not a culti-
vated or just taste ; but only sensibility, or
what they would call a natural taste.

Three-fourths of all the building and
ornamental gardening of America, hitherto,
have been amateur performances — oft-
en the productions of persons who, with
abundant natural sensibility, have taken
no pains to cultivate it and form a correct,
or even a good taste, by studying and com-
paring the best examples already in exist-
*8nce in various parts of this or other coun-
tries. Now the study of the best produc-
tions in the fine arts is not more necessary
40 the success of the young painter and
sculptor than that of buildings and grounds
to the amateur or professional improver,

who desires to improve a country residence
well and tastefully. In both cases com-
parison, discrimination, the use of the rea-
soning faculty, educate the natural delicacy
of perception into a taste, more or less just
and perfect, and enable it not only to ar-
rive at Beauty, but to select the most beau-
tiful for the end in view.

There are at the present moment, with-
out going abroad, opportunities of cul-
tivating a taste in landscape-gardening,
quite sufficient to enable any one of natu-
ral sensibility to the Beautiful, combined
with good reasoning powers, to arrive at
that point which may be considered good
taste. There are, indeed, few persons who
are aware how instructive and interesting
to an amateur, a visit to all the finest coun-
try residences of the older states, would be at
the present moment. The study of books
on taste is by no means to be neglected by
the novice in rural embellishment ; but the
practical illustrations of different styles and
principles, to be found in the best cottage
and villa residences, are far more convincing
and instructive, to most minds, than lessons
taught in any other mode whatever.

We shall not, therefore, hesitate to com-
mend a few of the most interesting places
to the study of the tasteful improver. By
the expenditure of the necessary time and
money to examine and compare thoroughly
such places, he will undoubtedly save him-
self much unnecessary outlay ; he will be
able to seize ariid develop many beauties
which would otherwise be overlooked ; and,
most of all, he will be able to avoid the
exhibition of that crude and uncultivated
taste, which characterises the attempts of
the majority of beginners, — who rather
know how to enjoy beautiful grounds than
how to go to work to produce them.

For that species of suburban cottage or
villa residence which is most frequently

12

HINTS TO RURAL IMPROVERS.

within the reach of persons of moderate
fortunes, the environs of Boston afford the
finest examples in the Union. Averaging
from five to twenty acres, they are usually
laid out with taste, are well planted with a
large variety of trees and shrubs, and,
above all, are exquisitely kept. As a cot-
tage ornee, there are few places in Ame-
rica more perfect than the grounds of Col.
Pekkins, or of Thos. Lee, Esq., at Brook-
line, near Boston. The latter is especially re-
markable for the beauty of the lawn, and
the successful management of rare trees
and shrubs, and is a most excellent study
for the suburban landscape-gardener. There
are many other places in that neighborhood
abounding with interest ; but the great fea-
ture of the gardens of Boston lies rather
in their horticultural than their artistical
merit. In forcing and skillful cultivation,
they still rank before any other part of the
country. Mr. Cushing's residence, near
Watertown, has long been celebrated in
this respect.

An amateur who wishes to study trees,
should visit the fine old places in the
neighborhood of Philadelphia. A couple
of days spent at the Bartram Garden, the
Hamilton Place, and many of the old es-
tates bordering the Schuylkill, Avill make
him familiar with rare and fine trees, such
as Salisburias, Magm>lias, Virgilias, etc.,
of a size and beauty of growth that will not
only fill him with astonishment, but con-
vince him what effects may be produced
by planting. As a specimen of a cottage
residence of the first class, exquisitely
kept, there are also few examples in America
more perfect than Mrs. Camac's grounds,
four or five miles from Philadelphia.

For landscape gardening, on a large
scale, and in its best sense, there are no
places in America which compare with
those on the east hank of the Hudson,

between Hyde Park and the town of
Hudson. The extent of the grounds, and
their fine natural advantages of wood and
lawn, combined with their grand and beau-
tiful views, and the admirable manner ia
which these natural charms are heightened
by art, place them far before any other
residences in the United States in pictu-
resque beauty. In a strictly horticultu-
ral sense, they are, perhaps, as much in-
ferior to the best places about Boston as
they are superior to them in the beauty of
landscape gardening and picturesque effect.

Among these places, those which enjoy
the highest reputation, are Montgomery
Place, the seat of Mrs. Edw'd Livingston,
Blithewood, the seat of R. Donaldson.
Esq., and Hyde Park, the seat of W.
Langdon, Esq. The first is remarkable for
its extent, for the wonderful variety of
scenery — wood, water, and gardenesque —
which it embraces, and for the excellent
general keeping of the grounds. The se-
cond is a fine illustration of great natural
beauty — a mingling of the graceful and
grand in scenery, — admirably treated and
heightened by art. Hyde Park is almost
too weW known to need more than a pass-
ing notice. It is a noble site, greatly en-
hanced in interest lately, by the erection
of a fine nev/ mansion.

The student or am.ateur in landscape
gardening, who wishes to examine two
places as remarkable for breadth and dig-
nity of effect as any in America, will not
fail to go to the Livingston Manor, seven
miles east of Hudson, and to Rensselaer^
wyck, a few miles above Alban}'', on the
eastern shore. The former has the best
kept and most extensive lawn in th©
Union ; and the latter, with five or six
miles of gravelled walks and drives, withia
its own boundaries, exhibits some of the
cleverest illustrations of nractical skill iiste

HINTS TO RURAL IMPROVERS.

13

^'ftyirig out grounds, that we remember to
have seen.*

If no person, about to improve a country
residence, would expend a dollar until he
had visited and carefully studied, at least
twenty places of the character of these
which we have thus pointed out, we think
the number of specimens of bad taste, or
total want of taste, would be astonishingly
diminished. We could point to half a
dozen examples within our own knowledge,
where ten days spent by their proprietors
an examining what had already been done
an some of the best specimens of building
and gardening in the country, could not
but have prevented their proprietors from
making their plac-es absolutely hideous, and
throwing away ten, twenty, or thirty thou-
sand dollars. Ignorance is not bliss, nor
is it economy, in improving a country seat.

We think, also, there can scarcely be a
question that an examination of the best
examples of taste in rural improvement at
home, is far more instructive to an Ameri-
can, than an inspection of the finest country
places in Europe ; and this, chiefly, because
a really successful example at home is
based upon republican modes of life, enjoy-
ment, and expenditure, — which are almost
the reverse of those of an aristocratic go-
vernment. For the same reason, we think
those places most instructive, and best worth
general study in this country, v/hich realize
most completely our ideal of refined country
life in America. To do this, it is by no
means necessary to have baronial posses-
sions, or a mansion of vast extent. No
more should be attempted than can be done
well, and in perfect harmony with our
habits, m_ode of life, and domestic institu-

* We should apologise for thus pointing; out private places,
did we not know that the liberal proprietors of those just
siamed, are persons who take the liveliest interest in the
progress of good taste, and will cheerfully allow their places
to be examined by those who visit them with such motives
as we here urgCj — very different from idle curiosity.

tions. Hence, smaller suburban residen-
ces, like those in the neighborhood of Bos-
ton, are, perhaps, better models, or studies
for the public generally, than our grander
and more extensive seats ; mainly because
they are more expressive of the means and
character of the majority of those of our
countrymen whose intelligence and refine-
ment leads them to find their happiness in
country life. It is better to attempt a small
place, and attain perfect success, than to
fail in one of greater extent.

Having pointed out what we consider
indispensable to be done, to assist in form-
ing, if possible, a correct taste in those who
have only a natural delicacy of organization,
v/hich they miscall taste, we may also add
that good taste, or even a perfect taste, is
often by no means sufficient for the produc-
tion of really extensive works in rural archi-
tecture or landscape-gardening.

" Taste," says Cousin, in his Philosophy
of the Beautiful, " is a faculty indolent and
passive ; it reposes tranquilly in the con-
templation of the Beautiful in Nature.
Genius is proud and free ; genius creates
and reconstructs."

He, therefore, (whether as amateur or
professor,) who hopes to be successful in the
highest degree, in the arts of refined build-
ing or landscape-gardening, must possess
not only ^ffls^e to appreciate the Beautiful, but
genius to produce it. Do we not often see
persons who have for half their lives en-
joyed a reputation for correct taste, suddenly
lose it when they attempt to embody it in
some practical manner? Such persons
have only the " indolent and passive," and
not the " free and creative faculty." Yet
there are a thousand little offices of super-
vision and control, where the taste alone
may be exercised with the happiest results
upon a country place. It is by no means a
small merit to prevent any violations of

14

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASS. HORT. SOCIETY.

o-ood taste, if we cannot achieve any great
work of genius. And we are happy to be
able to' say that we know many amateurs
in this country who unite with a refined taste
a creative genius, or practical ability to car-
ry beautiful improvements into execution,
which has already enriched the country with
beautiful examples of rural residences; and
we can congratulate ourselves that, along
withothertraitsoftheAnglo-Saxonmind,we
have by no means failed in our inheritance
of that fine appreciation of rural beauty,

and the power of developing it, which the
English have so long possessed.

We hope the number of those who are
able to enj&y this most refined kind of hap-
piness will every day grow more numerous j.
and that it may do so, we are confident we
can give no better advice than again to
commend beginners, before they lay a
corner stone, or plant a tree, ta visit and
study at least a dozen or twenty of the
acknowledged best specimens of good taste
in America.

THE PRESIDENT OP THE MASSACHUSETTS HORTICTJLTtTRAL SOCESTY'.

[with a POKTRAIT.J

We are enabled, in commencing our third
volume, to give our readers, not only our
usual frontispiece and engravings, but also
a fine steel-plate portrait of Makshall P.
WiLDSR, Esq., the well known President of
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

For this plate, and the following me-
moir, we are under particular obligations
to the liberality of J. S. Skinnek, Esq.,
editor of the Fanners^ Library. It would
have been gratifying to us to have been
the first viedium of making public some
sketch of the labors of our esteemed friend
and correspondent ; but the Farmers' Li-
brary has taken the lead in holding up to
public view the services of Americans who
have distinguished themselves rather in the
arts of peace than the arts of war.

Mr, Skinner, agreeing with us, however,
that a horticultural journal is the more
appropriate channel for awarding honors to
one of our most successful devotees of hor-
ticulture, has most generously consented to
our making any use we please of the plate
and memoir in question, which we accord-

ingly lay before our readers in the presenC
number.

Every one knows the high rank whicb
the Massachusetts Society has held for
years past j and v/e hazard nothing in say-
ing that, under all circumstances, ihh So-
ciety, composed as it is of many of the
ablest horticulturists in the Commonwealth,,
has been especially fortunate of late years
in its presiding officer. In this country,,
without any patronage from government,,
from wealthy corporations, or powerful pa-
trons, great energy, unwearied perseve-^
ranee, and muchskill and tact, are necessary
in its executive officers, to maintain the
influence, meet the large expenses, and
justify the expectations of the community
regarding such institutions. All these qua-
lities are found singularly united in the
subject of the memoir to which we refer.
His indomitable energy and large store of
practical knowledge, are only equalled by
the generous and unselfish manner in which
he gives every possible moment to the duties
of his position, and the cordial urbanity and

--oima.L j:i.uiii a. j^dmiiK-g- ny aiul iii #ie Cu

i-iojciidnt

^z^'tiM^p^^y^^yMe^^yM-ayM. ''"-^"^tS^^J^^^/^/ . - w^^y^^/y,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASS. HORT. SOCIETY.

15

frankness with which the inquiring stranger
or the curious friend is met, who may visit
the Hall of the Society, or the Garden of its
President, for the purpose of learning the
occult mysteries of the earMest of the arts.

Indeed, the Massachusetts Society, of
late, has begun to exert an influence far
more powerful than that of mere local soci-
eties devoted to the improvement of the
arts of culture : and what, truly, may we
not hope from its effect, when such men as
Abbott Lawrence, are heard publicly to
declare that even in the act of choo.sing a
mechanic, he would go out of his way to
find one who " had been seen on Saturday
night taking home a floxver-'pot under his
arm.'''' The usual exhibitions of the Society,
perhaps the largest, in a pomological point
of view, in the world, are now visited by
delegates and committees, as well as by
great numbers of strangers, from all parts
of the Union. The first desire for an or-
chard of fine fruit, the first yearning for a
beautiful garden, have been awakened,
while the beholder of some rudely culti-
vated farm has gazed on the paradise of
perfect productions assembled at its Sep-
tember shows. Its weekly exhibitions are
also frequently the elegant reunions of much
of the intelligence, wit and beauty of the
splendid metropolis of New-England, as
well as of the working gardeners them-
selves.

The taste for flowers and fruits, and for
all that is attractive in rural life, is thus
begotten and difl'used in all classes of so-
ciety. The New-England character, which
has already made its mark upon the age,
by its energy, enterprise and thrift, will
soon also be found laboring everywhere in
the good work of making the wilderness to
blossom as the rose. Not. content with
clearing forests, planting new states, and
diffusing education as freely as the sun- 1

shine itself, it is easy to see that it also
strives to be foremost in teaching the ele-
gancies of life, especially in the knowledge
and love of gardens, which we see in pro-
gress about Boston. Do we need a better
and more elevated future, for the rural life
of all America? May we, under her exam-
ple, live to see our whole country, unrival-
led as it is in natural advantages of soil
and climate, overspread with smiling gar-
dens and fruitful orchards — spells that bind
men strongly to their homes — filled with
the choicest productions of Flora and Po-
mona ! and these, too, not held forever by
a few great and privileged landlords, but
the property of the numberless cultivators
of the soil, a soil where truly every man
may " sit under his own vine." Ed.

If there is any one class of citizens which
deserves at the present moment especially
the respect and admiration of their coun-
trymen, it is, perhaps, the merchants of
Boston.

To indomitable energy and enterprise, in
acquiring wealth, they add a spirit of wis-
dom and philanthropy, and a faith in the
progress of Man in the use of it, which at
once does honor to the city in which they
live, and raises the character of commercial
pursuits more than all the honors of knight-
hood.

It would be malting too long a catalogue
were we to enumerate even the most con-
spicuous public benefits which Massachu-
setts has derived from this intelligent and
high-minded class of her sons. Number-
less public charities have been founded
and supported : public and free schools
planned and sustained ; lectures given to
the public ; new worlds of thought opened
to the blind; the deaf and dumb brought
into correspondence with their fellow men;
poor artists sent abroad to develop their
Heaven-bestowed talents ; colleges richly
endowed, and a great Scientific School
opened cheaply to every citizen of the Com-
monwealth for instruction in sciences appli-
cable to all the useful industries of life.

16

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASS. HORT. SOCIETY.

This, and much more, has been done by
a liberal application of the wealth produced
by their own industry, by the merchants of
Boston. It would be a pleasing task to de-
signate those who have thus most success-
fully proved that they understand the true
uses and true obligations of wealth. But
we are obliged at this moment to confine
ourselves to a single illustration of the
benefits which a merchant, engrossed with
business, may confer on his countrymen,
when actuated by this large spirit of useful-
ness to his race.

Pearl-street, in Boston, completely re-
built within a few years, presents to the
eye two continuous lines of fine warehouses
— beautifully and fittmgly built, in an ap-
propriate architectural style, of neatly-dress-
ed granite. Enter with us one of these
stores at the beginning of the street; ascend
into spacious apartments where on every
side are seen boxes and bales filled with
the productions of the active looms of New-
England; pass thro' counting-rooms where
various clerks poring over huge ledgers tell
of a widely extended business ; and finally
penetrate to a third office. In this inner
vestibule of the house of trade, sits, before
a desk covered with a large correspond-
ence, a merchant thoroughly devoted to his
calling. In his countenance you see only
the engrossing cares of commerce, and his
ample brow, and clear penetrating eye are
full of plans for the increase of cotton mills
and American manufactured goods, of bet-
ter quality, and lower price, than John Bull
can possibly send into our market.

About four miles south of Boston is the
town of Dorchester — one of those agreeable
rural suburbs of Boston, which the sturdy
city, now full of robust health, is fast over-
taking and swallowing up with its vast
commercial appetite. In a part of this
town is situated a rural residence — well
known as Hawthorn Grove. If we enter
the gates of this simple and unpretending
place, about sunrise or sunset, Ave shall find
there not only grounds which are a com-
plete museum of horticulture, full of every
known variety of fruit tree; orchards well
planted ; and long, fruitful alleys : but, also,
the same merchant we saw in the inner
counting-room in Pearl-street. The same ?
yes ! the same to the common observer.

doubtless ; that is to say, the gentlemau
whose portrait illustrates this number of
The Farmers' Library ; but not now the
busy, engrossed merchant- — only the zeal-
ous enthusiastic horticulturist- — the Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Horticultural So-
ciety— the experienced pomologist — the im-
porter of, and anxious seeker after all new
fruits and plants ; in short, Marshall P.
Wilder — the subject of the present notice.

We are not about to write the life of
Col. Wilder. We hope it may be many
long years, filled, like the present, with use-
fulness, before he needs a biographer. It
is our more agreeable task, at the present
moment, to glance hastily upon the field
of labors in which his name has become
a public one, and in which it is especially
interesting to the readers of this journal —
as a horticulturist.

It is sufficient, then, to say that Colonel
Wilder is a native of New-Hampshire, the
Granite State, which boasts, not without
reason, that '■'■men are the fairest product of
her soil." He was born in the town of
Eindge, N. H., in September, 1798, where
his devotion to his garden and to mercan-
tile life awakened along with each other.
For more than twenty years he has been
one of the most industrious and successful
merchants of Boston, and for sixteen years
he has employed every moment oi forced
leisure — leisure borrowed, not from busi-
ness, but from the ordinary relaxations of
the business man, in carrying out his favor-
ite study of horticulture.

In a city most conspicuons among all
American cities for its horticultural ama-
teurs. Col. Wilder has long been known as
one of the most zealous and the most active
devotees of this science. For eight years
past he has been annually elected Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Horticultural So-
ciety— first of all institutions of the kind in
the Union for its Jarge activity, intelligence,
and usefulness. During his administration,
the number of members and the funds of
the society have been greatly increased, its
new hall erected, at a cost of $40,000, and
a very richly illustrated series of its Trans-
actions commenced.

But this is to us, and to the country at
large, not the most important and valuable
view of his great services as a scientific

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASS. HORT. SOCIETY.

17

cultivator of the soil. There are, perhaps,
many men's grounds more attractive, or
more captivating to the novice, than those
of the President of the Horticuhural Soci-
ety. But we think we may safely say that
no garden in America, either public or pri-
vate, has been more fruitful in good expe-
rinces for the benefit of the art generally,
and especially of pomology, than that of
Hawthorn Grove.

Let us say a word or two to make this
plainer to the general reader. Horticulture
has been so much perfected in the last thirty
years that it may be said to be not only a
science of considerable breadth, but an art
involving in its materials ten thousand de-
tails. In all parts of Europe and America,
new fruits, plants, and trees, are continually
brought into existence by the creative hand
of the skillful gardener. Especially at one
period, about fifteen years ago, did the
Flemish cultivators astonish the world of
fruit-growers with their catalogues of su-
perlative new fruits. Now the natural va-
nity of some, and the natural ignorance of
other cultivators, lead them to overrate the
merits of many new varieties. Diflerence
of soil and climate also renders a fruit of
the highest value in one countr}?^ of lesser
or greater value in another. Behold, then,
how important that some steps should be
taken by which all this vast mass of accu-
mulated material should be put into the
crucible of knowledge from time to time, so
that the pure gold should be separated from
the dross, for the benefit of a whole com-
munity of men who have good orchards and
gardens!

In other countries, societies or govern-
ments, with abundant means at their com-
mand, have undertaken this herculean task
of collecting and proving new fruits and
plants. But, in this country, no society has
as yet been able, no one of the states wil-
ling, to prosecute this interesting and ne-
cessary series of experiments. But what
the Horticultural Society of London has
done for England in the way of fruits, or
the Jardin des Plaiites for Fr,;nce, in trees
and plants. Col. Wilder has to a very con-
siderable extent done for New-England,
(and we may indeed say for the Union,)
in his own private grounds at Hawthorn
Grove.

To accomplish this object he has long
pjrsued the following plan :

1st. Entering into active correspondence
and maintaining standing orders with all
the most eminent horticultural amateurs
and nurserymen of foreign countries, and
procuring at the earliest moment every new
production worthy of note, abroad as well
as at home. This has necessarily given
his grounds, at all times, the aspect of a
crowded museum of gardening novelties
from all parts of the world, more attractive
to the understanding of the connoisseur
than to the eye of the tyro.

2d. Continually testing these new fruits
and plants by putting them in proper sites
and soils, keeping an accurate record of all
results, exhibiting all his specimens before
the public at the exhibition of the horticul-
tural society, and freely distributing scions,
p'ants or seeds, to other persons.

3d. Producing new varieties by the sci-
entific process of hybridizing* — several of
which have been great acquisitions to the
country.

As an experimental pomologist, we are
inclined to give the subject of this notice
higher praise than in at. y other department.
He has that faculty of just discriviinalion
so rare among entlatsiasticco\\ec\.ox?,,\\\nzh.
enables him to reject and 'publicly excommu-
nicate a really inferior variety after tho-
roughly testing it ; even if it should come
to him with the highest reputation from
abroad. " Take nothing on trust — prove
for yourself, and hold fast to that which is
good ;" such are the maxims which govern
his experimental practice in his favorite art.
We have indeed heard him remark to a
friend, who expressed his surprise at his
patience in collecting so many varieties of
fruits, to find only so small a number really
worthy of general cultivation, that such
was his desire to get at the truth that "his
satisfaction in ascertaining that a variety
was poor (thus preventing its extensive dis-
semination) was nearly as great as in find-
ing it worthy of general cultivation."

The fear has perhaps been Col. AVilder's
favorite fruit, and he has been remarkably
successful in its cultivation. Even upon

* A very abl.e article on the curious and interesting subject
o( hybridization, from the pen of Col. Wilder, will be found
in the '2iJ Pan of the " Transactions of the Massachusetts
Hoilicullural Society."

18

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASS. HOUT. SOCIETY.

the quince stock some of liis trees have
borne a barrel in a season. He has exhi-
bited one hundred and sixty varieties of this
fruit at a single show of the Massachusetts
Society, and°his garden now contains more
than five hundred sorts of pears from all
parts of the world, either in bearing or
under cultivation for proving their value for
the American soil or climate.

Among exotic plants the Camellia was
long ago his favorite. His collection at
one time embraced nearly three hundred
sorts, comprising every novelty extant. Ap-
plying, with his usual success, hybridiza-
tion to this genus of plants, he has been
successful in producing two new varieties
of surpassing beauty — not excelled by the
most perfect productions of Europe.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society
tAvo years ago voted him a special prize of
silver plate for those beautiful acquisitions
to the domains of Flora.*

Col. Wilder's devotion to horticulture,
his libfrality in imparting information, how-
ever dearly bought, and in distributing
seeds, plants, and scions to parts of the
country where their value would be appre-
ciated,' or whence some excellent native
production was offered in exchange, have
made him known as a benefactor to those
wh) live "amid gardens and green fields"
in all parts of the Union.

We may remark, in conclusion, that it
would be difficult to present to the contem-
plation of our readers an instance of an in-
dividual who so Completely accomplishes all
the laborious duties of a life of large mer-
cantile pursuits, and yet who at the same
time makes his few hours of leisure, each
day, tell so emphatically for his own happi-
ness, and the benefit of his fellow cultiva-
tors of the soil, in all parts of the country.
It is only indeed by making horticulture
the great u-orking pastime of his life, that
he has been able to accomplish so much.
But can one hold up a belter example to
the emulation of those citizens who find no-
thing to do in the country, and no occupation

* These two Camellias were HHmed by the society, C. Wil-
derii and C Mrs \Vilder. We may give our farming read-
ers some idea of the commercial value of new and rare plants
by remarking tlat the stock of these two varieties was pur-
chased by a nurseryman for Sl.OOO, who immediately went
to Europe, where, we learn, he disposed of them by subscrip-
tion, at ten guineas the pair.

there, worthy of engaging their energies and
their industriously accumulated fortunes?

For ourselves, we rejoice in the long-
sought opportunity and means of presenting
to our young readers, and to gentlemen of
opulence and leisure, even this brief sketch
of what has been done by a single citizen,
to investigate the merits and perfect the
properties of our flowers and fruits ; much
as it falls short of giving a full idea of his
contributions to an elegant and intellectual
pursuit — one that at once denotes, accele-
rates and adorns in all countries, the pro-
gress of civilization. Nor can the full mea-
sure of honor due to such citizens as Col.
Wilder and his associates, for the strong
lead they have taken, as well in the science
as in the practice of horticulture, be pro-
perly estimated without making large al-
lowance for the rigors of the climate with
which they have had to contend. In more
genial regions. Nature scatters profusely
her beautiful creations, with open hand —
without waiting for Art to assist, or Indus-
try to serve her — while in the north, she
yields them only, if not reluctantly, to the
most skillful and assiduous importunities.
But to these she does give them in such
variety and richness, as none can appreciate
who have not witnessed an exhibition of
the society over which Col. Wilder pre-
sides. Well do we remember when, on
our first entrance into Hawthorn Grove,
•' The perfumed air

Gave another sense, its prelude rich

Of what the eye should feast."
Since that time, always — and we may
say habitually — holding in high compara-
tive estimation the beauty and the useful-
ness of lives and labors thus devoted to
peaceful and meliorating pursuits, we have
been anxious, in a sense of duty, and for
the good of society, (least of all for his own
sake,) to pay to the proprietor the very
inadequate homage which here we render.
For the painting from which the en-
graving has been made, we are indebted to
the artist, Mr. Marchant of this city, in
whose collection it still remains — a true
presentment of the estimable original, as
far as Art can supply one. The engraving,
as will be seen, is by Mr. Jackman, and
does him credit as a worker in that, one of
the finest among the fine arts.

THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION,

19

PtTRTHBR NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION.

BY SENEX, NEW- YORK.

In your last number you have some remarks
from Dr. Valk upon the strawberry ques-
tion, by which I find that the Doctor has
misunderstood the tenor of the article from
me, which you inserted in the Oct. number
of the Horticulturist.

I wrote that article partly with the inten-
tion of suggesting what Avas really the
cause of the sterility of the strawberry, and
partly with the intention of drawing the
attention of those who are debating the
strawberry question, to the necessity of
adhering closely to the strict meaning of
the terms they used; for unless they did
so, they would only make " confusion worse
confoundetl." lam sorry that ro,y remarks
have not had the intended effect, especially
as they have been misunderstood by a
person of such knowledge and extensive
reading as Dr. Valk, as his papers on vege-
table physiology abundantly prove. I will
now, trusting that my present writing may
meet with a better reception, explain what
appears to be wanting in my former article.

By the term dmcimis, all botanists un-
derstand plants having naturally the fe-
male organs on one plant and the male
organs on another, and these are never
under any circumstances found together in
the same flower; by pistillate and stami-
nate, (or fertile and sterile, as relates to
seedbearing, vyhich are the better terms,)
are understood plants which having one of
these organs in an imperfect state, or inca-
pable of fulfilling its functions from any
cause, the other is perfect ; for instance, in
the staminate strawberries the receptacle
remains with the pistils upon it, but does
not always produce fruit, as I believe, owing

to the plant, through improper soil or culti-
vation, not having strength to do so ; some-
times the seeds are perfect, bat the recepta-
cle is small and deformed. Now, accord-
ing to the theory lately started, if the seeds
are perfect the receptacle must of necessity
be so to: this, as I before said, I do not
assent to. Again, in the pistillate flowers,
the stamens, or rather filaments, are there,
but without anthers ; or if with anthers,
they are without pollen. Yet I think in-
stances enough could be given, (ma}' have
already been given,) of such flowers pro-
ducing fine fruit without impregnation.

The Wood Alpine Strawbeny has perfect
flowers under all circumstances, at least, aa
far as has been observed, and always pro-
daces fruit; now if one of the genera Fra-
graria is hermaphrodite and others dicscious,
it should, according to the rules of botanical
science, be a sufficient reason for making
a new genera ; and then Hovey's Seedling
might, perhaps, stand as the type of a new
genera, to be called ''Hoveya." Would
not this be an evident absurdity? I Avould
ask Dr. Valk if ever he saw a staminate
strawberry wanting the receptacle or pistils
in either a more or less perfect state, or
whether he ever saw a dioecious plant in
which the male flower had the least rudi-
ments of the opposite sexual organs, or
vice versa 1 Did he ever find a pistil or
ovary, or the rudiments of one in the flower
of a male willow, Shepherdia, HippopkcB,
or poplar? That they are sometimes mo-
noecious I admit ; but never hermaphro-
dite.

As to the genus Cliffortia, I find, upon
reference to Lindlei/s Natural Sijste7n, that

so

THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION.

he places it in the order Sanguisorbece ; and
I cannot find, in any of Dr. Lindley's
writings to which I have access, an in-
stance where he refers a dioecious plant to
the order Rosacese. The quotation from
Dr. LiNDLEY, that "the old Hautbois Straw-
berry bears the male and female flowers on
different roots," does not, with all deference
to Dr. Valk, make him say that they are
dio3cious ; and the other quotation from a
letter to a correspondent in 1843, where he
says — "those flowers which have the sta-
mens large and the pistils small are males,"
etc. etc., prove that Dr. Valk does not un-
derstand Dr. LiNDLEY aright. He never
intended to say that the male flower of a
monoecious or a dioecious plant had any
pistils, or the rudiments of any ; and Dr.
Valk virtually concedes this point ; for in
classifying the strawberries, he speaks of
many as diaicious from ahortion.

I now come to speak of the use to be
made of this strict adherence to the mean-
ing of the terms used. If a plant is natu-
rally dioecious, no art of the horticulturist
can, will, or ever did make it to the con-
trary ; and therefore all the evidence pro-
duced by Mr. Tracy, Mr. Downing, Mr.
Allen and others, as to the changes in
Hovey's Seedling, falls to the ground. We
may transform the sexual organs of plants
into petals or leaves, from which they are
derived ; but Ave cannot transform one sex-
ual organ into another, or produce one
where it is naturally wanting. It would
be folly to attempt it, — the law of nature,
in regard to this, appears to be so immuta-
ble ; but we can by cultivation destroy in
part, or altogether, the different sexual
organs, and, per contra, when destroyed,
we can, by a different course of treatment,
restore them ; and this is not only true of
the sexual organs, but also of all other parts
of a plant. I think, therefore, that cultiva-

tors should look more to their soils and cul-
tivation to find out why their strawberries
are unproductive ; and the facts quoted by
Dr. Valk go to prove this. Does not
the fact, that Mr. Tracy had grown both
staminate and pistillate Hovey's Seedling
prove that cultivation produces a great
change ? If the original seedling was per-
fect, then cultivation has made it imperfect ;
if pistillate, then cultivation has, in some
instances at least, brought the stamens from
an imperfect to a perfect state : if this is
denied, then comes the absurdity of having
two Hovey's Seedlings from one seed. Mr.
HovEY formerly disbelieved this sexual
organ theory, but lately changed his opi-
nion, for which he chose an unfortunate
time, — as I have heard it remarked that he
did not do so until the staminate Boston
Pine was ready to be sent out to fertilize
the pistillate Hovey's Seedling !

I am still decidedly of the opinion that
the impregnation of the ovaries, through
the pistils, has nothing to do with the de-
velopment of the receptacle, which, under
suitable cultivation, ivill perfect itself and
become an edible fruit without a7iy reference
to the seeds being perfect or irnperfect.

My experience as a cultivator has long
ago taught me this. Often have I carefully
impregnated flowers in order to obtain seeds
of choice plants, but not had a perfect seed,
yet had otherwise perfect fruit. Who, as
a pomologist or nurseryman, has not seen
apples, pears, plums, peaches, and other
fruits seedless ? Are not the Sultana rai-
sins of commerce seedless ? Is not the
seedless Berberry, seed-bearing on some
soils ? Is not the seedless Lemon well
known to gardeners ? Is there any one, at
all conversant with vegetable physiology
or metamorphosis, but must be able to call
to mind very many instances of this kind.
Hybrid Geraniums lose their anthers, which

HYBRIDIZING.

21

appears to be produced by continual cross-
ing, producing an imperfect state of the
floral organs, — all being sacrificed to the
size and colour of the flower. So with the
strawberry; nearly all the hybrid kinds
have had all other floral parts sacrificed to
the size of the receptacle ; and this mon-
strous development requires a strong rich
soil to support it, — light, frothy soils, al-
ways rendering such strawberries unpro-
ductive. So of the Hautbois Strawberry,
which, for a Wood Strawberry, has a large
receptacle. In Herefordshire, in England,
it produces enormous crops ; but in other
parts of England is almost worthless. Yet
in this variety there is a tendency, in what
are called the male flowers, to produce fruit,
as they frequently have imperfect fruit but
perfect seeds. The Pine Strawberry, grown
in the neighborhood of Bath, Eng., is very

productive and fine ; but the same plant,
sent to other parts, are scarcely worth
o-rowing; and many similar instances can
be named in this country.

This sexual organ theory is, I find, being
applied to other fruits. A nurseryman here
has been applied to for fruit bearing rasp-
berries ; and the White Antwerps he sells
are said to be among the most prolific and
finest to be obtained anywhere ; yet in his
own nursery he never had the pleasure of
seeing a quart of perfect fruit from them, —
the soil and situation being unsuitable. I
think that strawberry growers will much
further advance horticultural science by
finding out by experiment and analyses the
most suitable soil or manure for the plants,
than in seeking their fruitfulness by such
doubtful means as impregnation. Sknex.

New- York, June, 1848.

REMARKS ON HYBRIDIZING PLANTS.

[From the London Hort. Magazine]

The operation of hybridizing plants con-
sists in fertilizing the stigma of the flower
of one plant with the pollen of another, of
different though allied characters. The
effect of this, when the cross fecundation is
actually effected, is to originate a new form,
usually possessing properties and charac-
ters intermediate between its parents. Such
a production is a mule or hybrid plant, and
is to be regarded as a very difl^erent thing
from what is understood as a variety.

In a practical point of view, this power
of producing hybrid plants is one of the
most important means which man possesses
of modifying the vegetable races, and
adapting them to his purposes. To it we
owe some, indeed many, of our most beau-
tiful garden flowers, as well as the most
valuable of our fruits and vegetables, many
of which have been so far improved — we
use this word in a relative sense only — that
further amelioration or improvement seems

hardly to be expected. Very little has been
done in altering the characters and proper-
ties of our timber trees by this process, but
there appears no reason to suppose that
they would not admit of as much being
effected as in the other classes of plants.
Indeed, there is reason to believe that any
property that may be possessed by plants of
any class, or to Avhich there is any tendency
either inherent or manifest, may be modi-
fied to an almost unlimited extent by perse-
verance and assiduity in hybridizing.

It would not be desirable to enumerate
all the changes which have been or may
be effected by this process ; it will be suffi-
cient to notice a few of the most prominent.
Among flowers the most important qualities
which can be impressed on the different
races are greater hardiness of constitution,
precocity or tardiness of flowering, the com-
munication of odor where it is not possess-
ed, increase in the size, alterations in the

22

HYBRIDIZING.

form of individual flowers, or greater pro-
lificacy, and improved arrangement, as re-
gards their collective production. Modifi-
cations and blending of colour, which are
also sometimes aimed at, seem to be the
most paltry changes (in a general sense), of
any that are attempted. These changes
affect appearance ; but among fruit and

vegetables the changes to be effected should

1 • J

be confined more to productiveness and qua-
lity than to appearance. Thus the increase
of size, together with the improvement or
modification of the sensible qualities, are
the main objects to be sought, followed by
such qualities of general application as
greater hardiness, precocity, tardily, or pro-
ductiveness. In timber trees the produc-
tion of greater bulk is the first object, and
then the rendering of this bulk at least of
equal, if not superior, strength, toughness,
compactness, or whatever peculiar property
individual kinds may be prized for.

It has been thought that a law very simi-
lar to that which obtains among animals
also regulates the production and fertility
of mule plants ; and so far as observations
have been made and recorded, this seems,
as a general rule,* to be near the truth.
Thus two distinct species of the same ge-
nus of plants will, in many cases, produce
an intermediate offspring, perfect as far as
regards the exercise of vital functions, but
defective as regards the power of perpetu-
ating itself by a seminal process. Even
when in the first generation this sterility is
not apparent, it becomes so in the second,
and less commonly in tne third or in the
fourth generation. Such mules may, how-
ever, be rendered fertile by the application
of the pollen of either parent, the charac-
ters of which then become assumed by the
offspring ; in other words, the hybrid form
reverts to that of one of its parents. Plants,
however, appear to possess this property of
admitting of hybridization far more gene-
rally than animals ; for while animal mules
are comparatively rare, there is scarcely
any family of plants that will not admit of
being hybridized with due care and atten-
tion. It is, however, only between species
in which the degree of relationship is some-

•Much of what may militate against lliis opinion may pro-
bab y be referred lo some defeel in tlie present means and
mode o( constructing and distinguishing different genera.

what close that this intercourse is effected ;
and as a rule, those plants which accord
most fully in general structure and consti-
tution will most readily admit of artificial
union. Species that are very dissimilar
appear to have some natural obstacle which
prevents mutual fertilization, and this ob-
stacle becomes insurmountable in the case
of very different genera. No such thing
as the intermixture of roses and black cur-
rants, and the consequent production of
" black roses," of which we do sometimes
hear, can therefore possibly take place.
There are some few recorded instances of
mules between different genera, but in
these cases a certain degree of relationship
existed, and the productions were both.
sickly and short-lived. Thus Gasrtner is
said to have obtained such hybrids, or bige-
ners, as they are termed, between daturas
and henbane and tobacco, (all solanaceous
plants,) and between the poppy and horn
poppy, (both of the same natural order.)
Weigman was successful in mixing lentils
and vetches, (both leguminous.) Mr. Knight
is recorded to have crossed the almond with
the peach, (both rosaceous.) Ktilreuter is
recorded to have effected a similar union
between different malvaceous plants ; and
Sageret obtained a cross between the cab-
bage and horseradish, which are both cru-
ciferous plants. The Dean of Manchester,
who has given much attention to the sub-
ject, and by far the best account of mule
plants which has appeared, regards these
and other like statements as erroneous, or
at least doubtful, and supports this opinion
by ihe fact that, in this country, where the
passion for horticulture is very great, and
the muling of plants has been carried to a
great extent, there is no undoubted instance
of a mule between distinct genera. On the
other hand, there are many cases recorded
of closely allied species refusing to inter-
mix, Mr. Knight could not succeed in ef-
fecting a cross between the common and
Morello cherries ; and Dr. Lindley men-
tions his own vain endeavors to cross the
gooseberry and the currant. Such plants
as the apple and the pear, the raspberry
and the blackberry, though very closely
related, have not been known to intermix.
Wild hybrid varieties occur but seldom ;

HYBRIDIZING.

23

at least, there are not many well-attested
instances of their occurrence. Bentham
ascertained that Lapeyrouse's Saxifraga
luteopurpurea, and Decandolle's S. atnbi-
gua, are only wild accidental hybrids be-
tween S. arenaria and calyciflora, being
only found where the two latter grow to-
gether, and there forming a suite of inter-
mediate states between the two. Such
genera as Salix, Rosa, Rubus, &c., are pro-
bably composed in a great measure of wild
hybrids. Gentians have been remarked on
European mountains, which have had such
an origin. Bentham also mentions Cistus
longifolius as being a hybrid between C.
monspessiilanus and populifolius, in the
woods of Fontfroide, near Narbonne ; and
Cistus Ledon is constantly being produced
between C. monspessulanus and laurifolius.
It is the tendency of hybrid plants, when
they produce seeds, to revert to their parent
forms, that renders wild hybrids so rarely
met with. Herbert, however, mentions the
following genera as having produced spon-
taneous hybrids : — Ranunculus, Anemone,
Hypericum, Scleranthus, Drosera, Poten-
tilla, Geum, Medicago, Galium, Centaurea,
Stachys, Rhinanthus, Digitalis, Verbascum,
Gentiana, Mentha, Quercus, Salix, Narcis-
sus, and Crinum. These names appear to
be quoted by Herbert on the authority of
Schiede.

Hybrids obtained by fertilizing the pistil
of one species by the pollen of another spe-
cies, are considered as true mules or h}'-
brids ; the result of intermixing two varie-
ties of the same species is called a crossbred.
It was held that the former was sterile,
and incapable of yielding seed ; whilst the
others, on the contrary, usually produced
fertile seed, which shortly reverted to one
or other of the parents, unless again influ-
enced by further hybridization. This opi-
nion, however, that all vegetable hybrids
are sterile, is not found to be tenable,
though it is the case to a certain extent.
The cause of this sterility is very doubtful ;
it has been referred to a want of pollen, but
this explanation is unsatisfactory, inasmuch
as no appreciable difference of structure in
this respect has been detected in those ca-
ses which have been made the subject of
especial inquiry. Crossbred varieties may
certainly be hybridized, but there is in them

a strong tendency to revert to one of the
parents. The progeny of varieties of the
same species is in all cases as fertile as the
parents.

Referring to the botanical questions which
the hybridizing of plants involves, and rely-
ing on numerous well ascertained facts in
support of his views. Dr. Herbert considers
that genera are the only really natural di-
visions among plants, the species and vari-
eties of which have all sprung originally
from one type ; and that, therefore, there is
no difference except in degree — that is, no
absolute difference between what are called
species and varieties. He further considers
that no plants which interbreed can, ac-
cording to this vieWj belong to distinct
genera, and that any arrangement which
separates such plants must be revised ; that
discrimination between species and perma-
nent varieties of plants is artificial, capri-
cious, and insignificant; and, consequently,
that the question often raised, whether a
wild plant is a new species or a variety of
a known species, is a waste of intellect
upon a point which does not admit of pre-
cise definition.

The fertilization of plants is supposed to
be effected by the emission of tubes of ex-
treme tenuity from the grains of pollen
when applied to the stigma ; these tubes
pass down the style into the ovary, and
eventually reach the young ovules, which
without this contact are unfertile. The
operation, so far as it can be aided by the
hybridizer, consists simply in applying the
pollen of one plant (which becomes the
male parent) to the stigma of the other
(which becomes the female parent.) But
there are certain conditions which are ne-
cessary to fertilization. The flower whose
stigma is to be fertilized is to be deprived
of its own anthers (if it is an hermaphro-
dite flower) before they burst and discharge
their pollen, for in this case it would pro-
bably be self-impregnated, and then there
would be little chance of success, for super-
fa3tation, though not held to be impossible
in plants any more than in animals, is
equally an exception to the general rule,
and therefore not likely to occur. The
pollen must also be applied at the precise
time when the stigma is perfectly developed
and covered with its natural mucus, for

HYBRIDIZING.

Otherwise it will not act ; in other words,
if the stigma is too young or too old, the
application will be ineffectual. The stig-
ma to which the pollen has been applied
must be guared from injury until after fer-
tilization has taken place, or the applica-
tion will be ineffectual. The time which
transpires before this is secured varies in
different plants; in some it is very slow,
occupying a month and upwards. For the
same reason, after the pollen has been ap-
plied, the pistils should be secured as far
as possible from any chance of contact with
other pollen, either by the agency of wind
or insects, and especially should they be
secured from being influenced by the pollen
of their own species, for this is probably
much more ready in its action than that
obtained from a strange plant. A very in-
teresting fact connected with pollen has
not until latterlj' been fully proved ; we al-
lude to its property of keeping, without
losing its peculiar vivifying powers, if stored
in a proper manner. The principal condi-
tions seem to be to keep it dry and cool by
whatever means may be preferred.

M. Haquin, a distinguished horticulturist
at Liege, has impregnated flowers of Azalea
with pollen kept for six weeks, and Camel-
lias with pollen kept sixty-five days ; and
he even thinks that it would be quite ef-
fective if preserved until the following
year, which supposition is confirmed by the
experience of Mr. Jackson, a nurseryman
in Yorkshire, who has found the pollen of
a variety of Rhododendron Smithii to retain
its fertilizing power for twelve months.
Haquin's plan of preserving pollen is to
gather the stamens just before the anther
cells burst, and wrap them in writing pa-
per, and place them in a dry room ; he then
collects the pollen they emit, and preserves
it in sheet lead in a cool dry place. M.
Godefroy suggests that two concave glasses,
like those employed for keeping vaccine
matter in, would be better. The globules
or granules of pollen must not be crushed.
This is, indeed, a most valuable fact con-
nected with the subject before us, for upon
a proper selection of pollen very much of
success depends, and a store of this can
therefore be laid by whenever it is procura-
ble, ready for use as soon as an opportunity
offers. Unless this were the case, the means

of improvement would be very limited, for
it often happens that the two kinds which
it may be desired to intermix are not in
flower at the same time, or at least not in
the requisite degree of development.

In raising and blooming seedling plants
in this way, there is one point which it
appears to be of importance to keep in view,
and that is, that whether it be flowers or
fruit, the real properties and qualities of
the seedling are not at first to be detected,
■and therefore no hasty conclusion should be
arrived at as to its merits. A very remarka-
ble case, illustrative of this point, is on re-
cord : — when the late Mr. Knight raised
the Black Heart Cherry, part of its first
produce was sent to the Horticultural So-
ciety, and was considered so bad, that had
not the tree been called the property of one
of his children, (who sowed the seed,) it
would have been cut in, and worked with
something else ; the after produce of this
tree was of better quality, and the variety
is now known as one of the richest of its
class. This case appears to me tobedecisive.

It may also be worth while to mention,
that as no visible alteration in the appear-
ance of the seed vessels results from im-
pregnation by another, this want of change
is not to be considered as being conclusive
of failure. Whether or not impregnation
has been effected, is easily determined ; for
when this has taken place the stigmas soon
wither, while those which have not received
the pollen remain green and vigorous for a
much longer time, varying of course with
the duration of the particular flower. A
change is generally to be noticed first in
the petals, as in the case of the Pelargo-
nium, in which they usually fall within
three or four hours after impregnation, af-
fording a convincing proof of the operation
being successful.

It may be interesting to notice a few of
the recorded instances in which definite
results have been obtained. One of them
is the case of some Fuchsias raised by Mr.
Standish, of Bagshot, who crossed corym-
biflora with some other kind, as globosa,
and obtained but very moderate success in
the first generation ; these crosses were,
however, again crossed with one of the
parents, (we believe globosa,) and this
result was some of the best varieties of

HYBRIDIZING,

25

Fticlisia wKicli liad tlien been raised. Mr.
Knight impregnated blooms of a degene-
rate sort of pea with the pollen of a large
and luxuriant grey pea ; the seeds exhibit-
ed no perceptible difference from those of
the other plants of the same variety, per-
haps because the external covering of the
seed w^as entireJy furnished by the female ;
but in the spring the effect was obvious, for
they grew v/ith great luxuriance, and pro-
duced dark grey seeds. By impregnating
this variety with other*, the colour was
again changed, and superior ones produced.
In these experiments, when the pollen of a
coloured blossom was introduced into a
white one, all the seeds were coloured, but
the opposite was not the case when the
pollen of a white blossom was introduced
to a coloured one. Lord Carnarvon ob-
tained a mule Rhododendron by fertilizing
R. catawbiense with R. arboreum. In this
case the mule had the flov/ers and colour
■of the latter, and the foliage and hardness
of the former. M. Gallesio procured more
certainly double flowers by crossing those
which were half double by others in a
similar state. M. Fries Morel found cross-
-ed clove pinks to resemble the mother plant
in form and the father plant in colour. The
Dean of Manchester found that in crossing
lilies, the plants produced resero.bled the
mother plant in their leaves and stems, and
the father plant in ail their reproductive
•organs; this agrees remarkably with the
result in the case of Lord Carnarvon's Rho-
dodendron. Some very remarkable hybrid
Azaleas were obtained by the Dean of Man-
chester from. Rhododendron ponticum fer-
tilized by Azalea pontica. In this case
there was little trace of the Rhododendron
in the seedling, except in the tinting of the
flowers, and to a certain extent in their
arrangement : the evergreen habit of the
female parent was totally obliterated. He
also got a seedling between Rhodora cana-
densis fertilized by the Azalea pontica ; in
this case the hybrid partook decidedly of
the foliage, wood, and habit of the Rhodo-
ra, its female parent, and in the flowers,
which were of a yellowish colour, it fol-
lowed the male parent. Many other crosses
ivere made by the same distinguished bota-
fnist between Rhododendrons and Azaleas,
and always with similar results ; and it was
Yoh. m. 2

on the evidence of these experiments of Mr.
Herbert's that the genera Rhododendron,
Azalea, and Rhodora have been amalga-
mated.

Captain Thurtell found that in cross-bred
Pelargoniums the colour and spotting re-
sembled the male parent, while the form
approached more closely to that of the fe-
m^ale. In the case of Gloxinias it has been
remarked that in all cases when G, rubra
has been fertilized with G. speciosa, or any
of its varieties, the result has uniformly
been a degeneracy in the colour of the va-
rieties ; the few which have been produced
possessing any merit in this respect, have
been obtained by crossing with G. Candida.

The mode in which colours act in hybrid
crosses is singular. When the bright yel-
lov/ flower of the white turnip is crossed
with the dull golden of the Swede, an in-
termediate colour is not obtained, but some
of the mules as to colour follow one parent,
and some the other. When a blue Ana-
gallis is crossed with the orange-coloured,
the effect is to discharge the yellow from
the orange, leaving the dull red which was
combined with it, whilst the blue is oblite-
rated. In Mr. Herbert's Rhododendro- Aza-
leas, the purple of one parent, and the yel-
lov/ of another, v/as succeeded in the mules
by whitish flowers, more or less tinted with
rose, and with a yellow blotch on the up-
per segment. Usually, however, it is most
influenced by the male parent.

In the absence of better evidence than
we possess on this subj ect, we think it may
be assumed —

1st, That the characters of the male pa-
rent become more fully developed in the
flowers and parts of fructification in the
progeny, than those of the female.

2d. That the characters and general con-
stitution and foliage of the female are to a
great extent transferred to the progeny.

From these deductions, and other con-
siderations we may venture to draw the
following inferences, being fully aware,
however, that the evidence is on some
points conflicting, and even contradictory :

-Colour in flowers* seems generally to be
most influenced by the male parent.

Form in flowers apparently more closely

* A cross between a rose or byblomen tulip, and a bizarre,
is said usually to produce '' uicotors," .which ars not prized.

26

HYBRIDIZING.

follows that of the female parent (this at
least has been observed in the Pelargo-
nium.)

Size and robustness are communicated
by either parent.

In seeds the colour of those of the male
parent predominates.

In some cases the intended female flowers
should be much less advanced than the
other; the Calceolaria is an instance. Other
plants, as the Pelargonium, require to be
more advanced. The moment is to be
seized when the stigma of one flower,
and the pollen of the other, are in perfec-
tion.

Flowers intended to be crossed should be
secured against the intrusion of insects he-
fore they become developed, and this pro-
tection must be continued till after there is
evidence of impregnation being effected.

It is not requisite, as often stated, that
the flowers on both parent plants should be
as nearly as possible in the same stage of
advancement ; it has been ascertained that
pollen may be kept for any reasonable pe-
riod, and when there is a store of pollen it
is only necessary that the stigma should be
properly developed — that is, fresh, and
covered with its mucous secretion.

The anthers from the intended fem.ale
flower should be removed before they are
enough advanced to have burst their pollen
cells, so that the pollen may not escape on
to the stigma ; a very small portion indeed
of the natural pollen being sufficient to set
aside any experiment.

A considerable quantity of the applied
pollen should be used, it being less active
than the natural pollen of the plant.

There must be a near resemblance, an
accordance in general structure and affinity,
between the plants to be crossed. Some
are more difficult to cross than others, pro-
bably from the tubes of the pollen grains
being too large to pass down to the ovary
through the pistils.

It is not to be expected that every instance
of attempting to impregnate flowers will be
successful.

The number of fertile seeds is usually
smaller in cases of crossing, than is natural
to the particular kinds of plants.

Crossed plants being often less fertile,
sometimes even sterile, are in the same pro-

portion more luxuriant, and produce larger
flowers.

Mule plants — that is, crosses between
different species of the same genus, are
usually either sterile, or become so in tlie-
second, third, or very rarely in the fourth
generation. They may be fertilized by
applying the pollen of either parent, and
in that case assume the character of
tiie parent by which the pollen- was sup-
plied.

The fertility of a h)^brid seems to depend
more upon the constitutional, than the bo-
tanical affinities of the parents ; thus, Mr.
Herbert found that Crinum capense, aiii
aquatic, or swamp plant, impregnated either
by C. zeyLanicum, or C. scabrum, which
affect drier habitats, produced offspring
which during sixteen years proved sterile,
while the same species impregnated by C.
pedunculatum, C. canaliculatum, or C. de-
fixum — all swamp plants, produced a fer-
tile cross.

There is usually a greater probability of
success with plants that have been accele-
rated by slight forcing, because there is less
risk of the plants being fertilized by the
accidental escape of the natural pollen.

Mr. Herbert found that in crossing some-
brilliant coloured flowers with others less
showy, the seedlings produced flowers
nearer the duller colour. This he attri-
butes to (as he supposes) the climate being
more congenial to the duller coloured pa-
rent ; and he suggests that it would pro-
bably not take place in a climate more per-
fectly congenial to the more brilliant co-
loured parent.

Some of the best double-flowered hybrids-
— as of Camellia for example — have been
obtained from single varieties impregnated
by pollen from partly double flowers; that
which is borne on a petal, or, in other
words, on a petaloid filament, is to be pre-
ferred. Probably Indian Azaleas, in which
they usually abouad, might be obtained
double in this manner. It is, no doubt,,
also important that the parent plants should
be in a floriferous rather than a vigorous
growing condition, if fine double flowers
are desired. Pollen cannot always, though
it may sometimes, be obtained from double
flowers. Dr. Herbert observed a very cu-
rious morphological fact in the case of thst

GROWING GOOSEBERRIES.

27 ♦

ttiyTtie-lea.ved Camellia, which for twenty-
five years he had never seen to bear an an-
ther except in one season, when all the
flowers on every plant had thenij but the
seedlings by this pollen proved the worst
he ever raised ; he concluded from this,
that the same peculiarity in the season,
which induced the approach to a single
flower, also disposed the pollen to generate
single flowers.

After all, the results which are obtained

will frequently vary greatly from what are
supposed to be the general rules which in-
fluence this question, affording thereby a
certain proof that they are far from perfect.
It is to be hoped that spirited horticulturists
will turn more of their attention to this sub-
ject, and institute experiments upon a me-
thodical and systematic plan, for so only
can we hope to have the errors of our opi-
nions and practice removed, and their place
supplied by undoubted truth.

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL MODE OF GROOVING GOOSEBERRIES.

BV R. H. T., DELAWARE.

In an early number of the Horticulturist,
I observed a notice of a successful mode of
cultivating the gooseberry, in soils and lo-
cations where the mildew prevails so as to
render it difficult or impossible'to get good
crops of this fruit.

The difficulty in growing the gooseberry,
in this part of the Union, is, I suppose,
wholly attributable to the want of a cool
and moist atmosphere in the spring and
early summer months. The bushes grow
vigorously, and they also blossom and set
fine crops of fruit ; but the latter become
covered with a thick brown mildew, or
scurf, when they are scarcely a quarter
grown. This, manuring and high cultiva-
tion will not in many cases remove ; and,
accordingly, we must look somewhere else
for the remedy.

What induces me to believe that it is
the hot and dry climate here which makes
it difficult to grow the gooseberry, is the
following observation which I made last
season. I took a journey through Maine
and New-Brunswick, and it chanced to be
in the gooseberry season. I there found, to
my surprise, that wherever the culture of
the gooseberry was attempted it produced
fine abundant crops of clean fruit. The

mildew was wholly unknown, and I have
never, (except in Great Britain,) seen such
fine and large berries as I then saw in
several private gardens in Maine.

Attributing the easy cultivation of the
gooseberry there, as I have already men-
tioned, to the cool and comparatively humid
climate of that state, it occurred to me that
if we would succeed in growing this fruit
in our gardens farther south, we must en-
deavor to bring about, as far as possible,
the proper condition of the soil and site for
its growth. As I was about to make a trial,
I chanced to see the remarks of " A Jer-
seyman," in your journal, in which he so
strongly recommends the use of a layer of
salt hay underneath the branches. This
appeared a good hint ; its beneficial opera-
tion, as far as I am able to understand it,
arising from the cool and moist tempera-
ture at which the earth about the roots was
maintained, — thereby preventing that sud-
den check of growth which induces mil-
dew.

Not having "salt hay" at hand, I cast
about me for some substitute. This I found
in the shape of a large heap of sea-weed,
which had been brought up from the sea
shore. I spread a layer of this sea-weed

28

INSECTS IN THE NATIVE GRAPES.

underneath all my gooseberry plants to the
depth of six inches, and in some cases to
the depth of a foot. In the latter instances
it had to be crowded down to make room
for the branches; and, when the rains
caused it to settle, it lay almost close to the
branches. Of course, all this was done
after pruning the gooseberry bushes, and
before the fruit had yet attained srfficient
size to be attacked by the mildew.

The experiment has proved quite suc-
cessful. This year, for the first time in my
remembrance, I have a very fine crop of
large clean gooseberries, now nearly full
grown, and not the least symptom of mil-
dew. Those plants are most thrifty, and

have the finest fruit, which had the sea-
weed put in thick layers under them, so
that the branches, in fact, rest upon the
sea-weed. The fruit is then kept quite
cool, and the dew remains a long time in
the day. In consequence of this, the roots
do not feel the changes of temperature, and
the growth and swelling of the berry is not
checked.

If this reasoning is correct, persons in
the interior need not be at a loss, for refuse
hay or straw would probably answer the
purpose. On the prairie, where hay is so
abundant, it may be freely used for this
purpose. Eespectfully. R. H. T.

Delaware, July, 1848.

TWO INSECTS THAT INFEST THE NATIVE GRAPES.

BY C, NEW-YORK.

Dear Sik — Every few years there appears
some new insect enemy to the cultivator,
that requires all his ingenuity and vigilance
to prevent its destroying all the value of
his labors. Little by little these pests
spread over the whole country ; their pro-
gress often being aided rather than pre-
vented by careless cultivators, who allow
them to have quiet and undisturbed posses-
sion of the garden or orchard under their
care.

Two sorts of insects, that have made
their appearance during the last two sea-
sons on the hardy grapes — Isabella, Cataw-
ba, &c., now so generally cultivated in va-
rious parts of the country, come under this
head of nuisances.

I am not familiar with the scientific
names of these insects. They are, how-
ever, easily recognized by a brief descrip-
tion. One — the most troublesome — is, I
think, a large sort of thrip or aphis, some-

what resembling the common aphis, or
green Jly oi the rose bushes, but a great
deal larger, and of a pale ash or grey-green
colour. This insect is found on the under
sides of the foliage, where it multiplies
rapidly, and soon peoples the whole vine.
Its effects are quickly perceived on the
foliage, which puts on a gray, mottled and
dingy colour, — its juices being sucked up
by this species of thrip.

Vegetable physiologists would tell u^ be-
forehand that this robbery of the juices and
green colouring matter of the leaf must
impair the health and vigor of the vine.
And plain gardeners that have had to do
with this new insect, can testify from their
own observation how much it impairs the
health of the grape vine, and lessens the
size and flavor of its fruit.

The other insect enemy is a species of
small black slug, that also makes its ap-
pearance on the under side of the vine

THE RED DIAPER PLUM.

29

leaves. If left in undisturbed possession,
it devours the foliage almost as rapidly
as the caterpillar. War must, in conse-
quence, be declared against this slug imme-
diately.

I am very much gratified, at the same
time that I describe the new marauders, to
be able also to say what sort of a dose they
require to send them to the undertakers.
By a little experiment, I have found that
tobacco water is the best poison for them
both, putting thrip and slug alike out of
the way as soon as it reaches them.

The best mode of applying it is with a
small syringe having a rose like a watermg
pot, or a small hand engine, such as is de-
scribed in your last number. With this,
and a pail of tobacco water at hand, a man
can in a few moments thoroughly sprinkle
the foliage of a large vine; always taking
a stand so as to throw the shower on the
under part of the leaves.

I find that strong soap-suds, applied in
the same way, will kill the slug but not
the thrip. It is best, therefore, when both

insects are found together, to use the to-
bacco water, which quickly sickens and
kills almost every insect. In fact, so use-
ful is this latter stuff, that a garden should
never be without it in the growing season.
A quart of it, and two minutes' labor to
apply it, will sometimes prevent the gene-
ration of a great brood of insects that days
only will subdue. In the towns, the tobac-
conists always have a supply on hand ;
and, at any rate, tobacco stalks can be
procured and boiled in water till a strong
decoction is made. As both the tobacco
water of the manufacturers and decoctions
made at home vary in strength, it is always
best, before applying it largely, to make
the experiment by mixing it with water,
and applying it to a few leaves^ — two or
three dilutions. That mixture which is
only just strong enough to kill the insects
is the best. To use tobacco water stronger
than this is only throwing away your ammu-
nition, and might check or injure the
growth of the vine. Your truly. C.

New-York, June 16, 1848.

THE RED DIAPER PLUM.

We find this valuable plum so little dis-
seminated throughout the country gene-
rally, compared with many inferior varie-
ties, like the Orleans, Purple Magnum
Bonum, etc., that we are induced again to
speak of its excellence.

This variety was received by us from
England, under the name of the Mimms
plum. The London Horticultural Society
have, however, stated that the Mimms is
synonymous with a French A'ariety, previ-
ously known on the continent as the Dia-
pree Rouge, or Hed Diaper ; and the Eng-
lish title has, accordingly, given place to
that by which it was first called. As we

are not aware that the Diapree Rouge of
the continental nurseries, (which is scarcely
considered a first rate variety,) has been
proved in this country, we are for the pre-
sent obliged to follow the authority of the
London Society in the standard name
adopted.

The variety before us has fruited here
for several years past, and we do not hesi-
tate to place it among the half dozen
finest flavored plums known here, — a dis-
trict where the plum flourishes well, and is
very extensively cultivated. When we say,
that, in point of flavor, it is not equalled by
any purple plums, except the {true) Purple

ao

TO CURE THE PLUM TREE KNOTS.

Fig. l.—The Red Diaper Plum,

Gage, (a scarce sort,) and the Purple Fa-
vorite, it will be seen that we place it in
the same rank as those highest standard
varieties, — the Green Gage and the Jeffer-
son. It is impossible to say more in its
praise in this respect ; but we may add
that the flesh is melting, juicy, rich and
delicious.

Like the Green Gage and Purple Fa^
vorite, the trees of this variety are rather
slow growing in the nursery, though they
are thrifty and hardy when planted out in
the orchard or fruit garden. The leaves
are rather small and oval, and the young
shoots nearly smooth, or, more properly,
semi-downy. In growth and foliage there
is a marked resemblance between the Pur-
ple Favorite and the Red Diaper, though
the fruit is distinct.

The Red Diaper is a good bearer, and
the fruit usually hangs well upon the tree,
being little liable to rot. It is easily dis-
tinguished from most purple plums by its
uniform brownish-red colour, which, when
the fruit ripens in the shade, predominates
over the purple. The bloom is very thin,
and of a pale blue. The stalk is rather
slender, and slightly hairy. The fruit,
which is a freestone, is at maturity about
the end of August. We cannot recom-
mend to those collectors of really choice
fruits, who do not already possess this va-
riety, any one more worthy of attention
than the Red Diaper Plum.

TO CURE THE .PLUM TREE KNOTS.

BY C. REAGLES, SCHENECTADY, N. Y.

Dear Sir — As the question of the Black
Knat Excrescence has not yet been defi-
nitely settled, and as the subject — which I
am sure is an interesting one to all cultiva-
tors of the plum — has been little alluded to
of late, I have concluded to give you a
brief statement of my experience upon the
matter ; having extensively cultivated the
fruit, for the last fifteen years, with great
success.

It is generally supposed that the knots,
or swellings, are caused by the attacks of
an insect, and the idea of the curculio being
that insect has been pretty well dissemi-
nated. My own experience, however, goes
to prove that the idea is far from being a
correct one, as there really is no evidence
to substantiate it. This is, as you know,
a celebrated plum district. The trees are
generally loaded with fruit every year, and

TO CURE THE PLUM TREE KNOTS.

31

^ve Tiever troubled with the cxirculio ; yet
many of the trees belonging to a neighbor
of mine are covered v/ith knots, and I am
xander the necessity of cutting them off my
own trees annually to keep them from, the
sam.e condition. It appears evident, there-
fore, in fact I may say conclusive, to my
mind, that the excrescence is not caused
by the curculio ; because, supposing that
insect to be prevalent here, it is not at all
probable that they v/ould attack the bark
in preference to the fruity as the knots con-
tinue making their appearance as long as
the sap is in motion. I have, until quite
lately, been under the iiiipression that it
might be caused by some other insect. I
therefore watched -the trees quite closely,
but have never discovered any insect feed-
ing upon, or depositing its eggs in the
bark of the tree.

The fact, that the larv<z or the eggs of
one or two insects are sometimes found in
the knots, is no evidence of the insect being
the cause of the disease ; since the larva,
or the eggs, as the case may be, are not to be
found when the swelling first appears, nor
until it has become quite large and pulpy.

I have, in consequence, arrived at the
conclusion that the disease is not attributa-
ble to the attacks of an insect. It is no-
thing more nor less than an impure state of
the sap, caused by the introduction of some
improper food, of a virulent and contagious
nature, into the circulation through the
agency of th« roots or leaves.

Or, it is an ulcerous habit, peculiar to
those varieties of the plum, with coloured
fruit, v/hich makes its appearance in the
infancy or at an advanced age of the tree,
according as it may be infected. In sup-
port of these views, I shall state the follow-
ing facts :

1st. Suckers taken from the roots of a
badly diseased tree, will, without excep-

tion, eventually become diseased. On the
other hand, seedlings, grown from the
seeds of a healthy tree, will rarely be af-
fected, unless contiguous to trees in an un-
healthy state.

2d. Buds, taken from diseased trees, and
inoculated on healthier stocks, have become
so m.uch infected as to be cut down, en-
tirely, the first year after being operated
upon ] while in other cases where the trees,
from which the buds for inoculating were
taken, were in a healthy condition, quite
the reverse was the result. They remained
healthy and sound. This I have tried re-
peatedly.

It may not be amiss to state, here, that
the trees bearing light coloured [white or
yellow,] plums are seldom affected, and
never unless immediately surrounded by
diseased trees of the dark coloured varie-
ties. [This is perfectly true, except when
the disease is very wide-spread and neg-
lected ; the yellow sorts are then att-ack-
ed. Ed.] I could adduce many other
similar instances favorable to my conclu-
sions ; but I shall, at present, after propos-
ing a remedy which suggests itself to my
mind, leave the subject to some more skill-
ful cultivator who may take advantage of
the above hints.

The remedy which I propose is to cut
and keep cutting, as long as the knots
make their appearance, covering the wounds
thus made with Mr. Downing's solution of
gum shellac, at the same time freely wa-
tering with copperas {sulphate, of iron) dis-
solved in water, at the rate of one ounce of
copperas to two gallons of water. This
maybe considered rather strong; but the
trees will bear it. It is a very powerful
disinfecting agent. I have seen it used
with great success on trees which were
given up for dead. It possesses some po-
tent vital principle, of which I am not suf-

32

HINTS TO CULTIVATORS OF THE PEAR.

ficiently versed in materia medica to ex-
plain. I became acquainted with it several
years since in perusing an extract taken
from a Freiich Journal. I have since
spoken of it to my friends who had sickly
ti'ees, who have proved its extreme efficacy

in restoring them to their former iuxuriancev
Respectfully yours. C. Reagles,

Schenectady, N. Y., June, 1343.

[See, also, our own experiments witb
copperas water, p. 532, voL II, of this jour-
nal. Ed.]

HINTS TO CULTIVATORS OF THE PEAR,

BY A MARYLAND SUBSCRIBER.

I HAVE observed, in the Horticulturist, that
you think the pear tree more tender or de-
licate in its bark and wood than most other
fruit trees usually considered hardy. Hence
it is more liable to injury by the frosts of
winter, or the heat of summer, than even
the peach or nectarine.

This opinion has been also entertained
by me for several years, and I have made
some experiments based upon it, which, if
you please, you may lay before your read-
ers.

Observing, about eight or nine years
ago, the bad effects which long continued
dry weather had upon some dwarf pear
trees growing in my garden, I determined
to endeavor to protect them if possible
against the violence of our extremes of
temperature, both of summer and winter.

After various trials, I have found that
the best mode of attaining the desired ob-
ject, is to make use of coverings — either
straw or coarse salt hay. Where the latter
is readily obtained I should give it the pre-
ference ; but straw answers the purpose
equally well.

My application of the covering of straw
or hay is a very easy one. Considering
the roots and the trunk the points most
needing protection, I begin by binding a
lining of straw somewhat loosely round the
whole trunk as far up as it can easily be ex-

tended. " Straw-rope" has a still neater
and better effect.

I then cover the surface of the ground*
under the tree, so far as I judge the roots
to extend, with a layer of straw, six inches
thick. To give it that clean appearance
which it should have in a well ordered
garden, I fasten it down with four small
poles, laid upon it so as to form a square,-
and fastened with four hooked pegs, driven,
into the ground to confine the poles to their
places. After these poles are fasteneJ
down, the ends of the straw, that project^
can be cut off regularly about six inches-
beyond the poles.

Five years have elapsed since I first be-
gan to protect dwarf pear trees in my gar-
den in this way. I assure you I have found
it of such manifest advantage, that I cannot
too highly recommend it to yourself and:
your correspondents. I think I have tested
it with all possible fairness, as I have
straw-ei every alternate . tree, in a long
row of dwarfs, and have therefore been
able to judge very positively of the good
effects of this protection against the ex-
tremes of temperature.

The trees that have been straw-ed, when
compared with those left in the usual state,
exhibit the following evidences of the be-
nefits of this treatment.

In the first place, the foliage is of a

THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE IN WESTERN NEW-YORK.

33

darker and healthier green, and the annu-
al growth is more regular and vigorous.
These effects I attribute to the preservation
of a uniform state of moisture and coolness
about the roots, in the place of the great
alterations from cold and wet, to dry and
parched soil, that often rapidly succeed
each other in this climate.

In the second place I have never, with a
single exception in forty-three trees treated,
had a case of winter-blight in trees whose
trunks and roots were well protected with
straw J while I have had nine cases in a year
in a row of thirty-five trees not protected.

I am also confident that the dwarf pear
tree is rendered longer lived v^'hen protect-
ed against the too sudden changes of the
atmosphere in this way.

The bark of the trunk sv/ells gradually,
as the tree increases in size, and remains
tender and smooth till old age, instead of
becoming drj^, hard, and cracked, as is
otherwise too often the case.

I will add, in conclusion, that I find it
necessary to renew or replenish the cover-
ing of straw, on the ground, every year in
the spring. That upon the trunk usually
lasts two years. When laying down a
fresh coat of straw, I also lay two or three
tobacco leaves, or a handful of tobacco
stalks, around the collar or base of the
trunk. This I find keeps away insects
that might otherwise be inclined to harbor
and make their nests there. I am, sir,
with respect, A Maryland Subscriber.

June, 1S48.

THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE IN WESTERN NEW- YORE-.

BY J. W. BISSELL, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

Dear Sir — In discussing with a Boston
nurseryman, the subject of the diseases to
which Peach trees are liable, and especially
the Yelloivs, I took the position that trees
raised in this vicinity and removed thither,
would maintain their health for a long time,
and probably entirely escape the Yellows,
if properly treated ; and I thought that
trees raised there, on soil to which lime had
been applied, and from pits and buds from
this vicinity, would also prove healthy. To
test the matter, I sent him this spring a bar-
rel of pits, and at the proper season, shall
send him the buds with which to work
them.

Trees one year from the bud, grown here,
are not so large as those of the same age
raised in New Jersey or Delaware ; but the
distance between the buds is short, and the
Avood is hard and perfectly matured. This

I consider of great benefit, for the nursling-
is then sent out into the world with a good
constitution, and better able to resist any
unfavorable influences of soil or climate.
The Early York, (serrate leaved, known
here as the Early Purple,) in good soil,
grows from four to five feet high, and
from one to one and a-half inches in dia-
meter tlie first year; and the Oldmixon, one
of the freest growers, will be from one to
two feet higher, though no larger at the
ground.

We all know, that the trees which bear
late peaches, are much more vigorous and
hardy than the early varieties, and of course
the pits from the former are much better to
plant for stocks. The large nurseries here
use these best pits, purchased in quantities
from the neighJboring farmers, who raise
large late peaches for drying.

34

THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH

We find that our best and highest fla-
vored peaches are raised upon our light
land, but such land is all suitable for the
cultivation of wheat and other grains, and
although it does not produce the largest
crops, they are uniform, the straw is short
and firm, the heads well filled, and the ker-
nels plump. A careful analysis shows a
fair proportion of lime and potash in all our
soils, though in our sands there is not much
organic matter. To the presence of these
minerals, I attribute much of the vigor of
our trees, and the deep green of their foli-
age noticed by you. In the nursery with
which I am connected, (the Rochester Com-
mercial Nursery of Bissell, Hooker and
Sloan) there are peach trees, twelve years
old, with bark as smooth as that of a young
cherry tree, and tops as handsome as could
be wished. This smoothness of the bark is
maintained by annual washings with soap,
and the heads are kept in order by the
shortening metnod of pruning so highly re-
commended by yourself and others.

I have lately seen peach trees here, about
thirty years old, that have always produced
good fruit, though of late years not in great
quantity ; it was, of course, at the tips of
the branches, and required to be shot off
with a gun, or brought down by a violent
shake, neither of which methods of gather-
ing are considered best in all circumstan-
ces, though they are sometimes adopted
from necessity. When trees thus badly
pruned, or rather never pruned, are not
more than ten or fifteen years old, they may
be renewed by sawing off the limbs just
above their junction with the body, and co-
vering the wound with the solution of shell-
lac ; in most cases new shoots -will start,
and a fine growth of young wood be formed
which will bear fruit "within hailing dis-
tance." •

It can hardly be our climate that keeps

TREE IN WESTERN NEW-YORK.

the peach tree in health, for among the
thousands brought here from New-Jersey,
I have occasionally seen some that were af-
fected by a disease corresponding with the
descriptions of the Yellows, but they were
few, and iuA^ariably those set in grass land.
When, at my suggestion, the turf v/as all
well spaded in, as far as the branches ex-
tend, and the ground thus far kept well cul-
tivated, the trees recovered.

If some of your correspondents in New
Jersey Avill send me, by express, some of
the wood of a tree that has died of the Yel-
lows, and some of the soil on which it grew,
I will upon the return of Dr. Lee, (the able
editor of the Genesee Farmer,) from Au-
gusta, have an analysis made of the same,
and compare it with that made from the
ashes of a tree grown upon land, of which
the parts are :

Alumina 4.15

Oxide of Iron, 3.41

Silica, 78.00

Organic Matter, 8.06

Lime, 2.18

Potash, 1.17

Magnesia, 0.31

Other minerals in small quantity & water, 2.72

100.00
This soil will produce thrifty and hand-
some nursery trees. But I find the lime
and potash will thereby be reduced about
one quarter, and must he reiiewed for another
good crop. This is not as absolutely neces-
sary for standard trees in the orchard, whose
roots extend for a great distance in all di-
rections, as for young trees, although it is
of very great benefit to them.

I have never seen an analysis of the wood
of the peach tree, but the loss of livie and
potash in soils where numbers of them have
been grown, shows that these minerals en-
ter largely into their composition. May not
the diseases so feelingly described by some
cultivators, be attributed to the absence or

THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE IN WESTERN NEW- YORK.

35

small quantity of these alkalis ? I can find
no diseased trees about here upon which to
try experiments with unleached ashes and
lime, and must leave that to others more(?)
fortunate.

I gave you* some idea of the prices at
which peaches were sold in this market.
Within a year or two these rates must be-
come less, from the number of young trees
just coming into bearing; at the same time,
the profit to the grower will be greater.
Formerly he was obliged to market his own
fruit, and not being able to be in two places
at the same time, his attention was divided;
either some good bargains were lost, or
while he was negotiating, his fruit would
not be properly cared for athome. Of late,
a new class of middlemen has sprung up,
fruit merchants, who contract for whole
crops, and run their own risks of sales.
This has been found to be of great benefit
to producer and consumer — the market is
much enlarged, and the demand is regular
because the supplies are regular.

Were the practice of naming all first
rate seedlings adopted, a long list would
soon be made. From the Royal Keiising-
ton many have been raised not distinguish-
able from the parent. These are ordinarily
called " rare-ripes," with often the local
name of the grower. A greater number
have been raised from the Yellow Alberge,
generally superior to the parent; the best of
these is called the £arZz/ £a?-«a7(^, from the
man in whose garden it grew.

We have thus far had a favorable season,
and the prospect is, that all fruits will be
abundant. Yours, truly,

J. W. BiSSELL.
Rochester, N. Y., June 12.

Remarks. — The foregoing is full of va-
luable suggestions. That Mr. Bissell is
correct in his explanation of the healthy

* Hon. vol. 1, p. 235.

condition of the peach tree in Western
New-York, we entertain not the least doubt.

The soil of Western New- York, as com-
pared with that of most of the sea-coast,
abounds with lime and potash. Long cul-
tivation has in a great degree exhausted
these most essential inorganic manures from
the older soils, and the peach tree is there-
fore much more short-lived and liable to
disease in the latter than in the former lo-
calities.

Mr. Bissell, with most commendable en-
terprise, has taken pains to have analysis
made of the soil about Rochester. What
he states of the rapid abstration of lime and
potash from the soil by a crop of young
peach trees, fully proves that these trees will
soon exhaust these elements so necessary
to their perfect growth and health in any
soil. Is it then, any longer surprising that
in these very soils on the sea-coast, where
the peach was once the most luxuriant and
prolific, it is now a comparatively feeble
and short-lived variety of fruit trees? Pot-
ash and lime have been taken up by each
succeeding crop for twenty years, and have
been only very scantily returned to the soil
by the ordinary application of animal ma-
nures.

Experiments made under our own eyes,
for the last five years, have convinced us
that wood ashes are, on the whole, the very
safest and best manure for the peach tree.
They not only promote the growth of the
tree, but they give its wood a firmness, its
leaves a dark, green healthy colour, its fruit
a high color and flavor, and the whole tree
constitutional vigor. The secret of this is
to be found in the lime and potash, which
are the principal components of wood ashes.

We stated it as our opinion, in the first
edition of our Fruits, that the Yellows is
nothing more than a constitutional debility,
resulting from carelessly cultivating the

36

A PEACH ORCHARD RESURRECTION.

peach tree on an exhausted soil. The ad-
mirable condition of the peach tree in Wes.
tern New-York, and Mr. Bissell's explana-
tion of it, we think fully corroborates our
opinion.

We may add that we have had abundant
proof that it is only necessary to get the
stones of peaches from a perfectly healthy
district, plant them in 'properly prepared
soil, and bud them with healthy varieties,
to eradicate the Yellows, This course has
been pursued in this neighborhood for ten

or fifteen years past. When it was com
menced, the Yellows was very prevalent in
and about Newburgh — now it is almost en-
tirely unknown, and all the gardens about
us abound with healthy trees having high-
flavored and delicious fruit.

We hope some correspondent interested
in this subject, will do Mr. Bissell, and
cultivators generally, the favor to send him
the specimens of wood of the peach tree
thoroughly diseased of the Yelloivs, for an-
alysis. Ed.

A PEACH ORCHARD RESURRECTION,

BY J. W. DWINELLE, CaZENOVIA, N. Y.

A. J. Downing — Deak Sir : Some 17 or 18
years ago. a row of Peach trees of a dozen
or more, situated on the farm of the late E.
S. Jackson of this place, bore fruit so
abundantly that they were all broken down
and ruined. That fall, a heavy plow pass-
ed over the field, burying the wreck of bro-
ken limbs, venerable roots, and numberless
peach pits deep beneath the surface. It
was then seeded down to grass, and the next
season, there was nothing there even to sug-
gest the idea of a controversy as to whether
peaches would grow on our sky approxima-
ting hills or not, such an unbroken field was
there of timothy and clover ! A heavy
sward was soon formed which forbid the
formation of anything beyond the herbace-
ous, and if there were germs below, it was
a secret of the grave, deep in its bosom bu-
ried, which nothing but a resurrection could
unfold.

Thus matters rested, and thus was the
ground unbroken, until two years ago, when
another plow, * well beamed and driven,'
inverted the surface again, studding the
ground for rods around with pits — not hot-
t07filess, but from the bottom ! These gave

a tolerable crop of peach trees last season
and consi'^ering the fact that the frost had
not had a fair chance at them, as good as
could be expected. This spring, saving the
irregularity of their arrangement, the whole
ground in that locality mostly resembles a
young nursery of peach trees. By slightly
removing the surface at almost any point,
you can find pits looking as fresh as those
of last season, all of them as ready for a
start, as though they had not just awaken-
ed from a Rip Van Winkle sleep of fifteen

years or more

I know that the seed of Egyptian wheat
has been preserved for 2, 000 years, and that
the germ of forest trees, is secure in the
ground for an indefinite period of time.
But the manner of preserving wheat so long
may have been one of the lost arts of the
mystic people of the Nile, besides too, when
found, it was in such decided proximity to
its spicy and well rosined possessor, that it
must have been at least half embalmed !
And then the forest trees are but ' children
of the forest,' having primeval and undis-
ciplined ways of their own, subject to but
little of the tasteful refinement and book

«

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

37

rules that encompass the growth of the
peach, so that the analogy would fall short
of being complete ! — at any rate, are not
the facts as recorded above remarkable, and
if so, how may they be accounted for ?
Very respectfully, yours, &c.,

Wm. H. DwiNELLr^.

P. S.— In the July No. 1847, of the Hor-
ticulturist, p. 47, is a communication from
''C. S." of Newport, N. Y., on the subject
of ^protection agaiiist late frosts,'' wherein
he very judiciously recommends artificial
means for that purpose, such as the build-
ing of fires, and the accumulating of smoke
in the vicinity of fruit trees, &c. &c. This
brings to mind a novel incident that occur-
red in our vicinity two or three years ago.

A large drove of cattle applied to one of
our farmers for "food and rest" late one cold
evening. The farmer could only accom-
modate them by turning — or rather cram-
ming them into a small orchard. That
night there came a frost, with such a de-
gree of earnestness that it cut off our whole
apple crop fur a great distance around; not
an orchard bore fruit that year, except the
above mentioned farmer's; his alone esca-
ped, and bore abundantly.

He very naturally attributes the protec-
tion, to the animal heat and steam, arising
from the large pen of cattle, which he was
so fortunate as to secure for that night
only ! W. H. D.

Cazenovia, N. Y., Ma;/, 1848.

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

We have lately made the acquaintance of
a new material for architectural and garden
decorations, which, we think, promises to be
valuable to those of our readers engaged in
building or improving tasteful houses and
grounds.

We allude to the terra cotta ware, made
at the Garnkirk works, Scotland, and which
is now largely imported and offered at very
moderate prices by the
agents in this coun-
try.

This terra cotta is, in
texture and composi-
tion, similar to the
very best fire brick.
It is, therefore, inde-
structible by fire, and

like articles made of Roman cement. We
were shown some specimens, in Boston,
which have been in use in most exposed
places for six years, and are as perfect as
at first.

A great variety of articles are made by
the Garnkirk company, including tessellated
paving tile, pipes for conveying loater, orna-
mental balustrade'^, &c. We shall, however,

^^-

TA

\U

\\

very durable in the J ) V \Tl' \ \
open air. When ex- / / ^ \S-i ]—}

K

op

posed to the weather

it does not crumble.

\ / ( \\ I

B

Fig. 2 —Five Small Sized Chimney Tops.

i>

38

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

at the present moment, confine our no- y
tice chiefly to two articles most in de~<r^r
mand in the United States, — chimney \_A
tops and vases.

The cottage ornce demands some-
thing more tasteful than the clumsy old
form of the common brick chimney.
To separate the square mass into a
stack of distinct planes, each nicely
moulded and proportioned, is to give
a lightness and elegance to the chim-
ney, which constitutes one of the lead-
ing features of English rural archi-
tecture.

It has hitherto been difficult to build
handsome stacks of ornamental chim-
neys in this country, partly because we
have, as yet, no bricks moulded in the pro-
per forms, and partly because the chimney
tops, hitherto made in Roman cement, are
not found to stand the climate of the north-
ern states.

As we have made some inquiries of a
disinterested builder, who has pretty tho-
roughly tested the Garnkirk chimney tops,
in situations exposed to the utmost vicissi-
tudes of summer and winter in the northern
states, we have liitle hesitation in recom-
mending this material to very general use.
It is of a very agreeable drab, or fawn
colour, naturally, and maybe painted so as
to correspond with the hue of any building
upon which it is used.

These chimney tops are made in a great
variety of patterns and sizes, to suit houses
of different dimensions. Fig. 2, shows five
forms of chimney tops, for cottages of small
size. Thus, a is 2 feet 8 inches high, b 3
feet 6 inches, c 3 feet, d 3 feet 3 inches, e
3 feet 4 inches. The prices of these range
from $2.25 to $3.25 each.*

Fig. 3, represents three forms, also suitable

* We give prices for the accommodation of our western
readers ai.d coirespoiidents.

Fig. 3. — Three Medium Sized Chimney Tops.

for Gothic cottages, but of larger size. The
heights of these are as follows : a, 4 feet 9
inches ; b, 4 feet 6 inches ; c, 6 feet. Pri

ces from $4 to $6.75.

Fig. 4. — Three Grecian or Italian Chinmei/ Tops.

Fig. 4, shows three forms of chimney
tops, suitable for small cottages in the Ital-
ian or Grecian style. They are only 3 to
4 feet in height, and cost from $2.75 to
$5.50 each.

Figs. 5 and 6, show eight richly orna-
mented shafts, in the Elizebethan style,
copied after some of the finest antique speci-
mens. These are each 6 feet high, and are
admirably adapted to ornamental villas of
the first class. Some of the richest efTects,

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

39

ir^ old English rural
architecture, were pro-
duced by grouping va-
rious patterns of chim-
ney shafts together in
one stack, as repre-
sented in these two
figures. We have, as
)^et, seen no success-
ful attempt to. construct
them in this country;
but now, that the Garn-
kirk ware is found to
bear our climate, it will
be easy to add to the
beauty of an ornate cot-
tage bygroups of chim-
neys like these.

We say, an ornate
cottage, — for it must
be continually borne in
mind, in all the deco-
rations of rural archi-
tecture, that the degree
of ornament should be
proportioned to the
class and description
of the edifice. Thus,
it would be in bad taste
to put a highly deco-
rated chimney top, like
c. Fig. ,3, on a very
plain cottage. It is only
upon a cottage where
the veranda, the win-
dows, the gables, &c.,
are all proportionally
decorated, that a rich
chimney shaft can be
correctly used. Har-
mony of decoration in a
building has, or should
have its laws ; and it
is no more tolerable

* m

Fig. 5. — Elizabethan Chimney Tops.

Fig. 6. — Elizabethan Chimney Tops.

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

Fig 7.

Fig. 8.

that a builder should put very rich chimney
tops on a bald and meagre cottage, than
that a hatter should put a plumed chapeau-
bras on the head of a day-
laborer.

There are few objects
that may, with so much
good effect, be introduced
into the scenery of plea-
sure grounds, surrounding
a tasteful villa, as the vase,
in its many varied forms. The terra cotta
vases of the Garnkirk company exhibit
pleasing forms, and a
soft mellow shade of
colour, which harmo-
nizes admirably with
the hue of foliage and
turf. From among the
variety' manufactured
by them, we have se-
lected a few, of which
we here present engravings.

Fig. 7, is a pleasing pattern, ornamented
with foliage. There are three sizes of this
pattern ; the smallest being 2 feet high,
and costing $5.

Fig. 8, is a new vase, ornamented with
a wreath, and is generally admired. The
height is nearly 3 feet, and the price S6.
Fig. 9, is a clas-
sical vase of pure
and simple outline.
It is 3| feet high,
and costs SlO.

Fig. 10, is a copy

of the celebrated

Warwick vase, 4

feet wide and 2|

feet high.

F'ff-9- Figs. 11 and 12,

are classical vases, upon pedestals, as they

should always appear when placed in any

part of the pleasure grounds. To set down

a vase upon the earth, or the lawn, without
any pedestal, is to give it a temporary cha-
racter, and to rob it of that dignity and im-
portance which it gains, both to the eye
and the reason, by being placed on a firm
and secure pedestal.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 13, represents a pair of tozza vases,
for a fountain. The measurement of the
whole 10 feet high.

Looking at the vase in an artistical point
of view, it is considered as performing the
office of uniting the architecture and the
grounds of a complete country residence.
It is the architectural idea, carried a little
beyond the house, and shows that the same
feeling of taste and embellishment reigns
in both departments of the residence. It

will be easily understood from this, that
the most suitable place for vases is in high-
ly kept portions of the pleasure ground,

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

41

near the house, where the vases may be
seen in connexion with it ; or, at least,
where the architecture of the building har-
monizes with the highly artificial forms of
the vase. The simplest cottage may have
its vase ; but, where the building is small,
the rustic vase, made of bits of wood, and
filled with flowing plants, is in better keep-
ing than those made of any more highly
artificial materials.

Mr. Loudon has written so ably on the
employment of vases in gardens, both in the
town and country, that we cannot do better
than to give his remarks in conclusion.

"From the influence of fixed and ele-
vated vessels, or other permanent struc-
tures, for containing plants, in giving con-
sequence to them, has arisen, not only the
employment of stone vases, but even of that
description of rustic baskets and vases, for
containing flowers, now frequently placed
on lawns in extensive pleasure grounds, and
which are particularly suitable for cottage
gardens. But the satisfaction which rustic
vases give, in such situations, is far inferior
to that produced by fixed stone vases in
Sown gardens ; because, in the latter situa-
VoL. IIL 3

tion, flowers of any kind are comparatively
rare and cherished ; whereas, in extensive
pleasure grounds in the country, where
there are beds of Pelargoniums, and other
flowers without end, it seems almost need-
less profusion to elevate them in vases.
Hence it is, that when stone or pottery
vases are introduced into gardens in the
country, they are very seldom filled with
plants of any kind. They are introduced
there as beautiful works of art, to give
pleasure, by their contrast, to the beautiful
works of nature with which they are sur-
rounded.

" Another reason why vases of flowers
should be introduced into the little walled
gardens of streets is, that they harmonize
admirably with the masonry and architec-
tural forms with which they are surrounded .
For this reason, also, stone vases should be
sparingly introduced into pleasure grounds
in the country, except £.s appendages or or-
naments to architecture ; such as on the
parapets of terraces near the house, on the
stone borders, balustrades, etc., of architec-
tural flower gardens, &c. They should
never be set down on the naked ground;
and, above all, they should always have a
fixed and permanent character. This cha-
racter is given when a flower pot or vase is
set on a wall, so as to form a termination
to piers, pedestals, pilasters, or pillars of
any kind ; but place it on the coping of the
wall, in the interval between such piers,
&c., and its character becomes at once tem-
porary and unmeaning ; because there is no
obvious reason for placing a vase there at
all ; for limiting the number to one ; or for
not moving it to the right or left, or even
for not taking it away altogether,

"If it be asked, why use vases in the
country at all, unless plants are to be put
in them? The answer is, they are em-
ployed as appropriate ornaments, as beauti-

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TO^.

kf^<i3£l^^^^

Fig. 13.

ful forms, and as articles of rarity, and of
value. But it may be further asked, can
an article be beautiful, or confer ornament
on another object, when it is itself of no
use? Certainly it can. The noblest or-
naments are those which are vvfithout use,
in the common sense of the word ; though
m the sense of art and refinement, every-
thing is of use which adds to the strengh of
the emotion of the kind of beauty which it
is desired to produce. What would be the
splendor of the drawing-room, or the effect
of the picture gallery without gilding I or

an assembly of highly dressed beauties
without those useless articles, — diamonds
and other precious stones? Nature has
planted in the mind of man, from the
rudest savage to the most refined philoso-
pher, a capacity for deriving pleasure from
beauty. It is necessary that this want should
be supplied ; and it will be found gratified,
to a certain extent, in every stage of the
progress of civilization ; partly by objects
which are useful in the ordinary sense of
the word, as dress, «&;c.; and partly by such
as have no other use than the power of

ORNAMENTAL VASES AND CHIMNEY TOPS.

43

conferring ornament. In the rudest state
of society, we have the tattooing and nose-
rings of the savage ; next, the ear-rings,
scarcely less barbarous, of a more civilized
period ; and, though these must pass away
with the introduction of a taste more truly
refined, the necklaces and bracelets, which
are common to all ages and countries, will
probably continue to be so, so long as
women dress highly, and large parties are
given by artificial light.

" Another reason for the introduction of
vases, and other architectural ornaments of
a similar kind, both into town and country
gardens, is, their tendency to create and cul-
tivate a taste for natural beauty in the
spectator ; since, however paradoxical it
may seem, it is, nevertheless, true that we
can only be instructed in the beauties of
nature through those of art. No person
can either enjoy, understand, describe, or
remember a landscape properly, who has
not been instructed in drawing landscapes,
any more than he could enjoy, understand,
or analyze any particular style of writing
without having been taught grammar and
composition. Teaching a person to draw
trees, for example, is teaching him to find
beauties in trees which he had never seen
in them before. Setting before a person
beautiful vases, is to familiarise him with
beautiful forms, which he cannot help con-
trasting with ordinary shapes ; and accord-
ing to his natural capacity, or the suitable-
ness of his organization for discernment in
forms, he will find in the vase a unity of
tendency in the lines which constitute their
outlines, a symmetry in their general forms,
and a richness, an intricacy, and a charac-
ter of art in their sculptured details, which
will induce him to search for those quali"
ties in other objects of art, and to observe
every tendency towards them in the works
of nature. To such an observer, the pro-

ductions of architecture and sculpture would
assume a new interest; he would gradu-
ally, and almost imperceptibly, acquire a
knowledge of, and a taste for, the beauty
of forms and lines in objects generally.
He would thus learn to distinguish sym-
metry, regularity, unity, variety, and other
abstract qualities in works of art, which he
would probably never have discovered in
the forms of nature without such assistance ;
though they exist there, and are merely
imitated by art in a way which renders
them more obvious to untutored man, who
sees only that mind in other things which
he understands and feels in himself.

" The last reason which we shall offer
for the introduction of vases into architec-
tural and garden scenery is, the gratifica-
tion which such objects afford to the man
of intelligence and taste. There are, per-
haps, few objects, next to the human
figure, which afford as many interesting
historical associations as the vase. It may
truly be said to be the first and the last
production of the plastic art. The first
utensil formed by man, in the dawn of
civilization, in every country, is a vessel or
vase for holding water ; and that on which
the highest resources of art are bestowed,
in ages of the greatest refinement, is a ves-
sel or vase for holding wine. In the first
case, it is hollowed out of a gourd, or rudely
shaped of clay, and dried in the sun ; and
in the latter case, it is manufactured of
costly metals or precious stone; or if of
common materials, such as stone, earthen
ware, or glass, it is rendered valuable by the
taste and skill bestowed on its form or its
ornaments. The history of every country
may be traced by its vases, no less than by
its coins; and the history of all countries is
set before us in the vases of all countries."

lO^ Messrs. James Lee & Co., 11 Broad-street, New-
York, and 18 India- wharf, Boston, are Agents for the sale of
these articles in the United States.

44

FOREIGN NOTICES,

FOREIGN NOTICES.

The Bkautiful Gardens of Italy. — [The
following is part of a letter received by a late
steamer from one of our neighbors, who has left
his country seat on the Hudson for a couple of years,
to explore Europe and Asia. He looks at Europe
so much with our own eyes, in a horticultural sense,
and describes the perfections of Italian gardening
80 understandingly, that we are sure our readers
will enjoy the following long extracts. — Edt.]

All I said against Italy in the winter, I will un-
say of it in the spring. Nothing can surpass it in
verdure and luxuriance. lu Lombardy, especially,
as far as the eye can reach, the most superb crops,
the barley being higher than our horse's heads ; hill
upon hill, mountain upon mountain, terraced to the
summit, and the cultivation of the grapes as carefully
fully attended to in the training up and tying, as in
Sivinery in America. And the roads — I do not think

Mr. L-^ 's, (on the Hudson), the first hour after

its spring draining and raking, can compare with
them : richly gravelled, not a weed to be seen, on
either side stone gutters, then granite posts every
ten feet, then a double row of horse-chestnuts, (now
in bloom) , then a gravel-walk, then a closely sha-
ven and verged turf border ; and this for 100 miles,
to Milan ; and 31 miles from Milan to Como ; and
in fact, all over Lombardy. The country is per-
fectly flat, and the roads, or rather avenues,
straight, and would be monotonous, if one were not
so charmed by the cultivation, and the most ex-
quisite order. Not a wall or fence is to be seen,
seldom a hedge, — the divisions being made by trees,
(pollards,) of mulberry or poplar, whose summer
growth generally does duty as fire-wood in winter.

But these divisions, or even fields, can seldom be
much seen, from the density of the shade trees —
chesnuts or lindens, that border the great roads. *
»«*••* Milan, itself, is surrounded by a
noble, gravelled drive of 12 miles, bordered by a
double row of horse-chestnut, now in full bloom and
very magnificent. The celebrated cathedral here,
far surpasses in richness and beauty all I have
hitherto seen. Conceive of 7000 statues on the
roof, on the different turrets and pinnacles, and the
carved stone flowevs that adorn the flying buttresses
in 32,000 varieties ! » * * We have been two
days at Como, and I am convinced that I have
passed last night and this morning at a spot never
elsewhere to be surpassed in its glorious beauty.
Hitherto I held up for the Hudson, but to-night we
have come home to Como, heatful and disspirited ;
for we have seen Bellagio ! I am almost tempted
to say no more, for I oan't describe it — who can
describe Bellagio 1 I will merely say this, that you
sail up the lake (which is 52 miles long) some 20
miles, through scenery wonderfully similar to the
Hudson highlands from Caldwell's to Buttermilk
falls, and about as wide as our river there ; but
diflering in this way ; where the dock is at Cald-
well's, will be a terraced wall, springing from the

water, surmounted by a heavy stone l/annstracfe'
This again is crowned at its angles, and pilasters,
with statues, or vases, with a double flight of stone
steps, facing two ways, descending into the water.
Back of this terrace is another, perhaps a third,
with their walls towards the river espaliered with
oranges and lemons, or with Lamarque and the
true Banksian roses in a mass of bloom. Thea
rises a palace, crowned by a ballustrade and sta-
tues, and flanked by cypresses, ilex, Italian pines,
mingled, towards the flower garden, with magnolia
grandiflora, laurustinus, laurels, oleander, and pur-
ple beeches. These gardens leading through for-
mal, but beautiful myrtle hedges, to bosquets, and
finally to terrace upon terrace, with tiers of mul-
berry and vines, and so on, up apparently inacces-
sible hill sides, to the top of a mountain as perpen-
dicular and higher than " Anthony's Nose." On
the very apex will be perched, perhaps, a village
of 60 or 100 houses, and its church of grey or yel-
lowish stone and tiled roof. These villagers are
tenants and tillers of the soil of the villabelow. Ima-
gine this existing all through the Highlands ; these
villas diflering in size and taste like our North
river places : some with one teirace, others two,
01 hers with half a dozen. Some, on the contrary,
immediately rising from the water, like Mr. Cru-
ger's summer-house ; having in this case their ter-
races in the rear, and on the lake, canopied bal-
conies overhanging it : sometimes, again, the vil-
lage will be on the water, and the villa half way
up the terraced mount. The mountains are gene-
rally much more elevated and more sharply pointed
than our " Sugar Loaf," (the most conical of the
hills on the Hudson); surmounted, perhaps, by a
chapel, so inaccessible that you would think it built
as a penance for those to visit it who live at its foot ;
and this is sometimes actually the intention. We
passed one to-day immediately over a village which
it took 5 hours to reach. To convey to one at home
some idea of the grouping here, you must place
yourself in our Highlands, with, on the top of Break-
neck a convent ; on the top of Crows-Hest a village;
half-way down, perhaps, another, the houses not
scattered, but all huddled as close together as pos-
sible— 20 houses and a church not covering as
much space as 5 with us : a point like Stoney point
would have a villa on its south and one on its north,
and pp.rhaps another on the point ; the gar-
dens and terraces all running into each other by
their terraced walls. On the highest ground would
be perhaps a little village, or ruined, ivied tower.
Every point you turn you come to a villa, a palace,
or a town, snugly stowed away on a mountain, or
a projecting cliff, like West Point, as if to be put
out of temptation.

All these places are accessible only by boats or
mule paths, for there is no beach or level ground.
The mountain begins from the water. This is the
character of all the Italian lakes.

After running up through this highland scenery
of Como for two hours, you come at last to a pro-

FOREIGN NOTICES.

45

v.oplory, wiih a posUion verj' much like that of
West I'oint, supposinjf that the Hudson, forked
there, and one arm ran on each side. This is
Bellagio, belonging to the Dutchess of Bologna.
You stand on the top of this uromontory and look
down one lake, running 20 miles, to Como : and
this view is similar (thoigh finer, from the moun-
tain, being higher and more delicate) tp the view
down the North river from Kosciusko's monument.
When you look, as it might be, upon a point of the
Hudson running between Crow-nest and the West-

?oint dock, some 20 miles down the lake, to Lecco.
'ou then look up, as if to Newburgh, and see
about as far as Newburgh from West-point, [9
miles] the J[lps, in snow-clad majesty. Opposite
Bellagio, [as if at Cold Spring] is a m.agniticent
villa belonging to Fanny Ellssler. As if at the foot
of Crow-nest is the palace of the Princess of Prus-
sia. As if at the West Point landing is Pasta's.
As if at Buttermilk Falls, 2 villas and a large
orangery of Taglioni's : further down, opposite
£say atSt. Anthony's Nose] is the viWa d'Este, for-
merly owned by Caroline, Princess of Waks. All
these we visited. Above and below are the villas
of the Milanese and some English nobility. Many
of these palaces and villas cost millions (even
where labor is so cheap as here), filled as they are
with costly works of art. At one, we saw this
morning Thorwalsden's great basso-relievo of Al-
exander's triumphant entr}', made for Napoleon's
arch of victory, at the monument of the Simplon
road.

And now comes my hardest task — to describe
this promontory, Bellagio : I don't think it covers
5 acres, rising, conically, perhaps 600 feet from
the water ; but the walks, which are gravelled or
paved with very small stones, are 3 or 4 miles in
length, most admirably managed with dense plan-
tations, tunnels and bridges. The promontor}^
from the lakes, seems heavily wooded, and it is in
parts, as dense as the wood at Montgomery Place,
and yet everj' thing has been done by art. The
deep shade is caused by the most charming under-
growth of cypresses, laurel, casuarina myrtle, and
English yews. You enter through a cavern into a
glen quite spectral in its midnight darkness, sur-
rounded by immense Italian pines, and under-
growth of yew : You are then let down into day-
light, and into a charming peep of one of the lakes
by the most delicate gradations of dark to light,
first going through not only the co ors, but also the
changes oi form of the following evergreens — ce-
dars of Lebanon, pinus excelsis, deodars, and
weeping larches, which actually wave and dance
you out into the sun-light.

This is the only large specimen of the true weep-
ing larch I ever saw. The full grown deodar (Ce-
drus deodara) is quite as pendulous as the weeping
larch, and they harmonize admirably together.
After these trees, you shortly commence, in the
midst of a blazing sun, with the most feathery and
delicate of the acacias, and grow cooler and darker
with the coarser varieties, and the rose acacia, all
enchantingly entangled with the Chinese wistaria,
which here flowers all summer. After struggling
through purple beeches, and some other dark fo-
liage which I could not find out, you get out again

through a lovely grove of araucarias, pinus excel-
sis. p. longifoiia, and abies Douglassii tha.t I knew,
and some 20 more that I never heard of that actu-
ally threw mo into an arboricultural phrenzy — at
finding how far we are behind the time. From
here we emerged into a little lawn quite surround-
ed by high cliffs, covered by superb plantations of
aloes and bananas, pepper trees, scarlet and white
horse-chestnuts, all in flower ; and a collection of
rhododendrons, dazzling from their gorgeousness.
This lawn is devoted to magnolias of every possible
variety, of which some eight or ten sorts were ia
flower. The air v/as heavy with perfume. These
were in single specimens, and in masses. You
left this oasis by the only way it seemed possible
to get out — a cavern in the rocks — through
which you passed until you got into profound
darkness ; gradually the light returned ; at last
you reached a point from which two vistas open-
ed. One down the lake to Como, the other down
the lake to Lecco. You looked at these as at a
picture through a darkened tube ; for the cavern was
formed, apparently for this purpose. These tunnels
lead you out to a walk bordered by natural rock, per-
haps 20 feet high, covered by lamarque and the
banksian roses, in such a profusion of bloom, that
the rock had the appearance of being painted white
and yellow. On the other side the walk was bordered
by masses of choice azaleas, in every variety of
color and flower, some 8 and lO feet high. Passing
a charming cascade overhung with weeping beech-
es, waving birches, and willows, the walk led
through a maze of Judas trees, all the varieties of
double thorns, the laburnum, purple and yellow ;
and getting umbrageous and mazy again, with
purple beeches, purple berberries, and purple fil-
berts, come out again, clear and bright, through
different varieties of heath and acacia, upon a little
platform looking up the 3d lake and to the snowy
Alps, and down a perpendicular precipice of some
600 feet, into an exquisite flower garden below, into
which I was prevented from falling by a parapet
interwoven with every variety of honeysuckle !
The other walk from the cavern led along a similar
wall of rock pierced into holes, and filled with all
the varieties of the cactus and aloe, with an occa-
sional frame of rustic work covered with air-plants
and parasites. This led by a grand terrace, bal-
lustraded and statued, and commanding the three
lakes, to the palace ; and here let me breathe, for
I could scarcely do so last night and this morning,
from wonder and delight !

Putting the wonderful views quite out of the
question, Bellagio is the most extraordinary place
1 ever saw for perfect planting and rare collections.
I have not mentioned a third of the rare trees, for
though every tbing is nicely labelled in zinc, the
names were mostly in Italian, and the head gard-
ner, who was English, was away. It is surpris-
ing, tha^ a place like the lake of Como. surround-
ed by mountains mostly snow-capped, within 15
hours of the Simplon, should possess, of all places
in the north o! Italy, a climate allowing exotics to
remain out in winter. » * * i4j;[j May. The
preceding pages left us at Como, which we left
yesterday, coming to Lago Maggiore — sleeping at
Arona. After dinner we walked up the hill to see

46

FOREIGN NOTICES.

the famous statue of Carlo Borromeo, 12 feet high,
on a pedestal 46 feet. The statue is of bronze, and
is really immense. One arm is stretched out over
the lake, blessing his native city. A bible, which
he holds in the other hand, is 9 feet long. The
countenance expresses the benevolent character
given to the man ; and the whole thing is in such
admirable proportion that it does not seem so co-
lossal, although the whole, (statue and pedestal,)
is over 100 feet high. It is possible to ascend it
inside, but dark and fatiguing. The head will
hold 15 persons.

Lago Maggiore, at Arena, where we slept last
night, is very lovely ; much wider than Como, but
not so picturesque. An idea may be formed by
imagining a sort of mixture of Jamaica lake (near
Boston) and the Hudson near West Point. The
mountains, except on the Swiss (Alps) side, do not
rise so abruptly as at Como. In many parts there
are towns, or meadows, prettily dotted with trees
and villas, and villages lodged between the water
and mountains. Our saloon was a large one, with
three French windows, opening to the floor, upon
balconies overhanging the lake. From it we count-
ed 7 villages, part in Lombardy, part in Pied-
mont, and one in Switzerland ; for the lake is bor-
dered by 4 countries The sun had just set, and
the moon — a full moon, rose over snow - capped
mountains — Monte-Rosa, one of the highest of the
Alps, wliile, from the different village churches,
stole on the water, the vesper bells ; the different
modulations produced by the different distances
across the water, gave the effect of chimes. It was
charming ; for the evening was soft and lovely.

Starting at 7 this morning, after a delightful ride
of two hours, upon a road bordering the water by
beautiful villas adorned with flowers and vases,
we came to the Borromean islands — Isola Bella
and Isola Madre : These are owned by the Count
Borromeo, who resides in a grand palace on Isola
Bella, for some 2 months in the year.

These islands, which, each, contains perhaps
from H to 2 acres, were originally mere slate
rocks, lifting themselves a few feet from the sur-
face of the lake, and were thus converted into
beautiful gardens, teeming with tropical vegeta-
tion, by an ancestor of the present family in 1671.
Isola Bella consists of 10 terraces, (the lowest
founded on piers thrown into the lake,) and rising
in a pyramidal form, one above the other, and lined
with statues, vases, obelisks, and immense cypres-
ses. Upon these terraces flourish, as upon the
"_ hanging gardens of Babylon," not merely the
citron, and orange, and pomegranate, but aloes,
cacti, the camphor tree, (one specimen 20 feet
high,) the sugar cane, 2 varieties of tea ; and all
this within sight of perpetual snow, and of the
Lapland climate of the Alps.

The marvel in these islands is the fact, that
every handful of soil was originally brought from a
distance, and requires every year to be more or less
renewed. And yet I saw as dense a wood, as hi^^h
trees, and as luxuriant vegetation as I ever sawin

my life. Among the most interesting things a4
Isola Bella, is a gigantic sweet bay tree, 8 feet in
diameter, and the largest, the gardener told me, in
Europe, upon which you can indistinctly trace the
remains of the word " Battaglia," cut by Napoleon
with his knife, a few days before the battle of Ma-
rengo.

Isola Bella is wonderful, but not interesting.
The trees, magnolias, araucarias~many fine spe-
cimens ; of our white pine, one superb specimen.
The situation is lovely about a mile from the shore.
The different views entertained of it as a matter of
taste, are amusing. Brockden, in his work on Swit-
zerland, says " it is worthy only of a rich man's
extravagance, and of the taste of a confectioner" :
while Saussure says it is " un magnifique caprice :
un pensee grandiose, une espece de creation." The
.money that must have been spent in its terraces,
statues, fountains, etc. must be frightful ! All these
10 terrace walls are covered in with espaliers of
oranges and lemons, running round the whole isl-
and, and they are really beautiful, laden as they
are with fruit.

Isola Madre, which is larger, and distant half a
mUe, is a gem. This is used rather as a garden or
pleasure grounds for Isola Bella ; it is laid out in
the natural English style, with little bits of lawn of
exquisite grass ; almost everything that we have in
green. houses supports the winter here : immense
palms, aloes, larger than mine in the conservatory.
(8 were in flower,) araucariaexcelsa, 30 feet high,
A. imbricata 16 feet ; pinus longifolia, and some
10 other rare species, 15 to 20 feet high ; splendid
cedars of Lebanon ; every species of green-house
magnolia, with a dense undergrowth of English
azaleas, 8 to 12 feet high, in a mass of bloom. One
entire bank, half as large as your lawn, was com-
posed of rhododendrons russellianum, catawbiense,
alta-clareuse, arboreum and hybrid varieties, 15 to
18 feet high, with thousands of flowers ; heaths,
higher than ray head, as undergrowth. One bed
of Chinese azalea, 100 feet long by 5 feet wide,
was the most gorgeously magnificent thing, in its
way, I ever saw. It was one thick blaze of bloom.
The Wistaria sinensis, trained as a shrub, 30 years
old, with a trunk as large as a man's body, and a
head as large as your Virgilia. Three or four fine
double camellias, in flower, which are as high as
the second story windows, branching from the
ground ; and a new variety of cypress, (cupressus
glauca pendula.) weeping like a willow. One
walk of pittisporums, in immense masses, termi-
nates against a hedge of oleanders, &.c. 8cc. The
whole planting was deep and umbrageous, pro-
ducing dense shade ; the plants, many yews, &c.
evidently being selected for this purpose, and the
contrast to the tropical hot looking ])\'dnts was very
striking. Beautiful golden and silver pheasants,
mingled with the foliage ; and the whole seemed
to me like some immense conservatory, with the
glass taken away. II. W. S. Geneva, 21sf 3Iay,
1848.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

47

D.OMBSTIC NOTICES.

Design roa a small Cottage — see Frontis-
piece.— This extremely simple and well propor-
tioned design for a working-man's cottage, is by Mr.
Jackson, an English architect, and was published
in the London Art Union,

It is a good illustration of the fact that dwellings
of the smallest size may be made tasteful, almost
without ornament, merely by the adoption of pleas-
ing outlines and proportions. The chimneys are
especially neat, and characteristic, and the brack-
etted gablet over the door gives something of dig-
nity even to this, the simplest form of entrance.
The plan of this house in only given in words as
follows: "The present subject comprises three
rooms, with wash-house, tool shed, &c. attached
as a lean-to against the (opposite side of) the
building. The living room, lourteen feet square,
is placed in front ; and from two doors on the
chimney side of the room, a bed-room, fourteen feet
by twelve feet, and the kitchen, fourteen feet square,
are respectively entered. The lean-to contains
a wash-house, twelve feet by eight, and tool-shed,
&c., eight feet by seven feet. The whole is on the
most compressed scale, but is susceptible of much
comfort. The estimated cost of this design is
JE120," ($600.)

Northern Spy Apples. — Dear Sir : We send
you, per express, a few samples of the Northern
Spy, which, if you receive them in as good condi-
tion as now, will enable you to form an opinion as
to their keeping qualities, compared with others.

We have had more in our market the past season
than ever before, and yet the dealers sell them now
at three to four cents each.

We have a fine pros.pect of fruit all around Ro-
chester, and if nothing happens hereafter, the
orchard crops will be large. Very respectfully,
your obedient servants. EUwanger S^ Barry . Ro-
chester, N. Y., May Zlst, 1848.

[We received the specimens mentioned above on
the third of June, in -perfect order, and, after test-
ing their flavor, unhesitatingly rank this sort among
the very first of late keeping apples. Indeed there
is no apple of the same season which compares with
this variety, except the celebrated Newtown Pip-
pin. The latter fruit is different in texture, being
firm, crisp and juicy, while the Northern Spy is
tender, sprightly and juicy. There are, therefore,
many persons, preferring a sprightly to a rich fruit,
who would place the Northern Spy even as high as
the Newtown Pippin. Certainly it is the most
beautiful and sprightly of spring apples.

We find that this apple has been sold this spring,
in Boston market, at $3 to $4 per barrel, and re-
tailed (the finest specimens) as high as 12^ cents
each ! Ed.]

Transactions of the Mass. Hort. Society,
Number 2. — Number 2 of this handsome large 8vo.
pamphlet is in the highest degree creditable to the

Society. It contains 4 finely colored plates, and de
scriptions of the following fruits : the Dix pear,
the Tyson pear, the Andrews pear, and Downer's
late cherry. These plates are finely executed, being
engraved and colored by hand, and are far superior
to those in the first number, which were done by
the chromolith process, which the Society has aban-
doned.

Besides the description of these fruits, the num-
ber contains the three following articles, viz : On
the Hybridization of the camellia, by Col. Wilder,
(a very interesting paper which we gave entire in
our last number) ; Analysis of the forms of the Pear,
from the pen of the corresponding secretary, with
12 outline illustrations calculated to render pomo-
logical descriptions more definite, and a paper giv-
ing the " results of the cultivation of six kinds of
garden pea," by J. E. Teschemaker, Esq. The
remainder of the number (77 pages) is filled with
the business proceedings of the Society.

We understand that two numbers like the present
will hereafter be issued annually. The beautiful
manner in which these Transactions are published,
certainly equal to the publications of any society on
either side of the Atlantic, and the high position
which the horticulturists of Massachusetts have at-
tained for practical skill, must, we think, commend
these Transactions to general favor.

Cleveland Cherries. — We have received by
express, just as the last pages of these notices are
going to press, specimens of several of Dr. Kirt-
LANDs's seedling cherries, from Mr. Elliott, of
Cleveland.

Only one variety was in such a state of maturity
as to enable us to form a correct opinion of its
merit. This is " Kirtland's Mary," described in our
last volume, a very fine large, obtuse heart-shaped
cherry, well worthy of general cultivation. We
hope next season to have all Dr. Kirtland's new
cherries in bearing in our ovi'n grounds, when we
can judge more perfectly of their qualities.

The Pomological Convention — A. J. Down-
ing, Esq. — In the June number of the Horticnl-
turist, I notice a communication from Mr. Han-
cock, of New-Jersey, and which was accompanied
w"ith some editorial remarks, on the importance
and propriety of holding a convention of fruit grow-
ers in the city of New- York in the month of Octo-
ber next.

For one, I am much gratified to see a growing
disposition manifested among fruit-growers and
nursery-men to meet and compare fruits, and inter-
change views and feelings on this interesting sub-
ject. To compare fruits from all parts of the coun-
try will do much to correct the nomenclature of
the various varieties of fruits grown among us.
But this will not be the work of a day, or a year.
Many varieties that are now said to be of recent
origin, will no doubt prove synonymous with old
and well established varieties.

48

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

A call for such a convention , to be held at Buf-
falo on the first of September next, has been widely
circulated, and a number of fruit-growers and po-
mologists, from the east and from the west, have
assured us that they would be present upon that
occasion. This call was made before any notice
had appeared elsewhere. The convention is to as-
semble on Friday previous to the coming off of the
State Fair, and Cattle Show, also to be held at
Buffalo. There cannot be a doubt but that a very
larije number will be present, and take part in the
deliberations of this convention, and that much good
will result from this convocation.

Under these circumstances, I would beg leave to
suggest, that we hold but one convention this year,
and that the convention for next year be held in
New-York. What say you and friend Hancock to
this suggestion ?

However, should our eastern friends determine
to hold a convention, as suggested, in the city of
New-York in the month of October, I trust that
western New- York, and the western country will
be fully represented in such convention. We have
much to do in this matter, and I am decidedly in
favor of having such convention adjourn from year
to year, and make it a perpetual institution. Yours,
very respectfully. B. Hodge. Buffalo Nursery,
June, 1848.

[The pomological convention to be held at New-
York, has been in contemplation for some time,
and a plan was suggested to us by the fruit com-
mittee of the Mass. Hort. Society while we were
in Boston last April.

We believe materials can be assembled at New-
York for a much more complete pomological con-
vention than at any other point in the country. The
pomological convention at Buffalo will no doubt be
a highly interesting one, but it is impossible, from
the position of Buffalo, and the comparatively re-
cent attention to horticulture in the west, that the
same amount of experience in pomology can be
concentrated there as in a convention near the sea-
board which will be mainly composed of the most
experienced pomologists of New-England, New-
York, New- Jersey and Pennsylvania. Let our wes-
tern friends crijstalize their experience at the Buf-
falo convention, and afterwards, by an able delega-
tion, add it to the accumulated facts which will be
presented at the New- York convention — Ed.]

Raspberry Culture. — I notice, with you, as in
our more immediate neighborhood, there are many
complaints made of the uncertainty of the rasp-
berry crop, and of poor success with the canes. It
is a difficulty we have never experienced ourselves,
as the raspberry is by far the most certain yield of
any fruit cultivated by us, not excepting the grape.
We have tried them on all soils, and exposures, both
north and south sides of close fences ; but the situ-
ation which with us suits them best is in the open
ground, in a deep soil, {not necessarily very moist
or damp,) in rows as far apart in the rows as the
rows are from each other ; about the 4th of July,
tieing each vine to a single strong stake. We have
tried a trellice and bars for each row, but find they
do better tied singly in this way. The ground is
covered with a heavy coating of manure in the

fall, which is dug in in the spring, and we tfiittfe fl
is a good plan to dig in along with it the trim-
mings of the vines.

The pruning is performed the early part of third
month, after the heavy frosts are over, and consistss
simply in cutting out all but the preceding sum-
mer's wood, which is likewise shortened about i to
^ of its length. We find a great secret of raising
fine large berries, is never to allow the vines to re-
main in one If cility more than 5 or ft years : every
3 or 4 years setting out fresh plants (suckers) in a
new location, to take the place of those whose time
is expired, being satisfied that a ' rotatiorrof crops'
is necessary in horticulture as well as agriculture.

By practicing steadily on these rules, we have
now for 13 or 14 years never failed, I think, of a
fine and abundant crop of large raspberries. The
variety is, I think, the " red Antwerp." j} New
Subscriber. Philadelphia, 6th mo. 24, 1848.

[Good advice ; and especially the necessity of
making the soil deep. — Ed ]

Pomological Convention in New- York. — Re'
spected Friend: I have noticed, with pleasure, the
suggestion for a general fruit convention, to be held
in New- York city next autumn. Permit me, how-
ever, to propose an alteration in the time. VVould
not the 20rh to the 25th of 9th mo. (September)
be a decided improvement, all things being borne
in mind? Autumn apples would then be sufficiently
matured, as well as a large part of autumn pears ;
a large portion of the later peaches would be in
condition for exhibition, and the winter apples suf-
ficiency developed to sliow their distinctive charac-
ters, about as well, I should think, as a week or two
later. In other words, while it would afford an
opportunity to compare some of the late summer
and early autumn fruits, which ripen quickly, and
as quickly disappear, it would give nearly an equal
chance for winter fruits, which ripen more slowly,
and to which a week or two would be a matter of
less consequence. If New-Jersey and Pennsylvania
only were taken into consideration, perhaps the
proposed time need not be changed ; but as there
would doubtless be considerable contributions from
New-England and from Eastern and Western New-
York, I think the 25th of 9th mo. would be as late
as would be desirable.

Permit ine to inquire, if the Easter Beurre is
undoubtedly identical with the Doyenne d'Hiver ?
A tree of the latter was procured by Ex-Governor
Throop, when he was in France a few years ago;
and on comparing the fruit last winter, side by side
with Easter Beurre, while there was no perceptible
difference \n flavor and quality, the Doyenne d'Hi-
ver was different in form from any specimens of
Easter Beurre I had seen, having a small distinct
neck or taper to the stalk, like the Glout Morceau,
and was very regular in shape. Very respectfully,
/. J. Thomas. Macedon, N. Y , 6«io. 19, 1848.

[We understand that a conference is going on
between the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania Hor-
ticultural Societies, and the American Institute,
respecting the time and place of holding a great
Pomological Convention, which has been in con-
templation for some time. Both Mr. Hancock's
and Mr. Thomas' suggestions will, no doubt,

DOMESTIC NOTICES,

a.lonj^ With many others, receive consideraVon .
We shall probably be able to announce the time
fixed in our next number. Ed.]

The Character of the Strawberry. — Mr,
Downing: Your correspondent, (Dr. Valk) in the
last Horticulturist, attempts to set this question at
rest : but makes, I think, quite a mistake by re-
ferrinjT to accidental causes, facts which belong to
fixed laws. In the last clause ot" his article he
says that, " the dioecious character of some species
and of all varieties, is the result of accident, rather
than fixed laws." From a long and carefal inves-
tigation of this question, in which a great number
of species and varieties has come under my obser-
vation, for, besides having access to the extensive
collections in the nurseries, I cultivate from two to
three acres of the most approved kinds, I have de-
duced the following facts or laws :

1. Whether plants growing wild or those raised
from seed be examined, there will generally be
found some hermaphrodite, that is with both pistils
and stamens developed : and others pistillate, or
having no perfect stamens.

2. These two kinds being increased by runners
do not vary their characters.

3. Hermaphrodite plants will bear fruit by them-
selves, being furnished with both pistils and sta-
mens, though possessing various degrees of produc-
tiveness.

4. Pistillate plants will not bear fruit, unless
impregnated by others having stamens, but when
thus impregnated are usually very productive.

These propositions, which embrace the whole
matter at issue, being universally true, must be
considered as general and not accidental laws.

It does sometimes happen that a few blossoms of
an hermafihrodite plant prove defective in stamens
or in pistils, by abortion, but the general character
of the plant is never changed.

In regard to plants perfect in both organs, it
may be observed that the stamens and pistils, in
different varieties, bear very variable relations to
each other. In some the receptacle is full and per-
fect, and the fruit sets with some degree of cer-
tainty, while in others the receptacle is small or
otherwise defective, and the blossom liable to blast.

The above views, or rather facts, are the deduc-
tions of experience and observation, and agree, I
believe, with those of Mr. Longworth.

After the fruiting season is over I intend to make
some remarks up^n the comparative value and
qualities of many different varieties lately brought
into notice. G. W. Huntsman. Flushing, May
nth, 1848.

[We shall be glad to receive Mr. Huntsman's
further remarks. He is a earful observer. Ed.]

Cherry Trees at the South. — Dear Sir: I
noticed your directions, in the very first number of
this Journal, to those who had failed in raising the
finer varieties at the south. I immediately (Aug.
1846) set about sheathing my trees with straw, ex-
tending it some distance up the larger limbs. The
next autumn I also made a new plantation of the
best tender varieties, putting, as recommended, on
the north side of a fence and building.

I think it will be quite a boon to those of us who

have hitherto failed with this tree. I already ob'
serve a very marked difference between those trees
left fully exposed to the climate and those covered
with straw — 'among the old trees ; and those planted
two years ago are usually green and healthy. I
had nearly abandoned the cultivation of ail but the
Mayduke, and the more common Morellos, owing
to the difflcuitv experienced here, but now hope to
cultivate all the best varieties named in your work.
Yours, &tc. Ji. P, Miss., May, ]848,

Horticulture at Nashville, Tenn. — As the
Horticulturist, among the numerous valuabe and
instructive artides with which its pages abound,
occasionally informs us of the formation of new
horticultural societies, I have been induced to for-
ward a slight and imperpect sketch of tiie com-
mencement and progress of our association, (the
Nashville Horticultural Society ;) and as the ])lan
adopted dilfers, in many particulars, from any other
society I have seen described, the following details
may not, perhaps, be devoid of interest:

An attempt to form a society for the encourage-
ment of rural pursuits, and for the improvement of
the culture of fruits, flowers, &c. was announced
in the year 1844, by a few individuals of this city
and neighborhood, who organized and established
a horticultural societj', hoping, by encouraging ex-
hibitions and awarding premiums, to arouse some-
thing of that spirit and enterprising improvement
so apparent in the more northern and eastern
states ; but in consequence of the indilTerence mani-
fested by those engaged in the culture of the soil,
the society met with very indifferent success.
It then became evident that a course must be pur-
sued which would exhibit the advan'ages derivable
from such asso(;iations in a clearer light.

To eflect this purpose, the society obtained of the
State Legislature a charter, enabling it to hold pro-
perty, as a corporate body- A stock book was
opened for subscriptions of shares, at fifty dollars
each, and the constitution remodelled, making it
obligatory for each member to be owner of at least
one share of stock. A sufficient amount having
been subscribed, the society purchased a beautiful
lot of ground within one mile of the city, which
is arranged so as to form a nursery, iiito which
are being introduced the finest varieties of trees,
fruits and flowers, and the remaining portion ap-
propriated as a pleasure garden and grounds.
This is now the resort of members, their families,
and visiters invited by them. The green-house was
completed and stocked with plants last autumn,
and others are in progress. A cottage, in the rural
or English gothic style, has been built, in the con-
struction of which your works were advantageously
consulted. The cottage contains three rooms, for
the gardener's accommodation, and devoted to a
library and the reception of those visiting the gar-
den. The society will be obliged, for some time, to
dispose of a sufficient amount of plants and fruit
trees to meet, (with a small annual subscription,)
the current expenditure ; but we hope, ere long,
our more wealthy citizens may be impressed with
some portion of that intelligent taste and energy
which are, in the Eastern States, converting even
their bleak coasts into fruitful gardens. ISuch a

60

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

spirit woukl enable the society to become in reality
an association for the acquisition and diffusion of
horticultural knowledge. I remain, very respect-
fully, your obedient servant. William Prichard.
Nashville, May 30, 1848.

A Word for Botanists on the "Great
Strawbkrry QuESTiOM. — This subjeot is getting
to be nearly as prulific in disputes as the plants
themselves are in berries — so that, ultimately, they
will become as "plenty as blackberries." In the
elaborate report of the Cincinnati Horticultural
Society, on the strawberry, lately published, poor
systematic botanists come in for a full share of re-
proach on this fruitful subject. In their 4th pos-
tulate, they say : " That nearly all botanists, (and
among them our most enlightened modern writers,)
have overlooked the important error of Linnceus,
and have simply copied after him, without verifying
for themselves," &c. Now this unmerited taunt is
severe, because "enlightened botanists" do not claim
entire exemption from liability to error. Admitting
the charge of error and ignorance, on the part of
the great LinnsEus and enlightened botanists, to be
true, is the severity of the taunt deserved, when
so much of the progress of Horticulture and Flori-
culture, is due to the untiring zeal and unrequited
industry of the systematic botanist? All the pay
that the enlightened botanist expects, for the labo-
rious explorations of the wide fields of truth, in his
favorite branch of investigation, is the conscious-
ness of adding his mite to the general stock of sci-
ence, and the promotion of the cause of truth.
That he may commit errors, or that his investiga-
tions may be unsatisfactory, for want of opportu-
nities of carrying them on successful!)^, is conceding
to them no more than is incident to the fallibility of
all human speculations. Unfortunately for the
theory, ("for it is nothing but a theory,) of these
visionary men, LiNNiEUs ai d his humble followers
are not mistaken, nor in error, with regard to this
peculiarity of the plant in question. It is not a
dicBcious plant in a state of nature, (the only ques-
tion upon which the botanist is called upon to de-
cide,) and, so far as my observations extend, it is
not so with the cultivated varieties. Metamorphoses
of vegetables, from peculiar habits and cultivation,
take place so readily, that botanists have long since
ceased to depend on cultivated specimens as types
for description, as being too uncertain and variable
for scientilic purposes. Prof. Gray, who is the
best authority on vegetable organography in this
country, holds the following language on this sub-
ject : " Separated or diclinous flowers are termed
■monacious, when the staminate and pistillate are
both produced by the same individual plant ; as in
the Indian corn or maize, carex, the birch, the oak,
beech, hazel, hickory, &c. ; and they are called
diceciaus when borne by different individuals ; as in
the willow and poplar, in Ceratiola, the hemp, hop,
&.C. In many cases, while some of the flowers are
staminate only, a portion are perfect, the different
kinds occurring either on the same or different indi-
viduals ; as in most palms, in many species of
maple, in Veratrum &c. plants with such flowers
^e said to be polygamous." (Gray's Botanical
Text Book, page 1 17.) Now the strawberry plant,
in a state of nature, and in its cultivated aspects, so

fiir as I have observed, does not exhibit the charac*
teristics of diclinous flowers. I have observed ia
many plants, both wild and cultivated — and among
them Hovey's seedling — a state that Mr. Long-
WORTH and his coadjutors call staminate and pistil-
late. But in every case that I have observed, the
pistillates have stamens, though probably not de-
veloped sufficiently to perform their associate func-
tions, and hence their infertility ; and also in what
are called staminates, the pistils are always pre-
sent, although from some cause their barrenness is
probably produced by an undeveloped, an accidental
abortion, or a diseased state of the pistilliferous or-
gans. Almost all kinds of fruit are subject to the
same accidents, and some varieties more than
others, which renders them more or less produc-
tive, according as they are more or less affected
with this deficiency. One positive fact is worth
more on scientific, as well as legal questions, than
a thousand negative /acts, and the positive state-
ments of Mr. Downing, with regard to the change
produced by time and cultvation on his beds of
Hovey's seedlings, is worth more to my mind than
a cart load of the reasonings of the Cincinnati Hor-
ticultural Society. Indeed, the manner in which they
meet these facts, is evincive that they are aware of
the weakness of their position. Listen to them one
moment. " This effect of change from productive
beds, (of pistillates,) to unproductive beds of ' blind
plants.' may be readily accounted for in several
ways : admitting that the bed was originally com-
posed of the runners from one individual plant of a
pistillate variety, we all know that some berries
will be left upon the ground, when the seeds ger-
minate and are likely to produce staminate plants."
The "admission" that they require, is reiuted by
the positive fact recorded by Mr. Downing, and
their fine spun theory is necessarily demolished.
Their "ifs and ands," and "may bes," therefore,
must fall to the ground. They are careful to im-
press upon us the idea that there are ^'several"
ways of accounting for the results of Mr. Downing's
experiments, yet the one above quoted, requiring a
fatal admission, is the only one in a long article
upon this subject, brought forward to sustain them
in their position. Although nature is said to be a
master workman, we know that there are many
circumstances, occurring in a thousand instances,
tending to thwart her in her accustomed operations.
There are hundreds of instances, where the seeds of
vegetables are blighted from the abortion, either of
the stamens or pistils, (and one is as fatal to fertility
as the other,) under circumstances which can not
readily be accounted for, from the very simple reason
that we do not know what they are. Fruits of every
kind, are known to drop, some seasons, after they are
apparently perfectly set, without our knowing the .
cause, and consequently not bemg able to account
for the fact. Such is the fact also with the straw-
berry ; some varieties, and seasons, and situations,
rendering it more liable to accidents of this kind
than others. From a consideration of these and
many other circumstances, that might be enume-
rated, did the limits of your useful Journal allow,
it does appear ungenerous, as well as unjust, to
charge upon the botanist the errors — if we may so
call them — of nature, which is obviously evinced
throughout the whole vegetable kingdom. That

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

51

the sTfillful horticulturist can, in many instances,
partially amend the detects of nature, is a fact too
■well established to be controverted, and redounds
credit to his sagacity, industry, and perseverance.
If the beauties and excellencies of the heart-inspiring
art of horticulture were at the stand, at which na-
ture had resigned it into the hands of the scientific
artist, it would have been doubtful wliei.her the
Cincinnati society had been in existence at this
time, to taunt the humble followers of Linnjeus
with ignorance and inattention to the great laws of
nature. J.M.B. Lancaster, May 2lst, 1848.

Thoreurn's Exotic Nursery — Sir — In visiting
the Nursery Garden, lately of Messrs. Thorburn,
at Astoria, I found a great variety of beautiful
plants in bloom, roses in great profusion, and many
new and fine sorts of geraniums, punica granata,
very showy and worthy of cultivation, as it flowers
freely on open walls in England, and only requires
protection in severe frost ; a great many line plants
of new Fuchsias, which deserve to be cultivated by
every amateur : now or next month is a good time
to turn them out of pots on a shaded north aspect,
in a loamy soil, and they will continue to flower
until November. It is to be regretted that this
class of plants are not more grown, as nothing is
more simple of cultivation, and nothing more grace-
ful than their habit of growth with their beautiful
pendulous flowers. I observed a great many fine
plants of Ipomea learii, which flowers so well in
this climate, as also clianthus puniceus and eccre-
mocarpus scaber, both partially hardy, abundant
bloomers, and very pretty, and only require to be
known to be appreciated. ^ Practical Gardner.
New- York, June, 1848.

Perpetual Roses. — Many cultivators of this
fine new class of roses " waste its sweetness" by
allowing it to carry all its blossoms in the month
of June. Now to have the perpetual rose ful'y en-
joyed, it should not be allowed to bloom at all in
the rose season. Roses are so common then that
it is not at all prized, while, blooming from mid-
summer to November, it is highly prized by all
persons.

The way I pursue to grow it in perfection, is to
pinch out, as soon as visible, every blossom-bud
that appears at the first crop, say from the middle
of May to the middle of June. This reserves all
the strength of the plant for the after-bloom ; and
accordingly I have such clusters of roses in July,
August, September and October, as those who have
not tried this stopping system can have no idea of.
La Reine, Madame Laffay, Compte de Paris, and
the Dutchess of Sutherland, are particularly superb
varieties under this treatment. Indeed, they may
be recommended as among the best of the per-
petuals.

I have adopted, with excellent results, Mr.
River's recommendation of giving the roots of well
established roses a good soaking of liquid guano,
after they have shed their leaves, say middle of Oct.
It greatly promotes their luxuriant growth the
next season. Yours, ^n Amateur. New- York,
June, 1848.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Evergreens. — ^ nevj Subscriber, (Philadel-
phia.) It is difficult to distinguish the true Nor-
way Spruce, while quite young, from the varieties
raised from seed and frequently imported and sold
along with it in the nurseries. The true sort,
however, may be detected by the practiced eye, and
has longer leaves, and a more vigorous habit than
the spurious seedlings. Sometimes the White
Spruce of this country is found intermixed with
seedling Norway Spruces imported from Great
Britain. When the Norway Spruce begins to pro-
duce cones it is readily distinguished by any per-
son, the latter being peculiarly long and narrow.
R. L. Evergreens of most kinds are easily propa-
gated by planting them in sand under a bell glass,
or covered by a common hot- bed light. They
must be partially shaded. For the white Aphis,
which infests the young growth of this tree, try
sprinkling with whale-oil soap.

Green-House. — C. D. C. (Lebanon, Pa.) The
best angle for the roof of a green house, in this
latitude is 45°; 40° will, however, answer. For
a small green house no mode of heating is so sim-
ple and economical as the old-fashioned brick flue.
When once heated, it retains and gives out warmth
for a long time, and the fire usually needs no at-
tention after 10 P. M. Tiles for covering the
flues may be had at the Salamander Works, Can-
non St., New- York.

Raspberries. — W. (Cattskill, N. Y.) The true
Red Antwerp is easily known from the spurious
one by its large size and peculiarly conical or
pointed berry. A liberal top-dressing of wood
ashes, every autumn or spring, greatly invigorates
the plants. The Fastolf is very large, but is not
so firm, and does not bear carriage so well as the
Red Antwerp. Mr. River's New Everbearing
is in the country, but will scarcely be offered for
sale, except by those importing the coming au-
tumn. We have one plant now in fruit, but the
latter not yet mature. See the remarks of a Phi-
ladelphia correspondent on the culture of the
Raspberry, in a preceding page.

Strawberries. — Johnson. (Baltimore.) New
beds may be made as soon as the runners can be
obtained with sufficient roots — perhaps immediate-
ly with you. Willey, (or more properly Wiley,)
is a pistillate variety, and a very great bearer.
The Large English Scarlet produces more regu-
lar crops than any variety we know. Trench your
soil 24 feet deep, and put it in good condition, and
you will find no difficulty in producing abundant
crops on your soil.

Vineries. — E. D. Your grapes are probably
suflTering from the want of sufficient moisture in
the border. When a border is, like yours, M^hoUy
inside, it requires constant attention to keep it
sufficiently moist. We would advise you to pre-
pare an additional border on the outside, and pro-
vide openings in the front wall for the vines to run

6S

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

through. Outside borders are much better for cold
vineries, in this climate, than those on the inside.

Books. — A Constant Reader. Mrs. Loudon's
new vol. on " Green-house plants," with colored
plates, to match her " Annuals," &c., is just pub-
lished, and may be had of John Wiley, 161
Broadway, N. Y. The subscription to Van Hout-
tes' " Flore des Serre," is 36 I'rancs. A new edi-
tion of Michaux's Forest Trees is, we understand,
soon to be published in Philadelphia.

Hedges. — H. R. (Pittsburgh.) Thebest hedge
plant for you is probably the Osage Orange. It
■B'ill be offered in abundance by nurserymen next
spring. The Newcastle or Cockspur thorn has an
entire leaf, the upper side of which is very glossy.
Always cut hedge plants to within 4 or 6 inches
of the ground, on planting them.

Fuchsias. — IF. V. P. Our correspondent has
failed from not understanding their habits. They
require a damp atniosphere, shaded situation un-
der glass, and should be watered or syringed over
the leaves at least once a day. Fuchsia globosa
is almost the only one that we know that will
flower freely in the open border.

Rose bugs. — An Inquirer, Nothing better
than handpicking and '' war to the knife," is yet
known as a means of lessening this insect, so trou-
blesome in some parts of the country. Would it
not be well for some of our leading Hort. Socie-
ties to offer a special premium of $100 for some
more speedy method. In a letter just received
from Mr. Elliott of Cleveland, we find the fol-
lowing:— " Rose bugs abound with us this season.
Shaking the trees just at night, over a sheet is the
best course I have pursuedtoprevent their ravages."

Cherries.— i*^. R. Elliott. (Cleveland.) We

also think the Elton and Flesh col'd Bigarreau
will proltably prove identical. The similarity in
the fruit has struck us for seasons past, but we are
not yet prepared to speak confidently. W. H.
(Boston.) The most valuable cherry, all things
considered, is Downer's late. Bovjyer's Early
Heart, and Arden's Early Heart, both prove
identical with the old Early White Heart, and
River's Early Amber, seems from examination of
a few specimens, not unlikely to be the same va-
riety. Belle Magnifique is a valuable, very late
cooking cherry.

Plums. — Williams. (New- York.) The Jef-
ferson is certainly the first of plums. Even the
English, slow to believe in American fruits, admit
that its flavor equals that of the Green gage.
Take up your plum trees in winter, with frozen
balls of earth, and move them to a part of your
ground where you can make a swine and poultry
yard about them. This is the only infallible re-
medy in a curculio district. The most productive
plums in light soil, are Lombard, Cruger's Scarlet,
Smith's Orleans, and White Damson.

Roses. ^.4 Novice. (New Bedford.) You
may bud roses immediately. Layers should be
made before the middle of July, and the ground
covered with moss or straw, to keep it moist, or
otherwise watered every evening. Solfaterre is
now considered by many growers, a finer noisette
than Cloth of Gold.

*^* Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any question on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requested) — and all (^[ue-
ries put in a brief shape, and sent to ns free of
postage, shall receive attention. — 'Ed.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Weekly Exhibitions — May 20th.

FLOWERS —From M. P. Wilder, a collection of hardy
flowering: shrubs; among: them Carrygua Cliemhing', Spirea
Doutiii, (new anil fine,) new Glient Azaleas, several varie-
ties of Lilac and PcEonia urborea papaveracea plena. A larg-e
quantity of Noisette, Lamarque and Solfaterre roses; four
plants of beautiful Ericas, Azalea indica Gledstanesii, a fine
seedling: Camellia, &c From N. J. Becar, Esq , correspond-
ing member of the society, New-York, a great variety of
beautiful Calceolarias, mostly collected by him in Europe;
also Pelargoniums. The flowers arrived in excellent condi-
tion and were univer.-ally admired. From J- Breck If Co.. a
a great variety of Tulips and other cut flowers. From A.
iwfdiJc/i, beautiful Anemones and other cut flowers; also
seven pot plants. From S. Walker, fine Ranunculus and
other cut flowers. From Nonantum Vale, by John Cadness,
cut flowers, including fine Tulips, bouquets, and a plant of
Calistegia pubescens, a new and beautiful climbing plant,
with double rose coloured flowers of the Ipomea or Convol-
vulus tribe. From G- C. Croioninshield, by John Quant, six
pot plants, including a fine specimen of Brachycome iberidi-
folia. From Winships, two fine bouquets From A. Aspin-
V>all, a splendid di.^play of roses. From William Kenrick, by
Miss Russell, cut flowers, including a profusion of Pseonia

arborea, a large bouquet and basket of flower.?. From ffo-
vey ^ Co.. Pelargoniums. From James Nugent, bouquets.
From O. Ecerelt, a fine plant in bloom of Echinocactus Ey-
resii. From J. King, Dedham, Cereus flagelliformis and
Cactus epiphyllum. From John Kenrick, a basket of flowers.

AWARD OF PREMIUJWS.

Tulips— For the best 30 dissimilar blooms, to John Cad-
ness, $8. 2d best do., to Joseph Breck & Co., $6. 3d best
do., to 8. Walker. $3.

Pot Plants.— For the best six plants, to John Quant, $2.
2d best do., to Azel Bowditch. $1.

AVm. Quant, James Nugent, John Quant, Judges on Tulips.

William Quant, James Nugent, W. B. Richards, Judges oa
Pot plains.

The Committee award to Winships, 1st premium on Parlor
Bouquets, $2. A. Bowditch, 2d do., ^1.

For the best Vase Bouquet, 1st premium to A. Bowditch,
$2. John Cadness, 2d do., $1.

The Committee recommend a gratuity to John Cadness, for
a plant of Calistegia pubescens, Sf3.

To Joseph Breck & Co., for a fine display of Tulips, $3.

They award to N. J. Becar, Esq., the Society's Silver
Medal, for a great variety of beautiful Calceolarias

Joseph Breck, Ch'n Flower Committee.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

53

FRUIT.— Grapes from T. H. Perkins, by W. Quant, fine
specimens of Black Hamburg and Muscat of Alexandria.
Also nine varieties from J. F. Allen, of Salem,— the Black
Hamburg and Grizzly Frontignan were well coloured and
fine specimens S. Walker, Ch'n.

VEGETABLES —T H Perkins, by William Quant, very
fine Asparagus. Cr. C. Crownin^hield, by .lobn Quant, two
brace Cucumbers. From John Hill Asparagus and Rliubarb,
very fine, presented too late for premium.

A. D. Williams, Jr., Cli'n.

Exhibition of May 27th.
FLOWERS.— From M. P. Wilder, Pot Plant= : Erica
Bowiena ; five seedling Azale.-t indicas, Scarlet, white striped
with red, &c., and Azalea indica Gledstanesii. Cut flowers.
Tree Pseonies ; Grand Duke de Bade, Monstreuosa alba ple-
nissima, Banksia, Papaveracea, and Reine de Belgique ;
Rosea superba, and Rococco. new imported varieties from
Germany: Rosea superba is very splendid, of a fine deep
red colour — the best new variety yet introduced. Also a
profusion of hardy Azaleas, double flowering Hawthorns, Pe-
largoniums, Noisette roses, &c. From J. L. L. F. Warren,
by John Cadness, Plants of Rhododendron ponticum and Aza-
leoides, Anigozanthus coccineus, four seedling Cinerarias,
and three Calceolarias; also cut flowers, including a variety
of fine Tree Pseonies, Rhododendron, Azaleas. Hawthorns.
&c. From A. Aspinwall, a large collection of fine roses and
bouquets. From E. Wight, cut flowers. From Edward S.
Rand, Dedham, a handsome bouquet of indigenous flowers,
composed of Arethusa bulbosa, Cypripedium acaule, Sarra-
cenia purpurea, and Convallaria bi folia. From T. H. Per.
kins, by William Quant, six pot plants and two mantle bou-
quets. From William Meller, cut flowers and mantle bou-
quets. From J". Breck ^ Co . a great variety of Pteonies and
other cut flowers From Wm Kenrick, by Miss Russell, a
great number of Tree and other Paeonies, cut flowers, and one
large bouquet. From John A. Kenrick, by Miss Kenrick,
Wistaria sinensis, hardy Azaleas, double flowering Haw-
thorns, Paeonies, and other cut flowers. From Samuel Dow-
ner, jr, Rhododendrons, hardy Azaleas, (Stc. From Parker
Barnes, Pansies, seedling Verbenas, &c. From E. M. Rich-
ards, Arethusa bulbosa, Sarracenia, &c. From James Nu-
gent, one large vase bouquet. From Azel Bowditch, fine
Anemones, Pinks, and bouquets From Hovey ^ Co., Ranun-
culus, Pansies, Azaleas, 20 varieties. Hawthorns. &c. From
S. Walker, fine Ranunculus, and other cut flowers. From
Messrs. Winship, a great variety of cut flowers, including
Azaleas, Hawthorn, &c. &c.; also two fine mantle bouquets.

AWARD OF PREMIUMS.

Shbttbbt PEONIES.— First premium to John Cadness, $5.
For the best display lo Joseph Breck, $.3.

Hardy Azaleas, for the best display to Hovey & Co , $3.
2d best do , to Win.ships, $2.

Pansies, no premium awarded.

William Quant, John Donald, James Nugent, Judges

Bouquets — For the best vase bouquet, to James Nugent,
$2. 2d best do., to A. Bowditch, SI For the best pair of
mantle bouquets, lo William Quant, $2. 2d best do., to Win-
ships, $1.

Pot Plants— For the best six, to William Quant, $2. 2d
best do., to John Cadness, SI.

Alexander McLennan, R. M. Copeland, Joseph Breck,
Judges.

The Committee recommend gratuities to Samuel Walker,
for display of Ranunculus, §3. To A. Bowditch, for displays
of Anemones, S3. Joseph Breck,

Chairman Flower Committee.

VEGETABLES —From Mrs. Spaulding, Rhubarb. From
John Cadness, blanched stalks of Victoria Rhubarb. From
T. H. Perkins, by William Quant, Victoria Rhubarb- two
stalks weighing 3 lbs 8 oz. From Mrs. Pratt, by Alexander
McLennan, Victoria Rhubarb — two stalks weighing 3 lbs 4
oz. From G. C. Cnwninshield, by John Quant, a brace of
Cucumbers. A. D. Williams, Jr., Ch'n.

Exhibition of June 3rf.

FLOWERS— From M. P. Wilder, Paeonia phoenecia
plena and P rosa superba, (new;) ^piraBa3, Azaleas, &c.
From G L Crowninshield, by John Quant, six pot plants.
From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell, one large bouquet,

Pajonies, and other cut flowers From Joseph Breck & Co.,
cut flowers in variety. From Nonanlum Vale, by John Cad-
ness, cut flowers, including Rhododendron* and other fine
plants. Six hand bouquets, &c. From Winships, one pair
of mantle bouquets Double flowering Hawthorns. Azaleas,
Pceonies, and a great variety of other cut flowers. From
Hovey & Co , twelve plants of Pelargoniums, fine varieties.
From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Needham. a variety of cut
flowers From William Meller, two mantle bouquets, and
cut flowers From John A. Kenrick, a fine display of Aza-
leas, Laburnums, and other cut flowers. From James Nu-
gent, beautiful Spirccas, and other cut flowers, and one large
vase l)Ouquet From A. Bowditch. one large vase and four
hand bouquets. From M. Tidd, Woburn. a seedling Cactus,
a hybrid between Epiphyllum Ackermanii and Cactus Speci-
ossima— a fine plant. From Joseph Stetson, South Canton, a
bouquet, composed of indigenous plants.

AWARD OF PREMIUMS.

Bouquets —For the best pair of mantle, to William Quant,
$2 2d be^t do., AVinship«, $1. For the best vase bouquet,
to James Nugent, S2. 2(1 best do , Azel Bowditcli, $1.
John Quant, R. M Copeland, John Donald, Judges
Hawthorns— (Omitted last week ) For the best display,
to Winships, $3. 2d do . John Kenrick, S2
Pot Plants.— For the best six, to John Ouant. S2.
Joseph Breck,
Chairman of Flower Committee.

FRUIT.— Apples from Ellwanger and Barry, Rochester,
New-York. Northern Spy, very fine specimens. They fully
maintained the high character heretofore given to this apple
as being the best late keeping apple. Winter Sweet, from
J. B. Moore, Concord, by Mes.srs. Hovey & Co. Grapes from
J F. Allen, Salem, nine varieties; some of the specimens
fine. J- S. Cabot, Ch'n.

VEGETABLES.— From Josiah Lovett 2d, Victoria Rhu-
barb. 12. stalks, 21 lb».; seedling Rhubarb of 1847. that was
superior to any exhibited. 3 stalks, 7 lbs.; seedling Rhubarb
of]S48, fine. J. L L. F. Warren, Victoria Rhubarb. John
Kenrick, Victoria Rhubarb; 12 stalks, 18 lbs 4 oz.

A D. Williams, Jr., Ch'n,

Exhibition of June 10th.
FLOAVERS— From John Kenrick, a fine assortment of
beautiful flowering shrubs, incUiding Azaleas, Laburnums,
&c. From Winships, one of the large circular stands filled
with a profusion of showy herbaceous and shrubby flowers,
and two bouquets From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell,
cut flowers in variety, and one large bouquet. From No-
nanlum Vale, by John Cadness, a variety of cut flowers,
bouquets, and eight pot p ants, some of them rare and curious.
From Wm. Mellar, liouquets. and cut flowers. From James
Nugent, bouquets. From Azel Bowditch, bouquets. From
S. Walker, cut flowers From Solon Dike, Stoiieham, cut
flowers. From John Duncklee, specimens of Liriodendron
lulipifera. From Hovey & Co , cut flowers of Beck's Pelar-
goniums in variety; Pteonia Potsii and other sorts. Rhodo-
dendrons, &c. From Breck & Co , cut flowers, as usual.

AAVARD OF PREMIUMS.

Bouquets.— Vase, 1st prize to James Nugent, $2. 2d do.,

A. Bowditch. $1. ManUe, 1st prize to Winships, $2. 2ddo,

Wm Mellar, $1. ^ ^„ o,

Pot Plants.— For the best six, to William Quant, *2. M

do , John Cadness, $1. . t i. <-. j

The Committee recommend a gratuity to John Cadness,
for rare plants, S2. To Miss Russell, for large bouquet, $2.

Joseph Breck,
Chairman of Flower Committee.

FRUIT— From J F Allen. Grapes— White Frontignan,
Black Hambur". Grizzly Frontignan, fine and well coloured,
and Zinfindal ; Figs-Black Fig of St. Michael, fine and well
ripened. From Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, Figs— Hruns-
wick very lar^e. From J. Owen, Boston Pine Strawberries.
' " D. Haggerston, Ch'n.

VEGETABLES —From J. H. Perkins, by William Quant,
Lettuce. From A D. Williams, Rhubarb.

A. D. Williams, Jr , Ch'n.

Business meeting, June 2d, 1848. President Marshall P.

54

ALBANY AND RENSSELAER HORT. SOC.

Wilder in the Chair. A lelter w;i? received from Edward
Barllett, Esq, accompanied with seedof the original potatoe,
grown in Peru; and it was voled, tliat the lliaiiks of ilie So-
ciety be presented to Edward Bartlett, Esq., and the seed pla-
ced in the liands of ihe Committee on vegetables, for distribu-
tion among tlie members of the Society.

The subject of holding a festival at the close of the present
season, having been discussed, it was voted that the whole
subject be relerred to the Committee of Arrangements, with
instructions to report at the next meeting.

The following gentlemen were elected members of the So-
ciety: Mark Healy and Thomas iVIorgan, Boston; Lyman
Kinsley, Canton; Jolin King, Dedham; Henry P. Haven, New
Haven, J. W. Brown, Beverly; H. K.Moore, Chelsea; John
M. Gourgai, Quincy.

Business meeting, June 17th, 1S4S. President Marshall
P. Wilder, in the Chair. Several copies of the report of the
committee of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, on the
Strawberry, were received from A. H. Ernst, E^q , and it was
voted that the thanks of the Society be presented to Mr.
Ernst.

The Com. of arrangements, to whom was referred the sub-
ject of a Festival, reported that they recommend the holding
of a Festival at the close of the animal exhibition in Septem-
ber next, and that both the Exhibition and Festival should take

place in Fanueil Hall, if said edifice can be obtained for this
purpose.

Voted, That the President, Vice-Presidents, and Secreta-
ries, be added to the Committee of Arrangements, as a com-
mittee to manage all matters pertaining to the Festival

Voted, That the Committee thus constituted, have full pow-
er to appoint marshals, and to call in such other aid as they
may deem expedient.

Mr. Breck, as chairman of the committee on Flowers, gave
notice of the postponement (on account of the lateness of the
season,) of the Rose Exhibition until Saturday, the 24th inst

On motion of Mr. S. Walker, it was voted, that whereas
an invitation has been extended to this Society, by the New-
York State Agricultural Society, to send delegates to a Po-
mological Convention to be held in Butfalo in September next,
and whereas a call has been made through a public medium,
by a member of the Penn. Hort Society for a similar meet-
ing, and also an application from the American Institute, that
such a convention should be holden in the city of New- York
in October next, therefore. Resolved, that a committee of
three, consisting of the President, and two others be ap-
pointed by the chair, to correspond with the above named
parties, and report at a future meeting, what, in their opinion,
is DESIRABLE to be done in the matter.

The Chair appointed Messrs Secretary Walker, and Eben
Wight. E. C. R. Walker, Rec. Sec'y.

ALBANY AND RENSSELAER HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural Society held their
first exhibition for the season in the large room of the Geolo-
gical Buildhigs, on Wednesday, the 14th instant, Joel Rath-
bone, Esq , President of the society, in the chair.

The Show was all that the most sanguine friends of horti-
culture could desire, and the Hall was crowded with ladies
and gentlemen during the day. B. P. Johnson,

Secretary.

FRUIT. — The Committee on Fruit reported that there was
exhibited —

By Joel Rathbone, of Kenwood. Cincinnati Pine and Vir-
ginia Scarlet Strawberries. The Cincinnati Pine is a variety
from the west, said to be prolific and hardy, and without beuig
of first charaeier, is a desirable acquisition.

By Volkert P. Douw, of Wolvenhook, Greenbush, Iowa and
Ross Phcenix Strawberries.

By Dr. John Wilson, of Bethlehem, White Alpine, early
Virginia Scarlet, and Black Prince Strawberries.

By E. P. Prentice, of Mount Hope, Ross Phcenix, Virginia
Scarlet, Bishop's Orange, early Scarlet and Hovey's Seedling
Strawberries.

By Dr Herman Wendell, Boston Pine, Towa, Ross Phce-
nix and Hovey's Seedling Strawberries; also, foliage, flow-
ers and unripe fruit, of the new and much talked of Aberdeen
Beehive ; but the plants, having been imported this season,
were not sufficiently strong to develop the fruit, so that the
committee might be enabled to judge of its true character.

By B. B. Kirtland, of Greenbush, Iowa Strawberries, of
beautiful appearance.

By Luther Tucker, of Hope Cottage, Bethlehem, Royal
Scarlet, — a fine variety, of beautiful appearance, much re-
sembling the Ross Phoenix, and Stoddart's Washington Alpine
Strawberries.

By Jacob Henry, of Watervliet, Early Virginia Scarlet
Strawberries

By E. Wickes, of Albany, Royal Scarlet and Iowa Straw-
berries; the latter is a variety recently introduced from the
west; it is prolific, hardy, agreeable in ilavor, large in size,
and beautiful in appearance, but will not bear transportation,
as it becomes soft, and it does not possess the high flavor of
many of the older and favorite varieties.

The committee award the first premium of $2 to Volkert P.
Douw, of Greenbush, for beautiful specimens of Ross Phoe-
nix ; and the second premium, of $1, to E. P. Prentice, of

Mount Hope, for well grown and beautiful specimens of
Bishop's Orange, a well known favorite variety.

In coming to a decision as to the merits of the respective
varieties, the committee took into consideration the size, flavor
and general appearance of (he specimens oflfered for compe-
tition. Herman Wendell,
B. B. Kirtland,
Wm. Buswiell.
Committee.

PLANTS AND FLOWERS.— The Committee on Green
House Plants and Flowers report that there were exhibited
by Joel Rathbone, of Kenwood, Pelargoniums in pots. Bride-
groom, Dowager Queen, Victoria, Garth's Perfection, Duch-
ess of Kent, Anson's Superb and Imperial, Fuchsias, Coc-
cinea, Globosa, Fulgens, Venus Victrix, Mulliflora, Emeli
Perfecti, Passiflora, Loudonii, Stapelia variegata, Burchellea,
&c., twelve distinct varieties of Picotee pinks and several va-
rieties of roses ; among them were Solfaterre, La Reine,
Prince Albert, Rivers, Souvenir de Malmaison, &c, &c.

By V. P. Douw, of Greenbush, several varieties of pansies,
eiglit varieties of Picotee pinks, and a lai-ge number of
choice roses, a list of which were not handed to the committee.

By Dr Herman Wendell, twenty-five different varieties of
roses ; among them were Madam Laffay, Gen. Dubourg, Dr.
Roques, Prince Albert, Great Western, London Pride, Ful-
gens, George the 4th, Henry Plantier, Souvenir de Malmai-
son, Tuscan Palagii, Luxemburgh moss. Cristata moss. Old
Blush moss, Persian Yellow, &c. &c.; Phloxes Van Houtii,
Grato and Suaveolens, Philadelphus multiplex, several va-
rieties of pansies. Paisley pinks, Pajonies, Lady Hume and
Roseum fragrans, &c. &c.

By James Wilson, seventy-five varieties of roses ; among
them were Persian Yellow, Donna Sol, Marjolin, George the
4th, Madam Hardy, Queen Leda, Princess Lamballe, Great
Western, La Tour d'Auvergne, Leopold, Washington, Lon-
don Pride, Nelly, Pompon Bicolor, ^erise Superba, Village
Maid, Cristata moss, &c. &c. Twenty varieties of Pansies,
three varieties of Daisies, red and white Fraxinella, Clematis
erecta and Integrifolia, perennial Indian poppy, Pyretheums,
Paeonies. Humii, Fragrans, Potsii, Reevesii, &c.; six varieties
of beautiful Rocket Larkspurs, twelve varieties of Verbenas,
six varieties of Petunias, Phloxes Maculata, Van Houtii, Sua-
veolens, and a large and beautiful collection of perenoial and
biennial flowers.

ALBANY AND RENSSELAER HORT. SOC.

56

Charles H. Merritt, of Troy, twelve varieties of roses, viz:
White Unique Moss, Crislala Moss, Striped Unique, London
Pride, Pinl< Moss, Madam Hardv, Royal Greainer=s, Lord
Nelson, Lanseseur, Queen of France, &c.; ten varieties of
Verbenas, and also a collection of perennial flowers

Henry Vail, of Ida Farm, Troy, a large collection of beau-
tiful Pajonies.

\Vm. H. DeWitt, Albany, Royal Provence. George the 4th.
Provence, and York and Lancaster roses; Red Maroon and
Sulfurea dahlias; several varieties of Sweet Williams ; Can-
terbury bells, and PKonia Huraii.

E. P. Prentice, of Mount Hope, a number of choice roses,
Paeonies and oilier tiowers.

Dr. J. M. Ward, a most splendid specimen of Magnolia
Macrophvlla, grown on his farm in New Jersey, which eli-
cited much admiration from the visitors at the exhibition.

PREMIUMS.— The Committee awarded the premiums as
follows :

Roses— For the best exhibition, to James Wilson, $3. For
the best twelve distinct varieties, viz: Persian Yellow, Gen.
Foy, Village Maid, Washington, Pomp"n bicolor. Cense Su-
perba, Nelly, Donna Sol, London Pride, Marjolin, La Tour
d'Auvergiie and Leopold, S'3; for the best six di.stinci varie-
ties, viz : Cristata Moss, Great Western, Leda, Queen, Daii-
viers. Princess Laraballe, $1— both to Jas. Wilson.

Pinks— For the best six distinct varieties to Joel Rathbone,
$2. For the best three distinct varieties, to Joel Rathbone, $1.

Pceonies — For the best collection, to V. P. Douw. $2. For
the best six varieties, viz: Humii, Fragrans Potsii, Reevesii,
Whitlejii, and Alba— to Jas. Wilson, $1.

Pansies— For the best twelve distinct varieties, to Jas. Wil-
son, $2. For the best six do., to Dr. Herman Wendell, SI.

J^McA5(as— For the best six varieties in pots, viz: Fulgens,
Venus Victrix. Multiflora, Emile's Perfection, Globcva and
Cocciiiea, to Joel Rathbone, $2.

Annual and Perennial Flowers— For the best display, to .las.
Wilson, S2 For the best six different varieties of plants in
pots, to Joel Rathbone, $2.

The Committee also award a gratuity of $1 to Wm. H.
DeWitt, for five varieties of beautiful Dahlias.

The Committee cannot close their report withovt expressing
to the society their satisfaction at the beautiful display of
choice and rare flowers offered for exhibition, nearly all of
which exhibited great skill in their respective growers.

Wm. Newcomb, Ch'n.
V. P. Douw,

J. M. LOVETT,

Committee.

FLORAL DESIGNS, BOUQUETS. &c.— Tlie Committee
beg leave to report that Dr. Herman "Wendell exhibited a
large pyramidal floral design, composed of Roses, Pinks,
Lilies, Verbenas, &c. &c.; a centre table bouquet, composed
of rare Roses, Phloxes, Pinks, Verbenas, &c. &c.; a basket
bouquet with handle, composed of rare Rose buds, Pansies,
Pinks, Verbenas, Forget-me-nots, &,c. &c.,on a moss ground,
to which the Committee award the premium of $2.

Mr. E. P. Prentice exhibited a large round bouquet for cen-
tre table, and composed of Roses, Larkspurs, Pajonies, &c.
&c., to which they awarded a discretionary premium of SI.

Mr. Jas. Wilson exhibited a large flat bouquet for mantle
vase, composed of Roses, Hydrange, Larkspurs, Pce-nies, Ho-
neysuckles, &c.; a flat hand bouquet, composed of Hoyas, Sea
bious, Epacnis, Camellias, Moss Rose Buds, Pinks, Gerani-
ums, &c., to which the Committee awarded the premium of
$1 ; also a round hand bouquet, composed of about the same
varieties, to which the Committee award the premium of SI.

Mr. Joel Rathbone exhibited two beautiful basket bouquets,
with handles, composed of Roses, Pinks, &,c.; also a large
pyramidal floral design.

Mr. D. T. Vail exhibited a large round bouquet for centre
table vase, composed of Roses, Pinks, Larkspurs, Calceola-
rias, &c., to which the Committee awarded the premium of $2.

Mr. Wm. Newcomb exhibited a large flat bouquet for man-
tle vase, composed of a choice collection of rare and beauti-
ful perennial and biennial flowers, viz : Verbenas, ten varie
ties; Campanula pyramidalis. Pelargoniums, Carnation and
Picotee Pinks, Dianthus Barbatus, Loniceras, Sempervirens,
and Flexuosum ; six varieties of Roses, viz: Red Moss, Bur-
net, Nigra, and three other varieties; Delphinums, Elatum,
Ceruleum and Graiidiflorum, Phloxes, Lilies, Polemoniums,

Reptans, Ceruleum, and Alburn, Hesperis pleno, Lupinus po-
lyphyllus, .Silene regia, Aquilegia variegata. Ins germanica,
and Lulescens, Robinia, Hispida, and Marophylla, Pieonies.
Humii. Whitlejii, and Fragrans, Lychnis flore pleno, &c. &c.,
to which the Conmiittee awarded the premium of $2.

Mr. John Wilcox exhibited a large floral design, of pyra-
midal shape, and leaning, {al'ter the manner of the Tower of
Pisa.) compo.'^ed of Roses, Lilies, Pceonies, Larkspurs, Pinks,
Carajjanulas, Valerians, Phloxes, &c. &c., $2

John B. Gale, Ch'n.
Erastus H Pease,
Abel French,
Committee.

VEGETABLES— The Committee on Vegetables respect-
fully report, that although the weather I'or the past month has
been very unfnvorable to the growth and ripening of all ve-
getables in the open air, in this vicinity, there was presented
quile a respectable show of a number of varieties of very
fine esculents in competition for premiums.

V P. Douw, of Wolveiihook, Greeiibush, exhibited Lan-
dreth's early peas, four very beautiful heads of cauliflowers,
(these attracted the attention of all visiiors,) some fine heads
of Lettuce, Turnip Beets, Giant Rhubarb, and three remarka-
bly large Cucumbers, of a variety called the '' Roman Em
peror."

E. P. Prentice, of Mount Hope, exhibited Cauliflowers,
Ttrrnip Beels, Giant and Victoria Rhubarb, (six stalks of the
latter weighing four pounds,) Early Racehorse and Prince
Albert Peas, White-spine Cucumbers, (very fine.) Early
York Cabbage, and some fine heads of Silesian Lettuce.

Dr. Herman Wendell, of Albany, exhibited some of the
Hoo-Sung, a new vegetable, lately introduced from China by
the London Horticultural Society, and which. Dr. W. inform-
ed us, should — al'ler being stripped of its leaves— be cooked
and eaten in the same manner as Asparagus, which the stems
in some degree resemble. He also exhibited four new varie-
ties of Lettuce, viz: the Artichoke-leaved, the Malta, the
.Swedish or Sugar, and the Imperial, and some fine stems of
Victoria Rhubarb. The Malta was a remarkably bitter varie-
ty, but one which the Committee believe, when eaten as a
salad prepared with the proper condiments, will be greatly
relished by bon vivanis- The Artichoke-leaved variety is a
curious but very agreeable one. So also is the Sugar and
Imperial.

The Committee cannot allow the opportunity to pass with-
out calling the attention of the society to these successful
attempts of Dr Wendell, to introduce new varieties of vege-
tables from other countries, as worthy of all praise, and
highly honorable to him, as a member of the society, and
they would recommend that a discretionary premium be
awarded him.

Joel Rathbone, of Kenwood, exhibited Giant Rhubarb,
Early York Cabbages, Admiral Lettuce, Eariy June and
Kacehorse Peas.

D. Thomas Vail, of Ida Farm, Troy, exhibited some very
fine heads of Pearly York Cabbage.

Jacob Henry, of Watervliet, exliibited some very fine
early .lune Peas.

Frederick Kiisel, near the Orphan Asylum, Albany, exhi-
bited early June Peas Turnip Beets, some beautiful heads of
Silesian Lettuce, fine double curled Parsley, six heads of fine
white Celery, and sonr:e white spine Cucumbers.

The Committee recommend that a discretionary premium
be allowed Mr. Kiesel for his Parsley, Beets, Cucumbers, and
Peas, which were very fine.

James Wilson, of Albany, exhibited six stems of Hybrid
Rhubarb, which weighed six pounds.

The Committee have awarded the premiums as follows:

On Beets, to E. P Prentice, of Mount Hope, $1.

On Cabbage, to D. T. Vail, of Ida Farm, Troy, SI.

On Cauliflowers, to V. P. Douw. of Wolveiihook, Green-
bu.sh, SI.

On Celery, to F. Kiesel, of Albany, $1.

On Cucumbers, to V. P Douw, of Wolveiihook, Green-
bush, SI.

On Lettuce, to F Kiesel, of Albany. $1.

On Peas, to V. P. Douw, of Wolvenhook, Greenbush, $1.

On Rhubarb, to James Wilson, of Albany, SI-

C. N. Bement, Ch'n.
Robert F. Johnstone,
S. Cheever, Committee.

56

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Tlie intermediate meeting of the Society was lieW on the
Ctli June, on wlii«li occasion there whs a good display of
fruitS; some of wliich were rare for the season; also show
of fine Roses and other fiowers.

Premiums were awarded as follows: — For the 12 best
Rocket Larkspurs, to Anthony Felton; and special premiums
for the best Seedling Pink ever shown before the society, a
premium of two dollars, to William Hobson; and for the best
exhibition of Garden Roses ever presented, a premium of like
amount to the same contributor. The committee noticed
some fine specimens-of Cacti flowers from the collection of
the President, and 2 white Rocket plants from William Hob-
son-

The committee on fruits awarded the premium for the best
Strawberries, 2 qis,, (Buist's Prize Seedling,) to Robert Dunk
of Pasyunk; for the second best do,, (IVtethveii Starlet.) to
Isaac B Baxter; for the best Cherries. 3 pounds, (Mayduke,)
to IsHac B. Baxter; for the second be«t do., (Early Richmond)
to William Hobson; and they take pleasure in making favor-
able menlion of seedling strawberries by Isaac B- Baxter
and Gerhard Schmilz; also exceedingly high flavored Haut
boys, by Anthony Felton, (not 2 qts.) and respectfully recom-
mend a special premium of three dollars for a beautiful dis-
play of Black Hamburgh Grapes, Peaches and fine IVIeloiis.

The commitiee on vegetables awarded the premium for the
bestTnrneps, to Anthony Felton The committee noticed a
fine display of .Sugarloaf letluce, called " Vicioria," and su-
perior early Peas named " Prince Albert," both new varie-
ties, shown by Robert Buist.

Objects Exhibited-— i^toi-er.? — By William Hobson, su-
perior Roses of varieties; Hybrid Bourbons, Coup de Hebe,
Ernst Ferray. Hortense Leroy and Richelieu — Hybrid China,
Charles Fouquier, Chenedale. Corapte de Lacepede, Tri-
omph de la querre, Cerisite. Reine de Koses. and George 4lh.
Maid of Brussells, Madame Hardy, Adelaide Moss, Luxem-
bourg Moss, River's Crimson Moss, Celina Moss. Happy Sur-
prise, and La Caprioense. Seedlin? Pinks and White Rock-
ets By Anlhony Felton, Double Rocket Larkspurs By B
Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, Cut flowers of three cerei
(new.)

Fntit— By Isaac B Baxter, Strawberries, Methven Scar
let and Seedling; Cherries, Mayduke.

By B Daniels, Strawberries of varieties; White and Red
Alpine and Lafayette Hautboy; Black Hamburg Grapes;
Peaches; Melons, var. Great Cabul, Afl"ghanistan, and
Ionian.

By Robert Dunk, Strawberries, Buist's Prize Seedling

ByRoberi Buist. Buist's Prize Strawberry.

By Gerhard Schmidtz, Strawberries, a seedlin? for the first
time shown, of much merit, a prolific, fine flavored and rich
colored variety, which the committee have named -'Moya-
mensins."

By Wm Hobson, Strawberries, Hovey's Seedling; Cher-
ries. Early Richmond.

By Anthony Felton, Strawberries, Hovey's Seedling and
Hautboy.

By \Vm. Hall, Strawberries, Methven Scarlet.

Vegetables— By Robert Buist, "Prince Albert" Peas and
"Victoria" Letluce.

By Anthony Felton, Turneps.

Staled Meeting, June 20th, 1848 The President in the
chair. There were several fine collections of plants, posses-
sing interest from the beauty, rarity and newness of some of
the specimens (particulars below) also some excellent fruit
and vegetables. Premiums on this occasion were as follows;
For the best Hot house plants, for the best Greenhouse plants
and for the best CMlleclion of plants, to James Bisset, garden
er to James Dundus; for the second best Hothouse plants, and
for the second best collection of plants, to B. Daniels, gar-
dener to C. Cope; for the second best Greenhouse plants, to
Beiij. GuUip; for the best bouquet, t'or the best and for the se-
cond best basket of flowers, and best basket of Indigeiieous
flowers, to Robert Kilvingtoii. And special premiums of two
dollars each to B. Daniels and Peter Raabe, for bouquets.

For the best Grapes of a black variety and for the best o'
a white vaiieiy, to Benjamin Daniels, gardener to C Cope'
for the be>t Cherries, (supposed Elton,) to Col. H- Carr; for
the second best and the third best do., to Isaac B Baxter.
And a special premium of three dollars for a dish of exqui-
site Peaches, to B Daniels, gardener to C. Cope. The Com-
mitiee notice with much plea.^ure, a nu nberof new varieties
of Raspberries, by our enterprising member Dr AVm. D.
Brinckle, to whom we are indebted for many choice varieties
of Seedling Strawberries, etc The committee also called
the attention of the Society to some Gooseberries of extraor-
dinary size, by Isaac B. Baxter

For the best Artichokes, six heads, for the best and for the
second best display of vegetables by market gardeners, to
Anthony Felt(m, for the best display of vegetables by Ama-
teur gardeners, to Isaac B Baxter; for tlie second best do.,
B. Daniels, gardener to C. Cope; for the third best do., to
Beiij Gullip.

A note to the Secretary, from Prof R, Dunglison, under
date 25ih ult-, was read, purporting that he had received a let-
ter, accompanied with a barrel of Potatoes, from his friend
N.P- Trist. which he had procured from the interior of Mex-
ico, and desiring that our Society would immediately distri-
bute; the package being received, was accordingly distributed
by the comuiittee for the distributing seeds, etc. On motion,
ordered that the thanks of the Society be tendered lor a gift
so acceptable

A communication from Col. Wilder, president of the Mass.
Hort. Society, to Thomas Hancook, relative to a proposed
convention of Pomologists, was read, and a committee ap-
pointed on the subject with power to act, consisting of ThoJ
mas Hancock, Dr. W D. Brinckle and D. McEuen.

A leUcr from Edmund Burke, of the patent office, to Josiah
Talum, Editor Farmer's Cabinet, was read, desiring a co op-
eration of the Society in obtaining the statistics of f'ruit from
our markets. On motion, ordered that the subject be referred
to the committee on fruits.

Membe-s elected. — Pierce Butler, Geo. A. Wood, Je.sse Cole
and Robert Scott; also Mrs. Edwin James, Petersburgh, "Va.,
to honorary membership

Objects Exhibited — Plants by Robert Buist, not in competi-
tion, White Phlox Drumniondii, new, Petunia General Tay-
lor a fine plant, Pavetta Caffra, in handsome flower. Erica
gracilis, MaxiUnria sp., Mimulus cardinalis, 3 feet high arid 2
feet wide, Gardenia camelliaeflora, Coluninea scliediana,
Gloxiana rubra and Phlox Charles.

By James Bisselt, gardener to James Dundas, Columnea
Roxburghii, new, the first time shown before the Society,
Pholodolla imbricata, Oncidium papilio, Catlleya Forbesii,
Cypripedium veiiustum, Achimenes grandiflora, G. picta,
Gloxinia speciosa, G Candida. Li'.ium longiflorum, Gardeiiier
fiorida. Plumbago rosea, and Gesneria micans.

By B. Daniels, pardener to 0. Cope, Nandina domestica,
Ceropegia Stapelioeformis, Gongora purpurea, Tweedia cse-
rubrae, Ascleiiias currasavi a, Roella splendens. Gardenia
florida, Echinocactus Eyriesii, E. oxogonus, Laiitana rosea,
Amaryllis and Pelunias.

By B. Gulliss, Hoya carnosa, a fine specimen Begonia ma-
culala, and Euphorbia splendens.

Bouquets— By Robert Kilvington, Peter Raabe and B. Da-
niels.

Fruit— By B Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, Grapes, Black
Hamburgh, and Austrian Muscat, Royal George Peaches.

By Col Robert Carr, Cherries, supposed Elion.

By Isaac B. Baxter, Cherries, 2 varieties, Gooseberries,
Currants.

By Dr. W. D. Brinckle, Raspberries, specimens of the Col.
Wilder, a cream-color, Orange, Gushing, a crimson and
Fasmlf; Strawberries, Black Prince, No. 2S5, F. and Buist

Vegetables. — By Anthony Felton, two fine tables in p eat
variety.

By Benj Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, Cucumbers, Beets,
Corn, Radishes, etc.

By Benj. Gulliss, Peas, Beans, Etc.

Thos. P. James, Rec. Sec.

SOUVENIR DE iA IMLM/JSON

^/' /. ^//////. I /. /r? 4

<s.

THE

A'C^i^^t^^^^f:'^^^^

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

AUGUST, 1848.

No. 2.

Afresh bouquet of midsummer roses stands
upon the table before us. The morning
dew-drops hang-, heavy as emeralds, upon
branch and buds ; soft and rich colours
delight the eye with their lovely hues, and
that rose-odor, which, every one feels, has
not lost anything of its divine sweetness
since the first day the flower bloomed in
that heaven-garden of Eve, fills the air.
Yes, the flowers have it ; and if we are not
fairly forced to say something this month
in behalf of roses, tken was Dr. Darwin
mistaken in his theory of vegetable mag-
netisin.

We believe it was that monster, the
Duke of Guise, who always made his es-
cape at the sight of a rose. If there are any
"outside barbarians" of this stamp among
the readers of our " flowery land," let them
glide out while the door is open. They
deserve to be drowned in a butt of attar of
rose — the insensibles ! We can well aflbrd
to let them go, indeed ; for we feel that we
have only to mention the name of a rose,
to draw more closely around us the thou-
sands of the fairer and better part of our
readers, with whom it is the type of every-
thing fair and lovely on earth,

" Dear flower of heaven and love ! thou glorious ihing
That lookest out the garden nooks among ;
Hose, that art ever fair and ever young ;

Vol. hi. 4

Was it some angel on invisible wing
Hover'd around thy fragrant sleep, to fling
His glowing mantle of warm sunset hues
O'er thy unfolding petals, wet vvilh dews,
Such as the flower-fays to Tilania bring ?

0 flower of thousand memories and dreams,
That take the heart with faintness, while we gaze
On the rich depths of thy inwoven maze ;

From the green banks of Eden's blessed streams

1 dream'd tliee brought, of brighter days to tell
Long pass'd, but promised yet with us to dwell."

If there is any proof necessary, that the
rose has a diviner origin than all other
flowers, it is easily found in the unvarying
constancy of mankind to it for so many
long centuries. Fashions there have been
innumerable, in ornaments of all sorts,
from simple sea-shells, worn by Nubian
maidens, to costly diamonds, that height-
en the charms of the proudest court beau-
ty— silver, gold, precious stones — all have
their season of favor, and then again
sink into comparative neglect ; but a
simple rose has ever been and will ever
be the favorite emblem and adornment of
beauty.

'• AVhatsoe'er of beauty
Yearns, and yet reposes,
Blush, and bosom, and sweet breath,
Took a shape in roses."' Leigh Hu.m.

Now the secret of this perpetual and
undying charm about the rose, is not to be
found in its colour — there are bright lilies,
and gay tiger flowers, and dazzling air-

58

A CHAPTER ON ROSES.

plants, far more rich and vivid ; it is not
alone in fragrance, — for there are violets
and jasmines with " more passionate sighs
of sweetness;" it is not in foliage, for there
are laurels and magnolias, with leaves of
richer and more glossy green. Where,
then, does this secret of the Avorld's six
thousand years' homage, lie ?

In its being a type of infinity. Of infi-
nity ! says our most innocent maiden read-
er, who loves roses without caring why,
and who does ViOt love infinity because she
does not understand it. Roses, a type of
infinity, says our theological reader, who
has been in the habit of considering all
flowers of the field, aye, and the garden,
too, as emblems of the short-lived race of
man, — "born to trouble as the sparks fly
upward." Yes, we have said it, and for
the honor of the rose we will prove it, that
the secret of the world's devotion to the
rose, — of her being the queen of flowers by
acclamation always and forever, is that the
rose is a type of infinity.

In the first place, then, the rose is a type
of infinity, because there is no limit to
the variety and beauty of the forms and
colours which it assumes. From the wild
rose, whose sweet, faint odor is wasted in
the depths of the silent wood, or the Eg-
lantine, whose wreaths of fresh sweet blos-
soms embroider even the dusty road sides,

" Starring each bush in lanes and glades,"

to that most perfect, full, rounded, and
odorous flower, that swells the heart of
the florist as he beholds its richness and
symmetry, what an innumerable range of
shades, and forms, and colours. And, in-
deed, with the hundreds and thousands of
roses of modern times, we ttill know little
of all the varied shapes which the plant
has taken in bj^-gone days, and which have
perished with the thousand other refine-

ments and luxuries of the nations who cul-
tivated and enjoyed them.*

All this variety of form, so far from de-
stroying the admiration of mankind for the
rose, actually increases it. This very cha-
racter of infinity, in its beauty, makes it
the symbol and interpreter of the aflfections
of all ranks, classes, and conditions of men.
The poet, amid all the perfections of the
parterre, still prefers the scent of the woods
and the air of freedom about the original
blossom, and says —

"Far dearer to me is the wild flower that grows
Unseen by the brook where in shadow it flows."

The cabbage-rose, that perfect emblem of
healthful rural life, is the pride of the cot-
tager ; the daily China rose, which cheats
the window of the crowded city of its
gloom, is the joy of the daughter of the
humblest day laborer ; the delicate and
odorous tea-rose, fated to be admired and
to languish in the drawing-room or the
boudoir, wins its place in the affections of
those of most cultivated and fastidious
tastes ; while the moss rose unites the
admiration of all classes, coming in as it
does with its last added charm, to complete
the circle of perfection.

Again, there is the infinity of associa-
tions which Hoat like rich incense about the
rose, and that, after all, bind it most
strongly to us ; for they represent the ac-

* Many of our renders may not be aware to what perfec-
tion the culture of flawers was once carried in Ronje Dur-
ing Caesar's reipn, so abundant had forced flowers become in
that city that when the Egyptians, intending to compliment
him on his birth-day, sent him roses in midwinter, tliey found
their present almost valueless from the profusion of roses in
Rome. The following translation of MartiaVs Latiii Ode to
I fEsarupon thisprejent, will give some ideaof ihe state of flo-
riculture then. There can scarcely be a doubt tliat there
were hundreds of sorts of roses known to, and cultivated by
the Romans, now entirely lost ;

'■ The ambiiious inhabitants of the land, watered by the
Nile, have sent thee, O Csesar. tlie roses of winter, as a
present, valuable for its noveliy. But the boatman of Mem-
phis will laugh at the gardens of Pharaoh »s soon as he has
taken one step in thy capital city ; for tlie spring, in all its
charms, and the llowers in iheir fragrance and beauty, equal
the glory of the fields of Psesium Wherever he wanders, or
casis his eyes, every street is brilliant with garlands of roses.
And thou, O Nile I must yield to Ihe fogs of Rome. Send us
thy harvests, and we will send ihee roses."

A CHAPTER ON ROSES.

59

cumulated wealth of joys and sorrows, which
has become so inseparably connected with it
in the human heart.

" What were life without a rose !"

seems to many, doubtless, to be a most
extravagant apostrophe ; yet, if this single
flower were to be struck out of existence,
what a chasm in the language of the
heart would be found without it. What
would the poets do ? They would find
their finest emblem of female loveliness
stolen away. Listen, for instance, to old
Beaumont and Fletcher : —

"Of all flowers,

Methinks a Rose is best ;

It is the very emblem of a maid ;

For when the west wind courts her gently,

How modestly she blows and paints the sun

With her chaste blushes ! When the north wind comes

near her,
Rude and impatient, then, like chastity,
She locks her beauties in her bud again.
And leaves him to base briars "

What would the lovers do ? What tender
confessions, hitherto uttered by fair half-
open buds and bouquets, more eloquent of
passion than the Nouvelle Heloise, would
have to be stammered forth in miserable
clumsy looris .' How many doubtful suits
would be lost — how many bashful hearts
would never venture — how many rash and
reckless adventurers would be shipwrecked,
if the tender and expressive language of
the rose were all suddenly lost and blotted
out. What could we place in the hands of
childhood to mirror back its innocent ex-
pression so truly? What blossoms could
bloom on the breast of the youthful beauty
so typical of the infinity of hope and sweet
thoughts, that lie folded up in her own
heart, as fair young rose buds? What
wreath could so lovingly encircle the head
of the fair young bride as that of white
roses, full of purity and grace ? And, last
)f)f all, what blossom, so expressive of hu-
man afiections, could we find at the bier to

take the place of the rose ; the rose, sacred
to this purpose for so many ages, and with
so many nations,

" because its breath

Is rich beyond the rest ; and when it dies
It doth bequeath a charm to sweeten death."

Barry Cornwall.

The rose is not only infinite in its
forms, hues, types, and associations, but it
deserves an infinite number of admirers.
This is the explanation of our desire to be
eloquent in its behalf. There are, unfor-
tunately, some persons who, however love-
ly, beautiful, or perfect a thing may be in
itself, will never raise their eyes to look at
it, or open their hearts to admire it, unless
it is incessantly talked about.

We have always observed, however, that
the great difficulty with those who like to
talk about fruits and flowers is, when once
talking, to stop. There is no doubt whatever,
that we might go on, therefore, and fill this
whole number with roses, rosariums, rosa-
ries, and rose-water, but that some of our
western readers, who are looking for us to
give them a cure for the pear-blight, might
cry out — "a blight on your roses !" We
must, therefore, grow more systematic and
considerate in our remarks.

We thought some years ago that we had
seen iha.t ultima t hide — " a perfect rose."
But we were mistaken ! Old associates,
familiar names, and long cherished sorts
have their proper hold on our affections ;
but — we are bound to confess it — modern
florists have coaxed and teased nature till
she has given them roses more perfect in
form, more airy, rich and brilliant in colour,
and more delicate and exquisite in perfume,
than any that our grandfathers knew or
dreamed of. And, more than all, they
have produced roses — in abundance, as
large and fragrant as June roses — that
blossom all the year round. If this unceas-
ingly renewed perpetuity of charms does

60

A CHAPTER ON ROSES.

not complete the claims of the rose to in-
finity, as far as any plant can express that
quality, then are we no metaphysician.

There is certainly something instinc-
tive and true in that favorite fancy of the
poets — that roses are the type or symbol
of female loveliness —

" Know you not our only

Rival flower — the human?
Loveliest weight, on lightest foot —

Joy-abundant woman,"

sings Leigh Hunt for the roses. And, we
will add, it is striking and curious that refined
and careful culture has the same effect on
the outward conformation of the rose that
it has on feminine beauty. The tea and
the bourhon roses may be taken as an illus-
tration of this. They are the last and
finest product of the most perfect culture of
the garden ; and do they not, in their
graceful and airy forms, their subdued and
bewitching odors, and their refined and
delicate colours, body forth the most perfect
symbol of the most refined and cultivated
Imogen or Ophelia that it is possible to
conceive? We claim the entire merit of
pointing this out, and leave it for some poet
to make himself immortal by !

There are odd, crotchetty persons among
horticulturists, who correspond to old bache-
lors in society, that are never satisfied to
love anything in particular, because they
have really no affections of their own to fix
upon any object, and who are always, for
instance, excusing their want of devotion
to the rose, under the pretence, that among
so many beautiful varieties it is impossible
to choose.

Undoubtedly there is an embarras de rich-
esses in the multitude of beautiful varieties
that compose the groups and subdivisions of
the rose family. So many lovely forms and
colours are there, dazzling the eye, and
attracting the senses, that it requires a man
or woman of nerve as well as taste, to

decide and select. Some of the great rose
growers continually try to confuse the poor
amateur by their long catalogues, and by
their advertisements about " acres of roses."
(Mr. Paul, an English nurseryman, pub-
lished, in June last, that he had 70,000
plants in bloom at once !) This is puzzling
enough, even to one that has his eyes wide
open, and the sorts in full blaze of beauty
before them. What, then, must be the
quandary in which the novice, not yet in-
troduced into the aristocracy of roses, whose
knowledge only goes up to a "cabbage-
rose," or a " maiden's blush," and who has
in his hand a long list of some great
collector — what, we say, must be his per-
plexity, when he suddenly finds himself
amidst all the renowned names of old and
new world's history, all the aristocrats and
republicans, heroes and heroines of past and
present times, — Napoleon, Prince Ester-
hazy, Tippoo Saib, Semiramis, Duchess of
Sutherland, Princesse Clementine, with
occasionally such touches of sentiment from
the French rose growers, as Souvenir cfun
Ami, or Nid d'* Amour, (nest of love !) &c.
&c. In this whirlpool of rank, fashion,
and sentiment, the poor novitiate rose-
hunter is likely enough to be quite wreck-
ed ; and instead of looking out for a ^er-
feet rose, it is a thousand to one that he finds
himself confused amid the names of prin-
ces, princesses and lovely duchesses, a vivid
picture of whose charms rises to his ima-
gination as he reads the brief words "pale
flesh, wax-like, superb," or "large, perfect
form, beautiful," or " pale blush, very pret-
ty ;" so that it is ten to one that Duchess-
es, not Roses, are all the while at the bot-
tom of his imagination !

Now, the only way to help the rose
novices out of this difficulty, is for ail the
initiated to confess their favorites. No doubli
it will be a hard task for those who haye

A CHAPTER ON ROSES.

61

Siad butterfly fancies,- — coquetting first with
one family and then with another. But
we trust these horticultural flirts are rare
among the more experienced of our garden-
ing readers,— persons of sense, who have
laid aside such follies, as only becoming
to youthful and inexperienced amateurs.

We have long ago invited our correspond-
ents to send us their '* confessions," which, if
not as mysterious and fascinating as those of
RoussEAtr, would be found far more inno-
cent and wholesome to our readers. Mr.
BuisT, (whose new nursery grounds, near
Philadelphia, have, we learn, been a para-
dise of roses this season,) has already sent
us his list of favorites, which v^e made
public in our last volume, (p. 434,) to the
great satisfaction of many about to form
little rose gardens. Dr. Valk, also, has
indicated his preferences. And to encou-
rage other devotees — more experienced
than ourselves — we give our own list of
favorites, as follows :

First of all roses, then, in our estimation,
stand the Botjrbons, (the only branch of
the family, not repudiated by republicans.)
The most perpetual of all perpetuals, the
most lovely in form, of all colours, and
many of them of the richest fragrance ;
and, for us northerners, most of all, ha7-dy
and easily cultivated, we cannot but give
them the first rank. Let us, then, say- —

HALF A DOZEN BOURBON KOSES.

Souvenir de Malmaison, pale flesh colour.

Paul Joseph, purplish crimson,

Hermosa, deep rose.

Queen, delicate fawn colour.

Dupetit Thouars, changeable carmine.

Acidalie, white.

Souvenir de Malmaison (see frontispiece)
is, take it all together, — its constant bloom-
ing habit, its large size, hardiness, beauti-
ful form, exquisite colour, and charming
fragrance, our favorite rose; the rose which,

if we should be condemned to that hard
penance of cultivating but one variety, our
choice would immediately settle upon. Its
beauty suggests a blending of the finest
sculpture and the loveliest feminine com-
plexion.

Second to the Bourbons, we rank the
Remontantes, as the French term them ;
a better name than the English one — Per-
petuals; for they are by no means per-
petual in their blooming habit, when com-
pared with the Bourbons, China, or Tea
roses. They are, in fact, June roses,
that bloom two or three times in the sea-
son, whenever strong new shoots spring
up ; hence, no name so appropriate as Re-
montante, — ■ sending up new flower shoots.
We think this class of roses has been a
little overrated by rose growers. Its great
merit is the true, old-fashioned rose charac-
ter of the blossoms, — large and fragrant as
a damask or provence rose. But in this
climate, Remontaiites cannot be depended
on for a constant supply of flowers, like
Bourbon roses. Here are our favorite :

HALF A DOZEN REMONTANTES.

La Reine, deep rose, very large.

Duchess of Sutherland, pale rose.

Crimson Perpetual, light crimson.

Aubernon, brilliant crimson.

Lady Alice Peel, fine deep pink,

Madame Dameme, dark crimson.

Next to these come the China Roses,
less fragrant, but everlastingly in bloom,
and with very bright and rich colours.

half a dozen china ROSES.

Mrs.Bosanquet, exquisite pale flesh colour.
Madame Breon, rose.
Eugene Beauharnais, bright crimson.
Clara Sylvain, pure tohite.
Cramoisie Superieure, brilliant crimson.
Virginale, blush.

The Tea Roses, most refined of all roses,
unluckily, require considerable shelter and

62

A CHAPTER ON ROSES,

care in winter, in this climate ; but they so
richly repay all, that no rose-lover can
grudge them this trouble. Tea roses are,
indeed, to the common garden varieties
what the finest porcelain is to vulgar crocke-
ry ware.

HALF A DOZEN TEA EOSES.

Safrano, the buds rich deep fawn.

Souvenir d'un Km\, salmon, shaded with rose.

Goubault, bright rose, large and fragrant.

Devoniensis, creamy white.

Bougere, glossy bronze.

Josephine Malton, beautiful shaded white.

We thought to give Noisettes the go-
by ; but the saucy, rampant little beauties
climb up and thrust their clusters of bright
blossoms into our face, and will be heard.
So here they are :

HALF A DOZEN NOISETTES.

Solfaterre, bright sulphur, large.

Jaune Desprez, large bright jaw7i.

Cloth of Gold, pure yellow, fine.

Aimee Vibert, pure white, very free bloojuer.

Fellenberg, brilliant criinson.

Joan of Arc, pure lohite.

" Girdle of Venus ! does he call this a se-
lect list ?" exclaims some leveller, who ex-
pected us to compress all rose perfections
into half a dozen sorts ; when here we
find, on looking back, that we have thirty,
and even then, there is not a single moss
rose, climbing rose, provence rose, damask
rose, to say nothing of " musk roses," " mi-
crophylla roses," and half a dozen other di-
vi^ions that we boldly shut our eyes upon !
Well, if the truth must come out, we con-
fess it boldly, that we are worshippers of
the everblooming roses. Compared with
them, beautiful as all other roses may be
and are, (we can't deny it,) they have little
chance of favor with those that we have
named, which are a perpetual garland of
sweetness. It is the difference between a
smile once a year, and a golden temper,

always sweetness and sunshine. Why, the
everblooming roses make a garden of them-
selves ! Not a day without rich colours,
delicious perfume, luxuriant foliage. No,
take the lists as they are — too small by
half; for we cannot cut a name out of
them.

And yet, there are a few other roses that
ought to be in the smallest collection. That
finest of all rose-gems, the Old Red Moss,
still at the head of all moss roses, and its
curious cousin, the Crested 3Ioss, must have
their place. Those fine hardy climbers,
that in northern gardens will grow in any
exposure, and cover the highest walls or
trellises with garlands of beauty, — the
Queen of the Prairies and Baltimore Belle,
(or, for southern gardens, say — Laure Da'
voust, and Greville, and Buga Ayrshire;)
that finest and richest of all yellow roses,
the double Persian Yellow, and half a dozen
of the gems among the hybrid roses, such
as Chmcdole, George the Ath, Village Maid,
Great Western, Fulgens, Blanchefleur ; we
should try, at least, to make room for these
also.

If we were to have but three roses, for our
own personal gratification, they would be —
Souvenir de Malmaison,
Old Red Moss,
Gen. Dabourg.

The latter is a Bourbon rose, which, be-
cause it is an old variety, and not very
double, has gone out of fashion. We,
however, shall cultivate it as long as we
enjoy the blessing of olfactory nerves ; for
it gives us, all the season, an abundance of
flowers, with the most perfect rose scent
that we have ever yet found ; in fact, the
true attar of Rose.

There are few secrets in the cultivation
of the rose in this climate. First of all,
make the soil deep; and, if the subsoil is
not quite dry, let it be well drained. Then

THE WISTARIA SINENSIS.

63

remember that what the rose delights to
grow in is loam and rotten manure. En-
rich your soil, therefore, every year with
well-decomposed stable manure ; and if it
is too sandy, mix fresh loam from an old
pasture field ; if it is too clayej', mix river
or pit sand with it. The most perfect spe-
cific sti?nulus that we have ever tried in
the culture of the rose, is what Mr. Rivers
calls roasted turf, which is easily made by
paring sods from the lane sides, and ha'f
charring them. It acts like magic upon

the little spongioles of the rose ; making
new buds and fine fresh foliage start out
very speedily, and then a succession of
superb and richly coloured flowers. We
commend it, especially, to all those who
cultivate roses in old gardens, where the
soil is more or less worn out.

And now, like the Persians, with the
hope that our fair readers " may sleep upon
roses, and the dew that falls may turn into
rose water," we must end this rather prolix
chapter upon roses.

THE "WISTARIA SINENSIS.

BY DR. W. W. VALK, FLUSHING.

In several of the back numbers of the Hor- j
ticulturist, quite a number of hardy plants j
and shrubs have been referred to as worthy
cultivation, both for their vigor of growth
and great beauty when in flower. Among
the many which might be named as emi-
nently deserving a somewhat extended no-
tice, we ask the reader's attention to the
Wistaria sinensis, or Chiiiese Glycine, as it
is called by some persons. It is really one
of the handsomest things of the kind that
we know of, and we wish to make others
of the same opinion, by saying something
yexy favorable with regard to it. Ama-
teurs will not find that we have misled
them by speaking of the Wistaria as it de-
serves.

The most magnificent specimen that we
ever saw, is trained upon one of the walls
in the Garden of the London Horticultural
Society, and occupies a space in length of
375 feet. Seen in full flower it was exqui-
sitely beautiful, and few could look at it
without wishing to have in their possession
an ornament so exceedingly graceful. Next
to this very extraordinary specimen, the

prettiest we have seen in this country is at
Thorbuen's ^sforza Garden; and a third,
of very considerable size, is in the nurse-
ry of Messrs. Winter & Co., of this vil-
lage.

Judging from the comparative infrequen-
cy of its occurrence in small gardens, it
would appear not to be known that it is
increased so readily as to be purchasable
in most nurseries for a small sum, that it is
perfectly hardy, and that it may be cultiva-
ted with the greatest ease, as well as in a
considerable variety of ways. In stating
these plain facts, therefore, and referring to
the plant itself as an evidence of its desira-
bleness, we shall just glance at the several
modes in which it may be advantageously
treated.

As a green-house or conservatory climber,
its attractions are sufiiciently familiar and
recognized, although, considering its ex-
treme beauty and fragrance, and capacity
of blooming several times in a season, be-
sides flourishing in almost any aspect, and
being by no means particular as to where
it is planted, we should expect to find

64

THE WISTARIA SINENSIS.

it in every green-house and conservatory
throughout the country.

In the character of a tall shrub, however,
or of a pole plant, for placing in the beds
or borders of conservatories, or as a covering
to any of the pillars which support the roof,
or even pruned into a state of dwarfness,
and kept in a pot, or made to trail on rustic
work in the centre or back of a green-house,
it is almost entirely unknown. To adapt it
for any of these forms or positions, scarce
any treatment is required beyond a due
attention to pruning. But it is absolute-
ly necessary that this pruning be rigid,
and followed up with the greatest strict-
ness.

The natural habit of the plant being to
produce very long and comparatively weak
shoots, it of course commences to form
these from the very earliest period of its
growth. Indeed, as soon as a layered
branch has become a plant, by throwing
out roots from that part which is plunged
in the ground, and which has been partially
cut through to facilitate the process, it will
begin to develop those tenuous branches
which are peculiar to the species ; and,
where a bushy specimen is required, the
pruning must then be immediately started.
Nor will it be at all prudent to cease this
close pruning until the plant has been
reared into the desired form, when it will
also have acquired that tendency to bear
short blooming spurs, instead of stout
branches, which will render the subsequent
prunings light and trifling.

By this kind of routine, therefore, — taking
care to keep the shoots cut back very closely
at least every year, and, in the first stages,
twice or thrice each season, — good shrubby
or pillar plants may readily be obtained for
the conservatory. Nor is it to be ques-
tioned, that both the novelty and beauty of
such objects would greatly contribute to

the adornment of appropriate plant strac"
tures.

But, independently of the suitableness of
this Wistaria for attaching to the pillars of
a conservatory, and for being so confined
by pruning as to cover them alone, without
extending over any other portion of the
building, it possesses an equally striking
adaptation for affixing to poles, wnether of
wood or iron.

And here we cannot but digress a little
to express our wonder, that in addition to
those fine climbers which are in well kept
establishments made to depend so naturally
from the roof of the house, instead of being
retained in that trim restricted form which
was once so universal, the interesting open-
ground practice of training climbers to poles
is not more freely introduced. A pillar of
exotic climbing roses, for example, support-
ed by a pole, and standing out amidst the
varied shrubs or arboreous plants of the
conservatory, would be a most delightful
object; and there is scarcely a climber of
any description that might not be similarly
managed ; for, when once they have been
brought, by pruning, into a duly compact
form, with a tendencj'- to produce early
lateral shoots, these last will, if left almost
untouched, soon fling themselves out around
the stem in every direction, and gradually
take that drooping and waving character
which makes them so exceedingly graceful.

The mstaria is an excellent plant for
this purpose, as experience has fully proved.
By efficient pruning, it will acquire, when
at the height of ten or twelve feet, such a
number of lateral branches about a foot
long, that, after it has reached this state, it
will bear only blooming spurs ; or, if it
should happen to throw out a few of its
long slender shoots, these will only serve
to increase its beauty during the summer,
and be pruned away in winter.

THE WISTARIA SINENSIS.

65

Treated as a dwarf slirub, and cultivated
in a pot, it is, moreover, an extremely
manageable plant, and makes a very
agreeable thing for a show house, as well
for its actual interest, as because the fra-
grance of its flowers can be better enjoyed.
What may be done with it in this way, is
yet to most cultivators all speculation ; but
specimens have been exhibited which show
that the most satisfactory results have fol-
lowed the effort. As in the cases before
spoken of, pruning is the means by which
it is to be brought into this dwarf condition ;
and since it grows in the most common
soil, the compost supplied to it in a pot
should be of the simplest nature, such as
ordinary garden earth, while the pot itself
need not be over large.

In alluding to the Wistaria as a pot
plant, we would not forget its capabilities
for forcing, under such circumstances. Un-
der the stimulus of a little heat it develops
itself finely, as most cultivators well know.
And when its attractions are duly consider-
ed, it will, we think, ere long be frequently
subjected to the treatment indicated. As
a plant for forcing, under any circumstan-
ces, this species is likely to prove a valua-
ble accession to the rather limited number
of such plants, a ad we shall be pleased if
this hint should bring it more into notice.
Its recommendations are freedom in the
production of flowers, great beauty, and an
exquisite fragrance.

When grown out of doors as a wall-plant,
and trained over the face of a house or
other edifice, the circumstance of its bloom-
ing before the leaves appear, though not in
itself an interesting one, is a thing which
might properly exercise the attention and
inquiry of the culturist, in order to associate
it with some other plant which would sup-
ply the lacking verdure. Perhaps the ivy,
being the most verdant of all plants with a

climbing habitude, might be very appro-
priately blended with the Wistaria in
clothing a wall, or a portion of a building.
From the spreading nature of the ivy, it
would necessarily require a great deal of
trimming and pruning, to prevent it from
overrunning the Wistaria and smothering
it. But this could be easily prevented, and
if only half a dozen branches of bloom were
here and there visible amidst the dark and
glossy foliage of the ivy, the effect would
be most charming.

But the Cyiisus lahurmtm is more ap-
propriate than the ivy for the purpose indi-
cated above. It blooms nearly at the same
time, has an allied character, and possess-
ing a greater profusion of fine foliage,
might be happily mingled with the Wista-
ria. There is no difficulty in training the
Laburnum against a wall ; and by inter-
mingling the branches of the two plants,
their similar racemes of blue and yellow
blossoms would create a peculiar and pleas-
ing effect.

In treating the Wistaria as an open
ground plant, it has hitherto been chiefly
employed for walls or against houses ; and
its singular adaptation for decorating bow-
ers, arbors, &c., seems to have been quite
overlooked. It is exceedingly well fitted
for covering those trellised arches of wood
or iron which are sometimes placed over
the walks in flower gardens and pleasure
grounds, as nothing could be more delight-
ful than a walk beneath its lovely blooms.
Those open roofed pavilions or canopies,
too, which are occasionally made of rustic
wood and put up in similar places, afford
an equally good position for the charming
Wistaria.

What so appropriate in the way of a
climber for arbors, or the retired erections
for rest and cool enjoyment, so common in
some gardens, as the Wistaria ? To look

66

REMARKS ON NEW STRAWBERRIES.

through its noble racemes of blossoms,
fringing the edge of the roof, or surround-
ing the pillars along the front, would con-
stitute the perfection of a foreground to a
scene, either of rural beauty, or of enriched
and elaborate cultivation.

The Wistaria is quite as hardy as the
Laburnum. [Much more hardy. En.] We
have spoken of it fully as it deserves, and
hope enough has been said to increase its
cultivation, and to give it that diversity, so
essential to the production and maintenance
of interest. For our " 27e?«s," we are in-
debted to the suggestions of a writer of
known skill and experience.

Wm. W. Valk, m. d.

N. B. We have a small plant of the
" Wistaria rosea,^' sent us from Belgium,
and represented as handsomer than the si-
nensis. Yesterday we saw the fruit of the
" Grosielle cerise,^^ or Cherry Currant ; it
is fully equal to our highest anticipations,
and the largest of all currants known.
They measured over an inch in circum-
ference. W. W. V.

Remarks. — Our correspondent has scarce"
ly done justice to the merits of this — cer-
tainly one of the loveliest of all climbing
plants. We have cultivated it in various
situations for ten or twelve years, and find
it perfectly hardy in all exposures. A sin-
gle plant will cover hundreds of square
feet, if simply trained upon trellis, wall, or
building; or it may, by shortening the
branches, be kept within the limits of a
single upright pole, or the columns of a
piazza. The months of April and May
deck it with the most wonderful profusion
of long clusters of blossoms ; (a gentleman
compared the grand specimen in Thoe-
burn's garden, at Astoria, when in full
bloom this year, to a " floral cataract of
Niagara ;") and old plants are more or less
in bloom from May till Novembei".

It is, in short, a climber for all places, —
whether cottage, farm-house, or villa ; and
we hope, before long, to see it planted
wherever there is the least refinement pos-
sessed by the inmates of country houses
from Maine to Louisiana. Ed.

REMARKS ON NET77 STRAWBERRIES.

BY G. W. HUNTSMAN, FLUSHING, L. I.

Dear Sir — In my last communication, I
promised to make some further remarks
upon new varieties of strawberries. This
promise I will now endeavor to redeem, in
part, at least.

Of the many new varieties lately intro-
duced, I have noticed the following, though
not, in all cases, under the most favorable
circumstances for judging of their merits:

Black Prince,

Burr's New Pine,

Crimson Cone,

Profuse Scarlet, (Prince's,)

Bc):-ton Pine.

Iowa,

Cushing,
Bishop's Globe,
Abyssinian Prince,
Lizzie Randolph,
Taylor's Seedling.

Eberlein,

Charlotte, (Prince's,)
Primate, do.

Priuiordian, do.
Jenney's Seedling.

President,
Buist's Prize,
Burr's Seedling,

REMARKS ON NEW STRAWBERRIES,

67

Burr's Mammoth,
North's Victory,
Willey.

I do not intend giving a description of
each of these varieties, but to make a se-
lection of five kinds which, in my opinion,
possess qualities entitling them to notice.
The first five are those I have selected.
The Black Prince has been fully described
in the Horticulturist. I can oni\' say that
it does not fall short of its description. Its
peculiarly rich and sweet flavor render it
the most desirable strawberry to eat out of
hand. Indeed, it is not much improved by
sugar; and in point of productiveness, it is
not behind any other variety with which I
am acquainted.

Burr's New Pine is another first rate pis-
tillate variety, very productive, and of a
rich sweet flavor. Fruit large, and uni-
formly short, conical, of a light crimson
colour. Ripens about the same time as the
Black Prince.

The Crimson Co7ie, known in the New-
York market as the " Dutch berry," is a
very desirable kind, coming in quite late.
The fruit, though not of the first size, is
very beautiful, being a bright crimson,
and uniformly conical ; it also has the pro-
perty of keeping remarkably well after
being picked ; the flavor is rich acid. The
plants possess great vigor, and should be
planted farther apart than any other va-
riety.

The Projuse Scarlet is a new variety,
raised by W. R. Prince, from seed of the
Large Eirly Scarlet, which it closely re-
sembles, both in size, colour and flavor. It
will, perhaps, average rather larger. It
possesses a decided advantage over the L.
E. Srarlet in being a pistillate plant, and
therefore more uniformly productive. It
will. 1 think, when known, supercede the
Early Scarlet.

The Boston Pi?ie is a superb early va-
riety, requiring, however, good soil and
high cultivation to obtain a good crop.

The first four of these are pistillate, and
will bear well under almost any kind of
cultivation, provided the ground is good,
and they are duly impregnated. This lat-
ter office may be performed by the Boston
Pine, which is a hermaphrodite plant. I
am not certain but that the Boston Pine
may be superceded by the Eberlein, or Pri-
mate, both of which are excellent and nro-
ductive varieties.

There are others, beside those selected,
possessing good qualities, which may enti-
tle them to notice.

The Charlotte and Jenney's Seedling are
both excellent varieties.

Allow me to make a few remarks upon
the cultivation of the strawberry. I have
found from my experience and observation,
that while some kinds succeed tolerably
well, under almost any mode of treatment,
others, to bear well, require a particular
mode of culture.

I will first notice the Boston Pine, which
Mr. HovEY considers very productive, while
others assert the contrary. I have seen
this variety both productive and unproduc-
tive, according to the mode of treatment.
When it has been planted in separate
stools, kept clean of runners, and in good
strong ground, it has proved highly pro-
ductive ; while on the contrary, when the
plants were suffered to run into a thick
mass, it scarcely bore any fruit.

The same remarks will apply to almost
all hermaphrodite plants, bearing large
fruit. The reason of this seems obvious
enough, when it is remembered that these
plants throw up generally many times more
blossoms than pistillate varieties ; when,
therefore, they are crowded too thickly,
they do not find sufficient nutriment, or the

68

STRAWBERRY CULTURE AND SELECTION OF VARIETIES.

plants individual!}^ are not sufficiently strong
to perfect the fruit.

Pistillate varieties, as they do not throw
up so many trusses, will succeed much
better in thick beds. These remarks may
explain the discrepancy which often occurs
in the statements of different individuals
about the productiveness of the same ; and
may, also, independently of climate, ex-
plain the reason why English cultivators
are st much more successful in cultivating
hermaphrodite plants, as they almost al-
ways keep the plants in stools under a high
state of cultivation, — the runners being
continually removed. The mode of culti-
vation has also a very decided influence
upon the quality of the fruit. Hovei/s
Seedling, for instance, is very different in
flavor when crowded in beds, from what it
is when cultivated in open drills, and the
fruit fully exposed to the influence of the
sun. In the first case, the fruit is rather
insipid ; in the latter, it is of excellent
q lality. G. W. Huntsman.

Flushing, July 10th, 1848.

[The foregoing really sensible and prac-
tical remarks, on the culture of the differ-
ent classes of strawberries, we publish with

the greater pleasure because there has been
so much said on this subject by prejudiced
persons, who are too strongly biassed in
favor of one or the other horn of the straw-
berry dilemma to judge impartially.

Mr. Huntsman's remarks, respecting the
influence different modes of cultivation have
upon different varieties, corresponds exactly
to our own views. Hermaphrodite sorts,
well cultivated, may be made to produce
very large crops. The advantage of grow-
ing pistillate sorts is, that a very careless
or inferior mode of cultivation will suffice
to produce crops equally large, or even
larger ; and, in this country, where labor is
much scarcer and dearer than abroad, any
mode of cultivation that saves labor will
become the popular one.

We are inclined to rank the Large Ear-
ly Scarlet as one of the most productive of
strawberries, although it is an hermaphro-
dite, and not a pistillate sort. We have
compared its product for two seasons past
with that of some of the best pistillates,
and find it quite equal. Its great hardi-
ness, and the fact that it is one of the best
sorts to plant, as a fertilizer, along with
pistillate varieties, lead us to consider it
still one of the most valuable. Ed.]

STRAAATBSRR? CULTURE AND S3LECTION OP VARIETIES,

BY WM. R. PRINCE, FLUSHING, N. Y.

It is indispensable that the ground for
strawberry beds be perfectly free from all
weeds and their seeds. This may be ef-
fected by digging the soil several times at
intervals; thus destroying all forthcoming
weeds. The preferable soil is a rich loam
that retains moisture, but sufficiently fria-
ble for the requisite filtration ; this should
be highly manured, but without the proba-

bility of introducing nauseous weeds there
with. The beds should be about four feet
wide, and the plants set fifteen inches asun-
der ; and new beds should be formed every
second year. The best periods for planting,
in all but the southern states, are August,
September, and April. Strawberry plants
are of three characters : 1st, staminate or
male, sterile; 2d, hermaphrodite or bisex-

STRAWBERRY CULTURE AND SELECTION OF VARIETIES.

69

ual, more or less productive; 3d, pistillate,
very prodf dice. The two first have been
usually spoken of as one by ourselves and
others, when referring to impregi.ators ;
and the second has usually been termed
staminate, when speaking of fruit bearing
varieties. As these sexual characteristics
are }jerma7ient, and as false impressions are
conveyed by the terms, as hitherto applied,
we deem it indispensable to correct the no-
menclature by a true and correct applica-
tion of these terms in future. In the cul-
ture of the pistillate varieties, it is indis-
pensably necessary that they be t,ccompa-
nied by about one-twentieth of some sta-
minate or hermaphrodite variety, which
will render them invariably productive.
This course was recommended in our Trea-
tise on Horticulture in 1828, since which it has
been adopted in Ohio and elsewhere. The
pistillate varieties possess the great advan-
tage, that they may be allowed to run to-
gether in a mass, and will, in this mode,
bear profusely, and this is the most profita-
ble course of culture ; whereas, the herma-
phrodite varieties, (with three or four pecu-
liar exceptions,) will not produce a fair
crop, unless they are cultivated as distinct
plants and kept clear of runners. There
can be no such event as a failure in the
crops of pistillate varieties, (when accom-
panied by staminates or hermaphrodites.)
Every pistillate variety is productive, vary-
ing only in abundance. The hermaphro-
dites may all be deemed moderate bearers,
except where we have denoted otherwise;
and the few exceptions mostly produce fruit
of but medium size. The Primate, and
possibly two or three other hermaphrodites,
comprise the only varieties with large fruit
that produce large crops. In selecting an
impregnator to plant among pistillates, it is
best to select a productive hermaphrodite
variety, as this will prevent any loss of

ground. In regard to hardihood, all the
varieties we now cultivate, with the excep-
tion of the Montevideo Pine, will withstand
the winters of the most northern states, by
simply covering the beds during winter
with four inches of straw or leaves.

DESCRIPTIONS OF TWENTY SELECT VARIETIES.

Profuse Scarlet. — A seedling from that
favorite and earliest market variety, the
Large Early Scarlet. The fruit is at ma-
turity at the same period, and is of larger
size than its parent, which it closely resem-
bles in form, colour and flavor. The pa-
rent is hermaphrodite, and only a moderate
bearer ; but the present variety is pistillate,
and bears profusely, — thus furnishing a
most desirable acquisition, and one that
has been anxiously sought for. Flowers
small.

Bishop^s Seedling or Oraiige. — This is
very different from the crimson variety,
erroneously so called, being a beautiful
orange scarlet, with a profusion of clusters,
unsurpassed by any other, of medium size,
rounded. Flowers m,edium. Pistillate.

Black Prince. — Large, rounded, slightly
projecting at the extremity, blackish crim-
son, very dark, in large clusters, very showy,
sweet and excellent when fully ripe. Flow-
ers medium. Pistillate.

Charlotte. — Large, obovate or rounded,
dark scarlet, sweet, delicious, sprightly fla-
vor, and very superior to most varieties ;
exceedingly productive. Some straw should
be lain on the ground, as the size and
abundance of the fruit causes it often to
rest on the earth. The foliage is broad
and luxuriant, and even more so than Ho-
vey's Seedling, to which its habit greatly
assimilates. Flowers medium. Pistillate.

Crimson Cone. — Large, elongated cone,
bright crimson, very beautiful, good flavor,
and fragrant ; keeps remarkably well, and

70

STRAWBERRY CULTURE AND SELECTION OF VARIETIES.

estimable for market — very productive. A
remarkably vigorous plant. Flowers above
medium for the sex. Pistillate.

Crimson Fine. — Rather larger than the
Hudson, of same form and colour, hand-
some, very productive, suitable for market.
Flowers medium. J k?- f fi aphi'odit e a.nd pis-
tillate on distinct plants.

Conii/cnpia. — A magnificent seedling from
the Hudson, — very large, conical, scarlet,
good (lavov — very productive — fine for mar-
ket. Flowers medium. Pistillate.

Eberlein. — Early, medium size, conical,
dark scarlet, remarkably productive ; ave-
rages larger than Large Early Scarlet ;
ripens ne.xt after it and the Profuse Scarlet,
and at the same period as the Iowa. Flow-
ers medium. Hermaphrodite.

Burr's New Pine. — Very large, obovate
or rounded, light crimson, beautiful, very
sweet and fine flavor, detaches easily ; very
productive. Flowers large for the sex.
Pistil/ate.

Bi/rr's Rival Hudson. — Large, showy,
dark scarlet, red inside, long jointed cone,
flavor good when fully ripe, — much resem-
bling, in form and (lavor, its parent, the old
Hudson ; the berries in large clusters ; very
productive. The plant is very vigorous,
with dark green foliage. Flowers medium.
Pistillate.

Jhilliant. — Large, conical, deep crim-
son, bea\iliful, excellent flavor: productive.
The plant is very vigorous, and a seedling
of the Crimson Cone. Flowers large. Her-
maphrodite.

Cushing. — One of Dr. Brincklee's seed-
lings ; very large, light and scarlet, ob-
tuse cone, fine flavor; productive. Flowers
large. Hermaphrodite.

Iowa. — Large, broad-rounded, sometimes
depressed, seeds deeply imbedded, beauti-
ful, light orange scarlet, not high flavored,
but pleasant ; early and productive, — a pe-

culiar fruit. Flowers medium or under.
Hermaphrodite.

Magnifique. — Very large, orange scarlet,
rounded, splendid, pleasant flavor; very
productive, — an extraordinary fruit. Pis-
tillate.

Prolific Swaintsone. — Large, ovate, scar-
let, fine flavor; productive, — an improve-
ment on the old Swainstone, its parent.
Flowers large. Herviaphrodite.

Primate. — A seedling from the Prince
Albert, of extraordinary character; being
the only hernia plirodite variety that pro-
duces large fruit and large crops ; form
conical, deep scarlet, splendid, good flavor;
very productive ; fine for market. Flowers
medium.

Primordian. — Early, large, elongated
cone, deep scarlet, beautiful ; very produc-
tive ; ripens with the Eberlein, next after
the Large Early and Profuse Scarlet.
Flowers small. Pistillate.

Prolific Hudson. — Medium to large, short
cone, crimson, good flavor ; very produc-
tive ; ripens gradually ; don't rot. Flow-
ers medium. Pistillate.

Refulgent. — Medium to large, peculiar
form, ovate with a neck, beautiful, bright
scarlet, fine flavor ; highly productive and
estimable. Flowers small. Pistillate.

Unique Scarlet. — Large, p\irse shaped,
light scarlet, sweet, rich, delicious flavor;
a peculiar fruit. Flowers medium. Her-
viaphrodite.

Montevideo Pine. — A distinct species, pro-
ducing fruit of monstrous size and of co-
nical form, sometimes variable, and high
pine-apple flavor; ripens late, and continues
ten or twelve days after the other large
varieties have passed. The plant is the
strongest in growth of all strawberries ;
foliage large and vigorous ; petioles, pe-
duncles and runners, strong and downj' ;
the blossoms very large, often the size of a

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

71

dollar. It succeeds here, and is well suited
to the southern states, to which it must
prove a most desirable acquisition, as the
northern varieties do not thrive there.
Above a dozen splendid varieties have been
produced from the seeds of this estimable
parent. Hermaphrodite.

Unique Prairie. — Called in Ohio —
" Necked Pine ;" but as it is a native of
the western states, and has no affinity
whatever with the Pine family, I have
dropped the latter title. It is of peculiar
form, ovate, with a very distinct neck, me-
dium or rather lar<re, light scarlet, indif-
ferent flavor and too acid, except well
sugared, or as preserves; foliage dark green.

deeply grooved. Flowers medium. Pis-
lillite.

Taijh)r''s Seedling, is another prairie va-
riety; medium to large, long oval, with a
distinct neck, light bright orange scarlet,
sweet and pleasant when fully ripe, but
not high flavored ; ripe soon after the Iowa.
Flowers medium. Pistillate. W. R. P.

Flushing, July n,\S\S.

[We hope Mr. Pkinck will exhibit some
of these new seedling varieties of his own,
— Charlotte, Primate, Primordian, &c., be-
fore the fruit committee of the Massachu-
setts or Pennsylvania Ilort. Societies, next
season, in order that a report may be made
on their respective qualities. Ed.]

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE-

IJY GKOUUK (5I-I:NNY »

Enough, in all conscience, has been writ-
ten upon the subject of this favorite flower,
and yet we must write once more. One
would, however, think, tliat every cottage
window was in itself a lesson, when we
see the ruddy health and fine colour whicii
characterize almost every pkiiit we see in
those situations. The truth is, that per-
sons who grow plants for amusement only,
are content with ordinary loam and dung,
or even the common mould from a kitchen
garden, and as they do not excite the
plants, they remain in health, while others,
who grow for exhibition, mix up excitable
compost, which makes the plants grow
very strong, but in this very strength there
is danger. A slight check deranges their
machinery, or, rather, their structure ; and
whole collections fre(|uently get impaired
in the colour of their foliage, and the dis-
appointment is mortifying in the extreme.
There is no staving off the mischief, be-
cause it is all too deeply seated before it
shows itself, and often past recovery, as
fine specimens, before anything wrong is

• From llie London Ilort. Musazinc.

indicated by the appearance. A person
should never use exciting composts, unless
he is constantly attending to his plants, be-
cause the higher they are grown, the more
susceptible they are of damage ; and vice
versa, the more simple the compost, the
less likely they are to be deranged in their
economy, although they may not grow
quite so rampant and strong. The great
object of the cultivator for exhibition, ac-
cording to the present fashion, should be
strength, bushy habit, quantity of bloom,
and colour of foliage. This is not to be
accomplished by exciting composts, for
rapid growth induces long instead of short
joints, and nothing goes farther towards
spoiling habit. Suppose the slicks, the
scores of sticks, were removed from some
of the gay-looking show geraniums, they
would hang all over the pots — they having
been excited into raj)id and weakly growth,
and unable to sustain their own weight.
There is nothing so much wanted as a re-
form in this matter. The waste of time
required to prop these miserable branches
out at proper distances, can only be tolera-

72

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

ted by persons who have no notion of its
value. Private establishments do not, in
general, produce such specimens; and many
who buy at large prices, get dissatisfied
with their gardeners for not producing the
plants as large and as handsome as those
exhibited at the public shows. There is,
however, a medium as to compost, and no
one ought to go to extremes, except by way
of experiment, and that should be with a
very few of their plants, and not the best.
The compost that does least harm, is vege-
table mould and loam ; hardly any propor-
tions of these can be mischievous. In short,
plants will grow in either of them without
much danger to their constitution, aUhough
they may affect the first growth ; but as we
propose to treat of all the different stages
of growth, the soil to be used, and every
necessary particular, under their various
heads, we need only say here, that we wish
to see geraniums grown in good health and
strength, supporting themselves, instead of
being propped up with a hundred sticks,
which are destructive to the nature of the
flower and plant, discreditable to the gar-
dener, and to the societies who encourage
him ; in short, it answers but one purpose,
which is filling the tables, and a mass of
imperfect blooms, instead of a reasonable
quantity of noble flowers, is the result.
Nevertheless, it is the fashion, and the
prizes are too tempting for gardeners, who
are generally ill paid, to resist. In obedi-
ence to the mania for such things, we shall
be obliged to direct how to spoil as well as
how to grow geraniums ; but our mind has
been always made up to one thing, and we
shall pay attention to it as a necessary pre-
caution against the all-absorbing propensity
to admire large plants. If the public were
shown how grand the flowers come when
grown on the leading shoot, without cutting
back, or stopping, when only three or four,
or, perhaps, half a dozen lateral shoots ap-
pear, they would hardly know the same
varieties ; but if even these lateral shoots
are taken off, and the whole strength is
thrown into the leader, (which we should
do, if we were going to show a single truss
of the cut flower,) or, what is, perhaps, the
best of all, to allow the leaders and the
laterals that come naturally to make their
growth, and as soon as the laterals show

their buds, to pick them off, which is of
great assistance to the main bloom, they
would not be quite so fond of the enormous
plants, and the victimized flowers, that
crowd upon the artificially grown, and still
more artificially supported specimens that
now occupy their attention at shows, and
literally disguise the varieties that are re-
ally good. It is quite notorious that a
flower is never seen afterwards so good as
when it is exhibited with its first bloom ;
and it is thought by some that the flowers
degenerate. Let them stop back a currant
tree, and constantly top the laterals, until
they crowd it with comparatively weak
shoots, and see if they get the flowers and
fruit so large ; but it is a strange fancy that,
in geraniums, the art of gardening is re-
versed ; instead of pruning out branches, to
give light, air, and strength, to those re-
maining, that the plant may have less than
its natural work to do.

THE CULTUKE.

Scil. — To do justice to the culture of
geraniums, it is necessary to be provided
with several ingredients in their purest state.
The first of these, and by far the most im-
portant, is the loam, formed by the turf, cut
three inches thick, from a loamy pasture,
and laid together until the entire vegetable
matter is decomposed. To effect this, the
turves should be laid grass to grass, and
roots to roots, one on the other, till all of
them are built into a stack. At the end of
one year, this should be chopped down into
slices, and thrown into a heap, some person
picking out grubs, wire-worms, or other
vermin, likely to be injurious to the plant;
for it is notorious, that no earth is so full of
such as that formed of rotten turves, the
roots being in general so great a harbor for
both wire-worms and grubs of various kinds,
The object of chopping it down in these
slices, is to detect them the more easily.
When the entire stack is thus chopped to
pieces and put into a heap, it should lay
another year together, and it will be fit for
use ; and the heap of compost thus formed
will be, as nearly as may be, half loam and
half vegetable mould, and this compost
would, of itself, grow almost anything.
The only possible evil that could be, is re-
tentiveness, or adhesiveness ; but, unless
the natural loam were very stiff indeed,

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

73

I'i;;. 14 — The Geraniuvi.

even this could hardly occur. Provision,
however, must be made for further mix-
ture ; but it may be necessary to provide
for cases in which this compost of rotten
turves cannot be had : and in this case, you
must provide clean loam, remembering that
the top spit of a pasture is always prefera-
ble to any other, and that it must not be too
stiff. In this case, you ought to prepare
even the staple heap so as to be as nearly
a substitute for the rotted turf as possible.
This may be done by putting a three-inch
layer of the loam, and three inches of old
cow-dung, and repeating these layers till
the heap is as high as you intend to make
it. Let this lay a year together, and chop
it down, as in the case of turf, throwing it
into a heap, to be packed, however, as you
proceed, in the same way as before directed.
The cow-dung is as nearly a compensation
for the decayed vegetable, and the con-
tinued dressing that a pasture has from the
animals which feed, as can be found, and
such a compost will grow almost anything.
But it maybe necessaiy to use the plain
loam, as you get it, instead of waiting a
Vol. III. 5

couple of years for it. In this case, all the
other matters used with it must be tho-
roughly decomposed. Mr. Beck, who has
been very successful, forms his staple heap,
as we shall call the principal soil already
described, by means of a top spit of turfy
loam, in alternate layers with the muckings
out of a stable, allowed to lie in a heap till
the straw is decomposed. There will not,
however, for general purposes, be found
much difference in the growing qualities of
the three heaps; and a fourth may be
made, in the want of having pure loam
without the turf being rotted, by putting
half loam, one-fourth leaf mould, and one-
fourth decomposed dung from an old melon
bed. This should be well mixed and
turned over as often as possible before
nsing, and it must be used as a substitute
for the other heaps, which we shall, for the
sake of being understood, call loam. The
other ingredients to provide himself with,
are turfy peat, with the vegetable fibre
among it, and silver sand. Thus prepared,
we will venture to say, we shall be able to
do without bone-dust, and other nostrums,

74

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

which are too commonly proposed to be
used, and much to the detriment of a whole-
some healthy growth.

BUYING THE PLANTS.

In commencing the culture of geraniums,
it is desirable you should, in blooming
time, visit the nurseries, and choose for
yourself; or attend where you may see a
great number prepared for exhibition. We
prefer visiting the nurseries, because there
are many plants grown that are not barba-
rized by the degrading use of props ; and
you are able to see whether a plant is of
such a habit as will sustain itself without
props; if there be any that will not, do not
touch them, nor admit them into your col-
lection. Choose plants of good strong
bushy habit, with short strong joints, rich
foliage, and compact round-looking flowers,
with thick pe'.als, smooth edge?, and well-
defined colours. They should also be with
large trusses of flowers, which have foot-
stalks long enough to spread out the bloom
of each truss into a handsome head ; re-
gard should also be had to contrasting the
colours of the collection, choosing the best
of each colour or shade, such as the best
pure white without a blotch, the best with
a light blotch, and the best with a dark one.
Then the best pink with a light, and the
best with a dark, and so on, through all
the best of the colours. Avoid those that
are indefinite, and not bright and striking,
for they do no good to a collection. The
only exceptions to be made, are when there
is any remarkably good point about them
unconnected with their colour ; for instance,
the thickness of petals or roundness of
flower, with smoothness of edge. These
points, in perfection, might tempt us to
take one of bad colour for the sake of rais-
ing better colours with these good qualities.
These plants are, for the most part, bought
in thumb-pots out of the blooming season,
though the old varieties may be had al-
ready in flower. We shall treat them as if
in four-inch pots, well established, and in
the autumn of the year, the time when
most new varieties are sent out by Mr.
Beck and other seedling growers.

THE FIRST SHIFT,

Get some six-inch pots, and put in a crock
at the bottom to cover the hole, and some
smaller ones to assist the drainage. Now

prepare a compost with two parts from the
loam heap and half a part of peat, rub it all
through a very coarse sieve that would let
a hazel nut through, because it removes
any large portions of undecomposed matter,
large stones, and hard lumps, while it does
not affect that admission of air which is so
essential to the roots. If this mixture seems
sufficiently light and porous to let the
water through very easily, there will be no
occasion for anything else, but if it appears
too adhesive, add half a part of silver sand.
Mr. Beck uses his two-thirds from the loam
heap and one-third of silver sand and peat
mixed. The truth is, that neither the peat
nor the silver sand is of use except in a
mechanical way, to render the soil rather
more pervious to air and water than it
would be alone, and therefore the use of
them must be for the most part dependent
on the adhesive or non-adhesive quality of
the loam. Turn out the ball from the four-
inch pot, and having put a little soil into
the larger one, and rubbed off' the surface
and the drainage, place the plant in the
new pot, as low down as the base of the
lower shoots or the lower leaves, for a ge-
ranium will bear deep potting, and strike
new roots all the way up the stem ; so that
at every shift it may if desirable be set
lower to make it more dwarf. If the plant
consist of merely the upright cutting, and
there are no lateral shoots, pinch out the
top if you intend to make it dwarf and
bushy ; but if you desire to cuhivate the
plant for a single truss of flowers to cut, take
out any side shoots that may come, and
grow the plant up ; but there is a better
way than either, if we are to be content
with one noble truss and a handsome plant,
and that is, to allow it to make its own
growth, Avhich will be with one leading
shoot and a few lateral branches, which
form the plant into a bush at the lower
part, while the leader is depended on for
the principal and perhaps only bloom, — the
way in which, according to our notion, one
class ought always to be exhibited. We
would have these classes, one for quantity
of bloom, one for cut trusses of bloom, and
one for plants with only a single truss of
flower; but even the first class should be
prevented from showing with props, for we
maintain it is not only unnatural, but it has

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

75

caused the cultivation of many sorts quite
incapable of sustaining themselves. Hav-
ing, however, made the shift from the four-
inch to the six-inch, they may be placed in
the house to make their growth, which they
soon will, and be ready for another shift.
All this time ihey must have plenty of air,
and not too much water. Mr. Beck, whom
we are bound to look up to as a cultivator,
on account of his excellent productions, re-
commends us to promote their growing
freely until they have rooted well round the
pots, then keep them quiet by withholding
water as much as possible, and giving them
abundance of air. We cannot dispute the
propriety of promoting their growing freely,
unless we could define the thing, by know-
ing the means by which they are to be
grown freely. We do not consider the
necessary growth from the autumn repot-
ting, to the next shift, warrants our accepta-
tion of the words. We, for instance, ob-
ject to any more heat than is necessary to
preserve the house from damp and frost,
and we also object to any more water than
is necessary to keep them going, and we
give as much air as the mildness of wea-
ther will enable us to do from the time of
the first to the period of the second shift,
which with us would be as soon as the
roots fairly get round the pots. We sus-
pect that this is the system intended by Mr.
Beck, although, for the sake of brevity, he
has conveyed to our minds the notion that
heat should be applied to promote grooving
freely. We should merely supply them
moderately with moistuie, liberally with air,
and sparingly and reluctantly with heat.
We should shift them as soon as the roots
began to meet round the pot.

SECOND SHIFT.

From the six-inch pots we should remove
to pots of eight-inch size. Putting crocks
at the bottom as before, and using the same
compost, we should remove the ball whole
from one pot to the other, merely rubbing
off any loose soil from the balls, and sink-
ing the plants still lower if necessary, so as
to bring down the foliage to the edge of
the pot. Of the plants that are to be bushy,
any shoots that are more vigorous than the
others should be stopped, to promote an
even growth. Those intended to grow a
single truss for cutting, and the plants of

which are not for any other purpose, may
have their side shoots taken away as often
as they come and as soon as they are large
enough. The plants which are to be shown
with a single truss on the leader may have
any remarkably vigorous side shoots short-
ened, to prevent them growing ugly or un-
couth, and also to check too much exuber-
ance in any one branch. These plants will
all be found vigorous, and where they throw
up the leader trusses, select from the plants
those which have the greatest number of
flower buds on the main truss, and put
them on one side. The others may bloom
all their trusses, and will, though not tor-
tured into a hundred bunches of insignifi-
cant flowers, show eight or ten perhaps as
large as any two of the others. As the side
shoots develop their blooms in the selected
plants, let them be picked off, and allow
none but the truss selected to bloom on the
same plant. They will not be quite so
large as the trusses on the plants deprived
of their side shoots, but they will be much
larger than any of the others. The select-
ed plants will yield a centre truss but little
inferior to them, and those which are all
allowed to bloom, will be bold and hand-
some compared with the plants which are
stopped back from time to time, to increase
the number of branches and trusses intend-
ed to be propped into their places. But
these require, as a general application, as
soon as the trusses of bloom are formed,
liquid cow dung water, made with one bulk
of well rotted dung to six bulks of water,
that is, a quart to six quarts, or a gallon to
six gallons ; this may be used once to three
times watering with plain water, and con-
tinued until they bloom once out of four
waterings. The cow dung is stirred with
the water, and applied just the same way
through a rose of a watering-pot, but not on
the foliage.

BLOOMING.

As they approach the opening of the
bloom they must be shaded with a very
light cloth, and air should be given while
the sun is powerful. About five, the house
should be closed, and the plants be syringed
carefully with a light rose on the syringe,
and very clear water. The plants will
bloom in perfection ; and the difference be-
tween the plants pinched back and grow^n

76

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

into numerous stems and those, only grown
into one or a few, will be so striking- as to
make the flowers appear different varieties.
Mr. Beck, who has a great dislike to sticks,
but must nevertheless grow according to
the rules of exhibitions, directs the sticks to
lie so placed, and to be of such length, that
they cannot be seen above the base of the
tlower stalks ; and he very properlj^ re-
marks, and it is going part of the road with
us, that the truss that will not support it-
self is unfit for the amateur's stage. We
go farther, and maintain that the plant
whose branches will not support themselves,
is unfit for cultivation or exhibition, though
we know many approved varieties are of
this faulty nature.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF SHOW PLANTS.

The enormous specimens which we oc-
casionally see at exhibitions, are as easily
produced as small ones. There is no more
merit, although there is more labor. A ge-
ranium could be grown as large as a goose-
berry bush, with nothing but additional
work, that is caused by the difference of
weight.

GROWTH OF LARGE SPECIMENS.

A very simple set of rules decides the
number of branches on a geranium, as well
as on any other plant of similar habit. By
taking away the top from a cutting as soon
as it has struck and been potted singly, and
down to within three eyes of the ground,
tliese eyes will send forth three branches,
and as soon as these have grown so as to
have two e3^es to leave on, they may be
topped ; from each of these, two more
branches are emitted. This kind of check
is to be accompanied by occasional shifts
from small to larger pots as soon as the
roots fairly reach the side, and begin to
meet or grow round the outside : in the
course of this treatment it will be found
that many branches will come where they
are in each other's way ; those which would
cross or crowd each other must be regulated
by taking away the one most in the way,
and due regard must be always had to the
general form of the plant ; but it is quite
certain that by this constant plan of short-
ening the branches as they come forward
the form may be adjusted to anything. In
all the shifts the plant may be lowered in
the pot if necessary, to bring down the foli-

age to the rim of the pot, for nothing looks
worse than a vacancy between the pot and
the foliage. It is only necessary to continue
this till all the buds begin to rise and bloom,
when they may all be picked off, and the
plant may have all the air, and sun, and
rain ; in short, it maybe placed in the open
garden, where it would be sheltered from
high winds. Towards the middle of Au-
gust it may be deprived of water and cut
in, and the branches maybe thinned, so as
to form a good skeleton of a plant. It may
then be repotted. In cutting in the plant,
you must recollect that it is to form the
foundation of the next year's enlarged
growth, and therefore it requires thinning
as well as cutting back. You have to make
allowance for a new and fresh growth from
the old wood. As the plants will require
all the air they can have safely, it is better
to remove them to a pit or frame, where
they can be left wholly uncovered when
necessary, and be kept from cold, excess of
wet, high wind, and the very hot and bright
sun. As soon as there is any danger of
frost they must be removed to the green-
house, and abundant room must be given
to the plants, to prevent them being drawn
up. As the new growth comes you must
rub off the shoots that are in each other's
way, and stop any that are growing too
vigorously, for the great object is to pre-
serve a uniformity in the growth, and if
any shoot or shoots take to growing faster
than the rest, the discrepancy would be in-
creased as the plant advanced. As soon as
the shoots attain a length sufficient to leave
two giod joints, the tops may be taken off,
and the plant may undergo the same treat-
ment in every respect that is given to the
younger ones. The abundance of shoots
will enable you to choose which you leave
on ; and by occasionally examining them,
and taking off the superfluous growth, the
plants will become as handsome on a large
scale as the smaller ones ; but to follow the
fashion of the day, you will be forced to
place short sticks to the branches, so as to
regulate the flowers, which would otherwise
be thick in some places and thin in others ;
whereas it is considered necessary to have
them constrained with a little gentle vio-
lence if required, so as to be at pretty
nearly equal distances all over the plant

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

77

a'like. It ought to be mentioned, that by
the beginning of April the pots will be full
of roots, and that, large as the pots may-
be, these enormous plants will require a
further shift ; and the only difficulty there
is to encounter is in lifting about and hand-
ling such cumbrous and weighty subjects.

TEMPERATURE.

The geranium should not be subject to
checks and changes. In winter time the
skill of the gardener is tried most, for there
is no little difficulty in regulating the tem-
perature so as to keep out frost without
the house being at times too warm. It
would be well if the temperature never ex-
ceeded 40° of a night and 50° by day ; but
this is too often reversed. The usual plan
is to let them take their chance by day, if
there is no frost, and to light fires in the
evening, by which the temperature of the
house is raised in the dark and lowered by
daylight. In summer time, it is true, the
sun raises the temperature by day ; but the
geranium makes its growth all the winter,
when for weeks together we have no sun
shining upon the house. The expense of
firing is, we suspect, the ruling influence ;
and if not altogether so, the trouble regu-
lates the rest ; but certain it is that no man
lights a fire if he can help it. With gera-
niums it is desirable to avoid fire heat alto-
gether as much as it is possible ; but so
slight a frost is fatal to this plant, that a
man dare not risk it in the night, when the
glass is getting down too near the freezing
point by day ; but it would be far better to
use fire by day, so as to warm the house,
and let the closing suffice for all the early
parts of the night, than keep them very
cool all the day and light fires at night. In
the culture of these plants it is worth while
to have a rolling cloth to come down the
glass to the brick-work, so that it may be
let down in the evening, instead of lighting
fires, for it keeps in the natural warmth
many hours, and if attended to at night,
and at all times when frost is indicated, the
plants would be saved from the necessity
of fires, and be all the stronger and better
for it. At the same time it must always
be borne in mind, that thirty-two is the
freezing point, at which they take great
damage, if they are not killed outright, and
therefore that regard must be had to the

prevention of too near an approach to that,
either by covering or gentle fires, begun,
however, in the morning, and not at night ;
so also provision must be made that the
artificial heat does not raise the tempera-
ture above 45° by night at the most.

NECESSITY OF ROOM AND VENTILATION.

Few people who have not paid attention
to the subject, are aware of the necessity
of giving the plants room ; many crowd the
pots together so closely that the plants all
but touch each other. There is hardly any-
thing more detrimental to their general
health. It is true, they live, and bloom,
and, to ordinary observers, appear very
pretty ; but place one of them by the side
of a truly healthy plant, and you will ob-
serve such a contrast as to excite astonish-
ment ; the foliage paler, the leaves small-
er, the stems slighter and weaker alto-
gether, the flowers thin and distorted ; such
are the fruits of keeping plants too close
together. There ought to be as much room
between one plant and another as half the
diameter of the plant, that light and air
may not be impeded, but the entire plant
be open to the influence of both ; nothing
should induce a grower lo crowd them, for
it is better to throw half away, and grow
the other half well, than to spoil all,

FUMIGATING THE PLANTS.

There is no positive rule for this ; it
should be done frequently, without waiting
for the appearance of the aphides, for when
they come it is too late ; mischief is done
in a short time by the green fly, even be-
fore it can be noticed, except with strict
examination. The best mode of fumiga-
ting is with coarse strong tobacco, in pro-
per fumigating bellows ; but it can also be
done with some hot charcoal in a flower-
pot, and putting the tobacco in it ; or by
putting the nozzle of the common bellows
to a hole in the side of a flower-pot, such as
are made in many pots for extra drainage,
and so blowing the lighted tobacco. The
smoke must fill the house completely, even
to the ground, which it touches last. The
gardener may operate very well till the
smoke fills the upper part down to his
head ; he may then sit down, and pufT
again until it reaches him so much lower ;
and he may kneel, and at length lay down,
and find no quantity of smoke next the

78

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

ground. However, the most complete way
is to have a hole in the door, through
which the nozzle of the fumigating bellows
may be put, and they can be worked from
the outside without the slightest inconve-
nience. Care should be taken not to over-
do it. It may be easily seen when the
house is properly filled with smoke. The
next morning they should be syringed with
a fine rose. Some fumigate once a month ;
others very closely examine for the green
fly, so that one could hardly escape them,
and only fumigate when they discover
them ; it is, however, indispensable that
they get well smoked when the buds show,
and before they bloom, however much or
little they may have been attended to in
this particular before.

WATERING.

All plants should be watered with liquid
of the same temperature as the house they
are in. Those who are economical collect
all the rain water from the roofs of their
houses, and convey it into tanks within the
building, for rain water is far better than
all other, and river water is next ; but thou-
sands of plants are destroyed in health by
the application of spring water from wells.
When you are obliged to use spring water,
it ought to be exposed to the sun for days
in shallow vessels ; but it is far better to
avoid it, if possible, and to economize the
rain water as the best possible way of pro-
viding a proper moisture for plants of all
sorts. The geraniums do not like too much
wet ; they had better temporarily flag than
have moisture when they do not want it,
for an excess causes the leaves to turn
colour and to fall, and even the best of the
leaves lo be spotted with a sort of mildew,
much after the manner of carnations when
they get the damp; examine them well,
therefore, before you water, and convince
yourself they require it before you give it
them.

CUTTING IN AND STRIKING CUTTINGS.

Geraniums in healthy growth, and par-
ticularly when they are being grown for
exhibitions, can always spare cuttings ; for
what Avith stopping the branches and thin-
ning out the lateral shoots when too crowd-
ed, there is never any want of cuttings if
we wish to propagate ; but there is a period
for cutting in all plants without necessarily

forming monsters, as we have already de-
scribed. When they have done blooming,
and, if necessary, done seeding, let the
plants have no more water for some days,
and when the soil is pretty dry, cut them
in closer than we directed for the monster
plants; in fact, they should be cut in so
close as to allow of only sufficient eyes
to form a new moderate sized plant next
year. They should then be kept dry a few
days, to heal their wounds, and afterwards
trimmed at the roots ; all the matted fibres
removed, and even the strong roots cut back
a little, and the plants, so trimmed, repot-
ted in much smaller pots. These may be
shut up close in a frame a few days, but
bottom heat, if it can be had, hastens the
making of new roots, when they may be
preserved through the winter as we have
already described. The cuttings from these
plants may be struck almost like weeds ;
the shortest joint will make a plant, and it
is only necessary to cut the stem at bottom,
close to the base of a leaf, and place it in
the soil with one joint above ; nay, the ge-
ranium strikes so freely, that if it answered
any good purpose they will grow from eyes
like the grape vine. Pots full of these cut-
tings may be covered with bell glasses ; or
the space that a hand-glass would cover
may be stuck full of them on the common
border: they may be rapidly struck in a
gentle common hot-bed, [or out of doors in
a shaded border;] but it would be more
difficult to prevent their striking than to
strike them, place them in soil where you
can or where you will. In the ordinary
way they will strike under a month ; but,
assisted with bottom heat and close cover-
ing, they will rojt in ten or twelve days.
They are then potted in sixty-sized pots,
and watered and attended till they are
ready to send out, or kept till they have
thoroughly rooted round the pots.

RAISING FROM SEED.

The proper choice of seeding plants must
be made according to what you v.-ant ; half
a dozen of the best varieties may be plant-
ed out in the open air in May, when the
weather is settled, and where no others are
near; or they may be inoculated with any
sorts you wish to work from for iiriprove-
ments. For instance, you take well shaped
thick petalled flowers to seed from; take

THE GERANIUM AND ITS CULTURE.

79

out all the anthers as soon as you can get
hold of them, and when the pistil becomes
glutinous take the anthers from some flower
with a good quality that you wish to obtain
on thick petalled flowers, and put the dust
on the pistil of those you are to seed from.
The most easy method of conveying the
powder from the anthers of a flower is on a
camel's-hair pencil ; but it is the same thing
in efl^ect if you take the flower and touch
the pistil of the seeding plant with the an-
thers, for enough powder is sure to leave
the anthers and attach itself to the pistil to
answer all the purposes of fertilization.
The plants to be seeded will need little or
no care, unless they have to be covered in
very stormy weather. The truss may be
gathered when the seed is nearly ripe ;
and by hanging it up, or laying it down in
the sun, it will ripen, and the seed must be
looked after if any of it escapes ; to pre-
vent this, however, as it dries, it is well to
put it in shallow boxes or drawers to dry.
This seed may be sown in the spring, in
wide-mouthed pots of soil such as we have
recommended for general culture. The
seeds should be sown thinly, so as not to
crowd each other, because you are quite as
likely to waste a good one as a bad one in
the event of losing any; place it in the
green-house, or, if you like to hasten it,
you may raise it on a hot-bed ; but where
the geraniums are preparing for bloom, and
the temperature is moderate, will do very
well. Place a bell glass over the seeds till
they vegetate, when they may have air,
which you can give by uncovering them.
As soon as they are up and large enough
to take hold of, prick them out an inch
apart in other large pots, for a great body
of earth is far less liable to changes than a
small one, and therefore there is less dan-
ger of their suffering from dryness. Here
they may keep growing until they begin to
be crowded, when they may be put into
sixty-sized pots, well drained, and filled
with the compost recommended for the or-
dinary culture. When these pots are filled
with roots, change them to forty-eight-sized
pots, and from them, as soon as necessary,
to size thirty-two, iti which they may bloom,
when you give away, or throw away all
that are not better than you possess al-
ready ; and if you cannot do this very

readily, cut off' all the blooms, to prevent
their spoiling any seed that may be dis-
posed to set on thp best of the flowers in
the collection. For all the good they are,
they may be turned into the open air, or
into frames ; or, if you have a house de-
voted to seedlings, and there are but few
good out of a large number, the good ones
may be removed to another house, and
those which are of no other use may be left
in the place they occupy, to use for cut
flowers, as people are not hypercritical as to
the forms of a geranium in a bouquet.
When a seedling is found very good, so
that there is no doubt about eventually
naming and propagating it, the sooner all
the spare pieces can be taken off" and
struck, the better, because cuttings struck
early become plants in time to propagate
from again ; and from a single cutting
taken in April or May many others can be
obtained before the autumn ; while the ori-
ginal plant, denuded of some of its branch-
es, pushes into fresh growth, and affords
the means of rapidly increasing the variety.

PROPERTIES OF THE GERANIUM OR PELAR-
GONIUM.

1. The petals should be thick, broad,
blunt, and smooth at the edges, and slightly
cupped.

2. The flower should be circular, higher
at the edges than in the centre (so as to
fc.rm rather a hollow, though by no means
a deeply cupped bloom,) without puckering
or frilling; and where the petals lap over
each other, the indentation caused by the
join should be hardly perceptible.

3. The petals should lie close on each
other, so as to appear a whole flower rather
than a five-petalled flower.

4. The stem should be straight, strong,
elastic, carrying the blooms well above the
foliage. The footstalks of the individual
flowers should be stiff", and of sufficient
length to allow the flowers to show them-
selves in an even head, fitting compactly
edge to edge, and forming a uniform bold
tru ^s.

5. The colour should be bright and
dense, whether it be scarlet, crimson, rose
colour, purple, lilac, or any of the modifica-
tions; the spots on the upper petals should
be boldly contrasted with the ground, and
the darker the better : both upper petals

80

CULTURE OF NATIVE GRAPES.

should be alike, both side petals alike, and
the lower petal uniform.

6. All white grounds should be very
pure ; and the colours, no matter what they
be, on the white, should be decided, well
defined, and by no means flush into the
white.

7. The spots on the upper petals, or the
marks in any other, should not break
through to the edge.

8. Colours being a matter of taste, do
not affect the real properties so much as
other points, unless it be on the score of
novelty; on this ground a bright scarlet
would be desirable, and a black spot. We
have plenty of approaches to both, but none
very near.

9. The plant should be shrubby in its
habit, the foliage close, and of a rich bright
green, the joints short and strong, able to
support themselves in every part without
assistance. The flower should be large,
not less than five in a truss, and come at
the end of every shoot.

The obvious faults of most geraniums
are, long and pointed lower petals ; uneven,
twisted, notched, or pixkered edges ; long
footstalks, which make the truss loose and
open ; weak shoots, and stalks that will not
hold up the flowers without propping, which
destroys the appearance of the plant alto-
gether; small leaves and long joints, which
make the plant open, the habit gawky, and
the foliage poor.

REMARKS ON THB CULTURE OP NATIVE GRAPES.

BY D., NEW- YORK.

The best of our native grapes — such as
the Isabella and Catawba — are not equal
in flavor, it must be admitted, to the finest
table grapes of Europe ; yet, when tho-
roughly ripened by the hot sun of the mid-
dle states, they are a valuable fruit for the
dessert in autumn ; and as they are easily
kept after maturity till February or March,
they must be considered one of the most
desirable of our hardy fruits.

Some remarks on their cultivation, based
upon a practice of ten years past, may, per-
haps, interest some of your readers not al-
ready skilled in this matter.

After training the native grapes in a
great variety of modes, I must be allowed
to give it as my opinion that where large
and regular crops of the finest fruit is de-
sired, the vine must be kept within com-
paratively narrow bounds. Our native
grapes have greater natural luxuriance than
the European species ; I have myself had
one vine to produce 1200 perfect clusters
in a single year ; and have known several

cases of single Isabella vines covering
whole arbors of 40 or 50 feet in length.
Notwithstanding this, there cannot be a
doubt that small vines, kept within narrow
bounds, and closely and regularly pruned,
will give a much larger product, and bear
more uniform crops, on a given space of
ground, than large vines occupying the
same soil and space. In the latter, you
have the difficulty of a large amount of old
wood to contend against, and the extra
quantity of manure which grown large
plants require to produce a corresponding
effect upon them.

It is, perhaps, not easy to give a satisfac-
tory limit for the size of the vines for open
trellis culture ; but my favorite size (for an
upright trellis, 7 feet high,) is 6 feet apart
from vine to vine. Placed at this distance,
I do not find the least trouble in making
my vines produce a given number of bunch-
es every season, without in the least ex-
hausting the roots, so far as I am yet able
to judge.

NEW MIXTURE TO DRIVE AWAY INSECTS.

81

The favorite specific manure for the
grape-vine with me, is wood ashes. I am
in the habit of making a hollow basin,
some three feet in diameter, around each
vine, after stirring the surface in the spring.
In this basin I scatter fresh Avood ashes, at
the rate of half a peck to each vine. As
soon as the vines commence growing, I
begin to give them weekly rations of soap-
suds,— one of the very best fertilizers for
the native grape. My kitchen servants are
instructed to save all the soap-suds of the
weekly washing, and pour them into a
hogshead, sunk in the ground to recei^'e
them. These soap-suds are afterwards
poured into the basins formed at the base
of each vine; and, dissolving a portion of
the ashes, (deposited there in the spring,)
they carry down to the roots just the speci-
fic stimulus that the grape-vine most needs.

I have found, by actual experiment, that
vines treated in this way, of the same age
and size, and in the same soil with other
similar vines, treated in the common mode
of culture, uniformly bear fruit from one-
third to one-half larger in size, and usually
richer and higher flavored in quality. The
product well repays one for the extra labor,
to say nothing of increased beauty of ap-
pearance.

I very much prefer autumn to any other
season for making the annual pruning of

the grape-vine. If made in the autumn,
as soon as the leaves drop, you have the
advantage of an accumulation in the re-
maining buds of all the stock of nourish-
ment, [organizable matter — Ed.,] at that
season, distributed by the plant to each and
every bud and portion of its system. By
the first of December, if not earlier in this
climate, all this process of accumulation
and distribution is over ; and, consequently,
in pruning in February and March you cut
off, with the J^oung wood, a considerable
part of the nourishment which would have
been deposited in the remaining buds at
early autumn pruning. This advantage is
very visible to the eye in the growth and
production of vines pruned at the two sea-
sons ; and it is greatly in favor of autumn
pruning.

A number of persons, I find, are plant-
ing seecZs of the Isabella and Catawba grapes,
in order to obtain new sorts. They will,
many of tnem, be disappointed (like my-
self) in finding the seedlings only producing
grapes inferior and more pulpy than the
parents. A much more certain and satis-
factory mode, is to fertilize the blossoms of
the native grapes with pollen of the Black
Hamburgh, Muscadine, and other first rate
foreign sorts. I am, sir.

Respectfully yours, D.

New-York, Jtdy.,\B\8.

NEW MIXTURE TO DRIVE AWAY INSECTS.
BY AN OLD GARDENER, PHILADELPHIA.

Sir — I see in your Horticulturist the in-
quiry, started by several of yojr corres-
pondents,— what is the best means of dri-
ving away or destroying rose bugs, striped
bugs, and other troublesome insects, dele-
terious in the garden ?

I have been in the habit of using, for
three years or more, a mixture, first made
known to me by a German farmer, that I
am much pleased with. In almost every
case in which I have applied it, success haa
followed its application ; and the insects

8^'

NEW FRUITS.

have been driven away, and the plants
preserved.

The mixture is a very simple one. Take
some dry ground plaster of Paris, [gyp-
sum,] spread it on the barn floor, and
sprinkle over it, from a bottle, spirits of
iur/,entine — turning over the plaster so as
to slightly moisten the whole. Let it dry,
and then rub it or pound it slightly till it is
quite fine again.

Now it is ready for use ; and to use it,
you have only to scatter it over the leaves
or stems of plants liable t ) be infested or
attacked by insects. In order to have it
adhere to the foliage, it is best to use it
early in the morning, while the leaves are
wet with dew.

I have found it effectually to protect

melons and cucumbers from the striped bug,
grape-vines from the small white fly, and
even drive away the rose bug from such
plants as it was applied to. If you will
publish an account of it, perhaps your read-
ers will make a trial of its virtues for them-
selves. Your humble servant.

An Old Gakdenek.

Philadelphia, July 16, 1843.

[We have had an account lately of the
use of a mixture, quite similar to this, from
a farmer and orchardist in Westchester co.,
N. Y. It is certainly deserving of atten-
tion. Oil of turpentine is very offensive to
most insects ; and the mixture described
owes its virtue, no doubt, to the turpentine
odor. Ed.]

NEW OR RARE FRUITS THAT HAVE PROVED EXCELLENT.

We have much satisfaction in recommend-
ing the following varieties of fruit. They
have now all been proved in this climate,
and we can recommend them with confi-
dence to the attention of fruit growers :

I. LARGE EARLY APRICOT.

This variety, received by us from Rivers,
the English nurseryman, has fruited for
three years past in our garden ; and we
consider it a great acquisition to our stand-
ard fruits. The fruit is perfectly ripe now,
(July 10th.) Its form and size are accu-
rately represented in the accompanying out-
line. Its beauty of colour, however, we
cannot give here. This is deep orange,
with a spotted red cheek, of unusual bril-
liancy; indeed, the specimens which we
have had this season, on a common stand-
ard tree, have exceeded in beauty those of
any other variety of apricot that we have
hitherto seen. The flavor of this variety is

excellent, very much superior to the Ro-
man and Masculine, — the early sorts, in
common cultivation. It proves an abun-
dant bearer in the strong, heavy soil of our
fruit garden, and certainly, regarding the
very early period of its maturity, — while
the Moorpark and other fine apricots are
yet quite green. It must be admitted to
be, as yet, the largest, handsomest, and
best ( f early apricots.

In Languedoc, and the south of France,
where this variety is thought to have ori-
ginated, it is called Abricot de St. Jean,
from its ripening there about St. John's
day, (26th of June.) With us, it comes to
maturity along with the Roman and Z)m-
hois'' Early ; that is, during the first ten
days of July. The description of this va-
riety, in our Fruits and Fruit Trees, is
quite correct. The flesh, however, is of a
rather pale orange colour.

NEW FRUITS,

83

Fig. \5.~^Large Early Apricot.

The Large Early Apricot is pretty readily
distinguished by its foliage, which is large ;
its leaves tapering more towards the foot-
stalks than most others, and frequently
marked with little ear-like appendages,
(Fig. 15, a,) which occupy the positions of
the usual leaf glands.

II. burk's new pine strawberry.
We have this season had an opportunity
of tasting this new strawberry, which is
admitted to be the finest of the different
seedlings produced by Mr. John Burr of
Colurabus, Ohio, and which especially eli-
cited the commendations of the Cincinnati
Horticultural Society last season.

We do not hesitate to pronounce it one
of the best, and, perhaps, the very best,
American strawberry yet raised ; and, com-
paring our own opinion with those of intelli-
gent growers, both at the east and west, we
think there is little doubt that Burr's New
Fine will take its place among the three or
four very best sorts yet known for general
cultivation in this climate.

It is a pistillate variety, and, therefore,
bears large crops. The berries are borne
in large clusters, and are of very uniform
size. The plant also appears to be com-
pletely hardy, and the foliage is handsome
and vigorous.

The following is the pomological descrip'
lion of this variety: Berries large — but
scarcely of the largest size — of regular and
uniform shape, short, conical in outline ;
colour light crimson, or a pale strawberry-
colour ; flavor sweet, rich and aromatic,
— much superior in this respect to Ho-
veys Sendling, and many other large varie-
ties. Flowers pistillate.

We find that Mr. Barry, of the Genesee
Farmer, says of this variety — " at this time,
we think, all things considered, that it has
no superior ; and those who plant it in well
prepared soil, cannot fail to reap a rich and
abundant crop." Our correspondent, Mr.
HaNTSMAN, of Flushing, also gives it a
high character in the present number of
this journal.

84

NEW FRUITS.

Vig. i(y.—Btcrr's jV<

111. buttner's yellow cherry.

This novel cherry is noticed in our work
on fruits, wilh a short description by Mr.
Thompson, of the London Hort. Society.
At that time, it had not borne in this coun-
try. We have had a good crop of Buttner's
Yellow, however, this season, and can with
confidence speak of it as a capital cherry,
well worthy of the attention of amateurs.
Our tree is yet young, but bears moderate
crops.

Buttner's Yellow Cherry has two merits
to recommend it, in addition to its good
quality. In the first place, it is the only
decidedly tjcIIoio cherry that we have seen,
and is, therefore, a novelty in the dessert;
in the second place, its season of maturity
is as late, or a few days later, than Doiv-
ner^s Red ; that is, a week or ten days
after the other Bigarreau and Heart cher-
ries are gone. It cannot, therefore, but be
considered a decided acquisition. The tree

w Pine Strau^rrv.

Fig. \7.—BunneT^s Yellow Cherry.

is one of large and vigorous growth. The
accompanying outline, (Fig, 17,) was taken
from specimens before us while we write.
The description is as follows :

Fruit rather large, obtuse, heart-shaped,
distinctly flattened at the insertion of the

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTUUAL SCHOOLS.

85

Fig. 18 — Cherry Currint.

Stalk. Colour pure creamy yellow, (the
skill somewhat opaque.) Stalk rather short
and thick. Flesh yellowish white, firm,
crisp and juicy, with a sweet and agreeable
flavor. Stone quite small, ovate.

IV. THE CHERRY CURRANT.

This really extraordinary currant was no-

ticed in vol. 1, p. 439, of this journal. It
has since beeu imported by a number of
nurserymen and amateurs, but has, as yet,
only fruited (so far as we have heard,) in
one place iti this country, — the nursery of
Messrs. Parsons of Flushing, N. Y.

We are glad to find that this variety
proves to be fully equal to the expectations
formed of it on first perusing the account of
it, given in the French Aniiahs. We give
an outline of the fruit, and there can be
little doubt that it will attain still larger
size, upon stronger and well established
plants.

The origin of the Cherry Currant is som-
what obscure. It was received from Italy,
mixed with other common currants, by M-
Seneclange, of the department of Loire.
When it produced fruit, it was named the
Cherry Currant, {Groseille cense,) in allu-
sion to the unusually large size of the ber-
ries. The fruit is double as large as that
of the other currants, round, of a light
red colour, and bjrne in clusters rather
shorter than those of the common Dutch
currant. The shrub is luxuriant in its
growth, the foliage very large, and appears
to be perfectly hardy. It ripens its fruit
at the usual season, and the flavor is quite
acid — decidedly more so than the Red
Dutch currant.

PROP. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

[We have lately received, from Prof. C.U.
Shepard, of Amherst college, a copy of an
address, delivered by him at Springfield
and Northampton, before the agricultural
societies of those portions of Massachu-
setts.

The address is one highly interesting
throughout. But the concluding part of it

demands more than a passing comment.
It is devoted to the subject of agricultural
schools; a subject which is largely occupy-
ing the public mind at the present moment,
and which, to the rural population of the
United States, is one of far more vital im-
portance than the present generation of
farmers are in the habit of considering it.

86

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

Prof. Shepaed has discussed it with so
much point, that we take the liberty of
laying his remarks before our readers.

Quite a number of the agricultural
schools, which have been started in vari-
ous parts of the country, have entirely
failed. This failure has no doubt arisen,
in many cases, from a want of proper or-
ganization and direction in the schools
themselves ; but, we think, still more fre-
quently from a want of sufficient funds or
endowment to place them on a secure and
proper basis at the outset. An agricultural
school can be of little benefit in this coun-
try, except it embodies the soundest prac-
tical and scientific ability in the country.
Smatterers in science and slip-shod farmers
are not the materials out of which to form
an institution to teach improved modes of
husbandry; modes by which land maybe
made more productive, and capital profita-
bly employed. And it may be laid down
as an axiom, that persons of real ability,
whether as successful practical farmers or
scientific men, will never be found in any
schools where their ability is not well paid
for. The best talent in any department
of human knowk-dge or labor, in Ameri-
ca, always finds its reward. The ablest
chemist commands the largest salary ;
the best practical farmer raises the largest
crops.

Now, wp think it may be further stated,
as a fact not admitting of dispute, that men
of this stamp will not leave their avoca-
tions— respectable and profitable as they
are' — and undertake any institution where
their talents are indifferently paid for, and
the success and position of the institution
doubtful and uncertain. Hence, agricultu-
ral schools generally, cannot succeed, un-
less they are well endowed in the outset,
either by public or private means, — with
funds sufficient to command men of the

first abilities ; we mean men of tried prac-
tical ability — not speculative men.

For this reason, we are strongly in favor
of having at least one large agricultural
school in each one of the great agricultural
states, supported at the cost of such state.
The great body of the people of such a
state is composed of farmers — its great
interest is agriculture ; and, next to com-
mon schools, (vvhich have for years past
been so liberally supported by some of the
states,) we conceive no public education
more important, or better worthy of being
put upon the public charge, than agricultu-
ral sckools.

RoswELL Colt, Esq., of New- Jersey, has,
we learn, petitioned Congress lately to set
apart and appropriate a certain portion of
the public lands for the use of each state,*
the income from the sales of which shall be
used for the maintenance of a great public
farm school in such state. We see no ob-
jection to this plan, which, without imposing
any direct tax, would speedily furnish those
ample means by which alone, as we be-
lieve, really useful and practical institutions
of this kind can be maintained. Ed.]

But leaving the more elementary schools,
I proceed to speak with more detail of the
agricultural school, a topic which is begin-
ning to take a deep hold of the public
mind.

Many persons appear to think, that our
college course can be so modified, as to ful-
fill at the same time, the literary and the
agricultural requisition. It does not appear
to me, that such a plan is likely to succeed.
Heretofore most certainly, whatever else
the college has afforded, it has turned out
iew practical farmers. Even those, who
enter as well drilled and expert in farming
operations, by the time they reach the ter-
minus of their course, if they do justice to
the college studies and become thoroughly
imbued with the spirit of the place, become
rather awkward on the farm ; and it very

♦ Ten miles square to each slate.

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

87

soon begins to appear, that to be college-
learnt, is to be farm-unlearnt. And I hard-
ly know of men more to be pitied, than
those who from feeble health or any other
cause, have failed in a professional or lite-
rary career (to prepare for whirh, the col-
lege course is chiefly intended) and who
are obliged to fall back upon the farm for a
livelihood. In all the practical labors of
husbandry, they seem to have lost the art
of taking hold of things by the smcfoth han-
dle ; and their blunders in live-stock, are
almost sure to make them the laughing-
stock of their neighbors. Now there is
nothing surprising in this, if we consider
the object of college education. The col-
lege is not intended for persons who are to
occupy themselves much with physical mat-
ters. Even the boys understand this per-
fectly well; and it is to be feared, that not
a few importune their parents to gain ad-
mission there from no higher motive, than
to get clear of muscular effort ; though it
is generally observed, that such are equally
shy of intellectual exertion. No : the col-
lege is a place for the training of persons,
who, if they are ever to work at all, must
do so, through the medium of mind, as
scholars, as statesmen, as clergymen, or in
the medical or legal profession. Nothing
can be more unreasonable than to suppose,
that we see the practical use of the sciences
to mankind, in the lives of our college gra-
duates. Why, the college course is chiefly
made up of a study of the literature and
philosophy of the ancients, to whom our
sciences were a dead letter, and of the ele-
ments of mathematics and geometry, to
which is added a sprinkling of metaphysics
and logic, and considerable drilling in
English composition and elocution. On
these studies, and good morals, the disci-
pline and the honors of the college turn.
Lectures are given indeed, on some of the
modern sciences, but less with a view to
their bearing on the arts of life, than to the
purpose of intellectual discipline and gene-
ral accomplishment. No teacher would be
tolerated, who should more than incidental-
ly allude to any common use, like that of
economical profit, that could be made of
them. The college is not the place for
learning rules of thrift. It pre-supposes a
degree of independence ; and in cases where

this is not enjoyed, it takes it for granted,
that money-making is to be held as a se-
condary consideration with all who partake
of its "benefits. The college graduate is
never to seek glory in wealth, but in know-
ledge, and in usefulness of a lofty kind to
his fellow-men. This I take to be the true
theory of the college, and of literary life in
general. Both hold themselves at the most
respectful remove possible, from all contact
with matter, and the every day labors of
men engaged in the arts. I might perhaps
afford you an illustration of the truth of this
representation. A president of one of these
institutions, on being shown through the
physical department of another, the best
endowed in natural sciences of any in the
country, on taking leave of the distinguish-
ed professor, who had been his conductor,
begged to know of what conceivable use to
mankind, were all such provisions! Here
was a distinguished scholar, at the head of
an American college, who had got so com-
pletely away from matter, as not to be con-
scious, that a knowledge of its properties
was of the least utilit}' to mankind !

Take one other exemplification of the
difficulty, which the mere literary man ex-
periences, in estimating aright, the.-practi-
cal business of life. One of the most emi-
ne: t of American scholars, and at the same
a distinguished statesman, argued a short
time ago in Congress, against the employ-
ment of the Smithsonian fund, for purposes
of practical advantage, — using the word
practical here, in its common acceptation,
and of course, in opposition to its college
and literary use. He entertained the House
of Kepresentatives with a strain of fine
thoughts, expressed in lofty diction, in fa-
vor of appropriating the money, to the pur-
chase of a library. In the course of his
remarks, he insisted, that "a labor.:tory
was a mere charnel house, and that experi-
ments are but the dry bones of science."
He would direct the attention of mankind
away from matter " to those great subjects,"
as he was pleased to style them, "which
are not bounded by the three dimensions,
which are not ponderable, not cognizable
by any of the senses." In the halls of the
American Congress, in the year of our Lord
eighteen hundred and forty-six, asked this
polished orator, in dead earnest, "What

88

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

have our boasted researches taught us to
accomplish ia the industrial arts, ihat the
cunning workmen of Egypt and Tyre and
Greece could not do, three thousand years
ago ?" And to crown ths climax, he claim-
ed, that our independence was declared
and maintained by scholars ! Listen to the
declaration, ye shades of Washington — the
farmer and civil engineer, of Fraulclin — the
printer and electrician, and of Jefferson —
the man who has left this testimony of
scholastic pursuits, — "the business of life,"
says he, " is with matter, that gives tan-
gible results ; handling that, we come at
the knowledge of the axe, the plough, the
steamboat, and everything useful in life ;
but from metaphysical speculations, I have
never seen one useful result." Fortunately
the argument of the scholar, on the occa-
sion, fell into something very like the labo-
ratory he so much abhorred, where it was
first analyzed, and then weighed in the
balance of common sense. And the result
of the whole was, that in spite of it, that
noblest bequest of a practical chemist, to a
practical people, was saved, from what
would have been little better, than a se-
questration.

The time has fairly arrived, when society
should understand what it has a right to
expect from the college ; when it should
know this at least, that it is not the most
likely place to look for amelioration in the
practical arts, especially in that of agricul-
ture. The college has enough to do, to
qualify for head-work. There must be
some other institution, in which young men
can be taught to work on matter, as well as
upon mind. To send a lad to college
whom you intend to make a farmer, is put-
ting him on the wrong track. The four
years spent there, would be an episode, a
parenthesis in the preparation for active life
on a farm. I say not that it would disqua-
lify him from leading the life of a gentle-
man, provided his means were sufficiently
ample; but it would assuredly be a bad
thing for him, ever to take off his gloves on
a farm, after he had touched his diploma.*

* In these remarks upon the inadequacy of the college pro-
per, for preparing persons for the practice of the arls,"l trust
that I shall not be thought warning in a proper regard for
these instiiutions. Having, either as pupil or teacher, passed
the greatest part of my life in connection with the college, I
can but accord to it, the highest respect and even filial affec-

I should shrink from the attempt even,
to draw out the plan of such an institution,
as is required to meet the wants of this
greatest of all the branches of practical in-
dustry. To frame such a scheme, will de-
mand no small share of deliberation and
forecast. No institutions are now in exist-
ence, upon which they can be directly
modeled. In this slate of the case, it may
not perhaps be deemed impertinent for me,
to direct the attention of this audience, to
what has been done in Europe in behalf of
an allied art or profession, which sustains
a verjr close relation to agriculture. I al-
lude to that of mining. Like agriculture,
it requires the use of numerous sciences.
As the farmer must know his crops, toge-
ther with many other plants which are
either useless or noxious, so the miner must
be able to recognize his ores, and those as-
sociated mineral substances, which are
either worthless or injurious. As the farm-
er must understand his soils and subsoils,
and the connection of both with the rock
formations in which they originated, so the
miner must comprehend the various strata,
which include his veins and beds of ore.
The different processes emploj'ed in har-
vesting and preparing crops for the markets,
are in some sense, analogous to the raising
and dressing of ores ; while dvaining, sur-
veying, and architecture, are required in
both. Farming and mining both make a
constant and similar use of chemistry, in
the work of analysis. There is indeed this
difference, that the labors of the miner are
attended with much greater risks as to re-
muneration, and with greatly increased
dangers to health and life. But it is rea-
sonable, nevertheless, that institutions ex-
pressly contrived for the benefit of the
miner, and which have been nearly a cen-
tury in existence, should throw some light
upon those we would invent for the use of
the farmer.

The most ancient of these institutions, is

tion : but this veneration is solely on account of the impor-
tant, and truly noble end it accomplishes, in laying the foun-
dation of professional or literary eminence ; and not on ac-
count of its direct service to the manual arts. These it never
has embraced within its plan; nor is it easy to see how any
cliaiige can ever be made in this respect, which shall fully
answer the wants of practical men : although tliere is nothing
to prevent the existence of an agricultural school in immedi.
ale eoiMieciion with a college, whose scientific faculty might
even assist in a school of artS; and in this way, materially
abridge the expensivenesi of such an institution.

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

89

that of Freiberg, in Saxony. It was found-
ed in 1765 by Prince Xaver, and early
placed under the control of the celebrated
mineralogist, Werner. At the present
time, it has eleven professors, on the fol-
lowing branches : viz. General chemistry,
technical chemistry, analytical chemistry,
mineralogy and geology in all their branch-
es, natural philosophy, the pure and the
higher mathematics, mathematics applied,
mining machinery, general surveying and
practical geometry, mining jurisprudence
and correspondence, and the art of mining.
In addition to the corps of professors, it has
a surveyor, a draftsman, an assay- master,
and a teacher of French. Candidates for
admission must produce certificates of health,
character, and a certain proficiency in the
common branches of school education. A
limited number are supported by the go-
vernment. The lectures open in October
and terminate in July, the vacations being
devoted to mining excursions. The instruc-
tion is communicated by lectures, illustrated
by figures on the black-board, by experi-
ments, by specimens and by models, as the
nature of the subjects may require. Mon-
days are devoted to the inspection of mines
in the vicinity, — there being within a cir-
cuit of three miles, no less than 100; in
which, are about 200 vertical shafts and
250,000 fathoms of adit, wherein may be
viewed every species of timbering and ma-
sonry. The pupils are required to keep a
fair copy of their notes, and of all their lec-
tures. At the end of each month, they un-
dergo a rigid examination upon all their
studies ; and at the close of each year, are
rewarded according to the result. The
course • extends through a period of four
years; and is admirably contrived for in-
suring correct practice, in every detail of
the art, and at the same time, a thorough
comprehension of the principles on which
that practice depends.

Another of these institutions, most wor-
thy perhaps of being described, was found-
ed in 1770, at Schemnetz in Hungary, by
the Empress, Maria Theresa, by whom it
was also endowed, with great liberality.
During the 3d year of the course at Schem-
netz, the pupils are required on one day of
each week, to go through a portion of some
Vol. III. 6

mine, and to make out a written report
of everything that concerns its condition.
Some of the poorer young men, even take
jobs in the mine, which serve in part, to
defray their expenses. The semi-annual
examinations are held, not for the vain pur-
pose of showing off, but for determining in
the strictest manner, what each pupil has
learned. The questions are written on
small slips of paper, and are drawn out by
lot by the students, who give the answers
on the spot. The most successful are re-
warded, by having the charge of their edu-
cation almost wholly remitted ; while those
who fall below a certain standard, are
forced to relinquish all hope of ever obtain-
ing government employ. The number of
pupils in this institution is, at present, be-
tween three and four hundred. * * * *

But I return to the agricultural school,
upon whose office I have endeavored to
throw some light, by describing what has
been done by foreign institutions, in behalf
of the sister art of mining. Its general
province and scope must, after what has
been said, suggest themselves to my hear-
ers. Without attempting to enumerate the
branches it should teach, or the number of
instructors it should have, I will only ven-
ture to state my hearty concurrence in the
suggestion, which some of the leading pa-
pers in this state have made, that it be lo-
cated near the region of the Connecticut
valley ; and that there be connected with
it, a tract of land sufficiently ample for cul-
tivating every variety of crop, and for rear-
ing every species of stock, suited to our
climate ; and still farther, to add, that it
should have cabinets rich in the necessary
apparatus, a botanic garden, representing
all the great families of plants, a labora-
tory in which the work of analysis should
never stop, and a severity of discipline
equal to that of West Point.

It would be an easy task to go on point-
ing out other advantages of such an insti-
tution, but I dare not presume farther upon
your patience, than to allude to one or two,
in addition to those already hinted at, in
the progress of this discourse. It would
enable many a lad, not born on the farm,
the sons of men in professional life, or of
merchants and artisans, to prepare them-

90

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

selves for agricultural pursuits. It would
be a safety-valve to the college, now dis-
proportionately thronged, and would some-
times free it of a youth, whose frolicsome
career betrays, that it was not purely intel-
lectual occupation for which nature intend-
ed him, but rather, that admirable combi-
nation of hand-work with head-work, which
the farm so well supplies.

And besides the improved methods of
husbandry, which would be likely to grow
out of such an institution, may we not rea-
sonably calculate upon its affording impor-
tant aid in contending with those diseases,
to which the most important plants and
fruits seem liable, as the result of long,
artificial cultivation. Consider for a mo-
ment, the present position of society from
the threatened loss of the potato crop.
Here is a disease in the tuber of this plant,
that thus far, defies all scrutiny. We have
neither found its cause nor its remedy.
And yet, as in a time of pestilence among
men, few are so absurd as to look for miti-
gation or relief, except from the resources
of science ; so here, the most obtuse are
probably convinced, that our only hope is
in a similar direction. And what a splen-
did gift would it be, if science shall be able
to restore to us the independence we pos-
sessed in this plant, prior to the year 1840!
For the potato is a vegetable, which the
rich man knows not how to forego ; and
one, which places the poor man above want.
With a shelter from the weather, and one
or two acres of ground to plant with this
tuber, man may subsist at almost any dis-
tance from the miller, the baker, the butch-
er, and I may almost add, the doctor. It
suits all tastes, flourishes in nearly all
climates, and is eminently nutritious and
healthful. Its cultivation demands but lit-
tle labor, and when the earth has ripened
the tubers, they are harvested without trou-
ble, and cooked without expense. A few
faggots in summer will boil them, and in
winter the necessary heat is supplied with-
out expense. There is no waste of time in
the processes of milling, sifting, kneading,
baking, seasoning, jointing or carving.
There is nothing deficient nor superfluous
in a well boiled potato. As soon as it is
cooked, it opens by chinks, lets fall its thin
pellicle upon the platter, and with a little

salt, butter or milk, is ready for the unfas-
tidious appetite of the hungry man. Start
not back with surprise, at the idea of sub-
sisting upon the potato alone, ye who think
it necessary to load your tables with all the
dainty viands of the market, with fish, flesh
and fowl, seasoned with oils and spices,
and eaten perhaps with wines, — start not
back, I say, with feigned disgust, until you
are able to display in your own pampered
persons, a firmer muscle, a more beau ideal
outline, and a healthier red, than the pota-
to-fed peasantry of Ireland and Scotland
once showed you, as you passed their cabin
doors ! No ; the chemical physiologist will
tell you, that the well ripened potato, when
properly cooked, contains every element,
that man requir s for nutrition; and in the
best proportions, in which they are found in
any plant whatever. There is the abound-
ing supply of starch, for enabling him to
maintain the process of breathing, and for
generating the necessary warmth of body ;
there is the nitrogen for contributing to the
growth and renovation of organs ; the lime
and the phosphorus for the bones, and all
the salts which a healthy circulation de-
mands. In fine, the potato may well be
called the universal plant ; and the disease
under which it now labors, is therefore, an
universal calamity. If any agricultural in-
stitution should ever be so fortunate as to
make us acquainted with the means of
controlling it, its name would quickly rank
by the side of the proudest universities ;
and if the great discovery should proceed
from a single individual, his name would
live, when those of the greatest generals
and conquerors, have become as uncouth
and strange to human utterance, as their
deeds were unfriendl}'- and opposed to hu-
man happiness.

It is indeed a pleasing task, to anticipate
the glories of the new day of improvement
and success, which is dawning upon the
cultivators of the soil. Already has the
era of amelioration arrived. The number
and the zeal of associations, like yours, are
significant omens. The results before and
around us, are most encouraging; and the
high standard of improvement everywhere
visible, is a sure presage of ultimate tri-
umph. A new vigor has been infused
into the farmer's life ; and though an old

PROF. SHEPARD ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

91

and venerable occupation, it has, is some
sort, taken on a new youth ; and this youth
seems inspired with insatiable desires and
the most exulting hope. Be encouraged
then with the old German proverb, that
what we strive after in youth, we shall at-
tain to fullness in old age ; and concerning
which, Goethe, the poet and the naturalist,
has given this fine commentary, " that our
wishes are presentiments of the faculties
which lie v/ithin us, and harbingers of that,
which we shall be in a condition to per-
form." Thus, I easily persuade myself, it
will prove in your case, in the distinguish-
ed zeal you are exhibiting for the improve-
ment of your profession.

When your example shall be adopted,
throughout the counties of New-England,
a new order of thrift and intelligence will
be discerned among the rural population.
The more certain success, which will then
wait upon the husbandman, shall super-
cede the farther necessity for his emigra-
tion towards the setting sun ; and the high-
er intelligence and refinement, which shall
then prevail, will cease to urge with such
undesirable force, such troops of our most
promising country j'outh, to seek their for-
tunes in city life ; where alas, the tempta-
tions to vice and the rush of competition,
so often frustrate all their hopes. Then
will it be seen, that the most infertile of our
districts, will be competent to sustain in
comfort and wealth even, a vastly augment-
ed population. Then will it most clearly
appear, that there exists no real incompati-
bility, between the labors of the field and
a cerfain degree of mental culture and sim-
ple refinement ; but on the contrary, that
the uncontaminated air of heaven, which
the farmer breathes, the beautiful forms
with which nature everywhere surrounds
him, in her productions, and the constant
witness, which he is, in his labors, of the
beneficial operation of great natural laws,
powerfully conspire to the formation of a
pure and noble character ; and may well
justify the expectation, that the country will
•continue to accomplish more fully in time
to come, than she has done even in the
past, her destiny, of supplying to science
and literature her most successful profi-
eieuts, to the learned professions their most

distinguished ornaments, and to our great
towns their most valued citizens ; while
she is still able to retain enough of solid
worth and attractions at home, to enable
her to make reprisals on the city, by reco-
vering to her own blissful retirement, many
a man, who in youth, with sound constitu-
tion and upright purpose, entered the great
mart of trade, but who amid all his success-
es kept alive enough of nature in his soul,
to bring him back again to her peaceful
retreats, in the evening of his days.

To the spirit of agricultural improvement,
we look also, with hope, that it will extin-
guish all lingering remains of military am-
bition ; and that under its benign and hu-
manizing sway, we shall become more
emulous of re-conquering the wastes within
our borders, than of adding new wilder-
nesses to our already too extended domain.
What room is there for brilliant achieve-
ment even in New-England, in expelling
those unsightly enemies of the husband-
man, that have been permitted to overrun
so large a portion of our fair inheritance.
Turn your eyes, ye martial spirits of Mas-
sachusetts, tu that army of golden rods,
waving their yellow plumes upon a thou-
sand hills; see yonder dauntless array of
life-everlastings, that crowd the wide cham-
paigns ; see our highways, and the contigu-
ous fields, beset by insolent hordes of mul-
len and thistles, and fair meadows, where
once flourished the golden grain, now cover-
ed with base daisies and sorrel. What
fields of glory await you, at your very doors.
To dispossess these daring invaders, shall
yield you a hundred fold more of true glory,
than to follow the stripes and stars from
Labrador to Cape Horn ! In the coming
age of improvement, who shall say, that
to subdue and eradicate one of these pests
to the farmer, will not bring as bright a
chaplet of fame, as it now can do, to tram-
ple down a human foe ? Who shall say,
that he who shall prove himself foremost
in peaceful labors like these that exalt
human happiness, may not reap the high-
est gift of a grateful country, as surely
as he who holds himself ready to barter
his conscience in the shambles of party,
or risk his life in the barbarous perils of
war ?

92

^EW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

REVIEW.

Transactiok^ of the New- York State Agri-
cultural Society — with an abstract of the
Proceedings of the County Agricultural Societien.
Vol. vii, 1847. [ 1 vol., 8vo., 799 pages.]
This is a most excellent volume, replete
with valuable practical essays, reports of
successful experiments, details of skilful
farming operations, agricultural addresses,
&c., besides the report of the proceedings of
the state society.

Altogether, it is one of the most valuable
contributions to scientific and practical ag-
riculture that has been produced in the
United States; and its general distribution
among the people cannot fail to have a most
beneficial effect.

After some familiarity with the difficulty
of drawing out and making public the most
valuable information, viz., that possessed
by the soundest practical and scientific
men in the country, we feel bound to say
that we think Mr. Johnson, the present
able secretary of the society, within whose
province this volume especially falls, has
performed his duty most wisely and skil-
fully. We are, indeed, willing to go much
farther, and say that Mr. Johnson's exer-
tions have effected more for the cause of
agriculture, in this and the previous vols, of
Transactions, than all the other labors of
the society put together, have done in the
same time. Those who know how much
the importance and influence of a society
like this depends on the intelligence and
energy of one, two or three of its leading
officers, — men who must be earnestly de-
voted to the cause, will rank as highly as
ourselves the invaluable services of the pre-
sent secretary of the state society.

Among the most valuable articles, we
notice one by Professor Johnston, of Eng-

land, " On the Economical Use of Bones as
a Manure^ and on their Solutio7i in SulphU'
ric Acidy

Our horticultural readers are, perhaps,
even more fully aware than most farmers
of the value of bones. Phosphate of lime
is so essential an organic constituent in the
fear, and some other fruit trees, that no
good orchard ist or gardener will henceforth
be guilty of the extravagance of wasting
bones.

The difficulty, however, hitherto experi-
enced by many persons, has been to bring
the bones, easily collected upon every farm
and about every slaughter-house, to a fit
condition for applying to the land. Bone
mills are only to be found here and there ;
and in some parts of the country, the cost
of transportation of bone-dust has been so
considerable as to put a stop to its use.
Fortunately,this difficulty has been overcome
lately by a cheap, simple, and rapid mode
of dissolving bones by sulphuric acid, now
largely employed by English agriculturists.
The mode of effecting this is so important
to nine-tenths of our readers, that we ex-
tract the formula from Professor Johnston's
essay:

§ 6. Methods adopted for Increasing the sensible
Effect of Bones.

Without referring much to the effect which bones
might theoretically be expected to produce, it has
been observed by practical men that they may be
made to act more quickly and more beneficially by
the adoption of certain previous precautions, such
as, —

1. Reducing them to fine powder. I have already
alluded to the fact ascertained by experience, that
the finer the powder, the more immediate and the
more sensible the effect of bones. But practicaS
men were afraid to venture too far in diminishing
the weight of manure, added to tiie soil. Bulk was
considered to enter as an element into the fertilizing
capabilities of any substance. Many leases evea
prohibit the addition of less than 16 or 20 bushels of
bones, when used alone in raising turnips. Bal

NEW- YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

93

'iinder the <»uidance of science, both tenants and
proprietors will, by and by, learn to estimate more
correctly what the crops really carry off, and what
the soil therefore requires. Thus a strictly scien-
tific economy will be established, and no more of
any thing will be added to his fields than the farmer
knows and understands to be necessary to maintain
them in a state of permanent fertility.

2. Heating the bones. In some districts their
action in hasteninfr forward the young turnip, and
bringing it quickly into rough leaf, where it is safe
from the attacks of the fly, is increased by laying
the bones in a heap, and covering them over with
earth, for a week or ten days before they are drilled
into the land. Left in this state, they heat, soften,
and begin to change or decompose ; and thus, when
laid in the drills near the seed, they are ready to
furnish nourishment to the young plant as soon as
the roots first thrust themselves downwards from
the sprouting seed.

3. Fermenting them with dung, or the same de-
composition is effected and carried further by mix-
ing the bones with farm yard manure, and leaving
the mixture awhile to ferment. It was the result
of trials made by thirteen different persons, and
which are recorded in the Doncaster report, that a
given weight of bones, when mixed and fermented
with farm yard manure, invariably produced a
more beneficial effect, than the same weight of
dry-bone dust, applied to the same crop and upon
the same soil.

The advantage which results from these several
methods, arises from the effects which they pro-
duce, either in diminishing the mechanical cohe-
rence of the particles of the bone, or in altering by
incipient decomposition, the chemical state of the
organic matter it contains. None of them, how-
ever, sufficiently effect these objects, though I do
not doubt that fine bone-dust, fermented for two or
three months with farm-yard manure, and occa-
sionally turned over, would be brought into a condi-
tion more nearly approaching to guano, in its ferti-
lizing virtue, than any other form of bones which
has hitherto been generally employed.
§ 7. Decomposing and Dissolving Bones by means
of Sulphuric Acid.

But another mode of preparing bones has recently
been introduced, and for two or three years has
been extensively employed as apart of the ordinary
husbandry, especially by some of the Scottish farm-
ers. This mode consists in decomposing, and more
or less dissolving bones in sulphuric acid, (oil of
vitriol) . This may be done in various ways, and
the prepared bones may either be applied in a liquid
state with a watering cart, or may be dried and
sowed with a drilling machine, or broad cast, like
ordinary bone or rape dust.

a. The bones in the form of bone dust, or where
bone mills are not at hand, simply broken in pieces
with a hammer, may be put into a cast iron, stone,
earthen-ware, or strong wooden vessel, mixed with
half their weight of boiling water, and then with
half their weight of the strong oil of vitrol of the
shops, stirring constantly while the latter is slowly
poured in. A powerful boiling up takes place which
gradually subsides.

By occasional stirring, the whole assumes the ap-

pearance of a thick paste, the pieces of bone gra-
dually disappear, and after a week or ten days the
whole may be taken out and mixed with a little
charcoal powder, charred peat, saw dust or fine
dry earth, to make it dry enough to pass through
the drill, and may thus be immediately applied to
the land. It would, however, be better to prepare
the bones a month at least before using them, and
lay them up in a heap for a while, with a view to
their more perfect decomposition. When the
pieces of bone are large, this is especially desira-
ble, as otherwise they will not be fully decomposed
without a larger addition both of water and acid.

b. Or the acid and bones as above, may, after a
couple of days, bo mixed with a quantity of light,
friable soil, and laid up into a heap for seven or
eight weeks with occasional turning. The bones
thus heated, decompose and dry up, so as to be
ready for putting into the drills without farther pre-
paration. This method, however, requires more
acid, and it is not unusual in employing it, to take
equal weights of acid and bones. It may be, some
practical men, indeed, employ invariably equal
weights of acid and bones, while others are satisfied
by mixing the bones with one-third or even one-
fourth of their weight of acid. I would myself
employ not less than a half.

c. Or equal weights of bones in the form of dust,
of boiling water and of acid* may be mixed to-
gether and occasionally stirred for a week or ten
days, and when the particles of bone have nearly
disappeared, from 50 to 100 times more water may
be added to the mixture, and the liquid thus diluted
may be applied by a water cart. If it is to be used
upon grass-land in the spring, or to young corn, it
will be safer to dilute it with 200 waters, but fifty
waters (by weight,) will be enough if it is to be
applied to turnip drills. A common watering cart
used for other liquid manures, will serve for the
former purpose — for applying it to the drills a very
ingenious addition of tubes to this cart has been
contrived by Mr. Wagstaff and employed by him
under the direction of the Duke of Richmond at
Gordon castle.

This method of applying the bones in the liquid
form, is, no doubt the most perfect, but it is also
the most troublesome and expensive, and may not,
tlierefore, come so soon into general use, though it
may ultimately prove the most profitable.

Instead of sulphuric acid, the muriatic acid or
spirits of salt, has been, indeed, was first, tried for
the dissolution of bones, but the former appears at
present, for several reasons, to be preferred.

We will only add to the foregoing, that
a number of experiments with dissolved
bones were made by the Highland Society
of Scotland, the result of which were: —

"]. That four, and in some cases, even
two bushels of dissolved bones, will produce
as good a crop of turnips as sixteen or

* A gallon of water weighs lOlbs, a gallon of acid 17 or
18Ibs.

&4

NEW- YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETf .

twenty bushels applied in the usual form,
[dry bone-dust.] The crops also start more
quickly, and grow more rapidly.

" 2. That the more complete the state of
solution or subdivision of the bones, the
greater the effect. Hence, when applied in
the liquid stale, the benefit is most apparent.'

Other persons besides ourselves, who
cultivate heavy compact soils, have no
doubt been quite disappointed in the want
of effect of bone manure upon such soils,
compared with their admirable action on
lighter and more porous soils. Prof. John-
ston has suggested, in the following para-
graphs, the cause of this want of action on
heavy soils, and the remedy :

§ 10. Ought any other substances to be mixed with
the Dissolved Bones ?

Bones are known to exercise a comparatively
feeble and uncertain action upon stiff and undrained
clays, and it may, therefore, be reasonably asked
by some if the action of dissolved bones will be
more certain upon such soils than the bones in their
natural state? We may, I think, answer this in
the affirmative, since the principal cause of the less
conspicuous effect of bones upon such soils is to be
found in their tenacity and coldness, by which the
particles of bones are shut out from the air, and
their decomposition is retarded.

But, inasmuch as bones do not contain the whole
of the substances which plants require, and as
some of those which are present in bones, the salts
of soda, for example, are in small quantity only, it
may be reasonably asked again if the dissolved
bones would not be improved, and their efficacy in-
creased, and rendered more sure, were an addition
of certain substances to be made to them. Of this
I think there can be little doubt, thou<ih the ne-
cessity and nature of such additions will depend
much upon the nature of the soil to which they are
to be applied. A small per centage of pearl ash
or wood ashes, of nitrate of soda, or common salt,
and a sulphate of magnesia — 5 lbs. each of the
potash and soda salts, and 10 lbs. of the magnesia
salt to each 100 lbs. of bones — would render the
mixture more suited to every soil and crop. At
the same time, if the soil like those formed from the
felspar rocks abound in potash, or like those which
border the sea, be rich in soda, or like those which
owe their origin to the slates, or to the magnesian
limestones, contain already too much magnesia,
any addition to these several substances would ob
viously be thrown away. The principle of adding
such things being recognised as sound, the know-
ledge and discretion ol' the farmer must be exer-
cised in determining how far such additions are
likely to be profitable, or to make a small prelimi-
nary experiment by way of trial.

Among other valuable essays, we would
particularly notice the following : On Sub-
soil Ploughing, by John Mallory, of Yates
county ; Experiments iii FeedAng Swine^
by J. M. Bacon, Bordentown, N. J.; jExpe-
riments in the Management of Cheese Dai-
ries, by Alonzo L. Fish, of Herkimer co.;
Experiments in Draining, by Messrs. Sfoor,
of Troy, and Woolsey of Long-Island ;
Prof. Norton's excellent chemico-agricul-
tural address, and an interesting paper by
Mr. GooDKicH, of Utica, on the potato rot.

Besides these, there is a great deal of
valuable information on butter making,
sheep husbandry, &c. &c., besides a great
amount of valuable practical details of the
modes of growing farm crops, practiced by
the most successful farmers.

There is considerable horticultural infor-
mation also collected in this volume. The
committee on fruits, who gave last year a
list of select apples, which they recom-
mended for general cultivation in this
state, have this year continued their labors
by presenting select lists of other fruits^
with descriptions and figures of the same,
copied from our work on Fruits. We an-
nex a list of the sorts recommended by
them, that our readers may see what varie-
ties are most popular in the northern por-
tion of the state.

Pears. — Madeleine, Bloodgood, Dearborn's
Seedling, Bartleit, Fondante d'Automne, Seckel,
White Doyenne, Swan's Orange, Louise Bonne de
Jersey, Stevens' Genesee, Beurre Bose, Gray Doy-
enne, Washington, Beurre d'Aremberg, Winter
Nelis, Glout Morceau, Vicar of Winktield.

PLt;Ms. — Jefferson, Green Gage, Washington,
Huiing's Supurb, Schenectady Catherine, Bleeck-
er's Gage, Lawrence's Favorite, Columbia, Prince's
Imperial Gage, Coe's Golden Drop, Prune d'Agen,
Peach Plumb, Dcnniston's Albany Beauty, Den-
niston's Red.

Peaches.— Early Tillottson, Grosse Mignonne,
Cooledge's Favorite, Red Rareripe, Royal George,
Crawford's Early, Malta, George 4th, Brevoort,
Morris' White Rareripe.

Chehri^s. — May Duke, Elton, Florence, Black
Tartarian.

STRAWBEHRiES.—Hovey's Seedling, Large Early
Scarlet, Swainstone Seedling.

Grapes.— Isabella and Catawba.

NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

95

A new winter apple, called the " Wag-
ener Apple," has received a premium from
the society, and is recommended for culti-
vation, as a variety "remarkable for its
agreeable taste and flavor." It originated
near Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y.

From the discussions at the various meet-
ings of the society, we extract some iate-
resting remarks, which afford good evidence
of the adaptation of central and western
New-York iox jruit growings and the pro-
fits of this species of cultivation.

" Mr. Pardee, from Wayne, gave lucid details
of the fruit trade in the county fro-n which he came.
Somethintr like 50,000 barrels of apples had been
shipped from Palmyra, and there was a large sec-
tion of the county which found its place of export
in other villages on the canal ; such as Newark,
Lyons, Clyde. The average net profit on the cul-
tivation of fruit he estimated at from $100 to $150
per acre.

In addition to the trade in green fruit, over
10,000 barrels of dried apples had been purchased
by the dealers in Palmyra during the winter. The
fruit in many varieties was much larger and finer
than those in the vicinity of the North River.

The growing of peaches and plums was also a
large item. At the same time that the dried apples
had been an article of purchase, nearly 1000 bush-
els of dried peaches had been bought. He had in
his own experience noticed that the overloaded tree
was always the bearer of but indifferent fruit. —
The influence of the winds on Lake Ontario soft-
ened the climate and kept oft' the frost, and he could
not but characterise Wayne County as one of the
first for fruit in the State. The Virgalieu [Doy-
enne] pear attains to great richness, and a size
much larger than any he had seen in the markets of
New- York. It grows well, and the yield is abun-
dant. The Catawba and Isabella grape are very
superior."

"Mr. Johnson said from a statement received
from Oneida County, he had learned several inte
resting statistics of the trade in apples. A part of
four towns only, out of many in that county, had
shipped the present season 18,000 barrels, at a price
varying from 62^ cts. to $!. In one orchard,
planted with cultivated fruits, of about six acres,
there had been sent in 1845, 1000 barrels to market,
for which had been realized $1000 ; in 1846 ihe re-
turns were not so large, but in 1847, the crop was
again large, about 1000 barrels, which gave from
six acr' s about $1000, a larger income than could
be realized from any grain crop. Another gentle-
man had one Virgalieu pear tree from which he
sold fruit in 1847, to the amount of $50. In Or-
leans county he had been told that the fruit trade
had become one of the most profitable sources of
revenue to the farmers ; they shipped their fruit,
and it became an object there, as it should be
everywhere, to select fruit of that character which

should command the highest price in market. They
begin to understand that it costs less to raise good
fruit than bad. One dollar a barrel [in the interior
of the State] in the field, for the home market, is
a good evidence of its value. When he was abroad,
in London, he had seen apples in Covent Garden
Market, very handsomely arranged under a glass
case, and labelled " American Newtown Pippins."
and when he desired to taste them, he found that the
price of each was 6d. stg ! It is not alone with flour
and beef and pork that we supply England, but
there is not in all England such apples as ours.
American apples are set before their friends on all
occasions, by distinguished families on all great
occasions. A market is also opening to us in the
West Indies, which will require large supplies.
The New-England States must look to us in a
measure, for their supply of fruit. The Southern
and Western. States buy largely ; there markets are
open to our farmers, and the growth of fruit, of
good fruit, deserves their best attention. The
Western States are competing with us fearfully for
the grain market, and it needs but our attention to
have the flag of the Empire State waive triumphant-
ly over the fruit culture. New- York, is probably, as
a whole, the best fruit growing region in the world.
It is all important for those who send their ap-
ples to market to have them properly packed.
The apples from the Pelham farm sell for $6 a bar-
rel in New-York, while Western fruit of equally
good flavor, of the same varieties, frequently does
not command over $2 ; this arises from the charac-
ter M'hich has been given to apples packed by Mr.
Pell. Purchasers know what they buy, and if our
cultivators of choice apples would take the same
care, and have their barrels branded with their
name, they would receive a like return, on the char-
acter of their brand being established."

It would be easy to occupy many pages
of this journal with valuable extracts from
this volume of Transactions. But such of
our readers as are most interested in the
subjects embraced within its scope, will
doubtless find access to the work itself.

After bestowing most cheerfully this well-
earned praise upon the printed " Transac-
tions" of the state society, we can scarcely
leave the subject without saying a few
words about one of its most important
transactions which is annually acted, not
printed — we mean the great fairs or exhi-
bitions held, for some years past, in Sep-
tember.

The great agricultural wealth and re-
sources of the "Empire State," as New-
York is often termed, brings to these an-
nual fairs great numbers of persons from

96

NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

other states, and even from the most distant
parts of the Union. As many as 30,000 or
40,000 persons are frequently present. It
is a fact, not to be denied, that those per-
sons have frequently returned home com-
pletely and justly disappointed in these ex-
hibitions,— disappointed in the agreggate
amount of articles shown, — disappointed in
their quality, — and, most of all, disappoint-
ed in the arrangement and mode of con-
ducting the fair.

Last year, this was especially the case.
In some respects, as we learned from a
large number of those who attended the
exhibition, the agricultural display was not
superior to that of many county societies;
while the horticultural show was inferior,
in the variety and quality of the products,
to that of many weekly exhibitions of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In
the latter department, indeed, the shows of
the state society have been deteriorating
for several years past, until they reached a
point at Saratoga quite below criticism.

We mention this, not to censure the offi-
cers of the society, or the committees of
management, all of whom, on the contrary,
deserve praise for the efforts made by them
to render the exhibitions as complete as
possible ; but to point out what, in our
humble judgment, is a capital error in the
regulations of the society, and which we
predict, so long as it remains in force, will
effectually prevent its annual fairs from
fairly representing the agricultural skill
and resources of the state ; in fact, from
being anything more than a large, discor-
dant, second or third-rate show, equally un-
satisfactory to the exhibitor and the spectator.

We allude, of course, to that regulation
of the society which compels it to change
the locality of its annual fair, every season,
from Albany to Auburn, Rochester, Syra-
cuse, Saratoga, &c. &c.

Every one at all familiar with the ma-
nagement of those agricultural or horticul-
tural societies, whose shows are really
satisfactory, very well knows that the di-
rection or management of these exhibitions
is a matter of much acquired skill and ex-
perience; that it is always done by a few per-
sons, thoroughly familiar from long prac-
tice with the necessary details, so that all
mistakes, confusion and oversights are pre-
vented ; so that every valuable product,
within the reach of the society, is drawn out
for exhibition, and all indifferent or un-
worthy articles are at once rejected by
competent judges. In other words, to con-
duct a great fair of this kind well, it is in-
dispensable that the working committees
should be persons thormcghly experienced,
and fully compete7it to the task in hand.

Now what is the state of things at the
state shows ? Exactly the reverse of all
this. One year, for instance, the fair is
held at Albany. Great efforts are made;
a large quantity of farm and garden pro-
ducts are brought together, a good portion
of which is, however, of very indifferent
quality, — while from proper inducements
not having been presented, a great deal of
materiel of the first class, has not been
brought out at all. The committees ap-
pointed are almost all new to their task, —
some entirely unfit for it, some not working
men, and therefore useless, — and nearly all
entirely inexperienced, and therefore in-
competent. The result is, that the fair is
indifferently arranged, great numbers of ex-
hibitors are dissatisfied, and the next year
withhold their articles altogether, to the
great injury of the subsequent shows.

By the time the Fair is over, those of the
committee who are really working men,
have found out the short-comings of the
exhibitions and have seen the Aveak points
of their own management ; have ascertained

NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

liow, if the thing were to be repeated, they | located, and affording abundant accommoda-

could present it to the public in a far more
satisfactory condition. In other words, they
have earned a little valuable experience. —
But this amounts to nothing. The So-
ciety, instead of availing itself of this ex-
perience thus acquired at Albany or any
other given point, throws it all away, by
abandoning that place and holding its Fair
the succeeding year at some other point in
the State 100 or 200 miles distant. The
arrangements are put into the hands of fresh
local committees, who are as inexperienced
as the first, and therefore almost wholly
ignorant of what is to be done and how to
do it ; consequently the exhibition is a jum-
ble ; articles are carried there and lost sight
of, or placed entirely out of view ; 30,000
people are brought together in some small
town where there is accommodation for
only 5,000 ; rail-roads out of the usual
routes are overloaded with passengers, who
are detained hours where they ought to be
minutes, and the consequence is that in-
stead of a well ordered, satisfactory, and
instructive display of the best products of
the soil, four-fifths of the spectators leave

tion for the thousands of visitors who resort
to the Fair : places from which the accu-
mulated knowledge may be easily distri-
buted to all other parts of the State. Take
for example Albany and Rochester, (or
Buffalo) — the two most central and acces-
sible cities in the great agricultural portions
of the State. Let the Annual Fair he held
fir 5 years at Albany, and then for the next
5 years at Rochester. Let competent, in-
telligent working committees be employed
and well paid by the Society to ascertain
and bring out all the finest products of the
State ; and, when collected, to arrange the
whole systematically and satisfactorily, so
that everything may be seen, and every
person shall have an opportunity to see — so
that there shall be no fine stock injured for
want of shelter, nor fruits nor plants of the
commonest sorts left unexhibitedor wrongly
labelled, and, above all, no crowd of human
beings decoyed to a village where there is
neither food nor lodging for one-half their
number !

We are greatly mistaken if such a plan
as we have pointed out, would not speedily

the ground fully impressed that the State be followed by admirable shows, a most

Fairs are a "great humbug."

Now we may be entirely wrong in our
opinion, but it seems very clear to us and to
others with whom we have conversed, that
these miserable exhibitions, which are al-
most valueless for practical good, and are
certain sooner or Jater if persisted in, to
ruin the credit of the State Society, might
be exchanged for Shows of which the
State might well be proud, and for an influ-
ence most decidedly beneficial to the cause
of agriculture, by one simple reform, tc wit,
in the manner of holding them.

This is nothing more than to confine them
to two central and accessible points, choos-
ing the neighborhoods of those cities properly

decidedly beneficial influence, (at first on
the agriculture of that portion of the State
nearest the point fixed upon, and gradually
on the whole State,) and a large and in-
creasing usefulness and popularity of the
State Society itself. The Fair being held
for 5 years in one place, its managers would
soon become experienced, the competitors,
breeders of stock, and growers of crops
would learn what is the standard of value ;
what the criterion of excellence, and would
direct their attention, year after year to the
attainment of these results. Instead of a
miscellaneous assemblage of products com-
posed in a great part of accidental excellen-
cies, we should see collections composed

98

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

whrlly of articles of real merit — the pro-
duct of the highest intelligence and skill of
the agricultural body of the State— applied
directly to the object in view.

We have doubtless said enough on this
subject— more, we fear, than will be pala-
table to all our friends interested. But we
have said no more than the duty, as an or-

gan of strong public feeling on this subjectj,
has made it necessary for us to say — and,
Avhile we give our heartiest commendation
to the labors of the State Society in the late
volume of its Transactions^ we must again
repeat that there are great and lamentable
defects in its Annual Shows, which may
be, and should, be speedily remedied.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

OiVoNDAGA Pear on Quince Stock.—./?. J.
Downing, Esq.— Dear Sir : The Onondaga, or
Swan's Orange Pear, has been very favorably
noticed, both in the Horticulturist, and in Hovey's
Magazine, at tlifferent times during the two last
years ; and in some instances it has received the
unqualified appellation ot ''one of our very best
pears," " the king of pears," &c. &c. But whether
it will uldmately prove equal to all that has been
said in its favor, or whether its good qualities, as a
desert fruit, will come up to the standard which
has been assigned it, remains yet to be seen. We
may however, even now, I presume, accord to it
the merit of being a new fruit of good quality, and
consequently any information, either in relation to
the quality of the fruit or the habits of the tree,
its growth, culture, Sic. can not fail of being inte-
resting to the Pomologist. It it also important for
the cultivator to know whether it will succeed
upon the quince. Upon this latter point the follow-
ing is the result of my own practice.

In the spring of 1847, 1 received from Ellwanger
& Barry, of Rochester, N. Y., five small trees of
this variety, of one year's growth from the graft,
portions of which were used for scions. These
scions were worked upon almost ever}' variety of
pear stocks, from small seedlings of less than half
an inch in diameter to the leading shoots of strong,
healthy trees from two to four inches in diameter.
They were also grafted upon vigorous, healthy,
bearing pear trees, originally grafted upon the
quince, and were consequently ''double worked"
on the quince. Those upon the pear, in every in-
stance, made, last season, and now continue to
make, strong growth, with extremely healthy
looking foliage ; whilst those that were double
M'orked upon the quince made very indifTerent
growth last season, with very little thus far this
season, the foliage now having a pale, sickly ap-
pearance, and hardly to be recognized as the same
variety with those growing upon the pear.

In the autumn of 1847, I also inoculated this va-
riety, both upon the pear and quince. The dif-
ference of growth in this case is much more appa-
rent than in the other. Whilst the inoculations on
the pear have made a growth at the present time
of 12 to 18 inches> looking extremely healthy and

vigorous, those upon the quince have only made
from ten to twelve inches, having a very weak and
sickly appearance, with a large proportion of total
failures. The Buerre d'^njou, Louise Bonne of
Jersey, Glout Morceau, Duchesse d' Angoultme, and
other varieties, which were worked upon the quince
at the same time, and in the adjoining rows on each
side, have made a uniform growth of 24 to 30
inches, looking very strong and fine, with scarcely
a single failure.

From my own limited experience, as above de-
tailed, I should therefore apprehend that this pear
will not succeed well upon the quince ; or at least,
but very indiflerently ; and cultivators, I think,
would do well not to work it very extensively upon
that stock.

The variety of quince used by me for stocks, is
the Angers, [or apple quince, Ed.] which is un-
doubtedly the best for that purpose. Respectfully.
Henry H. Crapo. New-Bedford, June 15th, 1848.

Belle Magnifique Cherry. — We find on fur-
ther trial that we have not done justice to this
cherry in our work on Fruits. It has borne a good
crop with us this season, and we find it one of the
most valuable of all the acid cherries. It is in
flavor much milder or less acid than the common
Kentish (pie cherry) or Morellos— double the size
of the Kentish, of a handsome light red, bears
good crops, and ripens among the late sorts — a
week after the late Kentish. For cooking or pre-
serving it is one of the very best sorts, and we are
inclined to rank it before the Carnation or the Plum-
stone Morello — two of the most popular of the acid
cherries.

Cutting out fire blight. — We have been
troubled in'this neighborhood with that form of the
pear tree blight termed by you " insect blight,"
and I wish to say to your readers that they cannot
too highly rate the advantage of promptly cutting
out every limb attacked, down to the fresh, sound
wood, as soon as it appears. My own place is be-
tween that of two neighbors, both of whom are
fruit-growers, and both having about an equal num-
ber of pear trees in orchard or garden cultivation.
One of thera takes little or no care of his trees,-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

9^

the other gives them inore or less attention daily.
Now mark the difference: The earcless cultivator
came to me yesterday morning, saying that he be-
gan to believe that he should have to abandon the
pear culture, as hall' his trees were dying or dead
of the blight. On going into his garden, I I'ound
twenty trees very badly attacked, and some of
them already quite dead. He had not taken the
trouble to amputate a single limb. Afterwards I
went into the garden of my neighbor on the othrr
side, and on going over his place found his trees all
healthy, and not one dead. He told me that his
trees had been even more badly attacked than

" 's, (my first neighbor,) for he had taken some

pains to examine the progress of the disease in the
neighboring garden; but that he had spent ten
minutes "per day, for the past month, the first thing
in the morning, in cutting out every bit of blight as
soon as it made its appearance. The consequence
was, that the blight had ceased in his trees, while
it was still in full play in our neighbor's; and he
had not lost a single tree, or even any considerable
portion of a tree, while our neighbor had lost seve-
ral outright. " Cutting and burniiiir immediately,"
he therefore recommends as the only remedy yet
known to him for the insect blight. Yours. Nurth
River, July, 1848.

GaEDEN CtJLTTJRE OF INDIAN CoRN. — ThoSS of

your readers who cultivate their vegetables in a con-
tracted space, or in worn-cut soil, will be glad to
know, (if not already aware of it,) that guano
acts most speedily and beautifully on the growth of
this plant, applied in any stage of its growth, from
the time it has two leaves till it is in full tassel.

I have a square of sweet corn, planted for the
table, this year, on which I have tested it fairl)'.
The ground was in fine order at planting. When
the corn was 2 feet high, I applied, to one- half the
patch, guano, at the rate of two fable-spoonsful! to
each liill. When the corn began to '' top out," I
repeated the dose, in both cases applying it after
stirring the soil, and just before a rain. The effect
is very satisfactory: I have not only gained in the
size and quality of the ears on the part treated with
guano, but I think after counting the rows, and
comparing them, that I have also a third more ears
in number, on all those plants on which the guano
was used. These plants have alone attained to a
size nearly half as large again as the others, with
remarkably dark-green foliage. Yours. S. Bal-
timore, July 14, 1848.

Fruit Culture at the South — J. J. Down-
ing, Esq.^-Dear Sir: I have had the pleasure of
eating some peaches from the trees I got from the
North and planted in February, 1847. The Early
Tillotson began to ripen (was ripe) on the lOih day
of this month, and from the few specimens on the
trees this season, I think they will be as good as
could be desired.

My Early Yorks are also ripe, and are splendid.
I have from 600 to TO'J peach trees planted in Feb-
ruary, 1847, and I do not think finer trees can be
found in any part of the world. I have them on a
very level piece of land, and in handsome rows,
and they are at this time a beautiful sight to look
at. My tipple trees are also doing very well indeed.

Tliey were planted at tiie same time the peach
trees were, and (juite a number of them have from
one to a dozen apples on them: fully two-thirds of
the Early Harvest trees have fruit, which promises
to be very fine. This is a vaiiety that I am de-
cidedly pleased with; it seems to be the very thing
for this climate; every tree is just as strong ana
healthy as I could wish. The Baldwin, "i'ellow
Bellefleur, Maiden's Blush. Dutch Mignonne, and
Beauty of Kent, look very healthy, and I think will
do well; the Fall Pii'piii, also.

My pear trees are doing pretty well. Those on
quince slocks are doing very well, with the excep-
tion of the Paquency and Beurre d'Aumalis Pan*
ache; they will not thrive with me on quince stocks.
The Glout Morceau seems to §row very reluctantly
on quince roots. All the rest of my varieties ap-
pear to be pretty much at homo on the quince. Tlie
Cohr.ar d'Aremherg, however must take the palm
thus I'ar; it does very well indeed. I have two
specimens of the fruit of this variety, on trees plant-
ed in February last, and they are splendid; 1 think
they would at this tune weigh about I lb. each,
and will no doubt be much larger when ripe.

I observe that my pears on quince have a great
propensity to send out shoots from near the ground,
and 1 have so far let them remain. Is this right^
or not ? Your friend. R. H., Mooile, Ala., June
20, 1S48,

P. S. The Black Prince proves with me a first-
rate strawberry, in all respects.

[All shoots beloio the graft should be taken
olf.— Ed ]

German Greeks or Siberian Kale.— We have
received f;om Me-srs. Thorburn&Co , Secd.smen,
New- York, a package of seeds of this vegcable,
which we shall test in our garden. The following
memorsindum of culture and use accompanied the
package :— =

" Sow broad -cast in August, in a light, rich, and
rather moist soil, and protect slightly in winter like
si)inaeh. It is fit for use and should be cut early in
the spring. It grows about the size of a large cab--
base-letiuce, is of a purple color, and equal in ten-
derness and quality to Brussells Sprouts."

Horticulture in Carolina. * « * i liave a
vineyard of several acres attended by two French
vignerons, but have not yet made wine. I hope,
however, the rot will allow, to give wine making
a trial the coming season. Foreign grapes, of
which I have some twenty-five or thirty varieties,
have entirely failed in open culture with me, with
the exception of one — a Red Chasselas which is
trained against my piazza,, and is therefore shel-
tered against our heavy dews. It has borne the
seasons without a sign of rot; next year I shall
try the plan of une of your cheap vineries.

I do not mean to enter the list against Mr. Long-
worth on the Strawberry question ; that would
be a fearful undertaking. But 1 really doubt whe-
ther the pistillate plants, duly intermixed with
stamiiiate, can produce heavier crops than those
which I cultivate, and which are all staminate,
(the Carolina pine.) I have a quarter of an acre

100

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

planted, from which I gathered, last year, four-
teen and a-half bushels; and this season, one not
quite so favorable, twelve bushels of fine fruit;
some of the berries measuring 41 inclies in circum-
ference.

I have many fine peaches, natives of this part
of the (iountry, as well as others of French
and northern origin. But I think onrs will bear
comparison with any of the imported varieties.
Some of our early varieties are now ripening.
A. D. C, Aiken, S. C, June 10, 1848.

Mr. Longworths' reply to Mr. PRii>fCE. —
Mr. Downing — I have been absent from Cmcinnati
4 months on account of ill health, and^returned this
morning. I discover by a letter from Mr. Prince, in
this journal, that he deems lie has a seedling sta-
rainate strawberry plant, perfect in botn organs,
and that the examination of his plants now in fruit
would settle the question. We have for years,
cultivated several staminate varieties, that some
years bear a fair crop of fruit. The Iowa is of
this character, and some have thought the blos-
som perfect in both organs. I have cultivated it
for ten years, and its average has not been one
sixth of a crop of perfect fruit. A horticulturist
in this vicinity (Mr. Schneicke) has raised a sta-
minate plant, which he deems will entitle him to
the premium I offered. It is under trial. He
agrees with me in opinion, that no correct opinion
can be formed of its bearing character, in less
than three years.

From seed, not only staminate and pistillate
plants are produced, but occasionally a chance
plant, bearing both staminate and pistillate blos-
soms. A very large portion of the staminates ne-
ver bear a single fruit, a portion of them occasion-
ally bear a fair crop of fruit, and among these the
Boston Pine and BuisVs Seedling stand high. Yet
after two years' careful cultivation by Mr. Ernst,
they did not bear one-sixth of a crop of perfect
fruit. The Duke of Kent and Eberlin's Seedling,
bear both staminate and pistillate blossoms, and of-
ten bear a fair crop of fruit, and are well worthy
of cultivation. But I do not believe that any sta-
minate will average one-quarter as much perfect
fruit as Hovey's Seedling. I will write again
when in better health, between this and the next
spring. — Yours, respectfully, N. Longworth. Cin-
cinnati, June 10, Inot received till July 10. Ed.]

POMOLOGICAL QUERIES. Mr. DoWNING--What

pear that is a longer keeper than the Beurre d'Arera-
berg, would you recommend as best for orchard
cultivation? (a.)

Is the Angers quince spoken of by Rivers in the
May No. of the Horticulturist, (copied from the
Eng. Gard. Mag.) the same as thePortugal quince
recommended as the best stock for the pear, by S.
G. Perkins and others; and is the latter the one
commonly known in most nurseries in this country
as the Portugal quince? (b.)

The cracking of the bark and exudation of gum
on the finer varieties of cherries has been the sub-
ject of much remark among western fruit growersj
and it has become a matter of great interest to
know its "causes, treatment and cure," and es-
pecially what varieties are least and what most
subject to it. Can you or some of your western
correspondents, (Prof. Kirtland ?) throw light
upon the subject and give lists as above suggest-
ed ?

[Will Dr. Kirtland give his opinion? Ed.]

Have you yet thoroughly tested River's Early
Amber Cherry ? If so, please give its time of ri-
pening compared with Elton and Knight's Early
Black. Its size, productiveness, health of tree
and general qualities for marketing, compared
with the latter? (c.)

An answer in the Horticulturist to the above
queries would oblige yours truly, F. J. Scott. To-
ledo, 0., July, 1848.

Answers. — (a.) If you wish to plant for mar-
ket, the variety that will give you the greatest pro-
fit, is the Black Pear of Worcester. It keeps
well, and bears very large crops, and though only
a cooking pear brings large returns. Prince's St.
Germain, is the best very late winter pear that
we have seen.

(b.) The '^ Angers' quince spoken of by Mr.
Rivers, is the variety known as the Apple or
Orange Quince in this country. We think Mr.
Rivers is right and Mr. Perkins wrong in this
matter. The Apple Quince is decidedly the best
for stocks for dwarf pears. The sort frequently
sold as the Portugal quince in this country, is only
the apple or pear quince. (The Apple quince
is the sort called " Portugal" quince m Western
N. Y., about Rochester. &.c.) We have the true
Portugal growing in our grounds, which is a very
distinct sort — the leaves are much larger and
broader than those of the other quinces.

(c.) We are not prepared to speak positively yet
about this cherry — another season will probably
enable us to do so. But we think it has been
overrated — as it appears to ripen later than, and
not to be superior to, Bauman's May. — Ed.

Mass. Hort. Society. — The reports of the
weekly exhibitions of this Society for the past
month, have not been received. At the business
meeting of the Society on the 15th July, the com-
mittee appointed to confer with the Pennsylvania
Hort. Society and the American Institute, in rela-
tion to the proposed Pomological Convention at
New- York, reported that such a Convention had
been deemed desirable, and that if it meet the
views of the Society, the Comiiittee ask authori-
ty to unite with the representatives of the above
named Associations, in fixing on an early day in
October next, and in making such further arrange-
ments as they may deem necessary; which was
adopted.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

101

New- Haven County Horticultural Society.
This society holds an annual exhibition of fruits,
flowers and vcgetiibles, at New-Haven, on the 26th.
27th and 2Sth days of September next. The list
of premiums is large, and calculated to bring out
an extensive display. The Annual Fair of the
Agricultural Society of the same county, is this
year united with that of the Horticultural Society.

Albany and Rensselaer Hort. Society. —
We have received the Report of the July exhibi-
tion of this Society, which was held at the Court-
house in Troy, on the 12th, which we are compel-
led to omit for want of room. " The show,"
says the Secretary, " was in all respects, such as
to satisfy the friends of the Society ; and its offi-
cers are encouraged in their efforts by the spirit
which is manifested, and the continued evidence of
the growing taste among exhibitors in the vari-
ous departments."

Bugs on Vines. — Having been much annoyed
the present as well as the past seasons by the ope-
ration of the striped and other bugs upon squashes,
cucumbers, melons, &c., I mention a fact that has
come under my observation for the benefit of those
who will take the trouble to make the experiment.
About the hills contaming the seeds, at the time of
planting, were set 8 or 10 onions. These grew
with the growth of the plants. The plants arc now
vigorous and fair, and have not been disturbed by
any insect. This was the purpose for which the
onions were set out. and the effect, the present sea-
son, has been as described. The onions are in con-
dition to produce seed without lirejudice to the
other crop. Possibly the experiment may be
worthy the attentioii of those who would avoid the
trouble of planting tlieir seeds several times over.
H. Danvers, July 1, 1848. (Boston Cultivator.)

The Strawberry Question again. — In the
July No. of your interesting periodical, pages 19
and 49, I find communications from your corres-
pondents, '' Senex," and Mr. G. W. Huntsman,
on the "still vexed" strawberry question. Both
gentlemen have done me the honor to notice my
" Remarks on Strawberries," page 493, in the May
No- of your last volume. Senex is sorry that his
remarks on the question, " Is -fertilization neces-
sary ?" page 172, in October No., " have been mis-
understood," and Mr. Huntsman has charged me
with an " attempt" to set the strawberry question
" at rest," to which charge I demur. I very much
regret having misunderstood " Senex." In his ar-
ticle above mentioned, as to the necessity of ferti-
lization, he asserted it to be " sheer nonsense" to
say that either species or varieties of Fragaria
were in any sense dioecious, and that in the order
Rosacea, " there is not a dioecious plant." I enter-
tain a different opinion, believing in the dicocious
character of some species and many varieties of the
strawberry; and also, that there is a dioecious plant
in the order Rosaceae. the very Cliffortia singled
out by Senex. That I 7nay be mistaken, " is con-
ceding no more than is incident to the fallibility of
all human speculations." The strawberry in its

dicocious character may be " anomalous," as Mr.
Huntsman terms it, and the discussion of the ques-
tion has certainly become so. Confusion has got
to be confounded, and may be worse ere a proper
understanding is had upon the subject.

Dr. Lindley's authority is good ; but I do not
think it better than that of other botanists. His
writings abundantly prove hi in to be as theoretical
as the most ardent enthusiast could desire. I am
aware that he does not use the word diceciotts
when speaking of the old Hautbois strawberry :
but what of that ? By George Don, no mean au-
thority, some varieties of the strawberry are said
to be always dicccious : why ? Because of imper-
fect development of the inflorescence. I believe in
the term as applied to Fragaria just so far and no
farther. I regard the old Hautbois strawberry as
dioecious, '' in a strict sence," because the male
flowers are borne on one root, the female on ano
ther ; yet I contend not that it is rigidly so, as Se-
nex desires me to undertand his definitions for the
rudiments ot stamens or pistils are always present
in every flower.

Senex has stated unequivocally, " that there
is not a dioecious plant in the order Rosacea."
In " Paxton's Botanical Dictionary." Cliffortiaii^
placed in that order, and Dr. Lindley assisted in
preparing the work for the press. In the " iVo-
menclator Botanicus," of Steudel, Cliffortia is thus
referred to ; 2d ed., p. 385: Cliffortia, Lin. Spr.
1977.Dec.II.595. "Morilandia Neck. Fam. Dry-
adcEE. S;)ac/i.— Fructifloras, jRoy/c— Passerinea-,
jly^l_ — Rosacetc, Adanson, Jusyieu. — Sanguisor-
bea-, Sprcngel. — Kosaccic, ClifforticcE, Reichen-
baeh, Tricoccaj, Lin." Dr. Lindley has but copied
t-prengel if he has recently placed Cliffortiain
Sanguisorbea;, and this latter order only dillers
from Rosacetc in the apetalous flowers, and definite
stamens, alternating with the segments of the
calvx. In the genera Sanguisorba, the flowers are
hermaphrodite; in Poterium, they are polygamous,
and in Cliffortia, dioecious. Besides, in Sanguisor-
bea;, the flowers are usually unisexval from abor-
tion.

But Sniex may desire me to be more specinc and
to name one or "two dicecious plants in the order
Rosacecc. I do so with pleasure, and point out to
him the Rubus austraiis, and Rubus chamamorus,
the first a native of New-Zealand, the second of
Europe, Siberia, and North America. The R.
chamasmorus, (the mountain bramble,) is a valua-
ble plant for crossing with the raspberry. The
fruit is large, of a dull orange color, acid, muci-
laginous, and agreeable to the taste.

In my" Remarks on Strawberries," in your May
No., I had no thought of setting the (strawberry)
"question at rest," though Mr. Huntsman has
said that I made the attempt to do so. Like him
self, 1 claim to express opinions, and to state (acts
when I know them to be facts. This question of
the dicecious character of the strawberry, has been
prolific in bringing out opinions, facts, and conclu-
sions, and withal a few contradictions; mistakes,
as they may be termed. The lour " propositions"
of Mr. Huntsman, " being universally true," does
not make it a " mistake" to say that the dicecious
character of the strawberry is the result of acci-

102

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

dent. If it be by the operation of a "fixed law,"
that the plants are iliopcioiis. there is no need of
further discussion or dispnte: the question is ''at
rest."

You have termed Mr. Huntsm.\n "a careful ob-
server," and I auree with you, but he can make
mistakes, with all Ids care- He may even contra-
dict himself, and I trust he will pardon me for
pointinir out wherein he has done so. In Hovey's
Macazinc for February, 1S44, pap;e 53, Mr.
Huntsman thus expressed himself: " That there
are some varieties of pistillate plants that will
bear fruit without beina in the neij^hborhood of
staminate plants, is, I think, well authenticated :
amonjr which may be reckoned the Hudson's Bay,
your (Hovey's) Seedlin<x, and others." When Mr.
Huntsman wrote the above, he had been a " close
observer for some time, of the habits and nature of
the plant."

In July 1S46, Mr. Huntsman wrote another
paper, inserted in your August No. for that year,
and pave the results of his ''experiments^^ with
Hovey's Seedlin?. " These experiments," says he,
" prove to my mind very conclusively, that Hovey's
Seedling will not bear any fruit unless imprecrnaied
with some staminate variety. And the same may
be said of other varieties in which the stamens are
obsolete''^ Mr. Hu-\'tsman had cultivated the
" Hudson Bay for three years,'" yet not a berry did
the plants bear, because they were " in a position "
preehidinGf iinpreonation. He confesses himself,
therefore^ forced to believe that pistillate y hints,
both wild and cultivated, are absolutely devoid of
pollen, and cannot, therefore, produce any fruit ex-
cept when impreiinated by others." It was " well
authenticated" in 1S44, that some varieties of ;?is-
tillate plants, such as Hudson's Bay, Hovey's Seed-
linsT. and others, loould bear fruit without impreg-
nation. It was proved " conclusively.'" m lS4t),
that neither the Hudson's Bay or Hovey's Seedlins;
would bear a single berr>/ unless impregnated, yet
both these statements are made by a close and
careful observer, one who has studied the " habits
and nature of the (strawberry) plant," and " culti-
vates from two to three acres of the most approved
kinds." " Horticulture (says Mr. Downing,) is
not yet a p'rfected, but a progressive science ; and
we (Mr. D.) are in favor of progress." In other
words, facts may contradi'^t themselves accordinfr
to circumstances. Hovey's Seedling "was a. per-
fect sort in its flower:" What is it noxc ? Pistillate,
*by very general assent. It has, therefore, changed
its character. Were the changes said to have ta-
ken place in the o;-|Vu!a/ plants? They were. The
only increase had been by runntrs. Therefore, by
this testimony, normal or perfect blossoms can and
do change. " Hovey's Seedling was an imperfect
flowering variety, is so, and will ever remain so;" so
says HovEY himself. And Mr. Hunts.man's second
fact or law is, that hermaphrodite and pistillate
plants, " being increased by runners, do not vary
their characters." I italicise the words do not.

This " strawberry question " has indeed assumed
a Protean shape. How shall it be made plain
enough for every man's comprehension? Is it a
fact that Hovey's Seedling is both staminate and
pistillate, according to cultivation? Is it a fact

that the original Seedling was perfect? Is it a. fact
that being originally pistillate only, it must ever
remain so? Is there any necessity for sexual dis-
tinction in the cultivation of the strawberry? Is
impregnation at all necessary? Can fruitfulness
be insured by any other means? Are soil and
manure all sufficient to make strawberry plants
fruitful, be they hermaphrodite, staminate, or pis-
tillate? Are staminate plants generally worthless?
Are all or any of the so fulsomely praised (by the
raisers) new varieties better or as good as the few
sorts already of established reputation? I '' pause
for a reply." Respectfully. &c., W. W. Valk,
M. JD. Flushing, L. I., July, 1848.

New- York Stkawberry Market. — A few par-
ticulars, only a slight portion, doubtless, of straw-
berry statistics, show that even from this compara-
tively small fruit much profit must often result.
Thus, we find it stated, that in twenty-six days
4E>72 bushels were sold in New- York ; 514 bushels
in a single day. Over 80,000 baskets, equal to 833
bushels, and weighing, probably, twenty-five tons,
were brought to that city in one day by the Erie
railroad alone. The whole number of baskets sent
to New- York by this road, in the course of the sea-
son, is 602,640; being an increase over the previous
season of 212,640, or ^4 per cent. The average
value is about 3 cents per basket, the uuantity
6247 bushels, and the weight 260 tons ; so that the
persons residing along the road are supposed to
have received $20,000 for strawberries in the last
season. Patent Office Report.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Strawberries. — F. W., (Newark.) Bishop's
Orange is a pistillate strawberry, and will not,
therefore, bear well unless some staminate sort,
such as Early Scarlet, is growing near it. If your
bed of this sort which " grow luxuriantly and is
literall}'' covered with blossoms every spring, but
bears no fruit," is an old bed, you had better make
a new plantation from the runners, immediately,
planting alongside a bed of some staminate sort;
or if you prefer it, plant a strip of staminates at
each end of the bed. If the bed is yet young,
break up a small plot at each end of it (equal to
one-fifth of the whole bed,) and plant it with Early
Scarlet, Boston PiSe, or any other good staminate
variety, to fertilize the others.

C. B , (New Haven.) The Black Prince is one
of the finest flavored of all large strawberries.
There is scarcely any superior to it. Wiley is a
great bearer, and gives great crops with trifling
care, but the flavor is only second-rate. If you al-
low strawberry plants to run together in a mass,
they will soon exhaust the soil and "runout," so
as to bear very little. Beds grown in this way,
should be broken up and re-planted every two
years.

Peach Trees.—])/. W. Phillips, (Miss.) The
rotting of the peaches in your young orchards, be-
fore maturity, we are inclined to attribute to their
grossness and over-luxuriance. Apply shell lime,
this autumn, as a top-dressing, in the two orchards
affected, at the rate of 40 bushels to the acre, and

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

103

seed the ground or leave it unemployed for a couple
of years. R. P., (Philadelphia.) A bud fronri a
tree diseased by tiie yellows, inserted in a perfectly
healthy tree, will destroy tiie latter. We have
proved this lately. W. Thomas. The three
best peaches for your purpose are the followino-:
True Early [York, George IV., Brevoort. J. J.,
(Charleston, S. S.) This year sec(llin<T peach
stocks are tit for buddin<T as soon as tlio time ar-
rives, (Aufjnst and September,) even if they are
" not quite half an incli in diameter."

Anntals. — ^ Tyro, (New London.) Sprinkle
the surface of the f^round around your cypress vines
and other climbin<r plants, which look feeble and
yellow, with guano, then loosen and stir the .'^ur-
face with a hoe, and afterwards water every even-
ing for a week. They will soon put on a dark-
green colour and commence growing luxuriantly.
ji Lady Reader. (New London.) If you sow
beds of Double Dwarf Lark-spuis about the middle
of August, you will have a much finer bU)om than
it is possible to get by spring planting.

Vegetables — W. B. (Albany.) The Bassano
beet is altogether superior as a winter variety for
the table to any other. This sort grows very
rapidly, and will be in full time for winter use if
sown now. The seed may be had at THORDtTRN's,
15 John-street, New- York. Early Walchcren Bro-
coli has proved excellent with us, and appears to
be hardier and easier of culture than the common
sort. 0. Johnson, (New-York.) We are culti-
vating the Ispahan (Persian) melon; so far, very
successfully in the open air, and will give you the
details at the end of the season. W. C, (New-
York.) If you give your cabbage ground a good
top-dressing of salt (say at the rate of 12 busiiels
to the acre) next spring, before you break it up,
you will not be troubled again with the " cut-
worm."

Apricots. — ^i Jcrscyman. The large Early Apri-
cot proves very beautiful, very early and excellent
with us. It ripens long before the Mo irpark.
(See account in previous page) Dubois' Kaily
Golden we have seen in abundance this season, and
think even more highly of it than we did last year.
It is one of tlie hardiest and most profitable sorts
for market; and though not large, is handsome, and
the flavor very good.

Roses. — A New Subscriber. Bourbon roses may
be budded on the stems of j'our prairies at any
height you please, and it may be performed at once
if the bark will peel readily. Mr. Rivers is per-
haps the largest rose grower in the world, and we
have found him accurate in his sorts. Mr. James
Wilson of Albany, or probably Buist of Piiila-
delphia, or Ball of New-York, can supply the
articles you mention.

Grapes — The shrivelling of your grapes we should
ascribe to the great heatof the sun, in the morning,
before you admit air to the vinery. You should
avoid such inequalities of temperature. The inside
border, also, should be kept regularly and thorough-
ly moistened throughout . Jin Old Gardener. We
will bo much obliged to you , or any other of our
subscribers, for a sight of any distinct varieties of

the Isabella with fruit of superior quality or extra
size.

Pears. — Querist, (Baltimore ) The Seckel Pear
will bear more manure than any other variety, and
demands more to give large and handsome fruit.
Vicar of Winkfield is a great and regular bearer,
and brinp:s a good price in market, and on the
whole maj' be considered one of the most profitable
sorts that can be jilantcd for ))rofit, though only of
second quality. X. Y. Z., (Rochester.) We think
very highly indeed of Van Mon's Leon !c Clerc.
Specimens ripened here have been universally large,
fair, beautiful and delicious, and neither here nor
with you will it be the least afi'ectcd by "crack-
ing." The tree is thrifty and benrs young.

Tress. — W., (Cincinnati.) The Deodar Cedar
is hardier and more rapid in its growth than the
cedar of Lebanon. The latter probably suffers
while young from the heat of the sun with you.
Put up a trellis to shade it except from the morn-
ing and evening sun.

Grapes. — J. J. R.. (New Bedford.) Allowing
your grape vines to '' trail on the surface of
gravelly knolls," would not answer unless the sur-
face is all gravel or rock, for the liuit would be
spoiled, and it would be difficult to keep the vines
properly pruned to ensure good crops and fruit.
You had better train them on upright trellises, or
even small poles. It would answer a very good
))urposc. however, and the grapes would ripen bet-
ter, if a horizontal trellis or frnme were made par-
allel to the surface, and only 2 or 3 feet above it,
upon which to train the vines. The very complete
exi osure of the foliage by this mode, would improve
the quality of the grapes; but it would be a less
easy way of cultivating grapes in any quantity,
than when the upright trellis i^iised.

Improvpmi-;nt of Fruits. — H. (Columbus, 0.)
The common blackberry is capable of improve-
ment. Select the very largest and finest fruit you
can find, and plant them immediately in a rather
shaded situation. They will vegetate in the spring,
and bear, probably, in the succeeding )car. Then
select, again, the very largest fruit from these seed-
linps, and sow the seeds of those. In this way
you will no doubt be able to double the size and
greatly improve the flavor of this fruit, in two or
three generations.

PoMoLoGicAL CoNvi NTioN. — E. (Cincinnati.)
The Pomological Convention will meet in New-
York the first week in October, and as we learn
that it is to be composed entirely of delegations
from all the leadinu Hoitieultuial Societies of the
country — delegations, we presume, of experienced
pomologists and fruit-growers — we look forward to
it as a very important meeting. We have not yet
received the circular, but will publish it next
month. The pomological meeting at Buffalo will
also, no doubt, be very interesting.

*^* Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any question on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requested) — and all que-
ries put in a brief shape, and sent to us free of
postage, shall receive attention. — Ed.

104

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The stated meeting for July was held on the evening of
the 18th Tlie president in the chair.

The display of fruits was excellent. The grapes were par-
ticularly fine, and consisted of lurge bunches of Black Ham-
burg and Victoria, While Kronligiiac and Palestine— varie-
ties from the forcing houses of "ilie president: and White
Frontignac and White Chasselas, from the collection at tlie
convent of the Sisters at Andalusia. Of apricots, a number of
dishes ; one of uimsually large size, raised by John While,
Burlington, N. J , on a tree "growing in an eiffht leet wide
alley, where it recrives only three hours sun daily, in com-
mon soil, unmanured ; it, however, has been watered after
sunset with a small quantity of soap-suds. Plums, the Mi-
ser, a seedling, and other varieties; and three or four varie-
ties of apples, and several of pears. Also peaches, and Fair-
child's nectarines, from the green-house of Mr. C'lpe A
dish of cultivated blackt)erries,— a specimen of the first crop
of a field of one-fmrfh of an acre. Of plants, there were
interestuig collections, and handsome bouquets ; and a very

fine show of vegetables

Reports of the Standing Committees.

The Committee on Plants and Flowers feel much pleasure
in awarding the t'ollowing premiums :

Cacti ^For the best six plants in pots, to B Daniels, gar-
dener to C Cope.

LiLiUM LAXCEOLATUM.— For the best two in pots, to John
Sherwood.

HoT-HoasE Plants —For tlie be.?t three in pots, to Ben
Daniels; for the second best do., to the same.

Plants in- Pots.— For the best collection, to James Bis.aet.
gardener to James Dundas; for the second best do., to Robert
Buist; for the third best do., to Ben Daniels. For the best
bouquet, for the second be?t do., for the best bouquet formed
of indigenous flowers and lor the best basket formed of indi-
genous flowers, to Robert Kilvingtoii. For the best basket
of cut flowers, to James Bisset; and for the second best do.,
to Ben. Daniels.

The Committee on Fruits, report that they have awarded
the following premiums, viz :

Grapes.— Best three buiichesof a black variety, Hamburg,
to B. Daniels, gardener to C Cope; for the second best do.,
Victoria, to the same. For the best of a white variety —
White Frontignac, and the second best do. — Chasselas, to
Win Westcott.

Apricots— For the best Moorpark, to John White; for
the second best do — .VIoorpark, to John Aiispach. jr.

Plums.— For the best, (a seedling,) to Alexander Parker;
for the second best do , to VV. Foster, Burlington.

Apples.— For the best, the Yellow Harvest, to John Per-
kins ; for the second be-t do., Bough, to G. B Deacon, Bur-
lington. And your commitlee cannot pass without notice
Several varieties of pears, but with one exception unripe, and
the quality therefore not ascertainable. Some fine peaches,
also, were exhibited, of artificial culture. And your com-
mittee noticed a dish of very fine blackberries, of domestic
culture, and the first fruits of one-tourth of an acre The
Fairfield Nectarines, and some other fruits, were exhliited,
but in an immature state

The committee also respectfully report that they have
awarded a premium often dollars for the best seedling straw-
berry, olfered to their notice this year, to Gerhard tjchmiiz,
for a variety raised by liim, and named by thj committee the
Moyamensing.

The Committee on Fruits reported that they were unable
to aid, or practically to devise, a plan to obtain the requisite
information on the subject of the amount of sm.all fruits sold
in the markets, relerred to them at the last meeting.

The Committee on Vegetables report that they have award-
ed the following, viz :

For the best display by market gardeners, and for the se-
cond best do , to Anthony Felten. For the b-st display by
amateurs, to Isaac B. Baxter; for the next best do., to B.
Daniels, gardener to C. Cope.

Objects ExniBtTED.— Plants by B. Daniels, gardener to
C. Cope. Cacti, hot-house plants, green-house plants. &c.

By Robert Buist, several species of achimeues, phloxes,
Fuchsias, liliums, etc.

By James Bisset, gardener to J. Dundas, a good collection .

By John Sherwood, specinieiis of lilium lanceolatum.

Bouquets— By R. Kilvington, James Bisset, Ben. Daniels
and others.

Fruits. — By B. Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, grapes, Black
Hamburg, White Frontignac, Victoria and Palestine ; peaches
and Fairchild's Nectarines.

By W Westcott, gardener to Institution of the Sisters of
the Sacred Heart, White Frontignac, and White Chasselas
Grapes.

By John White. Burlington, Moorpark Apricots.

By John Anspach, jr., Sp. Garden, Moorpark Apricots.

By Alex. Parker, apricots and plums, seedlings.

By \V. Foster, Burlington, the Miser Plum.

By John Perkins, Moorestown, N. J., apples, Yellow Har-
vest, Striped Harvc'^t, and White Juneating.

By Geo B Deacon. BurUnglon, Bough Apple.

By Thos. Hancock. Burlington, Red Aslrachan Apple.

By Dr. D. James, Byberry, Yellow Harvest Apple.

By John Sherwood, a number of kinds of pears.

By Isaac B Baxter, pears and plums.

By Benjamin Parker, near Germantown, cultivated black-
berries

Vegetables — By A. Felten, an extensive collection.

By Isaac B Baxter, a fine collection.

By Ben. Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, some choice speci-
mens.

Reports of Standing Committees at the Intermediate
Meeting, htld July 3d.

The Committee on Plants and Flowers award the premi-
ums— for the best six carnations, for the second best six do,,
and for liie best American seedling carnation, to Matthew
Mills.

The Committee on Fruit award the following premiums,
in accordance with the schedule :

For currants — for the best Red, White and Black, to Sam'l
Cooper.

For gooseberries — for the best quart. Smith's AVhite, to
Isaac B Baxter.

Raspberries — for the best one quart, Antwerp, to Samuel
Coo|)er ; tor the second best, native, to Isaac B Baxter,

Tlie committee recommend — for a fine dish of Yellow Har-
vest Apples, by John Perkins; also for Muscat Robin Pears,
by Isaac B Baxier — a special premium of one dollar to each.

They were highly gratified by the exhibition of a seedling
cherry, by James Giliin, with red flesh, combining the flavor
of the .Mavduke and iMorello, resembling the first named va-
riety in shape and colour, but scarcely equal to it in size.

They also noticed a Morello of remarkable size, called the
English, shown by John Perkins; and peaches from the for-
cing-house of the president, attracted much attention.

The following seedling raspberries, from Dr. Brinckle,
elicued great admiration, viz: the Cushing, the Orange, the
Col. Wilder, No 19 F. and No. 19 M.; and the committee be-
lieve that some, at least, of these varieties, when in general
cultivation, will prove most valuable additions to our list of
dessert fruits

The Committee on Vegetables award the premiums for
Tomatoes — for the best, a half a peck, to Samuel Cooper;
for the second best do., to Beiij. Gulliss

Objects Shown. — Carnations, by Math. Mills, Frankford.

Fruit —By Sam'l Coopei*, Red, Black and White Currants,
Smith's White and Rough Red Gooseberries, and Antwerp
Ra-pberries

By Isaac B. Baxter, pears, Muscat Robin ; Whitesmith,
and long green gooseberries, and native raspberries.

By John Perkins, Y'ellow Harvest Apples, and English
Morello Cherries.

By Anthony Fel'en, Red and Black Currants, and Antwerp
Gooseberries.

By James GiUin, seedling cherries.

By C. Cope, peaches.

By Dr. \V D. Brinckle. seedling raspberries.

Vegetables — Tomatoes, by Sam'l Cooper, B. Gulliss and
W. Johns. Also a specimen of Hutchinson Wlieat, by John
R, Brinckle. Adjourned. Tho. P- James,

Recording Sec'y.

ABERDEEN BEE HIVE STRAWBERRY.

JAMES M. THORBURN & CO.,

NO. 15, JOHN-STKEET, NEW-YOKK,

WILL have ready for delivery from their Garden, (Astoria, L. I.,) 1st of August, 1848, a few hun-
dred of this celebrated ne a^ Strawberry, which has been out over a year in Scotland and England ;
no contradiction of its great bearing and excellent qualities having yet appeared. It is thus set forth
in an advertisement^ by the grower, in the London Gardeners' and Farmers' Journal, May 20, 1848 :

"The Aberdeen Bee-hive, — so extensively circulated and highly appreciated the two last seasons
throughout Great Britain and France, as being superior to all others in cultivation ; the earliest, highest
flavored, and the most prolific, — one plant producing a number equal to twenty of any other sort ; each
plant throws from fifty to an hundred and twenty clusters, forming a top resembling a bee-hive. So
regularly do they ripen, that they may be gathered in bunches of from twelve to thirty bright scarlet
berries, of a round shape, garnished with a green husk folding toward the stalk. The extraordinary
appearance of the fruit is more than can be comprehended, but by those who have seen them on the
ground or table, where they have been greatly admired. They make a transparent preserve; the
interior being the same as the exterior. Upwards of five hundred specimens of the fruit were sent out
last season, which is sufficient to establish its merits."

The stock from which ours were raised was imported when it was new, and cost £2, lOs. sterling for
one dozen plants. Our experience of its merits are no further, than three plants fruited in the green-
house last winter, were weak by being recently imported and forced to induce runners ; with these
disadvantages, they were up to expectation, — bearing masses of beautiful high coloured fruit, as de-
scribed above by Mr. Mathewson, of Aberdeen, from whose nursery we received ihem direct by steana
in December last.

The subscribers will not involve themselves in any guarantee, as to their being as described by the
Scotch grower ; nor think the criticisms of editors of horticultural periodicals, either lor or against their
merits, of any moment, as they have never yet been fairly tested in a bed out of doors. Their fruiting
in pots in a green-house, and when just imported and driven forward, gives no just idea of their merit.
We warrant ours to be the genuine Bee-hive, direct from Aberdeen ; and as it is a northern county of
Scotland, will no doubt prove hardy, which is of importance, — many of the finest European sorts not
enduring our climate without protection, as British Queen and others, which are superior in England.
Price $3 per dozen, strongly rooted in small pots, packing included.

Also, the following first rate sorts : — Hovey's Seedling, $1.50 per hundred — $10 per thousand. Boston
Pine, $2 per hundred. Buist's Prize, $3. Princesse Alice Maude, extra fine sort, $2. Myatt's Eliza,
€Xtra fine and famous bearer, $2. Scotch Pine or Crimson Cone, $1.50. Iowa, $1.50. North's Vic-
tory, $1.50.

August 1, 1S48— 2t.

TULIPS.

ry^HE subscriber has for sale the largest collection of choice named Tulips on this continent. His

X specimen beds contain upwards of 10,000 bulbs of the finest named kinds, which he now oflTers in

large or small assortments, at much lower rates than similar kinds can be obtained in this country, or

in Europe. ,/•,,•

Fine assortments, selected by the subscriber, will be furnished at the toUowing rates :

100 Cor more) choicest named kinds, 2 of each kind, $15 per 100 roots.
100 '• " " 1 " 18

50 " " 1 " 10

100 " " mixed, 10

Best named kind, 1 of each, $3 per dozen— mixed kinds, $1 per dozen.
Where a small selection is made from the Catalogue, they will be supplied at from 25 to 50 cents
each, according to quality ; if a dozen or more is selected, a discount of 20 per cent will be made.
Catalogues supplied to a'll post-paid applicants. Orders will be promptly attended to, and the roots
carefully packed and forwarded according to directions. Directions for planting, &c., given if required.
^ ^ JAMES DOUGALL,

Aurrust 1. 1848 — 2t*. Rosebank, near Amherstburgh, Canada West.

WILLIAM R. PRINCE & CO.,

Sole Proprietors of the Linncean Gardens and JYur series, Flushing,

WILL transmit their NEW STRAWBERRY CATALOGUE, comprising every estimable variety,
with descriptions, culture and prices, just published, to every post-paid applicant.
The folio wingf form a part only. The prices per 1,000 are greatly reduced. H. denotes the Herma-
phrodite, and P. the Pistillate varieties. The varieties thus * designated are not in possession of any
other nursery in this town or elsewhere. Strangers will enclose cash with their orders.

Price per doz.
Scarlet and Pine Strawberries.

Abyssinian Prince, P $2 00

Aberdeen Beehive, H 2 00

* American Scarlet, P 0 50

* " Prolific, H 0 50

* Bishop's Globe, P 0 50

* " Seedling, true, P 0 50

" Orange, true,

Black Prince, P. 0 50

Boston Pine, H 0 50

•Brilliant, H 2 00

Burr's Seedling, H 0 37

Columbus, P 0 60

Late Prolific, P 125

Mammoth, H 1 00

New Pine, P 1 25

Profusion, P 1 00

Rival Hudson, P 0 60

Scarlet Melting, P 1 25

Sciota, P 1 25

•Charlotte, P 3 00

« Chili, H 3 00

* Cluster Hudson, P 1 00

* Cornucopia ,P 2 00

Crimson Cone, P 0 75

* " Pine, H. &P 1 50

Gushing, H 0 50

Eberlein. H 1 50

•Eustati'a, P 2 00

* Globose Swainstone, H. . ; 2 00

Hovey's Seedling, P 0 37

Hudson, H. &P 0 37

•Illinois. P 0 50

Jenney's Seedling, P 0 50

* Ladies' Finger, H 2 00

Larse Early Scarlet, H 0 25

* Le Baron, H 2 00

Lizzie Randolph. P 2 00

* Magnate, P. . .' 3 00

* Magnifique, P 3 00

pr 100.

Price per doz. pr 100.

$8 00

8 00

2 00

2 00

2 00

2 00

2 00

2 00

8 00

2 00

4 00

8 00

6 00

8 00

5 00

4 00

6 00

8 00

10 00

10 00

5 00

10 00

3 00

6 00

2 00

6 00

10 00

10 00

1 50

1 50

2 00

2 00

10 00

1 00

8 00

10 00

15 00

15 00 i

Methven or Victoria, P $0 25

* Monstrous Swainstone, H 2 00

* Primate, H 3 00

* Primordian, P 2 00

* Profuse Scarlet, P 3 00

* Prolific Hudson, P 1 00

* " Swainstone, H 2 00

* Refulgent, P 2 00

* Round White Carolina, H 2 00

* Serena, H 2 50

•Theresa, H 2 00

* Tivoli Scarlet, 2 50

* Unique Scarlet, H 1 00

Prairie Strawberries.

* Caraak's Scarlet, H 0 50

Iowa, H 0 50

Prairie Cluster, P 0 50

Pistillate Keen, of Ohio,

Taylor's Seedling, P 0 50

Unique Prairie, P 0 50

Necked Pine, of Ohio.

Willey,P 0 50

Hautbois Strawberries.

•Green,H 0 50

* Large flat Hautbois, H 0 50

Prolific Hautbois, H 0 37

Jllpine and Wood Strawberries.

* Besancon Alpine, H 0 75

Redwood, (English) H 0 25

Whitewood, " H 0 25

Red Alpine, with runners, H 0 25

White " " H 0 50

Red Bush Alpine, no runners, H . .. 0 50

White Bush " " H... 0 50

Montevideo Pine.
* 13 splendid varieties, each $5 per
dozen.

$1 50

10 00

10 00

10 00

5 00

8 00

8 00

8 00

8 00

10 00

8 00

10 00

5 00

2 00
2 00
2 00

2 00

1 00

2 00
2 00
2 00

Fruit Tree Scions for Budding.

WM. R. PRINCE & CO., Flushing, will supply these at the same price as advertised in the Culti-
vator and Horticulturist of January last.
August 1, 1848.

WANTED, a situation as Foreman or Propagator in a nursery, or Garden, by an Englishman
aged 36, whose whole life has been devoted to acquiring a scientific and practical knowledge of
the business, and is conversant with Descriptive and Structural Botany. He has filled situations in
each of the above capacities, and has been a very successful competitor at some of the principal exhibi-
lions in England, as the numerous premiums in his possession testify. As he only wishes the reward of
merit, wages would be a secondary consideration, The most undeniable references of ability and moral
conduct.

Any communication addressed to W. C, care of Mr. J. Shaw, Florist, Eleventh street, Sixth Avenue,
New- York city, will be promptly attended to.
Aug. 1 — It

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AM) RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

SEPTEMBER, 1848.

No. 3.

One of the greatest stumbling blocks,
in the way of the orchardist and fruit
grower, in the United States, is the almost
endless catalogue of names of indifferent
fruits, now in general cultivation.

Where there is one curious amateur,
who wishes to make a museum of his
grounds, to exhibit or to test every procu-
rable variety of fruit, there are thousands
who are anxious to plant only a few of the
best and most valuable sorts. Where can
they obtain information touching this se-
lection ? The nurseryman puts into their
hands his catalogue, in which there are
probably 200 kinds of pears recommended ;
mostly "delicious," "excellent," "first-
rate ;" very few, indeed, being marked
"second rate," "poor," or "worthless.''''
Yet, almost every honest and experienced
fruit grower, who has tested 200 sorts of
pears, will tell you frankly that he finds it
difficult to name over 20 or 30 sorts really
worthy of cultivation !

Horticultural societies are instituted main-
ly to advance the taste for the intelligent
culture of fruits and flowers. Yet, we re-
gret to say, year after year, our leading
horticultural societies permit numberless
varieties of fruit to be exhibited at their
annual shows, which are known by their
Vol. III. 7

fruit committees, to be quite unworthy of
cultivation. Indeed, the public generally,
which goes to admire and learn, have, at
these exhibitions, no means of judging of
the comparative value attached by the so-
ciety to an\' one of the varieties exhibited.
Not only is the public debarred, (for various
good reasons,) from making actual trial of
samples for themselves, but that part of the
society which does possess this kind of
knowledge, sits in secret session in its
committee room, and instead of affixing (as
we conceive they ought to do,) labels, No.
1, No. 2, No. 3, &c., to designate the esti-
mation in which the society holds all
known and tried sorts, they remain silent,
and allow the novice, captivated by exterior
charms, to embark in the pontiological lot-
tery, where blanks are ten times as nume-
rous as prizes ; instead of hanging out a
friendly light over the shoals and breakers,
which they know by heart, they quietly
allow the inexperienced navigator to strand
himself on the same bars ; and only when
he is high and dry, does some member cry
out — " Oh, if you had come to me, private-
ly, I could have told you that there are
only twenty pears really worth growing !"

It is quite natural and proper, that nurse-
rymen should collect and propagate for sale

106

POMOLOGICAL REFORM.

every variety of fruit which is spoken of,
either at home or abroad, as possessing su-
perior qualities ; for that is their legitimate
business. And so long as people continue
to estimate nurseries (as we suppose many
persons do,) by the size of their catalogues,
there will be no lack of long lists. Nurse-
rymen will retain old sorts, which they ad-
mit to be of little or no value, because other
nurserymen put them into their catalogues,
and because buyers order such sorts, which
they do, from real ignorance of their de-
merits.

But if any one, who has at heart the be-
nefit of the whole community, will consider
for a moment, the loss of time, money, and
satisfaction which this state of things forces
upon the country at large, he will quickly
see the great importance, if the thing is pos-
sible, of endeavoring to winnow the wheat
from the chaff; in a few words, of puttino-
the public in possession of the experience
of those who really know what are the
good and valuable sorts, and what those
unworthy of cultivation.

A man ignorant of fruit culture wishes
to plant an orchard. He goes to a nursery
and takes, of the varieties in general culti-
vation, the usual proportion of the sorts
grown by the nurseryman. After ten or
fifteen years, his orchard comes into bear-
ing, and he finds that not more than half
the varieties are precisely those which he
ought to have planted ; they are either of
inferior quality, indifl^erent bearers, or are
quite unprofitable cumberers of the ground.
Here are ten or fifteen years lost ; to say
nothing of the difference in value between
the indifferent and the superior fruit, and
the vexation of ascertaining that a little
knowledge at the outset, would have se-
cured perfectly satisfactory results, first
rate fruit, and profitable crops.

It may be said that it is the business of |

pomological writers to make known the
merits of varieties, and to guide public
opinion in this respect. This is quite true,
and, to a certain extent, they do effect this
object. But pomological writers are not
omniscient ; and there are many who dis-
trust the capacity of a pomologist, or a so-
ciety, in one section of the country, for pro-
nouncing upon the value of certain fruits
in another section. So, after all, beginners
are largely at the mercy of catalogues, and
orchards abounding with poor fruit are
planted, where orchards of the best fruit
only ought to grow.

Our attention is drawn to this subj ect, at the
present moment, by an examination of the
circular for the national pomological conven-
tion, to be held in New-York this autumn, of
which a copy will be found in a subsequent
page. This convention will, no doubt, be at-
tended by persons from most of the northern
and western states at least ; and we observe
one distinct feature in its plan which appears
to us to be one of great importance. It is
to be composed not merely of fruit growers,
nurserymen, pomologists, and amateurs, of
experience, but of such persons of this class
as may be selected and sent as JcZeg-af'es to the
convention, from the dilTerent horticultural
societies in various parts of the country.

Now, if the different horticultural socie-
ties would weigh well the importance of
this subject, and each send a delegation
composed of the ablest fruit growers and
fruit judges in their districts, it appears to
us that a convention would be formed
which would embody the best part of the po-
mological information in the country ; tha^
such aconvention would be able, this season,
to make at least a commencement towards
clearing away some of the rubbish of po-
mology, that has actually and by general
consent been ascertained to be rubbish ;
and that, if thought advisable, its meetings

POMOLOGICAL REFORM.

107

■could be adjourned from year to year,
while its labors were found useful to the
country.

Every horticultural society embraces with-
in its numbers, at least two or three men,
whose experience and knowledge of fruit is
far in advance of that of the country about
them. They are not always those most
desirous of attending conventions, nor are
they those who would perhaps offer them-
selves to the society as delegates. But
they are those whose services would really
be most valuable to the country at large,
and who should be prevailed upon to go to
the convention. Such men are Mr. Tho-
mas, of Macedon, Dr. Kirtland, of Cleve-
land, Mr. Walker, of Boston, etc., wh), even
if they were not members of the horticultu-
ral societies in their neighborhood, should be
solicited by such horticultural society to re-
present them in this convention, because
their local and general experience in the
culture of fruits is such as renders them
the proper representatives of the pomo-
logical knowledge of their sections of the
Union.

The action of an annual convention of
this kind, composed of the ablest fruit
growers, nurserymen and pomologists of
the Union, would, we think, be of incalcu-
lable benefit to horticulture, and to the
country generally. Nurserymen would be
gainers ; because, by publishing lists of
sorts which a convention, composed of the
best judges from all parts of the country,
considered unworthy of cultivation, the in-
creased labor, perplexity, and cost of propa-
gating, accurately, long catalogues of varie-
ties would be avoided ; fruit growers would
be gainers, because the collective experi-
ence of the whole country, when thus
brought unanimously to the approval or
disapproval of any variety, would leave no
doubt on their mind as to its value ; and.

the country at large would be gainers, be-
cause fruit tree planting would soon cease
to be done in the dark, as to the merit of
tested varieties at least, and the present
abundance of inferior fruit in our markets,
would give place to an equal or greater
abundance of fine fruit.

If we have made this as clear to the
minds of the active members of the various
horticultural societies as it is to us, we shall
hope to see a horticultural convention as-
sembled in New-York in October, such as
has not yet been brought together anywhere
in America, — such a convention as the can-
gress of vine-dressers in France, — a conven-
tion that will fairly represent the highest
pomological intelligence of all parts of the
country — the soundest practical judgment
of all the horticultural societies (now some
thirty in number.) in the Union.

Some of our correspondents have ex-
pressed their regret that the time of this
convention was not fixed upon an earlier
day in the autumn, when fruits are more
abundant. This does not appear to us im-
portant, at least for a first meeting. It
seems to us that the first and most impor-
tant duty of such a convention, is to com-
pare notes and revise the past. This is
what none of our horticultural societies can
possibly do, since their materials are all
local ; while they can and do ascertain, in
part, the value of all new varieties that
are exhibited from time to time at their
shows.

The second greatest benefit that we can
hope from such a pomological convention,
is the comparison of fruits, and consequent
identification of numerous synonymous va-
rieties, known under different names in
various parts of the country. This can
only be done by a series of meetings, held
at different periods in the year, and there-
fore must be a matter mainly for further

108

POMOLOGICAL REFORM.

arrangement, after the convention is once
successfully organized.

The following remarks on this subject
are from the pen of Mr. Beecher, They
were written for the meridian of Indiana ;
but are so entirely apposite to the subject,
that our readers will be glad to see them
published here :

" Already the varieties of hardy fruits
have become so numerous, that not only
can they not all be cultivated, but the mere
list of names is too bulky to be printed.
Downing's book gives a list of 181 apples.
The London Horticultural Society's Cata-
logue, expurgated at that, gives 900 kinds
of apples, and 1500 have been tested in the
society's gardens. Manning's experimental
grounds and nursery at the time of his
death, contained 1000 named varieties of
the pear ! Swollen as is the list, there are
scores annually added ; many, under the
advice of scientific bodies ; many have po-
pular approbation ; many, from the partiali-
ties of some parental nurseryman ; and
many come in, as evil came into this world,
no one can tell how.

"It has become necessary, therefore, to
exclude many from the catalogue, and es-
pecially necessary that none should enter
vi^ithout the very best passport. In the main,
one set of tests will serve, both for receiving
and expurgating; for no matter how long
a fruit has been on the list, it should be
ejected if, being out, its qualities would
not gain it a fresh admission. There are
no hereditary rights, or rights of occupan-
cy, in pomological lists.

" Titles, rank, antiquity, pedigree and
other merciful means of compensating a
want of personal merit, may do for men, but
not for apples. A very glorious pomological
reformation broke out in the London Horti-
cultural Society's gardens at Chiswick, and
that Luther of the orchard, Mr. Thompson,
has abolished an astonishing number of
sinecures, and reformed, if not worthless
rotten boroughs, very worthless apples and
pears. The society's first catalogue, issued
in 1826. Its third catalogue was published
in December of 1842. The experience of
the intervening sixteen years, led to the
total rejection from their list, on the ground

of inferiority, or as synonyms, of 600 varie-
ties of apples; 139 of cherries; 200 of
gooseberries ; 82 of grapes ; 80 of straw-
berries ; 150 of peaches ; 200 of pears ; and
150 of plums. Only twenty-eight peaches
are allowed to stand ; and only twenty-six
strawberries out of the hundreds that were
proved. We have no similar society in the
United States, whose authority would be
generally acknowledged. Our only re-
source is the diffusion of the very best fruits,
that every neighborhood may have a stan-
dard of comparison by the reduction of ex-
perience to the form of rules. Although it
is difficult to lay down general rules on
this subject, there are three which may be
mentioned.

" 1. Nofrtcii should be admitted to the list,
and none retained upon it, which is decidedly
poor. — One would suppose this truism to be
superfluous as a rule. But it is only neces-
sary to go out into seedling orchards in
any neighborhood in this vicinity, to find
small, tough, and flavorless apples, which
hold their place along side of orchards
filled with choice grafted fruit.

" 2. No seedling fruit should be added to
the list, ivhich is in no respect better than
those, of the same period of ripening, al-
ready cultivated. — It is not enough that an
apple is nearly or quite as good as another
favorite apple. It must be as good in fla-
vor, and better in some of its habits.

" 3. In testing the merits of fruit, an es-
timate should be the result oj a consideration
of all the habits, jointly, of the tree and of
the fruit. — It is in the application of this
rule that great experience, and judgment
are required. This will be plain, if one
considers how many essential particulars
enter into a first-rate fruit besides mere
flavor.

" Of two fruits equal in flavor, one may
surpass the other in tenderness of flesh, in
juiciness, in delicacy of skin, and in size.
It is rare that any single fruit combines all
these excellencies, and therefore it is, that
we retain several varieties, among which
such properties are distributed.

" There are many fruits which, having
good substance and flavor, derive their
value from some single peculiarity. Thus,
a fruit may be no better than many others*

THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS.

109

but the tree, blooming very late in spring,
is seldom overtaken by prowling and irre-
gular frosts. Some of our best fruits, have
stingy bearing trees, or trees of very ten-
der and delicate habit ; and we are obliged
to tolerate more hardy and prolific trees
with fruit somewhat inferior.

" A few fruits are retained on the list
because they have the singular property of
being uninjured by frosts, and others be-
cause, though not remarkable for flavor,
they are endless keepers, of both which
properties the Rawle's Jennetan of this re-
gion is an example.

" In fruits designed for market, beauty
and abundance must be allowed to super-
cede mere excellence of flavor. Some very
rich fruits are borne in such a parsimonious
way that none but amateurs can afford tree
room.

" Nor are we to overlook nursery quali-
fications ; for, of two fruits equally good,
preference shou'd be given to that which
will work the kindliest in the nursery.
Some will bear grafting on the root, some
will not ; some take well by budding and
grov/ off promptly and with force ; others
are dull and sluggish, and often reluctant
to form the new partnership. While then
it will always be to the nurseryman's inte-
rest to work such kinds as he can sell the
most of, he has a right, in so far as he di-
rects the public judgment of his neighbor-

hood, to give a preference, among equal
fruits, to such as work the surest, and
strongest. It is as much the interest of the
purchaser and the public to have the freest
growing sorts, as it is the nurseryman's in-
terest. Thus, if another Seckel pear could
be found growing on the tree of William's
jBoji Chretien, it ought to supplant the old
Seckel tree ; which, in spite of its in-
comparable fruit, is a vexatious thing to
manage ; and, as often in the case of
other and fairer fruit, makes one won-
der how such amiable and beautiful daugh-
ters ever had such a surly and crusty old
father.

" A pomological censor must also have
regard to varieties of taste among men, and
to commercial qualities of fruit ; and to its
adaptation to soil and climate.

" Nor are the humbler tests of cooking
to be overlooked. Some fruits are good
eaters and poor cookers ; some cook well
but are villanous to the taste when raw ;
some will stew to a fine flavor and sweet-
ness without sugar ; and some have re-
markable jelly properties. But after the
largest allowance is made for taste, hardi-
ness, keeping, prolific bearing, colour, size,
texture, season, adaptation to soils, &c. &c.,
there will be found, we think, a large num-
ber of tenants in our nurserymen's cata-
logues, upon whom should be instantly
served a writ of ejectment."

THE CULTIVATION OP GRAPES IN POTS,

BY JOHN SPENCER, BOWOOD, ENGLAND.

[Three of our correspondents, within the
last month, having requested information
on the subject, we reprint, from the Gar-
deners' Chronicle, the following very valua-
ble article, by a practical gardener in Eng-
land, which we recommend to the aUen-
tion of those growing foreign grapes under
glass. Ed.]

The first impulse given to fruiting vines
in pots was by a paper in the "Horticultu-
ral Register for 1831," by Mr. G. Staflfbrd,

then gardener at Willersly Castle, in Der-
byshire, and which at the time elicited
much surprise. Through him I became
practically acquainted with the system he
followed ; and since then having been more
or less engaged annually in preparing and
fruiting a considerable number of vines in
pots, I can safely bear witness to the suc-
cessful results that will follow the practice
detailed below.

After fixing on the kinds of vines you
intend growing, the first thing to be done
is to procure eyes (or buds) of the required

110

THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS.

kinds, from some known good bearing
vines, taking care to have the wood per-
fectly hard and ripe, with the eyes promi-
nent and round. If the vines are intended
to be fruited the next season, the eyes
should be potted in 32-pots, placing them
one inch below the surface, and using soil
of a light turfy nature, or if stiff, adding a
portion of half decayed leaves ; only one
eye must be planted in each pot. This
should be done early in February, and
when finished the pots containing the eyes
may be plunged in any pit or frame that
may be at work, where a bottom-heat can
be maintained of 90°, or thereabouts. They
may remain there until growth has com-
menced, when sun-light being indispensa-
ble to the welfare of the young plants, they
should be placed (if they were not previ-
ously,) as near the glass as possible, sink-
ing the pots as the plants reach the glass,
but still keeping a steady bottom-heat, and
supplying them with air every day if pos-
sible. It is supposed that the heat of the
frame or pit varies from 60° to 90° in sun-
shine. When the pots are filled with roots,
which will be some time in April, they may
be transferred at once into their fruiting
pots, which should be 2s or 4s, according
to the strength you wish your vines to at-
tain ; bearing in mind that those in the
smaller size will ripen their wood earlier,
and consequently be available for forcing
at an earlier period than the others. This
operation will bring us to a consideration
of the description of soil or compost most
suitable for the vine. When growing na-
turally out of doors the vine will flourish
in a variety of different soils and composts ;
but when its roots are confined in so small
a space as a pot, we must place within the
action of its roots that kind of soil from
which it can most readily assimilate the
elements which constitute its food. After
trying nearly all the different composts re-
commended by the numerous authors on
the vine, I am convinced that the more
simple the constituents of the soil are for
it, or any other kind of pot-plant, the more
successful will be the results. The com-
post I use is two-thirds turfy loam, from a
down having a chalky bottom, and one-third
decomposed night-soil. Should the loam
be strong, I use the same proportion of half

rotten horse-droppings. The turves in the
loam should only be half decayed, and it
should be used as rough as possible.

Afler potting, the plants should be placed
in some house or pit where a temperature
from 60° to 80°, or 85°, is maintained ;
they should also be so arranged that the
shoots as they advance can be trained im-
mediately under the glass, and be exposed
as much as possible to the light. The front
kerbs and back shelves of pine-pits are
suitable places, and the partial shade that
the vines afford, benefit the pines during
three or four of the summer months.
Where there is only a vinery they may be
trained between the permanent vines, or in
any other place where the cultivator can
make room for them. As the shoots ad-
vance train them carefully, and stop the
laterals as they appear. When first potted
the plants will want but little water, but it
must be gradually increased as the pots
become filled with roots ; they will then
require it regularly during their growth,
and manure water may occasionally be
given, although the quantity they demand
the first season is small in comparison to
what they require afterwards. The most
suitable length of cane for pots is from four
to six feet, but if from any peculiarity in
the house, in which they are to be fruited,
a longer length may be required, they
should be left accordingly, as the vine will
grow strong enough for fruiting, 8, or even
10 feet long. After it has grown a foot
more than the length required the next
season, it should be stopped ; three or four
of the upper laterals, however, may be al-
lowed to grow at a few joints, to prevent
the topmost eyes breaking. Manure water
may now be applied to cause the buds to
swell, and care must be taken to preserve
the principal leaves, as they are now per-
forming a most important part in regard to
the crop next season. When the wood ap-
pears to be turning brown (or ripening,)
water should only be applied to prevent the
vines flagging, the laterals- should be taken
off, and every means should be employed
to ripen the wood perfectly. Indeed, if it
is not convenient to allow a large admission
of air when they are growing, it would be-
nefit them much by removing them to a
cool house, where they would have the be-

THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS.

Ill

nefit of more air and a lower temperature
at night. By the beginning of September,
if the former directions have been followed,
the vines will be ripe enough to place out of
door. The north side of a wall is the best
place, and the pots should be laid on their
sides> and every means taken to throw the
plants into a state of rest; the cultivator
will thus find himself in possession of vines
which for strength and vigorous habits may
justly be mistaken for older plants.

It will be seen, then, that the principles
acted on above are, selecting properly ma-
tured wood for cuttings — inserting only one
eye in each pot to prevent any check to the
plant in re-potting — placing them at once
in the pot in which they are to fruit — ex-
posing them during their growth to the
greatest possible amount of light you can
give them, taking especial care to have the
wood perfectly ripe, and inducing an early
state of repose. But if the above mode of
obtaining fruiting vines for one year, should
be thought too troublesome, from the plants
requiring bottom-heat during their first
stage, the eyes may be planted singly, as
before, in 48-pots, and set in any house or
pit where there is a little heat ; they will
be longer, however, by this method in
developing their roots, and may not want
shifting into larger pots before May or June.
When the plants may be shifted into 24s,
in which they may remain through the sea-
son, in any house or pit in which room can
be found for them, paying attention to
watering, tieing up, &c. They may be
stopped when 2 or 3 feet high, and when
the wood is fully ripened, removed out of
the house and plunged in any material out
of doors that is a non-conductor of heat. In
February or March, cut these plants down
to two or three eyes, shake them entirely
out of their pots, and place them in similar
sized pols to fiuit in as the former ones,
taking care to spread their roots (in potting)
regularly through the soil, and when growth
commences, each spongelet may be in im-
mediate contact with food ; this is a much
better practice than placing tliem in a po:
without disturbing the ball, ;is i nC<\- '•
The same routine of manag^'iiM ■' ::
followed vviih t-^esr ihrougii lin
recommended for the o^her:-.
larger amount of organ izuble niaii ;■:

vine possesses by this mode of treatment,
they will generally be found stronger than
those raised the same year, and they pos-
sess the advantage of ripening their wood
earlier in the summer. It will depend on
the means the cultivator has at his disposal
which plan he follows.

The next consideration is the time when
you wish your grapes to ripen ; this being
ascertained, it is easily know^n when for-
cing ought to commence. It may be stated
that vines under the above mentioned treat-
ment will be ready for forcing early in No-
vember, and consequently will ripen their
crop by the end of March. As the princi-
pal use of vines in pots here are kept to
occupy the houses (where vines are planted
on the outside) during the period that they
are inactive, say from November to May,
those in pots are generally forwarded in
their first stage in any pit or house whose
temperature may happen to suit them, and,
finally, when the wood of the permanent
vines is sufficiently ripened to allow of
their being placed outside, the pots are
taken in and arranged in their places on
shelves put up for the purpose ; by these
means the houses are of far more use than
if they remained empty nearly half the
year. However, the precise mode in which
the vines are to be fruited depends on the
kind of houses the cultivator has at his
command; a flued pit answers well; but
the best description of houses is that which
admits the rays of the sun to pass through
it in the winter at as near right angles as
can be. Such a house, admitting conside-
rably more light during the winter months,
is much more suitable for such a plant as
the vine than low flat houses. Whatever
the house is, if not perfectly ready for the
vines when you wish to begin forcing, get
them placed in a dung frame where you
can give them a moist heat of 55"^, this will
cause their buds to swell regularly, and
prepare them for their removal to the fruit-
ing-house, when ready, without losing time.
Previous to losing their leaves in the au-
tumn, they may, if thought advisable, be
lisbudded on Roberts' system, leaving a
fr-w more buds than you want bunches;
hit one objeciion to this system is, that if
hv any accident through the winter the bud
should get injured, it leaves a blank which,

112

THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS-

had the next buds remained, might easily
have been supplied.

The number of bunches that may be left
on each vine will depend on the soil, size
of the pot, &c. When the vines are strong,
and No. 2 pots are used, I usually leave six
or seven bunches on the Hamburgh, the
same on the Sweetwater, and one or two
more on the Muscadine. If the vines are
not &o strong, four or five bunches on the
Hamburgh will be sufficient. It is much
better to have rather fewer bunches and
the berries fine and well coloured, than ill-
coloured puny bunches, which always is
the case when too many are left on the
vine. The vines from being placed in the
house, presuming their buds to be swelled,
must have their temperature raised from
55° fire-heat to G5^ when in bloom, and it
will be better if this heat by night is never
exceeded ; of course, on all days when
there is no likelihood of sun-heat, the heat
of the house should be raised 5° or 10^ by
artificial means. Air should be admitted
by some means or other every day early;
this is of consequence, or the leaves are apt
to get damp, and their texture being so
extremely thin, when the hot sun and dry-
ing winds of March act on the foliage, they
often burn and shrivel, and consequently
are unable to swell off" the fruit or give it
colour. During all the time the vines are
in a fruiting state, manure water in some
shape or other must be frequently given.
Dung water is made of various ingredients,
but in whatever way it is made, it ought to
ferment before using and should b^ applied
in a pure state, and at a temperature equal,
at least, to that of the house. The drain-
ing from farm-j^ards is always good and
safe. I use manure water, made by pour-
ing nearly boiling water on equal parts of
sheep or deer dung and fresh horse-drop-
pings ; this is fined by a lump of fresh
lime, is drawn off clear, and when used is
diluted with equal parts of rain water. A
very weak solution of guano is beneficial,
but great caution is required in using it.
It is astonishing during the period of active
growth, what an immense quantity of dung
water vines will take. I have frequently
watered them twice a day with it, and this
I prefer to placing bottom-pans or feeders
under the pots, as is often done. If the

dung water is properly cleared and diluted^
it may be given twice for fresh water once ',
when the grapes are fully swelled, and be-
ginning to colour, water must be more
sparingly applied, using clean water only.
The fl.ivor of grapes is often spoiled by
being over-watered when ripening their
fruit, by the proper proportion of carbon and
water, which constitxites the saccharine mat-
ter in grapes, being destroyed and water
formed in excess.

When the fruit is ripe, if the house is
wanted for other purposes, the plants may
be removed to any dry house or room,
where the grapes will keep until wanted.

The varieties I have found best for early
forcing are, the Hamburgh, Dutch Sweet-
water, and Muscadine. The small-berried
varieties, as the Esperione and others, are
hardly worth growing, compared with the
above. Muscats, and all the delicate sorts,
as the Frontignan, answer admirably later
in the season, and thus the amateur and
those who possess hut a small extent of
glass may cultivate all the varieties of
grapes procurable in British nurseries, at
but a trifling additional expense.

Although I have given directions how to
render fruitful vines in one season, yet,
when a stock is once acquired they may be
kept for years in a fruitful state, by resting
them at alternate seasons. Thus those
plants which have fruited in spring may be
turned out of their pots into a border, where
they will require no farther trouble until
the following spring, when they may be
taken up, their roots reduced in some de-
gree, and placed in pots again, planting
them deeper than they previously were;
they may then have the same management
as young plants, and will make very strong
canes in the course of the summer. I have
vines in pots now in fruit that have borne
three or four previous crops. When the
cultivator prefers boxes to pots, they may
be used, from 14 to 16 inches square, which
will be quite large enough ; they can be
packed on shelves more closely together
than pots, and are more handy to move
about.

By the above process grapes maybe pro-
cured by the end of March and April, with-
out interfering with those planted outside,
and I would particularly recommend its

INTERESTING EXPERIxMENT IN VINEYARD CULTIVATIOI-f.

113

n^loption by amateurs possessing small esta-
blishments, as affording them a means of
prolonging their grape season ; besides be-
ing productive of gratification and pleasure.
It is to this class of gentlemen in particular
that I wish the foregoing remarks to be ad-
dressed. Although it would be a conside-
rable addition to small phices, yet in the
large establishments at Tedworth, under

Mr. Sanders, and at Tottenham Park, (Mr.
Burns) it is an essential feature in their
management, and is followed with the most
complete success. I imagine the credit of
growing plants in one season and fruiting
them the next belongs to Mr. Tillans, of
Alnwick Castle, wlio adopted that practice
at Woodchester Park, when gardener to
the late Lord Ducie.

INTERESTING EXPERIMIir^T IN VINBTARD CULTIVATIOIT.

BY H. W. S. CLEVELAND, BURLL\GTO.\, N. J.

[The following account of an experiment in '
vineyard culture has interested us so much,
that, if we felt certain that no other good
nad resulted from the publication of this
journal, than the dissemination of facts of
fhis kind, we should consider our labors in
conducting it amply rewarded. Mr. Cleve-
land is one of the most intelligent and
reliable horticulturists in New-Jersey. His
experiment, and those of " A Jerseyman,"
and "A Maryland Subscriber," which have
already appeared in our columns, we think
go very far to establish the fact, that the
cultivation of certain kinds of fruit trees,
more or less difficult in this climate, such
as the pear, the gooseberry, and the grape,
is wonderfully facilitated by keeping the
surface of the soil covered from the too
powerful influence of the atmosphere ; and
we look upon it, if well established, as a
fact worth thousands to fruit growers all
over the country.

The 7'ose-hng, that pest in almost all verj'
light soils, has hitherto nearly baffled the
skill of the cultivator. "We recommend,
therefore, a repetition of Mr. Cleveland's
experiment, next season, in various parts of
the country v/here this insect abounds, Ed.]

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir : I have
been trying an experiment during the pre-

sent season, v/hich has proved successful ;
and, as the theor}' seems to be partly con-
firmed by communications from two or
three different sources in the back numbers
of the Horticulturist, I am happy to add
my testimony to theirs.

M}'' vineyard consists of between two and
three acres ; and it has heretofore been my
practice to plough between the rows three
or four times during the season, thus bury-
ing the weeds and making them act as
manure. This course has always been
liable to objections on several accounts;
and last winter, I conceived the plan of
covering the ground with some substance
which should prevent the growth of weeds,
supercede the necessity of ploughing, and
afford the shelter to the roots of the vines
which in the forest is given by the mat of
le'ves with which the earth is covered, and
from which, in fact, I first took the hint. ,
At first, I began collecting shavings from
the carpenters' shops in our village, and
having exhausted that source, I raked the
drift stuff" from the river bank, — consisting
of reed grass, leaves and chips, for three
miles ; and collected enough to cover about
a third of my vineyard, three inches deep.
The health and vigor of the vines in the
part thus treated is so far superior to the

114

EXMRIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE,

rest, that no one could fail to be struck with
it at first sight, and the fruit is much more
free from defects of all kinds.

But, one effect has followed, which I did
not hope for. My vines are every year so
infested wiih rose-bugs, that during the
time they last I have had to employ half a
do/en boys almost constantly in destroying
them ; each boy being provided with a tin
r.'jp, with a little spirits of turpentine, into
which the bugs are knocked from the vines,
which kills them instantly. The boys
amuse themselves by making a heap of all
they catch ; and the pile of the present sea-
son would have filled a half bushel mea-
sure ; but, to our surprise, we found so
few bugs, in that part of the vineyard
where the ground was covered, that it was
often unnecessary to hunt there for them — •
even when they were so numerous in the
rest of the vineyard as to require inspec-
tion daily, and sometimes twice a day.
The thick mat with which the ground was
covered) had evidentlj^ either prevented the
transformation from the worm to the bug,
or else the young bug was loo weak to
work its way up through it ; and the few
we found there had been blown or flew

from the other side of the vineyard. WliC''
ther this object might not have been more
thoroughly effected, had the stuff with
which the ground was covered been well
salted, or laid in a heap with alternate lay-
ers of ashes for sometime before using, or
whether the same remedy might not be
successfullj' applied for the destruction of
curculios, and such other injects as breed
in the ground, are questions which I intend
to test by experiments, in which I hope
other horticulturists will join, and make a
report of their experience. The experience
of "A Jerseyman," and of "B. H. T.,"
with a similar experiment on gooseberries,
though they attribute much of their suc-
cess to the salt of the hay and seaweed,
and of "A Maryland Subscriber," in cover-
ing the roots of pear trees with straw, all
go to prove the utility of covering the
ground with som^ kind of vegetable mat-
ter, which certainly is in conformity Avith
the dictates of nature ; and I cannot help
thinking the effect would be good, in ex-
tensive vineyards or orchards, of covering
the whole ground in the manner described.
Very truly yours. H. W. S. Cleveland,

Oitlaiiili^ Burlingtoiif N- J., Aug. 3, 1843.

E2SPBRIMBNT3 in HORTICULTURE— NO. 1.

BY B., POUGHKEBPSIE, N. Y.

STBAWBfiHRiES. — Being engaged in a va-
riety of experiments in the cultivation of
fruit, and feeling a deep interest in horti-
cultural pursuits, I propose, with the Edi-
tor's approbation, to contribute occasionally
for the "Horticulturist," a few of the results
of ten or twelve years' experience. This
number will be devoted to strawberries.
It will be perceived, however, that it dis-

cusses practice rather than theory. The
vexed " strawberry question" is unknown
in my garden, except so far as a practical
mingling of the different kinds is attended
to, for the purposes of impregnation. Nor
have I procured all the different varieties
which, from time to time, have been pre-
sented to the public, as being superior to
all others. I have tried until 1 found those

EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE.

115

which, in quality, and productiveness, and
hardiness, are entirely satisfactory, and far
beyond my anticipations.

In August, 1837, I commenced by plant-
ing a bed of four feet by twenty-five with
the "Hudson Bay," allowing three rows,
sixteen inches apart, to the bed, and a dis-
tance of ten inches between the plants in
the row. The next year I planted a like
quantity of each of the following kinds,
viz : " Keen's Seedling," "Bishop," and the
" Prolific Hautbois." They were all plant-
ed in adjacent beds, in common garden
soil. They all bore well except "Keen's
Seedling," which was discarded in 1840.
From the other kinds, my strawberry plan-
tation gradually increased to upwards of
half an acre prior to 1846, when the "Haut-
bois" were discarded, in consequence ofi
their inferior quality. In the mean time,
the "White Wood Alpine," and some other 1
inferior kinds, were tried and rejected. In |
1844, I obtained "Hovey's Seedling," and
propagated from it extensively. With a
view of testing the different kinds ir* field
culture, in the spring of 1846, I directed
my gardener to set out a lot containing
about half an acre, in rows three feet
apart. He used ten thousand plants ; of
which, one-half were the " Large Early
Scarlet," and the other half were " Hudson
Bay,'' ''Bishop's,'' and ''Hovey's." The
"Hovey's" were planted among the Scar-
lets. That season they yielded about one
hundred and fifty quarts. In 1847, they
produced one thousand quarts; and in 1848,
eight hundred quarts, although much in-
jured this year by grass, and almost wholly
shaded by trees. The soil is a heavy loam,
without limestone. It had been under a
heavy sod, which was broken up in 1845,
and covered with peach trees, at a distance
of ten feet apart. The land was not highly
manured ; as peach trees do best, with us,

on unmanured lands, in a good condition.
The trees arc now in full bearing. As it
was designed to occupy the ground with
strawberries only two years, they were
suffered to run through each other, with na
other care than occasional weeding.

The result shows that the " Large Early
Scarlet" is the best bearer. The Hudson's
ranks next, the Bishop's next, and Hovey's
Seedling far- — far behind all the others.
Indeed, I have tried the latter in various
ways, and have never been able to make
them bear well ; nor have I ever seen them
bear one-fourth as much as the Early Scar-
lets uniformly bear with us. This also
agrees with the general experience of cul-
tivators of this fruit in this vicinity.

Strawberries can un-ucstionably be pro-
duced in great abundance, with more eane
than any other valuable fruit. With a
moderate degree of care and attention, they
will yield at the rate of one hundred bush"
els an acre. They will grow freely on any
soil that will give a good crop of corn ; and,
if planted early in the spring, will yield a
fair crop in June thereafter. The kinds
above mentioned do not require any cover-
ing in winter.

Notwithstanding the facility with which
this fruit may be cultivated, several per"
sons in this place are destroying their vines
on account of their unproductiveness. The
errors into which they have fallen are, that
they plant them iii old worn out garden
soils, or vianure them too highly. It is a
common practice to cover the vines with a
heavy covering of straw in the fall, and a
heavy coat of manure in the spring. The
consequence is, that the vines grow very
luxuriantly but produce no fruit. The
strawberry succeeds best on a good, deep,
new soil ; but not excessively rich. On
such a soil, with ordinary care, the Early
Scarht and Hudson Bay will produce to

116

REMARKABLE TREES IN OHIO.

the entire satisfaction of the most avaricious
horticulturist.

Early in the sprinsf is the only proper
time for planting. They may be planted
in August or September ; but the chances
are ten to one that half or two-thirds of
them will be killed by the hot and dry
weather. If planted in the spring, not one
in a thousand will die. I have abandoned
summer planting entirely.

The finest strawberry plantation I ever
saw, vi'-as in June, ISlfi, on the left bank
of the LifTay, above Phoenix Park, near
Dublin. They were growing on a steep
side hill, extending along the river for two
or three miles, and covered many acres,
ihey were planted very closely in beds, —
the hills not more than a foot apart, and
kept free from runners. The fruit were
beautiful, and the crop enormous. The
street is lined with cottages, at which the
fruit is sold. Hundreds and thousands of vi-
sitors, on foot and in carriages, flock thither
from the city, dailj', to enjoy the rich treat.

The fruit is brought to the visitors from the
vines, with the stems on, upon a cabbage
leaf, containing about as many as a New-
York basket. Upon the table are plates,
sugar, cream, and bread and butter, to
which each person helps himself ad libi-
txim. ; and pays for the whole, six pence
sterling. Our little party, consisting of
twelve Americans, directly from the pack-
et, after regaling ourselves with such ap-
petites for fruit as a month's voyage only
can create, were unanimous in pronouncing
the Irish strawberries ^?-si rate.

A week later, I found in the London
markets an abundance of still superior
strawberries. They were large, handsome,
and of the very highest flavor. They are
among the few strawberries that are suita-
ble for " eating out of hand." They were
called the " British Queen," and were,
no doubt, identical with " Myatt's British
Queen," described in " Downing's Fruits
and Fruit Trees." B.

Poitghhee-paie, An gusli 1848.

REMARKABLE TRBBS IN OHIO.

BY JACOB KNOOP.. TROY, O,

[The following accurate measurement of
some remarkable specimens of trees, from
a correspondent of veracity, has interested
us very much, and will interest our Euro-
pean readers still more, as illustrative of
the fertility of the soil in many portions of
the great west. We will be glad to collect
more facts of this kind, relating to extra-
ordinary growth and development of trees
in various parts of the country. Ed.]

A. J. Downing, Esq — Dear Sir — I have
noticed, in the last December number of
your valuable journal, on page 269, a de-

scription of the OvERCTTP Oak, {Qicercus
?nacroca?-pa,) which I thmk falls far short
of the size Avhich this majestic tree fre-
quently attains ; and not doubting that
your readers "Down East" would be
pleased to see the size of our western pro'
ductions, I have measured one of these
trees, standing on the farm of Messrs.
Knoop, about three miles east of Troy. Its
exact measurement is as follows : the dia'
meter, at one foot above the ground, 16 feet,
11^ inches ; at 6 feet above ground, 14 feet,
9 inches. The trunk rises about 50 feet

ON GRAFTING AND BUDDING ROSES.

117

without limbs, and with scarcely a percep-
tible diminution in size. The top branches
rise 100 feet above the earth.

On the same farm, I observed a pear
TREE, standing fully loaded with pears ; the
tree I found by measurement to be 39 fi feet
high, and 5 feet in circumference four feet
above ground, with a beautiful cone-like
top.

Near the above tree stood an apple

tree, the seed of which was planted in the
year 1800, by the late Mrs. Knoop, which
for size, thrift and beauty, I think cannot
be excelled. Upon measurement, I found
the circumference of the trunk to be 10
feet, 11 inches. Height of tree 42 feet.
The diameter of the top 69 feet, 3 inches.
Transverse diameter 72 feet, 9 inches,
covering an area equal to ,-'3 of an acre.
Jacob Kisoop.

ON GRAFTING A^TD BUDDING ROSSS.

BY DR. J. B VAN MOXS, BELGIUM.*

For grafting the rose, scions are used of
such a thickness that when they are fitted
they may equal the stock in diameter; by
making the slit short of the axis of the
stock, the slenderest scion may be used.
The scion is to be cut on both sides, so as
to form an elongated wedge, and the back
of the stock must be made to fit the graft
on both sides ; a ligature is afterwards ap-
plied, of fine bass, (matting,) made water
proof by pressing it first through a solution
of white soap, and next through one of
alum. The ligature is finally covered with
a coat of marly clay, mixed with old slaked
lime, and moistened with white of egg,
beat up with four or five parts of water.
This material is applied with a hair pencil.
The best stocks for this mode of grafting
are the shoots of any kind of garden
rose.

We employ, in Flanders, the same mode
of grafting with the Dog Rose, only taking
the precaution that the cleft be of sufficient
depth to allow the out edge of the scion,

♦ From PioceetJings of London Horl. Society.

which is immediately above its cut part, to
rest firmly upon the wood of the stock.
The ligature in this case is of bass; and we
cover it with white mastic, made of Bur-
gundy pitch, white wax, and boiled turpen-
tine, with or without a little white size.
Black mastic imbibes heat too much when
exposed to the sun. The rose maybe "bud-
ded very well in the spring, if the buds are
extracted with a small portion of wood ad-
hering to them. For this purpose, scions
are cut before winter and stuck into the
ground, till the moment when in spring
the bark of the stock will run. To prepare
the bud, we make, firstly, a transverse cut
into the wood a little below an eye, which
incision is met by a longer cut downwards,
commencing at a short distance above the
eye, care being taken that a portion of
wood is removed with the bark ; this bud
is inserted into the bark of the stock, which
is cut like an inverted T, thus, X 5 the
horizontal edges of this cut in the stock and
the bed, must be brought into the most
perfect contact with each other, and there

118

0\ GRAFTING AND BUDDING ROSES.

bound with water-proof bass, without, how-
ever, applying grafting clay. Eight days
after the insertion of the bud, the stock is
pruned down to the branch, which is im-
mediately above the bud, on the opposite
side ; and this branch is stopped by being
cut down to two or three eyes; all the side
shoots are destroyed ; and when the bud
has pushed its fifth leaf, we compel it to
branch by pinching its extremity; it will
then flower in September of the same
year.

You may also bud the rose in the spring,
without wailing till the bark separates, by
placing the bud, with some wood on it, in
a niche made in the sto.-k, similar to what
would be formed by taking an eye for bud-
ding from it in the manner above described,
and into which it is exactly fitted with a
slight pressure. It is recommended to make
the cut for the niche where there is already
a bud upon the stock; when placed, the
bud is then bound with bass, and covered
with mastic.

For budding in June, I deprive the young
shoots of the plants I desire to cultivate of
their leaves; and fifteen days afterwards,
the eyes or buds, at the axils of the leaves,
are sufficiently swelled to allow of their
being taken ofi'and inserted as buds. The
shoots from these buds often bear in the
same year many flowers. In August and
September, we insert our buds upon stocks
that have not been pruned ; they are placed
on the old wood, not only because we bud
low, but because this succeeds best. What-
ever be the period at which budding is
done, if the plant be well pruned on all its
branches, the bud does not fail to push.
The scion of a rose tree is seldom too dry
to take, when the bud is inserted with
a thin bit of wood behind its eye. I
have thus budded successfully from scions

that had remained in a drawer for ten
days.

When cuttings for buds are to travel, I
pack them in long grass, and surround
them with straw, disposed longitudinally.
We prefer to graft and bud our roses not
more than six inches above ground, firstly,
in order that the whole head of the bush
may be exposed to the eye of the observer ;
and, secondly, because the union is more
certain, and the plant keeps the earth about
it moist by its own shadow. Besides, it
often happens, in bending down the stem
of high plants, to see their flowers, that
their stem is injured and the buds displaced
by the curiosity of persons desirous of mi-
nutely examining them. At the pruning
season, the branches of the budded plants
which are formed into a head, are annually
cut back to nine inches in length ; and we
do the same thing with our roses which are
not budded ; we thus obtain a great deal of
young wood, and a bushy plant, as well as
a large number of flowers. The pruning
is performed at the end of January ; all the
four-year-old wood is cut entirely back, and
the plants themselves are taken up and re-
planted at the end of eight years.

Whenev^er we wish to make our roses
flower in the autumn, we prune them back
in the spring, as soon as we can discover
their flower buds. In order to obtain stocks,
we take from the woods and hedges suck-
ers of the dog rose which is very abundant
in Flanders, and which, like every other
tree and shrub, increases itself spontane-
ously, has its roots bent like that of a
layer. We select plants without lateral
branches, and take them up before winter,
to be planted in their places after winter;
and we cut down the stem to a foot and a
half in length.

Jean Baptists Van Mons, m. d.

GOOSEBERRIES WITHOUT MILDEW.

119

GOOSBBERRI3S WTTHOUT MILDEW.

BY DAVID MILLER, Jr., CARLISLK, PA., AND J. M IVES, SaLEM, MASS

The difficulty of growing the finest English
varieties of the gooseberry, in all but the
extreme northern pari of the Union, is fa-
miliar to every gardener in the United
States. Here and there, it is true, they
succeed well ; but for the most part, the
mildew seizes upon the berries before they
are half grown, and renders them worthless.

We have just received two communica-
tions, relating to this subject. The first is
from a practical cultivator, Mr. Miller,
of Pennsylvania. His method, it will be
seen, is an entirely novel one, and consists
in grafting upon a sturdy native variety,
much more easily propagated than the
gooseberry from cuttings. If it proves
equally successful in other parts of the
country, it will be quite a boon to the cul-
tivator of gooseberries. The following is
his account : —

Carlisle, Pa., July 24, 1848.

Dear Sir — As there has been a great deal
said with regard to mildew on the goose-
berry, I have a brief suggestion to make
on this subject.

There has been a large variety of goose-
berry cultivated in this section, which was
so attacked by the mildew that it was alto-
gether abandoned, until it occurred to me
to graft it on the Yellow Flowering or Mis-
souri Currant, [Ribes aureumJ] Grafted oil
this stock it does well, even in unfavorable
situations. I have one stock worked in this
way, which is about 8 feet high ; and its
numerous shoots are fairly bent down with
the weight of its enormous crop of fruit.

Yours respectfully, David Miller.

The second communication is from J. M.

Ives, Esq., of Salem, Mass. Accompany-
ing it was a small box of Houghton's Seed-
ling Gooseberry, a variety which Mr. Ives
has cultivated for some years, and which
he commends highly as being wonderfully
prolific, of good quality, and entirely free
from mildew in every soil.

This variety, we learn, was raised from
seed by Mr. Abel Houghton, of Marlbo-
rough, Mass. Mr. Ives suggests that it was
raised from the native species of the goose-
berry found in our woods ; and of this, after
examining the fruit and leaves, we have
not the slightest doubt. We are, indeed,
exceedingly glad to find that our indigenous
gooseberry so easily improves by reproduc-
tion and cultivation, and can scarcely doubt
that the seeds of the present variety, if
planted, would soon give new varieties
nearly or quite equal to the Lancashire
berries, and also, (which is the great gain,)
with a constitutional habit adapted to our
climate, and therefore not liable to mildew.
We extract from Mr. Ive's letter as follows :

" This is certainly one of the most valua-
ble gooseberries. It is entirely free from
blight ; the plants are very hardy, and bear
great crops of fruit. It has never as yet
blighted in our locality, is exceedingly luxu-
riant in growth, with long pendant shoots,
similar in habit to the ' Crown Bob.' You
will see by the foliage that it is a native
seedling, as I suspected ; and from an exa-
mination of the flowers last spring, I found
them to resemble the wild gooseberry in
the calyx, etc. Yours truly,

''Salem, Aug. 1, 1848. J. M. Ives."

The fruit is very thickly set upon the

120

THE RED ANTWERP RASPBERRY.

branches, small, oval, and
smooth. The skin is tjiin,
glossy, colour pale, or dull
reddish brown, marked with
faint greenish lines. Flesh
lender, juicy, and of a sweet
and pleasant flavor. The
fruit ripens at the close of
July. Though not a high
flavored gooseberry, as com-
pared with the best Eu-
ropean varieties, yet the
great crop which it uniformly
bears, and the ease with
which it is grown, will no
doubt bring it into general
cultivation, both as a mar-
ket fruit and for home con-
sumption.

We borrow a cut from the
Boston Cultivalor, ( which
journal rates it highly,)
which gives an accurate
representation of this vari-
ety-

Fig 19. — Houghton's Gooseberry.

FIELD CULTURE OP THE RED ANTWERP RASPBERRY.

BY S. A BARRETT, MILTON, N. Y.

The true Red Antwerp Raspberry is, per-
haps, the most profitable of all fruit to cul-
tivate for market. A plantation of three-
fourths of an acre, belonging to Mr. Na-
tiianiel Hallock, of Milton, Ulster county,
N. Y., has, the past season, produced
thirty-three hundred baskets, which he sold
in the New- York market at an average
price of ten* cents the basket. Here are
$330, gathered in one month, from ihree-

* Higher prices were obtained by others, in the same mar-
ket. One gentleman received a sliilling a basket for the sea-
»oa, and the purchaser paid the freiglit.

fourths of an acre of land! and at a
comparatively trifling outlay of labor and
money.

The plants have been set one, two, and
three years ; so that they had not all at-
tained a full bearing age. Indeed, not
more than one-half of them had ; as the
third season from the planting is the ^rs^ of
full bearing.

A greater sum of money than the above
named may have been gathered, in a single
season, from the same quantity of land ;
but when the small amount of labor which

TO PREVENT THE ROT IN GRAPES.

121

produced it, is considered, the yield is truly
enormous.

Ii were superfluous to tell the readers of
the " Horticulturist," how a crop of the Ant-
werp is produced ; but it may not be super-
fluous to tell them that a strong, deep loam,
with but little sand, is the only soil from
which they may expect a full crop, every
season. A slate soil, a gravelly loam, or a
stiff, cold clay, cannot be relied upon for
this fruit.

Mr. Parsons, of Flushing, Long Island,

somewhere says (I quote from memory, and
it may be incorrectly,) that ihe Antwerp
has been in cultivation in this country
about 30 years ; yet the markets have never
been sufficiently supplied with it. And he
might add, that not one-tenth of the deni-
zens of our large cities, who are abundantly
able and willing to supply their tables with
luxuries, have ever so much as seen a spe-
cimen of that delicious fruit — the large
Red Antwerp Raspberry. S. A . Barrett.

Milton, August Hlh, 1848.

TO PREVENT THE "ROT" IN GRAPES.

BY A JERSEYMAN.

Dear Sir — You will probably call to mind
a conversation between us when I was at
Newburgh in 1846. I laid before you an
account of the disease which had then
made its appearance in our native grapes,
— the Isabella and Catawba. It commen-
ces about the first of July, in the form of a
dark spot upon a few berries. These af-
terwards become entirely spoiled by the
disease ; and this rot spreads from berry
to berry till a large part of the bunch, or,
in many cases, whole bunches are entirely
spoiled by it. Wet seasons, unsuitable
soil, and various other causes have been
assigned for it ; but as yet, to my mind, no
satisfactory explanation has been given.

You advised me, at that time, to apply
sulphur and lime in the form of gypsum, or
common ground plaster of paris ; and you
also advised me to use the leaves and
prunings of the vines for manure.

This is the second season of my trying

your advice ; and as I received it with

the promise of making known the results,

I accordingly send you a brief statement.

Vol. III. 8

which I think proves that the advice was
good.

I have about twenty vines of the Isabella
and Catawba grape, in a full bearing state,
trained on upright trellises. In the month
of June, (latter part,) 1846, at the time I
made the summer pruning of the vines, —
cutting ofT the side shoots two joints above
the fruit, — I opened shallow trenches, say
four or five inches deep, at the roots of the
vines to be pruned. As fast as the pruning
was finished, the leaves and young stems
cut off* were laid in these trenches, sprinkled
with sufficient gypsum or plaster to whiten
the foliage, (from a pint to a quart per
plant,) and the Avhole trodden down and
buried in the trench.

As soon as the leaves fell in the autumn
I repeated the process, — raking up the
leaves and burying them around the roots
of the vines, after dusting them over with
plaster as before.

In June, 1848, the present season, I re-
peated the same operation at the summer
pruning.

122

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GRfeEN-HOUSES.

Now the result is as follows :

Although the season is remarkable for
the prevalence of the rot, not a berry on
any of these six vines, so treated, is affect-
ed ; the crop being, on the contrary, very
good, — the fruit large, and increasing in
size. The vines, too, are remarkably heal-
thy and vigorous.

On the other hand, the remaining vines,
fourteen in number, are every one affected
by the rot — some of them very badly ; and
even on those least affected, 10 per cent, of
the berries are destroyed by this disease.

I cannot, therefore, escape the conviction
that the treatment you proposed has so far
been effectual in preventing this disease.

I ought to add that the vines of my
neighbors generally are much affected by
the rot this season, and that I have seen no
Isabellas or Catawbas this season that sur-
pass in appearance those on the six vines
alluded to you.

This "rot" is a disease that has only ap-
peared within five years in this part of the
country. At the south, I am told, it has
always existed. On the Ohio, as I gather
from Mr. Longworth's remarks, in your
journal, it is quite troublesome in the vine-
yards ; and it appears to be on the increase
through the country generally. A remedy
for this disease must be considered a public

benefit, and I therefore send you the above
remarks for publication, if you deem them
worthy. Your friend, A Jerseyman.

August, 1848.

Remarks. — We thank "A Jerseyman"
for his account of the apparently quite suc-
cessful experiment. Our advice was based
on two considerations : in the first place, we
supposed that the rot might be owing to
the want of some inorganic substance in
the soil, necessary for the perfect matura-
tion of the grape ; and secondly, perhaps,
to the use of crude animal manures. As
sulphur and lime are large constituents of
those volcanic soils abroad, where the grape
thrives best, we recommended the use of a
common substance — gypsum — likely to
supply them ; and as the foliage and shoots
of the vine are well known to afford the
most perfect food for the growth of that
plant, we recommended the use of the
prunings and fallen leaves, buried in the
soil, for manure.

It is worth while now to repeat the ex-
periment on a larger scale, in vineyard cul-
ture, and we accordingly recommend if
again to the vine-dressers on the Ohio,
with a similar request for a statement,
when they are ready to " report pro-
gress." Ed.

DESCRIPTION OP THE P0LMAI3B MODE OP HEATING GREEN-HOUSES.

A GREAT deal of interest has been awakened
in England, for two or three years past, in
a new mode of heating hot-houses, green-
houses, pits, &c., called the Polmaise me-
thod. It takes its name from Polmaise, in
Stirlingshire, the place where it originated.
The first account of this mode was pub-
lished by Mr. Murray, of Polmaise, in

1844; but to Mr. Meek, of Holmsdale
House, Nuffield, belongs, perhaps, the
merit of improving the apparatus, and fully
proving its merits lo the horticultural
world.

The great superiority of Polmaise heat-
ing, over the old modes by brick flues, and
hot water pipes, are the following :—

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES-

123

An equal and uniform temperature in all
parts of the house ; a constant circulation
being maintained of heated air towards the
coldest part of the house, and cold air to
the warmest part.

Improved health of the plants, caused by
the fresh warm air (rendered moist by
passing- over a small tank or pan,) circu-
lating freely in all parts of the house.

A much smaller consumption of fuel to
produce a given temperature than in any
other mode of heating.

Economy in construction ; the cost being
not more than a third that of hot water
pipes, and somewhat less than that of flues.

This method of heating has now been
practiced for three years in various parts of
Great Britain ; and though, like all inno-
vations, it has met with opponents among
those whose interests or prejudices bias
them in favor of the old modes, it appears
now to be pretty generally conceded that
"Polmaise," as it is familiarly called, is a
great step in advance of the previous modes
of heating horticultural buildings.

Several of our correspondents, anxious to
make a trial of it in this country, have so-
licited from us details of its construction
and operation. We therefore endeavor to
place the matter as clearly and concisely
as possible before them.

The principle of the Polmaise method is
one long well known in science, viz., that
cold air descends, and hot air ascends;
and that a vacuum being caused by ab-
stracting a portion of the air from one part
of a room, it will be directly filled by a
corresponding quantity of air that will flow
in to supply its place from another part of
the room.

In a hot-house, heated in the ordinary
manner, by flues or hot water pipes, run-
ning round at the level of the floor, the
warmest part of the house is at the apex of

the roof, and the coldest part at the floor ;
because the heated air rises, and the cold
air settles at the bottom, and there is little
or no circulation. From this want of cir-
culation, there is also an accumulation of
heat about that part of the house nearest
the boiler or furnace ; and, in very severe
weather, the plants there are liable to be
injured by heat, while those in the opposite
end are with difficulty kept from the ill
effects of cold. A considerable part of the
heat produced by the furnace or boiler is
also lost in the mass of materials that sur-
rounds it.

In a hot-house or green-house, heated by
Polmaise, the constant motion of the air
from the furnace towards the coldest end of
the house, and from the latter back again to
the furnace, distributes the heat uniformly
throughout the whole of its area. While,
as we shall see, by small openings provided
in the wall near the level of the floor, fresh
air is admitted, passes at once into the cold
air drain, over the furnace and into the
house, — thus providing a complete system
of ventilation, without any of the injurious
effects of cold drafts through open doors or
windows in the common mode.

To illustrate our meaning, we submit the
two following cuts, showing the section and
ground-plan of an ordinary lean-to green-
house, heated by Polmaise. In Fig. 20,
A is the green-house, B the back shed, —
the latter containing the sunk area or stoke-
hole ; C, for feeding the furnace ; d, is the
level of the floor.

In this section, 1 is the furnace, with an
air chamber, 2, all round it ; 3 is the cold
air drain ; 4 the register, or opening in the
hot-air chamber, through which the heated
air passes into the house.

In Fig. 21, 2 is the furnace and hot-air
chamber with its opening, 4, for the exit of
the hot air; 3 the cold-air drain. This

124

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES.

Fig. 20. — Section of a Green-House, heated by Polmaise.

drain is laid under the walk, — the top
being covered with flag stones, tiles or
plank, as may be most convenient. At the
extreme ends of this drain (the coldest parts
of the house,) is an opening or openings, 5,

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Fig. 21. — Ground plan of the same.

5, formed at the level of the floor. There
should always be a descent in this cold-air
drain, from the mouth (5) to the other end
where it enters the air-chamber, in order
to facilitate the circulation of the air.

It is easy to see, that when a fire is
lighted in the furnace, the air in the cham-
ber (2) will become heated, and will im-
mediately rise through the opening (4) into
the body of the house. To supply the
place of this air, that thus passes out, the
cold air in the drain (3) will immediately
flow into the hot-air chamber, rise over the

furnace and become heated, and also pass
into the house. This cold-air drain being
emptied, the cold air at the other extremity
of the house will rush into the mouth of
the drain (5,) and move on likewise to-
wards the hot-air chamber. The subtrac-
tion of cold air at that end of the house
most remote from the furnace, causes a
movement there, and to supply its place
the heated air — pouring in from the hot-air
chamber — flows in a continuous stream to-
wards that part of the house (5) where the
mouth or mouths of the cold-air drain lie.
This circulation of the cold air towards the
warmest part of the house, (through the
drain,) and the warm air towards the cold-
est part of the house, (through the atmos-
phere of the house itself,) once commenced,
continues as long as the fire is kept up.
The increased health of the plants, caused
by this genial breeze, can scarcely be a
matter of dispute ; and the advocates of
Polmaise in England insist most strongly
on its great advantages in this respect.
By keeping the shallow iron tank, which is
placed just below the opening of the air
chamber (4,) filled with water, this hot-air
stream may be made more or less damp at
pleasure. The advantage of the small
ventilators (6) — apertures in the wall three
or four inches square, just above the floor —
will, we think, be found much greater in
this climate than in England. These open-
ings must be furnished with small sliding
doors or lids ; and by means of these, an
abundance of fresh air can be introduced
into the house without the least danger to
the plants themselves, — a point always
difficult, with us, when the exterior tempe-
rature is near zero of Fahrenheit. In ex-
tremely cold weather, the ventilators in the
back wall (opening into the back shed, B,)
may be used.

The furnace is intended for coal, and.

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GREENHOUSES.

126

tjur anthracite will be found to afford an
excellent steady fire, easily managed. It
should be built with precision, and in a
workmanlike manner, to insure against the
escape of gases into the air chamber, and
thence into the house. Though in the
plans we have presented, the furnace is
placed under the floor of the green-house,
(the mode securing the greatest economy
of heat,) it is quite as frequently placed
wholly in the back shed, with an opening
in the back wall of the green-house for trie
emission of the heated air.*

We conclude this article with two work-
ing plans of the furnace, showing its con-
struction for a hot-house of moderate size,
with the measurements given in feet and
inches. Following this, any skilful me-
chanic may erect a Polmaise furnace with-
out further directions. It is Mr. Meek's
latest plan; and we copy it, with Lindley's
remarks, from the Gardeners' Chronicle.

We are much indebted to Mr. Meek for
the following plan and description of his
Polmaise apparatus, with the latest im-
provements. The plan is now given of
such a size, and in such detail, that any
village brick-layer may construct it without
difficulty or uncertainty. The iron work
he can procure of his ironmonger. We
strongly advise the public not to attempt to
improve upon this, which is the result tf
careful experiment and long experience ;
but to attend to every part of it with the
niost scrupulous exactness. The multitude
of houses, and other buildings, now suc-
cessfully heated upon this plan, and the
beautiful condition of the plants in them,
have finally disposed of the objections made
first to the principle, then to the action, and
lastly to the safety of Polmaise.

Explanation of Wood-cuts.

A. Four 4i inch brick piers on which

* A brick furnace is no doubt the best, as retaining the heat
iongier, and as bein? more uniform in its temperature; and
that described in tne following page is a very complete one-
There is an ar-tighl stove, for anthracite coal, which has re-
cently come into use in New- York, wliicli gives a very mild
and steady heat withasmall consnmplion of fuel, and which,
we lliiiik, might also be used for Polmaise heating.

the stone slab B B is supported, 9 inches
from the floor of the hot chamber.

BB. York flagstone, 3 inches thick, 3
feet square, on which the stove is built.

C C. Ash-pit, 9 inches deep ; the stone
forms its floor ; under this the chief portion
of the cold air passes on its way up the
sides of the stove, and by this means much
heat usually lost in the ash-pit is econo-
mised.

D D. Ash-pit and furnace door (cast iron,)
J- or f inch thick; they are 11 inches long,
6 deep, and 9 wide, like boxes without
bottoms laid on their sides ; they have a
flange 2 inches deep all round their edge
at bottom, which fits into the centre joint
of brick work of the stove ; thus any exha-
lation of gas, when fuel is supplied, is pre-
vented escaping into the chamber; these
doors extend 4^ inches into brick work of
stove, 2 inches across the area between
wall of stove and that of stoke-hole, and
41 inches into wall of stoke-hole = ll inch-
es. Thus these two walls are separated, a
draft of air constantly flowing up between
them ; if the furnace door is thought too
shallow it can be made 8 inches deep in-
stead of 6.

E E. Furnace. 1 foot 9 inches deep, 1
foot 6 inches wide ; stove built of Newcas-
tle fire brick, set in fire clay. The brick
work must be carefully done, every course
puddled in with fire clay, and the joints
of brick work properly broken ; the outside
parged with best hair mortar and cow-
dung.

F. Cast iron plate, 1 inch thick, 2 feet
square, should be cast six mordhs before
using. It forms the top of furnace. Its
size allows it to rest 3 inches on the brick
work of stove ; on its upper surface, 2 inches
from the edge, is a rim or rib, either cast
on the plate or formed of \ inch cubic bar
•iron, slightly fixed by screws to the plate
itself. The course of brick work on which
the plate rests must be worked very true,
to give the plate a level bed.

G. The cast or wrought iron rim, the
use of which will be presently described.

H. Four thin pieces plate iron, i inch
thick, about 6 inches wide, to be used thus:
After the plate is laid on, the outer course
of brick work of stove must be brought up
level to it exactly, either by tile or other

12^

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES»

CRECNHOUSE 30X15

LEVEL OF FLOOR

y /o*

UrOKITHOLE

LEV£L OF FLOOK OF HOT. CHAMBER

* * The eold-air main drain would have acted equally well,
perhaps belter, if constructed on this plan, keeping il horizon-
tal, or only slightly inclined, with a sudden downward shaft to
the floor of Hot Chamber. This would save much excava-
tion.

t \ Portion of cold-air main drain, having an opening 3
feet wide and 1 fool broad, at the farther end of Green-house
inside ; this opening is below a flat stajre for flowers. The
drain is 3 feet wide, 1 deep, formed at the sides of brick on
edge, covered over with any roogh paving tiles, elates, or
flagging.

POLMAISE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES.

127

means, and the tile or split brick must not
touch the edge of the plate, but i an inch
space is to be left between the edge of the
plate and the edge of the tile. The four
pieces of plate iron are then to be laid upon
the tile round the stove, and a course of
brick work upon these again, to keep them
steady ; and they are to be so placed that
they project over the four edges of the
plate till within i an inch of the rib of iron ;
they will thus cover over an ^ inch clear
space all round the edge of the plate
(marked I ;) into this the plate can freely
expand, while upon these thin pieces of
iron, between the top brick and the rib on
the plate, fine sand is laid, the position of
which can never be deranged b}"^ the ex-
pansion of the plate, as is the case if the
sand were laid in the space I ; while, if the
plate is cast with a rim falling into a groove
of sand, the sand prevents its expansion,
and it either cracks or arches, and in time
is lifted out of the groove, the sand getting
underneath it.

I. The i inch space above explained.

K. The flue, formed of cast iron (hot
water) pipe, a socket, an elbow and straight
piece rammed together with iron filings
and sal ammoniac ; this conducts the smoke
into the old flue in stoke-hole, pipe 4 inch
bore ; it is swept out by a flexible brush at
the soot door, K, and being swept by the
blast it forms a considerable addition to the
heating power ; the socket fixes into the
brick of stove exactly like the door, having
a piece of plate iron screwed on to its inner
rim like the doors, and for the same purpose.

L. Cast iron water tank with division,
one or both sides being kept full, according
as much or little atmospheric moisture is
required ; the purposes to which the house
is devoted must regulate the size of this ;
if for a moist stove temperature it cannot be
well too large, if for green-house, 2 feet by
3 feet will be ample with division ; the bot-
tom of the tank also forces the air over the
plate before allowing it to escape.

M. Flange on doors, already explained.

N. The flap of door which hangs on a
pivot, lifting on or off"; the ash-pit door is
represented with flap open, the opening is
enlarged or decreased as m ich or little air
is required for draft to the fire.

O, Fire bars 3 inches thick, forming a
square of 18 inches ; care must be taken
that these do not bind in the brick work of
the stove ; they should have half an inch
play allowed.

P. Is a screen of slate with some holes
in it (as shown in ground plan) for the pur-
pose of forcing the greater part of the cold
air to pass under the stove and up the three
other sides, instead of allowing it at once to
pass up the sides nearest to it, while the
apertures allow a portion to pass up.

R. Soot door in flue. It would be well
to have a damper just beyond this.

S. A screen for the purpose of forcing
the hot air over the tank before it dis-
charges itself into the house, and also
to prevent the intense radiation of the
stove.

T. The hot-air chamber, 5 feet 2 inches
deep, 4 feet wide, (inside measure;) the
walls are formed of brick on edge. If the
ground is loose this should be 4^ inch brick
work ; excavate sufficient to allow 2 or 3
inches of saw dust to be thrown down be-
hind the wall of the chamber.
Remarks.

It is not necessary that the entire appa-
ratus be thus sunk below the level of the
green-house, although it is desirable to
give the cold air drain as much fall as the
nature of the ground will allow — it is quite
immaterial what position the cold air drain
or the stove occupy; they may each be
placed where most convenient. The circu-
lation of air caused by the apparatus of
which this is a description is very great, so
much so, that when the entire house js
closed, the internal motion may be fairly
described as a breeze; while the economy
with regard to fuel will be found extremely
great; the positive consumption will be
best stated in the coming winter. The
stove is 9-inch work ; any person at all
fearful of gaseous leakage may at once ren-
der this impracticable by using l4-inch work
with a layer of sand even half an inch thick
between the 9 and outer 41; or this provision
may be made for safety-sake on the side
where the cast iron flue leaves the furnace;
such a stove would for :i an immense ac-
cession of heat, though the temperature
would be long rising.

128

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

ON VITALITY AND LONGEVITT IN rRUIT TREES.

BY PROFESSOR TURNER. ILLINOIS COLLEGE.

Mr. Downing — Deak Sir — In my commu-
nication of April last, I did not intend to
pledge myself for the next number, though I
did intend to have written before this time.
I was doubtful, until I saw the article in
print, whether you would think proper to
publish it. At that time, which was about
the middle of April, I had just received
about 150 seedling pear trees from Iowa,
200 miles north of this, which I had pro-
cured for the purpose of prosecuting my
experiments in my fruit yard.

The buds had all burst before they came
to hand; they were about five years old,
and seven feet high. According to my
principles, I carefully reset them, and they
ought all to have lived, notwithstanding
their unfavorable condition ; but, to my
utter surprise, most of them, in the course
of two or three weeks, shed off all their
living buds and leaves, and apparently
died. This was the first fact that I had
seen, which I could not reconcile to my
theory. I knew not how to dispose of it to
my own satisfaction, and forbore to write
you until I could. However, in a few
weeks they all revived, and have now start-
ed finely into their August growth. This,
on the other hand, greatly confirms me in
my previous opinions ; for not one tree in
ten, which had no seedling root, would,
under like circumstances, have recovered.
Their temporary failure was owing to obvi-
ous causes.

After they had revived, another most
interesting fact occurred, the results of
which I have waited to see. One afternoon
in May I grafted about fifty Beurre Diel
pear scions into the roots of small thorns

one year old, beneath the ground. Some
scions from the same bunch had been
grafted before, and were growing vigor-
ously in the same row ; and the tree from
which they were taken in winter was stand-
ing near by in perfect health. The day
after the grafts were inserted became sud-
denly excessively hot, — thermometer stand-
ing at above 90 degrees.

The scions generally stood covered in
the earth except one bud and about two
inches of the top. Now mark the result :
The third day, to my utter surprise, I found
every scion, which stood fairly exposed to
the sun at three o'clock the day before, with
a ring of the bark, about one-quarter of an
inch wide, entirely blackened and killed;
extending sometimes half round, and some-
times entirely round ihe scion near the
ground, at that point where the reflected
and direct rays of the sun struck the scion
in the same place. About half the whole
number grafted were in this condition ;
while all those which were at that hour ac-
cidentally shaded by a clod of earth, or a
dissevered branch, or twig, or by the adja-
cent trees, were every one unharmed, and
are still growing finely. As to the sun-
struck scions, those that stood leaning from
the sun, and were blackened all round, all
turned black to the top and died immedi-
ately ; while those which were, from their
position or other cause, so far protected as
to be injured only partly round the scion,
lingered along and exhibited all the symp-
toms of ordinary blight until they died.
Not one that was blackened that fatal day
has survived, and not one not blackened
that day, has died. Here is, it strikes me,

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

129

tather a peculiar case of " frozen (?) sap-
blight," is it not?

A third fact, which I mention merely as
a fact, though I am not aware that it has
any connexion with the main subject of
my paper : Some of my pear trees are
now bearing fruit, and are ten or twelve
years old. I noticed in May that the
leaves began to assume a peculiar appear-
ance, which has continued to this present
time. It is a disease which to appearance,
so far as the leaf is concerned, bears a
striking resemblance to tubercular consump-
tion in the lung of the human subject. At
first, small spots, all over the central por-
tions of the leaf, appear, a little paler green
than the healthy parts ; these spots next
assume a yellowish cast, and rise into an
apparent tubercle or wart on both sides of
the leaf, thickening, and extending, and
ulcerating, and running together, until at
last whole patches of the middle or extremi-
ties of the leaf turn black, and fall out dead
as though seared with a hot iron. In other
words, they seem to ulcerate and slough
off, while still the tree, in other respects,
continued to grow and look healthy.

I find this disease on other trees in this
vicinity. I can hardly think it the effect
of either insects or heat. What is it ? I
cannot tell. Such extensive injury to the
respiratory organs must impair the real, if
not the apparent health of the tree.

But I will, for the present, leave these
facts, and proceed to apply the principles of
vitality and longevity, laid down in the
April number, to some of the diseases in
trees in the west. If the principles there
defended are correct, we should of course
naturally suppose that the greater the part
of a grafted tree which came from the seed,
all other things being equal, the greater
the vitality and longevity of the tree. Hence,
the best of all ways of grafting would be to

let the seed expand its vitality for some
eight or ten years, and then graft, or bud
the scions into the outer twigs and branches
of the grown tree. But as this would be
laborious: and expensive, and as the cutting
off of large branches Avould mutilate the
tree so as to endanger a local disease, we
must find some practical medium. But I
believe it will be found that the entire trunk
and root of the tree, at least, should in all
cases be made from the seed, and not from
the scion ; and if more of it, still so much
the better.

The next best mode would be to put a
scion into an entire seedling root ; the next
best, into a part of a young seedling root ;
and the worst mode of all, would be to
graft from the sprouts or roots dug up
around an old tree ; for aside from the want
of vital force, such trees are very liable to
be affected with latent chronic diseases,
analogous to consumption and scrofula in
the human system, which, in fact, causes
them to throw out these sprouts so bounti-
fully from the root. That all such trees
are worthless here, in the west, has already
become notorious. Most of the sprouts upon
which our pears in this vicinity were grafted,
were taken from an old barren pear tree in
Alton, and the scions put in the root below
ground ; and I do not know of one in the
county, so made, that has lived fifteen
years. But so far as I can learn, this pro-
cess of mutilation has been going on all
over the United States with the cherry and
the pear for several generations of scions,
without any attempt to refresh them in new
seedling stocks, except where emigrants
have gone to new settlements and carried
pear seeds with them, and thus of necessity
recruited a worn out scion with the vital
force of a fresh seedling.

In this state of things, can it be wonder-
ful that our most delicate varieties of cher-

130

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

pies and pears have become short lived, and
excessively prone to disease.

It is now but a few years since this same
process of mutilation was commenced with
the apple. Who ever heard of sun-blight
and premature death in the apple, so long
as the old modes of grafting into good
seedling roots were practiced ? But it is
already almost as common in these parts
m the apple as in the pear; and whole or-
chards, made from sprouts and pieces of
roots by this absurd mode of grafting, have
been swept off by premature disease and
death, while seedling trees of the same
age, and even trees grafted in the top, con-
tinue to thrive and grow vigorously.

It is said by nurserymen that trees thus
made from pieces of root grow more clean,
and straight, and free from spurs and
sprouts. True — most true ; and that alone
is enough to condemn them ; for the eye of
the practiced physiologist sees in the tall,
straight, luxuriant, branchless, thornless
shoot, so made, the same marked indica-
tions of premature decay and death that
the physician sees in the tall, slim fair
favored, smooth skinned, scrofulous boy,
or in the pale faced, girded and corsetted
maiden. It may be beautiful ; but it is the
wrong sort of beauty for this rough, dying
world. At all events, our most intelligent
nurserymen are becoming fully awake to
the fact that trees so made, on this rich
soil, whether apple or pear, will not live
out half their days; and our farmers will
learn it to their sorrow within twenty years,
though many of them have found it out
already. Now I suppose this process of
deterioration does and will increase from
one generation of trees to another; and if
the same practice is continued as long with
our apples as it has been with our cherries
and pears, they will become equally preca-
rious and tender.

I advert to this, however, as only the
predisposing and constitutional cause of the
disease in the apple, and especially in the
pear and cherry, and not as the immediate
or proximate cause. Just as tight lacing
and hard drinking are great predisposing
causes of many diseases in the human
frame, which would, perhaps, after all,
never be developed, unless developed by
some proximate cause in climate or diet.

The proximate cause alone, without the
predisposing, may, and doubtless does, in
both cases, often produce the disease. But
it is only when both are united that its
ravages become general and frightful.

Another predisposing cause is absurd
modes of pruning, even in the nursery, and
ever after. A tree is naturally a tree ; it
is not a shoot or sprout, a mere riding switch
or walking cane. Each branch above has
its own root below ; and whenever a branch
is cut, the corresponding root is proportion-
ally paralized, enfeebled or killed. Be-
sides, nature no more designed the trunk
of a tree to be exposed to the hot sun than
she did the body of a man ; and she every-
where guards this important point just in
proportion to the real danger. Hence, trees
that will form trunks sixty feet long in, the
shade, will not make them ten feet long in
the sun. Hence, too, all our forest trees,
whose branches are quite high up in New
England, and still higher in Nova Scotia,
around the burning prairies of Illinois throw
their branches quite down to the ground,
so as to screen themselves entirely from
the hot sun. I verily believe many of our
fruit cultivators in the west would kill all
the forest trees in the state, if they were
sent out with the pruning knife and hand-
saw to cultivale(?) them. For there are
few trees of any sort in the state that can
endure the scorching rays of our hot August
suns, thrown directly at full ler.gi.h upon

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FEUIT TREES,

131

(Jheir naked trunks. This marked tenden-
cy in all our forest trees to screen their
trunks, every passing traveller observes.
So the young pear or apple tries to screen
its trunk, or to prepare to, even in the
nursery ; but the jack-knife of the nursery-
man will not let it. It however makes out
to hide behind its fellows j and, as slaves
in the hold of a prison-ship keep each other
warm, so they continue to keep each other
tolerably cool, until six feet high and half
an inch through, they are consigned to the
orchard as branchless as they are worthless.
But now comes the tug of war ; the hot
sun scalds, and the poor tree tries to throw
out a protecting branch or shoot — now on
this side and now on that ; but no, that in-
exorable jack-knife allows no such liberties.
Beside, the farmer's grandson may want to
plough there sometime, and the limb would
be in the way ; and so, off it goes. So, for
for the next five years, the ill-fated tree
stands and scalds in the sun, and whips in
the wind, with a trunk or rather a stem
about the size of a man's finger, and six or
seven feet long, and with a head in size
and shape much resembling that of Ichabod
Crane, of Sleepy Hollow notoriety. But
no sooner has this poor head contrived to
afford, after all, a tolerable protection to
the imploring trunk below, than it finds
the fated hand-saw of the cultivator whisk-
ing about its ears, till at last, despairing
both of shade and of peace in this world,
it gives up the ghost and dies ; and who
blames it ? Surely no feeling man can.
Every cultivator in the west must have
noticed the extreme effort of all trees, and
especially of the pear tree, to conform to
the general law of our climate, and the
habit of all our forest trees, by attempting
to throw out side shoots year after year,
until the bark becomes so indurated that it
is impossible ; and then it betakes itself to

the last resort of throwing a crop up around
from the root. Now, my dear friend, this
is an intimation to you, that the pear tree
does not intend to become a fishing pole,
nor a mere ornamental shade tree ; but it
intends to bear you some good pears one of
these days, and would do so if you would
let it alone ; it also intimates, in the most
modest and respectful manner, that under
a hot summer sun its poor body wants some
clothing as well as yours.

The necessary effects of this sort of mu-
tilation upon the vital power and longevity
of a tree are at some points apparent. In
the first place, it is a constant interference
with the natural and healthful functions
both of the top and of the rooi; filling the
top and trunk with cavities, and patches
of dead and putrescent wood externally and
internally, and the root with paralized and
dead or dying roots and rootlets, — all in-
viting and hastening every natural tenden-
cy toward disease, — probably increasing
from generation to generation. What con-
stitutional effect it would have if all the
fingers and toes should be cut off from a
community of human beings through seve-
ral generations, and the sprouts trimmed if
they attempted to grow again, we cannot
say. But we can hardly think it would
not in the end enfeeble the natural consti'
tution of the whole race, and at last intro-
duce new and unaccountable organic or
constitutional diseases. And is there not
a strong probability that cultivated trees
have been constitutionally, as well as indi-
vidually, injured and enfeebled by a simi-
lar process ? The philosophic world have
paid little attention to the laws and condi-
tions of health in trees, compared with that
bestowed upon animals, and of course but
little is as yet certainly known. It has
generally been taken for granted, that be-
cause a tree could not be killed as easily

132

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

as a man by external mutilations, that there-
fore it could scarcely be killed or injured
at all. But recent observations tend wholly
in one single direction ; that is, towards
establishing a close and hitherto unsus-
pected analogy between the functions and
powers of life, both in the animal and the
veo-etable world ; and sound philosophy
should lead us to suspect, rather than
otherwise, that such analogies actually ex-
ist in multitudes of cases where they have
not as yet been demonstrated.

Another effect of pruning the trunks of
trees severely, results from disturbing the
natural relations of the ascending and de-
scending sap. The ascending s.ip goes up
in the wood ; the descending returns by the
bark. It is near enough the truth for illus-
tra'ion, to say that the capacity of ascent is
most nearly proportioned to the solid con-
tents, while the capacity of descent is nearer
to the superficial contents of the trunk or
branch in all young trees. Hence, the ca-
pacity of ascent increases as the square of
the surface, or near that ratio, while the
capacity of descent increases only as the
surface. Hence, where trunks are exposed
to the sun, or where plenty of light and air
is found for the leaf, nature commences her
work of dividing the trunk into branches
near the ground, so as to increase the sur-
faces for the return sap, while the interi-
or contents are proportionally diminished
through which the current rises ; and the
richer the soil the greater the necessity of
this increase of surface for the return sap ;
and hence the constant effort, in such soils,
in trees to throw out branches from the
trunk near the ground when young ; and if
prevented, around the trunk from the root
when old. Some years since, I took a pear
tree from a nursery six years old ; its trunk
was already trimmed up five feet. I at-
tempted to make it grow in the form the

nurseryman had given it, by cutting off all
the sprouts which continually were shoot-
ing out from the sides of the artificial trunk.
The tree refused to grow vigorously up-
ward under the best care, and finally gave
evident symptoms of paralysis in the top,
by the stunted, short, knotty shoots it would
make there every year, while still it would
throw out the most vigorous sort of shoots
from the side of the trunk. I suspected
the cause, and allowed the shoots on the
trunk to grow on it, and on all my other
trees which were inclining to the same con-
dition. In less than two years, they cover-
ed their entire trunks with limbs quite to
the ground, and then started into a vigor-
ous growth throughout the whole top, which
they have continued to this time, and are
now loaded with fruit. Now mark; the
nurseryman, from whom I bought these
trees, set out a large number in his own
orchard the same spring, and continued his
practice of trimming the bodies until the
year of the pear-blight, (in 1844, I think,)
when every one of his trees were killed to
the ground, while not one of mine was in-
jured, except a single tree on one side,
which had for some reason refused to throw
out its side limbs. The same season de-
stroyed more than nine-tenths of all the
pruned pear trees in the county, while my
own yard, and one other in w'hich no
pruning had been allowed, were the only
ones, so far as I know, which escaped.

At the time I began to allow the branches
to grow on the above named tree, the trunk,
just below the upper branches, measured
nine inches round ; all the branches to-
gether, just above, measured seventeen
inches round. Hence, the surface for the
return sap was, at the crotch of the tree,
five feet from the ground, suddenly con-
tracted in something near the ratio of seven-
teen to nine, while the passage of the as-

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

133

cending current could not have been con-
tracted more than in the ratio of four to
three; and, considering the diminution of
the heart wood, probably vvas not at that
point contracted at all. The necessary me-
chanical result is plain. The tree in a rich
soil poured a full current of sap into the top
and leaf, while every year its relative re-
turn surface was continually diminishing,
and all the return sap which at the time of
measurement flowed over seventeen inch-
es of surface was, at the crotch of the tree,
suddenly compressed into a surface of nine
inches in circumference ; and through this
compressed surface it was compelled to
run full five feet in the hot sun, before
reaching the root, without being refreshed
by the new and fresh sap from a single
side shoot. Of course, all the vessels in
the bark of the trunk were filled constantly
with the necessary pressure from above,
with more sap than they could safely re-
turn to the root or deposit on the trunk,
and were attempting to relieve themselves
by throwing out side shoots. This not
being allowed, they were gorged more and
more as the leaf and top increased, until
either organic ruptures — as in the case of
the cherry tree — or the chemical action of
the hot sun upon the gorged and impeded
sap — as in the case of the pear — completed
the catastrophe of obvious disease or death.
I have just now measured the pear tree
alluded to above, and find, since it has had
its own way, that the relations of the su-
perficies at the crotch, which is now lower
down, have changed from the ratio of seven-
teen to nine to the present ratio of twelve
to eighteen, — showing that the increase be-
tween the times of admeasurement to have
been three inches on the stem to one inch
on the branches above. The trunk of the
tree is also now entirely screened from the
hot sun by the side branches it has thrown

out; and the sap in the stem is frequently
refreshed by the return sap from these side
branches. There is no appearance of paraly-
sis in the growth of the top, nor of gorged
sap in the stem, fermenting in the hot sun,
and spreading signs of disease on its outer
bark, or diflTusing them throughout the
whole trunk and top of the tree. In a
word, the tree has returned, or is at least
fast returning, to a vigorous, natural, and
therefore healthful condition. But afier
all, as it was originally made from a vicious
grafted sprout, instead of a healthy seed-
ling root, it will probably, in spite of all
other cure, die prematurely. Had I time
to write, or could I suppose that you have
room to publish details of this sort, I could
give them to any extent.

In this country, the blotch on the large
limbs and trunk of the pear and apple tree,
in what is called the blight, is always on
the western side, generally southwest, or
facing the sun at the hour of extreme heat.
And wherever I have found it on the north-
west side, it has always been near the
ground ; and, on further and closer inspec-
tion, 1 have found in such cases that the
orain of the tree, wound — as it is called — as
it descended, toward the north; and that
the injury, after all, was evidently done on
the southwest side of the tree, at some dis-
tance above the ground ; and the scalded
and vicious sap there produced, settled with
the grain of the tree, by an obvious law,
round and down to the northwest side
where, like other dead matter, it accumu-
lated to poison the bark, or to freeze and
peal it from the trunk the next winter.

It is obvious how rich soil or high cul-
ture, with the plough or with manure, or
excess of moisture, would materially and
necessarily increase these dangers and evils
by increasing the plethora and stagnation
in the return sap ; and if sudden cold is the

134

VITALITY AND LONGEVITY IN FRUIT TREES.

'ultirnate cause of the final catastrophe, as
some think in other parts of the country ii
is, it is still obvious how in that case this
high culture should hasten the final catas-
trophe In that case, there would be an
artificial excess of return sap in the stem,
unprotected from the cold, just as in the
other case the same plethora is unprotected
from the heat.

The case of the scions alluded to above,
in connexion with all other facts, convinces
me that all our blight here is produced, in
fact, by the hot sun in summer, though not
generally developed to the eye until severe
cold occurs in winter, or perhaps not until
the ensuing spring or summer. That cold
may produce similar effects elsewhere, is
perhaps both natural and probable; but I
have never seen it.

The PROXIMATE CAUSE, then, of blight
here, both in the apple and the pear, is the
effects of the hot sun upon the unprotected
trunk and branches of the tree, while the
return sap is in an unnatural condition of
plethora. It is not unlike, either in its
predisposing or proximate causes, to the
disease familiarly known in the west by the
name of sun-stroke, in the human system.

The PREDISPOSING CAUSES are, first, a
general hereditary debility of those kinds
of trees that have been through several
generations, propagated without bringing
them in contact with the vital energies of
healthful seedling roots ; and toward the
same results the apple is fast tending in
these parts, and probably wherever the
same absurd mode of grafting is practiced
upon a rich soil, and under a hot sun.

Second, the interference in pruning, in
interrupting the general healthful functions
of the tree, and particularly in violently
disturbing the natural and necessary equi-
librium between the capacities of the tree
for transferring its ascending and descend-

ing currents of sap; this latter point de-
serves to be presented more in detail, both
in its philosophy and in the nature and ex-
tent of diseases it is liable to produce, both
in the bark and in the trunk, and finally in
the top. But I cannot tax your patience or
that of your readers further on the sub-
ject at present. Meantime, I apprehend
that it will be found, at last, that the term
"fire-blight," or "frozen sap-blight," is not
a specific name, but only a general term,
to signify analogous modes of disease,
arising from the same predisposing causes,
but developed by a variety of proxima,te
causes, like fever in the human subject ;
and that while we may postpone the catas--
trophe in single cases by attention to soil
and culture, we shall never get rid of the
constitutional tendency and latent debility
of the predisposing causes, until we study
the nature of trees more, and apply the na-
ture of the knife and the saw less, until,
in a word, both in grafting and pruning, we
learn how to interfere with nature as little
as possible. I went last winter to see an
apple orchard some forty miles distant, be-
longing to a man too old and too lazy to
touch it with a knife or saw. At first view,
it looked horribly. The trees were all
bushes, or rather thickets, having all the
shoots of fifteen or twenty years' growth
standing on and around the trunk, or what
was originally intended for the trunk of the
tree. Yet this orchard was overloaded, in
all its tangled branches and clusters of
sprouts, last year with fine fruit; and is the
only one I have ever seen in the state, of the
same age, that had not a single tree affected
with the sun-stroke, as I have called it, or
frozen sap-blight, if you please.

Doubtless, in some cases, these several
causes produce their effects — each without
the aid of the other; but so far as I have
noticed, where the three coexist, speedy and

THE COL. WILDER RASPBERRY.

135

premature death, especially on a rich soil
and with high culture, is absolutely certain.

The general remedies will be plain to all.

The blight on the trunk of the cherry
tree, arising from similar principles, is,
however, in these parts, in one respect en-
tirely peculiar, and can be explained only
by referring to the cause which produces
the peculiarity; which, if you and your
readers have patience, I shall do in some
future number. Meantime, I shall hope to

see your strictures freely and fully present-
ed upon what I have already written.
Respectfully yours, J. B. Tdrwer.

lUiiiais College, August 1, 18-13.

[We commend the foregoing most inte-
resting article to the careful perusal of
every reader interested in the culture of
fruit trees. Want of space compels us to
postpone any comments till our next num»
her. Ed.]

THE COL. -WILDER RASPBERRY.

BY DR. W. D. BRINCKLE, PHILADELPHIA.

[We are much indebted to our
correspondent for an opportunity
of first publishing the figure and
description of the following valu-
able acquisition. We have seen
the original plant, and from our
own judgment, and the high opi-
nion we hear expressed of this
fruit by some of the best judges
in Philadelphia, we think we may
congratulate Dr. Brinckle, who
is one of the most zealous devo-
tees of pomology in Philadelphia,
on having originated a new yel-
low raspberry, far superior to any
existing varieties of its class. Ed.]

IVIy Dear Sir^In compliance
with a promise made some time
ago, I send you, for the Horticul-
turist, a drawing and description
of the Col. Wilder Raspberry. The
drawing was taken by Mr. Hoffy.

In the spring of 1846 I planted the seed
of a fine berry of the FastolfF raspberry.
Many of these seed vegetated, and several
of the plants fruited in 1847. Among them
was one which I named the Col. Wilder,

Fig. 22.— Coi. Wilder Raspberry.

in honor of my highly valued friend, the
president of the Massachusetts Horticultu-
ral Society. It was planted within two feet
of its parent, the FastolfF. The winter of
1846 and '47, killed the Fasfolff to within a

136

PEARS ON QUINCE STOCKS.

foot and a half of the ground, while the Col.
Wilder was uninjured, and bore fruit in
1S47 of good size. During the summer of
1847 it sent up a very stout shoot, from
which, in the fall and winter, many cuttings
were taken and sent to horticultural friends
in various parts of the country. After
taking off these cuttings from the top and
branches, the plant was still eight feet
high, and fruited, the present season, to its
summit. The fruit commenced ripening
on the 15th of June ; and from that time it

continued to have ripe fruit, in abundance,
till the first day of August, when the old
wood was cut away. The original stool
stands in my yard, on the west side of a
board fence, six feet, four inches high.
This variety is uncommonly vigorous.
Pxickles white, — leaf, much crimped, —
fruit as large as the Fastolff, roundish,
cream coloured, semi-transparent, glazed,
with prominent pips. Flavor fine.

I remain, my dear sir, very sincerely,
yours, W. D. Brinckle.

THB ONONDAGA AND OTHER PEARS ON QUINCE STOCKS.

BY P. BARRY, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

In your " Domestic Notices," of last month, | strange, as it grew so well on the quince
it is stated by Mr. Henry H. Crapo, of
New-Bedford, that he has succeeded badly
with the Onondaga on quince stocks

I

am surprised at this, inasmuch as it grows
admirably with us, and in all the nurseries
and gardens here, where it has been so
worked. Failures, such as Mr. Crapo's,
occur frequently in the propagation of trees,
and it is difficult to detect the real cause.
We cannot yet say how durable it may be,
or how it may bear; but certain it is, that,
so far, it grows well. We have at the pre-
sent moment, growing in the nurseries
here, more than 1000 trees from 2^ to 4
feet in height, quite stout, and many of
them well branched, the growth of the pre-
sent season, on small quince stocks. In-
deed, it grows better than White Doyenne,
Bartlett, or Madeleine. Mr. Crapo must
try farther. The first season that we work-
ed the pear on quince stock, extensively,
our Eeaster Beurres were a complete fail-
ure; they grew 10 or 12 inches, while
others in the same row, and on same sort
of stocks precisely, and worked on the same
day, were 4 to 5 feet. We thought it !

in France ; we tried again, and it grows
well — not tall, but stout and bushy. So
with Seckel ; the first year we worked it
on quince it failed ; last year and this we
have had as fine and as vigorous a growth
as we ever have on pear stocks,* and so on,
with many other kinds.

The Osband's Summer, or Summer Vir-
galieu, grows and bears well on the quince,
and is one of our very best early pears, —
superior, as we think, to the Bloodgood ;
certainl)'^ more beautiful, and as early — in
our markets this season about the 6th of
August.

The Doyenne cfete, quite similar to the
foregoing, but ripening two weeks later, —
grows and bears exceedingly well on the
quince. This is one of the finest pears of
its season. The Bloodgood, Dearborn's
Seedling, Tyso?i, Buffum, Stevens'' Genesee,
Oswego Beurre, all fine American pears ;
grow freely on the quince, and I have no
doubt will bear well. We should have
been able to speak more certainly on the

* The Seckel is one of those Mr. Rivers says requires
double working, (Hort., vol. 2, page 70.)

PEARS ON QUINCE STOCK.

137

ktter point, but for the hail storm that
visited us in May last, when trees were in
blossom, and scarcely left us a single fruit
of any kind. The Rosliezer grows on the
quince as freely as a Jargonelle, and proves
to be one of the finest summer pears.

Excepting Beurre Bosc, Winter Nelis,
Maria Louise, GanselVs Bergamot, Urban-
iste^ Flemish Beauty, and Dix, we find all
the most popular pears to grow freely when
budded on vigorous, free growing quince
stocks. The Dix will not grow more than
six inches to a foot in one season, and the
union is so imperfect that it cannot be per-
manent ; but it double works admirably ;
in this way, it seems to grow stronger than
on pear, and the fruit will probably be finer.

As to the nomenclature of the quince,
there seems to be much diversity of opinion,
and no very clear conceptions on the sub-
ject in any quarter. You state, in the last
number of your journal, that the kind we
cultivate here as the Portugal, is the apple
quince. In this, I think you are mistaken.
It may not be the Portugal, though it is
cultivated by the French as that, and sold
as that.

A neighbor of ours, a very careful and
observing cultivator, has grown them side
by side for the sake of comparison ; and he
says they are difierent, but the difference is
not great.

The Portugal which we have long grown
hy budding' — has, as you remark, longer
leaves.

Among our importations from France, of
what they call Portugal, we have obtained

a variety that appears to us perfectly dis-
tinct from any other. We send you a
couple of specimens ; one, the smaller,
grown from a cutting this season, and the
other last season. If they reach you in
good order, you will see how completely
distinct they are from the Apple, Portugal,
or any of the common sorts. They are
quite branchy ; and every branch takes a
perfectly upright direction, giving them a
peculiarly dense and erect habit, so that the
rows in the nursery look like rows of minia-
ture Lombardy poplars. The leaves are
small and mor^ reflexed than those of any
other. The contrast between them and the
other sorts immediately strikes every one
who sees them. This, undoubtedly, is to he
the quince for stocks. It grows from cut-
tings as freely as willows. The rows of
cuttings of this season, in our grounds, are
uniform and full, while others beside them,
treated similar in all respects, have lost a
half and three-fourths. They grow more
rapidly, too, than the others ; and the pear
seems to take better on them. Perhaps
you may have seen it, or heard something
of it. Loudon had never seen this variety
when he wrote — "the Quince is a low
tree, with crooked stem and tortuous ram-
bling branches." If it has not been named,
I would suggest that it be called Cydonia
fastigiata. V. Barky.

Rochester, N. Y., August 18th., 1848.

[The specimens of this variety of quince,
sent us by Mr. B., had not arrived when
this sheet went to press. Ed.]

'W&L. IIL

138

FLORE DES SERRE ET DES JARDINS DE L'EUROPE.

REVIEW.

Flore des Seeee et des Jakdins de l'Europe.,

8vo., tome iv, A Gand, Louis Van Houtte, Edi-

teur. Jan. to July, 1848.
We noticed, in a previous volume, this
beautiful monthly periodical, published by
M. Van Houtte, at Ghent. Since that
time, it has been enlarged, improved, and
somewhat varied in character, and well de-
serves a second notice.

It is edited with ability by M. Van
Houtte, (himself one of the most skilful
horticulturists on the continent,) assisted by
eight distinguished botanists and cultiva-
tors, among whom are Brogniart and A.
De Candolle, It is issued monthly, in
large octavo form; and each number con-
tains ten platen, admirably coloured, be-
sides smaller engravings, representing the
habit of the plants, &c. &c. It is devoted,
as its title implies, to a delineation of all
the rarest and most beautiful plants newly
introduced into Europe, with descriptions,
embracing their history, botanical character,
culture, and uses in domestic or rural eco-
nomy.

The work resembles, in general charac-
ter, that standard English serial, Paxtori's
Magazine; but we greatly prefer it, as
being more correct in its plates. These,
while they are beautifully executed, are
more truthjul portraits of the plants than
those of Paxton, which are sometimes
greatly exaggerated in size and colour. In
short, to those who read French, (in which
language the letter press is written,) this
Flora may be recommended as being the
best botanical and floricultural gallery of
rare plants at present published.* M. Van
Houtte's celebrated garden, at Ghent, alone
furnishes specimens of numerous new plants,

* The subscripiion price is 36 francs. It may be ordered .
through any of ihe impoiting booksellers.

and the leading collections of Great Britaio
and the continent, are also put under contri-
bution for its pages.

We shall briefly notice some of the plants
figured in the late numbei^s before us, which
may be most interesting to our readers.

Plumbago Larpentce. — This is a fine re-
presentation of this new Leadvvort. The
flowers — a fine dark cobalt blue — are pro-
duced in innumerable clusters ; and as the
plant is one of those collected in the north
of China by Mr. Fortune, there is little
doubt that it will prove quite hardy in this
country. It will be a superb plant for beds
and masses in the flower garden.

Paonia teunifolia, fl. pi. — A very fine
double variety, of the pretty fennel-leaved
garden PcEony; well worthy of introduc-
tion into the United States. The flowers
dark crimson.

Gloxinia Fyflana. — A beautiful hybrid va-
riety, bearing upright flowers, pure white,
with a rich, blue throat; very handsome.

Tricosanthes coluhrina. — A singular cu-
curbitaceous plant, with fruit six feet long
and two or three inches in diameter. It is
a vine, and, when trained on a trellis, its
pendant fruit, looking like long variegated
serpents, and its curious and beautiful white
fringed flowers, render it a very striking
object. It is grown as easily as a melon in
a rich warm border.

Achimenes grandiflora. — A beautiful acqui-
sition to this pretty genus of Mexican green-
house plants. It is a very distinct and attrac-
tive species, with large white flowers, whose
throat is golden yellow, and corolla dis-
tinctly spotted with purple. It also possess-
es an agreeable odor.

Statice imbricata. — Exceedingly novel
and beautiful ; from the Canaries. It forms

FOREIGN NOTICES.

139

& tall herbaceous plant; the stems winged,
(somewhat like Ammobium alatum,) and
terminated by large corrymbs of exquisite
pale blue blossoms. It is a green-house
plant of rare beauty.

Bru7isvigia Josephina. — A fine plate of
this well known Cape of Good Hope exotic;
one of the grandest of all bulbous plants, —
the bulb growing as large as a man's head,
and supporting a superb umbel of 50 or 60
flowers. M. Van Houtte gives us the very
agreeable news, that this bulb stands the
winter in the open air, in Belgium, with
only slight protection.

Camellia Wilderii, and C. Mrs. Jlilder.
— These two American seedlings, raised by
the President of the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society, are figured and very highly
praised by M. Van Houtte. The former,
which is a clear light rose colour, is pro-
nounced— "superior to most of the finest
camellias that we possess." Of the latter,
one of the editors says — "this is perfectio7i
in the fullest sense of the word among
modern horticulturists. The imbrication
is perfect; the petals extremely numerous,
(90 to 100,) rounded at the circumference
of the flower, and slightly ovate towards
the centre; are pure white, but painted
with two or three delicate lines of rose
colour down the centre. The foliage is
large, and of a fine rich green; and the
shrub itself is remarkable for its vigor and
fine habit."

Camellia General Lafayette, is another
superb variety, originated by Mr. Boll, flo-
rist, New-York. The flower is fine, the
petals cupped, the colour deep rose, marked
with broad band-like stripes of white down
to centre of each petal.

Agalmyla staminea. — A Java plant, with
brilliant scarlet blossom?, requiring the hot-
house.

Fuchsia spectabalis. — A very large mag-
nificent Fuchsia lately discovered in the
Andes, and brought to Europe by M. Lobb,
the botanical traveller. Dr. Hooker, who
has bestowed on it the epithet of — " loveli-
est of the lovely," places it at the head of
all Fuchsias. The flowers are very large,
with a tube an inch and a half long, and the
petals expanded, like those of the olean-
der. The colour is a brilliant red, the foli-
age large, and the habit of the plant vigor-
ous.

The commercial florist and nurseryman,
who wishes to keep himself informed of the
most interesting novelties of the day, will
find this monthly an invaluable assistance;
with the advantage, too, that the Van
Houtte Garden, at Ghent, will supply any
of the new or rare plants that are described
in the work itself.

As a beautiful example for the library
or boudoir, of a richly illustrated foreign
work, there are few more interesting to the
amateur of plants than the Flore des
Serre.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Notes from the Continext. — [We give some
further extracts from an interesting letter, received
from our foreign correspondent by the last steam-
er. Ed.]

* * * At Lausanne we saw a lawn, kept hj
the scissors and broom, by two women, who clipped
some part of it every day. It was, of course, not
large — perhaps an acre j but it looked like a piece
of green velvet of the choicest pile. It was so
short that it was almost difficult to seize in your

fingers a blade of grass, and so thick that you could
not see the soil through it. * * * * *
In the neighborhood of Frankfort, we went to a
German party in the country, at a fine English-like
place, where, though in the evening, everything
was done out of doors. We were received in a
quiet secluded part of the grounds, beneath some
immense trees, the lower branches of which were
hung with pretty variegated paper lanthorns. Half
a dozen tables stood about, with their difierent tea

140

FOREIGN NOTICES.

equipages — each table having one or more servants,
who poured out the tea ; but the ladies of the house
themselves handed it to the guests. The evening
was passed under these illuminated trees, or near
some pretty fountains, or wandering about the dusky
walks. At 10 o'clock we went in to a table, laid
with a fine service of silver and glass, and com-
menced a sit-down-supper with a large dish of green
peas, having a vase of cold butter in the centre.
Jifter this came roast venison, larded over most
curiously with figures of the chase, the game,
salads, and the siveets. » * • » «

From Ems back to Coblentz, and so down the
rest of the Rhine ; for no one goes beyond Cob-
lentz. And here, let me say, in my opinion, the
Rhine dues not by any means equal the Hudson.
It did not strike me that there was a hill 500 feet high
except perhaps the Seven mountains, which may
be 800 feet. Most of the castles are like exces-
sively old wine ; you can't tell what to make of
them! I believe you give me wine, when I drink
some invisible green, pale, tasteless stuff, because
I believe you. We believe the guide books, point-
ing out this and that castle ; but I assure you. they
are in many, and I might say, in most instances, so
dilapidated that they resemble nothing but a per-
pendicular rock, with some loose blocks of stone
lying about it. There are, however, three or four
very interesting ones. The best is Stozenfels, be-
longing to the king of Prussia ; but it is a restora-
tion, at an enormous expense, upon the old founda-
tion. It is really admirable — far surpassing War-
wick castle — especially as it is furnished entirely
in the antique style. There is also another restora-
tion in progress, belonging to the crown prince of
Prussia.

To Americans, the scenery upon the Rhine is
not grand. To the English, its principal varnish-
ers, who have no grand scenery at home, I can
easily imagine its charms; as also to the Dutch, Bel-
gians, Germans, &.c., whose scenery is even tamer
than England. But I am sure all \mericans who
know the river are disappointed. I certainly was ;

and , whose recollections of the Rhine were

before a more recent familiarity with the bolder
parts of the Hudson, was grievously so. * •
* * * * I was much pleased with Holland ;
though from the steeple at Utrecht, you can see the
whole of it. The Hague is a most charming
place. Though the residence of the king and court,
it does not seem a town, but rather, a great, clean,
shady New-England village ; like the best parts of
New-Haven or Northampton. I mean, more par-
ticularly, in the i nmense elms that shade every
street, bordered on one side by the canal. The
court here is a very quiet one ; and there is not the
least show or parade, even in or near the palace.
We were in a hotel opposite the royal park, with
merely a gravel drive between us and 200 or 300
deer grazing under the finest trees ; they were se-
parated from us by an invisible ha-ha fence- The
" forest" at the Hague quite realizes my ideal of
a forest : no underwood, but some 200 acres of im-
mense timber trees, with long perspective views,
crossed and threaded by innumerable alleys and
walks, as well as lakes, rivers and islands ; but
never allowing the sun to come in, except in those

Jlickering lights which have such a delightful ef-
fect in woodland scenery. Through the whole
forest run several grand avenues, 50 feet broad and
3 miles long, with giant trees, whose branches
meet some 60 feet over your head. Imagine every
avenue, walk, glade, and alley filled on Sunday,
from 2 to 8 P. M., with some 20,000 well dressed
people — children innumerable, and the whole enli-
vened by the music of several fine military bands ;
all the walks nicely gravelled, the water filled
with swans and aquatic birds, everybody animated,
well dressed, and apparently well bred, and you
will have an idea of one of the gayest sights I ever
saw. * * * Let me tell you, also, of Booth's
nursery, in Holstein, one of the Danish provinces.
The head gardener, who is English, told me that
it is the largest in extent, means, &c., in the world,
and gave me the following particulars : It consists
of 180 acres, and requires an average of 130 men,
and 20 women, to cultivate it. In the packing
season 80 packers are employed, day and night, at
wages averaging 9s. sterling per week. The ave-
rage profit for the last 30 years has been X3,000
($15,000,) though for 12 years the elder Mr. Booth
netted £10,000 per annum for the sale of dahlias
alone. To the cultivation of this flower eleven acres
are still devoted, and they have some 2000 varie-
ties. The collection of Orchids is said to be the
finest in the world. I saw some 20 or more sorts
of these rare air-plants, each of which sell freely
(principally to Russians,) for 60 guineas each.
There are 22 hot and green-houses ; and I have
never seen any in such perfect order. They are
from 50 to 1 ;0 feet long. The collection of fruit is
not large ; but of Orchids they have 2000 varieties,
and the' collection of ornamental trees is enormous.
See, for example, in the following genera :
Of Acers — 47 species and varieties.
Alnus— 19 "

Andromeda— 26 " "

Betula— 30 " "

Clematis— 28 " "

Crategus — 60 " "

Fraxinus— 45 '• "

Quercus— 85 "

Pinus— 71 " "

Abies— 15 " "

Picea-23 " "

Taxus— 15 '•■ "

Thuya— 14 " "

Strange to say, these evergreens are nearly all
grown in pots ; as nothing but the Norway and
Balsam firs will withstand their climate. Among
trees and shrubs rare to me, I noticed a weeping
birch, peculiar to Germany. It had descending
shoots 32 feet long. The branches hang as per-
pendicularly downward as those of either the So-
phora pendula or the common weeping willow, and
are quite as delicate and pensile as the latter.
That pretty vine, Tropeolum pentaphyllum is said
to be perfectly hardy here, where the Cedar of
Lebanon will not stand the winter. Cupresus
distirha, an evergreen variety ; but in colour and
habit precisely like our deciduous cypress, and with
a rather larger leaf — is also ferfectly hardy ; though
the deciduous cypress itself has to be protected.
There was a weeping oak on the lawn rather pecu-

FOREIGN NOTICES.

141

Har 5 it reserablecl, in the rigid droop of its branches,
the weeping ash, with a leaf much like that of our
pin oak. The evergreen cypress would be a
great acquisition to American pleasure grounds ;
it is of such a bright, cheerful green. Peaches
will not stand in this part of Denmark ; and pears
and apples suffer much from our^lre blight! The
gardener said he had lost a great many wall pear
trees in England from the same disease, and he
was convinced that the only remedy is severe root-
pruning to prevent vigorous growth. Pray tell this

to that unfortunate pear cultivator; .

20th July.— We spent yesterday at Potsdam.
This deserted-looking city is, as you well know,
interesting from its connection with Frederick
THE Great. There are six immense palaces,
within half an hour of each other, containing from
300 to 400 state rooms, filled, like all other palaces,
with pictures, statuary, &c., and some rooms 100 ft.
long, are entirely covered with mirrors and gilding.
Tbfs palace-seeing becomes, after ten months'
practice, rather heavy work. * ♦ « Prussia is
perfectly flat and sandy ; and the grounds at all
these palaces (for they have mostly 100 or 200 acres
each,; are kept at great expense by Matering.
Upon the lawn in front of the terrace, at Sans
Souci, was a clump, consisting of Indian corn, In-
dian shot {canna.) and muUen in flower, and in ano-
ther place a large mass of rhubarb ; all these
"rown here for ornament! There is plenty of
^' snap dragon" in Prussia. At Sans Souci, Frede-
ric's favorite residence, we saw 600 orange trees
in boxes 180 years old,— especial pets of the great
monarch, and originally belonging to his grand-
father. * * * Yours, very truly, H. W. S.
Berlin, July, 18, 1848.

PoMOLOGicAL NoTES— ^. /. Downiug, Esq.—
I have a seedling pear which fruited last autumn
and ripened in April. It is from Easter Beurre.
Only two plants came up ; and one of them will,
I think, prove one of the hardiest and best late
sorts we have. So much for chance ! Tiie pears,
Susette de Bavay, Jesephine de Malines, and Beurre
Brelonneau, originated by the late Major Esperin,
are worthy of especial notice. The first is my fa-
vorite ; it forms such a handsome pyramid, and is
so hardv and excellent. If I was in yom- country,
I should plant 10 acres of that sort alone.

A great deal was said last year in France about
Bigarreau Monstreux de Mezel cherry. I have a
very strong belief that it is our favorite Bigarreau
gros ccDuret. The trees of both sorts are growing
side by side here, and are exactly alike. Wishing
to make sure of having it correct, I ordered it from
three of the continental nurseries. All are alike ;
and I believe all are gros cauret.

May, here, was hot and dry. June and July,
cool, showery , pleasant and growing weather. Au-
gust has commenced in like manner, — weather very
pleasant, but not hot enough for fruit. Pears and
plums are a very short crop. Wall-fruit, i. e.,
apricots, peaches, &c., abundant. I am, dear sir,
yours, very truly, Thos. Rivers. Nurseries, Saw-
bridgeworth, Herts., England, August 1. 1848.

German Pomology and HoRTictJLTURE. — [We

extract from a letter lately received from a Ger-
man horticulturist, residing on the shores of the
Baltic, the following items, that may interest some
of our readers. Ed.] * « * Looking round for
some German pomological works, which might be
of use to you, I found in the list prefixed to your
own work on " Fruit Trees," that you are already
in possession of the most valuable one, so far as re-
gards kernel fruits, viz ., that of Dr. Diel. There
are scarcely to be found any descriptions of apple
and pear trees upon which more confidence may be
placed. Dr. Diel was a zealous amateur of the
culture of fruit trees ; a man of great knowledge
and the strictest veracity. All his descriptions are
the results of personal observation. His experi-
mental garden was situated in the beautiful valley
of the river Lahn, in the duchy of Nassau, and was
highly favored by the soil and climate. His com-
plete work consists of 27 small volumes ; and,
though it is far from being exempt from errors, Dr.
Diel'.-< statements are still the first authority in our
country. You will find in this book, for the most
part, an accurate description of the growth and
habit of the trees, their shoots, foliage, &c., which
I beg to remark with reference to an article of
Mr. Phcenix, in your Horticulturist of 1847, p. 355.
Our best pomological authors will not neglect to
add the necessary remarks about the vegetation of
the tree, which in many cases is very characteristic.
There is an abundance of pomological books in
German literature ; but the greatest number of au-
thors have mixed their own observations with those
borrowed from others, and in consequence thereof,
are not to be relied cm with certainty. I have,
therefore, limited myself to sending you the follow-
ing :—

Liegel's Anlietung Zur Kenntrick der PJlaumen.
LiegeVs Anweistmg mil welchen sorten verschie-
dene obstbaum-unlagen beselzt iverden sollen.
Liegel's Ubersicht der PJlaumen.
Metzer, die Kernobslorten des sudlichen Deittsch-
landes.

This latter work is a description of the kernel
fruit trees, cultivated in the southern parts of Ger-
many, examined by a wandering [travelling] so-
ciety, which makes excursions through the country
for that purpose, identifying the dubious sorts, and
taking notice of the false or provincial names under
which the trees are known in their district. The
result of these investigations proves that a deplora-
ble confusion exists everywhere ; and that a great
number of contradictory names are applied to one
and the same kind.

Hoping that you will find some notices in these
books that will interest you, I shall not fail to send
you new publications of a similar kind as soon as
they appear, provided they are not compiled from
works already known to you.

You make, in the Horticulturist, page 24, a re-
mark respecting the Arbor Vitse which coincides
with my observations. I have been in the habit of
receiving American seeds from Messrs. Thok-
BURN, from whom I once received a quantity of
Thuya seeds, under the name of T. occidentalis ;
and another time, under that of T. Americana.
The latter name is not mentioned in Loudon's Ar-
boretum. Still, two varieties can clearly be distin-

142

FOREIGN NOTICES.

guished in ray grounds, — one of them having pre-
cisely the habit described by you. Truly and re-
spectfully yours, H. B. Lubeck, Free Hanse

Town, June, 1848

The London Horticultural Exhibitions. —
We see, by the English gardening journals, ihat
the great July exhibition of the London Horticultu-
ral Society, was more numerously attended than
any upon record, no less than 13,823 visitors hav-
ing been admitted by tickets.

When we state in addition that these tickets
were sold at either 3s. 6d. or 5s sterling each,
(say at an average of $1,) we place before our
readers the means of judging, not only of the inter-
est which the English public feel in horticulture,
but also how much the society is patronised by the
rank and fashion of England, for it is evident from
the charge that a large part of this concourse of
visitors must have been of the wealthiest classes.

These magnificent fetes are indeed among the
great shows of London. They are held in the open
air, in the Society's garden at ChisM'ick, in the
suburbs of London. The flowers and fruit are ar-
rayed in tasteful tents disposed on the lawn in va-
rious parts of the ground; several bands add the
charm of music to the entertainment, and various
members of the royal family and nobility, with thou-
sands of ladies in tasteful costume, give gaiety and
brilliancy to the striking scene.

The London Horticultural Society is the richest
corporation of the kind in the world. Its assets
are at present estimated at over £48,000, with a
debt of a little more than £9000. Its income for
the past year was abont £6,091, (say $30,000.)
and its expenses £5,294. It publishes quarterly
Transactions, including interesting original com-
munications on horticulture, and maintains one or
two botanical travellers, who are constantly in for-
eign countries searching for rare plants to enrich
its garden. These rare plants are propagated and
distributed to such members of the society as may
desire them, and some idea may be gathered of the
extent of this distribution by the following extract,
which we make from the report of the garden com-
mittee for the last year :

" The distribution of plants, packages of seeds,
and parcels of cuttings from the garden has been
as follows :

Plants. Seeds. Cuttings.
1847 '48— To members,.. 6,071 44,041 3,085
To foreign countries, cor-
respondents, &c., 1,256 6,848 350

To her majesty's colonies, 116 519 86

Total, 7,443 51,408 3,521

"The garden committee have directed Mr.
MuNROE in making this distribution, to keep in
view as far as possible the principle of not propa-
gating plants that are readily procurable at the
nurseries, and also that applications are to be com-
plied with according to the order in which they are
made."

In addition to this, " all those Fellows of the So-
ciety who may be desirous of determining the
names and qualities of fruits, are supplied with
specimens of such varieties as the garden of the

Society produces, on application to the Secrefarf.,
Not more than two specimens of any sort are sent;
and the expense of the package and carriage is
charged to the Fellows making application for
them. If a second supply of the same fruits should
be required, it is not furnished gratuitously."

We notice that " sixty-eight dozens of pears and
sixty-one dozens of apples," named specimens,
were sent out in compliance with the above regu-
lation last season.

Most of our readers are familiar with the service
which this society has rendered to pomology, by
its Lescriptive Catalogue of Fruits — the result of
comparisons of thousands of varieties. A feature
scarcely less valuable has been introduced lately in
its management. This is " the trial of every ex-
periment, however ludicrous, that has been so
brought forward as to excite public attention ; the
object being to enable the council to publish an of-
ficial report of its fallacy, instead of denouncing it
without a trial, which would rather strengthen than
overturn the sinister object of schemes, and of re-
porting its success if it turn out well, upon an au-
thority that cannot be questioned — the fair trial in
their own garden."

The education of gardeners, practically and the-
oretically, is another cf the most useful plans car-
ried out by the Society. Practically, they are in-
structed in the labors of the garden itself, (which,
in turn, thus has its operations performed at dimin-
ished expense.) and theoretically, by lessons on va-
rious subjects in horticulture, delivered by Profes-
sor LiNDLEY, and other competent persons. The
gardeners have a reading room and a library of
more than 400 volumes.

We have given these few details in order to di-
rect public attention to the importance of the la-
bors of a horticultural society of the means and
ability for good which the London society possesses.
While it is evident that no one of our cities can, for
some time to come, hope to support such a society,
it is no less clear to our minds that such an institu-
tion, liberally supported by the United States gov-
ernment, would be productive of great public good
in every part of the Union.

New Food for Flowers. — Last spring I plant-
ed three dozen dahlias, and, on the same day, my
neighbor, Mr. Neill, did the same. Our gardens
being only separated by a light iron railing, we could
watch what attention each paid his favorite plants,
and I can safely affirm that the golden fruit in the
fabled garden of Hesperides, was not more unceas-
ingly watched, watered and weeded, than were
his, Mr. Neill's, flower garden and mine. I re-
marked that his dahlias, and those in the surround-
ing parterres, were dwarfish, discoloured, and
broken in the beautiful contour such flowers should
preserve, when approaching perfection. They
seemed to droop, while mine rose to a towering
altitude, casting disdainful glances of superiority
on those of their class in my neighbor's garden, as
well as on the lowlier inmates of my own. My
friend was surprised at my success, and continued
his floral labors with more zeal, but with little

FOREIGN NOTICES.

143

'better results. My long acquaintance with flax
led m6 to observe the effects it had upon the waters
in which it was submerged, preparatory to break-
ing and scutching ; I found that animal life soon
became extinct, whether in the running brook, or
in the stagnant pond if flax had been steeped there.
Fish or insects could sooner exist in a vat of boiling
liquid than in the steep water of flax. The know
ledge of this fact, together with the recollection of
the good effects of steep water on grass land, in-
duced me to supply the roots of my dahlias with
small quantities of the steep water ; and my anti-
cipations that benefit Would be derived from it
were more than realized) as your readers are al-
ready aware. I also applied flax water for the
destruction of green fly, which continually infested
my plants, and after an ablution of this water, I
was glad to find they soon disappeared. In con-
clusion I may mention, that in order that this ma-
nure, which I have proved to be beneficial to Hy-
drangeas, Geraniums, Roses, &c., may be exten-
sively tried, and as I am certain to have flax steep
water during the summer quarter, I shall be happy
to accommodate any gentleman who may wish to
try its eflTects with a supply. J. Hill Dickson,
Bi'itish Flax Scutching Mills. Gard. Chron.

Disbudding.— In the case of several of our
cultivated fruit trees, experience has abundantly
proved that th^ removal of shoots at an early stage
of their growth (which from the adoption of a sys-
tem of training, or a tendency in the tree to ex-
cessive luxuriance, are deemed superfluous) is both
advantageous to the health of the tree and favora-
ble to the production of handsome fruit. Pruning
may effect the result desired, but it is a violent
remedy, although necessary in some degree. Dis-
budding, properly speaking, is the art of preventing
the development of useless buds at the expense of
those which should be preserved, as it must be
more advantageous to check an unnecessary shoot
at an early stage than to wait until it has exhaust-
ed the tree of a greater or less quantity of sap ; as
it is probable that a proportion of roots is directly
connected with vigorous shoots, it follows that de-
rangement in the distribution of the sap ensues
from their removal at the period of their full de-
velopment. It is, then, generally advisable not to
wait until a badly placed shoot is developed, but to
suppress it early. With apples and pears peculiar
judgment and discrimination are necessary ; stop-
ping should systematically be practiced. The ex-
cess of shoots produced by peach trees invites the
practice we recommend. The same attention
should be directed to vines. In our flower gardens
much unnecessary growth may be prevented.
Roses, for example, if judiciously disbudded, not
only bloom better, but form finer and more vigor-
ous plants. In fine, we advise a daily inspection
of the sorts of trees we have alluded to. Ibid.

Japan Lilies in the Open Ground. — At the
Rooms of the Hort. Soc. in Regent-street, Sept.
7, two plants of Lilium lancifolium rubrum, or
speciosum, from Mr. Groom, of Clapham Rise,
each a single stem, bearing upwards of forty
flower buds. "My object in exhibiting thera,"
wrote Mr. Groom, " is to show how well this
variety of lily grows in the open ground ; and as
they are perhaps the finest specimens of single
stems ever produced, a short account of their cul-
ture may possibly not be uninteresting:' —

" A bed 4 feet wide, of common garden soil,
was prepared about the end of November, 1845,
by being dug and well broken with a fork, but
without any manure, which I do not consider desi-
rable in the cultivation of the lily. After the bed
was raked level, the bulbs were planted on the
surface 15 inches asunder each way, spreading
the fibres regularly out. They were then covered
85 inches deep from the top of the bulbs with a
light sandy soil, composed of sand and fine mould
in equal proportions ; the bed was then raked
level and left without further care, and it was not
protected from frost or bad weather in any way ;
last autumn, after the stems were quite dead, the
1 top soil was removed down to the bulbs, but with-
out disturbing them, and fresh sandy soil was laid
over them to the same depth as before. In this
bed they flowered well last year, but were sadly
injured by the hail storm of the first of August —
so much so. that I feared I should have but a very
indififerent display of them this season ; they have,
however, recovered their strength, and are now
in luxuriant growth. It is from this bed I have
taken the two specimens now forwarded, which
were taken up and potted in the end of last week.

" I have now established the fact of this variety
being equally hardy with the other sorts, and from
the vigorous growth and fine colour of the foliage,
it is clear it succeeds better in the open ground
than when kept in a close green-house, fully illus-
trating the advantages to be derived from a free
circulation of air in our glass-houses.

" I have grown the other kinds of Japan lilies
in the open air with much success for some years,
and have now many thousand flowers just bursting
into beauty.

" I cannot help calling attention to this plant
for ornamenting gardens and pleasure grounds,
flowering as it does without any trouble, in the
open borders at this period of the year, when good
flowers are so much needed. It is also a most
desirable plant in pots for decorating the conser-
vatory, being very fragrant as well as beautiful."
Journal London Hort. Society.

New Fruits from Syria about to be intro-
duced.— A Knightian medal having been transmit-
ted to John Barker, Esq., of Susedia. for having in-
troduced the Stanwick Nectarine, named at p. 272
of the first volume of our Journal, and v,'hich is
much the finest nectarine in cultivation in this

144

FOREIGN NOTICES.

country, letters of acknowledgment were addresed
by that gentleman to the vice-secretary, from which
the following very interesting extracts have been
made : —

I beg leave to make the Society my humble
acknowledgments for the honor which they have
been pleased to confer on me, and which I regard
as an earnest of the distinguished favor I presume
to hope to receive at their hands, when I shall
have introduced into England twenty varieties of

1. A new species called " The Sweet-kernelled
Peach," among which are six varieties of the nee-
tarine, all of equal, and some of superior value to
the ''Stanwick Nectarine."

2. A new species of the apricot with a sweet
kernel, called ^' Sheker Para" (bit of sugar) of Is-
pahan.

3. " The large sweet White Mulberry of Iran,"
from which a syrup is extracted, hardly to be dis-
tinguished from syrup made from sugar. It is
highly extolled by Sir Alexander Burnes in his
'' Travels in Bokhara."

4. A plum, with a sweet kernel, called '' Aloo
Bokhara," which is also celebrated by the same
traveller. When ripe, its stone is in view through
its skin.

5. The famous " Pomegranate of Tabriz," with-
out seed, weighing from 50 to 60 ounces.

6. The still more renowned " Quince" of most
parts of Persia of the same size ; which ripens on
the tree or in the store, losing all its austerity, and
eaten at the dessert like a soft ripe pear.

This wonderful production of nature, and the
" Pomegranate of Tabriz " are yearly forwarded
in presents by caravan to Bagdad.

The Pomegranate is not eaten as are the common
sorts, but is squeezed into a goblet, and drunk off
like a draught of sherbet ; and the highly perfumed
odor of the " Quince" is such, in oriental exaggera-
tion, as that, when there is a single ripe specimen
of the fruit in a caravan, every one who accompa-
nies it is conscious of its presence.

In bringing under the notice of the Horticultural
Society the foregoing statement, be pleased, sir, to
say that I have now in Persia, on his travels, my
eldest son. Mr. Wm. Burckhardt Barker, who is
using his best endeavors to enable me to procure
scions of such of the celebrated fruits of Iran as I
have failed in obtaining ; and who, should his father
perish before they are introduced into England,
will certainly carry out such of my plans as may
be then incomplete.

I am to-day packing, to be forwarded to my son-
in-law, Mr. Warmington, 100 small Seedling Mul-
berries, budded with " The large White Sweet Mul-
berry of Ispahan."

At the same time will be forwarded to that gen-
tleman 500 specimens of " The Dwarf Apple of
Armenia." They are all much past the age of
puberty, though only 18 inches high. I received
them two years ago from Armenia, and they do not
appear to have grown at all. They increase slowly
in thickness. I have often seen them planted in
pots and cases on the terraces in the city of Alep-
po, of 40 and 50 years' growth, never exceeding 2
feet in height, nor in the thickness of their stems
that of your forefinger, without their even having

been pruned. To test the fact that their dimiHav
tiveness was not caused by their being always kepC
in pots and boxes, I planted out three of full 15*
years' growth, and after keeping them 18 years in
the open ground, found they had made no perceptt'
ble progress. I remarked that they bear best when
their roots are cramped. They are very easily
propagated, as they make abundant of&ets, and
take remarkably well from cuttings. Among the
trees now sent, there are 17 which were made
from ciUtings two years ago ; and 10, budded, at
the same time with the Riljston Pippin, and other
sorts. John Barker. Journal Lond. Hort. Soc

Black Prince Hamburgh Gkape.-^I have
desired my gardener to send you a bunch of a
seedling vine, I raised from a berry of what is
usually called the Black Hamburgh Grape, but I
believe it really to be what Speechley describes as
the Red Hamburgh, or Warner Grape, the berry
of which is black when properly ripened. The
cross was obtained by impregnation with the pol-
len of the " Black Prince," which I consider, after
more than forty years' experience, to be one of the
best grapes we have — not of the perfumed kind.
The only defect I find in the Black prince is that
the berries grow too much crowded, and require
so much thinning.

I therefore wedded it to the Hamburgh, with a
view of obtaining a more loose open bunch, with
the vinous acidity and richness of the Black Prince.
This double object, I think, I have obtained. The
seedling plants, for I raised several of the same
cross, grew the first year in pots, with artificial
heat, but were then turned out into the open
ground v/ithout being trained to a wall. Here
they remained, and the annual shoots cut down to
one of two eyes, till I found the end of the sum-
mer shoots and the cultivated appearance of the
leaves began to throw out tendrils with a few
flowers. Cuttings were then taken from the flow-
ering end of the shoots, and planted against a
south wall. They came into bearing soon after
this, and one or two of the most promising were
two years ago planted in my vinery. But the
wood produced, till this year, was small ; now it
is become more vigorous and strong. It ripens
earlier than the Hamburgh, and colours with less
heat and light. The plant from which I gathered
the bunch you will receive was planted at the east
end of a lean-to-roofed house, and only got a little
morning sun, and that but for a short period,
owing to the shade of a large willow tree. It
had no top sun light from the roof glass, being
under the shade of a rafter vine. You can there-
fore not judge what the flavor will be under these
disadvantages. I expect the bunch and berry will
be double its present size when trained under the
roof glass, and the wood becomes strong.

We have had the coldest and most cloudy sea-
son I ever remember for the vines on the open
walls. Still I think my new seedling varieties
will ripen, if we have no severe frosts before the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

U&

end of tlie month. I have named the new variety
the " Black Prince Hamburgh." John Williams.
Pitmaston, Oct. 13, 1847.

Note by Mr. Thompson.-— The grape in ques-
tion is a seedling, raised between the Black Ham-
burgh, which was the female parent, and the
Black Prince.

The bunch weighed 1 lb. 3 oz. It was loosely
formed, with long shoulders j and long, rather
slender, pedicles. The berries are oval, being

about nine-tenths of an inch in diameter from the
insertion of the stalk to the opposite end ; and
eighttentli."5 in the transverse direction. The co-
lour is a blue black ; in this re.sj)ect resembling
the Black Prince more than its female parent.
The juice is more purple than that of the Ham-
burgh, and is sugary and rich. Seeds, two or
three in each berry. The variety deserves to be
propagated. Journal London Hort. Society. Oct.
21, 1847.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Great National Convention of Fruit Grow-
ERS. — It is proposed to hold a central convention
of fruit growers and pomologists in the city of
New- York, during the great fair of the American
Institute.

The Institute having kindly offered to aid in car-
rying out said views, the convention will hold its
se&sions at Judson's Hotel, No. 61 Broadway, New-
York, commencing Tuesday, the 10th of October,
ac 10 o'clock, A. M.

Among the obJ6ct.s to be proposed at this con
vention, are the following ;

To compare fruits from various sources and lo-
calities, with a view of arriving at correct conclu-
sions as to their merits, and to settle doubtful points
respecting them.

To assist in determining the synonyms, by which
the same fruit is known in different parts of the
country.

To compare opinions respecting the value of the
numerous varieties already in cultivation, and to
endeavor to abridge bj' general consent the long
catalogue of indifferent or worthless sorts at the
present time propagated by nurserymen and fruit
growers.

To elicit and disseminate poraological informa-
tion, and to maintain a cordial spirit of intercourse
among horticulturists.

In order to increase, as much as possible, the
interest of the convention, the delegates are re-
quested to bring with them, (carefully packed and
labelled so as to present them in good order,) spe-
cimens of all fruits grown in their vicinity that may
be worthy of,notice, together with a small branch
and leaves of each variety if possible.

In localities where any well known old varieties
flourish particularly well, specimens are desired,
accompanied with memoranda respecting the soil
upon which they grew, and their culture.

Every contributor is respectfully requested to
make a list of his specimens and present the same
with his fruits, in order that a report of all the
varieties entered may be submitted to the conven-
tion as soon as possible after its organization.

The undersigned, in behalf of the societies they
represent, respectfully solicit delegations from all
horticultural and agricultural societies of our coun-
try, and of such number of persons as each society
may deem expedient to send.

Societies will please transmit, at an early day, a
list of the delegates they have appointed, to the
corresponding secretary of tiie American Institute,
T 13. Wakeman, Esq , New-Yok. Marshall P*
Wilder, Samuel Walker, Ebenezer Wight — Com-
mittee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
Thomas Hancock, Dr. Wm. D Brinckle, ur.
Thomas M. £wert— Committee of the Pennsylva-
nia Horticultural Society. Philip Sch-'yler, Dr.
R. T. Underhill , Chas. Henry //«//— -Committee
of the Board of Agriculture of the American In-
stitute. July2Sth,^lSi>i.

[We publish the foregoing circular of the pomo-
logical convention for the purpose of bringing the
subject beibre the public generally, though copies
of it have, we understand, already been sent to ail
the horticultural societies in the country. We again
beg leave to urge the attention of the horticultural
societies to the importance of sending only persons
skilful and experienced, (either as pomologists,
fruit growers or nurserymen.) as delegates to this
convention. It will, no doubt, be the most inte-
resting and important assemblage of the kind ever
held in the country. Ed.]

The New-York State Agricultural Fair. —
Unusual preparations have, we learn, been made
this season for the approaching Fair of the State
Agricultural Society, which is to come off at Buf-
falo on ihe 5th, 6th and 7th days of September.
The Buffalo Horticultural Society, backed by all
the active intelligence of the amateur and pro-
fessional horticulturists of the western part of the
State, will no doubt lend their aid to render the
horticultural department of the show worthy of
the occasion. When such zealous devotees of the
art as Professor Coppock, the president of the
Buffalo Horticultural Society, L. F. Allen, Esq.,
the president of the State Agricultural Society,
CoL. Hodge, &c., undertake the management of
a Fair of this kind, it can scarcely fail to be highly
interesting.

The Pomological Convention, which is to be
held at Buffalo in connection with the fair, will, we
understand, be largely attended by horticulturists
from various parts of the country, and will no doubt
be an assemblage of more than ordinary interest.
It convenes on Friday the 1st of September, at IQ
I o'clock.

146

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

MoNTREAT, HoRTictTLTtTB'^L SociEJTY. — We ob-
serve, with pleasure, by the iiccounts of the exhi-
bitions of this society, that a very lively interest in
prardeniniT is manifested in and about Montreal.
The exhibition of June 2S. was a very successful
one. Among novelties were a line show of ranun-
culus, from the jrarden of G. Desbarats, Esq.
The first prize for roses, (ifty varieties, was
awarded to Mr. Tur-Ver. The finest strawberries
shown were Ross Phoenix, fiom the ffarden of Jos.
Savage, Esq. The show of forced fruits, melons,
grapes, nectarines, &c., was exceedingly good.

New-Havem Hort. Society. ^The secretary of
this society desires us to say, that delegates from
horticultural or agricultural societies tliroughout
the country, (properly certified by their respective
societies,) will be waited upon and cordially re-
ceived by a committee appointed for that purpose,
at their next annual fair, Sept. 26th, 27th and 2.Sth,
to be held at the State House, New-Haven.

HoRTICULTCriAL EXHIBITIONS THI-> MONTH.^

New- York State, at Hulfalo, on the 5th, 6th and
7th ; Albany and Rensselaer, at Albany, on 'the
14th and 13th ; Massachusetts, at Boston, on the
19th, 2Jth and 21st; Pennsylvania, at Philadel-
phia, on the 20th, 21st and 22d ; and New Jersey,
at Burlington, on the same days. [Gentlemen can
visit both these exhibitions on the same day, the two
places being at only one hours distance, by steam-
boat or railway.] New Haven county, at New
Haven, on the 26th, 27th and 28th.

Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural So-
ciety.— At a meeting of the executive committee
of the above society, August 22, it was resolved
that the days of annual exhioition be Thursday and
Friday the 14th and 15th of September.

The following getlemen were selected to repre-
sent the society at the Pomological Convention to
be held in New- York in October, viz :— Joel Rath-
bone, V. P. Douw, B. Kirtland, Herman Wendell,
Luther Tucker, J. M. Ward and James Wilson.

The following to represent the society at the an-
nual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, viz :— A. J. Parker, E. P. Prentice, J.
McD. Mclntyre, John B. Gale, Wra. Newcomb
and George Gould ; and the following to represent
the society at Pennsylvania and New Jersey Hor-
ticultural Society annual exhibitions, viz : — V. P.
Douw, D. T. Vail, Herman Wendell, Amos Briggs,
J. M. Ward and E. Emmons.

Tara Willey Strawberry. — In the July num-
ber of your journal it is remarked that this variety
should properly be called " Wiley." This is a
mistake. It is an old variety, originally brought
here from New-York, the name lost, and again re-
turned to you with the name of a lady of this place,
instrumental in its dissemination. (See Albany
Cultivator, vol. 3d, new series, p. 285.) The la-
dy's name is most distinctly Willey. It is singu-
lar, as this variety has been fruited by many po-
mologists at the east, that it has not been identified
with some previously known variety. My belief is,
that it is the Hudson of Longworth, and Mr.
Ernst once told me that he could see no difference

between them. I was much surprised at the Cifl'
cinnati strawberry committee's remarks upon it.
With respect, F. R. Elliott. Cleveland, 0. Aug.,
1848.

[We are glad to know, correctly, the origin and
orthography of the name " Willey." We have
fruited this strawberry, received both from Cleve-
land and Cincinnati for two years past, and consid-
er it quite distinct from any variety v/ell known
here. Possibly it may be a new seedling, though
taken from New- York to Cleveland. It is entirely
distinct from the Hudson of Cincinnati— the berry
less firm in texture, and less high flavored.

While on this subject we may remark, that we
have fruited this season the Hudson of Cincinnati,
as sent to us by Mr. Ernst, of the latter place.
Mr. LoNGW)RTH imagined, when our work on
fruits was first published, that we were ignorant of
the true Hudson strabwerry, because we described
it, (as indeed all authors before us had done,) as
having a neck. Judge of our surprise, therefore,
when Mr. Ernst's plants came into bearing in our
soil, to find that with one half of the berries it was
" neck or nothing" — they were the genuine old
Hudson strawberry, familiar to us for 25 years. If,
therefore, this strawberry has no neck at Cincinna-
ti, we can only say that it has departed from its
old established character, in emigrating to the
west.

Japan Lilies. — You write me that your Japan
lilies have stood the winter well in the open bor-
der. Mine also have done well out of doors, but
do not grow so tall as those under glass. I exhibi-
ted in the society's rooms las» Saturday, a seedling
of the red sort, seven feet high, with 19 buds and
fiowers, 4 years old ! The seedlings, though dif-
fering very little in the bloom, produce larger bulbs,
stronger stems, and are more prolific in flowers
than the original kinds. I have my camellia house
filled with them now, and as they are all in bloom,
it is quite a brilliant sight. Yours, M. P. Wilder.
Boston, July 27, 1848".

The Curculio. — A neighbor of mine has suc-
ceeded, as he thinks, in preventing the depredations
of the curculio by hanging in his trees open mouthed
jars of ship varnish, or gas tar. His trees were
much affected with the insect heretofore, but this
year are full of fruit and free from injury. M. P.
W. Ibid.

Manuring the Seckel Pear. — In your last
number you remark that the Seckel pear requires
more manure than most other varieties. I can give
another illustration of the truth of this.

Three years ago I opened a trench, three feet
wide and sixteen inches deep, around an old and
rather exhausted Seckel pear tree, that had not for
several years previous borne any fruit worth gather-
ing, so small were they in size.

This circular trench was dug at the outside of the
ball of the roots, that is about four feet from the
trunk, thus leaving a ball of eight feet around the
tree untouched. All the earth from this trench I
carted away, and replaced it with one peck of bone
dust, four cart loads of stable manure, and enough
good fresh soil to fill up the trench.

The roots started very quickly into the fresh and

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

147

tlth soil of the trench. The tree began to grow
rapidly, and soon put on a healthy show of leaves,
and the succeeding year I had the pleasure of
gathering a large crop of pears, of full size and
delicious flavor. This year the fruit is still larger —
indeed a third larger than any Seckel pears that I
have yet seen. I am so well satisfied with the re-
sult, that I shall trench and manure in like manner
seven other bearing trees of the same kind, that
produce fruit of moderate size only. Yours. Jt
Bucks County Reader. Pa. Jiug., 1843.

The Pratt Pear. — Dear Sir : I have known
this pear now two years, and am inclined to place
it among the very best of American seedlings. Its
good size and delicious flavor please every one.
It appears to me that it has not yet been rated suffi-
ciently high. What is your opinion ? New Haven,
Aug. 1,1848.

[The Pratt is certainly one of the very best new
American pears. We would place it among the
twenty best varieties yet known. — Ed. ]

To Force Plants to Bloom, &e. — In common,
I presume, with many other of your subscribers, I
highly approve of the new feature of your maga-
zine, in virtue of which amateurs, like myself, may
propose questions on points of difficulty. Out of
many queries I wish to propose, I select the fol-
lowing :

1. When water is withheld from green-house
plants to make them flower, should the dryness be
continued till the flower-buds appear? In other
words, if the plants do not come into flower at the
proper blossoming season, should the attempt to
force them into flower be continued, or should they
have water, and be allowed to make their new
growth? (ff.)

2. What are the best means of promoting inflo-
rescence, when plants are inclined to grow luxuri-
antly without blooming ? (6.)

3. Can you or any of your correspondents tell
me how to get rid of the Coreus hesperidus, — white
mealy bug, in my green-house? (c.)

4. Mr. James Dougall turnished, for your April
number, an article on the cultivation of grapes in
pots ; a subject in which I feel much interest, but
am unable to obtain from that article all the infor-
mation I need in order to making experiments.
Would some experienced cultivator be kind enough
to furnish another article, containing more details
as to the routine of culture? One point stated is,
that the pots are to be placed in the open air till
January, and protected from frost. This may be
practicable in the climate of England, but I should
think not in our own. By answering these ques-
tions, you will oblige Jl Subscriber. Williams-
town, Mass., July bth, 1848.

P. S. Your articles on the cultivation of Azaleas,
Japan lilies, &c., were highly interesting and va-
luable. Will not others of your correspondents
furnish plain directions for the management of
Gardenias, Rhododendrons, and other green-house
plants?

Answers. — (a.) Withhold the water only while
the plants are at rest ; when they commence grow-
ing, give them a liberal supply.

{b.) The simplest and best means is to jAnch out
the extremity of every young shoot, (after the plant
has attained a blooming size.) as soon as it has
grown three or four inches. Continue this till the
plant is forced to form flower-buds.

(c.) Hot water is the best means in cur know-
ledge of destroying this troublesome insect ; but it
must be used with judgment. Will some of our
exotic florists favor us with an answer ? Ed.

Orcharding in Mississippi. — A. J. Downing,
Esq. Dear Sir; It may be pleasing to you to
know something of the ripening of fruits here.
I live about twelve miles east of Vicksburg, upon
the first high land on the east side of Big Black.

Fruits ri)>en in Vicksburg, (hilly land, and pro-
tected by the large body of water flowing past it,)
about two weeks earlier than here; therefore the
ripening of my fruits must not be compared with
those of Vicksburg. For instance, the Early York
(not the "true,") ripened in Vicksburg say 28th
of May, (earlier by 15 days than I ever knew it,)
whilst the same peach, very probably worked from
the same standard tree, did not fruit here before
the 21st of June.

My first peach was the little White Nutmeg,
ripe 1st June. EIraira, a seedling raised here, 8
inches in diameter, beautiful Red Cling, very good
for the season, ripened on the 10th June.
Early Tillotson, on the 20th '•
Early York, (''true,") 21st "

Early York, common, 2lst

Bruges Beauty, 24th

Cole's Early Red, 24th

Early Red Rareripe, 26th

*Emperor of Russia, 28th

Poll's Melocoton 28th

Violet Hatif, 28th

President, 30th

Bergen's Yellow, 1st

Snow, 1st

July.

Good, beautiful,
. " "

Better than I

expected, and measures 8 inches.
Apples. — Red June, ripe on the 18th June.

Summer Queen, 18th June.

Early Harvest, 29th June.

Early Bough, 1st July.

I do not think I have had specimens that were a
fair test, and not from over half my early varieties,
I am certain that I have some ten other varieties
that should have ripened before this — owing to my
culture, or the season. I have been pressing my
orchard forward, not regarding the fruit, because I
want the trees to have size so that I can cease
planting a crop. A portion of my orchard I culti-
vate hereafter only as an orchard; will manure no
more until I get a full crop of fruit. I cannot
spare the time to cultivate as for market fruit. My
profit will be in raising hogs, and I will plow once
or twice a year, and manure if I find it called for.
I beg you will advise me what ornamental trees
to buy, so as to intersperse with native growth. I
want evergreens especially. Lying east of my
house I have my Negro-houses, on a ridge running

* Emperor of Russia peach grows slow here for a year or
two. No mildew ; aud when 4 or 5 years old, grows as well
as any.

148

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

northwest and southeast. The hiil-side next to
house I wish interspersed with evergreens; it serves
as a pasture for calves, &c., and an occasional
bite for my horses; it contains about ten acres. I
will enclose each tree so the stock will not injure
it. I have the Tree of Heaven, Paulownia, Cedar,
Arbor VitEB. I lost Irish and English Yew, Orien-
tal Cypress, and Cedar of Lebanon.

[We advise our correspondent to introduce the
Italian and Swiss Stone-Pine trees, (which bear
eatable fruit, and are very ornamental,) the Deodar
Cedar, and the Araucarias. {^. brasiliensis and
»/?. excel sa, are most lovely trees, that will un-
doubtedly bear the winter of Mississippi.) Also
that beautiful everi^reen the Deodar Cedar. Among
deciduous trees the Virgilia, the Pinckneya, the
Purple and Weeping Beeches, and the Weeping
Larch, are all well worthy of his attention. — Ed.]
My yard is an intense shade-^forest trees. I
have some 50 Arbor Vitse trees set out, and before
I had an idea of such a thing, my sheep destroyed
about 30. I thought fine sheep Lad more sense.

I find there are some planters in this section who
begin to im.prove, and think we will in a few years
have many beautiful residences.

I have here some few very choice varieties of
peaches, which if you will accept as specimens on
trial. I will send you. I think I can send yr.u some
three or four that will compare with Early York,
Washington Free, and others of that high order.
I allude to seedlings of my own raising, or those
natives of this section. Yours truly. M. W.
Philips. Edwards, Miss., July 12, 1848.

Others planted at the same time, (then six ifiches
high,) are now four or five feet high, though plant-
ed in a sheltered spot and good soil ; but for the
first five year.s they were neglected and overrun
with weeds and grass, so that they scarcely grevi'
at all. Three years ago I took them in hand, and
they have now taken a vigorous start.

A good deep soil and constant cultivation are in-
dispensable to the growth of any tree that is worth
I lanting, and with these advantages I know that
trees plant id closely will defy exposure, even on
the bleakest sites. Very truly yours- /. M.
Forbes. Milton, near Boston, July 27, 1848.

Burr's Strawberries. — I notice in the Horti-
culturist that Wm. R. Prince advertises and names
nine varieties of ■' Burr's Ohio seedling strawber-
ries " for sale. Now I should like to know how he
obtained them all, as some of the kinds named
were not disposed of by me till last spring, and
not then to him or any of his neighbors. Perhaps
he can explain this to the satisfaction of the public.
Yours. J. Burr. Columbus, Aug. 16, 1848.

Norway Spruce in Exposed Sites. — I ob-
serve that in mentioning my trees^Norway Spru-
ces— planted in an exposed site, for shelter, you
gave ihem credit for growing fast in very poor
land, on a high exposure. The land is very good,
and was well mucked before they were planted,
and every year since the grass and weeds have
been kept from the trees. It is to this enriching
and constant attention that I attribute the growth
of the trees, in spite of their exposure to the bleak
sea breezes. I must also add that it is owing, in
a measure, to their being planted closely at first,
so as to shelter each other. I have gradually
thinned out these trees as they grew, so as not to
allow their branches to touch, replanting those re-
moved in other places.

I should think that, in the last four years, those
trees on the top of my hill have grown, on an
average, two and a half feet per annum. Some
few of them will average three feet of yearly
growth, — one grew four feet, so that at the present
time, this plantation of Spruces, (made about eight
years ago,) will average about fifteen feet high. '

Siberian Kale. — Dear Sir-— In your acknowl"
edgments to readers and correspondents in August
number of Horticulturist, you say that you have
received from Messrs. J. M. T. & Co. ''seeds of
Siberian Kale." The name is decidedly Russian,
and it almost makes one's teeth chatter to think of
this cabbage or kale, all the way from Siberia.
The sight of your announcement immediately
brought to our mind the fact, that in the " Garden-
er's Chronicle" for June 20, 1846, there is an arti-
cle from the pen of Dr. Lindley on the very sub-"
ject of this " Kale," and as it is appropriate and to
the point, we give your readers the benefit of the
Doctor's judgment. The Dr. wields a caustic pen
when he's in the humor, and occasionally makes
slashing work among the tradesmen of his own
country, when they venture to deal too largely in
humbug. But let's hear what he says about the
"kale:"

" That the craving for novelty is insatiable, we
all know too well ; or if we doubted it, the avidity
with which the world (of gardening) runs after
every thing called new, would satisfy the most in-
veterate sceptic. To be new indeed, or to seem
so, appears to have with half the world the same
meaning as to be good. ' Well, Mr. C, what
Lave you that is new?' is the fiist question asked of
a seedsman ; no one thinks of saying, ' What have
you that is good ?' It is novelty that is sought for,
and not quality.

" This is strikingly exemplified by the way in
which the excellent varieties of vegetable seeds
annually distributed by the Horticultural Society
are often received. The seeds are demanded, and
when they are given, surprise, or something worse,
is expressed that they are only vegetables. It is
in vain to say these varieties of lettuce, onion, ra-
dish, celery, broccoli, are of the finest quality that
art can produce. The answer is, 'pooh! that is
all very well, but they are not new; we admit the
excellence of the quality, but they are only the old
things.' Imagine a man, whose dinner has been
provided with the most perfectlj' cooked dishes, ac-
companied by the finest wines, crying out, ' This
dinner is extremely bad; it consists of nothing but
beef, mutton and venison ; and as for the wine it is
only sherry and claret.' And yet such a man
would be indignant if his cook gave him horse-flesh
and tincture of rhubarb, which he would deserve in
return for his absurdity.

" To meet these difficulties, and to seem to min-
ister to so silly a habit, cooks invent all sorts of
outlandish names ; they call broth consommi; white

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

149

sauce, bechamel; Parsley, verd de persil, and a
stew, a ragout, a godard, or a chambord ; while
pea soup and stuffinji are elevated to the honors of
puree and farces. Can any thinjr be more ridieu-
lous? and yet the seedsman Is driven, liy the abso-
lute necessity of his position, to similar devices.
And not dishonestly either. He feels that the evil
is not of his own creation ; that the practice is
forced upon him, and that if he does not adopt it,
his custom will desert him ; and therefore he gjets
hold of some very <jood old variety, claps upon it a
new name, duly advertises it, and lo! his desk is
loaded with orders, and he at once becomes a man
of enterprise and skill.

" A kind of cabbage, or rather winter green, is
purchaseable under the name of ' Jerusalem Kale.'
(Siberian is the neio name.) Nothing can be bet-
ter. It is perfectly hardy, and forms a most deli-
cious vegetable, if sent to table dressed like aspar-
agus it is doubtful if an esculent of more real
excellence exists among us. It was described in
the Transactions of the Horticultural Society near-
ly thirty years ago. Its value was pointed out by
the late Mr. Wkdgwood, who blanched it like sea-
kale, and found it an admirable substitute for the
latter, to which it is in our mind superior ; but no-
body grows it now-a-days, because lit is not called
a novelty, puffed and made the subject of exaggera-
tion. If we ask what it has do with Jerusalem,
(or Siberia,) we shall be puzzled to find the con-
nection, the more especially since its claims are
equal to a Prussian. Russian. Hungarian, (Buda,)
and Manchester origin, for it has successively borne
all these names.

" It is but another example of the advantage of
substituting new and fine names for old familiar
ones. Had any body attempted to sell it as a very
good kind of Collard or Colewort, he would not
have found a customer ; or if he did, it would have
been at the price of rapeseed ; but a foreign origin
WHS given it, with a fine sounding name, and a de-
mand was created ; new markets were succes-
sively obtained by other new names, but now in-
genuity is exhausted, and it does not sell. Nobody
grows Jerusalem Kale. Yet if it were properly
advertised under the name of Hierosolymatanian
Kale, and an ingenious fable were circulated about
its having been found in a Pacha's garden on Le-
banon, we engage to say that the demand would
become enormous. The sale would be doub ed if
it bore the name of Ptolemaic Kale, and were
shown to have been found in the folds of a mummy,
so that its pedigree might be traced up to the pot-
tage of the Pharoahs.

" Shrewd Mr. Cobbett found the value of these
devices, when he discovered that the specious name
of locust tree, and a flourishing account of its ex-
cellence, would prodoce him a crown, while the
nurseyman could only get sixpence for the same
thing, which he was simple enough to sell under
the old name of Acacia."

CoBBETT certainly was a cunning fellow, and
has many imitators on this side of the Atlantic.
To be successful in these times of ' progress,' one
must be' wideawake,' and not particularly squeam-
ish in practicing all sorts of humbug. — Wm. W.
Valk, M. D. Flushing, L. I., Aug. «, 1848.

[This vegetable is at least very little known or
cultivated in tiiis country, and as early spring veg-
etables are especially desirable, we thank Messrs.
Thorburn for a parcel of its seeds, received by
them from abroad, under the double name of" Ger-
man Greens'^ or " Siberian Kale." — Ed.]

Belle M^gnifique Cherry. — lam glad to see
you have placed this famous cherry in its proper
rank. It has borne with us for three or four years,
and has never failed to be large, beautiful and fine.
The tree is very hardy and productive, — adapting
it well to cold climates. It is decidedly the best, to
our taste, of the late acid cherries ; as it not only
cooks well, but when fully ripe, is highly relished
by many for the dessert. On the Mahaleb stock, it
makes a beautiful prolific garden tree. Yours,
P. Barry. Rochester, N. Y., August l8th. 18 18.

Gl^m Shellac Solution. — Dear Sir: I have^
tried your varnish of gum shellac and spirits of
wine for pruning trees, (Hort., vol. 2, p. 533,) and
fully agree with all that your Philadelphian says in
its iavor.

I have also to add, that in crown grafting, I have
found it a j)erfcct substitute for all bandages and
other compositions. I have tried it with peaches,
apples and pears, and have also succeeded in graft-
ing a few sorts of roses with it, which before 1 had
never been able to do in a single instance. I com-
menced spring budding on the 2nd of March, and
have never at any season been more successful. I
have always headed off" to an inch above the bud
and stripped off' every limb and leaf, both below
and above at the time of insertion. Yours, respect-
fully. Robert Chisholm. Beaufort, S. C, July 20.

Magnolia Grandiflora. — We have examined
this spring prett}' thoroughly into the matter of
" double," or " semi-double" varieties of this mag-
nolia, and this is the result. No flower that I can
find has more than 9 petals, but other trees grow-
ing in the immediate vicinity of these, bear flowers
with only five or six petals. In the grove which
Mr. M. and I searched, we thought the majority of
the trees bore flowers with 9 petals. What culti-
vation wili do remains yet to be seen. I measured
one of the buds of the last mentioned, and found it
more than seven inches in length and four in
breadth, just before the petals began to unfold.
This is quite a common size, but those with fewer
petals are usually smaller every way, both in leaf
and flower. The scent is heavy, less agreeable
perhaps than the swamp magnolia of the north, as
much so as the night-blooming Jasmine, (Cestrum,)
is to the common white. The tree grows rapidly.
Some seedlings of mine, that a year ago were only
four or five inches high, are now four feet. Anoth-
er plant is 5 1-2 feet and finely branched. I do not
think this tree casts its leaves until it begins to
bloom. Then when all other trees in the forest
are putting on their summer robes, the ground is
covered with the fallen leaves of the magnolia
grandiflora, and the tree looks poor and ragged as
white flowers begin to unfold. Before the flowers
are over, however, it wears a very different aspect
— the bright green leaves already clothing it, and
forming the richest back ground for the remaining

150

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

full blowii flowers. We have marked those trees
whose flowers are finest, and intend sending yon
some seeds from them when they mature. I think
the cone-like seed vessels were more ornamental
than the blossoms, as their pink, velvet-like sur-
face gapes or bursts, open here and there, and dis-
close the bright red seeds. It is interesting to
watch them as they sh >ot out these seeds, which
hang suspended from the cone by slender threads.
Sometimes in five minutes, half the seeds in the
cone will be thus displayed, the upper ones coming
out, more slowly, and the lower beginning to drop
before all are open. Sincerely yours. 31. D. M.
Port Gibson, Miss., July 16, 1848.

Strawberry Selections. — Ma. Downing :
Permit me again to refer briefly to the strawberry
question, in order to explain the apparent contra-
diction in the articles written by me at difTerentpe-
L-iods, alluded to by Dr. Valk in the last number
of the Horticulturist. The Doctor does not seem
to discriminate between a mere opinion, and con-
clusions derived from carefully conducted experi-
ments. In 1844, when my attention was first di-
rected to the sexual character of the strawberry,
circumstances induced me to venture the opinion
that some pistillate varieties would fruit without
being in the neighborhood of staminate ones, &c.,
but subsequent experiments by myself and others,
put this question at rest, by demonstrating that
they would not. I believe there is one circumstance
to which I did not allude in my remarks m your
July number. Though the receptacle is never en-
tirely wanting, except accidentally, yet it is fre-
quently defective in function, and will not under any
circumstance produce fruit. Such plants mio-ht
with some propriety be called staminate. We
should then have three terms suffieientlv charac-
teristic ot all the sexual differences, viz: herma-
phrodite, both organs effective ; pistillate, pistils
only effective ; staminate, stamins only eflfective.
Ihe latter class when produced from seed, should
be destroyed, as their only use can be to fructify
pistillate varieties ; but this can be done as well
by hermaphrodites, which will also bear fruit.

I agree with Mr. Downing, in considering the
^arpe Early Scarlet a valuable kind. Hoveyh
beedimg, Black Prince, Burr's New Pine, Crim-
son Cone, and Large Early Scarlet, are perhaps
nveolthe very best varieties for general cultiva-
tion that have been fully tested. G. W. Hunts-
man. Flushing, Aug. 9th, 1848.

Cherry Currant.— i"have had more than a
pmt ol this variety this season. It fully equals the
account in your last number ; flavor and quality
Delow the white and red Dutch ; growth gigantic,
and lohage thick and heavy. It is quite distinct
irom other currants, and will make quite a tree.
Yours. 31. P. W. Boston, Aug. 10, im.

Salisburia adiantifoma.— Isee, on looking over
my two bound volumes of the Horticulturist, no
uoiice 01 this most interesting tree— the Ginko tree
oi Japan. I esteem it as one of the most curious
ana interestmg of all hardy trees; for it is as hardy
uere as a poplar, and makes shoots three feet long

in good soil. It is a cone bearing tree, but its
leaves are wholly unlike those of any of the pine
family, and bear a striking resemblance to those of
the maiden-hair fern, (Adiantum pedatum,) ex-
cept that they are about 1 1-2 inches broad. It is
now to be had in all the large nurseries, and I am
surprised to see it so seldom in pleasure grounds.
There is a specimen in the Hamilton place near
Philadelphia, 60 feet high. Yours. S. Philadel-
phia, Aug. 12, 1848.

Something for the Curious. — There is a lo-
cust tree in Pittsfield, growing in a southern ex-
posure, which had put out its flower buds in ad-
vance of other trees of the same kind. These
flower buds some night last week were all killed
by the frost excepting those that grew on one
branch : on this limb of the tree, near the body,
were two horseshoes left hanging ; and all the buds
beyond the point of contact with the iron are un-
injured.

Query. Would not suspending a chain or old
iron on the branches of a fruit tree, on frosty nights
when fruits are advanced, preserve the fruit from
destruction? Pike Co. Free Press.

Wash for Buildings. — The following recipe
was sent by a gentleman of New-Orleans to his
friend in Philadelphia, who writes that the wash
was satisfactorily tested upon the roof of the Phoe-
nix Foundry in that neighborhood. It is not only a
protection against fire, but renders brick work im-
pervious to water. The basis is lime, which must
be first slaked with hot water in a tub, to keep in
the steam. It should then be passed, in a semi-
fluid state, through a fine sieve. Take six quarts
of the fine lime and one quart of clean rock salt,
for each gallon of water — the salt to be dissolved
by boiling, and the impurities skimmed off"; to five
gallons of this mixture, salt and lime, add one
pound of alum, half a pound of copperas, three-
fourths of a pound of potash, (the last to be added
gradually,) four quarts of fine sand or hard wood
ashes ; add coloring matter to suit the fancy. It
should be applied with a brush. It looks as well as
paint, and is as lasting as slate. It stops small
leaks, prevents moss from growing, and renders
wood-work incombustible. N. Y. Farmer.

Iron vs. Pear Blight. — At Canfield, in Ma-
honing county, we saw at the residence of Mr.
Canfield, a number of large pear trees, twenty-
five to thirty years old, that seemed to have been
blighted some years ago, but had recovered. On
inquiring of Mr. Ca.vfield respecting these trees,
he informed us that ten years ago, when they were
quite large and productive, they were struck with
the blight, and in two years they were apparently
ruined. He then took a quantity of bog iron ore,
found in the neighborhood, and applied several
wheelbarrow fulls around the trunk and roots of
each tree. The following spring the trees put out
new shoots with great vigor, and the leaves ex-
hibited a deep green healthy appearance throughout
the season. Ttie trees formed new tops, and have
continued healthy from that time to this, excepting
one or two, the trunks of which had partly died
before the remedy was applied. Ohio Cult.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

151

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Sea Kale- — Wm. Bachelder, (North Andover.
Mass.) Sea Kale grown in tlie open air does not
need any covering in winter here. In order to
blanch the youn<T shoots, we cover them early in
the sprin<r with three or four inches of sand, or
li<Tht sandy soil. You may, for safety in your lati-
tude, do this late in the autumn. The growth of
the sea-kale is improved by a top dressing of salt
every spring, like asparagus.

Pkak Seedlings. — C. B., (New-Jersey,) will
find it very diiRcult to have success in raising pear
seedlings by the quantity. A rich, moist soil of
much depth, and one especially adapted in its in-
organic elements, is absolutely necessary for this
crop. Here and there a grower is successful from
possessing this soil, but it is rarely found in the
middle or southern states.

Wm. B., (North Andover.) The seeds of com-
mon engrafted field pears, that are perfectly vig-
orous and healthy, give the best stocks for budding
upon.

Selections of Fruits. — ^ Subscriber, (Phila-
delphia.) The five best plums for your purpose
are the following : Jeflerson, Green Gage, Impe-
rial Ottoman, Coe's Golden Drop, Purple Favor-
ite.

B. P. R. The Fastolff is rather larger than
the true Red Antwerp Raspberry, but it is not
higher flavored, and is softer, and does not there-
fore endure carriage to market so w'ell. It bears
most abundantly with us.

Quinces. — ./? Jerseyman. Prune Quinces very
little — let them form low, thick bushes, and ma-
nure them well every year. A good top-dressing
of manure and ashes, every autumn, will double
the size of the fruit.

Tomatoes. — j1 Vermont Reader. Train your
plants on the south side of a wall, building or tight
fence, and you will find them to ripen two weeks
earlier. The cherry tomato is an early sort, and
one of very mild flavor.

Manures. — An Inquirer, (New-Bedford.) You
■will double or quadruple your charcoal in value if
you will have the urine poured over it. The ammo-
nia and salts of the latter will all be absorbed by
the charcoal, to be given out to the roots of plants
afterwards as required.—.^. R. C, (New- York.)
You will find it much the better mode to dissolve
the bones before using them. There are full di-
rections for this in our last number, p. 93. — /. B .,
(Philadelphia.) Apply the gypsum as a top-
dressing to your trees in the month of October.
Fork it under the surface very slightly.

Arbor Vit^:. — A Young Hand, (Westchester.)
Gather the seeds in October or November, and
plant them immediately in a deep, well pulverized
border, on the north side of a hoard fence ; or,
(which is the better mode,) in flat shallow boxes,
(three inches deep and two by three feet across,)
filled with good light soil. These boxes should be
put in a light place, the cellar or in a cold pit, till
spring, being watered occasionally to keep the
earth moist. In the spring, they should be placed
in a place shaded, except from morning and eve-
ning sun, and well watered every evening. In
this way you will save all the seedlings, which if

planted in the open border, more than half are usu-
ally lost the first year. Once large enough to
transplant into the nursery rows, they will grow in
any exposure. Seeds of the Laburnum should be
planted immediately in any open situation in good
soil.

Strawberries. — Fragaria, (Boston.) The
spring is the preferable time for making new beds,
only because the plants are more certain to grow
then. There is a new white strawberry grown in
England, called the Bicton Pine. Will some of
our nurseymen import it ? Ross' Plimnix is a very
improved variety of the Keen's seedling; but though
it bears large crops of very delicious fruit in light
and deep rich soils, \ct so far as we have seen it,
it does not thrive well in heavy or stifl!" soils. Burr's
New Pine is considered the best of Burr's seed-
lings. If you have ehitrcoal dust in abundance you
cannot do better than to cover your beds one iixh
thick in November, and allow it to remain on al!
the next season.

Evergreens. — J. Y. H., (Westchester.) The
best time to remove evergreens in our judgment,
is in the spring. Small plants will do quite well if
taken up in the fall and laid in earth, as you pro-
pose, in a dry cellar, till spring. The evergreen
magnolia, (lil. grundifiora,) will not stand the
winters north of New-"Vork.

Lawns. — /. Willitims. One part white clover
to three parts red-top, makes the best lawn grass
mixture for a soil like that you describe. If you
wish to preserve its greenness in summer you must
trench the soil so that the roots may penetrate two
feet deep ; it cannot be done by top-dressing.

Pear Trees. — A North Carolinian. Keep th©
surface of the ground under your trees coated with
straw, litter or shavings several inches deep. This
will keep the roots in an uniform state of heat and
moisture. See Mr. Cleveland's remarks on the
subject in this number, and those of a Maryland
Subscriber in a previous one. Nothing injures deli-
cate I'ruit trees so much at the south as the heat of
tlie sun, and the alternate dryness and moisture of
the surface of the ground.

Grapes. — Jl Vigneron, (Ohio.) The rot in the
Catawba grape has also appeared in this part of
the country this season. The nature of this dis-
ease is little known, and no certain remedy has yet
been discovered. The only information we have of
any satisfactory experiment on this subject you
will find in the article of a correspondent in a pre-
vious page. The Bland grape is a shy bearer,
and -would not be profitable for market.

Nurseries.— H. J3., (Philadelphia.) We have
no connection, either direct or indirectly, with any
nursery establishment or commercial garden. The
" Highland Garden" is simply the name of our pri-
vate grounds. T. C. Peters. — We have sent your
letter to a respectable grower in New- York, who
will send you the plants you wish.

Imported Evergreens. — A Subscriber, (Pitts-
burgh.) The best time to have Norway spruces
and other hardy evergreens, sent from abroad, is
during the month of October, or as early as they
can be lifted in the nurseries there — say from the
1st of October till the 10th of November. They
should be packed in dry moss, and put up either ia

152

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

matted bundles or crates. When they arrive at
Pittsburfrh, if the groand is not open, unpack and
carefully lay them in by the heels ina sheltered and
shaded place, (treading the earth firmly about the
roots and burying them deeply,) and then cover
them with a temporary rough box or shelter of
hoards. If the ground is frozen, unpack and lay
them in, in the same manner, in a cellar or root
house till spring. If they arrive at New- York too
late for transportation inland, have them unpacked
and laid in the same manner there, till the spring
opens. Any ordinary November frost would not
injure them while they are in the bundles or crates.

Okra. — Long hltind. Take the young pods of
okra and stew them in water, to which a little but-
ter, peppsi and salt have been added, till they are
quite tender. Then serve them up with a very lit-
tle grated nutmeg.

PARADtsE Stocks. — /. R. Stanford, (Clarksville,
Geo.) The " Paradise Apple" is a dwarf grow-
ing variety, common in the nurseries abroad, and
used for grafting other varieties upon, to make
Xhem dwarf. Young paradise stocks can be had

of any of the leading English nurseymen, (Skir-
viNG, of Liverpool, Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth,
&c.,) at a moderate price per thousand. We are
not aware that they are grown for sale by the
trade in this country, but if so, will be glad to
learn where.

Evergreens. — James, (Hartford.) Give the soil
about your young evergreen trees which are " stun-
ted," a top-dressing of nitrate of soda, at the rate
of I lb. to the square rod, early next spring. This
will start them into luxuriant growth again. Stir
the soil 6 inches deep just before applying the salt.

Budding. — /• C. Marston, (Canada West.)
Buds for budding maybe packed in damp moss and
kept a week or ten days without material injury.
The buds of the apple may be kept longer. The
moss must not be wet — only damp.

*»* Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any questions on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requi^sted) — and all que-
ries put in a brief shape, and sent to xxs free of post-
age, shall receive attention. Ed.

PSN'N.uTIiVA'^TIA HORTICIJLTURAL SOCIETY.

Tlie stated meeting of the society was held in the Chinese
S;il ion on Tuesday evening, August 1.5, 1848. The presi-
dent ;u the chair.

The^displaj- ot'fruit far exceeded any former monthly occa-
sion of the society, and betokened a must prolific season, and a
harbinger of a successful effort at tlie grand aniumnal exhi-
toitiou a month hence Tue grapes were u msually fine, the
bunches of great weight, and berries ni mo-;t instances, very
Jarge. Some- of the Bl;ick Hamburg, from II. W S. Cleve-
land, Burlington, were, for size of berry, remarkable ; others
ot .same variety, from Eden Hall, were very heavy ; the
While I'orlugal, White Frontignac and Chasselas of Fontain-
bleau, W'Te prime The show of pears was e.xcellent; many
were new and seedling varieties, oonsisting of Ott's Seedling,
of fine qualiiy, Trimble, and .lones' Seedling, for the first time
exhibited; fine specimens of the Tyson, Washington, I/odge,
Copia, Kingsessing, iVIoyamensing, Petit, Chapman, Napo-
leon, Dearborn's Seedling, and numerous others, of which
many were unnamed Of apples, several beautiful seedling
varieties were seen, and others shown for the first lims, of
which wre the .Snepherd variety, and the 20 acre, said to
possess fine qualities, Red Jnneating. B mgh, .Summer Pear-
mam, Hasfloe. Harvest, iVIaideii's Blush. &c. &e ; specimens
without blemish Plums, — fine fruit of the Huling's superb,
Bolmar's Washington, Golden Drop, fmperial Gage, Apricot
Plum, large Blue and Green Gage. Nect.irines, — beauti'u!
specimens of Vermarsh, Oatlands, New White Dnwnton,
Newingtoii, Red Roman, Boston, EIruge, Fairchild and
others ni>t named. Peaclifs,— Scott's Seedling, Crawford's
Melocitnn. Noblesse, and several seedlings of meri'.. \ dish
of fully ripe Bananas from the green-house of .lames Dundas,
attracted attention. Of vegetables, the di,splay was uncom-
monly rich in quality and variety. And of plants, there were
several tab'es of choice collections, unusual for this month,
with many tastefully arranged bouquets of cultivated and na-
tive flowers.

Reports of the Standing Committees.

The Committee on Plants and Flowers report that ihey have
awarded ihe following premiums :

For the best three named hot-house plants, to B. Daniels,
g:ardener to C. Cope ; for the 2d best do , to the same For
She best three green-house plants, to Robert Buist. For the
best collection of plants in pots, to B. Daniels, gardener to C.
Cope ; for the 2d best, to Peter Raabe ; for the 3d nest, to
David Scott, gardener to Frederick liCnnig For the best
display of indigenous plants in pots, to Robert Kilvinglon. For
ihe best bouquet or design, to Robert Kilvington. For the
best design of indigenous flowers, to Peter Raabe. For the

best basket of cut flowers, to B. Daniels. For the best bas-
ket of indigenous flowers, to Robert Kilvington.

The Committee for awarding premiums on Fruit, report
that they have avvarded— for the best three bunches of black
grapes (Black Hamburg,) to H. W. S. Cleveland ; for the 2d
best do., to .lacob Snider, jr. For the best white grapes,
three bunches of White Portugal, to Thomas Maghrau, gar-
dener to Mrs. Guriiby, Montgomery county; for the 2d best
do. White Froniignac, to E^ Daniels, gardener to C. Cope.
For Ihe be.st neclarines, six, to John Sherwood ; for the 2(1
best nectarines, New White, to B. Daniels, gardener to C.
Cope For the best six plums. Green Gage, to Isaac B. I'ax-
ter ; for the 2d best plums, Washington, to the same. For
the best two dozen peaches, Crawford's IVIelocoton, to .lohu
Perkins For the best six pears, Tyson, to .Jonathan Tyson;
for the 2d best do , Washington, to Edwin Middleton. For the
best two dozen apples. Summer Pearmain, to Jno Perkins;
for the 2d best do , Maiden's Blush, to the same. And a spe-
cial premium of three dollars, for tlie Ott Pear, — a new va-
riety from Montgeraery county, to Samuel Ott. Also, a spe-
cial premium of two dollars for a dish of superior Bananas, to
James Buist. gardener to James Dundas; and one of three
dollars, for three sp.endid varieties of grapes, deposited by
Isaac Newton, grown by Wm. Westcott, at Eden Hill

The display of fruit was greater in quantity, and variety,
than ever shown before the society in the month of August.
Among them were a number of new seedling varieties pre-
sented, though exceedingly fine, could not come into compe-
tition, on account of not having the requisite number. The
comnittee would especially notice some fine canteloupes,
and award a special premium of one dollar for the kind
named Beachwood, shown by B. Daniels, gardener to C.
Cope.

The Committee on Vegetables report that they have award-
ed the following premiums :

For the best display of vegetables by market gardeners,
to Anthony Felten ; for the 2d best display, to Henry Cooper.
For the best display of do. by amateurs, to B. Daniels, gar-
dener to C Cope ; for the 2d best display of do., to Isaac B.
Baxter. On motion.

Ordered, That the number of delegates, from our society,
to attend the great National Convention of Fruit-Growers, to
be held in the city of New-York on the 10th October next, be
increased to twenty-five.

A communication iVom the corresponding secretary of the
New-Jersey Stale Horticultural Society was read, reporting
the appointment of delegates to our autumnal exhibition, and
inviting a reciprocity. Tho. P. James,

Recording Secretary.

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

OCTOBER, 1848.

No. 4.

Editor. I am heartily glad to see you
home again. I almost fear, however, from
your long residence on the continent, that
you have become a foreigner in all your
sympathies.

Traveller. Not a whit. I come home
to the United States more thoroughly Ame-
rican than ever. The last few months resi-
dence in Europe, with revolutions, tumult,
bloodshed on every side, people continually
crying for liberty — who mean by that word,
the privilege of being responsible to neither
God nor governments — ouriers expecting
wages to drop like manna from heaven, —
not as a reward for industry, but as a sign
that the millenium has come ; republics,
in which every other man you meet is a
soldier, sworn to preserve " liberty, frater-
nity, equality," at the point of the bayonet ;
from all this unsatisfactory movement —
the more unsatisfactory because its aims
are almost beyond the capacities of a new
nation, and entirely impossible to an old
people — I repeat, I come home again to
rejoice most fervently that " I, too, am an
American.''''

Ed. After five years expatriation, pray
teli me what strikes you most on returning?

Trav. Most of all, the wonderful, extra-
OTdinary, unparalleled growth of our coun-
Yoi.. III. 10

try. It seems to me, after the general
steady, quiet torpor of the old world, (which
those great convulsions have only latterly
broken,) to be the moving and breathing
of a robust young giant, compared with the
crippled and feeble motions of an exhausted
old man. Why, it is difficult for me to
" catch up" to my countrymen, or to bridge
over the gap which five years have made
in the condition of things. From a country
looked upon with contempt by monarchists,
and hardly esteemed more than a third rate
power by republicans abroad, we have
risen to the admitted first rank everywhere.
To say, on the continent, now, that you
are from the " United States," is to dilate
the pupil of every eye with a sort of glad
welcome. The gates of besieged cities
open to you, and the few real republicans
who have just conceptions of the ends of
government, take you by the hand as if you
had a sort of liberty-magnetism in your
touch. A country that exports, in a single
year, more than fifty-three millions worth
of bread stuffs, that conquers a neighboring
nation without any apparent expenditure of
strength, and swallows up a deluge of
foreign emigrants every season, — turning
all that " raw material," by a sort of won-
derful vital force, into good citizens, — such

154

A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS.

a country, I say, is felt to have an avoirdu'
pois about it, that weighs heavily in the
scale of nations.

Ed. I am glad to see you so sound and
patriotic. Very few men who go abroad,
like yourself, to enjoy the art and antiqui-
ties of the old world, come home without
" turned heads." The greatness of the
past, and the luxury and completeness of the
present forms of civilization abroad, seize
hold of them, to the exclusion of everything
else ; and they return home lamenting al-
ways and forever the " purple and fine
linen" left behind.

Trav. " Purple and fine linen," when
they clothe forms of lifeless majesty, are
far inferior, in the eyes of any sensible
person, to linsey-woolsey, enwrapping the
body of a free, healthy man. But there
are some points of civilization — good
points, too, — that we do not yet understand,
which are well understood abroad, and
which are well worth attention here at
home, at the present moment. In fact, I
came here to talk a little, about one or two
of these to-day.

Ed. Talk on, with all my heart.

Trav. I dare say you will be surprised
to hear me say that the French and Ger-
mans— difficult as they find it to be repub-
lican, in a political sense — are practically
far more so, in many of the customs of
social life, than Americans.

Ed. Such as what, pray?

T%-av. Public enjoyments, open to all
classes of people, provided at public cost,
maintained at public expense, and enjoyed
daily and hourly, by all classes of persons.

Ed. Picture galleries, libraries, and the
like, I suppose you allude to ?

Trav. Yes : but more especially at the
present moment, I am thinking of public
PAKKs and GARDENS— those salubrious and
wholesome breathing places, provided in

the midst of, or upon the subufos of as»
many towns on the continent — full of really
grand and beautiful trees, fresh grass, foun-
tains, and, in many cases, rare plants^
shrubs and flowers. Public picture galle-
ries, and even libraries, are intellectual
luxuries ; and though we must and will
have them, as wealth accumulates, yet I
look upon public parks and gardens, which
are great social enjoyments, as naturally
coming first. Man's social nature stands
before his intellectual one in the order of
cultivation.

Ed. But these great public parks are
mostly the appendages of royalty, and have
been created for purposes of show and
magnificence, quite incompatible with our
ideas of republican simplicity.

Trav. Not at all. In many places these
parks were made for royal enjoyment ; but
even in these, they are, on the continent, no
longer held for royal use, but are the
pleasure grounds of the public generally.
Look, for example, at the Garden of the
Tuileries — spacious, full of flowers, green
lawns, orange trees and rare plants, in the
very heart of Paris, and all open to the
public, without charge. Even in third rate
towns, like the Hague, there is a royal
park of 200 acres, filled with superb trees,
rich turf, and broad pieces of water, — the
whole exquisitely kept, and absolutely and
entirely at the enjoyment of every well dis-
posed person that chooses to enter.

Ed. Still, these are not parks or gar-
dens made for the public ; but are the re-
sult, originally, of princely taste, and after-
wards given up to the public.

Trav. But Germany, which is in many
respects a most instructive country to Ame-
ricans, affords many examples of public
gardens, in the neighborhood of the princi-
pal towns, of extraordinary size and beauty,
originally made and laid out solely far the

A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS.

155

general use. The public garden at Munich,
for example, contains above 500 acres, ori-
ginally laid out by the celebrated Count
RuMFORD, with live miles of roads and
walks, and a collection of all the trees and
shrubs that will thrive in that country. It
combines the beauty of a park and a gar-
den,

Ed. And Frankfort ?

Trav. Yes, I was coming to that, for it
is quite a model of this kind of civilization.
The public garden of Frankfort is, to my
mind, one of the most delightful sights in
the world. Frankfort deserves, indeed, in
this respect, to be called a " free town ;"
for I doubt if we are yet ready to evince
the same capacity for self-government and
non-imposition of restraint as is shown
daily by the good citizens of that place, in
the enjoyment of this beautiful public gar-
den. Think of a broad belt, about two
miles long, surrounding the city on all
sides but one, (being built upon the site of
the old ramparts,) converted into the most
lovely pleasure grounds, intersected with
all manner of shady walks and picturesque
glades, planted not only with all manner of
fine trees and shrubs, but beds of the
choicest flowers, roses, carnations, dahlias,
verbenas, tuberoses, violets, &c. &c.

Ed. And well guarded, I suppose, by
gen-d''armes, or the police !

Trav. By no means. On the contrary,
it is open to every man, woman and child
in the city ; there are even no gates at the
various entrances. Only at these entrances
are put up notices, stating that as the gar-
den was made for the public, and is kept
up at its expense, the town authorities
commit it to the protection of all good citi-
zens. 50,000 souls have the right to enter
and enjoy these beautiful grounds ; and
yet, though they are most thoroughly en-
joyed, you will no more see a bed trampled

upon, or a tree injured, than in your own
private garden here at home !

Ed. There is truly a democracy in that,
worth imitating in our more professedly
democratic country.

Trav. Well, out of this common enjoy-
ment of public grounds, by all classes,
grows also a social freedom, and an easy
and agreeable intercourse of all classes,
that strikes an American with surprise and
delight. Every afternoon, in the public
grounds of the German towns, you will
meet thousands of neatly dressed men,
women and children. All classes assemble
under the shade of the same trees, — the
nobility, (even the king is often seen among
them.) the wealthy citizens, the shopkeep-
ers, and the artisans, etc. There they all
meet, sip their tea and coffee, ices, or other
refreshments, from tables in the open air,
talk, walk about, and listen to bands of
admirable music, stationed here and there
throughout the park. In short, these great
public grounds are the pleasant drawing-
rooms of the whole population ; where they
gain health, good spirits, social enjoyment,
and a frank and cordial bearing towards
their neighbors, that is totally unknown
either in England or America.

Ed. There appears a disinclination in
the Anglo-Saxon race to any large social
intercourse, or unrestrained public enjoy-
ment.

Trav. It is not difficult to account for
such a feeling in England. But in this
country, it is quite unworthy of us and our
institutions. With large professions of
equality, I find my countrymen more and
more inclined to raise up barriers of class,
wealth and fashion, which are almost as
strong in our social usages, as the law of
caste is in England. It is quite unworthy
of us, as it is the meanest and most con-
temptible part of aristocracy ; and we oWe

156

A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS.

it to ourselves and our republican profes-
sions, to set about establishing a larger and
more fraternal spirit in our social life.

Hd. Pray, how would you set about it ?
Trav. Mainly by establishing refined
public places of resort, parks and gardens,
galleries, libraries, museums, &c. By these
means, you would soften and humanize the
rude, educate and enlighten the ignorant,
and give continual enjoyment to the edu-
cated. Nothing tends to beat down those
artificial barriers, that false pride, which is
the besetting folly of our Anglo-Saxon na-
ture, so much as a community of rational
enjoyments. Now there is absolutely no
class of persons in this country whose means
allow them the luxury of great parks, or
fine concerts of instrumental music within
their own houses. But a trifling yearly
contribution from all the inhabitants of even
a small town, will enable all those inhabi-
tants to have an excellent band, performing
every fair afternoon through the whole
summer. Make the public parks or plea-
sure grounds attractive by their lawns, fine
trees, shady walks and beautiful shrubs and
flowers, by fine music, and the certainty of
"meeting everybody," and you draw the
whole moving population of the town there
daily.

Ed. I am afraid the natural gene of our
people would keep many of those at home
who would most enjoy such places, and
that they would be given up to those who
would abuse the privilege and despoil the
grounds. Do you think it would be possi-
ble, for instance, to preserve fine flowers in
such a place, as in Germany ?

Trav. I have not the slightest doubt of
it. How can I have, after going on board
such magnificent steamboats as the Isaac
Newton or the Bay State, fitted up with all
the same luxury of velvet ottomans, rich car-
pets, mirrors, and the costliest furniture, that

I have found in palaces abroad, and all at
the use of millions of every class of Ame-
rican travellers, from the chimney sweep to
the president, and yet this profuse luxury
not abused in the slightest manner !

Ed. But the more educated of our peo-
ple— would the)'^, think you, resort to pub-
lic pleasure grounds daily, for amusement ?
Would not the natural exclusiveness of our
better halves, for instance, tahoo this med-
ley of " all sorts of people that we dont
know ?''

Trav. I trust too much in the good
sense of our women to believe it. Indeed,
I find plenty of reasons for believing quite
the opposite. I see the public watering
places filled with all classes of society, par-
taking of the same pleasures, with as much
zest as in any part of the world ; and you
must remember that there is no forced in-
tercourse in the daily reunions in a public
garden or park. There is room and space
enough for pleasant little groups or circles
of all tastes and sizes, and no one is neces-
sarily brought into contact with uncongenial
spirits; while the daily meeting of families,
who ought to sympathise, from natural con-
geniality, will be more likely to bring them
together than any other social gatherings.
Then the advantage to our fair country-wo-
men— health and spirits, of exercise in the
pure open air, amid the groups of fresh foli-
age and flowers, with a chat with friends, and
pleasures shared with them, as compared
with a listless lounge upon a sofa at home,
over the last new novel or pattern of embroi-
dery ! When I first returned home, I assure
you, I was almost shocked at the extreme de-
licacy, and apparent universal want of health
in my countrywomen, as compared with the
same classes abroad. It is, most clearly,
owing to the many sedentary, listless hours
which they pass within doors ; no out-of-
door occupations- — walking considered irk-

A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS.

157

some and fatiguing- — and almost no parks,
pleasure grounds, or shaded avenues, to
tempt fair pedestrians to this most healthful
and natural exercise.

Ed. Enough. I am fully satisfied of
the benefits of these places of healthful
public enjoyment, and of their being most
completely adapted to our institutions. But
how to achieve them ? What do we find
among us to warrant a belief that public
parks, for instance, are within the means
of our people ?

Trav. Several things : but most of all,
the condition of our public cemeteries at
the present moment. Why, tVvrenty years
ago, such a thing as an embellished, rural
cemetery was unheard of in the United
States ; and, at the present moment, we
surpass all other nations in these beautiful
resting places for the dead. Green-wood,
Mount Auburn, and Laurel Hill, are as
much superior to the far famed P ere la Chaise
of Paris, in natural beauty, tasteful arrange-
ment, and all that constitutes the charm of
such a spot, as St. Peter's is to the Boston
State House. Indeed, these cemeteries are
the only places in the country that can give
an untravelled American any idea of the
beauty of many of the public parks and
gardens abroad. Judging from the crowds
of people in carriages, and on foot, which
I find constantly thronging Green-wood and
Mount Auburn, I think it is plain enough
how much our citizens, of all classes, would
enjoy public parks on a similar scale.
Indeed, the only drawback to these beautiful
and highly kept cemeteries, to my taste, is
the gala-day air of recreation they present.
People seem to go there to enjoy themselves,
and not to indulge in any serious recollec-
tions or regrets. Can you doubt that if our
large towns had suburban pleasure grounds,
like Green-wood, (excepting the monu-
ments,) where the best music could be

heard daily, they would become the con-
stant resort of the citizens, or that, being so,
they would tend to soften and allay some
of the feverish unrest of business which
seems to have possession of most Ameri-
cans, body and soul ?

Ed. But, the modus operandil Ceme-
teries are, in a measure, private specula-
tions ; hundreds are induced to buy lots in
them from fashion or personal pride, be-
sides those whose hearts are touched by the
beautiful sentiment which they involve ; and
thus a large fund is produced, which main-
tains every thing in the most perfect order.

Trav. Appeal to the public liberality.
We subscribe hundreds of thousands of
dollars to give food to the Irish, or to assist
the needy inhabitants of a burnt-out city,
or to send missionaries to South Sea islands.
Are there no dollars in the same generous
pockets for a public park, which shall be
the great wholesome breathing zone, social
mass meeting, and grand out-of-door con-
cert room of all the inhabitants daily ?
Make it praiseworthy and laudable for
wealthy men to make bequests of land,
properly situated, for this public enjoyment,
and commemorate the public spirit of such
men by a statue or a beautiful marble vase,
with an inscription, telling all succeeding
generations to whom they are indebted for
the beauty and enjoyment that constitutes
the chief attraction of the town. Let the
ladies gather money from young and old by
fairs, and " tea parties," to aid in planting
and embellishing the grounds. Nay, I
would have life-members, who, on paying
a certain sum, should be the owners in
"fee simple" of certain fine trees, or groups
of trees; since there are some who will
never give money but for some tangible
and visible property.

Ed. It is, perhaps, not so difficult to get
the public park or garden, as to meet all

158

A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS.

the annual expenses, required to keep it in
the requisite condition.

Trav. There is, to my mind, but one
effectual and rational mode of doing this —
by a voluntary taxation on the part of all
the inhabitants. A few shillings each per-
son, or a small per centage on the value of
all the property in a tow^n, would keep a park
of an hundred or two acres in admirable
order, and defray all the incidental expen-
ses. Did you ever make a calculation of
the sum voluntarily paid in towns like this,
of 9000 inhabitants, for pew rent in church-
es and places of worship ?

Ed. No.

Trav. Very well ; I have had the curi-
osity lately to do so, and find that in a town
of 9000 souls, and with 10 " meeting-hou-
ses" of various sects, more than $10,000 are
voluntarily paid every year for the privilege
of sitting in these churches. Does it ap-
pear to you impossible that half that sum
(a few shillings a year each,) would be
willingly paid every year for the privilege
of an hundred acres of beautiful park or
pleasure grounds, where every man, woman
and child in the community could have,
for a few shillings, all the soft verdure, the
umbrageous foliage, the lovely flowers, the
place for exercise, recreation, repose, that
Victoria has in her Park of Windsor.

Ed. Not at all, if our countrymen could
be made to look upon the matter in the
same light as yourself. But while no men
contribute money so willingly and liberally
as we Americans for the support of religion,
or indeed for the furtherance of any object
of moral good, we are slow to understand
the value and influence of beauty of this
material kind, on our daily lives.

Trav. But we must believe it, because
the Beautiful is no less eternal than the
True and the Good. And it is the pro-
vince of the press — of writers who have

the public ear — to help those to see (wfidi
are slow to perceive it,) how much these
outward influences have to do with better-
ing the condition of a people, as good
citizens, patriots, men. Nay, more ; what
an important influence these public resorts,
of a rational and refined character, must
exert in elevating the national character, and
softening the many little jealousies of so-
cial life by a community of enjoyments.
A people will have its pleasures, as cer-
tainly as its religion or its laws ; and
whether these pleasures are poisonous and
hurtful, or innocent and salutary, must
greatly depend on the interest taken in
them by the directing minds of the age.
Get some country town of the first class to
set the example by making a public park
or garden of this kind. Let our people
once see for themselves the influence for
good which it would effect, no less than the
healthful enjoyment it will afford, and I feel
confident that the taste for public pleasure
grounds, in the United States, will spread
as rapidly as that for cemeteries has done.
If my own observation of the effect of these
places in Germany is worth anything, you
may take my word for it that they will be^
better preachers of temperance than tempe-
rance societies, better refiners of national
manners than dancing schools, and better
promoters of general good feeling than any
lectures on the philosophy of happiness
ever delivered in the lecture room. In
short, I am in earnest about the matter,
and must therefore talk, write, preach, do
all I can about it, and beg the assistance
of all those who have public influence, till
some good experiment of the kind is fairly
tried in this country.

Ed. I wish you all success in your good
undertaking; and will, at least, print our
conversation for the benefit of the readers
of the Horticulturist.

REFORM IN POMOLOGY.

159

REFORM IN POMOLOGY.

BY DR. W. W. VALK, FLUSHING.

We thank Mr. Downing for his excellent
paper on " Pomological Reform," in the
September number of the Horticulturist.
It was much needed, though not quite as
pungent as the evil called for, against
which he so justly puts forth a verdict of
condemnation. The orchardist and fruit
grower may well consider the " endless
catalogue of names" of fruits v^rorthless and
indifferent, not only as " stumbling blocks"
to their progress in horticulture, but as ab-
solute bars, upon which they are perpetu-
ally running aground, and sticking fast in
the mists and mazes of huge catalogues,
"furnished gratis to post-paid applicants."
It is high time that something should be
done for the correction of what all sensible
men must admit to be an evil of no ordi-
nary character ; a system of deception which
has done more than anything else we know
of, to fill our orchards and gardens with
fruit only fit to pluck and throw away. It
is not often that the desire is manifested to
fill one's fruit orchard with every known
variety, selected in most cases only by
name, and for no other purpose than the
mere gratification of a peculiar fancy, a
penchant for a multiplicity of things with-
out regard to quality. Where there is one
instance of this folly, we may safely say
there are one hundred just the reverse. A
proper appreciation of quality only in the
selection of fruits, whether for the table or
cooking, will always keep the number
limited, " of the best and most valuable
sorts."

But where shall the honest inquirer go
or look for information, when he is desirous

of selecting and planting out those varie-
ties of fruits, only, really worth the trouble?
Where shall he seek a pilot to guide him
amidst the labyrinth of names crowded into
nurserymen's catalogues ? In some of these
am&zing publications, he will find enume-
rated and recommended near 400 kinds of
apples, 500 kinds of pears, over 100 of
cherries, 150 plums, 170 peaches, 130
grapes, and so in proportion of other fruits,
and all of them praised more or less for
their qualities. Can it be possible that
these apples, pears, cherries, plums, peach-
es, and grapes, are each and every one of
them ^'- really worthy of cultivation V^ By
what sort of evidence is the inquiring ama-
teur to judge of their merits? He wants
to plant in his garden or orchard fifty or
sixty trees,— -a number sufficiently large to
embrace the best, and the best only. There
shall be 10 apples, 20 pears, 10 cherries, 5
plums, and 15 peaches. These he must
select for himself, in most instances, and,
as a help, a guide to assist him in making
his selections, he turns to the nurseryman's
catalogue. His 10 best apples are to be
culled out of 400, and the catalogue assures
him the whole are " as represented.^^ So
with the pears, and the other fruits, — all
are either " first rate," or " excellent," or
" beautiful," or " esteemed," or " splendid,"
or " superior flavor," or " delicious," &c.;
not one, as Mr. Downing justly remarks, is
set down as "poor," or " worthless." True,
there may be a "rejected list," but this
false light is of very little use, when, in
sober truth, two-thirds, if not three-fourths,
of the fruits not in it should find a place

160

REFORM IN POMOLOGY.

with those that are. The consequence of
this state of things is, that the beginner
purchases his trees at random. He may be
fortunate in getting a few prizes, and gain
experience by the loss of years, in finding
out that great mistakes have been made
somewhere. If there be one thing more
than another vexatious and annoying, it is
to discover, at the expiration of ten or twelve
years, that we have been, during all that pe-
riod, carefully nursing a lot of worthless
fruit trees.

It is, undoubtedly, the " legitimate busi-
ness" of nurserymen to procure and "and
propagate for sale every variety of fruit,"
said to possess " superior qualities." It is
full as much their business to test these
presumed claims to the favor of their pat-
rons, and not to sell either foreign or do-
mestic "trash," with a recommendation
wholly or partially untrue. Can it be pos-
sible that fhere are 500 pears, all so good
as to leave no chance for making great
mistakes in selecting twenty out of them ?
If the purchaser has the requisite experi-
ence, the thing is easily done ; but, if he
has Twt a knowledge of the good and bad,
and is to take for all truth the representa-
tions of catalogues, he runs the risk of
losing both his time and his money. Ho-
nesty and interest are not twin sisters ;
they too frequently come into direct con-
flict ; and when they do, the former is sure
to " go to the wall." Does not the nurse-
ryman know that there are not more than
30 or 40 varieties of the pear " really wor-
thy cultivationV Why, then, does he put
in his catalogue and offer for sale more
than 400 sorts besides, to each one of which
is attached some recommendatorj'^ phrase,
or word, as " excellent," " fine," " splen-
did," &c.? We are told that he does it
because the reputation of his nursery is es-
timated by the size of his catalogue ; the

people being very apt to believe that he
who figures largely in this way, is or mu9£
be quite an "eminent horticulturist." Va-
rieties are retained, known to be valueless,
because purchasers order them, and rivals
keep them for sale. Here are reasons, to
be sure, but what are they worth ?

It must be obvious, from what we have
said, that there is ample room for, and
great need of, a thorough reform in pomolo-
gy. About the fact itself there can be no
difference of opinion ; but when we come
to the question of the mode of doing it, dif-
ficulties instantly present themselves, and
the opposing interests of the rivalry of
trade will be prolific in starting obstacles
to any plan whatever. From the two lead-
ing horticultural societies, those of Penn-
sylvania and Massachusetts, the public had
a right to expect everything in the way of
regulating these matters, upon the question
of merit alone, regardless of all else. They
were " instituted mainly" for this very pur-
pose, and should never have deviated from
the path of right, in warning the inexperi-
enced of the "shoals and breakers," upon
which they are in danger of stranding.
They have permitted hundreds of novices
to be completel}*taken in, regularly shaved
" secundem artem^'' by remaining silent,
when they should have spoken, trumpet-
tongued, with the voice of experience, and
put forth a " friendly light" to guide the
unwary and the ignorant. Why have they
not done so? Why allowed '■^numberless
varieties of fruit to be exhibited at their
annual shows, known to be quite unworthy
of cultivationV^ It cannot be denied, with
truth, that these things are so ; and being
so, of what benefit is it to the societies, or to
any body, that scores of " worthless'''' fruit
are honored with a place upon their tables ?
We would understand the matter if we
can.

REMARKS ON THE ROT IN HARDY GRAPES.

I6i

As Mr. Downing has very justly re-
marked, horticultural societies are insti-
tuted " to advance the taste for the intelli-
gent culture of fruits and flowers." They
must do more, and direct that taste by the
well tried results of impartial investigation,
the basis of all true experience. At all
their exhibitions, certainly all we have ever
attended in this country, there has been
seen upon the tables too much indifferent
and poor fruit ; and we have always felt
puzzled to comprehend why it was permit-
ted to be here at all. The very fact that
this kind of fruit is placed before the pub-
lic, at these exhibitions, is in itself enough
to convince us of the great evil of the thing.
The amateur very naturally supposea that
the grower would not exhibit what was
worthless, or the society receive any such
trash. He sees a great many dishes of ap-
ples, or pears, and other varieties of fruit,
admires the looks of most of them, and
takes it for granted that the whole are cer-
tainly good, if not first rate j for if they
were had, they would not be where they
are. A society professing to regulate these
matters, is presumed to do it efTectually ;
and if its judges estimate an apple, a pear,
a peach, strawberries, or any other fruit as
good, bad, or indifferent, the public believe
it should be so marked, that they may know

and proflt by the experience of men of
competent and impartial judgment. True,
tastes may diffor ; but differ as they will, in
in some respects, the character o( first rate
fruits must ever remain the same, under
approved methods of cultivation.

As reform is the order of the day, we
trust the subject will receive all possible
attention at the convention shortly to be
held in the city of New-York. The objects
aimed at are assuredly of no little impor-
tance. Fruits from various sources and
localities are to be compared, doubtful
points settled, and their merits fairly de-
termined. Opinions are to be compared^
as to the value of numerous varieties al-
ready in cultivation, and what is of the
greatest consequence to all interested, the
long catalogue of indifferent and worthless
sorts, now propagated by nurserymen and
fruit grov/ers, is to be abridged by genera!
consent. In anticipation of what this con-*
vention may and can do, it must be re-
garded with favor. Its labors, if properly
directed and carried out, must be beneficial
to horticulture ; and the ultimate results,
necessarily following such interesting de-
liberations, will not fail to be of enduring
utility.

Wm. "W. Valk, m. u.

Flushing, L. I., Sept. 10, 1843.

REMARKS ON THE ROT IN HARDY GRAPES.

BY B., CHESTER CO., PENNSYLVANIA.

I OBSERVE some inquiries respecting the
" rof^ in the Isabella and Catawba grapes,
in your last number, and also an account
of an experiment by one of your correspond-
ents to prevent this disease.

The Catawba grape appears to be parti-
cularly liable to this disease. Indeed, in

some parts of the neighboring country, I
have seen it prevailing this year to such an
extent that the ground beneath the vines
is covered with the fallen berries, and the
crop is a total loss.

Noticing, two or three years ago, that
certain spots or patches of ground, in a

162

THE HARBY GALAUDE PEACH.

large vineyard, which was badly affected
by the rot, bore grapes perfectly free from
this disease, it occurred to my mind that
the malady was not, as many suppose,
wholly atmospheric; but arose from some
defect in the soil of those portions producing
the rotting grapes.

As it was not in my power, at the time,
to settle this point definitely, by having the
soils of the different parts analyzed, and the
analyses compared, I proceeded to make
a wholesale experiment, based upon the
known inorganic wants of the grape.

I have a small plantation of hardy grape
vines, put out at eight feet apart, and cover-
ing rows of upright trellis.

In order to make a satisfactory experi-
ment, I determined to treat every alternate
vine in some of the rows, and in other
cases parts of alternate rows.

The vines were in bearing condition,- —
each vine extending so as to cover a trellis
eight feet long by seven feet high.

The mixture I employed was the follow-
ing:— to each vine half a peck Peruvian
guano, half a peck gypsum or plaster, and
a peck of unslaked (or two pecks slaked,)
wood a^hes; the whole well mixed to-
gether.

This mixture, I conceived, would give
not only the necessary stimulants for
growth, but also the mineral substances,' —
lime, potash, phosphate, and sulphuric acid,

which I conceive especially necessary to
the formation of healthy foliage and fruit.

I applied it to the vines at the latter end
of March, by spreading it upon the surface
of the soil as soon as it was friable and
mellow, and turning it under, among the
roots, say four or five inches deep.

My first trial is this season. And al-
though I ought, perhaps, not to expect the
full results in one year, yet I am quite
satisfied that the rot may be prevented by
the use of special manures.

There is the most marked difference be-
tween the vines treated with this mixture
and those not treated. The former are
bearing a fine crop of firuit, of large size,
and almost entirely free from rot. The
latter are very badly affected with rot,
(especially the Catawba,) and the grapes
themselves are of much smaller size.

Now in which of the ingredients used,
the specific remedy for the rot is to be
found, or whether the whole together are
necessary to produce the desired effect, I
am unable to say. Perhaps you or some
of your correspondents will explain it more
clearly. Respectfully yours, B.

Chester county. Pa., Sept., 1848.

[Comparing this experiment with that
reported by " A Jerseyman," in our last, we
should suppose the gypsum to be the neces-
sary element in the soil, the want of which
gives rise to the rot. Ed.]

T« « » • >-

'HE HARDY GALAUDE PEACH.
BY PARSONS & CO., FLUSHING, L. I.

Some years since we received from France,
among other new fruits, a peach tree with
the above name. It fruited with us last
year for the first time, and we were so
much pleased with it that we determined

to cultivate it largely. It has fruited with
us again this year, and fully sustains its
character. We take pleasure in sending
you some specimens, with leaves.

The fruit is under the medium size, with

THE MEADOW PARK AT GENESEO.

163

rather a deep suture, which is sometimes
slightly irregular at the top. The skin is
somewhat downy, of a dark blood colour
on one side, and red, somewhat marbled
with yellow, on the other. The flesh parts
very freely from the stone where it is red,
and is yellow elsewhere. It is juicy and
rich, and quite unique in flavor, resembling
that of an apricot. Its flowers are small
and pink coloured. Its leaves have glo'
bose glands ; and it ripened last year three
weeks earlier than the present 1st of Sep-
tember. It is a most abundant bearer, even
on young trees, and is often produced in
clusters of four or five. We find this peach

different from the old Galaude, but know
nothing whatever of its history. It is, per-
haps, not so high flavored as George 4th,
but its peculiar apricot flavor and its great
productiveness, render it scarcely less de-
sirable to the lover of good fruit.

Parsons & Co.

Flushing, Sept. 1, 1848.

[The specimens arrived in excellent or-
der. The variety is correctly described by
Messrs. P. & Co., and we found it one of
the highest flavored yellow fleshed peaches
that we have yet seen. Ed.]

THE MEADOW PARK AT aUNESBO.

[see I'KONTISPIECE.]

All our country readers have heard of the
Genesee valley, its beauty, and its fertility.

The great agricultural estate of the
WadsWorth family, is the pride and centre
of this precious valley. That magnificent
tract, of thousands of acres of the finest
land, which surpasses in extent and value
many principalities of the old world ; those
broad meadows, where herds of the finest
cattle crop the richest herbage, or rest
under the deep shade of giant trees ', that
rich spectacle of immense fields of grain, or
luxuriant broad-foliaged maize, waving in
the wind and ripening in the sunshine ; all
this is felt by every visitor, to realise even
an ideal picture of agricultural life.

There is something stirring in the his-
tory of this immense landed estate. Over
the whole of its broad surface, as in the
pages of a great folio, are Written the
genius, the practical sagacity, and the taste
of the family which has formed it. It is.

too, a record truly American, of the subju-
gation of the forest, of the courage and ad-
vance of pioneer life, and of the wonderful
progress and present prosperity of that still
youthful region.

A little more than fifty years ago, the
whole of western New-York was a wilder-
ness. The Little Falls of the Mohawk waa
the western limit of cultivated lands. A
couple of white families only, had estab-
lished themselves where the populous
cities of Utica and Geneva now stand.

In 1790 the two brothers Wadsworth,
educated and sagacious men, foreseeing
the future value of this western wilderness,
sold their patrimonial estate in New-Eng-
land, and, with a band of hardy axemen,
penetrated the wilds, and settled where
Geneseo now stands.

Of the energy, intelligence, and practical
skill, with which their operations were there
conducted, this vast estate, alone, is a grand

THE MEADOW PARK AT GENESEO

monument. James Wadswortii, the father
of the present family, who survived his
brother, and lived to a ripe old age, had
the satisfaction of seeing, before his death,
the wisest and the most extravagant hopes
of his youth realized in the greatness and
prosperity of western New-York.

His own estate, covering many square
miles, is an example, rare in this country,
of the result of the principle of re-investing
upon the land the profits of extensive agri-
cultural industry. While other men of
wealth sought investments in cities and
monied institutions, Mr. WadswortH ad-
ded to his great landed estate, and im-
proved the value of that which he already
possessed.

The great farmer of Geneseo, at the pre-
sent moment, is his son, James S. Wads-
worth, Esq. Inheriting all his father's
strong love of rural life and agricultural
pursuits, he has added to them even more
science, system, and completeness in his
husbandry, which enables him to combine,
with the pleasure of extensive cultivation,
an annual profit from his land that would
satisfy a reasonable capitalist who moves
among stocks and bullion.

The farmer who, on a single occasion,
swelled the contribution of his countrymen
to the fund for the relief of a nation per-
ishing by famine, by the gift of a thousand
bushels of corn^ from his own well filled
granary, is as well known and warmly re-
membered on the other side of the Atlantic
for his philanthropy, as he is at home for
his earnest zeal in all enlarged plans for
the improvement of the calling or the con-
dition of the agriculturist.

We must, however, nut go into the de-
tails of farming, even on the large and
interesting scale which this first of occu-
pations is pursued in that fertile country.
We took up our pen to write a few words

of admiration of the grand sylvan featttres
of Geneseo. These, the farmers are but
too often apt to overlook.

The elder Wadsworth was, undoubtedly,
a man of great natural taste. His visit to
England, in 1796, may have developed his
love for fine trees and parks ; but no per-
sor?, not naturally full of admiration for
landscape beauty, would have preserved,
amid the general wantonness of all early
settlers, so much woodland beauty, in a
country then a wilderness, unless there
were a profound sense of the majesty and
beauty of nature in his own heart.

How shall we give those who have not
been at Geneseo an idea of the grandeur
and beauty of the great meadow park of
the Wadsworth estate ? Let them imagine
a broad valley, running north and south,
it is bounded on the east and west by
ground gently rising to the level of the
country. The valley itself is not broken,
or undulating, but nearly level, like a great
savannah. Through the midst of it mean-
ders the gentle, placid Genesee river.

On the eastern side of this valley, and
overlooking it, stands the village of Gene-
seo. It is a quiet, New-England-like vil-
lage, of a single long street, bordered with
trees. At the south end of this avenue
you enter the grounds and mansion of the
late Mr. Wadsworth. The exterior of the
latter is simple and unostentatious ; but its
interior breathes an air of the most refined
and graceful taste. At the northern end of
the village is the entrance gate of the man-
sion of James S. Wadsworth, Esq., an
admirable specimen of a complete country
house.

Both these mansions, placed nearly on
the same level on the eastern slope, com-
mand a wide prospect of this valley.

And what a prospect ! The whole of
that part of the valley embraced by the

THE MEADOW PARK AT GENESEO.

165

eye — say a thousand acres — is a yark^ full
of the finest oaks, — and such oaks as you
may have dreamed of, (if you love trees,) or,
perhaps, have seen in pictures by Claude
Lorraine, or our own Durand ; but not in
the least like those which you meet every
day in your woodland walks through the
country at large. Or rather, there are thou-
sands of such as you may have seen half a
dozen examples of in your own county.

And they are not only grand, majestic,
magnificent, noble trees — these oaks, — but
they are grouped and arranged just as you,
a lover of the beautiful, and we, a land-
scape-gardener, would have had them ar-
ranged, if we had had the taste of Sir Hum-
phrey Repton and the wand of an en-
chanter, and had attempted to make a bit
of country after our own heart.

No underwood, no bushes, no thickets;
nothing but single specimens or groups of
giant old oaks, (mingled with, here and
there, an elm,) with level glades of broad
meadow beneath them ! An Englishman
will hardly be convinced that it is not a
park, planted by the skilful hand of man
hundreds of years ago.

This great meadow park is filled with
herds of the finest cattle — the pride of the
home-farm. The guest at Geneseo takes
his seat in the carriage, or forms one of a
party on horseback, for the afternoon drive
over the ^^ flats," as the Genesee valley is
called.

Thus in readiness, you follow no roads, —
none are needed, indeed ; for the surface
of the great meadow park, for the most
part, is so smooth and level that you drive
here and there, to any point of interest, as
you please. To us, first of all, the trees
themselves, — many, beautiful in their rich
masses of foliage ; many, grand in their
wonderful breadth of head and branches ;
and some, majestic and venerable in their

great size and hoary old age. Near the
bank of the river still stands the great oak
" Big Tree,"* under which the first treaty
was signed between the Indians and the
first settlers of Geneseo. Its enormous
trunk measures 65 feet in circumference.
It still wears a healthy crown of leaves, and
is preserved with all the venerati n which
an object that awakens the sentiment of
antiquity inspires in a new country. Not
far from it stands the stump of a contempo-
rary, destroyed a few seasons before by the
elements. The annual rings of its trunk
tell the story of nine hundred years growlh !

You hear a loud shout from one of
the party on horseback. Immediately the
groups of cattle, quietly grazing in the
park, raise their heads and rush from all
quarters like a herd of mad buffaloes to-
wards your party! Do not be alarmed;
for, strange as it may seem to you, they are
most peaceably inclined, and are only gal-
loping round you at the well known call of
their master, who has accustomed them to
this little exhibition. You are now invited
to alight, if you are fond of fine stock, and
look at the good points of the cattle. And
there is, among the many fine specimens
around you, quite enough to drive all
thoughts of an afternoon's nap from the
head of the most indifferent breeder in the
country.

What is the solution, you ask, as you
resume your drive again, of the mystery of
this peculiar growth of the trees in this
great natural park ? Has Nature, who usu-
ally sows bushes and briars in thicket
and underwood amid the forest, taken it
into her head to set an example here to
planters of parks, and allowed only gigan-

* " Big Tree," was the name of the Indian chief, of the
tribe which originally lived in ih's part of the Genesee country.
The old chieftain has long since gone to the eternal "hunt-
ing- ground" of his fathers; but the tree; which was venera,
ble in his earliest youth, still survives him, and preserves liis
memory.

166

VALUABLE NEW NATIVE FRUITS.

tic trees and broad meadows to extend,
seemingly, to tke horizon ?

The tradition runs thus : This beautiful
valley was a favorite hunting ground of the
Indians. In order that they might render
it as perfect as possible for this purpose,
they were in the habit, every year at the
proper season, of lighting fires. These
fires swept over the whole surface, and de-
stroyed all the lesser forest growth. The

trees which survived, grew on, larger and
larger every year, until at length the whole
reached the condition of a great park, as it
was transferred to the white man.

There are many beautiful features in the
scenery of the broad state of New-York ;
but there is no picture of sylvan or pastoral
scenery daguerreotyped in our memory, at
once so fair, and so grand, as the meadow
park at Geneseo.

VALUABLE NEW NATIVE FRUITS.

I. THE BRANDYWINE PEAR.

For a knowledge of this delicious new
American pear, we are indebted to Dr.
Elwood Harvey, Chaddsford, Delaware
county, Pa., who has sent us an abundant
supply of specimens of the fruit, as well as
the leaves and wood.

Among the multitude of new varieties of
pears, both of foreign and native origin,
which are continually presented to public
notice, there are very few that really de-
serve general cultivation. When we say,
therefore, that not one in fifty is equal to
the Brandywine, we at once affirm that this
new variety must be placed among the few
finest American pears yet known. Although
we do not think a satisfactory and final
opinion can be passed upon a new pear,
without several seasons' experience of its
qualities, yet there are certain infallible
signs about the Brandywine, which con-
vince us that it is a most valuable new
standard pear, not surpassed in flavor by
any variety of its season.

The Brandywine ripens in Pennsylvania
from the 10th to the last of August, about
the same time as the Bartlett. Although
it will not compare in beauty with the lat-
ter variety, since its colour more nearly

resembles that of the Brown Beurre ; yet
its more juicy flesh, and rich and sprightly
flavor, will, we think, nearly compensate
for its less brilliant complexion. It keeps
well when picked from the tree, without
the slightest inclination to rot at the core,
(that defect of so many summer pears,) and
bears transportation admirably. The fol-
lowing is a pomological description of the
fruit :

Fruit of medium size, varying in form in
different specimens from Fig. 25 to Fig.
26; though Fig. 25 appears to be the ordi-
nary form. In all cases, the fruit tapers
gradually into the stalk, which is fleshy at
the base, and from three-fourths of an inch
to an inch and a half long, and rather
obliquely set. Skin smooth, dull yellowish
green, much marked with russet dots and
streaks, and always thickly russetted around
the eye. Calyx open, composed of few
segments, set in a smooth basin of moderate
depth. Flesh white, very melting, full of
sweet, rich and refreshing juice, with a
flavor like that of the White Doyenne and
Marie Louise combined. Core small, much
filled up ; seeds few, dark brown, often
imperfect. The leaves are rather small,
smooth, dark green, slightly serrate. The

VALUABLE NEW NATIVE FRUITS.

167

Fig. 25.

Brandywine Peart.

Fig. 26.

shoots pale olive. The tree a rapid grower,
and a most abundant bearer.

From some correspondence with Dr. Har-
vey, on this fruit, we extract his account of
the origin and habits of this variety: —

" The original tree of this pear was
found near a fence in a field on my father's
farm, (the late Eli Harvey.) It was trans-
planted when quite small to a garden on
the property of Geo. Brinton, then owned
by his grandfather Caleb Brinton. This
garden, on the banks of the Brandywine
river, is a part of the ground on which the
American army stood in the defence of our
country in the battle of Brandywine ; and
I therefore respectfully suggest the above
name as an appropriate one for the fruit.

" The tree began to bear fruit about the
year 1820, and in 1835 the original trunk
blew down near the surface of the ground.
The present tree is a sucker, or shoot, which
sprung up from the root, and has now been
in bearing four or five years. If any doubt
could have arisen as to its being a seedling,
such is forever set at rest by the fact that
this shoot sprung from a root several feet
from the old stump, and bears the same
kind of fruit.

"The tree is a very thrifty one, and a very
rapid grower. The shoots are long and
upright, forming a handsome head, which
tapers upwards to a point. Fruit always
perfect, and of uniform size and quality.
The tree a regular, and rather an abundant

168

VALUABLE NEW NATIVE FRUITS.

bearer. The specimens I send you are not
picked ones, but a fair average sample.
No trees of this pear have yet been propa-
gated for sale, I have a few growing well
on quince stock, but they have not yet
fruited. Very respectfully, your friend,
" Elwood Harvey.
" Chaddsford, Pa., Sept. 4, 1848."

II. THE SUMMER BELLEFLEUR* APPLE.

A capital new summer apple of the first
quality, ripening from the middle of Au-
gust to the middle of September.
It was raised by Mr. John R. Com-
STOCK, a large orchardist of Wash-
ington, Dutchess county, N. Y., from
a kernel of that favorite old New-
York apple — the Esopus Spitzerv-
bjirgh. Six seeds of that variety
were planted by Mr. C, but this is
the only fine new sort produced. It
has borne now four years, producing
good and regular crops every year.
The tree is a remarkably strong,
upright grower in the nursery, and
forms a fine spreading head in the
orchard.

The fruit bears considerable re-
semblance, in form and colour, to
the Yellow Bellefleur, but the flavor
more nearly resembles that of its pa-
rent, though the flesh is more tender
than that of the Spitzenburgh. It is deci-
dedly superior in flavor to the Porter or
the Williams^ Favorite, or any summer ap-
ple of its season, and ripens before either
of these popular autumn apples. Its hand-
some appearance, fine quality, and most
excellent habit of bearing and growth, will
undoubtedly soon bring it into popular

* Those of our readers who prefer the popular mode of
pronunciafion, may call ihis Bellflower, though Bellefleur is
the correct orthography for this class of apples.

favor as a first rate summer apple,
both for the orchard and garden.* As a
market fruit, it will prove extremely valua-
ble.

Fruit rather above medium size, round-
ish-oblong, slightly conical, narrowing more
to the eye than to the stalk, and having
two or three obscure ribs. Skin smooth,
fair, clear yellow, deepening from lemon to
a golden colour, with rarely a faint orange
blush on one side or the top, and a very
few scattered greenish dots. Stalk an inch

Fig. ^1 .—Summer Bellefleur.

long, stout at the lower end, and planted
in a shallow, flattened cavity. Calyx closed,
but with small reflexed segments, set in a
smooth, but slightly five-sided basin. Core
of moderate size, hollow, with small seeds.
Flesh white, fine grained and tender, with
an excellent, rich, sub-acid flavor of the
first quality.

* Mr. CoMsTocK has, we believe, propagated trees of this
variety for sale.

TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES.

169

ON TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES.

BY HENRY H. CRAPO, NEW-BEDFORD, MASS.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: The sea- 1 for the growth of particular trees. The soil

son for transplanting trees, and, conse-
quently, the time for planting out fruit
trees in gardens and orchards, having ar-
rived, a word or two upon the subject may
not perhaps be altogether amiss at the pre-
sent time. Although great improvements,
in every branch of horticulture, have been
brought about within the last few years,
still it must be admitted that very much
remains yet to be done. And in nothing,
perhaps, is this more true than in the plant-
ing out of fruit trees. Many persons seem
to think that this is an absolute loss of both
labor and money, inasmuch as no benefit
can possibly accrue to themselves in return
for either. And, acting upon this princi-
ple, they suffer the trees, planted by the
hands of others, to disappear from their
premises, one after another, without ever
attempting to replace them. This, at least,
is the fact in many of the older settled sec-
tions of New-England.

But, is it true that he who plants an or-
chard may not hope to live to reap its bene-
fits ? Certainly not. On the contrary, if
the work be v^ell done, he may reasonably
hope to enjoy almost an immediate return.
To ensuve this most desirable end, however,
the whole work must be well done; and
herein lies the secret.

To begin, then, at the beginning, the
soil for the growth of fruit trees should be
selected not from the poorest, (as is most
generally the case,) but from the best land
which the cultivator possesses ; reference,
of course, being always had to the differ-
ent kinds of soil and situation best adapted
Vol. III. 11

should be properly prepared and enriched,
by being well manured and thoroughly
worked, not merely for the space of a few
feet where the tree is to stand, but the en-
tire surface of the whole ground. Neither
should the working of the soil be confined
to a few inches of the surface, but should
extend to the depth of at least eighteen
inches; which, for the garden, may be
done with a spade, but for the orchard or
more extensive culture, with the common
and subsoil ploughs. For this deep work-
ing, a few loads of coarse manure to the
acre will not suffice. A liberal supply, in
the first instance, is required that not merely
a small portion, but the entire surface of the
ground may be enriched to the depth of at
least one foot.

Previously to setting out the trees, the
ground should be repeatedly stirred to the
depth already stated, and sufficient time
given for the different soils to become
thereby well pulverised and intermixed.
When the ground is thus prepared, the
trees should be selected for their health
and vigor, rather than for their age and
size. Upon this point a very great error
prevails, at least in many places. A
healthy vigorous tree, two years from the
bud, will, in nine cases out of ten, make a
strong bearing tree sooner than one of three
times that age. The reason is very obvi-
ous, inasmuch as far less violence is done
to the nature and constitution of a good
young tree, by being removed from one
situation to another, and perhaps a very
different one, than to one that has become

170

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

more fixed and established by age. In the
one case the young tree, planted with its
roots and branches almost entire, very
readily establishes itself, and proceeds at
once to make rapid and vigorous growth ;
whilst in the other, the older and larger
tree, having necessarily been deprived of
many of its roots, requires several years to
recover from the shock occasioned by its
removal. The notion that the larger a tree
is when planted out, the sooner it will pro-
duce fruit, is entirely erroneous. Although,
perhaps, for the first year or two a few soli-
tary specimens maybe produced, yet these
will hardly compensate for the loss that is
sure to follow. Besides, the original cost
of the older and larger trees is much great-
er than that of the younger and smaller
ones.

If young and healthy trees are selected,
and properly transplanted in soil prepared
as already directed, and if they are subse-
quently kept free from insects, and the
ground clear of weeds and occasionally cul-
tivated, fruit may be expected in three to
five or six years, according to the kind
of fruit under cultivation ; and in ten or
twelve years productive orchards of large,
vigorous trees may be obtained, from which
may be derived not only the satisfaction of

beholding the work of our own hands, and
enjoying the fruit of our own labors, but,
to many, the no less desirable satisfaction
of receiving an abundant and profitable re-
turn for a limited outlay.

These considerations, certainly, should
stimulate every one who has a few acres,
or even roods of land, at once to plant fruit
trees; and not only from these considera-
tions should he be induced to do so, but
from the no less important one that it is
the duty of all to leave, for the benefit of
those who may come after them, some-
thing in return for what they have enjoyed
from those who have gone before them.

Respectfully yours, Henry H. Crapo.

New-Bedford, Sept. 12, 1848.

P. S. In the September number of the
Horticulturist, Mr. Barry states that the
Onondaga pear tree grows admirably on
the quince stock. On the 15th of June
last, the time my communication was writ-
ten, which appeared in the August number,
and to which Mr. Barry refers, the growth
of the Onondaga on the quince, with me,
had been precisely as there stated ; since
which, however, my trees have done much
better, and have made a fair growth. I
now think that this pear may succeed upon
the quince.

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

BY GEORGE GLENNY.*

This plant derives its chief attraction from
the particular season in which it blooms.
It is showy and varied, but it has neither
elegance of habit, nor symmetry of form,
nor fragrance to recommend it. The most
remarkable of the flowers are notorious for
their deformity, and although we have now
British seedling varieties coming something

* From the London Hon. Mag.

nearer to a proper standard, we are far from
attaining what must be the character of the
plant and flower before it can be ranked
among the better class of florists' flowers.

Although a Chinese plant, our English
varieties will soon outnumber and excel the
original, and it will be, like the Camellia
japo)iica, essentially English, or, at least,
European, before many ) ears pass over our

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

171

Fig. 27.— 27ie Chrysanthemum.

heads. The plants are valuable, as out-of-
door ornaments in mild autumns, for they
succeed the dahlia ; and although a very-
severe frost will destroy foliage and flow-
ers, they will live through a frost which
will cut off the dahlia past recovery. They
are, strictly speaking, half-hardy, but their
beauty is frequently spoiled just as they
are commencing their bloom. The plants,
if grown in the ordinary way, are too tall
to be handsome, and the lower leaves
wither and turn brown before the blooms
come to perfection, even when the season
is suitable. This can only be counteracted
by means of particular culture, and we can
only accomplish an improvement in the
habit by carefully counteracting the general
tendency of the plant to grow lanky and
tall. In herbaceous borders, where the
subjects are allowed to spread and throw
up annually large bundles of stems, and
where the general collection of masses
bloom year after year in large heads, the
appearance of the chrysanthemum is very
showy ; and in such places they are undis-
turbed three or four years together ; but
this can be hardly called cultivation, — a
hundred subjects that make very striking
flowers under high culture, are but rough,
though showy masses of bloom, when al-
lowed to take their own choice. The car-

nation, pink, picotee, auricula, polyanthus,
primrose, hyacinth, tulip, narcissus, and
many other subjects which are noble under
rich and judicious growth, spread and be-
come large masses when left a few seasons,
and, however pretty in these wilderness-
like borders, possess no claims to notice for
their individual flowers, nor for the form of
their plants: yet, propagated yearly, or
separated every season, or dug up and re-
planted properly and periodically, they pre-
serve a character which is as superior as it
is unlike the diminutive blossoms that come
in hundreds. The chrysanthemum, then,
has to be looked upon in different stations ;
first, as a perennial herbaceous plant, in
common borders, growing in masses; se-
condly, as a dwarf showy plant, sufficiently
protected to preserve its foliage in choice
clumps or flower borders ; thirdly, as a pot
plant, to bloom under cover, and to be re-
moved wherever flowers are wanted.

AS HERBACEOUS PLANTS.

In all large concerns there are portions of
the ground, especially distant from the
dwelling, laid out as rough borders, in
which herbaceous plants that require no
culture are planted, to grow, spread, and
bloom, year after year. Hollyhocks, Mi-
chaelmas daisies, Aaron's golden rod, pe-
rennial lupins, everlasting peas, early prim-

172

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

roses, monk's-hood, digitalis, and a hundred
other plants that die down and come up
again, are planted and left without any
other culture than forking the borders after
they begin to grow, and giving an occa-
sional dressing of some kind of manure.
The chrysanthemum ought to be among
them, and form no small proportion of the
whole. The yellow, primrose, white, red,
brown, purple, and various other shades,
may be planted in the spring. The ground
ought not to be rich ; vigorous growth is
very much against hardiness. The plant
that will live through a frost in poor ground,
will perish in the same temperature if the
land be rich. This has been found by the
growers of brocoli. In hard winters acres
have been cut off in rich ground, while that
in less exciting soil has escaped. U the
border is anything like good ordinary loam,
it is better, merely to see that it is well
drained, and plant without any dung or
dressing. As the plants advance in height
stakes should be placed to tie them up to, so
that they may not be broken by high winds,
and in due time, if frost does not intervene,
they will flower the first year, though not
very strong. After the bloom is fairly off,
and the beauty of the plant gone, they may
be cut down to within four inchps of the
ground, and, if the weather be very severe,
and litter can be had handy, a little thrown
over the herbaceous border will protect
many half-hardy subjects from damage.
But there are many who do not think it
worth the trouble, and therefore let all
things take their chance. In the spring
the plants shoot up much stronger, and re-
quire the same care as to tying to stakes ;
but in these rough borders a single stake is
generally all that is bestowed, the branches
being merely tied somewhat loosely to-
gether, something like a wheatsheaf, for
the head of bloom covers all over the top,
and looks best in a mass, besides being less
damaged by hard weather. In this way,
year after year, the plants will grow up
and spread until they form huge bunches,
with great masses of flowers ; and, when
they become too large, they may be les-
sened by taking some of the roots away, all
round, with the plants attached to them.
This may be done by chopping off with the
spade ; the pieces chopped off may be plant-

ed out elsewhere, or be used to mate good
any that are damaged or have died. The
same management would apply also to all
the other herbaceous plants of the kind,
but our business is with the chrysanthe-
mum.

IN POTS AS DWARF FLOWEBING PLANTS.

We have already described how the cut-
tings are to be taken and treated up to the
filling of the first pots with roots. At the
time when they are turned out as we have
described for the beds and clumps, when
dwarfing is an object, a certain portion may
be continued in pots, but they will at that
period require to be shifted into other pots
a size larger. Nothing more need be done
than striking the edge of the pot against
the potting-table, while held the wrong
way upwards ; the ball will leave the pot
whole. The crocks need not be disturbed,
but a few being placed at the bottom of the
new pot, and enough earth to just cover
them, the ball may be placed in whole, as
deep as may be, and the soil filled in all
round, up as high as the edge of the new
pot ; if the soil come higher up the plant
than before, so much the better ; a gentle
watering to settle the new earth round the
ball will be necessary, and they may be
then placed again in their out-of-door lo-
cality, attention being paid to their occa-
sional moisture. They will all be more or
less dwarf, according to the season, but in
the general way they require no other at-
tention. We have already stated that the
time to take these cuttings may be June,
July, or August ; some, indeed, may be
taken as late as September. It would be
always found that the latest struck cuttings
were the most dwarf when they bloomed,
but it will be sometimes found difficult to
strike the latest, and this is our chief rea-
son for striking at different seasons. There
will be no difficulty in procuring cuttings
from the pots or out-of-door plants, but they
answer better from potted plants, because
they are always forwarder. They may
again fill their pots with roots, and require a
shift, but they ought to bloom in thirty-two
sized pots, that is, pots of thirty-two to the
cast, and technically called thirty-twos, and
if they fill ever so much with roots, they
must not be shifted into any larger, be-
cause you rather wish to check the growth

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

in

iKari encourage it. In September the frost
may come pretty sharply, and damage pot-
ted plants, so that about the middle of that
month they should be placed in frames, and
carefully closed and covered at night, on
the least sign of severe weather ; but if this
be not expected or likely, the glass is
covering enough. The latest struck cut-
tings may be kept under glass all through,
for as they may be potted off the first time
as late as the end of August, they cannot
draw up much, but they ought to have all
the air that can be given in mild weather
and only be closed in cold winds, and of
evenings towards the middle or end of Sep-
tember ; after this period they will show
their bloom-buds, and when these once ap-
pear the plants do not grow materially. If
fine flowers are the object, they must not
be checked with cold, and many persons
make up a house full of them, and regulate
the temperature with great exactness. It
will, however, always be found that the
less artificial heat they have, the better
will be the colour of the flowers and foli-
age, and the latter will be retained best on
the stems; which, in spite of the best ma-
nagement, will shrivel, turn yellow, or fall
off altogether, when the plant is attempted
to be forced, or, by the neglect of the wa-
tering, gets starved. It has been the cus-
tom of many nurserymen to take off cut-
tings as soon as they were strong enough ;
but the great object of taking cuttings is
lost under this treatment. The plants run
up nearly as tall as if they were not taken
off at all, but were left to grow their full
height ; whereas, when their growth is half
made, or even more than half, the tops
have so much less to do, that they form
really dwarf specimens when of the tallest
kinds. Some, who appear to lose sight of
the object in view, or, perhaps, never
thought of it seriously, recommend cuttings
to be taken in April, fancying, perhaps,
they have made a great discovery, when
they find that April cuttings strike more
freely : but they answer no purpose, be-
cause in April they are scarcely any length,
while the June, July, and August cuttings
are taken from the top of shoots two feet
long. Now, we will not say that the top
of a shoot two feet long, that would only
grow to three feet if left on, would only

grow the other foot, because fresh impulse
gives vigorous growth; but they will not
grow one-half the length that April cuttings
would, nor be half the trouble. The flow-
ers as they advance and begin to open, be-
come still more susceptible of damage by
frost, and the prevention of this is the only
care required at this late period of their
cultivation. The nurserymen put them in
houses, and give them a little heat, but the
object is to bring them into flower earlier
than they would come otherwise, and not
with any hope of bringing them finer.
Those in houses will commence flowering
in October and November, and continue
until some unlucky frost gets to them, or
they may be removed from time to time
into the places their flowers may be wanted
in. But the culture of chrysanthemums
may be considered complete, up to the
period when the buds swell, and the flowers
are opening ; the plants seldom grow much
after that, unles they are in heat, and
shaded, and this should always be avoided
as much as possible, for the stems by elon-
gating throw the leaves farther apart, and
destroy the shrubby habit, which is, whe-
ther natural or artificially produced, essen-
tial to the beauty of the plant.

INCREASING THE BUSHY HABIT.

Although we may obtain from cuttings
much more free growth and larger flowers,
and by taking them late keep the plants
very dwarf without topping, they may also
be dwarfed a good deal more by topping
the strong shoots, and encouraging laterals.
This is resorted to chiefly for large speci-
mens, but the small potted plants that we
have been treating of may be topped as
soon as they are fairly established, and the
side branches grow more numerous, and
get forwarder than they would otherwise.
The plant becomes more bushy, but the
foliage and flowers come smaller. In short,
we obtain more branches and bloom, but we
sacrifice size to number, and sometimes it
will be found necessary to top the laterals
as well, for they would grow nearly as long
as the original shoot would, and we have
known plants so managed difficult to bloom
at all until very late in the winter. The
way to manage these with the best chance
of success, is to take one of the plants from
the July cuttings, and as soon as it is plant-

174

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

ed out from the cutting-pot, and well estab-
lished again, take off the top, leaving
three inches, or if the plant be as short
as that, merely pinch out the heart ; as
the laterals come out to the same length
as the old plant was, they require to be
stopped in the same manner, and in their
turn will give out their laterals ; and where
these cross one another, or are in the way
of each other, or are too thick for their
general appearance, they should be re-
moved entirely ; but this may be continued
so as to prevent flowering altogether, so
that when the plant has become moderately
bushy, all the shoots should be allowed to
go up to bloom, and that without forcing,
or heat of any kind, but merely protected
from the weather by a frame and glass,
and allowed all the air,

DWARFING LARGE SPECIMENS WITHOUT STRI-
KING.

We cannot prevent large plants from
growing to a considerable height, but we
can at least check them a third of the ele-
vation they would acquire in an ordinary
Way. The pots which have contained the
plants of last year are at the close of the
bloom placed in winter quarters, and the
plants are cut down to within a little of the
soil. In the spring, when these begin to
grow, they should be turned out of these
pots, trimmed, the top surface of the soil
taken away, pots a size larger should be
procured, fresh drainage and fresh soil ap-
plied to the plants, the soil pressed well
round the ball of earth, which if much
bound should be loosened; the whole should
be well watered to close the earth about
the roots, and the pots should then be re-
placed in the pit or frames they were in
before ; these plants will in general throw
up more shoots than are wanted, a selec-
tion of the strongest and best should be
made after they have grown up a little, and
all the lanky ones should be removed alto-
gether. As they all advance they may be
allowed to grow until the earliest cuttings
are wanted, and the strongest shoots may
be topped for that purpose. The length to
which the shoots are shortened should be
different; and in proportion to their strength
the strongest should be left a good deal
longer than the weakest, because they are
capable of supporting the greater number

of lateral branches, but the tallest should
not be more than six or eight inches high,
and the weaker ones not more than half
the height ; they may now be put out of
doors, in the same way that young plants
are, in the shade a little, and watering
must be attended to. These plants v/ill be
considerably shorter, and more bushy in
their habit, and bear a great many more
flowers. Bui there is no way of producing
the chrysanthemum so well, so elegant, in
such good colour and condition as to foliage
and flower, as that of taking the tops of the
shoots at different seasons, and growing
them without heat.

PROPERTIES OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM.

We expect a sort of remonstrance against
the properties which we shall set down as
desirable in the chrysanthemum, because
the forms of the present varieties are as
numerous as were those of the dahlia when
the published rules first set to rest the proper-
ties of that universal favorite. There were
among them at that time anemone-flowered,
China-aster-flowered, globe-flowered, sin-
gle, and sewi-double, flat, starry, and rag-
ged flowers, to say nothing of colours.
In the chrysanthemum, we are told in
a very recent publication, that there are
the ranunculus-flowered, the incurved, the
China-aster-flowered, the marigold-flower-
ed, the clustered, and the tasselled, all of
which, except the ranunculus-flowered, are
untidy and flimsy. Great efforts have been
made to bring these flowers into notice, and
shows have been established at which the
judges have not known by what rules to
award the prizes, or which flower was the
best. We aflirm with great submission to
those who pride themselves on this flower,
that it is impossible to select one less fit to
exhibit, cut from the plant, and that indi-
vidually there is nothing to hope for in the
bloom itself that should raise it to the dig-
nity of a florist's flower ; but as there is
great merit in growing the plant well in
pots only, and as the plant is showy when
there is a scarcity of bloom in a house,
they ought always to be shown in pots
only, and the merits of the plant be taken
into account quite as much as that of the
bloom, and as such we shall notice both.

1. The plant should be dwarf, shrubby,
well covered with green foliage to the bot-

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE.

175

lorn, the leaves broad and bright, the flow-
ers well displayed at the end of each
branch, come in abundant quantity, and be
well supported by the stems.

2. The flower should be round, double,
high in the crown, perfect in the centre,
without disk or confusion, and of the form
of half a ball.

3. The individual petals should be thick,
smooth, broad, circular at the ends, accord-
ing with the circle of the flower, the inden-
tations where they meet hardly perceptible.

4. The petals must not show their un-
der sides by quilling, and should be of such
firm texture as will retain them all in their
places.

Size of bloom to be large in proportion to
the foliage, but the size only to be con-
sidered when plants are in all other re-
spects equal.

The properties we have described bring
a good flower under one of the two classes,
ranunculus-flowered, or marigold-flowered,
and therefore we pronounce the tas>elled,
the quilled, the incurved, and all ragged
and confused varieties, as well as all those
which exhibit a disk, to be inferior to the
other flowers in all the points in which their
deficiencies can be recognised, and sincerely
hope that there may in a few seasons be a
sufficient number of good ones to enable us
to banish them altogether as show flowers.

A FEW OF THE BEST CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

A society has at length been formed in
the Metropolis for the encouragement of
this autumnal visitor, and we have been
gratified with a sight of chrysanthemums
as large as medium-sized dahlias. The
capabilities of this flower are but little
known by ordinary dealers ; for we have
been to the advertised collections of Messrs.
Chandler, said to be the best, and we are
bound to say that we there saw nothing to
tempt us to grow the chrysanthemum, ex-
cept as an out-of-door subject to prolong the
lively appearance of the garden after the
dahlias are over. The lanky branches,
only half furnished with discoloured leaves,
even in the best we saw, rendered them
very ugly in pots, and those who do not see
them grown as they may be grown, will
not be tempted to adopt them as a stock
flower in collections. Since the properties
of the chrysanthemum were laid down a

few years since, the foreigners appear to
have chosen their new varieties better, and
there are some approaching the standard.
As a proof of the difference between well-
grown and ill-growa specimens : we had
made a descriptive list for the purpose of
publication, from the collection at the Vaux-
hall Nursery, and after attending the show
of the Chrysanthemum Society, held at the
Rochester Castle, Stoke Newington, we
threw our list into the fire ; we will givQ a
specimen of the discrepancy.

The Clustered Yellow. — *' Bright yel-
low, flowering in clusters, with soft quilled
petals, standing out like irregular rays ;
these in some places thick ; in others thin,
so that the flower never forms a circle;
hard, confused eye, with petals undevelop-
ed ; abundant bloom."

Perhaps the above description, taken
honestly from scores of plants at Vauxhall,
is as unjust as could be written; but it
seems that the chrysanthemum, like many
other subjects, wants more care than nurse-
rymen will bestow. Clustered yellow was
in all the winning stands, and there were
many pots of it besides, and our descrip-
tion from well-grown specimens would be
thus : —

Clustered Yellow. — A noble, round,
bright yellow flower; very full on the face,
with exceedingly good centre petals, in-
clined to cup, and altogether one of the
best show flowers, according to the proper-
ties laid down.

Goliah, anoiher grand flower, was exhi-
bited, as large a.- a middling sized dahlia.
The petals of this flower curl upwards and
turn over inwards, showing the back of the
petal, but very uniformly closing into as
splendid a bloom as ever we saw, forming
almost a cone, but rounded. The colour is
pale, but it is darkened gradually on one
side, like an apple or other fruit; the
shading is so gradual though it deepens.
The centre of this flower is good, though
made up as it were by the curling petals
meeting in the middle. We are quite
within bounds in saying that Goliah was
four inches across, and beautifully formed,
the outline as true as a drawn circle.

Two COLOURED iJscuRVED is a noble flow-
er, thp front of the petals one colour, the
back another, and all the petals sufficiently

176

REVERSE BUDDING, &c.

incurved to show the backs. The face is
rather hollow, but it is a bright looking
flower in a stand.

One of the neatest and best formed of all
is Annie Saltee ; a small flower, bright
yellow, with reflexed petals, laying well,
and forming two-thirds of a ball. There is
nothing among the whole tribe so com-
pletely a show flower as this little pet,
though it is very small compared with
many favorites.

Most of the chrysanthemums in present
cultivation, even the best, have curled, or,
as they are called, incurved pptals ; gene-
rally loose and irregular ; but there are a
few and very few, that make up well, that
is to say, that are symmetrical when full
bloomed, and form a sort of half-globular
flower, close enough to pass well in a
stand. The publication of the names of
these will give our Continental friends a
good notion of what will pass current among
florists; and we strongly advise all who
intend to commence the cultivation of this
flower, to confine themselves entirely to
those we mention until they see something
better, for the descriptions now publishing
are altogether false, and we in vain, in a
very large collection, sought for more ; we
proceed, however, to describe them.

Campestroni, purplish red, very full, to-
lerably round ; a good full size, showing
the dull under sidfe of the petal by reason
of its curling, the centre full of petals, but
sunk.

Beauty is after the fashion of Goliah,
but not so compact. The flower forms well,
because, although the centre is thin, the

petals curl over, and make up a nice gl
lar and somewhat rich looking flower.

King is blush pink, curling like others,
but making up into a showy, bold, round,
good flower ; centre pretty round, and gene-
ral appearance rich.

Arisiides is a fine orange coloured me-
dium sized flower, very bold and full, desi-
rable on account of its being the best of its
colour, and showable.

Defiance, large white, forms a good
round flower by the petals curling inwards,
so that the outside of them is shown ; the
petals are not so thick as some, but the
style is very pretty.

LuciDUM, a blush white ; made up much
in the same way by the petals curling in-
wards ; full sized, and very pretty.

Formosa is also a very pretty white, but
not so large as some others ; forms a nice
globular flower, although the petals are not
so full as many of the sorts.

These few are all that we should grow
of the great number we have seen, and all
we should recommend others to grow.
There may be some new ones to come out
in the season, and one especially that we
at present do not know the name of, but
which we mean to recommend to make up
a dozen. It is of no use recommending a
parcel of misshapen flowers that present no
good qualities. It is wasting ground, and
pots, and house room to cultivate them.
As, however, there are some who may wish
to buy less than a dozen, the principal ob-
ject will be to judge from the above de-
scriptions which are the best, regard being
had to diversified colours.

ON REVERSE BUDDING, AND CURIOUS GROWTHS IN TREES.

BY ROBERT BALMANNO, BROOKLYN, N. Y.

Sir — When I was on a visit to England,
about twelve years ago, I took occasion to
make some inquiries respecting the Weep-
ing Ash, and I observed in a nursery, near
the city of Derby, the manner in which
artificial trees of that species are produced.

It is effected by inserting about half a dozen
buds, near the top of a young stock, re-
versing the usual and natural mode in
which buds are inserted. That is to say,
the bud is introduced upside down !

After these buds have struck, and are

REVERSE BUDDING, &c.

177

beyond the chance of failure, all the shoots
beloio are carefully pruned away, and the
top of the tree aboVe is cut short off, leaving
the shoots, from the reversed buds, droop-
ing downwards ; and, to prevent them from
turning up, which they inevitably would,
by the force of the law of nature, they are
kept down by means of a hoop, until the
branches become firm, hard wood.

I made some inquiry of Mr. Paxton, of
Chatsworth, respecting this process, and
found it had long been practiced in Eng-
land.

You are, no doubt, aware that that gen-
tleman had transplanted a weeping ash, of
gigantic propor'.ions and of the natural spe-
cies, conveying it upwards of twenty miles,
into the park of his patron, the Duke of
Devonshire. It was a question for some
time, with many people, whether a tree of
such vast dimensions could be transplanted
successfully ; but,

" Heaven sent it happy dew,
Earth lent it sap anew,
Broadly to burgeon and gayly to grow."

Mr. Paxton knew what he was about in
that, as in everything else he undertakes,
from the minutest flower that grows, to the
loftiest tree, the largest conservatory in Eu-
rope, or the Emperor fountain, which throws
up a column of water two hundred and sixty-
seven feet, — being considerably higher than
the top of the spire of Trinity church, New-
York, and leaving all other fountains in the
world far beneath it.

A few years ago, whilst residing at Ge-
neva, N. Y., I budded some cherry trees in
my garden, in the manner above mentioned,
but being my first attempt on trees, (I had
succeeded with other and livelier sorts of
buds !) very few of them struck ; and I left
Geneva before I had fairly tested the ex-
periment.

I spoke on the subject to Mr. Phalen,
a nurseryman in Brooklyn, N. Y., last Jul}-,
who said he had tried it, and failed; as
the twigs turned upwards. But, on inquir-
ing whether he had hooped them, he ad-
mitted he had not, and that it never oc-
curred to him. He immediately set to
work, and budded some cherry stocks in
the manner I recommended, and has no
doubt whatever, that by coopering them
they may be converted into weepers.

Mr. Phalen, however, showed me a spe-
cies of natural weeping cherry tree, intro-
duced by the late Mr. Pakmentier, but I
did not much admire it; the fruit was
small, and sour, and the top, although
inclining downwards, was rather brushy.
Would it not be desirable to try the
experiment on other fruits besides cher-
ries 1

Mv anxiety on this subject arises from a
great and growing regard in favor of the
fair sex ; for, as they were the first who
taught man to pluck, I think it is but right
that we, in return for that accomplishment,
should try to bring these sweet rivals of
their lips into nearer proximity, and not
expose our far better halves to danger by
clambering up ladders, to rend or stain
their dresses, and the far greater risk of a
fall!

With reference to this mode of reverse
budding, it now seems a little singular that
I did not sooner recollect that line of Pope,
which has become an universal proverb,
almost as much as if it had been written
by the son of David himself. Indeed, so
scriptural does it read, that a gentleman of
my acquaintance once heard the late Rev.
Dr. Gardiner, of Boston, preach a most
admirable sermon from it. His exordium
being — " Dearly beloved, the words of my
text are,

' As the twig is bent, the tree's inclin'd.' "

178

REVERSE BUDDING, &c.'

May I therefore be permitted to solicit
your attention, and that of your readers,
to this fine text, entreating them to bear
it in mind and practice it, for those dear
and fruitful vines whom they have so
solemnly sworn to cherish !

Although the button-ball yields seed,
it bears no fruit ; yet it bears on this
question, inasmuch as when I was first
in Oxford, I noticed in the garden of the
inner quadrangle of New College, some
very singular trees of that description.
The lower part of some of them sprang
from the ground in one large bole, then
separated into two, three, and four, uni-
ting again into one ; others had two and
three stems, which soon united into one,
then separated, and afterwards united a -^^^
few feet higher up, presenting altogether ^fe?r^%a^:p^^"^m
the most fantastic and whimsical appear-
ance of any trees I ever beheld. The
gardener, a very old man, who had been
acquainted with the college all his life,
could give no account by what means these
singularities Avere produced. All I could
get out of him was, that they were so
when he was a child, and that " the man's
head who planted them never ached!"

I regret to learn that these curiosities
have since been cut down; but if you
should think one of them worth inserting,
I herewith transmit you a drawing, which
I made on the spot in August, 1821, (Fig.
28.) Above the part represented, the tree
was healthy and luxuriant. There were,
at the time, several equally fantastic.

I may also mention that there was lately
growing in a garden in Water-street, Ge-
neva, N. Y., a magnificent elm of very
large dimensions ; and at about four feet
from the ground, a limb of perhaps 18
inches diameter, shot out horizontally, even
with the surface of the ground, full 20 feet ;

Fig. 28. — Lower part of one of tlie curious Sycamore Trees,
in the garden of New College, Oxford.

and from that horizontal limb, two others
grew up vertically, at a right angle, as
straight as an arrow ! Altogether, this
noble tree had so singular an appear-
ance, that I transferred it to my sketch
book.

And now, I would be^ leave to ask, are
these two instances orthodox illustrations
of the text — "As the twig is bent, the
tree's inclin'd," or are they not ?

Robert Balmanno.

Brooklyn, L. I., Sept. 6, 1848.

[The original weeping ash tree is (ac-
cording to Loudon,) an accidental variety,
from seed in Cambridgeshire ; and trees of
it, in the nurseries, are propagated by graft-
ing in the usual manner. We have once
before heard of this effect, as having been
artificially produced by reverse budding;
and Mr. Balmanno's account is very inte-
resting to the curious amateur. Ed.]

COTTAGES AND COTTAGE LIFE.

179

REVIEWS.

Cottages and Cottage Life : containing Plans
for Country Houses, &c., with some Sketches of
Life in this Country. By C. W. Elliott. Cii>
cinnati, H. W. Derby k. Co. New- York, A. S.
Barnes &. Co. 1 vol., 8vo., 226 pages.
This is the first volume on architecture
from the western " Alleghania," and we
hail it with pleasure, as an evidence of
more than a dawning taste in rural embel-
lishment. In a country where tens of thou-
sands of human habitations, in some shape
or other, are built every year, — where, in
fact, the great business of life is to " settle"
and build, in some mode or other, it is not
a matter of indifference how building is
performed.

It is a handsomely executed and inviting
looking actavo, which comes to us from
Cincinnati, intended for the assistance of
those who are interested in " Cottages and
Cottage Life,"

The plan of the author, so far as we are
able to gather it, from a perusal of his work,
appears to have been rather to draw the
attention of readers generally to the sub-
ject, than to furnish a careful or complete
practical work on rural architecture. Only
a small part of the work is, therefore, de-
voted to cottage architecture, strictly speak-
ing, while the bulk of the volume is com-
posed of sketches of country life. Perhaps,
therefore, the author would have conveyed
to the .uninitiated public a juster idea of
the character of his work if he had called
it — " Cottage Life, 2oith Plans of Cottagesy
These sketches of cottage life form a
continuous narration of about 200 pages,
and are full of spirited hits and droll allu-
sions to many of the existing peculiarities
of social and domestic life in this country;
and, we suppose, are especially character-

istic of life and manners in many parts of
the west.

We cannot, perhaps, give a better idea
of the style of this portion of the work,
which is both piquant and original, than by
the following extract: —

'' Yer dinner is ready, Miss Grace Ellison," said
the new girl, through an opening in the door.

As the Ellisons proposed to live in the country,
they had thought it best, as soon as possible, to
get help there ; and, in the village, near by, had
found this girl, and a sort of cousin, who said he
understood horses, farming, and in fact could do
anything. They, also, had but recently arrived
there, from what was decidedly rural, where woods
and wilderness were sweetly blended.

" Bless my soul," said Mr. Scranton. as he pulled
out his large watch, " half past eleven !"

He looked inquiringly at Grace.

'• How is this ?" said Uncle Tom.

"Perceptible unsophistication," said Ned, "on
the part of some members of this family. Quite a
child of nature, Grace seems to have met with ;
one of those sweet minglings of milk-pails and rose-
bugs of which we read, eh ?"

'• Ned will remain quiet," said Grace, " and the
rest of you will continue your conversation 'till I
make a report."

She found a dinner, but it was a strange one, and
strangely put on ; the poor chickens lay untrussed,
with wings extended, and legs aloft in helpless
amazement. Two little dishes of boiled parsley
flanked these, which Jemima said she was ashamed
of, 'twas "so scrimpy.'' The fish's tail, severed
from his well stuffed body, lay in his mouth, like a
sweet bait, instead of bending to it, as Grace had
ordered. Each knife stood erect as a horse guard,
in its piece of bread. There was an evident at-
tempt at grandeur, but it only reached the remarka-
ble. In all difficult cases one must "compromise."
Grace did so, by calling for Jemima, who had de-
serted the kitchen. She answered, saying — "I
was baptised Jemima Jane." "Well, then, Jemi-
ma Jane, what could have induced you to get din-
ner at this time of day?"

"Why, law!" she replied, evidently surprised,
and relieved of some anxiety respecting her cook-
ing, " the sun's past the door-crack, and we always
had dinner then, to our house j we did'nt drag
along, slip-shod, all day."

" Well," said Grace, who saw that she was ac-
tive, and meant well, " come in, and we will re-
arrange things."

" I cant, before all them men. I must put on
my other things — slick up a little-"

Grace assured her that the men were not there,
and that her other things would add nothing to the
festive board. She proceeded to relieve the knives

180

COTTAGES AND COTTAGE LIFE.

and forks from duty, and to dispose them more
peacefully — to reform and rin;lit matters generally.
As a young housekeeper, she was startled at this
unlooked-for result, but determined to carry the war
into the enemy's country, — to laugh first — when
Ned, putting his head into the door, inquired, with
much gravity,

" Is your breakfast nearly ready, Miss Ellison?''

At his appearance, Jemima darted away as if he
were a dragon. She plainly had strange ideas
about young men.

" If you will return to bed," Grace replied, " we
will serve it to you there in oriental magnificence."

Having again recovered the skittish girl, she
explained that her wish was to have had the tail of
the fish brought to its head, so that it would lie in
the dish.

" Law, you don't say ?"

That the parsley was not to have been boiled.

" Well, now, who'd have thought ?"

Upon inquiring for the mustard, .Temiraa said
that the " nasty stuff" had been washed away.
But Grace having announced to the gentlemen,
that they must make it a dejune.r instead of a din-
ner, it passed along, and furnished food for laugh-
ter as well as conversation. Uncle John took oc-
casion to mention a little supper, to which he had
been invited, with half a dozen others, by the paint-
er. Wall. Upon opening the folding doors, Wall
held up his hands, exclaiming —

"This is dreadful. I ordered my ducks to be
roasted and my lobster boiled, and it is just the
other way !"

" Oh, that I had known that." said the cook, an
Irish woman ; " for I had the divil's own work to
keep the ugly thing before the fire."

Jack, the black Newfoundland, sat by Grace's
side. Dinner, even at that early hour, was no joke
to him. At every pause in the conversation, he
touched her arm with his rough hand, and looked
away, as innocent as if he had been some other
dog. Jack alwaj-s dined well ; to his mind, it was
of consequence. Not so, however, to Mr. Ellery,
who helped himself freely to the parsley, that being
most convenient to him. • » « * •

The conversation, as well as the dinner, had an
end, if nothing more ; and when Mr. Scranton and
Mr. Ellery had given, the one his hearty, the other
his merited adieus. Uncle Tom insinuated himself
into the soft heart of the sofa ; while, during the
warm hours, the others addressed themselves to
various occupations; Grace, strange as it may
seem, to a history — a pictorial history of England.

She was old enough to find as much there as in
poor stories. She loved Hampden, admired Crom-
well, disliked Mary, with her lovers and cups, and
detested Henry, his cruelties and his amours. Un-
cle John, after some time having passed, was start-
led from his drowse by Grace, asking —

" Why have you never married ? Every jack has
hisjill?"

" I could'nt do it."

" But seiiously, Uncle John."

" Seriously. I had the usual experience, and be-
lieved tiiat this or that one was necessary to my
happiness ; but my caution always interfered in

time, and my conscience would not permit me to
marry a poor girl."

Grace laughed out.

" Seriously, Grace, the girls whom I knew were
brought up to expect the best position, and the
like — would have been unhappy without them. I
should have been miserable, as the drudge who was
to toil for these — as the father of children, who
must go through the same dissatisfied youth which
fell to my lot. I could not and would not do it ;
nor will I advise any one else to do it."

" What do you think of that, Ned ?" asked Grace;
■' are you ready to join this association of single
ble-sed ones ?"

'' I shall do what the rest of you do," he replied,
quite busy at his work — perhaps to hide a little
added colour.

" Not, Grace," continued Uncle John, "that I
have doubts of marriage. It is essential to the
highest form of manhood and womanhood ; but I
think that, as to the numbers in each state, more
true manliness and womanliness exist out of it than
in it! These ill judged connections are wicked,
and unfortunate to all concerned ; and their results
fill the world with weakness. A man has no more
right to bring to suffering and degradation a wife
and children than he has to lie."

"What shall we all do. Uncle John?" asked
Grace. " Why have you not joined the Shakers ?"

" You women are much to blame — you are too
willing. Somewhere I have heard of a minister
who, about to marry two persons in church, said —
' Those who wish to be married will rise ;' when
half the women got up in their places. And it is
because they have nothing else to do, and are fit for
nothing else — if for that."

For some time past they had heard the voice of
Jemima, in anything but dulcet strains, singing out
the stirring hymn, which, commencing with —

■' Where now is good old Moses ?"

comes down, through saints and heroes, even to our
time.

Uncle Tom was now growing restive ; but, as
the song increased in energy, he waked, when it
burst upon him —

" He went out through tribulation,

Safe to ihe promised land.
By-and-by we'll go and meet him,
By-aud-by will go — "

" Zounds," said Uncle Tom, " go at once — go to
the devil ; anywhere but here!"

He was almost taken in the act ; for the girl soon
entered, and seated herself, knitting-work in hand,
dressed in her best clothes. 'Twas the way they
did where she came from.

" Is John coming too ?" asked Ned Lee.

" I rather guess not," she replied. But this was
the first day of Jemima Jane.

There are ten, neatly lithographed de-
signs for pleasant rural cottages, showing
elevations of the principal fronts and plans
of the living-room floors. A page of ex-

COTTAGES AND COTTAGE LIFE.

181

planatory text accompanies each of these
plates.

The following remarks, on the gromids
of cottages, which the author makes, under
the head of Landscape Gardening, will
best show his method of treating practical
subjects: —

''The Landscape Gardener should pre-
cede the Architect and Builder ; as the best
site for the house is a matter of moment.
This should not be, as it seems to me, on
the highest point of land, because such
portions are bleak, exposed on all sides,
furnish no relief, no back-ground to the
building. To command a view — to have
the advantage of shade, and shelter, and
water — to have the barn and out-buildings
near, yet not conspicuous ; to permit of easy
drainage from the cellar, if it is necessary;
to be easy of access from the highway ;
these are to be considered. Should a man
have it in view to build, he should at once
have more or less of his planting done,
both shade and fruit trees, as they will be
so much in advance when he comes to live;
and if he should not build, it is no loss.
As far as practicable, make divisions which
are 7iecessary about the house of the ha-ha
or blmd fence, or of hedges, for which
purpose the Madura or Osage Orange is
believed to be one of the most desiiable
plants.

" The carriage-way is of consequence.
It is idle to say that it should in no case be
straight. A fine, wide, shaded avenue is a
desirable thing. But, should the distance
be considerable, any person will see that it
may be monotonous. At present, the car-
riage-way is allowed to take the direction
which the face of the ground makes the
easiest, if it does not lead too much out of
the course.

" It is a sort of vexation to have the ob-
ject in our eye, and be taken out of your

way to get to it. One should take care
that the turns are not too sudden. The
proper width of this road must vary with
the size of the house and grounds, from
nine to twenty feet. A depth of six inches
of gravel answers for carriages and light
weights ; let this come up even with the
turf, and be slightly rounded towards the
middle. Keep the edges of the road and
the walks closely mown, and rolled smooth.

"In planting upon it, a constant succes-
sion of one variety of tree, at regular dis-
tances, is also tame and uninteresting. It
is desirable to introduce a variety, and to
arrange them in groups, having a connec-
tion with one another ; each variety of foli-
age and form in harmony, as in contact
with the rest.

" The /oo?-?<7aZA-5 should be four or five
feet wide, and should, when practicable,
lead to some object — a view — or a summer
house — or a fine tree, and continue on, so
that the return may be b}^ another path.
If at convenient points, rough seats are
placed, it adds to their pleasures; for one
can rest, if necessarj\

" As to the jlower-heds, it is desirable, in
any place of considerable extent, to set
apart a portion of ground for them; of
which some of the windows of the house
command a sight, and through which one
might go to a grapery or a green-house.
But a very beautiful way, is to cut them in
circles, or other graceful shapes, upon the
edges of the walks, making the soil rich
and deep.

" A group of rocks, partially covered with
creepers and flowering plants, is a pleasing
object.

" Water is always desirable, in the dis-
tance and at hand. In very many situa-
tions, a spring, or a small stream, will sup-
ply the evaporation of a pretty sized pond,
in which the lilies and water plants will

182

SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE.

thrive. The deeper it can be made, the
better."

Our extracts will give our readers an
idea of the pleasure and instruction they
may expect from the perusal of Mr. Elli-
ott's volume. We cordially recommend it
to those who like to find the agreeable and
the useful blended, and hope it may have an
enduring influence on the taste of the west-
ern states.

School Architecture : or contributions to the
Improvement of School- Houses in the United
States. By Henry Barnard, commissioner of
schools in Rhode Island. New- York, A. S. Barnes
& Co. (1 vol., l2mo., 369 pages.)
If education (in the largest sense of the
word,) is the greatest boon that can be be-
stowed on man, and we think there can be
no question raised on this point, then the
best mode of imparting il, and the most
favorable circumstances which may be
brought to bear on its diffusion, are topics
of no common interest at the present day.

Notwithstanding the large interest which
is really felt in the subject of general edu-
cation, in this country, in placing it within
the reach of all classes to obtain, at least,
the rudiments of learning, we must take
shame to ourselves that so little attention
has been paid to the manner of educating
youth, and, more especially, to the condi-
tion of our common school-houses.

It is, therefore, with feelings no less of
duty than of pleasure, that we solicit pub-
lic attention to this most excellent volume
on School Architecture, which, we are sa-
tisfied, will speedily become a standard
work in the United States.

Mr. Barnakd is already widely known
as the intelligent and indefatigable school
commissioner of Rhode Island. Portions of
the present work have, indeed, been previ-
ously published, and widely circulated by
him in New-England. But, in the present

volume, he has brought all his information
on this subject together, in a well digested
and systematic form ; and we have rarely
met with a volume more replete with truly
valuable, practical information.

The author grasps the whole subject of
school-houses in this compactly printed vo-
lume. There are, for example, designs
for all the sizes of school-houses known in
this country, — primary, district, grammar,
intermediate, public or high, and normal
schools, as well as free academies.

Plans of model school-houses by Mr.
Emerson, Dr. Alcott, Mr. Mann, and oth-
ers, well known for their long devotion to
the cause of public education, as well as
a number by professional architects, are
given, and thoroughly explained in the
body of the work.

But these plans, numerous as they are,
constitute but a small part of the utility of
the work. What gratifies us quite as much,
or even more, is the pains taken by the
author to point out and suggest remedies
for some of the crying evils in almost all
the common school-houses at present exist-
ing,— evils which exert a most injurious
influence on the health and the minds of
pupils.

We allude especially to improved modes
of ventilation, warming, and seating the
inmates of common school-houses. A want
of proper attention to the two first most
important considerations is the cause of a
great deal of bodily discomfort ; and we
have the opinion of some of the most skilful
physicians in the country, for believing that
a large number of the spinal distortions, of
late so prevalent, owe their origin to the
cramped and unsuitable seats and writing
desks, to which the tender frames of pupils
are confined in schools.

To assist in banishing these evils, Mr.
Barnard has not only very lucidly ex-

DESIGNS FOR RURAL SCHOOL-HOUSES
[From Baniaid's School Aitluteclure )

Hort : Oct. 1848.

SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE.

183

plained the advantage of proper ventila-
tion, but he gives diagrams and details,
showing how the Boston mode of ventila-
tion (a most excellent one,) is easily applied
to all school-houses, so as effectually to pre-
vent the possibility of the accumulation of
deleterious or impure air.

The most improved forms of school-house
furniture (including seats and desks,) are
given, with remarks on the peculiar ad-
vantages of each,

A large and humane spirit has, it is most
evident, everywhere governed the author
of this volume. We find it continually
directing his efforts; and, while improving
everything connected with the school-house,
with respect to its efficiency and fitness for
the end in view, he is ever ready to sym-
pathise warmly with the natural instincts
and sufferings of youth. Thus, in speaking
of the accommodation in primary schools,
we find the following, among other valua-
ble hints for the teacher's own use : —

"Little children are made to suffer, and
many of them permanently, from being
forced to sit long in one position, without
any occupation for mind or muscles, on
seats without backs, and so high that their
feet cannot touch, much less, rest on the
floor. Nothing but the fear of punishment,
or its frequent application, can keep a live
child still, under such circumstances, and
even that cannot do it long. Who has not
an aching remembrance of the torture of
this unnatural confinement, and the burn-
ing sense of injustice, for punishment in-
flicted for some unavoidable manifestation
of uneasiness and pain ? Even though the
seats are as comfortable as can be made,
young children can not and should not be
kept still upon them long at a time, and
never without something innocent or useful
to do ; and, under no eircumstances, longer
than twenty-five or thirty minutes in one

position, nor so long at one study, and that
with frequent and free exercise in the open
air. To accomplish this, great and radical
changes in the views and practice of teach-
ers, parents, and the community at large
must take place. Nowhere, in the whole
department of practical education, is a gra-
dual change more needed, or should sooner
be commenced." p, 56.

Considered in point of taste, there is
much to approve of in this volume. The
designs given are nearly all from school-
houses actually built, in various parts of the
country. We suppose Mr, Barnard has
selected from the best specimens in New-
England, and we are gratified to find, among
his well-engraved illustrations of the exte-
riors of these buildings, so much to ad-
mire.

There are some half dozen designs by
Mr, Teft, an architect of Providence, which
are especially worthy of commendation, as
uniting rural beauty, and expression of pur-
pose, with convenient accommodation in
a high degree,* We trust those " select-
men" and " district school committees,"
into whose hands this book may fall, will
be guided by the spirit of these examples,
rather than by that of such designs as the
uncouth and ill proportioned " high school
at Lowell," page 112, hitherto the favorite
style in all our large towns.

The late Jas, Wadsworth, Esq., of Gene-
seo, who was heartily devoted to the cause
of popular education, had 11,000 copies of
that valuable work — ''The School and the
Schoolmaster," printed at his own cost, and
then distributed them to every school dis-
trict in the state. We cannot but hope
that, in addition to the interest which this
work will everywhere awaken of itself,

* We owe the publishers our thanks for permission to use
two of these cuts [see frontispiece,] of schools, afler Mr.
Teft's designs. One of tliese is built at North Provideiicej
llie other at Westerly, R. I.

184

FOREIGN NOTICES.

there should be found more men, of Mr.
Wadsworth's benevolent spirit, who would
use extraordinary means of disseminating
it in all parts of the country. We cannot
but think that it will, wherever it becomes
known, perform a service of public good of
no trifling and unimportant nature. As a
people, we profess to be deeply alive as to
the cause of education ; and thousands and

millions of dollars are spent annually,
throughout the length and breadth of the
country, to promote its objects. But, in
order to get satisfactory results from our
schools, the public m-ust be roused to a
stronger interest in, not only what the
schools can do, but what they are ; for the
two bear much more closely on each other
than is generally supposed.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

On Burning Clay. — I have i^reat pleasure in
communicating wiiat I know of the benefits of
burned earth as a manure. I have used it for
wheat and for root crops with decided advantage,
although I have not, unfortunately, kept a statis-
tical account of the ditTerenee ; still, so obvious
were the results that I have been induced to use a
much larger quantity the present season, and my
neighbors are following my example. It was used
at the rate of lOOO bushels per acre on a wheat
field sown with clover, leaving the middle of the
field undone. The benefit was striking, not only in
the wheat, but in the young clover. The whole of
the field had been top manured with guano, har-
rowed in with the seed. Where the burned earth
was not used, the clover plants and the wheat were
inferior.

It may be proper to explain that it was not turfy
earth full of vegetable matter, but a poor, cold, ar-
gillaceous, tenacious clay, such as is used for
making bricks, yellow in colour, but becoming
when burned a pale red or orange : the interior of
some of the largest lumps being black or carbona-
ceous (I presume the small quantity of vegetable
matter concentrates there); occasionally this soil
contains a fair proportion of round pebbles.

The mode of raising and burning is this — a strip
of land is broken up in very dry weather with Ran-
Bome's Y. L. plow, drawn by three strong horses
abreast, and a Scotch equilibrium whippletree. So
great is the resistance that it requires two men to
hold the handles of the plow to counteract the leve-
rage of the horses. The earth is thus broken, or I
may say torn up in immense rough masses or clods
as much as a man can carry, which are admirably
adapted to form walls and supports for the mass of
fire. By this means heaps of nearly 200 solid yards
may be readily burned. The earth being plowed
up, the fires are formed on the spot, the workmen
placing a certain quantity of dried stumps or wood
ol sufficient solidity to maintain a body of heat, and
enclosing the mass with large clods. These are
carried by hand : subsequently, as they get more
distant from the fire, a barrow is used, and beyond
that a one-horse cart.

It is important to have the sides of the heap as

upright as possible — not conical — because the heat
always makes for the highest place. An important
point in burning is to supply the fire sufficiently
fast to prevent its burning through, and yet avoid
overlaying it, which might exclude all air, and put
it out. Practice will indicate the medium. When
the fire shows a tendency to break through, the
outside of the burning mass is raked down, and
more earth added.

If the ground is very dry, and no rain falls, the
men are obliged to feed the fire almost continually
night and day; but when there is moisture, it may
be left for five or six hours, but seldom longer.
Something depends on the current of air. A strong
wind would blow the fire from one side and out at
the other. This is guarded against by placing
hurdles interlaced with straw as a guard to wind-
ward. The size of a heap is limited by the h'^ight
to which a man can throw up the soil, and of course
the diameter must be proportioned to the height,
to prevent its slipping down. It is generally light-
ed so as to burn out by Saturday, and not require
Sunday attendance. This mode of burning may be
essentially called summer burning, because we find
practically that heavy rains put out the fires, or
check their progress. Where fuel is abundant, or
coal cheap, I have reason to believe fires may be
kept up through the winter. I have this autumn
plowed up, or rather broken up, and burned four
acres of a poor rye-grass lea. This has produced
KiOO cubic yards. 1000 of which I have carted on to
the neighboring fields, leaving 150 yards per acre
on the field itself as a compensation. The cost per
100 cubic yards is as follows : —

Labor and burning at 5d jG2 3 4

Fire-wood at 4?. 6d. per fathom,, .... 0 8 4

Plowing and horse labor, 08 3

Carting and spreading according to distance.
When spread, as there are many large lumps, we
roll the field with Crosskill's clod-crusher in a dry
time. This pulverises the burned earth, and we
then bush-harrow to distribute it equally. Our
young clover so treated promises well. As the
portion of ground on which the fire is made is gene-
rally burned six inches below the surface, it is pro-
per to dig it out and spread it around, otherwise so

FOREIGN NOTICES.

185

rank will be the corn crop there, that in spite of
two or three flagfrings, it is ahuost sure to go down
and spoil. I find burned earth exceedin<rly useful
for clampinp; potatoes, Swedes, Mangold, he.; but
it is essential to allow roots to remain in a heap
covered with straw three or four weeks previous to
doing this, or they are apt to heat and rot, espe-
cially early raised potatoes. The reasons why
earth burned must be beneficial are sufficiently ex-
plained by Drs. Liebig and Playfair. Of its cheap-
ness as a manure there can be no question, for
whilst it only costs 7d. a cubic yard on the spot,
the mere cartage of London dung from our nearest
port would be 2s. per cubic yard, nearly four times
the cost of the earth itself. It is much to be wished
that tenants had permission to cut down all old
pollard trees, burning them on the spot with earth
close at hand. Such pollards when carted home
seldom clear Is. eiich, after deducting expenses,
whilst it is to be feared they damage the growing
crops annually to that extent at least- I should
say that at 5d. per yard my men average (including
occasional night-work) about 15s. or 16s. per week
in dry weather. J. J. Mecki. E7ig. Agricultural
Soc. Journal.

Bone Dust a Good Manure for Shrubs —
A day or two ago, I was remarking on the great
growth of the shrubbery of a clergyman in this
neighborhood, (lately deceased,) and expressing
my astonishment at the luxuriance which the
shrubs had attained in a short space of time since
they were planted- The person said that the cler-
gyman had told him that " he had superintended
the planting himself, and that he had put a handful
of bone dust under every tree and shrub, (which
amount to some thousands,) and to which alone he
attributed the great growth they had made." I
planted about 700 ornamental shrubs and trees
myself, about the same time ; and although I
spared no trouble or expense in my work, (having
drained and thoroughly trenched, and made my
"round so that I couid easily thrust a stick full 2a
feet deep in good open soil, and also superintended
myself every tree and shrub planted, for which I
am now amply rewarded by the great growth and
beauty of tlie entire shrubbery, which is the admi-
ration of every one who sees it ;) still, I think that
my shrubs are full a good year's growth, in point of
size, behind those to which I allude, which had
bone dust used with them, and with equal advan-
tage as to soil and situation also. And I should
state that mine are nearly double the size of some
of my neighbors, planted about the same time.
Now, as I intend planting to some extent in Sep-
tember, I have ventured to trouble you with this,
to ask your opinion as to the advantages of using
bone dust, or any other material likely to accele-
rate the growth of shrubs ; and to ask you to state
which is the most desirable way of using it ; whe-
Hher it should be put under the roots, or thrown in
amongst them while planting, or mixed up with
the top soil after the planting is completed. j1
Subscriber. {There is no doubt about the advan-
tages of bones dissolved in acid ; we have frequently
recommended super-phosphate of lime, which is the
s,a.me thing.] Gard. Ckron.

Vol. III. 12

Effects of Stopping and Thinning. — Scarce-
ly an annual exists, which usually dies at the close
of the season, after ripening its seed, but may be
made to retain a vigorous existence if its inflores-
cence be removed as soon as formed. Mignonette
is a very familiar example, for this may be al-
lowed to bloom ; but if its flower stalks be cut
down before its seed vessels are perfected, it be-
comes woody and shrubby, and will live and bloom
for three or more successive years. If allowed to
ripen its seed, it dies the same year. The com-
mon nasturtium is an annual ; but the double nas-
turtium has become a perennial, because its flow-
ers, deprived of the faculty of producing seeds, do
not exhaust the plant ; and it is probable that every
annual, rendered double by cultivation, will become
a perennial.

This explains why fruit trees are weakened, or
rendered temporarily unproductive, and even killed,
by being allowed to ripen too large a crop of fruit ;
or to over-bear themselves, as it is emphatically
termed by the gardener. The thinning of fruit is,
consequently, one of the most important operations
of the garden, though one of the last generally
practiced. On the weaker branches of the necta-
rine and peach, an average space of nine inches
should be left between each brace of fruit ; and on
the most vigorous wood of the most healthy trees,
they should not be nearer than six inches. This
enforcement of the importance of thinning fruit is
not intended to be confined to the two trees speci-
fied ; it is equally important to be attended to in
all other fruit bearers ; but especially the vine,
apricot, apple, and pear. It should be done with
a bold, fearless hand ; and the perfection of that
which is allowed to remain will amply reward the
grower in the harvest time for the apparent sacri-
fice now made. But he will not reap his reward
only in this year ; for the trees thus kept unweak-
ened by over-production, will be able to ripen their
wood, and deposit that store of inspissated sap in
their vessels, so absolutely necessary for their fruit-
fulness next season. Juhnson's Principles of Gar-
dening. • . . •

Rose Insects — I have made a discovery during
the last week, which I think must be useful to all
who grow roses extensively. I have long kept my
rose trees quite clear of green fly and spring ver-
min by using a mixture, the receipt of which was
communicated to my employer by Mr. Paul, the
well known nurseryman and rose grower of Ches-
hunt. The recipe is this : — to 12 gallons of cold
water add 1 bushel of soot, and about half a peck
of unslaked lime ; stir and mix. Let the mixture
stand for 24 hours. The soot will have come to
the surface ; skim it off. It may be afterwards
used several times. Syringe the roses with it from
a hand syringe or a garden engine.

But though this mixture is perfectly efficient
during the spring, yet, about this time of the year,
an enemy appears on whom it has no effect. This
is a small white grub, with a scaly brown head,
the scales of which are of a surprising hardness
and strength. It destroys the fleshy part of the
leaves, leaving them skeletons of fibres, not unlike
fine lace. Though curious, these destroyed leaves
are in a mass unsightly. I need hardy add, that

186

FOREIGN NOTICES.

this premature destruction of the leaves seriously
injures the health and strenjrth of the plant. I
have, till lately, been quite unable to get rid of this
pest by any other method than the laborious one of
pickinpr them off by hand, which, in large collec-
tions, is all but impracticable. The lime and soot
mixture, tobacco-water, snuff, sulphur. I have all
tried in vain. I find, however, that by adding 1
lb. of soft soap to the li gallons of lime and soot
water, this grub is effectually and quickly destroyed.
The soft soap should be dissolved in warm water
before it is added to the other ingredients. Wm.
Corvell. Gard. Chronicle.

Top Dressings or Mulchi.vg. — Few persons
are fully aware of the immense importance of top
dressings. To regard them as merely warding off
drouth is to take a very superficial view of the af-
fair ; their merits may, I think, be classed as fol-
lovrs : 1st. They may be made capalde of transmit-
ting a vast amount of food to a suffering tree in a
very speedy way. 2d. They retain a steady per-
manency of moisture, in spite of adverse circum-
stances, without stagnation. 3d. They are the
cause of a series of annual fibres, which are of
much importance to tender trees. 4th. By means
of such, continued systematically, trees may be
planted in shallower soils than without them ; this
tends to the production of much better ripened
wood. 5th. If a check is needed through rampant
growth, or the total absence of fruit, the removal
of the dressing in summer will supersede the ne-
cessity of root pruning.

With regard to the first point) I may observe,
that it frequently becomes necessary during dry
periods to apply water to trees in full bearing ;
indeed many a good crop is lost or stunted for want
of a timely application of this needful element.
Nevertheless, somewhat depends on the tempera-
ture of the water. Cold spring water, applied in
considerable quantities to the naked soil, may do
more harm than good . It is far better to make use
of the mulching as a medium, and to water it in a
successive way.

To proceed with the second consideration. No
person who has used top dressings will doubt their
influence in retaining a permanency of moisture, in
defiance of long continued hot weather. By this
medium, avast amount of nutritious moisture, which
would be otherwise dissipated, is reserved for ab-
sorption by the upper series of fibrous roots.

In the third place, top dressings, in almost all
cases, excite to the production of abundance of sur-
face fibres of a permanent character, produced in a
regular annual series. These are most important
organs in several respects, which I will attempt to
show in the sequel. In the meantime, I would
merely point to one particular circumstance of pa-
ramount importance ; they tend, in no small de-
gree, to prevent the formation of tap roots, which
are notorious as being inimical to the production of
blossom buds.

As to the fourth consideration — the systematic
application of top dressings, as obviating the neces-
sity for deep borders, which are but to apt to lead
the roots to a depth beyond the agencies of the at-
mosphere, and to render the tree uncontrollable, I

can only say that the question has been a grovrrnr^
one during the last seven years, and that owing to»
the free discussion of the points connected there-
with much improvement has taken place, not onlj
in vine borders Imt in those for other fruits. It is a
pretty well attested fact, that the shallower the
root the earlier and more profound the ripening pe-
riod. This idea may of course he carried too far,
and trees may be driven from Scylfa to Charybdis ,
but the great evil of the old system having been
over-excitement, through deep and rich borders, it
becomes a duty for awhile, I conceive, to point to
an opposite course. By the systematic application
of such. I merelv mean that the application of an
an annual top dressing, however slight, is antiei-
pated bv this system.

Our fifth point refers to the facility afforded by
this mode of cultivation for checking undue luxuri-
ance. This will seldom occur where top dressings
are resorted to in a S3-stematic way Still in the
event of trees thus circumstanced becoming too
gross in the young shoots, the mere removal of the
top dressing in early summer will go far towards
taming the tree, unless it has formed some tap-roots
of most inveterate character.

Having now disposed of the five main points,
which form, as I conceive, the principal features in
a svstem of top dressing, as applied to somewhat
shallower borders than were originally in use, I
would now beg to offer a few remarks on the pro-
priety of securing a permanency of moisture at the
root of certain plants. Everybody must be aware
that manv plants of this habit cannot be successfully
cultivated without securing a certain amount of
moisture at the root, of a permanent character.
The most prominent amongst these are the Black
Currant, the raspberr)', and, I may add, the quince,
amongst fruit bearing shrubs ; and celery and let-
tuce amongst our culinary vegetables. It so hap-
pens that this latter question is interwoven in snme
degree with the top dressing affair, at least under
my mode of cultivation. Last year the Black Cur-
rants in this part of the kingdom were subjected to
the most severe blight I ever remember ; they
were devoured by ajthides ; the leaves v/ere almost
entirely stripped from the trees, and the fruit were
of course either cast to the ground or withered pre-
maturely. Drouth at a certain period M-as, I am
persuaded, the cause of all this; for it ought to be
generally known that the Black Currant has a
greater tendency to produce surface roots than any
other fruit tree ; this, of course, renders it very sus-
ceptible of atmospheric changes, and points at once
to a special mode of culture. However, I consider-
ed that there could not possibly be a crop in the
next season. Having some alterations this spring
which brought to hnnd a surplus of soil, I covered!
the surface of the Black Currant roots five inches
in thickness with this soil. We have had a very
fine crop, and the soil is now filled wilh fibres.
The Black Currant should, I think, be planted in
sunken trenches or ]ninels at least nine inches be-
low the ground level ; in fact, similar to celery,
and in that event would bear a top dressing of mere
leaves or litter of any kind every year, applied im-
mediately after a wet period in the spring. Rasp-
berries are so fond of a permanency of moisture

FOREIGN NOTICES.

187

tliat they thrive to admiration in a bojj under some
trees, within a short distance of where I write. In-
deed, our soil beinfj sandy, I could not obtain full
crops until I adopted an annual system of top dress-
ings. In applying this my practice is to remove a
couple of inches of the surface soil with a draw hoe
in December ; then to apply a couple of inches of
compost, and finally a coating of soil, to prevent
lo.»s by desiccation. I never dig over the surface of
these things, but use the spade full depth to witiiin
a reasonable distance, generally cutting a little off
the extreme points of the roots annually ; this en-
courages the surface roots, and has a tendency to
check superfluous spray at the same time that
steady growth is ensured, through the medium of
the top dressings, and sudden vicissitudes of drouth
obviated. There is undoubtedly much waste of
manure in many cases, extra quantities being often
applied when perhaps mere permanency of mois-
ture at certain periods is the desideratum. Of
what use would any given amount of manure be to
the Black Currant or celery crop, if the plant is to
be subjected to a continual lack of moisture? Ro-
bert Errington. Oulton Park, July 10. Gard.
Chron. ....

Propagation of Pinks, Carnations, and Pi-
coTEKS. — Although the finer varieties of these beau-
tiful flowers require great care in their cultivation,
and will often disappoint the amateur, their great
beauty will yet insure the patience and skill neces-
sary for their successful growth. I yesterday saw
a handful of carnations in a friend's hand, and won-
dered that eff'orts are not made to grow them in
greater profusion. Many are disgusted with the
losses which occur from bad management in their
first attempts to get a collection, and give up the
pursuit ; but this is not wise. A season or two
will make the grower more skilful and fortunate.
Seeing these flowers advertised, an amateur orders
a lot, and pays perhaps 21. or 3/. for a dozen pairs.
These come probably from a distance, not in pots,
as they ought to do, but with their roots exposed,
and before they can be placed in a safe position
they have suffered much injury. A wet season
then comes on, and the young plants, not being
strongly rooted, rot in the ground. If they escape
this catastrophe, they often throw up only a mise-
rable flower, unworthy of notice ; no grass, as the
offsets are technically called, is produced ; and
sometimes the original plants will turn yellow and
die. When, after all his trouble, the would-be
grower finds his dozen pairs reduced to about half
the number, he despairs of becoming an adept in
the art of flowering these plants, and retreats,
leaving the field to more fortunate, because more
patient, rivals. Now, try another season at all
events, and, without incurring fresh expense, pro-
pagate from the stronger varieties which yet sur-
vive ; in this way you will advance more confidently,
and at length overcome difficulties which arise from
want of experience more than from any peculiari-
ties inherent in the flowers.

Common pinks and carnations are increased easily
by cuttings taken off at a hard, well developed joint,
and planted in a shady situation in the garden ; if
under a hand-glass, success is more sure. But we
have known great quantities rooted without that

aid, by being preserved for a few days from the
sun, and kept moist. The soil should be sandy,
and the cuttings fixed in it, so that it shall press
firmly upon the cut portion. But this plan will not
do for finer sorts of carnations and picotees, and
the safer way is to propagate these by layering.
So many directions have been given for the perform-
ance of this operation, that anything further on the
subject may appear to be superfluous ; but as ama-
teurs are yearly rising up and commencing their
apprenticeship, such information must be continu-
ally renewed. The principle of layering is to ena-
ble a cutting to take root without its connection
with the parent plant being quite dissevered, on the
plan in which inarching and similar operations are
performed. A cutting often dies, because, from
some cause inherent in itself, or external to it, its
power of elaborating sap is not strong enough to
enable it to form roots ; and this power is increased
and rendered certain in a layer, because it derives
its juices from the parent plant. An incision is
made upwards at a joint, to the extent of about
half an inch, and a section of the stalk or stem is
thus presented, similar to the portion inserted in
the soil in the ease of a cutting, only it is half the
substance or thickness. This cut portion is then
firmly inserted in fine soil, and fastened securely
with a peg. The layer then forms roots from two
sources; from its own vital mechanism, as in the
case of a cutting, and from the assistance derived
from the original plant, of which it still forms a
part. When rooted the layer is cut off and potted,
and henceforth its growth is self-sustained and in-
dependent.

Where a great number of young shoots are
available for propagation, a very gentle heat should
be created by means of a bed of leaves or cut grass,
on which a small frame should be placed. Sandy
soil must then be put in, to the depth of six inches,
and the cuttings, with all their leaves, firmly fixed
as directed above. The glass being put on, the
frame should be kept close for a week, and shaded
for a day or two ; and solar light being gradually
admitted, the young plants will form roots more
rapidly than in the open ground. Extremes of
drouth and moisture must be carefully avoided,
since the one will rot the plants at the cutting, and
the other will cause the soil to contract and leave
the cutting bare. Failures must be expected at
first, but soon as great a certainty will character-
ise these operations as most others. This is the
proper time for pursuing either of the above me-
thods. H. B. Gard. Chron.

Dahlias. — These fine ornaments of large gar-
dens are now beginning to flower, and require
some attention, to ensure gocd blooms and a healthy
arowth. Some cultivators prune extensively, so as
To have only one leading stem, and but few laterals,
until the plant has attained a good height. That
only one shoot should be trained in the early
management of the dahlia is doubtless the best
treatment, but to what extent laterals should be
suppressed is an affair of taste, which the amateur
must regulate for himself. The plan recommended
in the Calendar of the Chronicle is the best for
making the most of a dahlia, and displaying its

188

FOREIGN NOTICES.

luxuriance to irreatest advantajre ; that is, to tie
up the laterals to smaller stakes arranj^ed sym-
metrically around the central one. Let the sticks
and the tyinjj material both be trustworthy, for the
dahlia has to stand very rough weather when it is
in the finest state of bloom, and its being prostrated
by the wind is a misfortune to be averted by all
means. The plants should be looked over every
day, that tying may be attended to before an un-
gainly growth takes place.

Dahlias will not bloom well unless a degree of
moisture is kept up at the root ; and sedulous at-
tention to this is indispensable. Many fine flowers
are stunted in their growth, and deformed in their
bloom, because the soil is too dry. Constant wa-
tering being attended with trouble, and also being
undesirable, because it washes the best properties
of the compost beyond the range of the roots, it is
strongly recommended to mulch the surface to
about nine inches all round the plant. I last week
put the mowings of the lawn to this use, laying on
a thick stratum of grass round each dahlia. Pre-
vious to this being done the soil must be thoroughly
soaked, and one such watering will last for a week,
although without the mulching, one dry day would
render the operation again necessary. Having ar-
ranged my grass coverings in good order, I was
much pleased with the plan, and thought it im-
proved the appearance of the dahlias ; but this sat-
isfaction did not last long, for the next morning I
found every little heap scattered in all directions
by the claws and beaks of birds, who appear to
have left all other pursuits, in order to revel in my
handyworks. I found therefore that one labor led
on to another, and I collected the grass again with
a rake, and fenced each mulching with brushwood
laid over it, and fastened into the soil. This must
be done, or neatness is at an end, and it must be
done effectually too ; for I find wherever there is a
gap in my inclosures, the birds trespass and drag
out the grass. I expect they find insects sheltered
in my mulchings, and that this is the cause of their
pertinacious efforts to undo my works.

These mulchings should be bept moist, and this
can be done by sprinkling a little water daily from
the rose of a watering-pot. This is necessary to
keep the soil beneath equally wet, and also to pre-
vent earwigs and other insects from lodging in the
grass. Earwigs and woodliee hate a wet situation,
and are always found in the driest places ; hence,
the wet state of the grass will prevent their stop-
ping among it. Earwigs are the worst enemies of
dahlias, feeding on the young and undeveloped
petals of the flowers, as every amateur knows to
his abundant vexation. Perhaps the best trap is a
small flower-pot at the top of the stake, for these
insects seem to have a strong propensity to ascend
as high as they can for a lodging. This attic taste
may be turned to good account by the gardener,
and the pots will be found occupied every morning
by the enemies he is in search of. As the move-
ment of the pot arouses them and makes them fall,
and thus escape, I put a piece of brown paper in
each pot, crumpled up, so as to retain its place
when the pot is removed. In searching for them
a board should be carried with you, or else when
you unfold the paper they will get away, if this is

done on the walk or the lawn. A lady not liking
such a mode of killing as treading with the foot,
may be allowed the more refined method of taking
with her a China vessel, with water, into which the
paper parcels may discharge their cargo. I killed
many thousands last year in this way. In my
neighborhood earwigs are more than usually abun-
dant, rendering watchfulness highly necessary. A
little diluted cow-dung may be applied once a fort-
night, and all decaying flowers should be cut ofT.
These contain earwigs, which must not be allowed
to run away. H. B. Gard. Ckron.

Carnations — I will thank you to say to what
causes the running of the carnation is attributable,
other than freshness and excess of manure (sup-
posing stable dung the kind used.) In 1845 a num-
ber of carnations and pieotees bloomed fairly with
me in the open gronnd, except Yeomanson's Tri-
umphant, crimson bizarre, which was very much
run and ill shaped. In 1846 the layers from this
flower did not blow ; they were grown in pots. In
1847 layers from these again were grown in pots,
in compost of loam and leaf-mould, equal parts,
with the addition of a half part stable dung, and a
little sand and gypsum. They bloomed extremely
well, both in shape and colour, while many others,
grown in the same compost, and treated like them,
ran. This year my carnations are growing in the
open ground, in what had. been a border containing
principally herbaceous plants ; this was trenched
in the last autumn (just before the layers were
planted in it,) 2 feet deep, and a little fresh soil, and
a very little old manure added. It was top-dressed
with an inch of very old horse manure this spring,
and occasionally watered with very weak manure
water, as recommended in page 35 of the " Gar-
deners' Almanac." The aspect is south ; the flow-
er garden is a perfect horizontal bit of table land
on the side of a hill, and extremely warm. The
plants were unprotected from rain, sun, or frost the
entire year. Now, the layers taken from the plants
of Yeomanson's Triumphant that bloomed so well
last year, are this year all run (10 plants,) as welJ
as a number of other carnations, and this in the very
slightly manured bed that I have just described.
The garden is well drained. Would you say at
the same time what the best compost is for potting^
carnations and pieotees in for blooming, making
a difference, if such is necessary, between that for
varieties apt to run, and that for others. Dianthus.
[It is evident from our correspondent's own show-
ing that his plants have been too highly manured.
The compost of 1847 was much nearer the mark.
We do not recommend liquid manure applied at an
early stage of the growth. It is best given when
the colour can be ascertained to be correct by raising
the point of the pod. We think that the bed which
was trenched two feet deep, and fresh soil and old
manure added at planting time, and then lop-dress-
ed in spring with an inch deep of old horse manure
— the plants being watered with liquid manure —
would be too rich ; and we fear our correspondent,
in following the advice of the almanack he refer.s
to, has been misled. A most excellent compost
for carnations and pieotees is 2 parts rotten turfy
loam, 2 parts leaf-n^ould, 1 part rottea hQrse.dv4iQg>

FOREIGN NOTICES,

189

I.|vart sharp river sand ; mixed and well incorpo-
raied at least 12 months previous to using.] Gar-
deners^ Chron. ....

Celery. — Horticultural shows have introduced
the iashion of growing celery to an enormous size,
and if the amateur wishes to be a successful com-
petitor he must follow in the train of other candi-
dates. But this custom is vicious, and ought not
to be tolerated, for such gigantic specimens of veg-
etable growth are seldom good, and certainly never
so acceptable on tlie table as those of moderate di-
mensions. A stick of celery 4 feet long and 4 in-
ches iu diameter may astonish by the attention ne-
cessary to raise it, but few would enjoy the taste
of it so much as that of a smaller one. Besides,
the eatable portion is often very small, not larger,
indeed, than that of a stick of dimiiiuitive propor-
tions ; all the rest is nothing worth, and conse-
quently the energies expended on its growth are
wasted. What the gardener should aim at is a
succession of celery free from a rank or earthy
taste, free from toughness or stringiness, and of
good color. Most persons will be found to prefer
that which is of medium size, as possessing these
properties in the greatest degree.

Most gardeners sow a little seed in a hot bed
frame, to secure an early crop. The plants are
pricked out as soon as possible, and when large
enough are transferred to the trenches. But very
early celery is not so esteemed as the main crop,
which comes into use in the late autumn and winter
months ; and for this purpose, a seed bed in a warm
situation in the open air is all that is needed. We
have had a plentiful supply of celery from a bed
about a yard square, the young seedlings being
thinned out until the bed contained about 324 plants,
that is, eacii plant having two square inches to
grow in. These may be either transplanted into a
nursery bed, as is commonly done, the tap root be-
ing removed previously ; or they may be at once
removed to the trenches. By the latter mode time
and labor are spared, and the celery is quite as
fine. Amateurs who work in their own gardens
will often find that the established modes of doing
things often rest more on custom than reason, and
may be advantageousl}' departed from.

Celery trenches should be about 12 inches deep
in ordinary soils, and at the bottom a good supply
of well rotted manure may be incorporated with the
mould. Care must be taken that no coarse ma-
nures are put in, for the celery will imbibe a taste
from the matters it is grown in. Leaf-mould is
perhaps preferable to any other compost, and by it
the finest flavor will be secured. If the trenches
are 18 inches wide, two rows may be put in, and
much space will thus be economised. We always
put two rows in a trench ourselves, and find the
plan as advantageous for the plants as any other,
besides the saving of time in moulding up. In one
garden under our observation the plants are put in
six or a dozen in a row. and when earthed up pre-
sent a compact mass. This process of moulding
up must be performed gradually, a little at a time,
and we have found it useful to throw in some lime
or ashes at each operation to correct the ravages
of worms and slugs. H. B. — The Gardentr's
Chronicle.

Preserving Currant Juice. — England is al-
most the only country where a refreshing beverage
can rarely be obtained, and yet fruits adapted to
this purpose grow there most luxuriantly ; namely,
the currant, raspberry, &c. The following is the
way currant juice can be kept without the expense
of sugar. Pick any quantity of red or white cue-
rants from the stalk, place them in open jars, and
put these jars in a pan of cold water ; heat the
water to boiling, and until the currants are quite
soft ; leave them to cool gradually. When cold,
squecEC the juice out through a coarse cloth or
sieve : replace the juice only in jars, and boil it
again gradually as before. When perfectly cold,
bottle in half-pint bottles, to be well corked and
kept in a cellar. N. B. — Take care not to let the
water get to the currants. If not too much squeezed
the pulp may be reboiled with coarse sugar to
serve for tarts. Everyone who has been in France
knows how exquisite sirop de groscelle framboise
is on a hot day — that is made with sugar and some
raspberry, added to the currant, and is of course
more expensive. 4, Al'pha-place. — lb.

Cologne, July 4, 1848. — As an Englishman,
fancying that we are the gardeners of the world,
you may judge my surprise on visiting the garden
of Mr. Koch, which is situated in the midst of this
city, to find ourselves fairly beaten. This gentle-
man, who is a silk manufacturer, devotes his entire
time to his garden, and may be said to live in it, so
passionately fond is he of his flowers. He showed
me at one coup d' ceil 30,000 Camellias, of which
he possesses 7oO varieties. After walking through
a splendid avenue of Magnolia trees, we came to
several beds of Tree Pajonies of 14 years' growth,
consisting of 120 varieties, and at the end of the
path was a fine specimen of the Pawlownia impe-
rialis. The Azalea beds were no less remarkable,
containing 300 varieties, and under glass were
lf),0(tO Cacti. To produce these varieties he has
an apiary of 400 hives, which yield 1200 lbs. of
honey annually ; and by the system pursued by
him, the bees are never destroyed. To visit this
gentleman's garden iu the month of May, would be
a treat for your travelling readers, who may be
pleased to know that such a garden is to be seen,
and is willingly shown by its polite owner. — lb.

Propagation of the Hollyhock. — Of late
years the hollyhock has assumed a prominent place
in the flower garden, especially in the south of
Scotland, and as this plant is very ornamental, both
for the garden and the shrubbery, I send you the
mode of propagating it, which I have found to be
very successful, and at the same time very simple.
In the month of July, or beginning of August, take
a stem of the sort you wish to increase, and having
divided that into lengths of two inches each cut,
including an eye or bud, slice the stem through the
middle and pare the central pith entirely out, so
as to prevent rotting, leaving about three inches of
the leaf-stalk remaining at the bud, in the manner
of fruit budding ; having prepared a little sandy
soil suitable for striking cuttings, these buds are to
be inserted therein horizontally, about one inch be-

190

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

low the surface, the leaf-stalk protrudinfr as an in-
dex of position ; a hand glass is then put over them,
and in a few weeks they form nice little plants,

like the current year's seedlino-s, and flower itncn-
riantly the followinfr season, if properly treated.-—'
J. B. Wier, Galashiels, Jvly H.~^Ib.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The National Pomological Convention at
New- York. — This convention is likely to be the
most important and interesting one, in a horticul'
tiiral point of view, ever held in America. We
learn that a large number of delegates have al-
ready been appointed by the various leading horti-
cultural and agricultural societies throughout the
country ; and that the deleirations embrace many
of the most experienced and distinguished cultiva-
tors throughout the Union.

A very large collection of fruits v.'ill be taken to
the convention, not only of new or rare sorts for
exhibition, but of old ones, from various parts of
the country, for comparison.

Preparations are making for a more systematic
review of the fruits and fruit culture of the United
States than has hitherto been attempted ; and from
the names of those who have taken an active inte-
rest in the matter, which are already reported to
the American Institute, we look forward with great
interest to the result of their labors.

The convention meets at Judson's Hotel, Broad-
way, on the 10th of October.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Show.
— This was the greatest eflTort ever made by the
Boston Society. Finding at their last annual ex-
hibition, that their own Hall was not large enough
by half to hold all the contributions of the mem-
bers, they very wisely this season took Faneuil
Hall — one of the largest public rooms in the coun-
try. The choice was a wise one. The old Hall
was beautifully and tastefully decorated for the
occasion — the galleries filled with a grove of large
exotics and evergreens — the columns tastefully
huno- with wreaths. Among these decorations
were conspicuously seen the names of distinguished
horticulturists; at the head of the hall, those of
Wilder, Vose, Cook, Dearborn, Bradlee, Low-
ELL, and Lyman, now or formerly presidents of
the society — while on the spaces between the
columns, on the other three sides, were the names
of Linneus, Decandolle, Douglass, Plumier,
MicHAUx, Loudon, Duhamel, Knight, Van
MoNs, Prince, Fessenden, Lowell, Buel, and
Manning.

On the western wall, were the following mot-
toes: " Your voiceless lips, 0 flowers, are living
Preachers," and on a pendant, " The breath of
Orchards big with bending fruits." On the east-
ern wall, was the following:

" O friendly to the best pursuits of man,
Friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace."

On either side of this couplet was another, from
Horace Smith's beautiful ode —

" Each floral beli, tolling its perfume, makes Sabbalh in the

fields;'*
and as a companion to itj on the right—*

" In flowers and blossoms we are wont to trajc
Emblems of woineu's lovelin^^ss and grace."

In short, as the Boston Transcript happily ex-
presses it, " Old Faneuil Hall looked like
" A bower of Roses by Bendamore's stream."

On entering, the display ot fruit was almost
overwhelming, by its quantity, quality, and varie-
ty. It seemed as if even Faneuil Hall is not
large enough to serve as a cornucopia for these
zealous eastern cultivators. Strangers from all
parts of the country held up their heads in as-
tonishment, first at its enormous quantity — then at
the wonderful variety— and lastly at the individual
perfection of the fruits shown. It was, no doubt,
the finest show of fruit ever seen in America.

We have not time, at the late hour at which
this goes to press, to go into details. They will
appear next month in the society's official report.
We will only notice the truly maffnificent foreign
grapes of G. R. Russel, Esq., of West Cambridge,
—by far the finest we ever saw— the basket of
Seckel pears, (as large as Doyennes,) from Mrs.
AdamS; of Roxbury — the prize basket of fruit, a
wonderfully handsome arrangement, by Otis John-
son, Esq., of Lynn. Our attention was also es-
pecially arrested by specimens of some of the old
pears, of unusual size and beauty, from the garden
of Col. Wilder, of Dorchester . and Mr. Wash-
burn, of Plymouth, grown by the aid of special
manures, (bone dust and iron,) from trees that
formerly only gave cracked and blighted speci-
mens.

We noticed that Mr. Manning, of Salem, had two
hundred and fifty varieties of pears, and one hun-
dred and eighty of apples. The President of the
society. Col. Wilder, had two hundred varieties of
pears, Ijesides other fruits. Mr. Walker, of Rox-
bury, had a hundred varieties of pears, and many
other gentlemen exhibited large quantities of fruit
and of flowers, which will be noticed more at
length hereafter.

The committee on Grapes have awarded the
following prizes: — to G. R. Russell, for the best
five varieties, the first premium of $15; to Thomas
Needham the second premium of $10, for the best
three varieties; to J. F. Allen the third premium
of $7, for the best two varieties; to Nahum Stet-
son the fourth premium of $5, for the best one va-
riety. They also recommended a gratuity of $1.5
to J. F. Allen, for his extensive collection of

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

191

ff&pes, many of which are of a new kind; and to
CtJs Johnson, B. Emerson, and James Arnold,
■each the Society's medal of $5, for their well-
grown specimens.

The Committee on Pears have awarded prices
as follows— To S. Walker, for the best 12 varie-
ties, 12 specimens each, the first premium; to
Hovey & Co. the second premium; to J. Lowell
the tiiird premium; and they recommended a gra-
tuity of a <^o}d medal, or a piece of plate of the
value of $25, to Marshall P. Wilder, President of
the Society, and a gratuity of the like value to
Robert Maning, of Salem, for their extensive col-
lection and new varieties; also premiums to Mrs.
James Adams, for a dish of Seckels, and to Samu-
el Pond, for a dish of Dix pears.

The Committee on apples awarded for the best
12 varieties of 12 specimens each, the Society's
plate, valued at $25, to J. L. I.. F. Warren; the
second to Messrs. Hyde, flO; the third to El-
bridge Tufts, $5. Also, a gratuity to B. V.
French of the Society's plate or medal, valued at
$25, for the largest collection; to George Pierce
$6 for the best basket of Porter apples, and to J.
Stickney the second best, being the Hubbardston
Nonsuch, $4. The Committee recommend gratu-
ities or medals, worth $5 each, for beautiful speci-
mens, to James Eustis, A. D, Weld, Anson Dex-
ter, Hovey & Co., A. D. Williams & Son, R.
Manning, and A. Hall.

Gen. Hand Pi.0M.~-We ha.ve received speci-
mens, in good order, of this American plum, so
much talked of, and so little known to pomologists,
from Eli Parry, of Lancaster, Pa-
It is a magnilicent fruit, averaging, we should
judge, larger than the Washington, and quite dis-
tinct from all other sorts. We shall publish an ac-
curate description of it, and will, therefore, only re-
mark now that it is a roundish oval fruit, measur-
ing from 6 to 7 inches round, of a deep golden yel-
low colour, with a much longer stalk than the
Washington. The flavor is, we think, not equal to
that of the latter fruit ; but as we learn that it is a
much greater bearer, its size and beauty will, no
doubt, make it a popular variety.

Pear Ssedlings.— -Many individuals, after ma-
king two or three unsuccessful attempts to raise
pear seedlings in this country, have given up the
thing as utterly hopeless, at the same time venting
the severest maledictions against our soil and cli-
mate, than which there is not a more propitious one
on the face of the globe. But it is possible to raise
pear seediing-s, and that much superior to foreign
stocks. I have been in the habit, for the last
thirty years, of growing large quantities of differ-
ent kinds of seedlings, in a great variety of soils,
•with more or less success, and have, therefore, had
opportunity of observirig the soil in which they thrive
best.

In my first attempt, I merely gave a heavy top-
dressing of well rotted manure. This I found would
answer very well for all but pears j they would

grow tigorously for about two months and then
stop, frequently losing their foliage ; of course, it
v/as several years before they were sufficiently
large to transplant in the nursery rows for budding.
Having remarked that the seedlings in the deep
humus soil of my city garden grew very luxuriant-
ly, I concluded that m.y want of success in the
country was entirely attributable to the shallow-
ness of the top soil. I therefore adopted another
method, which I have since pursued with great
success. I first make a deep trench with the
plough, and finish to the required depth with the
s[)a.^e-~-two /eet — not less, if you would have seed-
lings that will average twenty inches the first year.
Now, for the compost used to fill up the trench,
which I consider the great desideratum, after all :
to half a peck iron filings, or cinders from the
blacksmith shop, add half a peck of leached lime,
half a peck leached hard wood ashes, and a peck
each of muck from the swamp, and well rotted
barnyard manure. These should be pulverized and
well incorporated with one bushel of soil, in which
the seedlings are to be grown. If these directions
are strictly lollowed, you will have such plants as
will make our foreign neighbors look a little aston-
ished. R. Schenectady, N. Y., September, 1848,

Tested Fruits. — I have fruited the Early Til-
lottson Peach here, this season, and think it will
sustain a high character.

We here consider the Rostiezer the best summer
pear. Truly your friend, Geo. Jaques. WorceS'
ter, Mass., September, 8, 1848.

iNFLtJENCE OF THE StoCK tTPON THE GrAFT. — •

If you think the following remarks worthy of a
place in your journal, they are at your service :

Six years ago 1 planted peach stones of late
kinds, and budded them the same season with vari-
ous kinds. This season I noticed that the early
kinds were a week later in ripening, than the same
fruit on the trees from which the buds were taken,
the soil and situation being much the same. This
led me to make further observations. I sold a par-
cel of trees to a farmer three years ago, which I
had budded upon stocks raised from stones, of late
and early peaches. In a row of Oldmixon Clings,
I noticed one tree M^hich seemed to have greener
fruit than the rest, and which, in fact, ripened about
eight days after the others ; my having taken the
last peach offof the late tree but a few days since.
This I would have attributed to some mistake in
the trees, and thought the tree was one of a similar
kind, but later, had I not superintended the planting
myself.

A neighbor of mine has buds on two trees of the
Red Magnum Bonum Plum, which bore this year ;
he called me in one da}', wishing to hear ray opi-
nion of the difference in the time of ripening, which
would have, indeed, puzzled me, had I not been
wide awake on that subject ; but to leave no doubt
that they were the same kind, he declared to me
that he took the buds off the same twig, and bud-
ded them at the same time, — thus putting it out of
the question to have been of diflferent varieties. On
examination, I found the one tree [stock] was the
Mirabolan, [Cherry Plum,] which is one of the ear-

192

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

liest plums we have ; the other, a late prune, which
is quite plenty in this vicinity, mostly producing its
like from seed. I have some of the fruit in ray
house now. The buds upon the Mirabolan ripened
their fruit just ten days before those on the late
prune. I could not vouch for their being the same,
did not the foliage show it. and also my eating of
the fruit at different periods ten days apart.

From these observations I have concluded here-
after to collect my early peach and plum stones
separately, and mark them in planting, so as to bud
early kinds upon early stocks, and late upon late,
instead of having them mixed as heretofore. I
have now a large number of early peach and plum
stones collected, for this autumn planting. Query;
if the earliest peach stones were selected and bud-
ded from the earliest ripening twigs, of the earliest
kinds, could we not, in a few successions of the
same, have earlier peaches than we do ? Yours re-
spectfully, S. Miller. Union Nurseries, Lebanon,
Pa., September 8th, 1848.

[Our own observations lead us to believe, also,
that the nature of the stock exerts a decided influ-
ence, not only on the season of ripening, but the
keeping qualities of grafted fruits. Ed. ]

PoMoLOGicAL Convention AT Buffalo. This
convention, called together through the exertions
of the officers of the N. Y. State Agricultural So-
ciety, and of the Horticultural Society of Buffalo,
assembled on the first ultimo, and extended its ses-
sions through the 2d and 4th, occupying three days
in all. Fear had been entertained that at so early
a season, but few fruits would be collected ; a large
number, however, were received from several differ-
ent states, and among them many varieties ripening
so early as to be usually excluded from our autumnal
exhibitions. In other respects, the convention may
be regarded as a very successful effort , and has re-
sulted in the interchange of much valuable informa-
tion.

Among the principal contributors were noticed
the following: — Robert Manning, Salem, Mass.;
Charles Downing and A. J. Downing, Newburgh,
N. Y.; F. W. Hayes, Newark, and Thomas Han-
cock, Burlington, N. J.; David Thomas, Aurora,
W. R. Smith, Macedon, and EUwanger, Barry &,
Rowe, and Bissell, Hooker & Sloane, Rochester,
Benj. Hodge, and A. Bryant and Sons, Buffalo,
N. Y.; F. R. Elliot, Cleveland, Ohio; George An-
drews, Montreal; James Dougall, Amherstburgh,
C. W.; A. C. Hubbard, Detroit; all of whom pre-
sented large and interesting collections. Charles
Hamilton, of Canterbury, Orange county. N. Y.,
sent to the convention a large and very fine assort-
ment of plums ; and several other smaller collec-
tions were received, among which were those of J.
W. Bailey, of Plattsburgh; L. F. Allen, Black
Rock; N. Goodsell, Greece, N. Y., and others.
The most interesting and important varieties in
these collections, were taken up, and occupied the
time of the convention during its several sittings.

The number of delegates in atttendance was be-
tw,een fifty and sixty, — from the States of Massa-

chusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey ?'
New- York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana.
Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, and from the twc
provinces of Canada — fourteen states and provin-
ces in all. The convention was organized by the
appointment of David Thomas, of Aurora, N. Y.,
as President, three secretaries and ten Vice-Presi-
dents, from as many different states and provinces.
A set of rules, for the government of its delibera-
tions, was adopted by the convention, the substance
of which was as follows: — The most perishable
fruits to be examined first, and to be brought to
the notice of the convention by a committee ap-
pointed for that purpose—one variety to be exam-
ined at a time, and comparisons made from differ-
ent specimens present; — members allowed to state
facts only in the briefest manner. Discussions on
special subjects to be allowed during evenings and
intervals, at which no one to speak more than ten
minutes, nor twice on the same subject. The po-
mological rules adopted by the New York State
Agricultural Society, were also adopted by the
Convention. Committees were subsequently ap-
pointed to examine and report on the seedling or
new fruits present.

Among the more active members who participa-
ted in the discussions, were Thomas Hancock, and
F. W. Hayes, N. J. ; Wm. R. Prince, Flushing;
Charles Downing, Newburgh ; Dr. H. Wendell,
Albany; P. Barrv, J. W. Bissell, and N. Goodsell,
Rochester; B. Hodge and W. R. Coppock, Bufl"a-
lo; J. J. Thomas, Macedon; L. F. Allen, Black
Rock; all in New- York; F. R. Elliott, Cleveland,
and H. H. Coit, Euclid, Ohio; J. D. G. Nelson,
Fort Wayne, Indiana^ J. C. Holmes, Detroit, A.
T. Prouty, Kalamazoo, Mich.; J. A. Kennicutt,
Chicago, 111.; Thomas Allen, St. Louis, Mo.; C.
Beadle, St. Catharines, and James Dougall, Am-
herstburgh, C. W.

With a single exception of a fruit convention,
held last year at Columbus, for the State of Ohio
only, this appears to have been the first attempt
of the kind ever made in this country. It was of
course to be expected that in so untrodden a path,
some time would be consumed in settling prelimi-
naries, and in adopting the best mode of action.
Difficulties existed, perhaps inseparably connected
with a convention of this nature, which occasioned
some confusion, and which are well worthy the at-
tention of those having the control of future meet-
ings of this kind. In all deliberative bodies, it is
absolutely essential to preserve order. But speci-
mens must be selected from large collections while
the discussions are going on — and if members are
to speak understandingly of these, they must
" cut and try." If fifty delegates are present, it
evidently becomes a matter of extreme difficulty
to prevent noise and confusion — more especially if
they give way to the strong temptation to converse
with each other, instead of always addressing the
chair. We know of but one way to prevent efTec-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

193

tually this evil, where the convention may consist
of more than ten or twelve persons, although an
energetic chairman, by constant effort, may do
much to lessen it. This is to devote one room to
the exhibition of the fruits, and another to the use
of the delegates. The fruit room, during the
hours of session, only to be entered by a commit-
tee of selection, who are to be well acquainted
with what is on hand, and single varieties, select-
ed from all the diflTerent collections when they are
to be found, presented at a time to the convention.
The specimens, if practicable, should be sufficient-
ly numerous to enable each member to taste, and
should be placed on accessible tables for this pur-
pose. No provision of this kind was made at
Butfalo, and the consequence was, that those who
bad loud and clear voices usually made themselves
heard by the reporter, even at those more noisy
periods when a dozen were engaged in examina-
tions and private conversation at once. The dis-
cussions, and statements of facts, were, to fruii
cultivators, in the highest degree interesting.
Some of the conclusions reached we give below: —

Peaches. — Early Barnard. — A good, very har-
dy, and productive peach, known in many parts of
Western New- York, under the name of Yellow
Alberge, and in some instances as Yellow Rareripe,
but quite distinct from either, and much superior
to the European Alberge.

Cooledge's Favorite. Late specimens were
presented, and it was decided by all who are ac-
quainted with it, to be first rate in quality.

Jaques' Rareripe, (one of the largest yellow
peaches known.) was unanimously recommended
as " a fine, large Early peach, but not of the high-
est quality in flavor." Nearly the same verdict
was given in relation to

Crawford's Early, a remarkably showy variety,
specimens of which were presented, measuring
nine and a-half inches in circumference, with a
statement by F. R. Elliott, of Cleveland, that he
had measured some the present season eleven inch-
es in circumference.

Haines' Early Red, from different sources, was
considered by a part of the delegates, as identical
with the Honest John, or Large Early York of
New Jersey, while others regarded it as distinct;
but all voted it a first rate variety.

The Early Maiden peach, a new seedling, was
presented by James Dougall, of Amherstburgh,
C. W., having been kept two weeks in ice. It
promises to bo an acquisition of the highest value.
It is of good size, red, very free from the stone, of
excellent flavor, the leaves glandular, and it ripens
about the time of the serrated Early York and
Early Tillotson. It has borne three years.

The Snow peach was decided to be a first rate
variety for preserving, but the convention was di-
vided as to its other merits, some regarding it as
first rate, and others as only second rate, for the
table.

The White Imperial, received a unanimous vote,
as the Oldmixon Free, and the Large Early York,
of N. Jersey, as fruits of the first quality.

The Royal George Peach was decided to be un-
worthy of general cultivation, on account chiefly
of the mildew of its leaves and branches.

Nectarines. — James Dougall, of C. W., pre-
sented specimens of the Large Early Violet necta-
rine, a rare variety, distinguished by its superior
size from the common Early Violet, and of fine
quality.

The Downton nectarine, from A. J. Downing,
which has so high a reputation lor excellence,
proved to be of tiie very highest character.

Pears. — The following eight varieties received
the unanimous vote of the convention as pears of
the first quality, and worthy of general cultiva-
tion:

Dearborn's Seedling, Bartlett,

Tyson, Louise Bonne of Jersey,

Rostiezer, Beurre d'Aremberg,

Golden Bilboa, Glout Morceau.

Dearborn's Seedling was commended, not only
on account of its high flavor, but for its uniform
excellence in all places and under all circumstan-
ces, although its quality is diminished when it
overbears, to which it is liable.

The Tyson, fine specimens of which were sent
to the convention by W. R. Smith, of Macedon,
N. Y., was placed among the best summer pears.
It was decided by the Philadelphia Horticultural
Society, to be superior to Dearborn's Seedling.

Stevens' Genesee, was pronounced, nearly una-
nimously, to be among first rate pears;

Beurre d'Aumalis, as second rate in flavor, hut
worthy of cultivation in large collections on ac-
count of its size, fairness, productiveness, and free
growth ;

The Andrews, as nearly first rate;

The Marie Louise, for general cultivation, but
not unanimously;

The Gushing, as second rate;

The Bezi de la Motte, and Julienne, as unwor-
thy of general cultivation.

Tlie Washington, although according to the
statement of Thomas Hancock, decided at Phila-
delphia to be superior to Dearborn's Seedling, was
pronounced by the convention to be not fully first
rate.

The Bloodgood was voted to be one of the best
summer pears. On light soils it was found to be
invariably fine, but several statements were made
to the convention where its flavor had proved infe-
rior on heavy soils, while others were given, where
on such soils it had been excellent.

The Brown Beurre and Orange Bergamot were
pronounced unworthy of cultivation.

A specimen was presented by Dr. H. Wendell,
of Albany, which excited great interest, and
which was believed to be the genuine Beurre
Spence. The tree had been received as such, four

194

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

years ago, from Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridge- '
worth, England; the fruit was wholly different
from any other variety known, and although un>
ripe, had a very promising appearance.

Plums.— The following varieties of the plum
were decided to be first rate: —

Purple Favorite, Jefferson,
Red Gage, Bieeeker's Gage,

Washington, Red Diaper,

Green Gage, Coe's Golden Drop.

Imperial Gage,
La Royal and Smith's Orleans, were recommen-
ded as nearly first rate. White Magnum Bonum
or Yellow Esg, first rate for the kitchen, and third
rate as a table fruit. Diamond, as third rate.

[A notice of the examination of apples we are
compelled to defer till next number.]

In the evening of the last day of the convention,
an address was given before the Buffalo Horticul-
tural Society and the delegates in attendance, by
David Thomas, President of the Convention. It
was deeply interesting and of a highly practical
nature, richly illustrated from the mature observa-
tions and long experience of the speaker. As this
address is to be published, we may notice it more
fully on a future occasion.

The following evening, a large audience assem-
bled to hear an address from Gen. Dearborn, of
Massachusetts, formerly President of the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society. The address was
wholly extemporaneous, and was what was to be
expected from his distinguished talents and elo-
qiience. The progress of Society, from its rudest
forms, and in the earliest ages, through the vari-
ous iiradations to the most refined civilization, was
vividly traced ; the early history of this progress
in our own country was given ; a picture of Buffa-
lo was presented, as it was when visited by the
speaker thirty- five years ago, when only ten
buildings stood on the ground now occupied by 45
thousand inhabitants, audits entire commerce con-
sisting of three batteaux; the rapid progress of
horticulture of late years was shown, and the fact
stated that more had been attained during the last
five years, than in all the previous period since the
settlement of the country. At Boston, where
within the age of middle aged men, the more com-
mon apples, pears and plums, were only raised,
there are now establishments embracing more than
a thousand different bearing varieties, and which
send their products into all the different states of
the Union, and to nearly every country of Europe.
The exalted nature of horticultural pursuits, and
the high perfection of civilization indicated by their
cultivation, were strongly exhibited, with its influ-
ence in promoting the arts of peace, domestic en-
joyment and freedom.—/. J. T.^ Macedon, 8 mo.

HoRTictJLTtJRAL Agencv. — We would direct
the notice of those of our readers who are interest-
ed, to Mr. Sheppard's advertisement, in this num-
ber. We are able to speak with confidence of Mr.

S.'s ability and integrity in all business of this kifld
that may be intrusted to his care, and recommend
him to those in the interior engaged in importing of
shipping trees or plants, or vs'ho wish commissions,
relating in any way to gardening, executed in
New- York. ....

Annual Exhibition of N. Y. State Agri«
CULTURAL Society '^ Horticultu7'al Department.
^-The arrangements for the exhibition of Horti-
cultural Products, were commodious and excel-
lent. A large elliptical tent, 80 feet wide, and 120
feet long, was devoted to this purpose. Around its
whole interior circumference, extended a line of
four terraced shelves or tables, covered with white
muslin, and edged at each terrace with evergreens.
The whole distance round, these were loaded with
handsomely arranged specimens of fruit, from seve-
ral different states of the Union. A railing, 4 feet
off, covered with white muslin, and with a dense
evergreen lining, protected these fruits from the
passing crowd. Within this railing, was a broad
passage for spectators. Still, within the passage,
were semi'elliptical tables heavily loaded with ve-
getables of large, and some of really mammoth
growth, from a great number of contributors.
These tables, occupied an aggregate length of more
than 100 feet, very densely covered. In the centre
of the tent was an exceedingly rich and chaste
evergreen temple, octagonal in form, on a green
massive base. It was 17 feet in diameter, and 22
feet high, and its interior was decorated with a
fine statue of Flora. For the arrangement and
execution of the ornamental part of the interior of
the great tent, the public are indebted largely to
the excellent taste, energy and perseverance of the
ladies of Buffalo.

Between this temple and the entrance passages
on either side, were tables covered with a brilliant
display of flowers, arranged in great variety. We
noticed a beautiful moss basket, densely filled with
a rich admixture of fruits ; a splendid parterre of
dahlias ; and a massive vase on a green, pedestal,
containing a pyramid of flowers nearly 6 feet high,
the whole being 9 feet in height, all from B. Hodge,
of Buffalo. A. Bryant Ji Sons, of the same
place, occupied a part of the tables with large col-
lections of flowers, including a pyramid 6 feet
high. An extensive collection of cut flowers, in
vials and hand vases, was exhibited by Ellwang-
er, Barry & Rowe, of Rochester; their display
of dahlias was particularly fine, and contained
many brilliant, rich and rare varieties. Four square
moss baskets, filled with parterres of roses, dahlias
and verbenas, and a large number of green-house
plants were furnished by Wm Webb, of Buffalo.
An artificial evergreen support of flowers, some-
what in the form of a tree, the arms terminating
with brilliant bouquets of flowers, was also pre-
sented by Mr. Webb. A number of smaller col-
lections were noticed, and one especially from E.
T. T. Martin, of Owasco, containing some fine
and rare 5orts»

Among the contributors of fruits, were EllioT
& Co. J Cleveland, Ohio ; Ellwanger, Barry &
Rowe, Rochester; A. Bryant & Sons, and B.
Hodge, Buffalo ; James Dougall, Amherstburgh,
J. C. Holmes and Hibbard & Davis, Detroit, all

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

195

ftf whom exhibited large miscellaneous collections.
George Andrews of Montreal, presented a very
extensive collection of apples, mostly of European
orifrin, -with some of the celebrated Canadian va-
rieties, beautifully arranged and divided on the dif'
We noticed, also, a larjje collection of apples, and
ferent terrace tables into early, middle, and late.
a few fine peaches, from L. Fay, of Portland, Chau-
tauf|Ue county, N. Y.; some very choice peaches.

Slums and pears, from H. G. DiCKerson of Lyons:
[awley and other apples, from E. C. Frost of
ChemunfT county, N. Y.; a branch of Oswego
Beurre, 2 feet long, loaded with near a half peek
of fruit, with several other fine sorts, from J. W.
P. Allen, of Oswego ; splendid baskets of Craw-
ford's Early Peach, from Jas. M. Whitney, of
Rochester, an admirable fruit for public exhibitions,
for although not of the highest quality, its great
size, and rich and showy appearance excited uni-
versal admiration in those who have only the privi-
lege of feasting their eyes. Among the specta-
tors, no fruit attracted more attention than the
showy and monstrous Alexander Apple, found in
several collections and humorously known as "Al-
exander the Great," but possessing little real
merit, though producing a total eclipse of smaller
and better varieties. One of the best and largest
collections of peaches, was from Bissell, Hooker
&. Sloane, of Rochester. But the largest collection
by far, which appeared upon the tables, though
perhaps not the most numerous in varieties, was
that presented by the Cleveland Horticultural So-
ciety, furnished by 17 ditTerent contributors, and
occupying 70 feet of the circumference of the great
Tent. Cultivator,

Horticu^ltural Society of the Valley of
Genesee. — The fall exhibition of the Society of the
Valley of the Genesee, took place yesterday after-
noon at Minerva Hall. There was a very fair dis-
play of apples, pears, and fruits generally, though
the collection was much smaller than it should have
been. The number of contributions of flowers was
perhaps greater than formerly ; one entire table
through the centre of the room, and another at the
end, being occupied by them. This department,
considering the lateness of the season, was fairly
represented.

The display of vegetables answered very well.
There were some mammoth beans, cucumbers and
beets, onions that would draw tears upon any de-
sirable occasion, carrots, squashes and celery that
looked well, but would no douot taste better, and
cabbages that would make a Dutchman laugh.
Melons of the finest flavor, though few in number,
here and there attracted attention. John Donnal-
lan, of Greece, was on hand with a large variety
of vegetables.

In the way of fruits, the display was small. We
have not room to give a full list of the exhibitors,
but selected only those that happened to come un-
der our eye in a hasty visit. L. A. Ward, seve-
ral varieties finely flavored peaches, pears and ap-
ples. EUwanger, Barry & Rowe, some very de-
sirable varieties. A plate of very large Orange
Quinces, by J. W. Seward. A basket of the same
by Mre.M. Jewett. Large Hawley Apples by M.

B. Seward. John Donnallan. of Greece, several
varieties of apples. H. N. Langworthy, of the
same town, seedling and early Melocoton Peaches.
Holland Pippins by S. H. Ainsworth, of West
Bloomfield. Pound Sweeting, very large, by G.

C. Gillett. J. Frazer, several varieties of apples
and peaches. G. W. Currier, several bunchch fine
Catawba Grapes. J. J. Thomas, Macedon, some
late or autumn strawberry apples. H. Hooker,
several varieties of ap))le9, some large and fine.
M. G. Warner, very large Isabella and Catawba
Grapes. Bissell, Hooker & Sloane, varieties of
peaches, apples, grapes, &.c.

The flowers looked well. J. J. Thomas, of Ma-
cedon, presented 19 varieties of autumnal roses.
Mrs. P. Barry, several varieties of flowers in a
moss basket. Miss Harriet E. and Miss Francis
A. Burbank, collections tastefully arranged. Mrs.
L. A. Ward, a fine display. Mrs. S. G. Crane, a
beautiful collection of annuals. &c. Mrs. John
Williams, a large variety of dahlias, and other
flowers, neatly grouped. Wm. King, a great va-
riety of dalilias, &c., tastefully arranged. Mrs. J.
W. Bissell, a fine display of diflerent kinds. The
Mount Hope Gardens sent in a lot of their finest.
Mrs. E. F. Smith, fine vase of flowers of various
kinds. Mrs. E. Rapalje, two varieties of cox-
combs, the largest we have ever seen. Mrs. Hen-
ry Billing, a neatly arranged collection. L. With-
erell presented a rooster, constructed of nearly 100
varieties of wild flowers, very skilfully put together.
A. Fahnestock, a pyramid of wild flowers, highly
creditable. Rochester D. Mv.

Columbus Horticultural Society.— The 4th
Annual Exhibition of the Columbus Horticultural
Society was held in the Representatives' Hall in
the State Capitol, on Tuesday and Wednesday,
the 5th and 6th days of September. 1848.

Of Fruits, Mr. Lafayette Lasell exhibited 103
varieties of apples and 24 of pears ; Dr. A.. H. La-
sell 6 varieties of apples and 1 pear, and a variety
of vegetables ; Mrs. Bela Latham, 39 varieties of
apples, and 5 of grapes ; Mr. F. Stewart, 26 of
apples and 2 of peaches ; Mr. A. Sites, 9 of peaches,
5 of plums, and 2 of grapes ; Mr. S. M'Clelland, 8
of peaches and 1 of grapes ; Dr. I. G. Jones, 4 of
peaches, 2 of pears. 2 of plums, and 2 of grapes ;
Mrs. L. Kilbourne, 3 of peaches, and 3 of grapes ;
Mr. William Morion, 11 of apples and 1 of peach j
Mr. John Miller, 4 of peaches, 4 of grapes, and
apples and plums ; Mr. Johu Burr, 6 of pears and
grapes ; Mr. B. Comstock, 5 of apples ; Mr. R.
W. M'Coy, 4 of grapes, with a great number of
others, in smaller lots.

Flowers, ^c— 'The exhibition of cut roses was
very fine, and many of them truly magnificent. The
largest collection was from Mr. A. B. Butles, and
comprised 8 varieties of Remontants ; 21 of Bour-
bons ; 21 of Noisettes ; 24 of China, 23 of Tea, &e.
&c. By Mr. John Burr, 21 varietiesof roses, some
of them very superb. From Mrs. Doherty, 15 va-
rieties, very fine.

i?o«g!/c/s.— Very splendid bouquets ofrosesandcut
flowers were received from Mrs. Joel Butles, Mrs.
John Burr, Mrs. Wm. A. Piatt, Miss Mather, Miss
Anna Lucas, Miss Medary, Mrs. R. W. McCoy,

196

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Mrs. L. Heyl, and others. The Secretary regrets
that a complete list of bouquets presented was not
taken, and he is therefore unable to give the names
of the donors.

From Mrs. Medbery, a splendid assortment of
dahlias ; from Miss E. S. Sites, a very beautiful
floral design ; from Miss Margaret Sullivant, and
Mr. A, B. Butles, fine bouquets of native flowers.

The specimens, without an exception, were of
the finest quality of fruit, flowers and vegetables,
and reflect the highest credit upon the taste and
enterprise of those engaged in their cultivation.

The thunks of tlie Society are due and cordially
tendered to all who sent in specimens, and aided
in making the Fair attractive, and worthy of the
attention of the public. Also, to the numerous
visitors for their patronage and liberal encourage-
ment at the sales of fruit, &c. &c.

Alex. E. Glenn, Rec. Sec'y.

Montreal Horticultural Society. — The
exhibition of fruit, flowers and vegetables, so anx-
iously expected, came off" on Wednesday after-
noon, Sept. 13, in the grounds of Mr. John Tor-
rance, St. Antoine street. The weather, though
a little chilly, was very fine, and the exhibition at-
tracted an immense crowd of visitors. We must
say that we were quite surprised, not only at the
immense quantities and varieties of the difrerent
horticultural and floricultural products brought for
exhibition, but at their extreme fineness and
beauty. They were a positive proof, if one were
needed, of what can be done by skill and science,
in counteracting the disadvantages of climate.
This is particularly conspicuous in the fruit and
flowers. We saw a monster pumpkin, weighing
218 lbs., which particularly attracted our atten-
tion ; there were many others of pretty nearly
equal size, which came, we were told, from the
gardens of Messrs. M. J. Hays and A. Macdonell.
In fact, all the kitchen garden vegetables exhibi-
ted were of the very first class, and elicited great
admiration from iherse persons who understand
such matters. The fruit was also very fine, and
of great many varieties.

His Excellency the Governor- General, with the
Countess of Elgin, visited the exhibition, and ap-
peared much gratified. The beautiful band of the
19th regiment was kindly permitted to attend,
and gratified the visitors with the performance of
some most exquisite airs. The grounds were
very tastefully decorated for the occasion, and no-
thing was omitted that could contribute to the
pleasure of the numerous visitors. We are in-
formed that the attendance during the day amoun-
ted to upwards of 4,000 — six hundred dollars are
said to have been taken at the door. A most in-
genious method of increasing the receipts was also
got up. We allude to the " Floral Bazaar,"
■which was surrounded during the whole day with
admiring crowds of all the " exquisites." Whe-
ther it was the sweet odor of the bouquets there
exposed for sale, or the attractions thrown out by

the fair venders, we are unable to say, but this
much we can, that the proceeds of the sales
amounted to upwards of forty dollars. Premiums
to the amount of about $130 were awarded.—-
Mont. Cour.

Answer to J. Burr's Inquiry. — In August,
1846, I sent Mr. Burr an order and remittance for
strawberries, and received ^iie varieties, all dead.
In October, ensuing, I renewed the order, and re-
ceived the same five varieties, all alive. On the
13th September, 1847, Mr. S. D. Foot sent an or-
der for the other four varieties, which Mr. Burr for-
warded by express, as per invoice now before me,
dated October 30th, 1847. As Mr. Burr states, in
your last number, that " some of the kinds were not
disposed of by him till last spring,^' " and then not
to me or any of my neighbors," he can explain the
above most singular discrepancy between his pre-
sent statement and the sufficient proof of the con-
trary, in his own hand writing, now in my posses-
sion. Respectfully yours, Wm. R. Prince. Flush-
ing, September 13, 1848.

PREMirivt FOR Shade Trees. — We observe, with
much pleasure, among the premiums offered this
year by the Chicago Horticultural Society, a prize
of twenty dollars, in plate, to the person " who shall
plant and bring forward in the public street the best
twenty shade trees ;" the prize to be awarded three
years hence. ....

Specimens of New Fruits. — We have to thank
our kind correspondents for a large number of sam-
ples of new fruits, received since our last. We
shall be able to give some notice.

The Cincinnati Strawberry Report. — A. J.
Downing, Esq.: — A copy of the accompanying ar-
ticle, was sent, at the time of its date, by mail, to
a friend in Boston, to present to Mr. Hovey for
publication. This did not come to hand; a second
copy was immediately forwarded, which Mr. H.
promised should appear in his next number. The
third number of his magazine, since the article was
handed to him, is received, and neither the article
nor any explanation appears. The presumption
is, it is designed not to publish it. Justice to the
Horticultural public, as well as to myself, requires
its publication ; and although much time has
elapsed since the cause for it occurred, the pro
priety of correcting Mr. Hovey's misrepresenta-
tions has not lessened. May I ask of you, then, a
place for it in the next number of your excellent
Horticulturist, and much oblige, very respect-
fully, yours. A. H. Ernst. Spring Garden,
Sept. 17, 1848.

C. M. Hovey, Esq. , Sir. — The May number of
your Magazine, containing your " review " of the
" Strawberry Report, read before the Cincinnati
Horticultural Society, August, 1847," by a com-
mittee of that body, did not come to hand until the
24th instant, consequently not giving time for a
suitable notice of it to reach yon for your next, or
June number.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

197

Without (lispulinfT your right of opinion, it can
not be tolerated that your misrepresentations should
pass unnoticed. The boldness is not for a mo-
ment disputed. The generalship displayed, may,
however, with much propriety, be questioned. I
shall show that the attack was injudiciously made,
without an adequate force with which to advance,
and no reserve to cover a retreat. This I will en-
deavor to do as briefly as the importance of the
subject to the public will admit of.

It will be observed, the committee were appoint-
ed for a specified purpose, as set forth in the
report. To collect and ascertain facts of the
" Sexual character of the Strawberry ." They did
not feel it their duty to depart from this, and stop
to inquire on whom these facts would likely bear
favorably or otherwise ; nor did they go blindly to
their work and make assertions not sustained by
the best testimony within their reach. It is, how-
ever, not the design to enter into an argument on
this point, but to confine these remarks to the
'■ reviews."

That it should be viewed as " the vexed straw-
berry question," with a manifest desire to get
rid of it, if possible, with one bold stroke, by those
whose interest is likely to be so materially affected
by its further discussion, is not to be wondered at.
The committee were not laboring under this mag-
netic influence. Hence it will not be considered
as remarkable that no other fault is found or criti-
cism extended to other parts of the report, although
Buist's Prize Seedling, (which the originator
vended at $3 per dozen plants,) the British Queen,
&c., passed the ordeal and scrutiny of the com-
mittee with no less favorable results than the
" Boston Pine."* Yet for obvious reasons, we
hear not a word in defence of their insulted rights.
Not a lisp is uttered of their spuriousness. But
the moment the electrifying term Boston Pine !
strikes the sensitive ear, it pours forth the excla-
mations, " Really, we are constrained to say our
Cincinnati friends do not understand the cultiva-
tion of the strawberry, or else they have not the
true sorts cultivated under the same names as at the

* It may not be out of place here to remark that these are
alike stamiiiates; and il i* not deiiie'1 in the report that in
Pome stamiiiates, as also in some pislillates, the rudiments of
the other sexual character exists in a rudimentary and obscure
form, as for example, Hovey''s Seedling, (pistillate,) which
under peculiar circumstances of cuhivaiion, and perhaps in-
fluence of soil and climate, maybe so developed as to pro-
duce a partial crop, which, to the casual observer seems a
full one A fine example of this apparent productiveness
■was shown in the efforts of a plant of the loiva Male, broufrht
to the Society's Hall by Mr. S. M. Carter, of Ky., in the
spring of 1S47. This plant had produced one hundred and
eleven blossoms, which sat seventy-eight fruit. On close
examination, however, it was found that none were perfect.
— [.Strawberry Report, p. 11] From these occasional an/y?-
cial deviations, we are not however to infer that staminale
plants, (strictly so,) are ever to be depended on as bearers;
or that pistillate plants (strictly so,) will fruit without the
presence and fertilizaliou of staminales When they do,
they partake more or less of 6o(/t sexes- This posiiiom must
be true, or all experience and reason drawn from the causes
of reproduction is of no force, but is a mere fancy as applied
to the strawberry. A. H E.

east." "Really" a wonderful discovery this to
dispose of the " vexed question." But to proceed,
you say, " Passing over all the descriptions and
other matters, we at once come to the portions of
the report, which to us, are more important than
the discussion of the simple question of stamens
and pistils." No doubt here we have the true
gist of the matter. The important facts of the
report are set aside to make room for a cavil
about the terra "perfect," as applied to the Bos-
ton Pine, and a ruse is resorted to, to produce the
impression that the committee were incompetent
and careless, and have been guilty of a false state-
ment, drawn from a spurious sort. And the ques-
tions are tauntingly asked, " Who raised Mr. Ho-
vey's Perfect, as the committee style it 1 Did
any one of them ever see such a variety no-
ticed in our pages, or described by us 1" These
insinuations and questions come with rather an
ill grace from a quarter where there has been so
much vascillating on this " vexed question," and
are too shallow to have much force.

The observer will see by reference to the report
that the term, (Mr. Hovey's perfect) is in brack-
ets, and not at all given as the name. To show
the propriety of its use in connection with the
" Boston Pine," it is not necessary to go farther
back than the laudatory advertisement of the
Messrs. Hovey & Co., on the cover of the number
containing the review, for the sale of the plants.
Here it is said, the flowers are all staminate or
perfect. If the Messrs. Hovey &. Co., as origina-
tors, may use the term perfect, the committee's
right should hardly be disputed.

The next important point that concerns the
public is the genuineness of the Boston Pine, from
which the committee's observations were made.
In the fall of 1845, the w^riter ordered from the
Messrs. Hovey & Co., some 8 or 10 sorts of the
new strawberries, among them two dozen of the
Boston Pine, for which he paid $6, that is $3 per
dozen plants. These were carefully planted out,
and of course watched with equal care, for areali-
zation of the high expectations which the price and
their advertisement justified. The next spring
after planting, the character o*" their fruiting prov-
ed a disappointment. The next equally so, and
this spring, with a few reservations, they have
been turned under as cumberers of the ground. It
-R-as from this plantation that the committee's ob-
servatiiyns were made. On a careful comparison
of the foliage of the denounced Boston Pine, with
that figured in the 3d No. of Hovey's Fruits of
America, all doubts of its genuineness is removed.
I wish the same identity existed as to the fruit.
In that outline you represent 9 out of 14 blossoms
as having set.very perfect fruit. What confidence,
then, is a review entitled to, so full of wilful mis-
statements and denial of facts.

Now it is immaterial to the Society or this com-
mittee, as to the truth or falsehood of what the
Messrs. Hovey & Co. say in their advertisement^

198

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

cautioning the public, " that the kind cultivated
and exhibited in Cincinnati as ' Hovey's Perfect,'
and sold for the Boston Pine, is a spurious kind,
and was never raised by them." The point for
them to be satisfied on is, " Were their observa-
tions made from the genuine sort, and if not, who
practiced the imposition on them?" For this the
Messrs. Hovey & Co., or myself are alone respon-
sible. They have raised the issue of veracity and
made it assume a personal matter between us, and
they must take the consequence. It is for an im-
partial public to judge where the truth rests. To
their judgment the facts above stated are submit-
ted, with no fears as to the result. On the one
hand, they have the natural affectionate feelings
of devoted parents, defending their cherished off-
spring. On the other, the actions of one who, in
a pecuniary point of view would have been much
benefited in the sale of the accumulated stock of
the plants in question. Had a due regard to truth
and the position he was called to occupy by the
Society justified him in a successful effort to influ-
ence his colleagues to a coincidence with the views
of the originators ; if the caution in the advertise-
ment then be true, they are guilty of duplicity in
sending abroad for the Boston Pine what they as-
sert they " never raised," and making the writer
the innocent instrument of imposition on the com-
mittee and the Society, or on the other hand they
are guilty of publishing a falsehood on them. They
are of course at liberty to choose their position.

As to the insinuations of the incompetency of the
committee, and the confidence cultivators may place
in them, I may be permitted to say, that in its selec-
tion it was deemed important that a part of its mem-
bers should consist of gentlemen who have been long
and extensively engaged in the practical cultivation
of the Strawberry, and a part who were well ac-
quainted with a scientific knowlege of the subject.
That nothing might be left unnoticed that science
and practice could detect. It is left with the pub-
lic to judge how far such a committCB would be
likely to commit the blunders attributed to it.

In conclusion, I wish to correct one other error, of
little importance to any one but myself. I had not the
honor to be chairman of the committee, nor did I
have any hand in penning its matter. It was simply
to the practical matters of fact that my attention
was directed and the principles therefrom deducted.
By these I am prepared to stand. Dr. Warden's mo-
desty led him to put his name where mine should have
lieen, which I did not know until I saw it in print.
He is Chairman and writer of the report. I do not
mention this with any desire to rid myself of any of
the responsibilities of it, but simply because I find
myself unexpectedly clothed with the weight of a
well earned reputation of another. This, I sup-
posed, I had guarded against, by writing in the
copy I sent you, opposite the Dr's. name. Chair-
man, to designate to whom the credit is due.

Hoping that you will not feel it out of place to
m.ake room for the above remarks in your next No.

I remain, respectfully yours, ^. H. Ernst, Spring
Garden, near Cincinnati, May 28, 1848.

Meteorology — .^. /. Downing, Esq. — Sir : I
observe that many of your readers ask questions,
through your journal, and receive answers, either
from yourself or a subs-criber. Perhaps this liberty
ought to be confided to the more legitimate ob-
jects of the horticulturist; and yet, I know that
many of your subscribers are men of science, and
therefore would feel interested in the questions I
am about to propose. Besides, without lightning,
thunder and rain, in the old fashioned way, many
a pomologist and florist would be disappointed in
his hopes, however little he might care about the •
science of meteorology, so that on second thought,
perhaps, you will think my inquiries come within
the proper scope of your journal. And now for the
object of this letter.

Statements — 1. We have a railroad passing
through this city, on the line of which there are
telearaphic wires, reaching from Boston to New-
York, and by occasional connection to all parts of
the country, where this mode of communication has
been adopted.

2. During the period since the erection of these
wires, we have had, in this part of the country, a
remarkable exemption froni thunder storms of all
grades, and especiallj^ from those appaling exhibi-
tions of this kind to which most parts of our coun-
try are subject.

3. During the past season, 'from'winter to the
present time, not a single severe thunder storm has
occurred in this vicinity, nor have we heard thun-
der, or seen lightning, even at a distance, since the
month of June, more than two or three times.

Inquiries — 1. Has there been any unusual ex-
emption from the phenomena of lightning and
thunder, in other parts of the country through
which railroads and telegraphic wires pass, since
their erection ?

2. Where such wires have been erected, without
the rails, or the roads, without the wires, have the
usual number and intensity of thunder storms oc-
curred ?

3. In sections of the country at a distance, say of
30 or 50 miles, from railroads and telegraph wires,
has there been observed any remarkable difference
with respect to the phenomena in question, within
the last few years ?

Remarks. — It is a good rule, in natural philoso-
phy, as well as in other departments of knowledge,
never to form a theory until the facts on which it
is to be founded have been clearly ascertained ;
and yet, in the present case, I can hardly avoid
making a few suggestions in anticipation of the
results of the above inquiries.

Telegraphic communications show that the elec-
trical aura can be sent hundreds of miles in a se-
cond of time ; thus proving that the wires through
the centre line to such distances are charged with
the fluid, and yet in another second, every vestige
of this mysterious influence may be dissipated, as is
shown by breaking the connection between the
wires and the battery. Admitting that lightning
and artificial electricity are identical, what pre-
vents that of the atmosphere from following the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

199

same laws, and bein<T dissipated, nr equalized by
the same means. It is known, at all tele<iraphic
stations, that the apparatus is affected by a thun-
der storm, at the distance of hundreds of miles;
and in the southern states the wires are often so
fully charged with atmospheric electricity, that the
small quantity added by artificial means has no
appreciable effect ; and thus the usual telegraphic
communications may be, and are, entirely suspend-
ed for hours.

The above being known facts, might we not in-
fer that the result would be, at least, a partial equi-
librium of the electrical influence between the at-
mosphere and the earth, by means of the tele-
graphic wires ; and that these wires, together with
the iron tracks of the railroads, would combine to
form an electrical equilibrium between distant por-
tions of the atmosphere, and equally distant por-
tions of the earth ? And that thus those local ac-
cumulations, which result in thunder storms, would
be, at least, in a degree prevented ?

If some of your subscribers, or others, who live
near railroad and telegraphic lines, and also some
who live at a distance from such lines, will be so
kind as to answer the above questions, directed to
J. L. Comstock, M. D., Hartford, Ct., the under-
signed will communicate the result for publication
in your useful journal. I am, sir, very respectfully
your ob't serv't, J. L. Comstock. Hartford, Ct.,
September 19, 1848.

The Rose. — But many of the finest ornaments
of the garden, require no peculiar soil or treat-
ment; and amongst these, are the old favorites,
pinks and roses. A late writer on the rose,
indeed, has said that " rose-growing is con-
fined to latitudes south of 41 deg." but could he
have ever visited Western New-York, or attended
its exhibitions ? Why, we have hundreds of supe-
rior kinds that are perfectly hardy, and even the
many colored Greville, blooms finely with a little
protection in winter.

It should also be remembered, that some tender
roses, when killed to the ground, assume the habit
of '^herbaceous perennials ; and send up stems from
the root that bloom abundantly throughout the
summer. I first observed this result in the Champ-
ney and Aimee Vibert; and why may not all un-
budded perpetual bloomers do so, if planted deep?
Cut them down on the approach of winter, and
cover the stumps with a sod. It would only be a
new style of pruning.

Roses, however, that only bloom once in the
season, requiring the last years' wood for the flow-
ering stems to stand on, would not succeed with
this treatment.

Perhaps the best method of training the tall-
growing kinds, is on pillars. Two years ago, I
had pieces of scantling, twelve feet in length and
three inches by four, planted as posts, first perfo-
rating them in five or six places with a two-inch
auger. Through these holes the stem of the rose
is drawn. As it lengthens, this operation should
be repeated from time to time, till it reaches the

top, about nine feet high; and as it depends on no
decaying cord or bandage for support, it cannot be
blown down by the wind.

To insure these posts from decay, inch auger
holes near the ground, were bored, slanting down-
wards, not quite through, and filled with salt. —
Some persons have used plugs in their posts to
keep out the rain; but it is best to leave them open
for a time, till the wood becomes saturated with
brine. As the salt dissolves, more should be sup-
plied— say two or three times a year.

To obtain a finer display, I have planted roses
of different colors, on opposite sides of the posts,
intertwining their branches. At one, I have the
tea scented Ayrshire and Violet Episcopal, by way
of contrast; and at another, the Baltimore Belle
and Queen of the Prairies. I have sixteen posts
of this description, and have obtained, expressly
for this purpose, a sufficient number of tall grow-
ing kinds. Further experiments are wanted, how-
ever, to determine what sorts can be most fitly as-
sociated, and what shades of color will harmonize
the best.

Of all the insects that annoy the florist, the rose
bug ought to stand first on the list. It is a perfect
nuisance ; and it is doubted if any way to expel
them has been discovered, except by manipulation.
Even in this northern land, they appear to have
inhabited sand hills from time immemorial; and
would seem to be now on the increase ; but, on hea-
vy loams — which constitute perhaps nine-tenths of
this vast region — I think they have not been ob-
served. This exemption we ought to prize very
highly, and gives us advantages over the south. If
a few of our roses, such as the Chromatelta, are
prevented by our climate from assuming the habit
of a tree, it is consoling to know that none in all
our collections on heavy soils, will be defaced by
the rose-bug. — D. Thomas' Address at Buffalo.

Horticultural Humbugs. — There are a num-
ber of these which take periodical journeys in the
papers, and are thus " rescued," as the Prairie
Farmer says, ■' from drowning." Among them
are, that the insertion of apple grafts in a potato
before planting in the earth, insures their growth;
that covering asparagus stalks with a bottle, the
stalk will soon swell prodigiously and fill the bot-
tle ; that the exclusion of grubs from cabbage
may be effected by a circle-^ salt ; that trans,
planting evergreens is siWcessful at midsummer ;
that by grafting or budding the peach on the wil-
low, the fruit, when it grows will have no stones;
that plucking potato balls will cause a great in-
crease in the tubers; that peach and apple seeds,
planted in the fruit, will infallibly re- produce the
same variety ; that the escape of sap. by pruning
the grape in spring, will destroy the vine ; that
the growth of vegetables or weeds, will prevent
the soil from drying by affording shade, &c. — CuU
tivator.

200

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Great Dairy Farm. — One of the greatest dai-
ries, in our country, is that of Col. Mkacham of
Pulaski, N. Y. His farm consists of 1000 acres,
300 of which are devoted to jjrass ; and he keeps
one hundred head of cattle, and ninety-seven cows.
In one year he made 30,000 lbs. of cheese, 20,o00
Ihs. of which sold at one time, in New- York, for
from 64 to 7 cents per pound. He feeds his cows
mostly on hay and carrots ; of the latter, he raises
2000 bushels, and j^ives each cow half a bushel
per day. And besides the benefit derived from his
j^rass for liis stock, he gathers not less than 300
bushels of grass seed. Report of U. S. Patent
Office.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Grafting GrApes. — Simeon Folsom, (Lowell,)
will find full directions for grafting grapes in our
work on Fruit and Fruit Trees.

CuRCULio. — j1. B. C, We cannot recommend to
you any certain mode of getting good crops of
plums in your sandy soil, but that of making a
plum-yard adjoining your hog-pen, and allowing
the hogs to have free run in it, (first protecting the
trunks of the trees.) from the time the blossoms
open till the fruit commences to ripen. This is an
effectual mode, and the only one on a large scale
that we know. /. F. — The curculio commences
its attacks, usually, directly after the blossoms
drop, and from that time till the fruit is as large
as a hazlenut ; but mostly while it is quite small.

Peach Trees. ^Gco. Jagues, (Worcester.) In
budding peach trees, the single buds are preferred,
(those being wood or growing buds ;) the double
buds are usually blossom buds ; the triple ones eon-
tain both blossom and growing buds. The last will
answer, but the first are the best.

Anthracite Coai.. — Brown, (New London.)
Anthracite dust or screenings are of little or no
value for orchards, except mechanically, i. e., to
make heavy soils light. You had better mix it with
brush or faggots, and use the whole to burn clay or
sods, when the whole will make a most fertilizing
compost. The ashes of anthracite coai have proved
especially valuable as a top-dressing for the cherry
tree.

Strawberries — W. G. W., (Centre county.
Pa.) The onlj' superiority of the first runners of
strawberry plants for new plantations is that they
iSi'e usuallj the strongest. The firmest strawberry,

and therefore one of the most profitable for market
culture, is the Hudson.

Drying Fruits. — W. G. W. You will find an
account of the best mode of drying fruits, and espe-
cially plums, in our work on Fruits. We shall
soon translate and republish an interesting article
on this subject, from a new German work.

Hedges. — M. J. S., (Boston.) The berberry
will make a good hedge if regularly sheared. You
will see a good specimen of it in the grounds of
Horace Gray, Esq., Nonantura Hill, near New-
town. Wm. Johnson, (Baltimore.) The Osage
Orange is our favorite hedge plant for all parts of
the Union, where the winters are mild, or even
where the thermometer does not sink lower than 5°
below zero. Plants may now be had in most of the
nurseries at low prices, by the thousand.

Transplanting Trees. — E. Bidivell, (Charles-
ton.) You will be much more successful in taking
trees from the north in November than at any other
season. Shorten the heads one-half when you plant
them. J. W., (Burlington.) Raise a mound or
hillock round your trees, a foot high, and let it re-
main till the spring opens. This will not only pro-
tect the roots from frost, but will keep the tree
steady. j1. R. P., (Newport.) Evergreens suc-
ceed best in spring planting ; but they may be
transplanted, with perfect success, at any season,
if you preserve a ball of earth about the roots.
The hemlock likes best a cool damp soil, though it
will grow on one perfectly dry. The European
holly will not stand your winters.

Selections OF Fruits. — /. Williams. The best
three peaches for your garden are Early York,
George the Fourth, and Oldmixon Freestone. E.
P. R. The Cherry Currant may be had of Par-
sons & Co., and other nurserymen ; see catalogues.
j1 Young Orchardist. Roxbury Russett and Bald-
win are the two most profitable orchard apples for
New-England. The Newtown Pippin does not
suit the climate.

Pruning Yines. —jln Amateur, (Trenton, New-
Jersey.) We prefer autumn pruning, directly af-
ter the leaves drop, to that done in February or
March, for all hardy vines.

*^* Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any questions on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requt^sted) — and all que-
ries put in a brief shape, and sent to us free of 'post'
age, shall receive attention, Ed.

ALBANY AND RENSSELAER HORT. SOC.

201

ALBANY AND RENSSELAER HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The second annual eihibilion of this Society was held in
\:he Geological Rooms. Slate street, Albany, on the 14th and
15th instant, and was in all respects, eonsideriiig the season,
a most gratifying exhibition.

The Society are under great obliifations to Messrs David
Thomas of Aurora, J. J. Thomas of Macedon, William Ran-
kin, Esq of Newark, N. J . and S. C. Groot of Schenectady,
for the choice selection of fruiis presented l)y them for exhi-
hilion ; and which are more panicularly referred to in the re-
port of the committee.

The friends of the Society have every reason for encour-
ag:ement from this exhibition, and it cannot be doubted that
this Socii^ty is bow so well establislied as to realise ail that its
earliest friends anticipated from its organization.

In the absence of the Secretary of the Society, Mr. R. F
Johnstone, of this city, kindly proffered his services, and aid-
ed in Jbe arrangemeiu and preparalioiis fir the exhibition.
JOEL RATHBONE, President.

VEGETABLES.— The Committee on Vegetables state that
'Jie contributions to this department were very numerous, and
exceeded in interest any previous exhibition; and that in
many cases it was very difficult to determine to whom the
prize on several articles should be awarded.

E. P. Prentice, of Mount Hope Tliree varieties of Rhu-
barb, Red Cabbage, Late Drumhead Cabbage, Lima Beans,
Kgg plants. Parsnips, Peppers, Tomatoes, Carrots. Onions,
Beets, Celery, seven varieties of Squashes, of which the com-
mittee noticed especially the Marrow, Custard and Hybrid.

J. H. Willard of Troy. While Cabbage. Egg plants. Sal-
sify, Onions, Martynias, Turnip Beets, Seedling Potatoes,
Okra, Lima Beans, Squash Peppers, Tomatoes, Radishes, four
varieties of Potatoes, Crookneck Squashes.

V. P. Douw of Wolveuhcok. Greenbush Beans, four va-
rietie.s, fine Egg plants. Peppers, Tomatoes, Okra, Long
Green Cucumbers, Purple Cape Broccoli, Salsify, Long Blood
Beets. Turnip Beets, Parsnips, Cabbage, White Crookneck
and Brazil Squashes

Frederic Keisel of Albany. Chicory Salad, White and Red
Onions, Parsley, Turnips, Celery, Kohl Rabi, Leeks, Peppers

Dr Herman Wendell of Albany. Kohl Rabi, Turnip Beets
Blood Beets. Onions, Parsnips, Carrots, Chicory, Sweet Pota«
toes, seedling' Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Portugal Cab-
bage, Red Cabbage, Drumhead Cabbage, and Martynias.

John Taylor of Albany. Early pod seed Cucumbers, Beets.

Judge Parker, Albany. Mammoth Tomatoes.

Dr. J Wilson of BeihleheBi. Tomatoes, seed Cucumbers,
Carrots, Squashes, Pumpkins, Turnips, Yellow Corn.

Daniel Payne, of Albany. A fine show of Onions, large
Cabbage, Blood Beets and Carrots.

Joel Rathbone, of Kenwood. Egg plants. Carrots, Pars-
nips, Turnip Beets, Onions, Marrow Squash, Boston Squash,
seedling Ehubaris, Okra plains. Endive, Sweet Potatoes Lima
Beans, Kohl Rabi, four varieties of Tomatoes, Seedling Pota-
toes, Salsify, Leeks.

Stephen Moseley, Bethlehetn. Squashes, Cucumbers,
Pumpkics, Muskmelons, Squash Peppers, Parsnips. Black
Radishes, Yellow and Sweet Corn.

Joel Munsell of Albany An ear of California Corn.

R p. JOHHSTOKK, C N. BeMENT, J. WlLSON, M. D.

Theeommitiee on Greenhouse Plants, Flowers, Floral De-
signs, etc. beg leave t" report that there were exhibited

By Joel Rathijune, Kenwood. Two magnificent floral de-
eigns, o \e of a aovel form, possessing great grace and beauty,
and both composed of very choice flowers, arranged with
«kill and good taste. Twenty varieties of Dahlias, of rare
kinds and fine blooms. Thirteen varieties of Roses.

By Jajnes Wilson. Eighty varieties of Dahlias, embrac-
iiig all the late and rare kinds. A large and beautiful collec-
tion of Roses, among which were the following. La Reine,
Prince Albert, Marquis Bocella, Madame Dacnmee. Duchess
of Sutherland, Mrs. Cripps, William Jesse, Dr. Roque, Phoe-
jiix, Soliman. Countess Duehatel, etc. A choice coilecti'in of
fhlosces. Verbenas, German Asters, etc. Two b'autiful bou-
.-[juets, one round and the other flat, arranged with much taste.

By Louis Menaud, Walerviiet. Six greenhouse plants

in pots, viz. Erica cruenta. Erica blanda, Combretura purpu-
reum, Fuchsia globosa. Cere us smithianus.

By William Newcorab, Pittstown. Eighty varieties of
Dahlias, a very choice collectkin and perfect flowers; a beau-
tiful show of German A.sters, and a fine flat parlor bouquet.

By Henry Vail, Mount Ida, Troy A round centre tab'e
bouquet, composed of rare flowers, and constructed with
much taste. Also a new and elegant Dahlia called the Metro-
politan Green.

By Dr. Herman Wendell, Albany. A very handsome bas-
ket-shaped bouquet, one round bouquet, a large and choice
collection of Dahlias, German Asters and Verbenas, some
seedlings among the latter being exceedingly fine.

By V. P. Douw. A very handsome collection of flowers,
consisting of Noisette and Perpetual Roses, Verbenas, Eri-
cas, Passion flowers, etc.

By Amos Briggs, Sehaghticoke. Two round bouquets and
a collection Dahlias, German Asters, Roses, Heliotropes,&c.

By Dr. J. Wilson, Bethlehem. A box containing a very
beautiful collection of Dahlias.

W. Newcomb, J M LovETT, M. Ferries, E. H. Pease.

FRUIT.— The Committee on Fruit reports that there were
exhibited.

By H. Vail, Mount Ida, Troy. Twenty-five varieties of
Pears, including the Bell, Beurred'Aremberg, Gansell'sBer-
gamot. Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Duchess d'Angouleme,
etc. Twenty-one varieties of Apples, including Talman's
Sweeting, R. I. Greening, Yellow Newtown Pippin, English
Russet, Detroit, Domiuie, Swaaraaid others. Four varieties
of Grapes, Black Prince, Blue Chasselas, Isabella, Catawba.
Also the Noblesse Peach.

By Dr Herman Wendell, Albany. Twenty three varieties
of Pears, including the Beurre Bose, Beurre Spenee, Van
Mobs' Leon le Clerc, Bartlett, Julienne, Muscadine, etc.

By E- P. Prentice, Mount Hope. Twenty-six varieties of
Apples, including the Rhode-Island Greening, Tallman'g
Sweeting, Golden Russet, Pearmain, and other varieties.

By Messrs. McCulloch and Kirlland, Greenbu.sh.— Nine va-
rieties o( Apples, including the Spitzenberg, Golden Russet,
Bark Knot, Baldwin, elc. Four varieties of Pears, Napoleon,
Virgalieu, Summer Bonchretieu, Aston Town.

By J. J. Thomas. Maeedon, Wayne county. Fifteen varie-
ties of Apples, seven varieties of Pears, and three varieties of
Peaches.

By Judge Parker, Albany. Seven varieties of Grapes, viz.
Sweet Water, Blue Chasselas, Black Burgundy, Winne, Fra-
grant, Isabella, and Catawba. Bergamot and Virgalieu Pears.

By Joel Rathbone of Kenwood. Fall Pi ipin, English Rus-
set Apples. Fondante d'Automne and Van Mons' Leon le
Clerc ; also a branch of the Ohio Everbearing Raspberry,
loaded with fruit.

By W. Rankin, Esq. of Newark, N. J. Seven varieties of
Pears, three varieties of Peaches, and four varieties of Grapes.

By Dr J. M. Ward, of Albany. Six varieties of Apples.

By Amos Briggs of Sehaghticoke. A plate of very hand-
some Bartlett Pears.

By S. C Groot, Schenectady. Seven varieties of Pears,
all very fine specimens.

By David Thomas of Ca>Tiga Some very fine Nectarines.

By J. D. Chism Portugal Quinces, Persimmons, and a
seedling Pear, resembling the Old Pound Pear.

By the Hon. John Taylor, Mayor of Albany Gloria Mun-
di Apples, and Virgalieu Pears.

By Jadge Harris of Albany. Three varieties of pears.

By Dr. J. Wilson of Bethlehem Skilman's Canteloupe
Muskmelons, and Joppa and Spanish Watermelons.

By V. P. Douw, Greenbush. Three varieties of Waterme-
lons, and fine specimens of Citron Melons.

By Dr. H. Wendell Six varieties of Melons, and Joppa
and Spanish Watermelons

B. B. Kirtland, Greenhush. Skilman's Canteloupe and
Bokhara Melons.

By H. Vail, Mount Ida, Troy. SLk varieties of very fine
melons.

By Louis Menand, Watervliet. Some superior melons.

V. p. Douw, Jas. Wilson, Wm. Boswell, BB Kietland.

.. Ill,

13

202

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAI. SOCIETY.

[Owinf; to unavoidable circumstances, the re-
ports of the proceedings of the Massachusetts Hor-
ticultural Society have not a|)peared in the Horti-
culturist for the past tw^o months. To enable us to
bring them up to the present time, we give eight
extra pages with this number.]

June 24, 184S

Business meeting— President M P. W.li er in the chair.

The committee to whom was relerred the ln'ldiiigof a po-
mological convention, reported that tliey deem the holding of
such a conveiilion desirable, and it was

Voted, That llie committee be authorised to negotiate witli
the Pennsylvania Horticultural Socieiy and American Insti-
tute upon the subject.

The meeting was then dissolved.

Julyi, 18'18
A stated meeting — President M P. WiLrER in the chair.
The following gentlemen were elected members of the
Society, A D Webber, Nathaniel H Emmons, Noali Stur-
tevant, Adin Hall, D. S. Kendall, S*"ldt:-ii Crockett, Boston ;
Wra E. Sirons, and L> man F.Winsliip, Bngliton; W.Spen-
cer, Lowell; Wm H. Davis, Milton.

Vuted, That appropriations for the objects of this Society be
made at the stated n.eelings in January, April, July and Oc-
tober, and at no other meetings.
Adjourned for one week.

July 8. 1848.
Easiness meeting— President M P. Wilder in the chair,
John Schouler of West Cambridge was proposed for mem-
bership by the Piesident.
Adjourned for one week.

July 1.5, 1848.

Business meeting — President M. P. Wilder in the chair.

President Wilder in behalf of ihe committee, submitted the
following report :

The committee appointed to confer with the Pennsylvania
Horticultural Socieiy and tlie American Institute, in relation
to the proposed pomological Convention at New-York, beg
leave to report, tliat such a convention has been deemed de-
sirable, and that, if it meet the views of this socieiy, your
committee ask authority to unite with the representatives of
the above named associations in fixing upon an early day in
October next, and in making such farther arrangements as
they may deem necessary.

Voted, That the report be accepted.

A communication was received from Thaddeus William
Harris, Esq., Librarian of Harvard University at Cambriilge,
requesting a set of the various publicati(nis of the Socieiy for
the University's library, and liie subject was referred to a
committee ccnisisting ol the Corresponding .Secretary and Li-
brarian, with instructions to request a copy of the Universi-
ty's Catalogue.

Bowen Buckman of Woburn was elected a member of the
Society.

Adjourned for one week.

Jnlyi2-2, 1848.
Business meeting— President M P. Wilder in the cliair.
John H. Robinson of Dorchester was elected a member of
the Society.

Adjourned for two weeks.

August 5, 1S4S.
Business meeting — President M. P. Wilder in the cliair.
John F Hyde or Newton was proposed for membership by
John A. Keiirick.

A copy of iheir Transactions was received from the New-
York State Agricultural Society, and it wa»

Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to the
New- York Agaric ultural Society.

Jolm Schouler of West-Cambridge was elected a member
of the Socieiy.
Adjourned for two weeks.

Augtist 10, 'iSiS.

Business meeting — President M P. Wilder in the chair.

Jo.^eph Breck was appointed secretary pro tern

The following gentlemen were prupo.sed for membership.

Robert Manning, Salem, by Samuel Walker; Justus Evarts
Walerlown, by E. A Story

A cnmmuiiication was received from Dr. AV. D Brinckle of
Philadelphia, accompanied with specimens of new pears, and
it was

Voted, That the thanks of the Society be presented to Dr.
B:inckle.

Voted, To invite delegations, to consist of the President and
two other members from ilie following societies to attend the
aiinnal exhibition of September 20ih, 21st, and 22d, viz : The
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, American Institute, New
York, Cincinnati Horliculiuial Society, Ohio, New- York
State Agricultural Society, Albany and Rensselaer Horticul-
tural Society, Albany. i\'ew-Haven Horticultural Society,
Conn , Rhode-Island Horticultural Society, Providence, Es-
sex L'ounly Institute, Mass., Worcester County Horl, Socieiy,
Mass , New-Bedford County Horticultural Society, Mass.

Adjourned for two weeks.

September 2, 1848.

Business meeting — President M P. AVilder in the chair.

The following gemlemen vi^ere proposed for membership,
Charles J Hendee, Roxbury, by Wra B K.ngsbury, Wm.
Hill, South Boston, by A. Bowditch.

A letter was received and read from the St Louis Horti-
cultural Socieiy requesting a copy of llie Transactions of ihe
-Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and it was

Voted, To place it in the hands of the corresponding Secre-
tary to reply.

A communication was received from the New- Haven
Hoiticullural Society accepting the invitation of this Society
to be present at their annual exhibition, and extending an in-
vitation to the Massachusetts Horliculiuial Suciety lo send a
delesalion lo attend their fair, which takes place on Septem-
ber the 2Glh, 27lh, and 28th, and it was

Voted, That the subject be laid upon the table to be acted
upon at the next meeting.

Voted, That the au'iual exhibition commence on Tuesday
the nineteenth instant instead of Wednesday the 20ih insiant,
as previously voted.

Voted, Tiiat a delegation be appointed lo attend the National
'"■onvention of Fruit- Growers to be held al New- York on
Tuesday the lOlh day of October next, and that it consist of
the following gMillemen, viz. The President, the Vice presi-
dents, members of llie committee ini fruits, A- J. Downing.
Newburgh, N Y, Robert Manning, Salem, and such other
members as may liereaiter be added.

James F Hyde of Newtown was elected a member.

Adjourned for one week.

September 9, 1848.

Business meeting — President ,M P. Wilder in llie chair.

Voted, That a delegation be appointed by Ihe chair to at-
tend Ihe annual fair of the New-Haven Horticultural Society
and Messrs. B V. French, E M Richards and Cheever
Newhull. were chosen deleg:ites with power to fill vacancies.

Voted, That a delegation be appointed by the chair lo at-
tend the annual exhibition of the Khodt-Island HoiiiculinraJ
Society, and Messrs. Samuel Walker, F. W. Macondray, and
David Hagerslon were chosen delegates with power to fiil
vacancies.

Voted. That the corresponding Secretary be requested to
reluin the thanks of the Society to ihe Cincinnati Horticul-
tural Socieiy for their invilalion to be present at llicir exhibi-
tion on the 13lh and 14ih instant, and inform ihem that on ac-
count of the proximity of the time to our own exhibition, an(i
the consequent engagement of members it will be inipossibl*
to be represented.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

203

Voted, That Josiah Lovett 2d. A- D. Williams, W. B.
Kinsgbury, Joseph Breck, A. D Williams, jr. Azel Bowditch,
be added to the delegation appointed at the previous meeting,
to attend tiie Central Convention of iVuit growers at N. York.

Voted, That no weekly exhibition lake place on the Satur-
day previous or subsequent to the annual exhibition, the Re-
cording .Secretary to give notice to that effect in llie public
papers.

Voted, That the committee o ntickets to the festival be au-
thorised to engage a suitable person to take charge of and
have tlie e mire disposal of the tickets, and that they be reser-
ved for the members of the Society until Monday September
18, after which to be disposed of to all who may apply.

Adjourned for one week

Exhibition of Saturday, June 24.

FLOWERS— The display of Roses was very rich; all
the stiinds being occupied with fine specimens. M. P. Wil-
der, President of tlie Society, filled one of the circular stands
with choice flowers; there was also a profusion of Roses
from Hovey & Co , A. Aspinwall, John A. and William Ken-
rick, Nonantnm Vale, Winships, Bowdhch, Breck & Co.,
Parker Barnes, E. Wight, S. Walker, B. V. French, Wm
Mellar, F. W. Macondray, and others. Fine Pinks from Wm.
Mellar, and Breck & Co. Bouquets from Messrs. Bowdhch,
IVugent Cadness, Mellar, Winships, and Miss Russell; cut
flowers from numerous sources; pot plants from Nonantum
Vale, by John Cadness ; Native flowers from Solon Dike,
Sloneham.

Tlie Rose family was fully and ably represented. To name
all the fine varieties exhibited, would be to publish an ex-
tended catalogue.

AWARD OF PREMItJMS.

Roses. Class No. 1. — For the best thirty varieties, to A.
Aspinwall, a prL'mium of $8.

Second best, to Hovey & Co , $6.

Third best, to John Cadness, $4.

Class No. 2. — For the best 12 varieties, to Joseph Breck, $5-

Class No 3. — Hardy Perpetuals. — For the best 10 varieties,
to Hovey & Co , $5.

Second best to A A.'spinwall, $i.

Prairie Roses. — For the best display, to Winships, $4.

Second best, to Hovey & Co., $3.

For the best display of Hardy Roses, to A. Aspinwall, $3.

D. Haggerston, W. Quant, Joseph Breck, Judges.

Pot Plants. — For the best six plants, 1st premium to John
Cadness, $2

Pinks — For the best six varieties, 1st premium to William
Mellar; $4.

Second best, to J. Breck & Co., $3.

Best display, Wm. Mellar, $2.

Bouquets — Mantel — For tlie best pair, to Winships, S2.

Second best, William Mellar, SI.

Vase — For the best, to John Cadness, $2.

Second best. J. Nugent, .$1.

H. W. Button, William Quant, J. Breck, Judges.

Gratuities — The Committee recommend a gratuity of $6
to M. P. Wilder, lor his fine d'splay of Roses.

To Miss Russell, for a basket of Flowers, $1.

Joseph Breck, Ch'ii Flower Committee.

FRUITS. — Strawberries —Fine specimens of Hovey's Seed-
ling, from Olis Johnson. Lynn; Augustus Aspinwall, Brook-
lir.e ; Hovey & Co., Boston; Augustus D. Rogers, Salem;
Mr. Spaulding, South Reading ; Azel Bowdhch, Roxbury ;
S. Turner, Roxbury ; Isaac Fay, Cambridge; J. Richardson,
Cambridge ; and J. Owen, Cambridge. Boston Pine, by
Messrs. Hovey, J. Richardson. J. Owen, and Nahuni Stet-
son, Bridgewater. Fay's Seedling, by Isaac Fay, Cambridge
Early Virginia, by Capt. Macondray; Willey's Seedling, by
Capt. Macondray; Ross PhoEiiix, by Messrs. Hovey ; Jenny's
Seedling, by Nahum Stetson; Richardson's Seedlings, Nos.
1, 3, and 5, by J. Richnrdson, Cambridge ; Mulberry, by
J Owen, Cambridge ; Alpine, red and while, by J. L. L. F.
Warren, Brighton.

Grrtpei.—'l'weniy varieties from J. F.Allen, Salem; among
them we noticed Tottenham Park. Muscat, Black Hatit", and
Hamburg ; also Black Hamburg and White Chasselas, from
A. Bowdit_'h, and Black Hamburg, from Orr N. Towne, and
E. Barnes, gardener to .Samuel Bigelow, Brighton.

Figs, from Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, and J. F. Allen,
Salem.

Cherries. — Elton, from J. F. Allen, (fine,) also other varie-
ties, by E. Brown Lynn; and George Thurber, Providenee.

Peaches — Coolidge's Favorite, by Otis Johnson, Lynn.

For the Ccmmittee, S. Walker, Chairman.

VEGETABLES —From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Need-
ham, Brace Walker's Prize Cucumbers.
From A. D Williams, Cauliflowers.j
From J F. Allen, Tomatoes.

For the Committee, A. D. AVilliams. Jr., Ch'n.

Exhibition of Saturday. July 1, 1848.

FLOWERS— From M. P. Wilder, President, a beautiful
array of cut flowers, filling one of the round stands, among
them Solfntaire and other fine roses, Japan Lilies, Phloxes,
Gladioli, Veronica speciosa, and Lindleyana, Dahlias, Mag-
nolias, &e.

From Hovey & Co., 13 varieties Prairie Rrses, as follows:
Queen, Perpetual Pink, Superba, Bnliimore Belle, Caridora
Allen, Pallida, Anna Maria, Eva Corinne, Jane, Pride of
M^ashington, Triumphant, Miss Gunnell, Milledgeville, Anna
Boleyn pinks, (fine.) Six superb varieties of Fuchsias, viz :
Nymph, Defiance, Expansa, Seedling, (weeping,) Globosa
superb, Enchantress.

From Joseph Breck & Co., their usual large and elegant
profusion of cut flowers, among them fine specimens ofMar-
tngon, Orange and White Lilies, Phlox Van Houtii, Compa-
nula Wallenbergia, roses in great variety, Delphiniumsj
Dahlias, &c.

From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Needham, cut flowers
in variety, Gallardias three varieties. Phloxes, roses, ver-
benas, balsams, and fine seedling geraniums.

From Warren's Gardens; by J. Cadness, a fine collection
of Prairie, Lamarque, Solfataire, and other roses, cut flowers
in varieties, two mantel and six hand bouquets.

From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell, two pyramidal
and two mantel bouquets.

From James Nugent, one fine vase, and four hand bou-
quets

From the Messrs. Winship, two fine mantel bouquets.

From Azel Bowditch, a fine display of Moss and other
roses ; two mantel and eight hand bouquets, a plant of the
Night Blooming Cereus, and two of Aaapanthus.

From S. Walker. Roxbury, a fine display of cut flowers,
among them seedling Lythrums, Spiraea palraata, Peiistemoa
alba, Delphinium Barlowii, roses, pansies, &c.

PREMIUMS.

Bovquets.— "For the best pair of mantel bouquets, 1st pre-
mium to J. Cadness, $2.

For the second best, to the Messrs. Winship, $1,

For the best vase bouquet, to A Bowditch, $2.

For the second best, to James Nugent, $1.

Pot Plants —For six fine Fuchsias, well grown, to Messrs.
Hovey & Co., a premium of $2.

For the Committee, Henry W. Button.

FRUITS.— C/iemes —The President of the Society pre-
sented three new varieties of Cherries, viz : Bigarreau, Prin-
cesse, B. Gabaulis, and Belle Andegoise; all of which may
be classed with the best varieties. Col Wilder also exhibi-
sed fine specimen of the Waterloo. By Otis Johnson, Lynn,
superior specimens of Bigarreau Cou'eur de Chair, White
Bigarreau, Black Tartarian, and Sparhawk"s Honey Heart.
By John Fisk Allen, Salem, beautiful specimens of Elton and
Black Tartarian. By Parker Barnes, Dorchester, four boxes
of White Bigarreau.

Figs— By .f.P Allen, Salem.

Grapes— Thirteen varieties from J. F. Allen, Salem ; fine
clusters of Black Hamburg, from Azel Bow'ditch, Roxbury,
and Zinfindal, from Otis Johnson, Lynn.

Peaches.— The .specimens of Coolidge's Favo'ite, by Otis
Johnson, Lynn, to-day, as also those of last week, were
large, well- grown specimens. They were justly admired for
their beauty, as were alS'i all the other specimens of fruit
exhibited bv Mr. Johnson, who, we must state again, always
places his fruit upon i>ur table in fine order and with great
taste. Capt. IMacondray exhibited specimens of Sharpe's
seedlings. Mr. Bowditch also exhibited specimens of a vari-
ety with'ut name.

Strawberries.— Two boxes of Hovey's Seedling, (superior,)
and one box of Prince Albert, by Otis John on, Lynn Four
baskets and six boxes of Fay's seedling, by Isaac Fay, Cam-
bridgeport ; also specimens of Richardson's seedling, num.
bers 3 and 3. by Josiah Richardsoi,, Cambridgeport.

For the Committee, Sam'l Walker, Chairman.

^04

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

VEGETABLES.— From O H. Mathers, by Thomas Need-
ham, a brace of Walker's prize cucumbers. Flom Gen.
Jones, by H. Olrnstead, Summer Squashes.

For the Comratitee, A. D. Williams, Jr.

Exhibition of Saturday , July I5th, 1848.

FLOWERS— The department of Flora was by no means
neglected to-day by her friends and votaries. Seldom has that
favorite of hers, the fragrant Pink, been more freely offered
or more, effectively arrayed. Perhaps we should not particu-
larize this prominent feature of the show, where, owing to
the favoring sky of the past week, everything presented an
appearance so beautiful and bright ; and, where the eye was
delighted not only with the choice exotic, but wih the more
hardy flowers ol Nature's generous culture. It was " prize
day," however, for this favorite flower, and hence we make
of it an especial mention.

President Wilder contributed to the exhibition a variegated
grouping of fine seeding Lilies, (in 16 pots,) rare plants, to
which, it will be recollected, he has devoted much care and
attention, and which, in past years, as novelties, liave at-
tracted such admiring notice. Also, from the same cultiva-
tor, four pots of Gladioli, of the varieties Due D'Orleans,
Lisbnilzii, and Gandavensis.

From Joseph Breck & Co., Carnations, Picotees, and other
cut flowers, in profu>e and beautiful variety

From Dr. Charles F. Chaplin, Cambridgeport, a fine collec-
tion of Clove Pinks, Picotees, &c.

From Samuel Walker, Roxbury, roses, (a fine cluster of
Mad Desprez,) Phloxes, tec.

From Mr. Mellar. Roxbury, Bouquets, Carnations, and
other pinks, Dahlias, Phloxes, &c.

From O. H. Mather, Brighton, by Thomas Needham,
Roses, and varieties of Phlox, Gallardia, var Wellsiana, Picta
coccinea, &c.

From William Kenrick, by Miss Ru.ssell, large mantel and
other bouquets, Carnations, &,c

From John Cadness, Agapanthus, Spirceas, Phloxes, Pinks,
bouquets, and pot plants.

From George B. Richardson, West Cambridge, bouquets
of Pinks.

From S R. Johnson, Charlestown, a beautiful display of
d'Arcole roses, and picotees, in great variety — a brilliant fea-
tuie of the show.

From Parker Barnes, fine Pinks, Phloxes, Crassula coc.
cinea, &c.

From William Merriam, Brighton, Dahlias, very good for
the season.

From Hovey & Co., Pot Plants, four Achimines longi-
flora. Two do. A picta, a fine specimen of the new Hy-
drangea japonica, with eight or ten heads of flowers, and one
white Japan Lily, Phlox, Drummondii; also fine picotees and
carnations, with other cut flowers.

From Azel Bowditch, Roxbury, fine bouquets.

From William Winchester, Esq., Gloucester, Magnolias

We were glad to see these specimens of indigenous
plants.

From James Nugent, Roxbury, bouquets.

From W. Ashby, Fsq., Newburyport, Seedling Pansies.

From J. E. Teschemacher, East Boston, three plants Cacti,
seedlings Mammillaria speciosa, and C. Melocactus.

It is gratifying, not only to the various members of the So-
ciety, but to the public generally, to notice from week to
week, the continued efforts of the various amateur cultivators
in supplying the stand with so fine an assortment of graceful
flowers — bounties- yielded by Mother Earth, in ample remu-
neration for the skill and science of the propagator, and so
abounding in satisfaction, both to the sight and to the smell.
Long may this right spirit of emulation be manifested, and
long may a generous patronage reward the fostern^ care of
the appreciating cultivator.

PREMIUMS.

David Haggerston; William Quant, and S Walker, Judges.

For Carnations and Picotte Pinks. — For the best ten varie-
ties, a premium to Hovey &. Co., $5. No second premium
awarded.

For the best display, to Hovey & Co., a premium of $3.

A gratuity to S. R. Johnson, for a fine display of pico-
tees, $2.

Bouquets. — For the best mantel bouquet, to J. Cadness, $2

For the second best, to the Messrs. Winship, $1.

For the best vase da, to James Nugent, $2.

For the second best, to A. Bowditch, $1.

For the Committee, Wm. B. Richahbs*

FRUITS. — From J. S. Sleeper, Raspberries, Franconia j
Cherries, Florence, and a seedling. This is the second year
of trial of this cherry; and the committee were unanimous
in pa.ssing the high encomium they had the previous season.

M. P. Wilder, President, Pears, Citron dea Carraes; also
the Cherry Currant, (new,) large ajxl fine.

Hovey & Co., Raspberries; Grapes, Macready's Early
White.

J. F. Allen, Raspberries, Franconia, large; Grapes, Espe-
rione, Chasselas, Red Traminer, fine, Ferrol, Zinfindal, White
nice. Black Hamburg, Wilmot's new.

Solon Dike, Cherries, seedling.

O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Needham, Grapes, Chasselas,
Cannon Hall, Chasselas de Fonlainbleau, Black Hamburgh,
Frontignan.

Moses Young, Illinois, Apples of last year's grovrth, in
good preservation

Otis Johnson, Raspberries, Fastolff, Knevet's Giant; Grapes,
Zinfindal, Black Hamburgh, White Frontignen ; Cherries,
Blackheart, also a cherry without a name, of superior merit.
Mr. J. has exhibited this cherry for six years; and has not
yet been able to identify it with any known variety.

Galen Merriam, Cherries, Downer's Late.

Samuel Walker, Mulberries, Black.

Rutter & McMullen, Grapes in variety ; and Peaches.

H. K. Moore, Cherries, Black Ox-heart.

Messrs. Hyde, Thimbleberries, white ; Cherries, seedling.

Parker Barnes, Cherries, Black Mazzard.

A. D. Weld, Currants, Red and White Dutch, fine ; Rasp-
berries, Franconia.

Cheever Newhall, Raspberries, Knevet's Giant, fine.
S. R. John!>on, Guoseberries.

B. V. French, Gooseberries in variety ; Currants, red and
white Dutch.

Messrs. Winships, Currants, red and white, Victoria, rose
color. Mulberries, black.

A. D. Williams & Son,. Currants, red and white, large
and fine.

C. E Grant, Raspberries, Fastolff

Azel Bowditch, Grapes, Black Hamburg, fine, White
Chasselas. Peaches, fine

J. Hovey, Guoseberries, fine.

L. G. Thurston, Gooseberries.

J Love:t, Raspberries, Fastolff, Knevet's Giant, large
and fine.

F. Dana, Currants, red and white ; Raspberries.

Josiah Richardson, Raspberries, Franconia ; Strawberries,
Richardson's Late.

F. W. Macondray, Gooseberries; Mulberries; Raspber-
ries, Knevet's Giant, Franconia, Fastolfl, and Antwerp.
Cherries, Warren's Transparent, Florence.

For the Committee, Ebex Wight.

VEGETABLES —From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Need-
ham, two brace Walker's Prize Cucumbers.

From F. W. Macondray, Early White potatoes, fine
show

From A D. Williams, Chenango and Early White Po-
tatoes.

From Barney Hedge, by Mr. Olmstead, Potatoes, very
large.

For the Committee, A. D. Williams, Jr.

Exhibition of Saturday, July 22, 1848.

FLOWERS.— From M P. Wilder, twenty six pots of Ja-
pan Lilies, principally seedlings — one of them a red spotted
variety seven feet high, with nineteen buds and blossoms.

From S. R. Johnson, a large quantity of Carnations, Pico-
tees and Cove Pinks, some of them very fine.

Prom Parker Barnes, a collection of fine double Hollyhocks
Dahlias, and other cut flowers, including a fine specimen of
Yucca filamentosa.

From Joseph Breck & Co., a large collection of double
German Ten- week Stocks, double Pinks of various .sons,
Phloxes, etc

From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Needham, fine Phloxes,
and other choice cut flowers in variety.

From William Mellar, seedling Picotee and Carnalioa
Pinks, Dahlias and other cut flowers, and two bouquet*.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

205

Frcifi Watren''s gardens, by John Cadness, a pair of fine
imautel and Iwo hand bouquets, fine Picotee and Carnation
Pinks, and other cut flowers.

From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell, a basket of flow-
ers and eiglit hand bouquets.

From John A. Kenrick, by iVIiss Mary Kenrick, a basket
of flowers.

From Hovey &. Co., a fine collection of Verbenas and dou-
ble Hollyhocks, and a fine plant of Lilium japonicura album.

From John Hovey, four bouquets.

From Winships, a pair of mantel bouquets.

From Samuel Walker, a fine spike of Yucca filamentosa.

From James Nugent, one large pyramidal and eight hand
bouquets.

From A. Bowdiich, one large pyramidal and four hand bou-
quets.

From B. W. Ames, Roxbury, Dahlias.

AWARD OP PREMIUMS.

For the best display of double Hollyhocks, first premium to
Parker Barnes, $.3.

Second ditto, to Hovey & Co., $2.

Vase or Pyramidal Bouquets -~Fitst premiu n to James Nu-
gent, $-2.

Second, to A. Bowditch, ®1.

Mantel Bouquets —First premium to John Cadness. $2.

Second, to William Mellar, $1.

William Quant. M. Cruikshanks, William Mellar; judges.

The committee recommend a gratuity to Miss Russell tor a
basket of flowers, $1.

To Miss Mary Kenrick, for the same, $1.

Joseph Breck, Chn.

FRUITS. — From J. Lovett, Gooseberries, white and red ;
Currants, fine, and Raspberries fine.

Thomas Needham, Grapes, White Frontignan,Cannonhall,
fine, C- Fontainbleau, Black Hamburgh.

Otis Johnson, Grapes, Zinfiiidal and Black Hamburgh,
While Frontignan, high colored and fine bloom ; Currants ex-
tra fine.

J. Hovey, Gooseberries, seedlings and others, fine.

E. Brown, Cherries.

J. Kenrick, Mulberries.

B. V. French, Cherries, Belle magnifique.

Hovey & Co, Grapes, Chasselas and Black Hamburgh;
white and red currants, fine.

M. P. Wilder, Black Mulberry, Late Duke Cherries; Apri-
cots, open culture, large and fine.

J. F. Allen, Raspberries, Franconia, fine ; Grapes, White
Nice, Wilmot's Red Chasselas, Wortley Hall, Esperione,Por-
tugal, Bar sur Aube ; Sweet Montmorency Cherry.

A. D. Williams, White and Red Currants, fine.

George Walsh, Black Currants.

Azel Bowdiich, Grapes, White Chasselas. Black Hamburg.

J. W- Foster, seedling Gooseberries.

A. D. Weld, White and Red Currants.

S. Dike, Cherries, White Figs.

F. W. Macondray, Peaches, Sharp's Seedling; Raspber-
ries.

James Nugent, Grapes, Black Hamburgh, and White
Sweetwater, fine.

J. L L. F. Warren, Seedling Cherries, fine ; Franconia
Raspberries, fine; Strawberries ; Black Ischia Fig.
For the Committee,

F. W. Macondrat.

VEGETABLES.— From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Need-
ham, a brace of Walker's Prize Cucumbers
From A. D. Williams, Cabbages and Tomatoes.
For the committee,

A. D. Williams, Jr. Chn.

Exhibition of Saturday, July 29, 1848.

FLOWERS— From M. P. Wilder, two large plants of
Japan Lilies, Gloxinias, etc., also a variety of cut flowers, in-
cluding new Gladioli and Phloxes.

From Winsliips, cut flowers, including Clematis in variety;
also t^vo handsome circular bouquets

From F. R. Bigelow, two Cactus triangularis.

From Hovey &, Co., six pot plants, and fine Verbenas and
Pinks.

From Warren's Gardens, by John Cadness, a rich display
of Greenhiiuse plann, including the following, some of them
rare and beautiful and all well grown : Stephauotus floribun-

dus, Aristolochia candate (new,) Veronica speciosa, Veroni-
ca lindleyana, Ixora ros*, Achimeiies longiflora, Achimenes
grandiflora, Viiica alba, Rondoletia speciosa, Stygnaphylon
ciliaium (new,) Fuchsias, Smith's Queen Victoria, globosa-
Cacti in variety; also bouquets and cut flowers. '

Bouquets from James Nugent, John Kenrick by Miss Ken-
rick, Miss Ru.ssell and Azel Bovvditch.

From William Mellar, cut flowers and bouquets.

From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas Needham, Lewis Daven-
port and Joseph Breck & Co., cut flowers in variety.

From Mrs. Ball Hughes, Dorchester, a bouquet of pressed
flowers, in a frame and under glass, so finely dried, pressed
and arranged as to resemble a finely executed painting.

AWARD OF PREMIUMS.

For the best pair of mantel bouquets, first premium to John
Cadness, $3.

Second, to William Mellar, SI.

For the best pair of round or pyramidal bouquets, first
premium to James Nugent, $2.

Second, to A. Bowditcl , $1.

The Judges recommend a gratuity of $5 to John Cadness
for his fine display of greenhouse plants.

David Haggeraton, W. Quant, S Walker, judges.

The committee recommend a gratuity of $Z to Miss Rus-
sell, for a large bouquet.

For the committee,

Joseph Breck, Chn.

FRUITS — Josiah Richardson, Plums called Early Golden
Drop, supposed to be identical with the Jaunehative.

A. D. Williams and Son, Currants, Red and White Dutch;
Pears, Citron des Carmes.

Azel Bowdiich, Grapes, Black Hamburgh, fine.

E Brown, Lynn, Apples, Early Harvest; Cherries with,
out name ; Pears, two sorts, both for a name.

Warren's Gardens, Raspberries, Franconia.

J. F. Allen, Currants ; Raspberries, Franconia, fine; Nec-
tarines, Hunt's Early Tawney; Grapes, Muscat of Lunel,
Esperion, Wilmot's Black Hamburgh, fine, Nice, Ferral and
Zinfindal.

A. W Withingion, Apples, Early Harvest and Red Astra-
chan ; Blackberries, fine.

Otis .Johnson, Blackberries; Pears, Citron des Carmes;
Cherries, Mazard; Currants, White Dutch, fine; Grapes,
White Muscat, Zinfindal, fine. Black Hamburgh, fine.

Thomas Needham, Grapes, Cannonhall Muscat, Golden
Chasselas and Black Hamburgh.

Samuel Bigelow, Grapes, Black Hamburgh, fine.

Clieever Newhall, Pears, Citron des Carmes.

George Wilson, Currants, May's Victoria, very fine, White
Dutch, very fine.

John Washburn, Apples, Red Astrachan.

Hovey & Co , Grapes,Pitmaston, White Chasselas, Chasse-
las Fontainbleau, Wilmot's Black Hamburgh, very fine :
While Frontignan, Muscat blanc hatif. Black Hamburg',
Chasselas musque ; Cherries, Lamercier j Pears, Doyenne
d'Ete, a good summer pear.

Henry Vandine, Pears, Citron des Carmes; Apricots, Moor-
park, and one sort unnamed.

Galen Merriam, Pears. Cnron des Carmes
For the committee,

Joseph S. Cabot.

Exhibition of Saturday, August 5, 1848.

FLOWERS.— From M. P. Wilder, six plants fine new Gla-
dioli, and cut flowers.

From Joseph Breck & Co., a great variety of cut flowers.

From Winship's nurseries, a fine specimen of Erythrina
cristi-galli, and Clematis ; also bouquets.

From Otis Johnson, two bouquets.

From Azel Bowditch, one large pyramidal and six small
bouquets.

From Francis Putnam, Salem, by JohnSheehan, one pyra-
midal and two mantel bouquets.

From Warren's garden, by John Cadness, one plant of
Cestrum auranticum (fine), two vase and six hand bouquets,
with a great variety of cut flowers, including new Gladiolus.

From Hovey & Co., fine specimens of Trachymene cceru-
lea, and Phlox in variety.

From G Gilbert, Plymouth, a large quantity of the beau-
tiful native plant Sabbatlia chloroides, two varieties, Orchis
blephariglottis and firabiiata, Lobelia cardiaalis aud Solidag o.

206

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY,

From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell, six bouquets and
a basket of flowers.

From John A. Kenrick. by Mrs. Kenrick, a neat basket of
flowers.

From James Nug:ent, one pyramidal and fine hand bou-
quets, with a variety of cut flowers

From Lewis Davenport, Milton, Roses, Verbenas, Dah-
lias, etc.

From James Cruikshanks, new Convolvulus minor (beau-
tiful,) and Sweet Peas.

AWiiRD OF PREMIUMS.

For the best pair of mantel bouquets, to John Cadness, $2.
For the second, to Mess-rs. Winship, $1.
For the best pyramidal bouquet, to James Nugent, ^2.
For the second, to John Slieehan, $1.
James Cruikshanks, S. Walker, J. Breck, judges
The committee recommend a gratuity of one dollar each
to Miss Russel and Mrs Kenrick, for baskets of fluwers.
Joseph Breck, Chn.

FRUITS —Otis Johnson, Apples, Red Astrachan, very fine;
Figs, Black and St. Michael's; Grapes, Ziiifnidal and Black
Hamburgh, fine; Pears, Citron des Carmes.

A. W. Withington, Apples Red Astrachan, Early Harvest,
Benoni and Sine qua non. .small.

J. Owen, Apples, Early Harvest.

J Eustis, Apples, Early Harvest.

F. Dana, Apples. Sopsavine and Garretson's Seedling.(?)

A. D. Williams & Son, Apples, William's Favorite, Early
Bough, Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, Dutch Codlin, and
one other sort ; Currants, Red Dutch; Pears, Sugar-top and
one other sort unnamed; Plums, American Yellow Gage,
also Jargonelle Pears, very fine.

Henry Vandine, Apricots, Moorpark and Breda ;(?) Pears,
Citron des Carmes.

J. S. Cabot, Pears, Citron des Carmes and Doyenne d'Ete.

Jo«iah Lovett 2d, Pears, Citron des Carmes, fine; cultiva-
ted Blackberries, very fine.

W. C. Strong, Plums, two sorts, Nectarine and Royal Hatif,
(?) large and fine in appearance.

J. F. Allen, Peaches, Pot, (?) Tippecanoe and one other
sort not named; Grapes, White Nice, Wilmot's New Black
Hamburgh, Ferral and others; Raspberries, Franconia; Nec-
tarines, Hunt's Early Tawney.

Cheever Newhall, Grapes, Zinfindal and Black Hamburgh.

Azel Bowditch, Grapes, Lombardy and Black Hamburgh.

Hovey & Co., Grapes, Chasselas, Fontainhleau, Wilmot's
Black Hamburgh, Black Hamburgh, White Frontignan,
Muscat blanc hatif, fine.

Samuel Walker, Pears. Jargonelle, fine, Belle de Bruxelles.

B. V. French, cultivated Blackberries, fine.

Galen Merriam, cultivated Blackerries, very fine.
For the coraniitiee,

Joseph S. Cabot.

Exhibition of Saturday, August 12, 1848.

FLOWERS.— The scorching heat of the past week was
most unfavorable for a good exhibition of flowers. It was
however, much better than could have been expected. There
were many fine Phloxes, Gladioli, Balsams, and oilier flowers
of the season. In the stand of the President of the Society, we
noticed a fine bloom of the new Dahlia Berryer, one of the
crack flowers of this trihe, for the present year — very fine
shape, color rich black maroon

John Cadness made a grand display of Gladioli and other
flowers from Warren's garden ; two large flat bouquets, very
fine and numerous hand bouquets

Joseph Breck & Co., made their usual display of cut flow-
ers, including a great variety of Phloxes and other perennials
and annuals.

There were also cut flowers in great variety from Thomas
Needham, Parker Barnes, Lewis Davenport, James Nugent,
and others

John Parker of Roxbury exhibited some fine Dahlias; very
good flowers were noticed in most of the collections.

From Miss Russell, a fine pyramidal bouquet, bouquets al-
so from A. Bowditch and J. Nugent.

AWARD OF premiums.

For the best display of Balsams, first and only premium to
Thomas Needham, $3.

For the best pmr of Mantel bouquets, first premium to John
Cadness, $2.

Pyramidal ditto, first to James Nugent, $2.

Second, to Miss Russell, $1,

The committee recommended a gratuity of S3 to John
Cadi'.ess, fur a grand display of Gladioli, Gondiiensia, flori.=
bunda, belvideros, Petunias, etc.

Also to Miss Mary Kenrick, for a basket of flowers very
neatly arranged, a gratuity of $1.

FRUITS.— Otis Johnson, Apples, Red Astrachan, very
fine, E^rly Bough; Pears, Jargonelle of the French, Jargo-
nelle English.

John Washburn, Plymouth, Apples, Horseblock Sweetingj
seedling apple (handsome,) Pears, Bloodgood.

Joaiah Lovett, Blackberries ex!ra fine.

C. M. Richards, Christiana Melons.

J Fisk Allen, Grapes, Portien Noir

Messrs. Hovey & Co., Peaches cultivated in pots, very fine,
two varieties; Grapes, Wilmot's Black Hamburgh, White
Frontignac, Cha^^selas Foiitaiiibleau, Black Hamburgh, Red
Chasselas, Chaptal (new) Chasselas, M usque Muscat B. Ha-
tif; Figs, Brunswick, White Marseilles, Black Ischia, Bronze
Turkey.

J L L F. Warren, Apples, Early Harvest and River.

Garden of Lunatic Asylum, Louis Phillippe Plums.

A. D. Williams <k Son, Pears, Jargonelle Katers, five vari-
eties of early Pears, no name ; Williams and three other va-
rieties; Plums, three varieties; Currants.

Samuel Wilker, Pears, Belle de Bruxelles, Jargonelle
English.

John S. Sleeper, Plum, Early Apricot.

Galen Merriam, Pears, Jargonelle of the French.

Marshall P. Wilder, Pears( Beurre d'Allemagne, French
Jargonelle, Belle d'Aout, Bloodgood

J. Owen, Pears, Crawford, English Jargonelle, French Jar-
gonelle, Plums, no name.
Azel Bowditch, Grapes, Lombardy and Black Hamburgh.

E. Brown, Lynn, Apples, Early Harvest ; Pears, English
Jargonelle.

Messrs Breck and Co., Belle d'Aout.

Cheever Newhall, Apples, Curtis Stripe, Summer Rose.

Messrs. Hyde, Apples, Orange Sweeting and Williams.

James Nugent, three varieties of Grapes.

Henry Vandine, Plums, Italian damask, Early Yellovir
Gage, Yellow Honey, Royal d'Tours one variety unnamed ;
Pear, French Jargonelle.

F. W. Macondray,?Pears, French Marie Louise, Julien;
Jargonelle, Black Hamburgh Grapes ; Coolidge's Favorite.

For the committee,

F. W. Macondray.

VEGETABLES —O. N. Lane, by A. Bowditch, Broad
Windsor beans.

For the commhtee,

A. D. Williams.

Exhibition of Saturday, August I9th, 1848.

FLOWERS.— From M. P. Wilder, President of the So-
ciety, and Joseph Breck & Co., a great variety of Phloxes,
Dahlias, and other cut flowers.

From Hovey & Co., Phloxes.

From James Nugent, Phloxes; 1 round, 2 mantel and 6
hand bouquets.

From Warren's Gardens, by John Cadness, cut flowers,
pot plants, two large mantel and six hand bouquets.

From O. H. Mathers, by Thomas .\eedham, Phloxes, Bal-
sams, &;c.

From William Kenrick, by Miss Russell, two baskets of
flowers, and five bouquets.

AWARD OP premiums.

For the be,st 10 varieties of Phloxes, 1st premiun to Joseph
Breck & Co., $6.

For the second best variety, a premium to Hovey ic Co.,
of $4.

For the third best variety, a premium to James Nugent
of $3.

For best Mantel Bouquets, 1st premium to John Cadness. $2.

For the second best, a piemium to James Nugent, of $1.

For the best Pyramidal do , a premium to James Nugent,
of $2.

William Quant, Alexander McLennan, Judges.

The committee recommend a gralui ly to Miss Russell, for
baskets of flowers, of $1.

Joseph Brbck, Ch'n Flower Committee.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

207

FRUITS— From Eber. Wisrlit, Pears, Julienne.

W. C. Strong, Plums, Blue PerUrigoa (?) Neclarines,
telruge.

F. VV Macondray, Pears, Espredon, Jargonelle.

Joseph Uuiiielt, Apples, Pumwaiei. fine.

Charles H. PemileMu. Apples, Summer Greening.

A D. Williams & Son, A| pI'S, Williams, fine I'lurns, for
« name Pearli, Jargonelle, fine, Dearborn's Seedling.

Emery Bemis, Plums, Royal cle Tours, fine.

E Brouii, Pears, Jargonelle, Dearhnrn's Seedling.

Breck & Co., Plums, Royal de Tours. Pears, Belle de
Bruxelles.

Ralph Crooker, Plums, Royal Hatiff.

A. D. Weld. Apples, Williams, fine.

John Washburn, Apples, Horse Block, (fine,) from the
original tree.
. B. D. Emmons, Grapes, While Chasselas.

Azel Bowdilcli, Urapes, Black Hamburgh.

Samuel Walker, Chelsea, Plums. iNeciarine, fine.

Samuel Walker, Roxbury,, Pears, Tyson, Summer Franc
Real, Passans du Portugal, and one dish WilhoL.1 a name,
Hampden's Ber^^amot

From Warren's Gardens, Figs, Bruns^^ick, Lee's Perpetual

Hovey &, Co, Peaches, six dishes, fine; Grapes, eleven
varieties.

O. H ATathers, by Thomas Needham, Grapes, 8 varieties

Anson Nickerson, Pears, Jargonelle, extra fine.

Oils Johnson, Apples, Yellow Siberian Crab. Early Bough,
fine, Red Astraehan, fine, Sunnrier Pearmain, 1 dish witlmui
a name ; Pears, Bloodgood. fine, Dearborn's Seedling. Auf;u>t
Muscat, Rosliezer, delicious, though premature. Jargonelle;
Plums, Fotheringham ; Nectarnii'S, Eaily Newiiigton, beauti-
ful specimens of this desirable variety; Figs, Black St. iMi-
chaei.

IM. P. Wilder, President, Pears, Passans du Portugal, and
Franc Real (Summer )

B. V. French, Apples, River, Garden Royal, Early Straw-
berry.

Charles Downing, by Mr. French, Apples, Summer Rose,
Dodge's Early Red, Tan Bough, (passed eating.)

Dr. W. B. Brinkle, Correspimdiug Member, Pears, Olt's
Seedling, (a native) a pear of superior quality, Sleinmetzer's
Catharine, worthy of a t'unher trial, Copia (Clopea improper-
ly, having been raised by and named for a Mr Copia )

For the Committee, Ebe.n Wight.

VEGETABLES— From G. C. Crow^ninshipld, by John
Quaut, Egg Plants and Tomatoes.

For the Committee, A. D. Williams, Jr.

Exhibition of Saturday , August 26, 1848.

FLOWERS.— From M. P. Wilder. Japan Lilies, grown
out doors, which stood the winter without prolecUon. The
hardiness of these beautiful and fragrant fluwers will be a
source of gratification to amateurs, as they will be a great ac-
quisition to the borders. Also a great variety of fine P/iloxes,
Dahlias, &c.

From James Nugent, one pyramidal, six hand, and two
mantel bouquets ; also a fine assnrimeiit of cut flowers.

From John Kennck, by Miss Mary Kenrick, a basket of
flowers.

From Parker Barnes, fine Dahlias, cut flowers, and six pot
plants.

From Warren's Gardens, by John Cadness. two large and
eight hand bouquets, and a great variety oi cut floners

From G. C. Crownin<hie'(l, by Joiin Qu.uit, SIX pot plan's.

From Wm. Kenrick, by Miss Rus-eil, one pyramidal, and
three mantel bouquets

From Isaac Spear, German asters.

From Lewis Davenport, ro es iinil fie Dalilias.

From Joseph Breck & Co.. a great variety of out flowers

From John Parker, fine Dahlias

AWARD OF PKE.VIILMS.

For the best pair of .Vlantel Bouquets, 1st premium to John
Cadness, $2

Second do , to James Nugent. $1.

For the best Pyramidal bouquet, 1st premium to James
Nugent, *2.

Second do , to Miss Russell, gl

Forihe best six varieties of pot plants, Isl premium to
John Quant, $2.

The Committee recommend a gratuity to Parker Barnes,
for six Pot Plants, $1.

To Mary Kenrick, for a basket of Flowers, $1.
For the Committee, Joseph Bbeck, Chairnian.

FRUITS.— A. D. Williams & Son, Apples, Williams, Por-
ter, Fall Sopsavine, Pumpkin Sweet, Alexander; Pears
Orange, Vienna. Rousselet de Itheims, Harvard, Beurre
d'Amalis, Williams Early, Seedling, and three unnamed.

George Barileti, Apples, for a name, unknown.

John Was burn, Apples, Monamet, herelofore called
Horseblock apple, is very fine.

Oiis Johnson, Apples, Summer Pearmain,- Pears Belle
et Bonne, Blooilgond, Dearborn Seedling, .Summer' Franc
Real, and Rosliezer ; Figs, Black Fig of Si Michaels

M P Wilder, President of the Society. Apples, Garden
Royal, handsome; Pears, Striped Beurre d'Amalis Belle
d'Aout, Bloodgood, Dearborn's Seedling, and one received
from France as Marie Louise

Samuel H'll, Plums, Black Imperial, fine

Messrs Bn ck &. Co., Pears, Belle d'Aout.

Winship & Co., Pears, Summer Franc Real, and five
others

F. W. Macondray, Pears, Beurre d'Amalis, Summer Rose
Arch Duke Charles; Grapes, Black Hamburg. '

S R Johnslon, Plums, Bolmar's Washing loll, fine.

George Walsh, Plums, Green Gage.

Warren's Garden, Pears, Dearborn's Seedlin"

James .\'uL'eiit, Pears, Bartletl ; Grapes, Black Hambur"'
fine, and Sweetwater. °'

W C. Strong, Nectarines, fine.

Isaac Fay, Plums, Yellow Gage, and one other sort.

Samuel Walker, Apples, Crab, a new variely • Pears
Hampden, Bergamo;, [handsome, not first rale— »ood for
market.] Rostiezer, Summer Franc Real, Passans du Portu-
gal, Summer Rose, Vallee Franclie, Flemish Beauty, Wil-
liams' Karly ; Plums, Bolmar's Washington

Hovey' & Co , Figs, While Ischia. White Marseilles extra
fine, Brunswick, Brown Turkey; Grapes, Wilmol's Black
Huiil>urgli, Black Hamburgh, Gri.^^sly Fronlignac White
do . Muscat Blanc Hatif, Red Chasselas, and three others

Nahum Stetson. Figs, Brunswick; Grapes, Red Chasse
las. Piimasion. White Cluster. White Muscadine Muscat^
Malvasia, Macready's Early Whi e

O H Mathers, by Thomas Needham, Grapes, B Franken-
dal, Muscat of Alexandria, B. Hamburg Grissly Frontignac
Froniigiiac, Golden Chasselas. B Lombardy. Chasselas Fon-
taiiibleau, Chasselas Musque, De la Palestine, one sort on-
named.

G C Crowninshield, by John Quart. Melon.

Henry Vandine, Plums, Early Yellow Gage, Washington
Imban Damask, Poiids's Seedling, Wilmol's Early Orleans'
Black Imperial, Prince's large Yellow Gage, and Greeii
Gage.

J S. Sleeper, Plums, Smith's Orleans, Yellow Ga°-e- Pears
Summer Rose. ° ' '

S Downer, Jr , Pears, Gros Roi Louis- not worthy cul-
tivaiion.

Emery Bemis, Pears. Dearborn's Seedl ng. Muscadine.

J. F. Allen, Nectarines, Downtoii, Haiilwick Seedling
Roman, fine. Hunt's Early Tawiiey, ' emple's. very fine'
I'euches, Yellow Rareripe, New Jersey Gros Mi<Tnonne'
Ciiolige's Favorite, fine Old Royal G.-orge. fine. Gros Mig-
iioniie True, fine, HofTmaii's Favorile, fine, Violet Hatif
Tijipecan e ; Plums, Green Gage ; Pears, Tyson. I'assans dii
Poriugal, S Franc Keal, Haniiors; Grapes, Portia Noir
Worlley Hall Seedling, Ferral, White Nice, Gi;lden Chas-
se'as

Robert Watt, Apple for a name. Beauty of Kent ?

Azel B wdiich. Grape-, BInck Hamburgh.

J, Owen. I'lum>, Grc n Ga!,'e. I' Imperial Gage, Jefierson
Bingham. Lawrence Favori:e, Coluinliia, Wasliiiigioii Dam'
sons, and one for a name ; Apples for a name; Pears do.

Kllwaiiger Ic 1 arrv, Rochester, N Y, Pears sent as
Belle de Bruxelles. same as Belle d'Aout, has been cultiva-
ted here f.T several years, and these, as all other specimens
have been, w re utterly worihless

romoiogical Garden, Salem. R. Manning, Pears, Rostiezer
Elizabeth, and unKnown, from V.iii Moiis. '

N P Sm.th, Grotoii, Apples, Foundling, a good apple, and
covering over (iO days in its ripening

For Comiiiiilee, Joseph S Cabot.

VRGLTABLRS-From P. W Macondray, Lima Beans,
From G. C Crowniinileld, by John Quaiil, Lima Beans.
For the Coramiilee, A U. Williams, Jr.

208

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

Exhibition of Saturday, September 2nd, 1848.

FLOWERS —Fine Bouquet of indigenous flowers from
c o Swan, of Medford.

From James Nugent, six hand a«d two flat bouquets, also
one round bouquet and cut flowers.

From George C. Crowninshield, by John Quant, oue pyra-

°"From°VVmiam Kenrick, by Miss Russell, three bouquets
and a basket of flowers. . ^ .

From John CaJness, two flat and seven hand bouquets,
also cut flowers.

From John Kenrick, by Mrs. Kenrick, a basket of flowers.

From J. Breck & Co., a large variety of cut flowers.

From Lewis Davenport, a lot of cut flowers.

From Isaac Spear, an assortment of Asters.

From John Parker, an assortment of Dahlias.
For the Committee, Joseph Bkeck, Ch n.

FRUITS— From Otis Johnson, Pears, Vallee Franche.
Belle et Bonne, Beurre d'Amalis, Dearborn's Seedling.

A D Williams & Son, apples, Williams, and two vars.
for name; Pears, William's Bon Chretien, Orange, Fondante
d'Automne, Harvard, Julienne, Summer Franc Real.

Breck & Co., Pears, Summer Franc Real, and Harvard.

Galen Merriam, Peaches, Jaques and Coolidge's Favorite ;
Pears, William's Bon Chretien.

Thomas Needhara, eight vars Grapes, names mentioned m
previous reports. ^ , , ,• . - ^

W. C. Strong, by John Donald, ten dtshes of Grapes m
var ; Nectarines in var.

George Walsh, Plums, Green Gage ; Pears, William's Bon

Chretien. ,, ^ r ji i . ir- i .

J F Allen, Peaches, Manning, Crawford's late, Violet
Hatif, Crawford's Early, Grosse Mignoune, Yellow Rare-
ripe New-Jersey Grosse Mignonne, Royale, Tippecanoe,
Coolidge's Favorite, Nectarines, Roman, Violet Hatif, New-
ington, Boston; Plums, Green Gage; Pears, Dearborn's
Seedling, Passans de Portugal, Summer Franc Real, Han-
nas, William's Bon Chretien; Grapes, Golden Chasselas.

Messrs. Liversedge, Grapes, Black Hamburg, from two
years planted vines, bunches very large, berries not well co-

Hovey & Co., seven vars. of Grapes, would make a ranch
better appearance if pains were taken to preserve the bloom;
Figs, White Marseilles, Brown Turkey, Black Isciiia, and
one other var. . , „ ,., ^, ,

James Nugent, Plums, Imperial Gage; wapes, Black
Hamburg and Sweetwater.

Warren's Garden, Apples, Minister, Parkman's Favorite,
Porter, Esopus, Vandevere, Capen Apples, Red and Yellow
Siberian Crabs ; Pears, Dearborn's Seedling, fine, William's
Bon Chretien, Winship's Seedling, Summer Bergamot, Stone
Pear, Saint Ghislain, and Washington ; Plums, Duane's Pur-
ple, Kirk's New, Pond's Seedling, Diamond, Yellow Gage,
Green Gage, Smith's Orleans; Nectarines, Breda; Grapes,
Black Hamburg, and two baskets of assorted Fruits.

George Wilson, Plums, Smith's Orleans, Kirk, Green and
Imperial Gage. „. , . -.xr v

John Parsons, Plums, Impenal Gage, Bingham, and Wash-
ington.

William W. Merritt, Plums, White Gnge, and Washington'

E. Bradshaw, Plums, Black Imperial, and Washington,
fine.

J. S- Sleeper, P.ums, Imperial Gage, Violet Gage, Smfith^s-
Orleans ; Pears, Harvard.

Messrs. Winship, Pears, Winship's Seedling, Washingtoif,
and two varieties for name.

S. R. Johnson, Plums, Bolmar's Washirsgton, fine. Henry
VaiKline, Smith's Orleans, Green Gage, Imperial Gage,
Prince's Yellow Gage, Coe's Golden Drop, Red Magnum
Bonum, Hulen's Superb, Lombard's Seedling, Early Yellow
Gage, Corses Admiral ; Pears, Green Sugar.

S.Walker, Pears, Belle de Bruxelles or Belle de Aom;
Plums, Green Gage, extra fine, Washington, Bingham; Nec-
tarines, White, new; Pears, Tyson, William's Early.

Josiah Richardson, Plums, Diamond, Smith's Orleans, Dn-
ane's Purple, Imperial Gage ; Pears, Williams' Bon Chretien,
Flemish Beauty.

F. W. Macondray, Coolidge's Favorite Peach.

A. Bowditch, Grapes, Black Haiuburg; Figs, Kack St.
Michael.

B. O. Enaerson, White Sweetwater Grapes, fine.
Fruitstested Sept. 2d, 1848 :

From J. F Allen, Peach, Manning, a Seedling.

From John Owen, Seedling Peach.

M. P. Wilder, President, Pears, Beurre Opremont, (new,)
worthless. Count de Frittilley, (new,) Beurre Goubault,
(new,) Epine Dumas, Colmar d'Ete, (new,) Arch Duke,
Charles, (new,) Souveraind'Ete, (new, fine,) Doyenne Bous-
soek, which proves to be the same pear as those exhibited in
former years as an unknown variety, from Dorchester, Pro-
vidence and Plymouth ; large size, flavor excellent; may be
classed as one o( the best pears of the season.

Hovey & Co., Pears, Bergamot, Fieve, Beurre Beaumont.

Cheever Newhall, Pear for a name.

Messrs. Winship, Winship's Seedling Pear.

Robert Manning, Pears, St. Germain d'Ete, (new,) good,
and an unknown variety from Von Mons, highly flavored.

For the Committee, David Haggebston.

AWAED OF PREMnjMS.

The first premium to A. D. Williams & Son, for the Jar-
gonelle Pear.

The second premium to Oiia Johnson, for the Bloodgood
Pear.

And the special premiums :

To A. D. Williams, for the Jargonelle.

To Otis Johnson, for the Bloodgood.
For the Sub-Committee, F. W. Maconbkat.

Accepted by the Fruit Committee, S. Walker, CVn.

The Sub-Committee on Blackberries recommend the first
premium to Josiah Lovett, 2tl.

The second premium to M. Withington.
For the Sub-Committee, Otis Johnson.

Accepted by the Fruit Cormnittee, S. WAtKEE, CA'n.

VEGETABLES.-vFrora Merrill W.White, Okra, the flo-
wer and leaf culled at the South.

From James Cruikshank, a brace of Douglass Champion
Cucumbers, (new.)

From William A. Pierponi, Beets.
For the Committee, A. D. Wiluams, Jb..

THE

HORTICULTURIST ADVERTISER

Advertisments inserted on the following terms :

Each insertion, one page, $5 00

Do half page, 3 00

FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES.

THE subscribers wish to inform their customers, and the public, that they have now on hand, and wiH
offer for sale during the ensuing planting season, a large stock of Fruit Trees, consisting, in part, of
50,000 Apple Trees, suitable for orchard planting.
aO,000 Pear Trees, do. do.

15,000 Cherry Trees, do. do.

15,000 Peach Trees, do. do.

Besides large quantities of

APRICOTSi PLUMS, NECTARINES, QUINCES^ GRAPES,

AWfi ALL THE SMALL FKUITS.

The trees are vigorous and healthy ; and the collection comprises all the leading standard sorts, as
tvell as nearly all the rare and choice ones recently brought to notice. All have been propagated under
the personal supervision of the proprietors, whose care, experience, and entire devotion to the business
give the public a reasonable guarantee for accuracy. A large share of attention is paid to the culture of
Garden Fruit Trees.

And the stock of Apples on Paradise Stocks-^Pears on Quince— and Cherry on Mahaleb, is proba«
bly the largest in the Union.

All the famous Native Fruits of western NewYork can be supplied genuine, propagated from the
bearing trees. Immense quantities of young trees, suitable for distant transportation, can be supplied.

The stock of Ornamental Trees is very large ] and quatities for planting streets, public grounds, &c.,
or to dealers, can be furnished very low.

Hedge plants can also be furnished by the 10,000 or 1,000— "comprising,

NORWAY SPRUCE, ARBOR VITM, HEMLOCK, RED CEDAR, ENGLISH AND AMERL
CAN THORN, BUCKTHORN, OSAGE ORANGE, HONEY LOCUST, PRIVET, ^c.

50,000 Plura Seedlings, one year old.

30,000 Quince of the best sort for pear stocks. Besides large quantities of Rhubarb;
Asparagus, Sea Kale, and all other articles in the nursery line, at reduced rates.

Trees and Plants will be packed in the best manner, and shipped to any part of the Union. A new
Catalogue for 1848 and '49 is just published, and will be sent gratis to all "post-paid applicants.
Wholesale Catalogues sent when desired. Orders should be forwarded immediately. Address

ELLWANGER, BARRY & ROWE,

Mt. Hope Garden and Nurseries,

Rochester, N. Y. Sept. 1, 1848— 2t.

DUTCH BULBOUS PLOWER ROOTS.

THE subscribers have just received from Amsterclam their annual importation of Bulbs, the most va»
ried, choice and complete assortment ever sent to ihis country. Having' for years past imported with-
out rej^ard to cost, and lested in tlieir garden at Astoria, every new and valueil variety of this gem of
spring flowers, and after blooming, selecied only such as proved really fine to place in their annual cata-
logue, they are emboldened to recommend the present importation as unrivalleil. The Bulbs, too, are
of unusual size, sound and Well cured. Tney confidently recommend the following for flowering in
glasses, bemg the sorts best adapted for that purpose.

Price !|3 per dozen, viz:

Blues— Lord Wellington, Pronkjuweel, Lami de Coeur, Fleur Parfait, Alamode, Passetout.

Red, Rosy and Crimson— Bouquet Tendie, Comtesse de la Coste, Panorama, H pastor fido, Rose Mig-

none, Grootvoorst, Princesse d'Esterhazy.
Whites — La Deese, Nanette, Grand Vainqueur, Anna Maria, Penelope, Sophie, Passe Virgo, Periander,

Triumphe Blandina.
Yellows— Biuquet Orange, La Favorite, Gold of Ophir.
For Pots, all the above are good, with the following, at

$4 per dozen, viz :

Blues— Prins Von Saxe Weimar, Martinet, Due de Normandie, Mignon de Dryfhout, Prins Alfred, Ru-

dolphus, L'Envoye, Voltaire, Orondatus, Emilius.
Red, Rosy and Crimson— Madime Zoutman, Madelaine, Lord Castlereagh, Rouge Jolie.
Whites— Grande Blanche Imperiale, La Candeur, Sceptre d'or.

The following are of supeidative beauty and size, and are particularly recommended to amateurs:

Price $S per dozen, viz. :

Blues— Buonaparte, Laurens Kostar, Prolifera Monstro^a, Pourpre Superb, Comte d'Artois, Mehemet

Ali, Grande Vedette, Baron Tuyll, Prins Albert, Noir incomparable.
Reds, «&,c.— La Volupte, Madame Catalini, Glonosa, Sans Souci, L'Eclair, Cochenelle, La Dame du

Lac, Tubiflcira, Souvenir, iVIars, Henrietta Snntaag, Dibbitz ?abalkanski.
WHiTES-Miss Kitty, Prince of Waterloo, Non Plus Ultra, Virgo Vestalis, Gloria Florum Suprema.
Yellows— Isabella, Princesse d-Orange, with several other of the very choicest sorts at from fifty cents
to one dMar each.

A good dozen of Hyacin hs for $1.50, mixed sorts, but colors distinct. 100 Fine Hyacinths in fifty
named sorts, for $18; $0 for flfiy.

Also Grape Hyacinths, 3 colors; Nutmeg scented, fDipcade major,) and Feathered Hyacinths, curi-
ous and pleasing varieties, the former $1, the latter !f2 per dozen.

Superb Lake Amateur's Tulips, by name, $3 per dozen, or $20 per 100. Good Bizarre, by bloom and
Rosy on white grounils, $1.50 per dozen ; Double Tulips by name, $2..'iO per dozen ; Double Yellow Rose
scen'.ed, Parrot and Early Mixtures;, $1.50 per dozen; Double Rex Rubrorum, do., nearly as large as
Pseonias of bright crimson color, $2 per dozen

Early Tulips bloom out of doors in April, and enliven the parterre with their gaiety when but few
flowers are out.

A great variety of Crown Imperials, a stately Bulb, greatly admired, and increase freely ; Double
Snow Drops ; Crocus, many sorts; Gladiolus Byzantium; Iris, of sorts ; Double Narcissus, 6 sorts; Dou-
ble Jonquilles ; FritiUarys ; Doable Anemones and Rmunculus; Pae )nias, many sorts. Also, Sparadis
tricolor, and Peacock Ins, splendid winter flowering bulbs; Cape Ixias, 12 sorts ; Colchicums; Autumnal
Crocus ; Polyanihus Narcissus, 50 sorts.

All the above are in season fjr planting from now till 1st December, (or as long as the ground is
open) will endure the win'er in any part of the state without protection, (except the Ixias, Peacock
Iris and Polyanthus Narcissus.) Full directions for culture sent wi h every package, containing minute
hints on both in and out door treatment.

A collection of Oxalis, Ciclamens and Lachenalias, in pots, 50 cents each, and which bloom in doors
all winter.

CROCUS POTS, BULB GLASSES AND FANCY FLOWER POTS.

Orders from a distance carefully attended to and promptly despatched. Where the selection of Hya-
cinths, Tulips or other Uulhs is lefc to tlie subscribers every care will be taken, and a liberal selection
made when the price is limited.

JAMES M. THORBURN, & CO.,

15 John-Street New-York.
^^ Cases of assorted Bulbs of diflerent sizes, suitable for nurserymen, or for retail.c^^

Early Cauliflower, of the best London sort. Early AValcheren Cauliflower and Broccoli, with twenty
new varieiiesof Broccoli, grown in the north of England. Fine Early an, I Large York, Early Oxheart
and Early Sprotsboro Cabbages. White Coss Lettuce, and others suitable for Fall sowing, to winter
over the plants.

October 1, — 2m.

PARSONS & CO.,

Invite the attention of Dealers and Amateurs to the large and excellent stock of

trees at their

COMMERCIAL GARDEN AND NURSERY, AT FLUSHING,

THE personal attention of the proprietors to the propagating department, ami their possession of well-
arranged specimen grounds enable them to ensure the correctness of the varieties which they cultivate.
Their fruit department contains of

APPLES — 210 varieties, of which among the best are Early Harvest, Strawberry, Autumn Bough, Mai-
den's Blush, Willis' Sweeting, Fameuse, Porter, Gravenstein, Sturmer Pippin, Tower ofGlammis,
Northern Spy, Yellow Bellflower, Baldwin, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Herefordshire Pearmain,
Peck's Pleasant, Swaar, Rhode Island Greening, Newtown Pippin, White
Seek-no-further, &c., &c.

PEARS— !80 varieties, including Bartlett, Madeleine, Summer Francreal, Beurre d'Amalis, Dix, Fon-

dante d'Automne, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Duchesse d'Angoulevne, Easter Beurre, Columbia,

Beurre d'Aremberg, Lawrence. Vicarof Winkfield, &c., &c.

CHERRIES— 70 varieties, including Black Eagle, Downer's Late Red, Black Tartarian, Elton, Bigar-

reau. Early Richmond, Mayduke, Belle de Ghoisy, &c. &c.

PLUMS — 75 varieties, including Imperial Gage, Jefferson, Yellow Gage, Washington, Smith's Orleans,

Duane's Purple, Ickvvorth, Imper.itrice, Luscombe's Nonsucli.

PEACHES— 80 varieties, including Crawford's Early, Crawford's Late, Early Tillotson, Early York

George 4th, Late Admirable, White Rareripe, Royal George, White Imperial, Heath

Cling, Old Mixon Cling, &c., &c.

NECTARINES— 14 varieties, including Boston, Violet Hative, Red Roman, New White, Hardwicke's

Seedling, &c. &c.

APRICOTS— 14 varieties, including Early Peach, Moorpark, Schuyler's Large, Dubois' Golden, Large

Red, he.
ALSO— QUINCES, GRAPES, FIGS, ALMONDS, WALNUTS, RASPBERRIES, CURRANTS,
STRAWBERRIES, ESCULENT ROOTS, &c.

THE ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT

Comprises all the most desirable Ornamental Deciduous, and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs, Vines, Creep-
ers, &c., in some 800 varieties, many of which are new and rare, and valuable for arboretums.

ALSO— ROSES, HEDGE PLANTS, &c.

Catalogues furnished gratis on application by mail at Flushing, or personally at

10 Pine-street, New-York.
October 1, — Im.

BRANCH NURSERY OF PARSONS & CO.,

AT BRIGHTON DEPOT,
{JVear ISoston.)

rr-HE Proprietors invite the attention of their Eastern friends to their grounds at Brighton, to which
I they have transferred a large assortment from their establishment at Flushing. The entire success
of the trees transplanted there the past season, enables them to recommend this stock with confidence,

October 1, — Im,

FISHKILL LANDING NURSERY;

Two and a half miles north from the JVewburgh Ferry.

FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES.

THE subscriber respectfully solicits the attention of Fruit Growers, and Dealers in Fruit Trees, to
the large stock offered for sale by him this fall, consisting of

TWENTY THOUSAND APPLE TREES,
of the most approved varieties, from 4 to 8 feet high, at from $15 to $20 per hundred.

TEN THOUSAND PEAR TREES,

embracing one hundred of the best varieties to be found, 3 to 7 feet high, — $25 to $34 per hundred.

EIGHT THOUSAND CHERRY TREES,

from one to three years from the inoculation, 4 to 10 feet high, — $34 per hundred.

TEN THOUSAND PLUM TREES,
strong and healthy, from one to three years from the buds, 4 to 8 feet high, — ^$34 per hundred.

FIVE THOUSAND APRICOT TREES,

of the best sorts, on peach and plum stocks ; two thousand of which are the Early Golden, a very hardy
and productive variety, one to three years from the buds,— $12.50 on peach, $34 on plum stocks, per
hundred.

THIRTY THOUSAND PEACH TREES.
of the most valuable sorts, entirely free from disease, one to two years from the inoculation, — $6 to $8
per hundred.

EIGHT THOUSAND ISABELLA AND CATAWBA GRAPE VINES,
two to four years old, with five roots. They have been annually cut back, and in excellent condition for
vineyard planting. $12 to $18 per hundred. Also,

ONE THOUSAND QUINCE TREES, mostly of the Apple variety.
Currant and Raspberry Bushes, Strawberry V^ines, Sfc, together with about 10,000 Deciduous and

Evergreen Ornamental Trees, many of ivhich are extra large.
The subscriber is induced to sell at the very low prices above named, in consequence of his stock be-
ing very large. All those who are about planting Orchards, starting Nurseries, or engaged in the sale
of Trees, are invited to visit and inspect his stock.

The Fruit Trees have been inoculated under the immediate inspection of the proprietor, and mostly
from trees in his own grounds, and are of the

MOST VAIiUABIiE STAND AR© SORTS.

From 40 to 50 acres, attached to the Nursery, are closely set with standard and specimen Trees,
which greatly increase his facilities for the attainment of correctness.

The New and Valuable Peaches,

which have, within a few years past, originated at the South, as well as the

Choice Apples of the West,

have been propagated, and are of a fine size for transplanting.
TREES, SHRUBS, jlND VINES,
when ordered, will be taken up carefully, and packed, so as to be sent safely to any part of the Union.
Catalogues sent to all post paid applicants. Orders, by mail or otherwise, will receive immediate
attention.

DAN'L BRINCKERHOFF.
Fishkill Landing, Dutchess county, N. Y., October 1, i848^U.

NEWBURGH NURSERY.

FRUIT TREES.

^"^HIS Nursery contains a general assortment of fine thrifty trees, consisting of

RASPBERRIES, GOOSEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, APPLES, PEARS, PLUMS,

PEACHES, CHERRIES, APRICOTS, NECTARINES, S^c.

of the most approved kinds. Also, many that are new and rare, of recent introduction.

All orders (post paid,) will be carefully attended to by the Proprietor. Catalogues sent, on a
plication.

CHAS. DOWNING.
Newburgh, Orange county, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1848— 2t.

FRUIT TREES FOR SALE.

THE subscriber has for sale, at his nursery (Fishkill Landing, Dutchess county. N. Y.,) a general
assortment of Fruit Trees, embracing many of the most valuable kinds of
APPLE, CHERRY, PEACH, PLUM, PEAR, NECTARINE, AND APRICOT TREES.

And a large quantity of the Market Fruit Trees ; among which are the
FROST PLUM, NAPOLEON CHERRY, RHODE ISLAND GREENING, NEWTOWN
PIPPIN, AND BALDWIN APPLE, ISABELLA GRAPE VINES,
AND ORANGE QUINCE BUSHES.

And a splendid lot of the
EARLY GOLDEN APRICOT TREES.
This Apricot still maintains its high reputation, having withstood the severe frost of last spring, which
killed the fruit buds of several kinds of the Peach and Apricot trees. These trees have been sent, within
the last year, to all latitudes of the United States ; and from the extreme parts, they give the most
promising prospects of success.

Also, a few thousand
FIR, AND AMERICAN LINDEN TREES.

Trees will be sold on as low terms, and packed in as careful manner, as any other establishment of
the kind. When desired, small trees will be supplied at corresponding prices. Catalogues sent to all
applicants.

CHARLES DUBOIS.

Fishkill Landing, Sept. 14, 1848— o.lt.

FRUIT TREES, &c.

' I ^ HE subscriber offers for sale from

TWELVE TO TWENTY THOUSAND FRUIT TREES,

Consisting of all the best varieties of the

PEAM, APPI.E, PEUM, AWI> CHERRY.

Many of these trees have been twice transplanted, and can be removed in the autumn, or spring,
with safety.

Persons wishing to purchase extra sized fine trees will please call and make a selection. They will
be sold at the lowest market price. Also,

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BUCKTHORN PLANTS,
one, two, three andfotir years from the seed.
BEAUTY PRAIRIE, BALTIMORE BELLE, MOSS, AND OTHER ROSES, SHRUBS
AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS.

TULIPS, IN 376 VARIETIES.
The Boston and Mount Pleasant Roxbury coaches run to and from the Nurseries every half hour.

SAMUEL WALKER,
Eustis-street, Roxbury, Mass.
September 1, 1848— (s.o.n. & m'ch&ap.)

HIGHLAND NURSERIES, NEWBURGH, NEW-YORK.

LATE A. J. DOWNING & CO.

n^HE undersigned beg leave to inform their patrons, and the public in general, that their stock of

FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, &c. &c.,
for autumn planting, is unusually large and thrifty, especially Pears, Plums and Apples. Of most o'
the standard varieties of the latter, there are several thousand trees, three and four years old, of large
size, suitable for orchard planting, together with a general assortment of Cherry, Peach, Nectarine and
Apricot Trees ; also Grape Vines, small fruits, 8ic. &c.

Pear on Quince Stocks.

Portugal Quince trees, standard high 6 feet, $1 00

do do quenouille, do 1 00

Angers, (true,) do do 100

Smaller trees of the above, 50

Hedge Plants.

Buckthorn, two year old, per 1000, $8 00

Osage Orange, do do 12 00

The ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT is full and complete. For particulars see Catalogue ; a
new edition of which is just issued for 1848 and '49, and will be sent to all post paid applicants.

Orders respectfully solicited, and will receive prompt attention, which will be carefully packed and
shipped to any part of the Union or Europe.

N. B. Catalogues to be had gratis of the Agent in N. Y., Geo. G. Shepherd, 143 Maiden-Lane,
and at the office of ''The Cultivator," Albany.

A. SAUL & CO.

Highland Nurseries, September 16, 1848— oc.2t.

TO NURSERYMEN, GARDENERS, AND HORTICULTURISTS GENERALLY.

THE subscriber, for many years accent of the Highland Nurseries of Newbiir<Th, havinj? withdrawn
from other engagements, has now devoted himself to the commission business, and intends giving
special attention to'the Nurserymen, Gardeners, and Horticulturists of the country generally.

His arrangements for a regular correspondence with agents in Europe, will be immediately com-
pleted, and prompt attention always given to the receiving goods from, and the forwarding goods to
Europe.

He will, also, receive for sale consignments of seeds, or other goods they may have to dispose of, and
attend to the transaction of any business here or in Europe, with which they may entrust him. There
being no such agency in the city, he hopes, by a faithful attention to their interests, to render his servi-
ces valuable and respectfully solicits their patronage. „
^ ^ i- n ggQ Q SHEPPARD,

Reference— A. J. Downing, Esq., Newburgh, 143 Maiden-Lane. New- York.

A. Saul & Co., Newburgh,

H. Reid, Murray Hill, N. Y., and Elizabethtown, N. J.
N. B. Orders for Russia Mats, for Budding or Packing, immediately supplied.
New. York, September 21, 1848— o.2t.

PLUM STOCKS.

rr^HE subscriber offers for sale

100,000 GOOD STRONG SEEDLING PLUM STOCKS.

Messrs. King 8c Ripley, and other nurserymen, who have used these Plum Stocks, prefer them to the
imported or any other sort ever tried by them. None less than 15 inches high will be put ia.
Price, $iO per 1,000— $90 for 10,000, delivered in New-York.
Also, a large collection of

FRUIT, ORNAMENTAL TREES, GRAPE VINES, &c.

Apply to SAMUEL J. GUSTIN.

Newark, N. J. Oct. 1, 1848— 2t.

FRUIT TREES.

rpHE subscribers are now ready to receive orders for superior Trees, viz : —

APPLES, PLUMS, PEARS, CHERRIES, PEACHES, 4c. ^c,
from their new nurserv. Trees all warranted iu a healthy condition, and true to their sorts. Orders
are entered on the order book, to be forwarded as soon as practicable in the fall. Orders respectfully
solicited, and will receive prompt attention.

m- Also, a fine assortment, choice varieties, of the Pear on Quince Stock, (or Dwarf Pear Trees.)

' WILSON, THORBURN & TELLER.

October 1, 1848— It.

jp* .KB. a: HBkT ocz: :1b:: 9 jis

LINNiEAN BOTANIC GARDENS AND NURSERIES,

FLUSHING, N. Y.

WM. R. PRINCE & CO.,

SUCCESSORS OF WM. PRINCE, AND SOLE PROPRIETORS OF HIS GREAT

COLLECTION,

OFFER the largest and choicest assortment of Fruit and Ornamental Trees and Plants to be found in Am-
erica, and will transmit Descriptive Catalogui.s to all post-paid applicants desirous to purchase.
The choicest varieties of Fruits, which are scarce elsewhere, are here extensively cultivated, and ap-
plicants will not be disappointed. Every desirable fruit enumerated by Downing, Manning, Kenrick
Hovey, and in the Catalogues of Europe, can be supplied. Of the finest varieties of Pears 50,000 trees
can be supplied, of which 15.000 are of bearing age on both the Pear and the Quince. Purchasers are
solicited to visit the establishment and judge for themselves, but the same attention will be paid to the
selection for all distant correspondents. The prices are as low and mostly lower than trees of equal
quality can be elsewhere obtained. And above

FIVE HUNDRED VARIETIES OF FRUIT TREES,

And a much larger number of

ORNAMENTAL TREES

Can be supplied, that cannot be obtained elsewhere in the Union, except in a few casual instances. Every
premium for Hoses and Strawberries was awarded to us by the Long Island Horticultural Society.

A WHOLESALE CATALOGUE WILL BE SENT TO ALL VENDERS.

The transportation expense to the West is now moderate, and the Agent's Receipt will be sent to
each purchaser, which will prevent the possibility of loss. Cash or a reference can be sent with the
order, by those who are strangers to us.

N. B. — We caution the public against a spurious use of our name and title by a man named Winter,
whenever purchased any trees from the late William Prince, and which is calculated to deceive many.

October 1, — It.

THE NURSERY OF J. J. THOMAS,

Macedon, Wayne county, JY. Y.,

CONTAINS A SELECTION OF

APPLES, PEACHES, CHERRIES, PEARS, APRICOTS, Ac,

Propagated wholly from trees proved in bearing,

and embracing the most approved standard sorts, together with such new varieties as a thorough trial
has entitled to rank among those decidedly excellent. Nearly all, except a part of the newer varieties,
are of large size and fine growth ; the Apples and Cherries varying from 7 to 9 feet high, in most cases.

The prices are low.

Trees well packed in bundles, with muded roots in wet moss, for canal and railroad conveyance.

PLUM SEEDLINGS, one year old, of a variety selected for its adaptation to light as well as heavy
soil, at $7 per IdOO.

All communications, post paid, to be addressed to the Proprietor, Macedon, Wayne county, N. Y.
October 1, 1848— 2t.

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

NOVEMBER, 1848.

No. 5.

We must have a little familiar conversa-
tion, this month, on the subject of trans-
planting TREES. Our remarks will be in-
tended, of course, for the uninitiated ; not
for those who have grown wise with expe-
rience.

That there is a difficulty in transplanting
trees, the multitude of complaints and in-
quiries which beset us, most abundantly
prove. That it is, on the other hand, a
very easy and simple process, the uniform
success of skilful cultivators, as fully es-
tablishes.

The difficulty then, lies, of course, in a
want of knowledge, on the part of the
unsuccessful practitioner. This kind of
knowledge may be stated, broadly, under
two heads, viz., ignorance of the organiza-
tion of trees, and ignorance of the necessity
oi feeding them.

The first point is directly the most im-
portant, for the very process of transplanting
is founded upon it. Since this art virtually
consists in removing, by violence, a tree
from one spot to another, it is absolutely
necessary to know how much violence we
may use without defeating the ends in
view. A common soldier will, with his
sword, cut off a man's limb, in such a
manner that he takes his life away with it.
Vol. III. 14

A skilful surgeon will do the same thing,
in order to preserve life. There are, also,
manifestly two ways of transplanting trees.
That the vital principle is a wonderful
and mysterious power, even in plants, it
cannot be denied. But because certain
trees, as poplars and willows, have enough
of this power to enable pieces of them to
grow, when stuck into the ground, like
walking sticks, without roots, it does not
follow that all other trees will do the same.
There are some animals which swallow
prussic acid with impunity ; but it is a danger-
ous experiment for all other animals. What
we mean to suggest, therefore, is, that he
who would be a successful transplanter,
must have an almost religious respect for
the roots of trees. He must look upon
them as the collectors of revenue, the war-
dens of the ports, the great viaducts of all
solids and fluids that enter into the system
of growth and verdure, which constitutes the
tree proper. Oh, if one could only teach
hewers of " tap-roots" and drawers of "late-
rals," the value of the whole system of
roots, — everything, in short, that looks like,
and is a radicle, — then would nine-tenths
of the difficulty of transplanting be quite
overcome, and the branches might be left
pretty much to themselves !

210

THE ART OF TRANSPLANTING TREES.

Now a tree, to be perfectly transplanted,
ought to be taken up with its whole system
of roots entire. Thus removed and care-
fully replanted, at the proper dormant sea-
son, it need not suffer a loss of the smallest
bough, and it would scarcely feel its re-
moval. Such things are done every year,
with this result, by really clever and experi-
enced gardeners. We have seen apple trees,
large enough to bear a couple of bushels of
fruit, which were removed a dozen miles, in
the autumn, and made a luxuriant growth,
and bore a fine crop the next season. But
the workman who handled them had gone
to the root of the business he undertook.

The fact, however, cannot be denied,
that in common practice there are very few
such perfect workmen. Trees (especially
in the nurseries,) are often taken up in
haste, at a loss of a third, or even some-
times half of their roots, and when received
by the transplanter, there is nothing to be
done but to make the best of it.

In order to do this, we must look a little
in advance, in order to understand the
philosophy of growth. In a few words,
then, it may be assumed that in a healthy
tree, there is an exact " balance of power"
between the roots and the branches. The
first may be said to represent the stomach,
and the second the lungs and perspiratory
system. The first collects food for the tree ;
the other elaborates and prepares this food.
You can, therefore, no more make a violent
attack upon the roots, without the leaves
and branches suffering harm by it, than
you can greatly injure the stomach of an
animal without disturbing the vital action
of all the rest of its system.

In trees and plants, perhaps, this propor-
tional dependance is still greater. For in-
stance, the leaves, and even the bark of a
tree, continually act as the perspiratory sys-
tem of that tree. Every clear day, in a

good sized tree, they give off many pounds
weight of fluid matter, — being the more
watery portion of the element absorbed by
the roots. Now it is plain, that if you de-
stroy, in transplanting, one-third of the
roots of a tree, you have, as soon as the
leaves expand, a third more lungs than
you keep in action. The perspiration is
vastly beyond what the roots can make
good; and unless the subject is one of
unusual vitality, or the weather is such as
to keep down perspiration by constant damp-
ness, the leaves must flag, and the tree
partly or wholly perish.

The remedy, in cases where you must
plant a tree whose roots have been muti-
lated, is (after carefully paring off the ends
of the wounded roots, to enable them to
heal more speedily,) to restore the "bal-
ance of power" by bringing down the
perspiratory system — in other words, the
branches, to a corresponding state ; that is
to say, in theory, if your tree has lost a
fourth of its roots, take off an equal amount
of its branches.

This is the correct theory. The practice,
however, differs with the climate where the
transplanting takes place. This is evi-
dent, if we remember that the perspiration
is governed by the amount of sunshine and
dry air. The more of these, the greater the
demand made for moisture, on the roots.
Hence, the reason why delicate cuttings
strike root readily under a bell glass, and
why transplanting is as easy as sleeping in
rainy weather. In England, therefore, it
is much easier to transplant large trees
than on the continent, or in this country;
so easy, that Sir Henry Stewart made
parks of fifty feet trees with his transplant-
ing machine, almost as easily and as
quickly as Capt. Bragg makes a park of
artillery. But he who tries this sort of
fancy work in the bright sunshine of the

jTHE ART OF TRANSPLANTING TREES.

211

United States, will find that it is like un-
dertaking to besiege Gibraltar with cross-
bows. The trees start into leaf, and all
promises well ; but, unless under very fa-
vorable circumstances, the leaves beggar
the roots, by their demands for more sap,
before August is half over.

We mean to be understood, therefore,
that we think it safest in practice, in this
part of the world, when you are about to
plant a tree deprived of part of its roots, to
reduce the branches a little below this same
proportion. To reduce them to precisely
an equal proportion, would preserve the
balance, if the ground about the roots could
be kept uniformly moist. But, with the
chances of its becoming partially dry at
times, you must guard against the leaves
flagging, by diminishing their number at
the first start. As every leaf and branch,
made after growth fairly commences, will
be accompanied simultaneously by new
roots, the same will then be provided for as
a matter of course.

The neatest way of reducing the top of
a tree, in order not to destroy its natural
symmetry,* is to shorten-back the young
growth of the previous season. We know
a most successful planter who always, un-
der all circumstances, shortens-back the
previous year's wood, on transplanting, to
one bud ; that is, he cuts off the whole
summer's growth down to a good plump
bud, just above the previous year's wood.
But this is not always necessary. A few
inches (where the growth has been a foot or
more,) will usually be all that is necessary.
It is only necessary to watch the growth of a
transplanted tree, treated in this way, with
one of the same kind unpruned ; to com-
pare the clean, vigorous new shoots, that
will be made the first season by the former,

* Cuttins: off large branches at random, often quite spoils
{he natural habit of a tree. Shortening-back, all over the
be:id, does lujt affect ii in the least. I

with the slender and feeble ones of the
latter, to be perfectly convinced of the
value of the practice of shortening-in trans-
planted trees.

The necessity of a proper supply of food
for trees, is a point that we should not
have to insist upon, if starving trees had the
power of crying out, like starving pigs.
Unluckily, they have not ; and, therefore,
inhuman and ignorant cultivators will feed
their cattle, and let their orchards starve to
death. Now it is perfectly demonstrable,
to a man who has the use of his eyes, that
a tree can be fatted to repletion, that it
may be made to grow thriftily and well,
or that it may be absolutely starved to
death, as certainly as a Berkshire. It is
not enough, (unless a man has rich bottom
lands,) to 'pla7it a tree in order to have a
satisfactory growth, and a speedy gratifica-
tion in its fruit and foliage. You must
provide a supply of food for it at the outset,
and renew it as often as necessary during
its lifetime. He who does this, will have
five times the profit and ten times the satis-
faction of the careless and sluggish man,
who grudges the labor and expense of a
little extra feeding for the roots. The
cheapest and best food for fruit trees, with
most farmers, is a mixture of swamp muck
and stable manure, which has laid for some
two or three months together. The best
manure, perhaps, is the same muck, or
black peat, reduced to an active state with
wood ashes. (See vol. ii, p. 384.) A
wheelbarrow load of this compost, mixed
with the soil, for each small transplanted
tree, will give it a supply of food that
will produce a growth of leaf and young
wood that will do one's heart good to look
upon.

Any well decomposed animal manure may
be freely used in planting trees ; always
thoroughly incorporating it with the lohole

212

CULTURE OF FOREIGN GRAPES IN POTS.

of the soil that has been stirred, and not
throwing it directly about the roots.

There are, however, some improvident
men who will plant trees without having
any food at hand, except manure in a crude
state. "What shall we do," they ask,
" when we have only fresh stable manure ?"
Perhaps we ought to answer — "wait till
you have something better." But since
they will do something at once, or not at
all, we must give them a reply; and this
is, make your hole twice as large and twice
as deep as you would if you had suitable
compost. Then bury part of the fresh ma-
nure below the depth where the roots will
at first be, mixing it with the soil, treading
the whole down well to prevent settling,
and covering the Avhole with three inches
of earth, upon which to plant the tree.
Mix the rest with the soil, and put it at the
sides of the hole, keeping the manure both
at the sides and bottom, far enough away,
that the roots of the tree shall not reach it
for two months. Then plant the tree in
some of the best good soil you can procure.

One of the safest and best general fer-
tilizers that can be used in transplanting at
all times, and in all soils, is leached wood
ashes. A couple of shovel- fuls of this may
be used (intermixed with soil,) about the
roots of every tree, while replanting it, with

great advantage. Lime and potash, the
two largest inorganic constituents of alJ
trees, are most abundantly supplied by
wood ashes ; and hence its utility in all our
soils.

We have, previously, so largely insisted
on the importance of trenching and deepen-
ing the soil, in all cases where trees are to
be planted, that we trust our readers know
that that is our 'platform. If any man wish-
es to know how to improve the growth of
any tree in the climate of the United States,
the first word that we have to say to him,
is to " trench your soil." If your soil is
exhausted, if your soil is thin and poor, if
it is dry, and you suffer from drouth, the
remedy is the same ; deepen it. If you
have much to do, and economy must be
considered, use the subsoil plough ; if a
few trees only are to be planted in the
lawn or garden, use the spade. Always
remember that the roots of trees will rarely
go deeper than the " natural soil," (say
from 10 to 20 inches on the average,) and
that by trenching two or three feet deep
you make a double soil, and therefore en-
large your "area of freedom" for the roots,
and give them twice as much to feed upon.
If you are a beginner, and are skeptical,
make a trial of a few square yards, plant a
tree in it, and then judge for yourself.

CULTURE OF FOREIGN GRAPES IN POTS.

BY GEO. KIDD, BLITHEWOOD, DUTCHESS CO , N. Y.

As YOU solicit communications from horti-
culturists, I avail myself of a ^e\v moments
of leisure, to offer some remarks on the
culture of grapes in pots.

The article from the Gardeners' Chroni-
cle, reprinted in the September number of
the Horticulturist, though able, is unsuited

in its detail to this climate. Your humble
servant, having been educated in the same
school with the writer of the article in the
Gardeners' Chronicle, in giving his own
practice, will not be found to differ in prin-
ciple, but merely to Americanize the prac-
tice. I Avill first point out one practical

CULTURE OF FOREIGN GRAPES tN POTS.

213

^difficulty in the original article, and then,
for sake of brevity, proceed without further
notice of it. Every experienced gardener
is aware of the extreme difficulty of main-
taining a bottom heat of 90^ in February,
with the common materials in use ; and
few have not had repeated bitter experien-
ces of the treachery of those fermenting
materials, by the blasting of all his hopes,
when his expectations have been high. It
would not do, then, to risk the peculiarly
delicate foliage of the young vine to the
tender mercies of such agents.

We will commence, then, by placing a
single eye or bud in a quart pot, an inch
below the surface, in a compost of two-
thirds half decayed leaves and one-third
turfy loam ; this can be done any time
after the permanent vines are pruned in
the fall, being careful to select good plump
eyes from perfectly ripened wood, when
they may be placed under the green-house
stage, there to remain until about the first
of March, when a hot-bed should be ready
for their reception.

The manure for the hot-bed should be
well prepared by frequent turnings, and a
plentiful admixture of oak leaves, so as to
ensure a steady and lasting heat ; three feet
in depth of these materials would be suffi-
cient, though it would be well to apply a
lining at once to prevent the winds from
penetrating and thereby causing the heat to
fluctuate ; after the bed has settled and the
violent heat subsided, it may be earthed
over with leaf mould or old tan, in which
to plunge the pots to the rim, taking care
to keep them about a foot from the glass.
The beds must be carefully covered with
double mats every night, so long as there
is any danger from frost. They will re-
quire very little water; indeed, you must
perseveringly guard against too much damp,
by freely ventilating at the back of the

frame when the weather will permit. As
the young shoots advance, let the frame be
raised, but always keeping them within a
foot of the glass ; and as the season ad-
vances, and the sun's rays become power-
ful, a slight coat of whitewash on the out-
side of the glass may prevent accidents,
and save much time in attendance upon
them. As their roots fill the pots, they will
require more water, and shifting into two
quart pots, and some of the stronger ones
into still larger. The compost for this shift-
ing should be two-thirds turfy loam and
one-third leaf mould. Where there is a
vinery they may now be removed into it,
and plunged between the permanent vines,
and carefully trained to the wires under
the centre of the sash, — the laterals being
stopped as they appear. They will now
require a more liberal supply of water, and
liquid manure may be given them twice or
three times per week. Drainings from the
manure heap, is the safest to apply. Where
tanks are placed to collect the urine of ani-
mals, it should be used before becoming
putrid ; lime should be thrown into it, and
it should be diluted with rain water. Al-
ways be careful to have the water of the
same temperature for your plants as the
atmosphere they are growing in.

Where there is no vinery, the plants
may be placed on the green-house stage ;
as, by this time, there will be plenty of
room for them ; but the temperature of the
house must be kept up to not less than 65°
by night.

By the last of August, most of the vines
will again require shifting. They should
now be shifted into their fruiting pots, —
gallon sizes, — and require a more generous
compost, prepared as follows: — two-thirds
turfy loam, and one-third well decom'posed
night-soil; or, if you have not this material
in a fit state, the deficiency may be sup-

214

CULTURE OF FOREIGN GRAPES IN POTS.

plied with animal matter and good leaf
mould. The former may consist of refuse
matter from a glue factory, or slaughter-
house ; or, better still, the refuse wool from
a woolen factory; this, being saturated with
animal oil, is a powerful and lasting ma-
nure, and when half decomposed and formed
into compost as above, I have found it very
suitable for vines in pots, with the addition
of some ground bones for drainage. The
plants are very well reconciled to their
confined state.

I prefer allowing the plants, the first sea-
son, to make all the length of cane they
are able, without stopping them ; believing
that by this mode the young vines are able
to store up a larger amount of organizable
matter; and in this fine climate, there is
no difficulty in ripening a sufficiency of
wood. For the remainder of the season
they will require but little water ; but do
not let them flag at any time for want of it.

In February, or before, let them be
pruned. On those that are strong enough
for fruiting, from three to four feet of wood
may be left, according to their strength and
kinds ; the weaker ones should be cut down
to three eyes. All should now be placed
perfectly at rest in their winter quarters ;
if put under the green-house stage, the pots
had better be placed on their sides in order
to guard against too much moisture.

In March they may be again plunged in
a hot-bed, prepared for them, and the first
stage of forcing carried on, until the green-
house plants are withdrawn from the green-
house, when the young vines may again
occupy the stage ; there to perfect their
fruit, or gain sufficient strength to fruit the
succeeding season.

In summer, pruning the vines rather than
disbud, I would sufl^er all the side shoots
to grow until you have selected the clusters
you intend to keep ; let these be stopped 1

at one joint beyond the fruit, and all the
rest cut back to four eyes. All laterals
should be stopped as they appear ; also the
leading shoot, after it has made about three
feet of new wood. The shoots that are cut
back to four eyes, will form fine plump buds
at their base for fruiting next season ; and
by every year cutting clean back the shoots
that have fruited, the plant will last several
years, and be free from unsightly spurs.

I would by no means recommend the
growing in pots as profitable ; but to the
amateur, or curious cultivator, it affords a
means of growing many varieties that would
not be found profitable to occupy a perma-
nent place in the vinery. The object we
have in view for growing them in pots
here at Blithewood, is to occupy the stage
of the centre house, where, as we treat this
house as an early vinery, grapes in pots are
more in character than flowering plants
would be.

Mr. Donaldson, the proprietor of Blithe-
wood, has been among the earliest and
most successful cultivators of the grape un-
der glass on the Hudson river. The bor-
der of his first grape-house, (which I under-
stand was signally successful,) consisted
entirely of leaf mould, or decayed vegetable
matter. This house, however, has given
place to a beautiful range ; an engraving
of which, together with the plan, is given
in Vol. I, No. 2, of the Horticulturist.
When I commenced the management of
these houses, I anticipated difficulty in
ripening such grapes as the Muscat of Al-
exandria, Flame-coloured Tokay, Black
Morocco, &c., being 100 miles north of the
city of New-York, but strange to say they
have all ripened two weeks earlier than
most of the houses on the Hudson. I can
only account for this from the houses being
protected at the north by a thick belt of
woods, also from their being placed in a

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS.

215

■kollow or valley. Another good effect of
this latter position, is that the glare of the
glass roof is kept out of sight.

If you should deem this article worthy of
notice, I will, from time to time, send you
others of a strictly practical nature. I am
convinced that no branch of horticulture
can be made more profitable than the cul-
ture of grapes under glass. I have fully
tested this by success in market, with the
heavy crops produced by me in the very

cheap vitieries of Wm. Rankin, Esq., of New-
ark, N. J. Respectfully yours,

Geo. Kidd,
Gardener at Blithewood, near Red Hook, N. Y.

[Such communications as the foregoing
are always welcome to our pages. We
have had the pleasure of examining, several
times, the vinery at Blithewood, under Mr.
Kidd's care, where we found abundant
proof of his practical ability. Ed.]

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRTJITS.

BY DR. WM. W. VALK, FLUSHING, L. I.

We wrote a short article for the October
number of the Horticulturist, upon the sub-
ject of a reform in pomology, suggested by
the perusal of an interesting paper by the
editor, — the September leader, on Pomo-
logical Reform. Every man, whose preju-
dices are not above his reason, must at
once admit that a reformation is not only
needed, but demanded. Circumstances in-
dicate this too plainly for the possibility of
any misunderstanding, either as to its utility
or necessity.

If any evidence is required in proof of
the fact, as we state it — if the doubters and
the sticklers desire an exposure of their
own folly and opposition to improvement in
the pomological department of horticulture,
they have but to turn to the pa'^es of our
nurserymen's catalogues, and therein read
over the long lists of fruits presented to
public notice, and praised " beyond the
sober truth," for their individual excel-
lence and worth. Here's proof enough
that there is a wrong somewhere ; perhaps
with the nurseryman, perhaps with the
public, — most likely with both. The one
wants to sell ; that's well enough, for it is

his business, and if confined to its legiti-
mate channels, and fairly and honorably
conducted, there cannot be a word said
against it. The others are purchasers; they
want what is good, indeed the best, and, in
a great majority of instances, rely upon the
nurserj-man's statements, in his catalogue,
in making their selections. True, there
are some buyers who k?iow the real value
of most fruit trees, and care nothing for
any other testimony than their own expe-
rience ; but for every one of these, we may
safely say there are twenty who do not
know, and these are the victims of all sorts
of cunningly devised plans in the making
up of catalogues and advertisements.

Now we dont, by any means, mean to
say that all nurserymen are cheats and
story-tellers, for we are satified that there
are honest and upright men in " the trade;"
men we know, who transact their business
with promptitude and exactness, and deal
fairly in everything. They value their
reputation beyond dollars and cents, are
not given to boasting, and prefer the truth,
at all times, to practicing the most success-
ful deception. They will not offer for sale

216

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS.

a Chinese Quince, ^^ with scarlet fruit ^'' or
in any other way deceive by unworthy
tricks and bold fabrications. Let us be
thankful that there are such ; yet, while we
do them honor for their integrity, it is not
to be denied or concealed that they have to
contend against the " arts and sciences" of
unprincipled rivals, in establishing for them-
selves a solid reputation.

If the facts are as we have stated them,
(and we seriously believe them to be so,)
a reformation is imperatively demanded.
There can be no difference of opinion on
the subject, unless it be on the part of those
who " like nothing better than a contro-
versy ;" men whose delight is, to

" Abstract, perplex, distract, entangle,
And lay perpetual trains to wrangle ;"

those more eager to claim the praise of
daring folly, than submissive prudence, and
display

" The rattling tongue

Of saucy and audacious eloquence."

That there are difficulties to be encounter-
ed, obstacles overcome, and opposition firm-
ly met, is but an admission of the necessity
of making a beginning. We design no
such thing as the planning out of the de-
tails of the reform we write about ; ours is
a much more humble purpose, and we hope
it may be useful. We would hold out " a
friendly light" to the amateur, who is "anx-
ious to plant only a few of the best and
most valuable sorts" of fruit trees, and aid
him in making his selection. If " begin-
ners are largely at the mercy of cata-
logues," it is tolerably good evidence of the
danger of trusting them.

Is the amateur, the novice, desirous of
planting out a few of the best Apples?
Any of the following will not disappoint
him; we know them to be good: —

Summer nipples. — Astrachan Red, Large

Yellow Bough, Early Harvest, Early Straw-
berry, Oslin, Williams' Favorite — 6.

Autumn Apples. — Autumn Bough, Fall
Pippin, Gravenstein, King of Pippins, Por-
ter, President- — 6.

Wi?iter Apples. — Baldwin, Yellow Belle-
fleur, Black Apple, Boston Mussett, Dan-
vers Winter Sweet, Hubbardston Nonsuch,
Jonathan, Minister, Murphy, Newark King,
Northern Spy, Peck's Pleasant, Pennock's
Red Winter, Monmouth Pippin, Yellow
Newtown Pippin, Priestly, Rhode Island
Greening, Green Seek-no-further, Esopus
Spitzenburgh, Swaar, Wine, (Downing's)
Lady Apple— 22.

For Preserving. — The Siberian Large
Red Crab, Transcendant — 2.

Here are 36 varieties, only, out of the
300 enumerated in some catalogues — a very
moderate number, to be sure ; but they are
worth growing, — good in quality, bear well,
and will give very general satisfaction.

We frankly admit the difficulty of making
this selection or any other, because men's
tastes differ ; and there must be some re-
gard paid to soil and climate. But, not-
withstanding all this, we think our choice
presents a fair variety, which, if properly
cultivated and attended to, will not fail to
yield abundantly. There being " no he-
reditary rights, or rights of occupancy in
pomological lists," we have omitted naming
" an astonishing number of very worthless
apples," and, doubtless, some quite as good
as our favorites. In serving our " writ of
ejectment, however," this could not be
avoided, without swelling our list entirely
too much.

The amateur has now to be assisted in
making choice of 35 of the best pears.
With an American catalogue before us,
naming over 500 varieties, all highly eulo-
gized, the task of picking out so small a
number as 35, is not the easiest thing in

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS.

217

ike world. Some darling pets must be
excluded, and some very good sorts over-
looked ; We can't help it.

Summer Pears.— Oni of the 5-5 named in
the catalogue of & Co., we recom-
mend the Bartlett, Bloodgood, Jargonelle,
(English,) Madeleine, and Rostiezer- — 5.

Autumn Pears. — Of the 158, in same
catalogue, we select Beurre Bosc, Beurre
Capiaumont, Beurre d'Amanlis, Beurre de
Beaumont, Beurre Diel, Gansel's Berga-
mot. Doyenne Gris, Duchesse d'Angouleme,
Colmar d'Aremberg, Dunmore, Flemish
Beauty, Fondante d'Automne, Frederick
de Wurtemburg, Jalousie de Fontenay,
Vendee, Louise Bonne de Jerse}% Paradise
d'Automne, Urbaniste, and Van Mons' Leon
le Clerc— 18.

Winter Pears. — -Beurre d'Aremberg,
Beurre Ranze, Columbia, Glout Morceau,
Ne Plus Meuris, Passe Colmar, and Win-
ter Nelis — 7.

These 30 we know to he excellent ; the
following 5 we name on the authority of
others: — Duvernay, Jersey Gratioli, Les
Carnas, Beurr^ Langelier, and Suzette de
Bavay — 5.

But there are 255 " additional rare varie-
ties of pears" to be disposed of, and here
*' lies the rub." What is to be done with
them ? If it is " difficult to name over 20
or 30 sorts really worthy of cultivation,"
we dont see but Mr. Beecher's " writ of
ejectment" must be served on them, nolens
nolens. The splendid Doyennes, the mag-
nificent Beurres, and the beautiful Berga-
mots must be "thrust out;" not all the
Sucre in France can save them, "We ap-
prehend, however, that it is not so " diffi-
cult" as some persons suppose, to name
more than 20 or 30 varieties really worth
growing. The experience of Mr. Ti;oMp-
soN, of the Chiswick Gardens, will bear us
out in saying, that 50 sorts can be desig-

nated, and all of them shall be of the first
class. But 20 of these shall be so much
like the remaining 30 in size, quality, and
appearance, as to render it useless to pos-
sess and cultivate them, unless for the sake
of variety in name.

There are gentlemen, especially in the
vicinity of Boston, where the pear mania
has fixed its "head quarters," whose gar-
dens and orchards are filled, nay, crammed,
with pear trees. The good, bad, and indif-
ferent are all there, but " c«« boniV If
nurseries are estimated "by the size of
their catalogues," (and they are so, proba-
bly, by most persons,) that being the best
which "kicks up the greatest dust" about
" specimen grounds," " immense collec-
tions," " superior accuracy," &;c., how are
these amateurs to be considered ? Wit-
ness the published lists of the fruits exhi-
bited before the Horticultural Society of
Massachusetts by private and public culti-
vators. To what good end is the record of
a prodigious string of nam.es, if the valua-
ble and worthless are mingled, and nothing
indicates the one from the other? The
display upon the tables, and subsequently
upon paper, is doubtless pleasing ; there is
a charm about it, to be sure, but it is de-
ceptive ; too much of it vvill not bear a
more trustworthy test than that of being
seen and admired. Like the Belle de Brux'
elles Pear, it is all outside, — " totally worth-
less for any other purpose than to look at
or sell."

It may be said that these large collec-
tions are grown for a better purpose than
making a display. It is to test them, to
ascertain which are good, and which not
good, that lies at the bottom of it all. Per-
haps this is true ; and, if true, it is very
proper ; for every fruit should be subjected
to a rigid investigation, ere it is pronounced
first quality, and this requires great expe-

218

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS.

rience and judgment. But of what advan-
tage is it to horticulture, if the public are
not put in possession of the facts ? Let us
illustrate this.

At the 19th annual exhibition of the Hor-
ticultural Society of Massachusetts, the Pre-
sident of the society had upon the tables
159 varieties of pears, Mr. Manning 255
varieties, Messrs. Hovey 70, S. Walkek 60,
J, LovETT 80, 0. Johnson 60, Messrs. Win-
ship 40, and several others in smaller num-
bers. Altogether, 948 dishes of pears were
before the eye. The visitors, no doubt,
were much gratified, and the premiums
awarded, we presume, in a satisfactory
manner. Now we cannot help asking, for
what were these premiums given? The
Report says — " for the best, 2d best, and
3d best"— what? "best exhibition;" that's
all. The judges sat in "secret session,"
in their committee room ; Mr. R. Manning,
the largest exhibitor, being one of them.
To the President they gave the " Lyman
plate," to Mr. Walker the Lowell medal,
to Mr. LovETT %5, to Mr. Pond %5, and to
Mr. Vandine $3. Mr. Manning got nothing
for his 255 varieties, nor any of the others.
As a looker on, a novice, we are desirous
of planting 50 of the best pears; a very
large number, truly, when we are told " by
authority" that it is " difficult to name over
20 or 30 really worthy cultivation." But
how shall we select our 50 out of the 159
premium pears, shown by the President ?
The judges have given us no information
upon the subject; "they remain silent,"
and allow us to be " captivated by exterior
charms." They hang no " friendly light
over the shoals and breakers, which they
know by heart," but " quietly allow" us to
be stranded on them, by leaving on our
minds the impression that the whole 159
varieties of pears are worth growing, and
that we cannot make a mistake in selectingf

any of them. But such is not the fact ; for
having made our choice of 50 of the best,
there remains 109 " second rate," " poor,"
or "worthless." Under such management,
the purposes of all exhibitions are perverted,
and " numberless varieties of fruit" are al-
lowed a place upon the exhibition tables,
which are known to be unworthy of any
such honor.

For the amateur's benefit, we now pro-
ceed to name one dozen cherries, selecting
them from the 120, and over, enumerated
in some catalogues : American Amber,
Black Eagle, Black Heart, Black Tartarian,
Coe's Transparent, Downer's Late, Elton,
Graffion, Knight's Early Black, White Bi-
garreau. Archduke, and May Duke.

From the 170 plums, as per catalogue,
we recommend a dozen : these are Coe's
Golden Drop, Columbia, Corse's Nota Bena,
Duane's Purple, Imperial Gage, (Prince's,)
Yellow Gage, Huling's Superb, Jefierson,
Lawrence's Favorite, Magnum Bonum,
(white) Orleans, (Smith's,) and Washing-
ton.

Peaches. — With a list of "most estima-
ble" peaches, " selected from the largest
specimen orchard that has ever existed,"
and embracing more than 200 named va-
rieties, it might appear difficult for us, or
anybody else, to select a small number,
particularly too where a choice may now be
made of some or all of the " splendid new
varieties from Persia, Turkey, Greece, Ita-
ly, and Buenos Ayres, at $1 each." Whe-
ther difficult or not, however, we shall try,
and most respectfully beg leave to let the
neiv arrivals remain upon page 21 of the
Catalogue. We name, then, the following
18 : Late Admirable, Yellow Alberge, Ber-
gen's Yellow, Blood Cling, (for preserving
only,) Green Catharine, Dwarf Orleans,
(curious — only three feet high,) Early York,
George the Fourth, Grosse Mignone, Lemon

POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS.

219

Cling', (preserves,) Early Melocoton, Late
Melocoton, Eed Cheek Melocoton, Old
Newington, Oldmixon Cling, Oldmixon
Free, President, and Van Zandt's Superb.
If the amateur has no curiosity, and cares
but little for preserves, the Blood and Lemon
Clings, with the Dwarf Orleans, may be left
out.

Nectarines. — As these are so precarious
from the attacks of the curcuHo, we select
but 2, the Elruge and Violet Hative.

Apricots. — Of these, 5 will be enough :
Dubois' Early Golden, Hemskirke, Large
Early, Moorpark, and Peach.

Grapes. — For open air culture, Twrth of
Baltimore, the Isabella and Catawba. For
culture under glass, Black Hamburgh, Black
Prince, Chasselas Musque, Grizzly Frontig-
nan, White and Black Frontignan, Royal
Muscadine, Muscat of Alexandria, West's
St. Peters, Black Lombardy, and Prince
Albert. South of the point indicated, nearly
every variety of the grape will succeed in
the open air, provided they are cultivated
in a proper manner, regard being had to
drainage, soil, aspect, and a judicious use
of the knife.

Quinces. — The Large Orange, and the
Pear-shaped. We have not yet seen the
" Chinese Scarlet flowering, with scarlet
fruit" and dont know of any one who has.

Maspherries. — American Red, the True
Red and Yellow Antwerp, Fastolff, and
Pearson's Prolific Red. The first is per-
fectly hardy ; the others, in tliis climate,
require a little protection in winter. South
of Maryland, they will stand the winters
very well.

Strawberries. — " Five of the very best
varieties, for general cultivation," are Large
Early Scarlet, Crimson Cone, Burr's New
Pine, Hovey's Seedling, and Black Prince.
To these, a sixth will, in all probability, be
added — the American Scarlet, an exceed-

ingly promising variety, raised by Mr.
Huntsman of this village. The Aberdeen
Bee-Hive, Burr's Mammoth, Burr's Seed-
ling, and Taylor's Seedling, are now on
trial in our garden. The results will be,
in due time, communicated.

Currants. — Black Naples, Red and White
Dutch, and the Cherry Currant. The last
is new and very large.

Of gooseberries, figs, and the miscella-
neous fruits, we feel no disposition to make
a selection, because we find it rather a
bother to do so for ourselves, and care too
little for all or any of them to seek further
experience.

The object we had in view when we sat
down to write this article, has now been ac-
complished. We presume not to say that
our experience is as extensive as that of
many of the gentlemen who are contribu-
tors to the Horticulturist ; for it is only
within the past 10 years that we have given
the subject of horticulture much attention,
yet during that time, we have not been
idle. The knowledge we would impart to
the amateur is the result of our own well
tried investigations. Others may differ
from us ; that is to be expected ; for men's
tastes differ as much as their faces ; and
not unfrequently they will differ for the
mere love of the thing. It is, unfortunately
for the advancement of a most interesting
science, too much the prevailing passion to
grow immense quantities of fruit, instead
of select assortments. Nothing that we
know of seems to act as a check upon it ;
on the contrary, it is encouraged in various
ways, by private growers, to a considerable
extent, and by nurserymen to excess.

In all the attempts to raise new varieties
too, from the seed, there is a manifest care-
lessness, as surely detrimental as it is ab-
surd. It is admitted to be true, that not a
seedling fruit is worth saving and naming

220

EVERGREEN TREES.

unless it is better in most respects, if not
all, than those already cultivated. Yet, it
not unfrequently happens that one man, in
the course of two or three seasons, will of-
fer for sale from 15 to 20 " magnificent and
highly flavored varieties" of strawberries,
for instance, name them himself, and give
them a character for excellence, productive-
ness, and general superiority, which should
only be bestowed ly coinpete?it authority, and
not then, unless the candidates for favor
are worthy of the honor. Real improve-
ments are not the work of a day, a month,
or a year, in the raising of seedlings of
merit. The thing is not as easily done as
some hair-brained cultivators would have
us believe ; it takes much time, unyielding
patience, and perseverance, and a resolute
determination to destroy all that are below
the standard of the best then in general cul-
tivation. Were one million strawberry

plants raised by the mere promiscuous
planting of the seed of one or more varie-
ties, the chances are 100 to 1 that not five
of the entire lot would produce fruit in any
wise superior to valued kinds, already
known. Yet we are asked to swallow the
absurdity of crediting individual statements,
which carry upon their face, to every calm
and reasoning thinker, the stamp of the
most ridiculous folly. The philosopher's
stone has yet to be discovered, and so has
that process which enables one man to
raise with facility nuvierous " splendid"
seedlings, when the admission is universal
that one seedling fruit of sterling worth is
a phenomena, amidst the chaos of trash and
trumpery forced upon public attention, by
the noisy efforts of horticultural charla-
tans.

Wm. W. Valk, m. d.

Flushing, L. /., Oct. 1, 1843.

REMARKS ON EVERGREEN TREES.

BY B. W. LEAVENWORTH, ESQ., SYRACUSE, N. Y.

Dear Sir— Few of the numerous valuable
articles, Avhich have been continually ap-
pearing in your periodical, have interested
me more deeply than those which relate
to the propagation and cultivation of ever-
greens. These articles are gradually dif-
fusing, throughout our country, information
on a subject not generally well understood,
but which is rapidly becoming of para-
mount interest with all who have souls to
admire the charms of nature. I trust that
you will be abundantly successful, not only
in teaching all your many readers the best
modes of cultivating evergreens, and the
most desirable varieties to plant, but also

that you will accomplish a far more diffi-
cult and desirable result by moulding the
public taste into a more heartfelt admira-
tion of these almost indispensable orna»
ments of all private and public grounds.
Evidently, as yet, the general taste of the
country scarcely approximates to the true
standard in this particular. If a iew gen*
tlemen of taste and fortune, sparsely scat-
tered here and there along the sea coast
and navigable rivers, or in the neighbor-
hood of large towns, have justly appreci-
ated these friends, who, not only summer,
but winter also, with those who admire
them, you may look almost in vain else-

EVERGREEN TREES.

2211

where for any such manifestations of taste.
Call over, in their order, the long catalogue
of public promenades and parks in the
various cities of the Union, a few of which
are justly celebrated for their beauty, and
more still are adorned with splendid trees,
venerable for their age, and, perhaps, for
the associations which cluster about them,
and which of them all will claim any high
praise for the beauty of its evergreens, for
its waving silken pines, or its stately firs,
spruces, or hemlocks ? This should not be
so. The public taste should as imperiously
demand evergreens, in public grounds, as
it now does deciduous trees ; and private
taste should surround every residence with
these beauties of the forest.

Permit me, while on this subject, to point
out what I am inclined (with some diffi-
dence,) to think an error in the communi-
cation of your correspondent, Mr. Bacon,
in the June number, in relation to the
pruning of evergreens. I have found the
same benefit from pruning tke?n, when first
transplanted, as in the case of deciduous
trees. On general principles it would seem
quite indispensable that when a large part
of the routs are lost, a corresponding part
of the top should also be removed. And I
am strongly inclined to believe, that one
reason why we are generally less success-
ful in transplanting evergreens than other
trees, is, that we usually leave the top en-
tirely untouched, while a larger or smaller
portion of the roots — frequently one-half —
are cut off in removing. My experience
this spring has confirmed my opinion. In
April, last, I obtained at Flushing, twelve
trees of the Norway Spruce. They were
sent to me as they are grown in the nurse-
ries, with the limbs starting from the roots.
They were very badly taken up, and still

worse packed. The small amount of moss
which was put around the roots was entirely
dry, and the roots themselves were badly
bruised and broken in taking up or on their
passage.

Three of the best of the trees I set out in
the shaded grounds about my house, leaving
all the limbs untouched.

The remaining nine were planted on the
adjacent streets, exposed to the full blaze
of the sun, and the reflection from the dry
dust ; and thinking that the condition of
these nine trees required decided remedies,
I pruned them severely, leaving only those
limbs which were within a few feet of the
top.

They were all planted in the most care-
ful manner, were well mulched and watered,
but the three first mentioned were watered
most frequently, and were protected most
of the day by the shade of other trees-
Now for the result : all of the trees on the
street are alive, and eight of them have
thrown out shoots several inches long.
The ninth stands in an unfavorable posi-
tion ; but the buds are just now beginning
to push, and the tree will live.

Of the three trees planted about my
house, one died early, through watered
daily. One still retains its leaves, and
partially their green colour, but shows no
other sign of vitality. The third is in much
the same state with the ninth, above men-
tioned; but if anything, its condition is less
favorable. I think the trees could not have
been saved without the severe pruning
which they received, but should be happy
to hear your opinion, and the result of your
large experience in the premises. Very
truly,

E. W. Leavenwostr.

Syracuse, Nov. 1, 1848.

222

RANDOM NOTES ON HORTICULTURE.'

RANDOM NOTES ON HORTICULTURE.

BY SYLVANUS, CINCINNATI.

Dear Sir — I have been thinking for some
time of writing to you, for the purpose of
expressing my gratitude for the pleasure
afforded me by the perusal of the Horti-
culturist. In fact, I consider it as a debt of
honor due you ; and such debts, you know,
are sacred, and should be discharged as
soon as possible.

The first time it came under my notice,
was during a long confinement from illness,
pent up in the murky walls of a city, at
some distance from my home. The first
volume was placed in my hands ; and for
several days, I may almost say, that I really
did not repent that I was not " on a bed of
roses." I will not speak of your own share
in the work, for you might think it idle
flattery; but nowhere, in any work, have I
seen so much knowledge, good sense, and
such excellent taste, in everything relating
to horticulture, as I find in the pages of
your correspondents. And I must repeat,
that a debt of gratitude is due you from
me, and from all, for thus gathering to-
gether and concentrating to a useful issue
trie long experience and the practical taste
of such men as S. G. Perkins, Beecher,
LoNGwoRTH, and others, whose names I
need not mention more particularly. You
may imagine, after this, that I consider
your journal too valuable not to be always
on my table.

I think I can safely say that in the west,
at least, you have given the science you
advocate an impetits, and that in the right
direction, which must net only be gratify-
ing to you, but to themselves who reap the
benefit of your exertions. Heretofore, hor-

ticulture and agriculture have been too
closely united ; and the shadow of the more
extensive but necessary science has kept
down and blighted the lesser but more
elegant one. It has been like planting
some delicate and fragrant shrub, that loves
the air and the sunshine, under the shadow
of a wide spreading and exhausting beech.

We have long wanted a journal wholly
devoted to the garden and the orchard ;
and yours, I think, bids fair fully to supply
the want. I much fear, that in this portion
of the Union, it will be long before a work
of the kind can be adequately supported.
Your own, therefore, must be our standard
for years to come, if it does not, in these
dollar-loving days, and utilitarian age, lan-
guish and die for want of the necessary
" manure.'''' Be assured that my quota shall
be always at hand to apply to the roots.

We have just closed our annual horti-
cultural exhibition. It has been well at-
tended, and the display of fruits has been
greater, and the show of flowers more beau-
tiful, than any preceding year. The taste
for such things is growing rapidly around
Cincinnati. To be sure, as yet, we have
not quite got over our disposition to exhibit
mammoth productions. We have been too
prone to rate our fruits as we rate the ex-
cellence of our hogs — by the pound. There
are too many yet whose souls cannot
rise beyond the conception of a mammoth
squash, and who go into ecstasies over a
corpulent cucumber. But men of taste,
refinement, and means, are now coming
forward in the cause. The lawyer lays
aside his green bag, and for a season, at

RANDOM NOTES ON HORTICULTURE.

223

least, forgoes the rich pockets of his cli-
ents, and delves the pregnant earth in the
hope of luscious rewards hereafter. The
merchant tarries longer at his villa; and
even the grocer and the soap-boiler rid
themselves of the cares of the shop, by
spending their time upon their snug su-
burban grass plats ; inhaling, for a portion
of the year, the balmy breezes of the coun-
try. It has become quite a mania, of late,
to possess a country residence ; and the
fruits of their well directed taste are being
seen all around us, on the hill-tops and in
the valleys.

We have five or six large nurseries in
the vicinity ; but I learn that, as yet, they
have not generally proved profitable, but
are becoming more so every day, as the
ideas and the tastes of our people expand.

As I intend this epistle to be of the ram-
bling sort, of the vine kind — clambering
from subject to subject — I will diverge to
something else. I miss, very much, the
able pen of Mr. S. G. Perkins from your
pages. I always read his experience with
the greatest pleasure. He gave what a
novice, like myself, requires, — facts, from
his own observation, and set them down
with precision, as if he really designed to
instruct. I consider his one article, in your
first volume, upon the transplanting of trees
in summer, worth more than fifty fold the
price of the book. I have, myself, been
quite successful in transplanting trees with
the leaf on; but had waited sometimes, to
my great inconvenience, until October. I
have since tried it (not with fruit trees,
however,) in the summer, and with the
precautions detailed by him, can now trans-
plant at any season of the year. I may,
hereafter, give yuu an account of some of
my experiments.

In your work on "Fruits and Fruit Trees,"
I notice that you speak of trees being in a

dormant state. Are they ever dormant ?
My belief is that they are not. If you will
measure a tree around its girth in the fall,
after it has shed its leaves, and again in
the spring, before the buds start, you will
find that it has increased its size. The
roots are constantly in action, below the
influence of the frost ; and when this reach-
es their extremities the tree must die, I
intend investigating this point at some lei-
sure moment. How is it with evergreens ?
Most certainly, they are not in a dormant
state at any time. If this were true, a tree,
with all its roots exposed through the win-
ter— dug out, in short, — would grow if
planted in the spring. Some trees, it is
true, are very tenacious of life, and will
bear long transportation and great exposure ;
but these are only exceptions. I cannot
think that a tree is idle at any portion of the
year. Yet, such seems to be the received
opinion of most writers — of all, indeed, who
mention the subject.*

While on the subject of trees, why is it
that we have no standard work, written by
some one who has seen and examined for
himself, upon the trees of America ? Mi-
CHAux, though the best authority, as far as
he goes, is incomplete. Loudon is also in-
complete, from the fact that he never was
in this country, and could know nothing ex-
cept what he derived from others. Browne,
in his preface, makes great pretensions ;
but is, in fact, the most incomplete and
unsatisfactory of all. It is a mere catch-
penny affair ; most of its merits being de-
rived, evidently, not from observation, but
the writings of others. It is a book much
like Pindar's razors — to sell. The truth is,
we have as yet had no one to travel through
our forests extensively, for the purpose of
studying and describing trees. Yet where

* Trees are really dormant only when the temperature \%
below ilie freezing point, tliongh tliey are comparatively so as
sooa as the leaf falls. Eb.

224

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

could be found a nobler task? I should
rather say, pleasure ? I do not know of a
field so neglected as this. I will venture
to say that one-tenth of the trees of this
continent remain undescribed. Even on
my own small domain, I have two trees
that neither Michaux, Loudon or Browne
have noticed. [Will our correspondent de-
scribe them ? Ed.] Yet one of them is
common enough — large, and well worthy
of record. All we as yet knov7 of the won-
ders of America, is derived from the re-
searches of foreigners. Wilson, Audubon,
and C L. Bonaparte, have monopolized
the birds and animals. Michaux and Lou-
don have partially gleaned our trees ; and
I presume we must wait patiently until
some of them turn their steps this way
again, before our desire for further know-
ledge on this subject is gratified. Yet, why
is this ? We have men capable enough, I
am sure ; and a work of this kind, splen-
didly illustrated, would not only be a source
of fame, but, I am satisfied, of pecuniary
profit.

I was surprised, as well as amused, the

other day, on looking over the works of
Bacon, to find how many of the theories,
now advanced as new in reference to horti-
culture, were well known and noticed by
this great man. The use of salt, as a ma-
nure for trees, is an instance. I think it
would be well for you to republish this por-
tion of his works. They are not within
the reach of many ; and I am sure it would
give your readers pleasure. There are
other topics I should like to touch upon,
but have not now the leisure. Should you
wish it, you shall hear from me again. In
my rambles, during the coming winter, and
in the spring, I may pick up something
worthy of note. If not, I shall not trouble
you. Sylvanus.

Cincinnati, Oct. IS, 1848.

[If " Sylvanus," whose private note (also
anonymous,) accompanying the above com-
munication, we have also received, will
have the kindness to favor us with his
name, we will have the pleasure of re-
plying to some of his inquiries, which are
of much interest to us. Ed.]

THE HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL AT FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON.

[see frontispiece.]

The annual exhibition of the Massachu-
setts Horticultural Society, (of which we
gave a brief account last month,) closed
with a fete, so unique and so interesting to
us, that we wish to preserve some remem-
brance of it in our pages.

It was what our Boston friends call a
horticultural FESTIVAL, — a "triennial fes-
tival,— a kind of feast of flora and pomo-
KA, at which all her votaries join in cele-
brating, with one united spirit, the beauti-

ful, the peaceful, and the good influences
which flow, like fountains of pure water,
from the portals of their flower-woven and
fruit-laden temples.

Many things there were, there, which
were pleasing and wonderful to us. First
of all, the interest — so lively and so gene-
ral— taken by all classes, ages, and sexes,
in horticulture itself. Ladies left their
drawing-rooms, the statesman his docu-
ments, the divine his study, the merchant

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL."!

225

his counting-room, the artisan his workshop,
the gardener his plants, — and all frattr-
nized in the universal acknowledgment of
the interest and value of this culture of the
soil. Next, we were surprised at the per-
fect order and harmony with which all this
materiel blended into a whole ; and, lastly,
with the complete and perfect system with
which all the details were managed, by
those whose duty it was to be the " govern-
ors of the feast." Yes, we said to our-
selves, it is quite certain that our New-
England friends very well know how to
make simple and easy that task, so difficult
in most places, of entertaining well and
gracefully.

It was a beautiful sight, that feast of fruits
and flowers. Old Faneuil Hall, the some-
what grim and antique " cradle of libert}',"
smiled benignly with the fair wreaths of
flowers that decorated and festooned her
columns, and the rich abundance which
loaded her tables. Beautiful sentiments,
from those of the poets who most loved na-
ture and the garden, were tastefully em-
broidered in letters of verdure on her walls ;
and time-honored names of great botanists,
naturalists, and horticulturists, saluted us
from the transparencies along the galleries,
and reminded us of the services they had
rendered the good cause, in their lives and
labors-
It was five o'clock on the afternoon of the
22d of September, when the company be-
gan to assemble in the various reception-
rooms of the veaerable building, and at a
little before six o'clock were conducted by
the marshals, to the sound of admirable
music, to the great Hall. More than five
HUNDRED ladies and gentlemen, without the
slightest confusion, were seated at the ta-
bles in that large apartment ; and at the
end of this hall, on a raised dais, or plat-
form, were seated the President o'' the So-
VoL. HI. 15

ciety, with his two fair daughters, the vice-
presidents, and a numerous circle of invited
guests.

From this dais, the scene that presented
itself to us, under a full blaze of gas light,
was singularly gay and brilliant. Rather
more than half the company were ladies, in
full dress, (each provided with a bouquet,
on silting down to the table,) and the effect
of the whole might be compared to that of
a rich parterre of flowers. So many lovely
faces, so many eyes, bright with animation,
so much real pleasure and enjoyment, and
so complete an absence of the little perplexi-
ties and discomforts of great entertain-
ments, we never remember to have seen.
By what sort of magic the stewards and
caterers of the feast, contrived that every
one should be supplied without noise and
confusion, we did not undertake to inquire.
But it was done; and we did not care to
dispel the illusion by too curiously peering
into the machinery of the actual.

In the gallery was stationed a fine band,
which filled up all the pauses with delicious
music; and, in the centre of the hall, were
some accomplished vocalists, who, with a
piano accompaniment, gave some odes,
composed for the occasion, with excellent
effect.

After the supper, after the ices, and the
rare fruits — the luscious grapes, pears,
peaches, etc., were thoroughly enjoyed, the
intellectual repast of the evening com-
menced.

It is a source of regret to us that we
cannot lay before our readers the whole
account of this part of the evening's enjoy-
ment— the sentiments, the wit, and the
speeches, as we heard them, and as we find
them pretty accurately reported in the Bos-
ton newspapers. As it would, however,
occupy half our monthly space, we are
compelled to abridge and condense, giving

226

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

only those portions likely to be most inte
resting to all our readers.

Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., President of
the Society, presided. With him on the
platform, were seated the Vice Presidents,
the Clergy-, Hon. R. C. Winthrop, Speak-
er of the House of Representatives in Con-
gress, His Honor the Mayor, Josiah Quin-
CY, jr., Ex-Governor Seward, of New- York,
Ex-President Quincy, Gen. Dearborn, first
President of the Society, His Honor Judge
Parker, Royal Professor in Law School,
HarvardUniversity, John S.Skinnek, Phila-
delphia, A. J. Downing, New- York, Mor-
ton BIcMichael, Esq., Chairman of Dele-
gation from Pennsylvania Society, Hon.
James Arnold, President of New-Bedford
Society, Dr. Thompson, of Delaware So-
ciety, and the Delegates of these and other
associations, and invited guests.

A blessing having been invoked by Rev.
William M. Rogers, the assembly partook
of the entertainment provided for them.
After about half an hour, the President de-
livered the following address :

Ladies and Gentlemen — We are assembled to
close, by the I'estivities of this evening, the twenti-
eth anniversary of our institution — to pass the so-
cial hour in the friendly interchange of thought aad
feeling, and thus to mark another epoch in its his-
tory,— thus by another link to connect the past
with the future, and to transmit its name and deeds
to posterity.

From a small beginning, it has risen 1o a stand-
ing and importance among the associatinns of our
land, which it is believed is not only creditable to
its founders and members, but to the city of its
adoption. While, then, I congratulate the society
on the success of its cfTorts, and would excite you
to a renewed energy and zeal, let me also enforce
the good old precept, that ''grapes grow not of
thorns, or figs of thistles," and that without know-
ledge, scientific knowledge and skill, no great pro-
gress or permanent perfection cau be attained.

Time was, when without the light of science, the
old worn out systems and routine of cultivation, were
handed down from sire to son, and from generation
to generation. But it is our hajipy lot to live at a
period when a new era has commenced — ^v,'hen the
most distinguished and learned men ol our age are
joining hands to advance the cause of the cultiva-
tor,— when chemistry, geology and the mechanic
arts have come up to his aid — when his employ-
ment has again become dignified, and he^ Aateas^

like, receives fresh impulses from his mother esrth
— when in some measure he appreciates the honcc
and glory that pertained to the calling in the palmy
days of Babylon and Rcme, and that he is no*
merely the tenant, but in a proper sense, the lord
of the soil.

In view of tlie innumerable blessings and corns-
forts that arise from the cultivation of the earth,
and of its benign and healthful influences on both
head aad heart, allow me to urge, one an-i all, to
press forward in the good cause — " Forward."
Says an old writer, "plant trees, in the name of
God, plant trees, and noarish them in every corner
of your grounds — the labor is small, the reward
great. You shall have plenty, the poor shall have
somewhat in time of need, and God shall r-jward
your diligence." Plant trees, then, I repeat, and
shrubs and flowers, and make your home another
Eden, and around it shall cluster the purest, the
most refined and rational enjoyments of life — and
be not deterred b}^ the selfish ar/d fatal fear that
pos^sibly you may not participate in the harvest.

Permit me to illustrate the folly of such procras-
tination by an anecdote : Many years since, but not
many miles distant from this goodly cit}', two bro-
thers settled on adjoining farms. The elder said to
the younger, " I mtend to plant an orchard." " Do
so," replied the younger, " but you will never reap
any advantage from it during your life." He, how-
ever, planted the orchard, and in fifteen years it
came into full bearing. The younger brother, ex-
cited by this glorious example, also planted ano-
ther, and in due course of time his trees were bend-
ing under their precious burden, which, though oft
repeated, was to my mind " better than apples of
goJd or pictures of silver," and for aught I know,
these brothers are now both living to enjoy the
good of their labor.

" Better late than never," is a good maxim ; but
in this matter, while life lasts, " never too late," is
a better one.

An old gentleman of this commonwealth, at th©
age of three score and ten, commenced the plant-
ing of an orchard and the nursery business. His
friends and neighbors told him that he was a fool-
ish old man — that liis labor was in vain, and "that
his strength would be spent for naught. '^ "Very
well," said he, " gentlemen, you have a right to
your opinions and so have I to mine ; but I have ate
many good apples from the trees planted by those
who have gone before me, and I am resolved to do
something for those who shall come after me."
He planted the orchard, but did he live to eat of
the fruit? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for a lonj^
course of years ; and although I cannot give you a
genealogical history of his line in scriptural terms,
of how juany sons and daughters he alterwards ad-
ded to his household, but I can tell you that he
lived not only to th© good old age of four score
and ten, but almost to five score and ten. Who
then shall say it is too late to begin the good
work?

One of the best pieces of advice that great writer,
Sir Walter Scott, ever gave, was to plant a tree.
" When you have time," said he, " plant a tree;
it will be growing when you are sleeping." Yes.,
ladies and getitleraeuj whea you aj:e sleeping ia

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

227

the dust, and jrenerations shall rise up and bless us
for the deed, and

" Our children's children shall enjoy the fruit."
And as an inheritance for my family, after that of
a n-ood moral and reli^jious education, one of the
ifreatest blessings which I desire to leave for them
is a garden well stocked with fruit and flowers,
and think you not when they are partakinjr of these
luxuries of God's bounty, they will not shed the
tear of pfratitude, and remember the hand that
planted it ?

The time will not permit of extended remarks
— one word, however, as to the future prospects of
our so iety. They areof the most cheering cbarac-
ter. Within the hist fire years its list of members
has been m Jre than doubled — its new Hall in School-
street erected and furnished — its funds considerably
augmented, and although its expenditures are on a
large and liberal scale, yet it is believed that with
its income from Mount Auburn, the day is not dis-
tant when its sinking fund will extinguish its debt,
and leave means commensurate for all re;isonable
wants.

For eight years I have annually been elected as
its President, and since ray first election with but
two dissenting votes, a unanimity far beyond my
merit, and for whicii. and the cordial and vig:oi-ous
support I have received from my olficial associates,
I desire now and ever to cherish the most profound
thankfulness and gratitude.

But the time has arrived when in my own judg-
ment it is proper that I sliould signiiy my intention
to take official leave ; and this I now do. Ifiion r
has attached to the office, I have surely had it la-
vished on me • if labor and anxiety, then 1 humbly
claim to have borne my share ; but, while I live, or
wherever I may go. the name of the Massachusetts
Horticultural Society will cause a thrill of joy and
pleasure until this heart ehaJl cease to beat ; and
should I be so fortunate .as to retain in your hearts
an affectionate remembrance, it will be my Uigliest
honor, my richest reward.

Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, allow me
Jo propose, as a sentiment —

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society : lis ohjeels have
Jhe divine sanction in \\\e first duty RSi\^nt^(^ to Xhejirst man,
"to dre-s and to keep the gardeiu'' In the valleys and on
the hill sides of New-England, it has produced many an Eden
cvithoii a serpeni.

The President then anaounced the following sen-
timents :

New-England: The seed of the ''Mayflower" "fell in
■st"ney places and had not much earth." but 5lie plant that
sprut'o '■■"•" i' *"" endures ; m;iy it flouri<h forever, — a no-
ble instance of the triumph of culture over apoor soil.

T/it City nf Bnslen : AtntHjof htr varieties of fruits, she has
iwo Quin<y-i. [Quinces.) which she intends to preserve ; oue
in '•granite," the other ia " pure water."

His Honor, Jcsiah Qdincy, jr., replied to this
•sentiment 1

Mr. President — I thank you for the compliment
xhat is conveyed i« the Sast sentiment, so far as it
refers to me. But before replym<.> I should like to
inquire whether, in the opinion of horticulturists, a
•stone fruit should not take precedence of a mere
water plant? for in that case, the gentleman who
iis lo h& pregeryed m granite^ ought to reply before

the one who is to live in water. As, however, he
has answered for nie, on many occasions, it maybe
but fair that I should respond for him on the pre-
sent.

If I were inclined to cavil, I might question the
existence of these two new varieties of an old fruii ;
or, at least, doubt whether tlie best mode of pre-
serving it is to put it in such a pickle as your un-
looked for j uu has prepared for me.

I am, however, sensibl'C that I owe tbe honor of
the allusion to my official position as the head of a
city that is distinguished more than any other in
this Union, for the beauty of its environs. And the
public unite with me in attributing a great part of
that beauty to the labors and influence of this so-
ciety.

I will give you, as a sentiment —

The Environs of Boston : Famous in History as the Battle-
grounds of Freedom; famous, at present, as the abode of
taste and refinemetii, where, as in Kden, wonnan watches
over the flowers, and man finds his most iuaocent emploj'-
ments in the culture of the soil.

The President st^.ted that they were honored by

the presence of Ex-Governor Seward, from the

state of N-ew-York, and proposed a sentiment :

TJie Empire State: Favored by nalurii, bill more favored
by the energy, ir.telligence, and enterprise of her citizens.

Ex- Governor Seward responded to this senti-
ment :

Mr. President — There has been a felicity in my
liJe, which assigned to me the duty of personating
New- York at every renewal of her fraternization
with Massachusetts. I joined hands with her chief
magi-strate, in the valley of the Connecticut, when
we riveted the iron batids that bind the banks of
the Hudson to the shores of Massachusetts Bay.
I broiight in iny hand the cypress wreath which
New-York sent to grace the tomb of the statesman
of Massachusetts, who sleeps beside his honored
sire at Quincy. There may have been a fitness in
my part, on these occasions, but I feel that there is
none now.

[After some details of his own experience in hor-
ticulture, the gentleman continued, as follows : ]

Now I take it that the true philosophy rf horti-
culture, is, that tliere is a pleasure in industry, and
a peculiar pleasure in the innocent pursuits of the
care and culture of the earth, which is increased
just in proportion as taste and refinement preside
over our labors instead, of bare utility.

But, Mr. l^resident, what was said in honor of
the state of New- York ? I should deem myself ex-
ceedingly unfortunate if a compliment to that state,
which is ray native state, my native country, should
find me obliged as a matter of compliment, or as a
raatter of interest, to affect a respect for the state
of Massachusetts which was foreign to my heart
and foreign to my lips. It is true of the state of
New-York, that she is distinguished for extent of
territory, for greatness of resources, and for a vast
population ; but it is also true that she is a state
founded, not by one homogeneous people, but that
she was a colony, planted by the various nations of
Europe ; and that it is not her province, it is not in
all her past fate^ to originate great enterprises^ in

228

MASS, HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

jEfovernment, in literature, or in science ; but that
she follows, and follows kindly, and laithfully, and
vigorously, those states which were planted by the
pilprims of New-England.

And Massachusetts, I confess it here, I confess
it on behalf of my own state as well as of Massa-
chusetts, the state of Massachusetts has been the
pioneer in all. She was the pioneer in agriculture.
We saw the granite soften, and the soil grow green
under the feet of the people of Massachusetts, be-
fore agriculture became our care. We are a great
commercial people ; but w ' learned our commerce
from the town of Boston. I think we are not an un-
patriotic people ; but we followed, and followed
With some reluctance, the footsteps of those who
were gathered in this venerable Hall. We are not
without pretensions to science and literature ; but
the school-master who educated us all, was sent
from New-England.

So it is in this last, and this most gratifying de-
monstration of the spirit of New-England, this de-
monstration that Massacliusetts has time to turn
aside from rugged labors, and may devote a portion
of the wealth, and of the time, and of the talent of
its citizens, to the cultivation of the garden, and of
fruit. Now, Mr. President, this is a subject worthy
of Massachusetts. She is not doomed to it by any
peculiar sterility of her soil, for the garden gives
but few spontaneous fruits to man ; while, on the
other hand, there is no place on the " footstool"
upon which we are situated, to which we cannot
bring exotics from every ciime. There is no land
that " overflows with milk and honey" perpetually.
France, now the land of the vine and the olive, the
land of fruits and flowers ; France, as we all recol-
lect, borrowed her choicest grapes from Cyprus,
and the mulberry is an exotic in her borders.

It is, therefore, for Massachusetts to lead in the
career of retinement, of horticulture, which she has
so nobly commenced. You have already adverted
to the influences which so noble a career must exer-
cise upon the welfare of her own people ; and it is
only to consider that reflected, to know what must
be its influences upon the whole American people.

I will advert to but one topic further. When I
look around me upon this great and brilliant pre-
sence, it seems to revive the spirit of the Miiidle
Ages, when woman was exalted to be almost the
first in heaven and first on earth • when woman
presided in the distribution of the wreaths which
were given in honor of triumphs, not only in the
field, but of triumphs in every department of litera-
ture and poetry. Such a scene as this, — how does
it contrast with the scenes which were presented
in this land only one year ago, when the nation was
rushing madly into a war for foreign conquest, and
women were excluded from our councils, from our
sympathies, and almost from our remembrance. It
is the true and only way to preserve these institu-
tions, to bring woman up to her proper iufiuenoe in
society. It is only by indulging in such enterprises
as may appeal to her for a bless. ng, that we can
expect to preserve a great, a happy, a prosperous,
and a peaceful people. I look to Massachusetts to
set this example for New- Vork, and for the whole
Union. She is worthy ; she is well qualified ; and
I give you, with ray thanks for th.e kindness with

which these very desultory remarks have be«i lis-
tened to, as my sentiment —

Massachusetts: It is her des'iny la leaiJ the march of
peiceful civilizilion on ih'' Weslerji Coiilmeiit — worthy aiui
•well qualified. l,e I her fulfil it.

After listening to music from the band, the Pre-
sident said :

As the sentiment to which oor worthy Mayor
responded, allud<^d to a fruit to " be preserved" in
" granite," and consequently as he thinks a '■ stone
fruit," I will give you, for the purpose of accom-
plishing business as we proceed, —

Jnsiah Quinty, Senior: The faillilnl son of a patriot sire.

Mr. Quiticy made the following reply :

The first sentiment proposed having been equally
applicable to his son as "to himself, and his son
having responded, he had hoped that this reply
would have been deemed sufficient for the family.
But from the present renewed call, there was no
escaping, although he was wholly unprepared to
reciprocate. I came here, Mr. Chairman, to ad-
mire, approve, encourage and enjoy, with no inten-
tion or desire to analyze the sources of my feelings,
much less of making a display of them to others.

Certiinly, it cannot be expected of me to make
a dissertation on fruits and flowers, — on fruits in
their pride and prime, and on flowers in their bloom
and beauty — on the results of the energies of na
ture, in their youthful and most povv'erful exercise
At my period of life, it is far more natural and ap
propriate to think of dried fruits and decayed flow
ers, and of energies failing and waning in their
vigor.

I will not, however, refrain from expressing my
extreme gratification and delight at what I wit-
nessed yesterday in this hall, and at what I am
witnessing to-da}', — the evidences of the results of
taste, judgment, skill, labor, and of the wise ap-
plication of capital for the increase, the enlarge-
ment and improvement of the bounties of Provi-
dence to a degree of perfection which, forty years
ago, when I first became comiected with an agri-
cultin-al society, was as little anticipated by my
eotemporaries of that day as was the steam engine
or the magnetic telegraph.

I rejoice in this state of things, because in the
improvement of the soil, by the taste it excites,
the powers it calls into exercise, and the moral
and social dispositions it inspires, I recognize the
surest and broadest foundations of individual hap-
piness and national prosperity. On this topic I
cannot refrain from exclaiming in the spirit, and
nearly in the translated language of tlie great
Latin poet, " Happy agriculturist !! liappy horticul-
turist ! too happy, did you but know &vA teaXvis the
greatness of your own felicity.""

Mr. Chairman, we hear and are dr^ily told of the
prosperity and glory of our country, resulting fronii
concjuest and the extension of our territory, now
reaching to the Rio Grande and the Pacific In>
my judgment, however, our national prosperity and
glory is much more intimately dependant on the
improvement of the soil we possess, with whose
qualities we are familiar, and whose powers we
know, than in grasping after conquered territories,
of whose capacities we know nathingj and of tk*

Mass. horticultural festival.

S29

^©V.S^V^tteftiCe'B of whose connexion we are necessa>
^ily ifjnorant.

Under the influence of this opinion, permit me to
•o^er the followin<ir sentiment >.

Tiie most iise(\il a>vi ylorinus of all coiiili'.eror!, he, Who
subdues :i sftlljlxirri snil, ni'cl Who, by eiirichiiijr and ('.eepeir-
i-n'r it, adils to vxtY country a belter a'M more perttianeiil do'
million, than he W'ho ^^erely enlarges ii^s siirfate.

His Honor, the MaVoR, then rose and said-^^
Mr. PftESiDfiNT — You have observed that it was
well to '■ settle up^^ as we go along. Now, sir,
you have taken the giieat liijerty to make a pun
upon my name ; I do tiot meaii to make one upon
youis, but merely to offer you a sentiment—

Tht ^^assa-chuisus S^ortiriitl-n'-nl Sacrciyi AVh^n tliey fret
anoth r Ppsideiit, may ilipv hsve Cue tliat is tuuioaua, foi
it would puzsie them to find a Wilder.

The If^resident replied that ht> had been very fairly
taken advantage of-.
Ite then proposed—^

the Ckrgij: No longer '^ymboli^ed by thfe " Monkfhcod,"
nor sulytci to monastic 'tertcrs ; the ''Star of Bethlehem"
has led to the better way.

Rev. Miv RovSers iwse to replj"^

The kindness of the society, or its officers, has
placed me in a position where I am expected to
meet the f^^otiiteous reference had to the clergy iti
the last toast. It is certainly tree, sir, that the
clergy are not without their interest in horticttl-
ture, or in any good ViT)rk •; and in horticulture
chiefly, because it is a good Work, looking to the
contentment, peace, virtue and happiness of Uie
communityv As I conceive the matter, sir, this
society, and hr'rticultwrists generally, in the pur-
poses of their life, are not so far removed frotn the
clergy that thej' are to be regarded as even wide
apart, or by any means devoid of mutual sympa-
thies. If the life of the clergy be occupied with
the vjords of God, are not you, sirs and your associ'-
ates, dccupied with the works of God f If we arB
called upon to interpret what He hath said, are not
you to develope and bring forth what He hath done
in forms of exquisite beauty and loveliness^ And
it seems to me that you cantrot have a happier Hfe,
or one looking more To virtue and to peace. There
is enough for the development of tlie mind, cr the
taxing of its powers 5 enough for the exercise of
all its ingenuity -; enough to t|uicken the curiosity 5
enough to prompt to eiHirt and to labor 5 enough to
reward you with success ■; enough to give yon a
happy day, and a pillow blest with rest. In every
form that fruits and flowers ai.d plants can take,
tliey bring out the seciecies and the ttsysteries oif
God> so that in their loveliness we may look upon
ihcm and appreciate themv

This is your work j and it seems to me that there
is a lesson to he learned. Goil spake b.y the lips
of prophets and apostles, and it is our duty to
heaiken to their voice, and repeat the truths they
tittered, to enforce them, and to live by them. Has
he said nothing by the trees, and plants, and flow-
ers? Is there no language that they speak ? They
have a language ; they have an utterance 5 it is the
very language of the stars of heaven, that display
His glory and show us His handiwork. In develop*-
ing these works of God, you are occupied with
truths which God hath written upon the flower i

upot\ its form, its nature, its texture ; on the leaf,
the circulation of its juicesj its uses ; you are occu-
pied with truths Which develope the greatness of
that Almightiness creating us and preserving us.
Is there no lesson to be learned f There is a les-
son ; a great) a good, a glorious lesson; ard what
is it ^ That the elements of happiness for every
man are easy and accessible^ I admired the toast
given by the senior Quincy, that the greatest con-
queror is he that brings treasures up out of the soil,
rather than he that spreads dominion upon its sur-
face, and it seems to me that we may add to it,
and 1 give it to you as a sentiment—

The Happiest Han: He who is content With a country
hoMe. with (Vuits and floWeCs perfected by his care, a friend
and a good conscience.

The Rev» Mr. Latkro? also made some excel-
lent remarks in reply, and concluded with the fol-
lowing sentiment) alluding to the great public
work, now in progress, for supplying Boston with
water i-=-

thv Water CoWi^t'ssioftet-s ;■ In pit>viding: a supply of " cold
water" for others.^ they have matiaged to Ifeep out o( hot wa-
ter thettlselves.

T. B. ClTRtiS) Esq., replied to the sentiment — ■

Mr. pRESiDENT-"-Albeit a Water Commissioner,
my time to spout has not yet come, [great laugh*
ter,] but the fair display of luscious fruits and rosy
lips which meet the eye on every side would make
any man^s nm'ath water. Being called up in my
ofScial capacity, I may^ Mr. President, say that
the fulfilment of the promise of water is near at
hand-^it is tkere. soon to be here' pure and plenty ;
the cost you will know when tlrs work is done.

Mr. President, our lives though in some respects
dissimilar, have had some analogy ; you, sir,
ploughed the lattd, I the ocean ; you the Rusticus,
I the Nauticus 5 [laughter ;] your peaceful labors
achieved, may you hereafter repose beneath your
own vine and fig tree, leaving your posterity to the
grateful enjoytiient of the fruits of your honest toil ;
for myself, wherever my body may repose, I ask
but the borrowed epitaph. " Here lies one whose
name is writ ift Water.'' [Applause.]

The President announced the presence of Hon.
RoeerT C. WinThrop, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, in Congress, and gave the fol-
lowing toast 5

Wirjhrop, the firs'. Governor of Massachusetts ; The good
stoek which he planted more than two ceinunes ago, bears
fruit ill this generation which speaks lor i'self.

Hon. Mr. Winthrop replied as follows:
I wish that it could speak for itself, Mr. Presi-
dent! Most heartily do I wish that the fruit of that
old stock to which you have so kindly alluded,
could speak for itself in a manner worthy of this
occasion 5 could find language for the sentiments
with which a scene like this has filled all our
hearts. It is so long, however, since I was at
liberty to speak for myself-^'^I have so long, of late,
been a doomed listener to the not always very
inspiring speeches of others— -that I am almost
afraid that my faculty, if I ever had any, has
flown. But with whatever words I can find, I de-
sire to oflTer my congratulations to this society, on

230

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL,

the eminent success of the exhibition which is now
brou<Tht to a close.

I think you will agree with me, ladies and gen-
tlemen, that a richer display of horticultural pro-
ducts has rarely been witnessed by any of us. I
have had a recent opportunity of seeing some of the
horticultural exhibitions of other climes. It is
hardly more than a twelvemonth since it was my
good fortune to be present at more than one of the
famous flower shows of London and its vicinity. I
know not what hidden beauties mioht have revealed
themselves on these occasions to a more scientific
eye — what prodigies of art miglit have been dis-
covered by those w4io knew how to look for them —
I can only speak of the impressions produced on a
superficial observer. I saw there magnificent col-
lections of plants, such as I never saw belore, such
as I have never seen since. Not a few of them
were pointed out to me as original products of our
own soil ; but I confess that they had been .so im-
proved by cultivation, that it must have required a
very practiced eye, or an exceedingly patriotic pair
of spectacles, to have emboldened any one to claim
them as Native American productions. But as to
fruits, I saw no exhibition of them anywhere, which
for variety, perfection or profusion, could be com-
pared with what we have seen in this hall during
the last two or three days.

Certainly, Mr. President, we have never beheld
the like in these parts before. A few years ago,
we all remember that a little room in Tremont-
street was all too wide for your annual shows. But
you have gone on so rapidly, adding triumph to
triumph — at one moment producing a new apple,
at another a few more pears, at a third " a little
more grape" — that your own spacious horticultural
rooms have now become too small, and old Faneuil
Hall itself can hardly stretch its arms wide enough
to embrace all the spoils of your victories !

And what shall I say of the festival by which
your exhibition is now closed and crowned ? Who
dues not feel it a privilege to be here ? Which of
us, especially, that have been accustomed to asso-
ciate at meetings in this place, with subjects of po-
litical contention and party strife, can fail to ap-
preciate the harmony and beauty of the scene be-
fore him? Never, surely, was there combined a
greater variety of delightful circumstances. It
-would be difficult to decide for which of our senses
you have provided the most luxurious repast. Fruit,
flowers, music, fair faces and sparkling eyes ; wit,
eloquence and poetry, have all conspu-ed to lend
their peculiar enchantment to the hour.

But it would be doing great injustice to your as-
sociation to estimate its claims upon the considera-
tion and gratitude of the community by the success
of its exhibitions or the brilliancy of its festivals.
We owe them a far deeper debt for their influence
in disseminating a taste for one of the purest and
most refined pleasures of life, and for their exer-
tions in difi'using the knowledge of an art so emi-
nently calculated to elevate the moral character of
society.

Horticulture does little to supply the physical
wants of a man. The great crops and harvests by
which the world is fed, are the products of a sterner
treatment of the soil — ever-honored Agriculture,

always the first of arts. But '' man does not live
by bread alone.'' There is food for the soul, the
mind, the heart, no less essential to bis true subsist-
ence, required not merely by the educated and re-
fined, but by all who have souls, minds or hearts
within them. And whence can the toiling m'illion.';-
of our race obtain a more abundant or a merer
wholesome supply of this food than from the beau-
ties of nature as developed at their ovi'n doors, be-
neath their own /eet, and tiy their own hands, by
the exquisite processes of horticulture ?

It has been said that an undevout astronomer i*
mad. But we need not look up to the skies for in-
centives to devotion. We need not employ tele-
scopes to find evidences of Beneficence. There are
" Slars of the morning', ilew drops, which the Sun
Irapearls on every leaf and every flower,"

whose lessons are legible to the unassisted eye.
The flowers, themselves, with their gorgeous hues
and inimitable odors, and which seem, in the eco-
nomy of nature, to have no other object but to
minister to the gratification and delight of man, —
who can resist their quiet teachings? What com-
panions are they to those who will only take them
into company, and cherish their society, and listen
to their tharming voices I Who ever parts from
them without pain, that has once experienced their
disinterested and delightful friendship?

I know not in the whole range of ancient or mo-
dern poetry, a strain more touching or more true to
nature, than that in which the great English bard
has presented Eve, bidding farewell to her flowers :
" Oil flowers,
That never will in other climate grow,
My early visitation, and my la*t
Al even, which 1 l)red up wilh tender hand
From the first opening l>ud, aiid gave ye names!
Who now shall rear ye So liie suji, or rank
Your tribes; and waterfront the ambrosial foniil ?"
We know not what were these flowers, that never
could in other climate grow. We may know here-
after. But such as we have, there are daughters
of Eve here present, I doubt not, with whom, to be
deprived of them, would well nigh partake of the
bitterness of a Paradise lost.

But let me hasten to relieve you, ladies and
gentlemen, fioim the too sombre, if not too senti-
mental, train of remark into which I haYC been be-
trayed. My reverend friends who have preceded
me will have already regarded me as poaching on
their premises. Let me add but a single other
idea, as the subject of the sentiment which I shall
ofl'er in conclusion.

We are accustomed to designate certain arts as
the Fine Arts, and I would be the last to disparage
their claim to this distinguished title. The)' fur-
nish to our halls of state and to the mansions of the
wealthy, paintings and sculpture that cannot be too
highly prized. But horticulture, in its most com-
prehensive sense, is emphatically the Fine Art of
conmion life. It is eminently a Republican Fine
Art It distributes its productions with equal hand
to the rich and the poor. Its implements may be
wielded by every arm, and its results appreciated
by every eye. It decorates the dwelling of the
humblest laborer with undoubted originals, by the
oldest masters, and places witl.in his daily view
fruit pieces such as Van Huysum never painted.

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

231

(5.84 lar5d?3capes such as Pous^in could only copy.
Let me say, then,

Marlkuhurt-: Its best exhibilions are in the village garden
and ilie cotta'-;e window ; and i'.s l)est festivals in the humble
homes which it adorns, and in the humble hearts wliich it re-
fines and elevates.

The following song was sung by Mr. T. H. Bar-
ker, wiitten expressly for the occasion h}' Epes
S.-VRGKNT, Esq.:

The Winter chill has pleasures still,

And Spring is fair to see:
la .Summer's heat the groves are sweet,

But Autumn bold for me !
With Vine-Leaves on his honest brow.

And Harvests in his arms,
He comes, with all of Winter's cheer,
And all of Summer's charms I
Chorus— Vol tiiere's nae luck about the house.

There's nae luck at a'.
There's litlle pleasure in the house,
If Woman is awa'.

The Flowers and Fruits that deck our board,

To her a tribute owe ;
From her the Rose steals all its bloom,

From her the Peach its glow;
The Lily in her purity,

May see its own eclipse ;
And where did Cherries take their red.

If not from Woman's lips ?

Chorus — So there's nae luck, &c.

The purple bloom upon the Grape,

The Violet's modest hue, —
Who does not see they're borrowed, both,

From certain eyes of blue .'
And if the Orange Flower is sweet.

And if the Hyacinth fair.
Will ar.y one their lovely lints

With those we sing compare?
Chorus — O there's nae luck, &c.

And there be men of high renown,

Who're welcome here to.day.
In church and state, who've garlands won,

That will not fade away ;
And tillers of the soil have come

To grace our festival ;
And Horticulture's peaceful chiefs ; —

And they are welcome all'

Chorus — But there' ■> nae luck, &c.

Then while we show our Garden's wealth,

And boast our Plums and Pears,
And while we welcome to our hull,

Our Governors and Mayors,
Let's not forget, of all the charms,

That grace our board, the crown, —
But eat a lusty Pippin each,
To Mother Eve's renovni !
Chorus — For there's nae luck about the house.

There's nae luck at a',
There's little pleasure in the house.
If Woman is awa'.

The President then gave —

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society : Her strides in the
advancement of Horticultural pursuits have been so rapid,
that it must be attributed to her having started on a good
Dearborn.

Gen. Dearborn, the first President of the So-
ciety then responded:

Mr. Pre-ident, and Ladies and Gentlemen:
Kone of you, I think have visited this Hall during
the last three days, without having become satis-
fied that Horticulture, however humble in its ori-
gin, has become one of the highest and m^st
refined ooeupations of man. Uncivilized man de-

pended upon the beasts of the forest, and wild
fruits, for sustenance, until by the accumulation of
population, he was compelled to resort to the cul-
ture of the earth for subsistence, and he began
with the garden. It was to supply his immediate
wants, not furnished by his flocks and herds: it
preceded agrictjlture. We have it in the Scrip-
tures, that bread is not alluded to in the first ages.
The patriarchs of old were shepherds; their lives
were romantic ; until at last, means of support
were required beyond those which had been fur-
nished in former titiies, and the garden was re-
sorted to. Bread was not named until the time
of Abrtiham; it was first off"ered to the angels who
appeared to him as he sat in the door of his tent.
Ultimately, it became the primary consideration
with the increase of population. The flocks and
herds were not sufficient; the products of the gar-
den were too small; and the cereal grain was ex-
tended over the surface of the earth, and became,
what it ever since has been, the principal food of
the nations. In this country we do not fully real-
ize the old adage, that bread was " the stafl!" of
life," because here, animal food is so abundant, and
so cheap, that bread may be considered merely as
a condiment; while on the eastern continent, in
Europe and in Asia, it constitutes almost the only
food of a very large proportion of a large popula-
tion.

Necessity, therefore, required first, that the im-
mediate wants of man should be satisfied; and the
garden was almost entirely abandoned. The me-
chanic arts, and even the fine arts, were introduced,
as sculpture and painting, before horticulture was
cultivated. Egypt, and Greece, and Rome, had
almost reached the culminating point of their
grandeur before their illustrious men bestowed
their attention upon the garden; and then it became
of so much consequence, that Cicero, Pliny, and
LucuUus, have transmitted names as respectable
and honorable, for what they did in the culture of
the garden, as for their eloquence in the forum, or
their literary attainments.

In modern times — take the country of our pro-
genitors— gardening is even there a new science
and a new art, in the enlarged and comprehensive
signification of the term as it is now used; and a
little more than a century has gone by, only that
period, since a garden, that would now be consid-
ered even reputable, was not to be seen upon the
island of Great Britain. Bacon recommended it.
Milton most beautifully described a garden, and a
garden planned precisely upon the most approved
jirinciples of modern landscape gardening, though
he had never seen one ; showing the vast stretch
of his refined and mighty intellect. Looking over
the present, and to the future, he comprehended
the beauties of Nature, and the manner in which
they should be developed. Pope may be consid-
ered as almost the first man who introduced orna-
mental cultivation in that island, and such has
been its progress, so lucrative, and so important
has it become, that Agriculture has deigned to
take lessons for the extension of her own bounds,
for the increase of her own products, from that
species of tillage which was introduced in the gar
den. And now visit England, or read her workg

232

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL,

upon Horticulture, and you will find that the whole
island is 'cultivated in the manner of a garden.
What was once necessary, then beautiful, has n .w
become important, to procure the greatest quan-
tity of the cereal grains from the smallest space of
ground.

In this country, as has been said by several fren-
tlemen this evenin<r, it is a new science and a new
art; for, theoretically understood, it was but little
practiced; and we are indebted not only to the
writings, but to the example of some individuals,
whose names I see inscribed upon these walls. To
Lowell, Gov. Gore, and Preble, and Cushing
— to our wealthy, enterprising merchants, and
most influential citizens— lo the President of this
Society — the Mannings of Salem — Mr. Hovey,
Mr. BuEL, of New- York, now deceased-^the ven-
erable gentleman upon my right, the author ot one
of the most useful agricultural and horticultural
works in this country — 'to these individuals we are
indebted, for having done more than it is in my
power to relate, to give an impetus to all branches
of tillage.

[Gen. D., after paying a well merited compli-
ment to the horticultural triumphs of Mr. Tueor,
at Nahant, spoke at some length of the influence of
woman in rural life, and concluded with the fol-
lowing sentiment:]

The Females of Massachusetts: To them ia this Society
indebted for the extension of all thai is refined and honora-
ble in Horticullure.

The President then said:

I am happy to state that we have present with
us John S. Skinner, Esq., of Piiiladelphia, the
editor of the first Agricultural paper ever publish-
ed in the United States — more recently of the
Farmer's Library and other kindred works, and
now of the Plough, Loom and Anvil — all those have
been conducted with a zeal and intelligence highly
honorable to the author, and have received the ap-
probation of the most eminent men of our country.
I propose as a sentiment —

John S Skinner, Esq : The uniform friend of Agriculture
and rural economy — the annals of our country ailesl the
value of his labors — may he never lack the sunshme of pop-
ular patronage, and may his last days be his best days.

Mr. Skinner responded as follows:

Mr. President: I have been so often and so
sorely disappointed on former occasions like this,
that I determined to make an efl'ort lo come now,
hit or miss — but if I had known that I should hit,
or rather be hit by, an incident so confounding as
this, it were better for me to have remained at
home, laboring at " the Plough, the Loom, and
the Anvil," to which you have so kindly referred.
To be brought into such prominence before such a
company of my own sex, might not be so perplex-
ing, but, sir, only look at this brilliant a:?seinbiy of
Ladies! who is there that might not feel embar-
rassed? and yet sir, '" situated as I am," as the
man says in the play — what is left me but to
" stand up and face the music." And. besides,
something in way of explanation, brief as it shall
be, may be well enough for your own justification,
and for that of my too partial friends, your associ-
ates, in bringing such an humble laborer in the

cause, so conspicuously before an audience SO <!l*«
tinguished.

A few words biographical of that first journal
devoted to Agriculture, may be necessary for raoat
of these gentlemen whose recollections scarcely
reach back thirty years'—and as for the ladiiB I
why sir, everybody knows that time itself cannot
pile up as man}' years on their heads until all *"note
of time," and all other things are drowned in the
joys and responsibilities of a certain epoch? one
sure to occur with all present, with whom it haa
not already.

Yes sir, it was just about thirty years ago, that
he who has been thus honored with your notice,
brought into existence the old American Farmer,
which, contrary to the common laws of physiolo-
gy, grows stronger as it grows older.

Enjoying at that time various and responsible
trusts, of which men more ambitious and more
deserving might well be proud, as they were de-
rived witliout solicitation on my part, from the
personal confidence and esteem of auch Presidents
as Mr. MaIus »N and Mr. Monroe, yet as those
trusts left some opportunity for intellectual em*
ployment, not to be thrown away, the question
was — how the little leisure they presented could
be occupied in a manner most useful to the country
and most congenial to my own predilections, and
the thought occurred again and again—how is it,
that we have newspapers, coiimercial and reli-
gious, and literary — we have law journals and
medical journals — and party journals, in abun-
daiit-e, which, if we believe both sides, would per-
suiide us that all our countrymen are knaves or
fiiols — or something worse-="if anything worse can
be— and yet we have not one organ to enlighten
the couise, and to vindicate the cause of Agricul-
ture, by which all other classes live, and move and
have their being ! Thus shall it no longer be,
thought the humble individual who has been here
so liighly honored — one voice at least shall be
raised for the benefit and the claims of the culti-
vators of the soil, though that be but as a '' still
small voice in the wilderness." The few friends
with whom I consulted, it is most true, doubted
the success of the enterprise. The subject was
too dry — its dull round of labors, like a horse in a
cider mill, neither possessed, or could they be in-
vested, as they said, with any charms for the pub-
lic. Weil sir, to give it, on coining into the world
the best chance that a good name could do (for,
trust me Ladies, there is something " in a name,"
though for good and proiuising considerations
some are ai last prevailed on to change the one
thi-y have,) it was decided in this case to give the
proji;cted organ of the plow, a very broad catholic
and cumprehensive name; it was called the " .Ame-
rican Farmer," and thus made to cast its title
and its regards, over the whole country — and it was
furthermore baptised in the name of Agriculture,
"Horticulture,-' (mind you Mr. President, Hurti'
culture thirty years ago,) '' Internal Im[)rove-
mcnts and Rural and Domestic Econoiuy." Now
thinks I. a net spread thus widely must catch some
fish, " any how you can fix it."

When the printer sent me the first number, I
looked at it with something of the solicitude, and

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

233

k way be some feelitij; akin to the pride tiiat a
youn<f mother feels, when with emotions various
and all unspeakable, she looks at her tirst-born!
But sir after reiirardini^ it for eometinie with hope
not unmin;rled with doubt and anxiety, in reeollee-
tion of the ominous nroj^no'^tics of my friends, said
I to myself — •' well! ujwn the world you shall be
cast, and however it may be dijtpowed to receive
and treat you, you shall not perish for want of
sustenance until you have drawn me dry at least"
While a single shot remains in the locker we will
keep up the tire in defence of the right and the
honor of the plough. True it is, there were but
few shots there, as to pecuniary means, bat what
sensible warrior ever proclaimed to the enemy the
low state of his ammunition? But lo ! sir, just as
I was going to fling my poor inexperienced bant-
ling abroad to seek its fortune, to my horror it was
found to bear date the first of April. .'Ill fools
day! In utter* dismay, 1 called to the Devil, (it
was only a Printer's devil, Ladies) '" Here^— take
it back to your Boss, atid tell him he must alter
the date, make it the second — make it any day of
the month but lUe fir 4 daxj of ^ prill

" My friends to whom I mean to send it on a
venture, will cast it from them, without examina-
tion, salutation or mercy, in the belief that Skin-
ner means to make an April fool of us." Well sir,
it quickly came back to me on the same day, with
a forced date, for now it bore date as you will see
the ^d of April 1819 — but here again sir, was an-
other perplexity not much less emburrassing than
the first — for the second of April— /iorrt6/e dictu
—happened to be on Friday ! yes sir, Hang-
man's day! What is to be done now, said I! for
sir, you may with argument, oppose error and
overcome prejudice; and with ridicule you may
laugh folly out of countenance; but who can hope
for victory, in a contest with superstition! Why
sir, I have known good housewives in the country,
and let me tell you that your country housewives
are none of the worst— I speak from eorne person-
al observation in respect of Maryland, Virginia,
the Carolina? and so along the seaboard to and
along the banks of the Mississippi ; yes, sir, I
have known housewives, otherwise most saga-
cious and sensible persons, u.terly reluse to put
their cloth in the loom, or their quilt in the frame,
on a Friday; though everything should be ready
and waiting to go ahead; and as for putting their
poultry on the goodly and important work of incu-
bation on hangman's day; why Mr. President it
would be accounted nothing short of" flat burgla-
ry" to think of such a thing ! Well sir, after much
and anxious cogitation — with the [)ressman stand-
ing ready and the printer impatient— I told them
to let the crittur go with my poor blessing on its
head, in the persuasion that with a careless and
cruel world it might escape the over anxious scru-
tiny of the author of its being, and so fortunately
it did— for ladies I can assure you, for your " aid
and comfort," should any similar event happen
nearer home, the dear little thing grew apace and
prospered amazingly, though it did perchance first
see the liglit of this wicked world on hangman's
day! Ah but, ladies and gentlemen, the Editor
then enjoyed the benefit of the correspondence and

good will of such men as JEt'FERSoN and Madi-
son and Monroe— the Minors and the GitMOHS
and Garnet of Virginia— of the PinkneY3 and lhe_
PoiNNETts and Singleton and Herbermont of
the Carolinas, and Pickering and Pomeroy and
Parsons and Dkrby and the Brooks and the
elder Quincy and Jaqti s, aye, and even the kind
words and kind Wishes, as your agricultural annals
will show, of a LowEi-t. — clarum venerabile noinen!
So much for the parentage and birth of the ' first
Agricultural Jou-nal published in the United
States." of which and its unworthy founder such
liigh and undeserved notice has been taken by one
WHO liim.-elf leads in the Held of a kindred and an
older pursuit, animating by his example and in-
spiring confidence, like Tayloh, in the field of
Buena Vista.

[After some further remarks on Agricultural
literature, Mr. S. continued as follows:]

Well) Mr. President, having thus sketched to
their foundations, the works to which you have re-
ferred, by an infliction of unenterlaining remarks,
for which you mav in some measure blame your
own kindly disposition, I dare say you are impa-
tient to have me conclude with the expression of
some sentiment, or commentary, indicative of the
feelings produced by all that we have seen, and
all that we now see, exquisite and admirable in
the way of rich and choice fruits and flowers — ripo
and half ripe, in full bloom and half blown. And
truly, ladies and seiitlemen. the ditficulty is not to
find, but to select and present a single one. out of
tht' crowd of lively imjiressions that must fill the
mind and the heart of every beholder, and espe-
cially of thf* strangers who have come for the first
time witliin the gates of Athens. Would you
have us Sfieak, Mr. President, of the vast and mag-
nificent display of Horticultural skill and industry
which but yesterday ornamented all these tables
before us, with attractions hardly less graceful and
splendid than that which surrounds them now — a
display to which you, sir, may forever look back
with the proud reflection — Magna pars quorum
fui. Sir, 1 congratulate you on the brilliant finale
to your presidential labors; your successor will
have no easy task, as others have found before
him, to tread in the foot-prints of his '' illustrious
predecessor." I recommend him to go to Lynn for
a pair of seven league boots. Why, sir, to tell
the whole truth about your exhibition yesterday, it
was my purpose to have attempted a sketch of it.
Yes, sir, 1 had proposed to make a rough sketch
—a sort of outline of what I should see; but sir,
when I did enter this room, with all these long
tables groaning— -no not groaning, but exulting-—
under their load of choice and magnificent fruits
and flowers, all thoughts (f description was at
once abandoned. Wliy, a descriptive catalogue of
the apples atune, contributed by my friend here,
Mr. French, would make a paper as long as the
long table they almost covered from end to end.
1 was at once struck up. I felt for all the world
as that fair Queen must have done when she said
unto the gallant king Solomon — I had heard much,
and my expectations were wrought to the highest
pitch, but since I have come to see what you have

234

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

in all their majTnificence, I find '' the half had not
been told me." Oh, no, sir. The pen that de-
seribes that exhihition should he in the hands ol" a
Loupox, or a Downing, or ot" my too kind friend
(General Dearborn, or of one no less kind, your
own, Mr. President, if you will allow me so to
say, or of a Hovey, or my friend Breck, erewhile
Editor of the <>ood old New En<>;land Farmer.

Not presuming tlien upon any attempt to do
justice to your fiuits and your flowers, might one
venture to allude, in their ahsence, to some of
your (Treat and good men, and hy great, understand
me, not to mean your successful politician — your
witty and clamorous demagogue, who may happen
sometimes to get even into the highest places, as
the crow may happen to light or be blown by a
gust of wind upon the eagle's nest; — no sir, when
I speak now of a great man, I mean a statesman,
sagacious and profound — animated through life by
a noble ambition to be useful to his country, to
illustrate it by his talents — to elucidate its inter-
csts, to preserve its honor, and to seek jts true
glory in the maintenance of its character for jus-
tice and peace ! — leaving popularity to follow or
stay behind, according to the po()ubir discernment
or popular caprice; and, trusting to the sometimes
truthlul, but someiimes very slow and apparently
very reluctant Hat of history! Sir, to sit for suelt
a sketch, feeble as it is, on whom should I call but
on Webster ! — "Black Dan, the great expound-
er," as we call him in the South. And then if re-
quired to go in search of an historian, — easily the
rirst of American, if not of all living historians, —
need we go beyond the gate? of your own city, and
whom should we name? — why Prescott to be
sure! And again will you allow me to name a
scholar, alike erudite and elegant — one who has
studied in their own tongues the literature, the in-
stitutions, and the philosophy of all civilized na-
tions of ancient and of modern times — one who has
risen, aye sir, in my humble esteem, risert from the
station of ambassador, even to the tirst court of all
Christendom, to a presidency — yes, sir, a presi-
dency for which, when attained — as it can only be
attained by knowledge and true worth — there can
be no mistake about qualifications. And who is
he? Sir, I need not beat longer about the bush —
the name of Everett is uppermost in the minds of
all who hear me. And though last not least, may
I refer to another of your good men as well as
great, though he too is absent; were it possible
for Bostonians to forget him, we here, your hon-
ored and delighted guests, would promptly call
upon you to be proud of one among the many,
whose hearts expand quite as fast as their self
earned and well-earned fortunes accumulate — one
who has the foresight to lay the foundations of his
bounty deep and strong, thai its seed may be scat-
tered as wide as the press can carry them, and as
its fruits endure as long as your own rocks of New
England. Sir, all unskillul as is the limner and
feeble the sketch, is there any need to underwrite
the portrait with the name of Abbott Law-
rence?

Well sir — not daring to venture on a description
of your Horticultural exhibition, which we all
came to see; nor to portray in the colors they de-

serve, a few among your many great and good
men, should I venture on the yet more dangerous
task of anything like an adequate expression of
what we strangers whom you have honored with
your welcome, must say when we go home, as
well as we can say of the yet more magnificent
display you have so wisel^^, if not so cunningly
contrived to get up of the Fair sex of old Massa-
chusetts! Ah no, Mr. President! you have in-
volved this humble advocate and worker at the
plough, the Loom and the Anvil, in difficulties deep
and wide enough already — that task must be left
to some much more finished scholar — some gentle-
man of acknowledged discrimination and tact, and
as it took a Leandeh and a Byron to swim the
Hellespont, your grateful guest must leave to such
eloquent orators as speaker Winthrop on your
right, and Mayor Quincy on your left, to essay
compliments worthy of such a choice collection of
ladies. May it not be indeed suspected without
prejudice to those who were left at home, that
every ladies' escort came here, like those who
came with other offerings, to contend far a premi-
um! I would that my friend Kennedy was here
at my elbow, to undertake what would be so con-
genial to his taste. And yet sir, I will venture to
ofl'er a sentiment, or a thought which may have
interest for you gentlemen in the character in
which we from abroad have the happiness to meet
you at your bidding — as Horticulturists, and some
application it may have for you Ladies:

Tlie 'Nursery — in doors and out of doors It is Xhtre ilial
me;isniGs should be taken to secure good fruit— both here
and liereafier.

The President said that among our guests we
are also favored by the presence of Mr. Downing,
the author of several standard works on gardening
and the rural arts. I propose —

A J Downing, Esq: Abroad, Princes honor his name by
the pre*enlalion uf ■• Gold Medals". — at home, the sovereign
people lionor it, in many a lowly but tasteful cottage, and
praise it amid tlie quiet beauty of many a lovely land,
icape.

Mr. Downing replied:

Mr. President — I am, I assure you, much at a
loss to reply to these kind and flattering allusions.
I should be entirely at a loss, did I not feel that
they convey encomiums far beyond my deserts —
for I am not vain enough to appropriate such un-
locked for compliments.

I look around me this evening sir, with mingled
feelings of pride and regret — pride, in the beauti-
ful exhibition of yesterday and to-day, as an Ame-
rican— regret in it as a New-Yorker.

Year after year, we, cultivators of other states,
find ourselves (a little unwillingly, perhaps,)
drawn to these Bostcn shows, as to the acknowl-
edged court of 1- lora and Pomona — the great focus
of horticultural light in the United States. Why
it is that other cities, why especially that of New-
York, foremost in so many useful and beautiful
arts, should lag so far behind in this, I cannot
well understand. There is proof enough, all
around me here, that the Yankee spirit is the
spirit of all others to beget good fruits ; there is
proof enough, in all the annals of the fatherland,
that the Dutch love flowers, and gardens almost

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

235

to a mania. Why then New- York, which is a
niin<Tlinn; of these two races, slumld Ite thus dis-
tanced in the Held ol' horlicullure, is a problem
harder to me than the Plymouth rock itself.

This minglin<T of the Dutch and Yankee blood
seems to me indeed, to produce a love for fancy
stocks — not for stock-i^iliys — a passion for A\ all-
street — not for Wall-flowers.

Exhihitions, heautiful shows, we do occasional-
ly have — but not in a regular, not in a well-organ-
ised, systematic manner. The taste for horticul-
ture in New-York, is a litlnl flame, rather than
a clear, steady light. Our movements, sometimes
grand, sometimes feeble, resemble those of a
child's watch, whose hands go half round the
dial and then stop, as compared with the regu-
lar, steady, onward motions of this Massachusetts
chronoineier.

Perhaps sir, we in New-York, need a more
zealous system of pushing, and might, in this
respect, more properly be compared to that cele-
brated watch of Caj>t. CvtlWs, which Dicke.vs
has made immortal, that huge, bulky old time-
keeper which the Captain drew out of his breeches
pocket with a noise not unlike pulling a hung
I'rona a barrel: — and. holding it out to Walter, just
as he was setting out on the sea-voyage, said to
him — "There Wal'er — take her for my sake — set
her for'ard half an hour every morning, and a
quarter every afternoon, and — she'll do j-ou
credit !"

I see, sir. in these grand exhibition fairs, fruits
and beautiful flowers, without number. But this
is not all. They have to me, a deeper signiti-
cance than that conveyed to the senses by ricli fla-
vors, and delicious odors. I tind in them a stronger
spell than that which captivates the eye, or grati-
fies the palate. Yes — they speak to me — as I
trust they speak to all of us — of a religion of na-
ture— an original, innate sentiment of the heart,
■which no change in our condition, no fall, no dark
ages, have ever been able wholly to obliterate from
the soul of man.

This yearning after the lost garden, must indeed
be strong to force us, so many thousand years af-
terwards, to combat with the elements, to strug-
gle with barren soil, almost to war with nature, in
order to realise some of those early dreams of our
race — those recollections which ever haunt us of a
lost paradise.

Mr. President, I thank God that it does remain
strong; for I look upon this beautiful art, and all
those it involves, as being next to religion, the
great humanizer of the age. Beneatti this deep-
rooted instinct for a garden — for a spot of earth
which we can call our own — lies the germ of that
love for home — I may say of that love of country,
which most strongly distinguishes civilized man
from the savage ; which especially distinguishes
him from the lisher — the hunter — and the rude
dwellers in tents and wigwams.

I am, sir, an associationist, but it is such asso-
ciations as this which I advocate; associations that
teach men the beauty and value of rural life ;
where they may sit, not only under their own vine
and fig tree, but amid their own blossoming fruit-
ful orchards and gardens; homes created by their

own industry — embellished by their own taste —
endeared to them by simple pleasures shared with
their own families. This, Mr- President, is the
true ideal of Horticulture; this is the good work
which it promises to accomplish, and which more
than any other pursuit, any other art, any other
recreation, it ilues accomplish, that of bringing
men into daily contact with nature — of giving
them pure, simple, rational jileasure; and, most
of all, of teaching them to tind happiness, not, in
the excitement of politics, not in the busy tumult
of life; but in their country and eoitaae homes —
there to understand and realise the truth of that
fine saying of Bur.ns,

"To muki; a liajipy fire-side clime
Fur \A'i'aiis a]i(J wiie.
That's tlie true piiiiios and sublime,
or liiimaii life."

The Delegation from the Pennsylvania Horticul-
tural Society, the oklest in the Unitei States, and
between which, and our own Society exist the
most friendly relations, was then called on —

The Pennsijlvania HuriicuUural, Society: With a more
freiiiul cimiaic. a riclier .soil, aipl twii years innre growth lhai>
ourselves, it luiturully cmsis a shadow upou us. We are
williu'i; to repose ui us shade, il' we may s-> iietiiiies partake
ot'ils sui)staiice.

MoKToN McMicHAEL, Esq., delegate from the
Society, and Editor of the North American, re-
sponded, as follows —

Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen — I am
here to-night as the representative of the Pennsyl-
vania Horticultural Society ; but as this is the first
time the dignity of a furcign embassy has been con-
ferred upon me, and 1 find myself in the presence
not of one Prince merely, but of many sovereigns ;
in the presence, too, of a crowd of beauties such as
no court but the court of love could parallel, I feel
like the Irish Ambassador, alluded to by my friend,
Mr. Skinner, that " situated as I am, indeed, I may
say, sir, constrained as I am," my position requires*
" a deal of migiity nice consideration." The truth
is, ladies, and 1 make the levelation especially to
you. because I would not have it repeated out of
doors, I am about as ill qualified for the duties
which have devolved upon me, as Sir Patrick
O'Plenipo was for the duties which were thrust
upon him. Indeed. Mr. President, for since I have
entered the confessitmal I may as well make a clean
breast and disburden my conscience entirely, I am
but a counterfeit envoy, a soit of horticultural
Hayraddin Magraubin, with a borrowed herald's
coat sli))ped over my own every day wear; and aa
I am very confident I should be detected if I at-
tempted to persist in the imposture, and perhaps
made game of, as was the case with the vagabond
Bohemian, I own the " soft impeachment." Our
society, sir, not unmindful of its own character nor
insensible to the courtesies due to you, in addition
to my excellent and estimable colleagues, had se-
lected for this occasion a most accomplished and
able gentleman, (William H. Dillingham, Esq.,)
deeply skilled in all the mysteries of your noble
science, and of such sweet and voluble discourse
that had he been present he would have imjiarted
|)leasure to this good company, and reflected credit
on those by whom he v.as sent. Unhappily that

236

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

gentleman is detained at liome by serious sickness,
and is tlierelore rather to be " pitied for tiiipcbanoe
than challeiiired for neglect ;'' and it is owing to
this misfortune, that I am tierG,longo intetvullo, to
supply his place.

But. Mr. President, however incompetent I Way
be to meet the expectations which my absent friend
would have more than realized. I am at least able
to say that it liives me unmini^led satisfaction to be
with ynu on this mot,t interesting occasion. Turn-
inij a.side from tlie dusty path of controversy in
which it is my daily business to tread, and entering
upon tills scene of fragrance and of beauty— this
scene, prodigal in its disi)lay of God's best gifts,
and adorned by the presence of his fairest crea'
tures— this scene so eloquently described by Mr
Wintluops where the eye revels on the richest hues
and the most exquisite forms, and the sense of
smell derives delight from a thousand perfumes,
such as " may defy what Araby, with all its odors,
can against tiicm do," aiid the palate is tempted by
whatever is luscious or delicate, and the inner
sjiirit rejoices in the associations which all these
awaken—this scene,

" As full of sweelres.« as the mniilh of May,
As Ror. tons as the sUn 21 mitlsuniiuer,''

I am thankful, deeply and gratefully thankful, for
the privilege which has been vouchsafed to me.
Yes. sir, this is, indeed, a spectacle admirable to
behold— ihi.s is, indeed, a gathering of which any
one might be proud to tbrm a part. Upon these
tables are spread the luxurious i)roducls of all other
climes, rendered by the skill and enterprise and
labor of you and your associates, oontributive to
enjoyment in our own ; around these tables are
seated wit and wisdom and loveliness — men emi-
nent in hall, in council, and in field, and VNoman,
bright with intelligence and beauty^

'• The expectancy and rose of llie fair stale,
Tlie glass of fashion and the n<ould of form "'

And surely, sir, in such a presence, and at such
a time, it is enough to fill the amliition of a com-
mon man, that he should be, though but for a mo.
mi-nt, '' the observed of all observers."

I congratulate you, Mr. President, and all other
practical horticulturists, on your superior good for-
tune— 1 ought rather to call it your superior good
sensc-Hn beginning where most great men end,
namely, in seeking happiness and ease among fruits
and flowers and tlie gentle toils which are required
to produce them. That is the true wisdom, lor it
is nature. Man drew his first breatli-^and it was
a breath of Paradise, in a garden, and the instinct
implanted at the creation has survived through all
the periods of his existence, and it is not wonder-
ful, tlierefore, that the master spirits of their age,
wearied with success, sick of glory, and even of
praise, should fly for refuge to the consoling culti-
vation of the earth. In pi oof of thiS we need not
go to the " dark backward and abysm of time" —
we need not refer to Dioclcsian at Salona. or the
earlier and nobler pictures of the eider consuls and
dictators in the retirement of (heir villas and farms,
improving the native vegetables of Italy, and ac-
climating liie exotic fruits of Africa and Asia.

Our own country, from Washington at Mount
Vernon down to the present day, is pregnant in

examples. Jackson had his ttermitajje. HaffisoH
his North Bend. The groves of Ashland sheltef
the declining years of the venerated Clay j and
near the banks of the Mississippi may be seen the
simple rustic abode of him whose deeds have ob«
scured the fabulous exploits of the oidtime ehi«
valry. Your own great statesman— '^^our own great
stateaman, for Penn.sylvania loves and honors not
le.»is than Massachusetts loves and honors your il«
liistrious citinen— -refreshes his mighty intellect in
the retirement of Marshfield Even the sage of
Lindenwaid. no longer satisfied with the production
of Kinderhook cabbages, has become so absorbed
in agricultural pursuits that he has not only devoted
his own whole mind, and heart and strength, but
has actually given iijg eldest born to the agitation
and discussion of a question of «o?7i

In these tuhiultuary times, Mr. President, when
abroad, ihrnnes totter and royalties run, and the
spirit of progress, madly leaping across the chasm
of centuries, seeks to drag the palpable present
into the indistinct future j and, at home, we are in
the very tempest and storm of a presidential con-
test'^a violent triangular tornado, not to speak of
earthquakes in New«York and gold mines in Call-
Jbrnia -"-you, gentlemen honieulturists, can shut
yourselves up in your gardens, shutting out the
world with its bustle and turmoil, and shutting in
contentment and peace-'=-^careless, amid your dah-
lias and japonicas, whether Prussia circumvents
Austria, or as is most likely to be the case, each
cheat the other. The French anarchy has fallen,
but you, Mr. President, have raised a new variety
of pear-^and what is the extinction of an efTete and
ex})loded dynasty to the p» eduction of a delicious
fruit? Charles Albert beats Kadetsky 5 of how
little importance is that compared to the fact that
Mr. Hovey takes the first premium for flowers ; or
if Radetsky beats Charles Albert, it affords less
interest than to know that Mr. French's fruits carry
off the price from all competitors. After all, sir,
horticulture, ■^which may be regarded as philoso-
phy teaching by roses and apples-^is the only true
pursuit; and tetque quaturqtie bcati ; thrice and
four times blefesed are they, who, under its genial
influence, are tranquil in the midst of excitements,
and can aflbrd to smile when money is two per
cent, a month.

But, sir, it is time this prattle should cease j and
now let me say, in sober seriousness, what in me,
who am but a lay member, not entitled to any
share of the praise, it may not be unbecoming to
say, that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is
an institution of which in Philadelphia we are justly
proud. Composed as it is, for the most part, of
men eminent for character, liberality, learning and
knowledge— knowledge not alone of the science, of
if you so please to call it, the art, which they are
associated to promote, but also of all kindred and
dependent sciences ; and of women, whose daily
lives are not less beautiful than the gentle flowers
they nurture. It has exercised a wide-spread and
beneficial influence. It has refined the public tastej
while at the same time it has ministered largely to
the public enjoyment. By diflusing a love for the
graceful pursuits to which it invites, it has height*
ened the charm of eocial intercourse j and by bring*

MAS?. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

237

intr together various classes, which would other-
wise be separated- and (jivinij to them a common
object, it has strenjilhened the bonds which hold
the community together. The effects which this
society has produced are seen in all parts of our
flourisliinjT city. Every nook lias its <ji"ass-plat or
its flower-bed ; and in the dim suburbs, peepins
throu;ijh broken window-panes, may be seen eviden-
ces of tlie healthful and happy spirit it has called
into existence. In its more utilitarian aspects it is
not less worthy of commendation. Since its foun-
dation it has distributed ten thousand dollars in
premiums ; and our vefjetable markets, nowhere to
be surpassed, show how wisely and to what salu-
tary purposes these premiums have been applied.
This society coiues here to-niiiht, through myself
and my associates, to tender to the society over
which you so ably preside, the homage of its warm-
est esteem. It knows and appreciates your da-
servings. It acknowledges with gratitude the va-
luable results you have accomplished. It rejoices
in the success which has marked your progress. It
honors you for the enterprise you have manifested.
It reciprocates the friendly feelings which have al-
ways marked your mutual intercourse, and it hopes
— most earnestly does it hope — that the amity and
good will, now so happily subsisting between you,
mav never be disturbed or interrupted.

The President then called on J. L. Russell,
Professor of Botany, &c., to the Society.

Professor Russell responded:

The remarks of this evening allude to the great
topics which interest the present age; Lilierty,
•which, as it were, was cradled here; Equality,
which recognises man as man everywhere ; Fra-
ternity, which without equality cannot be claimed
or respected. The names upon the panels of this
Hall, have been again and again alluded to, as
the names not only of Horticulturists, but of sci-
entific men; of men who have devoted their lives
and their labors to the pursuit more particularly
of natural science. If we look at the fact that
at the present day, in all parts of the globe, in
every s-liip and every steamer which visits foreign
lands, the scientific man may go without fear, and
will be welcomed as a brother; we shall feel that
this is the principle which is to fraternise man-
kind; and especially is this true of those by
whose labors the natural sciences are fostered,
promoted and encouraged.

This city, famous for its arts and literature, has
received into its bosom the greatest naturalist
that the world knows, Agassiz, who from a sin-
gle scale of a fish, will tell you its form, the
age in which it lived, the food on which it fed,
and the great functions it sustained in the his-
tory of the world; the gentleman who visits our
nurseries, and though merely conversant with
zoological facts and principles, gives to the expe-
rienced husbandman lessons that he may profit
by, and teaches him to study with accuracy, the
twig, the bark, the form of the trees, &,c., in order
to ascertain with correctness the real fruit he
cultivates, and to settle that much disputed point,
the synonyrans of the fruits that are under culti-
vation. Let me in jiursuance of this topic, offer
you the following sentiment:

Horticulture the perfection nf A^riritlture : Wliich Hurler
the auspices of science. Is capulilc n( rendering uiiiversully
applicable '• Ijiberiy, Equaliiy, and Frnteniiiy."

The President then gave:

II(tvey''s Mx^azine of Ilortinilture : One of Ihe oldest
M"iillil;es 111 tlie cixinlry. hul siill as fi 'Urlsliing as ilie fresh-
est everg^retn in the edjlor's own crowded nursery.

Mr. HovEY, who had been obliged to leave, left
the following:

Tlie art of CuUivmion : Only to he acqnired by the ap-
plication of mental and manual labor, a vi-^oruus riiiiid and
an mdusinous hand.

[Admirable speeches, (which we had marked
for insertion, but which a want of space reluctantly
obliges us to omit.) were also delivered by tl.e
Hon. Joel Parker, Professor of Law at Cam-
bridge, Ex-Governor Morton, Dr. J. W. Thomp-
son, of Delaware, H. N HooPr.R, Esq. and several
other gentlemen. We have only space left for the
following Ode, composed for the occasion, by Mrs.
L. H. SiGouRNEY, and the sentiments which fol-
low it:]

On a genial time, at the autumn prime,

Pomona and Flora were st-en.
To wander where Buniier Hill sublime

Looks down on a realm serene, —
While from rich parterre, and green-house fair,

And the wealth of ihe laden iree,
Their Caskeis rare, they had fill'd to bear

To the Cradle of Liberty.

They had heard its name, and the May Flower's fame.

In far off climes at first.
And now, willi a fragrant offering came.

For the infant who there was nursed. —
,So I" Fanenil Hall tiieir way ihey found,

Where An and Nature smiled.
Yet. saw wi;h suipnse, as they gaz'd around,

The Cradle— but not the Child.

Then a noble form, wiih a welcome warm,

And a sparkling eve drew near,
Who had risen In glory, ■ 'er bla<t and storm.

That had rock'd her cradle here, —
And ihe hand she press'd, of each honored guest,

And said with a tjiiefnl tone,
Thai in Liber'y's peaceful home of rest,

It was meet ihey should find their own.

So, their gifis she look, wiili a kiss of love,

For her heart was beating high.
At the heauliful garlands their skill had wove.

From the treasures of earth and sky, —
And they shar'd in the cheer of iheir hostess dear,

And with roses erown'd her train,
Resolv'd ere the close of another year,

To visit her there again

The following sentiment by Hon. B. V. French.
Vice President of the Society:

HorlicuUiiml Hall: Rightfully does it statid upon a spot
long consecrated to edui.'alion. Nature and an still keep a
public school there, teaching not ihe dead language of de.
parted nations, but the living language of truth and beauty-
addressed to every heart.

From Hon. Horace Mann:

Horticllturists and Floriculturists : NoWe men, who by
improving the most beautiful works of naiure, euconrage us
to improve ourselves.

From Hon. George Lunt:

Th.e Massachusetts Horticultural Satiety: Which gathers
into one splendid inid lovely show the iruits and flowers,
which so profusely crown the closing year; and surrounds

238

MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL.

ils festal board wilh beauty, of which these are 1 ut the
types, and eloqiienre, speakiiijf to llie heart iiiul cl. 'thing
with many voices, the oliierwi.se inaudible silence of Nature.

From John Milton Earle, President of Wor-
cester County Society:

Tlie Mns^achuseits Horticultural Society : First and fore-
most aiMcinjf similar instilutioiis in this country, ii can desire
jio higher honor, tha.i to be jud'^ed by \\s fruits.

The President then fjave;

The Press: Having lighiniua- wires for helpers, it more
than ever needs good coitductvrs. Some o{ ihe old ones are
as good as new.

The fonowin<T toast was sent in hy Mr. Epes
Sargent, of the Eveninil Transcrii)t. in reply to
a sentiment complimentary to tiie pres.s:

Our Horticulturists : While the products of iheir {Tiirdeiis
ipvinre the perfection of culture, they themselves are a
proof, tliiit

'■ Afafi is llie nobler growth our .soil supi>lies.
And satils are ripened in our norllieni skies."

The next sentiment wast

Tiie Ladies: The " iMorniiiir Glories" of creation, our
fireside '•Delights," and ei-ery day's 'Ilenrl'sEa.se."

By Mr. E- M. Richards, Vice President:

The next /'resident of tiie Massa'-hu setts Hoiticultural Srt-
cie'.y : May he ever ain> to equal his predecessors in pro-
moting the prosperity of this Association

Communicated by Hon John S. Cabot, Vice
President:

T. lie Treasurer of the Massachusetts. Horticultural Society:
He will never g've 'He g hud.'''' tliough a cood Walker— A
modest man, iliough his own Tulips (two- lips) praise him

By Samuel Walker, Esq., Treasurer of the
Society:

The President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society :
The Wilder tnun the better President He his Marsludied
the Socieiy steadily forward in the path of improvement

By J. E. Teschem.^cher, Corresponding Sec-
ire t a ry:

Success to the soil, and to him who wisely cultivates it.
By Joseph Brecic, Chairman of Committee of
Arranijementst

The Masr^athiisetts Horticultural Society : A living picture
of the beneficial effects of Industry, Cultivanoii, and fine
taste, an emblem of '-Paradise Regained."

By Otis Johnson:

T/te City of Baton : The garden in which was first
planted the s.ipling of our liberty, and in whose luxuriant
soil it has flourished and become a mighty Tree.

By Josiah Lovett:

Joseph Bre'k, the Chairman of the Commlltee on Flowers:
Like his namesake of olJ. wearing well his coat of many
fOlors, and generouly yielding flower idifts to his brethren,
even as Joseph filled the sacks of the chihlreu of Jacob.

By Henry W. Dutton:

Our Amateur Horticulturists : Thougli they deal largely

in stocks, they cont-'ive to get hold of those only, which are
continually going up.

By Eben Wight:

Tlie Golden Age: This fiction of the poets, in regard to
the pa.-^t. is prophecy in reference to the future: when every
man shall sit under his own vine and eat the fruit of hU own
garden.

By J. L. L. F. Warren:

This "Luscious Fruit" — these ' 'beaumus flowerS)'"
Now .^enl lo bless our j"yoiis hours,

Were reared by sturdy yenmcTi ;
But what the worth of '■•LuscioJts Fruit,"
Or sweetest JJowers nio.-st earnest suit,

Without the "smile ofwornan.^''

This Fruit, these Flowers — thy sweat and toil

Are drawn from 'iieath ihe sod,
Bui Woman comes from better soil.

The brightest '"gift of Godf'

Voltinteer sentiments:

Tlie Cultivators of tlie Grape: Ry never allowing its pure
juice lo become distibcd— they — like the bright and heaven-
loving flowers— will weep without woe — and blush Without
crime.

Uncle Sam^s large garden: There is great confusion
among its owners — some think it has too great exposure to
tile South— others fear an avalanche or' "free soil" from its
N'Ttheru hills, mosi have abandoned the Clay ground, a few
cling lo its .Viar-ihfield, and many propose to call a Tailor
(Tay'or) to be Chief Gardener. May he not scorch the peo-
ple with his goose, or make too free wilh the cabbage.

The A)rple: Worthy of cultivation for its productive qual-
ities— two apples make a pair — a dozen of pears cannot make
an apple. Even an apple caused a pair to fall in Paradise,
from whose seed have sprung many of the "Good Christ-
fans," always sound at the core.

A strange contradiction in Nature : The general effect of
cultivation is to improve wild fruit — but if is an anomaly pe-
culiar to the town of Dorcliestir, that there the Wilder fruit
is the better.

Flowers of Fancy : The only flowers that culture cannot
raise. "' They come unlooked for, if they come at all "

Woman: If she lost us Paradise bv plucking fruit for
the lips, she regained it for us by planting the seeds of virtue
in the heart.

Upon rnotion, the meeting adjourned for three
vears; and the assembly dispersed to their several
homes, not only to dream of juicy fruits and fra-
grant flowers, but feeling that they had the strong-
esl incentives to be zealous and active in the dis-
semination of that theoretical and practical know-
ledge v.diich must become universal before the
waste places shall be redeemed, anil the Ancient
and Honorable Order of Horticulturists shall rise
to their deserved and pristine dijrni'y, their pleas-
ing duty being to "dress and keep," no longer a
garden "cursed" and infested with "thorns and
thistles," but a " Paradise Regained." — Boston
Courier,

Ripening Pears. — Those who have new varie-
ties of pears, must bear in mind that many of them
•^^mH never exhibit their excellent qualities, unless
picked just before maturity, and the ripening com-
pleted in the house. Not only must all those liable
tn core-rot be treated in this way, but many others.
In some eases, certain varieties should be gathered
two or three weeks before ripe, to prevent insipidi-

ty. We suspect the low estimate placed upon the
Onondaga or Swan's Orange pear, last autumn at
Boston, was in consequence of its not having been
taken early enough IVfun the tree, in a peculiar sea-
son, as specimens in the possession of the writer,
picked three weeks before mellowing, were found
fully equal in flavor, when tasted side by side, to the
Dix and Louise bonne of Jersey. — Cultivator.

DOUBLE BRUGMANSIA.

239

THE DOUBLE BRUGMANSIA.

To THOSE amateurs who like bold and showy
plants, there are few novelties, among the
exotics lately introduced to our gardens,
more attractive than the Double Brugman-
sia, known among botanists as B. Knightii.
The above cut is a portrait of a fine spe-
cimen, presented us this summer by Mrs.
Edward Livingston, of Montgomery Place,
on the Hudson. It is a native of Chili, and
is quite distinct from, and much more showy
than the old and well known B. arborea,
(^Datura arhorea, W.,) of the green-houses.
The flowers are pure white, long, and

trumpet-shaped, and in this species (?) are
double, — one tube being inserted within
the other. The immense size of the flow-
ers— each about nine inches long, and the
curiously raffled appearance of the lower
part of the corolla, make it a most conspi-
cuous object when in full bloom.

The Double Brugmansia is a green-house
plant ; that is, it requires protection from
frosts in winter; but, when grown in a pot,
or tub, it requires one of large size, with
an abundance of rich soil, and plentiful
waterings, to grow it in perfection.

240

CULTURE OF THE NEWTOWN PIPPIN.

By far the best mode of growing it, in
this climate, however, is that of turning it
out in the open border about the last of
May, in rich, deep, highly manured soil.
Some specimens, six or eight feet high,
which we saw in full bloom at Montgomery
Place lately, were the most superb and
striking objects in the large and beautiful
flower garden of that demesne. Treated
in this way, they grow most luxuriantly,
and are loaded with flowers all summer.
In October they are taken up, put into
boxes or tubs, and placed in the green-
house or conservatory for the winter. Here
they are kept in a somewhat dormant state.

with only a very moderate supply of water,
till the time comes for their being replanted
in the open border, in the spring.

This plant is, as yet, quite rare in this
country, though easily propagated by cut-
tings. Mr. BuisT, of Philadelphia, how-
ever, has propagated it in his collection,
and esteems it as one of the most conspicu-
ous ornaments of the flower garden, or the
conservatory.

The fluwers give out a most agreeable
perfume, especially after nightfall. This
genus of plants was named after Professor
Brugmans, who wrote several botanical
works of merit.

REMARKS ON THE CULTURE OF THE NEWTOWN PIPPIN.

BY S A. BARRETT, MILTON, N. Y.

Is NOT the existing prejudice against this
tree, particularly in the valley of the Hud-
son, ill-founded ? It will flourish on any
soil, in our latitude and climate, that is not
too wet; and all that is requisite, to make
it highly productive and profitable, is judi-
cious treatment. Feed it, keep it clean, and
trim it hut little. Nature did not " get it
up" on the plan of a locust tree ; she gave
it a full, well developed head, and we
should do well to allow her to keep it so.
In the cool, humid climate of England,
thinning the heads of apple trees may be
indispensable ; but here, in the state of
New- York, where we have the extremes of
heat and cold,' — our summers hot and sun-
ny, and our winters exhibiting specimens
of every clime and season — varying nearly
a hundred degrees of temperature in a sin-
gle day — the labor of thinning the heads
of apple trees is worse than lost ! It engen-
ders premature decay, not only by wound-
ing, but by letting in too much alternate

heat and cold, and diminishes the quantity,
and deteriorates the quality, of the fruit..
This important fact is becoming understood
and appreciated; and the English method
of pruning, so extensively and injuriously
introduced into this country by English
farmers, gardeners and nurserymen, is fast
becoming obsolete. I have seen the New-
town Pippin thrifty in growth, and pro-
ducing fine fruit upon light, sandy soils. I
have seen it heavily laden with perfect
fruit, upon strong gravelly, and deep sandy
loams ; and again, I have seen it bearing
well upon stiff clay, and among slaty ledges,
where an Alpine chamois might feel per-
fectly at home. But the soils which the
Pippin most delights in, are a warm, gra-
velly, and deep, strong, sandy loam ; but
in no variety of soil will it put forth all its
excellencies without some care. It should
never incline /Jowi the sun ; as it has, inva-
riably, a rough bark, into which insects
easily lodge their larva, and such a posi-

A VALUABLE NEW PEAR.

241

tion invites their attacks. It is sometimes
urged against the Pippin, that it comes not
into bearing as young as some other varie-
ties of the apple. I have not found this
true, so far as my observation and experi-
ence extend, where the tree has been duly
cared for ; on the contrary, with me, it sur-
passes every other variety. It requires
more food, and therefore suffers more from
neglect than other apple trees; but where-
ever it is properly treated, it bears very
young and abundantly. I have it in seve-
ral varieties of soil. I have it, and the
Rhode Island Greening, of equal age, and
treated alike, ow the same soils, and the differ-
ence is in favor of the Pippin. The largest
crop that I ever saw taken from one tree,
at a single time, was from a Newtown Pip-
pin— 18 barrels of fair apples, and 7 bush-
els of refuse ones ! I have a tree of this
variety, now in fruit, from which, in 1844,
I gathered 16 barrels, which were sold at
$2 the barrel ; the quantity of refuse fruit
from the same tree I do not recollect ; but
it was sold at two shillings per bushel for

cider. And here I will add, that the Pip-
pin is unsurpassed as a cider apple. Six
bushels make a barrel of juice, which,
when refined, rates first in market. It may
be said that the above named instances are
of rare occurrence, and so they are ; but
who ever saw a Greening, or even a Rus-
sett, that could " do likewise ?" If any
one, who may happen to read this article,
has Newtown Pippin trees that are unpro-
ductive oi fair fruit, (I say '■^fair,^^ because
the Pippin, from neglect, frequently pro-
duces cracked, blotched and unfair fruit,)
let him clean and dress them, (if he wish to
know how, I will tell him, if he apply,) and
he will assuredly find them productive of
such apples as have made, and justly, the
Newtown Pippin world-renowned !

There is a prevalent error, respecting
this fruit. There is but one true Newtown
Pippin, and that is green or yelloio; just as
the soil, season, or culture may happen to

make it.*

S. A. Barrett.

Miltm., Oct. 12th, 1848.

A VALUABLE NE"W PEAR.

A VERY attractive new pear, of European
origin, has been proved for three or four
years past on the Hudson, which is yet but
very little known generally, though it ap-
pears to us deserving of a trial in all parts
of the country.

This pear was sent to us and others in
this part of the state of New-York, some
years ago, by the late Robert Manning,
Esq., of Salem, under the name of the
Ananas d^ete; having, as we understood,
been received by him under that name
from France or Belgium.

There are doubts, however, as to the cor-
VoL. III. 16

rectness of this name. We do not find this
variety described in any continental work,
though it appears in some of the large
nursery catalogues of France and Bel-
gium.

Thompson, in the Catalogue of the Lon-
don Horticultural Society, describes the
Ananas d'ete as a hroivnish-red pear, of ob-
tuse pyriform shape, first size, second qua-
lity, and ripening in September. As the
fruit before us is of a clear yellow, with no
trace of brown, we judge it cannot be the

* Our correspondent (who is, as we know, a capital apple
cultivator,) is not alone in the opinion expressed in this last
paragraph j but is he correct ? Ed.

242

A VALUABLE NEW PEAR.

variety referred to in the Society's Cata-
logue.*

The Ananas Pear of the French is
described by Noisette, in his Janlin
Fruitier, as follows: — "Such is the
name borne by this variety in the Lux-
embourg garden. It is in form and size
like a Doyenne; but its surface is une-
ven or knobby, (bosselee,) and the stalk
is longer and thicker than that variety ;
skin of a fine yellow, marked with dots,
and a slight blush on the sunny side ;
flesh white, or a little yellowish, fine-
grained, melting; juice abundant, su-
gary and vinous, — very good. This
fruit gives out a good odor, but not that
of a pine apple. It is, however, not the
less a good pear. Its season of matu-
rity is the middle of September."

Our fruit agrees in colour, and other
respects, v/ith this variety, described by
Noisette ; but its form is not that of a
Doyenn^, and its surface is remarkably
smooth, — not irregular or knobbed.

So much for the doubts regarding
the name. We mention them to draw at-
tention to the subject, and ascertain the
true name, if possible.

In the mean time, it is satisfactory to
know that there are no doubts regarding
the good qualities of this variety, in this
climate.

It is a remarkably handsome summer
pear; reminding us, by its smooth skin,
and beautiful colour, of the Bartlett. In its
healthy growth and vigorous habit, as a
tree, in its coming early into bearing, and
its productiveness, it also resembles the
latter variety ; and these qualities will, we
think, when known, render it equally popu-
lar all over the Union.

* Neither is it the pear described under this name in our
work, the fruit of which was sent us, under this same name,
by the present Mr. JR. Manning. Ed.

Fig. 31. — The Ananas Pear.

Mr. J. R. CoMSTOCK, of Washington,
Dutchess county, New- York, an extensive
fruit grower, also received this variety
about half a dozen years ago from Mr.
Manning. He has propagated it considera-
bly, and has gathered fine crops of the
fruit for the last three years. We have
tasted remarkably fine specimens from his
trees, and find him even more ardent in its
praise than ourselves, since he ranks it
before the Bartlett in all respects. He in-
forms us that, with him, it is as hardy, pro-
lific and thrifty as the Bartlett, either oa
pear or quince stock, while it is uniformly
superior in flavor; that it comes early into
bearing, and that the fruit keeps, and bears
carriage to market remarkably well.

We hope this variety, which is yet scarce
in this country, will receive a general trial

GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS FOR EARLY WINTER BLOOMING.

243

by amateurs and fruit growers. We be-
lieve it will be found one of the few real
acquisitions among the new European pears
of the last few years introduction. We
introduce the foregoing outline and the
following description to enable pomologists
to assist us in determining the true name.
It may be that Ananas d^ete (literally, sum-
mer pine-apple,) is correct, and that Thomp-
son is in error in describing this pear.*

Fruit large, obtuse pyriform ; skin very
fair and smooth, of a beautiful clear yel-

low, marked with numerous small dots, and
often with a blush on the side exposed to
the sun ; stalk strong and remarkably
fleshy, from one to two inches long, rather
obliquely inserted in a very shallow cavity,
or without one ; calyx with short segments
half closed, set in a narrow, but rather
shallow basin, which is slightly irregular ;
core small, considerably filled up; flesh
white, fine-grained, firmer than that of the
Bartlett, but of rich, sweet, and excellent
flavor. Ripens at the middle of August.

SELECT LIST OF GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS FOR EARLT liVIRTER BLOOMING.

BY R. BUIST, PHILADELPHIA.

[Several of our correspondents having de-
sired information, regarding green-house
plants that bloom in the early winter
months, — a season when flowers are par-
ticularly scarce and desirable, we lay be-
fore them the following list, carefully pre-
pared by Mr. Buist, so well known for his
skill as an exotic florist. Ed.]

Dear Sir : I subjoin you a list of plants,
according to your request, that will all
bloom, under ordinary culture in a good
green-house, from October to January.

You have selected the most dormant sea-
son of Flora's kingdom for culling your
bouquets. To supply any deficiency, art
brings into operation some of the choicest
annuals, such as Schizanthvs, Ten-week
Slocks, Escholtzia, Iberis, Mig7ionette, with
an ample supply of Scarlet Salvia.

You have excluded the hot-house, which
affords, at that season, more gayety in dis-
playing the gorgeous Euphorbias, Justicias,
Passifloras, AUaraandas, Bignonias, Hibis-
cus, &e.

* It is proper to remark that the pear usually received
from the French nurseries, under the name Ajianas, has
ptQveA Jo be synonymous witli Henry the 4i!3.

Many of the Azaleas, too, by a little ar-
tificial heat, are in bloom about Christmas.
So are the Cinerarias and several other
articles brought successively into bloom
during the whole winter. I am, dear sir,
yours most truly, R. Bulst.

Philadelphia, Oct. 16; 1848.

Abutilon striatum, orange coloured.

venosum, brown and orange coloured.
.Acacia intermedia, yellow.

saligna, yellow.
Bouvardia triphylla, scarlet.
Begonia incarnati, flesh-coloured.
Cactus efiphyllum truneatum, red and white.

epiphTjllum truneatum violaceum, violet
and white.
Camellia alba plena, white.

imbricnta, crimson and white, ")

;

fimbriata, white,

Jeffersonii, rosy crimson,

Sarah Frost, crimson,

cundadissima, white,

americana, blush,

Feastii, white and rose ,

Fordii, rose pink,
Jrancofortensis , crimson,

incomati, pale blush,

Landrethii, rose,

Washington, Gunnell's, crim-j

I Early
I bloomijjsr.

[son,

Late
flower-
ing.

244

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Cestrum laurifolium, white.
Chorizema varium, yellow and red.
Cyclamen per sicum, white.
Daphne odora, white.
Epacris rosea, rose.

variabilis, shaded blush.

blanda, dark rose.
Erica mediterranea, pink.

lactaa, white.
Geissovieria elegans, crimson.
Geranium comjitonianum, lilac.
Brighton hero, scarlet.
Gen. Tom Thumb, scarlet.
Helitropium intermedium, lilac and white.
Jasminum grandijiorum, white.
multijiorum, white.
Justicia carnea, flesh coloured.
Linum trigynum, yellow.
Leschenaultiaformosa, orange and red.
Manettia cordifolia, scarlet.
Metrosideros sempefjiorens, crimson.
Melastoma nepalensis, lilac.
Nerine undulata, rose.
Olea/ragrans, white.
Oxalis Bowii, rose.

Oxalis multijlora, white.
caparina, yellow.
Pentas carnea, pale blush.
Plumbago capensis, pale blue.
Primula sinensis, of sorts, white and lilac
Salvia splendens major, scarlet.
fulgens, crimson.
leucantha, violet and white.
Sparmannia africana, white.
Stevia serrata, white.
Viburnum tinus, white.
Viola neapolitana, lilac.

odorata arbor ea, dark blue.
One word on Viola arbor ea, or " Tree
violet." It is a fact, that many who read
of this humble violet, expect to see, at least,
a tree in miniature ; it has no such appear-
ance. In truth, very little distinction exists
between it and the old Double Dark Blue
violet, except its perpetuity of bloom, which
it claims for six months of the year, refresh-
ing the green-house with its odors the whole
winter season. R. B.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Notes from our Foreign Correspondent —
Ourley, on the lake of Geneva, 7th September, 1848.
— Adjoining this spot, and within three minutes
walk, commence the grounds of an English gentle-
man, of £12,000 per annum — a bachelor, who has
lived here 32 years, and devoted his large income
to the adornment of his place, of only 29 acres.
You may imagine what $60,000 a year, spent for
30 years, upon 29 acres, in this country, where la-
bor is only a few " batz," (say 20 cents,) per day,
will produce, when backed by a climate that al-
lows of everything grown in England, and adds figs,
grapes, aloes, &.c. This gentleman liberally al-
lows appreciative strangers the use of his grounds ;
and I assure you we have taken formal possession.
The house is a cosy, English, home-like place, (not

unlike, in its general character, Mr. D 's, at

Blithewood,) but moie extended, — having a small
centre, and more hid with ivy and vines, which
quite cover in the long, rambling verandah, and
hung in festoons from the eaves and roof-tree, wan-
dering up in the most picturesque manner to the
top of a round tower, that surmounts a mazy collec-
tion of offices, and connects the house with the sta-
bles. The rooms, which are the perfection of com-
fort and cosiness, for a bachelor, consist of a draw-
ing-room, music-room, library; this brings you to
the swell centre, which is a dining-room j then you

ramble out on the other side, with a billiard-room,
and a sort of reading, smoking, sans-souci room ;
and then into an octagonal plant cabinet : all these
are en suite, facing the lake, with French windows
to the floor, opening upon a lawn that is worth a
trip across the Atlantic to see ; it is kept in order
by some women, who wander about it like the
Fates, with scissors in hand and basket on back, on
the watch for some unlucky spire of grass that
shows more than a quarter of an inch of nose, when
they rush at it with a vengeance worthy of a better
cause. Perhaps half an acre, about the house, in-
cluding an English flower garden, (beds in the
turf,) are kept by the scissors and brush ; the resi
is under scythe and broom. Then there are two
or throe stout fellows, who are enduring, or rather
acting, the part of amiromedas, chained, however,
to a rolling stone, who are never weary, at least
never cease dragging its slow length along. No-
thing can be finer than the keeping and condition
of everything, except a similar place, alike the
hobby of an old bachelor of £24,000 per annum,
instead of £12,000. There are large conservato-
ries, green-houses, Sec; but the whole force seems
devoted to the condition and luxuriance of the park
trees, and the beauty and verdure of the lawn.
The general character of the views from the housa
are not unlike those from Blithewood, except that

FOREIGN NOTICES.

245

\\tti mo'jnta,ins on the opposite side of the lake are
KiU'sh higher and wilder than the Catskills ; in
fact, many are covered with snow, and belong to
the chain of Mont Blanc. The trees, at this
place, were all choice varieties, planted 32 years
ago, and carefully cultivated since ; and consist,
therefore, of superb specimens of the dilTerent pines,
acacias, oaks, hollies, thorns, rhododendrons, bays,
yews, &.C.; as under-growth, magnificent speci-
mens of Cedars of Lebanon and chestnuts, actually
dragging their branches, like a willow, on the
ground.

Great use is made of a most graceful tree, the
Weeping Silver Birch, which, in one instance, is
planted in the same hole with a pretty, drooping,
fragile, dark looking cedar ; and the two (some
25 years old,) have grown up together like two
loving sisters ; and their dark and silvery foliage,
and graceful arms, gently entwined together, seem
to Cling fondly to each other for support-^the Min-
na and Brenda of the Woods.

We pass our mornings here as at Wodenethe, —
walking about the grounds until it is hot, and then
taking our books "sub teg mine fagi,'^ of which
there are some admirable specimens ; after dinner,
at five, where we meet only Sir John W. and fami-
ly, (some very nice English people,) we take a
row on the lake, — in fact, just the life we should
be leading if making a visit upon the Hudson, and
therefore so home-like as to be very charming.

Munich is wonderful in modern art j in fact, it is
Rome, Florence and Naples, as they looked centu-
ries ago, when fresh and clean, and their public
buildings intelligible, which now they are not, from
grimness and dirt and accumulated rubbish. At
Augsburgh, one of the oldest cities in Germany, we
lodged in the "Three Mons," the oldest hotel in
the world ; having existed as an inn hi 1306.
Yours, H. ►»/. S.

The Stanwick Nectarine gives us, for the
first time, a clear idea of the excellence of those
fruits of Syria which appear destined to throw out
of cultivation most of the stone fruits which Euro-
peans have so highly prized. We are accustomed
to point to the peaches of Paris and the White nec-
tarines of Jersey as examples of all that is most
delicious in the class of fruits to which tliey belong ;
but they are tasteless and worthless when placed
by the side of the Stnnwick nectarine. It is no ex-
aggeration to say that this variety stands among
nectarines where the finest Green Gage stands
among plums.

The history of this admirable fruit is given in the
" Journal of the Horticultural Society," by Mr.
Thompson, who speaks of it thus : —

'' Fruit of this new and extraordinary production
was received August 29, 1846, from the Right Hon.
Lord Prudhoe, in whose garden at Stanwick Park
it had ripened. His lordship obtained the variety
from stones given him by Mr. Barker, formerly
her Majesty's Viee-Consul at Aleppo, and now re-
siding near Suedia, or Souadiah, in Syria, whose
favorable climate is peculiarly suitable for the cul-
tivation of Asiatic and European fruits. A year or
two since Mr. Barker brought to this country,
amongst other things, peaches and nectarines with

sweet kernels. Such varieties were previously un-
known in Europe, and were probably never heard
of till their existence was announced by Mr. Bar-
ker.

" The nectarine forming the subject of this no-
tice, is about the size of an EIruge, and like it in
shape, except in being less heart-shaped at the
base. Its skin is pale, like that of the White nec-
tarine, where shaded, with a violet tinge next the
sun. The flesh is white, exceedingly tender, juicy,
rich, and sugary, without the slightest trace of the
flavor of prussic acid. The stone is middle-sized,
ovate, with rather a prominent sharp edge, very
rugged, and of a chocolate colour. The kernel is
sweet, like a nut, possessing nothing of the bitter
almond flavor.

" The fruit of the peach and nectarine, partaking
so much as it does of the quality of the bitter al-
mond, must have been very deleterious in its unim-
proved state. Mr. Knight, who himself succeeded
in producing a melting peach from an almond,
figured Hort. Trans., vol. iii., p. ], states that
the Tuberes of Pliny must have been swollen Al-
monds, or imperfect Peaches ; and Duhamel has
given an account of a fruit which accurately cor-
responds with this description, being sometimes
produced by a variety of Almond tree in France.
Mr. Knight adds ; —

" ' The bitterness in this case, I conclude, can
only arise from the presence of the prussic acid ;
and as this acid, without being extracted by distil-
lation, operates very injuriously upon many consti-
tutions, some explanation appears to be given of
the cause why the Peach was reported to possess
deleterious qualities when it first came from Persia
into the Roman empire.'

" Stipaiituf calathi et pomis, quse barbara Persis,
Miseral (ut fama est) patriis armaia venenis."

Columella, Kb. 10.

" The varieties of the peach and nectarine now
generally cultivated retain but little of the injurious
properties ascribed to the species by ancient au-
thors ; and, when well ripened, they can be gene-
rally eaten with impunity, notwithstanding the
slight prussic acid flavor which pervades even their
luscious sugary juice ; but some constitutions are
liable to be affected by this trace. It was, indeed,
considered unlikely that amelioration would be car-
ried much further. For at least a century little
improvement has been effected, and in every variety
the kernels have proved intensely bitter. But at
last this is overcome ; in the specimen above de-
scribed the deleterious quality considered inherent
in the species has disappeared ; and Mr. Barker
himself informed me that his fruits with sweet ker-
nels may be eaten as a full meal, in quantities at
any time of the day, and repeatedly, with perfect
safety."

To this we have nothing to object except that it
scarcely gives the Stanwick nectarine so high a
character as it deserves. In fact, at the time when
the description was written, its full value was im-
perfectly understood, the fruit which reached Lon-
don having been damaged in the carriage. We
have lately, however, been favored by His Grace
the Duke of Northumberland, with a liberal supply,
which arrived in the most perfect condition, and

246

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

we can now appeal to various persons near London
who had the opportunity of tasting it, as witnesses
to its unrivalled excellence. " The most delicious
nectarine I ever ate." "The flavor is very deli-
cious, and it is altogether most exquisite : I do not
wonder at your speaking in such high terms of it."
"It is a superb fruit."" "Most delicious." Such
is the language in which great judges of fruit, ac-
customed to the finest known varieties, have spoken
of the specimens they received.

The public will naturally be anxious to know

how and where to procure such a nectarine as this.
For their information, we have to state that the
plants are exclusively in the possession of the Duke
of Northumberland, and that His Grace has order-
ed them to be sold, either by public auction or
private contract, as may appear most advisable,
for the benefit of an excellent, though ill-supported,
charity, the Gardeners' Benevolent Institu-
tion. Upon this subject we shall have some re-
marks to make hereafter. Gard. Chron.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The National Convention of Fruit Grow-
ers.— Since the publication of our last number, this
convention met in New- York, in ac ordance with
the call made by committees, representing the
Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania Horticultural
Societies, and the American Institute.

Finding that the room, provided at Judson's Ho-
tel, Broadway, was not large enough to accommo-
date the members assembled, with their large con-
tributions of fruit, the convention was held in Clin-
ton Hall.

It was by far the most important assemblage of
horticulturists ever convened in the United States.
Almost all the northern states were represented ;
and from as far west as St. Louis, delegates and
presidents of the various horticultural societies, ap-
peared and took part in the proceedings. Not only
was almost every horticultural society in the coun-
try represented, but a large number of the leading
agricultural societies sent delegates. We were
m^ch impressed by the concentration of pomolo-
o-ical talent in the convention ; nearly all the lead-
mg fruit growers and pomologists of the country
being present.

Besides these, we noticed men distinguished in
our public councils, or scientific halls, — such as the
Hon. J. C. Gray, of Boston, Thos. Allen, Esq.,
of Missouri, Hon. Jas. Arnold, of New-Bedford,
Dr. Hare, of Philadelphia, etc, all of whom took
an active part throughout the whole proceedings of
the meeting.

Between two and three hundred members were
present ; men congregated from various parts of
the Union, and bringing with them the results of
varied experience, obtained by years of industry, in
different soils, latitudes and localities.

The convention was opened on Tuesday, the 10th
of October, by General Tallmadge, the president
of the American Institute, who was chosen tempo-
rary chairman, for the purpose of organizing the
convention. On motion, a committee of nomina-
tion was appointed to nominate officers for the con-
vention, consisting of

Samuel Walker, of Massachusetts,

S. B. Parsons, of New- York,

Thos. Hancock, of New-Jersey,

J. W. Hayes, of New-Jersey, and

Thos. Allen, of Missouri.

And, also, a business committee, consisting of
J. J. Thomas, of Macedon, N. Y.,
A. J. Downing, of Newburgh, N. Y.,
R. S. Field, of Princeton, N. J.

A committee was also appointed to receive and
arrange the specimens of fruit, brought by the
members of the convention. This occupied the
whole of the remainder of the first day ; the quan-
tity and variety of specimens, brought from all parts
of the country, surpassing the expectations of all
present, and exciting universal adniiration. The
pears and grapes from Massachusetts, and other
parts of New-England, and the superb apples
from western New- York and other parts of the
country, placed side by side, spoke loudly, both of
the skill of cultivators, and the natural fertility of
the soil in various parts of the country. It was al-
lowed, by all present, to be the finest display offruits
ever made in the city of New- York. Among the
remarkable specimens, we noticed a basket of
magnificent Onondaga pears, from western New-
York ; another of Heath Clings, from the banks of
the Hudson ; beautiful Northern Spy apples, St.
Martin's Quetsche plums, Aleppo grapes, and Beur-
re d'Anjou pears. The fair and delicious speci-
mens of those old pears, the Brown Beurre, and
Doyenne, abundantly supplied from the shores of
Lake Ontario, were contrasted with the same va-
rieties, almost worthless, from various other sec-
tions of the country, showing conclusively the im-
portance of certain soils, either new, or artificially
produced, for old varieties.

The comparison of the various fruits, thus brought
together from all parts of the country, was almost
continually going on ; a great many facts were eli-
cited, many synonyms detected, and a large amount
of information imparted privately, which will not,
of course, appear in the report of proceedings. In-
deed, brought in contact, as we especially were,
with this phase of the convention, we could not but
think that even if it had been productive of no
other good than this private interchange of opi-
nions, the session would have amply repaid the la-
bors of all its members, — so great was the union
of knowledge possessed, and frankness in impart-
ing it, displayed by all who were present.

The second day the convention organized, upon

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

247

tlie report of the nominating committee, by electing
unanimously the following officers : —

President — Marshall P. Wilder, of Mass.
Vice-Presidents — Dr. W. D. Brinckle, of Penn.,
H. W. S. Cleveland, of New-Jersey,
Dr. R. T. Underhill, of New- York,
Henry H. Crapo, of Massachusetts,
Dr. A. S. MuNSON, of Connecticut,
J. A. McIntosh, of Ohio.
Thos. Allen, of Mo.,
M. Yardley Taylor, of Virginia.
Lawrence Young, of Kentucky,
Russell Mattison, of Vermont.
Secretaries — S. B. Parsons, of New-- York,
Geo. Deacon, of New- Jersey,
P. Barry, of New-York.
Col. Wilder was conducted to the chair by Gen.
Tallmadge, when he opened the session with
some excellent and appropriate remarks. He presi-
ded throughout with a dignity, urbanity, and know-
ledge of the business in hand, that gave the most
complete satisfaction.

Among the first points of business, taken up the
second day, was the appointment of the following
special fruit committee: —

A. J. Downing, of Newburgh, Chairman.
J. J. Thomas, of Macedon, N. Y.,
R. Manning, of Salem, Mass.,
Geo. Gabriel, of New-Haven,
S. Walker, of Roxbury, Mass.,
J. LovETT, of Beverly, Mass.,
Thos. Hancock, of Burlington, N. J.,
L. C. Eaton, of Providence, R. I.,
H. W. S. Cleveland, of Burlington, N. J.
This committee was instructed to bring in a list
of approved well known fruits for general cultiva-
tion. After considerable discussion, they submit-
ted to the convention a list, composed of only a
few varieties, with a statement, that although many
more fruits were equally deserving of a place in
the list, yet from their value being as yet only fully
ascertained in certain districts of the Union, the
committee did not as yet consider it wise or pru-
dent to recommend them for general cultivation.
They deemed it proper to report a small list, and
leave it to be enlarged by further action at a future
convention.

The following is the select list of fruits for
ge.neral cultivation, as adopted, after critical
examination, by the whole convention, viz : —

APPLES.
Early Harvest, Rhode Island Greening,

Large Yellow Bough, Baldwin.

American .Summer Pearreai.i, Roxbury Russett.
Summer Rose, And, for particular localities, —

Early Strawberry, Yellow Bellefleur.

Graveiisieiii, Esopus .SpitZt nburgh,

Fall Pippin, Newiown Pippin.

PEARS.
Madeleine,
Dearborn's Seedling,
B'oodgood,
Tyson,

6olden Beurrre of Bilboa,
Bartlett,
Seekel,

Flemish Beauty,
Beurre Bnsc,
AVinter Nelis,
Beu'-re d'Aremberg.
And, for particular localities, —
White Doyenne,
Gray Doyenne.

PEACHES.
Grosse Mignonne, Cooledge's Favorite,

George IV, Bergen's Yellow,

Jefferson,
Green Gage,
Washington,
Purple Favorite,
Purple Gage,

Early York, sf.iraled, Crawford's Late.

Large Early York, And, far particular localities, —

Morris White, Heath Cling.

Oldmison Freestone,

PLUMS.

Bleeeker's Gage,
Coe's Golden Drop,
Frost Gage
And, for particular localities, —
Imperial Gage.
CHERRIES.

May Duke, Knight's Early Black,

Black Tartarian, Downer's Late,

Black Eagle, Elton,

Bigarreau, or Graffioii, Downtoii.

The question of a list of rejected fruits was also
largely discussed by tiie convention, and referred
to the committee, where it was determined that,
though a measure of the greatest importance to
fruit growers generally, it requires more time, and
a more thorough trial of the inferior varieties ; it
was, therefore, deeined expedient not to report such
rejected list till the next session of the convention.

A large part of this and the succeeding day's
proceedings were occupied by discussions in open
convention, touching the merits and the cultivation
of a great number of varieties q{ new fruits. These
discussions were in the highest degree interesting,
since they embodied the practical knowledge of
many of the best fruit growers and pomologists in
the Union. Our present limits do not perinit us to
lay them before our readers ; but they will be fully
presented in the Report, soon to be published in
pamphlet form for distribution ; and we shall give
a condensed view of some of the most important
conclusions in our next number.*

Among the most interesting proceedings of the 3d
day of the session, was the reading of essays by vari-
ous gentlemen ; among others, one by Dr. Hare,
of Philadelphia, on the disease called the yellows
in peach trees, and one by Dr. Munson, president of
the New-Haven Horticultural Society, on the cul-
ture of the pear. The sj)ecial fruit committee also
examined all specimens of new seedling fruits
brought before thetn, and reported on their quali-
ties. Before adjourning, the convention decided
that, in consideration of the growing importance of
the culture of fruits in this country, and the increas-
ing interest in pomological science, it should re--
solve itself into a permanent body, and hold a ses-
sion every year ; that, since it is composed mainly of
representatives froin all the leading horticultural
and agricultural societies in the Union, it shall take
the title of the American Congress of Fruit-
growers ;t and that, to enable it to carry out the
plans of the present session, the same officers
should be continued in office throughout the next
session.

It was also decided, in order to collect the largest
possible amount of information on the subject of
fruits, (ripening, as they do, at all seasons of the
year,) that a general standing fruit commit-
tee be appointed, to be composed of state fruit

* Copios of this Report will, we understand, be sent, as
soon as published, to every delegate and member of the con-
vention

t There is in France a body of cultivators of the vine,
which assembles annually, called the Congress of Vim-grow-
ers.

248

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

committees, (consisting of not more than five per-
sons in each state, and the Canadas, represented,)
with a chairman of the whole, and a chairman in
every state ; the president to be a member ex-
officio ; its investigations to be constantly going
forward, and the reports of its correspondence and
labors to be made at the next session of the con-
o-ress, in the autumn of 1849.
" GENERAL FRUIT COMMITTEE.

New- York.
A. J. DowMNG, Chairman of the whole>
J. J. Thomas, Macedon,
Herman Wendell, Albany,
P. Barry, Rochester,
Benj. Hodge, Buffalo.

Massachusetts.
Samuel Walker, Boston,
F. W. Macondray, Dorchester,
P. B. HovEY, Cambridgeport,
J. LovETT, Beverly,
R. Manning, Salem.
Ohio.
J. A. McIntosh, Cleveland,
A. H. Ernst, Cincinnati,
S. P. HiLDRETH, Columbus,
F. W. Scott, Toledo,
T. H. Humrickhouse, Coshocton.

Pennsylvania.
Wm. D. Brinckle, Philadelphia,
Thos. Hancock, Burlington, (N. J.,)
E. W. Keyser, Philadelphia,
Thos. P. James, Philadelphia,
Robert Buist, Philadelphia.

New- Jersey.
H. W. S. Cleveland, Burlington,
Richard S. Field, Princeton,
Isaac Pullen, Hightstown,
J. W. Hayes, Newark,
J. S. Chambersj Trenton.

Connecticut.
Geo. Gabriel, New-Haven,

A. S. MuNSON, New-Haven,
H. W. Terry, Hartford,
Geo. Olmstead, East Hartford,
V. M. Dow, New-Haven.

Vermont.
Russel Mattison, North Bennington,
Chauncey Goodrich, Burlington,
Martin Slocum, Manchester}

B. F. Fay, Bennington.*

Rhode Island.
L. C. Eaton, Providence,
Stephen H. Smith, Smithfield,
Alfred Smith, Newport,
J. J. Stimson, Providence,
Comstock, do.

Maine.
Henry Little, Bangor,
S. L. Goodale, Saco,

♦ The genileman at the head of each slate committee is
chairman of the committee ; and where there were not five
members appoinie J, it waa decided that he should be allowed
0 fil/ up the same.

Maryland,

Samuel Feast, Baltimore,
Wm. Corse, Baltimore,
Lloyd N. Rogers, Baltimore.
District of Columbia.
Joshua Pierce, Washington,
J. F. Callan, Washington,
Wm. Brackenbridge, Washington.

Delaware.
J. W. Thompson, Wilmington,
Edward Tatnall, Wilmington,
Jas. Canby, Wilmington.

Kentucky.
Lawrence Young, Louisville,
Ward Brown, Frankfort,
Henry Duncan, Fayette,
Jas Allen, Nelson,
Geo. W. Weissengee, Louisville.

Illinois.
J. A. Kennicutt, Chicago,
Jno. S. Wright, Chicago,
J. Y . Scammon, Chicago,
W. Arnold, Alton,
J. W. Turner, Jacksonville.

Indiana.
J. D. G. Nelson, Fort Wayne,
D. Irvinhart, Logansport,
Scott, Madison.

Missouri.
Thos. Allen, St. Louis,
Lewis Bissell, St. Louis,
Jas. Sigerson, St. Louis,
Nicholas Reihl, St. Louis,
Emile Mallenchrodt, St. Louia.

Canada.
C. Beadle, St. Catherines,
Jas. Dougall, Amherstburgh,
Jno. Frothingham, Montreal,
Geo. Leslie, Toronto.

By the aid of this committee, compo-sed, as it is,
of men of practical knowledge, the Congress of
Fruit-Growers will, it is hoped, be able, at no
very distant day, completely to achieve the irnpor-
tant objects which the public has entrusted to its
care. To do this, time, careful investigation, as
well as active correspondence, and comparison of
facts, are necessary. But these, we are satisfied,
will not be wanting ; and we confidently look for-
ward to this body of practical cultivators, and
scientific pomologists, to achieve what neither local
societies nor experimental gardens can possibly
achieve, in a country so broad and so varied in its
soil and climate as the United States. We are
satisfied, from what we saw of the intelligence and
the admirable spirit, which actuated the whole as-
sembly at its first session, that it embodies the
talent and experience necessary to bring about the
desired results ; and we congratulate the agricul-
tural and horticultural interests of the country on
the formation of an association, so pregnant with
usefulness to every cultivator of the orchard or the
garden.

The congress abjourned on the evening of Thurs-
day, Oct. 12, after a most interesting session of

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

249

tWee days ; a session which will be long remem-
bered by horticulturists, as, perhaps, the most in-
telligent, dignified, and satisl'aetory meeting of the
kind ever held in tlie country, — where the general
spirit that pervaded it was the strongest desire for
progress, in pomology and fruit culture, and the
determination to sink all sectional feelings, and
work together with one spirit to attain this result.

The next meeting of the Jlmerican Congress of
Fruit-Groviers was fixed for the first Tuesday of
October, 1849, in the city of New- York.

The Sb'MMER Hagloe Apple. —We notice, in
looking over the proceedings of the Buffalo Pomo-
logical Convention, that Mr. Prince commented
on the error ■which Mr. CoxE and other authors
(including us also,) had fallen, confounding this
apple with the Hagloe Crab. Mr. P., we pre-
sume, when he made the remark alluded to, had
not examined the two last editions of our work on
Fruits. He will find that in the two last editions
of this work, a great number of errors previously
extant in all pomological works, were corrected —
among others, those relating to the Summer
Hagloe apple, the Pavie de Pompone peach,
the Pomme Poyale apple, &c., &c. The state
in which we found the study of Pomology when
onr Fruits and Fruit Trees was written, ren-
dered it impossible to avoid certain errors, but we
trust critical pomologists will do us and any other
author, the justice to examine how far such errors
have been ascertained and corrected.

A CoTJNTRY Seat on the Hudson. — We invite
the attention of those of our readers who are about
settling in the country, to our advertising sheet.

The country seat ofTered for sale there, is the
property of one of our neighbors, and is not only
one commanding a view equal to almost any on
the Rhine, but it has, we think, the merit (rather
rare among country residences,) of having been
planned with a view to producing an income.
The orchards upon it — all of them good and in
the finest condition — are most judiciously planted
with select market fruits, upon a soil remarkably
productive.

To a gentleman interested in fruit-culture, who
wishes to occupy his time profitably, and enjoy at
the same time the pleasures of a home amid the
finest scenery in the country, this is an opportuni-
ty rarely met with.

To Keep Celery and Cauliflowers. — We
recommend strongly to those of our readers who
find any difficulty in preserving celery in a sound
state, the mode of keeping it out of doors men-
tioned in a former volume, by one of our corres-
pondents. We have seen no method so successful.

It is simply this ; instead of taking the plants
into the cellar or root-house, (where they are
always more or less liable to decay,) bury them,
when you are forced to lift them out of the trench-
es, in any open, dry part of the garden. Choose

such a spot; lay in (in an inclined position,) a
row of plants, leaving the green tops out of the
ground; cover this row with soil, say a layer of
three or four inches; then lay in another row,
covering as before, until your whole stock is thus
disposed of. Press the earth slightly upon the
roots as you cover the plants. You will find that
a small plot of ground will cover a great many
heads of celery. When the whole is thus buried,
cover it with a layer of straw, 2| feet deep. This
will keep out the frost, and you can go at any
time and get a few days' supply of celery,— while
the uniform cool temperature maintained in the
soil prevents decay. A few boards or poles should
be laid over the straw to keep it in its place.

Some of our readers may not be aware that
cauliflowers may be had all winter, by taking up
such plants as have not yet formed any flowering
heads when the sharp weather sets in, and re-
planting them in three or four inches of soil
in the bottom of any cellar or root-house, shel-
tered from the frosts. It is not necessary that
they should have any light in frosty weather, and
they may be re-planted as closely as they will
stand. Our table was supplied with delicious
cauliflowers during the whole of last winter by
by this simple means.

Covering Tender Plants. — In covering half
hardy plants for the winter, be careful not to injure
them by binding straw too tightly about the
branches. It should be put on rather loosely, so
as to permit the air and light to have partial ac-
cess.

Branches of evergreens, or tops of ferns, are
much preferable to straw when they can be readily
procured. Old itraio bee-hives form an excellent
protection, and straw conical shelters are express-
ly made for covering plants by many gardeners in
Europe.

Never forget in covering tender plants that it
is not warmth that you are expected to produce — •
but to guard against sudden changes of tempera-
ture — and especially against the rapid thaw which
often occurs after very severe and frosty weather.
Hence the steady uniform low temperature of a
northein exposure, is more favorable to many ten-
der shrubs than warm sheltered aspects, liable as
the latter are, to such continual fluctuations.

Triomphe de la Duchere Rose. — Allow me to
say, that among the few really beautiful roses,
every way worthy of a place in our gardens, TrU
omphe de la Duchere deserves a conspicuous posi«
tion. It is a Bourbon, of fine habit and vigorous
growth, blooming profusely in clusters, — the flower
a deep rose, (in the centre,) shaded off to white.
Yesterday I counted 104 flowers and buds, on a
bush of this sort in my garden. Indeed, at the pre-
sent time, and until frost, it will be a most conspi-
cuous object. Yours, W. W. Valk. Flushing,
L. I., September 19, 1848.

250

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

vStrawberhies and Wine — Dear Sir: I dis-
cover, b}' the Horticulturist of the present month,
that its editor has a^ain caujiht Longworth nap-
ping. If it be true, I trust he will receive no mercy ;
for, to my knowledge, he has cultivated the old
Hudson for near 40 years, and given it special at-
tention ; and it is still more cultivated in this great
strawberry market than all other varieties united.
But I would advise the editor to be cautious, and
not exult too soon. " You no catch-e, you no
hab-e," as the Congo says. But people in the back
woods are not expected to be as learned as they
are in the eastern states ; and yet, I discover thai
a horticulturist, of Boston, advertises three new
seedlings for sale, of superior excellence, in Ho-
vey's Magazine ; yet, does not himself know whe-
ther they be staminate or pistillate. Surely, then,
Longworth, if his eyesight be not good, may be
excused, if he failed to notice the long neck, of
the old Hudson. But there is one other fact stated,
that leads me to advise the editor of the Horticul-
turist not to be too positive ; for it is stated, as an
objection against the eastern Hudson, that the ex-
treme point of the fruit often remains green, after
the other part of the berry is fully ripe. This is
never the case with our Hudson.

I fear the fact, that the Hudsons, got of Mr.
Ernst, had a neck, may be explained away, unless
Mr. Editor is correct in saying, that pistillates be-
come staminate by running. I had a bed of the
Necked Pine, (a variety that has been cultivated
here about 20 years,) become nearly all staminate,
and with the peculiar leaf of this variety, and bore
not even a dei'ective berry. I took it for granted it
was a seedling that came up in the bed, and having
no children to nourish, had, in a single season, ob-
tained possession of half the bed. In the Garden
of Eden, two of my tenants, McAvry &, Schneike,
have raised thousands of seedlings from the Hovey
and Pistillate Keen, and also from Taylor's Seed-
ling, impregnated by Swainstone Seedling, and all
bear a stronsj resemblance to the mother, both in
the fruit and plant ; and I doubt not such would be
the case, with a chance seedling in the bed of Mr.
Ernst. [Our correspondent will observe, in ano-
ther column, that Mr. Ern -t says the Hudson oc-
casionally grows with a neck. Ed.] Out of the
thousands of seedlings raised by the two persons
named, there are three only which they deem wor-
thy of cultivation ; one is pistillate, the other two
staminate, and all promise to surpass the Hovey in
size, which they will find no easy task. The stami-
natcs, this season, (their first bearing,) produced
a full crop ; but it is no evidence that they will con-
tinue to do it. A gentleman from Boston, who
saw the fruit of one of the staminates, gave Mr.
Schneike $6 for a dozen plants. It strikes me as
singular, that the great horticulturists of Boston
pay so little attention to the strawberry. In their
zeal for other fruits, they put all other rcpions to
the blush. Why not, from their 1200 varieties of
the pear, throw away the 1080 worthless ones, and
substitute new strawberries in their place ? Mr.
Hovey stated, some two years since, that they had
but three varieties worthy of cultivation. He re-
peats it in his last number. The three kinds are,
the Early Scarlet, Hovey's Boston Pine, and his

Seedling. The Scarlet we do not cultivate, as we
deem its only value is as an impregnator, and we
have other staminates that bear a better crop. The
Boston Pine we have proved to be a poor bearer.
The only one of the three which, in this vicinity, is
deemed worthy of cultivation, is the Hovey ; and
this is chiefly valued for its extra size. In this re-
gion, a few of the berries are larger than any other
varieties. The average size, not as large as some
others, and its quality not as good. Strawberries
that require more sugar are preferred in our city.
From what I learn Irom all our horticulturists in
this state and Kentucky, it does not prove a great
bearer, and the plants die out the second year, and
are less vigorous and hardy than the kinds we cul-
tivate extensively. It is not deemed valuable to
cultivate, as a market fruit. I discover, from a
letter in the Horticulturist of this month, from
Poughkeepsie, that in your state it is a less valua-
ble fruit than it is with us. He describes it, as
" far behind all others." I cannot concur in this
opinion. The great size of some of its berries
makes it a plant of great interest. The Prolific
Bee-liive Strawberry, (a single plant of which bears
from 200 to 400 fruit,) I venture to predict will
prove a humbug. The size of the fruit must al-
ways, to a certain extent, depend on the quantity
which the plant bears. I had a Kentucky pistil-
late seedling, taken from the woods, a single plant
of which, without careful cultivation, had on it, at the
same time, 200 ripe fruit ; and I sent it to our hor-
ticultural society. The fruit was very small. The
plants that had 50 on, the fruit was of nearly double
the size. Mr. Jackson sent to the horticultural so-
ciety a Duke of Kent, with 250 fruit on it. I do
not believe any plant can bear an equal quantity,
and have large fruit. Yet, the Duke of Kent is
only valuable as an impregnator, and for its early
ripening. Quere, will a small fruited staminate
produce as large fruit, on a pistillate, as a large
fruited staminate ? All the good bearing stami-
nates, that I have seen, bear some flowers purely
pistillate ; and thereby, bear a better crop, and
some larger fruit in consequence. A large fruited
staminate may be raised of this character, and be
very valuable. The Eberlin Seedling has both pis-
tillate and staminate blossoms, and is one of our
best staminates, as Mr. Huntsman justly remarks.
Who is right, in relation to the famous staminate
Keene ? Mr. Hovey says '' it was a fine bearer,
but not hardy." With us, it would not average
one-tenth of a crop.

What think you of the opinion of the Buffalo con-
vention, in relation to the quality of the Washington
pear ? We consider two kinds, only, its equal : the
While Beurre, and the Seckel.

My vine dresser expected to make 25,000 gal-
lons of wine. But the rot came, and they now cal-
culate on 8 or 9,000 gallons only. Some vineyards
lost none ; and the culture has increased so much
that we shall ha\e double the j'ield of any former
year ; and the harvest is much richer than in any
former year, and must make wine of superior ex-
cellence. My spari<ling Catawba, manufactured
last year, made 9000 bottles. I expect, next sea-
son, to double the quantity ; and fearful my health
might not enable me to give it the necessary per-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

251

sonal attention, I have interested Mr. Brackman, a
German wine merchant, in the business, who will
hereafter superintend it. N. Longxvorth. Cincin-
nati, Sept. 17, 1848.

Rare Plants at Thorburn's — Sir — Allow me
to lay before you the following account of Messrs.
Thorburn's Nursery Garden at Astoria, which I
hope you may deem worthy of a place in your
Horticulturist.

The plants generally in the Nursery Garden of
Messrs. Thorburn, at Astoria, are in good
condition. The Camellias, of which there are
many fine specimens, are full of flower buds, and
bid fair for an abundant supply of flowers, for the
ensuing wmter and spring. One of these plants,
a magnificent specimen, upwards of twelve feet
high, has yielded tv.'o hundred dollars' worth of
flowers during the last two years. Hoya imperi-
aZis, a rare tropical plant; Clerodendrum splen-
dens, also rare, as well as Begonia coccinea, Be-
gonia manicula, Begonia fuchsioides. The three
first named species are pretty and curious; the
last blooms with gracefully pendulous bright scar-
let flowers. Among others worthy of note, are
Gardenia Stanleyana, YSLre, Gesneria Geraldina,
rare and beautiful, Cyrtocera reflexa, Acacia
doJabriforma, a new species from Australia, Jlris-
tolochia labiosa, a rare plant from South Ameri-
ca, with immensely large flowers; Cactus senilis,
(Old-man cactus,) a fine specimen ; Oxalis spe-
ciosa, beatifully in bloom ; Euonymus latifoUa, a
hardy shrub, whose scarlet capsules render it at
once couspicuous and beautiful ; Ipomea ficifolia,
a new species, with pink flowers, very desirable ;
Maurandia rosea, Maurandia alba, both pretty,
and forming a pleasing harmony of colors when
intermixed with Maurandia Barclay ana ; Doli-
chos purpureus, an interesting twining annual ;
Ceropegia elegans, with flowers singular in form
and color ; Heliotropeium voltairianum, a new
species ; Gladiolus Queen of the Netherlands, new;
Mutilon, a new species with large flowers; Ne-
penthetes distillaturia. a very fine specimen of
Pitcher plant; Husselia juncea, two plants in
pots, whose pretty scarlet flowers and graceful
habit of growth, well accord with the classic
vases in which they are placed. There is also a
new variety of jlzalea, named in honor of the
Duke of Devonshire; Wigelia rosea awA Spirea
pubesce7is, both rare and hardy shrubs. Lutro-
S'dcros lanccolata, a very large plant in flower;
Magnolia soulangiana, a fine plant ; Magnolia
conspicua, a magnificent plant and very abundant
flowerer.

Messrs. Thorburn have erected a new forcing-
house, chiefly intended for the growth of roses.
Its dimensions are 75 feet long, 16 feet wide, and
9 feet high, with a span roof at an angle of 45
degrees. It is to be heated by smoke flues,
worked by two furnaces. Shelves have been
erected for small plants in pots. But the ostensi-

ble object is the pxt, which is nearly three feet
deep, and is being filled with rich compost, to be
planted with the most choice roses. It is provided
with an air chamber underneath, which will be
supplied with heated air through the aperture in
the wall, and by its very eflieient drainage will
prevent any accumulation of moisture to a degree
to cause mildew. It is a house well adapted to
the growth of roses, and will, no doubt, contribute
many a lovely rosebud to the beautiful bouquets
furnished by that establishment. F. E. New-
York, October 16, 1848.

Special Manures — Pear Seeelings. — We al-
luded in our last number to the fine specimens of
the old pears grown by Col. Wilder, of Boston,
and Mr. Washburn, of Plymouth, Mass., by the
aid of special menures.

The former gentleman has just sent a note from
Mr. Washburn, giving his success in raising pej,r
seedlings bj' ihe aid of special manure, as follows,

" I have a fine lot of pear seedlings, raised
from twelve bushels of pear pumace, sov«-n broad
cast in rows, (700 feet in all.) They were ma-
nured with compost in the following proportions:
1 load muck, 2 loads stable manure, 2 barrels iron
rust, 1 ban el bone dust, 2 barrels wood ashes.
The whole composted last September — the ma-
nure applied in the fall, and the seeds sown May
1st. Other seeds planted on the same land with-
out this compost, but with stable manure, have
produced plants that rwsfcd badly, and are not one-
quarter the size of the first lot, which are fine,
strong stocks. John JVashburn. Plymouth,
Sept., 1848. ......

Enormous Peach. — Dear sir — A correspon-
dent of the September number of the Horticultu-
rist, dating from Edwards, Miss., states, that a
seedling peach tree raised there, which he calls
the " Ehnira," bore peaches (if I understand him
rightly.) which measured eight inches in diame-
ter. Also, after enumerating a number, giving
the the time of ripening, he says, '' Snow, better
than I expected, and measured eight inches."
Now, sir, I would like to inquire if there is not
some mistake about this, or if Mr. Phillips means
to say that he actually raised peaches eight inches
in diameter ? because, if such is the case, there
are a number of gentlemen here in Chicago who
are ready to surrender the hat as soon as he will
brinar good evidence of the fact. Yours, j^ Sub-
scriber. Chicago, Sept. 21, 1848.

Onondaga Pear on the Quince Stock. — In
your last number of the Horticulturist, your cor-
respondent from New Bedford gives it as his opin-
ion that the Onondaga pear does not succeed on
the quince stock. Last fall I received a speci-
man of that variety from Elwamger & Barry, on
the quince — a nice, healthy-looking shoot, of one
year's growth, perhaps 2^ feet high, with several
side branches, which were taken off for cullings,

252

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

grafted and distributed to my friends, leaving
quite a bare stock to start with this spring. It
has now made a growth of twenty inches, with
proportionate side branches, the centre shoot be-
ino- one inch in circumference one inch from the
top, with every appearance of good health, and
gives satisfactory indication of making a stout
pyramidal tree.

I would add that it was planted in the univer-
sal post-hole system of western farmers, with the
addition of about a peck of leached ashes mixed
with the soil round the roots. The DM and
Louis Bonne of Jersey have made shoots of IS
inches; Ditchesse d'JingoiUeme, planted two
years last spring, made about the same leading
shoots as the Onondaga, but larger latterly.
James E. Reed. Dalton, Ohio.

PoMoLocrcAL CojWEntIon at BurFALo (Con
tinned.) The following decisions were made, re-
lative to APPLES : —

The Yellow Harvest .-—Thh name being adopted
in preference to Early Harvest, as being more dc
scriptive ; worthy of general cultivation.

The Tart Bougk. — Three weeks later than Yel-
low Harvest, which it resembles, and second rate
in value from its lateness.

St. Lawrence. — Regarded by most as first rate,
by others as not fully so, but to be admired for its
size, beauty and vigorous growth.

Dyer, or Pomme Royal. — Known, also, in some
parts of western New-York by the name o{ Hollow
Crown ; first rate.

Early Joe- — Regarded by all as of the highest
quality when fresh from the tree. But it was sta-
ted by several that it would lose much of its flavor
in a day or two. and is therefore unfitted for a dis-
tant market.

Early Strawberry. — First rate for its season.

Sweet Bough. — A first rate summer sweet apple.

Sine Qua Non. — First rate.

Toole's Indian Rareripe.— Fmi rate for cook-
ing, second rate for the table.

Minister. — Large and handsome ; second rate.

Summer iiose.^First rate.

Summer Queen. — First rate for cooking, second
for the table. A sweet apple, ripening the same
lime, and known as the Augustine, is sometimes
erroneously called Summer Queen. The latter was
decided to be third rate.

Duchess of Oldenhurgh. — First rate for cooking,
second for table.

Fameuse or Pomme de Neige. — Voted, but not
unanimously, to be first rate, in northern regions
especially.

Rhode Island Greening — A first rate standard
fruit, both for the table and cooking.

Red Astrachan. — Passed by. It should have
been stated to the convention that this variety, al-
though not a good table fruit, possesses great ex-
cellence as a very early cooking apple ; being far
superior in this respect to the Yellow Harvest.

Newtown Pippin. — Much discussion took place
relative to this celebrated variety. Several dele-
gates regarded it unwortliy of cultivation in west-

ern New- York, on account of its defective frait.
Others regarded it of the highest value; and facts
were stated showing that in instances where it had
been invariably poor, its quality had been greatly
improved by rich cultivation, and particularly by
the application of ashes.

The Yellow Newtown Pippin was considered in-
ferior in quality.

A half bushel of the English Russet, of Downing,
was presented to the convention ; they were of last
year's growth, and M'ere quite fresh, sound and
agreeable. As the name English Russet was not
considered sufliciently distinctive, it was concluded
to call this variety the Poughkeepsie Russet, by
which i' is also known. It was decided to be first
rate as a long keeper, and second rate in quality
for the table.

Lowell Apple— known also as Orange, Osioego
Orange, Tallow Apple, or Tallow Pippin, and at
Cleveland as Queen Anne, and remarkable for its
oily surface a few days after it is gathered. Though
not fully first rate in quality, it was decided to be
worthy of cultivation on account of its large size,
fair and handsome appearance, and great produc-
tiveness.

Wcsifield Seek-no-further.^^Firsi rate.

Vandevere- — First rate.

Ribston Pippin. ^-T^iwA rate, except in northern
regions, where it proves fine.

The Northern Spy created much discussion. It
was admitted to require good cultivation, and care-
ful pruning, to develope its fine quality ; that the
Rhode Island Greening, and Roxbury Russet would
flourish where tiie Spy would be nearly worthless,
but that, with proper treatment, the latter was a
fruit of high excellence.

Twenty Ounce. — First rate in size and beauty,
second in quality.

Gravenstein. — Y\rs\. rate.

jLsopus Spittenburgh. — First rate.

Beauty of the West. — Third rate.

Fall Pippin. — First rate in every respect.

Lati: Strawberry. — First rate.

Swaar. — First rate in all respects.

Bellmont, Waxen, or Gaie.— First rate.

Hawthorndean. — Unworthy of cultivation.

Mother Apple.* — First rate.

Baldwin. — First rate in Massachusetts and New«
York ; unsuccessful in Ohio.

Jonathan.- — First rate, taking all its qualities
into consideration.

Porter. — First rate in all localities.

Rambo. — First rate, and succeeding equally well
in the eastern and throughout the western states.

Hubbardston Nonsuch. — First rate ; only equalled
in richness by Swaar. Esopus Spitzenbergh, &c.

Pomme Grise. — First rate in the north and in
Canada.

Gloria Mundi, or Monstrous Pippin. — Unworthy
of cultivation.

Bullock's Pippin, or American Golden Russett,
of Downing, the former name recommended by the
convention — worthy of general cultivation.

Jersey Sweet.- — First rate for its season.

Cornish Gillifiower. — Unworthy of cultivation.

* Printed erroneously " Northern," in tlie proceedings of
the convention.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

253

Jmerican Summer Pear main. —First rate.

King of the Pippins. — Second rate.

Summer Hagloe. — Distinct from the Hasrloe crab ;
first rate, but not unanimously. /• J- Thomas.
Macedon, 9th month.

Raising Pear and Plum Stocks.— Friend
Downing : Having been rather unsuccessful in
raising pear and plum stocks, on account of a
blight or rust, which deprives them of their foliage
soon alter mid-summer, we tried the effect of bone
dust on a small lot of seedling pears last season,
both in the trench and for a top dressing. The
young plants grew vigorously, and retained their
foliage through the growing season.

Not being able to obtain bone dust the present
season, we tried the following method with our
plums and part of the pears : A gravelly and rather
moist soil was trenched six or eighi inches deep,
and well manured with a compost of about two
parts muck and one of barn manure, — the whole
being well rotted and pulverised. The seeds having
been exposed to the action of frost, were planted
early in the spring. Those thus treated are now
in a vigorous condition ; having made twice as
much growth as another lot manured with light
yard manure and no muck. On examining the
roots, we find those to which muck was applied,
strong and fibrous, while the roots of the others are
nearly as straight as the stock, and deficient in
fibres, and the few remaining leaves rusty.

The plums, which were from the seeds of the
horse plum, or Sweet Damson, have grown from
three to three and a half feet. We consider these
decidedly superior to other kinds for nursery stocks.
They grow more rapidly, and withstand our rigor-
ous winters much better than imported ones. Re-
spectfully thine, S. N. T. Vassalboro, Sth month,
1848.

Notes ON Strawberries — ^. J. Downing. Esq.
— Dear Sir : Permit me to correct two errors,
(doubtless unintentionally committed ;) one of
which Mr. Prince labors under, in his article in
your August number, on the ^^ Strawberry Culture
and Selection of Varieties." In speaking of the
" Taylor's Seedling," he says, it '' is another prai-
rie variety." This is a mistake ; it was originated
from seed in this neighborhood by a Mr. Taylor,
now of Baltimore. Of him I purchased the entire
stock, and also named it. Finding it to be highly
worthy a place in every good collection, I have not
failed to recommend it, and also to send plants to
my horticultural friends abroad ; among them, I
think Mr. Prince was not neglected.

The other error is in your September number,
under the head of " Domestic Notices." Mr. F.
R. Elliott, in speaking of the proper spelling of
the " Willey Strawberry," is probably correct in
that ; but, I apprehend, it is not so certam that "it
is an old variety, originally brought from New-
York," and I am sure it is not the " Hudson uf
Longworth," (which is the same I sent you.) The
foliage of the two is quite distinct. That of the
Hudson is a light yellowish green, with a rich vel-
vet appearance on the upper side of the young
leaves. The foliage of the Willey is a dark blue-

ish green, with none of the velvet of the Hudson,
but quite glassy on the upper side of the young
leaves. Both are deeply serrated, but less obtuse
in the Willey. I feel equally confident that I never
could have designed, in speaking of the colour, &c.,
of the fruit, to have conveyed the idea that I " could
see no dilference between them." The history of
it, to me, is simply this : Several years since, my
friend. Dr. Kirtland, of Cleveland, sent me some
plants, saying that it was a new seedling, produced
by Mrs. Willey, of that place. On fruiting it, I
found it all the Dr. had said in its favor, and I did
not hesitate to recommend it as worthy of cultiva-
tion. Of this, I have had no reason to change my
mind. From a recent conversation on the subject
with my friends, Dr. Kirtland, and Mr. Elliott,
I have reason to feel that they have either lost the
Willey, or they have not the true Hudson.

In your remarks on the neck, which a part of the
fruit assumed, of the Hudson I sent you, I presume
you design to be understood, that this is its sporting
habit, and not strictly a neck fruit. I noticed a
greater tendency in my fruit, the last spring, to
this sporting than I remember in any previous sea-
son. As a general thing, it is of rare occurrence
with us. With much respect, I remain yours, ./?.
H. Ernst. Spring Garden, Cincinnati, September
18//1, 1848.

New Bedford Horticultural Society. — The
second annual exhibition of this Society, which came
off" at the City Hall, on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of
September, was one of great interest. The show
of fruits was especially fine — and with respect to
the size and the excellence of the varieties shown,
compared favorably with the great show at Boston.
Many of the Pears were so fine as to awaken the
admiration of the best judges present.

Among the principal contributors were James
Arnold, Esq., President of the Society, who showed
a fine collection of foreign Grapes, including remark-
ably fine bunches of the Victoria Hamburgh; John
HowLAND, fine grapes and pears, including, among
the latter, large and handsome specimens of the
delicious variety — the Beurre Bosc ; Wm. T. Cook,
a variety of choice pears and apples, among which
were specimens of Stevens' Genesee, worthy of
note ; Henry H. Crapo, who showed the Doyen-
ne Boussouck, a very handsome pear, which pro-
mises to be first rate, and 25 fine others of the
choicest varieties, as well as many other fruits ;
Charles W. Morgan, who brought forward very
large and handsome specimens of the old White
Doyenne, and fourteen other varieties, as well as
grapes, apples, and quinces, and John M. How-
land, who exhibited 14 kinds of pears. Among
the leading exhibitors of fruits, were also, Andrew
Robeson, Wm. P. Jenney, R. N. Swift, N.
Stetson, Joseph Grinnell, Georgk Randall,
Samuel Rodman, R. Manning, of Salem, and
about 60 others.

The floral and vegetable departments were fully
supplied with choice productions, which we would
gladly enumerate did our space permit. We must

254

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

notice however, Gaillardia Richurdsoni, from
Wm. R. Rodman, and a beautiful collection of
sea weeds, (114 specimens,) most admirably pre-
served.

The exhibition as a whole, was in the highest
degree creditable to the skill of the horticulturists
of New Bedford.

Fine Peaches and Plums. — We must do the
Orange County jigricaltural Society, which
held its annual exhibition at Newburgh_ in Septem-
ber last, the justice to say that although we have
been present, since that time, at a number of Hor-
ticultural exhibitions, we have seen no display of
Peaches and Plums equal to that made by this
Society. The peaches grown by J. W. Knevels,
Esq., of Fishkill Landing, measuring 7iine and a
quarter inches in circumference, were unusually
handsome, and showed most conclusively the advan-
tage ia a dry season of a deep soil. The finest
specimens of Green Gage Plums that we have ever
seen, were also exhibited by Capt. Robinson, the
President of the Society, and other varieties of
great excellence by T W. Chrystie, Esq.. Fran-
cis Crawford, Esq., and others.

Errata. — We find two or three important er-
rors in our last number. On page 162, for " Hardy
Galaude," (the peach described by Messrs. Par-
sons.) read " Hardy Galando ;'' and on p. 165,
for "65 feet," read ''22 feet:" " ouriers," on p.
153, should, of course, be ouiiriere-

It may be well for us, here, to remark, that we
place ourselves at all times at the indulgence of our
kind readers for various errors of this kind, which
occur from time to time in this journal. It must
be remembered that we write at a distance from
the press ; and that, as we see no proof sheets, we
have to trust to the tender mercies of a proof-
reader, who is occasionally M«-merciful. Our read-
ers must either take our journal with its present
spirit, begotten by the good influences of the High-
land Garden, or do us the unkindness to wish us
within the four walls of a city, so that they may
have I he letter always correct.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Qttinces. — Southside. (Staten Island.) We
prefer comparatively dry, to moist soil, for the
quince. Trim this tree as little as possible, and
feed it highly with manure, if you wish large and
tine fruit in abundance. Johnson — (Baltimore.)
We have examined the quince grown by Ell-
WANGER, Barry & Rowe, of Rochester, N. Y.,
and think it a distinct variety, exceedingly well
adapted for stocks. It is, apparently, a variety
of the apple quince, and unites to free growth, as
a stock, great facility for propagation, — growing
almost as readily from cuttings as the currant.
The apple quince is the sort in general use, and is
an excellent stock. G. Pomeroy — (Plymouth.)
The apple quince has a regular oval leaf, which
does not hang down and is not wavy. We hope

to give the list of pears on quince stocks before

long.

Select Lists of Fruits. — A. Moore. (North
Anson, Me.) The best apples for your northern
climate are the following : — Early Harvest, Large
Yellow Bough, Williams' Favorite, Gravenstein,
Porter, Golden Sweet, R. I. Greening, Ribston
Pippin, Yellow Bellefleur, Fameuse, Baldwin,
Danvers' Sweet, Roxbury Russett ; of pears —
Dearborn's Seedling, Flemish Beauty, Fulton,
Heathcot, Stevens' Genesee, McLaughlin, Beurre
d'Aremberg, Vicar of Winkfield ; a[ plums — Bleeck-
er's Gage, Jefferson, Lombard, Red Gage, Green
Gage, Imperial Gage. Few peaches are, perhaps,
hardy enough. We recommend, for trial, Grosse
Mignonne and Cooledge's Favorite ; Mr. Good-
ale of Saco, Maine, has a variety called Mela-
tyre's Seedling, also worthy of trial ; cherries —
Mayduke, Downer's Late, Black Eagle. The
Clinton grape, which appears to be rather earlier
and hardier than the Isabella, may be had of the
nurserymen at Rochester, or, indeed, at most of
the nurseries in this state. The Scuppernong
grapes are of no value at the north. A Constant
Reader — (Milwaukie ) We cannot do better than
to recommend to you the list, (see previous page,)
o{ fruits for goneral czdtivation, adopted by the
Congress of Fruit-Growers.

Winter Flowers. — ^ Lady. (New-York.)
A few of the best Hyacinths, for blooming in pots
or glasses, are the following : — white — Nanette,
La Candeur, Penelope, Grande Vainqueur ; pink
— Princesse d'Esterhazy, Bouquet Tendre, II Pas-
tor Fido, Groot Voorst ; blue — L'ami de Coeur,
Passetout, Lord Wellington, Pourpre Superb. Hya-
cinths, in glasses, which do not start freely, should
have a little tepid water every other day. The
violet for winter blooming is the Neapolitan ; you
will find hundreds of them at the florists, now full
of buds. Azaleas and Camellias will give you
abundant bouquets from now until May.

Protecting Raspberries. — T. G. S. (Alba-
ny.) Bend down the tops of your Antwerp rasp-
berries, and cover them slightly with earth. It
protects them perfectly, and insures a crop the
next, season, — while, if you leave them exposed,
they will very probably be killed, or so much en-
feebled as to bear only half a crop. You will also
find it a great advantage, in your heavy soil, to
cover your raspberry beds with a couple of inches
of straw or litter, at the approach of winter.

Pear Orchards. — Southside. The deeper yoa
can make your land the better, for pears ; there-
fore, trenching, or trench-ploughing, is better
than subsoiling. We prefer mixing the manure
with the lower soil, as much as possible, at the
time of trenching. The m.ost profitable way of
training dwarf pears is as pyramids, not as espa-
liers, or en quenotiille. The following are profita-
ble market pears : Bartlett. Buffum, Flemish
Beauty, Louise Bonne de Jersey, (on quince,) Vi-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

255

car of Winkfield, Lawrence, Beurre d'Aremberg.
The Columbia is a fine fruit, but it is very liable
to be blown off by high winds.

Rapid Growing Trees. — Hortus. (Syracuse,
N. Y.) The two very best rapid growing trees
are the Dutch Elm and the Silver Maple ; both to
be had in the nurseries. They are greatly supe-
rior to the Ailanthus, and the Silver Poplar (abele,)
because they grow as fast, and do not sucker so
intolerably. The Silver Maple is doubly as rapid
in its growth as the Sugar Maple. Norway Spruce
is the best evergreen for your purpose ; it often
makes annual shoots five feet long in a good deep
soil.

Insects.— F. Weston. (Sandy Hill, N. Y.)
We have sent the branch to Professor Harris, and
will give you his opinion (which is worth more
than ours,) when we receive it.

Flower Borders. — An Amateur. (Hartford.)
The cause of your failure, " for the last few
years," is the worn out condition of the soil in
your borders. Take up all the smaller plants,
carry away all the soil for a foot deep, at least,
and fill up again with new soil, well mixed with
manure. Some good turfy loam, from an old
meadow that has not been cultivated for years, is
the best. After replacing with this, trench the
whole a couple of spades deep, and you will find,
the next season, every plant growing and blooming
as vigorously as ever.

Seeds. — G. Y. (Mobile.) We will be greatly
obliged for seeds of the novel Gordoquia, you de-
scribe. I.B.J. — (Wheeling.) If it is not con-
venient to plant your magnolia, and other rare
tree seeds this autumn, sow them thickly in boxes
of sand, and place them in the cellar till spring,
when you can re-sow them in the open air ; or,
what is better, plant them thinly in the boxes, and
keep the young plants in the same the first sea-
son, the boxes placed, in summer, in a partially
shaded aspect, and watered every day. W. L.
C. — Plant the acorns of the Overcup Oak at any
time before winter. If you have to keep them till
spring, put them in a box, and mix them with
soil.

Hedges. — W. L. Coe. (Scottsburgh, N. Y.)
The Hemlock, with care and patience, makes an
exquisite hedge. If you wish to propagate it from
seeds, the cones must be gathered in the autum ;
and if placed on a sieve, before a fire, they will
open and the seeds will drop out. They should
then be sown immediately. A deep, mellow, and
rather sandy border must be made in a shady
situation. Sow the seeds upon the top of the well
pulverized soil, and cover them very lightly with
some fine sand, or leaf mould, from the woods.
Afterwards, cover the surface of the bed with
branches of evergreens till spring, when they
should be removed, and the seeds will vegetate.
The only certain mode of getting evergreens to
vegetate, is to plant them in large shallow boxes.

about six inches deep. After the seeds are sown
in these, (as just described,) place the boxes in a
cold-frame, i. e., a mere empty frame, covered
■with glass, and placed on the north side of a fence
or building. Here they may remain till spring,
when the lights should be taken off. The boxes
should still be kept in the frames all this season,
and watered very frequently, or as often as they
appear dry. In this way, nearly every seed will
vegetate, and the plants will be fit to transplant
into the nursery-rows the ensuing spring. An In-
quirer. — (Osweso.) The Osage Orange will, no
doubt, be perfectly hardy with you, as Lake Onta-
rio renders your climate mild. Wherever the
peach tree ripens good crops, this excellent hedge
plant may be used. The Buckthorn forms quite a
strong wall, after having been sheared several
years. Staten Island. — Buckthorn and Osage
Orange will grow together ; but we doubt if an
everareen would thrive well, intermingled with
either. It is better, in mixing plants, for a hedge
to alternate the plants, rather than make one row
of each.

Grapes. — /. D. Lcgare. (Aiken, S. C.) The
Royal Muscadine, among foreign grapes, and the
Isabella, among natives, are least liable to rot or
mildew. We note your experience with ashes to
prevent rot. But you must not decide against it,
with one year's trial. It has been found effectual
here, at the north, when used along with gypsum.

Catalogues. — E. Haren, Esq., secretary of
the St. Louis Horticultural Society, desires nurse-
rymen to forward copies of their catalogues to
him, for the use of the society.

Cherries. — Milwaukie. You say the cherry
tree suffers from gum, and from the effects of the
sun in early summer. Allow your trees to form
low bushy heads, (as near the surface of the
ground as may be,) prune them scarcely at all,
and manure with wood ashes.

Stocks. — C. H. (Vermont.) We are not
aware that stocks of the Mahaleb or St. Lucie
cherry, are to be had in any (juantity in this coun-
try. They may be had of any respectable French
or Belgian nurseryman, at moderate prices. In
the Catalogue of Van Houtte, of Ghent, we no-
tice them offered as follows: Mahaleb Cherry
Stocks, 30 francs (about $6) per 1000 ; Paradise
Apple Stocks, 30 francs; Quince do., 33 francs.
Send the amount of the bill you wish to order to
Sheppard, 143 Maiden-Lane, N. Y., or some
other responsible commission agent, and he will
import them for you.

*»• Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any questions on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requested) — and all que-
ries put in a brief shape, and sent to us free of post'
age, shall receive attention. Ed.

256

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

Sept 16— The President, M. P. Wilder, Esq . in the chair.

A delegation to attend the annual exiiibitioii of the Pennsj 1-
vaiiia Horticultural Society, was appointed, consisting of
jMessrs. Cheever Newhall, Joseph Breck, and E. M. Rich-
ards.

Robert Manning, was elected a Life Member, and his
fee remitted him, on account of his valuable services as a po-
rn ologist.

Sept 23 — The President in the chair. A letter was read by
the President, from Josiah Beadlee, Esq., enclosing his check
for $.500 to be added to his former donation of a like amount,
as a permanent fund for premiums on Fruits and Flowers.

A letter was also read t'rom Samuel Appleton, Esq., ac-
companied with his cr.eck of $200, to he appropriated for the
purchase of moral and icientific books for the Society's Libra-
ry-

The thanks of the Society were voted to Messrs. Bradlee
and Appleton, to be communicated by the Corresponding Sec-
retary.

The thanks of the Society were also voted to the various
committees who had charge of the annual exhibition and fes-
tival—to the Chief Marshal and his effective aids— to the com-
mittees to provide accommodatioi.s for the various committees
during the exhibition — and to the ladies and gentlemen, wiio
kindly favored the festival with music and song.

Josiah Lovett2d, David Haggerston and E. M Richards,
were appointed a committee to nominate a list of officers for
the ensuing year, to be reported at next meeting

Gustas Evarts, Watertown, and Wm. P. Gibbs, Lexing-
ton, were elected members.

Sept. 30 — The President in the chair. The committee on
nominations reported that they had un'animously agreed on a
ticket, but since coming together to-day, they had learned that
the gentleman (Hon B. V. French,) who had received the
nomination lor President, would not serve in that capacity if
elected.

The Hon. Mr. French, Vice President, being present, slat-
ted that he should decline the office if elected, and that, though
he had been of the Society from its foundation, and with will-
ing heart and hand, had been prompt in aid of the cause of
Horticulture, and the Society's interests, still he was not am-
bitious of its honors, but should continue hi.s efforts for the
advancement of Horticulture as heretofore. Mr. F. express-
ed a warm attachment lor its members, who had so long gone
hand and hand with him, in a cause for which he felt so deep
an interest, and they might rely on his readiness to serve
them, as if occupying the highest honor in their gift.

It was therefore voteil that the committee of nominations
have further time, and that they be requested to have their list
placed on the Society's table as earl) as Thursday next.

Oct. 7 — The annual meeting was held this day — the Presi-
dent in the chair. The Society proceeded to the election of
officers to serve for the year IS-IO. Mes.srs. Ebenezer Wight
and John Fisk Allen, being appointed tellers

The polls were kept open for half an hour, after which the
tellers reported that the list of officers recommended by the
tiominating committee, had been elected, as follows :

President— San,uel Walker.

Vice Presidents — Benjamin V. French, Cheever Newhall,
Edward M. Richards, Joseph S Cabot.

Treasurer — F. W. Macondry.

Corresponding Secretary — Eben Wight

Recording Secretary—^. C. R. Walker.

Professor of Botany and Vegetable Physiology — John Lewis
Russel, A M.

Professor of Entomology — T. W. Harris, M. D.

Professor of Horticultural Chemistry— E. N. Horsford.

Committee on Fruits — F. W. Macondry, Chairman. P. B
Hovey, Jr., J. S. Cabot, Eben Wight, Josiah Lovett, Joseph
Breck, Robert Manning.

Cofnmittee on Plants and Flowers — David Haggerston, Ch'n,
Alex. McLellan, Wm. B. Richards, E. A Story, John Cad-
ness, Lyman Winship, E. C R. Walker.

Committ-e on Vegetables— A. D. Williams, Jr., Ch'n, Wm.
B. Kingsbury, James Nugent, Azell Bowditch, Aaron D.
Weld, S. W Cole, George Pierce

Committee on Library— Charles M. Hovey, Ch'n, Henry W.
Diitton, R. M. Copelaiid, Joseph Breck, Wm B Richards.

Committee on Synonyms of Fruit — M. P. Wilder, Ch'n,
CM Hovey, J. S. Cabot, Robert Manning, Ch'n of the Fruit
Committee.

Executive Cotntnittee — The President, Chairman, the Trea-
surer, M P. Wilder, E. M. Richards, Otis Johnson.

Committee for establishing Premiums — The Cli'n of Com-
mittee on Fruits, Chairman, the Chairman of Committee on
F'lowers, the Chairman of Committee on Vegetables, C. M.
Hovey, Josiah Lovett, 2d.

Finance Conmittee—M. P. Wilder, Chairman, Josiah Stick -
ney, Otis Johnson.

Committee on Publication — Eben Wight, Chairman, C. K.
DiUawuy. Josiah Lovett, 2d, the Recording Secretary, and
the Chairmen of the Committees on Fruits, Flowers and Veg-
ab les.

Cheever Newhall, Esq , as Chairman of the Committee on
Medals, submitted a Report, accompanied with specimens
in Bronze, from the die of the Appleton Gold Medal, and
it was voted, that the Report of the Committee on Medals be
accepted, and one of the Bronze Medals presented to each of
the Committee and the President of the Society.

Wm Hill, South Boston, and Charles F. Hendee, Rox-
bury, were elected members.

Oct. 24— Tiie President in the chair. A letter was read
from Edmund Bartlett, Esq., accompanied with seeds of
a Tree from Vancouver's Island, and it was voted, that the
thanks of the Society be presented to Mr. Bartlett, and the
seed placed in the hands of the Flower Committee, to dispose
of to such gentlemen as may desire to cultivate them.

The following gentlemen were elected members of the So-
ciety:

Samuel A. Appleton, Jona. Ellis. Francis Boyd, and Henry
L. Daggett, Boston ; and George Peirce., West Cambridge.
E C. R. WALKER,

Recording Sec'y.

WEEKLY EXHIBITION.

We have the reports of the weekly exhibition, of Sept. 9tln
the details of which are necessarily omitted

Among the novelties, we notice the following :

Mr. S. Walker exhibited a beautiful pure white seedling
Phlox, dense headed— also a seedling from P. tardifiora— an
improvement upon it.

Mr. Wilder, the President, exhibited the following new
Pears— Triomphe de Gand, Beurre Goubalt, Blanquet. An-
asterque, (decidly poor,) Souvrain d'Ete, (very fine,) Poire
d'Esselle, (poor,) Colmar D'Ete, Dunmore. (good).

These pears were tested in committee with a view to dis-
.aemination; and, with the exception of one or two varieties,
did not leave a very lavorable impression.

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AM) RURAL TASTE.

Vol. hi.

DECEMBER, 1848.

No. 6.

December, here in the north, is certainly a
cold month. Yes, one does nut look for
primroses under the hedges, nor gather vio-
lets in the valleys, often, at this season.
One must be content to enjoy a bright sky
over head, and a frosty walk under foot ;
one must find pleasure in the anatomy of
trees, and the grand outline of hills and
mountains half covered with snow. And
then, to be sure, there are the evergreens.
What a pleasant thing it is to see how
bravely they stand their ground, and bid de-
fiance even to zero; especially those two
fine old veterans, the Hemlock and the
White Pine. They, indeed, smile defiance
at all the attacks of the Ice King. It is not
easy to make a winter landscape dull or
gloomy where they stand, ready as they
are at all times with such a sturdy look of
wholesome content in every bough.

That must be an insipid climate, depend
upon it, where there is " summer all the
year round." In an ideal point of view, —
that is, for angels and "beatitudes" — it is,
nay, it must be, quite perfect. Their sen-
sations never wear out. But to us, poor
mortals, compounded as we are of such a
moiety of clay, and alas, too many of us
full of inconstancy, — always demanding va-
riety— always looking for a change — weary-
VoL. III. 17

ing, as the angels do not, of things which
ought to satisfy any reasonable creature
forever ; no, even perpetual summer will
not do for us. Winter, keen and frosty
winter, comes to brace up our languid
nerves. It acts like a long night's sleep,
after a day full of exciting events. Spring
comes back again to us like a positively new
miracle! To watch all these black and
leafless trees suddenly become draped with
green again, to see the ice-bound and snow-
clad earth, now so dead and cold, abso-
lutely bud and grow warm with new life, —
that, certainly, is ajoy which never animates
the soul of our fellow beings of the equator.
" But the winter, the long winter — with-
out verdure — without foliage — without
flowers — all so bleak and barren." Softly,
warm weather friend, open this little glazed
door, out of the parlor, even now, while the
icicles hang from the eaves, and what do
you see ? Truly a cheering and enliven-
ing prospect, we think ; a little miniature
tropical scene, separated from the outer
frost-world only by a few panes of glass,
and yet as gay and blooming as the valley
of Cashmere in June. What can be purer
than these pure, spotless double white, —
what richer than these rich, parti-coloured
Camellias? What more delicate than

258

A CHAPTER ON GREEN-HOUSES.

these Heaths, with their little fairy-like
bells ? What more fresh and airy than
these Azaleas ? What more delicious than
these Daphnes, and Neapolitan Violets ?
Why, one can spend an hour here, every
day, in studying these curious and beautiful
strangers — belies of other climes — that turn
winter into summer, to repay us for a little
warmth and shelter. Is there not some-
thing exciting and gratifying in this little
spectacle of our triumph of art over nature ?
this holding out a little garden of the most
delicate plants in the very face of wintet,
stern as he is, and bidding him defiance
to his teeth ? Truly yes ; and therefore,
to one who has enough of vegetable sym-
pathy in his nature to love flowers with all
his or her heart — to love them enough to
watch over them, to care for all their wants,
and to feel an absolute thrill of joy as the
first delicate bit of colour mounts into the
cheek of every blushing bud as it is about
to burst open, — to such of our readers, we
say, a green-house is a great comfort and
consolation !

There are many of our readers who en-
joy the luxury of green-houses, hot-houses,
and conservatories, — large, beautifully con-
structed, heated with hot water pipes, paved
with marble, and filled with every rare and
beautiful exotic worth having, from the bird-
like air plants of Guiana to the jewel-like
Fuchsias of Mexico. They have taste, and
much "money in their purses." They
want no advice from us ; they have only to
say " let us have green-houses," and they
have them.

But we have also other readers, many
thousands of them, who have quite as much
natural taste, and not an hundreth part as
much of the " needful" with which to gratify
it. Yes, many, who look upon a green-
house as a sort of crystal palace, which it re-
quires a great deal of skill to construct, and

untold wealth to pay for and keep in order.
The little conversation that we hold to day
must be considered as addressed to this
latter class ; and we dont propose to show
even them, how to build a green-house for
nothing, — but how it may be built cheaply,
and so simply that it is not necessary to
send for the architect of Trinity Church to
give them a plan for its construction.

The idea that comes straightway into
one's head, when a green-house is men-
tioned, is something with a half roof stuck
against a wall, and glazed all over, — what
gardeners call a lean-to or shed-roofed
green-house. This is a very good form
where economy alone is to be thought of;
but not in the least will it please the eye
of taste. We dislike it, because there is
something incomplete about it; it is, in
fact, only half a green-house.

We must have, then, the idea, in a com-
plete form, by having the whole roof — what
in garden architecture is called a " span-
roof" — which, indeed, is nothing more than
the common form of the roof of a house,
sloping both ways from the ridge pole to
the eaves.

A green-house may be of any size, from
ten to as many hundred feet ; but let us
now, for the sake of having something de-
finite before us, choose to plan one 15 by
20 feet. We will suppose it attached to a
cottage in the country, extending out 20
feet, either on the south, or the east, or the
west side ; for, though the south is the best
aspect, it will do in this bright and sun-
ny climate very well in either of the others,
provided it is fully exposed to the sun, and
not concealed by trees at the sunny time of
day.

Taking fig. 32 as the ground plan, you
will see that by cutting down the window
in the parlor, so as to make a glazed door
of it, you have the opening precisely where

A CHAPTER ON GREEN-HOUSES.

259

PARLOR

-m

\'i^"\

•^

1

f^

!

i '^ i

^

L

I

lki^^^i^\M^x4 — fe^^W^^ii^sW^

Fig. 32. — Plan of a S77iaU Green-House.

you want it for convenience, and exactly
where there will be a fine vista down the
walk as you sit in the parlor. Now, by
having this house a little wider than usual,
with an open roof, our plants have the light
on all sides ; consequently, they are never
drawn. Besides this, instead of a single
walk down the front of the house, at the
end of which you are forced to wheel about,
like a grenadier, and return ; you have the
agreeable variety of making the entire cir-
cuit of the house, reaching the same spot
again, with something new before you at
every step. This walk is S^ feet wide.
The stage for the tall plants is a parallelo-
gram, in the middle of the house, c, 7 feet
wide ; the shelf, which borders the margin
of the house, d, is about 18 inches wide.
This will hold all the small pots, the more
delicate growing plants, the winter flower-
ing bulbs, and all those little favorites which
of themselves like best to be near the light,
and which one likes to have near the eye.
It is quite incredible what a number of
dozen of small plants this single shelf, run-
ning nearly all round, will hold.

Now let us take a glance at the plan of

Fig. 33. — Section of the Same.

the section of the green-house, fig. 33, which
may be supposed to be a slice down through
the end of it. The sides of the house
are 8 feet high. They consist of a row of
sashes, (/) 3^ feet high, placed just below
the plate that supports the roof, and a wall,
A, on which these sashes stand. This may
be a wall of brick or stone ; (if of the form-
er, 8 inches thick is sufficient;) or it may,
when it is to be attached to a wooden dwell-
ing, be built of wood — good cedar posts
being set as supports 3i feet deep, and
lined with weather boarding on each side,
leaving a space of 12 inches wide, to be
filled very compactly with charcoal-dust, or
dry tan.

At the farther end of the house is a
door, i.

The roof may rise in the middle so as to
be from 12 to 15 feet high; (in our plan, it
is shown 12 feet.) It is wholly glazed, —
the sashes on either side sliding down in
the rafters, so as to admit air when neces-
sary. The rafters themselves to be placed
about 4 feet apart. Is it not a neat little
green-house — this structure that we have
conjured up before you ? It is particularly
light and airy ; and do you not observe that
the great charm about it, is that every plant
is within reach — always inviting attention,
always ready to be enjoyed ? Truly, it
is not like those tall houses, with stages

260

A CHAPTER ON GREEN-HOUSES.

running up like stairs, entirely out of the
reach of one's nose, arms or fingers. Do
j'ou not see, also, that you can very well
water and take care of every plant yourself,
if you are really fond of such things ? Very
well ; now let us look a little into the way
in which we are to keep this little place of
pleasure always warm and genial for the
plants themselves.

In the first place, we must inform our
reader that we are not to have either a fur-
nace with brick flues, or a boiler with
hot water pipes. They are both excellent
things ; but we must have, at present,
something simpler and more economical.

Everybody, in the northern states, very
well knows what an air-tight stove is ; a
most complete and capital little machine,
whether for wood or coal ; most easily
managed, and giving us almost the whole
possible amount of caloric to be got out of
hickory or anthracite. Now we mean to
heat our little green-house with an air-
tight stove, of good size ; and we mean to
heat it, too, in the latest and most approved
system — nothing less than what the Eng-
lish call Polmaise — by which we are able
to warm every part of the house alike ; by
which we shall be able to create a continual
circulation of the warm air from one end of
it, quite over the plants, to the other; and
which, no doubt, they will mistake for a
West India current of air every evening.

In order to bring this about, we must
have an air-chamber. This also must be
below the level of the green-house floor.
It is not important under what part it is
placed r it may be built wherever it is most
convenient. In our plan, {fig. 32,) as there
is a cellar under the parlor, we will put it
next the cellar wall, so that there may be a
door to enter it from this cellar. This air-
chamber must be built of brick, say about
7 or 8 feet square, (as represented by the

dotted lines around b.) The wall of thss
air-chamber should be two bricks thick at
the sides and one brick at the ends, and all
smoothly plastered on the inside. The
top should be covered with large flagging
stones ; and upon the top of these, a course
of bricks should be laid, which will form
part of the floor of ihe walk in the green-
house above. Or, if flagging is not to be
had, then cover the whole with a low arch
of brick work.

In this air-chamber we will place our air-
tight stove, the smoke pipe of which must
be brought back into the cellar again, so as
to be carried into one of the chimney flues
of the house. There must be a large sheet
iron or cast iron door to the air-chamber, to
enable us to feed the fire in the stove ; and,
in the top or covering of the air-chamber,
directly in the middle of the walk, (at 1,)
must be an opening 18 inches in diame-
ter, covered with a grating, or register.
Through this the hot air will rise into the
house.

Now, both that we may heat the house
easily and quickly, and also that we may
have that continual circulation of air which
is so wholesome for the plants, we must
also have what is called a "cold-air draiyi;^*
it must lead from that end of the house far-
thest from the hot-air chamber, and there-
fore the coldest end, directly to the bottom
of the air-chamber itself. We will put the
mouth of this drain in the middle of the
walk near the door, at 2, with a grating
over it also. This drain shall be simply
a long box, made of boards ; and we will
have it 1 foot by 2 feet, inside. From the
mouth, 2, it shall lead along, in a straight
line, just below the level of the floor, to B,
where it descends so as to enter on a level
with the floor of the hot-air chamber. We
will also have a smaller box, or drain,
for fresh air, leading from the bottom of

A CHAPTER ON GREEN-HOUSES.

261

the air-chamber to the open air through
the foundation wall, at 4, to supply the
house with fresh air. This air-pipe should
be six inches in diameter, and there should
be a slide iw it to enable us to shut it up,
whenever the weather is too cold to admit
of its being open, without lowering the
temperature of the house too much.

Now let us suppose all is ready, and that
a fire is lighted in our air-tight stove. The
air in the air-chamber becoming heated, it
rises rapidly, and passes into the green-
house, through the grated opening at 1.
Very quickly, then, in order to supply
the deficiency caused in the air-cham-
ber, the air rushes through the cold-air
drain. This makes a current from the
coolest part of the house, at 2, towards the
air-chamber ; and, to make good again the
lost air carried off from that end of
the house, the warm stream, which rises
through the opening at 1, immediately
flows over the tops of the plants towards
the opposite end of the house, and, as it
becomes cold again, descends and enters
the mouth of the cold-air drain, at 2. By
taking advantage of this simple and beauti-
ful principle, — that is to say, the rising of
warm air, we are able in this way to heat
every part of the house alike, and have a
constant bland zephyr passing over the
plants.*

It is not easy to find anything simpler, or
more easily managed, than this way of heat-
ing a small green-house. In this latitude,
a couple of cords of wood, or a couple of
tons of anthracite, will be sufficient for the
whole winter; for, it must be remembered,
that no matter how cold the day, the mo-
ment the sun shines, there is not the slight-

* Our readers, to whom this mode of heating is not quite
clear, will please turn back to a detailed plan of the Pol-
maise mode, page 124, and also examine the plan of " A Sub-
scriber," in this number.

We should add, that when a coal airtight stove is used,
there should be a water pan suspended over it. For a wood
air-tight, it is not necessary.

est need of a fire ; the temperature will
then immediately begin to rise. Usually,
after bright days, which are abundant in
our coldest winter months, we shall not need
to light a fire till one, two, or sometimes
three hours after sun-set ; and if our air-
tight is one of good size, and constructed as
it should be, so as to maintain a good fire
for a long time, our last replenishing in the
evening need not usually be later than 10
o'clock ; but we must, in this case, give a
full supply of fuel for the night's consump-
tion.

Every sensible person will, of course, use
light outside shutters, for the roof and side-
glass of such a house as this. We slide
them on at sunset, and take them off' at
sunrise ; and by this means, we not only
save one-third of our fuel, but keep up
a pleasant green-house temperature with-
out cold draughts at night. It is worth
while to remember, too, that in glazing
the roof, the most useful possible size for
the glass is 4-by-6 inches, or, at the largest,
6-by-8 inches. The former answers the
purpose perfectly, and is not only much less
costly than large glass, but is also far less
expensive to keep in repair; neither hail
nor frost breaking the small panes, as they
do the large ones.

As to the minor details, we will have a
small cistern under the floor, into which
the water from the roof can be conveyed
for watering the plants. Beneath the cen-
tre stage, (which may be partly concealed
with lattice work,) we may keep our
dahlia roots, and a dozen other sorts of
half hardy plants for the summer border,
now dormant, and snugly packed quite out
of sight.

We did intend, when we sat down, to
give our novices a great deal of exceed-
ingly valuable advice about the sorts of
plants that they ought to cultivate in this

262

THE KIND OF INFORMATION NOW WANTED IN POMOLOGY".

glazed flower garden. But we see that
we are getting beyond the limits of a
leader, and must not, therefore, weary those
of our subscribers, who take no more in-
terest in geraniums than we do in Irish
landlords, with too long a parley on exot-
ics.

We must have space enough, however,
for a word or two more to beginners. Let
them take our word for it, — if they pre-
fer an abundance of beautiful flowers to
a pot-pourri, of every imaginable species
that can be grown under glass, they had
better confine themselves to a few really
worthy and respectable genera. If they
only want winter blooming plants, then let

them take Camellias and Chmese Azaleas,
as the ground work of their collection, fill-
ing in the interstices with daphnes, heaths,
sweet scented violets, and choice bulbs.
For the spring, rely on everblooming roses,*
and geraniums. If they also wish to have
the green-house gay in summer, they must
shade it, (or wash the under side of the roof-
glass with whiting,) and grow Fuchsias
and Jtchimenes. In this way, they will never
be without flowers in abundance, while
their neighbors, who collect every new
thing to be heard of under the sun, will
have more tall stalks and meagre foliage,
than bright blossoms and odorous bouquets
for their trouble.

THE KIND OF INFORMATION NOW WANTED IN POMOLOGY.

BY A YOUNG PLANTER, NEW- YORK.

There are many varieties of plants that are
cultivated with very unsatisfactory results,
in localities in which others, of the same
species, flourish with at least their ordinary
luxuriance. It has been found that, by
certain operations upon the soil, these va-
rieties may be made to thrive in many
places that have proved naturally unpropi-
tious to them. A Frenchman will find
material for a capital ragout, where an
Englishman would starve ; and a soil from
which the Bartlett pear will assimilate ma-
terial for an abundant crop of fruit, will be
death to the Doyenne. On another soil,
both may be equally well accommodated ;
and on yet another, the Bartlett again shall
fail.

Owing to the eminent talent devoted to
the improvement of the pear, by men whose
attainments should give them a name among
the philosophers of the age, more, perhaps,
s known of the peculiar habits of separate

varieties of this fruit, than of those of any
other. It is hardly possible for any one
person to command all the circumstances
which may be supposed to affect a number
of trees, each with a peculiar influence ;
but every one may observe some unusual
effects, as the result of his own culture of
particular varieties, and may eventually
trace them to constant causes.

It is extremely desirable that such dis-
coveries, or observations and conjectures,
which may be compared with those of
others, and that suggest investigations at
other points that may lead to discoveries,
should be made public.

At the recent pomological convention in
New-York, the Glout Morceau Pear, being
under discussion, gentlemen from six dif-
ferent localities followed each other in de-

* Nothing is more satisfactory than those fine Noisette roses,
tlie Lamarque and Cloth of Gold, planted in an inside border,
and trained up under the rafters of the green-house. In this
way, they grow to great size, and give a profusion of roses.

THE KIND OF INFORMATION NOW WANTED IN POMOLOGY.

263

daring that it had proved with them every
way unexceptionable. Then another arose,
v/ith whom it had not done as well. The
former had raised it, I believe, invariably
on rather stiff, loamy soils, as at Salem,
Boston, Worcester and Hartford. The lat-
ter, on the sandy soil (probably,) of New-
Jersey. Yet, it was to be remarked, that
there were some pears whose merits were
questioned, that had succeeded perfectly
with him ; even better, perhaps, than in
those quarters from which the Glout Mor-
ceau was voted perfect. We should not
draw confident inferences from these facts ;
but they are valuable, as starting points,
from which the results of further observa-
tion may lead to an authentic list of varie-
ties, particularly adapted to culture on sandy
soils, or the contrary. In the discussion on
the Beurrc d'Aremberg, another straw was
lifted, which might prove a hint to rather
complicated, yet important inquiries; and,
as a matter of information, is worth " making
a note of." This pear was spoken of, as
unequalled as a standard tree, both at Bos-
ton and at Salem ; as a dwarf, however, it
entirely failed to give satisfaction at Bos-
ton, yet succeeding at Salem. Very curi-
ous cases, of similar character, are frequent-
ly observed. Is it a peculiarity of soil, or
of climate, or of cultivation, that occasions
this difference ? Until we are informed,
every man must take the chance for fail-
ure in trying it on his own ground, or must
substitute for it, if his space is limited, some
other variety, as the Louise Bonne de Jersey,
or the Glout Morceau, which are known to
be more invariably good on quince stocks.
From one of the most valuable commu-
nications, presented to the convention, con-
taining the observations of Mr. Mannice, on
several fruits, growing on the south shore
of Long-Island, it appeared that the Napo-
leon Pear proved very poor in that situation.

In the garden of my neighbor, Dr. Cyrus
Perkins, this pear bears most abundant
crops of fruit, which, for its peculiar quali-
ties, was never surpassed. Both situations
are exposed to the sea, with similar aspects,
and within twenty miles of each other.
The difference is, probably, in the nature
of the soil ; one being sandy, the other
clayey loam.

The fruit committee of the convention
very judiciously added to their list of first
rate fruits, a few of each sort, which could
be recommended as such only for certain
localities. I was sorry to see this objected
to by a few members. The studied results
of the labors of the committee room, should
not be rashly attacked. It seems to me,
that in this case, the exception taken was
indiscreet, and the arguments proved more
than they were intended to. It was said,
for example, that the Yellow Bellefleur Jl-p-
'ple had been tasted in perfection from a
tree in the garden of the late Mr. Bull, of
Hartford. This was evidence sufficient,
that it was equally first rate, and well
adapted to general cultivation there, as
anywhere ; although the delegates from
the Hartford society informed the conven-
tion that, under ordinary circumstances, it
did not flourish there as well as the other
varieties reported. But the tree referred
to grew in garden soil, in the hands of a
skilful and pains-taking man, in whose fairy
land it might almost be said, nothing ever
appeared that was not soon transformed,
under the magic of his culture, into an ob-
ject of beauty and value. Do not the facts
rather prove the correctness of the commit-
tee's information ? It seems to me, their
hint was just what is wanted. Was it
their business to ascertain what fruit might
be made ^^ first rateV^ I never saw finer
tropical fruit (though " I have wandered to
the farthest Ind,") than our lamented friend

264

FAMILIAR BOTANY,

has shown me, almost within the shade of
that same Bellefleur, there growing, by the
same admirable skill and care that perfected
the apples, so highly and so justly lauded
to the convention.

Each of the exceptions made by the com-
mittee was, in its turn, sustained by the
evidence of those present from this or that
section ; and it would not have been diffi-
cult to ascertain from them the particular
localities, or the characters of the soils
which are unsuited to the reserved fruits.
Not a member of the convention professed
to have eaten a first rate Newtown Pippin,
which had been raised in New-England ;

and I do not believe any one, that heard
the discussion of the Louise Bonne de Jet'
sey, would choose to plant that pear, except
on quince stocks.

Such facts may accumulate, that a future
convention shall be able to furnish the pub-
lic with a classification of fruit trees, on the
basis of their congenial soils ; and, for this
most desirable end, is it too much to ask all
fruit growers to observe the peculiarities
incident to their various localities, and to
furnish statements of them through our pe-
riodicals, for the consideration of the horti-
cultural world ? A Young Planteb.

New-York, Nov. 8, 1848.

FAMrHiIAR BOTANY.

BY DR. WM. W. VALK, FLUSHING, L. I.

To MANY of the readers of the Horticultu-
rist, we hope the present article will prove
both useful and interesting. It is almost
wholly of an eclectic character ; our mate-
rials being culled from different sources,
and arranged with particular reference to
the facility with which the subject may be
readily and best understood, by those who
are not yet acquainted with the rudimental
knowledge of the science, as systematised
and adopted by the immortal Linnaeus.

We are far from contending that there is
any necessity whatever for the studying of
botany, in order to make a man a practical
gardener. He may be quite equal to the
task of laying out and cultivating a garden
in perfection, and fully competent to the
exercise of any degree of skill in so doing,
without having made botany " the stepping
stone" thereto. But yet, we are bound to
admit, that the study of it is delightful, and
that all should learn what they can of it,

whenever the opportunity is presented to
them.

To render science useful, its principles
should be consistent with nature and com-
mon sense; and there should appear, among
its teachers, nothing like presumption or
irreverencej Therefore, we can have no-
thing to do with those ridiculous theories,
which appear to us contemptible, because
we have been taught, and wish to have our
children taught, that God's works are al-
ways perfect.

The classes and orders of Linnseus may
be learned with advantage by every lover
of plants ; because this kind of knowledge
will increase their enjoyment, and lead
them into a desire to know more. Our
great object is to render these lessons ac-
ceptable to the most humble aspirant. There
is no reason why the useful portiojns of
botany should not be studied by everybody
who feels interested in gardening opera-

FAMILIAR BOTANY,"

265

tbns. We shall, then, endeavor to sim-
plify the early lessons, and thus clear the
way for those who know nothing about
botany, so that they may be enabled to
classify plants for the better understanding
of their nature, and the avoidance of such
as are poisonous.

Linnseus divided plants into twenty-four
classes^ and arranged them according to
the construction of the flower. What is a
flower? It may appear singular that a
question, apparently so simple, should be
asked ; but there are two answers to it, as
diametrically opposite as they can be, and
both cannot be right. By an author of no
little celebrity in horticulture, we are told
that a flower " is in reality a stunted branch;
the growth of which is checked, and its
power of elongation destroyed." We dont
believe a word of it ; for, to our conception,
there is nothing in nature more -perfect than
a flower. It is well to talk of the spread of
learning, and the advancement of science ;
but if by this, we are to understand a blind
following of teachers who outrage truth,
better that we leave it alone.

The second answer we like better :■ — a
flower " is a perfect specimen of God''s handi-
work.'''' So we think, and so thought Pro-
fessor Rennie and Dr. Herschel, in opposi-
tion to the absurd fancies and unmitigated
nonsense but recently propagated.

The most ready way of beginning the
study of botany, is by learning about a
dozen terms, and being able to number as
far as thirty, which every child can do ;
thus, any one may so m get a tolerable
knowledge of several hundred plants, and
be able to assign these to their proper
classes and orders in the Linnsean system.
To facilitate the learning of the terms, get
any flower — a lily, a primrose, or a butter-
cup, and study them over once and again,
naming them each time, till they are fami-

liar. The annexed figures will explain the
several parts clearly.

1. On the outside of the flower a green
sort of cup is seen, (a,) in which the coloured
part stands as an eg^ does in an egg-cup.
The learner may call this i\ie flower- cup ;
but botanists call it by the Greek name,
calyx.

2. Within this flower-cup, or calyx, which
may be taken ofT lo show v/hat it contains,
is seen the coloured part of the flower, (// ;)
that part which is yellow in the primrose,
blue in the violet, and red in the rose.
This may be called the blossom; but bota^
nists call it by the Latin name, corolla.

3. In the primrose, this blossom, or corol-
la, is seen to be in one piece ; but in the
rose and other flowers, it is of several pie-
ces, (c.) The learner may call each of the
pieces a fioioer-lenf ; but botanists call it a
petal.

4. Within the flower-leaf, or petal, in
the primrose, 6ne small bodies may be seen
standing round in a circle, {d,) with little
tips, somewhat shaped like a barley-corn,
though a great deal smaller, and a slender
stalk supports them. Each of the fine
bodies the learner may call a male; but
botanists call it a stamen.

5. The male part, or stamen, has two
parts ; an upper, and an under part. The
under part may be called the stalk, (e;) but
botanists call it i\\e filament.

6. The top part (/,) may be called the
tip ; but botanists call it the anther.

7. When the tip, or anther, of the male

266

FAMILIAR BOTANY.

is broken or bursts, as it always does of
itself, as soon as it is ripe, a coloured
powder is seen, which the learner may call
the tip-dust ; but botanists call it the fol-

leu.

8. When the calyx, the corolla, and the
stamens are all cut away, the centre part
of the flower alone will remain on the top
of the stem. This part the learner may
call the female; but botanists call it the

pistil.

■ 9. The female, or pistil, consists of a
base, the middle, and a top. The base of
the pistil, (^g,) is always more or less
bulged out ; it always contains the seeds,
and the learner may call it the seed-vessel ;
but botanists call it the onary.

10. The middle part, (A,) of the pistil
may be called the pillar ; but botanists call
it the style.

11. The top of the pistil the learner may
call the summit, (i ;) but botanists call it
the stigma.

12. There is only one more term to be
mentioned, at present, applied to a peculiar
sort of leaf, — sometimes according to the
kind of plant found on the flower-stem,
often at the base of the leaves, and seen
conspicuously in pinks, carnations and pi-
cotees. It frequently surrounds fruits, as
the calyx does the corolla. This, which
botanists call the sub-calyx, and other names
according to its situation, we shall, for con-
venience, call the scale.

Now these dozen terms, — 1. Calyx — 2.
Corolla— 3. Petal— 4. Stamen— 5. Fila-
ment— 6. Anther — 7. Pollen — 8. Pistil —
9. Ovary— 10. Style— 11. Stigma— 12.
Scale, — are all which the learner need get
perfectly, to begin with. A few other
terms, but not more than half a dozen, may
be wanted as we proceed.

The order in which these parts are met
with in dissecting a flower, is best illus-

trated by placing five
circles, one within the
other. Thus, on the
02iter circle place the
scale, whether it be
leaf scale, flower scale,
or fruit scale.

On the second circle place the flower-cup
or calyx, whether it be in one piece or seve-
ral pieces.

On the third circle place the blossom, or
corolla, whether it consists of one petal or
several.

On the fourth circle place the males, or
stamens, whatever be their number, with
their stalks or filaments, and their tips or
anthers, containing the tip-dust ox pollen.

On the inner circle place the female part,
or pistil, with the seed-organ, or ovary, at
the base, the pillar, or style, in the middle,
and the summit, or stigma, on the top.
Always begin the examination with the
outer circle.

It will sometimes happen, that all the
parts belonging to the five circles will not
be found ; but after a little experience, it
will be easy to distinguish whether it be
the calyx, or corolla, or any other part,
which is wanting to complete all the cir-
cles.

The twelve terms having been perfectly
understood, as well as the order in which
the parts of the flower are placed on the
five circles, the learner may now be in-
structed how to find the class in which any
flower is ranked by Linnfeus. These classes
with their orders, are founded, among other
facts, upon the different numbers and situa-
tions of the male and female organs in the
flowers of plants. And here we have a
wonderful instance of the economy of na-
ture in assimilating plants to animals. At
the very moment that the anthers of the male
organs burst, and emit their pollen, the fe-

FAMILIAR BOTANY.

267

male pistil is ready to receive it. The
atoms of the pollen strike root, as it were,
upon the stigma; their influence is trans-
mitted down the style to the ovary, the seeds
swell and perfect themselves, and the pro-
cess is completed. Thus it is that we cross
the breeds of flowers, vegetables, and fruit,
and very often bring about valuable im-
provements. To illustrate the twenty-four
Linnaean classes, we give the following
figures of those parts of flowers which brings
each into its respective class :

The parts of the flowers here represented,
only show the peculiar feature which brings
each into its proper place.

The first grand division of the Linnaean
system, consists of those plants with con-
spicuous flowers, and the organs of fructifi-
cation evident. In the first fifteen classes,
the stamens are not united, and the flowers
are bisexual. .In the 16th, 17th, and 18th
classes, the stamens are united by the fila-
ments. In the 19th class, the stamens are
united by the anthers into a cylinder. In
the 20th class, the stamens are attached to,
and stand upon the pistil. In the 21st, 22d,
and 23d classes, the flowers are of distinct
sexes ; and in the 24th, and last class, the
only one in the second grand division, the
flowers and parts of fructification are not
evident.

Class I — Monandria. — Flowers with one male
organ, or stamen; such as red-spurr, arrow-root,
eanna, marsh, samphire, &c.

Class II — Diandkia. — Flowers with two male
organs, or stamens ; such as veronica, jasmine, li-
lac, rosemary, &c.

Class III — Triandria. — Flowers with three
male organs, or stamens ; such as valerian, gladi-
olus, iris, &c.

Class IV — Tetrandria. — Flowers with four
male organs, or stamens; such as dogwood, gali-
um, holly, box, &c.

Class V — Pentandria. — Flowers with five
male organs, or stamens ; such as solanum, prim-

rose, forget-me-not, convolvulus, vine, gooseberry,
currant, violet, &c.

Class VI — Hexandria. — Flowers with six male
organs, or stamens; such as narcissus, tulips,
snowdrops, hyacinths, berberis, 8ic.

Class VII — Heptandria. — Flowers with seven
male organs, or stamens ; such as the horse chest-
nut, &c.

Class VIII — Octandria. — Flowers with eight
male organs, or stamens ; such as heaths, Fuch-
sias, nasturtian, Stc.

Class IX — Enneandria. — Flowers with nine
male organs, or stamens; such as laurel, rhu-
barb, &c.

Class X — Decandria. — Flowers with ten male
organs, or stamens; such as rhododendron, bap-
tisia, hydrangeas, carnations, pinks, &c.

Class XI — Dodecandria.— Flowers with fweZve
to nineteen male organs, or stamens ; such as sem-
pervirum, mignonette, &c.

Class XII — Icosandria. — Flowers with an in-
definite number of male organs, or stamens, but
usually twenty, inserted in the calyx ; such as the
apple, pear, peach, bramble, &c.

Class XIII .— Polyandria.— Flo .vers with twen-
ty or more male organs, or stamens, inserted in
the receptacle, (or supporting pa t of the fructifi-
cation;) such as the ranunculus, poppy, anemone,
columbine, &,c.

Class XIV — Didynamia. — Flowers with two
male organs, or stamens, of one length, and two
of another length, that is, two long and two short :
such as digitalis, lavender, marjoram, balm, &c.

Class XV — Tetradynaia. — Flowers with six
stamens, or male organs, four of them long, and
two short ; such as sea-kale, mustard, cabbage,
wall-flower, &c.

Class XVI — Monadelphia. — ^Flowers with ma-
ny stamens, or male organs, united by the fila-
ments in one body ; such as malva, laburnum, tiger
flower, furze, camellia, hollyhock, 8cc.

268

FAMILIAR BOTANY.

Class XVII — Diadelphia. — Flowers with the
stamens, or male organs, united by the filaments
into txoo bodies ; such as fumitory, milkwort, clo-
ver, tares, peas, beans, &c.

Class XVIII — Polyadelphia. — Flowers with
the stamens, or male organs, united by th^ fila-
ments into more than two bodies, usually three;
such as oranfre and lemon trees, hypericum, &c.

Class XIX — Syngenesia. — Fl iwers with the
stamens, or male organs, united by the anthers into
a tube; such as dandelion, hawkweed, thistle,
groundsel, marygold, &,c.

Class XX — Gynandria. — Flowers with the
stamens ov male organs 6, resting upon and attach-
ed to the -pistil, ox female organs, a; such as the
lady's slipper, orchis, &c.

Class XXI— Moncecia. — Flowers, both male
and /ema/e on the sa7ne plant,— the male flowers
having no pistils, the female flowers no stamens ;
such as the begonia, oak, walnut, beech, pine, cu-
cumber, larch, &c.

Class XXII — Dkecia. — The male and female
flowers on different plants ; such as the poplar,
bryony, mistletoe, hemp, hops, &c.

Class XXIII — Polygamia. — In this class the
flowers are either only male, or female, or hath
united in the same flower, that is male and female
flowers, on the same, or on difTerent plants, along
with hermaphrodite ones; such as the common
ash, sycamore, fan-palm, sensitive plant, &c.

CtAss XXIV — Cryptogamia. — Flowers with
the reproductive organs scarcely visible, — of course

the flowers are not apparent ; such as seaweeds,
moss, ferns, lichens, mushrooms, &c.

We have now enumerated the classes of Lin-
nasus with their examples, and shall, as briefly
as possible, do the same with the orders in each
class.

Orders. — As the classes are formed chiefly
from the number of the stamens in the flower, (es-
pecially in the first thirteen classes,) so the orders
are formed principally from the number of the styles,
viz., Monogynia, (one female,) style one. Di-
gynia, styles two. Tryginia, styles three. Te-
tragynia, styles four. Pentagynia, styles five.
Hexagynia, styles six. Heptagynia, styles seven.
Octogynia, styles eight, &c. Polyginia, styles nu-
merous.

Here are thirteen classes, and each has one or-
der, referable to the number of the styles or female
organs.

The 14th class has two orders; the first is called
Gymnospermia, (a naked seed.) Seeds naked, not
inclosed in a capsule. Example, Lamium. The
second is called Angiospermia, (a seed vessel.)
Seeds inclosed in a capsule. Example, Digita-
lis.

The 15th class also contains <wo orders ; first,
Siliquosa, (a long pod.) Pods long, as in Sina-
pis and Brassica. Second, Siliculosa, (a short
pod.) Pods short, as in Lepidium and Biscw
tella.

The 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st, and 22d classes
have their order formed exactly upon the same prin-
ciples as in the formation of the class itself, that is,
from the number of the stamens ; as Monandria,
Diandria.Triandria, Telrandria,Pentrandria, Hex-
andria, &c.

The 19th class has five orders; first, Aqualis,
(equal.) Florets of the disk and ray, all herma-
phrodite. Second, Superflua, (superfluous.^ Flo-
rets of the disk, hermaphrodite, of the ray female.
Third, Frustranea, (in vain.) Florets of the disk
fertile, of the ray sterile. Fourth, Necessaria,
(necessary.) Florets of the ray female, of the
disk male. Fifth, Segregata, (separated.) Each
floret having its own peculiar involucum.

The 23d class has two orders, formed precisely
on the same principles as the 21st and 22d classes,
called MonoDcia and Dioecia.

The 24th class has nine orders, formed chiefly
from the reproductive organs. Of these, we shall
only give the names, and a few examples of each.
First, Filices, Ferns. Ex. Polypodium, Ophio-
glossum, &c. Second, Equisitaceas, Horsetails.
Ex. Equisitum. Third, Lycopodinese, Club-moss-
es. Ex. Lycopodium. Fourth, Marsileaceae. Ex.
Pilularia. Fifth, Musci, Mosses. Ex. Hypnum.
Sixth, Hepatieaj. Ex. Marchantia. Seventh,
Algee, Sea Weeds. Ex. Exillaria, Conferva.
Eighth, Lichenes. Ex. Lichens. Ninth, Fungi.
Ex. Agaricus, Clavaria, Morchella, &c.

This completes the outline we had in

CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA.

269

view, and presents to the reader's mind a
brief record of the structure of the Lin-
nasan system of botany. If this is studied,
and perfectly comprehended^ further pro-
gress will be easy, as a considerable amount
of fundamental knowledge will have been
obtained, which may be most usefully ap-
plied. It is vastly agreeable to be able to
appreciate the various modifications of or-
ganization that connect one tribe of plants

with another, and to understand the infi-
nite wisdom and beautiful simplicity of de-
sign, which are so visible in the vegeta-
ble world; the just appreciation of which,
through countless gradations of form, struc-
ture, and modes of existence, it should be
the constant aim of the botanist to demon-
strate.

Wm. W. Valk, m. D.

Flushing, L. I., Nov. 25, 1843.

NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA.

BY NOEL J. BECAR, NEW-YORK.

We have great pleasure in giving the fol-
lowing notes to the readers of the Horticul-
turist.

They are Avritten by a noted amateur cul-
tivator, N. J. Becar, Esq., who has the
finest private collection of this superb plant,
both as regards number of varieties and
beauty of specimens, to be found in the
United States.

The Camellia japonica has, indeed, been
the favorite plant of Mr. Becar for years.
His superb Camellia-house at Brooklyn, 100
feet long, and filled with specimens, so
admirably grown that they may be called
conservatory park-trees, when compared with
the ordinary ill-shaped /ores? growth of our
green-houses, presents, in midwinter, the
most glovving picture of exotic beauty that
it is possible to conceive. We counted,
last January, 120 flowers in bloom at once,
on a single plant of the Double White; and
there were many other sorts, scarcely less
remarkable for their unusual size and
beauty.

To Mr. Becar's long devotion to this
tribe of plants; and his great sagacity as a
practical cultivator, we ascribe the remarka-

ble perfection of his plants. Our readers
will observe that his directions are strikingly
simple, and free from the quackery of some
of the old-school cultivators. It is, how-
ever, the simplicity of experienced skill —
which knows what is really essential — that
simplicity, at once so rarely found, and so
valuable when found. Ed.

Dear Sir — Although I have had con-
siderable experience in the culture of this
noble plant — the Camellia, yet my course
of culture is so very simple that I fear I
cannot impart much, if anything, that would
interest the readers of your excellent jour-
nal. As, in your request, however, you de-
sire "rough notes" of my mode of treat-
ment, I comply with pleasure, hoping that
you may be able to glean from my remarks
something that will interest the readers of
the Horticulturist.

I will commence with the soil, as I deem
that a most important point, in the cultiva-
tion of the Camellia.

About midsummer I procure, from an
old pasture or common, some rich loamy
soil, or rather sods, 1^ or 2 inches thick.
This I place in a heap, fully exposed to

270

CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA.

the sun and air, until the grass is killed,
and the sods are sufficiently rotten for use,
which will be in about two months. The
sods are then removed under a shed, and
kept dry, so as to be fit for use at any sea-
son, I also procure, at the same time, some
leaf soil from the woods, well decomposed,
but light and " sweet." (I prefer the soil
taken from the surface, and from a part of
the woods where there is rising ground ;
as the leaf soil from a hollow is apt to be
sour and unfit for use.) This I place at
once under a shed, so as to keep it from
rains. These two soils constitute all the
materials for my Camellia compost, which
is as follows : equal parts of loam and leaf
soil for very young plants, (say from a mere
cutting-, up to six inches in height ;) and as
the plants increase in size, I increase also
the quantity of loajn, so that my largest
plants have two-thirds of loam and one-third
of leaf soil. I have formerly added to the
above f or y'^- of well rotted manure, with
good effect ; but finding that the manure
generated many worms in the pots, I re-
jected it. I now prefer, instead, guano-
water, used once a week, while the plants
are growing freely, say in April and May.
The proportion I employ, is one pound of
good guano to 15 gallons of water.

I ought to have mentioned, that before
mixing the loam with the leaf soil, the sods
are chopped iip fine with a spade ; but this
you would, of course, infer from the nature
of the operation. I prefer the soil mode-
rately coarse to having it too fine.

I have no particular rule for re-potting
my Camellias. Any intelligent amateur
or gardener will know, by the size of the
plants and roots, what sized pots they re-
quire. I re-pot my Camellias once a year,
except large plants, in very large pots or
tubs ; and the latter, once in two or three
years. I give them as much pot-room as

I think the roots will be able to encompass
during that time. If too much pot-room is
given, the soil does not dry as freely as
it should, and is liable to become sour,
which will inevitably destroy the roots, and
of course the health of the plants. On the
other hand, if too little pot-room is allowed,
the plants will grow weak, the foliage will
turn yellow, and the flowers will be small.
Both extremes should be avoided. Camel-
lias having very tender roots, they are very
liable to be injured by over watering, or
being kept too wet for a long time. It is,
therefore, important to have the water pass
freely through the pots ; and for that, good
drainage, with pot-shreds, is indispensable.

While I am yet on the subject of re-pot-
ting, I will add that I usually re-pot my
Camellias in the spring, just before they
begin to grow. I prefer the spring to the
fall for re-potting, for two reasons ; one is
that I have more leisure to devote to them
at this time ; and the other, and more im-
portant, is that when re-potted in the fall,
the buds are more liable to receive a check
and turn black, particularly on plants, the
balls of which require picking to extricate
the old soil. Plants that are well rooted
require no picking at the roots ; and so, can
be re-potted almost at any time without any
injury whatever.

When Camellias are re-potted in the fall,
their roots will reach the side of the pots by
the following spring, and are more exposed
to injury from our hot summer; but when
re-potted in the spring, the roots, not reach-
ing the sides of the pots so soon, are not so
exposed to the injurious effect. After sta-
ting so much, I will still add, that the choice
of the two seasons for re-potting is of course
a matter of opinion and convenience ; if
the plants are well treated, they will do
well whether re-potted in the spring or au-
tumn.

CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA.

271

I now come to another important point
in the management of the Camellia. This
is the watering, — on the proper manage-
ment of which will much depend the health
and vigor of the plants. No particular rule
can be laid down for watering ; it must de-
pend on the practical knowledge of the
amateur or gardener. There is, however,
no absolute difficulty about it. Good com-
mon sense, and due attention are all that
are requisite to perform with perfect suc-
cess this part of the management. Camel-
lias require to be freely watered when they
are growing. Partial watering should be
avoided. I mean by this, that when they
are watered, it should be done thoroughly,
so that the water will go through the pot,
and not on the surface only ; and hence
it is best not to water unless the plant
actually needs it; for if kept too wet
long, the soil will lose that sweetness which
the delicate roots of this genus always re-
quire.

The Camellia delights in a moist atmos-
phere; and for that reason, frequent syring-
ing of the leaves will greatly promote their
growth and vigor. I usually commence
syringing the top of the plants once a day
in the spring, when the plants begin to
grow, and that in the morning, when the
heat of the green-house is moderately warm.
I increase the syringing as the warm wea-
ther advances, so that they have two good
syringings every day (night and morning,)
in summer, when the weather is very hot
and dry. This not only promotes their
health, but it keeps off the insects, to which
the Camellia is liable, and especially that
great enemy and plague of the gardener —
the red spider. The syringing should be
decreased as the temperature becomes
cooler in the autumn, and should be avoid-
ed when the weather is very damp or very
cold. Light syringing in winter would be

very beneficial to the plants when the
house is sufficiently warm, say about tem-
perate (Fahrenheit,) and particularly so, as
the fires which are required in cold weather
are apt to make the air much too dry for
Camellias; but as the syringing would in-
jure the flowers, it is avoided during the
blooming season. To maintain, in some
measure, that moist air which is so conge-
nial to the Camellia, and which is lost by
the action of the fire, I sprinkle water upon
the pipes, flues and floors of the green-
house, and that usually in the morning.
After the hot fires of the night, the foliage
is very susceptible of dryness in the air ;
and as syringing cannot be used, on ac-
count of spoiling the flowers, the water
thrown on the pipes or flues creates a moist
air and dew, which, with the genial warmth
of the sun, greatly tend to invigorate the
plants and make them bloom freely.

I come now to the heat or temperature,
which the Camellia requires to grow and
bloom it to perfection. In this case, as in
many others, extremes are to be avoided.
This plant, in fact, requires uniformity of
temperature ; but our climate is so very
variable that it is almost impossible com-
pletely to define any rule on the subject.
In winter — say from the first of October to
the first of March — I endeavor, as much as
possible, to keep the temperature of the
Camellia-house from 48° to 60'^ [Fahren-
heit.] It will sometimes cross both lines ;
but in no case do I allow the glass to go
lower than 40° or higher than 65°. In
summer time, (or rather from 1st of March
to 1st of October,) the thermometer seldom
falls lower than temperate (60° ; ) but our
bright summer sun will cause the glass to
rise to 90° and upwards, and it cannot be
avoided. Some of the Camellias suffer
much from this great heat ; but, as a com-
pensation, we have flowers much raoiQ

272

A SIMPLE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES.

finely variegated than we should have with
a lower temperature. Such, at least, is rny
experience.

I keep my Camellias in the green-house
all the year round. Two reasons compel
me to this course : one is, that I have not a
suitable place for them out of doors ; the
other is, that I conceive that, if taken out of
the house in summer, they would be exposed
to the heavy rains, and frequently receive
much more water than is necessary for
their health ; and they would consequently
be liable to lose a portion of their roots. The
only inconvenience I experience in keeping
them in the house, during the summer
months, is their liability of being attacked
by the red spider; but they can be kept
free from that pest by frequent and power-
ful syringing.

If Camellias are kept out of doors in sum-
mer, (i. e., from l-5th of June to 15th of Sep-
tember,) a site should be selected against a
wall, hedge, or fence, (I mean on the north
side,) with an awning to shade them from
the sun the greater part of the day, say
from 8 A.*M. to 5 or 6 o'clock P. M. This
awning could also be used to great advan-
tage during long and heavy rains, in pro-
tecting the plants from excess of moisture

when water is not needed at their roots. I
have no doubt that, with these precautions,
namely, shelter from the sun, heavy rains,
and high winds, Camellias, under proper
treatment, will succeed just as well, if not
better, than those kept in the green-house
all the time.

I ought to mention that, early in the fall,
I usually thin out the buds of my Camellias,
on such plants as have too many, leaving
only one hud on each shoot, and that only on
the most prominent ones. This gives great-
er vigor to those which are left, and pro-
duces flowers of greatly increased size.

When it is desirable to have the Camel-
lia flower as early as practicable, I try to
keep a gentle heat in the green-house dur-
ing the autumn months, and I do not allow
the temperature to fall too low, so as to
check the sap, and cause the bud to be-
come black, and sometimes hard and scale-
like, so that they will not open; all of
which can be avoided by proper treatment
— that is, by guarding against all extremes
of temperature, and by attending to those
points respecting the watering, which I have
already noticed. Very respectfully yours,
Noel J. Becar.

New-York, Nov. 3, 1S48.

A SIMPLE MODE OF HEATING GREBN-HOUSBS.

BY A SUBSCRIBER, MONROE, MICHIGAN.

Dear Sir — I wish to give you my plan of
heating a green-house; and as it approaches
so near the " Polmaise" method, if it were
not that the principle has been adopted in
this section for a considerable time, might
be supposed to be only borrowed from the
"Polmaise."

Description. — A, solid cylinder of cast
iron, one-fourth of an inch thick, 20 inches

in diameter, and 4 feet 4 inches in length;
and for convenience in casting, the end, B
B, is left open ; after which, and before the
same is placed in the brick work, a front
of heavy sheet, or light boiler iron, is closely
fitted to the same, having two doors, C and
D, — one for wood, the other opening to the
ash-pit. E E, the grate. F, smoke pipe,
of cast iron, with an elbow, but all in one

A SIMPLE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES.

273

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:.,..^i^^:^........^

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J

I

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i-^

yTf

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1

piece, and a cement joint at G. H H, brick
work, surrounding the furnace, 4 inches
thick, (made tight by plastering both sides,)
except the front wall, which supports the
end of furnace ; this is 8-inch work. I I,
common stove pipe, leading to chimney at
such an angle as will prevent soot from
accumulating. J J, soot door for cleaning
the horizontal flue or smoke pipe. K K,
cast iron water tank, 20 inches wide, 4 feet
2 inches in length, and 5 inches deep, rest-
ing upon a projection in the brick work.
The length of the water pan, however, is
governed by the width of the air chamber
at M. N N N, sheet iron slides or covers,
resting upon the top of brick work, and by
moving these slides, the opening for the
hot air can be made of any width, or en-
tirely closed. O, a cast iron support for
the back end of stove, three-fourths of an
inch thick, standing on edge, which allows
the stove to expand in length or contract,
without displacing any part of the work.
The bottom of the air chamber is on a
level with the floor of the green-house.

The stove and fixtures, placed in the
middle of, and not at the end of the house.
Two supply drains, P P, conduct the cold
air from both ends of the house ; these are
made of well seasoned plank, air tight, 16
nches square, and placed directly under
Vol. III. 18

the plant ranges, four inches above the
floor. As they approach the furnace, they
are contracted in depth but increased in
width, till entering the air chamber, they
are nearly as wide as the length of the stove.

The wood work of the supply drain only
reaches the brick work, which is here sup-
ported by an iron bar, with a single brick
under its centre, as a support. On the in-
side, within the air chamber, are small
piers of brick work, six inches high, extend-
ing nearly under the centre of the stove, on
the top of Avhich is placed two pieces of
sheet iron, that the cold air may be con-
ducted directly under the centre of the
stove.

I think this plan, in some respects, pre-
ferable to the Polmaise. My supply drains
are kept upon the surface ; the air within
growing warmer as it approaches the fur-
nace, instead of getting colder, as in the
Polmaise plan, by descending so far be-
neath the surface, and away from the influ-
ence of the heated air of the house.

If the air in the air-chamber, around the
stove and its pipe, becomes much heated,
as it does, it must rise if the slides, N N,
are drawn apart. This calls for a new
supply, which can only be furnished by the
drains. Every degree of heat that can be
retained in the air of the drain, as it ap-

274

A FEW WORDS ABOUT HEDGES.

preaches the furnace, is certainly so much
saved, requiring less heat from the stove to
raise it to a proper temperature. I believe
it to be more simple, and cheaper in its
construction. There is no expansion of
any part by heat, that can in the least de-
gree affect the permanency of the structure.
There cannot the least quantity of deleteri-
ous gas escape through the brick work, (as
is possible in the Polmaise,) for there is
none that comes in contact with the fire.
With a differently constructed stove, coal
may as well be used as wood. But here,
as in many parts of country, wood is much
the cheapest ; and as it can be used market
length, or four feet long, and of almost any
size, there is no expense in preparing it for
the stove.

A friend of mine has suggested the pro-
priety of covering the top of the stove, and
half down its sides, with 4-inch brick work ;
believing it will throw out its heat with
much greater regularity.

Would it not have this effect ? And
would there be anything lost or gained
in communicating the necessary heat to

this additional quantity of brick and mor-
tar? A SUBSCKIBEB.

Monroe, Michigan, Nov., 1848.

[This appears to be a clever application
of the same principle, in warming green-
houses, as that called the Polmaise. The
heat would be rendered more moderate and
steady, and, therefore, be less liable to injure
the plants, by having the stove partially, or
wholly covered with brick work.

We think it very important that a supply
of fresh air (from out of doors,) should also
be furnished to the hot-air chamber ; be-
cause, as our correspondent's apparatus is
now arranged, the only supply of air is
drawn from the interior of the green-house,
to be warmed ; as a necessary consequence,
there will be a deficiency of fresh and pure
air for the plants. This is easily obviated,
by having another cold-air drain, commu-
nicating with the open air, with a valve or
slide, so that it may be used whenever ne-
cessary. It may, indeed, always be opened
with great advantage when the temperature
of the house rises too high, or too rapid-
ly. Ed.]

A FEW WORDS ABOUT HEDGES.

BY P. W. R., NEW- YORK.

1 AM delighted with the Osage Orange, as
a hedge plant. When I was in Ohio, a
short time since, I saw several miles of this
tree, in all stages of hedge growth, from
plants six inches high to well grown hedges,
measuring seven feet in height. Its beau-
tiful, polished and glossy foliage, and
healthy, luxuriant growth attract the eye,
even at a distance. In fact. I have never
seen any hedge, except one of holly, (which
does not appear to thrive in the northern
states,) so handsome, taken altogether, as

the Osage Orange. It is also possessed of
most efficient means of defence, in its long
and sharp thorns; which, though they are
somewhat concealed by the leaves, make
themselves felt at the least approach of any-
thing " on the attack."

It is, perhaps, yet a question, precisely
how far north the Osage Orange will
thrive, as a hedge plant, — since it comes
originally from Arkansas.

I will state, however, that I have seen a
neat hedge of this tree in the grounds of

TRANSPLANTING TREES WITH BALLS OF EARTH.

275

John P. Cushing, Esq., near Boston. I un-
derstood, while there, that although the
Osage Orange, planted out as a tree, is not
quite hardy in the climate of Boston, yet,
as a hedge, it is found to be completely so.
This is, no doubt, owing to the short and
well-ripened growth of each year, upon
plants, so continually checked in their shoots
by clipping, and by being planted so near
each other as to prevent that sappy and re-
dundant growth, frequent in young single
specimens.

The Buckthorn hedges, about Boston,
are also very fine, — some of them eight or
ten feet high, very symmetrical, and very
regularly sheared. Some of them which I
saw, were about ten or twelve years old,
and were as strong as a wall, so that a
man might walk along on the top. This
plant is so very hardy, and will grow so
easily and well in all kinds of soil, high
or low, wet or dry, in the open sun, or un-
der trees, that it is very valuable.

I think justice has not been done, in
your journal, to the Privet, or Prim, for
hedgfes.

When a person wishes a neat division in
his pleasure grounds, or wants to enclose
his garden, or to make a neat low screen,
the Privet is one of the best plants in the
world. As it is absolutely devoid of thorns,
it is nut, of course, fit for a fence or out-
side barrier. But as an ornamental hedge,
it is always pleasing, becoming green very
early in the spring, and retaining its foli-
age till near midwinter.

The ease with which this plant may be
propagated, or a hedge " got up," is also
one of its greatest recommendations. You
have only to plant a row of cuttings, six
inches apart, in the early spring. Almost
every slip will take root, and no further
care is requisite, except clipping once a
year. The trimmings of an old Privet
hedge, of 50 feet long, taken in March or
April, and planted, will set many hundred
feet of new hedge. I think the neat dark
green foliage of the Privet is always agreea-
ble to the eye ; and few plants are hardier,
or more easily cultivated. Yours respect-
fully- P. W. R.

Nete-Yori:, Nov., 184S.

TRANSPLANTING TRSrS WITH BALLS OF EARTH.

BY AN ARBORICULTURIST, PHILADELPHIA.

Sir — This is the proper season for this
operation ; and those of your readers who
are not familiar with it, it may be well to
remind that it is the most perfect and com-
plete way of transplanting ever practiced
in a northern climate.

Trees of large size may be transplanted
jn this mode with great success ; and it is
almost the only mode in which the opera-
tion can be carried on successfully, in this
climate.

Many are, no doubt, somewhat acquaint-

ed with the modus operandi of " balling" a
tree. It is, of course, undertaken in frosty
weather ; not so cold that your hands can-
not work in the day time, but cold enough
to freeze very- sharply at night. You be-
gin at some distance from the tree to open
the trench, and carefully, and gradually
undevjnine the roots, so as to preserve the
ball of earth as entire as possible. If ne-
cessary, it may remain in this state for
days, — till the weather is cold enough to
freeze the ball quite firm, so that it will

276

ON GRAFT-BUDDING.

bear rolling or lifting out of the hole with-
out falling to pieces.

Of course you will have the holes dug,
and made ready to receive the tree, before-
hand, so that when you have the latter on
the spot, there may be no obstacle to lower-
ing the ball at once into its new bed.

I say "lowering;" and this leads me to
remark, that a very great assistance in
transplanting "balled" trees is a common
ship's block, (or pulley,) fastened at the top
of three stout sapling poles, set on the
ground so as to form a triangle, or three-
legged frame, in the same way as seamen
and others use it for lifting weights. By
bringing this pulley and frame over the
tree, (the block should be one of the largest
size, so as to hold a strong rope,) you may

fasten the rope round the ball or trunk, and
thus assist very much in lifting it out of
the hole, and placing it on the sled or
" stone-boat."

The operation is best and easiest per-
formed when there is a light coat of snow
on the ground ; for then a very heavy tree
may be carried, on a sled, with a large
ball of earth, by a couple of pairs of oxen.

I have succeeded in moving hemlocks,
(which are, I think, usually thought rather
shy of transplanting,) 25 feet high, and
with trunks IS inches in circumference,
with great success. They scarcely changed
colour the next season, and are now in the
finest condition. I am, sir, yours.

An Akboricultueist.

Philadelphia, Nuv., 1848.

ON GRAFT-BUDDING— A NEW AND SUCCESSFUL MODE.

BY DR. A. H. PECK, PORT GIBSON, MISS-

A. J. DoAVNiNG, Esq. — Dea?- Sir : I take so
much pleasure in studying your " Fruit
and Fruit Trees of America," that I would
gladly thank you, in person, for your la-
bors.

In looking over your remarks on budding
and grafting, I find that the American
shield, or T budding, is preferred, and very
justly too, over the European mode. Having
great fondness for horticulture, I have prac-
ticed different modes a good deal ; and I
venture, at the present moment, to draw
your attention to my method of graft-
budding, for it partakes of the nature of
both these operations.

This mode of budding, or grafting, dif-
fers from others, in being performed only
when the bark peels. It is performed, so
far as regards the stock and the incisions
made, in the same way as common, or T

budding, bearing in mind the relative size
of the scion and the stock. It may be per-
formed as long as the bark will peel easily,
and you can get crown scions ; (scions on
which the terminal bud is formed.)

Take the scions from a bearing tree, if
you desire fruit speedily. And here I will
remark, that the crown (terminal) end of
the scion is far preferable for this mode to
the lower, or middle part, which is recom-
mended in all other forms of grafting. If
the middle part of the scion is used, and it
takes, it is very apt to lay dormant, and
finally, the next spring, disappoint your ex-
pectations by dying. The crown scion al-
most invariably takes ; it may lay dormant,
but seldom fails to bud forth in the spring.

Having the scion in readiness, make the
T incision in the bark of the stock ; but
open only the up^er edges of the bark with

CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BLACK WARTS OF THE PLUM TREE.

277

your budding knife. Hold the scion in
your left hand by the upper or crown end.
With your knife make a clean sloping cut
at the lower end, of about an inch in length,
leaving a thin lower edge, with the bark
projecting a little over the wound ; (two or
three buds besides the crown bud should be
left above the slope.) Insert this prepared
lower end of the scion into the incision,
press it carefully down — it will separate
the bark as it goes — until it reaches the
lowest point of the T incision ; the bark,
embracing it tightly, will add to its support.
Nov/ bind the wounded part of the stock,
from below upwards, with a coarse woolen
yarn ; if the stock is over three inches in
diameter, a double ligature is preferable.
The after treatment, (heading down the
stock, &c.,) is the same as in budding, with
this exception; if all the shoots put forth,
trim down to one or more, as you please.
The growth of the first season may be three
feet ; but owing to its tendency to reas-
sume the true shape, that is, to form at

once a branching head, it is retarded in
height, unless the side shoots are shortened.

Graft-budding appears to me to have ad-
vantages over all other forms. I find it
more certain, as well as more easily per-
formed, than any mode of grafting ; and,
at least in this climate, it may be practiced
seven months of the year, or whenever the
bark will peel, and you can get scions with
crown buds. If it fails, it does not render
unsightly the appearance of your tree, as
in cleft-grafting. It can be performed in
one minute of time, and without wax or
grafting clay.

It is generally adopted by those to whom
I have imparted it, in preference to any
other method. Indeed, some of my ama-
teur friends will take any spur and insert
it successfully in this style. With much
esteem, yours, A. H. Peck, m. d.

Port Gibson, Miss-, Oct. 7th, 1843.

P. S. I wish I could hand you a ripe
pomegranate, now before me, six inches
(either way,) in diameter.

CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BLACK "WARTS OF THE PLUM TREE.

BY F. WESTON, OF SANDY HILL, N. Y., AND PROFESSOR HARRIS, OF CAMDRIDGE, MASS.

The following letter, addressed to us by
one of our correspondents, and covering a
small branch which had been attacked by
some insect, we forwarded, with its con-
tents, to Dr. Harris, the well known ento-
mologist.

The writer, Mr. Weston, conceives that
the black warts or knots, so troublesome to
plum cultivators in some parts of the coun-
try, are the result of insect attacks.

It will be seen that Prof. Harris does
not incline to this opinion. We are, also,
led to think it more probable, from recent
observations, that these warts are caused

by a disease of the sap vessels, and have
found a wash of copperas-ioater a pretty
effectual remedy, after cutting out the dis-
eased parts. Ed.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir : I take
the liberty of enclosing to you a small por-
tion of a branch of a plum tree, in which is
distinctly to be seen the insect which causes
" the knots," so destructive to that tree in
some parts of the country.

I do it for the purpose of furnishing to
you the evidence, upon which you can settle
the question which has for a long time been
discussed by pomologists, but never has.

278

CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BLACK WARTS OF THE PLUM TREE.

(unless very lately,) been determined to the
entire satisfaction of all.

The tree, from which the enclosed piece
was taken, is young, and was brought last
spring from one of the nurseries at New-
burgh. The variety is " Smith's Orleans."
It may be not unimportant, in this connec-
tion, to state that " the warts," or " canker,"
made its appearance in this garden some
few years since, attacking first one tree and
then another; no remedy having been ap-
plied, from the supposition that it was "a
disease," and not to be cured, until finally
every plum tree on the premises perished ;
since which time, no trees have been grow-
ing here or in the immediate neighborhood.

I have just now commenced the cultiva-
tion anew, with the trees above spoken of,
and have paid pretty close attention to them
through the summer. A few days since,
I discovered upon a small branch of a tree,
of the " Bleecker's Gage," a small exuda-
tion of gum; and, upon examination, I
found it to be an embryo "wart." I cut it
off, at once, and burned it. Yesterday I
discovered the enclosed, — the deposit of
gum being as large as the half of a Mar-
rowfat Pea, perhaps. I determined to exa-
mine it for myself, without any very great
hopes, however, of being able to make a
discovery of that which had so long escaped
the observation of some, at least, of our
most scientific pomologists.

Upon removing the gum, and opening
the branch cut off, I was astonished to see
clearly and distinctly the part affected, filled
with small white grubs, which you will be
able to see, unless they shall have perished
before this reaches you. It appears to me
highly probable, that they remain two years
in the tree before they undergo their final
transformation ; as it seems impossible that
they should be able, in the brief space of
mild weather of this season, and the spring

months of the next, to produce tliose im-
mense excrescences which appear finally
upon the trees attacked. But of this fact,,
you are the best judge.

I hope you will pardon me for troubling
you, if you shall have, before this, made
the discovery satisfactorily; and if not, the
importance of the subject will, I trust, be a
sufficient apology. I am, sir, with great
respect, your ob't serv't,

Fbed'k Weston.

Sandy Hill, N. Y., lith Oct., 1848.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: Agreea-
bly to your request, I have examined the
plum tree twig, enclosed in your letter of
the 20th instant. The piece is nearly one
quarter of an inch in diameter. There is
a wound on the surface, one inch long, in
a longitudinal direction, caused by a series
of punctures, passing obliquely downwards
and penetrating the pith. By splitting the
twig, I have ascertained that these punc-
tures or perforations w ere twenty-three in
number, arranged in two contiguous rows,
and alternating with each other; there be-
ing twelve perforations in the one, and
eleven in the other row. Each of these
perforations contained a cream-coloured
egg, of a cylindrical form, rounded at the
ends, and about one-tenth of an inch long.
Many of the eggs were destroyed in split-
ting open the twig; but several of them
still remain within the holes, drilled for
their reception. All of them appear to
have perished without hatching; perhaps
because the twig was too soon cut from the
tree. The whole surface of the twig,
around the wound, is covered with a
glazing, like the white of an egg. The
drilling of the holes has, in a singular
manner, loosened and furred up the fibres
of the wood, portions of which project
around the orifices, where, however, they

A VISIT TO THE BEST FRENCH VINEYARDS.

279

are more or less covered and concealed by
the glazing before named.

All this is, doubtless, the work of one
insect — a female Cicada; but whether of
the species commonly called " the seven-
teen-year locust," or of some other species,
is unknown to me; and I can only add,
that the perforations and eggs are similar
to those that I have seen produced by the
former insect.

You are aware, perhaps, that the Cicada
grubs, as soon as they are hatched, drop
voluntarily from the trees, burrow in the
ground, and attach themselves, by their
little beaks, to the roots, upon the juices
of which they subsist. Miss Morris, of
Germantown, Penn., has made some inte-
resting observations on their habits in the
grub state, [see Hort., vol II, p. 15,] and
finds them to be very injurious to the trees
whose roots they attack. You will find a
pretty full account of the Cicada septemde-
cim in my Treatise on Insects injurious to
veo-etation.

Whether the punctures of this or of any
other species of Cicada will produce the
warty excrescences that disfigure the plum
tree, must be determined by further obser-
vation. Insects have repeatedly been found
in the plum tree warts; but 7iot invariably,
according to my experience. The plum
weevil often deposits in them, and occasion-
ally also the peach tree borer, as well as
another and smaller species of jEgeria.
Nevertheless, I incline to the opinion, main-
tained by the late Dr. Burnett, that the
warts are originally the result of disease.
It is here found that, by cutting them off
when small, and washing the wound with
strong brine, the disease will be arrested,
and the wound will finally heal.

I enclose the specimen, with the letter of
your correspondent, and remain.

My dear sir, very truly,
Your friend and servant,
Thaddeus Wm. Harris.

Cambridge, Mass-, Oct. 25, 1848.

A VISIT TO THB BEST FRENCH VINEYARDS.

BY H. W. SARGENT, OF WODENETHE, N. Y.

The following account of the vineyards of
Medoc, written by a neighbor and friend,
now abroad, and received by a late steam-
er, will greatly interest many of our read-
ers now engaged in the culture of the vine,
especially on the banks of the Ohio.

It is, we believe, pretty well established
now, that the peculiar adaptation of these
rocky and apparently sterile soils to the pro-
duction of fine wine, is owing to their con-
taining an abundance of the inorganic ele-
ments, (especially lime and potash,) so es-
sential to the perfection of the grape. For-
eign cultivators, however, so far as we

know, have never yet endeavored to im-
prove ordinary vineyard soils by the neces-
sary specific mineral manures. We hope
our intelligent cultivators at the west will
turn their attention to this. Ed.

I wrote 3^ou in the accompanying letter,
that we had visited pretty thoroughly the
wine districts, where I examined carefully
the soil, the vines, the grapes, — in fact,
lived in the atmosphere for some time, and
the following is the result of my inquiries,
assisted in the statistical parts by some
French works on the vine.

In the first place, I would premise that I

280

A VISIT TO THE BEST FREiSTCH VINEYARDS.

think the distinction of terms is not gene-
rally understood, in America, as regards
the generic name of these wines. For in-
stance, Medoc, which, if I am not mistaken,
is usually regarded as one variety only, of
the great class, Claret, — is, in fact, the
name which comprehends all the Bordeaux
varieties, as much as Madeira, or Xeres,
covers all thedifferent varieties of theirclass.

Medoc is, in fact, a long tongue of land,
running north from Bordeaux, between the
sea on one hand, the Garronne on the other,
and the River Gironde on the third, and is
called Medoc, (quasi medio aquce,) because
surrounded by water; it is nowhere over 1
to 2 miles wide, and elevated some 50 feet
above the river; it is, in fact, a bank of
gravel, entirely planted with vines, forming,
perhaps, the most precious vineyards in the
world.

The general character of the soil is a
mere light gravel. In fact, you would be
astonished to see the soil where the finest
grapes grow. It appears nothing but a
collection of round white pebbles, the size
of an egg, mixed with sand. It really
seems that the poorer the soil the better the
wine ; for the finer qualities are not pro-
duced from the most luxuriant vines, but,
on the contrary, from those of the most
stunted growth ; in fact, from a soil so
poor and stony that even weeds disdain to
grow in it. This is, however, I think, a
truth well known to grape growers in our
own country. But why never practiced
upon, I do not know. There seems to be
something very congenial to the vine in
the prolonged warmth, derived from soil of
this character; for, as the peasants very
quaintly say, " it works as well by night as
by day" — the stones retaining the heat long
after the decline of day.

What makes M^^doc peculiarly interest-
insT is, that the soil from which these deli-

cious wines are produced, is not a natural
one, but, like the lava soil on Mount Vesu-
vius, which produces the famous lachryma
Christi, owes its origin to some natural
convulsion. In fact, at Medoc the entire
ridge is evidently the debris of the Pyre-
nees, brought down by the annual over-
flowing of the Garronne, and the other
mountain streams, which for ages made
their yearly deposit of rubbish ; for it really
amounts to little else. Indeed, at 2 or 3
feet below the surface, the soil is so close
and hard that it is forced to be broken up
by a pick, otherwise the vine could not
grow ; as this mass, which they call " alios,''''
would be perfectly impenetrable to the fibres.

In Burgundy and Champagne, the vines
are almost exclusively trained to single
stakes, not over 3 feet high, or more than
2 feet apart. But in Medoc, I observed
they were generally trained to rude espa-
liers, which were supported by uprights,
certainly not over n to 2 feet high; con-
sequently, the entire vine receives the re-
flected heat from the soil. Manure, they
told me, is never used ; because, they said,
it destroys the fine flavor of the grapes, and
they seemed to consider it as injurious to
the vine, as excessive or standing water
was to the roots. A top dressing of light
soil is sometimes given, simply to cover
the roots, which are, strange to saj', laid
bare four times a year by the plough, drawn
by oxen. The latter, with astonishing care,
seem to have sufficient instinct to avoid
treading on the exposed fibres, although in
no cases are the vines over 2 feet apart.

They do not, usually, allow the vir.e to
bear before five years old, — at least, not
much ; but, once commenced, they are ex-
pected to do duty annually for, sometimes,
over 200 years, especially when they find
a congenial soil, in which case their roots
{pivoter) insinuate themselves 40 or 50

A VISIT TO THE BEST FRENCH VINEYARDS.

281

feet. The wines are classed, according to
their excellence, into {c7-i(.s) growths ; and
only a very small portion of Modoc is capa-
ble of producing ^'■premiers crus." Indeed,
here, as upon Prince Metternich's estate,
at Johannisbergher, the vine is equally ca-
pricious ; and you will find the finest wines
growing within six inches of the most dege-
nerate, although it is impassible to discover
the least difference in soil or cultivation.

The following is a list of the wine grown
in Medoc, with the average quantity of each
season. The tun contains four hogsheads,
called barriques.

1st Growth.

Chateaux Margaux, 140 to 160 tuns.

do Lafitte, 120 do

do Latour, 120 do

Haut Brion, 60 to 80 tuns.

2d Growth.

Mouton, (Lafitte,) 120 to 146 tuns.

Leoville, 145 to 186 tons ; (the best of

the St. Julian.)
Rauzan, (Margaux,) 75 to [95 tuns.
Then come La Rose, Pichon, Longueville,
Durport, Lascof?ibe, &c. — in all, 700 to 800
tuns. After these come the 3d, 4th, 5th
crus, which are produced in the vicinity of
the first rate vineyards, but without par-
taking of their excellence. All the best
year's products are exported to England,
the 2d best to Holland, and the inferior
retained in France. This is so well un-
derstood, that the proprietor of the vine-
yard La Rose used to hoist the English flag
on his house, in good years, the Dutch in
middling, and the French in inferior.

England consumes more than one-half
of the " premiers crus,^' and very little of
inferior sorts. Russia takes a good deal,
and Paris a little of the best. Holland con-
sumes most of the second quality, and the
third, anl vins ordlnaucs, are chiefly used
in France.

The impression that prevails in our coun-
try, that these light French wines are more
or less adulterated, or mixed with brandy,
is erroneous; it would spoil them. They are
sometimes foriified with Hermitage, or the
stronger Rhine wines. The great charac-
teristic of the Bordeaux wines, is their
boiK^idt [aroma,] whic!;i will penetrate
i\i'co\ig]x\\\Q'\T fortifications, unless improper-
ly mixed.

T!ie usual price of a genuine wine of the
'''premiers cr«5," is £o0 (per hogshead;)
duty, carriage, bottling, &c., run it up to
£30, — about 70 shillings sterling per doz.
The entire vintage of Chattait Margaux
has been sold on the spot for 1000 francs,
($200,) per hogshead. The annual produce
of M'-doc, each good year, is from 150,000
to 170,000 hogsheads : of which, perhaps,
6,000 go to England.

It is a very pretty excursion down the
river from Bordeaux, to visit the principal
vineyards, and may be made in a steamer
in six or seven hours ; and in September,
especiall}^, it is really a very gay and
charming sight ; for then, Medoc presents
a scene of bustle and rejoicing. The pro-
prietors, with their families and friends,
generally come out from Bordeaux to su-
perintend and have a frolic. Vignerons
pour in from all sides, like the Irish har-
vesters into England, and busy crowds of
men, women, and children, dance and sing,
and work in the vineyards from morning to
night. All mouldy, defective, or unripe
fruit is carefully picked off', and every road is
thronged with carts, loaded with tubs, filled
with " good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over," which the
patient oxen are dragging to the press-
house.

The latter, like our cider mills in New-
England, is usually in some out-house, like
a barn, and always presents a scene of

282

A VISIT TO THE BEST FRENCH VINEYARDS.

great merriment; for upon a square wooden
trough stand four or five men, with bare
and juice-stained legs, dancing and tread-
ing out the grapes to the music of a violin;
the latter instrument forming an essential
part of every well ordered vineyard. As
these grapes are all purple, it is a very odd
sight to see these dancers performing a
fandango, or 'pas de quatre, stained as they
are from head to foot, in the blood of the

grape.

The next process is (with an instrument
called derapoir,) that of stripping the broken
skins and grapes from the stalk, and pour-
ing the juice into vats to ferment. The
skins rise to the top, and the wine, after
fermentation, is drawn off from below, in
the same way as in Grand Duke of Tus-
cany's dairy, near Florence, where the milk
is drawn away from beneath without the
cream knowing it, and not skimmed off
from above as with us.

About 20 miles from Bordeaux we passed,
at a distance, the Chateau Margaux, — the
handsomest in Medoc. It is built some-
what like an Italian villa, and belongs to
the heirs of the banker, Aguado. It is un-
healthy, however, and rarely inhabited.
The Margaux Grape is small, and, to me,
its flavor is positively disagreeable. The
village of Margaux is a pretty, picturesque
little place, with its white villas, green
hedges, and trellised vines.

After passing Blaye, where the Duchesse
DE Berri was confined in 1833, in an old cas-
tle, you come to Becheville, where there is
a nice chateau, belonging to M. Gues-
TiER, the greatest wine merchant in France.
Here commence and finish, within six miles,
the most celebrated vineyards of Medoc.
Chateau Leoville, (producing the best second
growth,) and also la Rose, the Chateau La-
tour, in the parish of St. Lambert, one and
a half miles off. This last estate or vine- i

3^ard does not exceed 330 acres, and was
sold, not long since, for £60,000, ($300,000.)

I think the next and last vineyard is Cha-
teau Lafitte, belonging to Sir Samuel Scott.
It is small, and makes from 300 to 400
hogsheads. All this is a very interesting
journey to one, curious in this most ancient
agricultural occupation, or fond of these
pure and excellent French wines.

I think you would be struck with the
severe priming which the vines receive
every year, and the constant " stopping"
during the season. The vineyards them-
selves, partly from the very careful culture,
but also from the very poor soil, are entirely
free from weeds ; and you rarely see a
straggling or redundant vine. Indeed, they
are always full of women and children, who
pinch off a pushing shoot without the slight-
est compunction.

I will add, before closing, a word on the
present degenerate state of the fruit mar'
kbt of Europe. I as.^ure you it is impossi-
ble to procure, on the continent, such a
display of fruit as you or I often have on
our tables at home. Mr. L (of Bos-
ton,) and myself have searched all the mar-
kets, as well as Yergs, Les trois Freres,
Cafe de Paris, etc.; but we find no pears,
except Duchesse d' Angouleme and Brown
Beurri, — magnificent, certainly, in size and
fairness, but deficient in flavor. There are
no grapes but Chasselas [de Fontainbleau;)
these only average, in size of bunch and
berry, the best of Underhill's Isabellas.
The climate being sufficiently mild to ad-
mit of these being grown out of doors,
nobody thinks of forced grapes. Even the
late king had not a vinery, now a compara-
tively common luxury in the United States.
Indeed, about Paris, one sees no forced
fruit. Everything is grown by field or gar-
den culture. Yours sincerely, H. W". S.

Paris, 27th October, 1848.

NOTES ON FORCING PLUMS.

283

NOTES ON FORCING PLUMo.

Translated from the German, by J. W. KNEVELS, Fishkill Landing, N. Y.

The following account, translated from Lie-
geVs Anlietung zur Kentricss der Pjlaic7nen.,
a standard German work on Pomology,
may not attract many of our readers on the
Hudson, where the finest plums are so
easily grown, but it is interesting as illus-
trating the fruit-culture of Germany. Our
intelligent fruit-growing readers will not,
however, allow to escape them the hint
thrown out by Liegel as to the admirable
effects of brewers^ grains, applied as a top-
dressing to the plum. It is quite new to us,
and deserves a trial in open culture. — Ed.

Forcing is the term we apply to the has-
tening the maturity of fruits, by artificial
heat. This is effected by placing trees in
pots, during winter or spring, in heated
apartments; or covering trees on walls, by
sashes, ("with or without flues;") or, last-
ly, by planting them in glazed structures.
The latter is the most usual and profitable
mode.

Forcing trees, however, requires a great
deal of attention, industry and experience,
so as not to give too little or too much heat,
or keep them too moist or too dry. In
general, the same rules apply to forcing
plums, as in forcing other fruits. During
their blossoming, the heat must not be
sufficient to sink below 6 to 8 degrees,
(Reaumur,) nor to rise above 15 to IS de-
grees; only towards the time of ripening,
should any higher temperature be applied.
At this period, (while in flower,) be careful
that they do not receive too much water;
especially avoid giving a great deal at once,
otherwise not only the blossoms, but even
the fruit itself, in an advanced stage, will
drop. You should therefore give water
every day, according to circumstances, but
never much at a time, for too much moisture

will produce a yellowness of the leaves,
and mouldiness at the roots, aTid finally the
death of the tree. When the leaves and
branches of a tree standing in the sun, be-
gin to droop, this is a sign that it hns been
kept too dry. Notwithstanding, be not too
parsimonious with your watering, for the
Plum bears moisture better than any other
fruit tree, and you may therefore give it
a plentiful showering, in the morning of
bright summer days.

If your trees are in tubs or pots, it is
requisite to give them proper nutriment.
Brewers' grains [malz-keirn) are best for the
purpose, as the experience of many years
has taught me. It is a strong and lasting
manure, and gives large, perfect, and splen-
did fruit. At first, when you commence
forcing, take a large handful of these
grains and scatter it over the surface of the
earth in your tubs ; it will soon form a sort
of crust, which must be broken up. In the
course of two or three months it will have
generally disappeared, mingling in its de-
cay with the soil, when another handful
may be added. It is hardly conceivable
what great effect so trifling a quantity has
upon the fruit. Your trees, in pots, will
send out shoots such as are seldom seen,
even from trees in the open ground, and
the fruit will also attain a state of high
perfection.

The question now presents itself, " What
varieties shall we select for forcing ?" Since
forcing fruits, in Germany, is generally
practiced only in the establishments of the
nobility and gentry, and to add to the splen-
dor of the table, such plants are to be
chosen especially as are early, large, and
of varied tints; and as there are in a
forcing-house no frosty nights, no drench-

284

NOTES ON FORCING PLUMS-

ing showers, no excessive heat or drouth,
to injure the blossoming or setting of the
fruit, they consequently bear in huge clus-
ters, presenting a charming scene to every
beholder.

The Rel Imperial, [Red Magnum Bonum]
called also the "Early Forcing," is found
in every forcing-house, being easily grown
and bearing the knife well. The fruit is
large, prune-like, of a reddish-blue, and
good quality. The Lnpe/ial Violette is also
large and handsome, of a reddish-blue,
ripening rather later than the former, but
surpassing it in flavor ; they both bear every
operation in forcing kindly, and the fruit
hangs on well. The Yelloio Early Fru7ie
is earlier, however, than either : bears in
superabundance, in huge chisters, and the
fruit is a real ornament to the fruit-basket.
The "Monsieur" [Orleans] is still earlier:
a round, blue, rather small, but good fruit.
But the Johannes Pfiaume, Prune de St. Jean,
[Jaune Hative ? — Ed.] is best of all adapt-
ed to forcing ; being one of the earliest
plums bearing in quantities, patient of
pruning, and not at all sensitive to changes
of temperature. Not so La Royale de Tours,
an early, large, round, violet-blue, and
capital fruit. The Normand Perdrigon de-
serves forch'^g, particularly on account of
its beauty: it bears abundantly, and is by
no means tender, but ripens late. The
Red Prime may also be forced, as it repays
our attention, for the beauty of its colours.
The Violet Perdrigon, and the Variegated
Perdrigonnxe extremely handsome, and very
good plums. The Yellow Mirabelle and the
True Earhj Prune are something later, but
very excellent fruits. The last named de-
serves one of the best places in your house.
All plums, in fact, may be pruned. The
prunes, however, bear the knife better than
the true plums, which in general throw
out strong, thick, pithy summer shoots.

These trees should not be forced two
years in succession ; nor is it advisable to
force trees just potted, as they are very apt
to drop their fruit. One should, therefore,
always have on hand a supply of trees in
pots a year or two in advance, and such as
show plenty of fruit-buds.

The cultivation of plum trees in pots in
the open air, is also a source of enjoyment,
as they blossom readily. But the blossoms
should be protected from rain and cold
nights, of which they are very intolerant,
and from which they must be protected if
you expect gratification from their fruiting.
I have set tall stakes alongside the tree,
over which were thrown rafters to support
shutters, which rendered good service the
whole season, since the rain occasions the
falling of the fruit, prematurely cracks them,
and also renders them vapid and tasteless.
These covers are taken off in fine weather.
They are indispensable to all fruit trees, and
without them you can never be quite success-
ful and certain of enjoying a fine crop. In-
stead of wooden covers, straw or rush mats,
or canvass awning may be made use of. Of
course the laying on and tailing off' these
covers, throughout the year, occasion a good
deal of trouble, but one is well rewarded
for the pains. Consider what infinite toil
and attention the florist expends on his fa-
vorites, which only gratify the eye and
olfactory nerves ; whilst fine fruit, together
with these, excites the palate, also, most
exquisitely. Should you have no fit place
under shelter, to set your pots during winter,
they may be drawn out and laid in, in the
open ground. In the spring they are to be
repotted ; first shortening in their roots,
shaking off' the old and adding new, rich
earth, which does not impede their fruiting,
as the stock of the root adheres to a hall
of earth.

Fishkill Landing, N. Y., Nov. 1848.

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.

285

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.
BY "AN OLD DIGGER."

Grafts may be cut now, as vvell as later
in the winter, if more convenient to you.
Keep them in a cool place, half-buried in
earth or sand, till you want them. If not
wanted till spring, bury them out of doors,
with only a couple of inches of the points
expcsed, and throw two or three inches of
litter over them.

Strawberry beds will produce good crops
in open winter quarters, in the Northern
States ; but they will bear much better ones,
and much larger fruit, if you cover them
lightly with straw, salt-hay, or stable litter;
otherwise you are likely enough, in stiff
soils, to find half the plants dead or injured
by being " thrown out in the spring.

You may transplant, all winter, when the
ground is not frozen — only take care not to
e.Kpose the roots to frost while not covered
with soil. In winter-planting, it is best to
pile up a mound of earth 6 or 8 inches
around the trunk of the tree. This keeps
it steady, and protects it, partially, against
severe frost.

If you are very anxious to be cheated,
send to some nursery that modestly informs
the public of its immense superiority over
every other establishment in the world ; or
that offers hundreds of varieties of " splen-
did, pre-eminent, and delicious " fruits, not
to be found elsewhere — or that challenges
competition for accuracy. Where there is
so much modesty in boasting, there must be
great difiidence in sending you anything but
what the dealer knows to be first rate ; and
you must be aware, yourself, that there are
now hundreds oi first rate fruits. If you
send to a nursery for a new variety of tree
or plant, don't expect to see the plant as
high as your head, or the tree fit to bear a
bushel of fruit. Be content if it is healthy,

has a good root, and is a foot high. People
" in the trade," can't afford to send you
large trees, full of grafts or cuttings, of
sorts which are scarce as guineas, and
which have not been long enough in the
country to enable them to get more than
one year's growth. If you want "big
trees," order the good old standard sorts.

When a tree brought from a distance has
been a long while out of the ground, and
looks quite dried up, don't plunge it into a
tub of water ; that would be well-nigh as
fatal as giving a gallon at a single drink, to
a man nearly dead of thirst. Moisten the
roots, and after shortening the branches
severely, bury the lohole tree in the ground
for three or four da\s.

When you prune a small branch of a
tree, always see that a hid is left opposite
the cut ; this will help it to heal over
quickly : and you will assist the matter still
more, by making the cut always a slo-ping
one.

If you are obliged to plant trees in the
rich but worn-out soil of an old garden, and
you have not time nor means enough to cart
away part of the old soil and replace it
with new, you can renew its fertility b}-
throwing a part of it up in heaps, mixing
it with brush, faggots, saw-dust, or any sort
of cheap fuel, and burning it.

Don't let insects of various kinds over-
run your orchard or garden, and then lazily
fold your arms and saj', " it's no use, this
trying to raise things, now that so many
vermin are about." Spend three days, in-
dustriously, in the early stage of the mat-
ter, in putting down the rascals, and then
look around you and see if a little industry
is not better than grumbling.

If you want early vegetables, set your-

286

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.

self, in winter, about making some boxes
to protect them. A few cheap boxes, a foot
S'juare, with a pane of glass in the top, to
put over tender things at night, will cost
you but a trifle, and will give you ten days
start of the open ground.

To have good currants, gooseberries, or
raspberries, the old plants should be dug up
at the end of three or four good crops, and
their places supplied by young ones. If
you plant a few cuttings of the two former,
as you should do, every spring, you will
always have a supply of fresh plants ready
at all times : always cut out all the eyes
(buds) of a cutting, on that part which goes
in the ground — otherwise you will be
troubled by their coming up, year after
year, in the form of suckers.

If you have a tree that grows " apace,"
but won't bear, dig a tench round it, and
cut off a third of the roots. This will
check its growth, and set it about making
fruit-buds.

Never buy fruit trees in the " market-
places," of unknown venders, who have no
character to lose. You cannot tell hy " ex-
amining the article," whether they cheat
you or not ; and you get your tree at half
price, only to wish, when it comes to bear,
that you had gone to an honest dealer and
paid ten times as much, for something worth
planting. " Hog-Peach " trees are dearer
at a penny, than " George the Fourths" at
a dollar.

If you don't love flowers yourself, don't
quarrel with those who do. It is a defect
in your nature which you ought to be sorry
for, rather than abuse those who are more
gifted. Of what possible '-use" is the rain-
bow, we should like to know ? And yet a
wiser than you did not think the earth com-
plete without it.

Do not grudge the cost and labor neces-
sary to plant a few of the best shade-trees

round your house ; and if you have any
doubts about what to plant, stick in an elm.
There are few trees in the world finer than
a fine sweeping elm ; and two or three of
them will give even a common-looking
dwelling a look of dignity. If you plant
fruit trees, for shade, they are likely
to be broken to pieces for the fruit, and
they grow unsightly by the time that
forest trees grow spreading and umbra-
geous.

There are very few men whose friends
build so fair a monument to their memory;
as the3^ can raise with their own hands, by
planting an elm or a maple where it can
grow for a century, to be an ornament to
the country.

Don't be afraid to clip hedges, or cut-back
young trees, when you are planting them.
You gain more growth than you lose,
though you may not be able to comprehend
it till you have seen it with your own eyes.
Never work your ground in wet weather
if you can avoid it, as it makes it clod-like
and compact by forcing the air out. And
ridge up your kitchen garden ground be-
fore winter, so as to expose as much surface
as possible to the action of the frost.

Never lose an opportunity of getting so£?5
from the corners of old pastures, or the
breaking up of commons or meadows, where
they can be spared. Placed in heaps, and
rotted, they make excellent mould for ten-
der plants or trees ; placed in a pile and
burned, they form the best fertilizer for
roses and rare flowering plants.

Send a man about your neighborhood to
collect all the bones that are thrown away
as useless by persons ignorant of their
value. Put them in a large pot and pour
sulphuric acid and water over them, and
they will all turn to paste, and finally to
powder. This is the best possible manure
for pear trees and grape vines.

A COTTAGE IN THE SWISS STYLE.

PRIKCIPAL FLOOR

[Hon : December, 1843.

DESIGN FOR A COTTAGE— FOREIGN NOTICES.

287

DESIGN FOR A S^ATISS COTTAGE.

Our frontispiece for this month, presents
a view of an exceedingly pretty Swiss cot-
tage, designed by Mr. Penchard, architect,
Albany.

It is one of a number of ornamental cot-
tages, erected by E. P. Prentice, Esq., of
Mount Hope, near Albany, and which now
not only ornament a portion of his estate,
but form, with the grounds attached to
them, exceedingly tasteful and agreeable
residences for several gentlemen who now
occupy them.

The present design shows how the pic-
turesque, and somewhat wild character of
the Swiss chaltt, may be adapted to our cot-
tage requirements. "While the most agreea-
ble features of this style of building are pre-
served, the roof projected upon bold brack-
ets, the galleries, the coped chimneys,
etc., the whole has a domestic and habi-
table air, and affords a most convenient and
comfortable residence for a family of mode-
rate size.

An inspection of the plan of the prin-
cipal floor, will show the accommodation
of this portion of the house. It is one
well calculated for cottage house keeping.

where the arrangement should be some-
what compact, so as to be easily governed
by the eye of the mistress. The depart-
ment designed as "kitchen," on this floor,
might perhaps more properly be called
" dininsr room," since there is another
kitchen in the basement beneath it.

The second, or chamber floor, contains
4 bed-rooms, most snugly and ingeniously
arranged.

It will be seen that the exterior of this
cottage is covered with shingles, the lower
ends of which are cut before using them,
so that they form a pleasing pattern. They
have been laid-on over a rough weather
boarding, on which was fitted a coating of
tar-paper, so as to make a warm and dry
house ; and are much more picturesque in
effect than planed boards or "siding."

To the amateur of the cottage ornee, this
is a highly interesting specimen, and will
well repay a visit. Mr. Prentice deserves
much credit for the various examples of
ornamental cottages, which he has erected
in the neighborhood of a city where rural
architecture, of a tasteful kind, has been
I much neglected.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Use of Young Melons. — I saw, a few days
since, at one of our best market gardeners, of tlie
Faubourg Saint Antoine, baskets tilled with young
melons, chiefly the imperfect aftergrowth of the
vines. These' fruits, which are of different sizes,
from that of a hen's egg to that of an orange, are
usually thought of no value ; the smallest are not
used at all, and the largest are generally placed
by the children of the market garden, in the corner
of a window frame until they became a little yel-
low, and are afterwards sold for a few cents to
children, who eat them raw, without, I suppose,

any great pleasure to the palate, or any good to
the stomach.

These young melons, however, as well as those
which do not arrive at maturity in the autumn, are a
most wholesome and delicate food, when eaten cook-
ed, and prepared in the same way as cucumbers.
[The French cook the cucumber much more than
we do. Ed.] They are, indeed, far preferable to
these last, not having the after-taste, which is so
disagreeable to many persons. We have found
them more delicate in flavor than the vegetable
marrow, even when the latter is used, as in Eng

288

FOREIGN NOTICES.

land, when only half srrown. If the use of this
vegetable were fully known, it is probable that the
jrardeners would allow all the small ones to reach
the size of an oranje ; their vines would be less ex-
hausted, and they misfht realize from them an addi-
tional profit of some importance. I should even bo
disposed to think that, as the culture of the small
green cucumber has been undertaken solely for the
purpose of pickling, so several vigorous kinds of
melon might be cultivated advantageously, in a
simple manner, with a view to this new production.
It is only necessary that it should be known, and
this might easily be accomplished, if our market
gardeners would take some of the vegetable to any
well known restaurateurs, and engage them to of-
fer them to their customers. Revue Horticole.

tic fowls flock together and squeeze themselves into
the dust. When toads are heard crying in elevated
places. Glenny's Almanac.

Changes of Weather indicated by Ani-
mals.— The common house spider, on the approach
of fine weather, puts out its head and stretches its
legs out of its hole ; and this the farther, the longer
the fine weather will continue. Against bad wea-
ther it retires farther back, and before more tem-
pestuous weather it turns quite round, showing
nothing but its hinder parts to the observer ; thus
acquainting him with the approaching storm. At
the commencement of fine weather, the web with
which it surrounds its corner is but of moderate ex-
tent ; if the fine weather is to be lasting it enlarges
it two or three inches ; and if it do this several
times consecutively, we may be certain that the
weather vv)ll continue fine for some days. In win-
ter they are ascertain prognosticators of approach-
ing cold. If frost and snow be coming on, they
either seize upon webs already made, in which case
obstinate battles often ensue, or they make new
ones, and labor diligently at them.

If animals show signs of fear and uneasiness
while the weather is very calm and close, it is al-
most certain that a storm will ensue. Rain may
be foretold from the actions of various animals, as
follows : When birds are seen more employed
than usual in searching among their leathers for
insects, which, on account of the unusual currents
of electricity in the atmosphere, torment them.
When sea-gulls, and other aquatic fowls, particu-
larly geese, make a greater noise than usual.
When swallows fly low, and seem to skim the sur-
face of tiie earth. When pigeons return to the
pigeon-house before accustomed time. When cer-
tain fish, such as porpoise, sport at the surface of
the water. When bees do not quit their hives, or
fly only to a short distance. When sheep bound in
an extraordinary manner, and push each other with
their heads. When asses shake their ears, or are
very much stung by flies. When flies and gnats
sting more severely and are more troublesome than
usual. When a great number of worms issue from
the earth. When frogs croak more than usual.
When cats rub their heads with their fore paws,
and lick the rest of their bodies with their tongues.
When foxes and wolves howl violently. When
ants quit their labor and conceal themselves in the
earth. When oxen, lying together, frequently raise
their heads, and lick each others's muzzles. When
cocks crow before their usual hour. When domes-

The Necessity of attending to all Seed-
ling Crops. — Nearly all our new vegetables, and
many other new and good subjects, have been dis-
covered by accident. How many more, then, may
have escaped than have been noticed? Acres of
p 'as, cabbages, and other subjects, have been
sown, planted, cut. and marketed, without so much
as a single inquiring ii,spection as to their claims
to notice on account of novelty. Probabl}' some
of the finest and most valuable improvements might
have been discovered, had they been inspected at
those critical periods which show off" their qualities
to the best advantage. But large growers look
only to the general complexion of fields and large
plots; they look to the general bloom, the general
condition, and judge by the bulk as to the season
for marketing. Probably, had the peas been exa-
mined at the proper time, there might have been
one in flower a fortnight before the rest. Perhaps,
if generally examined when in pod, before gather-
ing, there might have been some as large again, or
as long again, or half the height, or double the
height of the rest, sulBciently distinct to be worth
notice and marking, and growing separately ano-
ther season. Perhaps among cabbages there might
have been one more hearted, and ready for market
a fortnight before the rest ; a larger or smaller, or
in some way distinct from the rest — for this has
been the way new things have been found ; but as
they have been found without looking for, many of
more importance may have been lost, because they
were not seen, and went to market among the rest.
When we consider the value of a new and good
subject, we think it would pay any grower to pay
a visit of discovery; not that he need go up and
down every row of peas and cabbages, but he might
go up and down every twentieth row, and cast his
eyes right and left, to see if any one subject differed
materially from the rest ; to observe if colour, form,
habit, or other striking difference distinguished any
plant within sight ; and if so, to mark it with a
bush, or stick, or a tie of some kind, that it may be
left standing when the rest are gone. In all the
cabbage tribe this is very important, because the
whole family is apt to sport ; and it is these sports
that have produced us so many excellent varieties,
from the common ragged jack to the finest Brus-
sels sprouts. Besides, there are so many good
points wanting. Hardiness in the brocoli tribe
and the cauliflower — earliness, lateness, size, fla-
vor, beauty, colour, — in short, there is no end or
limit to the varieties there is room for in the Bras-
sica family; and much of which that is desirable
may have existed and been overlooked, and lost
again, all for want of timely inspection. Those
who set to work to obtain new varieties by cross-
ing, are quite out of this range of observation ; it
does not apply to them, for they look anxiously
enough for the result of their labors ; but many a
really great improvement might have been disco-
vered in the midst of things grown in the ordinary
way; and without any such motive, we know that

FOREIGN NOTICES.

289

a pea has been accidentally seen in a field of many
acres with a flower larger or smaller, or earlier or
later, than the rest ; that it has been marked, found
different, perhaps better, perhaps worse, than the
rest, but at all events different ; it has been marked,
and all the produce saved and sown by itself. It
has proved better, has been named, highly spoken
of, and sold out at a larjje price ; and but for an
accident it would have shared the fate of the rest,
been picked and marketed green, been eaten and
destroyed. It is impossible to say what may not
have been attained had all that has been raised
new been saved, instead of going as the rest have
gone, and never been heard of. We hope there
will be a little more attention paid by market gar-
deners, for they are as much interested as any
body, and have more opportunities than any other
class of men. Hort. Magazine.

The Sunflower. — Among the old-fashioned
subjects that seem pretty well banished from mo-
dern gardens, the sunflower may be placed j yet
the vakje of that plant is scarcely known. It is
true that the same qualities are possessed by other
plants, and this, in a great measure, prevents the
development of the properties which belong to the
subject of our notice ; but they ought not to be
lost sight of, for there may be circumstances un-
der which its whole value may be appreciated.
Let us consider first, then, the uses to whiuh the
plant and its parts may be applied. First, then,
it yields abundance of seed, wliich is equal to any,
if not superior to most food lor poultry. Secondly,
the seed yields abundance of oil, and the oil-cake
is food for cattle. Third, the plant is full of very
strong fibre, capable of being worked into coarse
materials cheaper than any other fibre we are
acquainted with. These points are well worth
the consideration of emigrants, who should on no
account neglect to take seed with them, for they
are likely to grow well under circumstances un-
favorable to many other plants. It is one of those
subjects which will grow anywhere, and produce
a crop. There may be differences between light
and heavy crops, according to the culture, but
there will always be a crop, even on land that
would bring nothing else in ; at any rate, very
little else. To grow sunflowers in perfection, st w
thinly all over the surface in the middle of April,
in a bed four feet wide, and as long as you require,
according to the quantity of seedlings you wish to
plant out. Sow thinly, and if the weather be dry,
water it even before it is up. It will soon be
above ground, and if there are any so close to-
gether as to prevent them from growing well,
thin them in those parts ; but as they are all to be
planted out as soon as they have got four rough
leaves, they are not to be thinned much, except
where the seed has been huddled together by ac-
cident. They must be weeded as soon as they are
up, and kept clear of weeds until they have grown
strong enough to plant out. If a showery time

Vol. iil 19

comes, you may, for the sake of the great advan-
tage of wet ground, plant out smaller than we
should propose as a general rule ; and so, instead
of wailing for four rough leaves, plant them out
with only two. On the other hand, we would
wait till the last day if there were any prospect of
rain, rather than plant out in dry weather. Let
the ground be dug or ploughed, and harrowed,
ready for planting out, and plant them out in rows
three feet from each other, and the plants two feet
apart in the rows. Let them be dibbled in, the
same as cabbage-plants, except that they must not
be put in deep. If they are planted on a large
scale, it is as well to plough a furrow every three
feet, and plant at the bottom of this furrow ; and
unless it be wet weather, they must be watered
in ; but this labor can be got rid of by planting in
rainy weather. In about a month, when they have
become established, and the weeds have grown up
pretty thickly, the crop must be well cleared.
After this, the plants will overpower the weeds,
and they will want no more care till nearly in
flower, when five or six of the best advancing buds
may be selected, and the buds at the ends of all
the other branches may be pulled off. This has
the efllect of driving all the strength of the plant
into a few heads of bloom, and sending all into
flower at one time, otherwise the sunflower will
begin with the crown bloom, and contain a suc-
cession of lateral flowers for months, so that one-
half never ripen the seeds, and the early ones are
weakened by the constant opening of the side
blooms. There is not a single crop so inviting to
small birds ; as soon, therefore, as the seeds ripen,
there must be a continual watchfulness : people
sent round with baskets to gather the seeds as
they ripen, and boys employed to drive away birds
as the harvest approaches. The heads are not to
remain on the tree until the seeds are all black,
but as soon as the seeds are full-grown, and the
outside ones are turned black, say two-thirds to-
wards the centre, they are fit to gather. They
should be placed in the sun upon cloths and per-
fectly dried, when they fall out of themselves ; at
all events, children may be employed to rub them
out, and they are as easily cleared as any seed
that is grown. With regard to the plants, they
may be treated as hemp and flax for the purpose
of using the fibre, or may be burned on the ground
after drying, that their ashes may be spread ; but
the seed alone, whether used for its oil and cake,
or as food for cattle, pigs, and poultry, will re-
pay well the cost and trouble of cultivation. Ibid.

A Note from Paris. — I yesterday spent a long
time in the Jardin des Plantes. With the excep-
tion of one hill well planted with all sorts of ever-
greens, and one superb cedar of Lebanon, the lar-
gest in France, it is not particularly interesting
in a horticultural point of view.

I saw there the Mother Paulownia, every termi-

290

FOREIGN NOTICES.

nal branch of which, ending in a flower skeleton (or
group of buds) for next spring's bloom. There
are two trees here twenty or thirty feet high, the
leaves not larger than those of the Catalpa; and
exceedingly like that tree, in the stiff and brittle
looking growth. Yours, H. W. S. Paris, Oct.
27, 1848.

Destruction of Rats and Mice. — There is no
need of demonstrating how sadly troublesome
these two species of ronzeurs are to our young
plantations of all sorts, and especially to the seed
beds. Many modes have hitherto been devised to
destroy them, none of them quite satisfactory. The
following two methods are however certain to ef-
fect the purpose.

Cut a cork into very small pieces, and fry the
latter in lard, butter, or drippings; place it here
and there in little heaps in the garden. The rats
and mice swallow it with avidity, and soon disap-
pear from the garden, killed by this indigestible
Bubstance. Bits of sponge fried in the same man-
ner, produce the same effects still more promptly.
The same dose may be used with equally good ef-
fect against those wandering cats and dogs, whose
gambols are so destructive to the good condition
of glass-ranges or newly planted beds. These sub-
stances are easily obtained and made ready for use,
and they offer none of the inconveniences and dan-
gers attending the employment or arsenic. Flore
des Serves. • • • •

Aberdeen Bee-hive Strawberry.— This sort,
so much vaunted in the newspapers by the origina-
tor, is likely to prove a complete " humbug."
Several English gardeners state, in the Gardeners'
Chronicle, that it is only the old Grove-end Scar,
let, a well known sort ; and we notice the follow-
ing note in M. Van Houtte's Catalogue just re-
ceived from Ghent : —

" This variety, pompously announced, as a new
wonder, by Mr. Jas. Matthewson, of Aberdeen,
appears to bear nothing but fruits of inferior qual-
ity. I possess a considerable quantity, and I of-
fer plants gratuitously to any of my correspon-
dents, who may desire to try its culture. I will
on the other hand, indemnify fully those to whom
I may have sold this strawberry."

Large fruited monthly Raspberry. — This
new variety has been exhibited before a Horticul-
tural Society, and at various places in London this
autumn, " the canes loaded with clusters of fine
fruit on every lateral from base to summit. It is
likely to prove a decided acquisition. Mr. Rivers
(of the Sawbridgeworth nurseries, England,) we
observe, offers plants for eighteen shillings (ster-
ling) per dozen.

New Foreign Grapes — We copy the following
description of new varieties of grapes (by Mr.
Thompson,) from the Journal of the Horticultu-
ral Society of London. It will be very desirable
to introduce them into this country, especially the
sort last named. Ed.]

Notes on some varieties of Grapes fruited
IN the garden of the Society in 1847 — 1. Sa-
hibee. a Deccan Grape, sent to the society by
Colonel Sykes.

A large handsome bunch, sometimes slightly
shouldered, berries large, oval, white, with a rose-
colored tinge next the sun. Pulp tender, juicy,
sweet, without any muscat flavor, pleasant, but
not equal in richness to the Sweet-water.

The vine, notwithstanding the hot climate from
which it was imported, bursts soon into leaf; and
as the fruit ripens early, it may prove eligible for
easy forcing.

2. Verbal. The foliage of this resemble, that
of the white Frontignan; but the fruit is like that
of the Royal Muscadine; yet, independent of its
properties as a wine grape, it appears deserving
of cultivation. It ripens soon after the Royal
Muscadine.

3. Reeves' Muscadine. This was imported from
the Cape of Good Hope, without a name, by John
Reeves, Esq., and as it appears worthy of culti-
vation, it has been designated as above.

Bunch large, shouldered, stalk thick, pedicels
short and stifl", berries oval, skin yellowish white,
rather thick, pulp melting, juicy and rich. A good
grape, ripening quite as early as the Black Ham-
burgh, under similar circumstances.

4. Blussard Noir. From Messrs. Baumann.
This may be described as a smaller, earlier, and
more sugary variety than the Black Hamburgh,
which, in other respects, it resembles.

5. Gros Gommier du Cantal. This was sent
to the Society from Paris, by Mr. Francis Rauch.
A very strong-growing variety, with remarkably
short-jointed wood ; leaves deeply serrated, and oc-
casionally lobed, veins and mid-rib on the under-side
somewhat rough with bristly hair. Bunch large,
with a strong stalk; berries very large, upwards
of three inches in circumference, round, and of a
red or grizzly color, pulp juicy, with a flavor as if
between the Black Hamburgh and white Sweet-
water. The latter being by itself a bad setter,
and on that account not unusually fertilized by the
Black Hamburgh, it is probable that this variety
is across between the two; at all events, if this
be imagined, a correct idea of the grape will be
obtained, for it seems to partake of both. Jour.
Hort. Soc. vol. M, part 4.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

291

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Prikes for Native Grapes. — We find it sta-
ted in the newspapers that Mr. Longworth, of
Cincinnati, has oflered at a late meeting of the
Philadelphia Hortieuitural Society, the IbUowinjx
premiums for seedling varieties of our native
grapes, viz;

$50 for a seedling Catawba, the berr}' white,
blue, or black, and equal in flavor to the original.

The same prize lor one of like color and quality
from the Ohio grape.

The same prize for one of like color and quality
from the Herbemont grape.

The same prize for one of like color and quality
from the Missouri grape.

These are temptations to skilful and patient cul-
tivators— and as nothing in the way of new fruit is
more desirsxble than valuable new native grapes,
we trust Mr. Longworth's spirited offer will set
fruit-growers and gardeners at work.

There are two modes likely to insure success,
and, if the}- are attended to, it will not be difficult
to raise new seedling varieties greatly superior to
any native sorts now cultivated.

The first of these is to select those berries which
show a tendency to vary from the original shape
and size — and especially those which are larger.
It is not unusual, especially on vines which bear
but few bunches, to find some berries nearly double
the size of the others upon thebunoh. If the seeds
from these berries are selected for planting, the
chances of getting an improved variety are greatly
increased. In order to proceed more scientifically.
and with more certainty of improved seedlings,
you must resort to crossing.

When your Catawba, or other native grapes, are
coming into blossom, watch them closely,' and as
soon as they expand, cut out the anthers with a
small pointed scissors; then go to a foreign vine,
of some first rate sort — say Black Hamburgh, and
take some pollen from blossoms in full bloom. You
may put it in a vial and keep it a month if the for-
eign vines happen to bloom first, which they will
do if they are under glass. The flowers of the
native vine being ready (say 2 or 3 days after they
expand,) take up some of the pollen Ironi the for-
eign grapes on a camel's hair brush, and apply it to
the pistils in the blossoms of the native grape, from
which you previously cut out the anthers. The
fruit produced will be a cross between the two, and
the young plants afforded by sowing tlie seeds of
their fruit, will, in all probability, partake of the
delicious flavor of the foreign grape, and the hardi-
ness of the native. We must add, that when the
anthers are first cut out, the bunches should be en-
closed in a fine muslin bag to prevent the blossoms
being fertilized by the pollen of other blossoms on
hi same plant.

This is the way in which nearly all the superb
new varieties of plants are originated abroad, and
it may be applied to the grape doubtless with the
same good results.

The Pomological Convention. — In a late
number of Bement's Journal of Agriculture,
(Albany,) some exceedingly amiable and pleasant
writer under the name of " Fidelius," (or " Fid-
dle-de-dee-us," we forget which) indulges in a strain
oi' Jlattery regarding the officers and committees
of this convention, which amuses us not a little.

He torments his imagination, however, with the
idea of the overpowering influence of some £^as-
tern clique, which he thinks managed all the af-
fairs of the meeting. What will our western
friends, including Mr. Allen, of St. Louis, (who
if we mistake not, talked and acted for his consti-
tuents as a sturdy western man should,) say to this?
What will that honest " Jersey Blue," Mr. Han-
cock, or the quick witted Barry, of Rochester, all
of whom were on the spot, and " wide awake," say
to it? Truly, there were many men there who
would not be easily managed. But w«, yes, there's
the rub, we were actually a delegate from the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society ! "Heads and
blood!" this, truly, smells horribly of gun-powder.
Softly, unknown friend " Fidelius," this was an
innocent compliment, only do not let it, like Ban-
quo's ghost, " o'er come you like a summer's cloud!"
We went as a delegate from the Orange county
jigricultural Society.

We are honestly grieved to find that "Fidelius"
cannot approve of tlie doings of the Convention.
We are confident that as he grows calmer he will
think better of it. To our own humble apprehen-
sion, it was the most intelligent and the most sat-
isfactory meeting of horticulturists ever held in
America. Numerous letters, that we have since
received from all parts of the country, from mem-
bers of that Convention, expressing their desire to
continue the good work commenced there, by all
the means within their reach, prove to us that it
has awakened a new, more intelligent, and wider
interest in Pomology, than has hitherto existed on
either side of the Atlantic. If " Fidelius" will
only throw aside his prejudices, and labor in com-
mon with the members of this Convention, who
have the public good at heart, then, perhaps, shall
we all arrive at this object more speedily.

The Genesee Farmer, a journal of very large
circulation, and very ably conducted, represents,
we think, the general feeling of the country re-
garding this convention, in an article on this sub-
ject, from which we quote the following: —

" This Congress may truly be regarded as the
most important public movement yet made on thi?

292

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

continent, in connection with pomological science.
It was not, nor could it liave been expected to ac-
complish much beyond a complete organization.
This is now effected. The appointment of the
Standing Fruit Committee, consisting of the
most skilful pomologists and fruit growers in the
United States and Canada, is a grand movement ;
and if the convention had accomplished this alone,
it would not have assembled in vain. This com-
mittee, after a year of research, cannot fail on re-
assembling, to make such a report as will be of in-
finite service to the country.

The proceedings and discussions throughout,
with one trifling exception, were characterized by
rare harmony, good feeling, and enjoyment. In-
deed it was not only an important deliberative
body, assembled to promote the ends of science,
but a delightful re-union of the most tasteful and
intelligent cultivators of the soil from all parts of
our country. The collection of fruits was impo-
sing and beautiful, and afibided at all intervals of
business, pleasant and profitable themes for discus-
sion and remark.

Aside from the benefits to be derived from the
public discussions and future action of this body,
every member of the convention must have felt
himself amplv repaid for the trouble and expense
attending it, by the rare opportunity it afforded
for the private interchange of facts, opinions, and
specimens of fruits, as well as the forming of new
social and business relations. These are all in-
valuable acquisitions, and could not have been well
obtained under other circumstances.

We should be wanting in duty, were we to neg-
lect here, as a delegate, to express our acknow-
ledgments to the American Institute for the libe-
rality and kindness extended to the convention, in
preparing a suitable Hall, in paying expenses on
all fruits sent to it, and in admitting all the mem-
bers free to their exhibition in Castle Garden; to
the respective committees of arrangements who
discharged their arduous duties in the most satis-
factory manner ; and to the distinguished President,
Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., of Mass., whose
rare ability, forbearance, and impartiality in the
chair, greatly facilitated the transaction of busi-
ness, and secured that harmony of which it has
been our pleasure to speak." Genesee Farmer
for Nov.

Horticultural Traveller. — Mr. Barry, the
well known and intelligent editor of the Genesee
Farmer, has just sailed for Europe, on a horticul-
tural tour of a !ew months. He proposes not only
to examine the points in gardening most interest-
ing in England, France, and Germany, but to bring
home the most i ;t':'resting novelties, especially in
hardy trees and shrubs, to enrich the nurseries at
Rochester.

Mr. CoLMAN, the Agricultural tourist, has re-
turned to this country since the issue of our last
number. We presume the last number of his Re-

port will soon be forthcoming, and we have no
doubt the public will be favored with some other
work containing the rich materials which Mr. C
must have collected abroad, with his unusually ex-
cellent opportunites.

Labels for Trees. — A correspondent recom-
mends zinc labels, and gives us the following re-
cipe lor making ink suitable for writing upon them:

Take half a drachm of lamp-black, one drachm of
verdigris, one drachm of sal-ammoniac (pulverized)
and dissolve them in ten drachn)S of water. This
will form a permanent ink, wliich may be used for
writing upon the strips of zinc, and will last as
long as the labels. ....

Curious Pomonal Freak. — There is an odd
example of departure from the ordinary laws of
nature, in an orchard of one of our neighbors, Wm.
Denning, Esq., of Presque Isle, Dutchess county.
The tree is one of a row, all of which are Rhode
Island Greenings. This particular tree also
bears a proper crop of Rhode Island Greenings,
except on one large branch, which for two or three
years past has borne Russet apples. The latter
apples are, in size and form, Rhode Island Green-
ings, but the skin is perfectly covered with russet,
and the flesh, though of the normal color, is drier
and tougher, like that of most russets. The limb
which has sported in this way, is larger than one's
arm, and, on examining it carefullj', we find no
evidence of its having been grafted ; and Mr.
Denning, who is a most skilful and sagacious or-
chadist, informs us that :t has not been. Since the
foliage, on this branch, and also the form and size
of the fruit are quite those of the rest of the tree,
it would appear that this singular russet dress has
been assumed by the fruit of this branch in defiance
of the usual habits of the variety.

Coe's late Red Plum — We observed also in
the garden at Presque Isle, a tree so loaded with a
fine crop of Coe's late Red Plum, that the
branches bent almost like those of a willow. The
fruit was then (Oct. 18th) ripening, and was ex-
cellent in flavor. This is the latest good plum for
our latitude. It is even better a little I'arther
south, and to the northward of this it does not ri-
pen well.

The Melon Apple. — Among the remarkably
fine fruits shown at the Pomological convention in
New- York, some specimens of this new apple,
described in our last volume, were jjrreatly ixdmi-
red. They were (rom Rochester and Macedon, N.
Y. Its beauty, as well as its unusual juicyness
and freshness of flavor, will make it much sought
after as a dessert fruit.

The Fruit Committee. — We observe a spe-
cial blunder in the enumeration of the special fruit
committee, in our account of the New- York Po-
mological Convention, given in the last number.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

293

The names of two gentlemen were unintentionally
omitted, and those of two others given in tiieir
place. The correct list is as follows : Thomas
Hancock, J. J. Thomas, Robt. Buist, Robekt
Manning, Herman Wendell, Josiah Lovett,
L. C. Eaton, Geo. Gabriel, and A. J. Down-
ing. (Chairman.)

A circular of suggestions is beinsi prepared
by the cliairman of the General Pruit Cammit-
tee, which will soon be forwarded to the memhers
of the committee in all the different states.

Pine- Apples by Steam. — A manufacturer in
Phila<!elphia, is said to hnvc hit upon a novel mode
ofsrowing pine-apples. He introduces waste steam
under the bottom of the bed into which the pints
are pliinj^ed, and thus gruws and ripens the fruit
very perfectly under our iiot summer snn, without
the aid of plass. Owin2; to this full exposure to
the air, the flavor of the fruit is far superior to that
of pines ripened in the hot^house.

Wood Ashes vs. Insects in the Soil. — Mr.
Downing; I have been in previous seasons much
plagued by grubs and insects in the soil, so that I
was obliged almost to abandon the cultivation of
carrots and some other vegetables.

Two years ago I gave my plants in the kitchen
garden a heavy manuring of fresii wood ashes. On
those portions so dressed, I have since cultivated
crops of vegetables without the least difficulty,
the worms having entirely disappeared Yours, &c.
M. R. W. Jersey City' N. /., Nov., 1848.

Bituminous Coal Ashes. — Dear Sir : I have
been in the habit of using the ashes of Liverpool
coal as a manure for three j'cars past, and find it of
great value.

Applied to trees of all kinds, and especially to
fruit trees and evergreens, it acts wonderfully well.
Indeed, I now use it wherever I plant a tree or
shrub, mixing several shovelfuls with the soil put
immediately about the roots, and with the most
evident benefit to the subjects to v/bich it is appli-
ed as com.pared with those not so treated. As
those ashes are frequently thrown away, would it
not be well to sav something on this subject. Yours
A Philadelphia- Sv.bscriber. Nov. 1848. [Bitumi-
nous coal ashes are very valuable in organic ma-
nures for all trees and shrubs. We find that ever-
greens thrive particularly when treated with them.
Ed.]

Cereus Crenatus. — I would recommend to your
notice and that of your readers, the Cereus crena-
tus, as one of the most beautiful of the Cactus
trioe, and certainly the fiiicst recent acquisition I
have seen to our succulent exotics.

It is a remarkable plant. The flowers are white,
large and magnificent, rivalling those of the night
blooming Cereus, while they differ by opening in
the day time. It received the highest medal at

the Chiswick exhibition, in June, 1S45, offered for
new plants. Its native country is Honduras. Al-
though similar in some respects to Epiphyllum
lat\frons, it proves distinct, and far more desira-
ble, because the flowers open in the day time, and
continue open for five or six days. In addition
it is deliciously sweet-scented, and cannot fail to
be highly prized. The plant grows about two feet
high, with large spreading branches, usually flat
and broad, of a fine b) ight green, with large round-
ed teeth along the edges, and a prominent midrib.
The flowers are produced near the extremity of liic
shoots, and liave a slightly curved tube about four
inches long, and numerous pale cream-colored pe-
tals of a delicate texture, forming a circle several
rows deep, about five inches m diameter, from the
ccntie of which a great number of filaments are
protruded, about two-thirds the length of the pe-
tal. The bloom buds are of a brownish-pink be-
fore expansion. Yours very truly, Wm. W. Valk,
M. D. Mushing, L. I. Oct. 31, 1848.

Late Autumn Flowers. — There are peculiar
points in gardening, that ought to be spoken of at
times, as worthy the attention of your readers. I
have one such to mention at present. On the
north side of my garden, I have a tight wooden
fence seven feet hig.i, which of course gives one a
warm sheltered border on the south side of it.
Along a part of this fence I have this south border
planted with Chrysanthemums (Artemesias,)
Salvias, Bourbon Jioses, and the like. Gene-
rally you know, these are cut off' at the close of
October by sharp frosts. But by planting them
close to the fence, tying up the shoots as they
grow, and then having a coping or hood of boards
(say eighteen inches wide) projected over them
from the top of the fence, from which I hang mats
every cold night, I have this border in full bloom
and beauty, often till near Christmas. You have
no idea how superbly the Chinese Chrysanthemums
grow and bloom in this way, as compared with
those in pots ; and they continue in flower a great
length of time. The walk which runs along this
border is a cheerful and ever gay one late in the
autumn, after all the rest of tne verdue and bloom
of the garden has passed away. Respectfully
yours. Chrysops. Brooklyn, N. Y.,Nov.\\,
1848

To Prevent the Mildew on Peach Trees. —
Mildew infests many kinds of plants, and assumes
many different appearances. It attacks peaches
and nectarines, particularly the Tillotson, Early
June, and other serrate varieties, seizing the ten-
der points of the shoots, which are quickly des-
troyed.

It has been ascertained by naturalists, that the
mildew is a species of fungus which attaches itself
to certain plants, when they are in a peculiar state
of growth favorable to its nature. If this be so,
it cannot with propriety be called a disease, though

294

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

its effects are equally destructive. Luckily, it is a
vegetable of a more delicate constitution than the
plant it fixes upon, because it very soon yields to
an application of soap suds, or to the following
mixture :

Slack two pounds of fresh lime, with about six
gallons of water ; after it stands 16 or 18 hours,
pour off the pure water and mix it with four gal-
lons of soap suds. Syringe the trees once or twice
with this mixture, at the time the mildew makes
its appearance, and in a day or two it will disap-
pear. This mixture appears also to nourish the
trees, and give the leaves a verdure, and a luxuri-
ant appearance superior to anything I ever before
witnessed. This I have practiced several times
with great success.

To prevent the mildew in the month of May,
syringe your trees with soad-suds, then dust them
well with common sulphur ; this prevents any at-
tack of mildew. E. Dagge. Rochester. — Gen.
Farm. [This is valuable information — for it is
well known that many of the highest flavored
peaches are serrate-leaved sorts, more or less lia-
ble to have the points of the young shoots attack-
ed by mildew. Orchardists may feel inclined to
abandon them for more thrifty growing sorts, but
amateurs will not grudge a little pains to obtain
fruit of such delicious flavor as that of the old
*' Emperor of Russia." One fruit of that peach,
to a real pomologist, is worth a ship load of "Mal-
agatunes." Ed.]

Hedge of the Southern Rose. — The best
hedo-e in the United States, extends a mile along
the highway on a plantation of 3,000 acres, near
Augusta, Georgia. It is the Cherokee Jiose.
which every season, when in full bloom, presents
a magnificent floral spectacle, and fills the atmos-
phere with delicious perfume. No animal, with-
out wings, can get over it or through it. South-
ern Cultivator. [The Cherokee Rose is a most
beautiful evergreen climbing rose, highly orna-
mental in all respects. We have attempted its
cultivation here, but unfortunately it is too tender
for a northern winter. Er.]

Stewed Celery. — Cut the blanched or white
portion of the Celery stalks in pieces about an inch
in length, and put them in a saucepan over the fire
with milk and water, in equal proportions, barely
sufficient to cover them; add a little salt, and let
them stew gently until perfectly tender. Then
take out the Celery, add a piece of butter to the
liquid it was boiled in, thicken it slightly with
flour, pour it over the Celery and serve it up.

[This excellent mode of cooking Celery may not
be knowHto all our readers, and we recommend it,
from long experience of its merits, as a delicious
dish. Ed.]

Grapes in a cold Vinery. — We have already
mentioned the magnificent Black Hamburgh, and

other foreign grapes, shown by G. R. Rt^ssELt,
Esq., at the annual exhibition of the Massachusetts
Hort. Society. In a private letter received Irons
this gentleman since, we find some remarks on their
culture, which we venture to extract for the bene-
fit of our readers :

" My Vinery was constructed in the spring of
1846. It is a double, or span-roof, eoald house,
[i. e., without fire heat] It is one hundred and
fifty feet long, twenty five feet wide, and contams
94 vines — principally Black Hamburgh, with, for
variety, the Frontignans, Royal Muscadine, Mus-
cat of Alexandria, Frankendale, Syrian, White
Nice, Chasselas, Sec. Most of the vines were two
years old when set out, with the exception of the
Muscadines, which were one year, and the Muscats
of Alexandria, which were started from single eyes
the same year.

The border, which is 16 feet wide outside, and
8 feet inside, the house (making twenty-four feet
borders on both sides of the vinery,) is three feet
deep. It was made with great care, and is com-
posed of the top-soil of a pasture field, street-sweep-
ings from Boston, stable manure, bones, oyster
shells, &c. It is well drained on all sides, and is
devoted exclusively to the vines. There is a cis-
tern in the centre of the house, built of brick and
cement, 50 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 4 1-2 feet
deep, which is filled from the roof. This is indis-
pensable— particularly for the inner border.

I had. at first, some misgivings as to the suc-
cess of the coZd-bouse, as many persons thought the
result doubtful. It is not a new thing about Boston,
but it was supposed that the favorable result of
partial trials might be owing to peculiarly favorable
positions. I am now convinced that there is no
difficulty in raising grapes, as far north as tins, in
a cold house, provided it is placed in a dry situa-
tion. [Cold vineries are perfectly successful on the
Hudson. Ed.]

The Grapes I sent to the Horticultural Exhibi-
tion, were a fair sample of all in my house. I did not
think of sending any until a few days before it took
place, and my gardener was at a loss to select, leav-
ing as good bunches on the vines as those placed
on the tables of the Society.

As I have made it a point not to press the vines,
not allowing them this year, to bear more than 4
bunches each, the fruit has probably been larger
than it may be when in full bearing. I am respect-
fully, your obedient servant. G. R. Russell.
West Roxbury, Mass., Oct. ISth, 1848.

Osage Orange Hedges. — We are glad to find
that this capital hedge plant, so easy of culture, so
rapid in growth, so strong in its protective thorns,
and so handsome in its foliage, is rapidly rising in
public estimation. Miles o( it are already planted
about Cincinnati ; and since it has been found
hardy in the hedge form as far north as Boston,
cultivators are trying it all over the northern states.
The following practical remarks by our able cor-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

295

yespondent, Professor Turner, which we copy
from the Prairie Farrne'-, will be read with inte-
rest. Ed.

" 111 relation to your inquiries about the Osage
Oranfre, I know not what to say more than has
already been said in the Horticulturist, the Prairie
Farmer, the Ohio Cultivator, the San<>amon Jour-
nal, and, in short, almost every paper of note that
takes any interest in agriculture in the United
States. All the writers in all these papers who
pretend to know anything about this plant, agree
that it is in all respects unrivalled as a hedge plant
in quickness of grov/th, the stubbornness and den-
sity of its branches and thorns, and the extreme
beauty of its foliage, flowers and fruit. They all
agree that it will prove perfectly hardy in any
climate where the ' Isabella Grape will ripen in the
open air.' And there are hedges of it standing in
states from the latitude of Boston to the mouth of
the Rio Grande

" Hundreds of rods of it have been put out in
Ohio, even amid their dense forests of timber, and
it is doing first rate. There are pieces of it in this
state and in Missouri, quite to the north of us,
which are doing finely. I liave had the plants on
my ground ten years, and have them now of almost
all ages and sizes, from ten years old to one month.

" I have one piece of hedge three years old next
fall, that will turn any stock I have, from the
smallest chicken, or rabbit, to the horse and ox.
I have received letie 's on the subject from all parts
of the Union, and have not received one unfavorable
account from any one who has made a proper trial,
with plants raised from the seeds in this climate.
In some one or two instances, plants brought from
the south, or allowed to freeze the first winter,
have been injured afterwards, as of course might
have been expected. I have some tv.'o or three
miles of hedge put around m}' pet farm and or-
chard, and have this spring enclosed my house lot
of four acres on College Hill. In transplanting
thousands of plants this spring, I have had to re-
place only three. All who have seen my hedges
intend to get them next spring ; especially the
English, who were accustomed to hedges in the
old country, are quite taken with it. They say
there is nothing in England that can be compared
to it as a hedge plant. The desire to get it here is
great I shall go next week and break eighteen
or twenty miles of new prairie around some lands
in Haverly, for which we shall prepare )ilants, and
set them ne\t syiring without any jirotection. About
six miles of this fence belongs to me. and the rest
to others. I have agreed to guarantee all the
plants, if set according to my directions. We ex-
pect at least to double the value of our lands by
this operation in three years. I have an applica-
tion from another man to put out eleven miles for
him in the same way. Another thinks he shall
want two hundred miles, as indeed he will, if he
fences all his lands-

" As to its cost : it will not cost more than 25 to
50 cents per rod, to make the best hedge in the
whole world for all farming purposes — according
to the kind of fence made. For one kind it will
take 1,000 plants, and from that to 2,500 for every
eighty rods offence. And had 1 the time, I would

agree to fence the whole Mississippi valley for 25
cents per rod of one kind, and 50 cents per rod of
the other kind of hedge, all complete and all cost
included, and to perfect the whole in three, or at
most four, years from the time the plants were set
in the hedge. I find by experience that a mile of
fence can be set much easier and quicker than I had
supposed. My Englishman, with a boy to put iu
the plants, set fifty rods per day, after the plants
were prepared, vv^hich the nurseryman ought al-
ways to do before he sells. But there is a right
and a wrong way, after all, in this as well as in
other matters ; and all those foolish methods of
sowing the seeds in the hedge row, trimming at
two years old — setting out little, feeble, ill-assorted
plants, &c. &c., will prove worse than nothing.

" On the whole, my advice to you is to prepare
as much ground as you can — select sjood plants,
and, if possible, put your farm all under this fence
next spring. Before that time, I shall write a
pamphlet, giving specific instructions for setting,
cultivating and trimming the hedge until it is com-
plete, or three years old ; or if not, I will keep you
and your friends duly informed as far as needful ;
so you need not have any fears but you will get a
first rate hedge, which will double the value of
every acre of land you put it around. Plants will
probably be cheaper next spring than they will be
again for ten years. The demand will increase
every year, and but few hereafter will raise them
at the prices they will probably bring next spring ;
besides the comfort anrl convenience of having all
your stock and fruit of all kinds entirely secure
from all depredators and thieves, is too great to
be postponed without a better reason than a proba-
ble cost of 25 or 50 cents per rod for a fence lasting
as time, and beautiful as the fabled walks of the
Elysian fields. If you wish any further information
on any particular point, I shall at all times be hap-
py to communicate with vou. /. B. Turner. Il-
linois College, June20, 1848."

Errata. — In Notes of our Foreign Correspond-
ent, in our last No., we find the following errors :
For " Ourley." p. 244, read " Ouchi ;" and p. 245,
f r " Three Mons," read " Three Moors."

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Fruit Convention. — J. W. B. We regret

not having had a critical examination of your spe-
cimens, (which were not brought forward,) as well
as that of several other friends, who were contri-
butors. The labor of organizing, canvassing lists
of varieties, &.c., at this first meeting, necessarily
occupied a large part of the time of those upoa
the Fruit committee ; and the fact that the com-
mittee were not able to examine new fruits till
the afternoon of the third day, (when some of the
contributors had left,) rendered this part of their
labors less complete than we could have wished.
Another year, with the organization complete and
in working order, it will be much easier to accom-
plish all efficiently. It is, indeed, surprising how
much was really done.

296

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Manures. — B. Williams. You should apply
guano, to obtain its full benefit, only where the
plants are in a growing state. T. G. Y. — (Wal-
worth, N. Y.) A light top dressing of leached
ashes is highly beneficial to strawberry beds. We
have no doubt that copperas may be substituted
for oxide of iron in preventing the leaf-blight ; but
experience is wanted as to the quantity. We
would advise you to use leached ashes heavily, as a
manure in preparing your seed-beds for pears, and
see if this will not remedy the evil.

Plums. — D. D. J., (Hamden, Ct.) If you have
a heavy soil, take the following six kinds : Ear-
ly— Imperial Ottoman, Yellow Gage ; 7nedium —
Bleecker's Gage, Jefferson; late — Coe's Golden
Drop, Frost Gage. We do not know the " Pot-
ter" Plum. The Canada Plum makes a good
stock for slow growing varieties ; bat many sorts
out-grow it, and this renders the tree short lived.
The stocks generally preferred for working plums
on, are those raised from seeds of the common
blue " Horse Plwn." There is also a yellow va-
riety, well known and largely cultivated in west-
ern New- York, which give^ good stocks. We do
not know its name. The Apricot, as we find by
experience, gives better flavored fruit, and is more
hardy when worked on the Horse Plum stock than
when budded on Apricot seedlings. J. F. — The
three best late plums for Pennsylvania are the fol-
loM'ing : Coe's Golden Drop, Coe's Late Red, and
St. Martin's Quetsche.

Apples. — /. Fulton, (Pa.) Winter apples, to
keep long, should be picked from the tree before
frost, and carefully laid upon the floor, by hand, in
an airy loft or out-building. Here they should be
allowed to lie a fortnight; after which, on a dry
day, they should be put up in barrels. The latter
should be stored in a cool dry cellar ; the cooler
the better, so that severe frost does not enter.

Vinery Grapes. — j1 Connecticut Subscriber.
The grapes about Boston are chiefly pruned in the
spurring-in mode ; and a good deal of recent ob-er-
vation inclines us now to recommend this as the
preferable mode for this climate. Whether the
vinery is a cold one or not, does not afTect the
pruaing ; the same rules apply in either case. In
cold vineries it is better to plant the vines inside
the house, but with the front wall supported on
piers, or open below the surface, so that the roots
can pass freely into the border outside. R. W. —
(Baltimore.) Plant Black Hamburg, Chasselas,
Musque, Grizzly Frontignan. and Muscat of Alex-
andria,— four of the most delicious grapes.

Upland Rice. — A friend at Cincinnati desires
information, regarding the growth and culture of
this plant. Will any of our correspondents, fami-
liar with it, communicate with us on this subject?

Cherries. — S., (Philadelphia.) Coe's Trans-
parent Cherry is very beautiful and delicious, —

one of the most delicate flavor for the dessert ; it
is in the way of Belle de Choisy, but finer. T. O.
Y. — The great Bigarreau of Mezel is already in
the possession of dealers in this country. Several
of the larger nurseries can, doubtless, furnish you
a tree in the bud. J. F . — For three of the best
late cherries, take Sweet Montmorency, Battner's
Yellow, and Belle Magnifique,

Pears. — ^ New-Bedford Cultivator. Louise
Bonne de Jersey, (on quince,) Heathcot, Law-
rence, and Flemish Beauty, will, we think, all do
well ■ on the north side of a high wall" m your
climate, and will bear good crops if the soil is well
drained and prepared. D. D. /.-^Pear seeds must
either be sown in th.e fall, or kept in earth or sand,
(so as to prevent their losing their vitality,) till
spring.

Red Spider — H, (New-London, Ct.) The
most effectual remedy, (says Buist,) is a thorough
syringing with water under the foliage. This
being done to the plants infested, every evening,
will effectually subdue and banish them.

Plants in Cellars. — W. R., (Milwaukie.)
Oranges, lemons, pomegranates and hydrangeas,
may be kept in good condition, in any cellar where
there is a little light, and where the thermometer
does not fall more than three or four degrees be-
low the freezing point. But they should be kept
quite dormant, by not watering them more than
once or twice a month, and then only moderately.
Admit air freely to the cellar every mild day in
winter, when there is no frost.

Dwarf Trees. — Y. Dwarf pears and apples
may be planted from six to ten feet apart, as you
have room to spare. They are not so long lived
as when on pear roots, but have other great ad-
vantages,— such as coming very soon into bearing,
occupying a small space, and thriving in many
soils where pear stocks will not. They come
inio bearing as soon as they get established. It
is not necessary to bud them close to the ground ;
though it is better that the junction should not be
more than four or five inches above it.

Books. — /^., (Marietta, O.) We shall give alist
of the most desirable horticultural books in our
next. The American edition of Lindley's Theory
of Horticulture is out of print. The " Tree Lifc-
er,'"' is an English work, of little or no practical
value. IV. H. — (Philadelphia.) Consult Loudon's
Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs. The " Guide
to the Orchard," by George Lindley, is the best
English work on fruits.

*»* Correspondents who are subscribers, will
hereafter find replies to any questions on subjects
within the scope of this journal, in this depart-
ment, (unless otherwise requested) — and all que-
ries put ill a brief shape, and sent to us free of post-
age, shall receive attention. Ed.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY,

297

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SCCIBTY.

• Ttit Twentieth Annual Exhibition of the Mas-
sachusetts Horticultural Society commenced in
Faneuil Hall, Sept. 19th, at 12 o'clock, M., and
was continued the followin."? days.

A more magnificent collection of Fruit was nev-
er before presented to the public eye for inspection
in this city, and we doubt whether ithasever been
equalleil in this country, or surpassed by the exhi-
bition of any Society in Europe. As to quantity,
it was so great that six large tables, the whole
length of the hall, were hardly sufficient to contain
it. The variety of Pears was immensely large,
probably not much if any short of three hundreil
kinds. Of these, however, there were many sorts
that were of no value in the exhibition only to
show cultivators that they were not worthy of a
place in their grounds. It is impossible for the
Committee of A.rrangements to designate the best
specimens and the best varieties: we can only say,
that large dishes of perfect fruit, thickly studded
the tables.

The display of Apples, too, was without a par-
allel— embracing a very great number of varieties,
some of them very beautiful, most of them well
known as of the best quality.

The season for Plums being nearly over, th^re
were but few dishes of this fruit exhibited. Of
Peaches, also, the season was nearly passed, con-
sequently they were not so abundant as they v/ould
have been had the exhibition been a little earlier.
There were, however, some magnificent specimens
of the Lemon Rareripe, Early Crawford, Old Mix-
on, and other varieties. Grapes, from Messrs.
Russell, Strong, Allen, and others, v/ere very fine
and in great variety.

There was a great collection of Pot Plants from
the various conservatories, and green-houses of
our amateurs and nurserymen, but for the want of
room they were not exhibited to the greatest ad-
vantage. Among them were some large and
splendid plants of Camellias, Oranges, Acacias,
and other species. The stands for flowers were
all filled with choice Dahlias, Asters, Roses, &e.

The display of Vegetables was better than at
any former exhibition.

The Decorations were designed by Mr. Sharp,
and executed by Mr. Haggerston, and his associ-
ates, and were of the most tasteful and pleasing
character.

The whole arrangement of Fruit, Flowers,
Plants, Vegetables, and Mottoes, was of the first
order. Old Faneuil Hall never looked more
lovely. The hallowed influence of fruits and flow-
ers, seemed to have dissipated the political atmos-
phere of mists in which the place is wont to be
shrouded, and it appeared to smile like the garden
of Eden.

The throng of visiters was very great : among
them we were happy to recognize delegations from
the Horticultural Societies of Philadelphia, and
West Chester, Penn., New Haven, Ct., Providence,
R. I., Worcester, and New Bedford, Mass., Dela-
ware, Queen's County, N. Y., Rochester, N. Y.,
and St. Louis, Mo. The exhibition was honored
by great numbers of distinguished strangers p.s well
as our best and most valuable citizens; and we be-
lieve there was a universal feeling of satisfaction
on the part of all who witnessed the display, and

an acknoviiedgment that progress had been made
in tlie Horticultural art.

jRUITS EXHIBITED.

From Marshall P. Wilder, of Dorchester, Presi-
dent of the Society, two hundred varieties of Pears
— viz. : Anch-ews, Angleterre Noisette, Ananas
(French,) Ah Mon Dieu, Alpha, Belle Angevine,
B. d' Angers, B. d Esquermes, B. Excellente, B. et
Bonne, B. et Bonne (de Hee,) B. Caenais, B. Cra-
onnaise, B. de Trois, Beurre d'Aremberg, B.
d'Anjou, B. d'Amalis, B. d'Angleterre, B. Beau-
champs, B. Beauleau, B. Bronze, (French,) B.
Bronzee, B. Bosc, B. Beureal, B. Brown, B. Capi-
aumont, B. Coloma, B. Cutter, B. Diel, B. Impe-
riale. B. Goubault, B. Gens, B. Kenrick, B. Golden
(Rivers,) B. d'Elberg, B. de Rhine, B. Triguer, B.
Knox, B. Nerckman, B. Gris d'Hiver Nouveau, B.
Moire, B. Noir Chain, B. Ranee, B. Spence, Bon
Chretien Willianis's, B. C Fondante, B.C. Winter,
BergamotteCadette, Eergamot (Gansel's,) B. East-
er, Buffum, Belmont, Bleeker's Meadow, Bezi de
la Motte, B. des Veterans, Black Worcester,
Brougham, Bankerblne, Beau present d'Artois,
Bezi Vaet, Bizamumy, Bonne ente, Eenoist, Ca-
det de Vaux, Catillac, Chaumontel Beige, C. An-
glaise, Colmar Van Mons, Colmard'Aremberg, C.
du Lot Columbia, Compte de Lamy, Contesse de
Lunay, Captif St. Helene, Gushing, Delices de Jo-
doigne, Dunmore, Dix, Duchesse d'Angouleme,
D. it Orleans, Doyenne white, D. graj', D. gi-is
d-'hiver nouveau, D. musque. Dingier, Drake (Ed-
wards',) De Lepine, Eyewood, Edwards (summer,)
Epine d'hiver, E. Dumas, Echasserie, Enfant Pro-
digue, Exquis, Fulton, Fortunee, Figue de Naples,
Flemish Beauty, Fondante d'Automne, F. du Bois,
F. du Bois (Vilmorin,) F. de Charneuse, Freder-
ick of Wui'lemburg, Gilogil, Glout Moreeau, Gi-
rardin, Genilesheim, Glout Moreeau, (Cambrone,)
Green Su2:ar, Gros Romain Carmelite, rieathcot,
Howell, Hcricart, Inconnue Van Mons, Jalousie
de Fontenay Vendee, JalvJe, Juvardelle, Jalousie
nouvelie. Knight's Seedling, (R. i.,) King Ed-
ward, Lav/rence, Louise bonne de Jersey, Leon le
Clerc, Long Green (of Coxe,) Monarch, Madotte,
Mansuette, Marie Louise, McLaughlin, Napoleon,
Ne plus Meuris, Pater Noster, Poire de Conde, P.
de Jacob, Passe Colmar, Paradise, Passe Tardive,
Queen Caroline, Ridelle, Roi de Rome, Rousselet
de Rheims, R. il'hiver, St. Michael Archange,
(Rivers's, I St. Michael Archange, Sanspareille,
Seckel, St. Germain, (Prince's,) do. Edwards's, do.
Uvedale's, St. Andre (O.,) Sieule, Sucre Vert, Sa-
geret, Stuyck, St. Denis, St. Laurens, St. Francis,
Soldat Laboureur (Belgique,) Souvrain d'hiver.
Sans Pepins, Salviat), Swan's Egg, St. Andre, (V.,)
&c., Thompson, Tarquin, Unknown sorts, 11, Ur-
baniste, Vicar of Winkfield, Verte longue d'Au-
tomne panachee, Voix aux Pretres, Vicompte de
Spoelberch, Van Mons No. 65, Van Mons Leon le
Clerc, Winter Nelis, Wilbur, Whitfield, Wilkin-
son, Waterloo, &c., &c. Plums — Coe"s Golden
Drop, Merveille (new,) Reine Claude de Bavay,
(new,) St. Catharine. Apples — Gravenstein, Ly-
man's Sweet, Gloria Mundi.

From the Pomological Garden, Salem, by R.
Manning, two hundred and sixty sorts of Pears,
viz. : — Ambrosia, Ananas d'Ete, Andrews, Althorp

298

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

Crassane, Alpha, Aston Town, Bruno de Bosco,
Bergamotte d'Autonme, Black Pear of Worcester,
Bezi de Montigny, Beurre Witzhumb, B. Van Ma-
rum, B. Craupaud, B. Kenrick, B. Ranee, B. An-
gleterre, B. d'Arembeig, B. Adam, B. of Bolwil-
ler, B. Diel, B. Amandes, B. Thouin, B. d'Amalis,
B. Delbecq, B. Bosc, Bleeker's Meadow, Berga-
motte Paithenay, Bordeaux, Bergamotte Fortu-
nee. Brown Beurre, Brougham, Bon Chretien Fon-
dante, Belle Fondante, Bergamotte Cadette, Bish-
op's Thumb, Burgomaster, Bezi de la Motte, Bois
Napoleon, Bonne Louise, Brugman's Birne,
Brande's St. Germain, Butium, Bartlett, Belle et
Bonne, Bergamot Neill, Cross, Comte de Lelieur,
Colmar Epine, Calebasse Monstreuse, Comte de
Lamy, Caroline, Columbia, Capuchin, Croft Castle,
Capsheaf, Capiaumont, Capiicin, V. M., Catillac,
Caillot Rosat, Chaptal, Caen du France, Coter, Ca-
lebasse, Clinton, Charles of Austria, Citron of Bo-
hemia, Crassane, Clara, Coloma, Chaumontel, Cu-
velier, Colmar Neill, Cabot, Dearborn (of Van
Mons,) Doyenne Boussoch, Du Parrain, Duchesse
d'Angouleme, Duchesse d'Urleans, Dix, Doyenne
d'Hiver, Dundas, Dunmore, Doyenne Gray, Duch-
esse de Mars, Doyenne d'Alencon, Doyenne White,
Delices d'Hardenpont, Doyenne Louis, Eyewood,
Easter Beurre, Endicott, Emerald, Easter Berga-
mot, Enfant Prodige, Epine d'ete, Flemish Beauty,
Flemish Bon Chretien, Fig of Naples, Fulton,
Fondante d'Automne, Frederick of Wurtemburg,
Fantasie Van Mons, Flemish Sabine, Foster's St.
Michael, Glout Morceau, Gilogil, Gendesheim,
Gansel's Bergamot, (ireen Sugar, Golden Beurre of
Bilboa, Henry the Fourth, Hadley, Hunt's Con-
necticut, Hathorne's Seedling, Heathcot, Hacon's
Incomparable, Henriette, Hericart, Henri Van
Mons, Harvard, Huguenot, Jaminette d'Hiver, Ja-
lousie, Jean de Witte, Jaminette, Jalousie de Fon-
tenay Vendee, John Dean, Juvardal, Jubin, Johon-
not. King Edward, Lincoln, Leon le Clerc, three
vars.. Long Green of Duliamel, Louise Bonne of
Jersey, L.B. Real, Long Green, Lederbirne, Las
Canas, Locke, Lewis, March Bergamot, Musca-
dine, Meuris d'Hiver, Marie, Manning, fMarie
Louise, Moccas, Messire Jean, Monarch (false,)
Miel de Waterloo, Madotte, Marcelis, Napoleon,
Ne plus Meuris, Prince s St. Germain, Pitt's Marie
Louise, Plombgastel, Paradise d'Automne, Pomme
Poire, Petre, Princesse of Orange, Passe Colmar,
Pope's Russet, Pater Noster, Pennsylvania, Pail-
liau, Parmentier, Queen of the Low Countries,
Quilletette, Rousse Lench, Rameau, Raymond,
Rousselette de Rheims, R. de Meester, R. d'Espe-
ren, Ronville, Reine des Poires, Seckel, Seedling,
Surpasse Virgalieu, Sousreine, Sickler, Sanspariel,
St. Germain Tillon, St. Bruno, St. Germain, Span-
ish Bon Chretien, Sieulle, Sovereign of Spring,
Sullivan, Serrurier d'Automne, Schooling Merry,
Stevens's Genesee, St. Ghislain, Swiss Bergamot,
Superfondante, Shobden Court, Thompson's, Til-
lington, Uvedale's St. Germain, Urbaniste, Van
Mons Leon le Clerc, Vacat, Vicar of Winkfield,
Van Assene, Whitfield, Winter Crassane, Winter
Nelis, Wilkinson, White Doyeane, Winter Quince,
Washington, Williams's Early, Wurzer d'Au-
tomne; fifteen varieties, unknown, and the follow-
ing Nos. of Van Mons-.— No. 135, 177, 182,365,
698, 858, 879, 968, 969, 982, 1028, 1036, 1074, 1082,
1253, 1258, 1325, 1451, a454, 1482, 1535, 1602, and
five vars. unknown. Apples — one hundred and
eighteen varieties, viz. : — Aunt Hannah, Acton
Spice, Ananas, Alfreston, American Golden Pippin,
Brabant Bellflower, Black Apple, Baldwin, Box-
ford, Ben, Black Coal, Beauty of Kent, Beacham-

well's, Bickley's White Sweet, Cambuthnethum,
Crows Egg(?), Cornish Aromatic, Chandler,
Corse's Sweeting, Danvers Winter Sweet, Drop
d'Or, Denmark, Downton Pippin, Dumelow Seed-
ling, Dutch Codlin, Esopus Spitzenburg, Edward's
Russet, English Summer Pearmain, Englisli Golden
Russet, Fall Harvey, Framata Rosa, Fameuse,
Fallawater, Fearn's Pippin, Fenouillet Rouge,
Granny Earl, Gravenstein, Green Sweet, Hay Boys,
Grey French Reinette, Gloucester, Hubbardston
Nonsuch, Plaskell Sweeting, Holland Pippin, Hoa-
ry Morning, Ipswich Seek-no-further, Jonathan,
Kraam, King of the Pippins, Hampshire Green,
King Philip, Lovett Sweeting, Lucombe's Seed-
ling, two vars., Leyden Pippin, Lyman Pumpkin
Sweet, Lyscom, Large Burden, Minister, Maiden's
Blush, Murphy, Mela Carla, Morgan's Royal, Mor-
gan,Merchants' Reding, Nonsuch,Needles, Newark
Pippin, Otiey Pippin, Pumpkin Sweet, Pennock's,
Pigeonette, Pelham Sweet, Pound, Pomme Royale,
Pearson's Plate, President, Porter, PownalSpitzen-
berg,Priestley, Rawles' Janet, Ribston Pippin, Rose
of Sharon, Rhode Island Greening, Rymer, Rams-
dell's Red Pumpkin Sweet, Roxbury Russet, Ram-
bour Franc, RedCalville, Roe's Sweet, Rambo, Ro-
man Stem, Russet Pearmain, Spice Sweet, Swan's
Pine, Swaar, Sam Young, Scarlet Nonpareil, Spar-
hawk's, Spring Greening, Slug Sweeting, Strawber-
ry, Templeton Winter Sweet, Tui-n of the Lane,
Vermont Sweet, Vandevere, two vars., Wormsley
Pippin, Winesap, Wellington, two vars.. Winter
Sweet Paradise, Wells' Sweeting, Winter Queen,
Wing Sweeting, Waterman Reding, Warner Rus-
set, Yellow Bellflower.

From Vice President B. V. French, of Bl-ain-
free, seventy-three varieties of Apples, viz. : —
Adam's Sweet, Black Apple (of Cox,) Blenheim
Orange, Burrasoe, Baltimore, Ben Apple, Bloom-
ing Red, Baldwin, Canada Reinette, Dutch Codlin,
Dominisky, or Lord's, Danver's Winter Sweet,
Esopus Sjiitzenberg, French's Sweet, Fallawater,
I'earn's Pippin, lall Greening, Gardner's Sweet,
Gravenstein, Golden Russet, Garden Striped, Hoa-
ry Morning, Hawthornden, Hubbardston Nonsuch,
Jonathan Kenrick's Autumn, Long Nonsuch, Long
Russet, Lucomb's Seedling, Lyscom, Murphy,
Monstrous Pippin, Mela Carla, Nonsuch, Nonpa-
reil, Pomme de Neige, Porter, Pomme d'Api,
Pumpkin Russet (sweet,) Peck's Pleasant, Pear-
main, Pennock, Royal, Ruggles, Ross's Nonpareil,
Roxbury Russet, Rhode Island Greening, Sweet
Greening, Seaver's Sweet, Sugar Sweet, Seek -no-
further, (from Hingham,) Seek-no-further, Wine,
Winter Gilliflower, Spice, White Wales Apple,
Wellington, Yellow Bellflower, Yellow Newtown
Pippin; thirteen varieties unknown. Pears — viz.:
Beurre Bosc, B. Van Marum, Capiaumont, Duch-
esse d'Angouleme, Grosse Bruxelles, Gore's
Heathcot, Good Lewis(?) Harvard, Long Green,
Messire Jean, Seckel, Passe Colmar, Tillington,
Vicar of Winkfield. Peaches — viz. : Crawford's
Late, Old Mixon ifree).

From Vice President Cheever Newhall, of Dor-
chester, twenty-four varieties of Pears — viz. : Al-
thorp Crassane, Beurre Diel, B. d'Aremberg, B.
d'Amalis, Bleeker's Meadow, Chaumontel, Dun-
more, Dix, Frederick de Wurtemburg, Fondante
d'Automne, Fulton, Harrison Autumn, Heathcot,
Knight's Seedling, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Long
Green, Lawrence, Vicar of Winkfield, Marie
Louise, McLaughlin, Napoleon, Oliver's Seedling,
Rousselet de Rheims, Urbaniste. Apples — viz. :
Domine, De Neige, Golden Pippin, Gravenstein,
Porter, R. I. Greening, Rambo, Ribston Pippin,

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

299

Snow Apple, Seaver Sweet/Winter. Plums— viz. :
Coe's Golden Drop, Purple Prune, Orleans, Prune
d'Ag-en. Peaches— Crawford's Early, Old Mixon.

From Samuel Walker, Roxbury, eighty-two va-
rieties of Pears— viz. : Andrews, Ananas, Angora,
Belle et Bonne, Boucquia, Belle et Bonne de Hee,
Berganiot (Gansel's,) B. Hampden's, Beurre d'
Aremherg, B. Brown, B. Capiaumont, B. Diel, B.
Duval, B. Easter, B. Ranee, B. Golden of Bilboa,
B. d'Anjou, B. Piquery, Bezi Vaet, Bicknal, Bon
Chretien (Williams's,) Broom Park, Chaumontel,
Chaptal, Colmar d'Ete, Champagne, Colmar d'Au-
tomne, Comte de Lamy, Columbia, Crassane, Cras-
sane, (Winter,) Crassane Althorp, Dix, Doyenne
White, D. Gray, D. Rouge, D. Dore, Duchessc
d'Angouleme, Dunmore, Delices de Joeloigne,
Epine Dumas, Eyewood, Flemish Beauty, ion-
dante d'Automne, F. Van Mons, Figue, I . de Na-
ples, Fourcro}', Gilogil, Gendesheim, Glout Mor-
ceau, Hacon's Incomparable, .Tohonnot, Lawrence,
Louise Bonne de Jersey, Messire Jean, McLaugh-
lin, Monarch (Knight's,) Moor-fowl Egg, Martin
Sec, Napoleon, Ne plus Meuris, Pacquency, Passe
Colmar, Queen of Low Countries, Rousselette de
Rheims, Rousselette, Seckel, St. Germain, St. Giiis-
lain, St. Mesmire, Swan's Egg, Stone, Tyson, Ur-
laniste. Van Mons Leon le Clerc, Verte Longue
b'Automne, Voix aux Pretres, Winter Nelis, Wil-
diams's Earl}^, and two varieties unknown.

From Josiah Lovett, of Beverly, twenty-six va-
rieties of Pears — viz. : Althorp Crassane, An-
drews, Beurre Bosc, B. Diel, B. d'Amalis, Gan-
sel's Bergamot, Catillac, Dunmore, Flemish Beau-
ty, Fondante d'Automne, Fulton, Great Citron of
Bohemia, Harvard, Golden Buerre of Bilboa, Ja-
lousie, King Edward, Knight's Monarch, Louise
Bonne de Jersey, McLaughlin, Marie Louise, Ma-
dotte d'hiver, Pitt's Prolific, Summer Franc Real,
Urbaniste, Winter Nelis, Williams's Bon Chretien.

From Otis Johnson, Lynn, sixty-three varieties
of Pears — viz. : Angleterre, Brown Beurre, Beurre
d'Aremberg, B. d'Amalis, B. Bronzee, B. Diel,
Buffum, Bleeker's Meadow, Bezi de la Motte,
Belle et Bonne, Calebasse, Catillac, Gushing,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Doyenne blanc, Dix,
Echasserie, Epine d'Ete, Easter Beurre, Flemish
Beauty, Frederick of Wurtemburg, Franc Real
d'Hiver, Glout Morceau, Gilogil, Harvard, Henry
IV., Hacon's Incomparable, Hericart, Jalousie,
Johonnot, Lewis, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Law-
rence, Moccas, Marie Louise, Martin Sec, Marquis,
Napoleon, Princess of Orange, Passe Colmar,
Prince's St. Germain, Pope's Russet, Rousselet de
Rheims, R. Panache, Seckel, Saint Ghislain, Uve-
dale's St. Germain, Urbaniste, Valee Franche,
Verte Longue, Vicar of Winkfield, Winter Nelis,
Washington, Williams's Bon Chretien, and seven
kinds unknown. Grapes — Black Hamburgh, White
Chasselas, White Muscat of Alexandria, Zinfendal.
Two varieties of Apples. Four varieties of
Peaches. Four varieties of Plums.

From Joseph S. Cabot, Salem, Sixty-six varieties
of Pears— viz. : Althorp Crassane, Andrews, Beur-
re Diel, B. d'Aremberg, B. Meise, B. Curtet, Bas-
ket, Bon Chretien Fondante, Louise Bonne de
Jersey, Bezi de la Motte, Belle Esquermes, Gan-
sel's Bergamot, Bocquia, Gushing, Capiaumont,
Catillac, Capucin, Gompte de Lamy, Croft Castle,
Columbia, Chaumontel, Capshcaf, Cross Pear, Co-
lonel's Winter, Doyenne d'Hiver, Duvivier, Easter
Beurre, Enfant Prodige, Fulton, Fig Extra, (Van
Mons,) Fondante Rouge, Flemish Beauty, Fortu-
nes, Great Citron of Bohemia, Gendesheim, Golden
Beurre of Bilboa, Henri Quarte, Hericart, Jalousie,

Long Green, Lewis, Urbaniste, Long Green of
Euroi)e, Messil d'Hiver, Muscadine, Maria Louise
nova, Paradise d'Automne, Pacquency, Princess
of Orange, Poire Raineux, P. Gerande, Queen of
Low Countries, Rousselet Precoce, St. Andre,
Summer Rose, Surpasse Virgalieu, St. Giiislain,
Seckel, Seedling Maria, Surpasse St. Germain,
Sucre Vert, S])ence, from Rivers, Smith's Penn-
sylvania, 'Ihompson, Winter Nelis, Wilkinson.

From Thomas Dowse, Cambridge, four dishea
of Bartlett, and tliree of Gansel's Bergamot Pears.

From Josiah Gilmore, by G. L. Gilmore, New-
ton, Apples — Blue Pearmain, Bellflower, Blush
Apple, Egg Apple, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Lady
Ai)ple, Roxbury Russet, Spitzenberg. Pears —
Flemish Beauty, Seckel.

From Jolin M. Ives, Salem, Pears — viz.: An-
drews, Bartlett, Beurre Remain (?), B. Bosc, Belle
Lucrative, Bezi de la Motte, Gushing, Columbia,
Flemish Beauty, Fulton, GoUlen Beurre of Bilboa,
Harrison's Fall Baking, Hacon's Incomparable,
Jalousie, Long Green, Washington, Winter Nelis.
Apples — a superior late Apple from Stratliam, N.
H. ; a fine tender Sweet, Essex county variety.
Plums— Green Gage, Reine Claude Violet, Red
Gage of Downing, Sharp's Emperor. Peach —
Ives's Early Melacoton.

From 1. Fay, Cambridgeport, Pears — William's
Bon Chretien, Capiaumont, Chaumontel, Easter
Beurre, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Louise bonne
de Jersey, Napoleon, >t. Michael, Seckel, and one
unnamed. Peac'nes — Goolcdge's Favorite, Jaques'
Rareripe, Lemon Rareripe, Owen's do., Pike's
Rarerijie, Red and Yellow Rareripe.

From Parsons <^.- Co., Flushing, L. I., and
Brighton, Mass., Apples— thirty-two varieties,
viz: Autumn Bough, Court of Wyck, Esopus
Spitzenburg, Fallawater, Franklin's Golden Pip-
pin, Fall Harvey, Fameuse, Fall Pi])pin, Federal
Pearmain, Golden Russet, Herefordshire Pear-
main, Hawthornden, Killiam Hill, Long Stem,
Michael Henry Pippin, Marigold, Morris Sweet-
ing, Maiden's Blush, Newtown Pippin, Newton
Spitzenburg, Nonsuch, Pennock's, Pickman's Pip-
pin, Rambo d'Ete, Sciieenmaker. Seek-no-further,
Tolman's Sweeting, Trimmer's Russet, Vande-
vere, Willis' Sweeting, Yellow Bellefleur. Pears
— Lawrence, from the original tree.

From George R. Russell, West Roxbury, Grapes
— Black Hamburg, Cliasselas de Fontainebleau,
Muscat of Alexandria, Royal Muscadine, Red
Frontignan, S)-riaii, Wilmofs Black Hamburg,
White Frontignan.

From Thomas Liversidge, Dorchester, Black
Hamburg Grapes.

From M. H. Ruggles, Fall River, Pears— Bart-
lett, Durfee, Hull, Philips, Seckel, Wilbur, all fine
specimens.

The following note from Mr. Ruggles, accom-
panied these Pears : —

Lurfce, or Shawl Pear. — This variety originated
on the farm of George Durfee, in Tiverton, R. I.
The trunk of the parent tree is some eight or ten
inches in diameter. It maj^ be thirty or forty years
old. It is a good bearer.

Wilbur Pear. — Originated on a farm owned by
William Wilbur, in somerset. It has been under-
going a change in some trees — the fruit is much
larger and the flavor not as good as when the fruit
was smaller.

Phillips Piar — Originated on the Phillips farm in
Newport, R. I. ; or I found it there, and have been
able to trace all synonyms to that stock. The tree

300

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

from which I took the grafts is quite old— perhaps
one hundred years, or more.

Hull Pear — Originated in Swanzey. The parent
tree was found by Mr. Hull, and by him brought
home and nurtured. On the same farm was found
another native variety, which was called Mason
Fear.* By some means the names have become
confounded. Mr. Wilbur sent some of the latter
to the Society a few years ago, by the name of
Hull pears, which was very much liked, and per-
haps the misnomer may thereby be ])erpetuated.

M. H. RUGGLES.

Fall River, iSept. 16, 1816.

From George C. Crowningshield, Brookline,
Persian Greea-flesh Melon.

From George Newhall, Dorchester, Pears —
Williams' Bon Chretien, Beurre Bosc, Black Pear
of Worcester, Cumberland, Catillac, Dix, Freder-
ick of VVurtemburg, Fulton, Louise bonne de Jer-
sey, Seckel, Urbaniste, Vicar of Winkfield.
Peaches— Jacques.

i'rom Samuel Downer, Jr., Dorchester, Pears —
Louise bonne de Jersey, Golden Beurre of Bilboa,
Vicar of VVinicfield, Williams" Bon Chretien.

From F. W. Macondray, Dorchester, thirty-
seven varieties of Pears — viz; Arch Duke Charles,
Andrews, Belle et Bonne, Beurre Moire, B. Chori,
B. Brown, B. Diel, B. Royal, B. Picquery, B.
Easter, B. d'Amalis, Bezi de la Motte, Black Pear
of Worcester, Ghaumontel, Crassane, Catillac,
Callebasse Bosc, Dix, Doyenne Gray, Figue de
Naples, Fortunee, Flemisli Bon Chretien, Glout
Morceau, Long Green of Autumn, Louise Bonne
de Jersey, McLaughlin, Marie Louise, Napoleon,
Prince's St. Germain, Queen of the low Countries.

From Messrs. Winship, Brighton, tiiirty-three
varieties of Pears, viz : Althorp Crassane, Angle-
terre, Williams' Bon Chretien, Belle et Bonne,
Beurre Diel, B. de Capiaumont, B. Ranee, B. Lu-
crative, B. d'Hiver, B. dore, Bergamot de Haysans,
B. de Paques, B. Pentacote, Belle Lucrative, Cum-
berland, Catillac, Dunmore, Do3^enne d'Ete, Du-
chesse, Fulton, Fortunee, Glout Morceau, Heath-
cot, Jalousie iLe Fontenay, Louise bonne de Jer-
sey, Lewis, Moorfowl Egg, Napoleon, Passe
Colmar, Pcousse Lench, Sageret, Winter Nelis,
Wilkinson. Apples — London, Leadington, Grand
Sachem.

From Warren's Garden, Brighton, forty-four
varieties of Apples— viz: Atwater, Alexander,
IJellflower, Baldwin, Blue Pearmain, Captain,
Danvers Sweet, Detroit, Early Russet, Egg Apple,
Gardner Sweeting, Golden Russet, Hubbardston
Nonsuch, Hawthornden, Long Nonsuch, Lancas-
ter, London, Minister, N. Y. Greening, Old Pear-
main, Pumpkin Sweet, Porter, Prince Charles,
Pomme de Neige, Roxbury Russet, Rhode Island
Greening, Ribstone Pippin, Red Siberian, Red
Bellflower, Sweet Russet, Spice, Spitzenberg,
Seedling, Striped Spice, Vandervere, Warren's
Spice, Yellow Bellflower, Yellow Siberian, and
five other kinds. Pears — thirty-eight varieties,
viz: Andrews, Williams's Bon Chretien, Bufifum,
Bezi de la Motte, Black Pear of Worcester, Bezi
d'Montigney, Beurre Diel, Crassane, Catillac, Du-
chesse d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre, Flemish
Beauty, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Glout Morceau,
Gansel's Bergamot, Heathcot, Iron Pear, Julienne
(second crop,) Marie Louise, Napoleon, Seckel,
Vert longue Panachee, Winter Nelis, Wilkinson,
Washington, and twelve others for names; also,
fruit of the Pyrus Japonica. Quinces — Orange,

* The variety under cuhivalion in this region as the "ii"!(M"

Musch-Musch, Pear Quince. Melon — Persian
Green Flesh. Grapes — Black Hamburg, Black St.
Peters, Red Chasselas, Palestine, and a line basket
of Fruit.

From Aaron D. Williams & Son, Roxbury^
twenty-six varieties of Pears — viz : Angleterre,
Andrews, Beurre d'Amalis, B. Brown, B. Easter,
Bergamot, Belle Lucrative, Crassane, Flemish
Beauty, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Harvard, Louise
bonne de Jersey, Messire Jean, Madotte, Napole-
on, Passe Colmar, Rousselet de Rheims, Seckel,
St. Germain, St. Michael, Summer Thorn, Urban-
iste, Verte Longue, Vicar of Winkfield, Wil-
liams's Bon Chretien, Williams's Early. Apples
— fourteen varieties, viz: Baldwin, Blue Pearmain,
Daniel Wise, Fameuse, Gravenstein, Golden Pip-
pin, Greening Sweet, Porter, R. I. Greening, Rox-
bury Russet, Ram"s Horn, E,usset Sweet, Summer
Sweet.

From Alfred A. Andrevsrs, Roxbury, Pears —
viz: Beurre Diel, B. d Aremberg, B. d'Amalis,
Bezi de la Motte, Columbia, Colmar d'Aremberg,
Fulton, Louise bonne de Jersey, Passe Colmar,
Swan's Egg.

From P. J. Mayer, Weston, Apples— viz: Blue
Pearmain, Baldwin, Congress, Hubbardston Non-
such, Mackey Greening, do. Sweeting, Porter,
Roxbury Russet, R. I. Greening, Trull Sweeting.
Pears — Doyenne White, Williams's Bon Chretien.
Peaches — three varieties.

Apples — from the farm of Moses Kingsley, Esq.,
Kalamazoo, Mich., gathered Aug. 28, 1848, viz:
Baldwin, Pippin, Bellflower, Gilliflower, Cabu-
shaw, Greening, Jonathan, Nonsuch, Red Winter,
Spitzenberg, ^eek-no-further. Twenty-ounce Pip-
pin

From Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, Grapes —
viz : Black Hamburg, Chasselas d'Fontainebleau,
Esperione, New Black Hamburg, Pitmaston White
Cluster, Rose Chasselas, Syrian, Wilmots Black
Hamburg. Pears — viz : William's Bon Chretien,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Doyenne White, Figue de
Naples, St. Ghislain. Peaches — Crawford's Early,
Stetson s Seedling, Tice's Early, and three varie-
ties names unknown. Plum — Fellemburg. Figs
— Brunswick.

From Asa Clement, Dracut, Apples — viz: Has-
kell Sweeting, Kilham Hill, Parker's Sweeting,
Porter, Russet Sweeting, R. I. Greening, York
Apple.

From John Gordon, Brighton, Pears — twenty-
three varieties, viz: Buffum, Brown Beurre, B.
Ranee, Duchesse, d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre,
Flemish Beauty, Frederick of Wurtemburg, Glout
Morceau, Henry IV., Locke's Seedling, Louise
bonne de Jersey, Napoleon, Passe Colmar, Queen
of the Low Countries, Stevens' Genesee, Doyenne
White, Seckel, St. Ghislain, Vicar of Winkfield,
Verte Longue, Williams's Bon Chretien, Wilkin-
son, Winter Nelis. Plums — Coe's Golden Drop.
Three Watermelons.

From Thomas Needham, Brighton, by O. H.
Mathers, Grapes — fourteen varieties, viz : Black
Hamburg, Black St. Peters, Black Lombardy, Can-
non Hall, Chasselas of Fontainebleau, Chasselas
Musque, Frankendale, Golden Chasselas, Grizzly
Frontignan, Muscat of Alexandria, Palestine, Pur-
ple Malvasia, Syrian, White Frontignan.

From Francis Dana, Roxbury, Peaches — four
Seedlings. Quince Apple.

From John A. Kenrick, Newton, Apples — viz:
Baldwin, Cogswell, Hubbardston Nonsuch, High-
top Sweeting, Porter. Pears — Beurre de Capiau-

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

301

mont, Flemish Beauty, Louise bonne de Jersey,
Urbaniste, Vicar of VVinkiield.

From John S. Sleeper, of Roxbury, Pears— Belle
et bonne d Hee, Beurre Diel, Doyenne \\ hite,
Eyewood, Glout Morceau, Marie Louise, Vicar of
Winlffield, Verte longue Panachee. Apples —
Hubbardston Nonsuch.

From Galen Merriam, West Newton, Pears—
Beurre Diel, Bezi de la Motte, Catillac, Duchesse
d'Angouleme, Fortunee, Long Green, Martin Sec,
Napoleon, Rousselet, Williams's Bon Chretien.
Peaches— Crawford's Early, George IV., Lemon
Rareripe, Morris White.

From Lewis Davenport, Milton, Apples— Bald-
win, Golden Russet, Nonsuch, Peck's Pleasant, R.
I. Greening, Roxbury Russet. Grapes — Black
Hamburg. Peaches — Tippecanoe Cling.

Brandywine Pear — raised by Dr. EUwood Har-
vey, near Chads-Ford, on the Brandywine, Dela-
ware county, Penn. ; two specimens.

From Isaac Jeffries, Chester co., Penn., Seed-
ling Ai)ples, viz : two red, called Jeffries, two
yellow called Burlingham.

From Dr. Eshelmar, Chester CO., Penn., a bas-
ket of Red Seedling Apples.

From the orchard of Wm. C. Hickman, near
Westchester, Chester co., Penn., a basket of
Peaches.

From B. K. Bliss, Springfield, Mass., verj^ large
Native Grapes.

From John F. Allen, West Cambridge, eight
Cantelope Melons, very large.

From Mrs. Si)aulding, South Reading, Fruit of
the Passion Flower. Also, a Lemon, from a tree
fourteen years old, having on it one hundred line
specimens. Apples— Crab and Pumpkin Sweet.

From George Walsh, Charlestown, Apples —
viz: Baldwin, Nonsuch, Winter Greening, three
varieties for name, and three varieties of Crab
Apples. Pears — viz : Brown Beurre, Doyenne
White, Williams's Bon Chretien, Winter Nelis,
two varieties for name. Grapes — Isabella.

From W. Keith, West Roxbury, Apples — viz:
Hightop Sweet, Pumpkin Sweet, Porter.

From John Henshaw, Cambridge, Pears — Beurre
Diel, DuchesSe d'Angouleme.

From J. Balch, Jr., Roxbury, Pears — four va-
rieties, in a basket.

From S. D. Pardee, Esq., New Haven, Conn.,
Pear— Howel's Seedling, from the original tree, in
the garden now owned by Mr. John English.

From John Arnold, Jr., Milton, Gi-apes — Black
Hamburg, Zinfendal.

From Mrs. C. Hutchinson, Boston, Grapes —
Black Malaga, one variety unknown.

From Artemas Rogers, Watertown, Plum —
Roger's Pu'ple. Pot of Honey, 7 lbs.

From Oliver Livermore, Brighton, one dozen
Apples.

From John David D' Wolfe, Westchester county,
N. Y., Pears— Seckel.

From John Albree, Newton Corner, Pears — Du-
chesse d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre, Napoleon,
Williams's Bon Chretien. Apple — Pumpkin Sweet-
ing.

From George Peirce, West Cambridge, Pears —
Williams's Bon Chretien, fine. Porter Apples,
fine.

From Mrs. James Adams, Roxbury, two dishes
Seckel Pears, extra fine, one dish Chaumontel.

From Wm. B. Kingsbury, Pears— viz : Beurre
Diel, B. Brown, Catillac, Bell Pear, Doyenne
Gray, Iron Pear, Martin Sec, Passe Colmar, two
varieties unknown.

From L. R. Mears, Dorchester, Seckel Pears.

From John H. Welch, Esq., Dorchester, thir-
(een varieties of Pears, viz: Beurre Diel, Dix,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Fulton, Frederick of
Wurtemburg, Flemish Beauty, Gansels Bergamol,
Rousselet de Itheims, Swan's Egg, tt. Michael, St.
Ghislain, Urbaniste, Verte longue Panachee.

From Henry Vandyne, Cambridge, twenty-nine »
varieties of Pears, viz : Andrews, Beurre Spence,
B. Diel, Charles of Austria, Doyenne White,
Flemish Beauty, Frederick of Wurtemburg, Glout
Morceau, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Heathcot,
Marie Louise, New Long Panachee, Passe Colmar,
Prince's St. Germain, Queen of the Low Coun-
tries, Seckel, Spanish Bon Chretien, Turkish Bon
Chretien, I'reasure, Williams s Bon Chretien,
Washington, and seven varieties unknown. Plums
Hulings buperb. Goes Golden Drop. Seedling
Nectarine.

From Charles H. Tomlinson, Schenectady, N.
Y., Gansel s Bergamot Pears, large.

From Elbriuge Tufts, Cambridgeport, Apples,
viz: Baldwin, Blue Pearmain, Cory Greening,
English Pearmain, Fall Pippin, Ribstone Pippin,
Roxbury Russet, Striped Red Sweeting, Tuft's
Baldwin, i seedling,) York Russet, kind unknown.

From James Eustis, S. Reading, twenty-five va-
rieties of Apples, viz : Ben, Burrs, Bough, Har-
vest, Baldwin, Columbian Pippin, Dutch Codlin,
Golden Ball, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Jewett s fine
Red, Kilhum Hill, Kitlredge Sweet, Nonsuch,
Orange Sweet, Porter, Philadelphia Pippin(?),
Roxbury Russet, R. I. Greening, Spice Apple,
Sweet Winter Russet, Triangle, Trunnell. Seed-
ling Peach.

From Lewis Wheeler, Cambridgeport, Pears —
Dunmore, Williamss Bon Chretien. Plums —
Lombard, White Gage.

From Enos Bartlett, Roxbury, Pears- Culotte
de Swisse, Frederick of Wurtemburg, Gansel's
Bergamot, Heathcot.

I rom Hovey & Co., one hundred and two varie-
ties of Pears— viz. : Abricote, Angleterre, Beurre
d'Aremberg, B. Brown, B. d'Amalis, B. Capiau-
mont, B. Diel, B. Easter, B. Ranee, B. Romaine,
B. d'Anjou, B. de Moire, B. de Beaumont, B. Rose,
Belle et bonne de Hee, Belle et Bonne, Belle Lu-
crative, B. Epine Dumas, B. Heloise, B. Henriette,
B. de Thouars, B. Esquermes, Bergamot de Brux-
elles, B. Cadette, B. Parthenay, Bon Chretien
(Williamss,) B. Spanish, B. Fondante, Belmont,
Chaumontel, Comte de Lamy, Cross, Colmar d'
Aremberg, C. du Lot, Chaptal, Coter, Doyenne
white, D. Boussoch, D. Santelete, D. Musque,
Duchesse de Mars, D. d'Angouleme, D. de Berri,
Dunmore, Duvernay, Dumortier, Esperine, Flem-
ish Beauty, Forelle, Figue de Naples, Fondante
Rouge, Glout Morceau, Grosse Calbasse (Jamin,)
Hull, Leon le Clerc (old,) Leon le Clerc Van
Mons, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Le Cure, Las Ca-
nas, Maria Louise, Monarch (Knight's,) Madotte,
Napoleon, Ne plus Meuris, Passe Colmar, Poire
Henriette, Rousselet de Rheims, Seedling Maria,
Seckel, Styrian, Sargeret (V. M.,) Soldat Labour-
er (?) Sieulle, Verte longue d'Automne, Vicompte
de Spoelberch, six kinds unnamed, and the follow-
ing "new varieties" — viz.: Adele de St. Denis,
Belle Apres Noel, Beurre Baud, B. Supreme, B.
Eenoits, Bezi Veterans, Bonne des Zees, Captif St.
Helene, Dingier, Due de Bordeaux, Episcopal,
Ferdinand de Meester, Girardin, Inconnue Van
Mons, Jersey Gratioli, Poire de Carisie, St. Nich-
olas, St. Denis, Triomphe de Jodoigne, TruckhiU
\ Bergamot, and 292 of Van Mons. Apples— viz. :

302

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

Baldwin, Court Pendu, Carthouse, Downton Pip-
pin, Ilawthorndean, Hormead Pearniain, Here-
fordshire Pearraain, James River, Jonathan, Pleas-
ant Valley Pipjiin, Russet (?), Roxbury Russet, R.
I. Greening, Sturmer Pippin, three varieties un-
named. Grapes — viz. : Bourdelas, Black Prince,
Black Hamburg, Wilmot-s do., do. No. 16, Chap-
tal (new,) Cliasselas of Fontainebleau, De CandoUe
(new,) Esperione, Frontignan, (White,) F. Griz-
zly, Golden Chasselas, Moranet (new,) Muscat
Blanc Hatif, M. of Alexandria, M. of Tottenham
Park, M. of Portugal, M. Cannon Hall, M. de la
Mi Aout, Syrian, Scharges Henling (new,) White
Nice, Zinfendal. Guava, (Psidium Cattleynum.)
Melons — Beechwood, Christiana, Nutmeg, Peach,
Persian. Peaches — Favorite, Sweet Water, White
Ball. Oranges and Lemons. Plums — Semiami,
Roger's Blue.

From Bissell & Hooker, Rochester, N. Y., Ap-
ples, viz. : Fameuse, Fall Juneting, Hooker, Pom-
me Gris, Swaar. Pears, viz. : Swan's Orange,
Stevens's Genesee, White Doyenne.

From James Munroe, Cambridge, Pears — Cale-
basse, Capiaumont, Vicar of Winkfield, Passe
Colmar.

From Messrs. S. & G. Hyde, Newton, Apples —
forty-six varieties, viz.: Andover Harvest, Apple
from Worcester, Baldwin, Blessings (from Ver-
mont,) Bough Harvest, Bellelleur, Blue Pearmain,
Codlin, Cathead, Detroit, Egg Apple, French Non-
pareil, Flanders Pippin, Fuller's Apple, French
Pij^Jin (fall,) Green Russet, Gravenstein, Gardner's
Sweet, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Long Nonsuch,
Newion Spitzenberg, Newton Pippin, No Core,
Old Pearmain, Old Red Nonsuch, Pelham's Sweet,
Picena Apple, Philadelphia Pippin, Porter, Pound
Royal, Pumpkin Sweet, Pearmain, Roxbury Rus-
set, Ribston, Pippin, Red Crop, Red Sweet, R. I.
Greening, Spitzenberg, Seaver's Sweet, Sudbury
Pound (fall,) Strop Apple (fall,) Sweet Greening
(fall,) Winter Spice, Yellow Apple, Yellow Crab.

From John A. Hall, Raynham, Apples — Baldwin,
English Pearmain, Nonsuch, Pomme water, Peck's
Pleasant, R. I. Greening, Roxbury Russet, Talmon
Sweeting, Tender Sweet, Wing Sweeting.

From James Cruickshanks, Waltham, Water
Melons — Black Spanish, Mountain Sprout, Long
Island Round.

From Henry H. Crapo, New Bedford, Ananas,
Beurre d'Anjou, B. de Beaumont, B. de Capiau-
mont, B. Golden of Bilboa, B. Diet, B. d'Arem-
berg, Colmar d'Aremberg, Dunmore, Duchesse
d'Angouleme, Doyenne Boussoch, Fulton, Fon-
dante d'Automne, Holland Bergamot, Hacon's In-
comparable, Julienne, Jean de Witt, Jalousie de
Fontenay Vendee, Louise bonne de Jersey, Ma-
dotte. Napoleon, Passe Colmar, Seckel, Vicar of
Winkfield, Vert Longue, Williams's Bon Chretien
and five varieties for name. Apples — Autumn
Bough, Twenty-ounce; grown upon the farm of
Humphrey Howland, of Scipio, Cayuga county,

From John Fisk Allen, of Salem, thirty-three
varieties of Grapes, viz. : Black Hamburgh, Wil-
mot's new Black Hamburgh, Wilmot's No. 16,
Black Hamburg, White Gascoigne, Esperione,
<Jrizzly Frontignan, Wliite Frontignan, Hanster-
etto. Black Sweet Water, Black Prince, Portuguese
Muscat, Zinfendel, Syrian, Chasselas de Fontaine-
bleau, Chasselas de Bar sur Aube, Red Chasselas,
Rose Chasselas, Golden Chasselas, White Sweet
Water, White Tokav, White Nice, De Candolle,
Muscat of Lunel, Muscat of Alexandria, Black St.
Peter's, Black Lombardy, Chaptal, August Muscat,

Red Traminer, Whortley Hall Seedling, Ferral'
Royal Muscadine, Isabella. Pears — Ronville'
Gansel's Bergamot, Seckel, Fondante d'Automne.
Peaches — Bellegarde, La Fayette, Yellow Rare-
ripe, Tippecanoe, Teton de Venus, Kem-ick's Or-
ange. Plums — Coe's Golden drop.

From Weebern, Wyoming county, N. Y., by F.
K. Phcenix, of the Delavan Nursery, Delavan,
Wisconsin. Apples — Edgerly Sweet, Durham, or
Flower of Edinburg, Federal, Changeable, Tift
Sweet, Sweet Gilliflower, Lenox, Detroit Red,
Perry Russet, Pound Sweet, September Sweet,
Striped Pippin, Ox Apple, Pearmain, White Bell-
flower, King George's Favorite, Green Sweet,
King Apple, Griffith's Sweet, Harvest Gilliflower,
Early Sweet Red, and nine other kinds nameless,
or merely local names.

From James P. Oliver, Lynn, Oliver's Russet
Pears, from the original tree.

From H. Snyder, Kinderhook, N. Y., Doyenne
White Pears, and Vandervere Apples.

From R. Whittier, Chicopee, Pears — Brown
Beurre, Bleeker's Meadow, Easter Beurre, Louise
Bonne de Jersey, Seckel.

From Aaron D. Capen, Dorchester, Pears — Beur-
re de Capiaumont, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Louise
Bonne de Jersey, Passe Colmar, Seckel. Apples —
Golden Russet, and a variety unknown. Seedling
Peaches. Melons.

From Charles Sprague, Boston, Spanish Filberts
grown in the city of Boston.

From Charles E. Fisk, Natick, Porter Apples.

From James Arnold, New Bedford, Grapes —
Black Hamburg, Chasselas of Fontainebleau, Roy-
al Muscadine, Royal Muscat, St. Peters.

From Geo. Jacques, Worcester, Pears — Coffin's,
White Doyenne, Virgalieu. Peach? — 11 1-3 inches
in circumference; weight, 11 5-8 ounces.

From Dr. W. W. Cutler, South Reading, Apples,
River?

From Samuel Pond, Cambridgeport, Pears — An-
drews, Beurre Diel, Gushing, Columbia, Doyenne
White, Dix, Flemish Beauty, Fondante d'Au-
tomne, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Marie Louise,
Napoleon, Seckel, Surpasse Virgalieu, Urbaniste,
Vicar of Winkfield, Williams's Bon Chretien.

From Isaac Pullen, Hightstown, N. J., Peaches,
Crawford's Late, Melacoton.

By Isaac P. Davis, Endicott Pears, from the
original tree, 220 years old.

From G. F. Chandler, Lancaster, Apples.

From Wm. Adams, Woburn, a Water Melon,
weighing 37 1-2 lbs.

From N. N. Dyer, South Abington, Apples —
Black Detroit, Brown Jacket, Bedford Sweeting,
Crow's Egg, Fameuse.

From J. M. Everett, Foxboro', Native Grapes,
for premium.

Extra fine specimens of Seckel Pears, from the
New Jersey Horticultural Society, came too late
for exhibition.

FLOWERS EXHIBITED.

From Marshall P. Wilder, President of the So-
ciety, a great variety of fine Plants, consisting of
large Camellias, &c. Also, fine Dahlias, Phloxes,
Roses, and other Cut Flowers.

From A. Aspinwall, Roses, in variety.

From John A. Lowell, a great variety of superb
Plants.

From Thomas Liversidge, Dorchester, a variety
of Plants.

From Messrs. Winship, fine Pot Plants, Bou-
quets, Dahlias, &c.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

303

From John Albree, Dahlias, Roses, &c.

From F. R. Bigelow, flowers of Cactus triangu-
laris.

From John Hovey, Dahlias, Roses, &c.

From Hovey & Co., a fine display of Green
House plants. Also, Cut Flowers and Bouquets.

From Charles B. Shaw, Dedham, by T. Murray,
five pots of Coxcombs, and one do. of Grass Ama-
ranfhus.

From Geo. C. Crowninshield, by John Quant,
fine specimens of Green House Plants.

From Lewis Davenport, a great variety of fine
Roses, Dahlias, &c.

From Parker Barnes, Cut Flowers, Dahlias, &c.
Also, a large Grass Bouquet, Design, &c.

From Warren's Gardens, by J. Cadness, a large
collection of Plants.

From O. H. Mathers, by T. Needham, a variety
of fine Pot Plants.

From H. T. Haseltine, Asters, Verbenas, Cocks-
combs, &c.

From J. Mann and Mrs. E. Parker, fine Grass
Bouquets.

From Wm. Kenrick, by Mrs. Russell, an arbor
Design.

From Mrs. J. Dyer, a handsome Design.

From M. E. C. Brown, J. Shekeen, Miss Ken-
rick, Miss Mary Kenrick, and J. Gilmore, Designs
of various sorts.

From John Parker, very fine Dahlia.

From Joseph Breck & Co., Dahlias, and other
Cut Flowers.

From James Nugent, Dahlias, Roses and Bou-
quets.

From B. K. Bliss, Springfield, two fine Cocks-
combs, and a Design.

The committee have not received the names of
many plants contributed, some of which were very
fine, nor do they know from whence they came.

VEGETABLES EXHIBITED.

From J. E. Teschemacher, East Boston, New
Cabbage — sown 19th of April, in the open ground;
only manure, one tablespoonful of guano ; the
finest flavored, and the most delicate of the Cab-
bage tribe; have been grown of 15 lbs. wt. — in-
troduced and distributed by Mr. Teschemacher, in
1847. Sprouts from the same. New Cabbage —
Early Northern; seed from St. Petersburg, Russia,
received by the kindness of Horatio R. Storer;
sown in the open ground, 19th April; ready for
table, 9th July. Sprouts of the same. New String
Bean— seed from California; sown first week in
June; first gathering, 1st of August. The same
plants continue to produce abundantly till the frost :
the specimen exhibited flowers, young beans and
ripe seed on the same stem; extremely tender;
flavor very delicate; grows about three feet high;
introduced by Mr. T. White Beet root, from
which sugar is extracted in France and Germany.
Seed from France, 1848. Onions, Carrots and Scotch
Kale, — exhibited, also, to show the action of gua-
no. All these vegetables were raised on a very
poor soil, which has had no manure for three suc-
cessive years but guano, at the rate of about 400
pounds to the acre.

From James Cruickshanks, German Curled
Greens, or Scotch Kale; Scotch Flag Leek; Bassa-
no Beet; Early Horn Carrot; Stringham do.; Or-
ange do. ; brace Douglass Champion Cucumber,
new; brace Victory of England do.; Lima Beans,
for table; quantity of do. ripe; Custard Winter
Squash, Marrow do., Club do.

From D. Denny, Dorchester, Drumhead Cab-
bages.

From G. C. Crowninshield, by John Quant, Cel-
ery and Egg Plants.

From Lewis Davenport, Milton, apeck of fweet
potatoes.

From Elbridge Tufts, Cambridgeport, Canada
Squash, Crooknecked Striped do., six from one seed.

From Nahum Stetson, South Bridgewater, Mam-
moth Tomato; Club Gourd.

From F. W. Macondry, Dorchester, Pumpkins;
Blood Beet, Sugar do.; Marrow Squash, White
Crooknecked do., Canada Croolcnecked do. ; Royal
Cape Lettuce; Orange Carrot; Large Dutch Pars-
nip; Corn; Sugar Pumpkin; Drumhead Cabbage;
Pea Beans, Horticultural do., Seva do., Early Chi-
na do., Russian bush do., Lima do.; Cucumber;
Seymour Celery; tiiree varieties of Tomatoes, and
thirty-four varieties of Potatoes.

From S. W. Cole, Chelsea, Potatoes, viz : Hill's
Early, Egg, White Kidney, Knevet's Defiance,
Holmes's Early, Wliite Bluenose, Hall's Early,
Early June, Wait's Oval, Light Chenango, Che-
nango, Superior Chenango, do. do., White Chenan-
go, Carter, Snowball, Victoria, Waits Round,
Kidney, St. Helena, Hancock, Butman, Long
White, Wait's Long, Longneck, Apple, Mohawk
or Seal's foot, Black, Peach Blow, Rohan, Calico,
Waterloo, Cranberry, Clinton White, American
Blues, Prince Edward, Michigan, Connecticut,
Orange, Prince Albert, Pinkeye, Parker's Seed-
ling, Stockbridge, Dean, Lady's Finger, four vari-
eties nameless, and thirty-seven seedling Potatoes,
of 1848. Crooknecked Squash, Marrow do.. Blood
Beet.

From Herbert S. Cole, a basket of Potatoes, of
various kinds.

From A. D. Williams & Son, Roxbury, Pump-
kins, Blood Beet, Carrots, Ruta Baga, Drumhead
Cabbage, Savoy do., Salsify, Canada Squash, Mar-
row do., Celery, Turnip Beet, Tomatoes, Corn.

From George Pierce, W. Cambridge, Purple
Brocoli, Giant Celery, Red Cabbage, White Cauli-
flower, Marrow Squashes.

From John Albree, Newton Corner, Egg Plants.

From Daniel Brims, Roxbury, Celery.

From Alex. McLennan, Watertown, Egg Plants.

From Messrs. Hovey & Co., Sealsfoot Potato,
Shepherd's Early do.

From Azell Bowditch, Roxbury, Savoy Cabbage,
Northern do.. Drumhead do.. Sweet Corn, Yellow
do., Gourd.

From Benj. V. French, Braintree, Early June
Potatoes, Hill's Early do., Knevet's Defiance do..
Blood Beet, Yellow Turnip do., Turnip Blood do..
Mangel Wurtzel, Purple Egg Plant, White do. A
fine specimen of Egyptian Wheat.

From Mrs. Spaulding, South Reading, Blood
Beets.

From John Schouler, W. Cambridge, by J. Gil-
more, Blood Beets.

From N. N. Dyer. S. Abington, two Canada
Crookneck Squashes, two years old.

From Pickering Dodge, Salem, two German
Cabbages.

From Warren's Gardens, Brighton, a bouquet of
Egyptian Wheat, Snake Cucumber, Yard Bean.

From J. Balch, jr., Roxbury, Tomatoes.

PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES.

Baskets of Fruit. — For thebestbasket of Fruit,
to Otis Johnson, $10.— For the second best, to
Messrs. Hovey & Co., $7.

304

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

Pears. — For the best twelve varieties of Pears,
consisting of twelve specimens each, the first pre-
mium to Samuel Walker. — The second premium,
to Hovey & Co. — Third premium, to Josiah Lovett.

Eor the best dish of Pears — First premium to
James Adams, for his dish of fine Seckles. — For
second best dish, to Samuel Pond, for his dish of
Dix Pears

The Committee recommend gratuities of the So-
ciety's Medal, of five dollars, to the following
named persons, for beautiful specimens of Pears.

John Gordon, Fred. W. JMacondry, Ralph Crook-
er, Henry Vandine, C. Newhall, Alfred A. An-
drews, Enoch Bartlett.

And they further recommend a gratuity of a
Gold Medal, or piece of Plate, of the value of
Twenty-five Dollars, to Marshall P. Wilder, Pres-
ident of the Societ}' — also, a gratuity of like value,
to Robert Manning, of Salem, for the extensive
collection of Pears exhibited by those gentlemen.

Grapes. — To George R. Russell, for the best five
varieties, $15. — To Thomas Needham, for the best
three varieties, $10. — To J. F. Allen, for the best
two varieties, $7. — To Nahum Stetson, for the best
one variety, $5.

The Committee recommend a gratuity of fifteen
dollars to J. F. Allen, for his extensive collection
of Grapes, many of which are new varieties. Al-
so, to Otis Johnson, B. D. Emerson, and James
Arnold, of New Bedford, the Society's Medals, of
five dollars each, for their well grown specimens.

Apples. — For the best twelve varieties, of twelve
specimens each, to J. L. L. F. Warren, the Socie-
ty's Plate of $25. — For the second best do., to
Messrs. Hyde, $10.— For the third best do., to E.
Tufts, $5. ,

Gratuity for the largest collection — To Benj. V.
French, the Society's Medal or Plate, of $25.

For the best baslcet of Fall Apples, to George
Pierc3, $6. — For the second best do., to Josiah
Stickney, $4.

The committee would beg leave to mention the
following exhibitors as deserving of a gratuity of
the Society's Medal, of five dollars each, for beau-
ful specimens, viz. : James Eustis, A. D. Weld,
Anson Dexter, Hovey & Co., A. D. Williams &
Son, R. Manning and A. Hall.

Flowers. — The Judges on Flowers, report and
recommend as follows :

Pot Plants.— For the best collection, to John
Cadness, $|5. — For the second best do., to John
Quant, .$10.— For the third best do., to Hovey Oit
Co., $8.— For the fourth best do., to Messrs. Win-
ship, $5.

Cockscombs. — First premium, to James Nugent,
$3. — Second premium, to Alex. McLennan, $2.

Double Balsams. — First premium, to James
Nugent, $3.

The Judges recommend a gratuity of ten dollars
to Tliomas Willot, for a fine display of plants, and
to Thomas Cowen, for a fine plant of Arauearia
excelsa, three dollars.

Bouquets. — Vase Bouquets. — For the best pair
for the Bradlee Vases, to Thomas Cowen, $10. —
Second premium, to Hovey & Co., $6.— For the
best pair for the Society's Vases, to Hovey ^ Co.,
$10.— Second premium, to E. A. Story, $6.

Mantel Bouquets. — For the best pair, to John
Cadness, $8. — For the second best do., to James Nu-
gent, $6.— For the third best do., to E. A. Story, $5.

The Judges recommend the following gratuities,
viz. :— For Grass Bouquets and Designs, five dol-
lars each, to Miss H. Barnes, Mrs. J. Mann, Mr.
M. E. Parker, Mr. J. Dier, Miss Russell, and J.
Sheen. To Miss H. Barnes, and Mrs. E. C. Brown,

two dollars each; to Miss Mary Kenriclc, and J.
Gilmore, one dollar each.

Also, to John Cadness, for a splendid pair of
Bouquets, ten dollars.

The Flower Committee recommend a gratuity
of five dollars to Lewis Davenport, for a fine dis-
play of Roses.

Vegetables. — The committee to wliom was as-
signed the duty of awarding premiums on Vegeta-
bles, at the Annual Exhibition, submit the follow-
ing report:

For the best display and greatest variety of Veg-
etables, to F. W. Macondry, $10. — Second do., to
A. D. Williams, $6.

Gratuities. — To S. W. Cole, for a fine show,
consisting of forty-five varieties of Potatoes, thir-
ty-seven of which were seedlings of 1848, $10.

To George Pierce, for fine Blue and White Bro-
eoli, $5.

To Daniel Brims, for fine Celery, $5.

To J. E. Teschemacher, for a fine display of
Vegetables, many of them new, $5.

To James Cruickshanks, for a fine display of
Vegetables, $3.

To A. Bowditch, for fine Cabbages, $2.

To A. McLennan, for superior Egg Plants, $2.

To E. Cameron, for the largest Drumhead Cab-
bages, $2.

To N. Stetson, for large Tomatoes, $1.

To B. V. French, and Hovey & Co., for a fine
show of Potatoes, $1 each.

At no former exhibition has there been so fine a
display of Vegetables. The committee would con-
gratulafe the Society on the increased interest
manifested in this department, and hope that it
will be an encouragement to future efforts.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

Nov. 4. — A cornmunicatioii was received from R. BunnelL)
Bridgeport, Cl., in relation to a preventive against the attacks
of tiie curculio, wliich was referred lu tlie Committee on
Fruits.

Nov. 18 — i\Ir. Walker submiued the following :

Horticultural Hall, Boston, Nov. 11, 1848.

To Ebexezer Wight, Esq —Sir : In pursuance of a vote
of the Massachusetts Horticultural .Society, passed at a stated
ineeliii';. held on the second day of January, and in behalf of
the oominitiee appointed at the same time, who were instruct-
ed with carrying us object into effect, I have the iionor liere-
wiih to present you with the accompanying piece of Plate.
You will please to accept it as a token of the acknowledged
esteem of the society, for your assiduous and unwearied zeal
in the perl'ormanee of llie duties so long incumheiU upon you,
as the Recording Secretary of the institution.

Allow nie to express, sir, as the wish of the committee,
that this memorial may ever serve to recall to your memory
pleasing reminiscences of the past, and to cheer and stimulate
you in all your present and future exertions, in support of
that science, to whose advancement our society and its nu-
merous members are deeply devoted Per order.

Samukl Walker,

Chairman.

Boston, Nov. i3ih, 1848.

Sir — I received the piece of Plate, referred to in your let-
ter of the nth inst., with grateful emotions, as a nnemento of
the friendly regard of the members of the Massachusetts Hor-
ticultural Society. Please return to them my sincere thanks
for iheir munificent gift.

In looking back to the time passed as their Recording Se-
cretary, I call to mind many names among the most devoted
and successful cultivators of horticultural science, and num-
ber, among my associates in those hours, men dear to intel-
lectual and social progress.

I shall long remember, with increasing satisfaction, the
kind and felicitous words in which you have expressed to me
the wi-slies of the society. Your ob't servant,

Ebenezer Wight,
To Samuel Walker, Esq , Chairman.

[The report of the proceedings at the business meetings of
the society, came to hand at so late an hour, that the remain-
der is necessarily deferred till our next.]

THB

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

JANUARY, 1849.

No. 7.

No ONE loves the country more sincerely,
or welcomes new devotees to the worship
of its pure altars more warmly, than our-
selves. To those who bring here hearts
capable of understanding the lessons of truth
and beauty, which the Good Creator has
written so legibly on all his works ; to
those in whose nature is implanted a senti-
ment that interprets the tender and the
loving, as well as the grand and sublime
lessons of the universe, what a life full of
joy, and beauty, and inspiration, is that of
the country ; to such,

"The deep recess of dusky groves.

Or forest where llie deer securely roves,

The fall of waters, and the song of birds.

And hills that echo to the distant herds,

Are luxuries, excelling all the glare

The world can boast, and her chief fav'rites share."

There are those who rejoice in our An-
glo-Saxon inheritance of the love of con-
quest, and the desire for boundless terri-
tory,'— who exult in the " manifest destiny"
of the race, to plant the standard of the
eagle or the lion in every soil, and every
zone of the earth's surface. We rejoice
much more in the love of country life, the
enjoyment of nature, and the taste for rural
beauty, which we also inherit from our
Anglo-Saxon forefathers, and to which,
more than all else, they owe so many of
the peculiar virtues of the race.

Vol, III, 20

With us, as a people, retirement to coun-
try life, must come to be the universal plea-
sure of the nation. The successful states-
man, professional man, merchant, trader,
mechanic, — all look to it as the only way of
enjoying the othim cum dignitate ; and the
great beauty and extent of our rural scene-
ry, as well as the absence of any great na-
tional capital, with its completeness of metro-
politan life, must render the country the most
satisfactory place for passing a part of every
man's days, who has the power of choice.

It is not to be denied, however, that " re-
tirement to the country,'' which is the
beau-ideal of all the busy and successful
citizens of our towns, is not always found
to be the elysium which it has been fondly
imagined. No doubt there are good rea-
sons why nothing in this world should af-
ford perfect and uninterrupted happiness.

''The desire of the moth t"or the star''

might cease, if parks and pleasure-grounds
could fill up the yearnings of human nature,
so as to leave no aspirations for futurity.

But this is not our present meaning.
What we would say is, that numbers are
disappointed with country life, and perhaps
leave it in disgust, without reason, either
from mistaken views of its nature, of their
own capacities for enjoying it, or a want of
practical ability to govern it.

306

ON THE MISTAKES OF CITIZENS IN COUNTRY LIFE.

We might throw our views into a more
concrete shape, perhaps, by saying that the
disappointments in country life arise chiefly
from two causes. The first, is from expect-
ing too much. The second, from under-
taking too much.

There are, we should judge from obser-
vation, many citizens who retire to the
country, after ten or twenty years' hard
service in the business and society of towns,
and who carry with them the most roman-
tic ideas of country life. They expect to
pass their time in wandering over daisy
spangled meadows, and by the side of me-
andering streams. They will listen to the
singing of birds, and find a perpetual feast
of enjoyment in the charm of hills and
mountains. Above all, they have an extra-
vagant notion of the purity and the simplicity
of country life. All its intercourse, as well
as all its pleasures, are to be so charmingly
pure, pastoral and poetical !

What a disappointment, to find that there
is prose even in country life, — that mea-
dows do not give up their sweet incense,
or cornfields wave their rich harvests with-
out care, — that "work-folks" are often
unfaithful, and oxen stubborn, even an
hundred miles from the smoke of towns,
or the intrigues of great cities.

Another, and a large class of those citi-
zens, who expect too much in the country,
are those who find, to their astonishment,
that the country is dull. They really ad-
mire nature, and love rural life ; but, though
they are ashamed to confess it, they are
"•bored to death," and leave the country
in despair.

This is a mistake which grows out of
their want of knov/ledge of themselves,
and, we may add, of human nature gene-
rally. Man is a social, as well as a reflec-
tive and devout being. He must have
friends to share his pleasiires, to sympa-

thise in his tastes, to enjoy with him the
delights of his home, or these become wea-
risome and insipid. Cowper has well ex-
pressed the want of this large class, and
their suffering, when left wholly to them-
selves : —

•' I praise the Frenchman ; his remark was slirewd, —
How sweet, how passing s^veet, is solitude 1
Bui give me still a friend, in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper — solitude is sweet. '^

The mistake made by this class, is that
of thinking only of the beauty of the scenery
where they propose to reside, and leaving-
out of sight the equal charms of good so-
ciety. To them, the latter, both by nature
and habit, is a necessity, not to be wholly
waived for converse of "babbling brooks."
And since there are numberless localities
where one may choose a residence in a
genial and agreeable country neighbor-
hood, the remedy for this species of discon-
tent is as plain as a pike-staflfl One can
scarcely expect friends to follow one into
country seclusion, if one will, for the sake
of the picturesque, settle on the banks of the
Winipissiogee. These latter spots are for
poets, artists, naturalists; men, between
whom and nature there is an intimacy of
a wholly different kind, and who find in the
structure of a moss or the flight of a water
fowl the text to a whole volume of inspiration.

The third class of the disappointed, con-
sists of those who are astonished at the cost
of life in the country. They left town not
only for the healthful breezes of the hill-
tops, but also to make a small income do
the business of a large one. To their
great surprise, they find the country dear.
Everything they grow on their land costs
them as much as Avhen bought, (because
they produce it with hired labor ;) and eve-
rything they do to improve their estate,
calls for a mint of money, because with
us labor is always costly. But, in fact,
the great secret of the matter is this ; they

ON THE MISTAKES OF CITIZENS IN COUNTRY LIFE.

307

have brought as many as possible of their
town habits into the country, and find that a
moderate income, applied in this way, gives
less here than in town. To live economi-
cally in the country, one must adopt the rus-
tic habits of country life. Labor must be un-
derstood, closely watched, and even shared,
to give the farm products at a cost likely to
increase the income ; and pates de foie gras,
or perigordpies, must be given up for boiled
mutton and turnips. (And, between them
and us, it is not so difficult as might be ima-
gined, when the mistress of the house is a
woman of genius, to give as refined an ex-
pression to country life with the latter as
the former. The way of doing things is,
in these matters, as important as the means.)

Now a word or two, touching the second
source of evil in country life, — undertaking
too much.

There is, apparently, as much fascination
in the idea of a large landed estate as in the
eye of a serpent. Notwithstanding our insti-
tutions, our habits, above all the continual
distribution of our fortunes, everything, in
short, teaching us so plainly the folly of
improving large landed estates, human na-
ture and the love of distinction, every now
and then, triumph over all. What a ho-
mily might there not be written on the ex-
travagance of Americans ! We can point
at once to half a dozen examples of country
residences, that have cost between one and
two hundred thousand dollars ; and every
one of which either already has been, or
soon will be, enjoyed by others than those
who constructed them. This is the great
and glaring mistake of our wealthy men,
ambitious of taste, — that of supposing that
only by large places and great expendi-
tures can the problem of rural beauty and
enjoyment be solved. The truth is, that
with us, a large fortune does not and can-
Hot (at least, at the present time,) produce the

increased enjoyment which it does abroad.
Large estates, large houses, large estab-
lishments, only make slaves of their pos-
sessors ; for the service, to be done daily
by those who must hold aloft this daz-
zling canopy of wealth, is so indifferently
performed, servants are so time-serving
and unworthy in this country, where intel-
ligent labor finds independent channels for
itself, that the lord of the manor finds his
life overburdened with the drudgery of
watching his drudges.

Hence, the true philosophy of living in
America, is to be found in moderate de-
sires, a moderate establishment, and mo-
derate expenditures. We have seen so
many more examples of success in those of
even less than moderate size, that we had
almost said, with Cowley, — " a little cheer-
ful house, a little company, and a very lit-
tle feast."

But among those who undertake too
much, by far the largest class is that whose
members do so through ignorance of what
is to be done.

Although the world is pretty well aware
of the existence of professional builders
and planters, still the majority of those
who build and plant, in this country, do it
without the advice of experienced persons.
There is, apparently, a latent conviction at
the bottom of every man's heart, that he can
build a villa or a cottage, and lay out its
grounds in a more perfect, or, at least, a
much more satisfactory manner than any of
his predecessors or contemporaries. Fatal
delusion ! One may plead his own case in
law, or even write a lay sermon, like Sir
Walter Scott, with more chance of suc-
cess than he will have in realizing, in solid
walls, the perfect model of beauty and con-
venience that floats dimly in his head. We
mean this to apply chiefly to the production
as a work of art.

308

ON THE MISTAKES OF CITIZENS IN COUNTRY LIFE.

As a matter of economy, it is still worse.
If the improver selects an experienced ar-
chitect, and contracts with a responsible
and trustworthy builder, he knows within
20 per cent., at the farthest, of what his
edifice will cost. If he undertakes to play
the amateur, and corrects and revises his
work, as most amateurs do, while the house
is in progress, he will have the mortification
of paying twice as much as he should have
done, without any just satisfaction at last.

What is the result of this course of pro-
ceeding of the new resident in the country ?
That he has obtained a large and showy
house, of which, if he is alive to improve-
ment, he will live to regret the bad taste ;
and that he has laid the foundation of ex-
penditures far beyond his income.

He finds himself now in a dilemma, of
which there are two horns. One of them
is the necessity of laying out and keeping
up large pleasure-grounds, gardens, &c., to
correspond to the stj'le and character of
his house. The other is to allow the house
to remain in the midst of beggarly sur-
roundings of meadow and stubble ; or, at
the most, with half executed and misera-
bly kept grounds on every side of it.

Nothing can be more unsatisfactory than
either of these positions. If he is seduced
into expenditures en grand seigneur, to
keep up the style in which the mansion or
villa has been erected, he finds that instead
of the peace of mind and enjoyment which
he expected to find in the country, he is
perpetually nervous about the tight place in
his income, — constantly obliged to make
an effort to maintain that which, when
maintained, gives no more real pleasure
than a residence on a small scale.

If, on the other hand, he stops short, like
a prudent man, at the mighty show of
figures at the bottom of the builder's ac-
counts, and leaves all about in a crude and

unfinished condition, then he has the mortifi-
cation, if possessed of the least taste, of know-
ing that all the grace with which he meant
to surround his country home, has eluded
his grasp ; that he lives in the house of a
noble, set in the fields of a sluggard. This
he feels the more keenly, after a walk over
the grounds of some wiser or more fortu-
nate neighbor, who has been able to sweep
the whole circle of taste, and, better advised,
has realized precisely that which has es-
caped the reach of our unfortunate impro-
ver. Is it any marvel that the latter should
find himself disappointed in the pleasures
of a country life ?

Do we thus portray the mistakes of coun-
try life in order to dissuade persons from
retiring ? Far from it. There is no one
who would more willingly exhibit its charms
in the most glowing colours. But we
would not lure the traveller into an Arca-
dia, without telling him that there are not
only golden fruits, but also others, which may
prove sodom-apples if ignorantly plucked.
We would not hang garlands of flowers
over dangerous pits and fearful chasms.
It is rather our duty and pleasure loudly
to warn those who are likely to fall into
such errors, and to open their eyes to the
danger that lies in their paths ; for the
country is really full of interest to those
who are fitted to understand it; nature is
full of beauty to those who approach her
simply and devoutly ; and rural life is
full of pure and happy influences, to those
who are wise enough rightly to accept and
enjoy them.

What most retired citizens need, in coun-
try life, are objects of real interest, so-
ciety, occupation.

We place first, something of permanent
interest ; for, after all, this is the great
desideratum. All men, with the fresh
breath of the hay-fields of boyhood floating-

ON THE MISTAKES OF CITIZENS IN COUNTRY LIFE.

309

through their memory, fancy th.a.t farming
itself is the grand occupation and panacea
of country life. This is a profound error.
There is no -permanent interest in any pur-
suit which we are not successful in ; and
farming, at least in the older states, is an
art as difficult as navigation. We mean
by this — profitable farming, for there is no
constant satisfaction in any other ; and
though some of the best farmers in the
Union are retired citizens, yet not more
than one in twenty succeeds in making his
land productive. It is well enough, there-
fore, for the citizen about retiring, to look
upon this resource with a little diffidence.

If our novice is fond of horticulture, there
is some hope for him. In the first place,
if he pursues it as an amusement, it is in-
exhaustible, because there is no end to
new fruits and flowers, or to the combina-
tions which he may produce by their aid.
And besides this, he need not draw heavily
on his banker, or purchase a whole town-
ship, to attain his object. Only grant a
downright taste for fruits and flowers, and
a man may have occupation and amuse-
ment for years, in an hundred feet square
of good soil.

Among the happiest men in the country,
as we have hinted, are those who find an in-
tense pleasure in nature, either as artists or
naturalists. To such men, there is no wea-
riness ; and the}^ should choose a country
residence not so much with a view to what
can be made by improving it, as to where it
is, what grand and beautiful scenery sur-
rounds it, and how much inspiration its
neighborhood will offer them.

Men of society, as we have already said,
should, in settling in the country, never
let go the cord that binds them to their
fellows. A suburban country-life will most
nearly meet their requirements; or, at
least, they should select a site where some

friends of congenial minds have already
made a social sunshine in the " wilder-
ness of woods and forests."

Above all, we should counsel all persons
not to underrate the cost of building and
improving in the country. Do not imagine
that a villa, or even a cottage orn^e, takes
care of itself. If you wish for rural beauty,
at a cheap rate, either on the grand or the
moderate scale, choose a spot where the
two features of home scenery are trees and
grass. You may have five hundred acres of
natural park — that is to say, fine old woods,
tastefully opened, and threaded with walks
and drives, for less cost, in preparation and
annual outlay, than it will require to main-
tain five acres of artificial pleasure-grounds.
A pretty little natural glen, filled with old
trees, and made alive by a clear perennial
stream, is often a cheaper and more unwea-
rying source of enjoyment than the gayest
flower garden. Not that we mean to dis-
parage beautiful parks, pleasure-grounds,
or flower gardens ; we only wish our read-
ers, about settling in the country, to under-
stand that they do not constitute the high-
est and most expressive kind of rural beau-
ty,— as they certainly do the most expensive.

It is so hard to be content with simplicity !
Why, we have seen thousands expended
on a few acres of ground, and the result
was, after all, only a showy villa, a green-
house, and a flower garden, — not half so
captivating to the man of true taste as a cot-
tage embosomed in shrubbery, a little park
filled with a few fine trees, a lawn kept
short by a flock of favorite sheep, and a
knot of flowers woven gaily together in
the green turf of the terrace under the par-
lor windows. But the man of wealth so
loves to astonish the admiring world by the
display of riches, and it is so rare to find
those who comprehend the charm of grace
and beauty in their simple dress !

EXPERIMENTAL FRUIT CULTURE.

BY T. G. YEOMANS, WALWORTH, N. Y-

I HAVE, from the commencement, been an
attentive reader of the Horticulturist, and
most especially interested in such portions
of it as relate to the cultivation of trees, and
choice fruits.

I propose to occupy the attention of your
readers, a few moments, with some account
of my experience, during the last three
years, in enriching the soil and growing
trees.

In September, 1845, I purchased a piece
of ground, from which had been cut a crop
of wheat in July of that year ; the land had
never been manured — the soil a strong
loam. During the same autumn, I drew on
to 15 acres of this land, about 450 wagon
loads of swamp muck, leaving it in piles of
one load each. I then drew from an old
ashery as many loads of leached ashes, —
putting a load of ashes on every load of
muck.

I then spread the whole evenly over
the ground, and ploughed it pretty deeply,
though not with a subsoil plough. I next
proceeded to plant about 700 apple and
peach trees on seven acres of the ground,
setting half of each, and alternately in the
rows each way, and twenty feet from each
other ; about 500 were set in November,
and 200 in April following. In planting
the trees, I prepared the places large enough
to receive the trees properly, and then pro-
cured and placed by each hole thus prepared
one shovelfull of swamp muck, one of leach-
ed ashes, and one of fine charcoal dust ;
these I mixed well with fine mould, or sur-
face soil, and with this mixture planted the
trees.

The trees, thus planted in the fall, were

" shortened-in" about March, cutting away
half or two-thirds of the [terminal growth
of the] branches ; and the 200, set in the
spring, were shortened in the same manner
when set. Of the 500 trees thus planted in
the fall, 6 or 7 died the first winter ; and
they were set in the wettest part of the
ground ; and to the wet and freezing wea-
ther, without the usual quantity of snow,
I attribute their loss. With this slight ex-
ception they all grew finely ; some of the
peach trees forming branches the first year
four feet in length. There was no percep-
tible difference between those planted in
the fall and spring.

Of this seven acres of ground, thus.plant-
ed to orchard, I planted about six acres in
the spring to nursery trees, such as apples,
grafted in the root, peach pits, apple seeds,
cherry and pear stocks ; and a portion of
the balance I planted with beets and car-
rots. The beets and carrots were well hoed
till they covered the ground sufficiently to
keep the weeds down. The nursery plant-
ed on the six acres, was kept well worked
during the whole season with plough, culti-
vator and hoe. The orchard trees on the
nursery ground grew more than twice as
much the first season as on the ground
planted to beets and carrots ; and this dif-
ference I attribute — not to the beets and
carrots, drawing more from the soil than
the young trees, as many supposed — but
to the difference in the manner of culti-
vating them, and the continued cultivation
of the nursery trees till fall.

And this conclusion will be made more
clear, by stating that the row of beets and
carrots adjoining the nursery trees, and be-

PEAR BLIGHT.

311

tween which and the trees the plough and
cultivator were used, were more than twice
as large as those in any other row. This
result convinced me fully of the great im-
portance of frequent, thorough, and deep
cultivation.

The second year, (1847,) I planted the
ground on which the beets and carrots grew,
to corn, leaving an open space about each
tree equal to eight hills of corn, which I
planted to potatoes. The trees did tolera-
bly well, but did not grow more than those
in the nursery grew the first year. This
year, 1848, I sowed to oats the same corn
graund, keeping a spot about three feet in
diameter hoed about each tree till the oats
came ofT; this year the trees grew less than
last, and are not now much larger than
those in the nursery ground were at the
end of one year from the time of plant-
ing.

The orchard trees planted on the nursery
ground have grown very rapidly, and pro-
duced, this autumn, about thirty or forty
bushels choice peaches ; and the nursery
trees have grown well. I may also remark,
respecting the nursery peach trees, that in
taking them up (and I have taken up more
than 25,000 of them,) I think that not one
in a hundred appear to have been touched

by the peach worm, while, on similar land
in this immediate vicinity, to which ashes
has not been applied, a very large portion
of young peach trees are very much in-
jured, and many entirely destroyed by the
worm.

My orchard peach trees on that ground
have also entirely escaped the worm, while,
on other parts of my ground, my trees are
much injured by them.

A portion of the 15 acres enriched with
muck and ashes, was sowed to barley in
1846, and produced a large crop. It was
again sowed to wheat in the fall of 1846,
and produced 30 bushels per acre. This
year, 1848, 1 planted four acres of the wheat
ground, to corn ; about one acre of which
was ploughed last fall with a subsoil plough,
and the four acres yielded, on an average,
179 bushels of ears of sound corn per acre.
That part which had been subsoiled was
considerably the best.

The peaches grown on my trees in my
nursery grounds, among the small trees,
were about a week later in ripening than
the same varieties in my garden, where the
ground was more fully exposed to the sun.
Respectfully,

T. G. Yeomans,

Walworth, Nov. 13, 1848.

PEAR BLIGHT.

BY J. W. BISSELL, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

It is much easier to doubt the opinions or
reasons of others, than to give better ; it
is easier to say that the pear blight, known
here as the fire-blight, is not caused by
frozen sap, than to give the cause.

This blight has been very destructive
the past summer, in some sections of this
city and vicinity, while others have entirely

escaped. Scarcely any trees lying north
of a line parallel with the main street of
the city, and about half of a mile distant
therefrom, have been attacked this year,
while south of that line, on all soils, it has
carried dismay to the hearts of many culti-
vators and amateurs. Several years since,
that district which is now exempt, was se-

312

PEAR BLIGHT.

verely scourged. I have this year lost more
than one hundred and fifty fine standards,
part on quince and part on pear stocks, out
of about eight hundred ; and some of my
neighbors have suffered in greater propor-
tion. Some of these trees belonged to the
nursery, and were set among young cherry
trees, so that the sun could, neither in win-
ter or summer, have had any effect upon
them. The trees were as well shaded this
summer as if they had been sheathed with
straw, (as recommended by one of your
correspondents,) and the ground had been
well mulched, so that the supply of mois-
ture at the roots was uniform. Some of
them grew finely, others not at all ; yet, a
common fate awaited them — one was taken,
and another left. Perhaps this was caused
by frozen sap in immature wood, although
it was apparently well matured. But the
losses in another lot, composed of six hun-
dred fine imported dwarfs, which were set
in May last, and which were shipped from
Paris on the 27th day of February, must be
attributed to some other cause ; for I under-
stand this disease to be American, and not
known in France. Their growth in the
nursery where they were raised, had not
been rank ; the wood was apparently well
matured, and most of that made last year
was cut off. They were set 8 feet apart
for specimen trees, and summer pruned by
pinching off the leaders. I examined them
carefully two or three times each week
during the summer, and immediately cut
off at the ground, or pulled up, every one
showing the least blight. During July and
August, the disease commenced in the suc-
culent wood of this year, and extended
downwards ; in September and October it
attacked the bodies of the trees, and could
not be perceived in the branches either ex-
ternally or internally. By much experi-
ence, and without cutting, I could discern

that some trees were entirely ruined, when
most persons would have said that they
were in perfect health. There was a pecu-
liar appearance in the bark that showed all
was not right, and an incision would al-
ways confirm it. In all cases the sap and
bark smelled very sour ; so much so, that
many times, in walking among the trees, I
have discovered by the odor that some new
one was affected, and had merely to follow
my nose to find it. Sometimes this odor
was perceptible at a distance of twenty feet
or more.*

In two rows of these same imported dwarfs,
containing fifty trees each, and set about
one foot apart in the row where the affected
trees were not removed, every one blighted.
From another row, similarly planted, where
each one was dug up as soon as it became
diseased, we lost but few. Yet Mr. Hooker
has in vain tried to affect healthy trees by
inoculating them with buds and sap from
some of the worst cases. Is it infectious,
and not contagious ?

I send you part of the body and branches
of a White Doyenn^ tree, about eight years
old, which has borne fruit three years, and
this year a fine crop of as beautiful speci-
mens as you ever saw. It has grown but
moderately. Last year the season was dry;
consequently the shoots Avere short and
ripened early. This year it made a fair
quantity of wood, all of which was cut in
August for buds. The fruit was picked the
last of September. A few days afterwards,
I noticed one morning that a dormant bud
had started on the body of the tree, at a
point marked X. This I pinched off', and
examined the tree very carefully by cutting
through the bark, because the starting of
this bud had surprised me ; but I found all
in a natural condition. In three hours af-

* When the trunk is attacked, it can often be seen from as
great a distance, and before a single leaf hangs out a signal of
distress.

PEAR BLIGHT.

313

terwards the tree was blighted entirely
around the body, and for some distance
above and below where this bud had started.
Was this frozen sap ?

I should explain to you that the bark is
now discolored by a composition of nitre,
copperas and potash, that we applied to it.
One morning a small spur on the north side
of, and on the trunk of a Madeleine tree,
about the same size as this Doyenne, was
discovered to be blighted. In the after-
noon the blight had extended about three
inches above and below this spur. The
next day it progressed about as much far-
ther ; it was several days before it extended
around the tree, so as to reach the south
side. The top is not yet affected, except
by loss of sap from this girdling. A Juli-
enne was afffected precisely in the same way.
Were these caused by frozen sap ? If yes,
why should it all be deposited in a diminu-
tive spur, while a vigorous top escapes ?

Among other dwarf trees, planted in the
spring of 1847, was one White Doyenn^,
with so few roots that it needed to be
staked to keep from falling down by its own
weight. With much care it barely lived,
but it did not make the least wood. This
year it bore three beautiful pears ; and after
they were picked, it blighted dead, — per-
haps from grief, certainly not from frozen
sap in young wood. I would furnish you
many more cases, but it makes me feel too
sad when I think about them. Mr. Hovey
said he should put on mourning if his stand-
ards thus died.

All these trees stood upon a knoll of
sandy loam, with like subsoil, in some
places rich, in others not; in some places
specially manured, in others not. Through-
out the whole, both soil and subsoil are
well drained, and no pear root was ever
suspected of penetrating as deep as it is
necessary to dig there to find water.

I do not believe that frozen sap has spoiled
any of our trees ; neither do I adopt any
other theory.

The wash mentioned as having been ap-
plied to trees, sometimes had a good effect.
It always stopped the must)-, vinegar smell,
and generally arrested the blight — some-
times only for a short time ; in other cases
the trees would die in spite of all our doses.
The idea of applying it was suggested by
the fact that the disease appeared to be
located between the epidermis and liber,
and not in the cambium. It was often
stopped by shaving off the outer bark as far
as any discolored matter could be seen ; and
this discoloring could always be traced far-
ther in the outer bark than the inner. In
other cases, this shaving produced no effect.

We keep a journal of all such matters;
and I hope, next season, to send you the
result of several experiments connected with
this and other subjects. J. W. Bissell.

Rochester, Nov., 1848.

Remarks. — We thank Mr. Bissell for
these interesting facts, which he has laid
before us.

His observations would seem to prove
that the disease, as known upon his grounds,
did not arise from frozen sap.

Our readers who have pursued this sub-
ject, as treated in this magazine, will have
noticed that we are convinced that the two
most disastrous forms of pear blight arise
from frost in winter, (frozen sap,) and from
the sudden effects of the sun's rays in sum-
mer, after a shower, (sun-blight.)

We have satisfied ourselves, we repeat,
that malignant pear tree blight originates
in these two modes ; but, as Mr. Bissell,
Dr. Wendell, and other correspondents
have shown, they are not sufficient to ac-
count for the rapid and singular mortality,
which sometimes occurs in pear plantations
affected by this disease.

314

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

The array of facts now presented, regard-
ing this malady, seem to leave scarcely a
doubt that malignant pear blight is an in-
fectious disease.

We observe that European physiologists
have decided that a certain class of vegeta-
ble diseases are infectious. " The diseased
cells oi a vegetable are capable of commu-
nicating their diseased action to healthy
cells, just as the cells from an animal, af-
fected with the small pox, are capable of
ffivinar that disease to another."

It has also been ascertained that "in
order that disease may be thus produced, it
is not necessary that the contagious matter
be conveyed from one plant to another in a
tangible form ; but the diseased cells may be
conveyed through the medium of the air.^^

Certain conditions of the atmosphere, as
well as of the plants themselves, favor the
development and spread of these epidemic
diseases. Only a portion of the individual
plants exposed will suffer, — some escaping,
as among animals. And, like epidemic
diseases among animals, it is rarely the
case that diseases of this kind occur largely
in the same districts in successive years.

Taking this view of the matter, the pre-
sence of a single tree, in Mr. Bissell's
oTounds, thoroughly diseased with infectious
blight, would be sufficient to spread the
disease among his whole plantation, pro-
vided, as appears to have been the case, the

condition of the atmosphere and of the trees
were such as to facilitate its extension
through the air.

The sudden appearance of this blight in
healthy trees, and its rapid extension
among trees which themselves had not, as
our correspondent thinks, been exposed to
any causes which would originate the blight,
force us to look for an explanation in the
infectious character of the disease.

The check given to its extension in the
row of trees, where the diseased branches
were cut out as fast as the symptoms ap-
peared, compared with the other row where
it was left to itself, seems to be a strong
argument in favor of the infectious character
of the disease. And, in the absence of any
known specific, it is plain that close watch-
ing, with the constant removal and destruc-
tion of diseased branches, is as yet the
most successful mode of checking its rava-
ges.

We hope Mr. Bissell will pursue his
experiments with the disinfecting wash,
and give us the results another season.

We will only remark, in conclusion, thqt
the pear blight, (as we learn from a culti-
vator now abroad, who is familiar with the
disease at home,) is common in the south of
Europe, though, as in many parts of this
country, it does not assume the highly ma-
lignant form which it sometimes takes in
this country. Ed.

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

BY DR. JAMES PAUL, TRENTON, N. J.

To the practical and scientific cultivator,
a knowledge of the organs of plants, their
uses and functions, must not only be highly
interesting, but most important. When we
look at a plant, no matter how minute and

delicate, or how gigantic and magnificent
its proportions, we behold a thing endowed
with life, in which are various organs ne-
cessary to the sustentation and production
of its several parts. Let us, for the pre-

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

315

sent, consider the structure and functions
of those organs which more immediately
call for observation, i. e., the leaves and
roots ; as it is in these that the most im-
portant changes take place, by means of
which the produce of the plant is perfected,
and upon which the agriculturist must be-
stow his attention, that he may reap his
due reward.

The functions of the leaves are intricate
and not easil}^ understood. They are com-
posed of numerous vessels, reticulated and
interwoven, one with another — of cellular
tissue, which fills up the intervening spa-
ces— of a membranous covering — which,
on the upper surface, allows of transpira-
tion, which in plants may be compared to
the insensible perspiration of the surface,
and the humidity exhaled from the lungs
of animals ; and on the under surface, sio-
mata or reservoirs, for the reception of cer-
tain gases which are contained in the at-
mosphere. Here, then, we shall find a
most important part of the vegetable econo-
my taking place ; here. the sap of the plant
is elaborated into the proper juices, the ab-
solute article which that plant is to yield.
Hence we can understand why the vigor of
a plant depends upon the healthy green
state and luxuriance of its leaves ; and
hence we can understand why a plant, hav-
ing its leaves destroyed or eaten off, as soon
as they are unfolded, cannot be expected
to yield fruit in the following season.

Let us enter farther into the structure of
the leaves. It must be plain, that if such
important ends are to be gained in the
leaves, we must expect an organization of
a complex order. Yet, the subject admits
of elucidation ; and a few observations may
divest it of much of its complexity.

It is not unlikely that the circulation of
the sap in the leaf, may be compared to
the capillary system in animals ; and that

while some of the ascending vessels termi-
nate in the returning vessels, yet that much
of the juices are transferred from one to
the other by inhibition. I have said that
the leaf is composed of numerous vessels,
interwoven througli each other. Hence
you will bear in mind that there are two
sets of vessels here intermixed ; the one,
containing the sap which has ascended
from the roots ; the other, those which are
to convey away that sap after it has been
elaborated into the proper juice of the plant.
It is in the leaves that the product of the
plant is formed, that the ascending sap i*
elaborated or assimilated into the proper
juice of the plant ; and this is effected b\'
the combined action of light, the solar ray,
and the atmosphere, — affording a beautiful
example of the wonderful and most effect-
ual works of nature, a chemical laboratory
in the minutest leaf, exceeding in beauty
and design the most elaborate and ingenious
of the works of art. Thus, to form our
compound in the leaves, we derive the wa-
ter, and inorganic constituents of plants*
from the soil — the carbon and the nitrogen
from the atmosphere.

The carbonic acid of the atmosphere is
supposed to amount to, from a 1000th ta
2000th part of its bulk. The atmosphere
being composed of four parts of nitrogen
and one part of oxygen, — having the small
portion of carbonic acid gas already stated ;
carbonic acid gas, as the reader is no doubt
aware, being a compound of one part of
carbon to two parts of oxygen. Now the
stoviata or pores on the leaf, being open,
inhale or receive the carbonic acid of the
atmosphere ; and as it is a peculiar pro-
perty of the solar ray, acting upon green
vegetable matter, to decompose carbonic
acid gas, this chemical decomposition is
effected in the stomata, the carbon perme-
ates the sides of the vessels, is taken into,

316

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

and combines with the juices already there,
while the oxygen is liberated in a free state.
Now carbon is the absolutely iiecessary
ino-redient required for the growth and sub-
stance of plants. It is that, in fact, which
forms the lif(,7iin, or greatest portion of the
wood, which, when burnt and divested of
its extraneous matter, is carbon in its solid
state. But we are now speaking of carbon
in its paseous form, which however is never
formed, and cannot be realized pure, or in
a free state ; but always joined with some
other gas or substance : thus, while float-
ino- in the atmosphere, it is in the form of
carbonic acid gas. You are aware that
this gas is most noxious and detrimental to
animal life, and, but for this wise provision
of nature, would accamulate in such quan-
tities as to depopulate the world. But Al-
mio-hty God, the great ruler of the uni-
verse, has ordained that this deleterious
compound should be the very food and
substance of every tree of the forest, and
the grass which clothes the fields. In
many of the natural processes of this life,
and in decomposition after death, this gas
is generated. When we breathe, we in-
hale an atmosphere of oxygen and nitro-
gen, with a very small proportion, as al-
ready stated, of carbonic acid gas ; but we
expire an air loaded with it. The act of
combustion is to generate carbonic acid
gas. Fermentation and decomposition, or
putrefaction, all generate this noxious gas.
Nay, the generating of this gas exists in
the very act, whether of germination, vege-
tation, combustion, fermentation, or putre-
faction. If, then, this gas, so destructive
to the animal economy, is generated in
such quantities, that if some means were
not at hand to again resolve it into its ele-
ments, it would render the globe unin-
habitable, it is gratifying to know that
those means are at hand, in every leaf

which is exposed to the surrounding at-
mosphere. Light and sunshine are the
two great influences which act on vegeta-
ble matter, in restoring to a proper state a
deteriorated atmosphere ; the former hav-
ing the peculiar faculty of giving the green
colour to vegetable matter ; and the latter,
by its influence on geen vegetable matter,
in decomposing carbonic acid gas, — the
carbon being retained, and the oxygen set
free. You are, of course, aware that oxy-
gen is the grand supporter of animal life ;
without its aid and application, animal life
would quickly become extinct. It is the
supporter of combustion ; and its presence
is required in the germination of seeds, and
the vegetation of plants.

The leaves, then, are the organs of as-
similation. In them the sap, having in
solution the inorganic constituents of the
plant derived from the soil, and deriving
the carbon, which has been retained in the
stomata, from the atmosphere, as also its
nitrogen, elaborated now into the proper
juices of the plant, returns through the de-
scending vessels, on the inner side of the
bark to the root.

On the subject of the carbon being de-
rived from the atmosphere, Prof. Liebig
says — " It is not denied that manure exer-
cises an influence upon the development of
plants ; but it may be affirmed, with posi-
tive certainty, that it neither serves for the
production of carbon, nor has any influence
upon it, because we find that the quantity
of carbon produced by manured lands is
not greater than that yielded by lands
which are not manured. The discussion
as to the manner in which manure acts has
nothing to do with the present question,
which is, the origin of carbon. The carbon
must be derived from other sources ; and
as the soil does not yield it, it can only be
extracted from the atmosphere."

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

317

Relative to the nitrogen of plants, Prof.
LiEBiG states — " Plants, and consequently
animals, must therefore derive their nitro-
gen from the atmosphere." And again, he
says — "Nitrogen is found in lichens which
grow on basaltic rocks. Our fields produce
more of it than we have given them as
manure ; and it exists in all kinds of soils
and minerals which were never in contact
with organic substances. The nitrogen in
these cases could only have been extracted
from the atmosphere." " No conclusion
can, then, have a better foundation than
this, that it is the ammonia of the atmos-
phere which furnishes nitrogen to plants."

I have already said, that the stomata of
the leaves, as it were, iiihale the carbonic
acid gas of the atmosphere, where it un-
dergoes decomposition, retaining the car-
bon, and, as it were, exhalmg the oxygen.
This, by the older physiologists, was com-
pared to the breathing of animals. Hence,
the leaves were termed the lungs of plants,
the organs of breathing, or of respiration.

Let us now turn our attention to the
roots of plants. The true roots of plants
are the radiculae, or fimbriee, — the rootlets,
striking out at all points from the stem and
branches which lie under the earth. It is
necessary to understand the organization
of the rootlets, — in my opinion, very im-
portant organs to the proper growth of
plants. If we make a longitudinal section
of the rootlet, to the point where it is
given off from the root, and continue the
section through the branch of the root, (the
most simple and easy of demonstrations is
the carrot,) we shall see, that while the
outer coat of the rootlet is given off from
the external coat of the root, there is a ves-
sel running from the extreme point, or
8po7igiole, along the center of the rootlet,
continuing its course entirely through the
bark, until it meets the ascending vessels.

through which the sap arises into the plant.
The root appears to act to the maturer {)lant,
in some measure, and in a similar manner,
as the seed-lobes, or cotyledons, to the young
plant. The seed-lobes, you are aware, con-
tain an immensity of vegetable matter of
the nature of starch, which, being con-
verted into dextrine by the peculiar chemi-
cal change, effected in the process of ger-
mination and vegetation, by the diastase
contained in the germ, and serves for the
nourishment of the young plant imtil its
organs are so developed as to procure its
food elsewhere.

I have made use of the term diastase.
As that word is not yet in common use, it
may be well for me briefly to explain it.
Diastase is a peculiar nitrogenised com-
pound, contained in the. germ of seeds,
which, upon the application of heat, mois-
ture, and atmospheric air, commences a
ferment, converting the starch of the seed
into a gummy substance called dextrine, —
the true sap of the plants. It is the chemi-
cal change which takes place in malting,
converting the simple nutriment of the
barley into that which, on being brewed,
affords the nourishing, though intoxicating-
beverage of ale or porter ; or, when dis-
tilled, affords ardent spirits. This power,
called, in chemistry, catalysis, may be fur-
ther illustrated by the leaven used in
baking, which is known to every good
housekeeper, as " a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump."

Now the roots contain an immensity of
the proper juices of the plant ; nay, the
proper juice is here in its most concentrated
or inspissated state ; for, if we examine a
plant, we shall find that while its proper
juice is mild in the leaves, it is stronger in
the twigs and branches- — stronger still in
the bark of the trunk, — but still more con-
centrated in the root. Now, it is by tho

318

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

combined action of moistxire, heat and oxy-
gen, itpo7i the germ, that the vitality of the
plant is excited. Moisture is absorbed, and
carbonic acid gas is generated, the pluviula
puts forth its tiny leaves, and the radicle
elongates and penetrates the earth. That
tke oxygen of the atmosphere is the prime
mover in this action, which, in this process,
is called germination, is abundantly testi-
fied by the fact, that seeds will not germi-
nate without its presence, and that the very
act of germination is accompanied with the
generation of carbonic acid gas. The mois-
ture supplied takes up that portion of the
starch which has undergone the chemical
change ; and a preparation of a seed in
this state, will show that the duct or vessel
into which the nourishment, so prepared,
enteTs, leads directly into the plumula or
evolving leaves of the young plant. Now,
a process somewhat similar takes place
with the root and rootlets of a plant. To
excite vegetation, moisture, heat, and oxy-
gen are required; and vegetation is ac-
companied with the same act of generating
carbonic acid gas. You will bear in mind
that the vessel, in the centre of the rootlet,
does not only run the whole length of the
rootlet, but penetrates transversely through
the bark, and joins the inner or ascending
sap vessels. It therefore appears that the
following process goes on: The concen-
trated juice, contained in the root, is in the
rootlet subjected to the influence and action
of the oxygen of the atmospheric air, and
water, contained in and permeating the
soil. A portion of the moisture is imbibed
through the coats of the vessels, and di-
lutes the juice contained in them ; and,
being forced through the internal coat, by
endosmose, into the internal or ascending
vessels, it meets and mixes with the water
taken up by the spongioles, holding in so-
lution the various alkaline and siliceous

compounds necessary for the inorganic
structure of the plant. This mixture, con-
stituting the true sap, ascends by the force
of endosmose and capillary attraction, and is
thus capable of forming the new leaves, the
wood, the flowers, and the fruit of the plant.

Let me explain, to those unacquainted
with the term, the meaning of endosmose.
It has been long known that no gas or par-
ticular air can be confined by animal tex-
ture ; and that if a bladder is filled with
any gas, it cannot be kept pure for any
length of time ; that which is within escapes
through the coats of the bladder, and that
which is without will get in, and vice
versa, according to fixed and known laws.
Now it has been found that fluids are pos-
sessed of similar powers, and governed by
similar laws, acting in this manner on
membrane of either animal or vegetable
structure, alike, — the lighter fluid forcing
itself through the integument, and mixing
with or passing that of greater density ;
and after water, a gummy solution ranks
first in endosmodic power. Now, as the
juice in the roots abounds in gum, it fol-
lows that water imbibed through the exter-
nal coat of the rootlet, and diluting the
proper juice intp their mucilage, the solu-
tion is forced by endosmose into the inner
vessel, and ascends by that force and capil-
lary attraction. It is on this principle we
account for the ascent of the sap, and on
no other, in my opinion, can the theory of
vegetation, the development of the plant,
and production of its woody fibre, be ex-
plained.

Assuming, then, that all the carbon of
the plant is derived from the atmosphere,
and that a quantity of this constituent is
required, not only for the due evolving of
the leaves and wood, but for their subse-
quent nourishment, it follows that a certain
portion of this necessary ingredient must

LEAVES AND ROOTS— THEIR FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURE.

319

be contained in the ascending sap ; and if
so, it is also evident that it must he carried
into the ascending sap vessels by means of
the centre vessel, which I have already
described, as running the whole course of
the rootlet, and traversing the thickness of
the bark of the root, until it joins the be-
fore mentioned ascending vessels. The
external coat of the rootlet is, as I have
already stated, given off from the external
coat of the root, and, consequently, the
proper juice of the plant in the root, and
given into the rootlet, is, in the latter, ex-
posed to the action of the atmospheric air
and the water contained in the soil ; and
thus, having been modified and diluted, it
enters the centre vessel in a fit state for the
due nourishment of the plant.

In confirmation of these views, I may
call to your recollection the phenomenon
exhibited by a grafted tree. Here we see
on the same stock a variety of fruit. Now,
on what does this depend ? The answer
will be, on the scion, or bud, introduced.
True, it is so ; in that scion or bud is con-
tained the germ of young leaves ; these,
by the nourishment supplied, are evolved,
and then commences, according to the cha-
racter of the leaf, the elaboration of the
proper juice which is to produce that par-
ticula?- variety of fruit. The fact, also ob-
served by florists, and mentioned by a cele-
brated culturist in Philadelphia, of the loss
sustained by cutting off the young branches,
containing the buds and flowers of camel-
lias, causing the rootlets to die,' — showing
that certain rootlets depend upon certain
branches or leaves, which, having been
cut off, the rootlet dies, as being of no fur-
ther use. This is an important and inte-
resting truth. Again, let us look to the
fact of the maple affording its sugar from
the concentrated juice of the former year,
and giving it out whenever the sap begins

to ascend, and before any leaf has yet ap-
peared. At the same time, it is known that
if the tree is bled too much, it destroys the
luxuriance of the vegetation for that sea-
son. Again, let us watch the progress of
the young fruit tree. Deriving the nourish-
ment required, in the first place, from the
immense accumulation of vegetable mat-
ter in the cotyledons, the root of the young
plant thrusts itself into the earth, and the
young leaves unfold themselves to the at-
mosphere. Year after year crops of leaves
succeed each other, — each leaf performing
the important function assigned to it, of
assimilating a portion of the sap in the
progress of its circulation into the proper
juice of the plant, which, when done, it
dies and falls to its mother earth. Season
after season our plant gains strength ; its
leaves are thrown out stronger and larger,
and, in due time, the tree is capable of
yielding fruit. With the first appearance
of the leaves of the following season, the
plant is decked with flowers, succeeded by
fruit. This is the progress of a tree, from
its first germination to maturity. Here we
see the great importance of the leaves, in
maintaining the plant. If our plant is
puny, its branches slender, and its leaves
wanting in luxuriance, we cannot look for
fruit ; and in this case, what is our reme-
dy ? We apply the pruning knife ; and
thus, by concentrating the ascending sap,
instead of being distributed over a large
surface through many long branches, we
give energy to the plant, and leaves and
flowers burst forth in great luxuriance.*

* It is on this principle that Dr. Klotschs at-
tempts the cure of the potato ilisease, — '<to pinch
off about half an inch from the top of the plant,
when it has reached a height of six or nine inches,
and to repeat the same operation 10-11 weeks af-
ter the time of planting, on all the stems of the
plant." By this operation, the carbon of the plant
is not again expended in the production of new
stems and fruit, but is thrown into the tubers, pro-
ducing potatoes of firmer texture, and more con-
centrated material.

320

HIGH CULTIVATION OF NATIVE GRAPES.

You are, of course, aware that all plants
are formed of organic and inorganic con-
stituents. Tlie organic are the woody fibre
and the juices of the plant. The inorganic,
the earthy and alkaline substances found
there, viz., potash, soda, silica, &c. The
organic constituents can all be resolved
into the following elementary substances,
namely : carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and
oxygen. Now we have seen that the car-
bon and nitrogen have been derived from
the atmosphere. The hydrogen and oxy-
gen, the constituents of water, are, of
course, derived from the rain which perco-
lates through the earth. The inorganic
are also taken from the earth. It is evi-
dent, then, that the inorganic constituents
must be found there ; and if they are not
there naturally, they must be supplied.
This is the true theory of manuring, viz.,
to enrich the earth so that it may be buoy-
ant and loose ; that atmospheric air may
permeate, and the rain percolate through
it, allowing the rootlets free access to
every part, and to supply the inorganic
constituents required. Hence we see the
great advantage to be gained by the admix-
ture of any buoyant substance, such as
muck, bog or humus, stable litter, or other
light manure ; lime, ashes, and other com-

pounds containing ammoniacal, and other
salts and silicates.

I shall not, however, consxime your time
with entering into this subject farther. I
have attempted, in the observations I have
made, to elucidate the great importance of
the leaves and the rootlets of a plant, as the
organs necessary for its proper develop-
ment, and the maturing of its productions-
To allow the leaves to perform their func-
tions in a proper manner, light, sunshine,
and atmospheric air, are required, and
ought freely to be admitted ; and to allow
the rootlets to perform theirs, heat, mois-
ture, and atmospheric air, are indispensa-
ble. Whatever tends to deprive the leaf
'of light, retards it assuming its proper
colour ; and without colour, the solar ray
loses its effect, and the plant wants vigor.
Strip a plant of its leaves, and prevent their
further development, and it will die. So,
in like manner, unless the rootlets enjoy
freedom of extension, a sufficient supply of
moisture, and atmospheric air, the plant
will droop and wither. Deprive it of its
rootlets, and it will die. These are points,
no doubt, familiarly known to all ; but they
are, nevertheless, worthy of the very great-
est attention. James Paul.

Trenton, N. J., 1813.

HIGH CULTIVATION OF NATIVE GRAPES.

BV AN AMATEUR, NEW- YORK.

I THINK very few of the thousands who now
cultivate the Isabella and Catawba grapes,
in the middle states, are av/are how much
the size and quality of the fruit is improved
by high culture.

The deep and rich borders, alwaj'^s pre-
pared for vineries of foreign grapes, your
readers are familiar with ; and the magni-

ficent growth of wood, and enormous clus-
ters of grapes, that are obtained by using
such stimulants. I think equally satisfac-
tory results may be obtained by making
deeply prepared borders for the native
grapes. Of course, I now refer to vines
planted for table fruit ; as it is well known
that in planting vineyards for wine, the

PRACTICAL HINTS IN TRANSPLANTING.

321

quality of the juice is the only point to be
considered ; for in that case, high manuring
al-ways injures the vinous quality of the
fruit.

I have four Isabella vines, which have
given me, for two years past, fruit nearly
as large as those of the Black Hamburgh,
and of very fine flavor. Perhaps it may
please some of your readers to know the
treatment they have received.

They stand in a border, 12 feet wide by
30 feet long. I prepared this border by
throwing out all the soil and subsoil to the
depth of 3 feet. The bottom was then
filled up with stones, mixed with half lime
rubbish, (from the walls of an old house,)
one foot in depth. Throwing away all the
subsoil, I then mixed with the good soil
10 cart loads of stable manure, and 2 bar-
rels of bone-dust, and a cart load of leached

ashes. With these all incorporated to-
gether, the border was made complete by
filling up the remaining 2 feet upon the
stones and lime rubbish in the bottom.

The vines were planted 6 feet apart, and
trained to an upright trellis.

I was astonished at the gigantic shoots
which they made the second and third
years. The shoots were some of them 24
feet long, and as thick as my thumb. I
pursue the simple spur mode of pruning,
and obtain regular and heavy crops. Some
of the bunches weighed a pound and a
quarter last year ; and the berries were so
large that many persons, who saw the fruit,
would scarcely believe it was the same
variety as the common Isabella grape. So
much for the effects of high culture. Re-
spectfully yours. An Amateur.

New-York, Dee. 10, 1849.

PRACTICAL HINTS IN TRANSPLANTING.

BY C. SMITH, NEWPORT, JV. Y.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — The suggestions I
am about to make, relative to transplanting
fruit and ornamental trees, are the results
of some experience ; and should they prove
of any appreciable worth to the patrons of
the Horticulturist, I wish them looked upon
as some return for my indebtedness for
pleasure derived from the labors of the edi-
tor and correspondents of this journal.

Premising that the reader is aware that,
for New-England and New-York, spring
is decidedly the best time for transplanting,
and that it is time and money saved to
prepare the land, intended for the garden
or orchard, by manuring and faithful culti-
vation,— we will next say, that the selec-
tion of the trees in the nursery, is of mate-
rial importance ; that the tall, slender plants

YoL. 111. 21

should be discarded, and only the stout,
healthy ones preferred. The latter will, in
nearly all cases, prove more vigorous, hand-
some, productive and long lived than the
former ; hence the importance of securing
this advantage. Instead of heading hack
the top, leave the limbs entire ; hut remove
every alternate hud on every limb, sparing
the terminals. This saves a year's growth,
and is much better than mutilating the
tree, which is always done at some ex-
pense to its vital energies and length of
life.

Of 75 fruit trees set out last spring, and
treated in this way, I lost not one. I use
no water in transplanting fruit trees, — not
having been able to discover its advan-
tages ; nor do I press the earth over the

dM

THE BELLE ET BONNE APPLE.

roots of the tree on placing it in the hole
prepared for it, except to the width of the
foot next the trunk, leaving the extremi-
ties of the roots, with the earth lying lightly
upon them.

The pruning-knife, except for heading
hack an unthrifty tree, or pruning the peach,
as recommended in the "Fruits and Fruit
Trees of America," is, to my thinking, an
unqualified nuisance in the orchard and
garden.

At the season when the young trees be-
gin to send out sprouts, or new limbs, watch
for a shoot which is taking a wrong direc-
tion, and when found, finch it off". Per-
severe in this course three or four years,
and afterwards let the limbs take their own
way, and they will not be likely " to get
into a snarl." Removing the tender twigs
does not leave a wound, nor check growth,
nor diminish the vitality of the organized
structure.

The past season I transplanted sixty
forest trees, many of them twenty feet in
height, and a majority of them were of
those species which are extremely difficult
to transplant with success. I did not lose
a tree ; and I attribute their uniform pros-
perity to my taking off, when planting,
every alternate twig from every limb.
This does not deform the symmetry, while
it reduces the number of leaves to such an
extent, that the diminished quantity of root
can supply the organization with food suf-
ficient to maintain life and growth. If it
is the leaf that exhausts the newly re-
moved tree, the suggestion I introduce will
balance leaf and root without mutilating
large limbs, which, as sure as effect fol-
lows cause, will injure the vital energies
of the tree, and prevent its living out half
its days.

C. Smith.

Newport, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1843.

NOTES ON THE BELLE ET BONNE APPLE.

BY PROF. OLMSTED, NEW HAVEN, AND GEORGE OLMSTED, EAST HARTFORD, Ct.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: In the
month of May last, being on a visit to my
native place, on the east bank of Connecti-
cut river, opposite the city of Hartford, I
was much interested in viewing the fine
fruit orchards of my kinsman, George Olm-
sted, Esq., and in witnessing the happy
results of his methods of cultivation. My
attention was particularly arrested by his
beautiful collection of apple trees, in vari-
ous stages of growth, and, most of all, by
one of peculiar magnificence, called the
Belle et Bonne. The oldest and largest of
these, in my friend's collection, was a tree
; about twenty-five years old, which, every
.other year, bears about thirty bushels of

apples. Several of the younger trees, of
the same variety, are growing with re-
markable symmetry of form, and promise to
make splendid trees when they arrive at
maturity.

But my admiration was particularly raised
at the sight of a still nobler specimen of the
same tree, to which Mr. Olmsted conducted
me, which was growing in a neighboring
garden belonging to Mr. A. Cowles. This
fine example of the Belle et Borme is dome-
shaped, its limbs trailing on the ground^
and the whole figure one of great symmetry
and beauty. We found its entire circum-
ference, as we paced the ground around the
pendant limbs, to he about one hundred and

THE BELLE ET BONNE APPLE.

323

-:hJ%^X^,.^

'^

324

THE BELLE ET BONNE APPLE.

twenty feet. The leaves are large, and of
a rich green colour ; and I could easily
credit the statement of my friends, that,
when loaded, as it was in the year 1847,
with from forty to fifty bushels of apples,
all large and fair, it presented a spectacle
not a little exciting to the lovers of fine
fruit trees. The fruit ripens late in the
fall, and, at the time of my visit, the last of
May, it was still perfectly sound, of an
agreeable sub-acid taste, and entitled to
rank high among the finest winter apples.

The Belle et Bonne is, I learn, not a
French variety, as the name might imply.
It is a native variety, so named, [Belle
et Bonne, — being, literally, beautiful and
good,) by the French, at the time the French
troops were stationed here during the revo-
lutionary war. The original tree, (the pa-
rent of those now growing here,) was cut
down only two years ago. It stood upon
the land of Mr. Jason Roberts ; and Mr.
R. says it was believed to be more than 100
years old when cut down.

My friend having obtained an excellent
drawing of the tree belonging to Mr.
CowLEs, it was agreed between us, that Ave
would (with your leave,) give to the culti-
vators of fruit abroad the opportunity of
sharing with us the pleasure with which we
viewed the East Hartford Belle et Bonne j
a tree which combines, in a singular degree,
the qualities of the finest fruit bearer, with
the ornamental properties of a fine shade
tree.

Mr. Olmsted also showed me examples
of his treatment of old apple trees, which,
by successful grafting, he has not only re-
animated with the vigor of youth, but ren-
dered them prolific of finer varieties of fruit
than were ever yielded by them before. I
have also been favored with occasional spe-
cimens of his fall and winter apples, which,
for beauty of form and deliciousness of fla-

vor, have never been surpassed in my expe-
rience. Respectfully yours,

Denison Olmsted.

Yah College, Sept. 3, 1843.

We add to the foregoing the following
additional notes, by Mr. George Olm-
sted :

Dear Sir — The old apple trees on my
grounds, to which Professor Olmsted al-
ludes in the foregoing, were a few years
ago worthless, until they were completely
changed by my grafting them over.

These trees I commenced grafting six
years ago last spring. / began on the top,
and grajted one-tlm'd of the tree each year.
It therefore required three years to com-
plete the entire heads of the tree.

I like this method better than any I have
ever tried for grafting large trees, as it
gives the grafts a good opportunity to get
well started. Cutting off' and grafting the
top first, gives the grafts there the best
possible chance, while the necessary reduc-
tion of the top throws the sap into the re-
maining side branches, which fits them
well for grafting the following year ; and
the third year, the lowest branches being
made ready in the same way may be graft-
ed successfully. By this mode, it will be
seen that when the grafts are put in on the
side branches they are not shaded by heavy
shoots above them, and they have an unu-
sual supply of nourishment to carry them
forward. Those who have attempted to
graft the whole head of a large tree at
once, are best aware of the great difficulty
in the common mode of getting the grafts
to take on the side limbs.

One of these large trees, so treated, is
probably more than 75 years old, and has
now an entirely new and vigorous head,
grafted with this excellent variety. When
I began with it, the fruit was only fit far

WINTER TREATMENT OF KITCHEN GARDENS.

325

cider, and it was questionable whether the
tree should not be cut down. By grafting
it in this manner I have added surprisingly
to its value. Two years ago (the bearing
year,) I obtained from it 10 bushels of ap-
ples, last year 8 bushels, and this year,
(only six years from the time I began to
graft it,) I gathered 23^ bushels of excellent
fruit !

I consider this tree now worth SlOO ;
the cost of grafting it was about S5 ; and
the latter was all repaid two years ago, —
the first season the grafts bore fruit. Yours
respectfully, Geo. Olmsted.

East Hartford, Ct., Oct. 25, 1843.

P. S. My mode of setting out young
trees in our soil, (a light sandy loam,) is to
dig the hole six feet square, and three and
a half feet deep. I reject the subsoil of
sand when filling in the holes, and place a
layer of sods or rich turfs at the bottom
and sides of the hole. I then fill up to the
height on which the roots of the tree should
be set with rich mould, (which I cart to the
spot, if it cannot be found in the vicinity.)
When the tree is planted, I leave the ground
about the tree in a slight hollow ; and as
the main point here is to guard against the
effects of drouth, I finish by mulching, i. e.,
placing a heap of litter round the tree for
the first season. Repeated deep hoeings
are a very good substitute.

With this foundation, and with proper
after care, my trees grow with great vigor,
and bear large crops of good fruit. G. O.

We have heard much of the beauty of
growth of the Belle et Bonne apple, which
has a great reputation in Connecticut ; and
this portrait certainly justifies all that has
been said. Mr. Olmsted informs us that
young trees take the same full and sym-
metrical habit, and that this variety is re-
markable for its fine habit of growth beyond
any other known to him.

The fruit of the Belle et Bonne we have
examined, and find it a very large and
showy yellow apple, belonging to the same
class as the Fall Pippin, the Fall Harvey,
and the Golden Ball. It has an excellent
sub-acid flavor, not, perhaps, equal to the
Fall Pippin, but fully equal to the two
others. It appears to be so much more
productive than either of these varieties,
that if it retains this habit in other parts of
the country, it will become one of the most
popular market fruits. In Hartford, we
learn it has scarcely a rival for size, beauty
of appearance, and profit to the cultivator.

Mr. Olmsted is a practical fruit grower
of much skill, and we recommend his re-
marks on grafting large apple trees to the
attention of our readers. His practice is
sound, and is based on the true theory. Ed.

■WINTER TREATMENT OF KITCHEN GARDENS.

BY A SCOTCH GARDENER, BOSTON.

In the early part of winter we often have a
good deal of open or mild weather ; and it
is a matter of some consequence to know
how the gardener can be employed to the
best advantage.

As I observe that, comparatively, few
gardeners here appear to place sufficient

importance on the value of exposing the
soil, as much as possible, to the winter's
frost, I wish to be allowed to make a few
remarks upon the subject.

Ridging up the surface of every unoccu-
pied spot, in a kitchen garden, is one of
the things most of all insisted upon in

326

ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING OF THE EASTERN STATES.

Great Britain. Experience has demon-
strated, hundreds of times, that it mellows
the soil, destroys the eggs of insects, and
drives out any acids or excrementitious
matters that exist in old soils to the detri-
ment of the succession of annual crops.
Indeed, many old gardens that are quite
unproductive, if left alone in this particular,
are kept in capital condition by constantly
attending to it.

The ridges ought to be thrown up a foot
and a half high, in the diiiection of the
slope of the ground, so that the water will
run off, and not stand in the trenches.
They may be as close together as they can
be made, bearing in mind to keep the tops
of the ridges 18 inches high, I consider it

a great advantage to turn up a little of the
subsoil — say a couple of inches each sea-
son — at the time of ridging. This brings
a little fresh loam to the surface ; and after
being acted upon by the atmosphere, it
mixes very kindly with the top-soil, and
helps much to keep up the fertility of the
garden.

If you have fresh stable manure at hand,
it is well to give the top-spit a good coat,
and mix it through the soil when ridging
up. It will be found to put the soil in
good condition for spring crops of vegeta-
bles ; and it is by far the best mode of ap-
plying coarse manure to the kitchen garden.
Yours respectfully, A Scotch Gardener.

Boston, Nov., 184S.

NOTES on the ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING of the EASTERN STATES.

BY W. H. SCOTT, TOLRDO, OHIO.

I THINK, when I saw you in your lovely
Highland home, last July, you partly eli-
cited a promise to give, in a future number
of the Horticulturist, some impressions of
a rather hasty visit to New-England. I
have read several interesting numbers of
the Horticulturist since then, and have cer-
tainly derived more benefit from their pe-
rusal than if a part of the space had been
occupied by any observations of mine. A
western man, whatever may be his pride
of home, and attachment to a country pos-
sessing so many natural advantages, can
hardly avoid cherishing some slight covet-
ous feelings, while contrasting it with one
which age and wealth have subdued and
beautified ; but this is somewhat alleviated
by the idea of a smoother and speedier
road to arrive at such a stage of improve-
ment.

Perhaps in no one aspect does New-

England {old, as she appears to us,) exhibit
so great a superiority over the untamed
west, as in her rural architecture. In
passing through its more southern portions,
the pleasantest ideas of the comforts of its
houses, are awakened.

The general adaptation of these to the
purposes for which they were designed, is
one of the most material sources of plea-
sure. The observer will occasionally see
ostentatious displays of bad taste, where
show has been the grand object of a pro-
prietor, influenced in a great degree, per-
haps, by an ambitious but ignorant archi-
tect. Snug little thirty-by-forty parthe-
Tions, stubbornly intrude themselves upon
the notice, as if insisting upon an attention
which their owners imagine so much splen-
dor of column should command.

Something of the same spirit pervades
building humanity now, that De Tocque-

ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING OF THE EASTERN STATES.

327

viLLE noticed in his visit to this country.
While passing, for the first time, the Nar-
rows, in his approach to New-York, he
was struck with the grandeur of the mar-
ble palaces seen in the distance ; but
whose pediments appeared, on nearer ap-
proach, to be supported by great wooden
columns I

One may see, in passing by land from
New- York to New-Haven, many burlesques
in the architectural way. I have in my eye
an example in a building, which must have
cost somewhere between fifty and one
hundred thousand dollars ; certainly not
less than the former sum. It was evi-
dently intended to be an imitation of an
Oriental or Persian palace, in its architec-
ture, as you will see by a glance at its
domes and minarets. But with all the
assumption of the front to be stone, the
sides could show nothing better than flimsy
clap-board covering.

The rural Gothic and bracketed struc-
tures, which seem now to be greater favor-
ites than any other, for the better class of
residences at the east, do not exhibit so
many deformities as one might very natu-
rally suppose would result from the infancy
of these styles in this country. With some
who have crude and half formed ideas of
the Gothic, the beau ideal seems to have
been attained by an elegant superfluity of
gables ; so that the chambers might all be
found " up among the peaks." Another,
you will observe, seems not so anxious
about the gables as about his one idea of
spacious verge boards, or fanciful terra
cotta chimney stacks. Occasionally may
be seen a house which might, if seen
alone, be considered the perfection of
beauty ; but, surrounded by such a nursery
of young shade trees, that the good effect
produced by the view of the house is nearly
lost.

These are some of the defects apparent
to an observer ; yet how much is there to
admire. White, for the outside of houses,
is plainly not the only orthodox colour.
Fancy is very properly gratified by such a
variety of colouring, that each individual
taste may 'find its own. From a light
fawn to a dark brown, shades can be found,
but not described, which seem so much
more appropriate than white for many
situations, that the occasional over colour-
ing may be very easily pardoned. You
need not understand me as not still having
some love for white. There is something
so attractive to me in a well painted white
dwelling, with cool green shutters, and
tastefully embellished with vines and shrub-
bery, that I shall still pertinaciously insist
upon its claim, to hold its place among
those of darker hue.

There are many situations where white
houses will not present that glaring ap-
pearance, which Uvedale Price speaks of,
as so like the eternal grin of a fool.

[ White is not only permissible but
agreeable, when the house is embosomed
in foliage, so as to subdue the glare. Ed.]

Rural architecture seems to have been
studied to good advantage by the farmer
and mechanic. Innumerable are the little
gems of cottages, surrounded by pretty and
attractive, but not expensive, outside em-
bellishments. A sum less than one thou-
sand dollars has erected quite a large pro-
portion of the attractive houses of the New-
England mechanics. Internal convenience
has been studied to some advantage, and
outside show — which, I may say, it is no
trait of a New-Englander to despise — has
not been allowed to overbalance a more
palpable good.

While on this subject, let me say some-
thing of architectural works. I have spent
some time in looking over the numbers of

328

ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING OF THE EASTERN STATES.

RanletCs ''Architect." There are many
buildings delineated there, with an ap-
pearance so attractive, and at an expense
so moderate, that they would be considered
just the thing, were it not that the outside
once seen, there is a very natural inclina-
tion awakened to peer into the excellencies
of what is within. When it comes to this,
we are quite as naturally disappointed to
find rooms inconveniently contracted, — in
many of the houses, so small that one with
half the means allowed in the specifica-
tion would hardly be willing to live in
them. For those, then, for whom it is in-
tended, the work is ')U)t just what is wanted.
The greater portion of those who build, in
this country, lay out from nine hundred to
two thousand dollars in the construction of
their dwellings.

For a more expensive class you have
provided. But if the question can be satis-
factorily answered, as to the equal ability
of that less ambitious class to buy and read
a book better adapted to their wants, who
is to provide it ? *

The description of the horticultural fes-
tival at Boston, in the November number,
was delightful, leaving a most refreshing
impression upon the mind. Such a con-
gregation, of the best talent and truest
spirits of the country, as met in old Fa-
neuilHall, is seldom witnessed; and never,
I may safely say, with more disinterested
purpose, or closer community of feeling.
Those Bostonians are grand punsters. The
many chaste and sparkling sentiments,
which the occasion called out, were to the
point ; but additional interest was awaken-
ed by the delicate play upon words which
characterised many of them, and especially
some given by the two Quincys, who are
somewhat celebrated that way.

* Our new work on Country Houses, now in preparation,
will include designs for cottages of very moderate cost Ed.

I see that the Clinton grape is recom-
mended by you, and some others, as a
good grape for the northern portion of the
country; but it is not among your varieties
in the " Fruits and Fruit Trees." In some
respects, it is more worthy of cultivation
than the Isabella. It is a strong grower,
early — ripening here nearly two weeks
before that variety — a good bearer, and
much more hardy. Last year both made
a luxuriant growth in my vineyard. On
the fourteenth of September, 1847, there
was an unusually severe frost, and my Isa-
bella vines on two rows of trellis, were
nearly all killed to the ground, while an
equal number of Clintons escaped without
injury. .

I had supposed, until this fall, that graft-
ing the pear upon the white thorn neces-
sarily rendered the tree somewhat dwarf-
ish in its character. An experiment ha»
shown me that such is not always the re-
sult.

Two years ago last spring I grafted
twenty-five or thirty pear scions into white
thorn roots, which I had taken up for the
purpose. The root was put in the ground,
so that the split should be about on a level
with the surface of the earth. As the
grafts grew, a little extra earth was thrown
around them to prevent the wind from
breaking them off. Last October I had
occasion to take up some of them for the
orchard. When they were lifted, I was
surprised to find that all the young trees
had parted company with the old roots,
which had given them their first suste-
nance, leaving the top of the stump as
smooth as when first sawed off, and the
cleft, from which all traces of the pear
tree had vanished, with the same appear-
ance as when the grafting was done. The
trees had no other than fine thrifty pear
roots.

PEAR TREE BLIGHT.

329

The thorn was found with the same
short mutilated roots as when taken from
its native ground. Scarcely a rootlet visi-
ble, and all dead. Yet this stub was

sufficient to give the graft a most luxu-
riant growth until it had thrown out roots
of its own. W. H. Scott.

Toledo, O , Dec. 3, 1848.

PEAR TREE BLIGHT,

BY DR. HERMAN WENDELL, ALBANY.

Dear Sir — In your comments on my letter,
treating of the diseases to which pear trees
are more or less subject throughout our
whole country, printed in the Horticulturist
of last February, you say — "That a mild
winter, with sudden and great fluctuations
of temperature, in a climate like that of
Albany, is perhaps more fatal to a tender
barked tree than one of uniformly low tem-
perature." This position I shall not at-
tempt to controvert ; for it coincides with
my own experience. You also go on to
say — "Take the present season, for exam-
ple, &c. * * * At Albany, on the
12th and 13th of January, the mercury sunk
as low as 22^ below the zero of Fahrenheit.
This was followed, perhaps, by bright wea-
ther ; and in trees fully exposed to the
great alternations of frost and sun, we think
frozen sap-blight would be very apt to oc-
cur." The extreme cold to which you al-
lude, as having occurred in Januar)'^, and
which you say was perhaps followed by
mild and bright weather, was so followed ;
and this was not the only occurrence of the
kind during the winter. For, several times,
the vicissitudes were equally great ; so fre-
quently, in fact, that cherry, peach, plum
and nectarine trees bore little or no fruit
during the past season in this whole vi-
cinity,— the fruit buds having been de-
stroyed by these sudden changes of tempe-
rature. Yet, notwithstanding all this, my
pear trees have borne well, and I have not

lost one large tree from my extensive col-
lection, by what you have called frozen sap-
blight — that which shows itself ytrs^ on the
trunk or the body of the branches of the
tree ; whereas, last season, the preceding
winter to which had not been marked by
such sudden alternations, but which, on
the contrary, was unusually mild and equa-
ble, I lost more than twenty. Neither have
I lost more than two small trees from that
disease which makes its first appearance on
the extremity of the stem, (not the scolytus
pyri,*) or but a very few limbs from the
older trees ; whereas, the preceding sum-
mer, I lost a large number of small trees,
and nearly half the branches from some of
my large ones from such cause.

After the publication of your February
number, I determined to wait until the
termination of the season, which has just
passed, before expressing myself further on
the subject of pear tree diseases ; because
I thought that the course things took, sub-
sequent to such a winter as the last, would,
in all probability, indicate to us some-
what whether the diseases in question were
caused by frozen-sap, scalded-sap, or some
other influence.

Now, I have related facts as they are.
Others, as well as myself, can draw their

* I in;iy ;is well remnrlf, en passant, that the moment I dis-
covered tlic sli;;hiesl intiicaiinns of disease in llie extremities
of a liinl), I iinipniaied it, with a clean knife, at ils jnnction
Willi the ni;iin stern, and covered the wounJ with the shellac
siilutio:'.. Tiiis cour;e i::variably checked its furilier pro-

"f fS.

330

NOTES ON GRAFTING.

own inferences. I shall content myself by
merely relating the course pursued with my
trees in the autumn of 1847 ; and if others
choose to follow my plan, perhaps like ex-
perience may be theirs. Before I proceed,
however, I wish to remark, that I do not
intend to assert that the treatment pursued
by me kept disease from my trees. Seve-
ral seasons, of like experience with my
remedy, would be necessary to induce me
to give a positive opinion as to any course
being specific for such destructive maladies.
I only wish to relate things as they have
occurred this year, so that others may be
induced to experiment as well as myself.
I have, during several years past, kept
constantly ready for use a compost of ashes,
lime, and iron scoria, from the smith's
forge, which I have invariably applied round
and about the roots of pear trees, when
planting them out, and also on the surface
around the larger trees every second year.
Last autumn, when taking up such trees as
had been killed during the season, I dis-

covered that the iron used by me was en-
tirely unaffected by exposure to atmospheric
influences, or by the moisture in the earth.
This indicated to me that such iron was, of
course, useless. I therefore determined to
pursue a different plan ; and prociired from
a steam engine manufactory, turnings of
pure iron, which I mixed, as before, with
ashes and lime, and applied a given quan-
tity to every pear tree on my place. I
would have preferred crushed bones in lieu
of the lime, but could not procure them in
Albany.

I again repeat, that I do not wish to be
understood as giving it as my opinion that
the iron prevented disease showing itself
among my trees. Others are as capable of
judging, with the facts before them, as I
am. I will only add that, during the past
season, diseases have been very virulent
among the pear trees in the vicinity of this
city ; many growers having lost nearly all
their collection. Yours very truly,

Herman Wendell.

RANDOM NOTES ON GRAFTING, ETC.

BY A. FAHNESTOCK, LANCASTER, OHIO.

Having some apple grafts, of the Raide's
Jannet, left over last spring from my root
grafting, it occurred to me to ascertain how
long they could be kept available for suc-
cessful working. Accordingly I put them
into damp sawdust, permitting the sawdust
to dry as the season advanced, so that
finally they were protected from the air
only, — the sawdust being then perfectly
dry. With these grafts I worked ten stocks
in the first week of May; they all took,
and made a fine growth. In the first week
of June, and, also, first week of July, I
worked a similar number ; not one failed.

The last of July, I worked the balance, -
(ten.) Some were tongue or cleft grafted,
some spliced, and some, I might say, "bud-
grafted ;" that is, I cut off the stock, made
an incision downwards in the bark, as if
budding, opened the bark and inserted the "
graft, — it being previously prepared, as if
for splice grafting. These last have done
remarkably well ; having all made from
one foot to one and a half foot growth. In
the last instance, the grafts were perfectly
dry in appearance, and quite shrivelled.
I forwarded this fall to my friends, W. R.
Smith, of Macedon, N. Y., and James R.

NOTES ON GRAFTING.

331

Matthews, of Coshocton, 0., each, a tree
of this last grafting. I am induced to be-
lieve, that had I kept part of the grafts they
would have succeeded, worked in August.

I received from Messrs. Elliott & Co.,
in the spring of 1847, I believe, a tree of
Van Mons' Leon Le Clerc pear, which
never burst a bud until September follow-
ing. In the month of August, I cut several
grafts from this tree, and worked them on
apple stocks, in order to save the variety;
they grew remarkably well.

Previous to last spring, I had been very
unsuccessful in grafting the cherry, — having
practiced splice and tongue, or cleft and
saddle grafting. In saddle grafting, I pur-
sued the method as detailed by you in your
"Fruit Trees," but found it tedious and
slow to split the graft, and then pare it out
with a small blade, besides being very dif-
ficult to have a regular smooth surface. I
discovered, upon examining my budded
cherry stocks last spring, that out of some
six or seven hundred, one hundred and
fifty would not grow ; and having cut grafts
at the proper period, I determined to graft
all the doubtful ones. In the winter sea-
son, when nights are long, and leisure time
always to be had, I take what is called,
with us, "post-office" paper, — being very
thin and tough, (I enclose a sample,) and
cut the sheets lengthwise, in strips three-
fourths of an inch wide, then dip them into
melted grafting wax, drawing them be-
tween two sticks, previously prepared, —
having a slight shaving taken from each,
widening the opening towards the end or
point ; the opposite ends are tied together.
You thus easily introduce each slip and
draw it through, depriving it of all unne-
cessary wax ; and, as thus prepared, I put
each strip lengthwise upon top of the other,
pressing the ends down, so as to make them
adhere, until I have upon one heap a

"stick" or bunch of grafting paper, num-
bering each bunch from 150 to 200. They
will remain thus together, until taken off"
for use.

My method of preparing the graft is as
follows : Take the graft in your left hand,
and, with a sharp blade, (one that is broad
and thin is best ; a shoemaker's knife,
ground and properly prepared, does finely;)
make an incision downwards from three-
fourths to one inch long, commencing at
the outer edge or bark, drawing j'^our blade
gently from heel to point, so that you finish
your cut in the centre of the graft. Re-
verse the knife, or graft, and make a simi-
lar cut opposite the first, meeting it at its
extremity. You thus take out a wedge,
leaving a regular, smooth and even surface
in the graft. Top your stock in wedge
form to fit the graft, which can be done so
neatly as scarcely to be perceived. (I would
remark, that I always endeavor to have the
stock, when cut ofl^, about the same size as
the graft.) Then take a strip of the waxed
paper, and wrap the union several times to
keep out the air and wet, drawing it tight,
and tying it slightly with some bass. A
slip of this paper always binds four grafts
with me. You, of course, will loosen and
take ofi" both tying and paper at the proper
period of growth. This fit is so neat, and
the bulk of the shoot, where grafted, so
small, that few will notice it. Those who
visited my nursery during the season were
forcibly struck with the entire success at-
tending my spring grafting. I lost so few,
as scarcely to be worth naming. From
seven scions, kindly seiat me, by mail, by
Dr. RuMSEY, (of Fishkilj Landing, N. Y.,)
cut from his late Morello, I raised eight
pretty trees. One scion being longer than
necessary, I cut off about an inch of wood
with but one bud only ; it made a neat tree.
And with two grafts of Bigarreau gros

332

NEW APPLES.

Cceuret, received from you, I was equally
successful.

Your description of the "Gen. Hand"
plum, as set forth in a late number of the
Horticulturist, agrees precisely with that
fruit, as grown here, from the bearing
tree, of which I forwarded you grafts last
season ; from the fruiting of this tree, for 8
years past, and general observation, (al-
though the location is a bad one,) I am in-
duced to call it one of the most valuable of
plums, on account of its having never failed
to bear a full crop, and matures its fruit
perfectly. I admit that it is not so finely
flavored, nor quite so large, as the Wash-
ington.

I received some pears in Nov., 1846,
(from New-York, ) on quince. These quince
stocks never had the top pared down to the

bud, but had, say two inches of wood above;
consequently, the growth of the pear on the
side of the stock, formed a different grain
or wood ; and when they arrived here, se-
veral were broken off at the union. To
save the varieties, I took two pieces of
board, nailed them together at right an-
gles, (like a small pig trough,) put the
grafts in the angle, and nailed two cleats
over them, dug a hole in the ground, laid
a board in the bottom, placed the trough
thereon inverted, closing each end with a
small piece of board also, and then covered
the whole with earth, raising it sufficiently
to turn the water from it. In the spring I
found these grafts in the best possible con-
dition for working. Yours respectfully,
A. Fahnestock.

Lanca ter, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1848.

DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW APPLES.

BY DR. W. D. BRINCICLB, PHILADELPHIA.

The two following varieties of apples, from
Pennsylvania, have been exhibited before
the horticultural societies in that state, and
have elicited high commendations. As Ave
find, by the specimens sent us, that they
are deserving of their reputation, we have
much pleasure in presenting the following
descriptions, by Dr. Brinckle, with out-
lines, which we have prepared from the
specimens sent us. Ed.

Philadelphia, Nox.21, 1848.

Dear Sir — I send you, by Adams &
Co.'s express, a box containing specimens
of the Republican Pippin, which I received
yesterday from Dr. Kittoe, of Lycoming
county, and the Smoke-House Apple, from
Dr. Murphy, of Parksburgh, Penn.

I enclose descriptions of these two varie-
ties, drawn up from the Westchester spe-

cimens, sent me in September. Make any
use of them you think proper. The for-
mer variety may be too ripe when you re-
ceive it, for you to judge of its excellence.
If eaten the last of September or beginning
of October, it is juicy, with the walnut fla-
vor very perceptible. The Smoke-House
is in fine eating order, though the speci-
mens are not as large as I have seen.

I. Republican Pippin. — This delicious
autumn apple was first brought to my no-
tice, during the present season, by J. Bald-
win, Esq., president of the Westches-
ter Horticultural Society, Avho very kindly
sent me specimens of the fruit in Septem-
ber.

In regard to its origin and history, I re-
ceived, a few days ago, from Dr. Kittoe, a
highly intelligent physician, of Muncy, Ly-

NEW APPLES.

333

coming county, the follow-
ing interesting and satis-
factory information :

"The Republican Pip-
pin originated here. Geo.
"Webb, who moved to this
place in 1796, found the
original tree in the woods,
and named it the Republi-
can Pippin. As he kept a
nursery, he propagated the
variety extensively ; and it
is now well known in this
region of the state, where
it is highly esteemed. Some
scions were sent to Eng-
land, in 1827, to J. H.
Lewis, Esq., of East Far-
leigh, in Kent, and he now
has trees of it in bearing.
J. W. Alder, Esq., of this place, took some
of the grafts to a friend of his at Burling-
ton, N. J., some 20 years ago. The ori-
ginal tree is still standing, in good health,
and had a large crop of fruit on it this
year. The apples have been preserved
till April ; and Mr. Black, of Tioga county,
told me that, with him, it proved as good
a winter apple as he desired. He lives,
however, in a very cold place (Block-
house,) on the Alleghany mountain. The
usual time of ripening is from the middle
of September to the middle of October.
It is fit for cooking the last of July. For
drying it cannot be surpassed, cooking to a
fine pulp in a very short time. In the
green state it cooks remarkably well, and
has a delicious flavor. The tree grows vigor-
ously on any soil, hut does not bear well on
limestone land. It has a crop every year."

From the specimens sent to me, the fol-
lowing pomological description has been
drawn up :

Fruit large, from two and three-fourths

Fig. 33. — Republican Pippin.

to three inches long, by three and three-
fourths to four inches in width ; form
roundish flattened ; skin striped with red,
on a mottled reddish ground, and, where
not exposed to the sun, of a greenish yel-
low, [dotted with a few large gray dots ;]
stem about an inch long, and very slender
for so large a fruit, inserted in a narrow,
rather deep cavity, which is sometimes a
little russetted ;* calyx with small or nar-
row segments, closed, and set in a mode-
rately deep basin; core small ; seed brown,
large, broad, plump ; flesh yellowish white,
tender; flavor pleasant and peculiar, [slightly
sub-acid,] resembling somewhat that of wal-
nuts ; quality No. 1. Ripe in Sept. and Oct.
II. Smoke-House. — This excellent apple
originated in the neighborhood of Lampe-
ter township, Lancaster county, Pennsyl-
vania, on the farm of Wm. Gibbons. It
grew near his smoke-house; hence its name.
It was introduced into notice about 12 years
ago, by Mr. Ashbridge.

* The russet patch diverging in rays. Eo.

334

DESIGN FOR A SMALL VILLA.

This variety is very productive,
bearing every year, but more pro-
fusely every alternate year. The
tree is a free grower, and comes
early into bearing. Branches
grow somewhat horizontally.

The above information, in re-
gard to this apple, was communi-
cated to me by Mr. Baldwin, pre-
sident of the Westchester Hort.
Society. From specimens of the
fruit he sent to me, the following
description is taken :

Fruit above medium size ; form
flat ; skin striped, and mottled
with red, on a greenish yellow
ground ; stem rather short and slender, and
inserted in a narrow, and not very deep
cavity, [sometimes partly filled up ;] calyx
of medium size, closed, and set in a shal-
low flattened basin ; core medium ; seed

Fig-. 30. — Smoke-House Apple.

brown, long; flesh yellowish white, crisp
and juicy; flavor agreeable, with a delicate
aroma. Ripe in October.

Very sincerely yours, W. D. B.

Philadelphia, BeUmber, 1848.

DESIGN FOR A SMALL VILLA.

The frontispiece of the present number,
shows the elevation and plan of a dwelling,
designed by A. J. Davis, Esq., of New-
York, and erected at Rahway, N. J,, for
L. B. Brown, Esq.

It is an excellent example of economical
arrangement ; and we scarcely remember
an instance where so good an effect, joined
to so much comfort and convenience, has
been produced at so moderate a cost.

The plan of the principal floor shows,
besides the entry, a parlor, a saloon, a
dining-room, a kitchen, and a pantry. Not
an inch of space is lost ; and the manage-
ment of the stairs and passages in the se-
cond story, is so complete that six good
bed-rooms are afforded.

The exterior, without making pretensions

to ornamental effect, is well composed ; the
proportions are good, the style is well ex-
pressed, and the whole is altogether satis-
factory to the eye and the judgment.

The veranda, which extends along the
front of the building, gives an expression
of great comfort to every house, in a cli-
mate where shelter and repose are so ne-
cessary, in certain hours of the day, as in
the middle states, and where a veranda is
therefore as indispensable as almost any
apartment in the dwelling.

We think there are few examples exist-
ing in this country of a cottage villa con-
taining so much accommodation, and in so
unexceptionable a taste, for the moderate
sum of $2,300, — the cost of this design, as
completed at Rahway.

"/!»«£«.';'"' ^'

DESIGN FOR A SMALL VILLA.

FIRST FLOOR.

[Hon ; January, 1849.]

A CHAPTER ON PEARS.

BY DR. WM. W. VALK, FLUSHING, L. I.

A COMPARISON of opinions, merely, may not
be without its use, particularly when such
comparison is made between persons resi-
dent in different countries and climates.
The cultivation of the pear, for instance, is
necessarily modified by the exigencies of
the climate in which it is grown ; and this
influence not only may, but does, affect the
quality of the fruit so much, as to render
the same pear unexceptionably fine in one
locality, and good for nothing in another.
Our own experience has proved this ; and
we doubt not the experience of all candid
men will be to the same effect. So, too,
the quality of the soil exercises a controlling
effect, both upon the health and vigor of
the tree, and the value of its fruit. In the
one case, it is perfectly satisfactory to the
cultivator, when that soil is congenial to
the habit of the tree ; in the other, he has
nothing to look for but disappointment.
Singularly enough, and most unaccountable
is it, that notwithstanding the acknowledged
influence, both of climate and soil, in pro-
moting, retarding, or absolutely preventing
the growth and prolificacy of fruit trees,
there are thousands yearly purchased and
planted, by a great many persons, without
a moment's consideration of these well es-
tablished facts. North, south, east, and
west, in every kind of soil, known and un-
known, pear trees are expected to flourish
and be productive ; and, if in each particu-
lar locality certain varieties do not give satis-
faction, there is no thought bestowed upon
the real causes of the misfortune ; but upon
the varieties, '■'"per se^'''' is lavished all the
blame. They are at once pronounced bad
upon false evidence.

Some time in June last, I addressed a

letter to a friend in Brussels, who cultivates
a great many fruit trees, (mostly pears,) and
requested him, if convenient, to give me a
list of those he knew to be /he best in that
clhnate. In his reply, received Oct. 21st,
allusion is made to the influences I have
mentioned above ; and I have his experi-
ence where he in, accompanied by a doubt as
to how far it will prove correct in the Uni-
ted States. " But, (says he,) in your im-
mense extent of country, embracing, as it
does, every variety of soil and climate,
there need be no difficulty in growing all
good pears to perfection. Your amateurs
have certainly to make themselves familiar
with certain facts relating to vegetable phy-
siology, and then apply them to the prac-
tice of selecting and growing every really
valuable pear, if they desire to be success-
ful. Some grow best on the natural stock,
others on the quince, and some are worth-
less on either. Some do best in rich soil,
some not, and all more or less require it to
be moist or dry to a greater or less extent.
The variety and the stock, best adapted for
it, will go far to determine all these points j
let your pomologists study them by reading
and experiment. They will not regret the
time spent, I assure you,"

" The pears known to be of the first qua--
lity here, (Belgium,) by my own trials, and
those of other experienced cultivators, are
as follows, viz :

Ananas, Angleterre do Noisette, Beau present
d'Artois, Bello d'Aoiit, Belle de Noel, Belle epine
Dumas, Belle exccUente, Belle Henriette, Belle
Julie, Bellissime d'ete, Bergamotte crassaned'-
automne, Berg, crassane d'ete, Berg, crassane
d'hiver, Berg, d'Esperen, Berg, de Hollande,
Berg, de Paques, Berg. Libotton, Berg. Syl-
vange, Beurre Antoinette, B. Beauehamps, B.
Beaumont, B. Benoist, B. Benner, B. Beymont,
B. blanc, B, blanc des Capwcius, B. Bosc, B.

336

A CHAPTER ON PEARS.

Bretormean, B. bronze, B. Curtet, B. d'Amanlis,
B. d'Anglcterre, B. d'Anj^leterre d'hiver, B. d'A-
remberg, B. Elberg, B. d'Hardenpont, B. d'hiver,
B. Defais, B. de Louvain, B. do Montgeron, B. de
St. Ghislain, B. des Charneuses, B. Diel, B.
douce savern, B. Drouineau, B. Duraortier, B.
Duval, B. Giffart, B. Goubalt, B. gris, B. gris
d'hiver, B. gris d'hiver nouveau, B. Kennes, B.
Lefevre, B. Lombard, B. lucratif, B. Moiret, B.
Piquery, B. Quetelet, B. Ranee, B. romaiiij B.
royal, B. St. Nicholas, B. Spence, B. Sterckmans,
B. superfin, B. Tougard, B. vert tardif, Bezi
d'Echassery, Bezi d'Esperen, Bezi de Caissoy,
Bezi de Chaumontel, Bezi de Chaumontel ang-
lais, Bezi Chaumontel panache, Bezi de la Motte,
i/i warm and light soil, Bezi de Montigny, warm
and light soil, Bezi de printems, Bezi de St.
Waast, Bezi des veterans, Bezi Goubalt, Blan-
quet le petit, Bois Napoleon, Bon chretien d'ete,
Bon chretien d'hiver, Bon chretien Napoleon,
Bon chretien William, Bonne des haies, Bon pa-
rent, Bouvier Bourgmestre, Bouvier d'automne.
Broom Park, Caillot rosat, Calebasse, Calebasse
d'ete, Camerling, Capsheaf, Capucine Van Mons,
Catillac, (for cooking,) Catinka, Charles Durieux,
Charles Frederick, Charles Smet, Charles Van
Hooghten, Charles Van Mons, (these 5 raised by
V. Mons,) Citron des carmes, Clement, Colmar
d'Aremberg, Colmar d'ete, Colmar d'hiver, Col-
mar du Lot, Colmar Josse Smet, Colmar Nelis,
Coloree d'aout, Compte de Flandre, Compte de
Lanny, Consieller de la Cour, Cuisse Madame,
Cumberland, Delices d'Hardenpont, Delices d'Har-
denpont d' Angers, Delices de Jodoigne, Delices de
Lovenjoul,De Spoelberg, Dingier, Doctem Capron,
Double Phillipe, Doyen Dielens, Doyenne Bous-
soeh, Doyenne d'Alencon, Doyenne d'Automne,
Doyenne d'ete. Doyenne gris. Doyenne gris nou-
veau. Doyenne Defais, Doyenne Goubalt, Doyenne
musque, Doyenne panache, Doyenne Sieulle,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Duchesse d'Angouleme
panache, Due de Brabant, Due de Nemours,
Duchesse de Mars, Eliza d'Heyst, Emerald, Em-
ilie Bivort, Enfant prodigue, Epine d'ete, Epine
d'hiver, Epine Dumas, Epine rose, Esperinne,
Excellentissime, Ferdinand de Meester, Fondante
de Lille, Fond de Malines, Fond de Septembre,
Forel, Forme de Bergamotte, Forme de Berga-
motte crassane, Forme de Cartet, Forme d'Ur-
baniste, Fortunee, Fourcroy, Fred de Wurtem-
berg. General Dutilleul, Grande Bretagne, Grand
Soliel, Graslin, Gros Muscat, Gros sucre, Grosse
Marie, Gustave Bourgogne, Hacon's incompara-
ble, (very delicate on the quince,) Heliote Dun-
das, Henkel d'hiver, Henri Capron, Henri Nicaise,
Henri Quatre, Henri Van Mons, Henriette Bou-
vier, Hessel, Jalousie de Fontenay-Vendee, Ja-
minette, Jean Baptiste Van Mons, Jolivet, (ripe
end of June,) Josephine de Malines, Jutte peer,
Leon Le Clerc, (V. M.) Lewis, Louis Gregoire,
Louise Bonne d'Avranches, (light and warm soil,)
Louise d'Orleans, Louise de Prusse, Madame
Durieux, Maria Louise Delconrt, Marie Louise

Nouvelle, Marie Louise Van Mons, (light soil,
warm and rich,) Marquise d'hiver, Martin Sec,
(cooked,) Mesdelices, Mignonne d'hiver, Milot de
Nancy, Muscat Robert, Navez, Ne plus Meuris,
Neuve Maison, Nouveau Poiteau, Nouveau Si-
mon Bouvier, Oken d'hiver, Orpheline d'Enghein,
(is this asyn. of Beurre d'Aremberg? W. V.,)
Passe colmar, Passe colmar dore. Passe colmar
masque d'automne. Passe colmar nouveau, Paul
Thielens, Petit beurre, Poire Arlequin musque.
Poire Davy, Poire de France, Poire de Naples,
Poire de Prince, Poire de Thompson, Poire des
chasseurs. Poire des deux saurs. Poire des S. S.
Peres, (cooking only,) Poire Delavault, Poire Eye-
wood, Poire His, Poire Jacobs, Poire Jalve, Poire
Louis, Poire Roitelet, Poire Stas, Pucelle con-
desienne, Reinc des poires, Regine, Rondelet,
Rousselet Band, Rousselet de Rheims, Rousselet
de Stuttgard, Rousselet royal, Royale d'hiver, St.
Germain, St. Germain d'hiver panache, St. Ger-
main gris allonge, St. Michael Archange, Seig-
neur, Seigneur d'Esperen, Serurier d'automne,
Sentin, Simon Bouvier, Soldat labourer. Souvenir
de Simon Bouvier, Supreme de Quimper, Suzette
de Bavay, Theodore Van Mons, Triomphe de
Jodoigne, Triomphe de Louvain, Van Assche,
Vert longue, Van Mons, (L. le C.) Vesowziere
and Virgalouse.

"Here you have 264 varieties, which we
esteem as first rate fruit here (in Belgium,)
[ ! Ed.;] and the number might have been
increased by the addition of many more,
thought by some to be quite equal to any
I have enumerated. Among these, not a
few are greatly influenced by culture, either
on the quince or not. Indeed, some will
not give satisfaction unless on quince roots,
and some do not thrive on those roots at all.
Many only flourish as espaliers ; others,
again, only as standards, and not a few
may, in your country, prove unsatisfactory
any way. The Belle Henriette, for in-
stance, if on the quince, (and this is gene-
rally the case with other varieties on those
roots,) must be in a cool and moist soil. If
on natural stocks, the soil is to be warm and
rather dry. The Bergamotte Crassane d'-
Automne wants a south aspect, if your soil
is cold and stiff*, — an east one, if warm and
light. The Beurre Diel is good in all soils
proper for the pear ; and we shelter it from
the southwest winds. The Beurre liance

A CHAPTER ON PEARS.

337

is only fine on the pear stock. Williams'
Bon Chretien the same. The Calahasse
d'Hiver good on either quince or pear."

I have derived much pleasure and profit
from the reading of my correspondent's let-
ter, although his long list of the best pears
rather confounds my calculations previously
made, and regarded as satisfactory to my-
self. Of a number of the pears named, I
have no knowledge whatever ; yet, they
may all be of as fine quality as he thinks
them, and worthy a trial with us. The
amateur who is desirous of cultivating a
select collection of this delicious fruit, is
advised to take particular notice of every
fine variety existing in his neighborhood.
He will observe whether they are on the
quince or natural stock, and their degree of
productiveness in different aspects, and dif-
ferent soils. It is by such observations, in
connection with a few general principles I
shall mention, that he will be able to avoid
much of the deception to which he is con-
stantly exposed, and save much valuable
time.

In most cases, a preference is to be given
to trees on quince roots^ because of their
fertility, and the quality of their fruit. Yet,
a difficulty unfortunately presents itself here,
and it is not easily explained. The quince
tree itself, in all soils, does well enough ;
but when grafted Avith many varieties of
the pear, the latter does not do at all. No
success whatever attends our trials. The
union is, in spite of us, defective. This
may be attributed to the routine and bad
method of planting so generally adopted
heretofore.

Some cultivators are in the habit of
planting deeply, burying the graft several

inches beneath the surface of the ground.
Others, again, do just the reverse ; the
graft is as many inches above the ground.
Both are wrong ; for the graft should be
just even with the surface. That is the
true position, the only one that will an-
swer in every instance of pear on quince,
where the union is expected to be complete
and productive. Besides, it is to be re-
membered that a cool and moist soil is re-
quired for quince roots, a rather warm, light
and dry one for pear. By careless or im-
proper grafting, too, much labor is thrown
away. If the graft is too long, it becomes
exhausting ; if too short, no bearing wood
is formed, and the too numerous shoots
subsequently developed are mutually in-
jurious, and bear no fruit.

Upon the natural, or pear stock, a deep
and moderately rich soil is required. The
tree is then more vigorous, but does not so
soon produce its fruit ; and its life is much
more prolonged than if it were upon the
quince. It is always best to graft the more
delicate varieties upon the pear stock, as
the growth will most likely be stronger,
and better adapted to resist the force of
strong winds.

I perceive that some of the names given
by my correspondent are synonyms, and
that quite a collection of fine varieties,
known to our own cultivators, are not in
his list. The best American fruits are
never hastily introduced to European gar-
dens and orchards ; they do things bet-
ter than ourselves in that particular, and
some others, which I may attend to in ano-
ther comm.unication.

Wm. W. Valk, M, D.

Flushing, L I., Dec 4, J818.

Vol, in.

22

RBVIE^?^.

A Practical Treatise on the Culture and
Treatment of the Grape Vine. By J. Fisk
Allen. Second edition, enlarged. Boston —
Button & Wentworth. 1S48. 8vo. 75 cts.

We noticed this work in our last volume,

on its first appearance, as a pamphlet of 55

pages. We are gratified to find that the

interest manifested in the subject, and the

value put upon Mr. Allen's experience by

the public, has been such that a second

edition has been called for.

In fact, however, this second edition is
almost a new work ; having expanded from
the size of a pamphlet to a respectable oc-
tavo of 247 pages, — illustrated with the
necessary cuts, showing the training of
vines, the construction of vineries, &c.

In the work, as it now appears, Mr. Al-
len has not only given us very fully the
results of his own well grounded experi-
ence in the culture of the grape under
glass, but, in order that his readers may
have the whole subject placed before them,
he has also given the opinions and practice
of the most successful cultivators of the
vine abroad.

After looking through the work, we con-
fess by far the most valuable part of it, to
American readers, for whose use the work
is intended, is the account of the author's
own practice. The difference between the
climate of Europe and that of our northern
states, is so great that, for the culture of the
vine under glass, we need a code of rules
especially adapted to our wants. A new
theory is worth little in this matter. Only
a person with the experience and skill ac-
quired, as the author of this work has ac-
quired them, can be fully able to give these
rules ; and while it is interesting to know
what cultivators in other countries do, it is
much more interesting to know what has

been, and what should be done here to en-
sure success. This we think the reader of
the work before us will be at no loss to dis-
cover, if he keeps before him the American
pr^tice, as pointed out by Mr. Allen.

The following items, which we gather
from the work, will show some of the out-
lines of this experience.

The best form for a cold-house for foreign
grapes is the spar-roof; for a forcing house,
a lean-to roof is much preferable. Minute
directions are given for the construction of
both these forms of houses, both with and
without a heating apparatus. The cost of
a spar-roofed house, 80 feet long by 22 feet
wide, at Salem, Mass., is Sl,000, or $12.50
the running foot. For a lean-to house,
without fire heat, the estimate (based on
actual cost,) is $8 per running foot. Ten
dollars the running foot, Mr. Allen states
as " the lowest price at which a plain
grapery, with a simple furnace, can be
built, with the vines planted, and all com-
plete." These are, we think, just esti-
mates ; though, in portions of the country
where materials are cheaper, the cost will
be less by 20 per cent.

Mr. Allen is clearly in favor of having
the border outside of the house. He makes
it three feet deep, (excavating two feet,)
and composes it as follows : one-half loam,
one-fourth bones, or other strong manure,
one-eighth oyster shells, or lime and brick
rubbish, and one-eighth rotten stable ma~
nure.

"I am willing to admit," says Mr. A..»
" that vines do as well when planted in an
inside border, and when, as it is said, [al-
luding to the English practice,] they are-
well managed ; but they require more care
in watering, etc. I am not willing tQ al-

CULTURE AND TREATMENT OF THE GRAPE VINE.

339

low that they do better, and would never
advise the rafter vines to be thus placed,
unless they can roam at pleasure in the
open border. When the vines are planted
on the inside, the roots will grow with ra-
pidity, and push as straight as possible for
the open border ; thus proving, that they
prefer to be under the influence of the-full
effects of the sun, air, and rain upon the
soil."

One pound of sulphur to every square
foot of the house is dusted on the floor early
in July, to prevent mildew.

Spur-pruning is decidedly preferred; and
twenty pounds of fruit is the average an-
nual crop which may be expected from five
year old vines, well treated.

Selections of the best foreign varieties
are given for the cold-house, the retarding-
house, and the forcing-house. A brief de-
scription is also given of all the finest table
grapes known, a larger number of which
have, we believe, been proved by Mr. Al-
len, than by any other cultivator in the
United States. We extract some account
of a few rare sorts, which will interest
grape growers who have not yet seen the
work :

" Chasselas Miisque. — Cracks badly ; but when
grown in a part of the grapery, where there is
a free circulation of air, it does well in usual sea-
sons.

'' Cannon Hall Muscat. — Sets very badly; the
berries are large and very handsome, and not so
high flavored as the Muscat of Alexandria. A
late variety."

" WilmoVs New Black Hamburgh. — Has proved
fine. This has large, round, very black berries,
with a hammered (flattened) appearance."

" Pitmaston White Cluster. — A very fine early
variety; the bunch is of a medium size, the ber-
ries are round and compact. This is a very de-
sirable variety. The Scotch White Cluster is the
same as this, or very much like it."

" Victoria Hamburgh. — There is no doubt that
this is an wnp?-oi'erf variety of the old Hamburgh."

" Charlsworih Tokay. — Excellent, M'ith a mus-
cat flavor. The Gardener's Chronicle for 1847,
p. 624, says perhaps it is not diiTerent from the
white muscat of Alexandria. The grape which
Ls r&ceived from England under this name, is

more like the White Frontignan, but one month
later tlian that kind."

'' Palestine. — The bunches of this variety are
enormous, and the berries are oval, large and
white; the slioulders or stems are very long, and
the berries are in clusters at long intervals."

" August Muscat. — A very weak growing vine.
It is undoubtedly the earliest grape grown, and
will rii)en its fruit when highly forced, in three
months."

" Red Chasselas. — This is agood bearer, with a
fine flavor ; the berries are as large as the Bar-Sur
Aube. Tliis may be distinguished from the Rose
or Violet Chasselas, by the singularity of the ber-
ries, which are colored from their first formation.
At maturity, it is sometimes highly colored, but
not unfrequently, is of a pale red. The young
shoots are bright red."

" Zinfindal. — The branches are large, often
with two shoulders on the same side, nearly as
large as the main bunch. The berries are me-
dium size, round, and very black, M'ith a thick
bloom ; requires to hang several weeks after col-
oring, before it is ripe. I cannot find this grape
described in any book."

'' Verdelho. — This is a small, oval, white grape,
of the finest quality. The vine is very strong
grown, and bears great crops. It is a favorite
variety for the table, as well as for wine, in Ma-
deira and tlie Azores. It is a later grape than
the Black Hamburgh."

" Royal Muscadine. — This grape, in respect to
size, color, and flavor of tlie fruit, corresponds
exactly with the Chasselas de Bar-sur-Jluhe,
Chasselas of Fontainebleau, a.nA the Early White
Muscadine of the French, yet in the size of the
bunch, it is quite distinct; the Royal Muscadine
growing to a very large size, and having large
shoulders, the bunches often weighing four, five
and six pounds."

^'Bowkcr. — This is a grape raised in the gar-
den of Joel Bowker, Esq., of Salem, Mass.,
from the seed of the Bloom Raisin, imported from
Malaga. It is a great bearer. Its fruit hand-
some, the bunch large, closely set, berries round-
ish, inclining to oval, white, and of a pleasant
flavor, without any musk. It is quite as hand-
some as the White Hamburgh, and a better fruit."

Notices of a large number of other va-
rieties, of more or less interest, are also
given. We should gather, from Mr. Al-
len's select list, that the following are his
te?i favorite sorts for vine culture:

Pitmaston Whi. Cluster.
Royal Muscadine,
Josling's St. Albans,
Golden Chasselas,
Rose Chasselas.

Black Hamburgh,
Wilmot's New^ do.
Victoria do.

White Frontignan,
Grizzly Frontignan,

A considerable portion of the volume is

also devoted to the cultivation of the native

340

FOREIGN NOTICES.

grapes. In a large part of New-England
the Isabella and Catawba grapes — which
are so valuable for their productiveness,
and hardiness, and easy culture, in the mid-
dle and eastern states — are almost worth-
less. We have even tasted Isabellas, grown
on a south wall near Boston, so poor and in-
sipid that we should never have recognized
them as the same saccharine (though still
somewhat pulpy)fruit we cultivate nearN.Y.

These native grapes, indeed, require our
warm sun, and a long summer, to bring out
their full flavor. Their culture has already
become of considerable importance in many
parts of the Union. Especially on the Hud-
son for the table, and on the Ohio for
wine, large vineyards already exist, and
more are every year being planted.

The best modes of pruning the native
vine are given at length in this work ; and
they are followed by interesting details of
vineyard culture, from some of our most suc-
cessful v%7zerons, — Mr. Cleveland, of N. J.,
Mr. Goodwin, of Ky., Dr. Underhill, of
N. Y., etc.

The multiplication, in the neighborhood
of all our large cities, of glass structures for
the culture of the foreign grape, shows the
interest in this subject among the wealthier
portions of horticulturists, and the facility
with which the finest varieties, in this lati-
tude at least, can be produced, without fire
heat, is now so well established that im-
mense quantities are now regularly grown
for the supply of the markets of New- York,
Boston and Philadelphia. In these two
latter cities, indeed. Black Hamburgh and
other fine sorts grown under glass, were
sold last season at lower prices than fruit
of the same quality is ever afforded in
England, or the north of Europe ; and
many tons of them were sold in New- York
alone.

This work of Mr. Allen's, presenting,
as it does, the experience of one of the
best practical grape-growers in the United
States, must become the hand-book and
guide of every cultivator among us, who is
desirous of informing himself fully upon
the subject.

FOREIGN" NOTICES.

An Agricultural Congress. — An A^jricultu-
ral Congress, composed of more than 300 gentle-
men, interested in agriculture, and sent as deputies
from ditferent parts of the country, sat in Paris
last year, for a fortnight, to discuss practical ques-
tions in agriculture, and likewise political ques-
tions bearing upon it, which was done with great
ability. At Poissy, the minister of agriculture
distributed premiums of large amount, and many
circumstances indicated an active, an increased,
and increasing attention to this great subject.
Column's Report, No. ix and x.

Agricultural Colony at Mettbay. — There
are other institutions for agricultural education in
France, which I visited with great interest, a no-
:tice of one of which, will not, I hope, be unaccept-
able; the one at Mettray, near Tows, about 150
miles from Paris. The colony at Mettray, was
founded in the spirit of the good Samaritan, which
succors the wounded and forsaken traveller by the

way-side, takes him home, and there nourishes and
cherishes him. This establishment grew out of
the compassion of two gentlemen of high rank and
fortune, who were moved to essay what could be
done for the rescue of the unfortunate, condemned,
and vagabond boys, to save them if possible from
destruction, and give them the power of obtaining
an honest living. It is not consistent with my
plan, in this place, to go further into the account
of the institution, than as a school of agriculture,
though tiie directors propose three objects of in-
struction ; to qualify their pupils fcr farmers, sail-
ors, or soldiers. The discipline of the establish-
ment is a military one. They have a fuU-rigged
ship, of ample size, in the yard, that the boys de-
signed for naval life, may here take their fir&t
practical lessons; and they have a well stocked
farm of 500 acres, which is under direction to ba
cultivated by the pupils. The institution is situa-
ted in a healthy part of the country, and near a
large market town. They employ aa eduQevte<i

FOREIGN NOTICES.

341

and experienced agriculturist, as director of the
farm. The first object is to render it productive,
that it may go as far as it can be made to go, to-
v.-ards defraying the expenses of the institution.
The second, to instruct the boys in the best and
most improved methods of husbandry.

The institution had its foundation in private
subscription, and though in its commencement it
had many difficulties to struggle with, it has nowr
a firm establishment. (The Vicompte de Cour-
TEiLLES gave a large •esi ate, and M. De Metz, a
distinguished philanthropist and a royal counsellor,
besides sacrificing his (then) high position at court,
lives among the children, and gives, the greatest
of all charities, his whole time, his hand, his head,
and hear', entirely to this object.)

Besides a farm, there are connected vv'ith this
institution, a large garden, an extensive nursery,
and a manufactory for the manufacture of all the
implements, carriages, &,c., which are used on the
farm. The boys are likewise employed in the mak-
ing of shoes, caps, clothes and bedding, which are
required, and many fancy articles which serve for
sale, and give them occupation when by any cir-
cumstances they are prevented from out-door labor.
The number of pupils is at present 450. It is not
intended to keep them after they are sixteen, but
they are willing to receive them at the earliest
convenient age. I saw several not more than six
or seven years old. They live in families of forty
or fifty, — separate houses, under the care of a re-
spectable man and his wife, who give them their
whole time. This seemed to me a most judicious
provision. They have a gardener with them in
the fields, who alwavs works with them. Many of
them have been condemned at courts of justice for
some petty offence, and many of them orphans and
friendless, have been taken up in the streets in a
condition of miserable vagabondage. The disci-
pline of the institution is altogether moral and pa-
ternal. Confinement, abstinence, solitude and dis-
grace, constitute the chief punishments ; but there
are no whips, nor blows, nor chains. It has been
so far eminently successful. A boy, who had been
early familiar with punishments and prisons, and
now for some time a resident of Mettraj', was
asked, why he did not run away from Mettray.
His memorable answer was, "because there are
no bolts nor bars to prevent me."

I should add, that there is connected with the in-
stitution, a hospital, which was a model of clean-
liness, good ventilation, and careful attendance ; all
the services of which are rendered by those inde-
fatigable orders of good, the sisters of charity.
Ibid.

Pyramidal Pear trees on Quince Stocks. —
Having many months ago read in the Chronicle,
some remarks in disapprobation of Mr. River's
Pyramidal Pear trees on Quince stocks, stating,
among other objections, that they were stunted
unhealthy trees, and that neither good nor hand-
some fruit could be expected from them, I beg to
forward you the size of a few I have just gath-

ered from trees received from the Sawbridge-
worth nursery, only 10 months ago; and I can
also afiirm that the fruit is remarkably handsome,
and appears to be beautifully ripened. My belief
is that the wood and leaves of several of these trees
would not weigh so much as the fruit they have
produced. I must also add that they are highly or-
namental, and being perfectly upright, are capable
of supporting a very heavy crop in proportion to
their size; the leaves are large, and of a fine dark
green, showing perfect health ; nevertheless the
growth has been moderate, and they are now full
of blossom-buds ; in a few years I am confident
they will yield a very considerable supply of fine
fruit, and from their very pyramidal form will cause
scarcely any injury to the garden.

The management these trees require is evident
and easily performed ; undoubtedly they must be
watched, but who can possess these beautiful
trees and deny himself the pleasure of watching
them? When we have a full grown Pear tree of
the height, perhaps of. 30 feet, and in full bearing,
it may be said there is a balance between the roots
and the leaves; in other words the roots are only
strong and numerous enough to produce leaves and
blossom-buds and fruit, but no additional shoots;
on the other hand, every young tree has a ten-
dency to produce more roots than are sufficient
to maintain it in a dwarfish form and fruitful
state, and if these roots remain undisturbed the
shoots will grow vigorously and require severe
pruning, and the fruit-buds will of course propor-
tionately decrease ; and as the growth depends
entirely upon the quantity of matured leaves, it
follows, if we want a dwarf tree, we must, as
soon as it has reached the required size, limit the
number of leaves to that point at *vhich the roots
will not stimulate the tree to produce injurious
growth.

On the above principle, remove eveiy leaf on
every shoot down to the point to which you pro-
pose to prune, and as soon as it can be done
without danger to the blossom-buds, cut these
shoots all away, and in winter, root-prune; but
if you have had no occasion to leaf-prune, you
will also have no occasion to root-prune in the
winter ; and if the tree is as large as you wish it
to be, well-shaped, and has fine leaves and good
friut, it is perfect. On the other hand, if you
have neglected root-pruning where it was needed
in the winter, and have permitted, by way of
safety to the blossom-buds, the terminal shoots to
grow all through the summer, the tree will be-
come so vigorous, and a habit of rank growth
will have been so thoroughly established, that the
tree must be half killed by excessive root pruning
to reduce it to a disposition to produce spurs in-
stead of shoots, and then disease, small leaves,
and bad fruit, as named by the writer alluded to,
may very likely follow. If leaf-pruning is not
liked, nip off every shoot as soon as it reaches
the allotted limit; if it shoots again, nip it ofTone
leaf beyond this point, and repeat this until it

342

FOREIGN NOTICES.

ceases to grow ; this will not injure the blossom
buds provided the tree has been duly root pruned ;
in the winter cut the shoot back just beyond the
point at wiiich it was first nipped. Let the trees
be well mulched, and also well watered through
the spring, and the fruit will set well and grow
laro-e • towards autumn draw away the mulching
and' withhold water, and the fruit will ripen per-
fectly on the latest sorts and be good flavored,
and the buds will be plump and bold for the next
season. As soon as a tree has acquired the size
determined upon, if root pruning be properly per-
formed, it will require scarcely any leaf pruning,
or nipping, or winter pruning.

In the early management of these trees, 1 pre-
fer constantly taking ofl' the leaves to shortening
the shoots ; I have this year brought a Crassane
Pear of 30 years' growth, and which never pro-
duced a tenth part of a crop, into the most prom-
ising state as respects blossom buds, merely by
leaving all the spring-produced fore-right shoots,
and taking all the leaves from them ; the leaves
on the spurs are unusually large, but not a single
summer shoot has been produced. I should also
state that this tree has been pruned in various
ways, sometimes by removing all the fore-right
.shoots, sometimes by leaving them all on, and at
other times by breaking them down and letting
them hana, and again by removing half and short-
ening the other half in July, and removing en-
tirely in winter; but in all these various modes,
summer shoots, so destructive to blossom-buds,
have been produced from the spurs, and leaf-
pruning has cured this apparently incurable evil.
Circumference of the Pears.
9 in. by 8 Jalvie 9 in. Iiy 8

10

Napoleon
De Cure
Passe Colmar

Dora 7i

" " Oris 7J
St. Germain 7

Doyenne Giiubalt7j-
Easter Buerre 10
Colmar d'Arem-

bers lOj

Buerre d'Arem-

berg, 8,V

Gratioli of.terseyS
Louise Bonne of

Jersey 9

Buerre d'Amalis Oj
Buerre Capi.TU-

mont 8^

Thonjpsou's 7i

The Easter Beurre, is the only tree not planted
last autumn. Y. Gard. Chron.

Hardiness of the Camellia. — Ls the Ca-
mellia a green-house plant? This is a question
which may very properly be asked, now that the
nature of plants is better understood than it was
twenty years ago. The majority of our readers
will of course answer the question in the affirma-
tive ; let us see whether the evidence justifies
their opinion.

In many parts of England — near London, for
example — the Camellia lives out of doors without
protection through very severe winters, and re-
tains the most robust health. In the hard winter
of 1837-8, it bore without shelter a temperature
of 0° Fahr., or 32 degrees of frost; ami in seve-
ral places it passed through a cold of 6 degrees,
9 degrees, 12 degrees, 14 degrees Fahr., without
damage. In that winter, Camellias lived in the

Horticultural Gardens in 4-inch brick pits eovered
with mats, through a cold of 4^ degrees below
zero; in other words, they sustained SGg of frost,
with only such a shelter as thin brick walls, a
glass sash, and a few mats could give them.
One of them was Camellia reticulata, which still
retains the place it occupied in 1837-8, and no
plant can possibly be in higher health, or flower
more gloriously.

If we look at the climate in which the Camellia
grows wild, and becomes a large tree, we find
that it is placed by nature in the midst of rigo-
rous winters. Japan is its fatherland. In Japan,
Thunberg assures us that the cold is intense,
snow falling, water freezing, and the thermome-
ter dropping to many degrees below the freezing
point, even in the warmest provinces. {Sic
ttiam frigus hiemale, ad plures gradus infra
punctum congelationis , intensuni admodum est,
imprimis cum ventibus e borea et orienti venienti-
bus. Hieme et aqua congelatur in glacievi et nix
cadit, etiarn in regionibus meridional ibus.^

The Camellia bush is also cultivated all over
those parts of China which Europeans have visi-
ted. The climate of Shanghai, N. lat. 31 de-
grees 24 minutes, may be taken to represent that
of the south of Japan, rendered however a little
more rigorous by its continental position ; at that
place, we learn from Mr. Ball, that in the win-
ter of 1845-6, the Woosung river was sufficiently
frozen to aflbrd the English an opportunity of
indulging in the amusement of skating. It fur-
ther appears that '•' snow will occasionally lie on
the extensive alluvial plain of Shanghai for 10
days together, and more than a foot deep." It is
not an inference, then, but a fact, that " a re-
markable agreement exists between the tempera-
ture of Shanghai and the port of Nagasaki, in
Japan." We may take this to show the winter
climate of the birthj)lace of clie Camellia, and of
the adjoining countries; but the whole district in
China in which the shrub is cultivated for orna-
ment is far more rigorous than gardeners sup-
pose, who look upon China as a country much
more temperate than Great Britain, seeing that
rice is grown in the fields, and stove plants in
some sheltered valleys. Extracts from Mr. Ball's
valuable work * tell a very different tale.

At Canton "it is not an exaggeration to say
that every year the rice fields in the neighbor-
hood are frozen for a few days, and that ice the
thickness of a crown piece, is occasionally seen
carried through the streets for sale. From the
middle of December to the end of March, Euro-
peans are clad in their winter garments, and
their houses are furnished with carpets, curtains,
and fires. Nor is the thermometer a correct in-
dex of the intensity of the cold, as regards our sensa-
tions, owing to the force and dryness of the wind."

" In the green tea country, situated in the dis-
trict of Whey-chew-fu, N. L. 29 degrees 58

* " An account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea
iu Cliina," 8 vo., Longman's,

FOREIGN NOTICES.

343

minutes 30 seconds, in the province of Kiang-nan,
the northern winds begin to prevail, the Chinese
say, in September. In October, persons in easy
circumstances begin to clothe themselves in their
fur dresses ; and in November the winter (or
rather, perhaps, the N, E. monsoon) regularly
sets in ; when the young Tea shrubs are said to
be bound round with wisps of straws, to prevent
them from being broken or injured by the wind
and snow which falls in the winter season. The
severity of winter, however, is not felt before De-
cember. From this time until March, the wea-
ther continues cold: frost frequently prevails, and
snow occasionally ; water freezes in the house;
but the Chinese houses are badly put together;
windows and doors are roughly titled; in fact,
tliey are built for hot weather, not for cold. The
Chinese defend themselves against cold by an ad-
ditional quantity and ditferent qualify of clothing;
their houses being thus much exposed to every
change of temperature, a little tea accidentally
left in a tea-cup over night ia any of the rooms,
will occa.sionally be found frozen in the morning."

" The Bohea countiy, in Fokien, differs little
from the Hyson district in point of temperature.
The tea men describe the cold a.s less severe ;
and the fall of snow as well as the thickness of
the ice, as somewhat less. Indeed, it is a moun-
tainous district, with sheltered valleys, fenced
in and protected from cold north-easterly and
north-westerly winds by the lofty and continuous
range of mountains which forms the barrier be-
tw^cen this province and those of Chekiang and
Kiangsee. December and January are considered
the coldest m_onths. It is said that the Kieu-kio-
kee, a shallow stream which wmds about the Bo-
hea mountains, is annually frozen over. Here
vagrants are seen ranging themselves along the
most frequented parts, begging alms, and excit-
ing the compassion of passengers by strewing
paddy-husk on the ice, to prevent slipping."

In the east of Fokien, Father Carpina. lonjx
resident there, assured Mr. BAt-i, that '• the Tea
shrubs were neither injured nor the harvest re- .
tardcd by the cold of 1815, notwithstanding there
fell in the month of February four spans, (about
33 inches English,) of snow in Fo-gan, lat. 27
degrees, 4 minutes, 48 seconds, and six spans in
Ning-te; so that the covers to the Indigo plants,
strongly fixed to protect them from the frost, sun,
and M'ind, gave way under the weight of the
snow. At the clo.se of the same year, about the
middle o!" December, some days of severe cold
and frost occurred. Upon one occasion, about
3 o'clock in the afternoon, on a beautiful sunshiny
day," he observes, " I saw two boys, each with
a piece of ice the size of a coach window, and an
inch in thickness, which they had taken out of
the fields in the neighborhood. I also observed,
on the 24th January, of the present year, (1816,)
the surface of the water in the Mo-yang was fro-
zen, breaking and flying about like glass to the

stroke of the oar. The volume of water in this
river is equal to that of the Guadalquiver, at the
passage of Cordova. It freezes in these parts
very often."

Many other statements to the same effect might
be quoted, but these suffice. They show conclu-
sively that the Camellia is found wild in a coun-
try with rigorous winters, and is cultivated in
another in which the severity of the season is
greater, rather than less.

If w^e look at the plants which we have in our
gardens from the country of the Camellia, they
will be found to be among the most hardy exotics
which we possess. Cvdonia {alias Pyrus) Ja-
ponica. Wistaria {alias Glycine)) sinensis, Cryp-
tomeria, the Moutan, Weigela, Forsythia, Chi-
monanthus — who has seen them hurt by English
frosts? Thus it appears that the companions of
the Camellia, in its own woods, have no such
tenderness of constitution as to demand a green-
house.

Is the Camellia, then, a green-house plant? We
.shall endeavor to find an answer to the question
in our next week's publication. — Gard. Chron.

[The Camellia has been kept through the win-
ter in a cold pit, here, and perhaps will prove
hardy at Baltimore. Near Charleston, S. C,
there are specimens growing in the open garden,
20 feet high — Ed. Hort.]

Lime vs. Insects. — I beg to assure your cor-
respondent that lime may be applied with the most
perfect safety to his trees, shrubs, &c.; and will
also prove certain destruction to the slug tribe.
With respect to the quantity, that must depend
on the nature of the soil. In April last, having
then recently obtained possession of a garden, &c.,
that had been greatly neglected, and was overrun
with slugs, I spread quick lime over the whole,
(vegetables, shrubs, grass, and orchard,) at the
rate of about 80 bushels to the acre, so that all
through that month we appeared to be in the
midst of winter, with the ground covered with
snow, even the evergreens being white. The re-
sult was, that not a slug was seen till the rains
of October, and but very few then. The vegeta-
bles have been pretty good, and the growth and
vigour of the evergreens have been quite remarka-
ble. The soil is clay. February would be a very
good time to lay on the lime. E. S. Gard.
Chron. ....

Sale of Deodars. — About 4000 plants, from
seed, of this fine Conifer, were sold by Mr. Ste-
vens yesterday. They fetched, on an average,
£7 per 100 plants, of from H to 2 feet in height.
— Gard. Chron., Nov. 18.

Russian Method of Training Apple, Cher-
ry, and ir'LUM Trees, by Mr. Joseph Busch. —
'I he severity of the winter at St. Petersburg is so
great that few fruit trees will survive it, even with
careful matting ; to prevent the loss which is thus
usually sustained, I have for more than twenty

344

FOREIGN NOTICES.

years pursued a mode of training which has been
attended with complete success. It consists in
leading the branches of the trees on horizontal
trellises only ten or twelve inches from the ground.
When the winter sets in, there are heavy falls of
snow; and as the frost increases, the snow gene-
rallv augments, by which the trees are entirely
buried, and receive no injury from the most intense
frost. The winters of 1819 and 1820 were very se-
vere, notwithstanding which, last summer, I had a
<Treat crop of apples, and all of the tender sorts,
while none of the gardens in the neighborhood pro-
duced any; even many of their trees, although
doubly matted, were killed. From my Green
Gajre and Orleans Plums I gathered ripe fruit on
the"29th September last ; I had also a very full
crop of Morello Cherries. Another very great ad-
vanta<Te of training trees in the above method con-
sists in the growth of the wood, it being of equal
strength, and the fruit produced being all alike, the
bloom comes out much earlier, and the crop ripens
sooner. The trees are always clean and free from
insects ; I have observed this even while some
standards near them have had their leaves curled
by aphides. Tlie only cherry that does not succeed
in this way is our Black-heart ; this I attribute to
the damps which affect the early blossoms, but in a
milder climate this injury would be obviated by
placing the trellis higher from the ground. When
the trellis decays under the apples, I never renew
it, as the trees always keep (from the strength of
their branches) their horizontal position. There
are other advantages of treating fruit trees in this
manner : they come sooner into bearing, and their
fruit is not affected by high winds. I never gather
the apples, but let them drop off, for the distance
they fall is not sufficient to bruise them. Probably
pears trained in this way would answer well in
England. Hort. Magazine.

The Forcing of Grapes. — Supposing a house
devoted to grapes, and we were desirous of having
several seasons of fruit, there is nothing more sim-
ple than the required management. But it should
always be remembered that the same plant should
always be forced in the same degree, and by such
means it is never cheated of its season of rest. We
are not going now to describe a thing actually car-
ried out, but contrary to our general mode of doing
things, we are starting a theory to explain a prac-
tice U)at we have adopted at separate periods, but
which we have never fully developed in one house.
The grape we have chosen for our experiment is
the Black Hamburg, a grape that is a universal
favorite, not less for its beauty than its flavor.
Plant as many vines to your house as you have
rafters to the roof ; grow but one branch to each
rafter ; construct your house so that you can with-
draw this branch from the inside, and keep it for a
while outside whenever you please. This branch
has to be renewed every year, so that, inside the

house you have the branch which has fruit, and the
shoot which is going to supply its place next year
growing by the side of it. Now, the regulation of
the seasons for the different grapes may be thus
planned : — Plant the vines outside, and contrive to>
take them into the house close under the roof, by
leaving out one pane of glass, and providing some
moans of stopping up the vacancy round the stem
when it is in ; the same vacancy will enable you to
draw out the vine whenever you wish it. Say one-
third of the vines are put in tlie house at Michael-
mas, one-third in January, one-third in May ; keep
the house up to forcing heat always ) as soon as
the single shoot of the Michaelmas vine has grown
fully to the length of the rafters, top it, and when
the leaves turn, draw it out of the house through
the vacant space left for it (and only temporarily
filled up to keep the air out,) and there let its wood
ripen. In like manner, when the vines taken into
the house in .January arc in the same state, that is
to say, the shoots have grown the length of the
rafters, top them, and when their leaves turn, draw
the shoots out of the house. So also with the third
lot put in, in May. Replace them in the house at
a proper season, that is to say, the same time as
the previous year. There may be bunches of
grapes on the vines when the side shoot intended to
bear the next year is withdrawn, but this need not
be disturbed until the grapes are oil, when the vine
may be cut away to just above the shoot. It may,
however, be necessary to disturb the bearing part
before you can draw out the young branch. This
will not matter if half of it were drawn out, so that
the part which had the grapes on were inside ; and
if there were any half way up, it is clear that the
vino might be dragged half way out before it would
withdraw any grapes. This is mentioned because
many people keep the grapes hanging as long as
they can ; and it will not interfere with the bearing
branch for the next year if they do so. The con-
trivance for withdrawing the vine is not new, but
very few practice it where they can afford to keep
separate houses for the different seasons ; when,
however, you have but one house, and wish the
grapes to come at different seasons, this is the only
way that we know of. As soon as the grapes are
off, you may either draw the fruiting part out, and
cut it off at the time you put the new branch in, or
you may cut it off directly. It is to be observed,
that the great object is to bo exact with the seve-
ral seasons of returning the new branch to the
house ; and the temperature of the house must
never materially vary, except when the sun is pow-
erful and raises the temperature more than usual,
but these are the times to give air. Nothing need
be done to the branch when returned to the house
but laying it along the rafter by means of staples,
and cords or wires ; the treatment in other respects
the same as usual. Here will be three seasons of
grapes, lasting nearly the whole year in perfec-
tion. Hort. Magazine.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Fall Pippins. — We received from Messrs. Bis-
SEL & Hooker, of Rochester, N. Y., a box of
these apples, asking an opinion of their true name,
and stating that they bear the name of " Holland
Pippin," in Western New York.

The Holland Pippin, though considerably re-
sembling this apple in the growth of the tree,
and size and shape of the fruit, is a totally distinct
apple froiu the Fall pippin. In fact, while the
Fail pippin is one of the best autumn table apples,
(at least in this district,) the Holland pippin is of
very inferior quality for the dessert, and is, in fact,
only a cooking apple, As a kitchen fruit, how-
ever, it is one of the most valuable summer fruits
we know — for it bears regularly and well, conies
into use at the beginning of August, and continues
fit for pies, tarts, and sauce, until October, when
the Fall pippin begins to ripen. The Holland
pippin is fit for use while the skin is quite green,
but the Fall pippin, not until it turns quite yellow.
Finally, the stalk of the Holland pippin is short,
and set in a wide cavity, while that of the Fall
pippin is large, and set in a cavity often narrow,
and comparatively shallow. With these points of
difference, these two apples ought not to be con-
founded. ....

St. Martin's Quetsche. — This German Plum
proves to be one of the most valuable late varieties
yet introduced from abroad. It has borne in two
or three gardens on the Hudson, and we have a tree
four feet in height inour fruit garden, every branch
of which, this season, was so literally loaded with its
beautibul bright yellow fruit, (notwithstanding that
it was also making a vigorous growth,) that it was
quite a spectacle to gaze at. The fruit ripens
about the middle of October, and keeps a long
■while. Its flavor is excellent, and it will undoubt-
edly be a profitable sort to grow for market.

Wintering Plants in Pits. — Dear Sir: A
good many of your readers, who like myself, can-
not afford to have a green-house, and yet want to
grow a great many exotics, such as Verbenas,
Scarlet Geraniums, Petunias, &c., for ornament-
ing their gardens in summer, may not be aware
how cheaply the matter may be done by means of
b,pit.

A " pit," on any rough way, is nothing more
than a long hot-bed frame, made of strong rough
plank, and sunk nearly level with the surface of
the ground — or nearly level at the front, and about
6 inches above it at the rear, so as throw off the
water. Mine is sunk 2^ feet deep. In the first
place the soil should all be dug out, of the size of
the frame, and about a foot deeper than you mean
to have it inside. This foot must be filled up with
small stones to make the floor perfectly dry ; and
if the spot is at all damp, thereought to be a small
drain, also filled with stones, leading away from it.

Over the stones in the bottom of the pit, put a
foot or more of coal ashes, to form a dry floor for
the pots. When you have sunk the frame, it
should be filled up all round it with dry tan, or
what is still better, with square pieces of turf^
such as is used for fuel. This lining is a better
non-conductor than the soil, and you should heap
it up, on the outside, quite level with the edge of
the frame all round. There ought to be double
sashes to cover the frame, with a space of about 8
inches between them, to make it secure against all
possibility of frost. (The outside sashes will do
for hot-beds in spring.) In all fine, milJ days in
winter, I open the lights and give air freely, so long
as there is no frost. At night, and in cold and
stormy days, I cover the lights with five or six
thicknesses of mats, (or a thick coat of straw.)
In this way I succeed in keeping, not only the
plants I have named, but also Camellias, Oranges,
and almost all the finer green-house plants, in per-
fect health and beauty. I water very sparingly —
often not for many days together, in winter. An
Original Subscriber. Brooklyn, N. Y., Aov. 1848.

Worcester Horticultural Society. — We
find by the report of Mr. Jacques, that this, one
of the most flourishing societies in Massachusetts,
made an annual exhibition of which its members
may justly be proud. The soil and position of
Worcester are such, that a great variety of fruits
are cultivated in high perfection there — and in
apples especially, the exhibitions held there, are
richer than those of any society in New England.
The largest and best collection of pears, (29 va-
rieties,) was shown by J. M. Earle, President of
the Society. The largest collection of apples, (43
varieties,) by Samuel Colton, (who also exhibit-
ed 27 varieties of pears, 15 varieties of peaches,
and 7 of Plums.) The premium for the best col-
lection of apples was awarded to Wm. C. Capron.
Geo. Jacques exhibited 23 varieties of apples, 7
varieties of pears. 8 varieties of peaches. Among
the other leading contributors, were B. F. Thom-
as, Silas Allen, Peter Fay, D. W. Linco;.n,
Joel Knapp, Hon. Levi Lincoln, &.c.

Among the fruits particnlarly noticed by the
committee, we observe an old favorite of ours, the
Brevoort peach, shown by Mr. Messenger, of
which the committee say, " one of the highest fla-
vored and most delicious of all peaches." Speci-
mens of Flemish Beauty took the first premium
among the pears exhibited, and Louise Bonne de
Jersey, the second. Hubbardston Nonsuch, took
the first premium among apples. We copy also
the following note by the committee, on Leland's
Pippin : " This is one of the handsomest apples
we ever saw. Color on the shady side, a greenish
yellow ground, mottled with crimson stripes; oi^
the sunny side, becoming a dark crimson. Size

346

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

and form, not very diflerent from the Baldwin. The
flavor is also most excellent, and a tree of this va-
riety deserves a place in the smallest collection.
Season, October to winter."

Dr. Workman exhibited magnificent specimens
of St. Michael (White Doyenne.) pears, grown
on quince stocks — " under which mode of culture
this fine old variety retains its ancient reputation."

More than three thousand visitors attended the
exhibition. The hall was most tastefully decora-
ted by the ladies of Worcester.

Water in Level Countries. — Dear Sir : A
constant supply of running water, whether for
the ornamental gardener or farmer, is a desidera-
tum to be sought by every possible means. Its
beauty in the hands of the one, and its utility in
the hands of the other, are qualities too obvious
to require comment. Tiie great point to be at-
tained, is a reservoir, at a sufficient elevation to
supply the premises, so that the kitchen, the bath,
the fountain, the garden, or the pasture, may be
furnished with a living stream. In many locali-
ties. Nature has made her own arrangements for
this supply. Where the mountain or hill-side
sends forth its gushing jet d'eau, she has required
of man only such simple apparatus as the first
impression would suggest for conducting it to the
point desired; but she has left him to seek out
many inventions whereby to give this indispensa-
ble elem^ent an upward current, where she has
failed to furnish a dowmvard.

Primitive hydraulics as far as w^e are informed
by the records of the olden time, furnished only
the pitcher and the watering trough, or such like
apparatus. The bucket and windlass succeeded,
and we have them yet, as well as other more
complicated labor-saving machines. Where there
are springs or running brooks, too low for a foun-
tain head, the Water Ram, described in the Hor-
ticulturist for August, 1847, is doubtless the
simplest, cheapest, and best machine yet invented,
by which a running stream may be made to per-
form the labor of raising itself to the desired ele-
vation. But I am writing for the West, an im-
mense ambit of level country, whose gentle eleva-
tions and broad fertile prairies furnish thousands
of eligible sites, and hundreds of thousands of
acres of valuable land, without any constant sup-
ply of running water from spring or brook. I do
not mean to say we have not fine springs and
running brooks. We have, and none better; but
not as in a country of hills and mountains ; for
we have not their numerous elevations to catch
from every passing cloud, and concentrate through
their numberless veins, the material for their
supply.

Our main dependence is, and must be, upon
wells and cisterns ; and although a cistern may
be located in the top of a carriage house, or other
out-building, yet such an arrangement, besides
furnishing, necessarily, a very limited supply, is
but an indifferent substitute for a running stream.

Nor can it ever come into general use, particn*
larly, where a sufficiency for irrigation and
" Stock Water" (as we out west here, call the
supply of the pasture,) is needed. As wells and
cisterns below the common level are to furnish us
water, the question which now interests us is,
How is it to be brought to the required elevation?
True, we have many a blooming Rachel, and
not a few Jacobs, who would -willingly assist
them in drawing water for their flocks ; but we
would gladly relieve them of that burden, trust-
ing that they will be at no loss in drawing sym-
pathy from other fountains than the well, and by
other means than the rope and bucket.

The common suction pump, if the required
elevation is not beyond the atmospheric pressure,
and the forcing pump, if it is, are apparently the
best adapted to the end in view, of anything now
in use; but what power shall be applied? From
what is said above, you are perhaps looking for
an answer to this query. No such thing. It is
easy to ask questions, but to answer them truly
and intelligibly, is a different aifair. However,
since I am asking questions, I may as well push
my inquiries a little further, hoping that you, or
some of your intelligent eorres])ondcnt8 may be
able to throw some light upon the subject. How
far can electro-magnetism be applied to the pro-
pulsion of machinery? Could not a very simple
apparatus be constructed, to be propelled by that
motive powder, that would supply the place of the
steam engine, in driving a small forcing pump,
which would require but little attention, save at
least one man's labor, and give a small but regu-
lar and constant supply of w^ater?

I am aware that this inquiry brings us upon
troublesome grouud ; but it is the business of the
intelligent cultivator to remove stumps, stones,
and other obstructions, which have long encum-
bered the surface of our good mother earth, and
he must now and then tug at those which science
has dug up and left in the road, before he can
plough a straight furrow.

Admitting that a rotary motion can be pro-
duced by electro-magnetism, the next question
is, what will it cost? If we run a parallel
between this and steam, the inquiry, it is said,
involves the question of chemical equivalents. I
am not sure that it does. Prof. Liebig states
the proposition thus: The oxidation of zine, is
but another name for burning it (for example)
under a steam boiler. Then, w-hich will produce
the greatest motive power, the price of a given
quantity of zinc or coal? If this be the only true
stating of the question, it is an end of the mat-
ter, and my suggestions about applying this power
to a forcing pump are not worth the time it will take
to read them; for, according to the same author,
six pounds weight of zinc, in combining wijh oxy-
gen, will develop no more heat than one pound of
coal. Is there no way of getting by the steam
engine, that is, in the cost of the motive power?

Few men, I presume, living at a distance from

DOMESTICf NOTICES.

347

city water-works, would think of furnishing their
country seats or farms with a constant su])ply of
running water by means of the steam engine. I
do not know how long this may be said, in this
high pressure age of improvements ; but I speak
of the present. I have been thinking upon the
subject, and hoping, rather than expecting, that
experiments might demonstrate that the battery
could be substituted for the boiler, and, at least
the expense of an engineer and fuel saved. The
question may have been examined, and may be
familiar to you. If so, you would doubtless con-
fer a favor upon many who are alike uninformed
with myself by giving the result of your experi-
ence and observation. If this can be accomplish-
ed somewliat in the manner I have suggested, or
in any other way, as easily attainable, what a
change would be effected in this and many similar
localities! Water, the " River of Life," to every
vegetable, thus easily raised from our deepest
wells, might be carried to an elevated tank or
reservoir, which like the lake in the vision of Or-
tugral, the supply, though slow, yet constant,
would keep always full. We shall then have ac-
complished jWhat nature would have done lor us,
had she given us a mountain stream, or bubbling
brook. Our country seats will be supplied with
one of the rarest beauties, whereof they are now
deprived, and many a cooling stream will gladden
the dry and thirsty land. Yours, truly, S. B.
G. Terra Haute, Indiana, Dec. 1, 1848.

The Original Seckel Pear Tree. — Yester-
day, in company witli my frieud Dr. Emerson, I
visited, for the first time, the original Seckel
pear tree. Dr. E. has long been familiar with
this tree, and very kindly offered to take me to
it. It was pointed out to him, many years ago,
by Geo. Shaeff, Esq., who owns much property
in its immediate vicinity. This venerable tree
stands in a meadow in Passyunk township, less
than a quarter of a mile from the Delaware river,
opposite to League Island, not more than half a
mile from the mouth of the Schuylkill, and about
three and a half miles from the city of Phila-
delphia. The property on which it stands, is
a portion of the Girard estate, and now be-
longs to the city. It is one of the largest
Seckel pear trees I have ever seen, measuring
more than six feet in circumference , one foot
above the ground, and four feet nine inches in
circumference higher up. It is about thirty feet
high. The head of the tree has the usual round-
ed appearance so characteristic of this variety,
and is in good condition. The trunk, to the
height of six feet, is very much decayed on its
south-western side. The bark half way ai-ound
the trunk is entirely gone, together with a great
portion of the wood itself, leaving a large hol-
low in the tree. Such being the decayed condi-
tion of the trunk, it is greatly to be feared that
the tree will not be able to stand the blasts of
many more winters. No artificial support having

been afforded to enable it to resist the dreaded
effects of the stormy winds, nature herself is
making an effort to provide for the anticipated
disaster by throwing up shoots from the trunk,
an inch or two above the surface of the earth.
But the tree stands on grazing ground, and un-
less protected by an enclosure, the effort will
prove a vain one. From these shoots I cut seve-
ral scions, for the purpose of ascertaining whe-
ther or not the tree had been worked above this
point ; it is scarcely to be presumed it had been
done below it. Some of these scions I now send
you to experiment with. I also send some scions
cut from the branches of the tree. Very sincere-
ly, vours, W. D. Brinckle. Philadelphia, Nov.
2, 1848.

Public Parks and Gardens. — Mr. Editor:
Could any eflbrt on my part aid you, iu even a
remote degree, towards bringing about such a
state of feeling as would lead to the end contem-
plated by your leader on Public Parks and Gar-
dens, in your October number, most gladly would
it be given. But living in the country, in a new, and
to you, remote portion of it, and being too much
unknown to have any influence, I can only as one
of your subscribers give you " aid and comfort,"
by assuring you that there is one in the land who
goes with you heart and hand.

I have seen a great deal of men, and I have
all my life observed, that the birth-place had an
important bearing on after conduct, and I might
also say, with after usefulness. Men born and
educated where there was some attention paid
to culture of fruits and flowers, where there was
fine scenery and a bountiful nature, always speak
of their homes with so much fondness. They
refer to beautiful landscapes, to their play-grounds,
to even the " moss-covered bucket," with so great
a love, that I have oftentimes thought a little la-
bor and money expended in ornament, was more
than paid by the delightful recollections of homo
in after life.

So great an effect have these things had upon
my mind, that many years ago, I made every
endeavor to have one of our interior villages
ornamented by planting trees, making lawns,
laying out walks, placing seats, &c., &e., but
with no ctFect. In another I tried to have the
village burying-ground improved handsomely. In
anotlier I oflered for my conditions, a liberal aid
to have a neatly laid oH' and ornamented burying,
ground, wliere the widow's friend, and the dis-
tressed brother's friend might offer to the way-
farer a last resting place. Failing in all, I re-
solved, though too poor to do it well, to ornament
my own little cot, and thus endear at least one to
" home, sweet home."

I frankly admit that the party in the ascendant
in these United States, -would be foremost in crying
out against squandering the people's money, in put-
ting anything in Washington city, much less in
New-York or Boston, that would be merely orna-

348

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

mental. Yet I, foi- one of that party, believe a
nation that i.s advancing like ours, should by all
means have a large garden, grounds, hot-houses,
conservatories, &c., in Washington city. But
without the nation's lielp, it seems to me, that
New- York city alone, can by contribution, cdlect
enough to try and establish a real public park,
and keep the grounds in magnificent order. I am
sure that the citizens of Philadelphia, with even
the improvements they have, can estimate what
they might enjoy if the thing was carried out, as
in German public parks and gardens. Well do I
remember, years gone by, when youth and the
world were both brighter, strolling through one
of the public squares in Philadelphia, the finest
still in the Union, and enjoying to the utmost the
varied beauty — the hundreds of human beings who
found recreation and health there, as well as the
varied and beautiful trees. Old and infirm as I
am, I would give more to be seated on one of
those seats, where I could see the nurse, with a
sweet cherub in her arms ; the youth with his
hoop and stick; the fair young maiden, with her
bright and elastic step — all made happier and
better for this breath of rural life in the midst of
brick houses. I say I would give more to hear
and see such a sight, than Ole Bull, Hertz, or
all the flddle-strings in the world. Our creator,
in painting the beautiful in such an attractive
garb, certainly intended we should enjoy it. And
why should citizens of our towns and cities, not
have this enjoyment. Upon my life, I believe
handsome public grounds, with music, would
have the happiest influence in allaying riots
and debauchery, crime and secret vices. The
workman must have recreation. The rich had
better give it than to pay for prisons and peni-
tentiaries. I place it on the score of economy
alone ; and I put the question to every man. Do
you know of your own knowledge where the New
England man, that was raised in one of those
neat and orderly and tasteful villages, ever cost
the town to which he removed, or the country
tJiat he made his home, one dime, either as a sup-
port needed by drunkenness or laziness, or for
prison or jail fees? I have noted that those born
and raised in one of those sweet villages, was too
proud to remain poor, or to do a mean act. I
am sincerely yours. ^Mississippi Reader.

Roses IN Mississippi. — My Noisette Lamarque
roses have now single stems or trunks of one inch
and a half diameter, supported by stakes, at from
6 to 12 feet from the ground. I suffer them to
throw off branches which are now covered with
large snow-ball-like clusters — sometimes 30 or 40
roses in a cluster. The Chromatella, (or Cloth
of Gold.) I train in the same way. On a.Gloire de
France, I counted to-day, 40 perfectly formed buds
and roses in one cluster — such a crown as Flora
herself might have been proud of. Yours, ji. H.
Peck, M. D. Port Gibson, Miss. Oct. 7, 1848.

Orchidaceous Plants. — Sir: As plant cul-
ture is now engaging the attention of horticultu-
rists so much in this country, as well as in Eu-
rope, that we scarcely meet a number of our hor-
ticultural periodicals without a lengthened arti-
cle on some favorite family or tribe, may I be
permitted to call the attention of your read-
ers to the fanciful and admirable, (but in this
country, much neglected,) order Orchidacaea, an
order with which, for beauty, curiosity, and fra-
grance, not one in the vegetable kingdom can
vie. The majority of its species present the most
pleasing variety of any vegetable production; the
great variety of their colors, the delicacy and
elegance of their forms, the duration of their
flowering season, and the singularity of their ap-
pearance, would, I think, be sufficient recom-
mendation to inspire the most careless observer
with a zeal for their cultivation. Besides, the
simplicity of their treatment, no longer requiring
from us any of those various carefully mixed soils
necessary for other plants, but a block of wood,
and a high damp atmosphere, such as they breathe
in their native habitats, would be a farther induce-
ment for introducing them in our gardens. There
is no country in which they so abound as the
Mexican and Brazilian forests, which are now
quite accessible to us, and yet, strange to say,
they are almost unknown to American plant
cultivators, except by name, whilst they often
crowd their stoves with many worthless European
species, and leave these charming children of na-
ture unobserved to diffuse their fragrance to the
balmy breezes of their native forests.

Their culture is as simple as their forms are
unbounded., They require little more than a
suitable house, where a high temperature can be
maintained, and like many pet-plants, a peculiar
treatment. In this country, under a bright sun,
they would be more easily cultivated than in
Britain, where they are an object of considerable
emulation among amateurs, but not to the extent
they desei-ve. What, indeed, can be compared
for beauty to those superb iae/ias and Cattleyas,
what so admirable as those elegant Stanhopeas,
what so graceful as those Odontoglossums and
Oncidiums that adorn the collossal trees of the
Mexican and Brazilian forests, or the beautiful
Sobr alias, with their elegant grass-like foliage,
and rich crimson flowers. These are strictly air-
plants. Their terrestrial associates are no way
inferior to their epiphytal neighbors. What Indian
productions so magnificent as those unrivalled
Vandes and derides; what so delicate and beau-
tiful as those Dendrobiums , and that gem of the
Manilla forests, the Indian Moth-plant, Phalae-
nopsis amabilis, with its flowers of the purest
white, and extremely singular lips; nor do I hesi-
tate to say that if the readers of the Horticultu-
rist had a knowledge of their peculiarities, they
would, with me, consider them the most exqui-
sitely curious and beautiful of nature's produc-
tions. Rich in every shade or variety of color,

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

349

airy and fantastic in their habits, but always ele-
gant, replete with tlie richest aromatic perfumes,
or emitting the most refreshing and delicate odors,
portraying in the most extraordinary formations
of their flowers the miniatures of almost all ani-
mated nature — beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and
reptiles — nor can even the human species escape
their carricatures. Indeed, they combine all the
qualities that amateurs seek after, beauty, fra-
grance, and durability; some retaining their blos-
soms in perfection eight or ten weeks under pro-
per treatment; and it is among them that we
find what was deemed worthy of fitting the foot
of the goddess, — the real " Ladies' Slipper."

There is no tribe so interesting to the natural-
ist as the tiny, fairy-like flowers of the Orchids.
Dr. LiNDLEY says, Sertuvi Orchidacaea, that the
resemblance to insects and other animal forms
which have been perceived in the orchidaceous
plants of Europe, and which have given rise to
such names as fly-orchis, spider orchis, &c., &c.,
may be traced so plainly in the genus Oberonia
in every species, that it alone would furnish a
magazine of new ideas for the grotesque pencil
of a German admirer of the wild and preternatu-
i-al. He also oberves that in the genera Obero-
nia and Drymosa, Pythagoras would have found
a living evidence of animals transmitted into
plants. The genus Pleurothallus is also remark-
able as possessing the smallest Orchidaceous
plant known. This diminutive plant, Pleurothal-
lus imiscoidea has no stem. The leaves are two
and one-half lines long, its peduncle is as fine as
a hair, and about four lines long. The majority
of the order inhabit the branches of trees, having
nothing more to support their wants than the
refreshing dews, warm showers, and pleasant
breezes of their native wilderness, and when sub-
mitted to artificial treatment in our houses, they
grow equally well on bits of wood, branches of
trees, &c., whether in a living or decaying state ;
or on any material they do not actually dislike.

The following geographical distribution of the
order, as given in Dr. Lindley's Vegetable King-
dom, might be interesting to novices in botany :

They are found in 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 seen growing every-
where, in groves, in marshes, and in meadows.
In the drier parts of Africa they are rare or un-
known. At the Cape of Good Hope they abound
in similar situations as in Europe ; but in the hot,
damp parts of the West and East Indies, in Ma-
dagascar and the neighboring islands, in the
damp and humid forests of Brazil, in the warm,
mild parts of Central America and Western
Mexico, in the damp, tropical parts of India, and
on the lower mountains of Nepal, the Orchidace-
ous plants flourish in the greatest variety and
profusion, no longer seeking their nutriment from
the soil, but clinging to the trunks and limbs of
trees, to stones and bare rocks where they vege-

tate, among ferns and other shade-loving plants,
in countless thousands; and when transmitted to
our houses, they require from us an atmosphere
similar to what they enjoy in their native haunts,
which can only be obtained by shade, heat, and
moisture, carefully administered.

Having already exceeded my limits, I will only
add, that, if it be acceptable to your readers, I
will prepare a list of American Orchidacaea, with
all the particulars with which we are acquainted,
as an inducement to the cultivation of those most
delicious, most curious and beautiful of all known .
plants. I am, sir, respectfully yours, M. C.

[We shall be glad to receive further remarks
on the culture of orchidaceous plants. The wri-
ter of the above, who is known to us as a gar-
dener of remarkable skill in exotic plants, having
recently arrived in the country, expresses to us
his surprise that amid the great attention paid to
many kinds of gardening hero, and even to many
kinds of green-house and stove plants, the curious
and beautiful air-plants which are the ultima-
tum of exotic culture abroad, are so little known
or cultivated. — Ed.]

Gjieen-Houses — Evergreens. — Dear Sir : I
hope it is your intention to continue the subject of
cheap green-houses, and oblige your readers with
some estimates of the cost of buildings, stock and
and tools, adapted to the scale described in your
last number of the Horticulturist.

I observe one of your correspondents recom-
mend pruning evergreens, transplanted. I am
about planting a good many, and should be glad
to know if this is your opinion, and applicable to
our pines and hemlocks, and what is the method,
to cast out branches, or shorten-in, as in decidu-
ous trees. Your obt. servt. W. Lenox, Mass.

[If you cannot get good roots to evergreens, then
shorten-in the branches to restore the balance. Al-
ways cut the branches in within an inch of the
place on the larger braneh where it forked out —
and apply the shellac solution at once. — Ed.]

Superior GRArxiNO Wax. — The following
mixture, viz :

1 pint linseed oil;

6 pounds rosin.

1 pound bees -wax,
makes a better and cheaper wax, than any I have
used made from rosin, tallow and beeswax. The
oil will admit of a much greater proportion of
rosin than the tallow. This wax will give entire
satisfaction to whoever shall use it. T. G. Yea-
mans. Walworth, N. Y., Nov. 1848.

First rate Fruits. — The Jefferson Plum, was
produced first here this season, and is of very high
merit. The Brevoort Peach, obtained from New-
burgh at the same time, is the finest flavored free-
stone we have had in this latitude for many years j
so pronounced by many good judges. Yours, very
respectfully, W. C. Wilson. Baltimore^ Oct. 1848,

350

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Vineyard Culture in Indiana. — We extract
the following account of the grape culture in In-
diana, from the new edition of Mr. Allen's work
on the vine. It is the account of Mr. Goodwin's
experience. — Ed.

I have about eight acres in cultivation. The
vines are planted in rows, about six feet apart, and
at the distance of four feet in the rows. My sys-
tem of pruning consists simply in shortening-in
the wood of the past year's growth from one to a
dozen eyes, according to the condition of the vine,
and afterwards tying up the new growth to the
trellis, from time to time, as it may seem to
require support. Stout stakes, about 5^feethigh,
with narrow strips of board nailed on them, con-
stitute the best trellis. I tried wire, but the sun
heated it to such an extent that it killed the ten-
drils of the vine, and frequently injured the young
wood.

My grapes are principally Catawba ; I have a
few of the Isabella, but do not use them for wine.
The Catawba, as a wine grape, has, in my opin-
ion; no equal among grapes that can be success-
fully cultivated in our climate.

We have occasionally had the leaves of our
vines eaten in places by an insect, but never to an
extent sufficient to be injurious. The "rot" is
the great enemy we have to contend with. Some
seasons twenty gallons of wine per acre can hard-
ly be realized from our vineyards in consequence
of it. I have noticed that whenever wheat is in-
jured by the rust, the grape is, to a proportionate
extent, affected by the rot. They doubtless origi-
nate from a common cause. As to what that
cause is, great diversity of opinion exists. My
observation does not enable me to give, with con-
fidence, any opinion on the subject.

The young shoots, in spring, are seldom injured
by frosts, except in low grounds. This fact is
now beginning to be understood by our farmers,
and the highest ground is selected for both vine-
yards and orchards.

I have never tried any of the foreign varieties ;
Mr. Longworth's experience having satisfied me
that it would be but a waste of time and money.

There are a considerable number of vineyards in
our county — I cannot of course speak with entire
accuracy — bat I think I cannot be far wrong in
estimating the quantity of land devoted at present
to the culture of the grape in this county, at from
100 to 120 acres. In this estimate I do not mean
to include small portions, grown merely for family
use, but vineyards intended for the manufacture
of wine. The quantity will probably be doubled in
the course of two years more. The vineyards on
the hills seem to do much better than those imme-
diately on the river. In the rich alluvial bottoms
they do not succeed well, the fruit almost inva-
riably rotting.

With regard to the profit, a careful cultivator
may safely calculate on 200 gallons of wine per
acre, one year with another ; he may with as
much certainty calculate on selling the juice at

the press, at from 60 to 80 cents per gallon — mak-
ing the proceeds per acre from 120 to 160 dol-
lars. The same labor that will cultivate twenty
acres of corn, will suffice for ten acres of grapes.
The twenty acres of corn, when gathered, may
at the best prices and crops, be worth here $250 ;
the ten acres of grapes from $1200 to $1600 dol-
lars. This, however, cannot be expected to last
long ; as vineyards increase, and they are doing
so rapidly, the price of wine must come down ; it
can be manufactured and sold at 75 cts. per bot-
tle, and then pay the producer better than any
other crop he can raise.

The CAa??i^ag-ne manufactured from the juice of
the Catawba, is equal, in my judgment, to the
best European brands. I do not manufacture
[ferment] my own wine, but sell the juice to the
vintners. Amos Goodwin. Clarkstown, Indiana,

Grafting Vines. — Permit me to describe a
method of grafting the grajie upon roots that I
have never seen in print.

Cut the old root off, some two inches below the
ground, by a horizontal cut. Then choose a gimb-
let just the size of the scion to be inserted, and
bore from one to three or four holes, according to
the size of the root, and insert the scions, first
removing the loose bark. The holes should be
two or three inches in depth, and the scion should
fit accurately. I have never known them fail to
grow. Old stocks may thus be wholly changed in
two years. If the operation is performed so late
in the season that the root shows a disposition to
bleed, grafting cement must be used. The holes
should be [perpendicular,] or in the direction of
the grain of the wood. I have never known this
method fail, and I have never succeeded with any
other, though I have frequently tried both cleft
and split grafting. Amos Goodwin. Ibid.

The Dignity of Labor in America. — In
mechanical labor and skill, the absence of all
honour as an habitual attendant, is, in Europe,
equally manifest. I know that luxury purchases,
often at a great price, the beautiful results of
handicraft and skill. I know that individuals of
boldness and energy — those irrepressible spirits
whose elasticiy no bonds can limit — have occa-
sionally forced their way through all this down-
ward pressure, and have compelled an acknow-
ledgement of their greatness, and a respect for
their mighty developments of mental and moral
powers, from those titled tribes, who habitually
fancy their interest to be in widening the gulf of
separation, and insulating their own position as
completely as possible. But what are these
among so many ? Their class are tradesmen and
tradespeople still. And the habitual fact in their
history is, not only no encouragement to rise, but
great discouragement and jealousy of their possi-
ble ability to break the shell of caste, whose ac-
cumulated scales ages have riveted over them.
European mechanics feel this fact of discourage-
ment and dishonor, and feel it deeply.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

351

I stood the other Jay by the bench of an English
mechanic, whose remarkable skill I was admiring,
and the genius of whose youthful son in his work I
was noticing, when the father took from the draw-
er some beautiful crayon and pencil sketches which
this working boy had made. '" Ah ! sir," said the
father, '-this is America. My boy was taught all this
for nothing, atyour public school. Had I stayed at
home, he would have lived and died unnoticed at
the bench. Here he may take a stand and be
honored and encouraged." Yes, and this is but
one of the multitude of instances of illustrations,
which a knowledge of facts would bring out, of the
encouragement which American freedom gives to
innate talent.

I know a poor English carpenter, who with the
utmost difficulty gathered the needful bread for
his family. His children were placed in the pub-
lic schools of a neighboring city. His eldest son,
having no chance of education before, laid hold of
his opportunity greedily, passed with honor through
all the stages of public education, at the public
expense; and on his graduating at the summit of
the career of the city's provision, was immediately
appointed a teacher, and is now a professor of
ancient languages in one of the highest institu-
tions— and honored the more for the industry which
has made him, from neglected poverty, what he
is. This is America. That boy might have lived
and died a beggar in the streets of London, and no
titled man have taken him by the hand, to bring
out, in an elevating education, the noble powers
his Creatorhad implanted within him. — Dr. Tyng's
Address before the .American Institute.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Strawberries. — P. W. E., (Charleston.) If
you will consult vol. 2d, p. 133, you will find ex-
cellent practical details for the culture of this
fruit. Also, at p. 114, of the present volume, are
some highly interesting remarks, (by B., of Pough-
keepsie,) on the field culture of strawberries.
One hundred bushels to the acre are frequently
grown here by the market gardeners. The Eng-
lish White Wood strawberry is the only white one
cultivated here ; it is an excellent sort for family
US3, bears moderate but regular crops, and con-
tinues eominir in for a long time. Culture very
easy. The Hudson is the most profitable market
strawberry, in all soils.

Forcing Fruits. — D. L., (Roxbury, Mass.)
Fifteen-inch pots are usually preferred to boxes
for forcing fruit trees. We think the fig would do
better in boxes of a larger size. Peaches, necta-
rines, and other hardy fruit trees, forced in pots,
ought to be taken out of the house as soon as the
crop is gathered, placed in a partially shaded situ-
ation, and the pots plunged in old tan, sawdust, or
the like, to keep them cool and moist. Here they
should be sulTered to be till the forcing season
commences, unless the frost should sit in very se-
vere, when they should be carried into a oool airy
shed till the forcing season.

Vine borders, that are wholly inside, should be
well soiked with water in the autumn at the fall
of the leaf. They will then not need any more
till towards the time of growth, unless they get
dry, which should not be allowed.

Osage Orange Hedges. — D. Redmond, (Utica,
Y.) You will find some remarks on this plant, in
another column. We do not think it will prove
hardy in Utica. Plants may be had of A.
Saul &, Co., of this place — and as all trees resist
the winter better when clipped annually, as a hedge
must be, it is worth your while to plant a small
quantity for trial. It grows three times as fast as
the Hawthorn, and faster for the first two years,
than the Buckthorn.

Araucaria. — A Lover of Evergreens, (Pitts-
burgh, Pa.) Araucaria imbricata appears to be
quite hardy about New York. Dr. Valk, of
Flushing, in a note before us, says, "my Arauca-
ria imbricata has been in the open ground four
years. Though yet a little tree it does not appear
to mind " Jack Frost" at all, and has grown finely
the past summer."

Books. — A New York Subscriber. A new edi-
tion o( Michaux's Forest trees, edited by Nuttall,
has just been put to press in Philadelphia : The
original Michaux, with 156 colored plates, 3 vols,
for $23, and Nuttall's continuation, 3 vols., 124
colored plates, for $26. We shall give a list with
prices of the other works, in our next number.

Stocks. — J. Fulton, jr., (Chester co., Pa.)
The " horse plum" is not a damson, but a common
blue freestone variety, allied to the Orleans, which
reproduces itself freely from seed. It takes the bud
readily, which the damson does not. The seeds
can be had in abundance in New York, or on the
Hudson, in the autumn, but we imagine not now.
Plum stocks are advertised in quantities, by Mr.
Gustin, of Morristown, N. J.

Manures. — D. L., (Roxbury.) We have not
found anthracite ashes of the slighest possible ben-
efit when applied to kitchen garden crops — but
some fruit trees, as the cherry and grape, are deci-
dedly improved in growth and health by their ap-
plication.

Aa Original Subscriber, (New Haven.) Place
your heap of charcoal dust behind or near the privy,
and have the "chamber lye" poured upon it daily.
It will take up all the ammonia and other salts,
and be ten times more valuable as a manure, than
before.

Green-houses. — An Amateur, (Bulfalo.) The
cost of such a green-house as you propose, well
built, here, with a brick wall and a furnace and
flues, would be about $S per running foot, (i. e.
for one 30 feet long, $240.) With you, where
lumber is cheaper, if, for the wall, you substitute
cedar posts, lined on both sides with plank, and
the space filled in with dry tan or charcoal dust,
and instead of the flue, a polmaise stove, as de-
scribed in our last month's leader, it would probak-^
bly cost about half this sum.

352

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The stated meetings of this Society, was held on the 19th
of December, 134S. The display was good, for the season of
'he year.

The President in the chair. — Premiums were awarded on
the occasion

By the Committee on Plants and Floivers. — For the best hot-
house plants, and for the best design of cut flowers, to James
Bisset, gardener to James Dundas; for t lie second best iiot-
house plants, for the best green-hou^e plant-, for the best col-
lection of plants in pots, for the second best design of cut
flowers, and for the best basket o( cut flowers, to Ben Dan-
iels, gardener to Caleb Cope ; for the second best collection
of plants, in pots, to Jno. G. Smith ; for the second best basket
of cut flowers, to Maurice P'lnn, gardener to John Lambert
Special premiums of one dollar, each, were awarded to James
Bisset, Robert Kilvington, P. Burk, and B. Daniels, for bou-
(juets.

By the Committee on Fruits. — Special premiums, one of
two dollars, to Thomas Hancock, for St. Germain Pears ; and
onit of a dollar each, to Jara-ts Clark, for Seckel Pears, from
the fruit preserver ; and to Win. Perry, for Newark King ap-
ples. And the committee award the following premiums for
American Seedling fruit, exhibited during the present year,
VIZ : tor the Ott Pear, ten dollars, to .Samuel Olt, Moiilgoinery
county ; and for the JefTeries Apple, five dollars, to Isaac i6(-
feries, Chester county.

By Ike Committee on Vegetables. — For the best and second
best display of vegetables, to Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb
Cope, and tor the second best display, to \Vm Johns. And a
special premium of one dollar to Anthony Felten, for five
Cauliflowers.

The Committee on New Plants, Flowers, etc., reported,
that John Sherwood exhibited at the stated meeting, in April,
a specimen of the Spinei Reecesiana, which he represented
as new, and which he bad imponed I'rom France, last autumn,
whence it had been introduced Iroia Japan. The Committee

awarded a premium of three dollars to John Sherwood, for
its introduction

On motion, ordered that three hundred dollars be appropri-
ated for the increase of the Library

The Library Committee subinhfed their annual report, by
which It appears that sixty volumes have been added during
the year, and that the library contains eight hundred volumes.

Tlie Committee for establishing premiums, reported a
schedule of premiums, for the ensuing year, winch was
adopted.

Two amendments ■were proposed to the By-laws, for con-
sideration.

Members elected.— I'Tof. J. Rhodes, Deacon C. Hough, Mau-
rice Finn, and John Mcintosh.

Objects shown. — By Robert Buist, a very fine collection of
plants, not in competition. Among them were the following
recently introduced : Gerraniura Brighton Hero, Abutilon ve-
nosum. Acacia nitida, and Hibiscus from Calilbrnia.

By Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope — A beautiful col-
lection of plants ; a number of species rarely seen al the
meetings, of which was a fine specimen of Littffia gemini-
flora, with a stem about twelve feet in height, one half of its
length covered with a spike twin flowers ; Phaius niaculata,
and several species of Rhipsalis — also a number of bouquets,
and a fine collection of vegetables.

By James Bisset, gardener to Jas. Dundas, several fine
plants and bouquets .

By J G. Smith, — A collection of plants.

By Ale.x, Parker — A table of Chrysaiuhema.

Fruit — By Tho. Hancock, St Germain and Walnut Pears—
by James Clark, Seckel pears, from the iVuit preserver, in
fine flavor — by Wm. Parry, five varieties of apples, of new
kinds — by Samuel C. Ford, the Olney apple

Vegetables — By Anthony Felten, a very large collection —
by Wm Johns, radishes from the open garden, and tomatoes
just cut from the vines. Tho. P. James, Rec Sec'y.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

Nov 16. — President Wildee in the chair. On motion, it was

Voted, That a Committee be chosen, to consider and re-
port to the Society, upon the expediency of the adoption by
this .Society, of some measures to obtain and disseminate in-
formation as to the best modes of cultivating fruits.

Voted, That this committee consist of nine persons, to be
chosen by the chair, the President of the Society to constitute
one of its members ; and the following gentlemen were ap-
pointed said Committee: Joseph S. Cabot, Cliairman ; M. P.
Wilder, E. M. Ricliards, Otis Johnson, B. V. French, Samuel
Walker, David Haggerstoii, C. M Hovey, and Jos. Breck.

Dec. a.— President, .Marshall P. Wiluer, in the Chair.
The Executive Committee submitted the following Report.

The Executive Committee, in accordance with the duly en-
joined on them by the By-Laws, recommend that the sum
of Twelve hundred and fifty dollars, be offered by this Society
in Premiums for 18-19— that the income of tlie Appleton, Low-
ell, Jiymaii and Bradlee funds, constitute a part of this ap-
propriation, and that the apportionment to the several com-
mittees be the same as for the present year.

The Committee would state that tlie I'und for "Special Prizes
on Fruits," has been expended, and in consequence of this,
the sum now suggested, is less by One hundred dollars, than
the amount granted for the year 164S- They therefore re-
eommend, in addition to the above, that 10 setts of Coleman's
Agricultural Tour, and the Medals remaining on hand, (after
She distribution of those already awarded,) be given as Pre-
tniums or as Gratuities, for such objects as are worthy of dis-
tinction, and not provided for in the Prize List.

Marshall P. Wilder, Ch'n.

Dee. le.^President, Marshall P. Wilder, in the chair. Let-
ters were received from Monsieur Tougabd, President of
La Societie Centrale de Horticulture, Rouen, France, ac-
companied with a Catalogue of his Nursery, and the Publi-
cations of the Society, over which he presides, whereupon it
was voted, that the thanks of this Society, with its Transac-
tions, be traasmilted lo M. Tougard, by the Corresponding
Secretary.

A letter was also received from F. R. Elliott, Esq., o
Cleaveland, Ohio, presenting a bundle of Native Cherry
Trees, in 7 sorts, and the thanks of the Society were voted to
Mr. Elliott, and the trees placed in the hands of the President
for the Society's use.

Mr. Sam'l Walkee, presented, in behalf of the American
Institute, of New York, Reports of their 2Ist Annual Fair
and Exhibition, and it was voted — that the thanks of this So-
ciety be presented to the American Institute, and the Reports
placed on the table for distribution among our members.

E. C. R. Walker, Rec. Sec'y.

WEEKLY EXHIBITIONS.

Saturday Dec. 3, IMS.

FRUITS— From the President of tne ?oeiety, excellent
specimens of Buerre d'Aremberg, Glout Morceau, Buerre
Diel, Inconnue Van Mons, and Easter Buerre Pears

From John Gordon, very splendid specimens of Easter
Beurre Pears.

From Samuel Walker, Vicar of Winkfield, Buerre Ranee,
Passe Colmar, Caen de France Pears Rhode Island Green-
ing, Baldsvin, and White .Seek no-fiirther Applts.

From A. Dexter, Baldwin, R. 1. Greening, Roxbury Rus-
selt, and Lady Apples.

FromB. V. French, White Seek-no-further, and Conway
Apples.

From Otis Johnson, Roxburry Russett, and Easter Buerre
Pears.

From John Otven, Newton Pippin and Apples.

P. B lIovET, Jr.

FRUITSTESTED.—S. Walker: Baldwin, White Seek,
no-further, fine, Buerre Ranee, Caen de France.

B. V. French — White Seek-no-further, fine, Conway.

John Gordon — Eastern Buerre, fine.

Otis Johnson — Eastern Buerre, fine.

M. P. Wildsr — Easter Buerre, fine, Buerre Diel. Glout
Morceau, fine, Inconnue Van Mons, fine flavor and a prom-
ising fruit, Buerre d'Aremburg.

Hovey & Co.— Monarch, Glout Morceau.

TBB

J3URNAL OF PiURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. hi.

FEBRUARY, 1849.

No. 8.

Our readers very well know that, in the
country, whenever anything especially taste-
ful is to be done, when a church is to be
" dressed for Christmas," a public hall fes-
tooned for a fair, or a saloon decorated for
a horticultural show, we have to entreat
the assistance of the fairer half of humanity.
All that is most graceful and charming in
this way, owes its existence to female hands.
Over the heavy exterior of man's handi-
work, they weave a fairy-like web of en-
chantment, which, like our Indian summer
haze upon autumn hills, spiritualizes and
makes poetical, whatever of rude form or
rough outlines may lie beneath.

Knowing all this, as we well do, we
write this leader especially for the eyes of
the ladies. They are naturally mistresses
of the art of embellishment. Men are so
stupid, in the main, about these matters, that
if the majority of them had their own way
there would neither be a ringlet, nor a ruffle,
a wreath, nor a nosegay, left in the world.
All would be as stiff and as meaningless as
their own meagre black coats, — without an
atom of the graceful or romantic about
them ; nothing to awaken a spark of inte-
rest, or stir a chord of feeling ; nothing, in
short, but downright, common place, matter-
of-fact. And they undertake to defend it —

Vol, iil 23

the logicians — on the ground of utility, and
the spirit of the age ! As if trees did not
bear lovely blossoms as well as good fruit ;
as if the sun did not give us rainbows as
well as light and warmth ; as if there were
not still mocking-birds and nightingales as
well as ducks and turkeys.

But enough of that. You do not need
any arguments to prove that grace is a
quality as positive as electro-magnetism.
Would that you could span the world with
it as quickly as Mr. Morse with his tele-
graph. To come to the point, we want
to talk a little with you about what we call
the drapery of cottages and gardens ; about
those beautiful vines, and climbers, and
creepers, which nature made on purpose to
cover up everything ugly, and to heighten
the charm of everything pretty and pictu-
resque. In short, we want j'our aid and
assistance in dressing, embellishing and
decorating, not for a single holiday, fair,
or festival, but for years, and forever,
the outsides of our simple cottages and
country homes ; wreathing them about
with such perennial festoons of verdure,
and starring them over with such bouquets
of delicious odor, that your husbands and
brothers would no more think of giving up
such houses, than they would of aban-

354

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS.

doning you, (as that beggarly Greek, The-
seus, did the lovely Ariadne,) to the misery
of solitude on a desolate island.

And what a difference a little of this
kind of rural drapery, tastefully arranged,
makes in the aspect of a cottage or farm-
house in the country ! At the end of the
village, for instance, is that old fashioned
stone house, w^hich was the homestead of
Tim Steady. First and last, that family
lived there two generations ; and every-
thing about them had a look of some com-
fort. But, with the exception of a coat of
paint, which the house got once in ten
years, nothing was ever done to give the
place the least appearance of taste. An
old half-decayed ash tree stood near the
south door, and a few decrepid and worn-
out apple trees behind the house. But
there was not a lilac bush, nor a sj^rin-
go, not a rose bush, nor a honeysuckle, about
the whole premises. You would never
suppose that a spark of affection for nature,
or a gleam of feeling for grace or beauty,
in any shape, ever dawned within or around
that house.

Well, five years ago the place was put
up for sale. There were some things to
recommend it. There was a " good well
of water ;" the house was in excellent re-
pair ; and the location was not a bad one.
But, though many went to see it, and
" liked the place tolerably well," yet there
seemed to be a want of heart about it, that
made it unattractive, and prevented people
from buying it.

It was a good while in the market ; but,
at last, it fell into the hands of the Widow
Winning and her two daughters. They
bought it at a bargain, and must have fore-
seen its capabilities.

What that house and place is nov/, it
■"/ould do your hearts good to see. A porch
of rustic trellis-work was built over the front

door-way, simple and pretty hoods upon
brackets over the windows, the door-yard
was all laid out afresh, the worn out apple
trees were dug up, a nice bit of lawn made
around the house, and pleasant groups of
shrubbery, (mixed with two or three grace-
ful elms,) planted about it. But, most of
all, what fixes the attention, is the lovely
profusion of flowering vines that enrich the
old house ; and transform what was a soul-
less habitation, into a home that captivates
all eyes. Even the old and almost leaf-
less ash tree is quite overrun with a creep-
er, which is stuck full of gay trumpets
all summer, that seem to blow many a
strain of gladness to the passers by.
How many sorts of honeysuckle, clematises,
roses, etc., there are on wall or trellis
about that cottage, is more than we can
tell. Certain it is, however, that half the
village, walks past that house of a summer
night, and inwardly thanks the fair in-
mates for the fragrance that steals through
the air in its neighborhood ; and no less
certain is it that this house is now the "ad-
mired of all admirers," and that the Widow
Winning has twice refused double the sum
it went begging at when it was only the
plain and meagre home of Tim Steady.

Many of you in the country, as we well
know, are compelled by circumstances to
live in houses which some one else built,
or which have, by ill-luck, an ugly expres-
sion in every board or block of stone, from
the sill of the door to the peak of the roof.
Paint wont hide it, nor cleanliness disguise
it, however goodly and agreeable things
they are. But vines will do both ; or,
what is better, they will, with their lovely
graceful shapes, and rich foliage and flow-
ers, give a new character to the w^hole ex-
terior. However ugly the wall, however
bald the architecture, only give it this fair
drapery of leaf and blossom, and nature

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS.

355

will touch it at once with something of
grace and beauty.

" What are our favorite vines ?" This is
what you would ask of us, and this is what
we are most anxious to tell you ; as we
see, already, that no sooner will the spring
open, than you will immediately set about
the good work.

Our two favorite vines, theni, for the
adornment of cottages, in the northern
states, are the double Prairie Ro$e, and the
Chinese Wistaria. Why we like these
best is, because they have the greatest
number of good qualities to recommend
them. In the first place, they are hardy,
thriving in all soils and exposures ; in the
second place, they are luxuriant in their
growth, and produce an effect in a very
short time — after which, they may be kept
to the limits of a single pillar on the piaz-
za, or trained over the whole side of a cot-
tage ; in the last place, they are rich in the
foliage, and beautiful in the blossom.

Now there are many vines more beauti-
ful than these in some respects, but not for
this purpose, and taken altogether. For
cottage drapery, a popular vine must be
one that will grow anywhere, with little
care, and must need no shelter, and the
least possible attention, beyond seeing that
it has something to run on, and a looking
over, pruning, and tying up once a year —
say in early spring. This is precisely the
character of these two vines ; and hence
we think they deserve to be planted from
one end of the Union to the other. They
will give the greatest amount of beauty,
with the least care, and in the greatest
number of places.

The Prairie roses are, no doubt, known
to most of you. They have been raised
from seeds of the wild rose of Michigan,
which clambers over high trees in the
forests, and are remarkable for the profu-

sion of their very double flowers ; (so double,
that they always look like large pouting
buds, rather than full blown roses ;) and
their extreme hardiness and luxuriance of
growth, — shoots of twenty feet, in a single
year, being a not uncommon sight. Among
all the sorts yet known, the Queen of the
Prairies, (deep pink,) and Superba, (nearly
white,) are the best.

We wish we could give our fair readers
a glance at a Chinese Wistaria in our
grounds, as it looked last April. It covered
the side of a small cottage completely. If
they will imagine a space of 10 by 20 feet,
completely draped with Wistaria shoots,
on which hung, thick as in a flower pat-
tern, at least 500 clusters of the xnost deli-
cate blossoms, of a tint between pearl and
lilac, each bunch of bloom shaped like that
of a locust tree, but eight inches to a foot
long, and most gracefully pendant from
branches just starting into tender green
foliage ; if, we say, they could see all this,
as we saw it, and not utter exclamations of
delight, then they deserve to be classed
with those women of the nineteenth century,
who are thoroughly "fit for sea-captains."

For a cottage climber, that will take care
of itself better than almost any other, and
embower door and windows with rich foli-
age and flowers, take the common Bour-
sault Rose. Long purplish shoots, foliage
always fresh and abundant, and bright
purplish blossoms in June, as thick as stars
in a midnight sky,' — all belong to this plant.
Perhaps the richest and prettiest Boursault,
is the one called by the nurserymen Amo'
dls, or Elegans ; the flower a bright cherry
colour, becoming crimson purple as it fades,
with a delicate stripe of white through an
occasional petal.

• There are two very favorite climbers
that belong properly to the middle states,
as they are a little tender, and need protec-

356

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS.

tion to the north or east. One of them is
the Japan Honeysuckle, {Lonicera japoni-
ca, or Jlexuosa;*) the species with very-
dark, half evergreen leaves, and a profu-
sion of lovely delicate white and fawn
coloured blossoms. It is the queen of all
honeysuckles for cottage walls, or veranda
pillars ; its foliage is always so rich ; it
is entirely free from the white aphis, (which
is the pest of the old sorts,) and it blooms
(as soon as the plant gets strong,) nearly
the whole summer, — affording a perpetual
feast of beauty and fragrance. The other,
is the Sweet-scented Clematis, {C. ftamTmi-
la,) the very type of delicacy and grace,
whose flowers are broidered like pale stars
over the whole vine in midsummer, and
whose perfume is the most spiritual, im-
palpable, and yet far-spreading of all vege-
table odors.

All the honeysuckles are beautiful in the
garden, though none of them, except the
foregoing, and what are familiarly called
the " trumpet honeysuckles," are fit for the
walls of a cottage, because they harbor in-
sects. Nothing, however, can well be pret-
tier than the Red and Yellow Trumpet
Honeysuckles, when planted together and
allowed to interweave their branches, con-
trasting the delicate straw colour of the
flower tubes of one, with the deep coral-red
hue of those of the other ; and they bloom
with a welcome prodigality from April to
December.

Where you want to produce a bold and
picturesque effect vnth a vine, nothing will
do it more rapidly and completely than our
native grapes. They are precisely adapted
to the porch of the farm house, or to cover
any building, or part of a building, where
expression of strength rather than of deli-
cacy is sought after. Then you will find it
easy to smooth away all objections from

* The " Chinese twining," of some gardens.

the practical soul of the farmer, by offering
him a prospect of ten bushels of fine Isa-
bella or Catawba grapes a year, which you,
in your innermost heart, do not value half
so much as five or ten months of beautiful
drapery !

Next to the grape-vine, the boldest and
most striking of hardy vines is the Dutch-
man's pipe, {Aristolochia sipho.) It is a
grand twining climber, and will canopy
over a large arbor in a short time, and make
a shade under it so dense that not a ray of
pure sunshine will ever find its way
through. Its gigantic, circular leaves, of a
rich green, form masses such as delight a
painter's eye, — so broad and effective are
they ; and as for its flowers^ which are
about an inch and a half long, — why, they
are so like a veritable vieerschanvi — the
pipe of a true Dutchman from " Fader-
land" — that you cannot but laugh outright
at the first sight of them. Whether Daphne
was truly metamorphosed into the sweet
flower that bears her name, as Ovin says>
we know not ; but no one can look at the
blossom of the Dutchman's pipe vine, with-
out being convinced that nature has punish-
ed some inveterately lazy Dutch smoker by
turning him into a vine, which loves nothing
so well as to bask in the warm sunshine,
with its hundred pipes, dangling on all sides.

And now, having glanced at the best of
the climbers and twiners, properly so called,
(all of which need a little training and sup-
porting,) let us take a peep at those climb-
ing shrubs that seize bold of a wall, build-
ing, or fence, of themselves, by throwing-
out their little rootlets into the stone or
brick wall as they grow up, so that it is as
hard to break up any attachments of theirs,
when they get fairly established, as it was
to part Hector and Andromache. The prin-
cipal of these are the true Ivy of Europe, the
Virginia Creeper, or American Ivy, and ih&

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS.

357

"Trumpet Creepers," [Bignonias ox Ttco-
inas.)

These are all fine, picturesque vines, not
to be surpassed for certain effects by any-
thing else that will grow out of doors in our
climate. You must remember, however,
that, as they are wedded for life to what-
ever they cling to, they must not be planted
by the sides of wooden cottages, which are
to be kept in order by a fresh coat of paint
now and then. Other climbers may be
taken down, and afterwards tied back to
their places ; but constant, indissoluble in-
timacies like these must be let alone. You
will therefore always take care to plant them
where they can fix themselves permanently
on a wall of some kind, or else upon some
rough wooden building, where they will
not be likely to be disturbed.

Certainly the finest of all this class of
climbers is the European Ivy. Such rich
masses of glossy, deep green foliage, such
fine contrasts of light and shade, and such
a wealth of associations, is possessed by no
other plant ; the Ivy, to which the ghost of
all the storied past, alone tells its tale of
departed greatness ; the confidant of old
ruined castles and abbeys ; the bosom com-
panion of solitude itself, —

*' Deep in your most sequestered bower
Let me at last recline,
Where solitude, mild, mojest flower,
Leans on her ivy'd shrine."

True to these instincts, the Ivy does not
seem to be naturalized so easily in Ameri-
ca as most other foreign vines. We are
yet too young — this country of a great fu-
ture, and a little past.

The richest and most perfect specimen
of it that we have seen, in the northern
states, is upon the cottage of Washington
Irving, on the Hudson, near Tarrytown.
He, who, as you all know, lingers over the
past with a reverence as fond and poetical

as that of a pious CrHsader for the walls of
Jerusalem — yes, he has completely won the
sympathies of the Ivy, even on our own soil,
and it has garlanded and decked his antique
and quaint cottage, "Sunnyside," till its
windows peep out from amid the wealth of
its foliage, like the dark eyes of a Spanish
senora from a shadowy canopy of dark lace
and darker tresses.

The Ivy is the finest of climbers, too, be-
cause it is so perfectly evergreen. North of
New- York it is a little tender, and needs to
be sheltered for a few years, (unless it be
planted on a north wall, quite out of the
reach of the winter sun ;) and north of Al-
bany, we think it will not grow at all. But
all over the middle states it should be
planted and cherished, wherever there is a
wall for it to cling to, as the finest of all
cottage drapery.

After this plant, comes always our Vir-
ginia Creeper, or American Ivy, as it is
often called, {Jmpelopsis.) It grows more
rapidly than the Ivy, clings in the same
way to wood or stone, and makes rich and
beautiful festoons of verdure in summer,
dying off in autumn, before the leaves fall,
in the finest crimson. Its greatest beauty,
on this account, is perhaps seen when it
runs up in the centre of a dark cedar, or
other evergreen, — exhibiting in October
the richest contrast of the two colours. It
will grow anywhere, in the coldest situa-
tions, and only asks to be planted, to work
out its own problem of beauty without fur-
ther attention. This and the European Ivy
are the two climbers, above all others, for
the exteriors of our rural stone churches ;
to which they will give a local interest great-
er than that of any carving in stone, at a
millionth part of the cost.

The common Trumpet Creeper all of you
know by heart. It is rather a wild and
rambling fellow in its habits ; but nothing

358

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS.

is better to cover old outside chimneys,
stone out-buildings, and rude walls and
fences. The sort with large cup-shaped
flowers, {Tecoma grandiflora, described in
vol. 2d, page 508,) is a most showy and
magnificent climber in the middle states,
where the winters are moderate, abso-
lutely glowing in July with its thousands
of rich orange-red blossoms, like clusters of
bright goblets.

We might go on and enumerate dozens
more of fine twining shrubs and climbing
roses ; but that would only defeat our pre-
sent object, which is not to give you a gar-
den catalogue, but to tell you of half a
dozen hardy shrubby vines, which we im-
plore you to make popular ; so that wherever
we travel, from Maine to St. Louis, we
shall see no rural cottages shivering in their
chill nudity of bare walls or barer boards,
but draped tastefully with something fresh,
and green, and graceful : let it be a hop
vine if nothing better, — but roses, and
wistaria, and honeysuckles, if they can be
had. How much this apparently trifling
feature, if it could be generally carried out,
would alter the face of the whole country,
you will not at once be able to believe.
What summer foliage is to a naked fo-
rest, what rich tufts of ferns are to a
rock in a woodland dell, what " hyacin-
thine locks" are to the goddess of beauty,
or wings to an angel, the drapery of climb-
ing plants is, to cottages in the coun-
try.

One word or two about vines in the gar-
den and pleasure grounds, before we con-
clude. How to make arbors and trellises
is no mystery, though you will, no doubt,
agree with us, that the less formal and the
more rustic the better. But how to manage
single specimens of fine climbers, in the
lawn or garden, so as to display them to the
best advantage, is not quite so clear. Small

fanciful frames are pretty, but soon want
repairs ; and stakes, though ever so stout,
will rot off" at the bortom, and blow down
in high winds, to your great mortification ;
and that too, perhaps, when your plant is
in its very court dress of bud and blossom.

Now the best mode of treating single
vines, when you have not a tree to fes-
toon them upon, is one which many of you
will be able to attain easily. It is nothing
more than g-etting from the woods the trunk
of a cedar tree, from 10 to 15 feet high,
shortening-in all the side branches to with-
in two feet of the trunk, (and still shorter
near the top,) and setting it again, as you
would a post, two or three feet deep in the
ground.*

Cedar is the best ; partly because it will
last forever, and partly because the regu-
lar disposition of its branches forms natu-
rally a fine trellis for the shoots to fasten
upon.

Plant your favorite climber, whether
rose, wistaria, or honeysuckle, at the foot
of this tree. It will soon cover it, from top
to bottom, with the finest pj'ramid of ver-
dure. The young shoots will ramble out
on its side branches, and when in full
bloom, will hang most gracefully or pictu-
resquely from the ends.

The advantage of this mode is that, once
obtained, your support lasts for 50 years ;
it is so firm that winds do not blow it down ;
it presents every side to the kindly influen-
ces of sun and air, and permits every blos-
som that opens, to be seen by the admiring
spectator. How it looks at first, and after-
wards, in a complete state, we have endea-
vored to give you a faint idea in this little
sketch.

" What shall those of us do who have
neither cottages nor gardens ? — who, in

* We owe this hint to Mr. Alfred Smith, of Newport,
a most intelligent and successful amcitcur, in wliose garden
we first saw fine specimens of this mode of treating climbers.

ON THE DRAPERY OF COTTAGES AND GARDENS,

359

?4^^

^i

^%^

yr-ifir^ lii

Fig. 41. — Climbing Plants on Cedar Trunks-

sliort, are confined to a little front and back
yard of a town life, and yet who love vines
and climbing plants with all our hearts ?"

That is a hard case, truly. But, now we
think of it, that ingenious and clever horti-
ctflteur, Monsieur Van Houtte, of Ghent,
has contrived the very thing for you.* Here
it is. He calls it a " Trellis Mobile ;" and
if we mistake not, it will be quite as valua-
ble for the ornament and defence of cities,

* Flore des Strret.

Fig. 42.~MoveabU Trellis.

as the Garde Mobile of the Parisians,

It

is nothing more than a good strong wooden
box, upon wooden rollers. The box is
about three feet long, and the double trel-
lis may be eight or ten feet high. In this
box the finer sorts of exotic climbers, such
as Passion Flowers, Everblooming Roses,
Maurandias, Ipomea Learii, and the like,
may be grown with a charming effect. Put
upon wheels, as this itinerant bower is, it
may be transported, as Mr. Van Houtte
says, " wherever fancy dictates, and even
into the apartments of the house itself."
And here, having fairly escorted you back
to your apartments, after our long talk
about out-door drapery, we leave you to
examine the Trellis Mobile, and wish you
a good morning.

FIjOWTJRS and the FRENCH REVOLUTION.

[teanslatzd fkom the revue horticole.]

There is a vein of pleasant satire in the
following article, so peculiarly French, and
so amusingly characteristic of the times on
the other side of the Atlantic, that we give
the following free translation, for the bene-
fit of those of our readers who have not
thought so profoundly as the hero of the
story, of the effect of liberty and equality
on the rank and beauty of the floral
world. Ed.

My Dear Karr* — I remember you for-
merly, occupied, above all, with the care
of your garden, your budding and grafting,
your Roses and your Dahlias. In your lei-
sure hours, between the spade and the pen,
after indulging in a revery before the ocean,
you amused yourself by braving it in your
little fishing boat.

Now, you are at Paris, encountering
another, more terrible sea ; a sea which,
at this moment, is lashing all its shores,
and whose waves are shaking thrones, and
causing monarchies to tremble.

You are no longer a horticulturist ; but
an editor, bravely sharing in the great
struggle, and, doubtless, looking back with
regret to that delicious garden on the coast,
which you hope, by the grace of God and
your malelot, to find just as you left it.
But alas ! my friend, the tempest which
has agitated France and Europe, may well
have overturned gardens also. Old Pria-
pus threatens to become a republican. A
serious and important matter, of which, un-
til this moment, I had not dreamed, has
been revealed to me. The history is curi-
ous enough, and is worth relating. You
may lake advantage of it to warn those

• Adilressedto M. Alphonse Kabb, adistiiigui'hed French
wnlw.

readers of the Journal who, rejoicing in a
parterre, or even a few simple flower pots,
to grace their balcony or window, run the
risk, from that single fact, of being taken
for bad citizens, or being counted revolu-
tionary horticulturists.

One of my country neighbors is a good
and worthy man, of an amiable tempera-
ment, but sometimes a little wild, as is the
case with all those who are entirely ab-
sorbed with one favorite idea.

For some time past, I had only met him
at rare intervals ; and then he was anxious,
morose, absorbed in himself. His door was
almost always closed ; and if by chance he
opened it, it was not until he had carefully
inspected, from the window, the appearance
of the visitorwithout. At one time I thought
he was engaged in a conspiracy. Conspi-
rators multiply in these times, and they are
divided in two categories, — the old and the
new ; the former are prefects or judges ;
the latter, are arraigned before the old.

My friend was neither prefect nor prison-
er. I did not know then in which category
to place him, when lately I met him as he
was leaving his house, after having doubly
locked his door.

" Par6?eu, neighbor," said I, "what is
the meaning of this riddle ? You have
become completely invisible. Are you
making powder, or counterfeiting bank
notes? Three times, already, have I pre-
sented myself at your door. Your dog
alone answered me ; but he did not admit
me. Seriously, what are you doing ? What
has become of you ? Just this moment
you sought to escape me. Are you offended
with me ?"

" No ! grand Dieu ! quite the contrary,"

FLOWERS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

361

he replied ; " but you know we all have
our troubles — our annoyances. What is
the use, then, of showing a discontented
face ? I am uneasy, very uneasy."

*' Uneasy, and why ? "

" Oh ! for many reasons ;" and he drew
a long sigh. "In these days, there are
certain positions, very compromising."

" How ! you compromised ? "

"I may be so, at any time," said he,
lowering his voice ; " one indiscreet, or ill-
natured person is all that is wanting. But
I have perfect confidence in you, my neigh-
bor. You will not betray me ; you are in-
capable of it. And, besides, I need some
one to confide in. Listen — when you first
accosted me you startled me, I was so ab-
sorbed in thought."

" What were you thinking of? "

" Of the DucHEssE of Orleans — of the
Count of Paris — of the Duke of Join-
viLLE. I repeat it, — my position is very em-
barrassing, if they remain longer with me."

" What, they with you !" I exclaimed, in
amazement.

'* Yes, it is, undoubtedly, very impru-
dent, is it not ? "

You must remember that the events of
June were hardly over. In the journals, in
conversation, &c., it had been a question
frequently, of the rights and wrongs of the
pretenders who, it was rumored, kept them-
selves in Paris, or the environs, ready to
take advantage of any fortunate circum-
stances. Confounded by this disclosure of
my simple hearted neighbor, I believed at
first that he had given shelter to the three
noble persons mentioned, and that the
counsels of the regency were actually held
at his house.

"Yes, they are there," added he, point-
ing mysteriously towards his closed door.
"They are yet there, until I shall have
taken a decisive step in this matter."

" And which side do you mean to take ?"

" The wisest would be to give each one
a finishing stroke with the spade. But no,
no, I should never have the courage to do
it ! They are so beautiful ! and in full
flower, ??tonsieur ! Will you look at them?
You are an amateur, I believe."

My common sense here aided me to
comprehend what in reality he was talkintr
about. My neighbor is a fanatical horti-
culturist ; one of those insane " collectors,"
who exist in France, and of which Holland
and England have furnished the types.

While I had been recovering from my
astonishment, he had opened his gate,
which he directly and carefully closed
upon us. I soon found myself between a
double row of flower-borders, admirably
arranged, and carefully labelled. The
council of regency consisted of three Dah-
lias, of superb colour and form.

" If those were the only ones which
might compromise me," replied my good
neighbor, " I would make the sacrifice —
perhaps ! But, sir, either in Roses or in
Dahlias, do I not possess the whole of the
fallen family, from Louis Phillippe down
to his grand-children, the Due de Chartres
and the Comte d'Eu ! See, here is the
Princesse de Juhiville, le Due d''^umale, le
Due et la Duchesse de Vernours, la Priri'
ccsse Clementine, la Heine des Beiges, — even
the Duchesse of Mecklenbourg ! All of the
choicest, finely formed, entirely double,
and without the slightest appearance of a sta-
men ! And they want me to give them up !"

" Who dreams of exacting such a sacri-
fice from you ?" said I. " Flowers have in
themselves nothing seditious. Their names
no longer belong to the order of the day, it
is true ; but are you responsible for the
name they bear ? You were not their god-
father. They cannot, then, be considered
any estimate of your political opinions."

362

FLOWERS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

" Political opinions !" replied he, with
an almost ferocious air, "I have none ! I
never had any ! I never shall have any !
What is the use of politics ? To overturn
gardens ! Have they not already contem-
plated the proscription of the Lily, the Vio-
let, the Pink? Formerly, the Red and
White Roses agitated England, I know ;
I have heard so ; but is that any reason for
persecuting those existing now, — the roses
of the nineteenth century ? What, to me,
are all these foolish and miserable quarrels
of systems and governments ? Let them
leave us alone — my flowers and myself !
But let them also leave me my flowers
with their luimes ! I would sooner change
my own name than to be obliged to un-
baptize them ! The authorities, however,
will have it so ! They have might on their
side ! There will be a law to that efl^ect,
you will see ! It is easy enough to make
a law. It is not so easy to make cata-
logues, however ! But revolutions respect
nothing !"

I tried to quiet him. " My good neigh-
bor," said I, " well, let us see, when it be-
comes necessary, to change some of your
labels, — will that be so great a misfortune ?"

" How," said he, " some, all sir, or al-
most all ? It is a slight thing to attack one
family. Have they not overturned royalty
itself ? Just look at this collection of Roses,
almost all regal, and consequently pro-
scribed. Here is la Reine des Cent feuilles,
la Reine des perpetuelles, la Reine de la
Guillotine, la Rose Royale, le Caruim Roy ale,
la Rose du Roi, Vlmperatrice de France !
There is no escaping it ! But it was not
enough to attack a single family, and roy-
alty itself! Your innovators also have sup-
pressed the nobility ! and how many of our
Roses are either countesses or baronesses ?
Even marchionesses ! La Comtesse Duchd-
tel, la Comtesse Lacipcde, la Marquise Tur-

got, la Barronne Carruel, la Barronne Du-
puytren ! and as many more ! But do you
think, sir, that the proscription will stop
here ? No, no, do not deceive yourself.
Napoleon himself will not escape. Napo-
leon le Gra?id! — a magnificent Fuchsia.
Among the Fritillaires, have we not la
Couronne Jinperiale ; among the Narcissus,
le Grand MoJiarque ; and the Tulips, Mon-
sieur, the Tulips ! almost all belong to the
nobility, and are titled personages, — to be-
gin with the Due de Thol. I repeat to
you, it is re-creating a whole world ! and
who will charge themselves with it ? Not
I ! I tell you, your representatives of the
people would do better to suppress, at one
blow, all the flowers ! And they call that
a constitutional assembly ! " But let them
beware," added he, with a voice full of
vehemence ; " plants have their rights also !
Those who love them and cultivate them,
have done more for humanity than all your
legislators — past and present. That man
who first cultivated a grain of corn, en-
dowed the world with an inexhaustible
treasure. Tea, coffee, sugar-cane, — have
they not made the fortune of several conti-
nents ? For the sake of those plants which
have created so much wealth, let them re-
spect those which only bestow happiness !
They are all connected together. Besides,
how do you know that the most humble
will not, some day, become the most useful ?
The Monarde Rouge, (sweet balm,) at first
gathered as a simple ornamental flower,
was once very near disputing the ground
with Tea itself, and disinheriting China to
the advantage of Pennsylvania, its native
land. Perhaps the roots of the Dahlia, now
become edible, will replace, advantageous-
ly, those of the Potato, which is dying out
and disappearing — like all the kings !
But to attack their nomenclature, is to un-
dermine science, and to stab to the heart

FLOWERS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

363

those who are occupied with it ! It is odi-
ous ! It is a scandal ! It is a tyranny !"

I saw that he was much excited, and,
consequently, little disposed to listen to
reason. Nevertheless, I attempted again
to treat his fears as imaginary.

" No," said I, "be assured the Republic
will respect the heraldry of flowers." But,
not succeeding in convincing him, I adroitly
changed the topic ; and after having spoken
of the rain, and the fine weather, I know
not how, my thoughts transported me, all
at once, into Algiers, where I endeavored
to force my friend to accompany me. I
occupied him with colonization, Abd-el-
Kader, the Kabyles, the great deeds of
our soldiers and their brave commanders,
which naturally led me to mention General
Cavaignac, Gen. Lamoriciere, and Gen.

BUGEAUD.

My neighbor seemed to grant me only a
doubtful attention; he murmured between
his teeth, darting the most ferocious looks
towards his flower borders. At the men-
tion of the last name, however, he raised
his head.

" Marshal Bugeaud I Do you know
him?" asked he. "I have not the honor.
He is one of our finest Roses, mo7isie2ir."

" How, Marshal Bugeaud, a Rose ?"

"Yes, a Tea Rose, — superb; whose
name, of course, it will be necessary to
chansfe !" added he, with another sig-h.
"He is not in favor just now."

" You are needlessly alarmed, dear neigh-
bor," said I. "The Republic will not re-
pudiate any of the glories of France. * *
But, pardon me, I hardly believed that a
Rose could have the name of a man."

" "Why not ? Flowers are of no sex ; at
least, the double ones. It is an undisputed
truth in botany. See here, just beside
Marshal Bugeaud, are M. Theirs, M. Victor
Hugo, M. de Lamartine" —

" You have a glorious collection," I said,
examining them.

" It is tolerably complete, thank you.
But you cannot judge of M. de Lamartine,
just now; he has suffered. * * * *
He is a little cast down — out of flower
just now; but he will rise again! He
is one of the perpetuals — (c'est une remon-
tante.y

I fancied he was making a touching al-
lusion to the great poet ; and immediately
seizing the hand of the excellent old man,
I pressed it warmly. He looked at me
with a confused air. The dear neighbor
had no finesse, and spoke as a simple, naif
horticulturist.

" M. Theirs, M. Victor Hugo, M. de La-
martine,^^ rejoined he, "still political Roses!
Names that I shall be again obliged to
change some day, if the contrary party
should triumph. You see the horticultural
nomenclature is threatened with a complete
overturning, and this nomenclature is sci-
ence itself. Consult the professors. I com-
prehend that a change of government brings
some modifications in the names of certain
streets, of certain places. That the street
Ruyale is named street of the Republic, I
agree readily ; that the Place Royale should
be called Place des Vosges, if they wish it,
I will not oppose it. These places may
still be recognized by their outward appear-
ance and circumstances. We shall say, the
Place des Vosges, in the Marais, at the end
of the street Saint Louis, if they will leave
even Saint Louis in repose. And, for those
persons who do not easily become familiar
with new names, they may say, the street
of the Republic, near the Place Louis XV.,
or, that of La Concorde, or, of the Revolu-
tion, as you will ! But when I wish to de-
signate the Rose Royal, or the Reine des
Pimprenelles, is it becoming to say La
Rose des Vosges, or La Republique des Pirn-

364

GRAPE CULTURE IN THE VINERY.

preneUes ? I ask you, is it not nonsense ?
Besides, I cannot, as in speaking of a public
square or a street, resort to the expedient
of using circumlocutions to indicate the
route which leads to it. And if, from the
vegetable kingdom, we ascend to the ani-
mal, do we not here still find something to
change. I see at once the Royal Tiger,
the Roijal Eagle ! Will you say VAi-
gle des Vosges, h Tigre de la Repuhlique?
A double absurdity ! There are no eagles
among the Vosgers, monsieur ; and if the
Republic produces tigers she had better not
boast of it. And the lion, the king of ani-
mals, will you proceed to make him first
consul or president of the animals ? Ano-
ther folly ! You see plainly it is absurd ;
it is odious ! Let each one retain his name
in the menagerie, as in the garden, iox fen
revieus n mes moutons, that is, to my Dah-

lias and my Roses ! I assert that a change
of nomenclature, then, would produce dis-
order, confusion and chaos. I intend to
address a petition to the Chamber ; and if
the representatives do not grant its rights,
if the government persists in this revolu-
tionary measure, — very well! The Bon
Jardinier* will not appear next year, and
then we shall see !"

I left my good neighbor to digest his pe-
tition, which, I believe, will not be more
ridiculous than many others. But, in the
mean time, while the question is preparing
for the National Assembly, it seems to me
there is for you, my friend, the thread of a
curious chapter to put in your Gucpes. You
may entitle it — " On the Influence of De-
mocratic Revolutions, on Dahlias and
OTHER Ornamental Flowers."

X. B. Saintine,

GRAPE CULTURE IN THE VINERY.

BY GEORGE GABRIEL, NEW- HAVEN.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: I sup-
pose sufficient has been written, from time
to time, on the cultivation of the vine, un-
der glass structures, for all practical pur-
poses, and to enable any one to make the
attempt without any apprehension as to the
result. Indeed, from the success that has
attended my own limited experience, the
difficulties and mysteries that appeared to
hang like a cloud about graperies, have en-
tirely vanished.

It is true, that labor and attention are ne-
cessary. Pomona does not yield her favors
profusely in any department, without re-
ceiving some kind attentions. Yet, the
gratifi;ation of cultivating, and the luxury
of enjoying this delicious fruit, might be
greatly extended ; and would be, I think,

were there a more general diffusion of in-
telligence in relation to its cultivation. It
appears to me, now, perfectly simple and
easy.

The testimony of any successful cultiva-
tor, in relation to any fruit or plant that
has been supposed to be attended by diffi-
culties in its culture, may encourage others
to engage in it. This is the motive I have
in addressing you.

My attention has been given, more or
less, to horticultural pursuits, or, rather,
horticultural pleasures, for some ten years
past ; and nothing has afforded me more
satisfaction, than the success that has at-
tended the cultivation of twelve or fourteen

» The standard French gardening work ; a new edition of
wiiicli ajipears annually.

GRAPE CULTURE IN THE VINERY.

365

foreign varieties of grapes, in a small cold-
house grapery.

With your indulgence, I will give a
brief, general account, from the beginning,
for the benefit of any interested in this
subject. And I will state here, that I am
indebted to the Horticulturist, Hovey's Ma-
gazine, and a Treatise on the Culture of
the Grape, by J. F. Allen, of Salem, Mass.,
for all the information I needed, in order
to the successful and gratifying results which
have attended my labors thus far.

In the first place, I made in the autumn
of 1846, a good border. This is considered
indispensable ; and without which, it would
be just as useless to plant vines as it is to
plant truit trees in the way they often are,
and where the product is only disappoint-
ment. Our ground is light and sandy. I
dug from two and a half to three feet deep,
removed the subsoil and sand, and filled in
with a pretty large variety, — such as broken
brick, old mortar, turf sods, oyster shells,
leather parings from a shoe shop and tan-
nery, bones, compost of peat muck and ma-
nure, soil, &c., well mixed together. Not
much precaution being necessary in regard
to drainage, as there would be on a heavy
wet bottom.

During the winter the house was built ;
a particular description of which is unne-
cessary, as several have been described in
your valuable journal. The mode of ven-
tilating, however, is somewhat different
from any I have seen described, and which
I think favorably of. I will go far enough
to give an idea of this part ; it being an
important one in warm weather.

The house stands against a high, tight
board fence, and is about ten feet high.
The back wall and ends are of plank, one
and a half inch thick — matched. The
space between the house and fence is made
tight ; and is so far double, and has af-

forded all the protection that appears to be
needed.

The top sashes are stationary. The
front sashes are about two and a half feet
long, that is, up and down, hung with butts
at top, and swing outward. Whole height
of front wall is three feec eight inches.
From the top or apex of the house is a
slope, of about two feet, to the back wall,
half of which is open the whole length of
the building next the top. This is the part
I wish to notice. The rafters here are six
feet apart, which leaves openings of nearly
six feet in length, and one wide. These
openings are covered with doors, hung
with butts, which open upward, and back
against a balustrade. They are opened
and closed by hooks, about three feet long,
made of large wire, by which they are also
fastened when closed, if need be.

Thus, the draft of air is directly under
the top sash, and in contact with the vines.
These and the front sashes, together with
a glass door at one end, and a window,
hung to swing open at the other, aflJbrd
very complete ventilation.

I procured vines two years old in pots,
during the winter, and planted them out
on the 12th of April, 1847, previously cut-
ting them back to two or three eyes, trained
the best shoots and pinched off' the others.
I planted just outside the grapery, and near
the surface, — covering the roots from two
to four inches only, and mulched when the
weather became warm. This is of great
service, I think, to newly planted vines or
trees. The vines received some attention
almost daily through the season, and made
rapid growth, — measuring two inches in
circumference in the fall. They were not
over three-sixteenths when set out. Took
them from the trellis in November, and cut
them back to two and three feet, expecting
some fruit the next season, in which I was

366

GRAPE CULTURE IN THE VINERY.

not disappointed. Laid them down first of
December, near the front wall, inside, and
covered with leaves and other litter. I
also covered the border outside with the
like, to protect the roots.

April 5th, 184S, I uncovered the vines,
and found them in good condition. Kept
them in a horizontal position, near the
ground, till the buds broke, and till some
had grown several inches and showed fruit
buds. Syringed them every fair day, while
in this position, and kept the earth damp
around them. First of May, tied them to
the trellis. The vines showed more fruit
than they would probably have been able
to mature. Left from two to five bunches |
only on each. During the summer I did
not syringe the foliage, but watered the
floor of the house frequently in clear wea-
ther, to create a damp atmosphere.

In training and trimming the vines, thin-
ning the fruit, &c., I have been guided by
the works before alluded to, in which are
ample directions. In regard, however, to
allowing the vines not to bear till they
are several years old, I have not followed
the directions generally prescribed. It ap-
pears to me the condition of the vines and
other circumstances should determine that
point.

From the eight vines that bore, (the
others were set out later,) I had twenty-
seven bunches, well ripened fruit, — large
and handsome ; at the same time, large
and well ripened wood. This year's growth
measuring two and three-fourths inches in
circumference.

The varieties were White and Black
Hamburgh, Royal Muscadine, White Fron-
tignan. White Muscat of Alexandria, and
ZinfindaL This last bore three bunches
nearly a foot in length, with shoulders two-
fehirds as long as the main bunch.

Thus, you see, that in the short period

of less than eighteen months from the time
of plantmg the vines, I obtained most beau-
tiful fruit, and in greater quantity than
would be expected of any other kind, under
any sort of treatment that I know of.

Mildew attacked the vines slightly in
July, which I prevented the spreading of
by syringing them with a preparation re-
commended by Mr. Russell, in Hovey's
Magazine, vol. 12, page 39L The same
receipt is on page 40, Allen's Treatise.
To destroy the vine-hopper, (a very injuri-
ous insect,) I closed the house and fumi-
gated with smoke of tobacco. This is one
of the advantages of a house. Not only
the temperature can be regulated to suit
the vines, but the insects can be regulated
too. This insect has injured my out-of-
door vines very much, in years past ; and it
is no small comfort to be able to put a stop
to its destructive propensities in about ten
minutes' time. It can be destroyed in the
same way out doors, it is said,* by throw-
ing a sort of tent over the vine or trellis, to
prevent the escape of insect or smoke.
Morning — early — or a damp day is the best
time.

I will add, that I tried vines in pots dur-
ing the same time, with perfect success.
A Black Hamburgh, potted last year, bore
nine bunches. The fruit was not quite so
well coloured as that on the vines in the
ground, but was very fine. I also tried an
Isabella in pot, as an experiment, giving it
the same treatment in training and feeding
as the Hamburgh. It bore ten bunches,
ripened well, was high flavored, not so
large as out-door fruit; berry more oval.
[Is not worth the trouble in a grapery.]

I had, in addition, two Isabella vines,
trained on the back wall of the grapery,
which were planted out several years be-
fore it was built. I allowed them to re-

* Dr, Harris's Entomology, page IS5,

PEAR BLIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

367

main, in order to ascertain how they would
do under glass. They have borne two sea-
sons. The fruit was good, but smaller
than that out of doors, and the shape more
oval. I am satisfied that such protection

will not improve the Isabella, and have ac-
cordingly had them taken up and given to
my neighbor who had none. Very respect-
fully, G. Gabriel.

New-Haven, C't., Nov. 25, 1843.

NOTES ON PEAR BLIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

BY E. MALLINCKROTT, ST. LOUIS.

Having been a subscriber to your valuable
journal from its beginning, there were no
articles which I read and studied with more
interest and anxiety than those on the pear
blight ; for I had much at stake.

Nine years ago I imported from Germa-
ny, Belgium, and France, among many
other valuable fruits, about 80 varieties,
and from all parts of the Union about 60
more of the choicest pear trees known,
which I planted in the immediate vicinity
of St. Louis, on a new and excellent piece
of light rich loamy soil, where they grew
for seven years with a uniform soundness,
luxuriance and rapidity, to me before un-
known, even in the finest European pear
countries. Already did I pride myself in
the vanity of my heart, when I saw and
heard of other blighted orchards, that mine
would escape on account of the superior
care and pains I took, or imagined myself
to take, with my favorite children — the
pear trees. But alas, for all human hopes
and calculations ! I am humbled with bit-
ter disappointment now ; and my neigh-
bors, whose previous loss I partly ascribed
to less care, have their full and just retal-
iation upon me.

Last year, in the spring, I discovered, for
the first time, that a few of my favorite
trees became infected with the dreaded
blight. Although I lopped off immediately
^he injured parts, it did not at all stop the

progress of the disease ; they speedily died
from the tops downward, to the roots. I
consoled myself as well as I could with
this loss of a few trees, in the hope of the
great numbers I had, whose soundness
hardly admitted the thought of an entire
loss. Last spring came in, after a mild
winter, and behold ! among 300 pear, ap-
ple and quince trees, the blight spread over
almost every tree alike, and made its first
general appearance as early as the middle
of April, after the following manner : You
first observe the young shoots, which have
started from the terminal bud of the previ-
ous fall, suddenly wither. Wherever this
is the case, you find a cavity in the centre
of said terminal buds, evidently eat out by
an insect, which itself, however, you never
discover ; for by the time the shoot wilts,
it is already gone ; as you frequently dis-
cover a small black point on the side of the
bud, where it has most probably made its
exit in the larva state, tumbled on the
ground, wherein it perfects itself into a
black insect of the size of a flea, the larva
of which must be very diminutive, and the
eo-g of which is doubtless deposited in the
bud the previous fall ; whereupon said lar-
va grows during the first warm days in
spring by feeding upon the sap and mar-
row of the young shoot. But after the bug
is perfected, it spreads over every part of
the tree, and feeds upon the sap, until tho

368

PEAR BLIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

end of the summer. The effect upon trees
so injured is distressing. It is always fatal
to the pear tree. Young ones die the first
season so attacked, while aged trees perish
within two or three years after by degrees ;
but die they must.

Now for the result of my own orchard :
All my pear trees, but five, are now dead.
The quince trees are dying. Of the apple
trees, a dozen dead, and the balance bad-
ly injured; but these will likely recover.
Wherever trees are thus attacked, they
appear to be poisoned, — the sap oozing out
gluey and vitiated ; the bark shrivels, be-
comes dry and black, as, also, the wood,
until it spreads down to the root, when the
whole tree is overcome. The injured parts
emit a bad, offensive odor ; in fine, morti-
fication takes place, with precisely the same
symptoms as in animal bodies. The least
sting of the insect introduces rank poison ;
especially upon the pear tree, constitution-
ally more tender than the apple, and being
carried, in a short time, Avith the descend-
ing sap into the vitality of the plant, it per-
ished like the animal, bit by a venomous
snake. I am not positive that the described
bug is the very insect to whom I impute
the mischief; but it is more than probable.
During last spring and summer, while the
injury was doing, those trees were covered
with that bug ; and late in the fall I found
about 50 of them in mummy state, fixed
with their backs, and put up in a regular
circle, upon a ripe pear, and a fine and close
web spun over them.

A singular feature of this disease is also
the fact, clearly established by Captain
Lewis Bissell, before the Horticultural
Society of St. Louis, last siimmer, that it is
communicated to healthy trees by contact,
by using a knife upon them, drawn previ-
ously through an affected limb, which pro-
duced the same disease within two weeks

after application, — starting from the in-
cised spot, and showing the great virulence
of the poison. The same gentleman has
an old pear orchard in this vicinity of 25
years standing, which stood for about 20
years all theories of frozen-sap-blight, and
the hot western sun, in practice, without
injury, until about six years ago, the de-
scribed insect made its first appearance in
these parts, wttence it also attacked this
orchard in the same manner — with the
same result. Previous to that time, the
disease was almost unknown here, although
we heard of it occasionally from the more
eastern states. An old gentleman from
Kentucky, who was 90 years old, told me
often, that in the interior of that state there
were the finest pear orchards, 50 years ago,
where now not a tree would be found in a
circuit of 50 miles ; they were in modern
times killed by blight, and his description
of which corresponded exactly with our
insect-blight. It is certainly migratory. It
has come from the east, and is going west-
ward. It formerly could not exist here, be-
fore there were those fruit trees raised ;
for it does not feed upon oak and maple.
Our low and narrow gorges and valleys,
along cold spring water courses, and be-
tween hills, are measurably exempt from
this plague, — showing that the insect is
averse to cold, and will hardly go far north
of this. Is it on this account that our
New-England friends, and those in the vi-
cinity of the lakes, raise such varieties of
fine pears with impunity ?

The theory of the sun-blight is, probably,
in effect, nothing else but the above disease.
Although the branches wither in the sun,
the sun is not the cause ; for every plant,
as well as animal, has a temperature of its
own, which is nearly alike in summer a,'
winter. The foliage of plants are theil
lungs, which regulate the heat of the at-

PEAR-BLIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

369

mosphere within the plant to suit its eco-
nomy ; as, also, the leafless trunk in winter
retains its specific warmth within it, as
any one may try, by putting a thermometer
into the sugar maple sap, when, after
boring, it runs out. While the air without
is at the freezing point, the sap will show
6 and 8° higher temperature than the air,
even on a cloudy day, when the sun can
have had no effect on the trunk. And does
not the growing foliage of plants feel cool,
while exposed to the hottest sun? Or is
there ever a tree cut down, in the hardest
cold of winter, whose sap or wood is frozen
hard ? But no sooner is it laid low, and
deprived thereby of life, when it freezes as
hard as bone. [What does our correspond-
ent think of hardy trees, which do freeze ?
Ed.] Frost-blight of pear, apple and peach
trees, I have experienced here but once in
eight years ; and that was caused, in No-
vember, by the extremest winter cold, when
the foliage had scarcely fallen, — conse-
quently, the sap yet in active motion ; and
then we lost but a few small trees, which
were chilled to the heart. All those that
were the size of a wrist and over recovered,
though the bark of many peeled off the suc-
ceeding summer ; it becam.e renovated.
But it was, after all, not as much pear as
apple frost-blight ; for these suffered the
most. The idea, then, of a sound pear
tree, or its branches, covered with fresh,
green foliage, withering, and dying sud-
denly of a sun-stroke, is a theory which
can hardly be seriously entertained by any-
body. This sun-blight was, most proba-
bly, nothing more or less than the above
described insect-blight, which, as we have
seen, affects apple, quince, and even all
cultivated thorns alike.

Who next, then, will name and describe
this insect and its economy, with a view to

its destruction? He — whoever he be —
Vol. III. 24

will deserve the thanks of a whole nation !
From the diminutiveness of the bug, I
could not discover whether it is winged or
not. Certain it is, that 1 never saw it fly,
but crawl up and down the branches. At
any rate, it might be partially destroyed by
planting pear trees in a stock yard, where
the larva, if my suggestion is correct, would
be killed after falling on the ground. To
invite farther inquiry on this subject, and
to contribute my mite towards it, are the
motives for sending you this article.*

By-the-bye, I am surprised, that among
the select fruits of your late convention, the
Geniton apple [Rawle's Jennet,] is not enu-
merated. Here, in the western states, you
might seek in vain for its equal in all good
qualities. It is an early, sure, and abun-
dant bearer, and the fruit in good eating
and keeping from Christmas to July fol-
lowing; and what a choice fruit it is! — so
vinous, so juicy and brittle, with a most
pleasant flavor. In fact, I have never yet
seen an apple, in Europe or America, which
I valued so highly, considering all its good
qualities together. Does it not thrive with
you ? Perhaps your summers are not hot
enough to perfect it, as it is the latest fruit
I know of. While some fruits and plants
have the property to adapt themselves to
most any situations, there are others which
are extremely sensible of change. My best
European winter apples are summer fruit
here, and comparatively worthless. So are
many of your best New-England apples.
The middle portions of the great west pro-
duce the finer apples, peaches, and native
grapes well. The Catawba produces here
a good wine, which favorably compares
with the second rate French wines. It is
quite probable that in 50 years, the state of
Missouri may raise table wine enough for

* If our correspondent will send us specimens of the in-
sect by mail, we %vill endeavor to ascertain whether he \i
correct about its causing the bljffht. Ed.

370

HINTS ON WINDOW GARDENING.

the consumption of the whole Union. But
of all the foreign vines, of which I brought
a great many from the Rhine, my native
country, not one will ever do any good
here. A Burgundy vine, we have, how-
ever, from France, which has succeeded
well, and will make an excellent claret.
Sour cherries, as the Morello, Kentish, and
Montmorency, thrive very well ; hut the
May Duke, White and Black Hearts, are

difficult to raise. Foreign plums, prunes
and gooseberries, will never thrive in the
middle states ; they require a more north-
ern climate, though our Avoods and prairies
are covered with native ones, — producing
abundance of fruit. These we should im-
prove, of which they are certainly suscep-
tible. Most respectfully yours.

Emit Mallinckrott.

St. Louis, December, 1848.

HINTS ON "WINDO"W GARDENING.

BY ROBERT SCOTT, PHILADELPHIA.

Perhaps a few remarks on this subject may
not be uninteresting, especially to the fair
portion of the readers of the Horticulturist,
for whom these hints are principally in-
tended.

In the December number, you have done
ample justice to the green-house ; and to
all who can carry out your judicious and
practical directions in erecting, heating it,
and making the selection of plants indi-
cated, cannot fail of success. But there
are many who have not that convenience,
who are, nevertheless, equally fond of flow-
ers, who spend considerable sums yearly in
purchasing plants, and bestow a great deal
of pains in attending to them. It is not to
be denied, too, that after all their endea-
vors, their plants often look sickly, and
finally die. The blame is often laid at
the door of the florist who supplied them,
for not giving them healthy plants, when
in almost every instance the fault lies with
the buyers. The plants, it is true, which
come into the market, and purchased from
their respective florists, have generally been
under a high state of cultivation ; they have
been regularly watered, potted in soil, ac-

cording to their different habits, and grown
in pots according to their size. The heat,
air, and light have all been arranged and
regulated, as the utmost skill and experi-
ence could suggest.

The transition from all this regularity to
the tender mercies of the purchaser is soo»
felt. Drowning, or starving, or neglecting
altogether, is no uncommon fate. The pots
are taken home, put into pans or saucers,
deluged with water, and the water left in
the saucers ; or they are set in some con-
spicuous place, and left to their fate. In
the first case, the leaves turn yellow and
drop, the flowers fall, and in a very short
time all that can be seen of them is their
naked stems, with little tufts of green on
the tops or points of the shoots, which a few
days before were in perfection. In the lat-
ter case, the plants die with all the leaves
and bloom upon them. Nearly all the evils
attending plants grown in windows, are to
be traced to these two causes. I will,
therefore, attempt to lay down a few gene-
ral rules which, if properly attended to, wiO
do away with nearly all the complaints un-^
der this head.

HINTS ON WINDOW GARDENING.

371

1st. Never to water but when the plants
actually want it. That is easily known by
feeling the soil with the finger. While it
is moist, no water is needed. When it
feels dry, then water ; which latter will not
be oftener than three times a week in au-
tumn an<d winter, and every day in spring
and summer, — giving it copiously every
time, and allowing it to run away entirely
from the plant, so that the pots may never
stand in it. The water used should be
either ram or river water. If necessarily
from the pump or spring, it ought to stand
in the air a day or two before using.

2d. To give plenty .of air at every possi-
ble opportunity, when the vieatker is miM,
either fey having tfee window up, or by
removing the plants outside- If, in warm
weather, this is done under a burning sun,
the pots will ha^e to be shaded, as the su«
upon the sides of pots would prove injuri-
ous to the young roots, and would greatly
injure the plant ; and if in bloom and ex-
posed to the SUE, the flovw^ers \vould soon
fade an-d drop.

3d. To keep the roouis where the plants
are of as uniform a temperature as possible,
and the plants themselves as near th-e win-
dow as convenient, except in severe wea-
ther, when they are better near the middle
of the room during the night.

4th. To examine them occasionally, to
see if the pots are full of roots. If this is
the case, and the plants are worth it, to get
some good soil,* and shift them into pots a
size larger; or, if not shifted, to be more
careful in supplying water, as they will re-
quire more when in this state. In sum-
mer, to water them frequently over the
foliage, but not except they also need it at
the root as well.

* At another time, (if you think the subiect worth notice,)
'i will say a little about the proper soil, and the culture of a
few plants best adapted for the window. [We shall be glad
;«>'ieceive further remarks on this subject. Eo.j

These may be adopted as very general
rules, though more absolutely necessary to
some plants than others, but very good to
all.

There is a good deal to be considered in
buying plants, in making the proper choice ;
for however gratifying it may be to have
those which look best in full bloom, it is
most satisfactory to have those which last
longest in perfection, — especially those
which have a succession of bloom, and
whos£ foliage is interesting when ike bloom
is go7ie.. This rule may be deviated from
in behalf of Tulips, Crocus, Hyacinths, and
other bulbs which are valuable, when little
else is in flower. These will also bloom in
the darkest streets of our cities. They
ought to be purchased either in the begin-
ning of November, when the roots are dry
for planting yourselves, or in pots, when
they are beginning to grow ; for if delayed
till they are in bloom, nine-tenths of their
value is lost, because they are interesting
in every stage of their growth, from the
first formation of the leaves to the perfec-
tion of the flower. Every day of develop-
ment has its charm, and therefore they
ought to be possessed from the first. All
these require a plentiful supply of water
when in a growing state ; and if kept cool
after slioxving flower, their season of bloom-
ing is prolonged. Eob't Scott.

Philadeljiliia, Dectiiii/er 15, 1848.

[We may add to the excellent remarks
of Mr. Scott, (who is foreman in the exotic
establishment of Mr. Buist,) that a princi-
pal cause of the sudden decline in the
health of young and tender plants, taken
from the green-houses of the florist to the
private parlor, is the great atmospheric
change. In the green-house they have
been, all their previous lives, accustomed
to an atmosphere exceedingly damp ; and

372

THE MORALE OF RURAL LIFE.

when taken from thence to the parched-up
atmosphere of a room, heated with anthra-
cite, they feel almost like a " fish out of
water." To prevent this shock to the
health of the plants, they ought, for a fort-

nig-ht or more after they are brought home,
to be turned on their sides, (so as to pre-
vent saturating the soil in the pots,) and
thoroughly sprinkled or syringed with luke-
warm water every other day. Ed.]

THE MORALE OF RX7RAI. LIFE.

BY GEO. JAQUES, WORCESTER, MASS

The idea of modem patriotism seems doom-
ed to an association with the gleam of
bayonets and the sullen trundling of can-
non wheels.

It is a sad thought that patriotism, one
of the noblest sentiments of the human
heart, must ever wear her garments drip-
ping with blood. And deeper yet the shade
of sadness, to see the noblest of all earthly
employments almost banished from the paths
of learning and refinement, spurned by "ex-
clusives," and compelled to an obscure toil-
ing for the supply of mere animal wants,
until the earth claims back her own again.
Is there nothing of the patriotic in the hard,
honest hand that guides the peace-loving
plough, cultivating and improving the soil
of that country which chivalry boasts her-
self so ready to defend? What insignifi-
cancy or indignity attaches to this kind of
labor, which, if discontinued only a few
months, would stop the whole machine of
civilized life ? And what element of the
contemptible does the eye of modern Chris-
tianity discover in the task which the Al-
mighty himself assigned to his own first
created image.

The opinions of men may be wrong.
Patriotism may yet weary in the search for
a more genial home elsewhere, than in the
breast of him who wears his own blue frock,
and not another's broadcloth ; who chooses
hobbling cowhide, with honesty, rather

than French calfskin, and cheating ; and
the sweat of digging, rather than the shame
of begging !

Indeed ! And is agricultural life a fit
emploj^ment only for him who has no tact —
heaven save the meaning — no tact for other
pursuits ? Why, the successful conducting
of a large farm requires more honest tact
than all other kinds of business combined !
It applies itself to the management of men.^
and of animals, and of the soil supporting
them. One kind of treatment is for this
field, this crop, this forest, this animal, this
garden, or orchard, or tree, while an alto-
gether different regimen is requisite else-
where. And difficult questions must be
solved. What product will repay the toil-
ing hand of labor with best reward 1 What
may be safelv invested in improvements ?
What may be indulged to fancy or to
taste 1

Agriculture, in its comprehensive ac-
ceptation, is, also, the name of a science,
whose vast fields of research are still almost
an unknown wilderness. Wise men are
still groping their way along its borders.
Within a few years, indeed, they have just
began to learn something of the simpler
elements of the science, the improvement
of breeds of animals, the causes of vegeta-
ble growth and disease, the chemistry of
manures, and something also of the effects
of different soils and subsoils, of climate

THE MORALE OF RURAL LIFE.

373

aspect, elevation and the like. But far ex-
lending around these lies an almost illimita-
ble country, every rood of which the long-
est lifetime could not suffice perfectly to
explore.

Again, agriculture, having the tv(?ofold na-
ture of other sciences, is an art, and the
most essential of all arts. It is the crite-
rion of civilization everywhere upon the
habitable globe.

There are savage wilds, where beasts of
prey and barbarous men struggle for uncer-
tain supremacy. There are cities where
the children of artificial life, learning, ig-
norance, luxury, want, virtue and vice,
breathe the same close atmosphere, wonder
at each other's envy, annoy each other's
lives, and gladly dig each other's graves !
And between those wilds and cities, agri-
culture extends her broad fields as a per-
petual barrier ; while her sons go forth now
to hold up the light of learning and religion
to the benighted child of the wilderness,
and now to supplant, with their iron energy,
the effeminate offspring of city life, or to
oppose their physical hardihood against an
invading foe.

Agriculture, politically viewed, is of the
highest order of occupations. The source
of a nation's strength, wealth, prosperity,
and of the consideration which she receives
abroad, it is indeed the only solid indus-
trial foundation upon which national great-
ness can safely rest. For what stronger
pillar of national independence than the
product of a nation's own soil, improved by
her own labor ?

And this pursuit has moral and religious
bearings. Listen to Jefferson: *' Those
who labor in the earth are the chosen peo-
ple of God, whose breasts he has made his
peculiar deposite for substantial and genu-
ine virtue." If such be the teachings of phi-
losophy, what higher commendation might

not come from the farther-reaching obser-
vation of Christianity ?

This primeval employment of man pre-
sents still other claims. It is the most
healthful of all occupations ; healthful for
the body, the mind, and the soul. What
other pursuit, by which men obtain honest
bread, affords such vigorous training for the
physical powers, such various and extensive
ranges of mental exercises ?

And where may the moral nature of man
be preserved unsullied from vice, and grow
and expand more than amid rural scenes,
and beneath the purest air of heaven ?

The farmer's life is not scratch, scratch,
with the pen — rap, rap, with the hammer
— nor an everlasting unpacking and re-
packing of the product of another's labor.
He walks forth under the open sky, his
broad acres spread out beneath his feet;
the blue concave, sunlit or starlit, or shroud-
ed in clouds, is still above him. Health
claims him as her favorite child, and the
glorious sun loves to kiss a cheek that is
not ashamed to wear the ruddy imprint of
such affection. Nature's own inimitable
music of babbling brooks, birds, breeze, or
rustling foliage, enters his ear on its glad
mission to his heart. He listens to instruc-
tive voices, continually speaking from the
universe around him. His eye gathers truth
from unwritten pages of wisdom, every-
v^here open before him. Each day, each
month, season after season, year after year,
these teachings are given to him, infinite in
variety, and endless in extent.

When toward the close of a sultry day
the summer's blessing comes pouring down,
and as in the beautiful poetry of the sacred
volume, — "the trees of the field clap their
hands," and "the valleys, covered over with
corn, shout for joy," the farmer, retiring
from his labors to the friendly shelter of his
cottage-roof, improves his leisure hours with

374

THE HARDINESS OF THE CAMELLIA.

the treasures of written wisdom. So, too,
while his fields are sleeping beneath frost
and snow, what profession affords more
available opportunities for self-culture ?
Nothing can be more false than the idea of
some, that the hard hand of rural industry,
and the refinement of a cultivated mind,
are incompatible with each other. Where
was the lyric poetry composed, that makes
Scotland prouder of her Burns than of all
her ancient race of warlike kings ? Was
it not between the handles of the Mossgeil
plough ?

Of all the employments that busy men,
here in this present state of existence, the
cultivation of the earth is distinguished, as
affording the best opportunities for an ex-
tended range of mental discipline, for ad-
vancing in true refinement, for social, rural
and religious improvement !

Whatever we have thus far said, should
be regarded as merely the enunciation of
propositions, and sufficient for the subject
of a volume.

And now, last of all, agriculture shall
put forth her highest claim. Of all men,
the farmer alone walks in the path where

God himself first took the created image
by the hand, and led the way " to dress and
to keep" his garden — the earth ! Confiding
in God, the husbandman ploughs his fruit-
ful fields, while the birds of spring are sing-
ing praises around, him. Buoyant with
hope, he scatters the seed upon the grounds
and gratefully receives the early and the
latter rain, coming down from heaven to
give the increase. And never did rational
man yet apply the sickle to the golden
grain, without some vague idea of gratitude
to God, the giver of harvests '.

Indeed, the husbandman's whole life,,
rightly viewed, is a "walking with God."
And though thousands may not often think
of this, and but a few,, even in any small
degree, appreciate it as they ought, never-
theless the assertion claims to be true.

If there be anything in what we have
written, it will not be denied that the hum-
blest efforts to elevate the character, and tON
increase the self-respect, of those who cul-
tivate the earth, are efforts which must ever
rank high among the loftiest deeds of patri-
otism. George Jaques.

Worcester, Mass-, Dec. &, 1848.

NOTES ON THE HARDINESS OF THE CAMELLIA

BY JAMES RITCHIE, PHILADELPHIA-

I SEE, in your January number, a notice,
taken from the Gardeners'' Chrordcle, re-
garding the hardiness of the Camellia.

In reading this notice, it occurred to me
that many growers in the eastern states, are
ignorant of the hardiness of the Camellia ;
and I offfer you some little of my experience
as to the extent of frost they will bear with-
out injury. Having been a grower of Ca-
mellias to a considerable extent, for the

last twelve years, I may be able to lay some
few facts of interest before your numerousr
readers.

Camellias are grown (in the northern
states) in pots or tubs, and kept in the green-
house at a heat of from 35° to 55^, (Fahren-
heit thermometer,) and even as high as GO'^y
according to the wish of the grower, for the
purpose of opening their flowers in early
winter. At that season, when other flowers

THE HARDINESS OF THE CAMELLIA.

375

are not so easily procured, the Camellia and
Daphne give the green-house or conserva-
tory a rich and gay appearance ; almost
making us forget the dreary season without.

As the Camellia accommodates itself
easily to a high or low temperature, it
answers the purposes of the gardener admi-
rably. To have Camellias bloom, early,
the manner of forcing them is different
from any other plants in cultivation, — such
as the Rose, Geranium, Heliotrope, Verbe-
na, Primrose, Cactus, &c. As these buds
are produced on young shoots, you give
them heat for a few weeks before you re-
quire the flowers. Not so with the Camel-
lia. To have an abundance of flowers from
it in December, it is necessary for them to
have made their growth in March or April
previous, so that their flower buds, (which
are all set eight or nine months before they
open,) maybe showing themselves in June.
With such plants, and with a house kept
at 45° to 55^ in winter, you will have abun-
dance of flowei's in the December following,
and may continue this habit of early bloom-
ing every year, without injury to the plants.
This is truly making the Camellia a green-
house plant.

Let us see if it can be made a hardy
plant with us, in the U. S. According to
your remarks, it can be used as a hardy
plant in most of the southern states. Here,
in Philadelphia, it is certainly impracticable.
The foreign notice, in your magazine, says
the Camellia lives out of doors in some parts
of England without protection, through very
severe winters, and retains the most robust
health.

In the hard winter of 1837-8, it bore
there, without shelter, a temperature of 0°
Fahrenheit, or 32° of frost. We do not
doubt the assertion, although it does not
say whether the plant was injured or not.
That same winter, in the Horticultural Gar-

dens at London, the writer says Camellias
stood in 4-inch brick pits, — the glass having
only a covering of mats ; one of them, the
Camellia retiadata, occupies the same place
it did then, and no plant can possibly be in
higher health, or flower more gloriously.
As it occupies the same place, we presume
it is planted in the pit, which accounts for
it doing so well.

The Camellia is a plant, with the culture
and management of which, although sim-
ple, few amateurs, and not a great many
gardeners, are thoroughly acquainted. It
is usually considered, here, a tender green-
house plant, which, should it be exposed to
one or two degrees below the freezing point,
the flower buds will not open. So that the
whole beauty and profit of the plant is lost ;
and should six, or even four degrees of frost
get into the house, they would be considered
worthless, or, in reality, dead. This opi-
nion is, indeed, quite true with some varie-
ties, while other varieties or species would
not be injured in the smallest degree, even
in their flowering.

This is a rather strange assertion ; but
no more strange than true. It is to be un-
derstood that the Camellia is not hardy in
the middle states, although it withstands an
English winter. Our sun is so powerful in
winter, causing sudden thawing after frost,
that even a number of our native or natu-
ralized trees are frequently injured, even in
winters that we have considered moderate.
So mild was the winter of 1847-8, that we
might have supposed that it was impossible
for any hardy plant to have been injured ;
yet the common raspberry we grow here,
in some situations near the city, had the
half of the canes destroyed with the little
winter we had.

Pimis pahistris grows well. Magnolia
grandiflora, and many other evergreens of
the southern states, grow well in Britain,

376

THE HARDINESS OF THE CAMELLIA.

and not suffer by the winter ; yet they are
tender, and by no means hardy in the mid-
dle states.

To make the Camellia thrive in a fit,
where no fire is kept, it is necessary to re-
pot them in October, or sooner, into a pot
one size larger than the pot they are in the
time of repotting, provided the roots are
well matted around the ball ; if not, it is
not necessary to give them a larger pot, but
merely reduce the ball till you come to
roots, and put the plants into the same pots
with fresh soil, taking care to pack the earth
considerably harder around the roots of Ca-
mellias than most other plants you grow, or
they will not root freely. If this is not at-
tended to, they will be apt to get the earth
soured with the abundance of water they
receive while flowering, and especially when
they finish growing ; especially as the per-
son who waters is apt to continue the same
qtiantity of water after the growth is made,
under the impression, the warmer the wea-
ther they will require more water ; where-
as, they only require an immoderate quan-
tity during their time of growing and flow-
ering, (which the gardener is able to per-
ceive by their rapid absorption of moisture,
without any instructions.) After potting,
they are fit to be put into the place where
they are to remain over winter, without
artificial heat, and will be able to stand 12°
of frost, [i. e., a temperature of 20° above
zero.] On the other hand, if your Camel-
lias, with the roots matted around the pots
or tubs, are exposed to 8° or even 6° of
frost for a few days, you may say farewell
to them. They are dead to a certainty ;
Aey will look as if they were not injured
till the weather becomes warmer, when they
will speedily show what a decided effect

the frost has had on them. It has, in this
case, penetrated through the pot, and made
the roots incapable of performing their pro-
per functions. Where there is abundance
of earth between the pot and roots of the
plants, no fears may be entertained of their
safety. However, it is necessary to cover
your pit with shutters [and mats in cold
weather,] about one hour before sunset, re-
moving the same every day (when the sun
makes his appearance,) about 8, A. M., if
your pit looks to the east, and about 10, A.
M., in a south exposure. In this latitude,
the weather must be extremely cold when
more frost gets into the pit in one night
than four hours' sun is able to dispel. Re-
spectfully yours. Jas. Ritchie.

Kensington, Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 1849.

[Mr. Ritchie's experience is quite to the
purpose, respecting the amount of cold which
this plant will bear ; and he is right in say-
ing that many evergreen plants, which
stand the English winters perfectly, are too
tender for the middle states ; as well as
that this is owing, not so much to low tem-
perature with us, as to our bright sun in
winter. On this account, complete shelter
from the sun in winter is the first necessity
for a half hardy or tender plant ; and we
have little doubt that if the Camellia will
bear the winter in England, at a moderately
low temperature, it will do so here in parts
of the country of the same mean tempera-
ture, provided the sun is kept from touching
the plant from November to March. A
large number of deciduous trees, on the
other hand, stand the winter much better
here than in England, because they are
perfectly dormant in winter, and because
they mature their wood better here than
there. Ed.]

A NOTICE OP THE DOtTBLE JAPAN SPIREA,

BY JAMES WJLSOX, AlJlAW.

Dear Sir — Have you seen the new Spirea
■pruwfclia pleno in flower? It is truly a
beautiful plant. When the engraving of it
appeared in the Horticulturist, I had my
doubts about its equalling that account and
representation. I have it now in flower in
my green-house, and am quite delighted
with it. Indeed, I think it surpasses, in
beauty and appearance, the engraving. It
has a more light and airy appearance ; and
if it should not prove hardy with us, here
at the north, I know no plant, except the
Camellia, that seems better adapted for the
green-house. Its culture and propagation
being of the easiest description.

The plants I now have in flower, are
small ; having been propagated from a
plant I purchased of Mr. Boll, of New-
York, which was imported by him last
winter. Striking as is the beauty of these
small plants, what must it be upon a fine
old established plant ? The flowers are
pure white, and very double, as far as dis-
played on my plants, ♦They grow in clus-
ters of from three to fl.ve ; and in no in-
stance can I discover more than five, which
may be owing to my plants being young
and not well established, as you say they
grow by threes or sixes. Many of mine
have only four, some two ; but in most
cases, when there are only two, I find one
abortive.

This charming shrub needs only to be
seen, to be admired. No lover of flowers
ought to be without it. If hardy, as I think
it will be, even in this latitude, it will sur-
pass in appearance, in my opinion, that
beautiful old favorite, the Double Flowering
Almond. Jas. Wilson.

AU/anyy January 9, 1849.

Fip:. 43. — The Double Japan Spirea.

Remarks, — We are glad to hear of the
first blooming of this most exquisite little
shrub in this country. There is scarcely a
doubt that it will prove perfectly hardy in
the open shrubbery ; and of that point we,
and others who have plants established out
of doors, will be able to judge when the
spring opens. It blooms so freely indoors,
and forces so well, that its delicate snowy

378

DRYING PRUNES AND OTHER FRUITS.

wreaths of pure white blossoms will soon
be the ornament of every conservatory in
winter, as of every flower garden in the
spring. Although only introduced last
spring, we observe that several of the lead-

ing nurserymen and florists have plants for
sale alread)^ ; so freely does it grow from
layers and cuttings. We repeat the cut
given in the first volume, which conveys
only a feeble idea of its beauty. Ed.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING PRUNES AND OTHER FRUITS.

The cultivation of the plum, in some parts
of the United States, is carried to great
perfection. Not only are very large crops
grown, of the highest quality, but new va-
rieties of most excellent qualities have been
originated. The banks of the Hudson river,
wherever the soil inclines to heavy loam,
the environs of Albany and Schenectady,
and a considerable part of western New-
York, are perhaps the finest plum districts
in the country. In many other parts of the
country, where the climate is equally good,
and the soil excellent, the latter is so light
that it affords too complete a nursery for
the curculio — that pest of smooth skinned
stone fruit; and the plum crop is a very
indifferent one.

There is no reason why, in the best plum
districts, prunes should not be made on a
large scale, so as to become an article of
profit to the grower. A very large amount
is paid by us for French prunes, imported
into this country; and the labor of pre-
paring them is not so great that we cannot
(with the additional price imposed on the
foreign article by freights, &c.,) compete
profitably with the French growers.

Excellent prunes, indeed, are made every
year by families on the Hudson for their
ovrn private consumption ; and those made
of the Green Gage are much more deli-
cious than many of the imported prunes.

Minute directions for preparing prunes
will be found in our work on Fruits. Our

attention has been directed again to the
subject, by a plan for an oven for drying
prunes, with some description of the pro-
cess in Liegel's work on the plum, — one
of the highest German authorities. We
give the engraving of this oven, as it may
assist those about undertaking the process.

The drying of peaches, for market, is
carried on to a much greater extent in this
country than in any other. The same ap-
paratus, with slight modifications, may, per-
haps, enable us to dry peaches, as well as
plums, so as to retain the utmost possible
flavor ; for it is often the case, that the ope-
ration is so carelessly and imperfectly per-
formed that half the flavor is lost.

"Prunes," says Liegel, "have become
an important article of commerce. In or-
der to have them fair and glossy, they
must be suddenly cooled, when withdrawn
from the oven.

" The country people in this part of Ger-
many, prepare their prunes by putting them
into their bread-ovens. I have put up, for
my own use, a very conveniently arranged
drying apparatus, which, after the experi-
ence of many years, I am induced to recom-
mend ; and for the construction of which I
give the annexed drawing and explanatory
description.

" The vault or exterior of the oven, four
and a half feet long, is surrounded by a
brick wall one foot thick, so that the whole
stove, a b c d,is exactly six feet every way;

PLAN or A SUBUEBAK GARDEN.

IHorl. Feb. 1849.]

DRYING PRUNES AND OTHER FRUITS.

379

the front wall, ??, being only half a foot in
thickness. At the top, the vault is arched
over with six inches of brick work at the
crown of the arch. The flues, i i, are
about fourteen inches square. The hur-
dles or trays, ?n ???, for containing the prunes,
rest upon shelves, fixed upon two bearers.
It would be better if they rested upon roll-
ers, so as to admit of their being pushed in,
and drawn out, with greater ease. These
lines of trays are placed at a distance of six
inches from the furnace, so as to keep the
fruit from too great a heat ; they may be
made entirely of wood, but it will be better
if the bottoms are of open-work, like sieves.
Their weight is such that they may be
easily managed by a woman ; but in pre-
paring prunes on a large scale, let them be
made of greater length and breadth, so as
to just come within the strengh of a more
robust person.

" The wooden frame, k h, is that on
which the two doors are hung. The door,
g, which covers the arch, (and which is re-
presented in the cut as open and fastened
up,) shuts up the front of the upper part of
the oven. In the middle of this upper door

Fig-. 44.— G'erwaji Oven for Drying Prunes-

or flap, is a round vent hole, for the escape
of the moist vapor, k, is an iron damper,
or slide, to be placed in the flue at I I, in
order to regulate the heat.

" A thousand fully ripe Quetsches (prune
plums,) make about ten pounds of dried
prunes.

" Plums of difTerent kinds may be dried,
either whole, or deprived of their skins and
stones. In the latter case, they are styled
pricnelles. When the White Perdrigons
are used for this purpose, they are merely
stoned, without skinning; the latter, from
the delicacy of their skins, not being deem-
ed necessary.

" For prunelles, perfectly ripe and sweet
plums are to be taken, and suffered to
wilt a little in the open air, in order to fa-
cilitate stripping off the peel. A better and
more expeditious way is to pour hot water
over them, and suffer them to steam a few
moments.

"The stone is pressed out at the stem
end. In the drying ovens, these prunes
must be very carefully and gradually dried.
They may also be dried, but not so easily,
in the sun."

DESIGN FOR A StTBtTRBAN GARDEN.

[see frontispiece.]

We give our readers, for examination, the
plan of a suburban garden, intended for a
piece of ground, measuring about 140 by
270 feet.

This plan is from an elaborate French
work, on the de la composition et d^orna-
ment des jar dins, and is one of the best spe-
cimens of the combination of the useful and
the agreeable to be found in continental
publications.

In this plan, A is the dwelling ; B, car-
riage-house, wood-house, or gardener's-
house ; C, small private court-yard.

The whole scene immediately round the
house is composed of lawn surface, dotted
and grouped with ornamental trees and
shrubs. Directly in front of the dwelling
is a circle of rich, deep, loamy soil, filled
with everblooming roses.

The whole garden is surrounded by a
wall, which is covered with fruit trees
trained. (For this, a tight or partially
open board fence might be substituted with
us, upon which the trees would grow
equally well.)

At a distance of nine feet from this wall,
on each side, (beginning at E,) is set a
row of upright posts, from each of which a
stout wire is led to the top of the wall.
Over this post and wire a vine is trained,
forming garlands a foot apart. Py this
means, a pretty effect, and a good many
excellent grapes are obtained, while the
vines are so far apart as not to prove the
least detrimental by shading the trees train-
ed on the walL

At the end of this wall, we come to the
semi-circular Ilalian arbor, D. This arbor,
which is very light and pleasing in effect,
is constructed of slender posts, rising 8 or
9 feet above the surface, from the tops of
which strong transverse strips are nailed,
as shown in the plan. The grapes ripen
on this kind of Italian arbor much more
peijfectly than upon one of the common
kind, thickly covered with foliage.

Beyond this arbor, and at the termination
of the central walk, is a vase, rustic basket,
or other ornamental object, e. The semi-
circle, embraced within the arbor, is a space
laid with regular beds. This is devoted to
kitchen garden crops, as is also all the out-
side border behind it. The other borders
(under the vines, E,) may be cropped with
strawberries, or lettuces, and other small
culinary vevetables, with a narrow group»
ing of flowers near the walk or not, as the
taste of the owner may dictate. The small
trees, planted in rows on the border, be-
tween the walk, E, and the ornamental
lawn, are dwarf pears and apples.

With such trifling variations as different
habits and circumstances would at once
suggest, it appears to us that this plan is
one well adapted to hundreds of neat subur-
ban dwellings in the environs of our numer-
ous towns ; and we therefore leave it to the
study of the owners of such places, who are
frequently at a loss how to produce a pleas-
ing eflfect without losing sight of the useful ;
or, as our French author says, to orner
Vutile.

TO CURE THE BURSTING OP THE CHERRY TREE.

BY PROFESSOR TURNER, ILLINOIS COLLEGE.

[The following communication, from our
valued correspondent in Illinois, will, we
have no doubt, be found of the greatest pos-
sible interest to fruit growers all over the
west. The cherry, which thrives so well,
with the least possible care, in most parts
of the middle and eastern states, fails al-
most wholly in the west. Professor Tur-
ner gives the first satisfactory explanation
of the cause, and suggests what we should
conceive the efficient remedy. Ed.]

Dear Sir — In a former communication, I
promised to say a few words on what I sup-
posed to be the cause of that most fatal of
all maladies to the cherry tree in the west, —
the bursting of the bark on the trunk and
larger limbs. Were I called to sit on a
coroner's inquest, over the dead body of
such a cherry tree, I should have no hesi-
tation, in the present state of my know-
ledge, in giving my verdict as follows :

" DEATH BY TIGHT LACING."

And it is at precisely this point that I
think the knife of the surgeon and pomolo-
gist could be more advantageously applied,
to the relief of both animal and vegetable
ilature, than to any other. The remedy is
simple :

"cut THE CORSET STRINGS."

Let us consider a little. One writer
prescribes blue clay as a specific ; another,
gravel and sand ; a third, thin, poor soil ;
a fourth, blue grass sward ; and a fifth,
some old, shaded, neglected part of the
garden, in hard uncultivated ground, &c.
&c. Now it is apparent that the effect of
all these is the same in one respect, and
probably the most important one, is one and
the same, viz., they all tend to diminish the

amount of asceyiding sap^ and retard the
growth of the tree ; and so far forth, they
are all, doubtless, beneficial. The addi-
tional effect of iron in the blue clay, and of
silex in the sand, may have some tonic in-
fluence on the tree itself. Again, others
have shaded the trunks from the hot sun in
summer. But it is believed, that where
the trunk alone has been shaded, the reme-
dy has as often failed as it has succeeded.
But where the whole ground is shaded by
a building or fence the effect would, of
course, be to a certain extent the same as
above.

I believe, also, it is noticed that on the
richest soils, this malady is most universal,
and. most destructive ; insomuch that I do
not believe there is a single sound and
healthful cherry tree, of the finer sort, on
the rich prairie lands of Illinois 15 years
old, within 100 miles of where I write, ex-
cept on my own grounds. If so, I have
looked and inquired in vain for it. The
usual course of things is this : A man pro-
cures fine cherry trees from the nursery ;
he sets them out. They grow admirably
for some years, — say from 4 to 10. No-
thing could be more thrifty, or apparently
more healthy. All at once the bark bursts,
and peels off from the trunk and larger
limbs, sometimes half round the tree ; more
generally on the southwestern side. The
tree often continues to grow with perfect
health, and with immense vigor, on the
sound side; but soon bursts, and bursts
again, until it is utterly destroyed.

These and other facts led me to think the
injury local and mechanical — not general
or constitutional.

382

TO CURE THE BURSTING OF THE CHERRY TREE.

On examination, I soon suspected it was
owing mainly, if not wholly, to the girding
of the " corticle," or outer ring-hark. I
slitted this outer .bark in several places, on
several trees, up and down with my knife,
thinking to give relief.

To my surprise, some of the trees so slit-
ted burst at the very points the slits were
made, though all on the north side. Others
increased in size at every single point under
the slit of the knife where relief was given,
so as to elongate their diameters in those
directions, at the rate of from half an inch
to an inch and one-half in a single season.
In one case, a short slit was accidentally
made about one foot long, near the ground,
on the west side of the tree ; its eastern
and western diameter, at this point, was
increased, in a year or two, full three inch-
es ; while St the point of another slit, about
the same length made above, or higher up
the tree, by two feet, on the north side,
the northern and southern diameter was
enlarged almost as much, forming two
great bulges on the trunk ; one on the west-
ern side near the ground, and another on
the northern side higher up, with an evi-
dent enlargement of both diameters through-
out the entire trunk, above and below each
slit, while still the tree was in perfect ap-
parent health. I should also have said that
the trees, in all these cases, apparently
stopped their growth so as to be greatly
compressed and flattened, or hollowed in,
at those points where the bark was uncut.
From these facts I took my hint, and cut
up and down the north side of the trunks
slits within one inch of each other, or one
inch and even less apart ; some within one-
half an inch. In every case, the diameter
was increased rapidly and speedily, directly
under the slit, and compressed and appa-
rently bark-hound between ; even where
the distance between the slits was not

more than half an inch. I also peeled ofT
rings of the outer bark one inch or so wide,
and then alternately left a strip of the same
width, running round the tree entire. In
every case, as before, the tree grew and
"bulged" out in rings, where the bark
was removed, and remained stationary and
compressed where it was not.

About this time my largest, finest cherry
tree, (White Heart,) began to burst near
the ground, on the southwest side.

I of course took my knife, and took the
corticle wholly off of the trunk, and all the
large limbs, as high up as I could reach.
It was not one week before the inner bark
cracked open once every quarter of an inch
all round the tree, in the natural way ; and
though this was three years ago, (I think,)
the tree is now perfectly sound and healthy,
and bore fruit last season. I have since
peeled other trees, with equal success in
every case.

I fancied that with all this painstaking I
had made a discovery. But lo ! " there is
nothing new under the sun." For, as I
was boasting of my discovery and my suc-
cess, to a man from the rich valleys of the
Ohio, he very coolly replied, " that is no-
thing ; we always knew, on the Miama
Bottoms, that our best cherry trees would
die without peeling." And so went all my
renown, as a discoverer. So much, how'-
ever, for the facts in the case. Now for
my theory, which may be right, or may be
wrong.

Almost every tree passes a certain crisis,
in changing from a smooth bark into a
rough bark tree ; that is, the original corti-
cle from the seed dies, and splits, and
sheds off, or it is glued on merely as a
dead outer coat. For example, the shagg-
bark hickory throws it off. The pine keeps
it on as a dead covering.

Now this outer bark will be thin, and

TO CURE THE BURSTING OF THE CHERRY TREE.

383

easily rotted and kroken by the expanding
force of the ascending sap of the tree, or
thick, strong, and hard to break or rot, ac-
cording as the soil is rich or poor ; in other
words, according to the vigor of the general
growth. If the tree stands on a poor soil,
two or three effects will follow.

1. The corticle will be likely to be thin,
corresponding to the rest of the growth.

2. Being thin, when the crisis of the tree
comes, (in which this corticle must burst
and die, and the tree pass from a smooth
bark to a rough bark tree,) it easily breaks,
under the force of the natural pressure, at
frequent intervals all around.

3. In the top of the tree the amount of
foliage, and of course of the return sap, will
be correspondingly small ; and the force of
the downward sap so small, that if the tree
stands a year or two, until the corticle dies
and partially rots, it will incur no particular
danger.

But on a rich soil, exactly the reverse of
all this happens.

The corticle grows exceedingly thick,
tough and strong, and on several of the
finer cherries it is like a hemp cord, as any
one may see by trying to break a strip,
even one inch wide. The top is immensely
wide, and full of leaf and return sap. All
the internal condition of the tree, both root
and top, is such, before the crisis comes,
that it would naturally increase the diame-
ter of the trunk from one to two inches in
a single season if it could ; but the tough,
strong corticle holds it fast, and it cannot
expand a single hair's breadth. Now if
the tree could stand still a year or two,
until the corticle should naturally die, and
partially rot, it could get along ; but the
rich soil below, and the spreading top above,
will not allow it. They wish to proceed
with their appropriate functions, and they
will, until the force of the return sap.

gorging all the vessels of the trunk, at last
bursts out through the corticle by mere me-
chanical pressure, or accumulates as dead
matter, to ferment on the southern side,
and be frozen and torn off by the frosts of
winter.

I should also have said that a poor soil,
of course, delays this period of crisis, while
a rich one necessarily hastens it ; that is,
brings it, with all its immediate exigencies
at once upon the tree at an earlier age.

Such, in general, is my theory. In all
probability, those more wise and more skill-
ed in such matters, can propose a better
and truer one ; and if they do it in your
paper, my object will still be fully accom-
plished.

My remedy, of course, would be when
the crisis comes, as above indicated. But
as a preventive, a poor soil, low culture,
and, above all, allowing all the limbs to
grow, as nature indicates, from the ground
up, so as thereby to increase, as much as
possible, the ratio of the surface for the
descending sap, as compared with the as-
cending current, ought to be recommended.
But it may be justly doubted whether, if
the tree should be annually headed down,
instead of trimmed up, or even if wholly
left to nature's own course from the outset,
it would not safely pass this crisis and take
care of itself, even in the richest soil. But
if the knife must be used first in disturbing
the natural relations between the trunk and
top, so as to give the tree ten or twenty
times the amount of length of trunk nature
desiofned for it, I think the knife must also
be used to afford the needed relief. In
other words, if scissors make stays, scis-
sors should by all means rip them open
again ; at least as soon as disease and de-
rangement begin to be apparent. The facts
on which this theory is based, I admit, are
limited ; and should the experience of

384

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Others differ from mine, we must still ad-
mit them facts, and search for causes and
remedies somewhere else. As I have stated
all the experience I have had, I have, of
course, done all that, as an individual, I
could do, I hope others will do likewise ;

and that you will help us all to the whole
truth in this important matter. The slit-
ting of the trees I found worse than no-
thing. Eidire peeling alone seemed bene-
ficial. J. B. TUKNEE.
Illinois Colles', December 23, 1S4S.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Continental Gardens. — The following is a
translation of a portion of some notes on the Hor-
ticulture of Europe, by M. H. Lecoq, Professor of
Natural History, Clermont-Ferrant, Belgium: —

BOTANIC GARDEN OF VENICE.

After traversing the smiling landscapes of Swit-
zerland, and the beautiful plains of Lombardy, I
arrived at Venice as the Statice and the Aster
covered all the strips of ground intersected by the
canals, with their pretty flowers. The town it-
self is situated, as is known, in the midst of wa-
ters. It is quite astonishing to see such a grand
display of flowers and fruit as is here presented.
The shops of the flower-dealers are numerous,
and always well supplied with flowers; consisting
of inferior zinnias, single or semi-double dahlias,
pinks, nearly wild, some vervains, and a few ta-
getes and China-asters. With these miserable
flowers, arranged among some leaves of rose-
scented pelargoniums, small bouquets are made,
which pretty flower-girls oflTer you in the arcade
of La Place St. Mark.

On Sundays and fete-days each dealer makes
his exhibition before his door. From forty to fifty
decanters contain flowers similar to those just
mentioned. In the midst of all is generally placed
a crown, a large bouquet, or some other object
exquisitely composed. It is hardly to be conceiv-
ed that with so poor resources so fine an effect
could be produced.

If the flowers present nothing remarkable, this
cannot be said of the fruit. During the whole of
September the warehouses of the fruiterers were
completely decorated. There were to be seen
numerous gondolas entering Venice from all parts
of the adjacent coast, and even from the other
side of the Adriatic, laden with baskets, in which
the various kinds of fruit were arranged like the
flowers in a bouquet: here, the rosy and velvety
peaches raised in regular pyramid; there, grapes
of different colours grouped in crowns above each
other; then azaroles of a brilliant red; pears and
apples of various kinds, tomatoes and pomegra-
nates. These gondolas move slowly and steadily
along, and arrive at their destination without any-
thing being displaced by shaking. The baskets
are now placed in several ranges, in which the
tomatoes and the azaroles are intermixed to in-

crease the effect, in contrast with the other fruits.
The front is set off" with several varieties of figs,
and the perspective is formed with melons. The
floor of this sailing shop is generally furnished
with evergreens forming a kind of screen, open at
a certain point in order to reveal the fair Madone,
who is busy attracting her customers towards so
fine a display. It is thus that Venice receives
every mornin'g the tribute of the banks of the
Adriatic, and horticulture is in these quarters a
very considerable source of trafliic. Innumerable
barges also arrive, laden with melons and sweet
gourds, which the people use very extensively.
The sale of these fruits occupies a great number
of individuals. Everywhere water-melons, desig-
nated in the country by the name of Cocomeres,
are hung out for sale; they are large, of a fine
green, and with the flesh of a delicate rose-colour,
and the seeds brown. The veritable dealer in
cocomeres takes his stand in some public place,
or on the Quai des Esclavons; he cuts one of his
fruit in slices, at from one to two centimes — the
fifth part of a farthing. He understands how to
attract his customers by the very art wath which
he cuts a melon. With grimaces, gestures, and
smacking his fingers, he dilates at considerable
latitude on the taste, the colour, the smell, and
the tenderness of tlie fruit he has just opened,
which is always superior to any that he has yet
opened, and those remaining in his possession;
but as soon as that one has found a customer, he
finds, on taking up another, that he had formed
too high an estimate of the preceding one ; what
he has now in his hand is still better — it is extra-
ordinary, and delicious beyond comparison. Our
merchant, who has thus been cutting slices of
melons perhaps for twenty years, continues to
find, or, with the innumerable superlatives of
which the Italian language is susceptible, affects
to find, that the fruit ho has just opened is supe-
rior to all those which have passed through his
hands.

There are two sorts of gourds also sold in the
streets — one long called Succo-zanta, and the
other flat, known under the name of Barruch.
These obtain considerable sale; they are sold in
slices roasted in an oven, are very palatable, and
as low as from one to five centimes. The people

FOREIGN NOTICES.

385

snake a prodigious consumption of these fruits j
uiid although the confectioners of Auvergne as-
*iure n.s that the flesh of gourds and pumpkins
i'iannot be made iuto paste, (an ex|>eriinent wlii/jh
ithcy have probably acver tried 1) those of Venice
ynalTectedlj pass off the paste of gourds, without
pretending to have apricots mixed with it.

In one of the islands of Venice, near the rail-
avay station, there is a Botanic Garcien, under the
able iupeiintendonce of Mr. Joseph Ruchinger.
Tiiiis garden W2ls formed by a decree of the 23d
April, 1810, and ha.s arrived slowly but steadily
to the pros|>erous condition in which at appears at
the present day. The nuaiber of plants cultivated
in it amounts to five thousand. The garden is in
the form of a parallelogram, and very extensive.
It is bounded by two large ditches of saltish wa-
ter connected with the canals, and on digging to
the depth of three feet, & briny kijid of water i«
.found:; and if this soil, otherwise rich m mineral
niubstanoes, suits some plants, there are others,
.and o[ this number those with large roots, to
avhich it is essentially hurtfuL Moreoii'er, there
are some kinds that cannot be cultivated at Ve-
nice, even in pots, owing to the proximit}- of the
<ianaLs, and the air surrounding this locality being
charged ivith saline particles.

There are many plaots in thi-s garden which
<leserve notice, whetter for their rarity, iine
growth, eas}' culture, or the readiness with which
they flower and fruit. Of this nmuter Ls the
handsome Yucca aloifolia, thirty yeaxis old, mid
planted wit during twenty-eight years. It grows
by a south-west wall, without other shelter,
and is about twenty feet high, divided into ten
.branches, which every year «end out numerous
panicles of flowers, that always ripen their fruit.
JVear the entrance ito the garden is a pretty clump
of Thuja occidentalis(ArborvitsB,) about four feet
high, rising in twelve regular pyramids- near
this is another entirely foiijued of La«rus nobilis
(<bay,) abou't six feet high, then another of Taxus
baccata (yew,) abosjt fosr feet high. There are
many trees remarkable for th«ir 'vigorous vegeta-
-tion, as Plaatanus orientalis, sixty feet high;
JBroussonetia papyrifera, upwards of forty feet;
I'Gleditschia triacaiyihos, sixty feet ; Ails-nthus
glandulosus, forty-five feet:; and a superb tree of
iVIelia Azedarach, thirty feet.

Leaving these ixne. specimens, the visitor is led
towards the conservator)', in front of wliich a large
number of Cacti are growing, some in pots, and
otiiers in the gK<Kind. Many of these plants de-
serve particixlar .mention.; and, perhaps, ia their
native countries tliey eould not 'be grown finer
than they are here, I obsei-ved, in particular, a
Cereiis nycticalus, thirteen feet high, though only
«even years old- C, setaeeus, t-an fett, and five
years oid- a plant of C, serpentinus bad attained
sixteen feet in eight years; C.. ramosus, nine feet
in six years ; and a C.. triangularis, thirteen feet
in eleven years. Those who are in the habit of
growing succulents, know that the Cereuses grow
¥.QL. m. 2^

very fast; but it is very seldom they reach such
dimensions, in so little time. In the present in-
stance, the vigorous growth may be traced to the
mode of culture employed by M. Ruchinger. He
treats these plants as everybody does the dahlias;
that is, with well-manured soil and plenty of wa-
ter. These essentials, with the humid and mari-
time atmosphere of Venice, sufficiently explain
this luxuriant vegetation.

The Ojmntias, which are treated in the same
manner, arc still more curious than the Cereuses.
I do not think there is to be foimd in Europe a
larger specimen ,o[ O. brasiliensis than that grow-
ing in a box before the large conservatory in this
garJerL It is thirty-two j-ears old, with its trunk
quite thorny, upwards of twenty feet high, and
more than eighteen inches in circumference. It
is slightly conic, and terminated by a rounded
head. It resembles a large tree without leaves,
and flat branches, which are yearly covered with
fruit„ Neaa- this were large cliunjxs of other sorts
of opintias. Of thusc most distinguished, were
O;. crassa, about five feet high; O, cylindrica, up-
wards often feet; O. dejecta, nearlj' five feet; 0.
pioolominea, six feet; 0. spinosissima, ten feet;
and O. undulata, upwards of four feet high. The
iine thorns with wliich the most of these plants
are furnished, and the. large and numerous flowers
which succeed each.othej" on their articulated ilisks,
render them objects .of tli<5 most lively interest
both to botanists and gardeners. In this garden,
also, are two plants of Ginko biloba [ Salisburia
adiantifolia, the Maiden-hair tree,] aiale and fe-
male, upwards of forty feet in height,- Mid two of
Junipcxus vir.giniana, growing in the form of round-
ed pyramids, and reaching the height of twenty
feet. Some of the clumps contain numerous ar-
borescent subjects, both deciduous and e-vergreen.
Others, of a circular form, are arranged according
to the Linnxean s\-stem, and serve as a sort of bo-
tanic school;; while another department is set
apart for plants possessing medicinal properties.
Those, also, employed in the arts and sciences, as
well as those of a poisonous nature, are allotted
separate pbxces. Not far from these plats is ano-
ther, in which is growing a white poplar (Populus
alba,) hardly tliirty-two years old, and already
upwairds of seventy feet high; the bottom of the
ditches constantly percolating water, into which
the roots no doubt penetrate, may explain, to a
certain extent, this activity of development.

A iittle farther on is a subterranean passage,
constructed with materials obtained at the demo-
lition of the convent of which the garden has
usurped the place. From this the visitor proceeds
over an aqueduct, wliich introduces from the ca-
nals the water necessary for the culture of marine
plants. Close to this is a mound constructed with
old ruins, tastefully planted, and commanding a
magnificent view. From hence may be seen a
great number of the canals, the railway station,
and, in the distance, the Euganeen mountains, at
the back of the new bridge which .connects Venic*

3S6

FOREIGN NOTICES.

with the mainland. Not far from this point of
view, may be seen some 'remarkable plants.
Amon£f these are Cupressus horiaontalis, about six
feet high J aiid a vast row of Launis iiobilis, thir-
teen feet high. Towards the south, in the open
ground, is a large Agave aracricana, which even
for this and the next year, shows its gigantic pa-
nicles.

There are no wild plants at Venice ;^ and in or-
der to meet with these growing spontaneou.sl3',
one must visit the banks of the canals touching
the mainland, or the banks of the Adriatic. There,
are found plants somewhat rare, growing with
others of greater frequency.. There are Eryngi-
um amethyst inum, Cakile maritima, Scoraonera
hispaniea, Crithmiim maritimura, Plantago eor-
nuti, and several kinds of Salsola and Salicornia.
There, in the midst of this maritime vegetation;,
Verbena officinalis, Cichorinm Intybus, Medicago
falcata, and Xanthinm macrocarpum, grow every-
where on the banks. I have found Poa eragrostis
and Tragus racemosus growing on the sands —
grasses which also grow beside our mineral springs.

BOTANIC GARDEN OF PADUA.

This ancient town has preserved much of its
magnificence. There are beautiful and handsome
churches, prize pictures, and rich mausoleums.
Even the language of St. Anthony is fondly cher-
ished. In Padua are many large squares and pro-
menades, and the statues are really enormous.

The Botanic Garden, the oldest in Italy, was
the scene of a portion of the fetes which are held
during the sitting of Congress. Groups of musi-
cians were distributed! on the Jawn, under the
shade of large old exotic trees. A red and white
tent was erected before the conservatories, and af-
forded protection to a horticultural exhibition, at
which every amateur had been inviteil tocompe-te.
After having seen the exhibitions of Ghent, Paris,
and Clermont; after having seen thehorticalturists
contend, with trouble and perseverance, against
the rigors of climate, I expected to find, at this
city of flowers, under a pure sky, an ethereal gar-
den, such as Mahomc-t promised to his followers,
or an Eden, such as had been given to- our first
jjarents. Perhaps these preeonecived idoas had,
in spite of me, some influence on my imagination ,••
but I must say, that what struck me most in this
exhibition, was the gaudiness of the sentinels which
were stationed on every hand.

But apart ft-om this all was ai-rangcil-with mueh
taste. In the midst of the tent was a column with
the bust of Csesalpin, and all arownd were- grouped
the flowers and fruit, of v/hieh the latter was the
most select, and consisted of many varif^ties, be-
longing in particular to the fine family of Hespe*
rides (oranges.) Of such were the Citrus picto-
rum, very large, and covered with orange warts;;
a dish of Citrus del Brocoo, oi Citrus florentina,
of a fine green; of Citrus " scadek,''' having the
form of a handsome coloquintida gourd, a little
depressed at the crown ; of Citrus verrucosa,
covered w'ith warts, all from Mr,.Scipion Maupoil,

who also furnished fine grapes of " Uva odorata."
M. de Salvi, of Venice, sent a curious lot of ripe
fruit of Magnolia, consisting of M. triumphans^
Soulangcana, discolor, amabilis, cordata, speciosa.
Yuian, glauca, striata, grandifiora, maerophyllay
and Norbcrtiana ; also fruit of Madura aurantiaca,
camellias, artificially impregnated, and Asimina
triloba. Besides these, there was a fruit-bearing
Banana; a Vanilla, with its siliquas nearly ripe;-
numerous Pine-api)les, and outside the tent a col-^
lection of orangc-s in pots, all hearing fruit. But
amidst all these riches, the attention of the visitor
was especially 'directed to a dwarf pear tree. It
was growing in a pot, and did not mea.sure more
than a foot and a half in height,. It appeared to.
be Pyrns rcgalis, and had but one fi'uit, whic-h, at
tlie least, must have weighed- two pounds. This,
prodigy belonged to the Abbe Berlcae. If any-
thing was wanteJ to com])lett- the fine picture of
the pomological ricJies of Liombard}', it was only
necessary to sxo to the public streets and the mar-
kets;, there the numerous varieties of figs, peach-
es, grapes, pomegranates, apples, and pears,
goiu'ds, and juelons, formed, themselves, a grand
exhibition,. I much regretted to see the art of the-^
Bouquetier, which, is carried on in LGUil)ardy, as
in Florence, to so high a degree of perfeclion, re-
presented by a single subject, consisting of a vase
of flowers, compo.scd by Signor Domini«o Beda..
To make a bouquet sometimes requires great
pains, for in Italy,,, at a'i the fetes, those ornamen-
tal uelicaeics furnished by the confectioner are-
generally replaced by elegant bouq.uets of natural,
flowers. The bouquet is .sometimes a vase, a
erowH, an obelisk, or sonaething else in this way,.
serving as the- ornament of the b&nquet, and fixing-
the att(?ntion of the eoiiipany.

1 shall try to give- an itlea of a bouq«ct by de-
scribing that of Signor BeUa.. The' flowe-rs of it
formed- two rataacs or tier.s composed of crowns-
artJ'SticaHy variegated. Verbenas of different co-
lours, commeneing with bright rei and finishing
with the most delica,te rose, formed coneenlrie cir-
cles, w^hicli surroundeil beautiful corymbs of yellow
Lantanas in the centre and roses ontskle-; then,,
white umb&ls of Clypeol'a maritima, a pjant found-
at the sea-shore-, and which is used in forming the-
base of the Italian bouijuets. A garland of the-
green leaves of r©se-sc-ented Geraniums bordered*
this first part of the structure, like the rim of the
vase of a little fountain, and fromwiiich v^^ere sus-
pended by the long peduncles the buds and half-
opened flowers of Fuchsias^. The- second, or under
part of the structure, wider than the ot'Aer, pre-
sented a beautiful blue and vrhitc- mosaic work,
compo.sed of Dclphinums and Clypoola maritima.
Thi,? fine assemblage was surrounded by a large
crovy-n of Heliotrope:*, and connected' with aones of
rose and violet -coloured Bal.^ams, alternating with
Stevia and Motherwort. At last a girdle of recJ
Gomphrenas, a diadem of Nasturtiums, an aureole
set olf with Mimosa, and the hanging flowers of
Abutilon striatum, completed the w^hole atructure-,.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

387

from which our florists might have derived inspi-
ration. Ah'cady beautiful perlbrmanee.s liave been
produced in this way since the introduelion of
larire bouquets. Bou(iucts arc now a eon.siderable
article of commerce throughout Europe, — a tax
which is paid without conf:;traint, and the receipt
of which is a smile.

The botanic garden of Padua is one of tlie old-
est in Europe, and in which there are exotic trees
of the large.st size, bearing their fruit as in their
native countries. On oriental Plane dates from
1545, and this monument of three centuries is in
all the vigor of age ; its only infirmity eon.sLsts in
a great number of knots, Vv"hich render it very cu-
rious without destroying its robust health. The
Maijnolia gi-andiflora is as strong as tlie oak of
oiu' forests, and is covered with fruit every year.
'I'here is also a very old tree of Ginko biloba, and
the high pyramids of Cypresses bespeak the re-
mote period when they were planted. Quercus
ilex, and ^^gilops, have also attained to a large
size. The Agnus-castus (Vitex Agnus-castus,)
v/hich is but a simple shrub in our lawns, has here
attained to the stature of a large tree ; it appears
to date from that good old time when the rustics
believed in its virtue;^, or when the ancient monks,
provided with a branch of the tutelar .shrub, set
the enraged demons at defiance in respect to the
repose of their souls. But the tree, in getting
old, has no doubt lost its powers; or if there still
issues from it an atmofiphere of purity, it extends
but little beyond its own shade. Hort. Magazine .

'^ The PRESEsvATroN of Potatoes. — We have
read the following note in the Bulletin of the
meetings of the National and Central Society of
Agriculture, second series, fourth volume, num-
ber 2 :

" Process of Keeping Potatoes ; by Mons. Bru-
NO-FouQUE. — Nothing is more simple and econo-

mical. My discovery is so easily put in pi-actice,
that you are almost led not to believe it. Never-
theless, all eonjectures are vain; and whoever
wislies to convince himself of what I say, let him
try the jilan here recommended.

" Put some lime in a large tub or hole dug in
the earth, and slake it in the same way as the
masons do. As soon as the process is completed,
throw in the potatoes you desire to preserve, (be-
ing careful that the lime entirely covers them,)
and leave them there twelve hours; at the expi-
ration of which time, take them out, wa.sh them,
and dry them in the sun. By employing this ex-
tremely ea.sy and simple method, you can preserve
your potatoes for several years without the loss
of flavor, and they will never vegetate."

Winter Bui.bs. — It is not too late to speculate
in these attractive productions, so admirable for
adorning the interior of a dwelling-hou.se in win-
ter. Hyacinths may still be planted in pots, and
put into glasses; and those which have been
brougiit forward, according to previous directions,
should be brought in-doors for forcing.

These bulbs can be grown in baskets of moss
with excellent efleet. The baskets may be varied
in shape and size according to the fancy of the
amateur; they must have the lower parts imper-
vious to water, either by being made of metal, or
by having a China dish put in of the right size.
This must be filled with sand, covered with a
layer of moss, on which the bulbs are to be
placed. If rooted before put in, the plants will
be more sure of a regular advancement. The
whole should be covered with the best specimens
of fresh green moss that can be procured, and a
moderate degree of moisture kept up in the whole
mass. If the colours are properly varied, these
moss-baskets will prove beautiful objects. Card.
Chron .

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Circular to the General Fruit Commit-
tee.— The following Circular has already been dis-
patched to the chairmen of state committees of
the Congress of Fruit-growers, for the purpose of
serving as a guide in some measure to their la-
bors in preparing reports for the next session of
the Congress of Fruit- growers.

As there are also many of our readers, not upon
these committees, who are quite as zealous as the
committees, in all matters touching the progress
of fruit culture, and who will therefore gladly help
the good cause by placing such materials or expe-
rience as they may possess in the hands of the
chairmen or members of these committees, or lay
the same, themselves, before the Congress at its
next session, — we reprint the Circular in our eo-
li^mns, that it may find its way to all parts of the
eonnXry.

(circular.)

Di'ar Sir — As several members of the General
Fruit Committee, have requested information re-
garding their duties during the year preceding the
next session of the Congress of Fruit Growers, I
have thought it might promote a systematic spirit
of co-operation among the various members of the
State Committees, to address a few suggestions,
directing your attention to the most prominent
points of investigation.

It is, I believe, understood that our investiga-
tions are to be directed, in the first place, rather
to the acquisition of information, regarding the
merits and culture of fruits already known and de-
scribed, than to collecting new fruits. It is par-
ticularl}' desirable to arrive at all important facts,
regarding those varieties whose excellence, hardi-
ness, and productiveness, render them valuable

388

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

either to the state or country generally, in a com-
mercial point of view.

Your attention, and that of your State Commit-
tee, should therefore be especially directed as fol-
lows :

Ascertaining upon what kind of natural soils,
superior crops of any of the standard fruits are
grown in your state ; particularly whether lime
or potash abound in the soil — or any rock or sub-
soil whose decomposition furnishes these or other
mineral substances essential to the perfection of
the fruit.

If the result has been obtained by the use of
manures, or any peculiar system of cultivation,
what kinds of manures or composts have been ap-
plied, how, and when, and upon what kind of na-
tural soil J and also what mode of culture has been
pursued.

In districts remarkable for the excellence of a
given variety of good fruit, ascertain if such is the
case upon various soils in such district, or only
upon particular soils, and in the latter case the
character of the latter; also how large are the
annual crops, and how long the variety has been
in cultivation.

Ascertain what are the most profitable market
fruits of good quality in your state, and whether
any particular sorts require extra pruning, ma-
nuring, or other mode of cultm-e.

Ascertain which varieties succeed only, and
which thrive best, upon particular stocks, (as the
Louise Bonne de Jersey pear, on quince, &c.)

Ascertain what varieties have been tried and
condemned as inferior or worthless, by experienced
fruit growers in your state.

Ascertain the synonymous or local names by
which any standard varieties are known in your
state.

Also, whether the trees of any varieties are
particularly liable to blight or other diseases.

What grapes are the best for vineyard culture,
if vineyards are planted in your portion of the
Union.

What raspberries, strawberries, currants, apri-
cots, nectarines, and other minor fruits of good
quality, are found best adapte<l to culture in your
state.

In judging of the flavor- of fruits, it will, in or-
der to arrive at uniformity, be well perhaps to
adopt the comparative degrees of merit adopted
at the Convention, viz: good, very good, best.

Perhaps the following may be taken as exam-
ples for this purpose:

Good.

Very Good.

Best.

Apples.

Maiden's Blush,

Gravenstein,

Esopus Spitz.

Pears.

Napoleon,

Bartlett,

.Seckel.

Plums.

Lombard,

Wasliington,

Green Gage.

Cherries.

Black Heart,

Elton,

Black Eagle.

Peaches.

Cra-wfjrd'sLate.

Old Mixon Free.

George IV.

And in order to agree regarding these terms,
certain standard sorts should be taken, which will
reprcsemt them, in order to compare other fruits
to ascertain their value.

Fruits falling below the rank " good," are un-
worthy of cultivation (excepting culinary .sorts,)
unless their hardihood and productiveness are so
remarkable as to make them valuable in particu-
lar localities, or for market cultivation.

Though the attention of this committee is un-
derstood to be chiefly directed to acquiring infor-
raation regarding varieties of frviit already known,
yet some attention should be paid to the examina-
tion of remarkable new varieties. Unless the lat-
ter, however, rank as high as " good," they ought
not to receive attention, and a new sort, even if
excellent, should it be meagre, unhealthy, or un-
productive in habit, is no longer worthy of notice.

When a variety of" very good" or " best" qua-
lity is presented to the examination of a state com-
mittee, and there are doubts whether it is really
a new variety, specimens should be sent to the
chairman at Boston, Philadelphia, or the chairman
of this committee, so that it may be subjected to
more complete examination. And outlines and
careful descriptions (for the use of the Congress
of Fruit-growers,) should be made from new va-
rieties of high merit in all respects. In drawing
up such descriptions, the " Pomological Rules"
adopted by the various horticultural societies should
be followed as a guide, in order to avoid diflbse-
ness and variety of terms on one hand, or imper-
fection in details on the other.

The chairmen of the State Committees of any
states remarkable for the production, in great va-
riety or excellence, of certain fruits, as the Apple,
Pear, Plum, Peach, &c., are expected to call to-
gether their committees at the season of maturity:
of those fruits, to examine specimens, elicit infor-
mation, and prepare the same for the next Con-
gress.

In those states where full committees were not
appointed at the late session of the Congress, au-
thority was left with the chairmen of those State
Committees to fill the vacancies by the appoint-
ment of such pomologists or fruit-growers residing
within such states as are, in the opinion of the
chaii-man, likely to assist most completely in car-
rying out the views of the Congress.

Hoping for your active co-operation in carrying
out these views for the benefit of pomological and
horticultural science in the country at large, and
of a large class of cultivators of the soil,

I am, very respectfully yours,

A. J. Downing,
Chairman of the General Fruit Committee.

P. S. I will bo happy at all times to corres-
pond with you on any subjects within the range of
our duties, and will be particularly obliged for an
opportunity to examine any specimens of new or
rare fruits which you may consider worthy of no*
tioe, but more especially those of " very good'-* GSr
" best" quality.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

389

The Fruit Committees. — The President of
the Congress of Fruit-growers has, at the request
of horticulturists in Iowa, appointed the following
gentlemen a committee for that state, viz: Jas.
Grant, of Davenport, (chairman,) James Weed,
Bloomington, H. Gates, Burlington, Homer J.
FiNLEY and John Evans, of Davenport.

Col, Little, chairman of the Maine state com-
mittee, also informs us tliat he lias lilled up the
vacancies in his committee, which is now com-
posed as follows: Henry Little, Bangor, (chair-
man,)Stephen L. Goodale, Saco, Wm. A. Drew,
Augusta, Walter Goodale, South Orrington,
Ezekiel Holmes, Winthrop.

We are glad to perceive, by our correspondence,
that the chairmen of many of the dilierent commit-
tees are zealously engaged, this winter, collecting
facts on the subject of orchards; and we refer
those of them to whom we have not otherwise re-
plied, to the suggestions in the printed Circular.

Horticultural Library. — We give the fol-
lowing list of the most desirable books for a small
horticultural library, at the request of the secre-
taries of several newly organized horticultural
societies, in varioas parts of the country:

Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening, (This
work is a very complete digest of the whole sub-
ject, useful and ornamental,) 5th edition. 1475
pages. $10.

Loudon's Suburban Horticulturist. (Loudon's
latest work on the practical culture of the kitchen,
fruit, and forcing garden,) 1 vol., 8vo. 730
pages. $6.

Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants. (A most
valuable botanical dictionary, with figures of
10,000 species;) new edition, with supplement.
1 volume. 1329 pages. $18.

Loudon's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs.
1 volume. 1232 pages. $13.

Lindley's Theory of Horticulture. (The best
work on the subject.) $1.50.

Lindley's Introduction to Botany. (New edi-
tion ; the most complete English work on struc-
tural botany.) 2 volumes. $6.

Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom. $7.

Lindley's (George) Guide to the Orchard. 1
vol., 12mo. New- York edition. $1. (This is
the best English work on fruits.)

Ripton's Landscape Gardening. (Loudon's edi-
tion.) $8.

Bridgeraan's Gardener's Assistant. $2.

Buist's Family Kitchen Gardener. 50 cents.

Ladies' Companion to the Flower Garden.
(Mrs. Loudon's.) New- York edition. $1.25.

Thomas' Fruit Culturist. 50 cents.

Buist's American Flower Garden Directory. $1.

The London Horticultural Society's Descriptive
Catalogue of Fruits. 3d edition. $1.50.

Coxe on Fruit Trees.

Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry. 4th edition.
$1.25.

Johnson's Dictionary of Gardening. (Edited by
Landreth.) $1.50.

Mcintosh's Green-House. $3.

Gray's Botanical Text Book. 2d ed. $1.75.

Gray's Botany of the Northern States. $1.75.

Allen on the Culture of the Grape. 75 cents.

The Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals.
(Mrs. Loudon's.) 48 richly coloured plates. $11.

The Flower Garden of Ornamental Perennials.
(Mrs. Loudon's.) 45 coloured plates. $23.

Harris' Insects Injurious to Vegetation. $1.25.

Rivers' Rose Amateurs' Guide. $1.

Parsons on the Rose. $1.50.

Boussingault's Rural Economy. $1.50.

Paxton's Dictionary of Plants.

In addition to the above wc will add, that the
most valuable foreign gardening periodicals, are
the Gardener's Chronicle, (London,) weekly; cost
per annum, including postage, $9.50: and Revue
Horticole, (Paris,) semi-monthly, (small;) $3.
Paxton's Magazine of Botany; tlie best English
work on new plants, with richly coloured plates,
monthly; at $10: and Van Houtte's Flore des
Serre et Jardins ; a work of the same kind, equally
beautiful, at $8.

The Bon Jardinier, is the most valuable practi-
cal French work on general horticulture ; a new
edition of which is published every year, at Paris,
at $1.75.

Duhamel's Traite des Arbres Fruiters. An
old work, in two quarto volumes, useful for refer-
ence, may be had for $7.

Noisette's Jardin Fruitier. A standard mo-
dern French work, but quite imperfect, — many
coloured plates of fruit. $30.

Ronalds on the Apple. An English work,
(1831,) with exquisite plates. $26.

The Pomological Magazine; (i. e., Lindley's
British Fruits, as the new edition is termed.) 3
volumes, 8vo. Coloured plates. $30.

All, or nearly all, of the above works may be
procured of Mr. Wiley, bookseller, publisher and
importer, 161 Broadway, New- York. And any
of the foreign books named, which may not be at
hand, will be imported by him to order, within
three or four weeks.

Covering Tender Roses. — A correspondent in
Cayuga county asks for particular directions for
protecting tender everblooming roses in winter.

For roses that are quite tender, put a coat of
dry peat earth, charcoal dust, or tan, five or six
inches deep, over the roots and around the stems
of the plants. Upon this lay branches of ever-
greens; or, if these are not at hand, straw or lit-
ter. Tea roses may be kept out of doors in this
way with us, but probably not in Cayuga county.
But there this mode will apply to Bourbon, Chi-
na, and Noisette roses.

If these everblooming roses are planted in cir-
cular beds, of three to six feet across, they not
only produce an excellent effect, but are more easi-
ly covered. After putting on the light top dress-

390

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ing, a cone-like stack may be formed of branches
of^evergreens, or corn italks, over the whole bed.
This cone or stack should be hollow in tlie middle ;
and then it answers the purpose of ventilation and
protection admirably.

The Agricultural Journals. — It is impossi-
ble not to notice, with feelings of the liveliest in-
terest, the excellent and constantly improving cha-
racter of our agricultural journals.

A few years ago, and one or two journals, ex-
clusively devoted to agriculture, were supported
with some difficulty, and hfno means met with a
hearty welcome from the farmers themselves.
Now, every section of the country has its farming
paper. Some of the states support several ; while
some of these journals have each a circulation of
fifteen or twenty thousand copies, and are charac-
terised by a practical sagacity, a straight forward,
coming to the point, way of treating their sub-
jects, that we look for in vain in most of the Eu-
ropean agricultural journals. Among these, we
always read, with especial pleasure, the oldest of
the modern school of agricultural journals, — the
Jlbany Cultivator, which enjoys the largest op-
portunities of collecting valuable information from
all parts of the Union, and the matter of which is
always marked by sterling sense, and strong prac-
tical talent ; the Genesee Farmer, emanating
from one of the richest farming districts in Ame-
rica, and always varied, spirited, and instructive;
the Prairie Farmer, truly western in energy,
boldness, downrightness, and essentially in the
profound opinion, (which we are not disposed to
dispute,) that the west is the seat of the greatest
a<Tricultural people that the world has ever seen ;
the Southern Planter, of Richmond, edited with
the educated feeling and tact which Mr. Daniel
always evinces ; and the Southern Cultivator, of
Augusta, which is fa.st opening the eyes of south-
ern agriculturists, to the necessity and value of
agricultural science, versus planter's routine.

Mr. Bateham too, is, we see, earnestly striving,
in the Ohio Cultivator, to crystallize the large
experience of that great state in his columns.
Mr. Cole has lately established a new journal in
Massachusetts, under the familiar and popular
name of the New-England Farmer, which we
have not yet seen.

We ought not to forget here the new journal of
that veteran agricultural editor, Mr. Skinner.
His ■' Plough, Loom and Anvil," now published in
Philadelphia, and devoted, as its name implies, to
the interests of these allied industrial powers,
though edited with a solid gravity, not unsuited
to the years of the senior agricultural editor in the
country, is marked by an earnestness, and a labor,
that commends it to a large circle of our most in-
telligent readers.

We wish these (and other able journals of the
same class, which we are not in the habit of see-
ing,) all possible success. To raise the character,
a.nd elevate the intelligence of the agricultural

class, is a truly noble and praiseworthy occupa-
tion in a country like ours, where this class, from
its immense majority, and the importance of its
labors, both sustains and overshadows all other
classes. ....

Osage Orange Hedges. — We are glad to find
that this beautiful hedge plant is becoming so po-
pular all over the middle and western states. It
is, indeed, only necessary to see a hedge of it to
be struck with its great beauty and excellent
protective qualities. Rich glossy foliage, thick
habit, rapid growth, and stout thorns; these are
its strong recommendations. In the prairies of
the western states, miles of this hedge were
planted last year, and many more miles will be
planted this. If good seeds can be obtained, they
are almost as easily raised in drills, in any good
garden soil, as peas; and they are fit for planting
the second year.

We have had numerous inquiries lately, from
various parts of the country, regarding the hardi-
ness of the Osage Orange. As the best way of
showing the hardiness of an untried plant, is to
compare it with one that is known, we have be-
fore said that as far north as the Isabella grape
ripens its fruit regularly, the Osage Orange can
be grown. We may also add, that wherever the
soil is dry, and the thermometer does not fall
lower than 12^ below zero in winter, Osage
Orange hedges may be cultivated. We have no
doubt, when the plant is raised several genera-
tions from northern seed, that it will be hardy as
far north as Canada. As yet, however, we look
upon it as essentially the hedge plant of the mid-
dle and western states, as the Buckthorn is of the
extreme northern states, and the Cherokee Rose
of the southern states. The Hawthorn is liable
to so many casualties, and is so long in arriving
at maturity, that experienced cultivators have
nearly abandoned it in the United States.

The Japan Quince — This most beautiful of
spring flowering shrubs, Cydonia japonica, (bet-
ter known to many as Pyrus japonica,) is not
half so much cultivated as it deserves to be
throughout the country. About the principal
cities it is becoming common ; but it is yet little
known in the interior. It is perfectly hardy, —
forming a bush about five feet high. Its foliage
is always neat and green; and, in the month of
April, its flowers, of so brilliant a red that they
are sometimes called " Fairies' fire," are thickly
sprinkled over every twig. There is also a blush,
(or, as it is called, white.) variety; the flowers
of which closely resemble large apple blossoms.
Though not so beautiful as the red, they afford a
pleasing contrast when growing near by it.

Nothing is more easy of cultivation than this
shrub; and it is readily increased by planting
pieces of the root four or five inches long in a
rich soil, — burying the tops of the roots a couple
of inches. Yours, An Amateur. New-York,
Dec. 15, 1848.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

391

Cumbeklan-jd Spice Aiple. — Some of our friends
•^'bo write in the western journals, are entirely cor-
rect in saying that this apple is distinct from the
White B<llrjk\ir, so well known in the western
states. We were in error, in placing it as a sy-
nonym in OHr work on fruits.

The friuh h, that all hough w-e have been fami-
iiar with the CvMberl-dnd Spice ior years, ant! have
had ma.ny bushels of the fruit in our own garden,
we are not familiar with the White Bellefieur {ov
BelKSovver,) of the western states. It is very
rarely seen in the eastern cr midd-le states j and
■W3 have received no less than three different ap-
}")!es under this p.atp.e from the west. The Cum-
berland Spice, growing in cur grounds, has been
several times proiiouueed synonymous by griotl
judges from the west. But we are now convinced
that it is a totally different fruit ; and as soon as
we can clear up the doubts about the different
sorts, known under the name of V/hite Belle^eur,
we shdll rewrite the -descriptioa of the two
fruits.

Mr. Ernst, of Cincinnati, has just sent us a pa-
per on this subject ; but he follows us in consider-
ing the Cumberland Spice identical with the V.'hite
Selleflear. We shall refer to the subject again, —
remarking that the Cumberland Spice is always
<[e(sidedly conical, and has always a short stalk,
set in a shallow eavity 5 raakir.g it quite distinct
fiom the White Beli^eur.

CatTURE OF THE Ca.mellia. — I havc perused,
with much plea-sure and benefit, Mr, Becar's ai^
tide on the Camellia. It is, as you state, a real
j)ractical article. Tiiere is one .statement in the
article which J think may teml to mislead, in some
measure, beginners in growing the Camellia.
That is the temperature. I have always found
that heat was more to be avoided than cold. The
Camellia is not so much afraid of cold as some
think. In faet, it will bear a good deal of frost.;
but much freezing and thawing destroys the flower
t)uds. If they were kept about the freezing point,
or a little below it, all winter, it would not injure
them in the least: it would only retard their flow-
■ering, which is desirable where there are plenty
of plants, to have some in that state, so as to have
•a succession of flowers for a longer time. My
study is to keep the house as near 40° as I can
with fire heat; {if much above that point, they
flower with me too fast ;) and with the sun as
near 60° as I can. It will some days go as high
as 70° or more, a-s we have sometimes the ther-
mometer at zero ami a piercing wind, and a
bright sun, so tha.t no air can be given. In such
a case, I find a light shading beneficial; as bright
sun and a high temperature soon destroy the flow-
ers. I havc a fine flower of double white, yet
hanging on the plant, and looking well, whicFi I
was afraid to cut to put in a bouquet on the first
instant, under the mistaken idea that it might fall
to pieces.

As regards the mode of heatings no method ^ in

my opinion, is better than a combination of hot
water and the smoke flue, both as regards the
rapid production of heat, and economy in the con-
sumption of fuel. To come to anything like a
just conclusion, the quantity of fuel consumed, the
space heated, and the general temperature out-
side, must all be taken into consideration,

I am making a more close observation on those
points (than formerly,) this winter, with my
largest house, and may give you the result at the
close of the winter. [Which we shall be glad to
receive, J^d.] Yours sincerely, /. Wilson. Al-
bany, January. 9, 1849.

[The Camellia flowers finely, and remains long-
est in bloom, when grown at a comparatively low
temperature. But with most amateurs, like Mr.
Becar, the great point is to have a fine display
in the early part of the winter ; and his success in
this way leaves nothing to be desired. Ed.]

Seeds of Fruit Trees.— There are a very
few seedling fruits, out of the great number grown,
which are worth the place they occupy, as com-
pared with those which are propagated by budding
and grafting; and no man should ever think of re-
lying on these for the supply of fruits for the fami-
ly. Still every man desires to know how to pro-
pagate the ditTerent varieties of fruits from the
seed, that he may be able to supply himself with
stocks, if he chooses, on which to graft or bud
those he may select for his own culture.

The seeds of the apple, pear, and quince, may
be treated substantially alike. Those of the first
may be taken from the fruit itself, or, if more con-
venient, washed from the pomace at the cider
mill, as soon as possible after the juice is extract-
ed. The cider mills in these parts are very few,
and it is much more common to obtain them from
rotten apyiles. This may be done by mashing
them in a plentiful supply of water, and running
them through a sieve by which the pulp will be
carried off, and the seeds retained. Pomace may
be washed by macerating in water, and then run-
ning it through a long spout, when the seeds will
fall to the bottom, and the refuse matter pass ofT.
This is quite easy, when there is a small spring of
water witli a fall, or even a pump to be used.
Pear seeds are more difficult to manage and should
be taken from the fruit as soon after it is well
ripened as convenient. The seeds of the poorer
sorts, such as the common Choke pears, are most
plentiful, and best.

The seeds of the apple, pear, and quinee, may
be planted as soon as washed out, in good, moist,
deep, and rich soil, where they will vegetate free-
ly vi ith the ensuing spring. Those of the pear
are much the most difficult of all; and the youno-
plants are the most tender and precarious.

It is of very little use to plant pomace or rot-
ten apples, and not at all to plant rotten pears.
Not one in a hundred, if in a thousand, will come.
It does not destroy the vitality of these seeds to
dry them and keep theni over; through we have

392

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

found them more difficult to vegetate than those
planted in time. They are often kept dry for
several years, and then sown with success ; though
we have found them more difficult to vegetate than
those planted in time. They are often kept dry
for several years, and then sown with success ;
though a proportion of them [a large proportion]
will always in such cases fail.

Pears and apples are ready for the bad the
second year, provided they receive a good growth,
and are well treated.

Though quinces may be grown from the seed, a
better way is to use the cuttings. We have been
nearly as successful with them as with those of the
currant ; and they may be propagated in this way
indefinitely.

The stones of the peach, cherry, and plum,
after being taken from the ripe fruit, should be
immediately planted in the seed bed, when they
will make their appearance on the following spring.
It is sDmetimes recommended to put cherries into
sand, and keep them till spring hefore planting
out. This is an unsafe mode; from the fact that
they are liable to start before being planted } and
■when this is the case, their removal is their de-
struction. If the stones of either of these fruits
are allowed to become dry before planting, they
will not open again, though exposed to the frost
and wet of winter. There will be exceptions, and
only such, to this, among the peach stones, but
none, or next to none, with either of the other
named fruits. The vital powers of a peach seed
are not destroyed in many years by being dried,
and if the stones are broken, the dried ones may be
grown; but without this care, not one in a hun-
dred will germinate.

After standing the first season in the seed beds,
all these fruits should be removed to nursery rows,
setting them therein about one foot or fifteen inches
apart, having taken the precaution to cut off one-
half the length of the tap root. The peaches will
be ready for the bud the first season, and the others
the second. [Peaches are usually planted in the
nurseries in the spring, and budded in antumn —
the stones having been buried in the ground the
winter previous, and taken up and cracked before
planting. — Ed.]

Some prefer grafting all these fruits, with the
exception of the peach ; but budding is so much
easier, and quite as sure, that it will probably be
adhered to instead, both by nurserymen and those
who cultivate for themselves ; though the former,
as a saving of time, will practice all the usual
modes of propagation. — Prairie Farmer.

Allen's Trertise on the Vine. — The first
edition of Mr. Allen's treatise on the culture of
the grape, received a notice in the Horticulturist,
which was no doubt heartily responded to by all
whose experience enabled them to form an opi-
nion on the subject. Probably the only regret
expressed concerning it, was that the author had
not drawn more largely on the rich store of expe-

riencc from which he had condensed his thoronghly
practical and common sense remarks. The gene-
ral expression of this feeling has doubtless led to
the publication of the present enlarged edition,
■w'hieh contains such a collection of essentially use^
ful matter as to make it, beyond all question, the
most valuable work for the American cultivator of
the grape, whether native or foreign, that has ever
appeared in print. The necessity for such a trca^
tise, adapted to the climate and soil of the United
States, has been seriously felt by cultivators who-
have relied on the works of English writers, and
have found by experience how much their systems-
have required raodificaticin, to adapt them to this-
country. Our native vines particularly require a
mode of treatment entirely different from any that
is practiced abroad f yet so- conflicling have been
the opinions expressed as to the best methods of
preparing the groimd, planting, training, pruning,
&.C., that the novice in the art has often found
himself at his wit's end to decide between so many
plausible theories, offered by different writers,
each insisting upon his own with a pertinacity
only equalletl by certain theologians, physicians-
and politicians. The sound common sense with
which Mr. Allen discusses these theories, is such
as to make his work invaluable to the novice, and
scarcely less important, perhaps more interesting,
to the experienced eultivator, whc will here find
a rich collection of the experience of others, care-
fully detailed and commented on by the author,
with a wallingness to give full weight to their opi-
nions, even when opposed t& his own, which must
inspire the fullest contidence in the fairness and
honesty of his statements. The amount of labor
in studying the works of others, and examining and
testing the truth of their theories, w-hich the w^ork
displays, cannot fail to excite the admiration of
the reader.

The iirst portion is sievoted to the enlture of the
grape under glass. The frontispiece is a beauti-
ful view of a span roof grape house, belonging to-
Mr. Allen, of which a detailed description is
given, containing the exact dimensions, materials-
and manner of construction, with a minute esti-
mate of costs. Similar details are given of other
structures, both for forcing and cold-houses, with
such directions and estimates as would alone be
worth far more than the cost of the book to any
one about building any kind of a grapei-y or green-
house. The various modes of producing artificial
heat are described and illustrated by plans. The
fullest details of the management of the cold-house
and forcing-house are given, with a journal of the
latter, kept by Mr. Allen, from the time of begin-
ning to force (Dec. 20th,) till the ripening of the
fruit. A list of more than 100 varieties of foreign
grapes is given, with the characteristics so far as-
known of each; a large proportion of which have
been proved by Mr. Allen in his own vineries.
This is of very great value to any one about plant-
ing, and is entitled to the careful consideration of
the American Congress of Fruit Growers, in pre-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

393

parinjT their catalo<Tue of fruits to be recommended
lor general cultivation.

Tiic directions for the culture of native vines are
not less satisfactory than for those under glass.
The author's experience with them has not been
so extensive as with the latter; but he has col-
lected a great amount of information from the
most experienced cultivators in various parts of
t!ic Union, and added many very sagacious re-
marks on the dill'erent modes of cultivation and
management.

In conclusion, we have an exceedingly interest-
ing discussion of the subject of borders and ma-
nures for vines, beyond all question the most im-
portant item in the whole process of vine culture.
It seems that the use of animal manures, in the
jH'eparation of the border which Mr. Allen advo-
cates, has been objected to of late by English wri-
ters, and has elicited some critical remarks from
Mr. HovEY, who denounces the whole system as
■' quackery." It is not the first time that an old
established systen has been thus attacked, and
some patent, short-hand method recommended in
its stead, which has been found, on examination,
to amount to the same thing as that which it
would supersede, but for the most part less simple
and natural. To which system the term " quack-
cry" is most apjdicable, the public will decide;
but I respectfully suggest to horticulturists, as
well as physicians, that it is a very awkward
weapon to handle, — being almost always double-
edged, and for the most part had better not be
used in discussions whicli are honestly intended to
elicit truth.

Mr. HovEY objects to the use of animal ma-
nures, in the preparation of the border, but re-
commends a compost of old sod and topsoil with
tlioroughly rotted stable manure and ground bones,
and then an annual top-dressing of stable manure
and guano. This amounts, in the end, to the
same thing as Mr. Allen's system, -with the addi-
tional labor of the annual top-dressing. Guano is,
in its effects, the same as animal manure; but if
the latter, in the form of carcasses of animals,
bones, &,c., is freely mixed with the border, in
such a position that the roots of the vines will not
reach them till the flesh , fat , ^-c, is reduced to a
proper condition for their consumption , they will
then furnish a constant supply of nourishment for
a long series of years, without the necessity of
any top-dressing. The objection of Mr. Hovey
and of many Engli-sh writers, whose opinions are
quoted at length, seems to be that fresh animal
manures, (" carrion,") are not in a state to be
consumed by the vines. In this opinion, Mr. Al-
len entirely concurs, as he insists upon the condi-
tion which I have emphasised above. I believe,
and think Mr. Allen would agree with me, that
when practicable it would be better to have the
necessary decomposition effected beforehand ; for
no one can suppose that the flesh of animals can
serve in a fresh or putrid state as food for plants.
But few cultivators, about to plant vines, can af-

ford to wait for this decomposition, and I should
feel no hesitation in adopting Mr. Allen's plan;
first, because the i-oots certainly would not be
drawn towards it till it was in a condition for
their consumption ; and secondly, because I have
seen the theory confirmed by practice in many in-
stances where the vines had been exposed to all
the risks to which it is asserted such treatment
would render them liable, yet manifesting, by
their healtliy appearance, that they were provided
with the best possible nourishment. The carcass
of an animal is so offensive and disgusting an ob-
ject, that nature seems to bid us, in the most im-
perative tone, and under the severest penalty, to
put it out of the reach of the senses ; and the only
mode of doing so, is to bury it in the earth ; and
in the whole wonderful system of nature's econo-
my, we know of nothing more beautiful than this
provision, by which she forces the animals which
have drawn their subsistence from the vegetable
world, to give back tiieir component parts, to be-
come the Ibod of what they have fed upon, and
thus to spring again into life under new and beau-
lilul forms. The flesh is presently changed to
the richest mould, eagerly sought by the roots of
the vine; and the bones, which are slower of de-
composition, are soon enveloped in a net-work of
fibrous roots, whose ends fasten themselves like
leeches upon their surface.

Since the first publication of Mr. Allen's trea-
tise, I have heard surprise expressed by several
cultivators at his advice, that the foliage should
not be syringed after the buds had burst, and the
vines were tied up to the wires. In corrobora-
tion of his advice, I can certify that, for two sea-
sons past, we have had an opportunity of observing
its results in two houses, in which not a drop of
water has been thrown on the foliage throughout
the time of growth, and we never saw more
healthy and vigorous shoots and leaves ; and in
one of these houses, where syringing had formerly
been practiced daily, and where the vines then
suffered much from mildew, no appearance of that
disease has been seen since it was omitted.

I would particularly impress upon growers of
the grape the remarks of Mr. Allen upon the
points by which the quality of the fruit is to be
distinguished. So common is the idea that the
size of the bunch is the criterion of excellence,
that everything else seems to be sacrificed to it ;
and I have more than once seen enormous bunches
displayed at horticultural exhibitions, of which, in
reality, the growers should have been ashamed.
The two points which should first be considered in
determining the quality of this fruit are, first, the
size and evenness of the berries; and second, the
colour, which is invariably an indication of the
flavor. These being equal, the size of the bunch
is next to be considered; but as a general rule,
the medium sized bunches are far superior, in
these essentials, to those enormous clusters which
are often filled with unequal sized and poorly
coloured berries.

394

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

I should be pleased to notice some of the very
interesting experiments, of which Mr. Allen gives
us the details ; but we have already extended our
rema,rks to a much greater length than I originally
intended, and I will conclude by expressing the
hope that the author may receive the reward to
which he is so richly entitled, of finding an exten-
sive demand for his work. Yours, A Nexv-Jef-
sey Stibscriber. ....

Vineyard Profits. —In my letter, published
in the Patent Office Report, several errors occur,
of misprint, and one of my own mistakes, that re^
quire correction, I have erroneously described
the Herbemont Grape. It has a light coloured
wood, with a blue tinge. The Lenoir description,
as there given by me, is the Herbemont; and the
description of the latter describes the Lenoir.
The Lenoir does not succeed here. The Herbe-
mont is hardy, and of great excellence, both for
the table and for wine.* It should have an open,
porous soil, where the water can sink freely, as it
is subject to rot. At my vineyards, in a stiff clay
subsoil, it rots badly. In my garden, it seldom
rots. I am made to speak of " Spanish Mansin-
vellawine." It should read, Manzanilla. I erred
in saying that the York Madeira was the same as
the Schuylkill Mu.'icadcll. It is a smaller, and, I
think, an inferior grape.

By Mr. Weller's letter, in the Patent Office
Report, I discover that 200tO gallons of wine may,
in North Carolina, be made Irom an acre of the
Scuppernong Grape, and the wine sold for $i per
n-allon; S6000 clean profit, from a single acre of
vines ! We have never yet made more than 1000
gallons from an acre, and this is a rare occurrence ;
and the same would not yield over $1000. What
makes it more singular is, our wine is made from
the Catawba Grape, — the bunches often weighing
1 lb., and in one instance 24 oz. Yet the Scup-
pernonir is a sort with small bunches, generally
bearing from. 2 to 8 berries only. We find it in
great abundance on the Mis.sissippi, where it is
called the " Muscadine." 2000 gallons to the
acre, according to Mr. W., would appear to be
the average crop. It is true, the expense of cul-
tivation in North Carolina is great. " $1000 per
acre." Four times the average price of wine from
an acre with us. Again, where the Carolina
yield is 2000 gallons to the acre, the cost of the
suo-ar, indispensable in the manufacture, is $1000!
But this is a trifle, where the wine brings $8000!
The Scuppernong juice appears to be a singular
article.

To make even a Hock wine, which we all know
is a dry, hard wine, you must [according to Mr.
W.,] put three pounds of sugar to the gallon of
juice! One-half of this sugar, to our poorest juice,
would be certain to give us a rich, sweet, ladies'
wine, resembling Sweet Malmsey. But flattering
as these prospects are, I would advise our vine-

* The most delicious American wine we have yet tasted,
■was a bottle of Herbemont, from Mr. Longworth. Ed.

dressers to give a preference to California, or to
be content with our present stock of grapes, and
not introduce the Scuppernong into their vine
yards; as I am fearful the result would proVc the
truth of Mr. Weller's observations, that his is '•' a
theory on a large scale." One thing is certain ;
the Scuppernong grape and wine are not favorites
in the west. Respectfully, N. Longworth.

[We have examined Mr. Well£r's letter in the
Report referred to, and agree with "our corres-
pondent, (who is by far the most experienced vine-
grower in America,) that Mr. W.'s views are ex-
travagant. " Tiiree pounds of sugar to a gallon,"
M'ould make a cordial, not a dry wine, Ed.]

Plantinc Orchards.— -Frte7)(i Downing: —
Though late in the season, we have just finished
preparing the ground and holes for a new a])pie
orchard, — the weather and ground being fine.

The lot has been well manured, and planted
witii potatoes the two past seasons, and very
deeply ploughed* before " digging the holes."
These were dug from four to five feet square, and
two feet deep,— -throwing the surface soil sepa-
rately from the clayey subsoil. We then hauled
a full horse cart load, for each tree, of rich earth;
the gradual deposite of years from the action of
washing rains near our barnyard, and filled tlie
holes nearly full of this and the surface soil, mixed
preparatory to setting the trees,— thro vring aside
the subsoil entirely. Previously to filling in this
earth, we made the bottom of the holes the de-
pository of all the filth and trash we could find, —
night soil, the refuse animal matter of our annual
butchering house, old mortar, oyster shells, old
shoes, iron, &.c. &.C.; being glad of an opportu-
nity of burying them out of sight, with the hope,
also, that they would be in some degree servicea-
ble to the young trees. These we shall now
proceed to plant, if the weather continues open;
and if it should not, everything will be ready
for an early spring planting.

I know it may be said, that this is matter of
little or no interest to the readers of your paper
generally; and I only allude to it, mainly, through
the selfish consideration of making it the occasion
of soliciting your opinion of the method pursued,
for the benefit of myself and other beginners in
fruit culture. I might add — the trees are some
of the first fruits of our nursery experience ; two
summers' growth — from seven to nine feet high —
equal, perhaps, for our purpose, to older and
larger ones !

But the main purpose of my writing was to
call attention to a more important matter, and to
ask for light upon the subject.

In taking up trees this fall, I notice in a chance
one, that some of the roots will be full of excres-
cences, or warts, and covered with a minute white
woolly insect; and that some of them find lodge-
ment on the trunks of the trees, in the partly

• A* "Sfp"* as could be ploughed without a subsoil plough.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

395

dosed wounds made by pruninj^. As the trees
seemed vigorous I paid little attention to the sub-
ject, until another nurser3'tnan called my attention
to the subject; and stated, that not beinif able to
supply the demand for apple trees, he had been at
several nurseries in this state to purchase, and
was hard set to get a supply, because so many
proved diseased in this way, and that thousands
had to be thrown away. Since this, a young
i'ricnd of mine has returned from Virginia, where
he had sold and delivcsred several thousand trees,
grown at one of the largest nurseries of the apple
in our state ; and he informs me tiiat his trees
were very generally so ; and that he was not
aware that the appearance was at all prejudicial
to the health or Value of the trees; nor did the
propagator of them seem to be aware of their
hurtful nature.

Can this insect be the " woolly aphis," de-
scribed in your Fruits and Fruit Trees, page 66 ?
And if so, what can nurserymen do to get rid of
a pest which, unfortunately, is by no means
" rarely seen ?" I have detected the presence of
the insect much the most frequently on trees
which grow in a gravelly, or slaty soil, and sel-
dom on trees growing in a mellow loam. Re-
spectfully, &.C., J. Fulton, jr. Chester county,
Pa., Dec. 14, 1848.

P. S. Am much obliged for your selection of
late varieties of the plum and cherry. But what
of such varieties as Blue Imperatrice, Late Duke,
Rumsey's Late Morello, Buttner's October, Bi-
garreau Tardif de Hildcsheim ? A word about
these ?

[We are always glad to hear of such thorough
orchard planting.

The little insect you speak of is not the woolly
aphis. If nurserymen would use wood ashes plen-
tifully, in preparing the rows for their stocks,
they would not be troubled with it; and we re-
commend a shovel full to be mingled with soil, and
applied directly to the roots of all your trees so
affected when you are planting.

The sorts of fruits you inquire about, are excel-
lent ; but their qualities have only been proved in
a few localities, and we cannot therefore recom-
mend them for general use. The next session of
the Congress of Fruit Growers will enable us to
lay the general experience of the country, regard-
ing new varieties, before the public. Ed.]

Notes on Fruits. — Dear Sir: In my com-
munication in your last number, it reads, when
speaking of the great variety of pears at Boston,
— " Why not, from their 1,200 varieties of pears,
throw away the 1 ,080 worthless ones ?" It should
read, 1,180; for I did not suppose more than 20
of them were really first rate. But I may err;
for I find that you must have some splendid pears
of which we have never heard. For a writer
(Dr. Valk,) in your Nov. number, in selecting
35 of the best kind, does not include either the
White Beurre, Seckel, or Washington. His taste

for applet must greatly vary from ours ; as th<^
'' Pennock's Red Winter" is one of the selected
kinds. We deem it unworthy of cultivation ; and
not only inferior to 50 of the best old varieties,
but to all of our new seedlings, that we deem
worthy of cultivation. I wrote to several old
horticulturists in Philadelphia, in relation to the
shape of the Hudson Strawberry. There is but
one reply ; the substance oi' which I give you from
a letter of Messrs. Landrcth &. Fulton: "The
Hudson Strawberry of this city is not a necked
fruit; and this fact is noted in Johnson's Diction-
ary of Gardetiing, revised by our Mr. Landrcth."
I trust you will consent to yield the neck, at the
same time that you admit that pistillate straw-
berry plants never change their character. I have
never yet seen a fruit of the Hudson with a neck.
A chance fruit may assume that shape. [How
do you get over the fact, that Mr. Ernst, of Cin-
cinnati, finds his Hudson ncc/cfrf .? Tliat the Hud-
son frequently grows without a neck we admit ;
but that, whenever it is not grown in a rich soil,
or the berries produced are extra large, it is a
necked fruit, here, we shall always contend on
the evidence of our own senses ; having tested
the Cincinnati Hudson, and found it the same as
ours, we have no longer any doubt. Ec] It is
here considered the most valuable of all strawber-
ries, and is more cultivated tiian all others. Mr.
Abigeist brought this variety to our town some
30 years since, from Philadelphia. He was the
only individual, in that day, who was aware of
the true character of the strawberry plant ; and
kept his secret here, as he had done for years in
Philadelphia. He made a handsome independence
by the sale of this fruit alone. They then com-
manded from 2.5 to 50 cents per quart. His se-
cret known, and they sold frtim 5 to 10 cents.

On what principle does the Buffalo convention
recommend that the Golden Russet should be
called the Bullock's Pippin ? It is certainly a
Russet, with a golden colour. But I see no re-
semblance that it bears to our Pippins. If its
name must be changed, I would prefer to see it
have its old Jersey classical name of Sheep's nose ;
as, in shape, it resembles the nose of that useful
animal. Yours, ■with regard, N. Longworth.
Cincinnati, Nov. 29, 1848.

Cherokee Rose for Hedging. — We were
about to write an article on the use of the Chero-
kee rose for hedges, when a correspondent favored
us with the following from the pen of Thomas
Affleck, Esq., which first appeared in the New
Orleans Commercial Times. It will be read with
interest:

" Fencing timber is becoming scarce through
all of the early settled parts of the south. Many,
a very great many planters find a difficulty in
putting their fences, annually, in proper order;
and not a few have not the means of doing so,
but have to risk their crops under fences that
offer a very insufficient protection. And even

396

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

where the material is to be had, and that without
any unusual cost of hauling, the annual expense
of making and repairing fences is immense. All
of this it is in our power to do away with, and
tliat without difficulty. Hedge with the Cherokee
Rose. In Adams and Wilkinson counties, Miss.,
there are scores of plantations completely and
most effectually fenced in with this plant. No
animal, whatever, larger than a rabbit — and he
must creep cautiously — can pass under or through
it, after the fourth or fifth year, if it has been
reasonably well attended to. It will even confine
the negroes to the plantation, or at least compel
them to find egress at the gates. It forms a
beautiful feature in the landscape, with its rich,
glossy green leaves, summer and winter — and in
the early spring is eminently beautiful, with
long, pendulous wreaths of the whitest of all ro-
ses.

There cannot be an objection oflered to it, for
this purpose. Now is an excellent time to make
such improvements. Cotton is too low to make
it an object; and rice and sugar command such
prices that the planter can very well afford to
bestow a portion of his labor on work of so much
consequence. This, too, is the season of the year
to plant — from the 15th of January till the 1st of
March. Remove the fence ; grub and clean up
the old fence-row; break it up thoroughly with
more than one ploughing and harrowing; if too
poor to yield fifty busliels of corn to the acre,
open a deep, wide furrow, and fill it with rich
compost, or cow-pen scrapings, etc. ; throw a
couple of furrows back, and harrow effectually.
The fence may now be re-set, if necessary ; better
if it can be tended with both plough and hoe. At
every 2^ feet distance in the hedge-row, open a
hole with the spade; set in two or three cuttings,
replace the earth, press it down with the foot,
and the work of planting is done. Tend just as
you would a row of corn or cotton. The cuttings
should be fifteen inches long, made from the shoots
of last year's growth — the stouter the better.
They must be put fully two-thirds of their length
in the ground. Next fall or winter, instead of
covering up the shoots with earth, as many do,
out them off within a foot or so of the main stem,
and the plants will throw out stronger shoots the
next year. If the land is poor, the hedge-row
should, at the same time, have a pretty good top
dressing of compost, or cotton seed, etc. If, after
the cuttings have had a couple of ploughings and
hoeings, a quantity of corn stalks, saved for the
purpose, or leaves from the woods, be spread
carefully along each side of them, so as to keep
the ground cool and moist, they will make double
the growth they would without it. Four years,
with such care, will produce an excellent fence.
It is better not to allow the scions or shoots to
run up, and cover the rail fence, but each fall to
press them down and cut off the stragglers, by
which means the hedge will be much more com-
pact and close, and will occupy less space. No

trees, bushes, or briars, must be allowed to grow.
Southern Cultivator,

IJNrRUiTFUL Plum Trees. — Dear Sir: This
part of the country, as you probably know, is
blessed or cursed with a very light sandy soil. I
may say blessed, because it enables us to turn
everything into market gardening, — the spring
crops come in so early and so fine; and I may
say cursed, because we are so bothered, past en-
durance, with all manner of insects, that harbor in
light soil.

Well, what I want to say most is, that we can't
raise plums. Peaches, apples, pears, grow and
yield first rate crops; but the plums all dropoff
the trees before they are half grown. I have
tried all the remedies for curculio ; they may do
in a neighborhood where these creatures are
scarce, but not here. The insects will sting mv
plums, and the plums will fall off. Now, will
you or your correspondents tell me what I must
do ? or must I " give up the ship ?" Yours, ,A
Pine-barren Subscriber. New-Jersey. [If our
subscriber will fence in a small spot adjoining his
hog-pen, plant his plum trees all in that spot, 10
or 12 feet apart, and let his hogs " have the run"
of the enclosure from March to September, (ex-
cepting when the fruit is ripening,) he will get
good crops. Ed.]

Prune de St. Jean. — Dear Sir : I notice in
the article on forcing plums, in the December
number, a query of yours, whether the Prune de
St. Jean is the Jaune Hative. Thinking I might
possibly do somewhat towards answering it, I
venture to trouble you with a line.

I have cultivated a plum as the " St. Jean" for
some years. The tree from which I obtained the
buds is standing in a garden in this town, and was
received from France about the year 1837, under
this name.

It is very productive. The fruit is fine, ripen-
ing before the Morocco, and is distinct from any
other with which I am acquainted. I made no
exact memorandum of it ; but if my recollection
serves me, it answers more nearly to your descrip-
tion of the Royale de Tours than any other.
Branches of the St. Jean very downy. (I notice,
in your fruited branches of R. de T., smooth, and
in the last editions, downy.) [The latter is cor-
rect. Ed.]

As I never could find the name in any cata-
logue or pomological work, I supposed it to have
been wrongly named. I thought highly of it at
first, and propagated it in my nursery; but soon
found it quite too tender to be profitable, and so
dropped it , a.s hardihood is an indispensable requi-
site here. It is as hardy as the Royale Hative.
If you think it may prove a desirable acquisition,
I shall be happy to supply you with scions.

The remarks of " A Young Planter," in the
same number, are quite to my taste. The great
want now seems to be a knowledge of the stock

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

397

and soil best suited to each variety; and I cannot
but hope that the labors of the standing oominil-
tee of tlie late convention will be directed, in no
small degree, to this end. Respectfully yours,
S. L. Goodale. Saco, Maine, Dec. 8, 184S.

Remarks. — We find, by reference to Liegel's
work on the pluai, that the Prune de St. Jean is
a distinct variety, — " a blackish-blue i)luin, of the
size of the ' Gros James de Tours,' and one of
the best early pluins. The twigs arc pubescent.
Ripens tlie end of July and beginning of Aug."

Mr. Knevels, in a note latcl}' received, re-
marks that " this is probably either the Morocco
or the Early Orleans. In the L. H. Society's
Catalogue, it is marked as an 'outcast;' from
whence I conclude, either that the society had it
incorrect, or that the climate of England is not
as congenial to the plura as that of Germany, or
our own. This inference is supported by the low
grade they assign other fine plums."

We may add, that there is little doubt that the
Prune de St. Jean, (or St. John's Plum,) is a dis-
tinct variety; and as Mr. Goodale's description
appears to correspond with the German one, he
has probably, the correct fruit. Though too ten-
der in the climate of Maine, it will, no doubt, be
perfectly hardy here, and may, from its earliness,
prove a decided acquisition.

Horticulture in Iowa. — Dear Sir: I re-
ceived the November number of the Horticultu-
rist last night, and read it after the rest of the
household were in bed. Ten — twenty dollars —
no sum of money could buy the satisfaction and
enjoyment of that midnight hour. The account
of the Horticultural Festival, among other things,
much interested me.

We are endeavoring to do something in the
great work of horticulture, in this (to you) far-
off-land, though we are only following you in the
east, at long intervals with " unequal strides."
Nature has done everything for us. The soil —
all ready for the spade and plough — needs no
manures to render it fertile. Tlie climate is rot
surpassed, in the same latitude, on the Mississippi.
We are at the level of the greatest valley of the
greatest * river in the world ; but we want the
master workman to take these advantages of na-
ture, and marshal them into greater order and
loveliness. We hope you will sometime take a
" pufl'" up this great '•' father of waters;" and if
you do not pronounce the site of this little village
by nature the most beautiful spot in all Uncle
Sam's vast garden, then wo will frankly confess
that our partiality wholly misleads our judgment.

We have just organized a society here, the
proceedings of which will be sent to you by our
secretary. You will see that the subscribers of
the Horticulturist were active in getting up the
meeting ; and the gentlemen interested have been
kind enough to make me president, which I think
an indirect compliment to you, as all my know-
ledge is the result of three years' reading, with

some practice, of your precepts. We have made
your work our standard, and wish now a copy of
the latest edition of the " Fruits and Fruit Trees,"
coloured.

Of course, a state of only a few years' growth,
not yet " twenty-one," indeed not half out of
minority, cannot be expected to have made much
progress in fruit culture. But our season of en-
jojanent has already begun. Of peaches and ap-
ples we have many. Pears have been tried suf-
ficiently to prove that some " outcasts" from so-
ciety with you are destined to hold the front rank
in tlie circle of fine fruits among us. Dr. Weed.
of Bloomington, (25 miles east of this place,)
took some Barthtts to St. Louis, which were
pronounced superior to anything ever seen there.
Our plums cannot be surpassed; but, as yet, we
have failed with cherries. They grow so rapidly
that they are killed in winter. We are now ex-
perimenting with buds on the common red cherry,
which is quite hardy, and hope by this means to
succeed. » * * Your obedient servant, Jas.
Grant. Davenport, Iowa, Nov. 20, 1848.

Packing Trees and Hedge Plants. — What
is the best, and safe»t, and cheapest mode of pack-
ing fruit trees, and especially Osage Orange hedge
plants, to send long distances, where no moss can
be obtained? An explicit answer would much
oblige your friends hereabouts. Yours, J. W.
Turner. Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois,
Dec. 28, 1848.

Answer. — Where trees are to be sent on long
journeys, the whole secret of success in transpor-
tation, consists in keeping them in a cool and dor-
mant state, and away from contact with fresh air.
Hence, experienced packers, abroad, always use
but little moss, and that perfectly dry, and put up
their trees in tight boxes or bundles. If they are
sent with a packing of wet moss, they almost in-
variably grow on the way, and half or more are
lost ; while, on the other hand, for short JL,urneys,
damp moss is the best of all substances.

Where, as Prof. Turner suggests, no moss can
be obtained, the fjllowing is one of the best modes :
Take up the trees before the buds swell, and dip
the roots several times in liquid compost of loam
and eow-droppings, until a coating an eighth or a
tenth of an inch thick is formed all over the roots.
Then lay them in the shade and allow them to
dry perfectly.

Next, take a box of the proper size, put a layer
of dry straw in the bottom, then a layer of young
trees, (such as hedge plants,) and another layer
of straw, till the box is full. If the trees are
large, you can only fill in the void spaces with
straw. Press the whole down as closely as pos-
sible, (so that a box of moderate size will hold
several thousand stocks, or small hedge plants,)
and nail the lid down firmly. Finally, make the
box as air light as possible, by stopping the seams
or cracks with pitch, a mixture of tallow and

398

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

'^osin, or whatever substance, of like nature, is
cheapest and most convenient.

Ifyou have to pack in bundles, — a less perfect
mode for lon<j distances, — it cannot be done safely
without dry moss, or some other substance that
will not heat ; unless you can envelope the roots
with coarse india-rubber cloth, so as to shut out
the air.

Cuttings and grafts, when sent to a long dis-
tance, should be enveloped in pieces of oiled silk.
This preserves them from the action of the air,
and they are taken out quite fresh in appearance.

Horse Yoke for Orchards. — At the State
Agricultural Fair at Auburn, in 1846, a horse
yoke was exhibited by E. H. Danforth, of Bus-
ti, Chautauque county, and a premium of $3
awarded it. I have never since been able to
learn where the article can be had. I think it
would be of very groat utility in ploughing an
orchard; as the plough would be drawn by a
chain between the horses, and the whiffletree dis-
pensed with entirely.

Have you seen it in use, or do you know any-
thing about it ? [Will some of our subscribers
give an answer? Ed.] T. G. Y. Walworth,
N. Y., Dec. 15, 1848.

Errata. — In Dr. Paul's article, in our last, p.
315, for " inhibition" read " imbibition;" and 318,
for " their mucilace" read " thin mucilage."

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Sea Coast Orchards. — A Young Farmer,
(Hartford, Ct.) In your orchards near the sea
coast, plant the foUov/ing apples: Baldwin, Rox-
bury Russet, Domine, Porter; and the following
pears: Beurre d'Aremberg, Vicar of Winkfield,
Heathcot, Bartlett.

Plums. — C. S., (Newport, N. Y.) Plant the
following plums on your sandy soil ; they will bear
where others fail: Lombard, Cruger's Scarlet,
Autumn Gage, Bleecker's Gage. Try, also, the
Downer's Late cherry, which will thrive in almost
any exposure, and is a first rate fruit.

Grapes.—/. B., (Sackett's Harbor.) The Clin-
ton grape is not equal to the Isabella, but is a
verj^ valuable sort for northern latitudes ; ripening
where the season is not long enough for the Isa-
bella by a fortnight. The berries are little more
than half the size of those of the Isabella.

Osage Orange Hedges. — '.4 Subscriber, (Mar-
tin's Ferry, O.) There is no objection to plant-
ing the seed where the hedge is to grow ; but it is
generally planted in rows three feet apart in the
nursery ground, because the young plants are
mere easily and economically cultivated in a quar-
ter by themselves than when scattered over a long
line. One year old plants will answer for planting
out, if the soil where they are to be set is good.
The soil you describe is admirably adapted to
this plant.

Evergreens. — E. L., (Sandy Springs, Md.) If

your Silver Fir, which has lost its leader, is a
young tree, you may induce it to form a new one
by cutting back all the shoots in the uppermost
row (where the leader should start,) to within an
inch of the main stem. Cover the wound with
shellac solution, and a new upright shoot will
probably start out. If the tree is so old that long
side branches are formed where the leader was
lost, the matter is past remedy.

Scions. — I B. G., (Terre Haute, Ind.) Sci-
ons, seeds, &c., can be safely sent to Cincinnati,
St. Louis, or any of the larger western cities, by
express. The native shrub you describe, is the
Azalea nudifiora, conniion in the woods in the
middle and eastern states. The nurserymen who
grow ornamental shrubs can supply it. It will
go safely packed along with fruit or ornamental
trees.

Peas. — The most successful way of raising
early peas, that we have ever tried, is that recom-
mended at p. 481, vol. 1, of this journal. We
tried it last 3'ear, and gathered a crop ten days in
advance of those from the earliest sowing out of
doors. The Prince Albert is one of the best early
varieties.

Dissolving Bones. — W. B., (North Andover,
Me.) A strong oak barrel will do. Weigh the
bones, break them in pieces, pour over them half
their weight of boiling water, and then add, slow-
ly, half their weight of oil of vitriol, (sulphuric
acid,) stirring the mixture while pouring in the
latter. For further details, see p. 93 of the pre-
sent volume.

Graperies. — Johnson, (N. Y.) If your house
is a span-roofed one, it may stand in almost any
position, fully exposed to the sun; but a north or
south line is perhaps, on the whole, preferable to
one east and west. — W. B., (North Andover.)
" South-southeast" is preferable to " west-south-
west."

Roses. — A. R., (Cincinnati.) Aubernon, Mar-
chesa Bocella, and Crimson Perpetual, are three
of the most constant blooming Perpetual Roses. —
W. B. Sweet briars make excellent stocks for
roses. The imported roses are mostly worked on
the " dog-rose." The common Boursault, (i. e.,
Purple Noisette, Maheka of some gardens,) also
makes a good stock, and is easily propagated
from cuttings.

Report of Fruit Convention. — A Member,
(Philadelphia.) We understand the Report of the
N. Y. Convention will be ready for distribution in
a few days ; and copies will be sent to all the
members. Vexatious delays have been experi-
enced in printing it.

*j^* Correspondents who are subscribers , will
hereafter find replies to any questions within the
scope of this journal, in this department, (unless
otherwise requested;) and all queries, put in a
brief shape, and sent to us free of postage, shall
receive attention. They should be sent, if possi>
ble, in the early part of the month. Ed,

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

Saturday, Dec. 'J.'S, 1848. — President Wilder in the chair.
Tise Chninnaii of the Committee of Publiciitioa presented
tiie report of tlie Puhliihin? Committee, and stated that there
might ho some-lew Ijills wliich may liave been omitted, and
may varv the same some few doUars.

Vvttd, To aceept the report; and that the Treasurer be
authorized and directed to pay such bills as may be pre-
sented by saiil Committee.

Vuifd, The t'.ianks of the Society to the Committee of
Publication, for the very acceptable maimer in whicli they
liave discharged the arduous duties which devolved on
t.iem.

Vdied. That the President, (M. P. Wilder,) the Treasurer,
(Sam'l Walker.) the Chairman of tlie Finance Committee,
(Jo.'iah Stickney.) and F. W. JVIacondry and Otis Johnson,
be a committee to settle with the Treasurer of iVIt. Auburn
Association.

Tiie Puljlisliiiiff Committee laid on the table copies, enti-
tled •■Report of the Twentieth Annual Exliibition of the
Mass. Horticultural Society," and it was thereupon

Voierl. Tliat the Librarian cause to be prepared, directed
and mailed, a copy to each member of the Society; and
that lie also, under direction of the Corresponding Secre-
tary, forward copies, in like manner prepared, not exceed-
ing twelve, to each and every horticultural and agricultwal
society that may be deemed advisable, and that the Libra-
rian charge and be allowed a reasonable compensation for
said duty.

Saturday, D'c 30.— Tlie President, M. p. Wilder, Esq.,
in the cliair. Reports were received from the several Chair-
men of Awarding Committees on Fruits, Flowers, and Vege-
tables, containing detailed lists of all the premiums and gra-
tuities awarded by the Society during the year 1813. toge-
ther with the names of the persons receiving them. (These
reports have been sent to us for publication ; but their great
length precludes tlieir publication this month.]

The following gentlemen were, on recommendation of
the Executive Committee, elected Honorary Members :

Hon. .James K. Polk, President of tlie United States.

Gen. .Tames Tallmadge, Presiilent of the Am. Institute.

Hon. Rob't C. Wiiithrop. Speaker H'se of Representatives.

Hon. Joel Parker, LL. D., Royal Professor of Law at Har-
vard College.

Caleb Cope. Esq., President of Penn. Horticultural Society.

Lawrence Young, Esq., Pres. Ky. do. do.

Col. Joel Rpthbone. Pres. Alb. and RenssePr Hort.. Society.

Tiiomas Allen. Esq.. President St. Louis do.

Janus W. Thoinsmi. M. D.. Wilmington, Delaware.

H. W. S. Cleveland. Esq.. Burlington, N. J.

Professor A. Agassiz. Cambridge, Mass.

Rev. James Means, Dorcliester. Mass.

Hon. Edmund Burke, Com'rof Patents, Washington. D. C.

Siitvrdai/. Jan (i. — The first stated meeting, for the year,
WIS held at Horticultural Hall tliis day.

Col. Wilder to.)k the Chair, and introduced his succes-
sor, Samuel AValker. Esq., wth the following happy and
very appropriate remarks :

Geritlemen of the Missarhusetts Hnrticultitral Society : — The
duty of introducing my successor, your President elect, de-
volves on me under very happy auspices. Your suffrages
have fallen on a man who is worthy of the office, and well
qualified for it — on one who has served the society in vari-
ous capacities, with fidelity and ability ; and whom you now
reward vidtli the highest honor in your gift.

Gentlemen, I rejoice with you in this event, and in the
prosperous condition of our as.sociation — in the friendship
and unanimity that prevails among us, and especially in an
opportunity, before taking final leave of the cliair, to thank
you once more, most sincerely, for tlie distinction ^vhich you
have bestowed on me — a distinction for wliich. at my first
election. I had not presumed to hop,?, but which having
been so often conferred, and by those whose approbation I
highly appreciate, I shall ever regard as above any earthly
preferment.

Durins- my administrntion, it has been my desire and en-
deavor to discharge tlie duties of my office with impartiality,
and witli a view to the best iiitere.sts of the society. How
well I have succeeded I leave for others to judge ; bat

whatever success may have attended these efforts, for you?
my official associates,' with whom I have had such long and
pleasant intercourse, and iVoin I have received uniform and
cordial support, I shall ever entertain an affection next to
that for family and home.

Gentlemen, may a kind Providence bless you, in your
persons, in your families, and in all your laudable efforts t»
extend the usefulness, and to increase the resources of this
institution ; and may he wlio is now to occupy tiiis chair,
prove more worthy of tlie confidence and respect you have
so liher:dly bestowed on me.

Mr. Walker replied in the foUowring very appropriate
address :

Gentlemen of the Society: — Tiie very kind manner in which
iny friend. Col. Wilder, has introduced me, and his determi-
nation, if it wjre pos.sible, to lay me under t'urtiier obliga-
tions by his courtesy, and his avowed approbation, of my
pa.st services, happily afford me an opportunity to state how
much I value his friend.sliip — the pleasure it has given me
to serve the Society under his administration, and to ten-
der to you, gentlemen, my thanks for the honor you have
conferred upon me.

I cannot plead that I am ignorant of tlie duties, or the re-
sponsibilities of the office to which you have elected me,
but, in the same spirit of frankness permit me to say, that I
have many inisgivings as to my ability to discharge tliem, in
snoh a mtinner, as may be acceptable to you, gentlemen,
or that I should be able, in any way, to aid, or promote, the
progress and prosperity of the Society.

Wlien I turn to the records of the Society to read the
doings, and remember the talents of tiiose who have hereto-
fore occupied this chair, and more particularly the eminent
practical services of my immediate predecessor, I have good
reason for fear as regards my owm servicts. But, with you,
gentlemen, I have been accustomed to labor ; it is therefore
almost unnecessary for me to say, that for the future I shall
hope and expect to receive the same indulgence you have
so often and so kindly extended to me, during a period of
nearly twenty years. With these expectations I enter upon
the duties assigned to me, with a determination on my part,
to co-operate with you in as liberal an administration of the
Society, as may be consistent with strict economy and its
tuture interest.

I shall take an early opportunity to submit for your con-
sideration and action, an outline of such measures as shall
appear to me calculated to promote the further consolidation
and usefulness of the Society.

United as ^ve now are as members, still encouraged by
the co-operation of friends, and enjoying the liberal bene-
factions of our iionored donors. I trust our future will be full
of usefulness, and that our efforts may advance the object
for which we are a.s.sociated.

Genttemen : — When the time shall arrive that these new-
relations, ^vhloh are forned to-day, shall be dissolved, may
it find us the sime united and prosperous Society— strong in
mutual friendship and esteem.

Tiie meeting was then organized by the appointment of
Rev. Daniel Leach, as Secretary pro tern.

Hon. B. V. French. Vice President, presented the follow-
ing resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :

Whereas. Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., has, during a pe-
riod of eiglit years, discharged the duties of President of this
Society to tlie satisfaction of its members : and

Wlierens, Mr. Wilder's administration has been marked
with energy and zeal in disseminating horticultural science ;
and

Whereaa, AVe believe the interest of the Society has been
greatly advanced by his services, and its influences extend-
ed by his practical skill, and the many specimens exhibited
by him from his garden and conservatory, of almost all the
varieties of Fruits and Flowers; and

Whereas, We also fidly believe that the public, as well as
the members of this Society, are indebted to him for his
practical and successful labors; therefore

Voted. That the thanks of this Society be tendered to Mar-
shall P. Wilder, Esq., for his services during the period
he was Resident thereof; and also

Voted, That a committee of three be appojnted by the
Chair, to purchase a piece of plate, not exceeding in value

400

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS, and to oause a Suitable
inscription to be placed thereon, and to present the same,
■with tlie above vote of tlianks, to Mr. Wilder, in belialf of
the Society, as a tribute of the regard and esteem of its mem-
bers.

Messrs. B. V. French, C. Newliall, and J. S. Cabot, were
appointed this committee.

Mr. C. M. HovEY presented the following vote, \vhich was
unanimously adopted :

Voted, That the Society's gold medal be presented to Gen.
H. A. S. Dearborn, tlie first President of this Society, for
the essential services he rendered to the science of horticul-
ture and the interest of the Society, during tlie period he
presided over its ati'airs; and tliat a committee of three be
appointed by tlie Chair to carry out the above vote.

The Chair appointed Messrs. C. M. Hovey, C. Newhall,
and E. M. Richards, as the committee.

The following resolutions were presented by Dr. E.
Wight, which were unanimously adopted :

Resolved, That tliis Society hold in high estimation the
eminent attainments of .Tames E. Teschemacher, Esq., in
the various departments of literature and .science.

Resolved, That tlie thanks of this Society be tendered to
Mr. Teschemacher for his valuable services as Correspond-
ing Secretary for many years, and as Chairm.an of the Com-
mittee of Publication.

Resolved, That as a token of approbation and rs.spect, and
in consideration of these services, tiiat a p ece of silver
plate, of the value of ./if ti/ dollars, be presented to Mr. Tes-
chemacher, or such other article, of like value, as he may
please to designate.

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by the
Chair to carry these resolutions into effect.

Messrs. Wight, Stickney, and Dutton, were appointed this
committee.

A committee of arrangements for the annual exliibition
was elected, consisting of the following gentlemen ; — Jostp'i
Breck, Chairman, F."W. Macondry, D. Hagger.ston, A. D.
AVilliams, jr., J. S. Cabot, Otis Johnson. P."b. Hovey, jr.,
E. Wiglit, .T. F. Allen, Josiah Lovett, Capt. Austin, A. D.
Weld, H. W. Dutton.

A letter was received from the president of a horticu'tu-
ral society in Iowa, soliciting copies of the Transactions of
this Society; whereupon it was voted, that tlie Correspoml-
ing Secretary be empowered to send copies of the Triinsac-
tions of the Society to all applications from horticultural so-
cieties, and that the Recording Secretary make an annual
report of the number of the same.

The following gentlemen were elected members of the
Society : — Daniel T. Curtis, of Boston, and Jo.,n H. Bufford,
of Roxbury. Adjourned for two weeks.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The .stated meeting for January was held on Tuesday eve-
ning. 16th. Tiie Presiilent in the chair. The display was,
for midwinter, unusually fine. Mr. Buist exhibited a col-
lection, not in competition, of choice plants; among which
were eight select varieties of Azaleas, Porphyrecoma lance-
olata, three Daphne rubra, Cineraria seedlings, AmaryUi,
Erantheraum and others. The Presideht's gardener, a fine
eolleition, consisting of Camellias, Epidendri. Oncidii, Gon-
gorffl. Rhododendron arboreum, Azalea. Cypripedium cenus-
tum, etc. Peter Raabe, a table of Camellias, choice varie-
ties— Azalea indica, Chorozema varium, Primula, Hyacin-
th), etc. John Lambert's gardener, a number of Hyacinths,
Primro-ses, Cyclamen, etc. Designs of cut flowers were
Very handsome. A cone, standing in a moss vase, by Mr.
Dundas, gardener, was admired. A design of a fountain, by
the President"* gardener, was beautiful. Five moss bas-
kets, and a number of liand bouquets, completed this display.
Of fruits, Mr. Hancock exhibited St. Germain and Beurre
Easter pears ; John Perkins, twenty varieties of apples ; and
Wm. Parry, apples. Vegetables, as usual, were very fine.

The following were the premiums awarded on this occa-
sion :

Bt/ the Committee on Plants and Flowers — For the best and
2d best three hot-house plants, for the best three green-house
plants, and for the mo.st interesting collection of plants in
pots, to Ben. Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope. For the 2d
best collection of plants in pots, to Peter Raabe: for the 3d
best collection, to Maurice Finn, gardener to John Lam-
bert. For the best design of cut flowers, to James Bisset,
gardener to James Dundas ; for the 2d best, to Ben. Diniels.
For the best basket of cut flowers, to Robert Kilvington ;
for the 2d be^t, to Peter Raabe. And special premiums to
Maurice Finn and Ben. Daniels, for bouquets.

By the Committee on Fruits — For the best pears. (St. Ger-
main,) to -Thomas Hancock. For the best apples. (New-
town Pippins,) and for the 2d best, (Jersey Greenings.) to
John Perkins.

By the Committee on Vegetables — For the best display, and
for the 2d best display, by market gardeners, to Anthony
Felten. For she best display, by amateurs, to Ben. Daniels,
gardener to Caleb Cope ; for tlie *2d best, by amateurs, to
Maurice Finn, gardener to John Lambert; for the 3d best
display, to Wm. Johns.

The committee noticed, ■with pleasure, fine specimens of
apparagus, mushrooms, and bush beans, in the display by
Mr. Cope's gardener ; radishes and tomatoes, in that by Wm.
Johns, which are remarkable for the month of January.

The Secretary reported, that Wm. S. Vaux had presented
«ome potatoes, which he had received from J, Randolpli

Clay. Charge d'Affairs of the U. S. at Lima, Peru, which
had been raised on the Andes. On mot. on.

Ordered, That the thanks of- the Society be tendered for
the gift, and the tubers referred to the appropriate com-
mittee.

The President announced the appointment of the follow-
ing committees for the ensuing year:

Committee foy Esinhlishiirg the Nainesof Fr'iits -~'DT.'Wm.
D. Brinckle. Thomas Hancock, Elhanan W. Keyser, Dr.
Thomas McEwen. and Robert Buist.

Committee for Es'nolishing Premiums — Tliomas Hancock,
Dr. Wm. D. Brinckle, Thos. C. PercivaL Robert Kilvington,
and John C. Eiigleman.

Committee for the Distribution of Seeds, ef — Thomas C.
Percival, Jacob Snider, jr., and Jolin Rutherford, jr.

Committee of Finance. — Isaac Elliott, John R. Brinckle,
and Chas. Ellis.

Library Committee. — Robert Buist, Tho. P. James, Dr.
Tho. EcEweii, William McGuigan, and James Bisset.

Committee to Superintend Exhibitions — Robert Buist, chair-
man. Dr. W. D. Brinckle, E. W. Keyser, P. Mackenzie,
'I . C. Percival. Tho. Hancock, P. K. Gorgas, Dr. T McEw-
en, J. Ritchie,' I. E. Mitchell, G. Zantzinger. T. Clark, R.
Price, Dr. I. H. Bradford. J. D. Fulton. H. B. Blanchard.
G. B. Deacon, H. A. Dreer, E. Meredith. I. R. Brinckle. N-
Knowles, Wm. Sinton, P. Raabe. Dr. G. Wat.soii, J. Ruther-
ford, jr., Jno. Dick, W. Burrs, W. Johns, R. Fetters, J. C.
Engleman, J. Powell, C. P. Hayes, W. S. Vaux, J. Bisset,
ami S. R. Simmons.

Members Elected — Joseph Ripka, jr.. Mi.^s A. S. Vaux,
and Dr. M. Reeve. Tuos. P. James,

Rec. Secretary.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of the Society was organised by
calling Dr. W. D. Brinckle to the chair, and appointing
Geo. Zantzinger secretary.

The chairman stated the object to be, to elect oflicers for
the ensuing year, which was, on motion, proceeded wit.i ;
Peter Mackeiizie and Chas. P. Hayes, acting as tellers, who
reported the tollowing gentlemen as having the highest
number of votes for the offices respectively, and whom the
chairman announced as duly elected :

President — Caleb Cope.

Vice Prfsi'lents — Gen. R. Patterson, David Landreth, Jame*
Dundas, and Joshua Longstreth.

Treasurer — John Thomas.

Corresponding Secretary — Thomas C. Percival.

Recording Secrerar^—Thomas P, James,

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. hi.

MARCH, 1849.

No. 9.

IN'oTHiKG appears so fully to occupy the atten-
tion of our horticultural public, at the pre-
sent moment, as the culture of Feuit Trees.
Our table is loaded with inquiries, proposi-
tions and suggestions, — all relating to this
subject. Fruit g-ardens and orchards, of
all descriptions, from acres of strawberries,
raspberries and cranberries, to hundreds and
thousands of acres of peaches, apples and
pears, have been planted from Maine to
Texas, vfithm the last year ; and thousands
of acres more ^^iii be planted the coming
season.

There are many who think fruit-growing
will be "overdone." They point to parti-
cular seasons, when the markets have been
glutted with poor peaches, and poorer ap-
ples, as a proof that it is unwise to plant
more trees. But they forget that these oc-
casional excesses in over-production, are the
very effect of large previous profits. Messrs.
Reybold, the great Delaware peach-grow-
ers, for instance, make $10,000 in a single
season by their crop of peaches. This im-
mediately induces hundreds to plant large
tracts entirely with peaches, as a specula-
tive investment ; and for two or three years
the two m.arkets of Philadelphia and New-
York, at which these speculative growers
aim, are deluged with fruit. What is the

Vol. III. 26

result ? The regular growers make very
little profits, and the speculative growers
none at all. A couple of seasons of this
kind of disappointment, is enough for the
latter. They abandon their scheme, their
orchards go down, and the price of peaches
rises again to a fair and remunerative profit.
It may always be laid down as a safe
proposition, that the market will never be
overstocked with really fine fruit. Three-
fourths of all the farmers, who grow fruit
for market, send it to market in such indif-
ferent order that it brings half price. The
consequence is, that the careful growers
get double and treble profits. When ap-
ples from western New -York, are so abun-
dant in New- York market as to be worth
only a dollar and a quarter per barrel, the
apples of the Pelham farm, — several thou-
sand barrels in a season, — command readily
three to four dollars a barrel. When peach-
es are so abundant as to be worth only 50
cents a basket, fine samples of Crawford's
Late, or Old Mixons, bring two dollars a
bushel. What is the inference ? Plainlj',
that if it is Avorth while to grow fruit for
market, it is best worth while to grow onlj'
the best, and to grow it in the superior
manner. Ten dollars an acre will often
cover the cost of superior cultivation, Mobile

402

FRUIT TREES AND THE BEST MANURES FOR THEM.

the difference in the value of the crop may
be an hundred dollars.

What then is the secret of good cultiva-
tion ? What steps must he taken to ensure
success, either to him who wishes fine fruit
for home consumption, or regular and abun-
dant crops for market ?

Such is the substance of the numerous
queries to which we have alluded ; and we
shall throw out a few suggestions to meet
them.

The first secret of success, is to plant only
the best sorts.

This -yould appear to be a matter as plain
as a pike-staff'; and yet, there are very few
planters who carefully attend to it. There
is such a passion for novelty and variety in
the minds of most men, that they are not
content with what is really knoimi to be ex-
cellent. They must try everything that is
said to be better than excellent. Hence,
more than half our fruit gardens are filled
up with trashy tree^, that have no other
merit than high sounding names. Hence,
no one is satisfied with twenty pears,
though this may comprise all those of
the very finest quality. They must have
an hundred, at least ; and the consequence
is that, at last, they gather five bushels of
most indifferent fruit to a peck of the finest
quality, when they might have gathered
the latter only. But only time and trial
will cure this mania for making every pri-
vate orchard and garden a pornological spe-
cimen ground. The feeling is so rife at
present, that a writer, or a society, that re-
commends a list of only a dozen or two
fruits of each sort, is looked upon as behind
the age. Now the real truth is just this :
that when a fruit garden contains the Green
Gage and the Jefferson plum, the Seckel and
the White Doyennj pear, the Early Harvest
and the Newtown Pippin apple, the George
the Fourth and the Grosse Mignonne peach,

it contains the concentrated excellence of a
catalogue of a thousand varieties. The
question, therefore, after this, is not how to
get better sorts, but how to get a sufficient
number of other fine sorts, to make out the
season from early to late ; and having done
this, we think it far better to multiply twice >
ten, or twenty times, really excellent sorts, of
established .reputation, than to plant all
sorts of novelties in an orchard or fruit
garden Avhere enjoyment or profit, and not
curiosity, is the object in view. Zealous
amateurs are now abundant, who are en-
gaged, in a most praiseworthy manner, in
importing, collecting, and testing every-
thing that can be heard of. There is a
great interest and pleasure in this, as we
have satisfied ourselves by years of trial ; but
it is a vast waste of time, money and ground,
for those v,'ho only want a supply of the
finest fruits, to be ransacking all the new
catalogues for "eminent varieties." Let
them find out what are ten of the best sorts
of any such fruits as the apple and peair,
and plant those ten sorts till their grounds
are filled, rather than hunt for fifty or an
hundred varieties.

There is something ver}' fascinating in a
name. It appears to be verj" hard for a
novice, who is making out his order from a
grand catalogue, to give the cold shoulder
to Duchesses, Kings, and Princes Royal,
and order a tree, with such a plain look-
ing name as the Dix, or the Heathcot.
That huge, coarse apple, the Gloria Mundi,
(glory of the world,) has owed its existence,
in hundreds of gardens, solely to its superb
title; and the "Green Sugar of Hoyer-
swerda," has disappointed, in its treache-
rous, rotten flavor, dozens who had prepared
their mouths for something akin to genuine
nectar and ambrosia. Nay, a friend of
ours, who planted a tree of the " Great
t^itron of Bohemia," assured us that he ex-

FRUIT TREES AND THE BEST MANURES FOR THEM.

403

pected to eat something very nearly akin to
the richest hride's cake !

The second secret, is to pUint them upon
the right soil, well prepared.

So much has been written on the proper
soil, for various fruit trees, that we Avill not
go over the subject again here. We may,
however, remark that there are two trees
not yet well understood, as regards the
most suitable soil for them.

These are the pear and the peach. We
^hink the pear cannot, unless with very
rare exceptions, be successfully grown in
any soil that has been long cultivated, with-
out first restoring to that soil the potash,
phosphate, and lime, that have been taken
from it by continuous cropping. And, with
very rare exceptions, we think it will be
found that, in our dry climate, it is only
upon naturally deep soils, or where the
subsoil has been broken up, so as to form a
soil 18 inches in depth, that these trees
will be uniformly healthy and productive.*
It seems to us that there is still a prevalent
error, regarding the best soil for the peach.
The impression prevails, that the peach is
ifinest on light sandy soils. It is quite true
5:hat the growth of the tree is rapid, and its
«:ulture easiest, upon such soils. But a
-■areful comparison of peaches grown in va-
rious soils, has convinced us that the flavor
and beauty of the fruit are incomparably
higher in a mellow loam, than in a lighter
find more sandy soil.

The great importance of deepening all
ordinary soil, by trenching or subsoiling, is
now so generally known, that no planter,
of the least information on the subject,
thinks of planting an orchard, or even a
tree, without this preliminary step. In no
.climate is it so important as ours ; and in

* On the other hantl, in very deep vcg-etable soils, (as in
*orae parts of the western states,) the trees should be planted
..>n little hills or mounds, 18 inches high, to prevent over rapid
«rovvtii, and too succulent wood.

no country, does it so fully repay, in the
quadrupled health, vigor, and productive-
ness of the tree, the necessary cost and
trouble which it involves.

The third secret, is to supply them with
the proper food.

And this leads us to repeat here what
cannot be repeated too often, — that the
best general compost for fruit trees, is a
mixture of peat and ashes. These two sub-
stances alone contain every addition to the
soil necessary to the growth of fruit trees.
There is hardly any part of the Union
where swamp peat (the black, decayed ve-
getable matter of low grounds,) cannot be
had very cheaply ; and there are few parts
of our country where wood ashes, either in
a fresh or leached state, cannot be had at a
moderate price. Now this peat, as it comes
from the swamps, is so saturated with acid
that it is almost worthless as a manure ;
but mixed Avith ashes, at the rate of five
bushels of fresh ashes, or ten bushels of
leached ashes, to a waggon load, it becomes
nearly equal to cow manure, and far more
beneficial to fruit trees, because the com-
post contains not only vegetable manure
but lime, potash and phosphates ; in other
words, the mineral manures, so absolutely
essential to the production of fine fruit.

Taking this mixture of peat and ashes
as a general manure for fruit trees, let us
turn it into a compost more especially
adapted to the different fruits ; for chemical
analysis shows a different composition in
the apple, and the pear, the plum, and
the grape, etc.

To every cart load of the composted peat
and ashes, after it has laid a fortnight, we
would add two bushels of air-slaked shell
lime, or any other good pure lime. This
would be the compost for apple trees.

To every cart load of the peat and ashes,
we would add half a bushel of ground or

404

THE MYRTLE TRIBE OF PLANTS.

dissolved bones,* and two bushels of leached
ashes, (or five pounds of potash, dissolved
in water.) This would be the compost for
•pear trees.

To every cart load of the peat and ashes,
we would add half a bushel of lime, half a
bushel of ashes, and a peck of salt. This
would be the compost for the plum tree.

To every cart load of the peat and ashes,
we would add a bushel of lime, one of ashes,
and half a bushel of gypsum or plaster.
This would be the compost for the grape-vine.

To every cart load of the peat and ashes,
we Avould add two bushels of leached ashes.
This would be the compost for the peach and
cherry tree.

We do not intend to give these as the
best formulas for composts for these different
fruit trees. The ingredients are by no
means so exactly proportioned as even the
present state of chemical knowledge would
enable us to make ; but they contain the
essential elements, in proportions which we
have tested ; and we have avoided making

them in the least complex, because we
have always noticed that the majority of cul-
tivators are reluctant to adopt what is not
easily understood and carried into practice.

The good effects of such composts as
these, instead of common manure, will be
very speedily seen in all fruit gardens and
orchards where they are used. Their use
will as certainly bring about thrifty grawth,
healthy foliage, and fair and abundant
crops, as careless and ignorant culture and
manuring will the reverse.

We will only add,, in conclusian, that,
where an orchard or garden has been
neglected for same time^ a very heavy
dressing of such compost,, say a coat twa
inches thick, should be applied at first.
But where it is the practice of the cultivator
to use the compost every year, it is only
necessary to sprinkle enough over the sur-
face every spring (turning it xmder lightly
w^ith the spade or plough,) to cover the
surface half an inch thick as far as tJb.e roots
extend.

ON THE MYRTLE TRIBE OF PLANTS.— [**]
BY DR. WM. W. YAUi, FL.USPIING-, L, I.

In all the contributions to the pages of the
Horticulturist, I presume it has been, (and
is,) the design of its correspondents, to
combine in their communications, matter
both useful and interesting to the many
thousand readers of this popular periodical.
That such has been the case with myself
I know ; and trusting that the little already
done shall have answered wholly, or par-
tially, to fulfil the intent thus indicated, I
shall, as often as I can find or make the

* Ground bones are only to be hac! in the cities; but every
cultivator in the country may collect sufficient bones in liis
neighborhood, and dissolve them by following the directions
on page 93 of this volume.

opportunity, continue to offer somethdi^g for
the reader's consideration,, upon the various
subjects appertaining to- horticulture. In.
doing this, I purpose availing myself of
whatever materials I already possess, or
that may come into the line of appropria-
tion,, from every source obtainable in the
gardening literature of the day ; conse-
quently, my communicatians will be some-
times either wholly, or to same extent, ori-
ginal, or, ag-ain,, entirely selected. If,, in a
greater or less degree, it shall be necessary
and proper to modify a selected paper, by
additions or omissions, there will be added

THE MYRTLE TRIBE OF PLANTS.

405

to its title, in brackets, two asterisks ; if
wholly selected, one; and if entirely ori-
ginal, no such indication will appear.
Against the charge of " false quotations,
misrepresentations, &c.," I shall ever be
ready to answer, where such charge is
made by a correspondent of reputation and
veracity ; for I cannot admit that any other
has the least claim to notice. Hoping that
I am now fully understood, I proceed to the
development of the subject which heads
this paper.

With an exception in favor of the rose,
that universal charmer, the theme of the
poet, and the pride of every garden, we
are not aware of any plant which is better
calculated to elicit pleasurable associations
than the myrtle. As one of the loveliest of
levergreens, elegant in its growth, graceful
in its figure, its leaves are not only beau-
tiful, but they abound with a fragrant es-
sential oil of peculiar quality ; and its
-flotcers of dazzling white, pencilled with
light airy stamens, each supporting a beau-
tiful anther, are absolutely "redolent of
sweets."

This charming evergreen is so retentive
of its brilliant foliage, that, to quote the
expression of Dr. Lindley, it seems as if it
■^' were intended to make us forget that
winter has power over vegetation." It is
not our intention, however, to make the
beauties of this species the chief subject of
the present article ; we select it as the type
of an order, from which we hope to point
out a i^^i of the characteristics of what is
now, 'par excellence, designated — " The Na-
tural System of Botamj.^^ We do this with
the greater pleasure, because the members
of the tribe are generally plants of great
elegance, and further possess a peculiarity
of structure which may very happily be ad-
duced to explain the construction of this
natural system, and to point out hoio it dif-

fers from the artificial classification of Lin-
neeus.

The study of botany is as enchanting as
it is useful ; therefore, it is a pity its pur-
suit should be hampered by difficulties ;
but so it is with everything of man's in-
vention, and we must submit. Yet we
counsel not that those who have been edu-
cated in the Linnsean system shall abandon
it. The rather do we say — "go on; you
have proved by experience the facilities it
affords, the light it communicates ; but let
not prejudice arm you against that classifi-
cation which embraces and teaches the
physiological structure of the vegetable or-
ganization."

To those students whose opinions are
still immature, we recommend the impartial
investigation of the elements of both sys-
tems- If but a mere insight into the lead-
ing principles of the natural system be de-
sired, enough will be found in Dr. Lind-
ley's " Ladies' Botany," and in the work
of the " Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge." If more than an insight is
required, the student must make himself
acquainted with the principles of the sci-
ence of physiological hotany, and expect to
encounter difficulties and perplexities in
his progress at every step. If, on the other
hand, he only wishes to discriminate gene-
ra, to be able to classify plants, and give
them " a local habitation and a name," we
bid him go to the classification of Linnaeus.
There he will find light, precision, and ar-
rangement, almost perfect, while the natu-
ral system even now, though improved by
the zeal of a Lindley, is unfinished, unset-
tled, revised, added to, and altered per-
petually.

But, putting aside all merits and defi-
ciencies in that system, let us at once pro-
ceed to the elucidation of our subject, as at
first proposed.

406

THE MYRTLE TRIBE OF PLANTS.

The myrtle tribe is one of the orders of
the natural system. Its title is MijrtacecB,
and it is found in the first Grand Division,
in which all the plants are of a vascular
structure {vasculares,) in contradistinction
to the second grand division, {cellulares,)
wherein the stems of the plants are entirely
cellular, and destitute of woody fibre and
tubular vessels. The first division con-
tains two great classes ; our 3fyrtace^. be-
ino- in the first class, because its seeds
have tivo lobes, — whence the term Dicoty-
ledons. This great class is again subdi-
vided ; and in the first division are all
those plants which have a calyx and corol-
la, {Dichlamydcea.) Again, this first sub-
division has three sub-classes, viz : 1st,
ThalamiflorcB, wherein the petals and sta-
mens are attached to the receptacle, (as in
the Ranunculus.) 2d, CalyciJlor(B, where-
in the petals, and often the stamens, are
seated on the sepals or calyx leaves, as in
most fruit trees ; for example, in the Pear,
Plum, Peach, Almond, cum multis aliis.
3d, Corolliflora, wherein the corolla is mo-
nopetalous, inferior, or below the germen,
and the stamens attached to it ; as, for in-
stance, in Snapdragon, Foxglove, Thyme,
Rosemary, &c.

Now, let any one acquainted with bo-
tanical structure, take a flower of the myr-
tle, and he will, after a short examination,
be convinced that it must be referred to
the second sub-class of the j^rs^ subdivision ,•
because it has a great number of stamens
not attached either to the petals or recepta-
cles ; because the petals are seated on the
calyx, and therefore it has both calyx and
corolla ; in short, that it belongs to the 12th
Linnosan class, — Icosandria.

But the order Myrtacece is not solely
founded upon the number or position of the
stamens, and therefore contains many ge-
nera not in the 12th Linngean class ; which

circumstance will be further noticed. But
first, let us endeavor to find out the 7mmber
as well as the positio?i of the order ; for in
so doing, one of the imperfections of the
system will be detected.

When in 1829, the Encyclopredia of Plants
appeared, Myrtacece formed the 63d order
of the sub-class ; and the order itself was
again subdivided into three tribes. The
1st, Baccata, contained eleven genera ; the
fruit or seed vessel being a berry. The 2d,
Gapsulares, comprised nine families, having;
capsular seed vessels. The 3d, LecytkidecPy
with three genera, differed from the two
preceding in this, — the fruit was either a
drupe, {a fleshy, succ^dent rind, containing
a hard stone in the middle,) or a vessel en-
closed within a leathery rind.

The genera of distinguished beauty and:
excellence were seen in the first tribe, viz.,
MyrtiiS, the tree myrtle, and type of the-
order, with tea varieties of the commons
myrtle — hardy tenants ef the green-bouse ;
the lovely but captious woolly-leaved, pink-
flowered myrtle of China ;. and that most
fragrant stove-evergreen, the pimenta-
leaved myrtle, — M. pimentoides,

2. Pimenta vulgaris, or true allspice, oi-
Jamaica pepper. These two plants are
rarely seen in our hot-houses, or those of
Europe. The first is much the most fra-
grant of the two, and more easily reconciled
to our artificial climates.

3. Psidium, the Giiava. A most inte-
resting family ; and the purple-fruited, or
Cattley's guava, is }>erhaps the most perfect
and graceful evergreen that an amateur of
plants can desire, or possess. It may be
raised from seeds, by cuttings, or by lay-
ers ; grows freely, fruits early, and yield?
eatable berries the size of a large plum, —
resembling, except in colour, a small orange.
Any climate in green-house, vinery, or
stove, not reduced below 45° of Fah., suits

THE MYRTLE TRIBE OF PLANTS.

407

it vveli ; and, in adcUtion to its many excel-
lencies, the fruit will make a delicious
jelly, lu the flowers, it is obviousl}'' a true
member of Mijrtacece,

The pomegranate, Pumica^ formed one of
the eleven genera (of Baccata ;) but it now
constitutes an order by itself, — Granatea.

In the second tribe, Capsulares, we found
those ornaments of the conservatory, — Me-
trosideros-, Melaleuca, and Colo tJiaJiums, with.
their beautiful tuft}'' pencils of gorgeousl)?-
tinted stamens ; the first belonging to Ico-
sandria Monogyn a ; the other two to Pohj'
addphia PGhjand^ria, ; the pretty small leaved
Leptosp€r/}i2c/7is, are more nearly allied to
the true myrtles.

So much for the guido.nce of the Ency-
clopcsdia. But i[ we now turn to the cata-
logue of the Hortus Brittanicus of 1S32, we
find that Mij?-tacece has become the S4th na-
tural order; consequentl}-, no fewer than
twenty-three intermediate orders have been
added to the list. A great change has also
been effected in the arrangement of the
order ; it no longer consists of three tribes,
distinguished by the structure of the seed
vessels, but of six tribes, founded upon
bases, thus: 1. Chamcclanchiex, denoting
the dwarfish, angular figure of the plants.
2. LeptospermicB, the similitude of the ge-
nera to their type, Leptospernmm. 3. Myr-
lece, the same, &c. &c.

The list of the orders in the first grand
division vras increased to 210; and these
are divided and subdivided into tribes, sub-
tribes, and the like, to an extent absolutely
alarming to the memory. As new plants
come in, new orders must be originated to
contain them, till we are ready to exclaim,

'■"What! will the line stretch out the cvuck of doom?"

These eternal alterations, changes of po-
sitions, and new creations, form the great
blot of the system ; a huge stumbling block
in the way of the inquiring many, who

cannot fail to see that the twenty-four sim-
ple classes of Linnreus, imperfect though
they are, furnish a locality for every new
introduction, to which it can appropriately
be referred, without violence to the cha-
racters of its inflorescence.

To what conclusion, then, do we arrive,
but that the Linnaean system is a simple,
well regulated whole, — perfect in its struc-
ture, and easily available ? It therefore is,
and ever will remain, the vade viecnm of
the many. The natural system is, on the
contrary, unfinished, unformed, composed
of disjointed materials, grand in its object,
comprehensive in its design, but so ham-
pered with difficulties that it is likely to
remain " a sealed book, a hidden mystery,"
the system of the learned few.

We started at a certain point, and have
now got back to it again ; therefore, we
shall quote the characters which distinguish
and illustrate the order Myrtacece.

^'■Dotted leaves, with marginal ribs, and
an inferior ovarium and single style, are
the great features of AlyrtacecB. They are
all fine evergreen shrubs or trees, generally
bearing white flowers, and in the first sec-
tion, (tribe,) producing fleshy fruit, &;c. The
volatile oil contained in the little reservoirs
of the bark, the leaves, and the floral en-
velopes, gives these plants a fragrance,
which has caused them to be celebrated by
the poets of old. There is also a considera-
ble proportion of the asirzjigent principle in
these plants, very obvious in the bark of
the pomegranate. The leaves of the Chi-
lian myrtles, and some other species, have
been used as a substitute for tea." (Ency.
Plants, p. 106S.)

We said that Punica now constituted an
order by itself — Granatecs. "This order
has but one genus, the well known pome-
granate,— differing from MyrtacecB, in the
leaves being destitute of the pelhicid dots.

408

THE GROV/TH AND HABITS OF PEARS.

and the seeds enveloped in a pulp." (Hort.
Brit., p. 513.)

The reader has now before him a fair,
and pleasing specimen of the plan ; from
whence a sort of inference can be drawn, of
the general arrangement of the natural
classification. The subject may be again

resumed, and other examples cited ; irsi
doing which, we hope to present to the
lover of nature some more of those exqui-
site productions which charm the senses,
and fail not to instruct the understanding.
AVm. W. Valk, m. d.

Fli-shins, L I, Dec. 30, 1?4S.

NOTES ON THE GROWTH AND HAEIlfS OF PEARS-

BY WILLIAM REID, NEW-YORK-

Sir — If you think the following remarks,
on some varieties of pears, worthy of a
place in the Horticulturist, they are at your
service. I trust they may be the means of
inducing some of the practical cultivators,
and others interested in fruits, to give us
brief descriptions of the habits of growth,
and other peculiarities characteristic of any
varieties of fruits they may cultivate. 1,
for one, shall always read such notes with
a great deal of pleasure ; and I have no
doubt there are many other readers of the
Horticulturist who will feel equally inte-
rested. There are a great many sorts of
apples, pears, plums and cherries, that al-
ways show a strong growth ; there are
many, again, quite the reverse in habit ;
some, again, will have drooping branches,
others erect ; and so far as I have been
able to judge, I believe that we have no
two varieties of trees that grow exactly the
same. If my supposition is correct, when
we receive a variety of fruit under a new
name, bearing a resemblance to one we
already possess, we have only to graft or
bud a few of each in the same row, and if
there is any difference in their growth it
will be discovered at a glance ; but should
there be no perceptible difference, I think
it would at least be safe to mark " doubt-
ful" to the new kind.

But, to come to the point in a few words^.
what I would suggest is this- — to endeavor
to ascertain, from the different cultivators
through the country, the habit and growth
of the tree, as well as the quality of the
fruit, &c.; whether it is a strong or weak
grower ; whether it grows erect or droop-
ing. By taking as a criterion for pears,
Duchesse cf jlngnnleme as a strong grower,
White Doyenne as a medium, Wmter Nelis,
Beurre cfjlremherg, and Seckel, as slow
growers,(these being sorts generally known,}
we have then no difficulty in judging of the
habit of almost any variety. Examples
among apples may be taken in the same
Avay, viz., Baldwin and Rhode Isla?id Green'
ing as strong growers, Newtotvii Pippin
and Porter as weak growers. The follow-
ing varieties of pears include the principal
kinds that are of a drooping or weeping
habit when young, so far as my memory
serves me. There maybe some few kinds
of the same habit among the new sorts,
lately introduced, that I am not so familiar
with, as from recollection to be able to say
anything about them at present ; but I
will, at some other time, send you a few
remarks on other varieties that I am fami-
liar with, of upright growth :

Maria Louise, I will begin with first, as i
think this variety might be styled Quee7i of

THE GROWTH AND HABITS OF PEARS.

409

the Twisters ! It will frequentl}-, when
young, have the appearance of hoops, by
the branches turning entirely round. There
is very little symmetry about trees of this
kind ; when growing, they will generally
extend themselves every way except up-
wards, and to get tolerable trees it is ne-
cessary to stake them, or graft them on
stocks three or four feet high. It is, never-
theless, a hardy, vigorous tree, and a great
bearer. As regards the qualities of this
fruit, there seems to be a difference of opi-
nion. I have eaten it, equal in flavor to
any variety that is cultivated. I have fre-
quently, again, tasted it and found it to be
worthless. The wood is of a gray appear-
ance, and the leaves have long footstalks.
It grows well on pear stocks, poorly on
quince, but makes very fine dwarfs on
thorn stocks. If worked low^ this is a va-
riety that suits the latter stock well.

Winter Nelis is rather a slender, weak
grower when young, and generally at three
years will not be larger than other varie-
ties, of free growth, are at two. The branch-
es are pendulous, and the tree generally in-
clines a little to one side, with small, wiry
wood ; buds sharp pointed, and very promi-
nent, (and will sometimes break off when
budding, unless a little care is used ;) foli-
age rather small and delicate. With age,
this makes a good orchard tree, and is al-
lowed by most persons to be an excellent
winter pear ; it varies much, both in shape
and size. The tree grows best on the pear
stock ; but it will also make tolerable trees
on quince.

Beurre (TAmalis grows very strong, with
large, round, heart-shaped leaves, and a
very loose irregular habit, spreading its
branches in every direction. The side
branches of young trees are generally more
or less twining -and drooping, although a
fine hardy orchard tree. The fruit will

only be appreciated [rather say tolerated,
Ed.] by those who have not been in the
habit of eating the finer varieties of fruits.
The wood is of a rather dark olive colour.
The tree groAvs very strong, both on pear
and quince stocks.

A variety of B. d'Amalis is cultivated
with striped bark and fruit ; habit, the same
as the other.

Beurre Ranz, This variety seems to
have obtained a bad name, and, I think,
without having had a fair trial. The only
objections, however, I have heard is, it is
difficult to ripen. I am of opinion that this
will yet be a valuable pear for winter,
having only partially come into bearing
here as yet ; it has not had any pains be-
stowed on it. It has fruited with me two
years. The fruit resembles, more than any
other sort, that of the St. Germain. This
last year I had a few specimens ; and al-
though obliged to gather them nearly a
month before the proper season, I put away
in a dry place, and they were nevertheless
very melting and juicy, although considera-
bly shriveled. Dry sand or buckwheat
chaff, filled in through the boxes or barrels,
when putting up such fruit, will greatly
help late sorts of pears to ripen and prevent
shriveling. The growth of this sort is
pretty strong and twisting. Wood of a
gray colour, with numerous white dots.
The Beurre Eanz grows well on the pear,
poorly on the quince, but remarkably well
on the thorn.

Beurre Busc. Growth not quite so strong
as that of some varieties ; but it is what
may be called a moderate grower, in the
young trees especially. When a year old,
the tops will frequently turn down ; as,
also, in two years old trees, the side branch-
es will twist more or less. Wood of a
light gray appearance. This sort makes
pretty good orchard trees, but loses much

410

THE GROWTH AND HABITS OF PEARS.

of its drooping habit with age. It bears
singly on the ends of the branches. The
quality of this pear is generally allowed to
be very good. It grows well on the pear
stock, but poorly on the quince.

Vicar of Winhjield is a strong growing,
vigorous sort, and is also a great twister,
when young, with large, glossy, broad,
heart-shaped leaves. It is very similar in
habit to Beurre Diel, but retains its foliage
better than that variety. It produces very
fair fruit, of a long, pyriform shape ; and
when grown on quince stocks, the pears
will frequently have a bright red cheek.
It is a valuable sort for market, — selling
readily ; but will only be used as a desert
fruit when melting varieties are not to be
had. It grows on the pear and quince, and is
a particularly good sort for the latter stock.

Passe Colinar is a moderate grower. The
wood of young trees is generally of a light
j^ellow appearance. The tops of this va-
riety also turn down more or less, especially
on one and two year old trees. On the
quince stock, however, I have observed that
this habit is less marked. The habit of the
tree somewhat resembles that of Maria
Louise. It is a tolerably good early winter
pear, and produces fruit generally in clus-
ters on the ends of the branches. It grows
both on the quince and pear stock.

Beurre Diel is a good hardy orchard tree.
Branches drooping and twisting more or
less when young, and frequently leaning a
little to one side on young trees. The foli-
age is large, the whole habit vigorous, and
it is one of the very best sorts for growing
on quince stocks. This pear is not always
of as fine flavor as it has been represented ;
but taking into consideration its productive-
ness, and large size, and fine appearance,
it must be ranked, for orchard planting, one
of the most valuable varieties.

Hessel is one of those hardy, productive

sorts, that yield fruit in great abundance,
and will succeed, sometimes, in soils and
climates where many of the Beurres will
not. The habit of this tree is only partially
drooping. It branches low, and makes a
good low spreading tree, with gray wood.
It has some resemblance to Maria Louise
in the wood, but not in the leaves. The
tree is less drooping. The fruit is of a fine
yellow appearance, with gray dots, beauti-
ful to look at, but lacking juice to make it
first rate. It ripens with me in the last of
August.

English Jargonelle. This is a well known
old variety. The wood has a very dark ap-
pearance, and the tree, when without leaves,
is mistaken by some, who are not familiar
with the wood of pears, for an apple. It
is of vigorous growth, and always, when
young, leans to one side. The side branch-
es are twisting ; leaves large, round, heart-
shaped, and often with a downy appear-
ance when young. It maks a large spread-
ing tree in the orchard, and was formerly
considered, by English cultivators, one of
the best early pears. It does not prove
such here, and must give way to other
early kinds, of superior flavor. It is, how-
ever, a good bearer, but coming into mar-
ket about the same time as the Windsor, or
Summer Bell, which the aforesaid a good
deal resembles, and being of very little
better quality than the Windsor, which is
rather larger and a prodigious bearer ;
these qualities make it more valuable than
the Jargonelle. Indeed, there are proba-
bly few early pears, ripening about the
first of August, which will yield a better
profit to the orchardist than the Windsor ;
immense quantities of it being sold in the
markets for baking pears. This variety is
readily known from the Jargonelle by its
strong upright growth. Both sorts grow
on pear or quince stocks.

A VISIT TO SPRINGBROOK, 8cc.

4i:

Hacori's Incomj^arahlc. This variety I
have cultivated for ten years. It has never
yet borne fruit with me ; and I have ob-
served that, in various places, its growth
has been slow, of a crooked, straggling
habit, and, unless staked, the tops of the
younar trees will bend over. I have seen

the fruit several times, and also eaten it ;
and although highly recommended by Eng-
lish cultivators, it will, I fear, prove of little
value here. This sort grows on the quince.
Respectfully yours,

William Reid.

Murray Hill Nursery, Neiv-\ork, Jan. 13, 1849.

A VISIT TO SPRINGBROOK, THE SEAT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FBITN-
S YL VANI A HORTICULTURAL SO CISTY.

BY JUSTICIA.

Deae Sir — When your particular friend.
Professor J., of Schenectady, was here, the
past season, he was greatly surprised that
a description of the handsome establish-
ment of Caleb Cope, the estimable presi-
dent of the Penn. Horticultural Society, had
never appeared in the Horticulturist. I
then promised to send you some rough
notes of it, without any embellishment,
which I now fulfil, with a recent visit fresh
in my mind,

Springbrook is eight miles north from
Philadelphia, on the Bristol turnpike, and
near the new depot of Tacony. It is situ-
ated on rising ground, commanding an ex-
tensive view of the adjacent country, Dela-
ware river, the Jersey shore, and the city.
The elegant mansion is surrounded with a
spacious lawn, kept in a masterly style ;
and the pleasure-grounds are enclosed by
a light iron fence, about half a mile in
length, and studded with many varieties of
hardy trees, backed by a natural piece of
the most majestic woods, — giving a fine syl-
van character to the place. To the left of
this grove is a sheet of spring water, rising
on the farm, (which farm contains upwards
of 100 acres,) that supplies a powerful Hy-
draulic Ram, diffusing the water over the
whole place, supplying reservoirs, fountains,

waterfalls, &cc. Connected with the dwell-
ing is a span-roofed conservatory, filled
w^ith plants in bloom, including a carriage
entrance, under glass, for the convenience
of taking up the family in time of rain ov
sickness. Farther south is another span-
roofed house, 32 feet long ; one side for
Geraniums, embracing 60 of the finest sorts.
and the other side for choice fancy Roses,
many of them now in full bloom. Con-
nected with this house is another, similar
to it, for Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and
other showy blooming plants of like treat-
ment. We now sally forth into the flower
garden. The flowers are grown in beds
and masses, and consist of sorts that are
either continually in bloom, or such as are
succeeded by others from a reserve-garde7i,
producing a magnificent display the entire
season. Among them, beds of Salvia spe-
ciosa, Pltif7ihago, Tweedia vinca, Bouvardia
and Lantana, were very conspicuous among
the more common varieties that are gene-
rally grown. Contiguous to the flower gar-
den is the " Cactus-house," 81 feet long,
heated by water pipes, and containing a
collection of Cactii, far surpassing any other
in this country ; and for health and beauty
of specimens, equal to that which I saw in
the " Garden of Plants" at Paris. The

412

A VISIT TO SPRINGBROOK, &c.

large Cereus are trained up the rafters,
producing thousands of gorgeous flowers ;
Echinocactii^ 9 or 10 feet in circumference ;
Monkey Cacizi, 5 feet high ; " Turks^ heads,'"
that are bigger than the suhan's ; as well
as Cactii in the guise of rats and snakes,
porcupines and pin-cushions, with every
other imaginable and grotesque form, —
making a scene entirely unique and won-
derfully grotesque.

The extreme end of the house is covered
with a splendid Passijiora alata, in full
bloom. To the right of this is the oran-
gery, 38 ieet long, filled with handsome
trees, in fruit bearing, of the Orange,
Lemon, Lime, Citron, Shaddock, &c. Those
trees, grown in large tubs, are pictu-
resquely arranged on the lawn in the sum-
mer season. Back of this house, and front-
ing the fiower garden, is the Orchid-house,
(or Air-plant-house, as some call it,) 88
feet long, heated in connection with the
orangery by hot water. Any description of
mine will fall short of conveying a proper
idea of this tropical forest and atmosphere.
You must not visit us without paying your
respects here, to witness a collection of all
the choice and rare Cattlyea, Gongora, On-
cidium, Dendrobium, Sta7ikopia, and hun-
dreds of others, whose characters are en-
tirely new to me, and acknowledged by
competent judges to be rich in the extreme.
They are attached to pieces of bark, blocks
of wood, planted in baskets of every shape,
placed on blocks of trees or banks of moss
and stone, attached to the wall, or depend-
ing from the rafters, — and all displaying
their animated and beautiful blossoms, in
the guise of butterflies, humming-birds,
dragons, toads and canaries, with many
other fanciful bird, beast and insect resem-
blances. The scene is heightened in ef-
fect by a lovely waterfall, dashing with a
musical sound over rocks, and fallinar into

a fanciful but natural looking mossy basin,
placed over the hot-water pipes, producing
a genial atmosphere of moisture whenever
required for those remarkable parasitical
plants. The water for this house is every-
where abundant, and at command, from a
tank or reservoir that holds over 2000 gal-
lons, supplied by the Ram.

To the south of the Orchid-house is an
early grapery, 31 feet long, now pushing
forth luxuriantly, and promising, even with
the external air at zero, an abundant crop.
Along the edge of the walk are apricots,
peaches and nectarines, in tubs and pots, in
full bloom, and expected to be ripe in May.
Adjoining is a later grapery of same di-
mensions ; and then we enter the Necta-
rine-house, 62 feet in length, without artifi-
cial heat. I saw it last July, and then be-
held such a crop of such fruit as I never
before saw, — measured the Red Roman
nearly nine inches in circumference! besides
Elruge, Early Newington, Fairchilds, Ver-
mash, Boston, Downton, New White, and
others, maturing at different periods, and
all grown in perfection. A liberal and
regular thinning out of the fruit before
stoning is practiced, which leads to the
above results of large size, rich flavor, high
colour, and a uniform crop. Connected
with the Nectarine-house are two houses
recently erected, each 30 feet long, heated
by water. One of them is planted entirely
with white grapes, and called the White-
house. What a fine picture it will show,
when full of ripe, golden, honied fruit.
The other is for forcing cherries, plums,
apricots, grape-vines, &c., in pots. The up-
right front of this house is double, having
grape-vines planted between the glass ; the
vines will thereby be excluded from the heat
till required to be introduced and trained up
the rafters to ripen at any given period. A
new and very excellent arrangement.

A VISIT TO SPRINGBROOK, &c.

413

I will now introduce you to the Culinary
Forcing-house, with a low span-roof, 33 feet
long, in two departments. The cool de-
partment has now in it fit for the table, and
has been supplying it since Christmas, with
asparagus, radishes, lettuce, kidney or snap-
short beans, &c.; and there are in a state
of forwardness potatoes, and the following
strawberries : Hovey's Seedling, Keen's
Seedling, Buist's Prize, and Buist's Early
May. The warm compartment has grape-
vines in pots, showing their bunches ; cu-
cumbers, training up the rafters, and near
the glass ; citron and other melons grow in
perfection,' — all promising well for an abun-
dant crop. Proceeding towards the flower-
garden, the next interesting point, is the
Camellia-house, upwards of 60 feet in
length. The collection is very select, em-
bracing 106 varieties, selected from the
choicest European, Chinese and American
sorts. In its centre is a superb Rhododeii-
dron arhoreitm, now in full bloom, with
many rare and choice Camellias. It would
have afforded me pleasure to record the
names of the very conspicuous plants and
fruits in every department, but it would
have extended my notes beyond the ordi-
nary limits of magazine articles. To see
one of the specimens. Acacia pubescens, a
perfect picture, 9 feet high, was well worth
an 8 mile ride in a cold day.

But we have not been in the "Mush-
room-house," where mushrooms are grown
in abundance from November to May, and
which is well worth a few moments. The
tool-house, that usual receptacle of broken
tools, lumber, old pots and pans, is like a
well arranged armory. Every article has
a place, and in it. The duties of the gar-
dener and his assistants are defined by
written rules and regulations ; a system
which the proprietor has found productive
of the best results. There is also a neat

carpenter's-shop ; a house for shutters and
matts, where they are protected when not
in use ; and near these are the pits for cau-
liflowers, salad, and other matters that may
be required for the kitchen or table.

The kitchen garden is separated from
the lawn and flower garden by the Cactus
and Orchid-houses. It covers 1^- acres, is
well arranged in beds and terraces, with a
large open cistern of water in its centre, —
all in excellent order. The quarters are
interspersed with dwarf fruit trees, vari-
ously pruned and trained, and all in a young
bearing state. The collection of pears, &c.,
is of the most select sorts. Some new kinds
are not yet fully proven ; but the judicious
taste of the proprietor will not allow an in-
ferior article to produce a second crop.
Looking from this point to the west, you
see the gardener's cottage, on an elevated
position, overlooking all the buildings and
details, harmonizing with the green-houses.
Red brick edifices, you are aware, are un-
pleasant objects in rural landscape. And
we find all buildings here brought into good
keeping, by being painted of an agreeable
light stone colour. And now, having taken
you and your many readers through and
under 17,000 square feet of glass, kept on
the most refined system.of gardening, must
bring my notes to a close ; only adding,
that the plants and vegetables are grown
solely for the use of the family. Bas-
ket after basket is, however, generously
distributed to the sick and the stranger,
by the bountiful hand or orders of Mr.
Cope.

I must also add, that not a week passes
that there are not some new additions to
the collection, either from Europe or the
public collections of this country ; whilst
the nurseries of Philadelphia come in for
their quota of patronage. Your pages often
record the success of the gardener, Bu

414

EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE.

Daniels, in taking prizes at our horticul-
tural exhibitions. His industry, intelli-
gence, and excellent management are visi-
bly stamped in every spot and every de-
partment of the estate. I will leave your
readers to judge if the horticultural attrac-
tions of Syringbroolc are excelled by those
of any other country seat in the Union.
All having been got up within six years,
without the least flourish of trumpets, but
\vith that quiet enterprise and taste, so

characteristic of the broad brimmed fathers
of our city.

I forbear any details of the mansion,
dairy, or farm, where 12,000 drain tile
have been laid to great advantage, afford-
ing occular evidence to our farmers v/hat
can be done to fertilize any wet, unproduc-
tive land. I have also overlooked many
details and embellishments of the pleasure
grounds, till you can realize the effect for
yourself. With regards of Justicia.

EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE— NO. 2.

BY B., POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.

Pears. — My grounds contain about six
hundred pear trees, comprising ninety va-
rieties. They have been planted succes-
sively, some every year, since 1836 ; al-
diough most of them have been planted
within the last two years. My first plant-
ing was in 1837, and consisted of Bartlett,
White Doyenne or Virgalieu, Seckel, Ur-
baniste, Bloodgood, and Easter Beurre.
They were set into the ground by an Irish
laborer, after the approved fashion, " like
post^y Of course, they grew like posts for
a few years, until experience taught the
necessity of bestowing extra care and at-
tention, in order to resuscitate them. The
Seckel, Bartlett and Virgalieu, now bear
tolerable crops of fair fruit ; but the Blood-
good has not ripened more than half a
dozen pears, and the Urbaniste has never
produced even a blossom.

In the spring of 1842, I planted another
lot of trees of the same varieties. The
holes were dug six feet in diameter and
two feet deep. One-third of a load of
Btabie manure was then thrown in and
mixed with the soil, which was naturally
rather heavy. In 1847, when these last

had been planted five years, and the first,
teiL years, I compared them, and found those
planted in 1842, to be considerably the
largest and finest trees in all respects, and
bearing more and better fruit. Since that,
I have made it an invariable rule, never to
plant a tree of any kind (except peaches,)
without preparing the ground thoroughlj''.
It is decidedl}^ cheaper to spend a dollar in
planting a tree thus, than to have it planted
for nothing on the old system. If a tree is
not worth the trifling care and expense of
being planted properly, it is not worth
planting at all.

In the winter of 1847, I imported from
France, thirty pear trees, on qui7ice stocks,
two of each, of fifteen choice varieties.
They arrived in New- York about the first
of January, and remained there in a count-
ing-house until March, when they were for-
warded to Poughkeepsie. When opened,
although packed in the very best manner,
they were much shrivelled, and apparently
dead. I caused them to be put into a cel-
lar and kept covered with wet straw until
April, and then planted them eight feet
apart. Contrary to my expectations, and

EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE.

415

the predictions of my gardener, who de-
clared that he was wasting too much time
upon " dead Frenclimen, " seventeen of
them lived, although one of them did not
show any active signs of life for upwards
of a year ; and most of them made but little
growth the first season. Last summer,
however, they took a fine start, and made
a growth of two or three feet. Two of
them ripened fruit. One of these was a
Williams' Bon Chretien, (Bartlett,) which
bore three of the most beautiful and excel-
lent pears I ever saw. They were a clear
yellow, with a slight blush on one side, and
weighed twelve ounces each. The other
bearing tree was marked "Beurre d'Aman-
lis," and bore three pears a little larger than
the others, but not so handsome nor so
good. If these latter are fair specimens of
the products of dwarf pear trees, I shall
never plant anything more of that variety.
Last spring I put out some three hundred
pear trees, chiefly on quince stocks. The
ground was first trenched twenty inches
deep, and well manured with street sweep-
ings,* (which, by the waj^ I consider the
very best manure for fruit trees.) The
holes were then dug eight feet apart, and
one-fourth of them filled with trees on pear
stocks, and the residue with quince stocks.
Thus, the pear stocks are sixteen feet apart,
and are designed to occupy the whole
ground when the dwarfs shall have spent
their comparatively short life in the inter-
mediate spaces. They have all grown re-
markably well, — our season having been
peculiarly favorable. I noticed three Bart-
ietts which ripened fruit. One bore six,
another four, and another one, fair, good
pears. This no doubt frequently occurs ;
it is the first instance within my observa-
tion, where a pear tree, but two years from
the graft, has ripened fine fruit the season

* Street manure, — sweepings of the streets of towns.

it was set out. They were on pear stocks,
and obtained from my neighbor, Mr. North.
The dwarfs were chiefly obtained from the
nurseries of Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry,
Rochester. The trees, although mostly but
one year from the bud, were fine and
healthy, and came to hand in excellent
condition. Not one of them, I believe, has
been lost by transplanting. There is, how-
ever, a great diversity in their growth ;
some kinds having grown four feet, and
others have not grown as many inches.

The only varieties that have made scarce-
ly any growth are Louvain panache and
Swan's Orange. From present appearan-
ces, I am inclined to think the last of these
will not succeed with me.

Of those which have made a very mode-
rate growth, I enumerate the Beurr j Easter,
Passe Colmar, Angora, Madeleine, Dear-
born's Seedling, Seckel, Bartlett, &c.

The following have made a growth of a
foot and upwards: St. Germain, Forelle,
Napoleon, Fortune, Bloodgocd, Belle de
Bruxelles, Doyenne d'Ete, Countess de
Lunay, Rostiezer, Fig d'Automne, Colmar
d'Ete, Glout Morceau, Summer Rose, and
Dutchess d'Angouleme.

The following have grown very strongly,
havinof made an average of from three to
four feet of new wood, viz: Beurra Diel,
Martin Sire, Chaumontelle Gratioli, Glory
de Cambrone, Louise Bonne de Jersey, and
Nouvelle iV Oe2(f. This last is a pear with
which I am wholly unacquainted, — not
having seen it described in any book, or
named in any catalogue of recent date. If
it should bear as well as it grows, it will be
well worthy of cultivation.

The blight gives us some trouble ; occa-
sionally taking off a tree or part of a tree
in a mysterious and unaccountable manner.
My observation and experience leave me
in profound ignorance of its cause and cure.

416

THE USES OF LIME.

Nor have I ever read any satisfactory solu-
tion of the problem.

Some of my trees are affected in a dif-
ferent, but equally fatal manner. The
bark cracks open, and gradually separates
from the body of the tree, until the whole
trunk, for two or three feet above the
ground, becomes nearly or entirely denu-

ded. I have at present a row of " Summer
Virgalieu" trees, all in this situation. Last
summer they bore a large crop of beautiful,
but entirely worthless fruit ; and made no
growth of wood. Can this be one of the
decayed or run out varieties spoken of by
Knight and Kenrick ? B.

Poughkeepsie, Jan , 1649.

THE USES OF LIME.*

Few gardeners rightly appreciate the value
of lime ; but we have had opportunities of
seeing it applied in so many ways, and for
so many purposes, that we feel the neces-
sity of communicating some of them. At
this juncture — while we are, in fact, Avri-
ling — there is a general complaint of mil-
dew among cucumbers, and disease among
potatoes. We have seen lime applied in
both these cases, with the greatest possible
success ; but it must be properly applied.
It must be applied vv^herever there is the
disease ; nothing short of this will do. If
any part which is attacked be left, of course
that part will not be affected with what
does not touch it. In case of cucumbers,
we have seen a dredging-box used, and
the powdered lime applied under as well as
over the leaf, while the steam, which in
the morning is like so much dew, is upon
the foliage ; and the effect has been almost
instantaneous. The parts too far gone to
recover have dried up, and the healthy
portions, however small they may be, have
been left ; even half a leaf has been seen
to live well, while the other has shrivelled
up as if it were burned. We have seen
the same frame that appeared reduced to
mere skeletons of plants, recover so com-
pletely in a month, as to be full of healthy
plants. Applied with a sieve on the open
ground to cucumbers in ridges, some plants
perfectly recovered, others never rallied at
all. We take this to be accounted for by
the disease having made, in some plants,
too great a progress before the lime was
applied, and that it had not made so much
progress in those which perfectly recovered.

[* From the Loudon Hort. Maarazine.]

Or it may have been, that the lime only
covering the upper surface, the portions of
the plant that were, in some cases, covered
up, took no benefit, and the disease con-
tinued its ravages. Precisely the same ef-
fect was produced on potatoes that were af-
fected. The lime was sifted on them while
the dew was on them, and all the upper
surface got well sprinkled. In most cases,
the heart of the plant and the stems received
upon the surfaces the powdered lime. A
large portion of the crop — indeed, wherever
the lime absolutely touched the surface of
the stems and foliage, almost instantly dried
up as far as the disease went ; and we have
no doubt that, had it been followed well up,
day after day, until all had been sprinkled
where they were affected, the effect would
have been the same throughout. The crop
turned out well, with the exception of those
plants which had not been properly sprink-
led, and they continued the disease down to
the lower part of the stem ; but very few
were touched, and we took the precaution
to place all the potatoes that came from
plants still diseased by themselves, that
they might be used first. Lime soaked, or
rather slaked in water, is efficacious in all
possible ways for destruction of insect life.
The syringe applied with it to trees infested
with caterpillars, soon clears it altogether.
Sprinkled on grass lawns, which it whitens
till the rain washes it off, it drives the
worms down, or brings them to the surface
very quickly. Syringing plants which have
the bug, or wall fruit trees, (that are some-
times covered with ants, ear-wigs, small
caterpillars,) and afterwards with clean
water, is of great service ; and lime dusted,

THE CAMELLIA AS A HARDY PLANT.

417

or lime water sprinkled, on gooseberry and
tfurrant trees, cleans them as completely as
if they had never been attacked. Laid
round a bed liable to the attacks of wander-
ing snails and slugs, it prevents them from
crossing the boundary; but it requires re-
newal, b-ecause its caustic qualities are lost
in time. Ploughed into land, or forked into
beds infested with grubs, it has the best
possible effect I and where the garden is
bounded by a hedge, v/hich is the most
harboring of all receptacles for vermin,
xhere is no better means of destroying the
greater part of them than sousing it well
with iime water, by means of the garden
-engine. There can be no raistake in lime
water, for this purpose : because you may
iet the water take up as much lime as it
.can, only it must fee used clear. Lime is
tone of the best substances to mix with ma-
aiures of all sorts ; it absorbs that which
would be v/asted ; it disinfects the mass ; it
snakes the most offensive matter inoffensive.
A layer of night-soil, and a layer of lime,
would be as harmless as so much common
•earth. It is inapossible, therefore., to over-

rate the usefulness of this substance, in the
garden or in the farm ; and the more the
public begin to understand the value of the
sewerage of the metropolis, the contents of
cesspools and drains, the more will they also
recognise the value of that substance which
will render the most nauseous of all waste
harmless, and prepare it for the earth which
requires it. Lime is of such efficacy in the
way of disinfecting any disagreeable pro-
duction, and counteracting infection in eve-
ry shape, that one of the most early precau-
tions against the approach of contagious
disease, is to lime-wash the brick walls of
all work-houses and public buildings where
the lower orders congregate. It is even
said that the brick walls of the chief apart-
m.ents in union-houses, is not covered with
plaster, or other matter, because they should
take the lime-white readily ; and this hint
may not be lost on those who house and
provide for many Avork people during the
summer season. Lime-white the walls,
and use iime to disinfect an^'thing that
mjo-ht become a nuisance.

ON THE CAMELLIA AS A HARDY PLANT.

BY SAMUEL FEAST, BALTIMOEB, MD.

Dear Sie — In a late nun&ber you copy some
cremajks, on the hardiness of the Camellia^
sfrom the Gardener'' s Chronicle^ and add
that this fine exotic may prove hardy in
Saltimore. Dr. Eemondson, of this city,
5ias paid much attention, of late years, to
raising Camellias from seed ; and after
.flowering, the inferior varieties were planted
out in the open ground. Some account of
iliis experiments may, perhaps, throw light
'On the hardiness of the Camellia in this
(Country..

His first (experiment was with tke ©Id
striped, or double variegated. A plant five
feet high, of this variety, he planted out
with Ehododen-drons in the city, under a
laorth wall, in a small garden, protected

You iiL 27

from, the sun and wind. It stood two very
severe winters, but never flowered, and
was much disfigured. The second trial
was with a large single red, on the southern
front of his house in the country, fully ex-
posed to the sun. This plant was killed to
the ground the first winter. The third ex-
periment was with a large single Bed. It
was planted on the northern side of the
house, and protected with straw carpeting.
It has been out four winters, and it does
not prosper. The fourth trial was made
with nine strong seedlings. These w^ere
planted in a clump, in a northern exposure,
shaded with large sycamores and other
trees. They have been planted four years,
and at present are full of buds. The fifth

418

THE VALUE OF ASHES, LIME, ETC., FOR FRUIT TREES.

trial was made by setting two large clumps,
100 each, of seedling Camellias. They
were planted one foot by one and a half
apart, in very poor soil, shaded by large
trees, the aspect open to the northwest
winds. The two first years, they were pro-
tected by an open shed, that is, on three
sides, and the top covered ; the shed being
open to the southeast. Nothing was put
upon the ground to protect the roots. The
first winter the flowers were small and
stunted. Last season they flowered par-
tially through the winter ; but in the month
of April had as fine a show ofjioivers as if
the plants had gr&wn in the green-house;
and bore a profusion of seed. This season
they have no protection, only a thick cover-
ing of leaves, to keep the frost from the
roots. They look as well now as the plants
in the house.

To give you some idea of our tempera-
ture, I will remark that, on new year's day,
1 had the Magnolia grandijlQra exoniensis
coming into flower ; and Chimonanthusfra-

grans and several other plants in bloom.
On the 11th of January the thermo.meter
was below zero of Fahrenheit. In the win-
ters of '47 and '48, the mercury was dowrt
to tliree and four degrees. The Camellia
will stand a great degree of cold, provided
it is planted in poor, dry, gravelly soil,
where the roots of other trees absorb the
moisture of the earth, and pratect the plants;
from the sun. Last November I observed
that Dr. Edmo-ni>son had planted Camellias:
in various locations on the border's, to prove'
their hardiness. Respectfully,

Sam. Feast..

The above interesting- account proves„
conclusively, that the Camellia may be
considered a hardy plant,, under certain con-
ditions, wherever the winter temperature if-
not colder than zero of Fahrenheit.

We look upon Dr. Edmondson's experi-
ments as also confirming our previous opi-
nion, that raising plants from seeds sowrn
in a given climate, is a great step towards;
rendering them hardy in that climate. Ej>.

ON THE VALUE CP ASHES, LIME, ETC, FOR FRUIT TREES.

BY F. R. ELLIOTT. CLEVELAND, OHIO

It is well known, that all varieties of fruits
do not flourish and mature equally well in
all sections of the country. This has been
mainly attributed to climate ; and it has
not unfrequently happened that a fruit-
grower in one part of the middle states,
hearing the qualities of a particular fruit, as
grown in another part, has obtained and
fruited it ; and upon its not meeting the
pains bestowed upon it by the first grower,
has either counted the variety unsuited to
his climate, or classed the first grower as
ignorant and deceitful. Such decision, I
venture to assert, may frequently have been

found hasty and erroneous. Had the reci-
pient of the new variety received, at the
same time, an analysis of the soil in whicii
that particular variety had been grown to
perfection, and applied such knowledge
justly to the soil in which he was about to
plant, the result would have been very dif-
ferent.

Climate, I think, will be found to have
Yer)^ little influence upon the good o? bad
qualities of a fruit. Indeed, I am some-
what disposed to assert, that it has no other
influence than that of hastening or retard-
ing maturity, as it is cold or warm. Tb.e

THE VALUE OF ASHES, LIME, ETC., FOR FRUIT TREES.

419

application of special manures, or compo-
nents of soil, by difTerent cultivators within
the past two years, by which old varieties,
or those not before esteemed, have been
improved and restored, is an evidence that
food, suited to the wants of the tree, was
required in the soil ; and not, that climate
had aught to do with its deterioration.

As lime, or its phosphates, form a com-
ponent part of all special manures for fruit
trees, I will, as per your request, briefly
note some few instances, among many,
where it appears beneficial ; and, again,
where it does not appear required. To
give a complete list of varieties that are af-
fected by its presence in the soil, would oc-
cupy more room than I will dare presume
upon.

The soil of northeastern Ohio, as a whole,
is deficient in lime ; that of northwestern,
and southwestern, abounds more or less in
it. But it is not always within the reach
of roots of trees ; and therefore, as I will
state presently, the reason why some varie-
ties requiring lime do not succeed in locali-
ties, often denominated limestone sections.

The "Waxen," "Belmont," or "Gate"
apple, — for it is known in Ohio by all these,
and even more names, — succeeds finely in
most of northeastern Ohio. In northwest-
ern Ohio it will sometimes be found good ;
but is frequently dry rotted at the core, de-
ficient in flavor, and often covered with
mould or fungus. A similar statement will
apply to the central and southwestern part
of the state. This is accounied for from
the fact, that in many sections of limestone
country, while there is abundance of the
mineral eighteen inches or two feet below
the surface, that portion of soil usually
turned up by the plough or spade contains
uo lime beyond what may be found in all
soils from decomposition of shells, droppings
of birds, &c. This fact, too often overlook-

ed, reconciles the query as to how a variety,
which grows and matures perfectly in one
place, does not do equally well at a dis-
tance, often of not more'than twenty yards.
It is simply that, at this distance of only
twenty yards, the surface soil is nearer the
limestone subsoil, or perhaps is partly in-
corporated with it.

The "Baldwin" apple, so justly cele-
brated in the eastern states and in northern
New-York, has, in Ohio, been subject to a
dr}^, hitter rot, rendering it of only a second
or third rate character, equal to "Pennock."
Experiments have been tried, on a limited
scale the past season, to remedy this by ap-
plications to the soil in which the trees
grew. In one instance, where the tree
stands in sandy soil, the simple application
of a liberal dressing of wood ashes has re-
sulted in rendering the fruit perfect. In
another instance, where the tree stands in
a clay loam, which has been well dressed
with barn-yard manure, and sown with
plaster, and upon which two years since
was grown a crop of clover, last season
turned under and the land cropped with
corn, then sowed to wheat, was this year
sown with common salt until the ground
was white as far as the branches of the tree
extended. The result has been perfect
fruit, where, for three previous years, the
bitter or dry rot had existed. The "Ro-
man Stem," upon sandy soils, without any
special applications, produces fruit small,
knotted and blotched. By the application
of half a bushel of caustic liine, to a tree of
about three inches diameter of trunk, the
fruit has been rendered perfect. In most
parts of what are designated as limestone
sections, or where the trees stand in soil in
which lime holds a prominent part, the va-
riety is counted among the best.

The " Vandervere" is a variety which I
think delights in a rich alluvial soil ; as it

420

THE VALUE OF ASHES, LIME, ETC., FOR FRUIT TREES.

is in such soils that I have seen grown the
most perfect fruit.

The " Ehode Island Greening," classed
by nearly all as a 'variety to he placed in
select lists, has not proved a first class ap-
ple in all places in northern Ohio ; and at
this time, cultivators in central southern
Ohio, deem it an insult to place it in a list
recommended for their culture.

Such is the diversity of appearance in
this fruit, grown in different soils in north-
ern Ohio, that I at one time believed there
must have been grown seedlings by the set-
tlers from Connecticut, where the Greening
is, or was, among the best, from seeds of
this variety ; and so much resembling the
true, as not to have been detected. Having
upon my grounds two trees of Greening in
bearing, and which were standing within
ten rods of each other, and apparently upon
a similar (sandy) soil; the one fruiting a
clear, perfect fruit, — the other the blotched,
dull green, or " mouldy" variety, I last
year applied wood ashes to the latter, and
this season the fruits perfected alike.

In central southern Ohio, and on the
borders of the Ohij river, twenty-five years
since, this was esteemed one of their very
best apples. At this time, with some ex-
ceptions, it is discarded. In the Ohio
Fruit Grower's Report for 1848, page 25,
Dr. Barker speaks of an orchard in Musk-
ingum county, a freestone soil, and fruiting
as fine as ever. And again, of having
found bitter rot in all orchards of this va-
riety which he had visited, except the one
above named and one other, which latter
had been supplied with ashes.

As I before remarked, while there are
sections denominated limestone sections, it
is not always that any portion of lime is
incorporated with the soil, at a depth which
the roots of a tree would naturally reach.
That such is the case, and that the soil,

where twenty-five years since this variety
succeeded, is now exhausted in this mate-
rial, would appear, from the fact of an ap-
plication of wood ashes having rendered
the fruit again perfect.

The "Winesap"is a variety which ap-
farently adapts itself to all soils, and in ail,
is a fair appearing fruit ; but when grown
in soils which have lime as a component,
I have found the texture not as fine and not
as crisp and sprightly as when grown in
sandy loam.

The " Newtown Pippin" succeeds most
admirably in most of northwestern, central
and southwestern Ohio, where lime is found.
Instances are known where it has not proved
good in these sections ; but they have, when
known to the writer, been always traced to
a want of lime in the soil. In soils deficient
in lime, an application of lime, or a liberal
dressing of wood ashes, has resulted in pro-
ducing good fruit. Cultivators vary in opi-
nion, as to whether this variety answers
best on what are termed clay, or on sandy
soils. My own observation has been to
award it a medium, i. e., a loamy soil, and
more or less abounding in lime.

The analysis of Prof. Emmons of the
wood of the apple, pear, &c., as published
in the Horticulturist (for January) last year,
has been productive of much good ; but to
enable cultivators correctly to grow dif-
ferent varieties in perfection, an analysis
must be made of each separate and distinct
variety, from which the grower can decide
(knowing his soil,) what particular material
is necessary to be applied. Very respect-
fully, F. R. Elliott.

Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 3, 1849.

Remarks. — We owe Mr. Elliott our
sincere thanks for the foregoing interesting,
and practical observations. We beg those
who are inclined to underrate the value of
special manures, (and among the rest an

POHOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS.

421

editorial friend in Boston, who, if we re-
member rightly, has denominated our own
efforts, and those of others, toward awa-
kening public interest to the value of inor-
ganic manures, "quackery,") to examine
Mr. Elliott's account of the direct and
distinct result of experiments with lime
and wood ashes. As we have before stated,
we have no doubt that, in nine cases out of
ten, where a variety of fruit which once
flourished in a given soil, has ceased to
flourish and perfect fine fruit there, it is be-
cause the soil has become destitute of the
necessary mi7ieral manures ; and in nearly
all such cases, the plentiful application of
wood ashes alone, or wood ashes and lime,
will restore the healthy condition of the
trees.

Our correspondent, in his remarks on the
supposed influence of climate on certain
varieties, no doubt alludes to our own work
on Fruits. We candidly own that we were
wrong. We were satisfied, more than a
year ago, that we had attached too much
importance to the effects of climate in de-
terioraiing varieties ; and accordingly re-
wrote and altered (in the eighth and subse-

quent editions,) all that portion of the j^p-
pendix, etc., in our work on Fruits, relating
to this subject. A larger observation of the
effects of the composition of soils, within the
last two or three years, convinced us that
much of what we attributed to climate vi^as
simply owing to a want of the necessary
inorganic, or mineral manures in the soil ;
and as we are always ready to abandon a
wrong opinion the moment it is plain to us
that it is an error, we beg those who have
only the earlier editions of our work to do
us the justice to remember this correction.
At the sam.e time, we think climate often
has an effect upon the quality of a given
fruit, though not upon the deterioration.
Thus, the Ribston Pippin is a fair and beau-
tiful apple on the Hudson ; but it is of little
or no value, either in point of flavor or
keeping quality, as compared with the same
fruit grown in the colder climate of Maine ;
and the comparison of notes with Mr. Al-
len, the intelligent president of the St.
Louis Horticultural Society, has proved to
us that many of our finest fruits are only of
second quality in Missouri, merely from
the effects of climate. Ed.

POMOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS.

Any one at all conversant vv-ith the horti-
culture of this country, can easilj^ see that
not only fruit-growing for pleasure and
profit, but pomologj'' as a study and a sci-
ence, are becoming matters of larger inte-
rest here than in any other part of the
world. The superior quality of the best
American fruit, and the large crops which
now find a market, both at home and
abroad ; the constant demand made upon
nurserymen for the best trees, and upon
experienced writers for works on fruits ;
these are all strong proofs of the awakened

state of the jiublic mind regarding this
branch of horticulture.

Perhaps a more decided and significant
evidence of the interest in pomological sci-
ence is, however, witnessed in the assem-
bling of pomological co7iventions in different
parts of the country, with a view of com-
paring varieties, correcting errors, and dis-
seminating knowledge on all pomological
subjects. Such excellent movements are
the conventions held for two years past in
Ohio ; and, during the past year, at Buffalo
and New- York.

422

POMOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS.

There cannot be a doubt that such con-
ventions are of great service, both to fruit-
growers and to pomology. The former
learn what is good, and what is worthless,
Avhat succeeds, and what fails, from the
lips of practical men, — the best of all teach-
ers. The latter gains by the accumulation
of knowledge, and by the rectification of
errors.

It is also very clear that, in a country so
broad and so various in its climate as the
United States, no invariable rules can be
laid down by any local society, convention,
or writer, for the whole country. Thus, the
Fall Pippin, the queen of autumn apples
in New-York, takes only a second rank in
New-England ; and the Rhode Island Green-
ing, one of the best in New-York, is one of
the poorest in Missouri, Here lies, then,
the real and the limited value of local so-
cieties, and state conventions. Hence we
approve highly of all efforts of this kind ;
all associations, — agricultural, horticultural,
pomological, of a local nature, because it is
only by their means that particular districts,
states, or sections of the country can be
benefitted ; and it is by developing and per-
fecting, to the utmost, the resources of each
particular town, county, and state, that the
general standard is raised to its highest
pitch.

But it is also equally clear, in the pro-
gressing advancement of a subject so full
of details and perplexities as that of po-
mology, that there are some things which
ought to be performed, and yet which can-
not be performed by local, sectional or state
associations. Among these, for example,
are establishing standard names of certain
sorts, known by a dozen different titles in
different parts of the country. A state con-
vention, (no matter what title it bears,) for
instance, may decide, like that at Buffalo,
that the apple generally, known as the

" Early Harvest,''^ shall be called the '* Ye^»
low Harvest ;" or, like that in Ohio, that a
fruit known in New-England by one name,
and in Ohio by another,, shall be called by
the latter ; but it amounts, after all, only to
a resolution. We say it amounts to this,
because so long as these are only local con»
ventions or associations, even if attended
by growers from other states,— so lung, in
short, as opinions, that relate to general
and not to local matters, do not emanate
from some association or body which the
community at large recognizes as being
delegated with national, and not with local
pov.-ers, so long the public, fruit-growers
generally, and pomological writers, will not
recognize or respect such opinions ; and
however good they are, consequently only
a dead letter.

We make these remarks, because we
know the public earnestly desires, besides
the local societies, some one association
(and there can be but one,) of a national
character ; which shall consist of delega-
tions representing all the local societies,
and thereby making a body of the best hor-
ticulturists and pomologists in the country,
officially stamped and recognized as such
by the local societies, from whom they are
sent in all parts of the country. Whatever
decisions about pomological points, of gene-
ral interest or question, such a body should
give, they would, it seems to us, be entitled
to, and would receive the hearty assent of
the whole country.

Last October such a body was convened
in New-York, under the title of the Na-
tional Convention of Fruit-growers. It was
composed of delegates from all the leading
horticultural and agricultural societies from
New-England to St. Louis. It was by far
the largest and most intelligent body of hor-
ticulturists ever assembled in America. It
resolved itself into a permanent national

POMOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS.

423

association, under the name of the Ameri-
can Congress of Fruit-growers ; and it ap-
pointed committees, in a majority of the
states, to collect information, and report at
the next session.

This is so far excellent. The call was
made in the right spirit ; it was admirably
responded to ; and we cannot but think the
Congress will be productive of great good.
Time and labor alone are wanted to achieve
the excellent results proposed by it.

But in order to do this, it is clear that the
Congress of Fruit-growers must be recog-
nized as "the national institution. We have
no doubt that this will be the case ; because
it was called into existence, not by any
•stale or local society, but by three of the
oldest societies in New- York, Pennsylva-
nia and Massachusetts ; because it is com-
posed of representatives from all the horti-
cultural societies in the country ; and be-
cause it has the cordial good wishes of in-
telligent horticulturists on all sides.

We are induced to refer to the matter at
present, more particularly, by a '■'■Circular''''
before us, which purports to come from a
committee of the North American Pomolo-
gical Convention, and has been sent out
from Albany to gentlemen in various parts
of the Union, appointing them members of
state committees, to collect information on
fruit culture in various states of the Union.

It is, perhaps, worth while to exam.ine a
little into the history of this circular ; be-
cause, if its claims are allowed, then it is
clear that we are to have, not one, but two
conventions, claiming to be the national
body of pomologists and fruit-growers, — a
circumstance which can only result in great-
er general disorder and confusion, instead
of greater general order and system.

The New- York State Ag. Society called
and held a state pomological convention at
Buffalo in September last. It was largely at-

tended by members, not only of this, but of
other states, and was productive of much
good. It was, however, as far as we can
judge, really a state convention ; for it was
called by the state society, organised by
the president of that society, and dis-
solved without the appointment of a single
standing committee or board of officers ;
dissolved, only to be called together anew
by the state society whenever and wherever
the latter should hold its annual fair. Some
two or three members, fond of a good name,
did, to be sure, succeed in having it called
the "North American Pomological Conven-
tion;" but that, we looked upon as a com-
pliment to the gentlemen collected together
by the fame of the state fair, from various
parts of the Union, and who also attended
the meetings of the convention with great
interest. The fact that all power, autho-
rity, and even existence of the convention,
as a distinct body, were quietly surrendered
at the close of the convention to the state
society, showed, we think, conclusively,
that no step was really taken towards
making it a permanent national institu-
tion.

But the circular before us purports to
come ftom the " Committee of the North
American Pomological Convention." Who
compose tVs committee ? The paper is not
only entirely anonymous, but Dr. Wendell,
of Albany, a zealous amateur and friend of
pomological progress, (and who, we notice,
is appointed, by the anonymous committee
in the circular, chairman of the new com-
mittee for this state ;) this gentleman, act-
ing in the sincere desire to unite all the
ability in the country in one national asso-
ciation, proposed, when the Congress of
Fruit-growers was being made a perma-
nent national institution, to merge the ma-
terial of the two conventions into one. On
inquiry, however, it was found, as the lead-

424

POMOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS.

ing members of the Buffalo convention ad-
mitted, that nothing- remained of the latter
association ; that there was no committee,
and no board of officers to confer with ; and,
in fact, that it was only a convention which
had been assembled by the state society,
achieved its object, and had been dis-
solved.

On first examining this "anonymous cir-
cular," we supposed that it might emanate
from the New-York State Society. Not
being willing to believe, however, that the
state society would so far go beyond its
natural province, as to imitate the course
taken by the Congress of Fruit-growers,
and endeavor to weaken its influence by
appointing committees in all the states of
the Union, to collect information on the
subject of fruit culture for national purposes,
we have made inquiry regarding the au-
thenticity of this circular, as connected
with that institution. The result is, that
the state society has never authorised or
recognised the existence of this or any such
circular-
It is, therefore, no more than proper that
we should apprise the gentlemen who have
received their appointment in the anony-
mous circular, that, as the state society
does not recognize it, and as there is virtu-
ally no such body as the North American
Pomological Convention in existence, they
have received the compliment of an ap-
pointment by a committee which does not
exist ; or by an authority altogether un-
known.

We should greatly regret to see the ap-
pearance of such a paper, if we supposed it
would have any influence on the public
mind. But the anonymous circular will,
we predict, fail in producing the desired
effect. The majority of intelligent horti-

culturists, pomologists, and fruit-growers of
the country at large, are enlisted, heart and
soul, with the only national association, —
the Congress of Fruit-growers ; and several
of the gentlemen in other states, who have
been appointed on the committees of the
New-York State Society, have already in-
formed us that they could not act with, and
did not approve of the step taken by that
society.

Of course, the influence of this journal,
(which so far from being local, now cir-
culates from Canada to Louisiana, and
which aims at the general good first,) will
be entirely given to the interests of the
Congress of Fruit-growers, so long as that
body is faithful to its proper objects. On
the other hand, we will gladly assist, in
our humble way, every effort for horticul-
tural progress in our own state society, so
long as its plans are kept within their
proper limits, where we feel certain, under
the new board of officers, they will be con-
fined.

One word more. It has been (perhaps
ignorantly,) stated, in one or two of the
agricultural journals, that an eastern or
sectional character would necessarily be
given to the Congress of Fruit-growers.
The very copiposition of the association
(by representation,) forbids this ; and so
far even from confining its meetings to the
Atlantic states, they will, when the body
is in full operation, be extended as far
west as Cincinnati and St. Louis.

This is a matter of larger importance
than any other in horticulture ; and we
therefore earnestly call on all fruit-growers,
who do not see it in this light, (if there are
any such,) to lay aside sectional feelings,,
and join in bringing about a distinct, gene-
ral, public benefit.

THE POMOLOGICAL CONVENTION AT NEW- YORK.

BY YARDLEY TAYLOR, LOUDON COUNTY, VA.

Being a lover of good fruit, and desiring
to see its cultivation extended, I have read
with interest the articles in the Horticultu-
rist, and other kindred publications, on this
subject, as well as the proceedings of the
late Fruit Convention at New-York. That
convention, as a body, could hardly be ex-
pected to perform, in one session, all that
it may ultimately accomplish, even in any
one department. It may be justly said to
have made only a beginning. Yet, if no
other benefit should be obtained than the
personal information imparted, at the time,
most, if not all, of its members would be
amply repaid for the expense and time
spent while in attendance. Every member
of that convention seemed to manifest not
only a willingness, but a desire, to impart
to others all the information he possessed
in relation to fruit, its culture, &c. This
was one of the most pleasing features ex-
hibited; and must be looked back upon
with much satisfaction by all its mem-
bers.

The official acts of the coijvention have
elicited commendation from the public press
generally ; yet, in some cases, justice has
hardly been done to its motives. In a late
number of the Cultivator, in an article al-
luding to the small number of fruits recom-
mended for general cultivation, the infer-
ence would seem to be made, that the com-
mittee, to whom the subject was referred,
had hardly done its dutj^, or that there were
no other fruits worthy of general cultiva-
tion ; for with all the talent and ability of
that committee, they could not agree upon
a larger number, — as scarcely one variety
could be named, but what some objection

was made to it, in one section or other.
Whether this inference was intended or
not, it struck me as doing the committee-
injustice. I well remember the report of
that committee ; and that was, that from
the nature of the subject referred to them,
and the necessaril)^ limited time of the com-
mittee, they could not, at present, give the
subject all the attention the importance of
it demanded ; but they would make a be-
ginning, and report a small number of fruits,
such as were generally known, and that, at-
some future time, the list might be in-
creased until it should include all worthy
of cultivation. This was all the committee
could do at the time ; and no one, who was
a witness of their labors, would say that
they were idle.

A member of the convention urged upon
its consideration the propriety of a commit-
tee, to bring in a list of recommended fruits,
as also a list of rejected fruits. This pro-
position was considered premature by the
convention.

Dr. Valk, of Flushing, has been enter-
taining the readers of the Horticulturist, in
advocating a great reduction of the varie-
ties in the catalogues of most nurserymen ;
and appearing to infer, that from the great
number enumerated they could not all be
good ; and that it was hardly honest, or at
least, not right to keep so large a number
in cultivation. But in a late number, the
Dr. has an interesting " Chapter on Pears,"
in which he gives an extract from a cor-
respondent in Belgium, whom he had re-
quested to give him a list of those " he
knew to be the best in that country." The
quotations from that correspondent are va-

426

FRUITS, &c.

luable, and contain hints worthy of con-
sideration by the growers of pears.

The list presented, containing, as it does,
266 varieties of pears, asserted " to be the
best quality here, (Belgium,)" must have
been something of a damper upon the Dr.'s
" calculation previously made, and regarded
as satisfactory." However, it is to be hoped
the Dr. will continue his articles in the
Horticulturist, as they are read with inte-
rest by one at least.

There is one consideration, presented by
the foreign correspondent, that must have
weight with any committee that shall un-
dertake to prepare, either a list of recom-
mended or of rejected fruits. Where shall
the line of discrimination be drawn ? Shall
those only be recommended that shall prove
good in all and every situation ? Then the
list must be made small indeed. Shall all
be rejected that do not prove good in all
soils and situations ? Then many varieties
that are first rate in many localities, must
be set aside. In Belgium, it seems, (and
the remark applies here with much greater
force, owing to our widely extended coun-
try,) that "some pears are influenced by
culture, either on the quince or not. In-
deed, some do not give satisfaction, unless
on the quince roots ; and some do not thrive
on these roots at all. Many only flourish as
espaliers ; others, again, only as standards.
Some, if on quince, must be in a cool and
moist soil ; if on natural stocks, the soil to
be warm and rather dry. Some are good
in all soils proper for the pear. Some are
only fine on the pear stock, and some on
either."

The diversity of soil and culture neces-
sary for some varieties, that are considered
fine, must influence a committee in forming
their list ; and this diversity of soil and
culture should be given, so as to enable
persons to make a selection suitable to their

locality. But this will require time, and
cannot be done without more experience
than we at present possess. In the vicinity
of Boston, where the cultivation of the
pear has been practically attended to for
some years, they are prepared to say what
kind of soil and culture may suit particular
varieties ; yet we can hardly expect that
their experience will suit all sections of our
widely extended country, where the soil
and other influences may be very different.
The facts there ascertained are valuable,
and well worthy the attention of all who
design to cultivate this fruit ; yet we can
only by experiment determine whether they
will suit other localities.

The same observations will apply, more
or less, to other fruits. An apple that, at
the north, may be a first rate winter fruit,
by transplanting it south will probably be
only a good fall fruit. There is a degree
of temperature necessary to bring every
fruit to perfection ; and when this perfec-
tion is attained just at the commencement
of cold weather, that fruit will keep much
longer than if it had reached that state of
perfection a few weeks earlier. Some ap-
ples that are fine in New-York, and further
south, will not ripen sufficiently in the vi-
cinity of Boston to be of any value. The
Newtown Pippins and Yellow Bellflower
are of this class, while south of New-Eng-
land they are of the best quality. And it
is more than probable that the highly prized
winter fruit of New-England, by being in-
troduced here, will be only good late fall
fruit. Our temperature here will be likely
to bring them to perfection too earl}^ ; so
that they will be too ripe at the commence-
ment of winter to keep long. However,
we are going to try them, and that will
settle the point whether this theory is true
or not.

Looking at the subject in this light, it

THE BELGIAN WINDOW-GARDEN.

427

seems that the convention will not be able
to make out a large list, as suitable for
general cultivation, in our widely extended
country. The same variety of fruit may
suit the same degree of latitude to any dis-
tance westward ; but the difference of tem-
perature, in going north or south, may have
an injurious influence, and render it worth-
less. And yet, it would be hardly right for
the convention to reject a variety that was
good at one extreme, merely because it was
not so at the other. I understand the de-
sign of the convention to be national in its
character. Hence, it may ultimately be
proper for it to recommend all good fruits,
and designate the section of country where
they are so. To recommend only those

that are proper for general cuhivation, would
be to leave out many valuable varieties, in
particular localities, and make the list a
local one ; and then to include all others in
a rejected list, would be equally unjust.
Yardley Taylor.

Mr. Taylor's views will be responded
to by every judicious reader. If the Stale
Fndt Committees will prepare full returns
to all the queries for information in the cir-
cular of the General Fruit Committee, pub-
lished last month, we think the Congress
of Fruit-growers, at its next meeting, will
be able to present a mass of information,
regarding the value of varieties, in various
parts of the Union, such as has never yet
been laid before the public. Ed.

TKS BELGIAN WINDOW GARDEN.
BY DR. LINDLEY.

Those who are debarred from the enjoy-
ment of a Garden by sickness, residence,
or fortune, should take a leaf out of the
book of the French and Belgian ladies, who
succeed, by means of double-glazed win-
dows and other contrivances, in providing
themselves with an ample supply of fresh
flowers at all seasons of the year. With
us, the first object of the dwellers in towns
is to buy plants, the next is to provide for
them. Elsewhere it is thought more ad-
vantageous in the first instance to secure
the means of keeping a plant in health, and
that being accomplished, to obtain it. We
will not be so uncivil as to reproach our
fair countrywomen with herein indulging
in that sort of caprice which is vulgarly
called putting a cart before a horse ; but
we shall confine ourselves to an explana-
tion of the manner in which other persons
proceed, leaving all who are concerned to
form their own judgment in the matter.

"In Belgium," says M. Victor Paquet,
" wherever you go, you see spaces between
double-sashed windows filled in the win-
ter time with the most charming flowers.

Elsewhere the balconies are turned into
green-houses, and you may find on the fifth
or sixth floor a miniature green-house gay
with the brightest flowers and the greenest
foliage. In Paris there are many such con-
trivances, especially two on the fourth floor
of a house in the Boulevard de la Made-
leine, at the corner of the Rue Caumartin.
Here are to be found the rarest plants.
Camellias grow^ in the open ground. Pas-
sionflowers cling to the columns ; the creep-
ing fig forms a carpet upon the walls, and
water-plants start up from tiny basins curi-
ously contrived in the solid brickwork. By
turning a screw a stream of limpid water
^ows down a rock, from whose crevices
start up Ferns and Lycopods and such
things. And what is it that adjoins this
little paradise but a bed-room ! The first
beams of the morning sun throw upon the
bed of the owner the shadows of Palm-
leaves and Bananas, or of garlands of Pas-
sionflowers."

This sort of garden, though on the fourth
floor, is, however, rather too ambitious for
everybody's taste, and therefore we agree

428

THE BELGIAN WINDOW-GARDEN,

with M. Paqttet that the little Belgian win-
dow-gardens are upon the whole more likely
to meet the means, if not the fancy of the
mass of mankind. We therefore borrow
from him the following figure and descrip-
tion of one of them, which has now become
extremelj- common. Let figure 46 repre-
sent the outside of this window-garden, and
47, a section of it, together with the win-
dow to which it belongs. A sloping roof
of glass is carried outwards from the mid-
dle cross bars of the sash in such a way
that the upper sash allows light to enter
the room freel3^ The lower sashes open
as usual by a pair of folding leaves as wide
as the window frame. A pair of brackets
carries the floor which projects be\'ond the
walls of the house. Shelves are fixed to
uprights next rhe window-leaves, and the
sloping roof is raised or depressed by means
of a rack, which is easily reached from the
inside."

Fig. 46. Tig. 47.

It is obvious that this contrivance pos-
sesses all the advantages of a Ward's case,
without its inconveniences. Being placed
on the outside of a house, it occupies no
space that is otherwise required. As the
glass next the room will always be warm,
there will be no condensation upon it to
conceal the plants which the window-gar-
den contains. The foldinsr leaves render

it easy to get at the interior, and in towns
water could be readily laid on for the pur-
pose of moistening the plants when it ia
required. Such little contrivances would
suggest themselves to any ingenious me-
chanic. A place of this kind might even
be heated in severe weather by a pan of
boiling water, or protected by a woollen
covering thrown over it at night. In short,
it seems to be of all things the best adapted
to the purposes, as well as means, of those
to whom window-gardens would be ac-
ceptable. In such a place it would be per-
fectly practicable to have all sorts of forced
flowers in spring and winter ; Eoses in
summer. Pelargoniums in autumn. A thou-
sand pretty plants might be selected for va-
riety, and the whole would be a most agree-
able amusement for those who are neat,
careful, and skilful.

A model of this Belgian window-garden
was most obligingly forwarded to us from
Boulogne, by our good correspondent, Mr.
Cruckshanks, and shown to the Fellows of
the Horticultural Society. It teaches us
several things. A rolling blind is made to
work in the inside, so as to screen the
plants from too much sun, when placed in
a southern aspect. A trellis-work of wires
is carried up the ends, and adds much to
the appearance of the little garden. Here
thrives Maurandya Barclayana, together
with the little Tropseolums of Chili. The
bottom should be guarded by a raised edge
next the sitting-room, so as to form a shal-
low box at least 6 inches deep; this is to
be filled up with damp moss, in which the
pots are plunged, and by which they may
also be covered. Attention to these mat-
ters has been found by experience to be
essential. We would add moveable venti-
lators at the front and sides, so that air
might be given when it would not be pru-
dent to raise the sash.

Such little details are what constitute the
secret of success ; and now that the plans of
construction are intelligible, and that many
are, as we believe, preparing to adopt these
gardens, we must offer some hints in a
general way.

The advantage of such an apparatus con-
sists in its separating plants from a sitting-
room when they are not wanted, and intro-
ducing them there the instant they are

THE BELGIAN WINDOW-GARDEN.

429

wished for. Open the doors, and the gar-
den forms part of the room ; close them,
and the apartment is relieved from the pre-
sence of the plants. But, what is of much
more importance, in the latter case the
plants are themselves completely relieved
from the fatal atmosphere of the apartment,
— not fatal, indeed, if inhaled for a few
hours at a time, but certainly destructive if
endured for long.

What, it may be asked, is there in the
air of a sitting-room which plants are thus
unable to endure? Can anything be purer
than the atmosphere of an English draw-
ing-room? Perhaps not; but it is this pu-
rity which in part inflicts the injury. Plants
would thrive better if it were otherwise,
but it is more especially its dryness. Let
any one measure the moisture of a sitting-
room and the open air, and he will see how
great a difference prevails. We have this
moment tested it by Simmons's hygrome-
ter; in the open air this instrument indi-
cates 40°, in a sitiing-room 60"^.

When plants are kept iij a dry atmos-
phere, they rapidly lose their water of ve-
getation ; the sides of their pots are robbed
at the same time ; and it is impossible for
plants to suck out of soil thus partially dried
the moisture demanded for the sustenance
of tlieir exhausted foliage. Such a state
of things is inseparable from a sitting-
room. To render the latter congenial to
plants it would be uninhabitable by our-
selves. The extent to which plants are
injured in a common sitting-room is stri-
kingly illustrated by the condition of cut
flowers. Let two clusters of fresh gathered
flowers be introduced into a sitting-room ;
place the one in the mouth of a narrow
necked jar of water, and arrange the other
upon such a shallow pan of water as a deep
dish will furnish. It will be found that the
latter will be perfectly fresh days after the
former are faded. The reason is that in
the narrow necked jar the flowers have no
access to water except through the ends of
their shoots, and are surrounded by a very
dry air ; while in the flat dish they are able
to absorb abundant water, because a large
part of their surface is in contact with it,
and are moreover surrounded by air inces-
santly moistened by the vapor that continu-
ally rises from the dish.

Of this we may be sure, that darkness,
dust, heat, want of ventilation, and all the
other calamities to which plants in sitting-
rooms are subject, are as nothing compared
with the inevitable dryness of the air ;
which indeed acts injuriously, not merely
by exhausting plants of their water of ve-
getation, but by lowering the temperature
of the pots in which they are grown, in
consequence of the evaporation con.-itantly
taking place there.

What makes the evil greater is, that the
plants which are purchased for sitting-rooms
are invariably brought into high condition
by being grown in a damp atmosphere.
They are transferred from the hands of
skilful gardeners, armed with the most
perfectly constructed forcing-houses, into
the care of inexperienced amateurs, whose
means of maintaining a plant in health are
something considerably less than nothing.

A case will illustrate this : A Rose bush
is bought in the market, fresh and trim,
with one or two flowers open, others in
bud, more still younger, and many but just
peeping out. From such a specimen no-
thing, it would seem, can result but a long
.succession of beauty. But this charming
thing, so fresh and promising, was, perhaps,
a few hours before, the inhabitant of a damp
green-house or pit, where its leaves were
formed in shade, and their surface softened
by a daily bath of artificial dew. It is sud-
denly conveyed to a sitting-room ; its leaves
shrivel up under the withering influence of
its new habitation ; the fountains of life
become dried; the young flowers, starved
by want of their accustomed food, drop off,
the leaves follow them; the green-fly or
red spider attacks the suffering remains,
and a week or two are sufilcient to v/itness
the destruction of all the buyer's hopes.

We appeal to everybody's experience for
our proof that this is an ordinary case.
But a Belgian window-garden removes the
difficulty; in such a place a plant is kept
in precisely the circumstances most condu-
cive to its health ; light and moisture fos-
ter the young shoots, and the softened air
provides a due supply of all that is indis-
pensable to vigor.

To those who propose to engage in this
kind of amusement we would add a very few
words of empirical advice. L Always use

430

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.

rain-water ; 2. Always let it be milk-warm ;
3. To every quart of rain-water add half a
grain of nitrate of ammonia, or sulphate of
ammonia ; 4. Invariably keep up a continual
current of warm fresh air through the gar-
den whenever the circumsrances of the

season will permit ; the easiest method of
accomplishing this, which is equally impor-
tant in large as in small houses, and yet
is almost universally neglected, we shall
consider on a future occasion. — Gardener^s
Chronicle.

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.

BY AN OLD DIGGER.

You may plant peas, for the earliest crop,
as soon as the frost is out of the ground,
and it is fit to dig. Choose a warm, shel-
tered spot, and use rotten stable manure
and ashes in preparing the soil, before sow-
ing the seed. Peas don't mind a hard
frost, even when on rich or too high ground ;
and therefore the earlier you plant, the ear-
lier you pick. If you have to plant in the
open garden, you may hasten your crop
by sowing the drills east and west, and
setting a board on the ground edgeways,
on the north side, to shelter each row.
" Prince Albert" is one of the best early
sorts.

Rhubarb is an invaluable plant to those
who like a spring tart. You may have
yours ready to cut a week before your
neighbor's, without the trouble of forcing,
if you set your plants in a border on the
south side of a wall or light board fence,
and take the precaution to loosen up the
soil, and cover each crown of roots with a
bushel basket full of black peat earth the
autumn before.

Some men are marvellously fond of pru-
ning, and go about cutting a limb here, and
a branch there, without " rhyme or reason."
Don't prune your standard trees, unless the
branches are so unnatural as to crowd each
other; and even then, they should be thin-
ned out as little as possible to answer the
purpose. Or, in the other case, where the

tree has got into a stunted and feeble state,
when a shortening-back the terminal shoots,
along with a good dressing of manure, will
make it push out strong, healthy shoots
again.

If you wish to get early crops in your
kitchen garden, make some boxes two feet
square, and a foot high. Knock them to-
gether out of, any rough boards; and if
you cannot afford to glaze the whole top,
(and, to say the truth, it is a waste of money,)
put a single light in — a 7-by-9. If you want
a hill of early cucumbers, melons, or toma-
toes, dig out a hole of the size of .the box,
and two and a half feet deep, fill it with
fresh stable manure mixed with litter, tread
the manure down firmly till there is room
for six or eight inches of good light soil.
On the latter plant your seeds. They will
soon start, with the slight warmth of the
manure, and the box will protect them at
night, and during cold and stormy days,
till the season is settled. Every mild day
you will, of course, raise it up on one side
an inch or two, for fresh air ; and in posi-
tively warm days, remove it for a few hours
altogether. In this way, you will get a
crop, at small cost, a long start in advance
of the unsheltered growth along side, and
have none of the bother and vexation of
transplanting, from hot-beds. The boxes
cost very little, if you make them yourself;
and if laid away as soon as there is no fur-

PRACTICAL HINTS TO AMATEURS.

431

ther need of them, they will last a dozen
years or more.

When you are planting a tree or shrub,
don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish ; in
other words, so anxious to have it look
large, as to be unwilling to cut off a single
inch of its top to balance the loss of roots.
Remember that if your tree would grow
six inches if left " unshortened," it would
grow twelve if properly shortened, besides
making far healthier shoots and bigger
leaves, to say nothing of its being five times
as likely 7iot to die.

If you are about to turn " orchardist,"
never buy a large quantity of trees of any
nurseryman, on the strength of his own
" extensive" advertisements. It is easy to
say fine things in print ; such as " immense
specimen grounds," " 50,000 trees, care-
fully propagated under the direction of the
proprietor," &c. &c. Go and see for your-
self; and very likely the "immense speci-
men ground" may turn out to lae a dozen
old trees in a grass plat, and the nursery a
wilderness of confusion. Never, in short,
buy a large quantity of fruit trees of any
man who is a stranger to you, without in-
quiring first all about his accuracy, from
customers who have dealt with him, and
proved his sorts. Such people, who have
tasted his quality, are not very likely to
tell "long yarns," though advertisements
sometimes will.

The neatest and most perfect mode of
grafting, is spZtce grafting; (see Downing's
Fruits, p. 15.) It can only be done when
your stock and scion correspond pretty
nearly in size ; but the amalgamation is
done in short-hand. Tie the wound over
neatly with a strand of matting or coarse
woolen yarn, and smear the whole over
with thick "shellac paint," and not one in
a hundred will fail.

No large fruit tree is so readily " re-

formed" as a pear. Many a tree, of twenty
or thirty feet high, that stands, at this mo-
ment, uithin ten rods of your door, and
bears nothing but fruit that you would be
ashamed to offer at a county fair, may be
made to bear bushels of Bartletts, or some-
thing as good, in three years' time, by the
expenditure of a couple of hours, in cutting
back and grafting all the principal limbs
as soon as the sap is fairly in motion,
" Cleft grafting" is the readiest mode for
this sort of subject ; and a little practice
will enable any one to perform it very
quickly.

If you want to be successful in trans-
planting, don't be afraid of working in dull
weather. If you are shy of a " Scotch
mist," buy an India-rubber macintosh. No-
thing is so cruel, to many sorts of trees,
as to let their tender fibres parch up in
a dry wind, or a bright sun. Such wea-
ther may be fun to you, but 'tis death to
them.

Dress your lawns with a mixture of
guano and ashes : one bushel of the former
to four bushels of the latter. The earlier
in the spring it can be put on the better, so
that the rains may carr)"- the soluble parts
to the roots. A light coat of this, spread
broad-cast, is much better for grass than
any other manure.

The best top-dressing for a strawberry
bed is burnt sods. Pile up the brush and
rubbish you have at hand in layers with
the sods, and set fire to the heap; let it
smoulder away for several days, till the
wood is pretty well burnt out, and the sods
well roasted. Then overhaul the heap,
chop and beat it up fine with the spade, and,
after loosening up the soil in the bed, give
them a coat an inch or two in thickness.
It will give new life to the plants, and set
them in a way to give you an uncommonly
fine crop.

A PINE NE"W EARLY PEAR.

BY DR. W. D. BRINCKLE, PHILADELPHIA.

It is very rare that, among new fruits, one
fs found of superior excellence, ripening
either at a very early or very late period.
The majority of seedlings produce fruits
which mature at what may be called the
middle season.

Good early pears are especially a deside-
ratum, because it is precisely at that time,
— about, or a little after midsummer, — that
ripe fruit of any kind is scarcest.

We suspect that the variety, de-
scribed and figured below, by our es-
teemed correspondent, Dr. Beinckle,
ivill prove a decided acquisition in
this respect. At the present time,
the public are not inclined to take
upon trust the character of any new
fruit which is highly lauded, unless
its reputation is well authenticated.
We may therefore state that this va-
riety has been exhibited, tasted, and
has elicited high commendation, both
before the Pennsylvania and Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Societies. Col.
Wilder, in a note, written last sea-
son, after tasting this variety, gives it
the following character: "The Ott
Pear is quite first rate, and I think,
in flavor, surpasses the Citron des
Carmes, Bloodgood and Bartlett."

We will add to this excellent testimony
our own. Dr. Brinckle very obligingly sent
us specimens when in perfection. What
the Ott Pear may prove, as regards hardi-
ness, productiveness, and adaptation to
general culture, of course, Ave are not yet
able to say ; but that it is one of the high-
est flavored early pears yet known, is unde-
niable.

We suppose this new pear is not yet for
sale in any of the nurseries, though no
doubt its propagation has commenced about
Philadelphia. Meanwhile, we give the
following description and figure, by Dr.
Brinckle, to awaken attention to the merits
of so excellent a variety. Ed.

The Ott Pear. — This valuable new va-
riety was exhibited, for the first time, in
1848, at the August meeting of the Penn*

Fig. iS.— The Ott Pear.

sylvania Horticultural Society, and was
considered of such decided merit as to be
entitled to a special premium.

It is a seedling from the Seckel, and ori-
ginated with Mr. Samuel Ott, of Lower
Merrion township, Montgomery co., about
seven miles from Philadelphia. The ori-
ginal tree is about thirteen years old. Mr.
Ott represents the fruit as being larger

THE FRINGED CHINESE PRIMROSE.

433

Shan the Seckel ; from which it differs in
form, length of stem, colour and shape of
seed, and especially in the time of ripening.

The annexed description is taken from
specimeas which he was kind enough to
bring me;

Fruit small, two and one-fourth inches in
length by two and one-eighth inches in its
transverse diameter; form roundish, occa-
sionally tapering a little to the stem ; skin
g'reeiiish-3'ellow, with considerable russet.

and sometimes a mottled red cheek ; stem
a little curved, one and one-quarter inches
long, of medium thickness, and inserted in
a small cavity; calyx rather large, rcflexed,
and set in a shallow basin ; core small ;
seed of medium size, black, with a promi-
nent point at one of the corners of the blunt
end ; flesh whitish-yellow, and melting ;
flavor saccharine, rich and highly aromatic,
resembling closely that of its parent, the
Seckel. Ripe early in August.

THE FRINGED CHINESE PRIMROSE.

To amateurs, who like "realiygood things,"
.ihat is to say, plants with good foliage, ex-
cellent habit of growth, and handsome and
abundant flowering properties, the Fringed
Chinese Primro e may be recommended as
something worth having.

It is a great improvement upon the old
Chinese Primrose, so long known in our
green-houses. The flowers and foliage are
more than double the size of those of the
old species, and the colours are much more
lively. Our drawing is made from a plant
sent us by N. J. Becar, Esq., of Brooklyn^
who bas been particularly successful in
growing this variety from seed. Around
the whole interior of this gentleman's Ca-
mellia conservatory, at Brooklyn, runs a
walk, paved with marble, and bordered by
lihat exquisite little evergreen plant, the
trailing Lycopcedium. The bed, along the
•outer margin of the conservatory, is filled
with plants of this Fringed Chinese Prim-
rose, from a foot to eighteen inches high,
surprisingly luxuriant in habit, and covered
with blossoms twice the size of those re-
presented in the figure. When we say
that these plants are continually in bloom,
[from December to May, and that they give

Yql. m. 28

an appearance of perpetual vernal fresh-
ness to the border in which they grow, it
will be seen at once how much more valua-
ble they are than most of the fugitive
plants which fill up the green-house.

Though the Chinese Primrose is properly
a perennial herbaceous plant, yet it thrives
and flowers much more satisfactorily when
treated as dinan?iiial, — fresh seedlings being
raised every year for the winter's supply of
flowers ; the old ones cast away. The seeds
ripen from April to June ; and fresh seed
sown, as soon as ripe, in pots of rich sandy
soil, placed in a partially shaded frame, in
the open air, will produce fine blooming
plants for the coming winter.

Mr. Becae has raised the beauty of his
stock of Fringed Primroses far above that
of those commonly grown, by selecting only
those seeds produced by the verj'' largest
and finest flowers, and those of the finest
shades. In this way, he has obtained
plants with flowers of a rich, clear, purplish
pink, and others of which the flowers ex-
pand a pure white, and change to delicate
lilac or flesh colour.

As no plants adapt themselves to the air
of the parlor or sitting-room better than the

434

THE FRINGED CHINESE PRIMROSE.

fv

r-^>

~^,

((At''

-?

V^^^'h

x.

X

' /■ / >

w^

fig. 49.~Tlie Fringed Chinese Primrose'.

Chinese Primroses, they have become de-
cidedly popular among those whose green-
house collection is confined to a single win-

dow. In England, a double variety is cul-
tivated, which, so far as we hear, has oo5
yet been introduced into this country.

LANGWOOD.

PRINCIPAL FLOOR.

[Hon. March, 1^4!).

FOREIGN NOTICES.

435

DESIGN OF A VILLA, NEAR BOSTON.

A FRIEND in Boston has very kindly sent us
a view and ground plan of a villa, in the
Italian style, — Langwood, the residence of
Mr. Wm. Bailey Lang, which we give as
the frontispiece of the present nuriiber.

We gather the following description of
this villa from his letter;

" Wyoming is a charming rural neigh-
borhood, six and a half miles north of Bos-
ton. Being located on the margin of one
of the most pictuiesque lakes in New-Eng-
land, it has lately become quite celebrated
for the beauty and variety of its natural
scenery. It occupies several hundred acres
of land, and was once owned by a recluse,
whose aversion to neighbors and society
caused its rich green lawns, deep glens,
foaming cascades, and numerous running-
streams, to remain comparatively unknown
for twenty-five years; but lately, the pro-
perty has been purchased by a company of

gentlemen, w^ho have laid it out in lots,
varying from two to eight acres each, for
cottage and villa residences.

"Langwood," the seat of Mr. Lang, at
Wyoming, is an agreeable and commodious
villa, built of rough stone. It covers a
space of 78 by 37 feet. The exterior, as
you will see, is expressive alike of ele-
gance and commodiousness ; and the in-
terior arrangement, which is very simple,
will be seen at a glance by an inspection of
the plan of the principal floor."

We may add to the above, that the fine
back-ground of trees has been omitted by
the engraver, in the elevation presented,
so that justice is not done to the rural cha-
racter of the site, or the scenery which
surrounds this residence; which, together,
are far from presenting the meagre appear-
ance shown in the plate.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Ma. Barry in London. — London, Dec. 14,
1S48. As the Europa sails to-morrow from
Liverpool, I thought I would send yon a short
gossip touching a lew of the more interesting mat-
ters that have caught my attention since I arrived
in England.

The winter, so far, has been remarkably mild.
The lawns are as bright and green as ours in the
middle of May, and the gardens are yet gay
with Roses, Chrysanthemums and Laurustinus, and
other flowers, i am delighted, with every step I
take, with the profusion of evergreens that lill up
every little space throughout the cities. Laurels,
Ba}^s, Yews, Cypresses, Aucubas, Hollies, Juni-
pers, Rhododendrons, Ivys, &.C., clothe every wall
and door yard with a verdure as fresh and luxuri-
ant as we could hope for in the month of June.
This is some compensation for the muddy streets
and rainy, murky weather that continually pre-
vails. I have not seen the sun half a dozen times
.since I have been here, and then only glimmering
through a fog. I eat breakfast at eight in the

morning, by candle-light, and dine at four in the
afternoon, by candle-light; we are hardly aware
of its being day, till night returns again. It takes
three or four daj's to accomplish the work of
one.

Large quantities of American apples have been
brought into Liverpool recently, but the most of
them have been of indiflerent quality, and badly
gathered and picked, and hence they do not com-
mand high prices, nor do us any credit; nor can
the shippers gain by the operation. There is an
unfailing market here for our orchard products,
but to make the shipment of them profitable, it is
absolutely necessary that select varieties be sent,
that they be carefully hand-picked and packed in
the best manner. One barrel will then sell for as
much as three or four; and the freight, which is
the great item, will be no more on a barrel that
will sell more readily for $5, than one that will
bring only $2. Many of the apples I see here
cried up as "nice American apples," "beautiful
American apples," he, would scarcely sell at al\

436

FOREIGN NOTICES.

in our market ; yet ihey are sold here at 3 to 6
cents each.

The English people have fairly given up grow-
ing apples for market, unless it be Codlins, &c.,
that come in early for cooking, and B eaujins , &ic . ,
for drying. They see it will be impossible for
them to compete with American orehardists. Yes-
terday I examined two or three hundred varieties
in the fruit rooms of the London Horticultural So-
ciety, and among them all there was not a single
large, clear coloured fine looking specimen. One
would suppose, at first sight, that they were all
wind-falls, gathered from under the trees last Au-
gust. The Roxbury Russet, Fall Pippin, and
Rhode Island Greening, were among the best spe-
cimens, and they were not half the size we grow
them. The most esteemed varieties pointed out
to me by Mr. Thompson, such as Pearson's Plate,
Warmsley's Pippin, Pomme Royal, (not our Pora-
me Royal) Golden Harvey, Sturmer Pippin, &c.,
are small inferior looking things, — in size from that
of a small Pomme Gris to that of a Siberian
Crab, — but they are generally harder and richer
than ours. The Newtown Pippin and Roxbury
Russet come nearer the English taste than any
thing we cultivate. I had some Northern Spy
and Melon w-ith me, that I have here now in Lon-
don, in fine condition. They have elicited the ad-
miration of all who have seen them. There are
indeed, no such apples to-day in England. The
Northern Spy may be sent to Covent Garden mar-
ket, just as well as to Fulton or Wasliington mar-
kets. New- York. The pears in the markets here
now, are from France or the Island of Jersey.
They come in half-bushel baskets, containing 50
to 100, accoruing to tiie size of fruit. They are
packed in very dry soft meadow hay — a layer of
this hay two or tlirec iuclies deep, is laid on the
bottom, tlien a layer of fruit, tlien another of hay,
and so on to the top, — the fruits arc not allowed to
touch, and in this way they go any distance with
entire safety. I saw at Liverpool little baskets
of Glout Murceau and Chaumontel, 50 in each,
sold for $3 to $4 each, to the confectioners and
market-women to retail.

In Covent Garden Market, which is head-quar-
ters for all rare and choice Garden commodities, I
sec fine St. Germains, (the old one,) Marie
Louise, Passe Colinar, Winter Nelis, Beurre
Ranee, Easter Beurre, S^-c, sold at 12^ to I84
cents each. If we ever succeed in raising pears
beyond what may be required for home consump-
tion, they will find market and good prices here.
Not one person in a thousand, I might say five
tlionsand, ever tastes a fine pear. There is also,
a fair supply of new potatoes from Holland, sold
at about twenty-five cents per quart. There is a
plenty of Asparagus, Brussels Sprouts, Rhubarb,
M.ushrooms, and all other vegetable luxuries. The
F ower Market is very rich. Bou([uets are made
u' very tastefully by women who buy the flowers
fom the Florists and make a business of prepar-
ing and selling the bouquets. You can have a

nosegay for a pcnn)' — a single rose and a leaf.
For a shilling (25 cents) you can have a pretty
bouquet of Roses, Primroses, Heliotropes, Aza-
leas, &.C. Go higher, and you get Camellias,
Epaeris, &.c. — liigher still, and you get Orange
Flowers, Cape Jasmines, Cyclamens and Eu-
phorbias ; and if you offer half a guinea, ($2.50)
you get a gem of beauty, combining all these, ar-
ranged with exquisite taste. So much for fruits
and flowers, and I find that I must close on that
head.

I found on my arrival in London, that the
Smithfield Club was holding its Annual Christmas
Show of Fat Cattle. I embraced the opportunity
to see it. The ani\nals were all enormously fat,
even to a downright deformity, — in many cases,
huge vmwieldly masses of fat, not inappropriately
termed by some, " animated oil-cake and beet-root
machines." The fattening process in the case of
tliese animals appears to be carried to an extreme ;
no market requires it, and no profit can result
from it, nor is any expected, I believe.

The purposes of the clab are to induce experi-
ments that will test the capacities of the various
breeds for fattening, and the effect of different
sorts of feed and modes of feeding. It undoubt-
edly brings out results that will be highly useful
to the breeders and feeders of animals. Those
who are engaged in these experiments are able
to carry them out to any extent, and the pub-
lic at large have the benefit of them. No restric-
tions as to feed are imposed ; but the articles of
food must be certified, as well as the age of the
animals. The oxen and steers are divided into
six classes, according to age, weight, &.e.; cows
and heifers into three classes, according to age j
sheep into ten classes, according to breed and age ;
])igs into four classes, according to age. In the
first class of oxen and steers, three premiums,
amounting to £50 ($250) were awarded; in the
second the same; in the third $225, and so on.
From this you will see how considerable, I aught
to say iiow princely, the premiums are ; and so
they ought to be, for most of the competitors are
Princes, Dukes, Earls, and other nobles.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, the Queen's
husband, is an active member of this Club, and is
showing masterly skill in the breeding and feeding
of various sorts of live stock. He carried off' the
first prize of £30 ($150) in the first class of oxen
and steers, for a Hereford ox 4 years and 6 months
old, fed on oil-cake, roots, been meal, hay, and
green food. The animal was very attractive.
When I saw him, three of the best artists were
taking his portrait. He was a low, small animal,
of a dull red colour, with a white face and chest.
He belongs to what is called the white faced, or
new Hereford breed. There were specimens of
Short Horns, Devons, Scotch, Welsh, &e., all the
most perfect of their kind. The .show of pigs and
sheep was varied and highly [interesting ; hut I
will not trouble you now with^^further details. P.
B., ift Gen, Far.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

437

tJttAr*T!Nti Humbugs. — One of the most learned
writei-s in the art of graftinjj, M. Thouin, who
has taken the pains to count up, and classify, and
rhristen, all the different styles of grafting, call-
ing them after this fasliion a la Banks, a la Bvf-
fon, to the number of forty dilferent varieties,
enumerates last the Virgiiian graft ; this was thus
effected ; a hole was bored across the diameter of
a walnut tree, and a vine branch was passed
through it while yet in connexion with its parent
stern ; after a little time the branch was cut off,
and it was said it would then be found united to,
and growing upon, the walnut. This has been
very properly questioned, not as to the fact, but
as to the nature of the union. It was not a true
graft; the wood of the tree may have supplied
nutriment to the branch, not by union of its ves-
sels, but by the decay of the ))art.s surrounding it.
From the nature of the ease, such a union could
be but short lived. This may therefore furnish us
with a clue to the explanation of some of the mon-
strous vegetable unions which the perverted in-
genuity of man has endeavored to effect. We are
not, however, to consider our ancestry as the sole
perpetrators of these various freaks; they prevail
even to the present day. The traveller in Genoa
or in Florence may without any difficulty, beyond
the pecuniary one, probably of some magnitude,
become the fortunate possessor of a tree alrao.st
as wonderful as those of which casual notice has
been taken. In a classically-formed flower-pot
vou see a plant of some size, and of a graceful
but most anomalous appearance. On this side
you would say it was a jasmine, heavily laden
with odoriferous flowers ; on the other it is a rose
blushing with thickiy-clustcred blossoms; and,
again, on the third aspect, it is a honeysuckle
bursting with sweet-smelling buds. Stranger still!
look at the stock, and by the leaves of the few
branches which it is allowed to put forth, you are
ready to believe it to be either a myrtle, or, as
the case may be, an orange or a pomegranate.
Of course this is a mere cheat, spite of the ear-
nest asservations of the horticulturists, wlio pro-
test that the various plants are all grafted upon
the common stock of the orange or myrtle. But
it is a cheat of a most ingenious kind, such as
would perhaps scarcely be discovered by any but
an acute and botanical eye. This lusus of art is
thus made: the " stock,"of myrtle or other plants
is headed, cut down to a proper size, and then
tenderly bored with an auger right through its
middle until tiie instrument comes out at the roots,
when it is withdrawn. The thin and flexible
stems of three young and thriving plants of jas-
mine, rose, and honeysuckle, are passed up to-
gether through the now hollow stock, until their
summits emerge at the top of it: the four plants
are then carefully potted in a good-sized pot, with
a rich compost around their roots. With much
care, in time, an elegant compound plant makes
its appearance ; the horizontal enlargement of the
three enclosed stems forces them into such close

proximity, that they wear all tlie appearance of
being united into a common stem, and in this con-
dition at the flowering period, they are exposed
for sale, and fetch good jirices as triumphs of hor-
ticultural skill, not over the obstinacies, but actu-
ally over the laws of nature! It was no doubt by
some such trick as the preceding that the wondei-
loving eye of Evelyn was deceived when he was
shown the rose grafted on the orange tree, and
the Plinian marvel had doubtless its origin in a
similar inirenuitv.

Grafting Grain. — Some attention has lately
been paid to the possibility of grafting Monocot}^-
ledonous plants, and amongst others, experiments
have been made on grasses. The results, as stated
in a notice in the " Annales des Sciences Natu-
rclles," for Sept., 1846, are so curious, that, with-
out at all pledging ourselves for their accuracy,
we cannot resist the wish to call the attention of
our readers to the subject. Much has been done
to improve the produce of some of our cereal
grasses, but perhaps in general, at least in wheat,
the bulk ha.s been more affected than the quality.
The Bristol Red, for instance, is extremely pro-
ductive, but millers are very shy of huy-ing, on ac-
count of its coarseness ; and bakers who are so
unfortunate as to receive (lour made from it, are
sure to be loud in their complaints, as it imbibes
so little water, proliably from deficiency of gluten.
The great point is, if possible, to combine in-
creased bulk withcjuality, and it would be at least
worth trying some experiments in this direction,
similar to those which we proceed to notice.

Signor Calderini, of Milan, commenced his
experiments in 1843. Having observed that
grasses have at each knot a shoot inclosed in the
sheath of the leaf, which can be easily drawn out
when the plant is young, he introduced some of
these into jjlants of the same species, having pre-
viously removed iheir young shoots, and found
that more than half of them succeeded. He then
extended his operations to grasses of different spe-
cies, and succeeded in grafting Panic on Millet.
The only diOerence observable in the grafted
individuals was, that they ripened their seed
ratlier later.

He then conceived the notion of improving the
vigor of species by grafting delicate and tender
Varieties on robust stocks, more capable of con-
tending against changes of temperature. Having
observed the vigorous growth of Panieum Crus
Galli in the rice fields, he replaced the young
shoot or bud of the grass with that of rice, and
found the grains produced by the grafted plant
much larger than those of ordinary spikes. These
grains were then sown, and he had the pleasure
of seeing them from the first sprout more vigor-
ously, and, in the sequel, quite free from the dis-
ease called brusone, whicli is so frequent in newly
turned up fields, while ordinary grain sown in the
same soil was less productive, and the plants dis-
eased. The difference, both in the hei<rht of the

438

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

plants and in the produce, amounted to a third.
The "Tains were of the same size in the two
cases. He also observed that the new variety
was less impatient of drouth, and, in consequence,
expresses a hope that it may be possible to culti-
vate it where there is only sufficient water to
keep the soil moist. M. J. B. Gard. Chron.

Horse Chestxut Flour. — That the seeds of
ihe Horse Chestnut contain a large quantity of
Hour is well kno w-n ; and attempts have been made
to convert them into bread. But the Horse
Chestnut is bitter and acrid, and, in its natural
state, unfit for human food. Our readers will
therefore be glad to know that pure flour has been
obtained from Horse Chestnuts by very simple
means. M. Plandin, the discoverer of the pro-
cess, gives the following directions for its prepa-
ration: The chestnuts are to be reduced to a
jmlp, to which an hundredth or even a fiftieth part
by weight of carbonate of soda is to be added;
the whole is then to be washed and strained. In
this way samples of flour were obtained perfectly
free from any bitter taste, white, and equal in
every respect to potato flour, which, tticre is some
reason to believe, will to a great extent be super-
seded by that extracted from the hitherto com-
paratively useless Horse Chestnut. Gard. Chron.

Planting the Slopes of Railroads. — A
Neapolitan ambassador at the English court, said
that during a residence often years in London, he
had eaten but one ripe fruit ; and that was a baked
apple !

Whatever allowance is made in this assertion
for southern exaggeration, it is quite certain,
that without the help of walls and espaliers,
the greater part of the best fruits, particularly

grapes, would not ripen in the open air in the
climate of England; and it is very nearly the
same with us. At this moment in England,
the sides of the slopes or deep cuts, made by rail*
roads, are considerably used for espaliers, wherev-
er these cuts have revealed a rock firm enough
to be used as the surface of a wall , A border or
bed at the foot of the slope, is filled with good
soil ; peach and apricot trees occupy the lower
part; grapevines, planted here and there, climb
up above these trees, and may be extended over
an indefinite space.

Although our country is less irregular in sur-
face than Great Britain, and consequently the cuts
of tlie railroads are less frequent and not so deep,
there is, however, in this fact an example that we
might follow with advantage.

In otlier sections, where these cuts have ex-
posed fertile soil, they have tried plantations of
vines supported by props. These are indeed, true
artificial hills, which, when they have more or
less of a northern exposure, are sheltered from
the cold winds, and give a reasonable hope of
the possibility of ripening the grape in the open
air, without the aid of the espaliers. In ordinary
fieasons, the Belgians e&t verjuice under the name
of grapes; our epicures pay every year a conside-
rable tribute to France, for the Chassclas de
Fontainbleau, v/hich is brought for them at great
expense, and for which they are taxed accord-
ingly.

The culture of the vine would give much bet-
ter results on our soil, if, on one hand, we made
use, like the English, of every spot favorable to
the production of the grape ; and if, on the other j
we took care to limit ourselves to the cultivation
of those kinds which ripen their fruit early — the
only ones really adapted to our climate. Journal
d' Horticulture Belse.

DOMSSTIC NOTICES.

Horticultural Honor. — We notice with great
pleasure that the Massachusetts Horticultural So-
ciety has voted Col. Wilder, who has, to the
unanimous regret of the members, retired from the
presidency, after many years of most successful
1 ibor, a handsome piece of plate, valued at a hun-
dred and fifty dollars. Gen. Dearborn has also
received a like token in the shape of the society's
gold medal, as well as Mr. Teschemacher, the
scientific Secretary of the Society, in a piece of
plate of the value of fifty dollars. It is easy to
see why public institutions are well managed in
Bo.ston — the associates not only select the most
able men, but are never unmindful of the merit of
past services.

Col. Wilder in the mean time, seems not to be
allowed to rest on his laurels — for we notice that
he has been appointed president of the new agri-

cultural .society of Norfolk county, and Councillor
to the State.

The Misletoe. — I have sent you, by express,
a package of the seeds of the misletoe, which I
trust will reach you in a good state of preserva-
tion.

As this plant is not so well known at the north
as here, where it frequently covers the branches
of large trees so completely as to make them pre-
sent the appearance of magnificent evergreens, I
will venture to say a few words regarding its
growth, which may not be unacceptable. The
novel effect of these trees covered with misletoe,
is greatly heiglstened by the numerous transparent
berries, which, at certain seasons, enliven every
branch of the plant.

The seeds of the misletoe are deposited by birds

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

439

en the bark of the trunks and branches of trees ;
and the rootlets which they send out insinuate
themselves through the crevices of the bark, and
thus become incorporated with the wood.

The young misletoe plant seems readily to im-
bibe the ascending sap from the wood of the tree
upon which it grows, and this it converts into a
proper juice adapted to nourish its own structure,
by the aid of its leaves.

The ascending sap of most trees being so near-
ly alike, the raLsletoe seems to grow with almost
«qual facility on a great number of different spe-
oies. It i,s found here upon the persimmon, the
honey-locust, and upon oaks of all kinds, and I
think you can get it to take readily upon almost
any deciduous tree. Yours sincerely, Wm. Sum-
mer, Pomaria, South Carolina, Jan. 16, 1849.

Early Peas. — Dear Sir: I recommend your
e-eaders who care for early peas, to try the mode
recommended in the Horticulturist, vol. 1, p. 481.
I did so last spring, and succeeded in getting a
fine crop far ahead of any of my neighbors. It is
very little trouble, and the result perfectly satis-
factory. Yours, J[ Jerseyman, Feb. 15, 1849.

The HoaTjcuLTURisT of Lynn. — We have
ibeen very much struck, on looking over the list of
premiums awarded last year, by the Massachu-
isetts Horticultural Society, with the number of
times with which the name of one gentleman, ap-
pears there. It must be remembered, that so
great is the competition, and so numerous are the
cultivators about Boston, that it is by no means an
easy task to carry off many prizes at the exhibi-
tions which take place in that society. The gen-
■tleman to whose success we refer, is Otis John-
son, Esq. of L3'nn, We have several times visit-
ed the garden of this most zealous and accomplish-
ed amateur, and have always been exceedingly
gratified at the admirable system of fruit culture
pursued there. A single walk through such a
gai'den would be more instructive to thousands of
<our readers, than all the explanations of systems
of pruning, ^training and subsoiling, that one could
-obtain in a fortnight.. The numerous prizes which
the products of that garden have carried away
from the Boston shows, prove more conclusive
than any commendation of ours can possibly do,
the superior horticultural skill and intelligence of
Mr. Johnson — who, by the way, we trust will
pardon our thus publicly noticing what we cannot
but think deserves public commendation.

Perfect Camellias. — It is very rarely that
any novelties are offered to the floral world, so
■well deserving of attention as the two new Ca-
mellias, which we observe in our advertising co-
lumns, are now offered for sale by Mr. Cadness,
of Warren's Gardens, near Boston.

The flowers of these fine American seedlings
exhibit the most exquisite form and colour, and
are not surpassed, we may say indeed scarcely

equalled, by any other varieties originated in either
hemisphere, and we gladly recommend these two
sorts to floricultural amateurs, as certain to give
complete satisfaction.

Ohio Fruit Convention. — We give the follow-
ing brief notes made on looking over this interest-
ing pamphlet.

Early Harvest Apple — regarded by the Conven-
tion as the best early apple.

Summer Queen — much esteemed as a fine fruit.

Early Chandler. — This variety, one of the sorts
introduced into Ohio by Mr. Putnam, more than
50 years ago, is described as a valuable early sort
— excellent for cooking, before full maturity, and
then a fine dessert fruit. It i.s too tender for a
market fruit. (We think, from this description,
this variety is an old acquaintance of ours, under
another name, and would be glad to verify our
supposition by specimens at the season of maturi-
ty.—Ed.)

Golden Sweeting, is highly commended.

Jersey Sweeting — highly recommended — espe-
cially for stock feeding.

Fall Pippin — a great variety of opinion on this
fruit, owing, no doubt, to a confusion between this
and the Holland pippin, two very distinct sorts.

Porter — " a profuse bearer of fair, handsome,
and valuable fruit in northern Ohio."

Rambo — great bearer, much esteemed, some-
times water-cored.

Westfield Seeknofurther — " has been grown on
sandy loam, white-oak, clay and limestone soils,
and universally decided first rate."

Springer's Seedling — a new. late-keeping apple,
highly spoken of, — the fruit keeping in sound con-
dition for a year.

Seeverh Seedling — "tender, sub-acid, juicy, with
a delicate pear flavor."

Rhode Island Greening — a good deal of differ-
ence respecting the merits of this popular fruit in
Ohio — the opinion very prevalent that it had for-
merly been very fine, but of late years had decli-
ned in quality.

Mr. Elliot remarked that a supply of requi-
site food given to the trees would render them
uniformly productive. He had found the applica-
tion of leached ashes to cause the fruit of the
trees mentioned by him last year, to become alike,
(fair and good,) and he would recommend others
to make similar attempts -at improvements. The
subject of special manuring was at this time ex-
citing much attention. He believed that ten years
from this, a description of the nature of the soil
requisite to grow a variety perfect, -s)/ould be as
necessary to a work on fruits, as the description
of a fruit."

Pears. — Louise Bonne de Jersey — fine in Ohio.

Duchesse d'Angouleme — " one of the best fall
pears."

White Doyenne — " one of the very best."

Seckel — " acknowledged by all to lie of the first
class, and claimed by many to be exempt from

440

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

fire blight in all cases. Mr. Elliot has grown
it upon the roots of the mountain ash, and the
largest specimens he ever saw, were from a
tree on the thorn root, exhibited at Cincinnati, in
1843."

Grapes. — Catawba and Isabella " are, without
question, the best varieties for out of door culti-
vation."

Mr. Hampton exhibited a white grape, a seed-
ling from the Isabella, which is of good flavor,
but rather thick skin; rather sweeter than the
Isabella.

The following is the list of apples decided upon
by this convention at their two annual sittings, viz:
First Rate.

Early Harvest,

Summer Queen, (in southern

Ohio,)
White Juneating, (for early

ripening.)
Large Yellow Bough,
.Summer Rose,
Early Strawberry,
Red Astrachau, (for market.)
Wine,
Rambo,

Westfield Seeknofurther,
Belmont or Gate,
Yellow Belleflower,
Eiopus Spitzenburgh,
Summer Queen,

Golden Sweeting,

Am. Sum. Pearmain,

Lowell,

.lersey Sweeting,

Porter,

Fall Pippin,

Cooper,

Am. Golden Busselt,

Roxbury Russetl,

Willow Twig, (only for long

keeping,)
Green and Yellow Newtown

Pippin,
.Swaar,
American Pipri") (o"'y a* »

keeper.)

Second Rate Sorts — or those for cooking.

Geneting,
Early Chandler,
Gault's Belleflower,
Summer Cheese,
Y^ork Russet,
Maiden's Blush,
20 ounce apple.
Sweet Pippin,

R. L Greening, (with excep-
tions,)

Gloria Mundi,
Gilpin,

Baldwin, (dry rots in nor-
thern orchards,
Michael Henry Pippin,
Cracking apple,
Kaign's Spitzenberg,
Black apple,
Pumpkin Sweeting,
Limber Twig.

The convention passed the following resolutions
before adjourning:

Resolved, That this Convention, seeing the ne-
cessity of union in action among pomologists,
recommend to the National Convention to be held
in New- York, October 10, 1848, the appointment
of a future National Convention, at a time suited
to the attendance from delegates of State Con-
ventions.

Resolved, That we recommend to pomologists
throughout the States and Canadas, the calling
of Fruit Conventions for the coming year, at such
time as will enable delegates to attend the Na-
tional Convention, without loss of time.

Resolved, That the next and third session of the
Ohio State Convention of Fruit Growers, shall
be held at Cincinnati, in the fall of 1849; the
particular time to be left with the President and
Secretaries of the State Fruit Committee, who
shall give due notice through the Ohio Cultivator
and other papers.

Resolved, That we now extend a cordial invi-
tation to all the fruit-growers and nurserymen in
this and other states, to meet with us and exa-
mine and discuss fruits next year, at Cincinnati.

The remaining 30 pages are occupied with an

interesting detailed report on proved varieties, bj
the secretary, Mr. Elliot, with letters on fruit-
culture, by Mr. Springer, Prof. Kirtland, Dr.
Barker, &c. An able State Committee is ap-
pointed, with the President, A. H. Ernst, Esq.,.
at its head ; and altogether, we look upon this as-
sociation as working steadily onward in the right
path.

Covering the soil about Frxtit Trees. —
Dear Sir: I have noticed, with interest, the re-
marks of Mr. Cleveland, and others in this jour-
nal, on the subject of covering the surface of the
soil with substances, to keep it of an uniform state-
of moisture, &c.

I will add my mite in favor of this process. I
adopted the same plan last spring, covering the-
ground with s-traxu two inches deep, laying it down
smoothly and closely beneath the trees, for a space-
as large in diameter as the spread of the branches .

The result has so far exceeded my expecta-
tions, that I am tempted to believe that there-
must be some stimulating as well as protecting
influence in the straw.

I have gathered from a few quince and plums
trees, (the only ones to which the application was-
made,) fruit of nearly double the size of that froni
other trees in the same soil ; and the plums held
their fruit better than I ever had any to do before'
on my premises. Yours, A Constant Reader.
Philadelphia, Jarmury 16, 1849.

Pritning Peach Trees. — In regard to peach
trees, I have for the three years past, effectually
tried your shortening-in system, and with the hap-
piest results, fully confirming all that you say in
its favor. A Connecticut Subscriber- Hartford,.
Nov. 15, 1848.

Cheap Green-Houses. — I have been especiallj
interested in the recent articles in regard to-
Green- Houses. To one who has in any degree-
the love of beautiful plants, and to whom a
well arranged flower garden in summer is a sort
of elysium, the best method of perpetuating hi&
blooming favorites, and carrying, as it were, mid-
summer into the depths of dreary winter, cannot
be devoid of interest. But to persons of mode-
rate incomes, the expense attending the heating
of a green-house is a serious obstacle ; and my
present design is to suggest a plan by which fire
heat may be wholly dispensed with. My plan is-
this :

In a niche of my dwelling, formed by the main
building, and a wing about 9 feet by 16, and a
southeastern exposure, I propose to build a mode!
green-house.

The two open sides of this niche, I would en-
close with upright glazed sashes, in the usual
manner, upon a brick or stone foundation, well
laid in mortar, and sunk to a proper depth below
the surface, and covered with a single glazed roof.

In the centre of this enclosed space, I would
sink a pit to the depth of 7 feet — 3 feet in width,

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

441

by 10 in length, and well bricked up, leaving a
space of 3 ft. in width all around; this space to
be filled in with dry tan or some other similar ma-
terial, to the depth of from four to six inches, and
covered with a good matched floor.

Above this pit, I would have my stage for the
flowers suspended, by weights, in such a man-
ner that it may be let down with its contents, rea-
dily into the pit below, over which I would have a
double sash, shut down closely. Into this pit, I
would have the stages lowered every night, and
in very cold, cloudy weather, to protect the plants
from tlie frost. But in fair days, the heat of the
sun, together with the heat communicated from
tlie sitting room, would enable them to emerge
with safety from their prison, in perfect liealthand
vigor.

This, it seems to me, would give all I could de-
sire in a small green-house, and at a verj' trifling
expense. Should this plan be found practicable,
it can be applied to green-houses of any possible
shape or dimensions. The danger of withering
some plants by the dry and heated atmosphere in
the vicinity of the furnace, while those at a dis-
tance would be suffering from the frost, would be
entirely obviated ; and it is believed the plants
would thrive far better than in green-houses heat-
ed in the ordinary way.

I design in this article, merely to throw out sug-
gestions, leaving the practical man to fill up the
minutia himself. I would, however say, that I
would have the weight boxes suspended by ropes,
each running over puUies, and attached near the
corners at each end of the stage, to ensure stea-
diness of motion. There should be an excavation
at each end of the pit, sufficiently deep to enable
them to play wholly beneath the floor. I make
these suggestions for your practical consideration,
and shall look for your opinion in reference to the
feasibility of the plan, in the columns of your
journal. Yours truly, George W. Calkins, M. D.
Gerviantowrij Columbia Co., N. Y.

[We fear our correspondent would find his
stage, when filled with plants, rather a heavy
thing to manage with weights in the mode he pro-
poses. Would not double shutters answer the
purpose more satisfactorily? Only the hardier
green house plants could be kept in this way, and
such are easily kept in pits or green-houses, with
mats of outside covering to the glass, without
fire heat. Ed.]

good stocks now, as some I purchased at $20 per
1,000. Why would not this be as good a plan as
any other to propagate pear stocks? Soil a loamy
mould. A. F. Lancaster. Ohio, Feb. I, 1849.

Disposition of Pear Cuttings to root —
Last spring I received from a friend about 2 doz.
pear stocks in bud. As soon as the buds began to
swell, I cut ofl" the tops, with the label upon them
and stuck them in the ground, beside the stock
from which they were taken, in order to mark the
varieties until I had made a record of the same —
however, they were permitted to remain during
the whole season as put in, and this last fall I took
them up, each one having rooted finely, and grown
from three to six inches. They are equally as

Orchidaceous Plants. — Sir: Having shown,
in my letter in the January number of the Horti-
culturist, that orchidaceous plants are found eve-
rywhere, except in the very coldest regions, or
where everlasting dryness reigns, but still wish-
ing to revive our feeble attempt at reconunending
to your readers this most singular and exquisite
tribe of plants, we will confine our observations,
for the present, to .some remarks on the general
treatment of American species, to which we will
add a few of those really worthy of cultivation,
and with reciting a few of those remarkable pe-
culiarities so unusually met with in other plants.
Ere we proceed with our rcmaiks, it is right
that we should explain the term Epiphyte to
those who may not understand it, as it is fre-
quently met with in every work on botany, or or-
chidaceous plants. The woid Epiphyte, properly
speaking, is applied to all those plants, whether
Orchids, Mosses, Lichens, or any other plants
that grow upon trees, stones, or other plants,
without deriving any nourishment from the mate-
rial on which they grow. Hence, the term was
originally derived from two Greek words, — epi,
upon, and futon, a plant; (from tlie supposition
that they always grew upon trees, or other plants.)
As this derivation did not give general satisfac-
tion, Mr. Lyons substituted i'or futon, the word
fuo. which means, to grow or be produced; for
which he was upbraided by an author of no less
celebrity in horticulture than the late Mr. Lou-
don, who expressed his surprise at Mr. Lyons'
ignorance in not deriving it from epi and futon.
But the new derivation has, since then, proved to
be the most general and correct; as several spe-
cimens of the genus Brassavola have since been
discovered in Brazil, growing upon stones and
bare rocks. Mr. Gibson also found several spe-
cies in India, growing upon rocks and stones,
among which were Dendrobium Gibsoni and Cam-
hridgensis. Consequently, the word fuo, is now
justly acknowledged to be correct by all scientific
writers.

Let us now see what progress has been made
in their cultivation since their introduction into
England, some fifty years ago. In the year 1800,
their number in Kew Gardens is supposed not to
have exceeded two dozen ; nor does it appear that
even botanical collections were better furnished
with them. It is not to be supposed that bota-
nists were not aware of their existence ; for we
find they were occasionally introduced into Eng-
land. But the proper mode of cultivating them
was then unknown; hence, the impossibility of in
creasing them, or prolonging their existence ^o
any lengthened period after tlieir introductio tv
Before Mr. Cattley turned his attention to them
it was customary to submit them to the sam ©>

442

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

treatment as was conferred on other tropical
plants, once having ascertained they came from a
tropical country, without making any inquiry as
to their habitats, or the nature of the atmosphere
in which they luxuriated. The changes of tem-
perature and season they experienced never oc-
curred to the grower as a matter worthy of in-
quiry; consequently, plants whose natural habi-
tats, or places of growth, were branches of trees,
when submitted to such unnatural treatment, soon
ceased to exist.

Mr. Cattlf.y having succeeded, to some ex-
tent, others viewed his collection with an admiring
eye, and also embarked in the same culture, still
improving on the method adopted by the tirst cul-
tivators; so that, after a short period, a few of
them were to be found in every good plant collec-
tion, till they at length became what Mr. Dow-
ning, in his note to our former letter, calls the
ultimatum of British culture. Many difficulties
have been thus removed ; and it is now ascertained,
from experience, that they will not thrive without
a soil, drained so as to prevent any stagnant
moisture remaining about their roots, and in some
cases a high temperature, and an atmosphere
nearly approaching the point of saturation.

Having given some account of the difficulties
early cultivators had to encounter, we wish now
to caution those of your readers, that may possess
some of them, against high night temperature; as
it is the greatest evil attending their cultivation.

That all plants require a season of rest, is a
subject that no judicious plantsman will question.
We are informed, that in the mountainous islands
of the Indies, the air upon the mountains becomes,
soon after sunset, chilled, and condensed; and
owing to its superior gravity, it descends and dis-
places the warm air of the valleys. Therefore,
nature and reason point out to us the propriety
of a lower temperature for all plants at night tlian
in the day time. The best time for this resting
season is from the beginning of November to the
end of February. All the Brazilian orchids seem
to be an exception to this rule ; as they are found
most active in their growth from the month of
November to April, and must then have their
season of rest.

The temperature of the orchidaceous-house,
during this time, should be kept from 60 to 65
degrees, during the day, and from 50 to 55 de-
grees at night. It is necessary that the tempera-
ture of all plant houses be kept much lower during
the night than in day time. The reason is evi-
dent. If heat and moisture be applied to a plant
in a growing state, it must of neeessit)' grow in
proportion to the amount of those agents ; as it is
in day light only that plants can digest their food,
and harden their texture, the amount of digestion
and hardening will be in proportion to the inten-
sity of the light they receive. If they are com-
pelled to grow in the dark, they are filled with
undigested sap, and their wood becomes watery
and soft.

The following extract, from the Theory of Hor-

ticulture, fully coincides with these remarks: " The
eti'ect of cold is, to diminish excitability of heat to
stimulate it ; but if the latter stimulus be con-
stantly equal, it may be conceived, that the ex-
citability would soon become impaired or expended.
Nature has, however, provided against this result ;
not only by the fluctuations of temperature, that
occur at difl'erent periods of the day, but more
particularly by the periodical fall of temperature
at night, and its rise during the day. An ar-
rangement intimately connected with all the vital
actions of vegetation.

In the day, when light is strongest, and its eva-
porating and decomposing powers are most ener-
getic, temperature rises and stimulates the vitality
of plants, so as to meet the demand thus made
upon them. As light diminishes, and with it, the
necessity for excessive stimulus, temperature falls,
and reaches its minimum at night, — the time when
there is the least demand upon the vital forces of
vegetation. So that plants, like animals, have
their diurnal seasons of action and repose. During
the day, the system of a plant is exhausted of
fluid, by the aqueous exhalations that take place
under the influence of sunlight. At night, when
little or no perspiration occurs, the waste of the
day is made good by the attraction of the roots;
and by morning, the sj'stem is again fllled with
liquid matter, ready to meet the demand to be
made upon it on the ensuing day. No plants will
remain in a healthy state unless these conditions
be observed."

Orchidaceous plants, while dormant, require no
more water than what will keep their pseudo
bulbs and foliage from shriveling; particularly
those in pots, as the preservation of their roots
in winter is of the greatest importance. And
those in pots are found more difficult to keep than
when other modes of cultivation are adopted ;
owing, no doubt, to their being in immediate con-
tact with moisture. As the size of a plant is in
some measure proportional to the surface of the
organs that are destined to convey food to it, and
as a plant gains an additional mouth with every
libre of root; and though those mouths, or spon-
gioles, become dormant or drop off in winter, the
preservation of the roots is of the utmost impor-
tance. For when they are left to perish, the
plant becomes sickly ; the amateur is disappointed ;
he watches in vain to see them expand their
bloom, — the only return for his outlay.

Wood-lice are also very injurious to Epiphytal
orchidacea, as they eat the spongelets, or young
extremeties of the roots, by which absorption takes
place; consequently, the plants often receive a
check by the destruction of those organs when
they are in a growing state. Every means should
be resorted to in order to destroy them. The best
way we know of, is to look over the plants at
night with lamplight, and kill as many of them as
can be found. A small spring tweezers is very
useful for the purpose. After dark, they come

DOMESTIC NOTICES,

443

forth from their lurking places, and are readily
observed on the roots, sides of the pots, &c,

It was to prevent their depredations that Mr.
Lyons made his ingenious invention, called tlie
Onyscamyntic Epiphyte stand, for which the
growers of those plants generally owe him a debt
of gratitude. (The name seems a difficult one,
but is well chosen from the Greek words, oniseus,
a wood-louse, and amynticus, defensive, or used
in defence against.) This stand consists of a
massive saucer, or feeder with a raised centre, in
which is fixed a block of wood of whatever size
required ; the saucer being always kept full of
water, forms a sort of fosse impassable to vermin.
They are made of various sizes, to suit conveni-
ence.

This is the most natural mode of growing them
yet known ; as it seems to possess every combined
requisite for growing them according to their na-
ture, and in tlie highest degree of perfection,

They take up no more room than a pot; and if
judiciously managed, each block, according to its
size, will hold from one to twelve or more plants.
They are tied on with fine copper wire and small
white tacks, such as are used to nail down carpets.
Copper nails, of a similar size, are preferable;
they being less subject to rust. The roots are
then covered over with thin flakes of hypnum, or
some similar moss, neatly tied on, to preserve a
little moisture till the plants begin to grow; they
will soon protrude their roots, and lake firm hold
of the rough bark of the wood. This is far pre-
ferable to what was formerly used, and to which
many of the old school seem still to adhere, viz.,
lumps of turf, stones, potsherds, pieces of wood,
inverted flower pots, sand, SfC, were all tumbled
together, heaped high in a pot, for no other pur-
pose than endeavoring to imitate nature, in pro-
curing material to which the roots could adhere,
and secure a perfect drainage, to guard against
too constant a submersion in water, or a supera-
bundance of moisture about their roots.

Towards the end of February, several of the
plants will be making their new growth. The
temperature may be gradually increased to 70 de-
grees during the day, and from 60 to 65 at night.
Water must also be carefully given to such as re-
quire it. Some make it a general rule to shift all
their orchids annually, sometime from February to
May. This is a practice indeed unnecessary,
except in some particular eases; for instance,
where a large plant be crammed in a small pot,
or such as will otherwise actually recpiire it, keep-
ing always in mind to sluft when they show indi-
cations of growth; that is, when the plants begin
to protrude their roots, as there is then the least
danger of a cheek. This is a matter that is sel-
dom or never attended to, and is of such impor-
tance that I wish I could sufficiently impress a
strict observance of it. As the season advances,
the plants will be getting more active in their
growth, and consequently require a gradual in-
crease of temperature. 76 degrees fire-heat, by

the first of May, will be sufficient, and from 65 fc
63 at night.

As the sun shines strong by the middle of April,
the temperature of the house will often rise to 90
degrees or more, the house can then bo opened to
any extent required. There is no danger to be
apprehended from an increase of day temperature
if sutficient air is given, and the blinds pulled over
the roof from 10 to about 3 o'clock, to prevent the
scorching rays of the sun shining upon the plants.
Their supply of water must be also increased, and
a moist atmosphere maintained; they live upon it.
They may now be occasionally syringed. The
best time for syringing previous to the month of
June, is about 3 o'clock in the morning. To afford
an opportunity of drying the plants during the
day, it would be unsafe to frequent the syringe too
often at this season; for indiscriminate syringing;
before the pseudo bulbs are formed, is often de-
structive to a general collection. When the water
lodges in tlie young shoots, they soon damp off".
The loss of the leading shoot so enfeebles small
plants that they are seldom able to make a second
effort; consequently their death is inevitable.
Syringing with strong force, as is often practiced
on other plants, where the removal of green fly
and other insects is the object, would be destruc-
tive to orchidacea. Our own mode is to let the
water come on the plants gently from a fine rose,
so as to represent a heavy dew; the house being
then shut close, it gives a fine humid atmosphere,
and will never over-water any of the jdants.

The singular habit of growth of Epiphytal or-
chidacea, is no less remarkable than the various
forms they assume, of which the sportive mon-
strosities observed in the genus Catasetum is the
most anomalous instance on record. Sir Robert
ScHOMDURGK found in Demerara Monachanthus
Viridis, Myanthus Barhatus, and a Catasetum, —
three supposed genera upon the same spike. A
similar specimen is figured in the Botanical Regis-
ter, as having flowered at the Dxjke of Devon-
shire's, at Chatsworth. A plant of the same
species, under our own care, in 1846, produced
its normal blossom {Myanthus Barbatus.) In 1847
it turned out to be Monachanthus Viridis ; and in
1848, we had both Myanthus and Monachanthus on
the same stem. A similar peculiarity has lately
appeared in the genus Cycnoches, where two dis-
tinct species, Cycnoches Ventricosum and Egerto-
nianum have appeared together.

As our space is limited, we must defer any fur-
ther remarks for the present. I am, sir, respect-
fully yours, M. C. Newburgh, January, 1849.

Special Manures — Letter from Prof. Kirt-

LAND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE OhIO FrUIT-

Growers' Convention. — It is with regret that I
find myself compelled to forego the pleasure of
participating in tlie doings of your meeting. There
are several subjects on which I am anxious to
exchange ideas with mv horticultural friends. To
one of them I will allude by letter.

444

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The 2d vol. of the Horticulturist contains an
article on " special manuring " of fruit trees,
Written by Mr. Downing, which embraces the
analyses of the wood of various species, by Prof.
Emmons. Several periodicals and scientillc pub-
lications, both in Europe and this country, have
of late contained much that is important in rela-
tion to this subject.

Communitj' at large have always known that
each species of animals requires peculiar kinds of
food, to ensure health, growth, and full develop-
ment of its powers, and that the kinds adapted to
one species, may not answer for another. The
cow will starve on that which will fatten the dog.

That e.aeh .species of the vegetable kingdom is
equally select in its requirements of food, ha.s not
been generally understood. An indefinite idea has
prevailed, that all vegetables will flourish in a
soil that in common language, is rich.

Both science and experience have, however,
.shown us that vegetables, as well as animals,
must be fed w'ith their appropriate elements of
nutrition, in order to flourish. For the last six
years I have devoted some time and thought to
discover the best and most economical method of
supplying fruit trees and wheat with their appro-
priate food.

The writings to which I have alluded, have re-
lieved the subject of much obscurity, and enabled
me to progress with my researches and experi-
ments with more precision.

My farm originally contained very limited quan-
tities of several important ingorganic principles of
wheat, and those had been so entirel}' exhausted
by bad management, that wheat would literally
])roduce neither straw nor berry.

The pear tree would send forth not more than
irom two to six inches growth in a season; fruit
buds would form in excess, the fruit would be
blighted, knotty and deficient in flavor, and in the
course of four years the tree would exhibit the
evidences of old age and disease. In the same
soil, the apple tree would succeed somewhat bet-
ter, while the peach and cherry would flourish
both in regard to the production of wood and
fruit, to the extent of my wishes.

Under these circumstances, I set myself to work
to discover the cause of such results, and soon
became convinced that it was a deficiency of some
kind of nutrition. The analyses of Prof. E. indi-
cated the kind.

Plaster of Paris, clover, leached ashes, and a
small addition of barn-yard manure, brought some
of my barren fields, at the end of two years, into
a condition in which they produced large crops of
wheat straw, but yielded only eleven bushels of
wheat to the acre.

By supplying one of these lots with a second
dressing of plaster, turning in a large crop of
clover, and adding subsequently a supply of barn-
yard and slaughter-house manure, and phosphate
of lime, I obtained nineteen bushels of superior
wheat to the acre, besides that which was wasted

by long continued rains. The straw was not
heavier than in the former year.

A dressing of phosphate of lime, ashes, and
barn-yard manure, with a limited supply of salt,
has etrectcd an equally favorable change with the
growth and fruits of my pear trees.

The limits of this communication will not allow
of my detailing all my numerous experiments. I
will, however, say, in general terms, that they
have been in the highest degree satisfactory, and
have amply repaid all expense and trouble.

A fruit tree or a grain field can be fed with a.s
much success and precision as a cow or horse,
and an half starved fruit tree is no more sightly
nor profitable than an impoverished animal.

The late Mr. Marvin, of Beaver county. Pa.,
once observed to me, that he " had no sick sheej*
in his numerous flocks, owing to the circumstance
that he visited them daily, and saw that they were
well led."

The horticulturist who pursues a similar course
with his fruit trees, will suffer very little from
their unhcalthiness or unproductiveness.

Since I commenced the plan of high feeding,
and have banished from ray grounds every tree
propagated on a sucker, not a solitary pear tree
has been afiected with fire blight. The.se cir-
cumstances may have been coincident, but at the
same time accidental. The subject is, however,
worthy of further attention.

The analyses of Prof. Emmons have been the
ba^is upon which I have founded my experiments
during the last year.

At the first view of the subject the culturist
may be discouraged with the apprehension that
the means of supplying his trees with inorganic
elements cannot be commanded. In this section
of the state, the greatest difficulty will occur in
procuring potash and phosphate of lime ; yet the
materials usually wasted about the dwelling of a
farmer, would furnish the required number of fruit
trees with these elements. Leached ashes from
soap-making and pot-asheries will supplj' the for-
mer in abundance, and the latter is derived prin-
cipally from animal bones. Every fragment of
bone, and the remains of every animal, large and
small, should be carefully preserved, and applied
to the roots of fruit trees.

It may, however, be obtained in limited quan-
tities from urine, excrement of fowls, peat and de-
caying vegetable fibre, and in some soils and wa-
ters it naturally occurs.

According to Raspail, it abounds in such quan-
tities in (he leaf of the poke-berry, (Phytolacca,)
that under certain management the foot stalks
will be coated with acicular crystals of this salt.

It may, however, abound in a soil in an insolu-
ble state, in which it cannot be converted to nu-
trition by the growing tree. The addition of am-
monia or common salt, will at once enable it to
pass into a state of solution in water, when it may
be taken up by the spongioles of the roots.

Common salt affords of itself little or nothing

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

445

that IS nutritious to a fruit tree; but it acts indi-
rectly upon tlie phosphates. In no other sense is it
cither a stimulant or nutrient to vegetation.

The more abundantly a tree is I'urnished with
enriching compounds, containino- phosphate of
lime, the greater the quantity oi' salt tiiat may be
safely applied as a dressuig. /. P. Kirttand.
Cleveland, Sept. 20, 1848— Ohio Fruit-Grower's
Report.

OSAGK OrANGe]HeDGES SoWING THE SeED.

Dear Sir : — I believe you are conferring a real fa-
vor on many readers of your Journal by commend-
ing to their favorable attention the Osage Orange
as a hedge plant. I have given much attention
to this subject during the last three or four years,
and have repeatedly examined the oldest hedges
of it in the country (at Mt. Airy, near Philadel-
phia, and in the vicinity of Cincinnati ;) I am al-
so personally familiar with the hedge plants of
Europe; and I do not hesitate to say, that as far
as present experience indicates, the Osage Orange
is the most beautiful and perfect hedge plant as
yet known, for all countries where the winters are
not too severe.

In regard to this question of climate, I am firmly
of the opinion that it will be found to succeed, as a
hedge plant, on soils not too wet, as far north as the
New England states. The j^oung plants will need
earthing up, or other slight protection the 1st &. 2d
winters, and the tops will doubtless be killed to a
considerable extent for 2 or 3 years ; but not so as
to injure the hedge, inasmuch as close pruning is
indispensably necessary each spring, to thicken
the hedge. In this vicinity, (Columbus, 0.) our
winters are quite variable, and severe at times —
the thermometer not unfrcquently as low as 10 to
12 deg. below zero; and wc have trees of the
Osage Orange 10 to 12 years old, growing thrift-
ty, and not tiie smallest twig injured by the win-
ters— although when young, the plants were eve-
ry year more or less injured. I have known the
plants to stand the winter in western New- York,
with as little injury as here.

Sowing the Seed. — It is on this point that I
desire particularly to remark. In the February
No. of the Horticulturist, p. 390, speaking of the
osage orange, it is stated that " good seeds are
almost as easily raised as peas." This is true
of the seeds when taken from the ripe fruit in au-
tumn, and put immediately into the ground, or in
a box of earth or sand, so as not to allow tliem to
become thoroughly dry. But the seed as brought
into this country from Texas and Arkansas, al-
though perfectly good, is almost sure to fail unless
prepared by long soaking, or freezing in moist
earth before sowing; (or sown in the fall.) Hav-
ing sowed the seed each spring for three years
past, and sold large quantities to others, I have
taken much pains to learn the best methods of ma-
naging the seed to ensure its vegetation, and now
find but little difficulty if the seed is plump, has
not been heated, and is not more than 2 or 3 years
ijld.

My plan is, to mix the seed with sandy earth in
a box, (not water tight,) as soon as obtained, in
fall or winter; wet it thoroughly, and place it
where it wjU be exposed to freezing and thawing,
without becoming drj^, din-ing winter; then sow in
good ground (like peas,) in spring, when vegeta-
tion has become brisk. If the seed is not obtain-
ed in time for freezing, soak it in water in a warm
room, (or stand in a hot bed,) for 5 or 6 days;
then turn off the water, and mix the seed with
2 or 3 times its bulk of tine earth, and let it stand
m a warm place, keeping it moist and stirring oc-
casionallj', from three to six days longer — or till
the seeds begin to show signs of sprouting ; then
sow, and if the weather is warm, as it should be,
the seeds will come up as certainly and quickly as
peas.

Planting the Hedge. — This should be done
when the plants are one year old — (they will then
be from 1 to 2 feet in height according to the soil,
climate and culture.) If allowed to stand two
years before transplanting in this climate at least,
[and when the soil is rich] the plants become too
large, and the roots are unavoidably much mutila-
ted in digging, owing to their great length, and
downward tendency. In taking up some plants
the past fall of only one summer's growth, and the
tops not over IS inches high, I found perpendicu-
lar roots three feet in length. In planting, the
roots are shortened 10 to 12 inciics, and the tops
cut off nearly even with the ground. Respectful-
ly, &c., M. 5. Bateham. Columbus, 0., Feb.

Fruits and Fruit Trees. — I have been a con-
stant reader of the Horticulturist from its begin-
ning, and have been much gratified and instructed
by its perusal, especiallv of those parts of it
which have treated of the culture of fruit and
fruit trees.

For some ten years past, I have expended more
or less each year in attempts to cultivate straw-
berries, but as yet to no profit, having been bless-
ed in all my selections with an abundance of sta-
muiate or barren plants. However, M"ith my dear-
bought experience, and information gained from
reading most of the artic^ps published on the sub-
ject, I trust I may yet meet with, at least, a limi-
ted degree of success. My experience fully coin-
cides with the views of Mr. Longworth, on the
vexed question of strawberry culture.

The suggestions and instructions of yourself
and others, on the subject of special manures for
fruit trees, have induced me to li7ne and ash my
Pear and Apple trees, and ash my Cherry trees,
of which latter I haA^e about 160, most of them
just beginning to fruit. The fact that analysis
shows the bark and wood of the pear and apple
to be composed mostly of potash and lime, would
of course seem to indicate that the use of these
" special manures " would be beneficial, and in
fact, absolutely necessary — but when I read as for
instance, in the last August No. of Hovey's Ma-
gazine, (page 382,) " that the subject of special

446

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

manures is deluding too many incxperienoed cul-
tivators, and that practical men know too much
to be taken in by such one ideas,''' I am set
all aback. " Who shall decide when Doctors dis-
aiirce?" Very truly yours, C. T. Cherry Grove,
Buffalo, Jan. 16, 1849.

Touching the special manures, we venture to
correct our correspondent's quotation, by making
it read " Who shall decide when" Hovey " disa-
grees?"— as we do not know of a single experien-
ced cultivator besides, who doubts the value of spe-
cial manure at the present time. Here friend Ho-
VEV considers it " quackery," but he is so fond
of disagreeing that we cannot but think it one of
his pleasant jokes. His position is what the French
call the " extreme left," and if Sir Isaac New-
ton were alive now, and had just propounded the
theory of gravitation, H. would, very likely, in his
lively and amusing way, pronounce it a " delu-
sion." Ed.

The Frost Gage Plum. — Sir: As some con-
siderable animosity has of late shoAvn itself from
a certain quarter against this variety, I should be
glad to say a few words to the readers of the Hor-
ticulturist on the subject. It was selected as one,
among the small list recommended by the Ameri-
can Congress of Fruit Growers, as worthy of ge-
neral cultivation, and in your work on Fruits you
say of it, "Scarcely j'iclding to any other late va-
riety, in the excellence of its flavor." While I
think, that when preserved in a proper manner it
surpasses all others, either late or early, in thesw-
periority of its flavor. And of this I intend, if
spared again, to meet with the Pomological con-
vention, to give all the members an opportunity of
judging for themselves. But certain persons, ei-
ther because they cannot grow it well in their light
sandy soil, or because, as they say, " It groius in
large quantities about Newburgh from suckers,"
would be willing to annihilate it altogether, or to
place it in a Rejected list. A strong evidence of
its great value is given in the fact that it is grown
in large quantities in the very neighborhood where
it is best known and most highly valued, and
where large numbers of bearing trees must be pos-
sessed in order to obtaiH suckers in large quanti-
ties. Indeed, its merits are so well known, in one
of the best plum districts, that I have about eight
thousand of diflerent sizes, in my nursery, and not
half that quantity of any one other variety. Ano-
ther objection is made from the statement that it
knots so badly. So indeed, will many others of
the best kinds, if totally neglected ; and I could
show you on my own grounds, and in the immedi-
ate vicinity, many large trees of the Frost Gage,
as smooth, and apparently as healthy and free
from knots as any others ; and where over $300
loere obtained the past fall from the fruit from
less than one-fourth of an acre, while some others
much younger or smaller at least, are badly knot-
ted and almost worthless. The cause, however,
is plain enough; it is simply neglect.

Now in order to cultivate this tree understand

ingly, it is necessary for us to know, that it doe^
best in a rich and quite moist clayey soil ; that it
does not bear heavy crops while young, but is a
long-lived tree. Standard trees growing along
side of my late residence, and supposed to be from
thirty to forty years of age, bear good crops and
bid fair to live for many years.

A neighbor of mine planted a plum orchard of about
1400 trees of this variety alone, in the fall of 1847.
And certainly we know their real worth in this
place, where some thousands of dollars are received
annually by the inhabitants of a small district, for
the fruit of this one variety only ; and where one
man sold about seventy b arrels the past autumn,
which commanded over $5 per barrel. And let
me ask whether, with all these facts, establishing
its value beyond controversy, shall we attempt
the princely operation of rejecting it. Very re-
spectfully yours, Chas. Hamilton. Canterbury,
Orange Co., N. Y., Jan. 1849.

[Mr. Hamilton does not overrate the Frost
Gage, and those who have failed with it, have
failed chiefly from having grown it on too light a
soil. — Ed.] ....

Errata. — By some error of our proof reader,
the writer of the excellent review of Mr. Allen's
work on the grape, in our last number, is made to
speak of himself sometimes in the singular, at oth-
ers in the plural number. The error is a very ob-
vious one, and we only beg leave to correct it by
saying that wherever "we" occurs, it should read

"i."

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Nectarines. — jI.H. (New- York.) The Down-
ton nectarine has fruited abundantly in our gar-
den, and we estimate it more highly for ordinary
culture than any other variety. The fruit does
not drop ofTjust before maturing, like most other
sorts. The Elruge is the most popular sort gi'owu
in this countiy.

Mortar Floors. — James Alves, (Henderson,
Ky.) The following mode gives a good floor for
basement rooms ar cellars. The bottom being
well drained, cover it six or eight inches deep
with small stones, laid snugly and closely together.
Cover them four inches deep with a coarse mor-
tar made of gravel and newly slacked lime ; this
should be well beaten, and made perfectly level.
As soon as it becomes quite firm, (which will take
several days,) cover it an inch deep with a mortar
composed of lime, sand, and fresh brick dust from
a brick kiln; or, if that is not easily obtained, use
wood ashes. Mix the mortar and add the brick
dust or ashes (as most convenient, just before tem-
pering each hod of mortar for laying it down. It
should be made as smooth as possible with the
back of a spade, followed by a trowel, and will
soon become perfectly hard. About one-third in
bulk of brick-dust or ashes should be used in pro-
portion to the whole mass of mortar. A little

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

447

yellow ochre dissolved in the water used in tem-
pering the mortar, will give it a better color.

Orange Trees. — Delaware. Your trees are
suffering from lad soil. Turn them out, and repot
them in a mixture of burnt sods and fine charcoal,
and they will soon recover.

Bitter Rot. — T. B., (Wai'iington.) A libe-
ral dressing of wood ashes will be likely to pre-
vent this disease in your apples. See Mr. Elli-
ot's communication in this number. We also re-
commend a trial of gypsum.

Vine Borders. — A Connecticut Subscriber.
If your subsoil is a yellow sand, always dry, you
will need nothing in the bottom of your border for
drainage. By all means mix the bone manure,
leached ashes, charcoal screenings, chopped loamy
turf, &c., through the whole mass of the border,
and not put them in layers. The only substances
needing to be treated in this way, are very warm
manures, such as carcasses, &c., placed at the
bottom so that the roots may not reach them till
they are decomposed, or bones and lime rubbish,
M'hich thus serve the double purpose of food and
drainage. But recent observations incline us to
doubt the good effects of whole bones, and we
would always use them either groimd or dissolved.
Neither ground bones nor leached ashes will do
any harm to the roots of your vines when inter-
mixed M'ith the soil. All the above substances
are excellent materials for a vine border, and a
sprinkling of gypsum, may be added with advan-
tage. Chopped sods are much better than loam
if you have not much manure at hand. The horse
manure may be used liberally -with great advan-
tage, and should be mixed through the whole mass.

Camellias. — W. E. J., (Southbridge, Mass.)
The Camellia may be kept in a cellar free from
frost, provided there is plenty of light, and the
plants are watered but seldom — so as to keep
them dormant. The old Double White, Double
variegated, and Press' Eclipse, will best answer
3'our purpose. See Mr. Feast's remarks, present
number.

Osage Orange. — John Foster, (Dayton, O.)
The young plants often suffer the first one or two
winters from the seed — the young wood being
sappy. But the plants will be perfectly hardy
with you when the hedge is grown. Of course,
all plants stand the winter better growing on high
than on low ground, It is a good plan to turn a
furrow in the autumn against the young hedge,
and remove it in the spring. It serves as a pro-
tection.

Strawberries. — ^i Young Horticulturist,
(Middleboro', Mass.) A swamp well drained,
and coated a foot deep as you propose, would be
an excellent soil for strawberries and raspberries;
— much better than a gravelly upland — for unless
the latter soil is deep, the crops and fruit will be
small. If a gravelly soil, is well trenched and af-
terwards enriched, it will answer perfectly.

Compost. — Middleboro' . Swamp muck, redu-
ced with leached ashes, makes the better compost
for sand}' soils; and muck reduced with lime for
heavy soil.

Improving Forest Groups. — Yeoman, (Hart
ford, Ct.) You may greatly improve the appear-
ance of the meagre looking forest trees in your
approach, by loosening the soil around them with
a pick, and giving them a heavy top-dres.sing of
guano, ashes, and gypsum, mixed together. Head
back at once the tops of any of the young sap-
lings that are unsightly — this will make them put
out new and more bushy heads. Plant the follow-
ing rapid growing trees at the points marked C.
D. E. F. on your sketch — viz: Cork-bark Elm,
Silver Maple and European Sycamore; — the Pau-
lownia would not harmonize with the present
groups. Prepare the holes for these trees tho-
roughly, by digging them four feet across and 18
inches deep, and manuring them well.

Girdled Trees. — Y. If your trees are not
quite girdled, and you cover the wound with the
shellac solution described in our last vol., p. 533,
they will recover. If wholly girdled, your only
chance of saving them is to graft a ring of bark
from another branch of the same kind of tree, on
the girdled spot. This may be done when the sap
flows freely, and we have known even a narrow
strip of bark, say an inch wide, inserted in this
way, which saved the whole tree. Of course,
the whole wound must be carefully covered from
the air by grafting wax or clay.

Hot-bed Lights. — N^ew Bedford Sub. The
best substitute for glass is strong cotton, coated as
described by a correspondent in last vol., p, 354.
It is cheap, but not very durable, unless carefully
used.

*»* Correspondents who are subscribers , will
hereafter find replies to any questions within the
scope of this journal, in this department, (unless
otherwise requested;) and all queries, put in a
brief shape, and sent to us free of postage, shall
receive attention. They should be sent, if possi-
ble, in the early part of the month. Ed.

448

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.
Jan 20, 1849.— President Samuel Walkek, in the chair.

D. A Simmons, Alvah Kittridge, ol Ro.xbury. and Edward

E. Hice, of Dorchester, were proposed for subscription
membership by the President.

Tue Committee on Finance made their Annual Report,
u^hich was accepted.

Tlie President recommended that the Committee of Ar-
rangements be requested to consider the expediency of tlie
.Society's liolding two Shows during tlie year, viz : an Exhi-
£ion of Roses and other Flowers, in June, and the customary
Annual Exhibition in September ; and that they report to the
.Society at the next meeting.

The President also recommended tliat a Committee of — per-
sons be appointed to ascertain and report a Catalogue of the
varieties of fruits which have been exhibited at the rooms of
this Society, since its organization up to the present time,
together with the name of the percons who exhibited the
same, — and it -was voted to refer the subject to the Commit-
tee on Fruits.

Feb. .3 — President Samuel Walkee in the chair. Mr.
C. M. Hovey, chosen Secretary pro tern.

Calvin Young, of Jamaica Plains, was proposed for mem-
bership by tlie President.

Mr. M. P. Wilder, as Cliairman of tlie Committee, appoin-
ted to settle with Mt. Auburn Cemetry, reported that they
had received, per hand of Geo. Win. Bond, Esq., Treasurer
of said association, the sum of twenty-five hundred and eigh-
ty-two dollars and forty-three cents, being the Society's pro-
portion of the nett earnings for the year 1S4S.

Mr. Joseph Breck, Chairman of the Committee of Arrange-

ments, reported that the Committee deem it expedient to hold
the Annual Exhibition of the Society, on the 18th, 19th, 20th
and 21sf days of September next ; and recommend that
hereafter there be held a Show of Flowers, &c. in June, the
days to be designated by the Committee on Flowers.

On motion of Mr. D. JHaggerston, it was voted that the
Committee on the Library, be authorized to purchase one or
more copies of J. F. Allen's Treatise on the Grape, for the
use of the Society.

L. B. Comeiis and Laban T. Beecher, of Roxbury, were
elected subscription members of the Society.

Feb. 10. — President Samuel Walker in the chair. Mr.
C. M. Hovey, appointed Secretary pro tem.

Azell C. Bowditch, of Roxbury, was proposed for Life
Membership, by Azell Bowditch.

On motion of Mr. C. M. Hovey, it was voted that the sum
of $50 be awarded at the Exhibition to be held in June next,
and that the Committee on Flowers be requested to report a
list of such premiums.

Feb. 17 — President Samuel Walker in the chair. Wm.
Underwood, of Boston, was proposed for membership by the
P resident.

The Committee of Publication reported that they recom-
mend the publication, by the Society, of another number of
its '• Transactions," to complete the first volume.

A letter was received from the Antiquarian Society, so-
liciting copies of its Transactions ; and it was voted that the
Corresponding Secretary be requested to furnish the same.

Edward E. Rice, of Dorchester, and David A. Simmons,
of Roxbury, were admitted as subscription members.

B. C R. WALKER, Rec. Sec'y.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The stated meeting' of this Society for February, was held
•on Tuesday evening, the 20th, in the Chinese Saloon. The
President in the chair. Abeautiful display of plants, designs,
&c., ^vas presented on the occasion, much to the gratifica-
tion of the visitors in attendance. A fine collection of plants
were sliown by Robert Bui.st, not in competition ; among
V"hich ■ivere seen the following plants of recent introduction :
Torenia. aslatica, an interesting plant of some note, and for
the first time exhibited ; Forjjhry coma lanceolata, of peculiar
form; a Seedling Cineraria var Scottii, of much beauty, with
Heaths, Cinerarias, &c. The President's gardener exhibi-
ted a fine specimen of Camellia var Wilderii, Epiphytes,
Cypripedium, and other green and hot house plants; also cut
flowers of choice Camellias. James Dundas' ga.rdeiier,
iarge and handsome Azaleas. Peter Raabe, a stand in which
was planted choice Hyacinths, and a pot of double Chinese
Primroses. Designs of handsome form and of the finest flow^-
ers, were shown by James Bisset, gardener to James Dun-
tlas ; Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope, and Peter
Raabe.
Fruk.— From the President's green-house, a dish of Hovey's
and Keene's Straivberries, very tempting. St. Germain and
Beurre Easter Pears, by Thos. Hancock. Four varieties
of Apples, by Jolin Perkins, and specimens of the " Ameri-
can Farmer" apple, by Col. Carp.

Among the vegetables were noticed Cucumbers, new Po-
tatoes, Mushrooms, Seakale, Kiihiey Beans, Lettuce, &c.,
from the forcing-house of the President, and an extensive
variety from Anthony Felten.

Premiums were awarded as follows : — By the Committee
on Plants and Flowers — Camellias ; for the best regularly
(shaped six named varieties, in pots, to David Scott, garden-
er to F. Lennig. Cut Camellias, for the best regularly shap-
ed six named varieties — for the 2d best ditto — for the best of
ether forms — for the best six named Premula sinensis— for

the best'three named specimens hot-house plants — for the best
collection of plants in pots — for the second best Designs, and
second basket of cut Flowers, all to Ben Daniels, gardener
to Caleb Cope. For the best green-house plants, three nam-
ed specimens, and the best design formed of cut Flowers, to
James Bisset, gardener to James Dundas. For the second
best green-house plants, three named, to Daniel Scott, gard-
ener to Frederick Lennig. For the best basket of cut Flow-
ers, to Maurice Finn, gardener to John Lambert

The Committee noticed with pleasure, three new plants,
from R. Buist — Turenia asiatica, Porphrycotna laticeolata, and
Cineiaria Scottii, and awarded a special premium of three
dollars for the same. The Committee awarded a special
premium of two dollars for a beautiful design of cut Flow-
ers, and one dollar for a stand of Hyacinths, to Peter Raabe.

By the Committee on Fruit. For the best six specimens
of Pears (St. Germain,) and the second best (Easter Beurre,)
to Thomas Hancock. For tlie best Apples, 1 dozen, (New-
town Pippins,) and for the second best do. (Hollow Core,)
to John Perkins. The Committee notice a jar of fine Straw-
berries from Buenos Ayres, (uncultivated) presented by Dr.
W. D. Brinckle, and a basket of very beautiful Strawberries
from the green-house of Caleb Cope.

By the Committee on "Vegetables. For the best display,
and the second bestdisplay, by market gardeners, to Anthony
Felten. For the best and for the second best display of ditto,
by amateurs, to B. Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope. For
the best Mushrooms, one dozen, to the same.

A communication from the Cincinnati Horticultural Socie-
ty, was sulimitted requesting the influence (if the Society
concur) for the adoption of such modification of the Post Of-
fice laws, as will enable those persons engaged in Horticul-
tural pursuits, to transmit by mail, seeds, grafts, &c., at a
rate of postage not exceeding that of newspapers.

THOMAS P. JAMES, Rec. Sec'y.

THB

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. IIL

APRIL, 1849.

No. 10.

What a very little fact sometimes betrays
the national character ; and what an odd
thing this national character is. Look at
a Frenchman. He eats, talks, lives in
public. He is only happy when he has
spectators. In town, on the boulevards, in
the C'/./J'', at places of public amusement, he
is all enjoyment. But in the country — ah,
there he never goes willingly ; or else, he
only goes to sentimentalize, or to entertain
his town friends. Even the natural born
country people seem to find nature and
solitude enniiyanl, and so collect in little
villages to keep each other in spirits ! The
Frenchman eats and sleeps almost any-
where ; but he is never " at home but
when he is abroad."

Look, on the other hand, at John Bull.
He only lives what he feels to be a rational
life, when he lives in the country. His
country place is to him a little Juan Fer-
nandez island ; it contains his own family,
his own castle, everythin^hat belongs to
him. He hates the smoke of town ; he
takes root in the soil. His horses, his dogs,
his trees, are not separate existences ; they
are parts of himself. He is social with a
reservation. Nature is nearer akin to him
than strange men. His dogs are truly at-
tached to him ; he doubts if his fellows

Vol. III. 29

are. People often play the hypocrite ; but
the trees in his park never deceive him.
Home is to him the next best place to
heaven.

And only a little narrow strait of water
divides these two nations !

Shall we ever have a distinct national
character ? Will a country, which is set-
tled by every people of the old world, — a
dozen nations, all as distinct as the French
and the English, — ever crystallize into a
symmetrical form — something distinct and
homogeneous ? And what will that national
character be ?

Certainly ; no one who looks at our compa-
rative isolation — at the broad ocean that
separates us from such external influences —
at the mighty internal forces of new govern-
ment and new circumstances, which con-
tinually act upon us, — and, above all, at
the mighty vital force of the Yankee con-
stitution, which every year swallows hun-
dreds of thousands of foreigners, and di-
gests them all ; no one can look reflect-
ingly on all this, and not see that there is
a national type, which will prevail over all
the complexity, which various origin, foreign
manners, and diflferent religions bring to
our shores.

The English are, perhaps, the most dis-

450

ON FEMININE TASTE IN RURAL AFFAIRS.

tinct of civilized nations, in their nation-
ality. But they had almost as mixed an
origin as ourselves, — Anglo-Saxon, Celts,
Roman, Danish, Norman ; all these appa-
rently discordant elements, were fused so
successfully into a great and united peo-
ple.

That a hundred years hence will find us
quite as distinct and quite as developed, in
our national character, we cannot doubt.
What that character will be, in all its pha-
ses, no one at present can precisely say ;
but that the French and the English ele-
ments will largely influence it in its growth,
and yet, that in morals, in feeling, and in
heart, we shall be entirely distinct from
either of those nations, is as clear to us as
a summer noon.

We are not going into a profound philo-
sophical dissertation on the political or the
social side of national character. We want
to touch very slightly on a curious little
point that interests us ; one that political
philosophers would think quite beneath
them ; one that moralists would not trouble
themselves about ; and one that we are very
much afraid nobody else will think worth
notice at all ; and therefore we shall set
about it directly.

What is the reason American ladies dont
looe to work in their gardens 1

It is of no use whatever, that some fifty
or a hundred of our fair readers say, " we
do." We have carefully studied the mat-
ter, until it has become a fact past all
contradiction. They may love to "potter"
a little. Three or four times in the spring
they take a fancy to examine the colour of
the soil a few inches below the surface ; they
sow some China Asters, and plant a few
Dahlias, and it is all over. Love flowers,
with all their hearts, they certainly do.
Few things are more enchanting to them
than a fine garden ; and bouquets on their

centre tables are positive necessities, with
every lady, from Maine to the Rio Grande.
Now, we certainly have all the love of
nature of our English forefathers. We
love the country ; and a large part of the
millions, earned every year by our enter-
prise, is spent in creating and embellishing
country homes. But, on the contrary, our
wives and daughters only love gardens as
the French love them — for the results.
They love to walk through them ; they en-
joy the beauty and perfume of their pro-
ducts, but only as amateurs. They know
no more of that intense enjoyment of her
who plans, creates, and daily watches the
growth of those gardens or flowers, — no
more of that absolute, living enjoyment,
which the English have in out-of-door
pursuits, than a mere amateur, who goes
through a fine gallery of pictures, knows of
the intensified emotions which the painters
of those pictures experienced in their souls,
when they gazed on the gradual growth
and perfected splendor of their finest mas-
ter-pieces.

As it is plain, from our love of the coun-
try, that we are not French at heart, this
manifestation that we complain of, must
come from our natural tendency to copy
the social manners of the most polished
nation in the world. And it is indeed
quite wonderful how, being scarcely in
the least affected by the morale., we still
borrow almost instinctively, and entirely
without being aware of it, so much from la
Belle France. ^That our dress, mode of
life, and intercourse, is largely tinged with
French taste, every traveller notices. But
it goes farther. Even the plans of our
houses become more and more decidedly
French. We have had occasion, lately, to
make considerable explorations in the do-
mestic architecture of France and Eng-
land, and we have noticed some striking

ON FEMININE TASTE IN RURAL AFFAIRS.

451

national peculiarities. One of these re-
lates to the connection of the principal
apartments. In a French house, the beau
ideal is to have everything en-suite; all
the rooms open into each other ; or, at least,
as many of the largest as will produce a fine
effect. In an English house, every room is
complete in itself. It may be very large,
and very grand, but it is all the worse for
being connected with any other room ; for
that destroys the privacy which an Eng-
lishman so much loves.

Does any one, familiar with the progress
of building in the United States for the last
ten years, desire to be told which mode we
have followed? And yet, there are very
few who are aware that our love of folding
doors, and suites of apartments, is essen-
tially French-

Now our national taste in gardening
and out door employments, is just in
the process of formation. Honestly and
ardently believing that the loveliest and
best women in the world are those of
our own country, we cannot think of their
losing so much of their own and nature's
bloom, as only to enjoy their gardens by
the results^ like the French, rather than
through the developme7it, like the Eng-
lish. We would gladly show them how
much they lose. We would convince them,
that only to pluck the full blown flower, is
like a first introduction to it, compared
with the life-long friendship of its mistress,
who has nursed it from its first two leaves ;
and that the real zest of our enjoj^ment
of nature, even in a garden, lies in our
looking at her, not like a spectator who ad-
mires, but like a dear and intimate friend,
to whom, after long intimacy, she reveals
sweets wholly hidden from those who only
come to her in full dress, and in the atti-
iude of formal visitors.

If any one wishes to know how com-

pletely and intensely English women enter
into the spirit of gardening, he has only to
watch the wife of the most humble artisan
who settles in any of our cities. She not
only has a pot of flowers — her back yard
is a perfect curiosity-shop of botanical rari-
ties. She is never done with training,
and watering, and caring for them. And
truly, they reward her well ; for who ever
saw such large Geraniums, such fresh Dai-
sies, such ruddy Roses ! Comparing them
with the neglected and weak specimens in
the garden of her neighbor, one might be
tempted to believe that they had been
magnetised by the charm of personal fond-
ness of their mistress, into a life and beauty
not common to other plants.

Mr. CoLMAN, in his European Tour, seems
to have been struck by this trait, and gave
so capital a portrait of rural accomplishments
in a lady of rank he had the good fortune to
meet, that we cannot resist the temptation of
turning the picture to the light once more :

" I had no sooner, then, entered the

house, where my visit had been expected,
than I was met with an unaffected cordi-
ality, which at once made me at home. In
the midst of gilded halls, and hosts of live-
ried servants, of dazzling lamps and glitter-
ing mirrors, redoubling the highest triumphs
of art and of taste ; in the midst of books,
and statues, and pictures, and all the ele-
gancies and refinements of luxury ; in the
midst of titles, and dignitaries, and ranks
allied to regal grandeur, — there was one
object which transcended, and eclipsed them
all, and showed how much the nobility of
character surpassed the nobility of rank,
the beauty of refined and simple manners
all the adornments of art, the scintillations
of the soul, beaming from the eyes, the
purest gems that ever glittered in a princely
diadem. In person, in education and im-
provement, in quickness of perception, in
facility and elegance of expression, in ac-
complishments and taste, in a frankness
and gentleness of manner, tempered by a
modesty which courted confidence and in-
spired respect, and in a high moral tone

452

ON FEMININE TASTE IN RURAL AFFAIRS.

and sentiment, which, like a bright halo,
seemed to encircle the whole person, — I
confess the fictions of poetry became sub-
stantial, and the beau ideal of my youth-
ful imagination was realized.

" In the morning I first met her at pray-
ers ; for, to the honor of England, there is
scarcely a family, among the hundreds
whose hospitality I have shared, where the
duties of the day are not preceded by family
worship ; and the master and the servant,
the parent and the child, the teacher and
the taught, the friend and the stranger,
come together to recognise and strengthen
the sense of their common equality, in the
presence of their common Father, and to
acknowledge their equal dependence upon
his care and mercy. She was then kind
enough to tell me, after her morning's ar-
rangements, she claimed me for the day.
She first showed me her children, whom,
like the Roman mother, she deemed her
brightest jewels, and arranged their studies
and occupations for the day. She then
took me two or three miles on foot, to visit
a sick neighbor ; and, while performing
this act of kindness, left me to visit some
of the cottages upon the estate, whose in-
mates I found loud in the praises of her
kindness and benefactions. Our next ex-
cursion was to see some of the finest, and
largest, and most aged trees in the park,
the size of which was truly magnificent :
and I sympathised in the veneration which
she expressed for them, which was like
that with which one recalls the illustrious
memory of a remote progenitor. Our next
visit was to the green-houses and gardens ;
and she explained to me the mode adopted
there, of managing the most delicate plants,
and of cultivating, in the most economical
and successful manner, the fruits of a warm-
er region. From the garden we proceeded
to the cultivated fields ; and she informed
me of the system of husbandry pursued on
the estate, the rotation of crops, the ma-
nagement and application of manures, the
amount of seed sown, the ordinary yield,
and the appropriation of the produce, with
a perspicuous detail of the expenses and re-
sults. She then undertook to show me the
yards and offices, the byres, the feeding
stalls, the plans for saving, increasing and
managing the manure ; the cattle for feed-

ing, for breeding, the milking stock, the
piggery, the poultry-yard, the stables, the
harness-rooms, the implement-rooms, the
dairy. She explained to me the process of
making the different kinds of cheese, and
the general management of the milk, and
the mode of feeding the stock; and then,
conducting me into the bailiff"s house, she
exhibited to me the Farm Journal, and the
whole systematic mode of keeping the ac-
counts and making the returns, with which
she seemed as familiar as if they were the
acounts of her own wardrobe. This did
not finish our grand tour ; for, on my re-
turn, she admitted me into her boudoir,
and showed me the secrets of her own ad-
mirable housewifery, in the exact accounts
which she kept of everything connected
with the dairy, the market, the table, and
the drawing-room, and the servants' hall.
All this was done with a simplicity and a
frankness, which showed an absence of all
consciousness of any extraordinary merit in
her own department, and which evidently
sprang solely from a kind desire to gratify
a curiosity on my part, which, I hope, un-
der such circumstances, was not unreason-
able.

" A short hour after this brought us into
another relation ; for the dinner bell sum-
moned us, and this same lady was found
presiding over a brilliant circle of the high-
est rank and fashion, with an ease, ele-
gance, wit, intelligence, and good humor,
with a kind attention to every one's wants,
and an unaffected concern for every one's
comfort, which would lead one to suppose
that this was her only and her peculiar
sphere. Now I will not say how many
mud-puddles we had waded through, and
how many manure heaps we had crossed,
and what places we had explored, and how
every farming topic was discussed ; but I
will say that she pursued her object with-
out any of that fastidiousness and affected
delicacy, which pass with some persons for
refinement, but which, in many cases, indi-
cate a weak, if not a corrupt mind. * *

" Now I do not say that the lady to whom
I have referred was herself the manager of
the farm ; that rested entirely with her hus-
band ; but I have intended simply to show
how gratifving to him must have been the
lively interest and sympathy which she

ON FEMININE TASTE IN RURAL AFFAIRS.

453

took in concerns which necessarily so much
eng-.ged his time and attention ; and how
the country would be divested of that dull-
ness and ennui, so often complained of as in-
separable from it, when a cordial and practi-
cal interest is taken in the concerns which
belong to rural life. I meant also to show —
and this and many other examples, which
have come under my observation, emphati-
cally do show — that an interest in, and fami-
liarity with, even the most humble occupa-
tions of agricultural life, are not inconsis-
tent with the highest refinements of taste,
the most improved cultivation of the mind,
and elegance, and dignity of manners, un-
surpassed in the highest circles of society."

This picture is thoroughly English ; and
who do our readers suppose this lady was?
Mr. CoLMAN puts his fingers on his lips,
and declares, that however much he may
be questioned by his fair readers at home,
he will make no disclosures. But other
people recognise the portrait ; and we un-
derstand it is that of the Dcjchess of Port-

ILAND.

Now, as a contrast to this, here is a little
fragment — a mere bit — but enough to show
the French feeling about country life. It
is from one of Madame de Sevigne's charm-
ing letters ; and, fond of society, as she
was, she certainly had as much of love of
the country as belongs to her class and sex
on her side of rhe channel. It is part of a
letter, written from her country home. She
is writing to her daughter, and speaking of
an expected visit from one of her friends :

*' It follows that, after I have been to see
her, she will come to see me, when, of
course, I shall wish her to find my garden
in good order ; my walks in good order —
those fine walks, of which you are so fond.
Attend also, if you please, to a little sug-
gestion enpassa7tt. You are aware that hay-
making is going forward. Well, I have no
hay-inakers. I send into the neighboring
fields to press them into my service ; there
are none to be found ; and so all my own
people are summoned to make hay instead.
But do you know what hay-making is ? I

will tell you. Hay-making is the prettiest
thing in the world. Vou play at turning
the grass ooer in a meadow; and as soon as
you know that, you know hoiv to make hay^

Is it not capital ? We italicise her de-
scription of hay-making, it is so Franc^aise,
and so totally unlike the account that the
Duchess would have given Mr. Colman.
Her garden, too ; she wanted to have it
piU in order before her friend arrived. She
would have shown it, not as an English
woman would have done, to excite an in-
terest in its rare and beautiful plants, and
the perfection to which they had grown,
under her care, but that it might give her
friend a pleasant promenade.

Now we have not the least desire, that
American wives and daughters should have
anything to do with the rough toil of the
farm or the garden, beyond their own
household province. We delight in the
chivalry which pervades this whole country,
in regard to the female character, and which
even foreigners have remarked as one of
the strongest national characteristics.* But
we would gladly have them seize on that
happy medium, between the English pas-
sion for everything out of doors, and the
French taste for nothing beyond the draw-
ing-room. Everything which relates to the
garden, the lawn, the pleasure-grounds,
shoul J claim their immediate interest. And
this, not merely to walk out occasionally
and enjoy it, but to know it by heart ; to
do it, or see it all done; to know the his-

* M. Chevalier, one of the most intelligent of recent
French travellers, says, in his work on tiiis country — '"Not
only does the American meclianic and farmer relieve, as
much as possible, his wife from all severe labor, all disa-
greeable employments, but there is also, in relation to them,
and to w^omen in general, a disposition to oblige, that is un-
known among us, even in men who pique tliemselves upon
cultivation of mind and literal y education." * * * #

"We buy our wives with our fortunes, or we sell our-
selves to them for their dowries. Tlie American chooses
her, or rather he offers himself to her for her beauty, her
intelligence, and the qualities of her heart; it is the only
dowry which he seeks. Thus, while we make of tliat which
is most sacred a matter of busine.ss, these traders affect a
delicacy, and an elevation of sentiment, whicli would have
done honor to the most perfect models of chivalry."

454

ON FEMININE TASTE IN RURAL AFFAIRS.

tory of any plant, shrub, or tree, from the
time it was so small as to be invisible to
all but their eyes, to the time when every
passer by stops to admire and enjoy it; to
live, in short, not only the in-door but the
out-of-door life of a true woman in the
country. Every lady may not be "born to
love pigs and chickens," (though that is a
o-ood thing to be born to ;) but, depend upon
it, she has been cut offby her mother nature
with less than a shilling's patrimony, if she
does not love trees, flowers, gardens, and
nature, as if they were all part of herself.

We half suspect, if the truth must be told,
that there is a little affectation or coquetry
among some of our fair readers, in this want
of hearty interest in rural occupation. We
have noticed that it is precisely those who
have the smallest gardens, and, therefore,
who ought most naturally to wish to take
the greatest interest in their culture them-
selves,— it is precisely those who depend
entirely upon their gardener. They rest
with such entire faith on the chivalry of
our sex, that they gladly permit everything
to be done for them, and thus lose the
greatest charm which their garden could
give — that of a delightful personal inti-
macy.

Almost all the really enthusiastic and
energetic lady gardeners, that we have the
pleasure of knowing, belong to the wealthi-
est class in this country. We have a neigh-
bor on the Hudson, for instance, whose
pleasure-grounds cover many acres, whose
flower-garden is a miracle of beauty, and
who keeps six gardeners at work all the
season. But there is never a tree trans-
planted that she does not see its roots care-
fully handled ; not a walk laid out that she
does not mark its curves ; not a parterre
arranged that she does not direct its colours
and grouping, and even assist in planting
it. No matter what guests enjoy her hos-

pitality, several hours every day are thus
spent in out-of-door employment ; and from
the zeal and enthusiasm with which she
always talks of everything relating to her
country life, we do not doubt that she is
far more rationally happy now, than when
she received the homage of a circle of ad-
mirers at one of the most brilliant of fo-
reign courts.

On the table before us, lies a letter from
a lady of fortune in Philadelphia, whose
sincere and hearty enthusiasm in country
life always delights us. She is one of
those beings who animate everything she
touches, and would make a heart beat in n
granite rock, if it had not the stubbornness
of all "facts before the flood. ' She is in
a dilemma now about tlie precise uses of
lime, (which has staggered many an old
cultivator, by the way,) and tells the story
of her doubts with an earnest directness
and eloquence that one seeks for in vain in
the essays of our male chemico-horticultural
correspondents. We are quite sure that
there will be a meaning in every fruit and
flower which this lady plucks from the gar-
den, of which our fair friends, who are the
disciples of the Sevigne school, have not
the feeblest conception.

There are also, we fear, those who fancy
that there is something rustic, unfeminine
and unrefined, about an interest in country
out-of-door matters. Would we could pre-
sent to them a picture which rises in our
memory, at this moment, as the finest of
all possible denials to such a theory. In
the midst of the richest agricultural region
of the northern states, lives a lady — a young,
unmarried lady ; mistress of herself ; of
some thousands of acres of the finest
lands; and a mansion which is almost the
ideal of taste and refinement. Very well.
Does this lady sit in her drawing-room
all day, to receive her visitors ? By no

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF PEARS.

455

means. You will find her, in the morning,
either on horseback or driving a light car-
riage with a pair of spirited horses. She
explores every corner of the estate ; she
visits her tenants, examines the crops, pro-
jects improvements, directs repairs, and is
thoroughly mistress of her whole demesne.
Her mansion opens into the most exquisite
garden of flowers and fruits, every one of
which she knows by heart. And yet this
lady, so energetic and spirited in her en-
joyment and management in out-of-door
matters, is, in the drawing-room, ihe most
gentle, the most retiring, the most refined
of her sex.

A word or two more, and upon what ought
to be the most important argument of all.
Exercise, fresh air, health, — are they not
almost synonymous ? The exquisite bloom
on the cheeks of American girls, fades,
in the matron, much sooner here than in
England, — not alone because of the soft-
ness of the English climate, as many sup-
pose. It is because exercise, so necessary
to the maintenance of health, is so little a

matter of habit and education here, and so
largely insisted upon in England ; and it is
because exercise, when taken here at all,
is taken too often as a matter of duty ; that
it is then only a lifeless duty, and has no
soul in it ; while the English woman, who
takes a living interest in her rural employ-
ments, inhales new life in every day's occu-
pation, and plants perpetual roses in her
cheeks, by the mere act of planting them
in her garden.

*' But, Mr. Downing, think of the hot sun
in this country, and our complexions !"

Yes, yes, we know it. But get up an
hour earlier, fair reader ; put on your broad-
est sun-bonnet, and your stoutest pair of
gloves, and try the problem of health, en-
joyment and beauty, before the sun gets
too ardent. A great deal may be done in
this way ; and after a while, if your heart
is in the right place for ruralities, you will
find the occupation so fascinating that you
will gradually find yourself able to enjoy
keenly what was at first only a very irk-
some sort of duty.

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OP FIFTY RARE OR NEW PEARS.
BY ROBERT MANNING, SALEM, MASS.

[We have much pleasure in publishing the
following notes, and in calling the attention
of poraologists and amateurs to them. Mr.
Manning's reputation as a pomologist is
well deserved ; for he unites enthusiastic
zeal, excellent judgment, and sterling
honesty, — qualities so rarely combined in
devotees to any art ; and he has the advan-
tage of the experience of two generations.
We have either tested in our own, or care-
fully noted in other gardens, many of the
sorts he notices, and our opinion accords
almost entirely with those expressed by
him. Ed.]

1. Bergamotte Cadet t. — This pear has
been cultivated for some years as Beurr^
Beauchamps ; but that name not^ having
been firmly established, it was thought best
to substitute for it the one at the head of
this notice, which is that adopted by the
London Horticultural Society. I wish now
to recommend a more extensive trial of it,
as I do not think it has been as much cul-
tivated as it deserves to be. It is rather
under middle size ; form roundish obo-
vate ; flavor very fine, sometimes excelling
the Winter Nelis. Ripe the early part of
winter. I do not notice the diversity in

156

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF PEARS.

the ripening of this sort, mentioned in the
London Catalogue.

2. Beicrrc Kenrick. — I have now fruited
this pear several years, and have had many
specimens, some of which were very fine
of their kind ; but I do not think it entitled
to be recommended for general cultivation.
It ripens the first part of September.

3. Beurre d' Jngleterre. — Very produc-
ti\^e, but soon decays at the core.

4. Beicrri' Aiain. — A new pear, not yet
fully proved. It appears to resemble the
Bisho-p's Thumb.

.). Beurre of Bolw'dler. — A variety re-
ceived from Dr. Van Mons, which may
fairly claim a place in the rejected list.

6. Beurre Delbecq. — The same remarks
as were made on the last will apply to this.

Beurre Witzhumb proves identical with
Beurre Delbecq.

7. Bergarnotte Parthe7iay. — A winter
fruit, lately imported from France ; worth-
less as a dessert pear, and though good to
cook, but being deficient in size, it is hardly
worth cultivation for that purpose, while we
have plenty of larger ones.

8. Afnbrosia does not come up to the re-
putation given it in the books. It is not
a melting, but a breaking pear, and does
not ripen here before the first of Septem-
ber. It is commonly said to decay very
soon ; but I think it keeps full as long as
most pears of its season. Tree of upright
growth, making strong shoots, of a very
dark, purplish colour, thickly marked with
white dots.

9. Alyha. — To my taste, this is one
of the finest pears. It is sweet, and ex-
ceedingly fine grained, melting and juicy.
The tree is a great bearer ; and although
the fruit does not hold on very strongly,
those which blow off open so as to be full
as good, or even better than the others.
And I may here remark, that many of the

autumn pears are as much improved as the
summer fruit, by being taken from the
tree before fully ripe.

10. Aston Town. — A good grower, making
smooth, vigorous shoots, of a light gray
colour. Fruit rather small, with a long
stem, and ripening the first of September,
but so much inferior to many others of the
same season as to be hardly worth growing*

11. Beurre Van Mar urn. — Hardly comes
up to medium size, but is of very fine fla-
vor. It appears to be allied to the Urba-
niste. Ripe the first half of October. It is
easily known, by the peculiar insertion of
the stem in a small regular cavity. Stem
long, slender and curved, with a little
swelling at the bottom. Bears young and
well, so that the shoots are soon thickly
covered with fruit spurs. Leaves long-
narrow, flat, and pointed at both ends.

12. Henkel. — Received from Dr. Van
MoNS. It resembles the B. Van Marum in
its early and abundant bearing, in shape
and colour, in the length and curvature of
the stem, and in its likeness to the Urba-
niste ; but differs in being larger, a month
earlier, and the stem being stouter. It
ripens the first part of September, and is
among the best of its season.

13. Burgomaster. — The true variety is
very distinct from the Vicar of Winkfield.
Of medium size, long pyriform ; skin pale,
yellowish green, sprinkled with russet;
flavor very poor. The wood cankers worse
than that of any other variety, without ex-
ception. Altogether, one of the most worth-
less.

14. Brandes St. Ger?nam. — I think this
must have been among the first originated
by Dr. Van Mons ; as it is stated in Prince's
Pomological Manual, published in 1831,
to have been raised seventeen or eighteen
years previously. It was comprised in the
first lot of scions received from Van Mons ;

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF PEARS.

457

but its great merits have remained unre-
cognised until quite lately. For several
years past, it has proved one of the finest
winter pears. Form oblong, pointed at the
stem, which is always planted obliquel}^ on
one side ; skin brownish yellow, often with
much smooth russet; flesh rich and juicy,
with a vinous flavor, resembling the St.
Germain or Dix. Tree productive, and a
tolerable grower. Foliage small and nar-
row, like the old St, Germain. It succeeds
finely on the quince. Altogether, I think
it a most desirable variety, especially when
its season is taken into consideration ; as
we are deficient in good winter pears.

15. Columbia. — With me, this has proved
rather unproductive, and very apt to blow
off; and though large, fair and handsome,
I cannot say much in praise of its flavor.

16. Capucin, (of Van Mons.) — A very
high flavored, juicy pear; skin of a dark
brownish red ; surface knobby.

17. Caen du France,. — A rather singular
looking, but handsome pear: form obo-
vate, sometimes lengthened, and pointed
at the stem ; skin russeted, and thickly
sprinkled with raised dots of darker russet,
and often with a fine red cheek ; medium
size ; flesh very fine, juicy and sweet ; fla-
vor resembling the Winter Nelis. Ripe in
December and January. From Dr. Van
Mons.

18. Coter. — Another from Dr. Van Mons,
and a very fine one, among the first of
those received from him ; medium size ;
form regular obovate ; skin pale green ;
flesh very fine grained, tender and melting,
filled with a refreshing juice. Ripe in
November; at which time there is none
superior to it. The tree makes a round,
compact head ; young wood, short jointed,
light yellow.

19. Clara. — Unworthy of cultivation.

20. Cuvelier. — Unworthy of cultivation.

21. Doyenne Boussock. — One of the most
valuable additions to our list of fine new
pears. It is a White Doyenne, on a much
larger scale. Tree very vigorous ; foliage
large, thick and glossy. Last of Septem-
ber and first of October.

22. Dundas. — Exceedingly handsome,
and pretty good ; apt to blow down.

The Parinealitr proves to be the same
as Dundas.

23. Easter Bergamot — I do not think
worth growing, either for dessert or kitchen
use.

24. Foster's St. Michael. — Wood cankers
badly, and the fruit is inferior to many
others of its season, — the first part of Sep-
tember.

25. Gilogii — I have discontinued culti-
vating, on account of its unproductive-
ness.

26. Gendeseim. — Medium size, obovate,
pale, greenish yellow, sprinkled with rus-
set, melting, juicy, and of good flavor. A
very strong grower on the quince. Octo-
ber.

27. Flemish Boil Chretien. — One of the
best pears for cooking in the winter.

28. Green Sugar. — Unworthy of cultiva-
tion.

29. Doyenne cfRiver. — This pear was a
favorite with the late S. G. Perkins, Esq.,
from whom it was received here. It is
large, fair and productive ; though not high
flavored, it is sweet and juicy. I think it
a desirable sort, particularly for market.
It is the same as " Cofiin's Virgalieu,"
which was received from France with the
name lost, and thus designated from the
name of the importer, and its resemblance
to the White Doyenne or Virgalieu. Ripe
early in winter.

30. Wilbur. — Medium size, obovate ; skin
of a dull yellowish colour, sometimes al-
most covered with russet ; flavor often de-

458

DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF PEARS.

cidedly first rate. A native pear, produc-
dve and liardy. Ripe in September.

31. Liinon. — For one who loves a pear,
full of rich, sprightly jnice, there is nothing
superior to the Liinon, among the summer
fruits.

32. Elizabeth, {Maioung^s.) — This very
ti.ne summer pear is one of the best growers
on the quince. It bears young and well.

33. Duckets of Orleans. — One of the
most perfect of pears. Tree vigorous, —
making light yellow shoots, an early and
abundant bearer ; fruit very handsome, and
of delicious flavor. It fruited here in 1845,
for the first time in this country. Some of
the specimens then produced were the finest
pears I have ever tasted. Grows well on
the quince. Ripe in October.

34. Tyson. — A very rich, sweet, summer
pear, of medium size, and pyriform figure.
The Tyson and Rostiezer are among the
few pears which may be said to approach
the Seckel, in flavor. The growth of the
tr,ee is healthy and vigorous, — making a
handsome top, resembling the Seckel, but
taller. Ripe the last of August. A native
of Philadelphia.

35. Las Cauas. — Received from M. Emi-
LiEN DE Wael, of Belgium. It proves to
be a very fine pear, of medium size, pyri-
form; skin pale yellow, often partly covered
with thin russet ; seeds very black ; flesh
juicy, very sweet and rich. Tree upright
and vigorous, bears young and well. Oc-
tober.

36. Paradise cf Autovme. — Quite distinct
from the Beurre Bosc, though resembling it
in general appearance. A very striking
difference is observable in the flowers.
The texture and flavor of the flesh are
even superior to that magnificent pear. I
consider it the most valuable addition to
the list of fine new pears which has ever
been introduced at the Pomological Gar-

den. The growth of [he tree is more vigor-
ous than any other pear whatever. October,
37. Citron des Carmes Panache, or Striped
Madeleine. — The diflference between the
fruit of this, and the common Madeleirie,
consists in the skin of the former being
striped with light yellow, and the flesh
being a little sweeter; wood short jointed,
striped with dull red and yellow. Not
being as vigorous as the common Madeleine,
it is less liable to the blight. Of two trees,
standing about three rods apart, the striped
variety has never been in the least affected,
though much younger than the common
kind, which was badly injured. Both va-
rieties ripen together.

38. Doyenne d'Ete. — A nice early pear,
and very handsome ; rather under medium
size ; form obovate ; skin yellow in the
shade, bright red next the sun ; flesh juicy,
and of pleasant flavor. Ripens the last of
July, with the Madeleine, and is full as
good. Bears very young ; trees of two or
three years from the bud are frequently
covered with fruit buds, making it quite
difficult to get any growth on them.

39. Jean de Witte. — A new winter pear,
not unlike the Winter Nelis in size and
flavor, and I think fully equal to it ; form
obovate, a little flattened ; skin pale yel-
low. " No. 1482, of Van Mons,^' which I
have before described and recommended,
proves identical with Jean de Witte ; as
also, Nos. 1082 and 1602. The habit ot
the tree is very similar to the Seckel, with
short jointed shoots and compact head.

40. Flombgas/el. — This has fruited on
scions received from J. C. Lee, Esq., who
imported it from France ; medium size,
dull, greenish yellow and russet, in flavor
about as good as the Bartlett. The tree
makes very stout shoots, and grows well
on the quince. September.

41. Calehasse Monstreuse, — -A large obo-

CHICAGO, HGRTICULTURALLY.

459

vate pear, tapering both to the eye and
stem, very productive, and excellent for
cooking. Wiater. Its shape not being at
all like that of a calabash, has created some
suspicion that it may be incorrect. It was
received from M. De Wael.

42. Fatitasie Van Mons. — Worthless.

43. Bruno de Bosco. — Worthless.

44. Hampden^s Bergamot. — Often very
large and handsome ; skin smooth and yel-
low. I have tasted specimens which I
thought as good as the Bartlett. First half
of September.

45. Citron of Bohemia. — I think this has
been overrated. It is a breaking pear, ripe
the first part of September, and is certainly
inferior to others of that season.

46. Marulis. — A Belgian fruit ; a strong
grower, very productive, high flavored, and
high coloured, but rather small and dry.
August and September.

47. Johomwt. — Exceedingly rich ; in fla-
vor and appearance resembling the Brown
Beurrj, from which it was not improbably
raised. I do not know of anything sur-
passing it in flavor. Ripe here in Septem-
ber.

48. Angleierre of NoistUe. — Very dis-
tinct from the Beurre d'Angleterr.' . A large
roundish pear, of a dark green colour, with
a dark brownish red cheek. I do not con-
sider it yet fully proved ; but so far as it is,
it does not appear worthy of propagation.
Further trial may develope some valuable
properties, either as a cooking or dessert
fruit.

49. Jalousie de Fonttnay Fendte. — Pro-
ductive, and very fine flavored.

50. St. Andre. — Very delicious ; wood
somewhat apt to canker.

Robert Manning.

Pomological Garden, Salem, March, 1849-

CHICAGO, HGRTICULTURALLY.

BY J. A. WIGHT, CHICAGO, ILL.

In estimating the advantages and disadvan-
tages of our city, — Chicago, and its imme-
diate vicinity, for horticultural purposes, it
is necessary to put forth in the beginning
a word of caution ; that is, that this spot
must not be compared to any other part of
the western country, or supposed to furnish
any index to the character of any other
part ; for, so far as I know, it is a complete
exception to all the rest. This would not
be thought strange in the eastern states,
where the distance of a [ew miles com-
pletely changes the face of the country.
Why should it here? And yet, eastern
people are in the habit of talking about
"the west," as though it was some ten
cornered potato patch, not a whit bigger
than Rhode Island ; as though a description

of one part must answer for all. The west
now extends from Lake Superior to the
Gulf of Mexico, and sweeps on from what-
ever line eastward, you please, to the
Pacific. Can there be any such thing as
homogeneousness then ? It is true, that
changes in climate and surface are much
less frequent in this, than in the eastern
regions ; but they must nevertheless occur.
Chicago and its vicinity embrace a tract
of land, lying along the lake shore, from a
point about twelve miles north of the city,
and southward from it as many more, and
about twelve miles in width ; consisting,
for the most part, of a flat prairie, elevated
from seven to twelve feet above the waters
of the lake ; and rising, as you proceed
westward, at the rate of one foot per mile.

460

CHICAGO, HORTICULTURALLY.

Along the lake shore is a ridge of sandy
land, and a similar one runs nearly paral-
lel to it, at the distance of from seven to
nine miles. So much for surface. Now
for soil. This consists of a muck, about
ten inches or a foot in thickness, of a tex-
ture so fine that it would seem to have un-
dergone trituration in a mortar, resting on
a bed of blue tough clay, capable of being
dried in the sun to the hardness of stone.
As you approach the lake shore, this stra-
tum of clay dips considerably ; and above
it, lies a fine calcareous sand, and in pla-
ces loam, mingled more or less with shells.

The lake shore affords a beautiful drain-
age, the influence of which is felt to the
distance of three or four hundred feet,
which, with the warm sand, mingled with
the soil, gives vegetation an early and rapid
growth in the spring. Of the second ridge,
heretofore spoken, the same observation
may be made. These are the exceptions.
The great bulk of our soil is that first de-
scribed.

You will perceive, then, that our first
great want is drainage, both of surface and
subsoil. That of the first is easily enough
effected, though, for obvious reasons, it
cannot be very rapid. That of the second
has never been, so far as I am aware, at-
tempted. In the city, a sort of compensa-
tion for it is effected by " filling up." Much
of the old town of Chicago is now from three
to five feet higher than it originally was,
from this process. The most formidable
obstacle, in the way of bottom drainage, is
neither our low nor our level soil. It is
nothing more nor less than its exceeding
fineness ; by which it is packed together,
from the bottom upwards, so closely that
water can no more escape from it than
from a sponge. The successful and uni-
versal mingling with it of coarse materials,
would alone effect all we want.

The soil is one difficulty. Another is
the climate. Our situation, near the south-
western extremity of Lake Michigan, ex-
poses us to two dangers ; one is the west
wind of winter ; the other is the north wind
of spring. The first continues from one to
twenty days, though the latter number is
seldom reached in succession. During
their continuance, the skies wear a face as
calm and clear as that of an angel, while
their heart is as cold as that of a fiend.
The mercury sometimes sinks at this point
to 15^ below zero, to 25^ at Rock river, and
to 30^ at Galena. The fate of peaches and
other delicate fruits may be imagined, from
such an ordeal. To these the lake affords
us no protection. Sweeping from away
westward to the Rocky Mountains, over-
land, with no water to soften their ferocity,
their bite is as remorseless as that from the
fangs of fate. Our neighbors across the
lake receive them subdued and tempered
by sixty miles of Lake Michigan ; and
hence, peaches and apricots are abundant
on that border, while we have none. Hap-
pily, these winds and this degree of cold
are not uniformly to be expected. For five
winters past their occurrence has been sel-
dom, short, and their temper comparatively
mild. I find the mercury at zero but twice
in any winter ; and for two out of the five,
not there at all. That of 1842 and '43, gave
us an almost constant succession of these
winds, with the mercury ranging as first
indicated. The present season corresponds
to that, though a shade milder. The mer-
cury has been 11° below zero twice, and
once 14°, up to this time.

Our second difficulty, the north wind,
blesses us three-fourths of the year, and
blasts us the remainder. From July to
March, our pleasant gales are from that
direction. They temper the heats of sum-
mer, and the colds of winter. They dissi-

CHICAGO, HORTICULTURALLY.

461

pate the congregated malarias and cack-
odorous effluvias of the city, seething under
August fires, and brace up the languishing
denizens with new vigor and elasticity.
But oh the spring ! We may as well say
we have none. We make numerous at-
tempts at one annually ; but every notch
we get forward has its offset of a slip or
two backward, till somehow or other it gets
to be summer. These northern gales frown
down on us, reeking with the breath of
polar bears and icebergs, for days together,
blasting our tender plants, and our hopes
together. The following is not an unusual
" programme of exercises," for any number
of cycles each year : First, come two days
of south wind, — the mercury rapidly going
up to 75^ and 85^ Fahrenheit, calling forth
the tender leaves prematurely, — the ground
yet as cold as November. Then, short as
the crook of your elbow, are six days of
north wind, — the mercury falling to 38°
and 45°. Oh, horror ! Now look to your
starting vegetation. But this is not all.
The north wind brings a rain. The water
comes in an avalanche, and the fine soil
drinks, and holds it with the eagerness of
a toper. Now come two days more of south
wind and heat. Your poor tree stands
with its feet in the ice, and its head in the
fire. If it, or its ancestors, have been crossed
with the northern seal, and the salamander
both, it may live.

You are perhaps ready now to say, that
we may as well give up all ideas of horti-
culture. Not so. We are managing, with
all these disabilities, to get many and most
of the best fruits grown, while the choicest
plums known to eastern gardens, year by
year, find their way into our midst. In
the city, fences, buildings, and trees shield
us partially from the winds. "Hilling up,"
gives us a dry, warm soil ; and an abun-
dance of manures, such as all cities fur-

nish, with the sand of the lake shore, gives
a rich one. Farther out, diligent surface
draining, by throwing the land into ridges,
with trees and fences, effect the same
thing in a degree. Thus, by protection,
where we can, and compensation when we
cannot, we manage to carry our points.

Besides, our autumns are such as eastern
people only dream of, or get in fitful snatch-
es, just to sharpen their appetite for more.
Serene mild days, joining hands through
October and November, smile upon u^
year by year ; and if they fail, as the past
season they did, we know that it is through
forgetfulness, and that they will return with
returning autumn. It was during such
days, that a somewhat poetic friend, on
the banks of the beautiful Rock river, be-
fore they were spoiled by white men's hou-
ses and potato patches, remarked, "that
this seemed the sort of air, and this the
region, where angels might come down
to dance away the happy hours." My only
doubt was, whether these beings did any
dancing at all! I have no "authentic ac-
counts" that they do.

Apples here grow with a thrift peculiar
to the northern country. But a few, as
yet, have got into bearing ; but these show
us that we need fear nothing from compe-
tition. We shall succeed, not only with
the summer and fall varieties, but with the
harder and long keeping fruits, which evince
an effeminacy and weakness when grown
in the milder regions of the south.

Pears are just beginning to show their
fruits ; and we shall have nothing to fear
for them. The tree grows and bears as
well here as anywhere.

Plums have been fruited for several
years, in many of the choice varieties. In
thrift of tree, productiveness, and delicacy
of flavor, we have nothing now to wish.
The little pirate of the crescent, the curcu.

462

CHICAGO, HORTICULTURALLY.

lio, is here ; and the Green Gage, with its
kindred sorts, are made to suffer. The
less delicate flavored varieties are often
passed by, in his preference for these.

Of cherries, I cannot give so favorable
an account, though we have enough to en-
courage us in this direction. The Morel-
los and kindred sorts meet with no diffi-
culty. The May Duke has borne for seve-
ral seasons. At our horticultural exhibi-
tion in June, our tables showed fruit of the
Black Tartarian, Elkhorn, Waterloo, and
White Ox Heart, and many other varieties
were ripened too early and too late for that
exhibition. There are plenty of trees in
our gardens large enough for fruit, which
show no tendency to disease. Our hopes
are, that we shall have cherries enough
when we know how to raue them*

Peaches and nectarines are more preca-
rious than cherries. The west winds of
winter, the cold succeeding mild weather,
the dry winds of spring, the peach Avorm,
and I know not how many other calamities
manage, one or all, to fall upon the poor
peaches. We can, hitherto, hardly calcu-
late on them oftener than once in five years.
Still, everybody has peach trees. Their
bloom is beautiful, when young ; their thick
bushy habits, and abundant foliage, are
highly ornamental ; and if any fruit is ob-
tained, so much clear gain.

With strawberries we have made little
headway. A Cleveland gentleman once
sold us Hovey's Seedling, which was as-
siduously cultivated in all our gardens for
several years, without a berry ; and then
proved to be a worthless Hautbois, barren
in England this thirty years. We have
since the genuine ; but get little more fruit
from it than its counterfeit. A plant known
here as Grove End Scarlet, bears abun-

* Our western readers will find Prof. 'J urnes's remarks
■on the cherry, in our last numlier, valuable on this sub-
ject. Ed.

dantly. Of other varieties we have many,
but imperfectly tried as yet. Of the twenty
new. Long Island varieties, originated by
"a single nurseryman," we have none,
and shall try to get along without them.

Raspberries are in the same category
with strawberries. The tender varieties
do not succeed well, with the culture they
get. Hardy ones do well, and bear abun-
dantly. The old Barnet is hitherto the
most successful, though the Franconia bore
well the past season in some of our gar-
dens.

Gooseberries — what shall we say of
gooseberries ? If Lancashire produces more
or better, with the same culture, right glad
are we. Mildew, or no mildew, our gar-
dens give us bushels, almost as plenty as
bushes. We have nothing to ask here.

Of currants and the like, we can say the
same. The culture of grapes is more ad-
vanced than that of any other small fruit.
The standard variety is the Isabella. The
Catawba will hardly ripen its fruit with
uniformity. Winne, Clinton, and similar
small sorts, are plentifully distributed. Two
or three new or unknown varieties, earlier
than the Isabella, and as good in size and
flavor, have been exhibited at our horticul-
tural exhibitions.

In the matter of ornamenting grounds,
and shading streets, those who care for it
work at disadvantage. The magic ideas
connected with such phrases as "comer
lots," "rents," "double in value," " going
up," are too much for "trees," "shrubbe-
ry," and "roses." Sometimes the two sets
of ideas can be j^oked together, and made
to pull the same way, and then " a smash-
ing business" is done. Once in a while,
the love of the beautiful gets the upper
hand, and keeps it. The gentler part of
human creation feel less enthusiasm about
" corner lots," etc.; and their aid can al-

COAL ASHES VALUABLE AS MANURE.

463

ways be rallied for such delights as their
mother Eve knew, in the days of her in-
nocence. Hence, we make headway. Our
streets get acquainted with new trees ; our
walls feel the embrace of new roses, and
our gardens get help to smile from new
shrubs and flowers. The numbscull, with
the solidest wooden head, can feel a little
when fine flowers and luscious fruits are
put before his eyes ; and hence the ground
we gain works in multiplying ratio an-
nually.

Our horticultural society, of about eighty
members, though with but few workers,
keeps sedulously but silently in motion,
aiming, by repeated blows in the same di-
rection, to produce an impression. There
is evidence that it is effecting something.
But I am spinning too long a yarn, and
will stop here. J. A. Wight.

Chicago, Illinois, February, 1849.

We thank Mr, Wight for his graphic
and vivid picture of gardening at Chicago ;
one of the most remarkable of all our new
western cities.

It will strike some of our Englishreaders
as not a little remarkable, that in a climate
so apparently unfavorable in its winter and
spring temperature as that of Chicago, so
much ran be done ; that pears, apples,
plums, etc., can be grown in abundance,
and of the finest quality, as open standards,
when in their mild climate, walls are al-
most everywhere needed to get a ripe fruit
of good flavor. This is owing to the tro-
pical summers of almost all the United
States ; the abundance of sunshine that
ripens both fruit and wood so perfectly.

Chicago is so peculiarly exposed to cold
winds, which sweep across a lake surface,
almost like that of an ocean in extent, that
we commend to all amateurs there the
study of the admirable method of protect-
ing gardens against high winds, adopted
by Mr. Tudor, in his celebrated Nahant
residence, near Boston, — and which we
have described, in volume ii, page 57. A
garden at Chicago, treated in the " Tudor
manner," Avould have a climate compara-
tively as bland as that of Madeira. Ed.

COAL ASHES VALUABLE AS MANURE.

BY WEST JERSEY.

Sir — Can you give some of the readers of
the Horticulturist information of the virtues
of anthracite coal ashes, their chemical na-
ture, their strength, compared with wood
ashes, and to what soils or plants they are
particularly suitable ?

I do not remember seeing anywhere a
statement of their qualities, except a late
remark in your monthly, that thay are a
good dressing for cherry trees. It is the
prevalent opinion here, that they are abso-
lutely good for nothing as a manure ; and,

consequently, they find their last resting
place in the street.

Our soil is light and sandy. The farm-
ers just here prefer lime and ashes, while
two or three miles oflf, where it is heavier,
they use marl abundantly. We have many
old gardens that have been manured so
often they are too stimulant, and cause the
produce to " wither away" under our hot
suns. I know this can be remedied, by
mixing with them a heavier soil, &c.; but
I have been wondering, lately, whether

464

COAL ASHES VALUABLE AS MANURE.

coal ashes might not prove suitable by sup-
plying them with mineral matter.

If you, sir, can inform us of their practi-
cal uses in any way, you will at least much
oblige your subscriber, West Jersey.

January^ 1S49.

Answer. — The only analysis of our an-
thracite coal ashes, that we have seen, is
the following, by Professor Emmons, of Al-
bany :

Analysis Peach Mountain Coal — Gray Ash.

Silex and silicates, 70.34

Sulphuric acid, 1.50

Chlorine, 0.06

Carbonate of lime, 8.36

Phosphate of lime and phosphate peroxide of iron, 4.. 50

Carbonate of magnesia, 1.84

Alumina and peroxide of iron, 2.00

97.50

Prof. Emmons adds to the above analy-
sis, that " we may suspect the presence of
phosphate of lime in coal ashes, and hence,
practically, that they are of importance in
agriculture, even though we omit to notice
the carbonate of lime and magnesia which
they contain."

Now to make the matter plain, let us
compare roughly the value of coal ashes, as
regards lime. Sec, with the ashes of the
oak tree, one of the commonest kinds of
fuel.

According to an analysis of the Royal
Oak, (Liebig's,) the ashe^of that tree con-
tain over 50 per cent, of lime, over 5 of
potash, 3 of magnesia, and not one part of
silica. Another analysis of the White Oak,
(Berthier's,) gives 3 per cent, of silica.
Let us put the two ashes in contrast, so as
to show the proportional value in lime,
potash, &c.

Coal Ashes.

Lime, 8.36

Phosphates, 4.50

Silica, 70. .34

Oak Ashes.

Lime, 50.58

Potash, 5.65

Silica, 3.37

Or Elm Ashes.

Lime 47.80

Potash, 21.92

Silica, 3.07

A comparison of the above will show
that fresh wood ashes contains about six

times as much lime as coal ashes ; and
that it is also far richer in potash, which
exists in but very small proportion in coal
ashes. It is evident that though by no
means valueless, in these ingredients, coal
ashes are not comparable in value to wood
ashes, where lime, potash, or phosphates
are required.

But the largest part of coal ashes is silex
and the silicates. Our readers must not
look upon these as representing sand or
flint glass ; for a considerable part of silica
is soluble under certain conditions, espe-
cially in clayey soils, and thus enters quite
largely into the composition of certain plants.
Some plants, such as the oak or the apple,
contain very little silica, — say from 1 to 3
per cent. But Indian corn, (the stalk,)
contains 29 per cent., rye 64 per cent., oats
53 ; hence it is evident, that if coal ashes
contain a large per centage of silica, they
must be highly useful to these crops, even
though they contain little lime, &c.

We have before recommended coal ashes,
as particularly well adapted for the cherry
tree. This advice was founded on acci-
dental experience, and not upon scientific
knowledge. But a little investigation ex-
plains the reason. The bark of the cherry
tree contains (Liebig) 19 per cent, of silica,
while that of the apple or pear contains not
a i per cent. Hence, it is easy to see why
coal ashes would produce little or no good
effect on the pear or the apple, as compared
with the cherry tree.

As the bark of the grape-vine contains
(Emmons) 14 per cent, of silex, there can
be no doubt that coal ashes form a valuable
manure for this plant.

As silica is only rendered soluble by an
alkali, such as potash or soda, it is easy to
see why coal ashes are more beneficial on
clayey than on sandy soils, (besides render-
ing the former lighter.) Clay soils almost

TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.

465

always contain considerable alkali — sandy
soils very little — and clay soils retain water,
while sandy soils speedily lose it.*

Those who have been in the habit of
throwing awav coal ashes, as useless to all
plants, will do well to keep them for all

crops with stiff and glazed stems, abound-
ing in silex, such as corn and grain, and
for such trees as the cherry, the grape, the
linden, and almost all evergreens, since
they all require silica in the formation of
their wood and bark.

AN INGENIOUS MODE OF TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.

I5V ALEXANDER JOHNSTON, Jr., WISCASSET, ME.

Having been a subscriber to, and constant
reader of your excellent publication since
its commencement, and having , gleaned
much useful and agreeable information
therefrom, I feel constrained to say that I
have often been disappointed in finding so
little that would answer for our " latitude,"
as they say in the almanacs. Our winters
are very severe, not only as regards low
temperature, but in storms of driving sleet
and drifting snow; and sometimes, as was
the case last winter, we have torrents of
rain, and a continual alternate freezing and
thawing of the ground, which will destroy
all small plants and seedlings, by heaving
out, as we term it. We seldom see a
word of caution or advice, in these matters,
from any of our eastern friends, published
in the " Horticulturist," for the best of rea-
sons I presume ; that is, their communica-
tions are mainly directed to improving our
fruits, analyzing our soils, and recommend-
ing manures — special or general; while
the wintry blasts sweep on, surcharged
with death to every tender plant or " two
feet" seedling throughout the state. I have
lost many dollars, in " finding out," by sad
experience, how to raise these small things.
Last winter, out of 1000 Horse Chestnut
seedlings, I lost 500 by heaving out. This

* A mixture of clieap soda ash or dissolved potash, with
coal ashes, just before using them, would no deubt add
greatly to their value iu sandy soils.

winter I lose the balance by a tremendous
drift of snow, which, in settling, has broken
the plants to the earth, stripping them of
every bud and branch. I lose, also, two or
three hundred fine budded pears, which,
though staked and tied, are crushed to the
earth by the enormous mass of snow, and
well nigh ruined. I have several thousand
seedlings of fruit and ornamental trees, now
"in good case," and I mean they shall re-
main so in all time to come, as far as the
elements are concerned. I have " seen the
elephant," and learned the lesson. More
anon.

I have often, almost, determined to give
you my method of transplanting large ever-
green and deciduous trees, with perfect
safety and success, and as often something
has prevented. It will suit our latitude
admirably, and may find favor with all. It
differs, somewhat, from any other practice
that has come to my knowledge. Early
4ast spring, near the first of March, I think,
and before the frost had started, I under-
took to remove a large apple tree, entire.
Its circumference at the ground was 40
inches; diameter of the top, 21 feet. It
grew upon a wharj, in the worst possible
place for removal, or move after it was up.
It was a very valuable tree, thrifty, and
worth saving, though mutilated, and annu-
ally clubbed by scores of boys for its fruit.

Vol. III.

30

466

TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.

I commenced operations by placing a layer
of sawdust and shavings, one foot in thick-
ness, around the trunk of the tree, and ex-
tending about four feet from the centre of
the trunk on every side. I then covered
the shavings with a lot of fir boughs six
inches deep, and trod the whole hard. My
object was to retain the frost among the
roots for a month or more. I succeeded
perfectly.

About six weeks afterwards, say 15th of
April, I cut a trench, two feet wide by six-
teen inches deep, all around the covering
I had previously placed, shaving off every
root I found square up to the frozen earth,
except a few very large roots, which were
suffered to project a few inches. These
roots were lashed strongly to the large
branches of the tree above, to help support
the great weight of frozen earth. The
limbs and trunk of the tree were protected
by old bagging, mats, &c. An upright,
dry, spruce spar was securely lashed to the
trunk of the tree, say fifteen feet in length,
with a rope at the top, to act as a lever in
breaking the tree clear in its bed. I had
previously set up a derrick, with stays and
blocks, wherewith to hoist the tree square
out of its bed. Four board battens were
nailed to the trunk of the tree ; and out-
side the battens I passed the main lashing
around, which was a short link chain. The
lower purchase block hooked in this lash-
ing, and the upper block hooked to the top
of the derrick. The fall led through a sin-
gle block at the foot of the derrick ; and to
this fall I attached two pair of oxen. When
all was ready, I broke the tree clear with
the upright lever, hoisted it, with the cattle,
square up three feet, run under the tree,
and into the hole, a stout new ox sled ;
then "lowered away handsomely," as sai-
lors say, and the job was not quite done,
yet very well begun. I dragged sled, tree

and all, up a very steep, narrow passage
into the street, with the aid of tackle, cattle
and curious spectators, where it remained
over night. The next day I put on "four
yoke" of heavy cattle, hauled it three quar-
ters of a mile, planted it again safely, with
the same derrick, in the garden of Barker
Neal, Esq., where it now stands, secure as
though it had grown there. The tree and
earth weighed nothing less than 2| tons,
many "teamsters" said 3 tons. It bore a
few apples last year, and did'nt know it
had been moved till hoy time came again.

Evergreens I have moved, on the same
plan, viz., by retaining the frost about their
roots with a covering of boughs till April,
when they will "come out" almost entire.
I moved two splendid Norway Spruces, 20
and 24 feet high, last spring, and planted
them safely on my own premises ; beside
a great number of firs. The success at-
tending this method is certain ; the expense
very moderate. There is no need of a
derrick and tackle in most cases. The tree
can be pulled over, and placed upon a drag
or sled, if not too heavy to raise again. I
have moved deciduous trees, such as Rock
Maple, Elm, &c., of very large size, in this
way with gratifying success. As they grow
without stopping, and very soon become
large trees, the trouble and expense is not
worth reckoning. I have tried all other
methods, but, of course, like my own the
best. I shall go in a few days to se-
' lect evergreens to be moved in this man-
ner.

The holes, dug for their reception, should
be large, and the subsoil loosened ; and
every tree should be carefully set, the roots
faithfully filled in with earth, and the Avhole
trod firmly together, and secured from blow-
ing over for one year at least. The afore-
said great apple tree required no stays. It
would have taken a small hurricane to have

FORMATION OF RURAL TASTE.

467

blown it off the sled even ; so great was
the weight of the frozen mass about its
roots.

In conclusion, Mr. Downing, I hope every
man in New-England, as well as "down
east," will plant trees, tell each other how
to get along, and subscribe for the " Hor-
ticulturist." Yours very truly,

Alex. Johnston, Jr.

Wiscasset., Lincoln co., Me., February, 1849.

Remarks. — Mr. Johnston's mode of trans-
planting is new to us, and strikes us very
favorably. No method of transplanting
large trees, ever practiced under our own
eyes, has ever been so successful as moving
them with frozen balls in winter; and though
the transportation of large trees may be
easier when the ground is covered Avith

snow than in our correspondent's mode,
yet the latter has the advantage of being
performed at a season when replanting can
be done much more completely than when
the surrounding soil is frozen.

We are often impressed, in our some-
what extended correspondence, by the great
extent and diversity of the United States,
as a field for horticultural labors. Immedi-
ately after reading Mr. Johnston's account
of the frosty air of Maine, where the tem-
perature of zero is considered a comfortable
condition of things for a month to come, we
opened an epistle from a friend in New-
Orleans, (dated ten days before Mr. J.'s,)
in which he dilates with gusto on the flavor
of the first strawberries, gathered there in
the ope?i air ! Ed.

HINTS ON THE FORMATION OF RURAL TASTE.

BY S. B GOOKINS, TERRE HAUTE. lA.

Here beginneth a chapter on American
UuRAL Taste. American.! says Mr. Bull,
burning up his nose at the idea of locality
and nationality, in respect to taste, and es-
pecially American. Why not, sir ? Ge-
nius has no locality, it is true ; but its pro-
ductions are modified by circumstances, as
the mutations which have marked the pro-
gress of European civilization abundantly
prove. Taste is the discrimination of beau-
ty ; and in proportion as it is good or bad,
will this discrimination give character to
the literature and arts of a people. The
critic and the connoisseur profess to have
attained a refined and exalted perception of
the truthful and the beautiful ; and the
developments of genius, literary and artis-
lic, attain their measure of perfectness, be it
greater or less, under the guiding and
moulding influence of their censorship.

But their perceptions of the truthful and
the beautiful are not the coinage of nature's
mint. The standard of perfection in the
imagination of the critic, is also the product
of antecedent causes ; and the various cir-
cumstances of a people, in respect to man-
ners, habits, soil, climate and institutions,
political and moral, in their turn furnish a
standard for the critic.

Take, for example, the architecture of a
people. The roving tribes of the earth
construct their habitations in a style de-
manded by their habits of life. The Arab
tent protects its occupant from the scorch-
ing sun of the desert. The Indian lodge
of bufllilo skins shuts out the driving snow
of the prairies. No enclosures secure the
waving corn from trespassing animals; for
there are neither corn to wave nor cattle to
encroach. The seasons do not bring to

468

FORMATION OF RURAL TASTE.

him a succession of seed-time and harvest ;
but of hunting, fishing and marauding. He
is here to-day, and is gone to-morrow. He
has no local habitation ; and the arrange-
ments of his domicil correspond with his
social state.

Advancing from savage to barbarous,
and from barbarous to civilized society,
the operation of this law is equally mani-
fest. If the state of society be such that
every house must be a castle, will not this
fact give character to its architectural de-
signs ? What idea is expressed by the
battlsment, the turret, the castellated wall,
but that of security from aggression, of pro-
tection from violence, of stately barons
clad in armor, and dependent vassals seek-
ing a refuge from lawless hands in the
shadow of the citadel ? What is picturesque
or poetical in the mouldering wall, with its
ivy drapery, but that it tells of the days of
chivahy, when knight-errantry did homage
to beauty? Wherefore sang Ossian not of
the softly resplendent glories, the mild
beauties of the landscape 1 His muse, true
to the inspiration of the spirit of his age,
has chronicled not these, but the unriaval-
led prowess, the high-souled daring of his
hero, age, and his heroine likewise ; for the
spirit of the age allowed of no beauty that
was not heroic. To a modern beauty,
could the utmost stretch of his imagination
have conceived the idea of such a being, in
all the potency of rouge, bustle and bloom,
soft charms and terrifRc fainting fits, his
muse would have assigned a place with
harlequins and other burlesques upon hu-
manity.

Hence, the taste of a people is their sense
of the fitness and adaptation of any particu-
lar work of art. It is the embodiment of
their artistic designs ; and setting in judg-
ment upon any particular style, will approve
or condemn, accordingly as it approaches

or varies from its own standard. We ad-
mire the creations of the painter and the
poet, not so much for their beauty as for
their truth, and the very hideousness of
the artist's production is often it.< real point
of interest. So truly have past ages fore-
shadowed national taste, in their works of
art, that in every sketch, however rude and
imperfect, if truthful, the practiced eye de-
tects those lineaments which mark its lo-
cality and date, with as much precision as
the comparative anatomist determines the
size, habits, disposition, and even the native
country of an animal, by the inspection of
a single bone.

American rural taste being in its nascent
state, is now undergoing the moulding pro-
cess ; and it is amusing and sometimes lu-
dicrous to see some of the specimens of its
apprenticeship. I will not aver that the
marble column, with its sculptured capital,
has ever actually found its way into the
wigwam, and become part alW parcel of it;
but I must be permitted to say, that some
of our specimens of style present to the eye
of the beholder a commingling of incon-
gruities almost as absurd. They often re-
mind me of a picture a friend once de-
scribed to me, designed to represent the
departure of the prodigal son from the pa-
ternal mansion The interior of the apart-
ment discovered the father in bag-wig,
small-clothes, and embroidered collar, after
the manner of the old English gentleman,
drawing from an escritoir, of modern con-
struction, the son's portion ; the son dressed
in the style of an exquisite, of the present
day, with a coach and four standing at the
door ; while, in the back ground, the Con-
stitution was pouring her broadsides into
the Gurriere, a thousand years before the
invention of gunpowder! Should the pro-
duction of this prince of artists outlive
those of a Rafael or a Michael Angeloij

FORMATION OF RURAL TASTE.

469

the antiquarian of a thousand years hence
may be somewhat puzzled in assigning to
it a particular locality and date.

The peculiarities which distinguish the
American people from all others, are no
less marked than those which have left
their impress upon the works of art in
ages past. In the first place, we are a
nation of landholders, landlords, — not mere
occupants, but owners of the soil. With-
out us, the world is divided into master and
slave, nabob and serf, lurd and vassal, or,
at best, landlord and tenant ; while here,
every man may, if he will, stand upon his
own freehold. The effect of this great
American fact, upon our rural taste, will
be its universal diffusion. It may not be
that it will, in every instance, distinguish
between the habitations of owner and occu-
pant ; for even in a very advanced state of
general cultivation there will doubtless be
negligent landlords, and tasteful tenants ;
but if any one doubts the influence of this
fact, let him set about planting trees and
improving grounds upon the land of ano-
ther. If its power be not made manifest
to him by this process, he must be a rare
specimen of humanity indeed.

The eye of the traveller in Europe rests
with delight upon fine displays of rural
taste and architectural symmetry ; but these
are usually the offspring of concentrated
wealth. Like the light in a picture, they
stand out upon the face of the landscape to
challenge his admiration, and to draw his
attention from the dark back-ground of ser-
vility and vassalage which surround them.
In the present form of their social organi-
zation, it is necessary to maintain an aristo-
cracy. Their law of primogeniture and
system of entailments are retained for this
purpose; but we have banished them, as
inconsistent with the principle of universal
equality, which we have incorporated into

our political institutions. The one concen-
trates wealth, the other diffuses it. That
great wealth is often a patron of the arts is
true ; but it by no means follows that it is
essential to a high development of taste.
The man of taste is the artist, not his
patron. I have been through splendid gar-
dens, the owners of which had set them up,
as confectioners do their wares in the win-
dow, to be gazed at and admired; and I
have seen such a proprietor, who did not
know even the names of many of his rare
plants. The difference between him and
his gardener was that one possessed taste,
the other vanity.

We are furthermore distinguished as a
people of peace. It might not be easy to
convince a Mexican of that fact, just now;
but it is nevertheless true. Peace is our
policy ; and it cannot be otherwise than
that its softening and mellowing influence
should be thrown like a veil of light over
our national taste. Posterity will find
along the track of our history no baronial
castles, whose puissant lordlings have exer-
cised despotic sway over a territory forty
miles in extent : no ancestral halls, deco-
rated with helmet, spear and cuirass, grim
mementoes of a blood-thirsty, revengeful
race ; no footprints of large standing armies,
whose errand on earth was to scourge and
to destroy.

Individual and personal responsibility, to
man and to his Creator, with its long train
of charities, diffusive benevolence, and other
blessings have also taken the place of as-
ceticism, seclusion, of veiled nuns and hood-
ed monks. When we shall be numbered
w ith the ancients, no mouldering abbey, in
the dim and misty retrospect, will lift its
spires and pointed gables above the clouds
of ignorance and superstition, in which its
foundation was laid. Education univer-
sally diffused, alike the hope of the patriot

470

FORMATION OF RURAL TASTE.

and the theme of the demagogue, with the
iron pen of the steam and the lightning,
is writing its record upon the monuments
we are now rearing along our pathway.

I cheerfully acknowledge my obligations
to a pen, very familiar to the readers of
this journal, for the most valuable efforts
in this delightful work of beautifying the
earth, and of moulding into forms of sur-
passing beauty the materials of which our
national rural taste is in process of forma-
tion. The country owes a debt of gratitude
for the Landscape Gardening, the Cottage
Architecture, the Fruits and Fruit Trees,
and the Horticulturist. I admire such
rich and tasteful displays of our noble art
as the manor of Livingston, Beaverwyck,
Blithewood, and others. These costly spe-
cimens of architectural grace and rural
beauty, while they elicit our admiration,
are perhaps in some danger of begetting in
the minds of the masses the erroneous im-
pression, that the pleasures of tasteful cul-
tivation are not within their reach. The
farmer, for instance, of one, five, or ten
thousand dollars, takes up a work on cot-
tage architecture. His eye glistens with
pleasure as he runs over its tasteful de-
signs. He commences reading, and goes
on with increasing interest until he comes
to the estimate ! He drops his book, and
raises his hands, in utter astonishment ;
and the vision of a rural cottage, with
beautiful grounds, at which his imagina-
tion had been busily at work, is gone for-
ever. Why, friend, did you think you
could build a house without money ? No,
quoth he; but who would think of abstract-
ing so large a sum from so small a capital ?
I wish you, Mr. Downing, to tell this man
how much of natural beauty he might ap-
propriate and enjoy at almost no cost at
all. Make him understand that there is a
bank, whose funds are exhaustless, upon

which he may draw, with the certainty that
his checks will never be dishonored ; al-
though he may have neither a manor of
Livingston, a Beaverwyck, or a Blithe-
wood for endorser. Let him listen to the
eloquent Lamartine : " Believe not that
those enjoyments are reserved for the
mighty of the earth, to the real owners of
riches or of gardens of celebrity, like those
of Versailles or the Tuilleries. * * *
No, there is no need of wealth, of magnifi-
cence, of extended domain, to enjoy all
that God has hidden of happiness in the
culture or spectacle of vegetable life. Those
are pleasures which it is not given to for-
tune to appropriate and monopolize. Nature
is never aristocratic. She has not endowed
the poor with other perceptions than the
rich, of natural delights, nor the idler than
the laboring man. * * * "j^f^e human
soul is endowed with such a faculty of ex-
tension and contraction that it can over-
flow the universe, and, like Alexander, find
it too narrow for its desires ; or it can con-
centrate, and, as it were, fold itself up,
upon a mere spot of earth, and exclaim,
with the sage of Tiber, with his half acre
sowed with mallows, and watered by a lit-
tle streamlet, — ' This little spot of earth is
all the world to me.' "

Every cit has his day-dream of a
country seat or suburban villa, where the
retired merchant, artist or professional man,
relieved from the bustle of business, is to
enjoy his eventide in the calmness and
quietude of rural life. He looks forward to
the time when the drudgery of business is
to be abandoned, or left to other hands ;
the slock of money or wisdom he has ac-
quired, standing as his permanent invest-
ment in the firm, against the labor, activity
and industry of the junior partner, on whose
head " no silver hair has yet appeared, to
mark the wane of lime." These imagin.

A HINT ON KITCHEN GARDENS.

471

ings are usually the substance, and the only
substance, of the things hoped for, and, as
frequently, the evidence of things not seen,
noi however, because the vision has no reali-
ty, but because there is no taste formed to en-
joy it. The man whose entire active life
has been devoted to legers, balance-sheets,
and bills of exchange, might as soon ex-
pect to turn his attention to shoeing horses,
and to find pleasure in the occupation, as
to be transformed into an admirer of na-
ture, which, after all, is the chief element
of rural enjoyment, by simply removing
from the city to the country. The city is
no hot-bed for the propagation of this rare
plant. Rural taste may, to a very limited
extent, perhaps, be transplanted from its
native soil to the town ; but like flowers,
in a dusty and illy ventilated room, it can
have but a sickly shrivelled existence there.
This taste, like any other power of the
■understanding, is to be redeemed from
man's natural downward tendency to lazi-
£iess, ignorance and depravity, and, like

any other mental bias, can be inculcated
with much greater facility early in life
than at any time afterwards. As we have
the elements of its universality in an ex-
tended proprietorship of the soil, I hope
yet to see the homes of our fair land made
beautiful to our eyes, and attractive to our
children. There is a sublime moral in
this. How many young men are entirely
ruined by the want of an attractive home.
A volume might be written upon this branch
of the subject; but, lest I be wearisome to
you, I will conclude these hints with my
own day-dream, which is, that all the
school-houses and homes of our land may
be made so attractive to our children, and
our children's children, that the vicious
pleasures and excitements of the town shall
not be sufficient to seduce them from their
love of the country, and to Him who, in the
benevolence of his nature, has given them
such ample sources of pleasure, and so rich
a heritage. S. B. Gookins.

Tent Haute, February 24, 1849.

A HINT ON KITCHEN GARDENS.

BY GEO. KIDD, RED-HOOK, N. Y.

Will you allow me, through the columns
of the Horticulturist, to suggest to those
about forming new gardens, that a devia-
tion from the usual European mode is de-
sirable. It is too generally the case, along
the Hudson, that the formality of the
kitchen-garden, and its close proximity
with the mansion, mars the effect of a fine
landscape ; and the necessarily tedious
mode of cultivating it, is by no means in
accordance with the energetic character of
the American-s. It is desirable, in many
respects, that the kitchen-garden should be
near the barn-yard, and so arranged that

the bulk of the work may be performed
with the 'plough.

The ground should be thoroughly sub-
soiled previous to cropping. Ail crops
should be in continuous rows, — allowing a
greater distance between the drills of the
smaller vegetables than in the old method.

There are various implements to be pro-
cured at the agricultural warehouses, adapt-
ed to the cultivatit n of even small vegeta-
bles, like onions, by horse power.

All cross-walks, alleys, and the usual
borders for flowers being dispensed with,
the ordinary allotment of space will still

472

VARIETY IN ORNAMENTAL PLANTATIONS.

answer. The advantages of this plan are,
first, a great saving of labor ; and next, the
oreater expedition vi^ith which the work is
done. The latter is an important consi-
deration to most of us on the Hudson ; as
the spring opens so late, there is much to
be accomplished in a short season. The
orardener will also be enabled to turn his
attention earlier, and more fully, to the

lawn, walks, shrubbery, &c., as well as the
cultivation of the finer fruits.

I introduced the practice with the plough
several years since, and the result has been
highly satisfactory. [Excellent advice. Ed.]

Respectfully yours, Geo. Kidd,

Gardener, with Robert Donaldson, Esq.,
Blithewood, Dutchess county, N. Y.

Red-Hook, N. Y. March 8, 1849.

VARIETY IN ORNAMENTAL PLANTATIONS.

BY WILLIAM BACON, RICHMOND, MASS.

Our American forests are justly the admi-
ration of all travellers. Rich, in tlie al-
most interminable variety of their products ;
majestic, in the huge, massive columns
they present, rising in grand sublimity to
support their own tall canopies ; their leaves,
varied in form, and beautiful in symmetry;
their flowers, of almost endless name and
hue ; it is no wonder that they attract the
notice, and call forth the raptures of all
admirers of what is rich in perfection and
beautiful in loveliness.

But it is amid the glowing scenes of au-
tumn, when the winds are pealing their
earliest dirge over the decay of summer;
when every leaf is arraying itself in the
drapery of death, dyed in its own heart's
blood ; when the hillside and the grove
present every hue that the imagination can
inspire, or the pencil portray, that our forest
retinue puts on its most fanciful garb, and
attracts, with most admiring wonder, the
fond gaze of all beholders.

\i variety makes the forest so beautiful,
why does it not give equal interest to our
parks and avenues ? Yet, in these reposi-
tories of improvement, how seldom do we
see its nature studied, or its interest ex-
cited! "All elms," was the exclamation

of an astonished visitor on Boston Common:,
the first time its graceful avenues burst
upon his vision. And in looking over the
studied lines or fine groups of trees, planted
by the hand of man in different sections of
the country, we find the same tasteless
similarity of kind to exist almost every-
where. In most sections, the maple has
been the subject of the mania ; and whether
soil or other circumstances would warrant
its success or not, the maple has been the
prominent favorite of all tree planters.

Why this unanimity and uniformity of
taste we never could determine ; but are
rather inclined to impute it to Yankee go-a-
head-ativeness, than any other cause. Ma-
ny, no doubt, will say its a beautiful tree ;
and what tree of all our lengthened voca-
bulary is not, when placed in circumstances
favorable to a full development ? Is not
the oak as beautiful, with its long, brawny
arms, or the elm, with its thousand tiny
twigs, growing from the ground to the
parting of the branches, and making it a
pillar of verdure, from the root to the apex?
What is more beautiful than the beech,
adapting itself to every form, the most ro-
mantic fancy can invent ? We have one
in our mind, at the present time, which has

VARIETY IN ORNAMENTAL PLANTATIONS.

473

had more genuine admirers, perhaps, than
any maple that ever grew. Its trunk rises
about seven feet before the branches, which
are very slim and thrown off. The original
top is nearly a semicircle, with branches
rather decurrent, top thick. For some six
or seven years, the main shoot has arisen
above the original head, and formed a
beautiful spire over its summit, so that its
present form is very prettily illustrated by

ing breeze ; and in autumn, the time of
" the sere and yellow," who will not see
beauty there, in that fading foliage, in
comparison of which that of our present
avenues, composed of single species, is but
a pleasing monotony.

In this age of rural improvement, when
parks are springing up by magic around a
thousand dwellings, and in places of public
resort, when tree-planting in our highways

a spread umbrella. And who knows but '■ and byways is giving beauty to the public

that other beech trees, planted out under
favorable circumstances, may assume equal-
ly fantastic forms. At any rate, they will
be beautiful in their expanding youth, and
grand trunks, and venerable heads, in

thoroughfare and the solitary place, is it
not reasonable to hope that a reform will
present itself — that nature will be followed
more, and dull, monotonous art studied less ?
Now that the kind influences of spring are

honorable age. Then there are also our ! again upon us, and nature is again wooing

hickories, the ash in its varieties, the birch,
and, indeed, the different tribes of our syl-
van denizens. How beautiful they would
all be, interspersed by the tasteful hand of
fancy by the wayside, or in groups, flourish-
ing in each other's shade, and with shel-
tering arms shielding each other from the
sunshine and the storm. Then, too, our
beautiful evergreens, (we protest against
the use of the pruning knife, in their be-
half,— get such as have roots and health,
to nourish all their branches,) our long
neglected, but rich and beautiful he?nlock,
the pines in their variety, with the firs, the
cedars and spruces, thrown in to give va-
riety to the foliage of summer; to act chief
mourners in the desolations of autumn, and
scatter many a cheerful smile along our
pathway, through the rugged storms and
cheerless cold of our winters.

Who would not love to wander through
such an avenue in spring, when nature is
bursting into life, and witness the varied
forms of leaf and flowers, as they expand
into perfect being ; to sit beneath their
shades in the heat of summer, when in
their fullness of verdure they woo the cool-

us back to her fond embrace, by her resist-
less charms ; now that thousands are busy
in enriching their grounds wiih her noble
offerings, will not ma7iy of all the number-
less planters help to carry out this project,
of varied tree-planting.

We are aware that the objection may
come up, that the farmer is in a busy sea-
son, and that others are engaged in pur-
suits that leave but little time for the em-
ployment ; therefore, they must put out
such trees as are most easily obtained, and
will be most likely to succeed. But let us
remember that we plant for ages ; that
other generations will arise to admire or
reprove our taste, and enter upon the reali-
ties of our creation, to enjoy the shades,
and gaze upon the beauties we have scat-
tered around. And in view of this, who
will not be stimulated to do well and wisely
what he undertakes ? The extra labor of
planting a tree well, — what is it, compared
with the success attending its performance?
Even if a few less are planted this spring,
or next autnmn, in consequence of the pains
to have it well done, a realization will be
found more than sufficient for the toil.

474

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS.

You j'ourselves will be encouraged in the
labors of your own hands ; and others,
hitherto faint-hearted and inactive, v/ill
witness your triumphs, and imitate your
example, in these labors of private interest
and public philanthropy; and so the work

will move on, through your influence, until
its consummation is attained, and our cul-
tivated landscapes, in their farthest nooks,
are clothed in new beauty and loveliness.
William Bacon.

Richmond, Mass.. March. 1819.

NOTES ON THE FORMATION OP VINE BORDERS.

BY WM. SAUNDERS, NEW-HAVEN, CT.

There is, at present, considerable attention
directed to the nature of the soil most suita-
ble for the growth of the grape-vine; and,
notwithstmding all that has been written
about it, the subject appears still undeter-
mined, if we are to judge from the many
dissenting opinions that are from time to
time promulgated. As it is by the inter-
change of ideas that we can correct false
impressions, and ascertain true principles
in any branch of science, I beg to offer the
following remarks, in the hope of promoting
the end in view.

We are informed, by the valuable re-
searches of chemists, that all soils contain
organic and inorganic matters ; the first of
these embrace carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
(fee; and the latter, potash, soda, lime, mag-
nesia, alumina, iron, silica, manganese,
sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, &c. These
ingredients are again found in more or less
quantities in all plants ; hence, it has been
established as an axiom, that the soil which
contains the greatest quantity of the con-
stituents of plants, is the most suitable to
their grow^th.

Chemical analyses have also established
the fact, that turf s from old pastxtres pre-
sent the greatest quantity of those constitu-
ents ; the organic part of which, yields to
plants humic, ulmic, geic and other acids,
and supplying, by its decay, in contact
Math the air which penetrates the soil, am-

monia, carbonic acid, and other nutritive
substances ; and also liberating inorganic,
that is, saline and earthy matters.

We farther learn, from analysis, that
fresh stable manure, contains more or
less of nearly all the inorganic constituents
of plants, and from 20 to 25 per cent, of
organic matters ; and, I believe, it is con-
sidered to contain more of all the constitu-
ents than any other manure, and evolves,
during decomposition, considerable quanti-
ties of carbonic acid gas, ammonia, &c.

This, then, would be my material for
growing grape-vines. I would take bits of
the turf, not exceeding four or five inches
in thickness, from an old pasture of good
loamy soil. I would add about one-fourth
part fresh stable manure, as free of litter
as possible ; turn it in rough, and mix it
well with broken bones, or rough charcoal.
These, mechanically, would keep the mass
of soil open and porous, and allow a free
circulation of the atmospheric gases ; and
chemically, the bones would supply phos-
phate of lime, and other necessary ele-
ments, while the charcoal would condense
ammonia, and by its colour increase the
warmth of the soil. If additional stimulants
were necessary, I would supply them in
properly prepared liquids, which is the most
scientific and beneficial manner of applying
manure to the roots of plants. " Solid
substances, whether vegetable, animal, or

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS.

475

mineral, cannot be inlioduced into the or-
gans of plants, except in a state of solution
with water, or when they are so minutely
divided as to be carried along by adhering
to that fluid." Another advantage is, that
these can be applied at the very time the
plants are in most need of it.

I have been led into these remarks by
reading, in the Horticulturist of the present
month, a letter from a " New-Jersey Sub-
scriber," advocating the introduction of
dead carcases, &c., into grape-vine borders;
but I confess my inability to comprehend
his meaning, when he states that — " They
should be freely mixed with the border, in
such a position that the roots of the vines
will not reach them until the flesh, fat, &c.,
is reduced to a proper condition for their
consumption." I have taxed my ingenuity
to find out this fosifion, but have failed.
The " mixing it freely with the border,"
and, at the same time, giving it a particular
" position," perplexes me. But, would this
not contain a superabundance of organic
matter ? I fear so. Thirty pounds of flesh
contain as much nitrogen as one thousand
pounds of manure. Besides, "Animal sub-
stances, in the act of decomposition, commu-
nicate their own conditions to other sys-
tems capable of entering into the same
state, if no cause exist in these parts by
which the change may be counteracted or
destroyed." That no such cause exists in
the roots of the vine, I have had ample
proof. I have seen several instances, and
heard of a good many more, where dead
animals were introduced into vine borders,
and in every case it has led to ultimate
failure. I have seen it mixed freely with
the soil, and also placed at a considerable
distance from where the vines were plant-
ed ; and in all cases that have come under
my notice, the plants made a useless luxu-
riant growth for two or three years, pro-
ducing little or no fruit, and that of a bad

colour and flavor; and on examining the
roots, I invariably found, that wherever they
had come in contact with the putrid flesh,
they were entirely dead for a long way up.
On the other hand, from borders made
up with loamy turf, in the manner stated
above, I have seen the most beautiful crops
of grapes produced. From such, I hnve
cut Black Hamburghs, weighing from four
to six pounds a bunch, of exquisite colour
and flavor. A border made of these mate-
rials, laid on a well drained subsoil, either
naturally or artificially made so, and judi-
ciously top-dressed occasionally, to keep the
roots near the surface. I have no doubt
would stand good for half a century, with-
out any danger of losing a crop, at least, as
far as the soil is concerned.

These are my views of the subject ; and
if I am wrong, none will feel happier in
being convinced of it. I might have en-
tered more fully into detail, but consider
this sufficient for my present purpose. I
have no desire to dictate, but leave every
one to form their own opinion. Past expe-
rience has induced me to make these re-
marks, as a caution to the sanguine and
unwary, lest their first hopes should be
blighted. And in conclusion, (as I observe
a tendency to the contrary,) I would sug-
gest that we bear in mind the old adage,
and let us have "soft words and hard ar-
guments."

I agree with Mr. Gabriel, that the grape-
vine will, in this climate, reward the culti-
vator, under proper treatment, sooner than
any other fruit tree with which I am ac-
quainted. I have seen eight pounds of fruit
cut from one plant, within twenty months
from the time that a single eye was put in
to strike root. This was grown in a pot, in
turfy loam and charcoal, stimulated with
liquid manure. Wm. Saunders,

Gardener to Wm. Bostwick, Esq.

New-Haven, Cmn-, Feb. 16, 1849.

A VISIT TO KBW, THE ENG-LISH NATIONAL GARDEN.

BV P. BARRY, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

In an ornamental point of view, there is I
not in England, and I might perhaps sa}' in
Europe, a place so interesting, at this mo- |
m'^nt, as the Royal Botanic Gardens of j

Kew. Previous to 1840, thev were the |

I

property of the reigning sovereign; but
since that time, they have become public
property, and are now accessible to all,
and, as fai- as possible, made subservient to
the public good.

Since this change, the grounds have been
pTealiy extended, by the addition of a por-
tion of the adjoining property of the king
of Hanover, and of the royal pleasure-
grounds. The old kitcheti and forcing gar-
dens have also been thrown in, — this de-
partment having been removed to Windsor;
thus giving to the gardens, to be devoted
exclusively to ornamental trees and plants,
an area, I believe, of nearly 200 acres.
This enlargement, and the changes and
improvements consequent upon it, as well
as a thorough renovation of the old houses
and grounds, have completely transformed
the appearance and condition of the whole
establishment, and placed it in a condition
that entitles it to the name of the National
Garden. I was unfortunate in my visit, in
being overtaken by a rainy day, that greatly
diminished the pleasure and extent of my
observations. I ought to have had a week,
instead of a day, to examine such an im-
mense collection of interesting objects. As
it was, I had to exercise a great deal of
self-denial. On entering the grounds, the
first object that claimed my attention was
the old arboretum. I had it in my mind
beforehand ; and I thought I must first of
all pay it my respects. It is a circular
piece of ground, somewhat elevated, cir-

cumscribed by a w^alk, and very closely
planted with hardy trees and shrubs, of
great interest. I noticed fine specimens of
Tarkry Oak, Cork Tree, Oriental Plane,
Cedar of Lebanon, &c. Of American trees,
I saw fine Li?idens, Sassafras, Lotus, or
Bate Plum, and many others. On one
side stands the remains of a magnificent
Cedar of Lebanon, that lost its top in a gale
some eight years ago. Its gigantic branches
cover I should think, 200 feet of ground.
Close by the arboretum, and connected
with it, is a fine collection of the new and
rare evergreens. Prominent among these,
is a beautiful Indian Cedar, (Deodora,)
about 30 feet high, perhaps the oldest and
finest in Europe; and here, I must add,
that this noble tree is worthy of every wrord
of eulogium that its most enthusiastic ad-
mirers have bestowed upon it. It is per-
fectly hardy, and grows rapidly; its habit
is exeedingly graceful, and its foliage dense,
and of a beautiful silvery green. This spe-
cimen is clothed from bottom to top with
branches, forming a perfect pyramid, cover-
ing at the base probably 70 feet of ground,
and standing, as it does, on a bright green
lawn, — you may well imagine how charm-
ing. And then, its wood is hard, fine
grained, and almost incorruptible, — render-
ing it of immense value as a timber tree.
No wonder, therefore, that there should be
such a mania for this tree, in a tree-loving
and tree-planting country. It is said that
Solomon, in embellishing the city of Jeru-
salem, " made Cedars [of Lebanon] as plen-
ty as Sycamores, that grow on the plains."
There is every prospect that this Indian
Cedar will, in time, be as plentiful as the
Larch or Scotch Fir, on the hills of England

THE ENGLISH NATIONAL GARDEN.

477

and Scotland. In this group are some fine
specimens of the new and rare spruces ; for
instance, a i^j^o-Zam, (Douglass' Spruce,) 30
feet high; Morhida, or Smithiana, (Smith's
Himalayan Spruce,) 5 feet; and of the sil-
ver fir tribe, a fine Wehbiana, 6 feet high ;
of the Pine tribe, there are a great many
of the rarer sorts from southern Europe,
such as the Cemhra, or Cemlran Pine, La-
ricio, or Corsican Pine, Pinea, or Slo?ie
Pine, each 20 to 30 feet ; and Austriaca,
or Black Pine, — a hardy fine species ; and
from Mexico and California, bordering on
the Pacific, Pinus insignis, a remarkable
pine, 5 feet high, — an elegant tree, remarka-
ble for the grassy greenness of its foliage
at all seasons, not very hardy, but appears
to do well ; Pinus sabiniana, (Sabine's Pine,)
12 feet high, — a very pretty tree; the ends
of the branches are like plumes ; Pinus
Coulteri, (Coulter's Pine,) resembles the
former, — having the same glaucous foliage,
but the leaves are upright; Pinus excelsa,
or Bhotan Pine, a noble tree, with some-
thing of the habit and appearance of our
White Pine ; and many others.

From this interesting group of trees, I
passed to the plant-houses. There are of
these, I believe, upwards of twenty. Each
one is numbered, and, as far as practica-
ble, devoted to one family or closely allied
families of plants ; for instance, No. 1,
the old Conservatory, a fine stone building,
near the entrance, formerly filled with
palms, recently removed to the great
palmstove, of which I shall speak presently,
now filled with large and beautiful speci-
mens of Proteas, Banksias, Dryandrias, &c.
No. 2, called the Orangery; an old house,
built in 1761, occupied till 1841 with orange
trees, now filled with the rare and more
tender conifers, such as Arauearxa excelsa,
or Norfolk Island Pine ; a tree of surpass-
ing beauty, but unfortunately tender, and

fit only to grace the conservatory in winter,
or the lawn in summer. There are speci-
mens here of various ages and sizes, some
of them the largest in Europe, except that
in the " Jardin d'Hiver," in Paris. There
are also fine specimens of Canninghami,
Braziliana, and of Pinus longi folia, {long
leaved pine,) and many others, besides im-
mense specimens of Rhododendron arbore-
um. Camellias, Camphor Tree, &c. &c.

Coming to the smaller houses, we find
No. 3 filled, mainly, with succulent plants,
as Crapulas, Mesembryanthemums, Semper-
virums, &c. Another with Gloxinias, Ges-
nerias, Achimenes, &c. Another with New-
Holland plants, such as Epacris, Heaths,
and Acacias. Another with Cactus, Eu-
phorbias, and Stapelias. Of the cacti, the
collection is immense. They are divided
into classes, such as Melocactus, Echinocac-
tus, Opuntias, Rhipsalis, &c.; and among
them are specimens of extraordinary size ;
some are said to weigh nearly seven hun-
dred pounds. And among the Euphorbias
are some nearly as large as a flour barrel.
Another house is devoted to Camellias ;
another to Ferns ; another to Orchideous
plants ; which latter now attract a great
deal of attention. Leaving the smaller
houses, we come to the Great Palm Stove,
which Sir Wm. Hooker calls " the glory of
the gardens ;" and so it really is. There
is not, I think, in Europe its equal for ele-
gance and completeness of finish; and so,
well it may be, for it cost about £40,000,
($200,000.)

It consists of a centre and two wings, (as
you will see by Fig. 51.) The whole length
362 feet ; the centre is 100 feet wide, and
66 feet high ; and the wings 50 feet wide,
and 30 high. It is entirely constructed of
iron, stone, brick, and sheet glass, — not a
particle of wood being about it. The roof
is circular. The iron posts are inserted in

478

THE ENGLISH NATIONAL GARDEN.

f^^-'l^^^

Fig. 51. — nt Great Palm-House at Kew.

great Cornish granite blocks. It is heated
by 12 furnaces, and by hot-water pipes and
tanks, carried beneath the floor. The ag-
gregate length of these pipes is about five
miles. The smoke from the furnaces is
conveyed through a subterranean flue, in a
brick tunnel, 6 feet high, (through which
one may conveniently pass,) to the distance
of about 400 feet, where an ornamental
shaft or tower is erected 96 feet high. In
the top of this chimney and tower is a re-
servoir to supply the houses with water;
and at its base is a coal yard, and from
this the coal is conveyed on a railroad
through the tunnel alluded to. In the cen-
tre of the building is a gallery 30 feet high
from the floor, ascended by a spiral stair-
case. From this gallery the plants are
easily watered over the top ; and the taller
plants are more easily examined, and ap-
pear to much better advantage than from
the floor level. It is really a charming
sight which you have from this gallery,
looking down on magnificent Palms, Sugar
Canes, Cocoa Nut Trees, the great Strelit-
zia Augusta, and many rare and beautiful
tropical trees, in the most healthy and
luxuriant condition.

It affords one some positive idea of tro-
pical vegetation. The plants are all in
tubs, so that each one is placed where it

ought to be, and can be moved about as
circumstances may require. All the pil-
lars in the house are clothed with climbing
plants of variety and beauty. A Thtmber-
gia grandijlora had reached to the summit.
I was so much interested in examining
matters in general, that I had little time to
note any detail ; but I saw a fine collec-
tion of Begonias in bloom ; the beautiful
Pentas carnea, covered with blossoms ; Gold-
fussia gypsophyUa, with very pretty light
blue flowers ; Plumbago rosea, from the
East Indies, profusely covered with delicate
rosy blossoms.

The design and finish of this structure,
and the arrangement and condition of the
plants now in it, reflect the highest credit
on Sir William Hooker, and Mr. Smith,
the director and curator of the garden, not-
withstanding they have had appropriations
of money at will, which can accomplish
almost anything.

On one side of the house is a pretty mi-
niature lake, (as you will see in cut;) and
the grounds around the house are being
suitably laid out in flower gardens, &c.
Some 30 or 40 men were busy grading and
laying down turf, &c., when I was there.
An extensive Pinetum is also being formed
in its vicinity.

Returning from the Palm-house, we have

THE ENGLISH NATIONAL GARDEN.

479

a fine view of a noble walk, not long laid
out, almost through the centre of the
grounds, and intended to be the main path
from the entrance to the Palm-house. On
each side of this walk is a row of fine young
Deodar Cedar, designed to form an avenue.
There are, also secondary rows, on each
side, of Junipers, Cypresses, &c., besides
clumps of Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Azale-
as, Laurels, Bays, Laurustinus, &cc. This
is a broad and beautiful walk ; and in a
few years, when the trees have attained
size enough to be conspicuous, it will be,
altogether, the most delightful promenade
about London, with all its beautiful parks
and promenades.

I must not omit to mention the Museum,
in which I spent a very pleasant and profi-
table hour. It is destined to be one of the
most useful and interesting departments.
The design is to collect in it all kinds of
fruits, seeds, sections of wood, gums, resins,
drugs, dyestuffs, and all curious and useful
products of the vegetable kingdom. The
collection is yet comparatively small, having
been commenced but little more than a
year ago ; still, there are a vast number of
interesting objects. I noted Gutta percha,
in a vast variety of manufactured articles,
and stages of preparation ; Caoutchuc, the
same ; Wax Palm, of Brazil, and the wax
in a pure state ; Ivory Palm, Manilla Hemp,
and articles manufactured from it ; Jute,
the fibre of Corchorus capsularis, from India,
of which, it is said, one and a half millions
of dollars' worth is annually imported to
Great Britain ; Pottery Tree of Para, and
specimens of the beautiful ware made from
it ; Aerial roots, of a central American
palm, so spiry that graters are made from
it ; Ropes, made of the inner bark of a spe-
cies of Hibiscus ; Paper cloth, in great va-
riety, made from the paper mulberry ; Ve-
getable Ivory Nut, — articles manufactured

from it; Hats, made at Singapore, of the
pith of a tree ; beautiful Paper, made of an
East Indian Daphne, (carmabiana ;) Lace
bark, in various forms, from the Lagetta
tinctoria ; Dyewood, such as Logtvood, Fits-
tic, Barwood, &c., in a prepared state, be-
side parts of the trees ; Pens, of a Chinese
reed; many beautiful maritime plants, seeds
and fruits, from all parts of the world, pre-
served ; and fine paintings of flowers, —
those of the splendid Victoria Regia, [the
new immense water lily,] are the most at-
tractive. These are but a few of the
objects I find on my memorandum; but
enough to show that a good beginning has
been made. .

Connected with the museum is a fine
library, but I had no time to examine it.
In these hasty notes, I have omitted to
mention a multitude of things that inte-
rested me much, such as fine specimens of
trees and plants, that I met everywhere, in
the grounds and in the houses. 20 vears
hence, under the present skilful and liberal
management, Kew alone will be worth a
journey across the Atlantic. What im-
mense benefits such an establishment must
confer upon a nation!

When do you suppose a move will be
made in this country for a national garden ?
We ought to have one that Avould surpass
all others ; and we would, too, if men but
loved trees and plants half as much as they
do gold and silver. We have no volun-
teers to go to California to collect seeds and
plants, as the English have done ; but we
have thousands to dig for dirty gold.

P. B.

Rochester, March, 1849.

Our readers will thank Mr. Barry, who
has just returned from Europe, for his
highly interesting account of the Kew Gar-
dens.

480

THE SUREST MODE OF GROWING MELONS.

We agree entirely with him, in his esti-
mate of the benefit which would accrue
from the possession of a great national gar-
den in this country. Its annual cost would
be a trifling one to the nation ; and the in-

troducti)n of a single new plant, which,
like cotton, should become a great staple,
would pay the nation a hundred fold for all
its cost. We shall return to this subject at
some fitting opportunity. Ed.

THE SUREST MODE OP GROWING MELONS.

Nothing, in this country, surprises a gar-
dener from England, or the north of Eu-
rope, more than the facility with which, in
almost every part of the United States,
melons are grown. To go into the mar-
kets of New-York or Philadelphia, in the
month of August, and see not only the
markets filled with melons, of delicious
quality, and sold at a few cents each, but
besides, those countless sloop-loads, lying
at the wharfs, and wagon-loads, standing
in the streets ; all this gives him the im-
pression of having arrived in a tropical, in-
stead of a temperate climate. In fact, our
summers are as warm as those of the tro-
pics ; and all fruits or vegetables which de-
mand only a few months of growth to ar-
rive at perfection, succeed admirably in all
but one or two of the coldest of the eastern
states.

There are two little obstacles, however,
to the easy culture of the melon in some
parts of the country. The first, is the
striped-hug, which makes its appearance
along with the first two leaves of the young
plant, and devours them sometimes in a
twinkling; so that, not unfrequently, it is
necessary to sow the seed two or three
times over to get a regular crop under way.
The second, is the shortness of the sum-
mers north of New-York, which makes the
melon crop, grown in the open ground,
rather later than is desirable.

To guard against both these obstacles,
we have found the following simple me-

thod, (which is not new to us,) so excellent,
and so certain, that we gladly recommend
it to all our readers who find their melon
crop unsatisfactory, from either of the two
causes pointed out :

Provide j^ourself with a couple of com-
mon hot-bed sashes. Choose a sheltered
spot, in an open sunny aspect. Take two
or three boards, about eight or ten inches
wide, and, laying your sashes on the ground
side by side, mark their size on the surface
of the soil. Then make a frame, (or bot-
tomless box,) by nailing four pieces of
board together, so that the sashes will just
cover the frame. Set the frame on the
surface of the ground, the front (which
faces the south,) a trifle lower than the
back, so that the water will run off" the
glass. Level the surface of the soil inside
the frame.

This frame should be made ready about
the time you would plant melons in the
open ground, — say, in this climate, about
the first of May. (If yoa desire an early
crop, you may commence ten days sooner.)

The frame is intended, first, to start the
melons with a little more shelter than the
open air; and second, to guard them
against the striped-bug, till they are past
the danger of its attack; that is, till they
have made two rough leaves, when the in-
sect seldom troubles them.

No manure is needed ; and, consequently,
scarcely any of the trouble of a hot-bed ;
none of the careful watching, and regular

THE SUREST MODE OF GROWING MELONS.

4S1

attention, which a hot-bed demands earlier
in the season.

In order to be able to remove the young
plants, at the proper time, from the frame
to the open hills where they are to grow,
the seeds must be sown on sods. This is
at once the cheapest and the best of all
modes of raising seedlings, to be trans-
planted; because the planting in sod is taken
up and replanted with all the roots upon it,
which are not in the least disturbed.

Choose any mellow piece of turf, and cut
the sods in uniform pieces, six inches square
and two or three inches thick. Lay these
squares of sod side by side, with the grass
side downwards, so as to cover the surface
of the soil inside the frame. They should,
(to facilitate after removal,) be placed about
half an inch apart, so as to be the more
easily detached by-and-by. Next, cover
them about an inch and a half deep, with
some of the richest garden soil at your
command. Then take a stick and make
lines on the surface of the soil, exactly cor-
responding to the squares of the sods be-
low the soil. This will tell you exactly
where to plant the seeds.

As every one of these little squares of
sods will form one hiil of melons when
transplanted, sow the seeds in the soil
which covers them accordingly; that is,
plant six or eight seeds to each square, and
then thin out, when the plants form their
rough leaves, to four plants.

We have said that no manure or bottom
heat is necessary. The warmth of the sun,
indeed, is such that, in bright days, you
will have to open the frames for a couple
of hours or more, in order not to bring the
plants on too rapidly, — keeping them cover-
ed at night, and in all unfavorable weather.

About the 20th of May, or as soon as the
plants have formed two strong rough leaves,

and the season is become warm and set-
tled, prepare the hills ihorouglily, where
the melons are to grow, by manuring and
trenching them deeply. Choose a moist
day; and comcnencing on one side of the
frame, slip the blad^ of a spade or trans-
planting trowel under one of the squares of
sod. As you raise it up, place your hand
under it, and you will find that it can be
lifted up and carried to any part of the
garden, without in the least disturbing the
roots of the plants. Now open the surface
of the hill, and pla?it the sod, watering it
gently, and drawing the earth around the
young plants. If done with even tolerable
cleverness, they will not feel the removal
in the least, (though melons are quite sus-
ceptible in their roots, and often fail en-
tirely on turning them out of pots.) The
sod itself gradually decomposes, furnishing
excellent soil for the roots.

The plants should have been previously
prepared for the open air, by gradually ex-
posing them to the weather day and night,
(leaving them uncovered with glass.) for a
few days previous to the removal.

We find no difficulty whatever with the
striped-bug, in this mode of growing melons.
The plants are kept covered for the greater
part of the time, while they are in the ten-
der stage, and the insects do not find their
way to them till the leaves are too rough to
be palatable. The cold winds of the early
part of the season, which frequently so far
check melons, sown in the open ground, a-
to greatly injure the crop, are by this mode
completely guarded against.

A common two-light frame, made in this
rough way, will give giants enough to sup-
ply a moderate family fully with melons ;
and those who have experienced any of the
difficulties we have pointed out, may make
a trial of this mode the present season.

Vol. hi.

31

THE JAPAN CEDAR.

Fig. 52. — The Nero Japan Cedar, from a Tree six feet hi^

Thk English periodicals abound with inte-
resting notices of this tree, which, along
with the Beodara, or Indian Cedar, is de-
cidedly the rage in that evergreen loving
country.

The Japan Cedar, [Cryptomeria japoni-
ca,) which is nearly allied to the Cypress,
is one of the many treasures brought home
by Mr. Fortune, the Chinese traveller, to
the London Horticultural Society. As it
grows in the north of China, about Shan-
gai, where the thermometer sinks nearly to
zero, and forms large forests on 'the moun-

tains of Japan, at the height of more than
1000 feet, it follows that it is a hardy ever-
green in all temperate climates.
' The English accounts of this tree state,
that for beauty, and rapidity of growth, it
has no rivals among hardy evergreen trees.
In the garden of the London Horticultural
Society, young trees have grown four feet
in a single season. It is described by some
of its admirers, a? the "Queen of Evergreen
Trees." Its peculiar beauty is in the grace-
ful drrop of its branches. It is a great fa-
vorite in China for avenues, growing up JOO

ITALIAN VILLA.

PRINCIPAL FLOOR.

Hort : April. 184'J

DESIGN FOR A VILLA IN THE ITALIAN STYLE.

483

feet high, with a remarkably straight stem,
and dense and handsome foliage. The
wood is said to be very hard, and elastic,
and " withstands the most terrific winds or
monsoons which sometimes devastate that
country. It is employed in China for the
high poles, which are everywhere placed
at the dwellings of mandarins, to denote
their rank, where it lasts fur ages."

The Japan Cedar is said to be as hardy in
England as the Deodar Cedar. As the lat-
ter tree, even in young specimens, has, in
this country, withstood without injury a
winter lemp-.Tature of 6° below the zero of
Fahrenheit, we may safely say that the
Japan Cedar, or Cryptomeria, will endure
the winters of the middle states, and pos-
sibly those of the eastern states, in proper
situations, i. e., those sheltered from sudden
thawin^s in winter.

The soil considered most favorable to the
growth of this tree, is a sandy loam, mixed
with some peat or leaf-mould. Those in-
clined to plant it where there is doubt of
its standing the winter, will take care that
the subsoil is well drained when preparing
to plant it.

This tree is, of course, yet very scarce in
this country. Plants about a foot high may,
however, be obtained of Buisx, Paesons,
and other leading nurserymen. Ellwang-
ER & Barry have also, we notice, imported
a few for sale, and for trial, in the interior
of this state. Every amateur will be glad
to make trial of a tree that promises to add
so much to the beauty of our lawns and
pleasure grounds ; and we hope, in another
season, the Japan Cedar, if found quite
hardy, will be imported, so as to be af-
forded at a moderate price in our nurseries.

DESIGN FOR A VILLA EST THE ITALIAN STYLE.

We present our readers, in the frontispiece
of this number, with a design for a villa,
in the Italian style.

It is a symmetrical and handsome eleva-
tion, suitable for an open country, and de-
mands the support of foliage, and pictu-
resque scenery, much less than an edifice
in a more irregular style.

The entrance front is that opposite to the
view shown in the elevation. The promi-
nent feature in the front, shown in the
frontispiece, is the arcade, (or large broad
" piazza,") so spacious as to form a fine
apartment for summer use. Its connection
with the saloon, the finest apartment of the
principal floor, gives an elegance to the ar-
rangement of this floor seldom found in
villas of this size, and peculiarly suited to
some of our fine river sites in the middle
states.

Fig. 53.— Plan of the Chamber Floor.

484

GENERA OF THE PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES, &c.

The plan of the second floor, Fig. 53,
shows six bed-rooms of good size. The
basement story of this house would contain
the kitchen and domestic offices.

The almost cubical form of this design,
renders it much less costly in construction
than a more irregular villa of the same ca-

pacity. Having the kitchen, etc., below, it
is peculiarly adapted to a site where the
grounds are so arranged that every side of
the dwelling is exposed to view.

The estimated cost of this design, exe-
cuted in a substantial manner in brick and
stucco, is $8,000.

REVIEWS.

I. Thk Genera of the Plants of the United
States. By Asa Gray, M. D. Illustrated by
figures and analyses from nature. By Isaac
Sprague. Vol. 1, 8vo. 100 plates.

We ought to have noticed this most admi-
rable work at an earlier date ; for it is de-
serving of the highest praise we can bestow
upon it.

It is a truly scientific volume, and one
that is welcomed by the botanical student
everywhere. It has been most favorably
received abroad ; and Prof. Lindley says,
in a notice published lately, "its importance
in a systematic point of view can hardly be
overrated. Dr. Gray js the first of Ameri-
can systematic botanists."

The volume is most excellently and faith-
fully illustrated ; and no European work,
yet published, excels it in the perfection
and accuracy of the drawings, which are
made by Mr. Spkague.

The purpose of this work, is to place be-
fore the student a clear and concise view
of the characters of all the genera of North
American plants. Along with the descrip-
tion, is given the figure of a species of every
genus, showing, in detail, the foliage, fruc-
tification, and inflorescence. Every stu-
dent of botany cannot command that per-
sonal instruction from able masters which
will enable him to understand all the mi-
nutiae of arrangement and organization,
upon which botanical classification and ar-

rangement depend. Such persons will find
that clear and perspicuous illustrations like
these, are of far more value to him in at-
taining his object than anything but the di-
rect services of the very best instructors.

The volume now published is only the
commencement of the work. The whole
will be completed in several volumes, and
will form the most valuable work, in the
department of science to which it belongs,
yet published in America. We cordially
commend it to the attention of every bota-
nist and every student of botany. They
can add no more valuable volume to their
scientific library.

II. Proceedings of the National Convention of
Fruit-growers , held in the city of New-York,
October 10, 1848. Pamphlet, 8vo. 52 pages.

This long delayed report of the conven-
tion, held at New- York last autumn, is at
last published. The delay was, we be-
lieve, owing to its having been under the
disadvantage of an absence of the secreta-
ries (under whose supervision it has been
published,) from New-York, where it was
printed ; so that it has been carried through
the press at a very slow pace.

As almost every reader of this journal
will probably be in possession of the report
before this number reaches them, we need
not enter into any extended examination of
its contents. So far as regards the bust-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

485

ness accomplished at this convention, our
pages have sometime ago placed an ac-
count of it before our readers.

Its principal value to most of our read-
ers, however, lies in the comparative opi-
nions, which it contains, respecting the
value of different varieties of fruits culti-
vated in this country. As this convention
embraced the largest assemblage of the
best practical amateurs, pomologists, and
fruit-growers, ever assembled in the United
States ; and as the discussions on fruits oc-
cupied two days, a great deal of highly
valuable information was elicited. Every
person, therefore, who is engaged i^i the
culture of new or old varieties, will find
much to interest him in the report of these
discussions, relating, as it does, to the suc-
cess or failure, the merits or the faults of a
considerable part of the varieties now most
in repute in this country.

Those who were not present at this con-
vention will find, even in the brief account

given of these discussions, abundant proof
of the value of such meetings to the country
at large.

The universal feeling at this convention,
however, was, that the good work was only
commenced last October. To achieve what
this convention proposes to do, requires not
only the ablest collective talent in the coun-
try, and time to perform the necessary labor,
but, more than all, a broad and suitable
foundation, upon which these labors shall
rest. The leading motive of action, there-
fore, at this convention, was to lay this
foundation, by a systematic and thorough
organization, and by the appointment of the
most able committees in almost every state
in the Union. Now that this has been
done, and the whole machinery of a really
national association is at work, we may
confidently hope for the most desirable re-
sults, at the next session, which it is within
the province or the ability of such a body to
accomplish.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

POMOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS. A. J. Downillg,

Esq., Editor Horticulturist — In the March num-
ber of the Horticulturist appears an editorial arti-
cle on the subject of " Pomological Conventions,"
which, upon its face, is so manifestly unfair, in
regard to the acts of the New- York State Agri-
cultural Society, touching its proceedings con-
nected with the session of the " North American
Pomological Convention, in September last, at
Buffalo, that, reluctant as I am to appear in any
public matter where a controversy is involved, I
am induced to ask you, as a mere matter of jus-
tice, the insertion of this communication in the
Horticulturist.

As the article to which I allude is recorded in
the columns of this periodical, it is unnecessary to
quote any portion of its language ; but as the en-
tire drift of it is an apparent reflection upon the
legitimacy of the Buffalo Pomological Convention,
you will permit me to give a brief chronicle of the
doings of the N. Y. State Ag. Society on the sub-
ject of fruits, for the past three years, that the
public may judge whether it has so far travelled

out of its proper range of duty as you would pre-
mise.

Tliat Society is an independent body, and, I
take it, has unlimited discretion as to the selec-
tion of what sub-divisions of agriculture it will
devote its attention. In view of the disorderly
condition of the fruit cultivation in this state, and
of inducing some reform into a system of intelli-
gent pro})agation of the best fruits among our rural
population, in January, 1846, at the annual meet-
ing of the Society in Albany, a Pomological Com-
mittee was appointed to report a select list of the
different fruits to recommend for cultivation, and
report thereon at the next annual meeting. This
is the first attempt made in any American society
within my knowledge, to introduce a reform into
the classitication of our domestic fruits, and to
select from tliem a circle of choice kinds for culti-
vation. At the next annual meeting of the So-
ciety in January, 1847, that duty was discharged
by the committee, in part, and the fruits recom-
mended approved by the Society, a list of which
will be found in its volume of Transactions for the

486

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

year 1846. The committee was continued by the
Society, who, in January, 184S, made another
report, whicli is published in the Society's Tran-
sactions for 1847. A short time after that, the
executive committee of the Society resolved to
call a Pomological Convention, to meet at Buf-
falo in September, 1848, to be composed of all
such, either in the state of New- York, or from
other states, as should think proper to attend — as
much a national convention as anj' that has been
held since, and having no other connection witli
the State Agricultural Society or its officers than
such as common courtesy demanded. That con-
vention met, and was composed of a numerous
body of professional pomologists, and amateurs
from at least half the states in the Union, although
some prominent gentlemen abstained from giving
it the light of their countenance, for reasons wliich
have been pretty thoroughly developed thmugli
the proceedings of the " National Congress of
Fruit-Growers," and the columns of the Horti-
culturist since.

Notwithstanding the super cedeas served upon
the N. A. Pomological Convention by the coin-
mittes of the " Congress," and their reiterated
assertion of its dissolution, I cannot discover why,
■ in the executive committee which that body ap-
pointed, its existence is not as apparent as when
in actual session, and also, M'hy that commiltee
are not in the full and proper exercise of all its
functions, until they declare their own dissolution,
or their principals do it for them. So much for
legitimacy and vitality.

As to whether the gentlemen appointed to act
on the committee of the N. A. Convention, choose
to do so or not, that is a matter of taste and in-
clination, purely within themselves ; or whether
that body may ever choose again to reassemble,
will depend upon their own volition. Before ad-
journment, however, it did appoint smother nicct-
ino- to be held at such place as the next Show of
the N. Y. State Ag. Society should be held; and
I doubt exceedingly whether any resolution or
mandate issuing either from another body of the
kind, be it " Congress " or individual, can suni-
mai'ily sponge out its appointments. The simple
truth is — and it cannot be controverted — tliat the
body which styled itself the " North American
Pomological Convention," called by the N. Y.
State Agricultural Society, was the first body of
the kind having " an odor of nationality" about
it, which assembled in our countiy.

Now, how stands the matter with the " Con-
gress," which its advocates contend to be the
only existing; organized pomological national body
of the kind. Why, thus: and I intend no imputa-
tion upon the motives actuating the gentlemen
who got up that affair — the American Institute of
the city of New- York — a very valuable associa-
tion, who seem to be possessed with a sort of
ubiquity in all matters of patronage, appeared to
take the initiatory of the " Congressional " move-
ment some time after the action of the State So-

ciety in calling the " Convention," and apparent-
ly for the purpose of overslaughing its action in
that branch of its labors, which one would think
were quite as legitimate as those of mechanics
and arts, to the improvement of which the efforts
of the Institute were originally intended. That I
am warranted in this remark, I need only say,
that the leading gentlemen of the " Congress,"
although specially invited by the proper commit-
tees, did not attend the BulTalo Convention, but
ever since its meeting have lost no opportunity in
disparaging its action and continuance, and of
exalting their " Congress" at its expense. With
the comparative utility of the proceedings of the
two bodies I shall not interfere. The public will
judge for itself. But that the "Congress" was
or is any the less an offspring of another institu-
tion than the Buffalo Convention, is sufficiently
significant from the title page of its published
" proceedings," a part of which reads thus: —
" Held in the city of New- York, October 10,
1848, under the auspices of the American InS'ti-
tute." The great effort of the " Congress" ap-
pears to be to place itself in the foreground as the
o?ily body of the kind now in existence, having a
national character ; with how much justice, the
premises detailed will show.

A word in relation to an allusion in the March
article of the Horticulturist, personal to myself,
and I have done. I quote from page 424: — " We
will gladly assist, in our humble way, every effort
for horticultural progress in our State Society, so
long as its plans are kept within their proper li-
mits, whei'e we feel certain, under the new board of
officers, they will be confined." For one, I trust
the State Agricultural Society will feel duly grate-
ful to Mr. Downing for his patronizing grace to
its destitute situation, and that the unfortunate
peccadilloes of its late administration in treading
on the forbidden ground of pomology may meet
with the compassionate indulgence of an outraged
community ! But I am forced to lament my con-
victions that its " new board of officers" will be
quite as prone to discharge their duty to the great
agricultural interests of the state, even to the
promotion of their pomology, as their predecessors
have been in times past, albeit under this threat-
ened displeasure.

In plain English. The whole article in the
Horticulturist to which I have alluded, displays
an overweening solicitude in the writer to appro-
priate the entire poinological rule and action of
the country to himself and a few others, and that
no body emanating from any source than such as
they may approve and control, let their services
and aims be as beneficial as they may, shall be
recoonized — so far as this subject is concerned.
Lewis F. Jllen, late President of the N. Y. State
Jig. Society. Black Rock, March 9, 1849.

Remarks. — " In plain English," the Buffalo
Convention was an especial hobby of Mr. Allen's,
and we see he is a little out of temper with us be-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

487

cause we are only willing to give it credit for hav-
ing been an excellent State Convention of fruit-
growers.

Of the " legitimacy and vitality " of the BufTalo
Convention, as a State Convention, we have not
the slightc-st doubt. And we arc confident, not
only that it was productive of much good, but
that such a convention, held every year, at the
i>tate Agricultural Fair, will be of the greatest
adA'antage to the coinmunitv.

But our correspondent has not in the lea.st
proved that it was a national convention. He
has, on the contrary, admitted tliat it was called
solel)'- by the N. Y. State Agricultural Society.

Now, we understand the nature of a convention
to be this: a convention for local purposes may
be called by the inhabitants or authorities of a
town or village ; that is a town convention. A
convention for state purposes may be called by
the authorities or inhabitants of a state ; that is a
state convention. But if the proper authorities or
individuals in various states, for some purpose of
national interest, see fit to call a convention, that
is properly a national convention.

Now, the Buffalo convention either was a na-
tional convention or it was not. If it assembled
pursuant to the call of a state society only, it was
clearly a state convention. And this Mr, Allen,
then President of the society, declares to be the
fact. That the presence of several distinguished
poraologists from other states, who were partly
attracted to Buffalo by the great Agricultural
Fair, gave the Buflalo convention an '' odor of na-
tionality" we admit, but it was only an odor.

The New- York convention, or a.s it is now
called, •" the Congress of Fruit-growers," on tlie
other hand, was publiclv called by the authorities
of at least three ditrercnt states; among them the
tvro oldest Horticultural Societies (Mass. and
Penn.) in the country; the call was avowedly for
a national convention ; and therefore we cannot
but think it the only national convention of fruit-
growers now in existence.

Mr. Allen alludes to the executive committee
of the N. A. Pom. Convention, appointed at Buf-
falo, and from whom, we are told, the late anony-
mous circular from Albany purports to come.
Will he tell us who compose this committee ? We
find no such committee in the published proceed-
ings of the Bufialo Convention, and if such a com-
mittee really exists, why will tliey not sign their
names to their circulars?

Our readers do not need any remarks from us
touching the dictatorial position which our corres-
pondent imagines us to assume with regard to
pomology or pomological progress in this country.
They, at least, know us well enough to feel
that our only object in our remarks on Pomologi-
cal Conventions was to point out iiow much, be-
sides state conventions, the counti-y at large re-
quires another, of a national character; and that
there can, in the nature of things, only be one
body whose authority will be respected. We do

not care the value of a crab whether such a con-
vention meets in New- York or Buffalo, but we
must discharge our duty nevertheless in pointing
out the dillerencc between a really national and a
really local association.

Special Manures for Vegetables. Two or
three correspondents, since the pulilication of our
remarks on manures for fruit trees, have express-
ed a wish for more light regarding the chemical
composition of some of the leading vegetables.

They complain of the great difficulty of grow-
ing certain kinds of vegetables — beans, for exam-
ple— in small gardens where the soil has been
cultivated a long time, and where, from not being
able to change such crops to new soil they fail in
growing them, notwithstanding a liberal supply
of animal manure.

What these vegetables want is a supply of
mineral manures, and in order to know how to
apply these most judiciously, our readers must
know something of the chemical composition of
each vegetable. We therefore give the following
abstract of the inorganic elements which enter
most largely into the composition of such vegeta-
bles. It is from the analysis of the ashes of tliese
plants by De Saussure, Sprengel, and other
chemists :

Peas,

Beans,

Celery

Onions, (hulb) .

Do ' stnlk, . .

C;'.uli flower. . .. .

Cabbage,

Potato, (roots,) .

Beet, (root:)

Carrot, (root,)..
Parsnep, (root,).
Radish, (root.) .

2'S

34.

4.

31

2.

15.

5.

8.

16.

25.

11.

10.

12.

4.

6.

2.

2.

7.

4.

2.

4

40.

7.

We have avoided giving the decimals, as we
only intend a sufficient sketch of the analysis to
furnish practical hints — and the approximation is
sufficiently accurate for this purpose.

The information which the practical cultivator
will gather from the foregoing, is something like
this ; that potash enters more largely and uni-
formly into the composition of vegetables than any
other of these elements, and hence that wood
ashes are among the most generally useful appli-
cations to the kitchen garden. Next to this, com-
mon soda (which may be had very cheaply at the
wholesale druggists,) is highly important. Phos-
phoric acid, (which maybe furnished in the shape
of bone dust,) is also an important element, as
well as sulphuric acid. Lime and sulphuric acid,
also considerable constituents, may be easily sup-
plied by manuring with plaster (gypsum.) Silica
for the most part enters very slightly into the
composition of the above vegetables, with the ex-

488

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ception of onions, of the ashes of which it forms
19 per cent. Coal ashes ought to be as benefi-
cial to onions, therefore, as to corn, both of which
largely demand this substance, of which coal
ashes are mainly composed.

To raise good peas, a soil should contain plenty
of potash, soda, and phosphoric acid} for beans
rather more potash is necessary 5 celery demands
potash, lime, and phosphoric acid; onions soda,
lime, sulphuric acid and silica; cabbage, a large
proportion of lime ; potatoes, chiefly potash and
soda; beets the same — but most of soda; carrots
potash and lime; and radishes a large proportion
of phosphate.

An easy way of applying potash or soda is to
dissolve about ten lbs. in a hogshead of water,
and sprinkle thoroughly a load of crude peat or
swamp muck. This will reduce the peat to the
condition of an active manure, and then if used
precisely as manure, it will furnish a proper sup-
ply of potash and soda for such vegetables as re-
quire it.

It is owing chiefly to the want of potash in the
soil, that beans and other vegetables requiring
new soil, refuse to yield good crops in old gardens.
In such soils the potash is exhausted by long
cropping.

The judicious use of animal and saline manures,
will enable the kitchen gardener not only to raise
much larger, but much better crops of vegetables
than by the ordinary course of cultivation.

Bedding out Flowjirs. — As the first of this
month is the season for preparing plants for bed-
ding out, I venture a few remarks on this head.

Every good gardener, whether amateur or
practical, knows that at the present day all the
finest flower gardens depend mainly on half hardy
or tender plants for their most lasting and bril-
liant elfects. Such plants as verbenas, petunias,
(I mean the fine sons,) scarlet geraniums, salvias,
pcnstemons, and the like, when planted in masses
or small beds, give a richness and beauty to the
flower garden which annuals and perennials can
never compete with.

As I observe many persons are ignorant of the
method of treating these plants, and usually keep
a few in their green-houses, and thence turn them
out early in May in their borders, without any
hardening, whereby they greatly satfer, I will de-
tail my practice fur tiicir benefit.

I mean now to give, not the best way for the
plant grower on a large scale, but for those who,
like myself, have a small collection, and wish to
have their gardens handsome in summer, without
giving much room to the necessary plants in their
green-house in winter.

I suppose, then, that you have the mother plants
growing in your garden in summer. About the
labt of August you take some medium sized pots,
and stick a dozen cuttings in each, of all the sorts
you wish to preserve. The old plants may then
be left to their fate, and these " store pots" will

occupy but little room in the green house. They
must be watered sparingly in winter, and must
have plenty of light, so as to preserve them in a
healthy state, not liable then to dwarf off.

About the 20 th of March prepare a common
frame, in a sheltered sunny place. You do not
need anything but glass; manure, as in a hot -bed,
is superfluous, as the glass will give heat enough,
and you will cover the frame at night with mats
or straw, to keep the frost out. At this time pre-
pare some good, rich, light soil, with plenty of
fine charcoal and rotten sods mixed in it, and
turning the rooted cuttings out of the store pots,
repot each singly in small pots, and put them in
this frame. The frame should be kept pretty
close till the plants have made new roots and
commence growing nicely, when air should be
freely admitted mid-day, when the sun shines. As
soon as the weather becomes warm, expose them
still more, until for a week or ten days before you
wish to set out the young plants in the borders,
(which will be about the 15th or 20th of May,)
the sashes should be left off day and night. In
this way, the plants will have much more health
than if kept in the greenhouse till wanted, and
will not be at all afleeted by the change from
under glass to the open air, which often ruins
half hardy plants.

I cannot conclude without recommending to
your readers Penstemon gentianoides , and its va-
rieties, as plants for massing. It is beautiful in
foliage, and very rich in the color of its blossoms.
Yours, jln Amateur Florist. New-York, March.

Pear and Quince Stocks. — Bear Sir : I have
been all the day engaged in my pear nursery;
and having seen the result of an experiment made
about this time last year, I give it you for the
benefit of whom it may concern. I received a
lot of seedling pear stocks last season; and when
planting them out, I concluded to try if the roots
would not grow. I therefore took ott' the tap root
about four inches long, and planted it with the
larger end just even with the surface. The cut-
tings were generally about the size of a swan
quill. About one-half grew, and are larger than
two year old stocks, received from Rochester, N.
Y. Some of them would measure three-fourths of
an inch in circumference, and three feet high.

When putting out grafts last year, I made use
of the upper part of stocks as a temporary stake
to hold a label, until I could put up stakes with
numbers. The stakes were put in, and the pear
switches left. I find to-day about two-thirds of
them growing, with fine roots, and some few are
nearly three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and
five feet high.

Quince stocks received from western New-
York are about the size of a goose quill, — but not
a large one either. This induced me to measure
mine; these were put out cuttings last January,
and to-day measure one and a half to three inches
in diameter, and three to six feet high. I have

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

489

never seen northern quince stocks before, and
thought a freer grower was used than wc had ;
but now, I shall not think of ever paying freight
for such puny fellows. Indeed, cuttings prepared
by me this evening, will be larger next January
than these small stocks. I shall set to-morrow
1000 cuttings, and hope to have budded before
October 1500 pears on quince.

I am satisfied that when pears become better
known, that there will be an immense demand
for the fruit, and that dwarf pears will be sought
for.

I am almost afraid to say, that I have now here,
somewhere about 170 A'arieties of the pear, — 60
of them being upon quince, (50 varieties on the
quince, received a short time only.) But when
I say to those who are opposed to so many varie-
ties, that my object is to test the varieties not
adapted to the south, I am in hopes they will let
me pass.

I do not know any place south of 36 degrees,
where 20 or 30 varieties of the pear are fruited ;
therefore it is impossible to form a correct opinion.
I will have some ten or twelve to fruit this sea-
son, and probably double that in 1851 ; and in
1852, all my dwarfs and an increase of standards.
I intend to have 400 varieties, and to work 200
upon quince. I can afford to do all this, as I can
sell enough to pay for all expense : and my labor
is of no sort of value; for were I not at that, I
might be in mischief.

I have now sold peach trees enough to pay for
investment ; and I am greatly indebted to my
southern friends, and I hope the country will be
again benefitted; for where 150 varieties of the
peach come into bearing, I should think that there
would be some choice varieties meeting us, espe-
cially as we have the peach latitude — deny it who
dare!

I have some 20 or 30 seedling grapes, from
Texas seed; the seed sent me by Mr. Stewart,
of Montgomery, Texas. These same grape-vines
are the hardest ca%es I have yet had. They grew
the first year three to ten feet, — many of them in
pots. I turned them out in a border, and headed
them down, and they have grown none at all. I
will try them this year and quit. I am, dear sir,
sincerely yours, M. W. Philips. Edwards,
Mississippi, Jan. 24, 1849.

Cauliflowers. — I have been eating delicious
cauliflowers all winter, thanks to your directions
in the Horticulturist. I sowed seed for the win-
ter crop about the middle of May, and when win-
ter approached I lifted the plants in a damp day,
with a little earth attached to the roots, and set
them on the floor of a warm cellar, under one of
my out-buildings. They were most of them not
even showing the least signs of flowering when
they were put in the cellar, and I confess I was
a little incredulous as to their " coming to any-
thing " in their winter quarters. But they soon
began to form blossom crowns, and I have cut the

whitest and most delicious cauliflowers from these
plants since lasl December that I have ever tasted.
As this mode of treating cauliflowers is not gene-
rally known here, I have quite astonished my
neighbors by the sight of such a fine winter vege-
table in abundance.

I obtained seed of the Late Walcherea variety,
as you advised, at Thorburn's, in New- York. It
is certainly the best cauliflower I have ever
grown. Yours, X. Y. Z., New-Jersey, March.

Meteorology. — Our readers will remember
Dr. Comstock's theory, in a former ninnber, re-
specting the influence of railroads and telegraph
wires on thunder showers. Sec. He has favored
us with the following answer to his inquiries, re-
ceived from an observer in New-Hampshire, to
which we cheerfully give place. Ed.

Dear Sir — I noticed an article in the Horticul-
turist for October, '48, from you, on the subject
of " Meteorology." I have looked in vain for a
reply in the two succeeding numbers, and now
take the liberty to say a few words on the subject,
by making a few plain statements.

1. I live in the extreme south part of this town,
four miles north of the Merrimack river at Lo-
well, and four miles east of said river at Hudson
on the east and Nashua on the west, or northwest.

2. The Boston and Lowell railroad was finished
in 1835.

3. We have not had a single occurrence of vio-
lent thunder shower, of the old fashioned stamp,
since that time, with one or two exceptions, that
happened before the Lowell and Nashua railroad
was built; and those came from the northwest,
and were more out of the influence of the Boston
and Lowell road.

4. Previous to 1835, it was very common for
the lightning to strike trees, buildings, and other
objects, and as often as once a year, or nearly so,
it would strike on the farm I now occupy.

5. Since 1835, it has struck two trees only on
my farm, — one in 1837, and one in 1846.

6. Showers rising in tlie west have all the ap-
pearance of those of former times, until they get
in the vicinity of the Nasiiua road, when the
lightning and thunder almost entirely cease, and
in some instances the shower has been entirely
broken up.

7. We have had more severe dry weather since
1835 than formerly.

8. We have had later frosts in the spring and
summer, and earlier frosts in 'the autumn than
formerly.

9. I have made frequent inquiries about the
showers at the north, and found that people there
did not observe anything different from former
times.

10. There are no telegraph wires on the above
nnmed I'oads at present.

11. I have advanced the above ideas through
the columns of the Boston Cultivator several

490

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

years since, and have had for answer more ridi-
cule than reason.

They are true, however, and cannot be contro-
verted. Yours respectfully, B, F. Cutter. Pel-
ham, N. H., Feb. 5, 1849.

Orchideous Plants. — Wc have shown in our
former letter that a majority of the Epiphytal
species inhabit the branches of trees, and succeed
best when attached to logs or billets of wood
when subjected to artificial treatment; others, on
the contrary, seem to do best in pots, and others
siill, are peculiarly well adapted for basket cul-
ture.

If grown in pots, the following is the soil recom-
mended in the Horticultural Magazine, (1847:)
For the Ep3'phytal species in general, turfy peat
in small lumps, mixed with broken pieces of flower
pots, or of charcoal; some persons employ a mix-
ture of turfy and old rotton W'ood.' Others use
sphagnum moss, cut rather small, and suffered
partially to decay. All these are suitable to the
plants; and it is not material whicli is preferred.
Indeed, this is a matter on which we find no una-
nimity among cultivators. Mr. Paxton says, —
'• In a word, I recommend sphagnimi, mixed with
potsherds, in preference to anything I have hitherto
seen used for the growth of orchidacasa." Mr.
Appleby, a gardener of note, says the soil he
used was one-third turfy peat, roughly broken in
pieces of diiferent sizes, (the largest about the
size of hen's eggs;) one-third chopped pieces of
poplar or willow wood, about the size of garden
beans; and one-third chopped sphagnum, (swamp
moss,) well mixed together. We find another
letter of his, quoted in Mr. Lyons' work on orchi-
daca3a, published in 1845, where he says he used
the under stratum of sphagnum, which has be-
come almost peat. These, he says, make a light
open compost, which appears admirably to suit
the plants, as they root in it freely, and thrive to
my satisfaction. Any of these we would suppose
to be a good compost ; but sphagnum is so reten-
tive of moisture that it will be diOicult to preserve
the roots in winter.

What we have recently used, and would recom-
mend to your readers, was the top sod, (or turf,)
of elevated hillocks, frequently met with iu peat
bogs, matted together with the roots of heath,
whortleberry, and various plants, cut about two
inches deep, sometimes more or less, but always
avoiding the under stratum, and every part desti-
tute of fibre, mixed with a little charcoal. Our
plants did better in this than in any material we
saw used. The turf, cut thin, will be alwaj's light
and open for the roots to run in ; and having so
much fibre, it requires less drainage than sphag-
num. If cut in dry weather, in the summer or
autumn, and kept in a dry shed, it will be ready
for use at any time.

Previous to potting, it is best that the plants
should not receive water for a few days. Pro-
bably the most important point to be attended to,

in this operation, is, that the pots should be well
drained. To accomplish this effectually, the pot.s
must be fiUed two-thirds with potsherds, or char-
coal; or it may be accomplished by inverting a
smaller flower pot inside, and tilling it round with
charcoal, or broken crocks. (When inverting a
pot for this purpose, it is necessary tiiat either a
bit of broken crock be put under one side, to keep
tiie aperture open, or a piece broke off" the pot, to
accomplish the same effect.) Charcoal is perhaps
preferable.

A perfect system of drainage is absolutely ne-
; ccssary; for, although all the species thrive best
I in great moisture, at certain periods of the year,
still they will not succeed if water is allowed to
become stagnant about their roots. It must,
therefore, have a free passage to run through the
pots. In potting, the plant may be placed about
three inches above the rim of the pot, on the sur-
face of the material on which it is to grow, setting
its roots between the lumps of peat, and making
the i)lant fast with pegs, to prevent its falling oi-
being disturbed. As soon as the plant makes its
roots, they take firm hold of the peat, and will
quickly fix themselves. Among those best adapted
for basket culture, are Stanhopeas and Acinetas ,
which direct their stems almost perpendicularl)"
downwards, (like the tubers of the arrowroot,)
instead of upwards; also those with pendant
flower stems, as Gongoras and Acroperas, and
others of naturally drooping habits, as some Eri-
cas, and many Dendrobiums. Baskets for this
purpose are either made of wire or oak branches,
about four inches deep. They should first be lined
with flakes of hypnum, or some similar moss.
The turf already recommended is then broken in
convenient sizes, and with a little charcoal made
sufficiently high to raise the plants above the rim.
Mr. Appleby, already alluded to, says, in his
fourth letter, he raises the Stanhopeas considerably
above the rim of the baskets. This, we believe,
a bad method for general adoption ; for when the
plants are placed on a large' mass of compost,
the flower stems, which protrude perpendicularly
downwards, as before stated, are liable to damp
off; and the flowers of those that make their way
good are so small, and the stem, (owing to the
depth of compost it has to pass through,) is so
short that its beauty is greatly impaired. Be-
sides, many species of this genus naturally pro-
duce much shorter stems than others; and if Mr.
Appleby's system be adopted, these will perish
ere they can reach the light. Consequently, the
anxious cultivator may be for many successive sea-
sons disappointed of seeing what he would expect
to be a fine and showy species, or a new and rare
variety.

Wc find some growers recommending Stan-
hopeas to be grown in pots; but this is a practice
that cannot be too strongly condemned. We have
more than once, when repotting Stanhopeas, found
their flower stems coiled round the pot, till they
became at length exhausted, and perished unseen.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

491

We also have often had occasion to break the side
of Stanhopea pots, to preserve the flower stems.
We see no reason why Stanhopeas , like other
Epiphytal species, should not be <>rown upon
ijlvjcks. Indeed, we have grown the beautiful
Stanhopea tigrina in this way, to as f>reat perfec-
tion as it would attain in its native (Mexican)
Ibrests. We grew Stanhopea aculata in a similar
way.

It does not follow, because found in open glades,
that these orchids should be attached to blocks of
wood, or suspended in the atmosphere, as Mr.
Appleby has suggested. It is in such situations
that most of our finest terestrial orchids are found,
and must be treated according to their nature.
In those elevated districts are also found many
truly Epiphytal species, growing upon single trees.
But they are much more abundant in the low and
liumid forests, where shade and moisture predomi-
nate, as suggested in our former letter. They all
require the same general treatment, except that
those found in the former locality mayl)e subjected
to a lewer temperature, less humidity, and a
greater exposure to the rays of the sun ; but these
we would not recommend to too great an extent.
For whatever elevation they grow in, or iiowever
much exposed to a tropical sun, they enjny a free
atmosphere, not like what they would be subjected
to in many of our ill ventilated houses ; and if we
but patiently consult the laws of nature, we will
readily perceive how wisely she provides for her
children in all situations. Even in the ti'opics,
where the solar rays are most luminous, the gi-
gantic trees will, (as in temperate countries,)
expand their foliage in the warmest season of the
year, and afford ^lartial shade to the more delicate
orekids that inhabit their branches. They may be
located in our houses so as to receive more light
than the majority of tlie plants. To achieve this
end, or rather, to imitate nature, we grew many
species of Catasetuvi, Mor modes , Myanthus, &c.;
(many of which are often found on single trees in
open glades,) on the top of large blocks, fixed in
stands, as described in our last, — a situation in
which they seemed to delight, firmly attaching
their viscous roots to the rougli bark of the wood,
from which they produce numerous seeondaiy or
lateral rootlets, which extended in every direc-
tion, as if in search of food. In this elevated lo-
cation, they shared the same general treatment,
shade and moisture, as the whole collection ; but
being nearer the glass, they consequently had
more light, and dried sooner.

We promised in our last to refer particularly to
some American, or Brazilian species. Among
the multitudes of orchids that inhabit those coun-
tries, we believe the Laelias and Cattleyas wor-
thy of precedence ; not merely for the large size
of the flowers of some, nor the deep crimson or
delicate lilac of others, but the transparency of
their texture, the exquisite clearness of their
colours, the graceful manner in which their broad,
flag-like petals wave and intermingle with every

breeze, and the simplicity of their treatment. Of
the genus Laclia, there are several species, oi
which the Laelia superbiens is the finest yet
known. This stately Epiphyte was first found by
Mr. Hartweg, collector to the London Horticul-
tural Society; and also by Mr. Skinner, who
speaks of it thus: " Saw you ever anything like
this? This most magnificent of all plants, I have
sent several times. It flowers in November, and
m some instances bears from 18 to 20 flowers on
the stems, from 9 to 12 feet long. Chantia, it.s
native habitat, is very cold — 55 to 65 degrees;
and in Costa Rica, where it is also found, the
temperature is 68 to 70 degrees generally."

Mr. Bateman, an extensive Englisii grower,
and author of a superb work on the orcliidacssa of
Mexico and Guatemala, says that this plant is
found growing out of the crevices of the rocks, in
the cooler districts of Guatemala, — chiefly in pla-
ces that are" sheltered from the keenness of the
northern winds. In such situations, the pseudo
bulbs sometimes grow 22 inches high, and have
flower scajies 4 yards long, crowned with up-
wards of 20 flowers; but this immense size is not
common. When the plants grow exposed to the
nortliern breeze, they are very small, and have an
imperfect, stunted appearance. In England, the
flower stems grow about 6 feet in length, and the
pseudo bulbs usually about a foot. This species
was in many English collections a long time be-
fore it flowered. The cause of tlieir failure, in
this respect, may be justly assigned to the fact,
that when first introduced the plants were kept
in high temperature, and a close, moist atmos-
phere. These conditions being most favorable to
luxuriant growth, no doubt prevented the produc-
tion of flowers ; and it was not till the plants
were subjected to a low temperature, that they
showed any indication of bloom. It grows best,
tied to a block of wood, and suspended from the
roof. I am, sir, respectfully yours, 31. C. Neiv
burgh, January, 1849.

The Ghent Gladiolus. This new bulb, (Gla-
diolus gandavcnsis ,) is a great ornament to our
flower gardens from July till October. The hue
of the flowers is a rich orange scarlet, or fire
color, the plant very vigorous, and suits particu-
larly well our warm .summers, giving us gay
blossoms when the garden most needs brilliancy.
Yours, jln Amateur Florist. iGladiolus ganda-
vensis is worthy of our correspondent's commen-
dations. We received a dozen bulbs last season
from Mr. Van Houtte, of Ghent, which bloomed
superbly in our garden for six weeks, and were
greatly admired by all who saw them. Ed.]

Burnt Sods. — Dear Sir: I agree with you
fully in the excellent effects of burnt turf for enrich-
ing borders for roses. I prepared a wagon load
last spring, and used it plentifully, taking away
the top soil about my established plants, and found
it to add greatly to the verdure of their foliage

49S

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

and the brilliancy of their blossoms. Yours,
/. W. S., Philadelphia, March 16, 1849.

Discussion on Manures. — We find reported in
the Boston Evening; Transcript a highly inte-
resting discussion on manures, which took place
lately at the legislative agricultural meetings,
held at the State House. The remarks of Col.
Wilder, who occupied the chair, are so much to
the point that we shall <[uote them at length:

" The president introduced the discussion, by
saying that the subject was one paramount in im-
portance to any other that concerns the cultivator
of the soil. It is the great preliminary movement
on which the farmer founds his expectations of a
bountiful harvest, the sheet anchor of his hopes.
Although he might plough deep and well, yet,
witliout some correct knowledge of the substances
he uses to fertilize the seed he buries in the earth,
Lis success is almost as uncertain as the mari-
ner's, who would plough old ocean without chart
or compass.

" A soil of inexhaustible fertility, he said, was
an imaginary idea; and although mother earth
would yield kindly to the full extent of her ability,
yet the time would come, sooner or later, when
even the rich prairie lands of the west, would
demand a return of the fertilizing elements which
have been abstracted by vegetation ; it is a mat-
ter, then, of vast importance, to learn how these
materials can be procured at the cheapest possible
price, and in a form to be applied with the great-
est economy.

" Mr. Wilder proceeded to state that he was
no chemist, and made no pretensions to farming,
except as it is connected with gardening and the
horticultural art.

" He had made some experiments with ma-
nures, some of which he would relate: He did
not wish to be understood that he undervalued
stable or barn-yard manure, but such as was pur-
chased from the stables of the city, by the cord,
when deprived of straw or decomposed, was in
reality only half or three-fourths of a cord. To
obtain a real solid cord of manure, equal in qua-
lity, and at less price, had with him been a great
desideratum, and he believed he had succeeded,
by making a compost of meadow muck, crushed
bones, and leached ashes, in the following propor-
tions :

" One cord of meadow muck, having been ex-
posed to the action of air and frost at least one

year, $1 50

Twelve bushels leached ashes, 1 20

Six bushels crushed bones, 1 50

Labor, 30

Total cost per cord, $4 50

" The bones and ashes were mixed together
while the latter were in a damp state, and when
fermentation had taken place, these were incorpo-
rated with the meadow muck. In this condition

the mass should remain until heat is generate3
again, when it will be fit for use.

" He had found this compost equal to any stable
manure for root crops, grass land, gardening pur-
poses generally, and for fruit trees. For the last
two years, he had mixed his stable manure with
the compost, and also had added to it one-eighth
part in bulk of fine refuse charcoal from the de-
pots of venders. This can be purchased at fivQ
dollars the cord, delivered, and does not much in-
crease the cost above named.

" Mr. Wilder said, that since Liebig first pro-
mulgated his opinion as to the wonderful influence
of charcoal in rooting cuttings of plants, and as a
component part of soils, experiments have been
making verifying its importance. He also in-
forms us, that the volatile gas which arises from
our stables and manure heaps, and descends in
the rain and snow, and which we call ammonia,
is the great fertilizer of the earth. To secure
this subtile element, Mr. W. had added charcoal
to his compost heaps, and as he thought with
great advantage. It is very durable if not inde-
structible; a substance of great porosit)', and we
are told, he said, by chemists, that it will absorb
90 per cent, of its bulk of ammonia, but its bene-
ficial effects are supposed to arise from its power
of retaining this volatile gas, and yielding it up
only as it is washed out by rains, or as the vital
force of the root searches for food. He did not
consider it a fertilizer in itself, but that it was a
medium of administering nourishment, having used
it with good success for green-house plants for
many years.

" Mr. Wilder said the compost (with the char-
coal and stable manure combinefl,) was the best
he had ever used as a general manure. On fruit
trees, its effects were remarkable.

" In the spring of 1847, he planted a square in
the nursery with imported trees from England,
this compost having been spread and ploughed in.
These trees were from four to five feet in height,
and although it is not usual for trees to make a
large growth the first year, they acquired branches
of three to four feet, and were so handsome as to
command $1 .25 each for a row of fifty trees, with-
out any selection.

" In June last, which is very late to set out
trees, he prepared another square on rather poor
land, and planted trees just received from Eng-
land upon it. The soil had been thrown up to
the frost the previous winter, and the compost
here was applied in the trenches, near the roots.
Mr. Wilder exhibited two shoots, which had
grown from those trees since they were set out in
June. The shoots were four feet in length, and
the wood hard and well ripened.

"It is stated that on old beds, where charcoal
had been burned ten years before, the corn and
wheat to this day are uniformly better than on
the adjoining lands, being more vigorous, of a
darker green colour, and producing larger crops.
A farmer remarks, ' I sowed fine charcoal over

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

493

my grass land in strips ; these strips have in-
creased one-half in product, and without any ap-
parent diminution tor five years.'

" Mr. Wilder mentioned several instances,
showing the beiicticial ellccts arisinij from the use
of fine charcoal, one of which in the slate of New-
York, was an extraordinary product of wheat
crop .

" Says an English gardener, ' my compost con-
sists of nothing but loam and charcoal, without a
particle of manure of any sort ; and I never saw
the plant that did not delight in it, and every
plant under my care, has some charcoal used
about it.'

" As a deodorant or disinfector, Mr. Wilder
related the following experiment, which appears
in a late English paper:

" Two fluids, and charcoal from peat, were
prepared especially by different chemists for the
purpose of depriving night soil, stable, and pig-
stye manures of their oflensive smell — the fluids
both proved inefTectual, but the charcoal not only
entirely and instantly neutralized and destroyed
the offensive odor, in each of these substances, but
also deodorised the fluids themselves.

" Lieut. Governor Reed, Hon. Mr. Brooks, of
Princeton, Hon. Mr. Leonard, of Norton, Hon.
J. C. Gay, Messrs. Buckminster of the Plough-
man, Bartlett, of the Cultivator, and other
gentlemen, took part in the discussion.

" At the succeeding meeting, Mr. Teschema-
cher said that the vast and almost inexhaustible
subject of manures had always united itself in his
mind with three great considerations.

" 1st. On the nature of the crops to be raised.

"2d. On the nature of the soil from which these
crops were to be obtained.

" 3d. And the most important one, — the nature
and application of the manure itself. He should
be obliged to condense into a brief form what he
had to say on all these heads. Every one knew
if clover was wanted, a large quantity of lime
was wanted; for tobacco, potash or soda.

" In England, after many years cultivation of
wheat, all the cow-yard manure that could be
heaped on the ground would not raise any more
until bone dust was added, and with this many
acres hitherto considered barren, had given ex-
cellent crops. The ■ size and quality of turnips
had been found* to be much benefitted by the use
of the soluble phosphate of lime.

" One question then is, what does the crop we
require abstract from the soil during its growth
and maturity? The question is answered" by the
various analyses of the crops which are now found
in every agricultural treatise. But another and
much more important question now arises ; it is
this :

" What part of the ingredient puts more bone
and muscle into the animals which feed on them,
and can we by particular measures increase in
these crops the quantity of their ingredients ? The
first part of this question has been answered by

Liebig's last treatise. We knew before Liebig
was born that the bones of animals were cliiefly
formed of tiic phosphate of lime, but we did not
know that the phosphates of other alkalies formed
considerable part of the muscle; this he has satis-
factorily proved. In the lime district of Switzei'-
land the cattle are much larger than where lime
is scarce in the soil ; and the great test of the
quality of a crop is by its nutritious action on the
animal, more than by its appearance or even
weight ; now it is evident that by offering as food
to these crops a manure abundantly supplied with
these ingredients, combined with others ensuring a
luxuriant growth, we enable them to obtain a
maxinmm thereof. My experience shows in the
same weight of grain a difference of thirty per
cent, in their ingredients, dependent on the differ-
ence of the manure ; hence the consideration in
the nature of the crops is of much interest. On
the nature of the soil, — all soils are composed
chiefly of sand, (silica) clay, (alumina) lime,
magnesia, some organic matters as sources of
carbonic acid, and a few oxids of the metals.

" Sand (sihca) is chiefly of use to strengthen
and stilfen the stems; for this purpose it must be
dissolved by an alkali, (potash or soda.) This is
usually found in clay, which as an ingredient of
the soil or of the compost heap, is invaluable, al-
though it never enters into the organization of the
plant.

" When the chemist analyzes a mineral contain-
ing alumina, it is almost impossible for him to
wash it free from the alkaline substances which
he has used in his analysis ; it grasps and retains
these with the most invincible obstinacy, as clay
in its natural state is always combined with small
portions of silica and potash or soda.

" The president has spoken highly of charcoal,
but by no means too much so, as an absorbent of
the useful part of manure, ammonia. I have ex-
perimented many years with this substance, in
various ways, and can amply confirm all he has
said. Clay, however, I think if possible more
retentive than charcoal, certainly more so as re-
gards potash and soda, and may be had where
charcoal is hardly to be procured. Clay, then,
well pulverized by frost, is a most valuable addi-
tion to the compost heap; and a soil containing a
fair proportion of clay may by manuring be ren-
dered the most permanently rich of any.

" A light soil allows the valuable salts of the
manure easily leached through by heavy rains,
and one with too much clay does not permit them
to mix freely, so that the roots of the crops can
get access to their nourishment.

" The farmer, who studies the nature of his
soil, will, while manuring liberally, be able to
manure much more economically, than one who
knows nothing on the subject. It is probable that
the great differences of opinion which exist in the
use of lime and plaster, have arisen chiefly from
ignorance on this subject.

" I have not time to dwell on the third part of

494

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

this subject, but will state that in the Isle of
Thanet, on the River Thames, where much seed
wheat is grown, and where seeds of vegetables
and herbs are grown to a large extent, the com-
post heaps are formed as follows: three or four
inches of pretty good loam and turf, then six or
eight inches of seaweed brought up from the
beach in the immediate vicinity; then six or
eight inches farm-yard manure, then loam, and so
on, until the heap is several feet high. This is
left twelve months to decompose ; the grains raised
are beautiful, large, plump and heavy; now here
the ingredients are clayey loam to absorb. Sea-
weed contains soda, and a good proportion of the
phosphates. The barn-yard manure, besides its
soluble salts, contains ammonia; and the solid
parts are by fermentation converted into charcoal
and humus, which absorb the ammonia and pre-
serve it for the use of the crop. Here then is not
only every ingredient the plant requires, but also
the store-house of alumina and charcoal, from
which it extracts its food as wanted.

" I remember a discussion on the subject of
whether manure was better used in a green state
or after it had been kept for a year or more, and
had become a black saponaceous mass. The
question appeared to be settled in favor of this
latter state, and this agrees witii my own experi-
ence. If a manure heap be fermented under a
good cover, it is converted into a Idaok carbonace-
ous mass, containing nearly all the ammonia con-
densed in its pores, and is a most powerful ma-
nure."

Hints from the South. — If your correspond-
ents read as much of horticulture, &c., as they do
of other matters, they would find much that they
esteem to be quite new, to be really quite old.
A reverend gentleman from the state of New-
York, — one as fond of fruits and flowers as any one
who delights to aid others, — tlie Rev. A. B. Law-
rence, now in Louisville, Ky., instructed me in
the art of bwiding with terminal biuU in the sum-
mer of '44 or '45, and told me, I think, that he
had been taught it long, long ago in New- York
state.

I see some ready hand is giving a cut back-
wards at somebody. All I have to say about it,
is, — go ahead. I have seen a letter from one
man, who was " immensely superior" to all other
nurseries; and as to accuracy, why. Old Master
could not hold a candle to him, for he did some-
times make a mistake ; see " Curious Pomonal
Freak," page 292, where a Russet grew, by mis-
take, instead of a Greening. I tell you, there are
some folks who need a severe rasping down, and
I hope " Old Digger" will do it. I have been
cultivating a few plum trees from the north,
(price 50 centh each,) for 15 years or over, and,
as yet, have only seen a few hard things, which
would make a pig squeal to taste them, and cause
crab apples, cranberries and vinegar to blush for
sweetness ! But in sober earnest, I think I can

point to hundreds of dollars, swindled out of a
small part of this country.

Please solicit " An Old Digger" to continue his
notes. I love that sort of Jigging; and assure
you, that an article in each number like that, will
aid the circulation of your paper more than two
and forty sort of advertise-communications, from
the greatest grower of strawberries, from the
land of charlatanry. Many of us need plain,
straight-forward remarks ; as — " Never work your
ground in wet weather if you can avoid it ; as it
makes it clod-like and compact, by forcing the air
out." And — " Don't be afraid to clip hedges, or cut
back young trees, when you are planting them."
Such compact advice is worth more than a dozen
catalogues of forly thousand kinds of fruit, &c.

There are many of us, " outside Barbarians,"
who would like to see you continue your "notes
about green-houses. We want practical informa-
tion. I have been a reader of flower gardens and
orchard directories, and all that matter, for years;
and, save Mr. Loudo.v, I never could get hold of
anything but what was too high learned. Foreign
works are quoted, visits to very extensive green-
houses— but stop, I firm striking back handed; and
that I leave to " An OKI Digger." I am sincerely
your friend, A Cynic, in Miss. Feb., 1849.

Severe Winter. — The past winter has been
one of remarkable severity, the temperature of
part of the month of February having been lowei
thi'oughout the middle and eastern states, than for
13 years previously.

No winter since 1836 has been so severe upon
half-hardy trees and plants. A considerable num-
ber of those which usually bear the winters here
without suffering the least injury, have lost a good
jiart of their last season's growth, and in some
parts of the country even plum and peach trees
have sufl'ered much by the sudden thawing of the
bark after severe frost, cau.sing it to split open,
breaking the sap vessels, killing the trees.

North of us, and in New-England, we learn
that the germ of the peach bud is destroyed, so
that there will be no crop of peaches in those dis-
tricts this season. Indeed, we learn from a friend
near Boston, that the blossom buds of the cherry
also show, on being cut across, the dark centre
which tolls tliat they also have been injured by
the excessive cold. Tiie mercury*at Boston fell,
we understand, to thirteen degrees below zero.
Twelve degrees below 0 is sullicient to kill the
heart of the peach blossom buds. In New- Jersey
and Pennsylvania we believe the peach crop is
uninjured.

In our own garden we find only about one bud
in tea of peaches and apricots destroyed, — the re-
mainder ai'O sound and good ; cherries are not at
all injured. The mercury with us sunk to 10
degrees below 0. In some gardens within a few
miles of us, however, in colder sites, the buds are
nearly all killed.

We are glad to find that those two fine new

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

495

shrubs from China, which form so rrvcal an acqui-
sition to our gardens, — the double Japan Spirete
(^Spiraea prunifolia pi-,) and the Cluncsc Wiegela,
(Wigelia rosea,) have both stood the winter in
the open border without the slightest protection.

Seeds and Grafts by Mail. — A petition is
circulating in the state of Maine praying Congress
for such a modification of the post office laws as
will enable those persons who are engaged in hor-
ticultural pursuits, or others, to transmit by mail
seeds, grafts, and such other horticultural objects
as may without inconvenience be forwarded in
this manner, at a rate of postage not exceeding
that of newspapers, provided they be in packages
of not more than two ounces. It is evident that
public good would be promoted by the proposed
amendment, as it would present an opportunity
for testing plants and fruits, useful for cultiva-
tion, in all soils and climates. We hope to see a
petition drawn up and circulated in this state. J*".
W. P., Westchester Co., N. Y., March 9, 1849.

This movement was, we think, first commenced
by the Cincinnati Hort. Soc. But nothing was
eflected during the last session of Congress. We
should be glad to see petitions sent in from all the
horticultural societies next winter — as no doubt a
modification of the postage laws will take place
at the next session of Congress. In Great Britain
seeds, grafts, and small plants are sent by mail
to the great advantage and convenience of the
whole kingdom, and there is no reason why the
people should not give cultivators the same privi-
lege here, since it would so manifestly be for the
public good. — Ed.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Grapes. W. H. S., (Toledo, 0.) The Black
Hamburgh is not hardy in this climate, and re-
quires covering. The Lenoir has fruited two
years with us, and promises well — but we cannot
speak of its merits for culture on a large scale.
It is quite hardy, and is a good, small grape.

Flowering Plants. An Amateur, (N. York.)
" Beaxity Supreme " is the finest pink verbena yet
grown in this country; it flowers abundantly, and
forms fine masses. " Tom Thumb" is much supe-
rior to the old scarlet geranium for masses, as its
color is very vivid scarlet, and the plant, though
not absolutely dwarf, as its name implies, is of
compact habit, with good foliage. Tuberoses will
flower abundantly if you plant the roots in pots
at once, and start them in a frame or hot-bed, and
turn them out in the border about the 1st of June.
— William, (New- York.) You will find the plants
you wish at Thorburn's. See advertisement.

Fruit Tree Manures. C. S., (Newport, N.
Y.,) The composts recommended in our leader
of last month are intended not only for top-dress-
ings, but also for enriching the soil when planting
the trees. A barrow-full may be used to each

hole three or four feet in diameter. Mix it tho-
roughly with the soil.

Lime. An Inquner, (New-Haven.) Never
mix fresh slaked lime Vv'itli fresh animal manure
unless you wisli to de.'^troy part of the value of the
latter. If you wish to apply both lime and ma-
nure, spread the manure and turn it under with a
spade, and then apply lime as a top-dressing. It
will find its way downward in the soil as fast as
the tree requires it — and not so fast as to act
upon the manure injuriously. Old, or mild lime
may be used along with manure.

Lawns. 5., (Philadelpiiia.) If you are not in
haste about your lawn, and economy is the object,
a bushel of seed per acre will answer. But it
will require a year's growth to give a close
turf, which might be obtained by more plentiful
sowing, in two months. Red-top, (the " bent
grass" of New-England,) makes the best lawn
for this climate, and it makes a more beautiful
lawn alone than with white clover — though the
latter gives immediate effect, and helps to pre-
serve the verdure in a very dry soil or season.
Make the surface as smooth as possible before
sowing the seed, and roll it with a heavy roller
directly after. If you had only a small surface to
sow, instead of several acres, we should recom-
mend you to use from two to four bushels of seed
per acre.

Pruning. A Canada Subscriber. You may
prune your hardy grape vines now. We have
tried the experiment repeatedly of late, and have
never been able to discover that bleeding injures
spring-pruned vines in the least. Prune back the
side shoots so as to leave only one or at most two
buds of the last year's growth.

Grafting. C. S. You may succeed perfectly
well in grafting the fine plums on your wild plum
stocks, but it will not change the habit of the im-
proved sorts any further than adaptation to the
soil is concerned. They will be just as liable to
the attacks of the curculio.

Shrubs. — A Northern Reader. You can plant
no prettier shrub for masses than the upright
(Tartarian) honeysuckles. They are beautiful in
leaf, blossom, or berry, from April to December.
The "Dutchman's pipe" is a perfectly hardy,
shrubby vine, and will grow in any good garden
soil. It will cover a trellis twenty feet high.
The European holly will stand the winters north
of New- York only with protection from the sun in
winter. Tree pcEonias are quite hardy here, but
must be covered in winter nortii of Albany.

Vegetables. A Tyro, (Trenton, N. J.) The
red-solid celery is hardier and kee])s much better
than the white, but is not so tender if eaten raw.
There is no beet comparable to the Bassano,
either for earliness or flavor. There is no melon
for general culture superior in all respects to the
small netted citron.

496

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

PENNSYLVATQ-IA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The slated monthly meetina: of this society occurred on
Tuesday evening, March aoth. 1849,— the President in the
chair.

The display of objects on this occasion far exceeded the
usual monthly attractions, and was witnessed by a tlirong- of
the elite of the city, who appeared hig-hly deli'jhted with'the
spectacle. The president contributetl. as is his wont, larg-e-
ly from his fine collection; and, as objects of the greatest
interest, might be noticed his contributioji of strawberries,
comprising: forty pots, of the following varieties : Ilovey's
and Keene's Seedlings, Buist's Prize. Buist's Early May,
British Queen, Columbus, and Ohio Mammoth, in full cror,
ripe, and temptingly luscious, — a credit to his gardener;
also, an extensive collection of plants, in full bloom, among
which vvas a new plant, sent from .Mexico by Gen. Patter-
son, which does not appear to liave been described; air
plants. Rhododendrons, Camellias, Pelargoniums, etc. etc.;
and a table of seedlings; twenty-four pots of Cinerarias;
sixteen of Petunias; and twelve of Pansies; a beautiful de-
sign of cut flowers, of a pyramidal form, resting on a moss
pedestal ; also a handsome basket of select flowers.

Mr. Dundas's gardener presented .1 number of magnificent
specimens of plants,— two very large Azaleas, wliite and
purple, in profuse bloom, and fine Rhododendrons, from
which were suspended several air plants ; also a large moss
vase of choice cut flowers.

Robert Bui.st exhibited a select collection of plants in
flower. — Azaleas, Cineraria Seedlings of much beauty; four
Seedling Rhododendrons, etc. etc.; and Porphrycoma lan-
ceolata, Porenia asiatica, and Spirrea Reevesii. of recent
introduction; Wigelia rosea, Spirca prunifolia, fl. pi.; Bar-
nadesia rosea, new^ and for the first time exhibited.

Peter Raabe, a fine table of Camellias, Azaleas, etc.: and
t.iree large pots of Hyacinths, grown in moss, in cone form,
one of wln'ch contained more than one hundred bulbs in
bloom, of all varieties of hue.

F. Lennig's gardener exhibited fine Camellias, Acacias,
etc. etc.

.Tohn Lamberts' gardener, a choice collection of Camel-
lias, Azaleas, Roses, etc.; and a handsome basket of cut
flowers.

James McDowell, gardener to Miss Gratz, a collection of
plants.

Peter Mackenzie exhibited a stand of cut Camellias, con-
sisting of thirty-five of the most select varieties.

James Ritchie, cut Camellias; one of which was a new
and distinct white variety, of fine form, — a seedling named
Pierceii.

Of fruit, Thomas Hancock exhibited St. Germain pears
and apples. John Perkins, five varieties of apples; and Jo-
seph J. Hatch, apples— "Wood's Greening.

Of vegetables, a fine display from thepresident's, — a col-
lection raised under glass, comprising potatoes, cucumbers,
mushrooms, asparagus, lettuce, etc. etc.

Pierce Butler's gardener, a great display of lettuce, ra-
dishes and cauliflowers.

Miss Gratz' gardener, a fine collection of forced speci-
mens.

The committee for awarding premiums reported the fol-
lowing : The committee on plants and flowers beg leave
to report that they found great difiiculty in awarding

the premiums: there being so many fine specimens sub-
mitted.

They however have determined upon the following : For
the best three Rhododendrons, to James Bisset, gardener to
James Dundas. For the best tliree Azaleas, to James Bis-
set ; for the second best do., to Maurice Finn, gardener to
.Tohn liambert ; for the tliird best, to B. Daniels, gardener
to C. Cope. For the best three hot-house plants, to James
Bisset; for the second best, to B. Daniels. For the best
three green-house plants, to B.Daniels; for the second best,
to David Scott, gardener to Frederick Lennig. For the best
collection of plants in pots, to B.Daniels; for the second
best, to Maurice Finn; for the third best to Peter Raabe.
For the best design of cut flowers, to James Bisset ; for the
second best, to B. Daniels. For the best basket of cut
flowers, to Maurice Finn; for the second best basket, to B.
Daniels. Special premiums of one dollar each, for collec-
tions of plants, to James Bisset, James McDowell and Peter
Raabe ; also, for a stand of Hyacinths, to Peter Raabe.

The committee notice a fine display of Camellia flowers,
from the green-house of Peter Mackenzie. Also, a fine dis-
play of plants from Robert Buist ; many of them new, and
not for CO ^petition ; and a beautiful specimen of the Rhodo-
dendron Marryatii; and a fine display of Petunias and Cine-
rarias, from tiie collection of Mr. Cope. Also a cut speci-
men of a Camellia J. Pierceii, — a new variety, shown by
James Ritchie.

The committee on fruit report that they have awarded the
following premiums, viz : For the best pears, to Thomas
Hancock. For the best apples, five varieties, to John Per-
kins. And special premiums, of one dollar each, to Thomas
Hancock and John Perkins. And one of five dollars, for a
mo.st splendid display of strawberries, all of the best varie-
ties, in fine order and condition, displaying the plant, flo^ver
and fruit in the greatest perfection, to B. Daniels, gardener
to the president.

The committee on vegetables report that they have award-
ed the following premiums, viz : For the best and mo.st in-
teresting display, by market gardeners, to Anthony Felten ;
for the second best do., to the same. For the best, by ama-
teurs, to the gardener of Pierce Butler; for the second best
do., to B. Daniels, gardener to C. Cope; for the third best
do., to J. McDonald, gardener to Miss Gratz.

Dr. Herman Wendell, of Albany, presented papers of the
seeds of a new Chinese vegetable, and of the Chinese oil
plant, through the hands of Dr. Brinckle.

Ordered, That the thanks of the society be tendered therefor.

Messrs. Isaac M. Moss & Bro., the publishers, presented a
copy of Walter Elder's "Cottage Garden of America." On
motion.

Ordered, That the thanks of the society be tendered to the
donors.

The secretary submitted proposals for publishing, by sub-
scription, the memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey
Marshall, with notes and biograpliical sketches, by Wm.
Darlington, M. D.; those of Jno. Bartram being dedicated to
our society. On motion.

Ordered, That tlie work be recommended to the favorable
consideration of the members of the society. Adjourned.
Thos. p. James,
Rec. Secretary.

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAi. ART AND RIPRAL TASTE.

Vol. in.

MAY, 1849,

No. 11.

Mr. Colman, in his Agricultural Tour,
remarks, that his observations abroad con-
vinced him that the Americans are the
most extravagant people in the world ; and
the truth of the remark is corroborated by
the experience of every sensible traveller
that returns from Europe. The much
greater facility of getting money here,
makes us more regardless of system in its
expenditure ; and the income of many an
■estate abroad, amounting to twenty thou-
sand dollars, is expended with an exact-
ness, and nicety of calculation, that would
astonish persons in this country, who have
only an. income of twenty hundred dollars.
Abroad, it is the study of those who have,
how to save ; or, in the case of spending,
how to get the most for their money. At
home, it seems to be the desire of every-
body to get — and, having obtained wealth,
to expend it in the most lavish and careless
manner.

There are, again, many who wish to be
economical in their disbursements, but find,
in a country where labor is one of the
dearest of commodities, that everything
which is attained by the expenditure of
labor, costs so much more than they had
supposed, that moderate "improvements" —
as we call all kinds of building and garden-

VoL. Ill, 32

ing in this country — in a short time con-
sume a handsome competence.

The fact, that in no country is labor bet-
ter paid for than in ours, is one that has
much to do v/iththe success and progress
of the country itself. Where the day-laborer
is so poorly paid, that he must, of necessity,
always be a day-laborer, it follows, inevi-
tably, that the condition of the largest
number of human beings in the state
must remain nearly stationary. On the
other hand, in a community where the
industrious, prudent, and intelligent day-
laborer can certainly rise to a more inde-
pendent position, it is equally evident that
the improvement of national character, and
the increase of wealth, must go on rapidly
together.

But, just in proportion to the ease with
which men accumulate wealth, will they
desire to spend it ; and, in spending it, to
obtain the utmost satisfaction which it can
produce. Among the most rational modes of
doing this, in the country, are building and
gardening ; and hence, every year, we find
a greater number of our citizens endeavor-
ing to realize the pleasures of country life.

Now building is sufficiently cheap with
us. A man may build a cottage ornee for
a few hundred dollars, which abroad would

498

ECONOMY IN GARDENING.

cost a few thousands. But the moment he
touches a spade to the ground, to plant a
tree, or to level a hillock, that moment
his farm is taxed three or four times as
heavily as in Europe ; and as he builds in
a year, but " gardens" all his life, it is evi-
dent that his out-of-door expenses must be
systemized, or economised, or he will find
his income greatly the loser by it. Many
a citizen, who has settled in the country
with the greatest enthusiasm, has gone
back to town in disgust at the unsuspected
cost of country pleasures.

And yet, there are ways in which econo-
my and satisfactory results may be com-
bined in country life. There are always
two ways of arriving at a result ; and, in
some cases, that mode least usually pursued
is the better and more satisfactory one.

The price of the cheapest labor in the
country generally, averages 80 cents to $1
per day. Now we have no wish whatever
to lower the price of labor ; we would rather
feel that, by-and-by, we could afford to pay
even more. But we wish either to avoid
unnecessary expenditure for labor in pro-
ducing a certain result, or to arrive at some
mode of insuring that the dollar a day, paid
for labor, shall be fairly and well earned.

Four-fifths of all the gardening labor
performed in the eastern and middle states
is performed by Irish emigrants. Always
accustomed to something of oppression on
the part of landlords and employers, in their
own country, it is not surprising that their
old habits stick close to them here ; and,
as a class, they require far more watching
to get a fair day's labor from them than
many of our own people. On the other
hand, there is no workman who is more
stimulated by the consciousness of work-
ing on his own account than an Irish-
man. He will work stoutly and faithfully,
from early to late, to accomplish a "job"

of his own seeking, or which he has
fairly contracted for, and accomplish it
in a third less time than if working by the
day.

The deduction which experienced em-
ployers in the country draw from this, is,
never to employ " rough hands," or persons
whose ability and steadiness have not been
well proved, by the day or month, but al-
ways by contract, piece or job. The saving
to the employer is large ; and the laborer,
while he gets fairly paid, is induced, by a
feeling of greater independence, or to sus-
tain his own credit, to labor faithfully and
without wasting the time of his employer.

We saw a striking illustration of this
lately, in the case of two neighbors, — both
planting extensive orchards, and requiring,
therefore, a good deal of extra labor. One
of them had all the holes for his trees dug
by contract, of good size, and two spades
deep, for six cents per hole. The other
had it executed by the day, and by the
same class of labor, — foreigners, newly ar-
rived. We had the curiosity to ask a few
questions, to ascertain the difference of
cost in the two cases ; and found, as we
expected, that the cost in the day's work
system was about ten cents per hole, or
more than a third beyond what it cost by
the job.

Now, whether a country place is large
or small, there is always, in the course of
the season, more or less extra work to be
performed. The regular gardener, or work-
man, must generally be hired by the day
or month; though we know instances of
everything being done by contract. But
all this extra work can, in almost all cases.,
be done by contract, at a price greatly be-
low what it would otherwise cost. Trench-
ing, subsoiling, preparing the ground for
orchards or kitchen gardens, or even plough-
ing, and gathering crops, may be done very

ECONOMY IN GARDENING.

499

much cheaper by contract than by day's
labor.

In Germany, the whole family, including
women and children, work in the gardens
and vineyards ; and they always do the
same here when they have land in their
own possession. Now in every garden,
vineyard, or orchard, there is a great deal
of light work, that may be as well performed
by the younger members of such a family
as by any others. Hence, we. learn that
the Germans, in the large vineyards now
growing on the Ohio, are able to cultivate
she grape more profitably than other per-
sons ; and hence, German families, accus-
tomed to this kind of labor, may be em-
ployed by contract in doing certain kinds
of horticultural labors, at a great saving to
the employer.

Another mode of economising, in this
kind of expenditure, is by the use of all
possible labor-saving machines. One of our
correspondents, — a practical gardener, — •
recommended, in our last number, that the
kitchen garden, in this country, in pla-
ces of any importance, should always be
placed near the stables, to save trouble and
time in carting manure ; and should be so
arranged as to allow the plough and culti-
vator to be used, instead of the spade and
hoe. This is excellent and judicious ad-
vice, and exactly adapted to this country.
In parts of Europe where garden labor can
be had for 20 cents a day, the kitchen gar-
den may properly be treated with such
nicety that not only good vegetables, but
something ornamental shall be attained by
it. But here., where the pay is as much for
one man's labor as that of five men's labor is
worth in Germany, it is far better to cheapen
the cost of vegetables, and pay for orna-
mental work where it is more needed.

So, too, with regard to every instance,
where the more cheap and rapid working ot

an improved machine, or implement, may
be substituted for manual labor. In seve-
ral of the largest country seats on the Hud-
son, where there is so great an extent of
walks and carriage road, that several men
would be employed almost constantly in
keeping them in order, they are all cleaned
of weeds in a day by the aid of the horse
hoe for gravel walks, described in the ap-
pendix to our Landscape Gardening. In all
such cases as these, the proprietor not only
gets rid of the trouble and care of employ-
ing a large number of workmen, but of the
annoyance of paying more than their labor
is fairly worth for the purpose in question.

There are many modes of economising
in the expenditures of a country place, which
time, and the ingenuity of our countrymen
will suggest, with more experience. But
there is one which has frequently occurred to
us, and which is so obvious that we are sur-
prised that no one has adopted it. We
mean the substitution, in country places of
tolerable size, of fine sheep, for the scythe,
in keeping the lawn in order.

No one now thinks of considering his
place in any way ornamental, who does
not keep his lawn well mown, — not once
or twice a year, for grass, but once or twice
a month, for "velvet." This, to be sure,
costs something ; but, for general effect, the
the beauty of a good lawn and trees is so
much greater than that of mere flowers,
that no one, who values them rightly, would
even think of paying dearly for the latter,
and neglecting the former.

Now, half a dozen or more sheef, of some
breed serviceable and ornamental, might
be kept on a place properly arranged, so as
to do the work of two mowers, always
keeping the laivn close and short, and not
only without expense, but possibly with
some profit. No grass surface, except a
shorn lawn, is neater than one cropped by

500

PEARS FOR ORCHARD CULTURE.

sheep ; and, for a certain kind of country
residence, where the picturesque or pastoral,
rather than the studiously elegant, is de-
sired, sheep would heighten the interest
and beauty of the scene.

In order to use sheep in this way, the
place should be so arranged that the flower
garden and shrubbery shall be distinct
from the lawn. In many cases in England,
a small portion, directly round the house, is
enclosed with a wire fence, woven in a

pretty pattern, (worth three or four shillings
a yard.) This contains the flowers and
shrubs, on the parlor side of the house, with
a small portion of lawn dressed by the
scythe. All the rest is fed by the sheep,
which are folded regularly every night, ta
prevent accident from dogs. In this way>
a beautiful lawn-like surface is maintained
without the least annual outlay. We com-
mend the practice for imitation in this
country.

REMARKS ON PEARS FOR ORCHARD CIILTUREL

BY WILLIAM REID, NEW-YORK.

.Wiluam's Bonchretien, or Bartlett. Eve-
ry one that has been planting pears, for the
last ten or fifteen years, has planted this
sort more or less ; and so far as my own
observations have extended, they will be as
well off as if they had planted some of the
newer kinds, which have been very highly
recommended. But let us begin at the
beginning, and examine all the good and
bad properties of this variety; for I have
great doubts whether we have, among all
the new sorts, anything, on the whole,
nearly so valuable, and ripening at the
same time of the year.

In the first place, it is a fine grower; it
is a hardy tree ; and it comes into bearing
early ; all of which are valuable properties
to an orchardist. It is also of a large, uni-
form size, and, at the season of its ripening
here, say from the last week in August to
end of September, I may safely say that the
Bartlett, for a market fruit, has no superior.
I do not hesitate also to say, that an or-
chard of a few acres of this sort, where
pears do well, will be worth as much as
the whole produce of many a nice farm ;
and pears, now, can as well be brought

three to four hundred miles, a=3 they could
be, heretofore, a distance of fifty,. — as rail-
roads now intersect almost every section of
country, and fruits arrive almost in the
same condition as if they had been gathered
fresh from the tree. But this is one of
those pears that must be gathered a few-
days before they are fit for use; otherwise^
if left on the tree until maturity, they will
lose much of their good qualities, and be
little better than some of our commoni
fruits.

This pear succeeds best on the pear
stock, at least, as far as my experience
goes. I have several times tried it on the
quince stock, but, as yet, have never been
successful. It seems to grow tolerably well
the first and second year, but afterwards
stops, and has a very unhealthy appearance.
However, this is one of the sorts that Mr.
Rivers says grows well on the quince ; an(^
Mr. R. ought to be good authority. If there
are any cultivators who have trees of some
age of this sort, worked on quince, I should
feel greatly obliged by hearing their opinion
through the Horticulturist on this point.
The growth of trees, when young, is ©recti

PEARS FOR ORCHARD CULTURE.

501

the wood has generally a brown appear-
ance, but, in some soils, will be of a light
yellow ; the leaves incline to fold together ;
buds, on the year old wood, very flat ; good
specimens of fruit will frequently measure
five inches in length, and from three to
four in breadth, and always have a fine
yellow appearance, sometimes tinged on
one side with red.

Duchess d'Angouleme. This well known
variety, taking into consideration all its qua-
lities for orchard planting, and for profit,
probably has very few superiors, unless it
be the Onondaga, a fruit which is similar
in size, and ripens at nearly the same
time. But the Onondaga is of late intro-
duction ; and when w^e take into considera-
tion the high character given to all new
fruits, when first brought into notice, plant-
ers on a large scale will require it to be
more generally tested, before planting it so
extensively as older sorts. I am aware,
that with cultivators in some localities, the
d'Angouleme is not always considered high
flavored ; but when we take into considera-
tion its large size and fine bearing proper-
ties, I doubt whether we have anything as
yet superior. To be sure, there are many
smaller sized pears, that are undoubtedly
of superior flavor ; yet, as 1 have previously
stated, this sort has many valuable proper-
ties. It is very often high flavored, almost
always of large size, and keeps well after
gathering ; so that it may be sent to market
a great distance. For profit, it also has its
merits. One acre of ground planted with
this sort, in the vicinity of New- York, will
yield a better remuneration to the planter
than perhaps any other sort that can be se-
lected. I would also state that I have a
tree of this variety, on pear stock, planted
in 1828, which has been in bearing for the
last fifteen years, and I believe has never
failed in producing a good crop. Some

seasons the pears have been high flavored ;
and again, when a large crop was left on
the tree, they were not so good, but, at the
same time, they would have brought a good
price in market. I do not recollect any-
thing very peculiar about the leaves or
wood of this pear, as distinct from many
other varieties. It is a remarkably fine,
erect grower ; the young wood, in some
soils, will very often have a reddish brown
appearance ; the buds are also always very
prominent, (that is, projecting out from the
young shoots.) The size of this pear is
about the same as the Bartlett ; but it is
often much larger, of an oblong shape, and
very blunt at the stem, which is gene-
rally inserted in a cavity considerably sunk-
en. This variety is particularly well adapt-
ed for growing on the quince stock. It
ripens in October, and keeps sometimes
until the latter part of November. [We
cannot rate the d'Angouleme so high as an
orchard pear. Ed.]

Louise Bonne de Jersey has been in
cultivation for the last ten or twelve years,
and, I believe, is generally allowed to be a
pear of superior excellence. However, this
variety has, I think, in this country, been
chiefly fruited on quince stocks, to which
it seems well adapted, — producing fine, fair
specimens of fruit, and of high flavor. Whe-
ther it will do as well on the pear stock,
for orchard planting, will probably require
a few more years to determine. I know
that almost every person considers this
pear one of the best. . It certainly is so, on
the quince stock, on which, as I remarked,
the greater part of the fruit has been pro-
duced ; but I believe, as yet, it has not
been produced, in any quantity, on the
pear stock. It does not appear to me al-
ways safe to judge of the qualities of fruits,
for orchard planting, when they first come
into bearing. I think we have abundant

502

PEARS FOR ORCHARD CULTURE.

evidence to the contrary; for if we look
back, and examine the periodicals and works
on fruits for the last ten years, what do they
say? That a great many fruits are of su-
perior quality, new, and very fine indeed ;
in short, some works would have you be-
lieve they described hardly one which is
not first rate. But how many of these first
rate sorts, within the last five years, have
lost all of their high character they had
then? Now, one would supppose if they
had been first rate then, they would be so
at the present day. White Doyenne and
Bartlett were of that stamp then ; they are
equally good now.

It will probably be safest to defer giving
an opinion on Louise Bonne de Jersey, as
regards its qualities for the orchard, on pear
stocks, until further trial, unless some per-
son, who has had it planted ten or fifteen
years, can give a decided answer. As re-
gards its growth, it may be classed among
the free growers, both on the pear and
quince stocks. Wood of a dark olive ap-
pearance; shoots erect; fruit of a long, py-
ramidal shape, about four inches long, and
two to three inches across, of a pale green
colour, and tinged on one side with dull
red. It ripens in the month of October.

White Doyenne. This old and well
known variety is familiar to every person
who knows anything about pears ; and every
person allows that, when in perfection, it
has no superior. It is still grown exten-
sively by nurserymen here, and seems to
grow with as much vigor as it ever did,
although considered by some to be " run
out;'" though some phj'siologists, long ago,
would have it that its time had come, and,
like all living things, it must give up the
ghost, and give place to sorts of later ori-
gin. It does appear to be the case that this
variety, and several others, do not here
give us fair specimens of fruit ; but, as far

as I am aware, the trees grow and flourish
as well as they ever did ; but the fruit of
this variety about here, is certainly not as
fair as it formerly was. This is not the
case, however, to the north and west of
New-York ; for our markets bear abundant
evidence to the contrary. As fine speci-
mens come to the New-York market as ever
did in former days ; and the high prices,
(four to six cents at retail each,) show the
estimate still placed upon " Virgalieus" by
the inhabitants of Gotham. There have
been various reasons given to account for
the cracking of this pear by many intelli-
gent cultivators, but it seems to me without
arriving at any very satisfactory results.
I have always been of the opinion, that the
cracking of the fruit is caused by a rust, or
dark spots that get on the foliage in the
early part of summer. The same discolora-
tion spreads on the yotjng fruit, and has
the same effect as the mildew has on the
gooseberry and grape. It is no doubt some
kind of fungus or mildew that spreads
over the tree. I have often observed, that
wherever this black smut or rust gets on,
the young pear ceases growing in that
part ; and as the skin grows hard, and does
not expand with the rest of the pear, it
either cracks open or causes an indentation
on the fruit. Now, if we could find some-
thing to prevent this black smut or mildew
on the foliage, I have no doubt but the Vir-
galieu pear would be just as good now,
about New-York, as they ever were.* We
have no variety, probably, more profitable
than this sort, where it grows exempt from
this fungus or rust. Eoth this variety and
the Gray Doyenne succeed on the quince
stock, and sometimes produce fine speci-
mens, when they have entirely failed on
the pear. This is a moderate grower in

* Wood ashes and bone dust will cure this rust, which is
the outward symptom of a want of specific food iu the soil.
Ed.

PEARS FOR ORCHARD CULTURE.

503

the nursery rows. It forms its side branch-
es very uniform, and almost horizontally,
and forms a beautiful tree when grown as
a dwarf, or for pyramidal training. Ripe
from the middle of September to the latter
part of November.

Washington is a seedling pear, of Ame-
rican origin, and of very higli qualities;
and had this been taken as a standard to
judge by, there are manj'^ seedlings at the
present day that would never have been
figured, or brought into notice. The Wash-
ington pear, when in perfection, certainly
has few superiors. It is beautiful and fair
to look at ; and it has a good, erect habit of
growth, particularly on old trees. The
wood has a light grey appearance, and the
bark is very distinctly spotted with white
dots. The fruit is of a size less than
the White Doyenne, egg-shaped, of a
fine yellow colour, with numerous gray
russet spots. It is ripe, in the vicinity of
New- York, about the last week in August.
This sort does not succeed on the quince
stock.

SuRPASsE ViRGALiEU. This pear some-
what resembles the White Doyenne in its
habit of growth. The side branches on
young trees are, however, rather more up-
right. This sort, as far as I have been
able to judge, from specimens grown on
young trees, is a fine fruit, and a good deal
like the old Virgalieu, but rather more
round, with some few blotches of faint
red. It is not liable to crack, like the lat-
ter sort. There are no doubt some good
sized trees of this variety now in bearing,
in various parts of the country. Will any
person be so kind as to make the habits of
such trees known, through the columns of
the Horticulturist ? This sort grows well
on quince stocks.

FoNDANTE d'Automne. This is another
variety of the pear that is highly spoken of

by most cultivators, and, I believe, has
generally proved excellent. It is a mode-
rate grower, of rather an erect habit. The
young wood, particularly on young trees, is
of a yellow [ ? ] appearance. The fruit is of
moderate size, very melting, and good fla-
vor. This pear succeeds well on the quince.
Is there any person that has good sized
trees of thi^ variety, and will it be profita-
ble for market?

Beurre Capiaumont is one of those pears
whose fair appearance has recommended it
as a profitable market fruit. So far as I
have had a chance to judge of its qualities,
I think it is one of those varieties than can
be dispensed with. It is seldom or ever
good to eat; and at the time it ripens, we
have many other larger and far superior
sorts. The wood is of a yellow colour;
leaves pretty deeply serrated ; fruit of ordi-
nary size, tapering to a sharp point, and
often with a bright red cheek. It grows on
the quince stock.

Madeleine is considered one of our best
pears, ripening in July. It is a good strong
grower. When young, the branches grow
very erect, and it can generally be recog-
nised at once among other pears in the or-
chard, by its very straight, upright appear-
ance. The wood of this sort is of a dark
Colour, with some few light gray specks.
The size of the fruit is small. It keeps but
a short time, and does not yet seem to be
plenty in our markets. It grows well on
the quince stock.

Early Catherine. There are few early
pears, ripening in July, which yield a bet-
ter remuneration to the planter than this
sort will. The trees grow to a large size,
with long, pendant branches; and when
they come into bearing, they produce very
large crops. The Early Catherine is well
known in the New-York and Philadelphia
markets. I have often eaten this pear, and

504

CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS.

thought it one of the best early pears
grown. It is said, however, by some, not
to be quite as good to the north of New-
York; but, until we can find something
better, this is a variety that I would recom-
mend to those who are fond of early pears,
though, like most of the July pears, it keeps
only a few days, and ought to be gathered
from the tree to have it in perfection. The
wood of this sort is very dark, with long
branches. It is a good grower, both on
the pear and quince stock. The fruit is of
a long pyramidal shape, and has a long
crooked, fleshy stem. Size rather below
medium ; colour brownish russet, occasion-
ally with a dull red cheek.

Seckel. This well known pear, when
grown on good thrifty trees, is always al-
lowed to be of very superior quality. It
has a peculiar flavor that very few pears
possess. It seems, however, that the Seckel

pear is not always as fine as it used to be;
On old trees, especially, they are very often
small and without flavor ; and for some
years, in particular localities, such trees are
liable to drop their leaves early before the
fruit is ripe, which, in consequence, is
without flavor — [ for the want of proper cul-
ture. Ed.] Yet, the Seckel is a pear that,
will always be cultivated in private collec-
tions ; but it is very likely to be superseded
by some of the larger sorts, when profit is.
the object of the planter. This variety,
although slow of growth when young, is,
when grown to a good size, a tree of great
beauty and perfect symmetry, and can never
be mistaken in the orchard, or confounded
with any other. I have only had the Seckel
worked a few years on the quince stock.
It seems, so far, to do pretty well. Yours,
very respectfully, Wm. Reii>.

New-York, February, 1849,

ON THE CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS,

BY JAMES STEWART, AVASHINGTON, D. C.

Sm — In your Horticulturist for September,
there is an article on the culture of vines
in pots, extracted from the London Gar-
deners' Chronicle, and written by Mr. Spen-
cer, of Bowood Gardens. So far as the
article treats on growing the plants, for
producing frait, it is excellent, and is the
practice of all the noted grape-growers in
England ; but he does not minutely give the
treatment they ought to receive, in some of
the great essentials, to insure success.

The most important point, in the culture
of vines in pots, is altogether overlooked,
viz., never use but one year old plants for the
purpose ; and as soon as they have borne a
crop, let them be thrown aside. This, with
judicious stopping, is the great secret in

vine culture in pots. By raising your planJs-
from single eyes, every season, and growing^
them as he describes, success is certain j
but it must be regarded as most essential
never to employ only young plants for the
purpose. Older plants, treated as he points
out, will certainly bear ; but there is no
comparison between them and the young
plants, — the latter far surpassing the for-
mer in quantity and quality. This is the
practice of Mr. George Mills, gardener ta
the Baroness de Rothschild, Gunnersburg
Park, near London ; one of the best practi-
cal gardeners, and successful cultivators in
England. Two years ago I was in Eng-
land, and called on Mr. Geo. Mills, {being
an old pupil of his , — having served my time

CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS.

505

v,7ider him^) and was astonished at the early
crop of grapes, in pots. This was on the
27th of February, 1847. In one house I
saw, plunged in a bed of tan, four hundred
plants, bearing from five to eight perfect
bunches each, all ripened in the most per-
fect manner. Some of them had been al-
ready cut for the table These plants were
introduced on the 2f5th of October, and sub-
jected to a slight fire heat on the 1st of
November, and then treated as is the usual
practice of all good culiivatnrs, — never al-
lowing the hygrometer to ascend above 78;
for if this amount of moisture is not main-
tained, you will be subjected to all such
evils as red spider, thrips, mildew, &c.,
with their attendant consequences. Even
when open, warm water gutters are used,
in conjunction with flues, that are not more
than three inches in diameter. You can-
not saturate the flues, walks, &c., too much,
particularly in the night, and in bright
sunny weather, — bearing in mind to regu-
late the day temperature, as to moisture,
&c,, according to the weather, by covering
the gutters, in cloady, damp weather, and
the contrary in clear sunny days.

During my stay in London, I called on
all the principal places where early forcing
is carried on, viz., at the Duke of North-
umberland's; Mr. Carton, gardener, Sion
House, Islew'orth ; Marquis of Ailsa, St.
Margarets, do.; Mr. Wilmot, the great
grower for Covent Garden market, do.;
Mr. Thompson, do., Great Ealing; Mr.
Breffitt, of Barnes ; Mr. Stone, Deptford ;
Mr. Geo. Dodds, gardener to Sir Geo.
Warrender ; Eoyal Gardens, Trogmore,
under the superintendence of Mr. Ingram ;
Mr. Gibson, gardener to the queen dowa-
ger, Bushy Park; Mr. Mallison, gardener
to the king of the Belgians, Claremont ;
and a great many other places of the first
note, in the vicinity of the great metropolis.

Although I saw some excellent crops of
early grapes in pots, yet none could com-
fare with the Gunnersburg Park crop of
grapes.

If you should deem the following remarks
worthy of perusal, you are at liberty to pub-
lish them. By observing the annexed rou-
tine, the cultivator will be amply rewarded
by the generous vine. .

Raising the Plants. — Choose the most
prominent eyes ; be careful that the wood
is well ripened ; cut them into eyes of
about one and a half inch in length; insert
them singly in pots four inches in diameter,
and plunge them into a hot-bed. When
the pot is full of roots, shift them into the
fruiting pots ; these should be from sixteen
to eighteen inches diameter, or boxes of
the same dimensions. Care must be taken
to keep them as near the glass as circum-
stances will admit of. Train them up till
they reach the height of three feet, then
top them where the terminal bud breaks ;
let it grow two feet and top it again. Be
particular when the terminal eye is again
excited, not to stop it closer than within two
or three eyes of the former place. This
will now give a sufficient length of rod (or
stalk) to produce twelve or fourteen bunches
of fruit ; select the best, and only retain
six, which is much better than a greater
quaniiiy. If it is stopped back to one eye
above the former stopping, you will be
sure to excite the main eyes which are to
produce the crop of fruit, and which would
render the plant useless. Be careful to
keep them free from all laterals; and a
judicious management of stopping-in their
growth is indispensably necessary, to in-
sure prolific vines. Water with pure, soft
rain water, if obtainable ; and if well water
has to be used, add one ounce oi nitrate of
soda to three gallons of water, and let it
stand in the house till it attains the vinery

506

CULTURE OP VINES IN POTS,

temperature. Guano, twice a week, should
be also used, — a handful to a large water
pot of about three or four gallons.

About the lOlh of September, let them
be removed to a north aspect, plunging
them in tan or rotten leaves up to the rim
of the pot. Let them remain here till the
middle of October, when they should be
pruned six jnches lower than the second
topping. Keep the pots as dry as possible,
so as to superinduce a dormant stale.

There they should remain till the first of
November, and then be introduced into the
house, if it is desired to have a ripe crop
by the middle of February. If not required
so soon, great care must be taken not to
let the roots get frozen in winter ; as in
that case, failure is ineviiahle. They can
be stored away in a cellar, stoke hole, or
any other place free from frost ; and if
there should be no convenience of this kind,
they might be covered over with dry leaves,
to the depth of two feet and a half.

Vines that are intended to start early,
will break much more regularly, and much
stronger, if they are kept in the dark a
short time previous to their being excited.
When removed to the house, they should
receive a good soaking of water, and a
top-dressing of the soil recommended, with
the addition of a fourth of dissolved bones,
incorporated with it.

It must never be forgotten that the plants,
during their whole growth, should enjoy as
close a proximity to the glass as circum-
stances will permit.

Description of a House, most suitable
for vines in pots, particularly in regard to
ripening the fruit in February and March :
Small, low, sheltered houses, having an
angle of not let less than 55 degrees, are
the best to employ for the purpose of grow-
ing early grapes, so as to have them ripe
in February and March. A " lesser an-

gle'^ than this would not do; as the sun
would not strike the house perpendicularly
till later in the season, and the consequence
would be, a great deficiency in flavor of the
fruit. The size of the house must be de-
termined according to the supply required;
and persons could have them any length
and width, to suit themselves, providing
that they adhere to the angle of 55 degrees,
as it is highl\'^ important to secure as much
sunlight as possible between the autumnal
and vernal equinoxes. If the situation will
admit of the ground being excavated to
the depth of two or three feet, so much the
better. Shutters should be provided for
covering the house, in very severe weather.
Mode of Heating. — The best system of
heating, to my mind, is a combination of
hot water, in open gutters, the flue, and a
circulation of atmospheric air, as on the so
called Polmaise system, but which, in fact,
was introduced into practice at Isleworth,
at the Makquis of Ailsa'.s, in 1838, by Wm.
Penn, horticultural builder, of Lewisham,
Kent, — with only the difference, instead of
a furnace or stove, hot-water pipes were
substituted ; still, the principle was the same.
A good substantial brick flue should run
parallel with the back wall, and about two
feet distance from it, where the fire enters ;
and over the fire should be placed a small
copper boiler, having a perfectly flat bottom.
Open gutters should communicate with the
boiler, for the water to circulate in ; and
they may run parallel with the flue, or rest
on the top of it. Gutters of tin, {well paitited
loith red paint,') or of copper, or iron, will
answer well ; they should be provided with
covers, which should fit accurately, to con-
fine all moisture, if not required. The
whole now should be enclosed in an air
chamber, having small sills let in, at the
distance of four feet apart. They should
be two feet square, and provided with shut-

CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS.

507

ters, to be hung on hinges, so as to have
ingress to cover or uncover the gutters,
when required. At the end of the air
chamber should be an opening, for the
escape of the heated air. The top of the
chamber may be covered with boards, and
on it sufficient rotten leaves, or tan, to
plunge the pots in. The height of the air
chamber must be so regulated as to have a
space of two feet and a half left between
the glass and the top of the pots. A walk
should go down the centre of the house;
and if sunk twelve or fourteen inches, it
will act as an air drain, to conduct the co'd
air over the fire, where it enters a small
drain, projecting two feet into the walk,
and communicating with the bottom of air
chamber, where the fire enters, will give
satisfaction ; although it will act very well,
if there is an opening twelve inches wide,
left to communicate with the chamber,
when the walk is upon a perfect level with
bottom of the air chamber. There should
be a drain communicating with the bottom
of the air chamber and the external air,
which should be provided with a slide, so
as to supply fresh atmospheric air when
required. This apparatus, for economy of
fuel, simplicity, and efficiency, has no rival;
as it also supplies a steady, safe, and mild
bottom heat, by the same machinery as is
required to heat the air of the interior of
the house. To be complete, a cistern should
run the whole length of the house, and be
placed i/iside, and extend from the front
wall to the walk, and three feet deep, at
least. It may be built of brick, and ce-
mented, or of lumber, and lined with zinc.
No house should be without a good cistern,
to be supplied from the roof, and of suffi-
cient capacity to be adequate to the con-
sumption of the house in the greatest drouth.
Training. — The vines are to be trained
down the rafters, twelve inches from the

glass. Each sash will accommodate two.
By training them downwards, they will
develope every bud, and break regularly
down to the bottom of the pot; whereas, if
trained up the rafter, in the usual way,
they would break too vigorously at the
terminal bud, which would rob the other
eyes of a due supply of sap ; consequently,
they would remain inert, which would cur-
tail the crop in a serious measure.

Soil. — The soil that is best adapted to
vine culture in pots, is a good hazel loam,
not too stiff' in texture, with plenty of turfy
fibre in it, and a fourth of good decayed
" bog eart/i,^' which has been frequently
turned, and exposed to the action of a win-
ter's frost. This bog earth abounds with
the richest decomposed vegetable matter,
and is found in most swamps. One pint
of fine salt should be added to each bushel
of soil, and the whole thoroughly incorpo-
rated together. In this soil they attain a
degree of luxuriance seldom witnessed.

Water. — Use pure, soft rain water, ?f
possible; and if '■'■ weW^ water, mix nitrate
of soda, as before directed, and guano twice
a week.

Temperature. — Supposing the vines to
be introduced on the first of November,
the house should be kept very moist and
"close," if the thermometer does not range
higher than 60^ Fahrenheit, in the day, —
allowing it to sink to 40° at night. This
treatment may be pursued for the first two
weeks, then gradually increase the tempe-
rature with a corresponding amount of
moisture, till it reaches 65° at night, and
75^ in the day, till the first week in De-
cember, The shoots will now be six or
seven inches in length, and the bunches
well developed. Select six of the best, and
disbud all the others ; pinch otT the shoots
one joint beyond the bunch, and keep them
closely stopped ; increase the temperature

608

CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS.

by day to 80^, and with bright sunshine, it
may run up to 100^ or 105^, with plenty of
moisture, — allowing the night temperature
to sink to 70°. When the vines come into
bloom, keep up a high moist temperature,
95° in the day, with sun 100^ to lOo^.
At this critical time, the night temperature
may be increased 80° 8"2^. The grapes
safely set, and when as large as inustard
seed, thin out the berries ; and to a prac-
ticed eye it can be done to a nicety, al-
though m:iny err in not taking a sufficient
quantity out of the bunch. The day tem-
perature may now be kept permanently at
85° to 90°; and with sun, it may rise to
100° 105°, with plenty of moisture, — allow-
ing the night temperature to be fixed at the
minimum of 75°. Always keep the vines
closely stopped, and never use water to
water them with, but such as is of the same
temperature of the house. Never admit
air through the sashes ; let it come through
the air chamber, and be thoroughly warmed
before it enters the house.

With strict attention to these directions,
the grapes will begin to colour in the first
week in February ; and the moment you
perceive this, luithhold water from ike pots ^
unless absolutely necessary, and keep the
gutters closed, and maintain a " dry at-
mospherey It will insure you colour and
flavor in the highest degree ; not to forget,
now to admit as much fresh air as you pos-
sibly can. From the time that the grapes
are set, and swelling off", a large quantity
of moisture is absolutely necessary. The
leaves should present, every morning, small
globules of water hanging on them, — the
very picture of health, and proof of good
management. Any one disposed to follow
the above rules, will not be disappointed in
obtaining good grapes from vines in pots, —
always keeping in view two prime essen-
tials in vine culture, viz., a large supply of

atmospheric moisture, and a fall of night
temperature. Where a deviation from these
rules is made, a miserable, small, badly
coloured, and worse flavored fruit is the
result.

This article, if it cannot boast of being
written in a style like that of some of your
correspondents, with a great many flourish-
es, is at least a ^radical article, and is the
practice which has been very successful,
for the last fifteen years, with Mr. Mills,
at Gunnersburg Park. I have also had
the same success myself, as a reference to
the Transactions of the Norfolk and Nor-
wich, and Cambridgshire Horticultural So-
cieties will attest; the two first provincial
societies, of the kind, in England.

And last, but not least, I have also been
successful at the London Horticultural So-
ciety, when in competition with the re-
nowned RoBKRTS, then gardener to Mat-
thew Wilson, Esq., Eshton Hall, near
Skipton, Yorkshire, and now of Eaby Cas-
tle, one of the best, if not the very best
grape-grower in England. By referring to
the 4th vol. of the Gardeners' Chronicle,
Professor Lindley's remarks will be seen.
Perhaps it may be asked why I do not
practice this system here? My answer is
this; fortune has never favored me with a
chance of so doing. The account given in
Paxton's Horticultural Register, by Mr. I.
DouGAL, of the success of Mr. Mearns, of
Welbeck, of Mr. Stafford and others:, of
vine-growing in pots, must be received
with due caution ; as I can unhesitatingly
state, on my own personal knowledge, that
no such wonderful results, as those chroni-
cled, were ever attained. As I lived under
Mr, Mearns, at Welbeck, when he was
introducing the coiling system into notice,
I have a right to know, that too high a
colouring has been given to its merits.
When I lived with Mr. Moffat, gardener

CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS.

509

to the Duke of Newcastle, at Clumber
Park, as foreman of the forcini,^ depffrtment,
I used to visit "Welbeck, Willersley, Chats-
worth, Shobdon Court, and other places,
where vine cuhure in pots was carried on
systematical!}', and can assure Mr. Dougal
that, although that mode is successful in a
high degree, yet amateurs, and practical
gardeners, have been led to expect too
much from it, particularly as detailed in
Mearn's Treatise on Vines in Pots. The
system of Mr. Patrick Flannigan, late
gardener to Sir T. Hare, Stow Hall, Nor-
folk, for the production of early grapes, I
should decidedly recommend, in preference
to Pot Culture. When houses are estab-
lished on his plan, they have the merit
of answering, equally well, as the pot sys-
tem ; and being permanent, vineries now
exist at the above mentioned place which
were planted 30 years since by the late P.
Flannigan, and are still producing splendid
crops of fruit, and ripening them in March.
In the eastern counties of England, this
plan is universally followed, particularly at
the Bracondale horticultural establishment
of Mr. Bell, the most extensive grape cul-
tivator in Great Britain, where tons of the
finest fruit is produced, and a supply all
the year is kept up.

Should this meet with your approval, I
may, at some other time, give an outline of
the above method ; but perhaps something
like it may be detailed in Mr. Allen's trea-
tise, that you have noticed, which I have
not had the pleasure of seeing.

Tiie following varieties I am inclined to
recommend, as most suitable for pot cul-
ture, after having tested all the varieties
extant, with the exception of what may
have made their appearance in the last four
years, viz : Chasselas Precoce, Royal Mus-
cadine, Black Hamburgh, Black Damascus,
(true,) Black Prince^ " Clay Hall Seedling,'"

(half the berry white, half black, — this is a
superb grape ;) New Dutch Sweet Water,
Cambridge Botanic Garden, and Grove End
Sioeet IVater. The Frontignans — Black,
White, and Grizzly, do very well. Last,
but not least, let me say a word of the
" Cochin China." This grape was intro-
duced into England by Sir Ousely Gore,
Bar't, British ambassador to the Persian
court at Ispahan, by whom it was sent to
the Earl of Egremont, at Petworth House,
in Sussex. Two 3'ears ago, it was only
grown at Petworth, Lord Wharncliffb's,
Wortley Hall, Yorkshire, and at Stradsett
Park, the seat of Wm. Bagge, Esq., M. P.,
Norfolk. It was not in the possession of
any one else, not even in that of the Londoii
Horticultural Society, in whose Catalogue
the Cochin China is described as a black
grape; whereas, this is a white one, and,
when fully ripe, it assumes a beautiful am-
ber colour. It has a long bunch, well
shouldered up; the berry is of a long oval
shape; the flavor is of first quality. The
Cochin China, in short, is one of the earli-
est grapes known, and as prolific and hardy
as a Black Hamburgh, if not more so. It
sets well, in a very low temperature, where
the Black Hamburgh will not ; and when
it comes to be known, it will become as
universal a favorite as the Black Ham-
burgh now is. This new variety is now in
the hands of Mr. John Smith, nurseryman,
5th and Buttonwood-street, Philadelphia,
and one of the best " practical demonstra-
tors" of vine culture in the United States ;
as was exemplified by him, when gardener
to the late Nicholas Biddle, Esq., Anda-
lusia, Bucks county. Pa. Mr. S. will have
it in bearing year after next, permanently.
Last j-ear he fruited a plant in a pot, to test
it, and was so well satisfied of its superi-
ority, that he inarched it on a fine vine of
the Zinfindal variety. This plant stood in

610

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

a house, occupied by roses, where no fire
heat was applied, and ripened its fruit by
the 2d of July. Mr. Smith will not offer
plants for sale until the vine inarched comes
into bearing ; then purchasers can have
occular demonstration as to its merits. The
above vine that he has possession of, I know
to be genuine, having introduced it myself
from Stradsett Park, in the spring of 1847.
As I conducted the gardens at Stradsett
Park for six years, previous to my coming
to this country, I can confidently speak of
its good qualities ; and my (then) employer,
Wm. Bagge, Esq., M. P., who is a first
rate judge of good fruit, used to say that it
ranked next to the Muscat of Alexandria,
and was the second grape in cultivation.
Mr. Joseph Harrison sent a plant of this
variety to Stradsett, from Petworth, in 1839,

being one of the first plants propagated from
the original.

Having extended this article to a much
greater length than I intended, I must crave
your indulgence for encroaching so much
upon your valuable pages. In conclusion,
I would recommend not another variety to
be added for pot culture ; and to have the
very best, I would repeat, use Black Ham-
burgh, Black Prince, Chasselas Precoce,
(true ;) and, when obtainable, Cochin China^
and Clay Hall Seedling.

The first opportunity I have, I will give
you a description of the Clay Hall Seedling
grape, and how it originated. And now,
hoping to see vine culture advance rapidly,
both in and out of doors, I remain, sir, yours
truly, James Stewart.

WashinglOH, D- C, Feb. 14, 1849.

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

[from the LONDON HOET. MAGAZINE.]

The great secret of getting rich is to make
the most of what we have ; and whether
this applies to money, to time, or to land,
it is the same. You may almost tell what
a man is by the appearance of his garden.
Does he make the most of his ground? then
there is some hope he is prudent. Does he
make the most of his labor ? he will rarely
want. We do not mean that such men are
never unfortunate, that they have not their
troubles and trials like other men ; but
under every kind of visitation such men are
better prepared, and therefore suffer less
than careless reckless persons. In a gar-
den no rod of ground should be ever idle.
If a man who is naturally lazy has not kept
his ground well cropped, he may have his
excuses about laying fallow, ridging it in
■wdnter to mellow the soil, or leaving it
rough that the frost may get into it ; but
there is no occasion for all this, — the soil
need on no occasion to be at rest ; change
of work is. a holiday to man, and change of
crop is all that any ground needs ; for no

two crops require the same kind of feeding,
and consequently, by changing from one
which requires high feeding of one kind to
another that requires no feeding, or feeding
of another sort, the ground continues at
work without being exhausted. If ground
has been used for carrots, parsnips, or beet-
root, it may be immediately cropped with
lettuces, or some crop which has no tap
roots. Turnips, also, and potatoes, may
be followed by peas. Very little attention
(if that be properly devoted) will be neces-
sary to prevent ground being wasted, or
crops being out of place. When a garden
is wanted for a family, and economy rather
than variety is to be consulted, we are
quite sure that asparagus, sea-kale, and
similar expensive things, ought not to be
undertaken. The first object is plenty, the
second object is the choice of those subjects
which last on the ground, or preserve well
when taken off. Potatoes are a first con-
sideration, onions, carrots, parsnips, and
beet-root, are next, and Jerusalem arti-

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING,

511

chokes are not to be forgotten, because all
these are capable of being stored for months
after they are taken up ; then, of those
which last a long time on the ground, and
afford a constant siippl}^ scarlet beans,
cabbages, onions, winter spinach, and sa-
voys, are the most worthy of a cottager's
attention; and brocoli (except the sprout-
ing, which is a hardy useful vegetable,)
cauliflowers, peas, and other subjects, which
yield less produce on the same ground, by
reason of the greater quantity of room they
take, or the longer period of remaining on
the ground, must be considered as luxuries.
Everybody, with a garden, must consider
the circumstances under which he has to
cultivate it. If he has more ground than
his family require for their supply, care
must be taken to have the surplus of a
useful and marketable nature, such as are
always saleable, and if not bought on the
ground, capable of being preserved for
some time. All the articles mentioned in
the first instance are of this nature. Pota-
toes, carrots, parsnips, beet-root, onions,
and such like subjects, when ripened, will
keep, and are always in request ; whereas,
to over-grow any perishable crop is unwise,
because they will bring nothing, as when
one person is overdone, most people are in
the same predicament. There are some
seasons in which it is better to sow for main
crops, but in a general way it is better to
have different sowings, and not too large,
because all will frequently come in to-
gether, and so in a few days all be gone
by. How frequently do we see a whole
planting of cauliflowers come in and go
by in a single week ; they are unlike cab-
bages in this respect ; for a cabbage is
eatable from the time it has four good
leaves until it is hard and solid ; hence,
cabbage is the most useful of the green
crops, and should be sown at all seasons,
that there may be always some ready to
plant out. Savoys are perhaps the most
hardy of the good winter greens, Scotch
kale may be an exception, for hardly any
degree of frost will kill it, Brussels sprouts
are an excellent green ; but when the ob-
ject is economy of ground, it is better to
limit the crops to those which are most
serviceable as food, or most saleable as a
surplus. As a general rule, where ground

is an object, double culture is desirable,
that is, the planting of one crop between
the rows of another crop ; sowing rows of
spinach or peas, or planting rows of French
beans, or lettuces or leeks, beet-root or
parsnips, between rows of other subjects.
The only good object to be attained by this
is the saving, perhaps, of a month or some-
thing more occasionally by digging between
the rows of a crop that may be not cleared
oft' for a month or six weeks, and planting
young stuff that will not be in its way till
that time arrives, although it will be get-
ting on pretty nearly as fast as if there was
nothing there. When the other crop comes
off, the digging of the ground on which
they stood will let air into the soil, and
greatly refresh the rising crop, whatever it
may be. Another mode of economising
the ground is to plant out some subjects at
half distances. Cabbages, in the fall of
the year, are adapted for this. If, for in-
stance, they would cabbage well at two feet
apart from row to row, and eighteen inches
from plant to plant, put them in rows only
one foot apart, and only nine inches from
each other in the row : all through the
winter, you may be pulling the alternate
rows for greens and cabbage plants, and
when you have removed the alternate rows
you may begin to pull up the alternate
plants ; meanwhile the plants intended to
cabbage have lost nothing, because before
they are too thick those that are removed
give ample room to the remainder to cab-
bage. Another mode of economising, is to
sow radishes, spring onions, lettuces, &c,,
in the same quarters as the early potatoes,
and they are cleared off for consumption or
for planting out before the potatoes are in-
convenienced, or grow enough to injure the
other crops. Experience will always teach
us the best mode of economising ground
and labor ; but some few general hints
may be useful to the amateur and the cot-
tager. There are many books in which
there are directions for the garden opera-
tions every month in the year, but even the
best of them are not explicit enough in re-
spect to the quantities or proportions of
ground to be sown or planted ; but so much
depends on the circumstances under which
a garden is cultivated, the wants of the
cultivator, and his cominand of labor, that

512

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

we hardly know how it could be defined,
unless we take an ordinary garden required
for an ordinary supply. There are not,
however, two families alike in this particu-
lar: one family may not consume a peck
of onions in a year, while another, no
larger, may eat several bushels; under
these circumstances (like the little work
called Gardening for the Million,) we re-
commend frequent sowing rather than large
crops, and lay it down as a rule that the
wants must regulate the supply. Produc-
tive gardening, therefore, may mean large
produce, abundance of everything ; but the
intended application of the term is large
produce without loaste, and the way to se-
cure this is to limit the quantity of perisha-
ble articles, and make all the abundance
and surplus of some crop which is always
saleable and not perishable, — that is, not
perishable within the period of several
weeks. We propose to direct briefly the
cultivation of the various subjects desirable
to a family, so as to make the most of the
ground.

POTATOES.

The numerous writers on the cultivation
of the potato differ as much in their plans
as if they were advising upon as many
different subjects. We have grown them
upon every plan. The indifTerence of the
root to many dififerent modes of treatment,
and its success occasionally under all, has
made all men too careless. We set out
with preferring whole tubers for sets, in
preference to cut sets, when they can be
got of the right size, and, when we can
get whole sets, we like autumn planting
better than spring. Whole sets should, on
account of economy, be small, that is, about
the size of a walnut in its green husk ;
those much smaller might prove weak, if
much larger there would be waste. Whole
tubers are less liable than cut ones to be
damaged by wet or frost, but for winter
planting, or rather for autumn planting,
they should be a clear six inches under the
surface, for which purpose the dibble must
be thrust down eig^ht inches. In selecting:
the place for potatoes, plant those intended
to be early under a south wall or paling, or
on a sloping southern aspect, using the
Ash-leaf kidney, Soden's early Oxford, Ri-
iot's flour-ball, Alliway's early seedling,

and Looker's Oxonian, or any other of the
well-known early kinds. Plant any of
these a foot apart, in rows eighteen inches
from each other. Plant in October. Be-
tween these rows there may be planted
rows of cabbage plants, not more than six
inches apart, to be pulled as greens as soon
as they are large enough to eat, beginning
by taking every other one the first time
you go over them, and clearing them alto-
gether the second time. When the potato
plants are well up, let them be earthed,
that is, the earth drawn up round their
stems with a hoe ; but although we men-
tion October, the open weather from that
time till May would be good, if the vegeta-
tion could be kept back; for the instant a
potato begins to shoot the eyes, it begins to
take harm. Common sense dictates that
the instant the eyes begin to swell the
tuber ought to be in the ground; for this
reason, seed potatoes ought never to be
pitted, but when taken up they should be
dried on the surface of the ground, or what
is called greened. This process thickens
the skin, evaporates a portion of the mois-
ture, and adapts them for keeping, though
it totally spoils them for eating. They
ought then to be kept in a dry, cool place
until the period for planting arrives. Sup-
pose them disinclined to grow, and the eyes
not to start even till late in the spring, they
would be just as well planted the last day
as the first ; but we repeat that the instant
they begin to grow (before planting,) they
begin to lose quality. Presuming large
potatoes alone can be had for seed, the
necessity of cutting them into smaller sets
must be admitted ; but equal care, indeed
greater rather than less care, must be taken
to cut and plant before they begin to grow.
In a general way it may be observed that a
potato has the eyes for growing chiefly on
one half. Now if the potatoes to be cut
are in good order, and not growing, one-
half may be cut off for eating, the other,
containing the eyes should be so cut as to
have one strong eye on each shoot ; some
are more liberal, and have two, and in
some kinds of potatoes the eyes sit so close
that you are obliged to have more. These
cuts should be spread out to dry before
they are planted ; a little lime sifted over
them, so as to dust them all, is desirahle.

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

513

The planting may be entirely regulated by
the disposition to grow. It may be suffi-
cient to say here that when a potato is in
the ground it is gaining strength as it
grows, but while it is out of the ground it
is losing. It may also be observed that po-
tato planting is good so long as potato sets
that have not begun to grow can be pro-
cured. The various modes o[ planting de-
pends on the quantity of ground, the rate
of labor, and the quality of the soil. The
following practices are common in different
locaJ.ities :

1. Trenches one spit deep are dug, and
the soil thrown on one side ; the trenches
are half filled with stable dung, the sets
placed on the dung, and the soil placed on
the top, forming a complete ridge, under
which the potatoes soon vegetate and often
yield heavy crops ; but in general the best
potatoes for eating are those grown on un-
dunged land, which does not yield so much.

2. Dung is placed on the land and dug
in, and the sets are dibbled in from four to
six inches below the surface ; in this case
the soil should always be pressed on the
tuber, that it may lie solid on the ground,
for if this be carelessly attempted, one half
the sets, being dropped into a hole that a
lump of soil may stop up half way, would
be left without any soil surrounding them :
this cannot but be injurious, therefore we
cannot be too particular in seeing that the
soil above is bruised and lightly pressed,
so as to surround the set.

3- Where there is much land, furrows
are ploughed, the potatoes dropped into
them, and ploughing the next furrow covers
them up. In this case, the second furrow
is not used, as it would be too near for the
rows, but the third furrow fills the second,
and is used for the sets, the fourth covers
them in, and so on, the v/hole ground being
thus well stirred. If such land is to be
dunged, the dressing is spread over the
surface and ploughed in.

4. After digging and, if necessary, dress-
ing the ground, the sets are laid in rows of
the proper distance, and earth is taken from
between the rows and thrown on the sets.

A crop of very early potatoes may be
had, by digging the ground along the foot
of a south wall, placing the sets a foot
apart, and about six inches from it, and

Vol. III. 33

then take earth from the front and throw
on them so as to form a sloping bank, and
when the plants come up, earth them up
on the outside. This may be a small
crop, because it is generally dry, but it
comes early in proportion, and always of
fine flavor. The lale potatoes ought not to
be planted late, that is, the sets must not
have grown out before planting, and the
distance for the late ones ought to be two
feet, and the very large ones two feet six
from, row to row. Potatoes are ripe when
the haulm, decays. Regent's, Forty-fold,
York red, Ne plus ultra kidney, Cham-
pion, Red kidue}^ are good sorts for main
crops.

CARROTS, PARSNIPS, AND BEET-ROOT.

Next to potatoes, which are food for
months, these three vegetables are the
most useful. They are not only good with
almost every kind of meat, but they are
always saleable in any quantity ; all grounds
are not suitable, for they require fifteen
inches of good rich light soil, free from
gra^^el and stones. The soil should be
trenched and well broken ; beds of four
feet wide, with one foot alleys between
them, are the most handy for all three, and
the seed should be very thinly sown over
them ; when the plants are up, they should
be hoed to leave them eight or nine inches
apart, nor should a single weed be allowed
to grow. The first hoeing may not do this
effectually, but the second, with the help
of the hand occasionally, will accomplish it.
These crops are valuable in all families,
and, besides using them as soon as they
are large enough, they may be stored as
soon as they are ripe, and, with care, keep
through the winter. The early carrots to
be drawn and eaten as soon as they are of
sufficient size, should be sown in February
and March, the main crop the latter end of
April ; the best for the former is the Early
horn and its varieties ; the best for the late
is the Altringham. For storing they ought
not to be taken up until the foliage turns
yellow.

ONIONS.

This is one of the most useful of vegeta-
bles, and deserves especial attention ; like
the previously mentioned crops, they keep
a long while if well ripened, and the prin-
cipal art in their culture is to well dress

514

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

the ground ; well decomposed night soil, a
good two inch thickness all over the soil,
forked into and well mixed with the top
six inches of mould, will be found an ex-
cellent dressing ; but it must be well de-
composed, or it will be too strong. The
surface should be well levelled, the lumps
well bruised, and the seeds sown thinly
and equally over the bed ; this should be
rolled in or trodden in solid, and raked
smooth and even. The beds, like those of
all crops sown broad-cast, ought to be four
feet wide, with alleys of one foot. The
month for sowing for a main crop is March,
quite the beginning ; when they are up
they should be hoed out, so as to leave
them six inches apart, and in a week or
two a second hoeing will be found neces-
sary ; as the onions grow there rasLj be
found some close to each other — two in a
place instead of one. These should be
drawn by hand, so as to leave only one,
and they must be kept clear of weeds all
through their growth. When the period
for taking up approaches, and the bulbs
have swelled nearly as much as they will,
the market gardeners make a practice of
breaking down the foliage, under an im-
pression that to keep on growing would
exhaust the onion, and that stopping the
growth of the leaves by breaking the necks
throws all the strength into the bulb ; we
venture to affirm that this is a mistake, the
breaking down of the leaves can be of no
service ; they, like all other plants, receive
one kind of nourishment from their foliage,
another from the root, and unless all goes
on harmoniously, things cannot be at their
best. However, when the foliage begins
to turn yellow the bulbs are ripe, and may
be lifted and left on the surface of the
ground to dry out some of their moisture ;
they should be preserved in a cool dry airy
place. The sowing of earlier crops and
later ones for present use may always be
done where something else is growing, such
as between lettuces that are planted out,
or any warm border or corner, or in frames ;
they do not come under our definition of pro-
ductive garden, but rather among the luxu-
ries than otherwise. The sorts best adapted
are the Deptford, white Spanish, Tripoli, and
Portugal; all these keep well and grow to a
useful size.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

The value of this root was, perhaps,
hardly known by a large portion of the
public until the scarcity of the potato ren-
dered all vegetables available ; as a sub-
stitute it is very poor, but as a vegetable
capable of being dressed many ways, and
requiring very different treatment in cook-
ing from the potato, it is worth a place, be-
cause it is preserved as easily as any vege-
table in store all the Avinter, and can be
made available. It is chiefly used in
stews, alone or with other vegetables. The
culture is very easy ; the haulm grows six
feet high, therefore requires room and sup-
port. The best place is along the back of
a border, or next to north or east palings'
and hedges. One row is found prolific,
but as the uncouthness of this crop is
against it, most people who cultivate it
only have a large patch in the worst part
of the garden, so that neither sun nor air
can get to the roots. They are mostly left
for years, the tubers becoming numerous
and small. If there is to be a second row,
there ought not to be less than a yard be-
tween the rows; plant them like potatoes,
and dig up the crop annually ; and keep it
clean ; take out every tuber, and, at the pro-
per time, plant them again.

TURNIPS.

This is one of those useful vegetables
that can be enjoyed with almost everything.
In field culture it is precarious, but in gar-
den quantities it is very manageable. They
may be sown every month from February
to September, and for families using quan-
tities it is better to sow every month. They
should be sown broad-cast in four feet wide
beds, and as they get four rough leaves
they should be hoed out six inches apart,
and be cleared of weeds. They may re-
quire several hoeings, and a succession of
crops for those who consume many will be
desirable, but regard should be had to the
probable supply of other vegetables when
these are likely to come in for eating, and
this, with the quantity likely to be wanted,
must always guide these comparatively per-
ishable crops ; for turnips are not so well
stored as carrots, parsnips, or beet-root j
but no vegetable can be more wholesome
than the turnip, and so that they be not
oversown they are really good. The new

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

516

early stone, the Dutch, and the Maltese
yellow, are the best for culinary purposes.
The best month for sowing a principal crop
is June, but if showery weather come in
July, that is a good month.

CABBAGES.

Of all the green crops this is the most
valuable ; it may be sown and planted out,
«f the weather be open, every month in the
year; it stands almost any frost. It is
eatable from the time it is large enough to
handle until it has acquired a hard close
heart. It is a crop to put on every bit of
otherwise idle ground; it can be planted
between rows of anything and everything,
either to be eaten as greens when large
enough, or left to cabbage on the coming
off of other crops. They should be sown
thickish on a seed-bed in January, and
every week there should be a lot put out,
three inches apart^ to strengthen for plant-
ing out. The sowings should be repeated
every month till August, for a constant
succession of plants is everything. There
sieed not, however, be large quantities sown
each time ; the quantity must be regulated
by the wants. Nor is the use of this ex-
cellent vegetable over when the full grown
cabbage is cut, for the sprouts which follow
are equally good. Planted out to cabbage,
!they should be eighteen inches apart in the
rows, and the rows two feet asunder.
When the best part of the cabbage is cut,
other crops may be planted between the
rows, the ground being first dug, and the
stumps may be all taken up and be planted
close togetker in some otherwise useless
spot and yield a mass of greens when
scarcely anything else is to be had. The
seed is but little object ; sowing, therefore,
to provide at all times plants to put out is
a necessary precaution. The best sorts are
new Early nonsuch, Wheeler's imperial,
Sprotsborough, Nonpareil, and Early York;
the Battersea is not to be despised, though
it grows a large size and wants plenty of
room.

SCOTCH KALE, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, SAVOYS,

These are only so many different mem-
bers of the same family, and may or may
not be used. The savoy is the most use-
ful, the Scotch kale the most hardy, but it
fs an inferior green to either a good savoy
dr cabbage. The savoy should be sown in

April for a general crop, and the Brussels
sprout and kale at the same time. These
may, when large enough, be planted, or
rather pricked out, three inches apart, to
strengthen previous to planting out in their
final place. In doing this the strongest
plants must be taken, and every few days,
as others get large enough, they may be
pricked out, so that the store-beds may
have a succession of plants constantly
coming in, large enough to plant out as
they are wanted. They may be always
planted out as other crops are cleared,
when the ground is not required for a dif-
ferent purpose.

BED CABBAGE.

Few people know the worth of this, ex-
cept for its use as a pickle, but a moment's
consideration will convince any thinking
person that the immense number brought
to marlvet can never be consumed for that
alone. It is used raw as a salad, and is
excellent. When grown well, too, and cut
at the right time, the red cabbage will store
the best part o( the winter, merely losing
two or three of the outer leaves. As a
salad it is economical and capable of being
eaten by itself, and only requires to be cut
into the thinnest possible shreds. The
seed of the red cabbage may be sown in
August, so as to get strong enough to stand
the winter in the store-beds, where they are
to be pricked out six inches apart. They
may be planted out in February or March
to their final destination, two feet apart
one way and eighteen inches the other ;
spinach may be sown in drills between the
rows, and will come off before the cabbages
get large enough to occupy the room them-
selves. Seed may also be sown in small
quantities in January in a frame or among
the radishes, to be protected with litter from
frost, and they will succeed from sowings
any time during the period from January to
August. When they have established them-
selves after final planting out and begun to
grow, the earth should be drawn up to their
stems, and they may remain in the ground
until they are hard and solid, for in that
state they will keep for months.

SCARLET BEAN.

This is the poor man's luxury ; for be-
sides growing up against palings, or in al-
most any corner of the garden, or as a

516

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

blind, and the plant from its peculiarity
forming a good fence or hedge to separate
any two departments of the garden, it is
very prolific, and can hardly be said to
leave off growing and bearing until the
frost cuts it off. Again, the beans are al-
lowed to grow to a size that renders the
yield considerable, and the larger they are,
the better they eat, until they get old and
stringy. The seed should be sown in April,
and the following are the different modes
of planting them : — three in a patch, at a
distance of three feet from patch to patch,
or singly in rows a foot apart. In the first,
poles or strong branches are driven into the
ground at each patch ; in the other they
may be trained up bean sticks, placed along
the row, or poles may be placed eight or
ten feet apart and a line fastened along the
tops, from which single lines may be led
to each individual bean, or if against a
north wall or paling, nails may be driven
along the top, from which strings may be
fastened in lengths to each plant. When
they begin to bear, they should be fre-
quently looked over, and all that are large
enough, be picked for use, because they
grow rapidly, and so long as they will
break short in two pieces without being
stringy, they are eatable. If a succession
is desirable, sow again in May, June and
July. Another, and if the ground be limit-
ed, a more advantageous v/ay of growing
them, is to sow the seed in a patch, in two
or three barrows of dung for the sake of
slight bottom heat, putting about six inches
of mould for them to grow in, and when,
about the middle of May, the weather looks
settled, plant them out carefully without
losing any of the fibres, and place the
sticks, or poles, or string to them as soon
as they are out.

HAKICOT BEAN.

As a winter store, a few rows of the large
white kidney or haricot bean may be sown
at the end of April, and allowed to go to
seed altogether, the entire crop to be used
for stewing in winter. They require rich
ground, that is to say, soil which has some
heart in it ; but after earthing up they re-
quire little or no care till they are fit to
gather in. [The Tampico, or " Turtle Soup
bean," is one of the most valuable of all
bush beans, yielding an abundant crop j

excellent, either as string beans or for soup,
Ed. Hort.]

CELERY.

Although not always the most economical
way of disposing of ground, if celery be
grown in the ordinary way, a piece should
always be spared for a supply for soups ;
celery for this purpose may he sown in a
warm border in February, and as soon as
it is large enough to prick out. it should be
put two or three inches apart, only in a bit
of good rich soil, to grow into strength.
When it has advanced so as to stand the
removal well, it may be planted in the
common surface in rows three feet apart,,
so that any crop that comes off pretty early
may be planted between. As the celery
advances in growth, draw the earth up the
stems,, and continue this as long as it is in
the ground. It will bs found quite as use-
ful in soup as if it had been grown in the
trenches, and with not a tenth part of the
trouble ; and in time it will be large enough
to eat as salad. The only thing it requires
is constantly earthing up as it advances ;
there will be a sufficient quantity blanched
to make it eatable, but a few plants for
soups are as necessary as onions, and as.
wholesome.

LEEK.

Perhaps, looking at the utility of this es-
culent, boiled, stewed, or in soup, there are
few more useful vegetables, and it has the
advantage of taking but little room i it may
be planted anywhere ; it can be used in aii
alternate row with almost anything, and
not require more than a six inch extra al-
lowance between the rows ; or if they are
planted in rows two feet apart, any crop
you please may be planted between them,,
especially any kind of winter green. Sow
the seed in a patch in February. When it
comes up, keep it very clear of weeds^
As soon as large enough, prick out six
inches apart in a piece of well dressed
ground, and when it has acquired good
strength, plant nine inches apart in the
row, and the rows two feet asunder for a
crop between, or one foot asunder if no
other crop is to be introduced ; but lettuces,
may be planted in the alternate rows, and
the alternation of croj>s looks well if nicely
managed. It is as well to earth up leeks»
as you would celery, that is, sufficient to

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

517

blanch about three inches or so of the plant.
Boiled in salt and water till they are ten-
der, and eaten with melted butter like
asparagus or sea-kale, the water being
changed when half done, the leek is ex-
cellent, and when used in soup they should
be boiled, cut into two inch lengths, and
wsed in plenty by stewing them afterwards
with the soup itself. The leek is not suf-
ficiently cultivated among cottagers ; and
some obje'^t to them on account of their
very strong flavor, while boiling them and
throwing the first water away just before
they are quite done, readers them as mild
as a Spanish onion ; whereas, there are
many advantages in their culture that
should induce them to be adopted to a
great extent, if not preferred for the pur-
poses to which onions are generally de-
voted,

ASPARAGUS.

Here we are getting to something rather
extravagant, but there is nothing but eco-
nomy to prevent its culture, and our busi-
ness is to show hov/ easily it can be done
if wanted. Trench a row of soil eighteen
inches wide across or along any quarter of
the garden that is open, put a good four
inches thickness of dung between the lower
and upper spits of earth and tread it in,
then throw in the top spit, which should be
of itself in good heart. In the centre of
this trenched ground draw a line tight, and
within a circle of six inches place half a
dozen seeds every eighteen inches along
the row ; four feet from this, do another,
and so occupy as much ground as you like
with rows at these distances. The object
of placing them at such a distance is to
have crops between. This sowing to take
place in February, March or April. When
the seed vegetates, the place may be kept
clear of weeds, and when it can be seen
which of the plants take the lead, leave the
strongest, two in a place, and keep them
very clear from weeds. In the mean time
the ground between these rows may be
cropped with anything that may be re-
quired, so that there be room left for the
young plants of asparagus to grow. When
the haulm turns yellow it may be cut
down, and in cropping the intermediate
ground, care must be taken to avoid injur-
ing the roots, which will be found near the

surface ; a little soil may be hoed towards
the stems, so as to have the effect of cover-
ing up the roots a little, as a sort of protec-
tion, and forming a slight ridge, that it may
be seen where the rows are. The princi-
pal object is to keep clear of weeds. Cut
down the haulm at the end of the growth,
and slightly earth up, to keep the row con-
spicuous when there are no plants to show
it, and avoid damaging it in minding the
other crops. After the third year you may
calculate on cutting, and the only way to
do this with advantage, for 3'our own eat-
ing, is to let the buds grow a good four
inches above the surface, and then cut it
even with the ground. AH the trouble of
forming beds, and earthing up eight or
nine inches, is saved by doing without the
long useless stem which market bundles
have, and instead of being a troublesome
thing, involving considerable labor, to form
the beds every autumn, there is no more
trouble than there would be with a cab-
bage crop. For family purposes the as-
paragus is better, the roots are less ex-
hausted, the ground less interrupted or in-
terfered with, and, in fact, the luxury is no
more trouble than a crop of broad beans, or
a row of scarlet runners. In cutting this
vegetable, care must be taken to avoid
injuring the root. On cutting down the
stems after the first year's cutting for use,
a good dressing of dung should be laid at
top, and a little soil thrown on it : the im-
mediate effect of this is beneficial, and it
scarcely more than reinstates the soil, for
it washes away from the roots, and in time
would expose them altogether; but there
is to be no professed earthing up to leno-then
the buds as if they were for market, for
that does away with the simplicity and
economy of this mode of treating it, which
is reducing its culture to the same trouble
as almost any other vegetable, and the
quantity eatable is nearly treble that which
can be found in the marketed asparagus.

CAULIFLOWERS.

This highly esteemed vegetable is eco-
nomically or extravagantly grown, accord-
ing as it is required in or out of season.
If sown in March, pricked out when large
enough into a well dressed bed to gain
strength, and planted out in its final place
in June, there is no more trouble required

518

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

to grow cauliflowers than cabbages. It is
only when sowing in frames and protecting
under hand-glasses are resorted to, for the
purpose of producing early maturity, that
the thing becomes extravagant, because of
the labor necessarily expended on it. Many
vegetables are of the same nature ; if we
were content to have them in their natural
season, they would cost us but little ; but
to obtain them out of season much labor
and expense is frequently incurred. Sow,
therefore, on a warm border in March. In
April they will be large enough to prick
out, three or four inches, or say six inch-
es, apart ; these will have attained such
strength in June as to be planted out in
their final destination in the garden, and
come in well for use in the fall of the sea-
son. If you soAV on a slight hot-bed in Ja-
nuary, and when large enough prick them
out in a frame, but without much heat,
and bring them well forward by April and
May to plant out, you may get them much
earlier. If you desire to have plants to go
through the winter, sow in August, prick
out where they can be covered with a gar-
den-light, and stand protected all winter ;
but the strongest may be planted out under
hand-glasses, three or four under each
glass. In this case, great care has to be
taken about keeping the glasses down in
cold weather, and during heavy falls, and
taking them off altogether, or tilting them,
in any mild weather. As they grow large
enough to crowd each other under the
glasses, take away the weakest, and plant
them out in the open ground, leaving only
one, or perhaps two plants, to complete
their growth, under each hand-glass ; as
they show their flower the leaves should be
bent down, to keep the sun off, that the
colour may not be injured. Cauliflowers
should be planted out as a general crop
two feet apart one way, and eighteen inches
the other ; but under hand-glasses there
must be room for the hand-glasses to be
taken off and placed in the row when the
plants are at their largest size. The best
sorts are Walcheren, Asiatic, and Early.

BROCOLI.

Here is a varied and an excellent crop,
and occasionally a cheap one. It is, how-
ever, one which no poor man ought to
trust. Of the varieties, choose Grange's

early white, Chappel's cream, Somers's su-
perb, Chappel's white Roman, Purple cape^
White cape, and early sprouting. The
latter is the most useful. From January
to June this vegetable might be sown every
month, pricked out six inches apart as soors
as it is large enough, and planted w^hen
strong enough. In this way brocoli is ob-
tained from various sowings and plantings
all the latter part of the summer and through
the autumn and winter, unless it be very
untoward weather. The sprouting sort is
a very delicious and economical vegetable ;
it eats well with anything, gives a good
supply for a long period, and requires but
little labor. The best season for sowing:
all the sorts is February and March, half
each month. As soon as they have four
rough leaves, prick them out in an open
space, six inches apart, taking the strong-
est plants from the seed-bed each time ;
you will thus get several different seasons
out of each sowing. As soon as they have
attained the necessary strength, begin tO'
plant some out, either between crops of
other things that are coming off, or in quar-
ters devoted to them ; but we are always
anxious, as a row of anything is off tha£
will admit of being replaced, to get some-
thing on the ground. Brocoli thus put out
in a moderate garden, as room is made by
other things coming off, must come in well
at some time or other, and if one season
misses all cannot. As soon as the plants
which are put out for good, begin to grow,
the earth ought to be drawn to the roots,
and after this, little or no care is neces-
sary.

ENDIVE.

This is a hardy salad, and may he culti-
vated in small quantities with advantage,
sown in April, May, and June, and planted
out when large enough on a bank sloping
to the south ; it is a fine wholesome salad
with beet-root and lettuce, or with red cab-
bage. When the plants are large enough
these must be blanched by tying them up
like lettuces, or by laying tiles or slates, or
flat pieces of board, on them ; one foot
apart all over the bed would do for dis-
tance at planting out, and it is very little
trouble.

SEA-KALE.

Another luxury; little or no trouble when

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

519

cultivated for its proper season, and only-
costly when forced. For instance, many
acres are grown that are merely put out in
rows and earthed up. When the sprouts
come forwaixl they break the earth on the
surface, the cultivator then removes the
earth low enough to enable him to cut off
the shoots down clean to the crown of the
plants. Here, as neither fire-heat nor dung
is used, it cannot be said to cost much.
The proper mode of cultivation is to sow
the seed three or four in a spot, these spots
being eigfhteen inches apart in the rows,
and the rows three feet apart. When they
have vegetated, keep the strongest and
take away the others, which may be trans-
planted in continuation after the same
plan, and, if carefully done, will not be
much behind those that have not been dis-
turbed. They may grow on for three sea-
sons with nothing more than the earth
drawn up to the roots, and being kept clear
of weeds. Now if you have large flower-
pots, or kale-pots, they may at Christmas
be covered over the individual plants, and
be surrounded by dung from the stable or
leaves, the plants will shoot much sooner
than if they were only earthed up ; but the
least trouble is to earth up the rows into a
flat-topped bank by digging an eighteen-
inch trench between the rows and putting
the soil that comes out upon the plants,
covering them eight inches. In the spring
the plants begin to shoot, and when they
break the surface it is known that the
shoots are long enough for the purpose, and
that they may be uncovered and cut, but
those under the pots covered with dung or
leaves will have been forward enough to
cut weeks before. Sea-kale, however, is
not an economical vegetable, because the
ground, like an asparagus-bed, is occupied
the year round for one crop. This can be
in part counteracted by cropping between
the rows as soon as the kale is cut, for the
bank is then levelled, the plants allowed to
grow till the autumn, and all this time
lettuces may be planted out and got ofTthe
ground ; or spinach, or a couple or three
drills of turnips sowed directly the kale is
done with, will come well into use before
the plants need be earthed up again.

CUCUMBE'R AND VEGETABLE-MARROW.

If you can sow in a hot-bed a few seeds

of cucumber and gourds to use as vegeta-
ble-marrow, and have a spare place in a
south border to plant them, the chances are
that you get a good supply of both. Sow
them in April ; grow them singly in pots
till the second week in June, stopping the
shoots at the second joint ; plant them out
in June, and there will be a good recom-
pense for your trouble. [No hot-bed is
necessary in this climate. Sow the seeds
in deep rich soil in the open ground. Ed.
HoRT.] The vegetable-marrow must not
be allowed to grow too large ; they ought
to be eaten before the seeds are formed :
while young they are like marrow, but af-
ter a certain age they become a mere jelly,
and when they lose their firmness and
swell they are watery, faint, and unwhole-
some.

LETTUCE AKD OTHER SALADS.

Lettuce, corn-salad, small salad, and
other herbs for the same purposes, may be
sown each month, but corn-salad is by far
the most economical of all the small salads,
because you keep picking from it the leaves,
and they grow again continually. Lettu-
ces, both the cos and the cabbage sorts,
may be sown on a warm border in Februa-
ry, March, April, May, June, and July, and
in frames, or with some protection, all the
rest of the months. They may be watered
and drawn out for planting according as
they get strong enough, and ground is va-
cant. There is no season to regulate their
growth any more than their consumption,
but it may be taken as a general rule that
the cabbage kinds are the most hardy, and
do with least trouble all through winter,
and that, as they want protection, even
when sown in February, in an open bor-
der, the best way is to sow them with onions
for pulling young, and with radishes to draw
young, and the same litter that covers for
one will cover for all. Lettuces ought to
be planted out a foot apart in the row, and
eighteen inches from row to row. Radish-
es, like other salads, may be sown every
month, if the demand warrants its being
done, but in the summer time so many
things crowd in upon the gardener that he
hardly knows what to be at, so that he
ought well to study not only the most usefu 1
vegetables, but also those which are longest
in perfection when once produced.

520

PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING.

PEAS.

Here we have a keeping as well as a
perishable stock. It is not the most desira-
ble crop for persons of limited means, but
it is to be taken into consideration that
what are not eaten green are good dry ;
there is no reason why a man should not
grow his peas for soup as well as his celery,
and no dry peas can be better than those
he saves and ripens himself. It is a gene-
ral notion that peas are not split for soup
and puddings, till they are too old to grow,
and it may be readily supposed that what a
man grows himself he can depend on.
There is no difficulty in bruising peas, and
new ones shall swell better, and taste bet-
ter, than old ones. Peas, therefore, may
be looked upon in the light of a double
crop, if wanted, or a safe crop if saved all
for harvest. Of the hundreds of varieties
in cultivation, many have very equal claims ;
novelty may do something for a pea, and,
of course, there are some which have both
novelty and excellence to recommend them :
we have found all the following to be
good: — Cormack's Prince Albert, Shilling's
early grotto. Flask's victory, Ward's incom-
parable or British Queen, Knight's im-
proved dwarf green marrow. Groom's dwarf,
Waite's Queen of the dwarfs, Girling's
Danecroft early, and imperial. The Early
frame, Charlton, and many others, are,
however, still favorites. Peas may be sown
from November to July every three weeks,
but it is for a man to consider whether he
ought to devote much or little ground to a
crop which, if eaten green, is a luxury of
some cost, and if saved dry may cost more
than they could be purchased for. How-
ever, there is a great fault among pea-
growers ; they sow the seeds much thicker
than they ought to be sown, and therefore
waste a great deal. Peas ought to be sown
in drills, and if there were half the quan-
tity usually sown the crop would be heavier ;
when up above ground, earth ought to be
drawn up to their stems ; the soil bruised
and closed about their roots, and brought
up to a kind of bank on the cold side of
them ; sticks should be placed to them at
the same time, and after this they only re-
quire to be kept clear of weeds, and in
parching weather to have water.

RHUBARB.

This has become so general a favorite
from its wholesomeness and flavor, in sea-
sons when fruit cannot . be had, and m
moreover so strongly recommended to fami-
lies, that a portion of the garden ought to
be devoted to a few good roots — a dozen
will be found enough for a moderate family,,
and they ought to be two feet from each
other every way. The ground should be
well dressed, the plants young, the season
autumn. They should be planted without
bruising their roots, and they will do all
the rest themselves. If wanted earlier in
the spring than they will come naturallyy
put a box, or rather a wooden trough, two
feet high and one foot diameter, over a
plant, cover the open end that is uppermost
v/ith a flat tile or a proper cover, and sur-
round the whole with dung or leaves , it
will hasten the growth : or pot up a strong
root or two and put them in a warm cellar,
or a kitchen-cupboard, or a green-house, or
any other place where the temperature is
raised ; but it is never so good as from the
natural ground, grown in the natural way,

SPINACH.

The winter spinach is the most useful
and economical, and is as good in summer
time as in winter. The difference between
this and the round-leaved is, that the win-
ter kind takes longer to perfect the plant
and seed it than the round-leaved does,
and, therefore, it is longer eatable. It is
not pulled up as one-half the spring spi-
nach is, but the leaves are picked oft' from
time to time as they grow, and a good bed
of spinach yields for a long time. The
round-leaf spinach will be better for the
same treatment, and looks much larger for
it, but it is not so long in perfection. Spi-
nach of either kind may be sowed in drills
eighteen inches apart any season, but it is
usual to sow the round-leaf from January
to July, and the prickly, or Avinter, from
August to October. If it comes up too
thick, pick out some when they are large
enough to eat, and thus thin it, when you
can use the surplus.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON GENERAL
SUBJECTS.

Many other subjects might be mentioned
under separate heads, but we have gone

A SUBURBAN OOTTAGE.

ENCLOSED PORCH

BED ROOM
15

PARLOR
15

^' 20 FEET

26

^ KITCHEN

I HAL

FIRST FLOOR.

CHAMBER FLOOR.

Hort: May, 1849.

DESIGN FOR A SUBURBAN COTTAGE.

521

through all that concerns those who wish
their gardens to be usefully productive ; we
have not devoted a chapter to the herb bed
because it is so very simple, and forms
a subordinate part of the establishment,
though highly useful. It is not very diffi-
cult to procure a plant or two of sage, mint,
thyme, marjoram, and other herbs ; and
very little of these will do for a large family.
Parsley is a more generally useful herb,
and is raised from seed ; any of the peren-
nial herbs vvmU tear to pieces and strike like
weeds ; and parsley should be sown twice
or three times a year, and any root whose
leaves are not double and curled, should
be pulled up. There are many subjects in
a garden that we have not mentioned : we
have not touched on fruit ; our sole object
has been to treat of those things which are
more or less necessaries, or pjofitable stocks,
and, although we have treated of several
things that a man may cultivate as luxu-
ries, no person with limited means ought
to lose sight of the one great object of ap-
propriating every rod to something that he
can sell if he cannot oat it, or that he can

keep for a considerable time if he can nei-
ther sell nor eat it. These will be found
to have been mentioned pretty nearly in the
order of their importance, taking into the
account their value as stock or their salea-
ble nature as merchandise, for such, in
truth, food as well as raiment is, and when
a man can choose the stock he will pro-
duce, he ought to be doubly considerate
how he misapplies a rod of his ground.

A gardener is none the better for want-
ing extravagant implements, but proper
ones he ought to have, for being obliged to
make shift with one thing for another is a
sad loss of time. Hoe, rake, fork, spade,
garden line, knife, good strong box-barrow,
broom, basket, and dibble ; all these things
are necessary. There is also a proper way
of keeping them ; they need not be all in
morocco cases and mahogany boxes, but at
the same time we should like to see them
taken somewhat more care of than our artist
has bestowed on them. To be plain, a
gardener, like a prudent housewife, should
have a place for everything, and everything
in its place, ivhen not in use.

DESIGN FOR A SUBURBAN COTTAGE,

In our last number, we gave a design for a
villa of the first class, in point of size and
architectural style. The frontispiece to
this month, shows a suburban cottage of
verjr moderate size, intended to come within
the means of those who have only a few
hundred dollars to expend in a dwelling,
who can afford little ornament, and who
still desire to get something comfortable,
and agreeable to the eye.

There is no effort at the ornamental in
this design. It is simply getting the most
convenient arrangement of the interior, in
the most com/pact form, viz., that of a square.
The little veranda, formed of lattice work,
and intended for vines, is the only decided
approach to the ornamental, though the
mere projection of the rafters, gives the

roof something better than the usual com-
mon place character.

This design is intended to be constructed
of wood, the weather boarding put on in
the vertical manner, described in our first
volume, and familiar to most of our readers.

The plan of the first floor shows a hall,
kitchen, parlor and bed-room, — all, indeed,
that a family, wishing this kind of cottage,
need on the first floor, so snugly arranged
that not a step need be lost in the working
operations of the family. The entry or
hall is larger than is usual in houses of this
size ; and the enclosed porch, or back entry,
serves to shelter the back door in winter,
and might, if preferred, be taken away alto-
gether in summer.

The second story plan shows an upper

'5)22

HOW TO GROW EVERBLOOMING ROSES.

entry and four good bed-rooms. The chim-
ney flues are all drawn into one stack in
the attic, and the roof is covered with shin-
gles. The first story is ten feet, the second
nine feet high.

Our principal object in giving this plan,

is to show a convenient and compact mode
of arranging the interior of a certain class
of village or suburban dwellings, so as
most to promote the comfort of those who
build this class of cottages, and who have
little time to plan for themselves.

HOW TO GROW BVSRBLOOMING ROSES.

BV AN AMATEUR. NEW-YORK.

Dear Sir — No doubt many of your read-
ers, like myself, think there is nothing, in
all the range of the flower-garden, so beau-
tiful and so satisfactory as the everblooming
rose. A plant that blooms all the spring,
summer, and autumn, and whose blossoms
are the perfection of beauty and fragrance,
is indeed entitled to all the affection which
lovers of flowers are likely to bestow on
their greatest favorites.

But some of your readers, as well as
myself, may, it is not unlikely, have no-
ticed that in some soils these roses grow
and bloom almost without care, while in
others they are always poor, stunted little
things.

I wish to say a few words about this dil-
ficulty in cultivating fine roses, especially
as regards strong soils, and indeed all soils
that are not very well drained and porous
below.

In my own garden, the underlayer or
substratum of which is a fat loam, these
roses thrive very poorly, when planted out
even in a rich border, if planted without
preparation. They make a poor growth,
and give but few flowers, instead of grow-
ing luxuriantly, and blooming abundantly.

It was some time before I could discover
the reason of this. At last, an experienced
rose-grower, to whom I complained, ex-
plained the difficulty, by saying — "what

is at the bottom ? You can never grow
roses unless they have a good drainage."
A little further inquiry enabled me to dis-
cover, that he meant, that when there is a
stiff* loamy or clayey subsoil, so that the
water does not pass off freely, the moment
the roots of the rose touch this clay the
plant stops growing.

Under his direction, I immediately pre-
pared three or four circular beds for ever-
blooming roses, by laying all the top soil
on one side, and digging out and rejecting
all the stiff subsoil. This made the hole
two feet deep. I then fllled it up with
small stones six inches deep, and mixing
with the good soil sufficient rotten manure
and pieces of sod, chopped fine, to make a
good mould eighteen inches deep. I planted
the beds, so prepared, with the best Tea,
China, and Bourbon Roses.

The result surpassed my expectations.
Every plant grew, as I never before saw
those everblooming roses grow, — as they
never grew before in my soil, — and pro-
duced flowers such as I had never expected
to see, both as regards size and beauty.
This is now five years ago ; and since that
time, I have not planted a single fine rose
without preparing proper drainage for it,
and I have uniformly met with the same
success. I therefore recommend the prac-
tice with confidence to all your readers

TORENIA ASIATICA.

523

who wish to succeed in growing tender
roses.

I should also add that, with this dry sub-
soil, all tender roses are more hardy than
when planted in the common way ; and
that even the Tea roses stand the winter
here, in this way, with a slight covering in
winter.

And now a word or two to beginners,
respecting a nice selection of everblooming
roses. I have had some years of experi-
ence in the matter, and venture to re-
commend the following sorts, as really
beautiful, and deserving of general atten-
tion :

BouRBOK Roses, Souvenir de Malmai-
son, pale blush ; Princesse Clementine, vio-
let crimson ; Mrs. Bosanquet, waxy blush ;
Pourpre Fafait, crimson purple ; Madam
Desprez, bright rose ; Acidalie, white; Cor-

nice de Seine et Marne, bright red ; Du-
mont de Courset, dark crimson ; Hermosa,
'pale rose; Compte d'Eu, bright red.

Tea Roses. Devoniensis, large, cream
cnlonr \ Clara Sylvain, pure ivhiie; Gou-
bault, large rosy blush ; Josephine Walton,
piire ii:hite; La Sylphide, rosy buff; Man-
sais, buff and pink ; Princess Marie, rosy
pink ; Strombio, rosy ivhite ; Eliza Sau-
vage, pale sulphur.

Noisette Roses. Aim'-e Vibert, snow
white; Chxom?L\.e\\^, fine yellow ; Jaune Des-
prez, rosy buff ; La Marque, ivhite; Le
Pactole, pale snlphur.

China Roses. Lady Warrenden, pnre
ivhite; Madam Breon, bright rce ; Eugene
Beauharnois, rich crii7ison ; Cels, blush ;
Agrippina, deep crimson. Yours, truly.
An Amateur.

New-York. April, 1849.

ASIATIC, OR LARGE FLOWERED TORENIA,

[The following account of a new plant,
said to bear the most beautiful of all blue
flowers, will interest our floricultural read-
ers. It has just been introduced by some
of our leading plant growers. Ed.]

To this pretty genus of plants we have
recently had some accessions, which will
become valuable ornaments of our gardens.
The best, in every respect, is that of which
an engraving is here introduced : nothing
can exceed it in the richness and the soft-
ness of its colouring.

In noticing this plant on a former occa-
sion, [Annals of Horticulture, ii. 553,) we
took the opportunity of expressing a doubt
whether the statement that the plant was
an annual was strictly correct. The state-
ment was made in the Botanical Magazine,
where a beautiful figure of it was published
last year. Nothing in the appearance of
the plant, at the time our notice above re-
ferred to was written, would seem to war-
rant the belief that the plant was annual.

^i#^ cl4t

Fig. 5.5. — Torenin Asiatica.

and our farther experience of it does but
confirm our former supposition : hundreds
of plants raised from cuttings last year,

624

IMPORTANT TO CULTIVATORS OF THE GRAPE.

along with calceolarias, cupheas, and simi-
lar sub-shrubby plants, have been preserved
through the winter, and planted out into
the flower garden ; and the old plants which
blossomed last season are now vigorous,
and blossoming freely again. It was,
moreover, said to be a stove plant ; but
this, too, is incorrect ; for it has been pre-
served during winter in the temperature
of a o-reen-house, and haa been grown and
flowered well in such a situation. More-
over, experience has shown it to be a plant
suitable for bedding out in dower gardens,
though here, we presume, it will always be
found to do best in the warmest situations,
all other conditions being equal.

The plant is of difluse branching habit,
v.ath quadrangular, flexuose stems, bearing
opposite ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, coarsely
serrated leaves, from the axils of which
other branches, and towards the tips of the
shoots numerous flowers, are produced ;
the flowers grow on separate stalks, but
sometimes several — three or four — toge-
ther, from the same axil ; they are shaped
somethinor like the flowers of a mimulus,

only they are divided into four instead of
five lobes, the lower of which, and the two
side ones, each bear a large deep purple
blotch, and the throat, or centre, is of the
same colour; down the centre of the lower
segment is a pale streak ; the rest of the
flower is a clear, soft, porcelain blue-lilac,
of indescribable tint. It is a very free
flowerii-jg plant, blooming throughout the
summer and autumnal months.

Viewing the extensive range which it
occupies in a wild state, one would be pre-
pared to find it possessing much hardihood
of constitution, even though it be East In-
dian. It is recorded as growing throughout
Bengal, in Amboyna, Ceylon, Mergui, Chit-
tagong, Sylhet, and in the Madras penin-
sula. It is also widely difi'iised in alpine
regions, and hence our success in culti-
vating it in a low temperature.

The plant is easily cultivated in any
light rich soil, and propagates with the ut-
most facility by means of cuttings. Pro-
bably its beautiful tint of colour will be
best brought out and preserved by aftbrding
it some shade from intense sun-light.

IMPORTANT TO CULTIVATORS OF THE GRAPE.

The necessity of studying the composition
of the different fruit trees, in order to sup-
ply precisely the elements they need, to
maintain them in the highest state of thrift
and productiveness, is only every day more
apparent. The failure of certain sorts in
some soils, and their success in others, is
no longer wholly a matter of mystery, since
we know that upon the presence or ab-
sence of certain salts or minerals in the
soil, the health and perfection of certain
fruits largely depend ; and since the facts
are now well established, that soils rob-
bed of potash and lime by long continued
cropping, will no longer give good fruit,
unless these substances are replaced, we
are led to investigate, as closely as pos-
sible, the chemical composition of differ-

ent fruits, in order to apply precisely the
necessary food, and no longer to work in
the dark.

A good deal of attention has been at-
tracted lately to an article bearing directly
upon this subject, which has been read by
M. Persoz before the French Academy of
Sciences, Paris. We copy the following
translations of it from a foreign journal, for
the benefit of our readers.

It will be seen that M. Persoz goes far-
ther than most cultivators. Recognising
the well known fact, that the analysis of
the growmg parts of a plant show a chemi-
cal composition quite different from the
analysis of the fruit and seed, he varies the
special manures which he uses, so as at one
time to assist most completely the produc-

IMPORTANT TO CULTIVATORS OF THE GRAPE.

525

fion of wood, and at another the production
of fruit.

The following is the paper alluded to,
which, it will be seen, relates chiefly to
vineyard culture :

" The new process which I propose for
cultivating the vine, inasmuch as it enables
us to make use of half the land for growing
nutritive plants, may, at first sight, appear
to differ completely from the plans now
adopted in vineyards. Such, however, is
not the case ; and, as those who have stu-
died the various methods adopted in dif-
ferent countries will see, several of the re-
commendations here made have already
been followed in practice. I acknowledge
this the more readily, as it enables me to
appeal, as a proof of their usefulness, to
results attained by long experience. In
one respect, my plan differs from every
other ; for I propose that all the vine stocks,
in a certain space of ground, should be
brought together in a trench, where, by
one chemical action, the wood, and by ano-
ther the fruit, may be induced to form.
This I propose, in consequence of having,
by direct experiment, satisfied myself that,
of the manures which are fit for the culture
of the vine, some seem exclusively for the
increase of cells, i. e., of wood, and that
others cause the development of the flower
bud, (fruit or grape ;) and that the actions
of these substances, instead of both going
on at the same time, ought to be succes-
sive. By the application of these princi-
ples, the growth of the wood can be stop-
ped at pleasure, while, by the ordinary
methods, the same effects can only be pro-
duced by artificial and empirical means.

*' When it is wished that wood should be
developed, the vines [roots,] must be placed
in a trench, and covered with three or four
inches of earth, with which have been
mixed, for every square yard of the surface

of the trench, 8 lbs. of pulverized bone, 4
lbs. of pieces of skin, leather, horns, tan-
ners' refuse, etc., and 1^ lb. of gypsum.

" When the wood is sufficiently forward,
which will be in a year or two, according
to circumstances, the roots must be supplied
with salts of potash, in order that the fruit
may be produced. For this purpose it is
necessary to spread over the trench, at a
distance of three or four inches from the
buried wood, [roots,] 5^ lbs. of a mixture
formed of silicate of potash, and 2i lbs. of
double phosphate of potash and lime. The
trench is then to be filled up. and the roots
have as much potash as they want for a
long time. To prevent, however, the ex-
haustion of the potash, it is as well to
spread, every year, at the foot of the stools
a certain quantity of the marc ["cheese,"
or refuse of the wine press,] of grapes ; this
marc, containing 2.5 per cent, of carbonate
of potash, will restore, annually, a large
proportion of the potash which may have
disappeared from the trench.

" Hitherto, the success of a vintage de-
pended, cateris paribus, in a great mea-
sure, upon the influence of the atmosphere.
Thus, suppose a vine stock required 10
parts of potash to be enabled to bear fruit ;
i( the action of heat and rain on the stones
and earth, in a state of decomposition,
could only furnish 5, the vintage would be
bad. This- danger will be avoided by the
above system of culture, in which the vine
must always have suitable food ; but it is
not to be forgotten that, although I promise
those grape-growers who follow my plan
an abundance of produce, I can by no
means insure the quality of that produce ;
for quality must alway depend on the tem-
perature."

We will add one consideration to the
foregoing. Every horticulturist in America
deplores the fact, that, while the peach,

526

FOREIGN NOTICES.

the apricot, the nectarine, and even the
orange and pomegranate, flourish in great
perfection in the United States, yet in no
portion of this country does the foreign
grape succeed well in the open air.

It has occurred to us, more than once,
that although this is doubtless attributable,
in part, to our sudden variations of tempe-
rature, yet it may also be largely owing to
some deficiency in the soil. What is this
deficiency ? We suspect sulphur. All the
famous wine districts in Europe are more
or less volcanic in their origin, and many
of them are old lava beds, abounding in
sulphur ; while, on the other hand, volcanic
soils are unknown to our grape-growers, as
well as the application of sulphur in any
form to the soil.

We are strengthened in this opinion by
observing the striking fact, that, while the
analysis of the ashes of the foreign grape
shows only about 2 per ct. oi sulphuric acid,
the analysis of the must, pulp, or juice of

the ripe grape, shows more than 13 per cent,
of sulphuric acid, — a most extraordinary in-
crease ; and we believe a larger per cent-
age than is found in any other fruit. (The
potash in the ashes of the vine is 25., while
in the ripe fruit it is 37.; while, on the
other hand, the portion of lime in the wood
is 40. to 6. in the fruit.*)

Reasoning from this, we should say that
gypsum, (plaster, or sulphate of lime,) which
is sulphuric acid and lime in combination,
is largely demanded by foreign grapes, to
bring them to a ripe state ; and that in our
soils, (which are not volcanic,) it must be
an excellent application for the foreign
grape. Perhaps bones, dissolved in sul-
phuric acid, (as described in a former page,)
would be still better. We are making
some experiments, with a view of testing
the value of this theory, and state it now,
in this hasty manner, to invite the co-ope-
ration of other experimental horticultu-
rists.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

The Pine Apple. — There can be no question
that, in these days of inquiry, gardeners are in-
vestipfatuig the matters under tlieir care with an
earnestness entirely unknown to the patriarchs of
the art. Things which proved insurmountable
difficulties to them, are no longer so to the men
of the present day, who take nothing for granted,
but who apply the talents with which they are
endowed with a vigor and a resolution unknown
to our forefathers. True, some are yet content
to linger in the rear, cavilling and doubting, and
faithfully adhering to the old system of stooking
and steaming night and da^"^, summer and winter;
because they have heard somehow, it matters
little where, that, to fruit a Pine plant, it must
have a desperate heat, as it comes from the tro-
pics, where the thermometer not unfre(juently in-
dicates 100° in the shade. They have, besides,
read and practiced, but never questioned the pro-
priety of the statement, that " the bark bed is
obliged to be stirred, turned, refreshed, or even
renewed several times a year, so as to produce
and retain, at all times, a bottom-heat of from 75"
to 85'' in each of the three departments of Pine

culture. Such directions as these remind us of
the books on physic, which instruct us to take so
many doses annually, and to double the quantity
in spring and autumn, as if a man in health re-
quired either the one or the other.

The men above alluded to are incapable of be-
lieving, because, in their easy bliss, they think the
thing impossible, that, at Meudon, Mr. Pelvilain
has (in a small pit that barely holds them,) 44
plants, which, planted in March and cut in Au-
gust, produce in round numbers 350 lbs. avoirdu-
pois, or fruit averaging 8 lbs. each! The plants
which produce this rcNult have, during winter, an
atmosphere just a little above green-house tem-
perature. They are protected by coverings from
frost and sudden variations of climate, and are.
kept rather than forced.

Mr. Fleming's success also results entirely from
his practice being in accordance with the laws of
nature. He keeps his Pines in fruit during night
in line weather at 65°, but in frosty weather he
allows the night temperature to recede to 57".

* In the ashes of ripe plums, the per centajre of sulpliuriO;
acid is 3., in pears and cherries 5., and in apples 6.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

527'

His younger plants enjoy an atmosphere durinjr
winter of 55"". Air is admitted to all of them
night and day continually ; of course, the quan-
tity is reduced in severe weather, but it is never
wholly taken o(F. The leaves of the Trenthani
Pines are not a yard and a half long, and an inch
broad, with a stake to keep them upright, scab-
by, fa3tid with sulphur, or the colour of ripe cu-
cumbers, appearances common enough. The very
reverse of this is the case, as all who have visited
Trenthani can testify. Cultivators of plants like
those just mentioned will not, of course, credit
that Pines of the size of those produced at Tren-
tham can be grown at all in such an atmosphere,
and with the bottom temperature little and some-
times none above the toj) heat; such is, however,
the fact, and such the results, and not at Tren-
thani only, but at other places where gardeners
are determined to swim and not sink, and to dis-
tinguish themselves from the potter's clay, which
exists in the gardening world about them.

It is well known to intelligent cultivators that
the Pine apple has been more frequently roasted
to death in this country than killed by cold ; and
though we do not believe it can be grown suc-
cessfully, generally speaking, in the open air, in
the climate of England, we nevertheless contend
that its successful cultivation can be satisfactorily
attained in a lower night teiuperature than has
hitherto generally been applied to it. Gardenern'
Chronicle. ....

Manuke-water for Pot Plants. — Many —
indeed most — plants grown in pots may, at parti-
cular periods of the growth, be advantageously
treated with li(piid manure ; these periods are
chiefly during the time of making vigorous growth,
and of blooming. Inexperienced persons, how-
ever, are liable to do material injury from using
it too strong or too often; or they fall into the
other extreme, and derive no benefit from the ap-
plication. A very useful liquid manure for pot
plants may be made by putting the following in-
gredients into a hogshead of rain water: — two
pecks of sheep or deer dung, one peck of soot,
and two quarts of Potter's guano ; these ingredi-
ents are first to be well mixed up to the consis-
tence of paste, with boiling water, and then mixed
with cold water. Stir the mixture frequently for
a day or two, and then throw in a quart of quick
lime; when the liquid has become clear it is fit for
use. For all strong growing plants this may be
used daily, or every other day, — applying it di-
luted with about one-third of clear water. For
heaths, and similar delicate rooted plants, and
even for orchids, it will prove beneficial, but to
these should not be given oftener than once a week.
As before observed, it is only to be used — at least
by the inexperienced — during the periods of growth
and blooming. London Hort- Magazine.

Pelargonium Lucia Rosea. — This variety is
in its habit and appearance much like one of the
class called " scarlet" pelargoniums. It is a very

compact growing plant, with short-jointed stems,
and good sized leaves, of a soft velvety character.
The flower-stems are strong, and grow erect, so
that the trusses of bloom are brought well above
the foliage; the colour of the flowers is a most
delicate soft pink, or ))cach blossom, with a lovely
white eye, — altogether a distinct colour among
pelargoniums. It is a gem for the flower garden,
being not only perfectly distinct, but also superla-
tivelv beautiful. Sometimes, when kept in pots,
and not very freely grown, we have observed it
to produce luit small trusses of bloom, but this im-
proves when it is growing freely in the open gar-
den. Probably, however, it may in time be im-
proved on ; in the mean time it may chiefly be
valued for its novel colour. London Hort. Mag.

Raspberries. — The mode (Fig. 56,) of train-
ing these has been kindly forwarded to us by a

s.\. \, V 1 ./ y./././.Ai.

Fig. 56.

correspondent. The uprights between every twt>
or three plants are iron, and the horizontal lines,
to which the canes are attached, tar-rope. The
following wood cuts, which we borrow from p.
836 of our volume for 1842, represent a much

Fig. 57.

Fig. 59.

better mode of training raspberries. The plants
are supposed to be ])laced in rows 4 feet apart,
and about the same distance from one another in
the row. The number of shoots on each is regu-
lated during the growing season, no more being
allowed to remain than the plant is capable of
supporting. In most cases 6 or 8 shoots will be
sutficicnt. Where this method is practiced,'a roW'

528

FOREIGN NOTICES.

of raspberries in antumii will have somethinij of
the a{)pearance represented in fig. 58; the arched
portion, tied to the stake in the centre, being the
canes which bore fruit last year, and which must
be cut down to the bottom, and be replaced by
the upright shoots of last summer, trained in a
similar manner to tliose represented in iig. 57.
Gard. Chron. ....

Eight Conservatory Climbers. — 1. Combre-
turn purpureum, or, as it is now called, Puiorea
coccinea, a half shrubby plant, with oval leaves,
and branching spikes of scarlet flowers, with con-
spicuous stamens; it will flower all the summer
V>y stopping the strongest shoots occasionally. 2.
Echites suberecta, a beautiful yellow flowering-
plant, which has generally been grown in tlie
stove, but will answer \vell for the conservatory
by spur-pruning, like the viae ; it is a very strong
grower. 3. 7/)omtEa f/ors/iiZ/iVe, a splendid plant,
with deeply lobed leaves, and bunches of crimson
blossoms; should have a warm close position. 4.
Mandevilla suaveolens, a A^ery fine grower, with
hairy oval leaves, and bunches of white deliciously
fragrant flowers. 5. Passijlora racemosa, a splen-
did crimson passion-flower, which will flower freely
nearly the whole year ; docs best grafted upon one
of the hardier sorts. 6. Plumbago capensis, an
easily grown plant, with long slender stems,
btuntish leaves, and good sized bunches of pale
blue flowers ; may be had in bloom from April to
November, by cutting back some of the strongest
shoots in summer. 7. Stephaaotis Jio rib undo,, a
beautiful evergreen plant, with dark green shining
blunt oval leaves, and bunches of white deliciously
scented blossoms; it is a splendid thing M'hen
planted out in a conservatory border, and grows
very fast. 8. Tecoma jasminoides, a very free
flowerer upon the young wood from July to the
end of Oi-tober; it has much divided leaves, and
bunches of white flowers, with a crimson centre.
London Hort. Magazine.

Asparagus Beds. — How common it is to see a
large portion of a kitchen-garden devoted to as-
paragus, and yet when you congratulate the owner
on the advantages you presume he possesses witli
his lamb-chops in spring, he tells you his beds are
worn out. I once came into possession of a bed
which had this character of decrepitude, and suc-
ceeded in making it very prolific, and I have no
doubt others may do the same.

As it is true in gardening, as well as in philo-
sophy, that ex nihili nihil fit, you must take care
that your asparagus bed is well supplied with
plants, before you proceed to a treatment which
will make the plants robust and productive.
Sometimes there are gaps of several square feet,
or the plants are thinly spread over the whole
bed. Rectify this as soon as you can, by mark-
ing, in the growing season, all such vacancies,
and filling them up in the autumn or the spring.
About nine inches apart is a good average dis-
tance, although probably a foot would secure a

larger product. Having secured a good plant, as
agriculturists express it, the next thing is to make
it vigorous. Lay down this rule as having no
exception — that if your beds haA^o not a vigorou.s
growth in the summer, you will look in vain for
line asparagus in spring. As the succulent shoots
proceed from the buried root, their size must be
in direct proportion to the healthfulness of that
root, or to the quantity of organisable matter that
root has stored up. How, then, can the root be
brought into a proper state for producing large
shoots? By giving every advantage to the plant
during the summer and autumn: so that if your
bods this summer are covered with a tall and
strong vegetation, the abundance of solar light,
&c., will convey a proper supply of matter to the
root for next season, and you will cut fine asgara-
gus; but, on the other hand, if there appears only
a stunted and weak growth, your produce will be
small.

If the principle just laid down is correct, the
mode of treatment must cousist in judicious cut-
ting, and tlie application of proper manure. I
know many beds which have been ruined almost
by an unsparing cropping, and in cases where
tliere has been no deficiency of manure. If the
bed has been injured in this way, or if from any
cause the shoots appear thin and spindling, do not
cut them at all, but let the bed have a rest during
a whole season. The next spring the adA^antage
will be manifest. Nothing would tend more to
bring exhausted beds round than this generous
treatment, and by the sacrifice of a few dishes
now, you Avill secure an abundance next year.
What is true of a whole bed applies also to indi-
vidual plants. I alwa3''s leave the weak shoots in
the beds, on the presumption that by cutting
them tliey will become weaker, but that they will
make robust shoots by being allowed to grow and
bask in the air and the sun. My remarks also
lead to another practical conclusion — to leave off
cutting in time. Fine shoots must not be looked
at with a longiug eye, as though it were waste
to let them run to branches and flowers. They
are the parents of a future race, and ought to be
kindly and respectfully treated.

Manure must be plentifully given in conjunc-
tion with the above mode of treatment. It should
be applied at such times that the growing plant
may receive the benefit. It is possible for a top-
dressing put on in autumn to have all its valuable
properties washed below the reach of the roots,
before they begin to exercise their A'^ital powers.
However, cover the beds with good dung in au-
tumn, but do not neglect to furnish a fresh supply
in spring. Salt and liquid manure should be used
at tlie latter perioil, as they become immediately
available. I have just dressed my beds in the
following manner, and it is not too late for others
to adopt the plan. I coA'ered them with salt, so
that on a dry day the whole surface looked as
though it had been snowing ; they were then
watered with about 60 gallons of liquid manure,

FOREIGN NOTICES.

529

feaved from a stable during the winter. Wiien
this had sunk in, the l)eds were raked, stones
picked ofl", and a neat appearance given them.
If you have no liquid manure, make some by di-
luting good stable dung with soapsuds, &e. As
the roots will soon begin to move, the soil will
be furnished with those materials which will en-
sure a quick and strong growth, and, if the beds
were healthy last year, you may depend on a
crop.

As I have been able by this treatment to make
old beds of a.spar&gus to produce fine crops, I can
recommend it^ and I hope amateurs will them-
selves study the rationale of the practice. It is
to be regretted that so twanj gardeners are con-
tented with the " light of other days,'" and fail to
use modern improvements and scientific princi-
ples. Although the Chronicle has so large a
sale, and has for years been endeavoring to en-
lighten the public mind on these matters, the
greater number by far of those who take an inte-
rest in gardens never see it- I endeavored lately
to explain to a friend the reason of the success of
my asparagus beds, and i could see I was listened
to almost as an expounder of magic. Digging
and manuring are the specifics with most persons,
while science is neglected, and the result is, an
accidental and occasional success, but at the same
time repeated and provoking failures, H. B.
Gardeners^ Chronicle.

Proditcts 0f New Mexico — Maize Sugar. —
*' Here I witnessed the fabrication oi' sugar from
corn-stalks. The alcalde owns the mill and boil-
ing house, and the use of these is paid in syrup.
The owner of the corn-stalks assembles his neigh-
bors, and, proceeding to the mill, jjlaccs the stalks,
cut into short pieces, into a large wooden trough;
and each man, arming himself with a heavy mal-
let, soon breaks the stalks into small fragments.
Boiling water is poured upon them, and then the
mass is put into a hollow tree set upright in a
trough; into this a plug is loosely fitted, across
which a long pole fixed at one end is laid, and all
the young people getting upon this lever, the
juice is soon pressed out and poured into earthen
pots built into the top of a large furnace, kept
burning night and day; women continually stir-
ring the liquor, until it is thick, when it is run
into small clay moulds, (unless it should be want-
ed for molasses.) The workmen are repaid by
an invitation to the house of the owner of the
sugar, where they are regaled with molasses
and tortillas."

The Soap Weed. — " We first met, on this part
of the road, with the species of palm called by us
soap- weed, from the fact that the Mexicans use
its root as a substitute for soap, for which it an-
swers very well. Indeed, it is considered supe-
rior to it for the washing of woolens. I be-
lieve it is rightly named the Leehuguilla. This
singular shrub, which is to be also met with on
the prairies, but where it never grows to any con-

You III. 34

siderable size, consists of a trunk, very pithy, sur-
mounted by a fine head of stiff leaves, each of
which is about 2^ feet in length, and armed at the
end with a long thorn. Tiie leaves project from
the stalk on all sides, and set as close as possible,
and are of a dark green color. The flower is
white and very pretty. As each year's foliage
decays, it drojis down against the trunk, of a
light brown color. These dry leaves, when fire
is applied, flash up like gunpowder, and burn with
a bright light. Our night marches could be mark-
ed by their flames, which, as the nights were
cold, (although the days were comfortable,) were
cheering. I have been thus particular in describ-
ing this plant for several reasons : — one is its
many uses — of the leaves the natives make their
hats; also, when dressed like hemp, it is formed
into ropes and sacks, looking like the materia!
known as Manilla hemp, though coarser. These
plants have a singularly provoking quality; being
from two to eight feet in height, they will assume
to the eye, in the twilight, the most deceptive
forms. To the sentinel they will appear as forms
of men ; and many an unconscious soap- weed has
run the chance of a sentry's shot, from not an-
swering to the challenge of ' Who goes there?' "

American Aloe at Santa Cruz — '•' In order to
obtain the liquor from this Aloe, the leaves are cut
off level with the ground, and the root is dug up.
The latter is about the size and shape of a quart
bowl, and is of a dry, wood}^ texture; but on
being piled in large heaps and roasted, it becomes
very juicy and tender, and of a sweet taste. The
roots are then pressed, and the liquor allowed to
ferment; after fermentation it resembles beer in
appearance, and somewhat in taste, but a little
smoky, and is called pulque. It is drunk very
extensively by the lower classes. From the pulque
there is distilled a clear, colorless liquor, of a
most acrid and burning taste, which is the mes-
cal. It is only fit for a Mexican to drink — he can
do it without winking; but I shall never forget a
glass of it which I swallowed at San Rosalia, and
which was considered of an extra good quality.
It appeared to draw my tongue half way down
my throat, and took ray breath away for an in-
stant. It was the first and last glass of mescal I
ever drank."

Agricultural Condition. — " The general ap-
pearance of the country has not been previously
mentioned. The whole extent of what we had
travelled through, except just along the banks of
streams, is of the most barren description, being
principally composed of a hard yellow clay, so
poor that, in most places, grass cannot be raised.
I have travelled more than a hundred miles at a
time without seeing sufficient grass to furnish my
horse with a meal, and without meeting with a
stone as large as a pebble. The roads, except in
a few places where they happen to cross moun-
tains, are excellent, being as hard and level as a
floor. The land can only be cultivated just along
the banks of the streams ; and there the fertility

6^

FOREIGN NOTICES.

of the soil amply repays the farmer, as the crops
do not seem to exhaust the ground. Many far-
mers work the same ground fifty years or more,
without spreading upon it a particle of manure.
The seasons are also favorable to the husband-
man. Rain, however, is rare. Before we left
El Paso, which was in January, the inhabitants
were plowing, and sowing corn. I have nodonbt
that, were the Mexicans not so excessively lazy,
they might produce anything they chose; but
when they have put seed into ground, they think
they have done enough ; and if it should not. come
up, and the plant thrive, instead of doing as we
should, setting to work to remedy it, they simply
' call on Hercules;' in other words, fall upon their
knees at the altar before the priest, tell him how
unfortunate they have been, buy a blessing from
hira, and go home in blessedness. The inhabi-
tants produce maize, oats, wheat, onions, melons,
grapes, and several other fruits. I never saw
any potatoes, although, as we know, it is cur-
rently said that the root grows wild in the south-
ern parts of Mexico. I have seen as fine melons,
grapes, and corn in Mexico as I have observed
anywhere ; and I have purchased onions as large
as an ordinary sized dinner plate." — Edward's

New Mexico.

New Plan of Cooking Potatoes. — About
this season of the year, the skin of potatoes be-
comes so exceedingly tough that it will not crack
in the operation of boiling, the superabundant
moisture and other matters contained in the pota-
to cannot escape, and the consequence is that the
tuber boils soapy and wet. I believe that cooks
peel potatoes at this time of the year because of
the toughness of their skins, which emit a disa-
greeable smell in cooking. I have at all times
found that before Christmas, the less water pota-
toes are boiled in the better, using plenty of salt;
but that after that time, and up to the period
when the old ones begin to go out in spring, the
more water used the better, not with the view of
improving the potato, but of obviating the smell,
which arises from its skin. In making this and
the following statements, I am av/are that I am
placing myself in the same position with regard
to cooks that the bear was in with respect to the
bees. By the dab of the wench of all work up to
the great Soyer himself, I shall be told that by
boiling potatoes at this time of the year with
their jackets on, a bad flavor is imparted to the
whole mass, and this is no doubt true; but if I
advocate the bane, I will also give the antidote.
My plan is as follows: Let the potatoes be washed
clean with a brush ; then take a knife and cut the
skin through all round the potato, do the same
lengthwise and put them in plenty of water (salt-
ed.) It will be found, when the potatoes are
boiled, that where the skin was cut, it will have
separated considerably, and allowed the moisture
to escape. The labor of peeling, moreover, will
not occupy one quarter of the time which is re-
quired in removing the skins before cooking,

leaving out of the question deep peeling, by whicEi
the most farinaceous part of the potato passes to
the hog tub. If a cook in a large family cannol
afford time for skinning potatoes at dishing up
time, they might be boiled a quarter of an hour
before they are wanted, and put into an oven,
where they can be kept liot ; but potatoes are best
sent to table with their jackets on, for the latter
keep them longer hot ; and if cooked on my plan,
the skins peel olf with the greatest ease ; all who
have tried uiy method like it uncommonly well.
Jamea Cutliul, Florist, Camberwell. Gardener's

Clironicle.

Cultivation or Celery. — At a meeting of
the Horticultural Society iu Regent-street, held
Dee. 5, Mr. Cole, gardener to H. Collier, Esq.,
of Dartford, exhibited some very fine red celery ,
to which a certificate was awarded, and with it
he sent the following account of its cultivation,
which we extract from the last muiiber of the So-
ciety's Journal. " Herewith I take the liberty of
handing you six sticks of celery, of a kind which
I have grown for the last three years, and which
I think, both in point of size, solitlity, and flavor,
will be found superior to any which has hitherto
been cultivated. The specimens sent are not se-
lected, but are merely examples of a general crop,
planted without any object in view beyond that
of the supply of my employer's table, and entirely
without ever thinking of sending any of it for pub-
lic exhibition. My stock consists of 600 plants,
planted in rows, four feet apart, and the plants
9 inches apart in the row; and I have not a doubt
that the whole crop woujd average 6 lbs. per
stick. Not the least remarkable excellence in
this celery is, that it will stand 12 months with-
out running or starting for seed, and such a thing
as a pipy or stringy leaf I have never noticed so
long as I have grown it. For a more substantial
detail of my method of cultivation, I may remark
the seed was sown the first week in February,
and so soon as the plants were large enough they
were pricked out in garden soil, rich in vegetable
matter, under hand glasses. The trenches were
prepared in the usual manner, in the first week
in June, by excavating them nine inches deep,,
and digging in a good dressing of spent dung.
The plants were of course strong when they were
planted out, and each was removed to the trench
with a good ball of earth adhering to the roots,
so that, (afterwards receiving a copious water-
ing,) they sustained little or no check. In earth-
ing celery, I generally endeavor to steer between
the two extremes of frequently earthing, and
earthing only when the plants are full grown, be-
lieving that a little earth after the plants are fully
established in the trenches, say a month after
planting, promotes the rapid growth of the plants,,
more especially if they receive a good soaking of
weak liquid manure, or soot-water, a day or two
before they are earthed. Soot-water is an excel-
lent manure for celery ; and where worms and
other insects are troublesome, a Uttle dry soot

FOREIGN NOTICES.

531

hashed along the rows will be found a preventive
■of their ravages. The kitchen garden here being
wpon a boggy subsoil, and below the level of the
river Dart, which pa.sses through the grounds, I
do not find it necessary to water the plants more
than once or twice after they are planted out ■ but
in more elevated situations it is almost impossible
to give too much water, always, however, pre-
ferring to give a thorough soaking once every
fortnight, rather than daily dribbliiigs, which, in
omy opinion, do more harm than good. V/ere I so
disposed, I have no doubt I could grow this cele-
ry dottble the size of that sent 5 and to effect this,
I should prepare the plants as before directed,
«xcavate the trenches 18 iiK;hes deep aiid the
same in width, and fill them with a compost con-
sisting of good turfy loam, peat, and leaf-mould,
or thoroughly decomposed cow-dung, in about
«qual quantities. Very rich dung is not good for
■celery, and strong manure water should also be
avoided. To grow large celery it would be ne-
•cessary to place the plants 18 inches apart in the
row, and the ground should be kept constantly
«tired about the plants, taking great care, how-
ever, to prevent the soil getting into the hearts of
^he plants during the operations. In a late num-
ber of the "* Journal of the Horticultural Society,' I
perceive Mr, Errington attributes the coarse and
4)ad quality of the large celery grown for market
40 the luxuriance of its growth. Here, I venture
to assert he is wrong. The bad quality of the
celery is attributable to the bad kinds grown,
as I am quite sure no person could grow this kind
•of celery, which has been named Cole's Superb
Hed, so as to make it eitlver pipy or stringy, or
Inferior in flavor. Late earthing has more to
ido with making celery stringy than anytliing else,
as it is quite certain if the leaves of celery are
exposed to full light and dry air for a length of
time, the tissue will become harder than if the
leaves were grown in comparative darkness. We
need no stronger proof of this than the acrid fla-
vor of the outer as compared with the inner
leaves of the same celery, a fact demonstrating
that if the leaves are exposed for a long time they
acquire an acrid flavor which no blanching can
^'holly remove. For an early crop of celery I
■sow in heat early in January, and prick the plants
upon a slight hot-bed 5 for a. second crop in Feb-
ruary in heat, ^s before directed, and for a late
<;rop in March in the open garden." — Gard.Chron.

Preparation for Seed-sowing. — If we take
a survey of our neighbors' gardens in the months
<of May or June, we shall findgreat difTeren-
<ces in the state of the crops, some being very
•much in advance of others, although the soil and
■situation are in all the eases the same. Peas,
Beans, Onions, &c., are more valuable by being
produced early, and it is therefore important to
fenow how this can be best accomplished. "When
4id you sow your Onions ?" sa.ys one gardener to
i&iaoiiies, ^' for ihey are bulbing while oiine are

scarcely above the ground." " In the middle of
February," is the reply. " How did you manage
that ?" rejoins the inquirer, " for at that time my
ground was so wet that I could do nothing with
it." The explanation of this apparent mystery,
by which one man gets the start of his neighbor,
is simple enough, although in practice the matter
is too much neglected.

Some gardeners neglect their ground from the
autums until the opening spring reminds them
that it is time to bestir themselves, and put in the
seeds for the crops of vegetables so highly prized
when grown early emd well. Acting on this pre-
monition he goes to ihe garden, and the day being
warm and sunny he anticipates no difficulty, and
hopes before evening to commit to the earth the
seeds he has prepared. But he is grievously dis-
appointed. The first stroke of the spade or fork
reminds him that a bright day or two are not suf-
ficient to drasv off the moisture occasioned by the
rains and snows of the whole winter. His shoes
are heavy with the atlhering clods, and his spade
almost refuses to do its work, and he is compelled
to desist. Next da}' probably it rains again, and
it is not until a continuance of March winds have
dried up the earth, that he can accomplish his pur-
pose. In the meanwhile his neighbor has sown all
his seeds, and they are above the ground. How
did he accomplish this ?

This more successful gardener came to his beds
on the bright day mentioned above, and began,
not to dig, but to level the hacks and the trenches
which had been thrown up and dug out some
months or M'eeks previously. He found the soil
nicely p'ulveriaed, and when the spade had thus
done its easy work, the rake was available, and
the work was done. The secret of his success is,
that he had thrown up his ground before the frosts
came, and they did gently and quietly, yet effactu-
ally, what no skill and labor could otherwise have
accomplished. It is this foresight which is indis-
pensable for early seed sowing. Nor is this the
only benefit resulting from this trenching in win-
ter. Insects are prevented from increasing, and
the soil is more capable of causing a rapid germi-
nation of the seed. This work had better have
been done before Christmas, but it is not now too
late. Let every part of your kitchen garden
which is unoccupied be thrown into ridge and fur-
row, and after a sharp frost you will experience
the benefit. Unless this advice is taken you can-
not sow early, nor will the operation be performed
so well whenever you may do it. H. B. Gard.
Chron. ....

Preparation of Soil for Pottinc, &c. —
Nothing is more vexatious to the amateur garden-
er, than to find it necessary to repot his plants,
and be destitute, at the same time, of the right
material. Or perhaps some choice plants are
given to him, around the roots of which he sees
fragments of a light, porous, and healthy-looking
compost, and he looks all round his garden for
something of the same quality, in which to pot

632

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

them, in vain. This vexation would never occur
if a little foresight were exercised; and we will
now endeavor to initiate our readers into the art
and mystery of making a mould-heap. Humble
though such a possession may be thought, it will
save much trouble to have one, and tend, more
than any one thing besides, to ensure a stock of
healthy plants.

Two things are necessary to the soil of all pot-
ted plants, with very few exceptions ; it must be
fibrous and porous. Turn out the plant purchased
in a respectable nursery from its pot, and you will
find the mould is light and spongy, admitting a
free passage to the roots, each one of which may
be separated without difficulty and injury from the
surrounding mass. Perform the same operation
on a plant potted by an unskilful hand, and how
great a difTerence will present itself? The soil is
heavy, like a mass of kneaded clay; the roots are
heavily embedded in it, so that they will break
rather than be separated ; and water will with
difficulty pass through it. Prepare your heap at
once, that all your pots may in future be furnished
like the first mentioned, for your own satisfaction
and the comfort of the plants. First get a quan-
tity of turf from a loamy meadow ; let it be cut
rather thick, and then laid in a heap, or, as I have
seen done in large gardens, let it be stacked up,
and a thatch put on it, to ward off wet. If this be
allowed to stand six or twelve months, all insects
will be dead, the grass will be decayed, and the
whole will be a fibrous mass adapted for almost

anything. Add to this an equal quantity of leaf-
mould, or leaves thoroughly decayed, and about &n
eighth part of coarse sand, and you will have a
compost to your hand in which any plants will
flourish. If you prefer it, you need not mix more
than you want at once, and can accommodate
your proportions to the various productions you
pot. But whichever plan you adopt, the fibre of
the turf and the sand will secure yoa lightness of
texture and sufficient drainage, to that when yaur
plants are watered, the liquid wiM quickly ran
through.

But what is to be done befors this compost heap
is made, for a whole season will have passed be-
fore turf now stowed away is fit for use ? The
only advice we have you is, to get materials as
nearly like those recommended as possible, and
make shift until you are better provided^ If your
flower beds have had a layer of rotten leaves pu6
on this autumn, the frosts and rains will by this
time have brought it to a nice state for use. Beg
a little of that, mixed with the lightest sc41 you
can find. Mix up small stones, bits of r&ttCR
wood, &c., all together, for those things will se-
cure a drainage, and it is a fatal mistake to pot
plants in^«e or sifted soil, as some igaoiaatiy do.
Experience will be the best teacher in this mat-
ter, and a pi-aetical gardener will know as well
what soil will do for a plant as a careful niurs^
knows what kind of bed and clothing will promotei
the health and comfart of hsr iufjaat. Gardenevs,^'
Chronicle.

DOMESTIC NOTICES,

Tka in the United States. — Mr. Jttnius
Smith, of South Carolina, has undertaken, with a
great deal of enterprise, the introduction of the tea
plant into that slate, with a view to the culture
and production of tea as a staple crop. He has,
we understand, a,lready received several hundred
plants from China, and also several pounds of seed,,
with which to commence operations.

That the Tea plant (which belongs to the same
group as the Camellia) may be perfectly acclima-
tive as far north as Virginia, there cannot be a
doubt; and we can see no obstacle, if the proper site
and soil be selected, to its profitable cultivation.

But Mr. Smith must not be disappointed if he
fails in acclimating the identical Tea plants im-
ported from China. The experience of scientific
cultivators has well established a fact that foreign
trees or plants, which are originally somewhat
tender in a climate new to them, never become
more hardy by a course of cultivation in that cli-
mate, however long continued ; or by any propa-
gation by cuttings or grafts of those original
plants. It is only by reproducing new plants
from seed grown, (or at least sown) in the adopt-

ed climate that, the tender speeies becomes m&ro
hardy and adapts itself to the greater vigor of the-
new Climate.

A most complete illustration of this fact, an(S
one directly bearing on this plast in question, has.
been laid before our readers lately in the account)
given by Mr. Feast, of the experiments at Balti-
more in acclimating the Camellia. He has showns
by Dr. Edmundson's experiaients that while the-
ori-ginal species and varieties of the CajaelHa suf-
fered greatly when planted out in the climate of
Maryland, the seedlings raised fiom those species,
and varieties have proved perfectly hardy.

We commend this instructing fact to all those-
iaterested in acclimating the tea, the olive, or any-
other half hardy and valuable plants.

Gebman Greens. — This is a species of cole-
wort or dwarf kale, which we find a great acqui-
sition to our list of hardy and popular spring veg-
etables. We received a large package of seedi
last summer from Messrs. Thorbuun &, Co., of
New-York, with directions for sowing it ia Au-
gust and covering it slightly ia winter. War

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

533

sowed it broad cast about the last of August, and
thinned the plants in the same way as field turnips
about the last of September. We left it entirely
exposed to all the frosts of the late severe winter,
and (bund it entirely uninjured on the opening of
the spring.

With the disappearance of the snow this plant
begins to vegetate, and soon puts out a tuft of
curled leaves about as large as a large head of
lettuce. These leaves are excellent " greens,"
with a flavor not inferior to, and much resembling
that of good broeoli. They may be cut several
times in succession, and no plant with which we
are acquainted, which is cultivated for the same
purpdse, will give so large a supply of vegetable
food from a limited space of ground as this. This
vegetable h;is long been grown in Europe, but is
as yet very little known in the United States. Its
great hardiness, productiveness, and the ease with
whieii it may be grown in any soil, vlU doubtless
bring it into very general cullivatioh.

Agricultukal College. — By direction of the
Segislature, the Governor of the State of New-
York has appointed aboard of eight commissioners,
^one from each judicial district) who are to meet
at Albany and '' mature a plan for an Agricultu-
ral College and experimental farm," to belaid be-
fore the Legislature of this State at its next ses-
sion.

The foHowing are the commissioners appointed:
Joseph Blunt of New- York, 1st district.

A. J. Downing of Orange co., 2d "
John P. Bef.icman, Columbia co., 3J "
Samuel Cheever, Saratoga co., 4th "
Edmund Kirby. Jefferson eo., 5th "
Adrian Lott, Chenango co., 6ch "
J. S. Wadsworth, Livingston CO., 7th "
Wm. Risley, Chautauque eo., 8th "

New Hardy Plants. — Mr. Downing — The fol-
lowing plants recently introduced from China into
the Horticultural Society's Gardens of London,
have proven perfectly hardy with me the past se-
vere winter:

Weigelia rosea, a strong growing shrub with
a prufusion of flowers in clusters of from 2 to 5,
of a delicate blush colour changing to deep rose;
plants from 6 inches high to l-^ foot, stood out
fully exposed in my nursery, without protection,
and proves more hardy than Deutzia scabra or the
common Althaea. It is also admirably adapted
for forcing into bloom for bouquets.

Deutzia sanguinea — Perfectly hardy, but has
not yet bloomed, even on the plants placed in arti-
ficial heat.

Anemone japonica — An herbaceous plant that
blooms from September till severe frost, with rosey
purple flowers about 2 inches in diameter, and is
a great acquisition to a flower garden.

Forsythia viridissima will prove to be an ev-
ergreen in southern latitudes. It has not yet flow-
ered, and pioves to be about as hardy.ap ilfaftonia

fasicularis, and will be an ornamental evergreen
south of Virginia.

The past winter has been the severest on ever-,
greens that has occurred since 1832. Deodar Ce-
dars have their tops very much injured; Arauca-
ria imbricata will lose its leading shoot ; Euony-
mus japonica has also been severely punished.
The hedges have lost their foliage, but appear to
be pushing out freely, and in a few weeks will be
as green as ever. Pinis Douglassii I fear will be
like the silver spruce, losing its leader every sea-
son. I have not tested Cryptomeria japonica out
of doors, but do not doubt but that it is more har-
dy than Cedrus Deodora. Yours, truly, R. Buist.
Philadelphia, April 14, 1849.

Ornamental Trees in Villages. — The fol-
lowing effectual plan of ornamenting a village with
shade trees, has been adopted by T. G. Yeomaws,
of Walworth, N. Y. During the past winter, Mr.
Yeomans posted up conspicuously in the village,
the following propositions signed by himself ; and
already several hundred trees have been planted,
and several hundred more will probably seen be
planted in pursuance of the bounty he offers:

" I hereby offer to any and every person who
will plant out and properly protect shade trees in
this village, in any of our streets, or in the Acade-
my grounds or other public grounds, not more
than one hundred rods from some one of the public
buildings in the village, the premiums hereinafter
named. The trees may be Maple, Elm, or any
other equally hardy and ornamental sort ; they
must be made to grow three years after planting,
and be at that time in a flourishing condition and
not less than three inches in diameter, three feet
above the ground ; and not less than five so plant-
ed will be entitled to any premium ; and this offer
will not extend to trees planted more than two
years from this date.

" 1st. On all trees answering the foregoing de-
scription, I will pay iioenty-five cents each. 2d.
To any person so planting more than fifty and less
than one hundred trees, I will pay twenty-five
cents additional for each tree over fifty. 3d. To
any person so planting one hundred or over, and
not more than half of them on his own grounds, I
will pay fifty cents for each tree. 4th. To any
person planting thus the greatest number and not
less than fifty, I will pay an additional premium
of twenty-five dollars. Dated Walworth, Janu-
ary 29, i849. T. G. Yeomans.''

The foregoing plan, which seems to operate so
well here, would doubtless answer equally well in
other placi^s, and where a single individual cannot
be found willing to incur the entire expense, sev-
eral might join and as successfully accomplish the
same end through their united efforts. Those per-
sons who are usually most willing to incur ex-
pense for such a purpose are otherwise engaged,
and through neglect or want of attention at the
proper time, more than the want of means or wil-
lingness to expend their money for this object, the

534

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

season is passed over and the trees are not plant-
ed. But this plan gives the labor to those who
need it, and the expense falls on those who are
able and willing to bear it, while the inducement is
sufficiently strong to give assurance that the work
will be done in the best manner. L. T. Wal-
worth, April 1849.

[We give our hearty commendation to efforts
like the above, and should be glad to hear that in-
dividuals of sufficient taste and public spirit could
be found in every village in the United States to
induce those who have so little love of their own
neighborhood or home as not to care to render it
attractive, to do so from other motives, trusting to
the certain influence of beautiful trees to work its
own happy results in good time on the hearts of
all those who live in the midst of them. Ed.]

Overbearing of Dwarf Trees. — Having, like
many others at this time, caught the tree fever, I
am desirous of finding out the best remedies for
the doubts and ills that beset me. So much has
been said and written on the method of setting out
trees, the preparation of borders, digging the
holes, &c. &c., that upon this point there is no lack
of information, nor much disagreement of opinion ;
we have sailing directions enough, and it is pretty
well understood now that a tree must not be plant-
ed as though it was a post ; but not so in regard
to the management of the tree after it is set out.
I know we often have dissertations upon the man-
agement of trees, but those I have read treat
mostly of pruning, and upon this subject scarcely
any two agree, and there seems to be no settled
theory or practice.

I have particular reference now to the French,
or Dwarf Pear trees, on Quince. Every one ac-
quainted with these trees, knows that some kinds
are inclined to come into early bearing, and it is
an admitted fact that young trees suffered to bear
a full crop, will receive a check to their growth,
from which they rarely recover. Now what I de-
sire to know is this : whether it is best to suffer
such trees to flower, and then cut off the blossoms,
or let them set their fruit and then pluck it off,
whether the whole or part ; or to nip off the fruit
buds in March, and thus prevent altogether the
flowering and formation of fruit? I have put
these questions to some of my amateur friends,
but without any philosophical answer ; some say
one way, some another ; doubtless any way is bet-
ter than to allow the tree to bear, (if growth is
the object,) but I find no one who has made any
experiments, and it seems desirable to find out and
adopt the least exhausting process, and encourage
the steady growth of the tree.

Of the kinds inclined to early bearing, the
Bartlett and Louise Bonne de Jersey stand fore-
most. I have trees of the latter set out in '46,
which bore full in '47, a fair crop in '48, and some
fruit buds this year, but no growth, no new wood,
and probably no more fruit after this year ; and I
doubt if thrifty trees can now be made of them.

I am of opinion that this variety and most of tb»
other varieties, should not be permitted to bear
fruit till the 2d or 3d year.

I know, Mr. Editor, it is very hard to make new
beginners pluck off the young fruit. I was myself
told I should spoil my trees, but did not believe
it, and I liked to see the fruit grow, but I have
learned better now, and am desirous of further
light from some of the more experienced tree
growers. If sir, you can find leisure to answer
my queries, either by letter or through your jour-
nal, you will much oblige your obedient servant,
W. R. Austin. Dorchester, 'Mass., April 8, 1849,

[Removal of the fruit buds in the spring, before
they open, is the best mode of throwing additional
vigor into the growing buds. When young trees-
have been injured by premature overbearing, the
wisest course is to shorten back the previous years'
shoots to one bud. This, v/ith the aid of a little
animal manure, will cause the tree to push out
vigorous shoots, and regain a luxuriant habit
much more speedily than if the sap was forced
to circulate through the contracted sap vessels of
the last years' stinted growth. Ed.]

Analysis of Soils. — All our readers, alive to
the importance of a chemical knowledge of the
soil they cultivate, will be glad to hear of a most
laudable movement lately made by the American
Agricultural Association, of New- York, to ena-
ble farmers and gardeners to learn with accuracy,,
and at a reasonable cost, the nature o-f the soils-
they cultivate.

The great cost of obtaining an accurate analy-
sis of soils has, hitherto, prevented nine-tenths of
the farming class from seeking tliis information, —
important as it is to a systematic and intelligent
improvement of the land.

By the following circular, which has been placed
in our hands by one of the officers of the Americam
Agricultural Association, it will be seen that ais
analysis may now be obtained, under their patron-
age, at a price so moderate that every cultivator
can avail himself of the opportunity to ascertain,
the exact composition of his fields or garden:

" In order to afford to practical agriculture alB
the benefits which recent discoveries in chemistry
and the collateral sciences are capable of yielding,,
the American Agricultural Association have estab-
lished a chemical laboratory, in which the farm-
ing community can have samples of surface and
subsoil analysed, together with manures, marls,
gypsum, &c.; and that this institution may be
made extensively available, tlie charges for analy-
ses have been struck at the following low scale:
1. — Complete quantitative analysis of a soil, de-
termination of all ingredients, and advice con-
nected therewith, $5 00

2. — Approximate analysis of surface or sub-
soil, 1 00

3. — Analysis of bone dust, gypsum, &c., to
determine the presence of one ingre-
dient, 0 60

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

535

4. — Guano and other artificial manures, .. $1 00
5. — Correspondence (without analysis) on

a particular subject, — to enclose, 1 00

" The above fees to accompany all samples, or
communications.

" Commercial analyses, testing; ores, minerals,
drugs, &c,, conducted in the laboratory with care.

" For analysis, 1 lb. of sub or surface soil
should be collected from the averajre quality of
the ground ; all samples to be forwarded to Dr.
Antisell, chemist to the association, at the labo-
ratory, 14^ Grand-st., corner of Elra-st., N. Y."

Selection OF Good Fruits. — We extract the
followinir interesting remarks, on fruit culture and
selection of varieties, by that experienced New-
England cultivator, Samuel Walker, Esq., of
Roxbury, now President of the Massachusetts Hor-
ticultural Society, from the Report, of the American
Institute. Ed.

In submitting the following list of the best Ame-
rican varieties of apples, pears, and plums in jux-
taposition with the best European varieties, it is
Dot my intention to make any invidious compari-
son; on trial, — the truth, the whole truth will be
amply sufficient for any purpose. I shall, there-
fore, leave the result in the hands of the best
judges — the cultivators — simply stating, that I
shall select the best varieties from the catalogues
of the New and the Old World.

Apples.

Ameriran Varieties.

1 Early Harvest,

2 Williams' Apple,

3 Benoni,

4 Porter,

5 Pomrne de Neigc,

6 Baldwin,

7 Yellow Belle Fleur,

8 Nevrtowii Pippin, (jrreRn)

9 Rhode Island Greening,
10 American Golden Russet.

European Varieties.

1 Karly Red Margaret,

2 Red Astrachan,

3 Sops of Wine,

4 Gravenstein,

5 Ross Nonpareil,

6 Dutch Mignonne,

7 Cornish Gillillower,

8 Ribstoii Pippin,

9 Herefordshire Pearmain,
10 English Golden Russet.

I will not carry out the comparison further, but
submit a list of American varieties, all of which
are deserving of extensive cultivation, viz :

Large Yellow Bough, Chandler, Fall Harvey,
Jonathan, Minister, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Ram-
bo, River, St. Lawrence, (Corse's) Northern Spy,
Esopus Spitzenburgh, Summer Queen, and La-
dies' Sweeting.

Pears.

American Varieties.

1 Blood good,

2 Dearborn's Seedling,

3 Pratt,

4 Knight's Seedling,
.■5 Tyson,

6 Seckel,

7 Gushing,

8 Heathcot,

9 Andrews,

10 Buffum,

11 Dix,

12 Lawrence,

13 Columbia.

'Euroffan Varieties.

1 Citron des Carmcs,

2 Pass:ins du Portugal,

3 Williams' Bonchretien,

4 Flemish Beauty,

5 Rostiezer,

6 Fondanted'Automne,

7 Bezi de la Motte,

8 Doyenne Blanc,

9 Louise Bonne de Jersey.

10 Doyeiuie Gris,

11 Bturre Did.

12 Duchcsse d'Angouleme,

13 Gloat Morceau.

In addition to the above I will add a list of Eu-
ropean varieties of great merit, viz:

Beurre d'Aremberg, Beurro d'Anjou, Beurre

Bosc, Eyewood, Henry IV, Van Mons Leon Lo
Clerc, Marie Louise, Winter Nelis, Paradise d'-
Aiitomne, Passe Colmar, St. Ghislain, Vicar of
Winkfteld, Urbaniste, and Echasserie. For baking,
Belmont, Black Worcester, Caiillac, and Uve-
dale's St. Germain.

Plums.
American Varieties. Eurnpfan Varieties.

1 JeflTersnn, I 1 Green 6>ge,

2 Columbia, 2 Purple Gage,

3 Wasliington. \ 3 Coe's Golden Drop.

To this list of plums I will add the following
American varieties as worthy of a place in every
gonil c(illecfii)n, viz :

Purple Favorite, Huling's Superb, Imperial
G.tge, Lawrence Favorite, Bleecker's Gage, and
Bingham.

cherries.

The best varieties of American and European
cherries are very dissimilar. I shall therefore
submit a list of such varieties as I consider of the
best quality, viz :

American Varieties. Sparhawk's Honey, Dow-
ner's Late, Sweet Montmorency, Manning's Mot-
tled, Downing Red Cheek.

European Varieties. Black Eagle, Black
Heart, Black Tartarian, Downton, Knight's Early
Black, Bigarreau, Bigarreau Holland, Elton, Flo-
rence. Belle de Choisy, May Duke, and the Late
Duke'.

By the foregoing statement it will te perceived
that among the well established apples and plums
in this country, a majority are the product of
America. Of pears and cherries, the greater num-
ber of choice ki:.ds have been imported from Eu-
rope.

I will now proceed to the second part of my
subject, and notwithstanding my esteemed friend,
Thomas Bridgman, Esq., has with ability and
good judgment brought the subject of seedlings
under the notice of the managers, yei I shall not re-
frain to state all I intended to do before I received
Dr. Bridginan's able report.

I am amare when a word of caution is to be
spoken, or an error pointed out, that it should be
done with candor and kindness; in that spirit the
following remarks are submitted on
seedling fruits.

My object is to point out an error, may I not
rather say, a weakness, on the part of some culti-
vators of fruits, to overrate their own productions,
more especially so when they raise a seedling
apple, pear, plum, peach, or clierr}', having any
pretension to merit. If their production is of the
best quality, and possesses but a single point of
superiority, say only a shade of color, or a slight
increase of size, in addition to the good (jualities
of the most choice variety of that class of fruit in
the present catalogues, that alone will commend it
to other persons, and tiiey will mete out its praise
in due season.

No seedling should be recommended for exten-
sive cultivation until it shall have been proved to

536

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

be superior in some respects to the variety it most
resembles. For instance, if any person sliall raise
a seedling plum one-fonrth larger, and equal or
superior in flavor, more beautiful in its appearance,
and more productive than the Green Gage, then
the new variety would soon find its way into every
crood collection of plums. The same remarks will
apply to the Newtown Pippin apple. The person
who shall be so fortunate as to raise a seedling
apple of equal flavor, better color, and a tree more
thrifty and productive than the green Newtown
Pippin, will have accomplished something worthy
of record and a name. But cultivators, like young
fond mothers, are apt to consider their production
to be a ■' none-such ;" time, alas ! often convinces
them of their mistake ; and when too late, they
find they have only deceived themselves.

Effects of the Winter on Plants. — In
your March number you published a few remarks
of mine on the experiments of Dr. Edmondson in
acclimatizing the Camellia, in Maryland. I beg
to inform you now of his success, through the last
peculiar winter. The foliage of the exposed
plants is more disfigured than in any previous sea-
son, owing, doubtless, to the extreme warm wea-
ther we had up to the 7th of January, which no
doubt had started the sap. The sudden cold
coming upon them in that state, (the thermome-
ter falling as low as 4 degrees below zero, which
48 hours before had been ranging from 65 to 75
Fahrenheit, making a difference of many degrees.)
This sudden check, I think, has been the sole
cause of disfiguring the foliage, and many of the
earliest flower buds. These Camellia plants are
now in full bloom, but of course they are not in such
perfection as last year. Many of the branches,
however, which were covered with snow are not
injured in the least. I noticed that one plant
which was planted last November, in an open bor-
der where it was fully exposed to the hot sun, and
had lost all its leaves, was opening its flowers ;
others again all destroyed. This has been with
us an unusually severe winter on certain plants ;
of China roses, many varieties are killed to the
ground, as well as that interesting Chinese shrub
Nandina domestica. The wood of grape vines is,
however, more perfect than I have found it for
many seasons, owing to the fact that the wood
was perfectly ripened in the autumn previous.

Cunninghamia lancifolia — a large plant, put
out by Dr. Edmondson, has stood well ; it was
covered with a box, partially open to the north,
and I think this tree may prove hardy here.

Koelrenteria paniculata. — This tree in the
month of June forms a splendid ornament. Irs
epikes of rich yellow flowers, covering the tree all
over, has a charming effect on a lawn or pleasure
garden, in the fall, covered with rich mahogany
colored seed pods. [This tree is perfectly hardy
with us, and we have no doubt will be so as far
north as Canada. — Ed.]

Lilium lancifolium album, speeiosa, japonicum,

and longifolium , are all perfectly hardy here-
stood this last season here without any protection.
The charming Double Japan Spirssa S. prunifo-
Ha plena, a plant 4 feet high, is now in full bud,
and what a treasure it is. Siebold deserves a
monument from the horticulturists for introducing^
this plant and the Japan Lilies, independent of the
other fine things with which he has enriched oar
collections.

Photiniu glabra and serrulata prove hardy, and
are now opening their flower buds.

Paulownia Imperialis . — Last year the flowers
were all destroyed owing to a warm period in
February. This year they are not injured. This
tree, now pretty well known in our nurseries as
the Paulownia, has a character of its own, differ-
ing from that of any other tree I have yet seen^
which I think will make every real lover of orna-
mental gardening admire it. It ought to be found
in all well improved pleasure grounds, and it only
needs to be planted on a spacious lav/n, with a
dark green at a distance for a back ground, to be
seen to great advantage. It forms its large clus-
ters of flower-buds in the month of August ; and
as every branch terminates with a panicle of large
flower-buds, it is an interesting sight even during^
the fall and winter, though these buds do not ex-
pand till the succeeding spring. I have a eluster
now before me, 13 inches long, containing 14
smaller branches, covered with flower buds, all of
a very curious formation. The flowers when open
resemble the Maurandia Barclay ana ^ or the Pur-
ple Fox Glove. The seed pods are like those of
Yucca filamentosa. The seed is fla< and slightly
winged. [This tree has withstood a temperature
of 12 degrees below zero at the north the past
winter without injury. — Ed.]

Your readers in the north, some of them, maj
think that the climate of Maryland is very favo-
rable to gardening. In some respects it is so, but not
in all. The changes of temperature are very great.
During the past winter, in the latter part of Febru-
ary, the winter broke up, and all March was very
wet and cold, so much so as to prevent any person
from working the ground unless in dry soil. This
month has been very dry and warm. Last night we
had a strong frost with high wind ; ice half an inch
thick in tubs ; the fruit of peaches, cherries, plums,
and strawberries, or rather, such as were in bloom,
are all destroyed. Magnolia purpurea, Sonlan-
giana, conspicua, and some other varieties I
have recently imported, were in their greatest
splendor. Now all are destroyed. Yet the Ca-
mellia flowers, like those of Pyrus japonica, are
not injured in the least. SamH Feast. Balti-
more, April 16, 1849.

Colossal Rhubarb. — Dear Sir: For a few
years past, I have planted several varieties of
rhubarb in my garden, and among others MyatVa
Victoria and the Colossal. After a thorough trial
in my soil, I find Bowning's Colossal is decidedly

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

537

superior to any other I have yet tried, both as to
size and flavor. I think the public generally are
hot aware of its value. It was oris^inatcd in New-
burgh, N. Y., some ten years since, by Chas.
Downing, E.sq. Respcctl'ully, Henry Little.
Bangor, Maine, April 3, 1849. fWe believe
every one who has tried this rhubarb will agree
with Col. LiTTLK, that no variety yet originated
will compare in size, or quality, with the Colossal.
Its stalks are remarkably tender and succulent.
Ed.]

Fruit Culture at the South. — As your
journal should be a record of all information upon
the subject of horticulture, Stc, I take the liberty
of presenting to you some remarks that have ap-
pcared in the 8ontliern Cultivator concerning
fruits. I will add some views of mine, and at-
tempt to be concise. A friend of mine writes that
his want of success in fruits from the north, and,
at the same time, his success with Creole trees,
induces a belief that imported trees will not do.
A gentleman follows, and says he has tried all
kinds of fruit trees; and that to succeed, we must
rely upon native trees and selections. Many per-
sons think that budded and grafted fruit will not
succeed. Others think the fault is in pruning.
Others, that cultivation will not do.

To all these I beg to reply. I have been a
purchaser from time to time since 1832. I have
budded, grafted, and layered. I dare not pretend
to much knowledge; as in those matters, a long
experience is required to give ordinary knowledge.
But having tried all kinds of fruit trees, both
foreign and native, both budded, grafted and
seedlings, I trust I will not be deemed as being
unwise if I give my opinions.

The past three years have been very unfavorable
to fruit. More trees have been planted during
this time than for any preceding ten or fifteen
years, if we speak of improved fruits. I have
seedlings, native varieties budded here; foreign
varieties budded here ; the same from the north ;
some pruned after your directions, others which
a knife has never touched, and some pruned up to
" bare poles," — a stump five or six feet high be-
fore branching; some receiving a yearly culture,
others occasional culture, others none at all. If
the fault lay in the foreign, my seedlings and bud-
ded trees, from recent selections, should succeed ;
and so on, through all. But from some 1,000 or
1,200 peach trees, old enough to bear, I have not
seen a peach per tree. I know of one orchard of
budded and grafted fruit, that has succeeded fully
except the past year. I have seen good seedling
fruit, but there was no improved trees in those
places to test. The question now follows, what
is the cause? Is it owing to an overgrowth of
tree or not? To want of the proper aliment?

I answer — it is owing to the seasons. And my
reasons:

My orchards are upon good land — upon land
similar in every respect to that which never failed
up to 1846. The seasons have not been so re-

markable for cold, as they have been for fluctua-
tions,-^IVom " quite warm for the season," to
" this is regular wintry weather for our coun-
try."* In consequence, the fruit buds have been
injured so much that the fruit either dropped be--
fore it became as large as a marble, or grew until
near ripening, then rotted. The tree, not pro-
ducing a crop, grew amazingly, and tlius added
to the dilTiculty. A portion of my land manured
with 100 bushels of cotton seed per acre yearly;
a portion not manured for eight years.

Northern pear trees grow exceedingly slow;
and so do some that arc grafted south, I have
trees of my own grafting, not one year old this
d.ay,that are larger than the parent trees, planted
out before grafting the above here. This is
owing to injury sustained on the voyage, and
their having been worked on sucker stocks.

To begin from native fruits, would be as back-
ward a business as for me to throw away my
axes, ploughs, chains, harrows, whitlletrees, hoes.
&e., and begin a thousand years ago.

We must examine our land, our mode of cul-
ture, our location, and the peculiar seasons, before
we rashly attempt to thrust aside all the labors of
our forefathers.

I believe we will succeed, after a while; but I
could not say the favorite fruits of your country
will be the favorite here. I am yearly addin"- to
my collection, and feel every confidence that in a
few years I shall succeed. I have now about
160 varieties of the pear, 55 or 60 upon quince,
and about 35 varieties of the plum. How many
of all these will be worthless here, time alone will
show. To get 20 or 30 really choice will be
enough ; but we must try, in this new country,
until we prove; and I am perhaps as simple as
any one who will '' try."

I have grown here a few pears and plums that
will compare favorably with any section; and as
to peaches, I am sure, an Early Tillotson, Empe-
ror of Russia, Early York, Lemon Clin"-, Ber-
gen's Yellow, Smock Late, that I have "rown
liere, cannot be excelled anywhere. I have pur-
chased fruit for two years in the Philadelj)liia mar-
ket even at 12| cents each; and the unprejudiced
visitor from the nortli has agreed, and will agree
with me in the comparison I have made. I am
faithfully yours, M. W. Pliilips. Edwards, Mis-
sissippi, February, 1849.

* Allow me to state, in a note, the changes here within

ten days.

A week ago, tlie weather was so favorable tliat maple
trees put out, in some favored spoLs, leaves large enough to
show green. Althea had leaves about as large as a dime.
I saw red oak blooms. Post oak had buds swollen as large
as a marrow-fat pea. Corn and cotton had germinated in
the fii'ld. On the morning of tlie ICth, thermometer was at
22 ', on the 17th at 24^, on the 18th I did not look; but the
earth has not thawed in the shade all day. Will this sudden
ch.ange not destroy all fruit buds that have swo.len so as to
receive colour of Ijloom ? Several apricots show a few full
blooms; several peach trees, also. Stra\vberricss'iiowmauy
blooms. The blue, porcelain blue, white, pink and red Hya-
cinths are in bloom. .Touquils, Narcissus, and grape Hya-
cinths, (blue bells,) are also iu bluom.

538

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Vine Borders.'^A. J. Downing — Dear Sir :
J have just read, in the April number of the Hor-
ticulturist, an article from Mr. Saunders, on the
formation of vine borders, and am surprised to find
he has aimed a shot or two at me. His batteries,
however, are not in good position; for in one case
his balls hit a third party, and in the other they
take the same ran<ie as my own. My remarks,
which it seems have drawn these from Mr. S.,
were contained in a review of Mr. Allen's work
on vine culture; and it must lie obvious to any
reader that I was only endorsing his opinions, and,
as I do not tiiink he requires my aid to sustain his
position, I shall offer no remarks on the subject
v/hich has so " perplexed" Mr. Saunders, but
merely refer him to Mr. Allen's book, where he
will find the whole subject fully discussed. If
that fails to satisfy him, I may give some testi-
mony from my own experience. So much for the
first shot wiiich hits Mr. Allen instead of me.
The second is aimed at the theory of fresh animal
matter for manures, which he asserts, with much
earnestness, must prove fatal to the roots of vines
whenever it comes in contact with them. As I
made the same assertion, in the most unqualified
manner, I am happy to receive this testimony in
corroboration; and in return, I am glad to assure
Mr. Saunders that I entirely agree with him as
to the excellence of the materials he proposes for
a vine border.

In conclusion, let me express the hope that Mr.
S. will send a few bunches of such Black Ham-
burgh grapes a.s he describes — " well coloured,
and weighing from four to six pounds each," to
the next annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania or
New-Jersey Horticultural Societies, I have been
in the habit of attending them for years, and feel
safe in assuring Mr. S. that such grapes would
not only afford much gratification to horticulturists
in this section, but would secure him a premium
which would amply remunerate him. ^ New-
Jersey Subscriber. Jpril 13th, 1849.

Gooseberry Culture. — Dear Sir : The great
pleasure I have derived by the perusal of your
excellent periodical, and the desire to communi-
cate to others what has proved so satisfactory to
myself, in my endeaA^ors to " rescue from obloquy"
one of the more humble fruits, has induced me to
offer the following, which, if you think worthy of
notice, you may place before your readers: Early
in the spring of 1844, I purchased at auction a
dozen bushes of the best English varieties of goose-
berry, stated to have been imported by Kenrick.
These were set out in good rich soil. I also trans-
planted to the same situation several larger bushes,
of a small red variety, received from a friend a
year or two before. In common with cultivators
of this fruit, in my neighborhood, I was year after
year doomed to disappointment in the fruit pro-
duced. Although, from the bushes of the smaller
variety, last named, I annually raised a few very
fair and fine flavored berries, the former yielded

not an eatable fruit,- — being, when about half
grown, so covered with mildew, as is frequently
the case in this climate, that a red variety could
not be told from a white or green one.

Partly from information obtained from the Hor-
ticulturist and other sources, and partly from my
own reflection, I was led to try early and close
pruning, and the application of a mixture of un-
leaehed wood ashes and salt, to the surface under
the bushes. Thus: about the 1st of March, and
before ihe buds have much swollen, cut off the
larger half, and in some cases two-thirds of the
new growth, and when too thick, thin out some of
the branches so as to give them handsome open
heads. When the frost is fairly out, and the
ground cleared off about the bushes, apply to
each one quart of unleached wood ashes, and one
table spoonful of coarse salt, well mixed; spread
evenly on the ground under each bush, over a
space of one foot or more in diameter, according
to the size of the bushes. About midsummer, add
half the quantity for renewal.

I claim nothing original in my experiment, but
know that it has succeeded admirably the two last
seasons, — affording me an abundance of fine fruit,
entirely free from mildew, on all the bushes, which
are of seven difl'erent varieties. My method of
cultivation may not succeed in all situations and
seasons; but if lovers of the gooseberry will try
it, before discarding and throwing away their
bushes, as some of my neighbors have done, I
think they will be fully remunerated for their
pains, P. Salem, Mass., March 3, 1849.

Comparative TEMPERATtiRE — Mr. Downing:
The following meteorological observations, for
1848, may be somewhat interesting, as aflbrding
some opportunity to compare the temperature of
this with other localities. Latitude being the
same, there are other causes to influence the tem-
perature, such as altitude, the proximity of exten-
sive forests, rivers or other large bodies of water, —
all of which influence so materially the growth of
vegetation, as to render comparisons of notes,
taken in different parts of the country, interesting
to those who are desirous of a more general know-
ledge of localities, remote from their own.

Our latitude is about 41* 40', — very nearly the
same as yours, at Nevt'burgh.

January was a remarkably open month, — so
mild as to appear more as March usually does.
Roads were nearly settled on the 24th. Two
inches of snow fell. Average temperature at 6
o'clock, morning, 24° ; just before dark 27". The
highest temperature on the 26th; morning 45°,
evening 49^. Lowest on the 10th; morning 8",
evening 9°.

February was also warm and very open, with
but little rain. About two inches of snow fell.
Average temperature, morning 22°, evening 28°.
Highest temperature on the 20th; morning 41°,
evening 37*".

March, before the middle, was cloudy and disa-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

539

greoable ; after that, pleasant. About three inches
of snow foil. The ground was sullioienlly settled
on the 22d to plant trees. On the 2Sth, peach
buds were considerably swollen, and ffrass ap-
peared quite green. Average temperature, morn-
ing 25'^, evening 33". Highest temperature was
on the 30th; morning 36°, evening 65". Lowest
on the 4th; morning 0, evening 22''.

April was a cold and backward month. There
were nine frosty nights. More snow fell on the
18th than at anyone time during the winter. On
the Idth, mercury ivas at 31° in the shade at noon.
Peach blossoms (early kinds) nearly all destroyed.
Cherry blossoms nearly half destroyed. Average
temperature, morning 2^", evening 47°. Highest
temperature on the 30th; morning 35°, evening
65°. Lowest on the 19th; morning 22°, eve-
ning 38°.

May was a warm, wet and growing month.
On the 5th there was a severe hail storm. On
the 6th, apple blossoms were fully expanded, as-
pens were nearly in full leaf, and grape-leaves
ooming out. Early scarlet strawberries — a small
portion — ripe on the 31st. Average temperature,
morning 51°, evening 61°. Highest temperature
on the 29th; morning 67°, evening 64°. Lowest
on the 14th; morning 32°, evening 54°.

June, until the 15th, was somewhat dry. After
that time showers were abundant. On the 4th,
George the Fourth and Cabbage roses, fully ex-
panded. On the 17th, " American Red" rasp-
berries fit to cat. On the 24th, common red
cherry ripe. Average temperature, morning 55°,
evening 64. Highest on the 27th; morning 65°,
evening 87°. Lowest on the 9th; morning 41°,
evening 62".

July was an extraordinarily wet month. There
were 14 days in which more or less rain fell ; the
whole quantity was but little short of 12 inches.
Grass and hay rotted in the field, and ripe wheat
sprouted badly in the head. Average tempera-
ture, morning 58°, evening 66°. Lowest tempe-
rature on the 4th; morning 50°, evening 55°.
Highest on the 27th; morning 67°, evening
68°.

August. The first part of the month somewhat
wet. The week commencing on the 9th, and end-
ing on the 16th, was the warmest week of the
summer. Average temperature, morning 58°,
evening 70°. The highest temperature was on
the 15th; morning 69°, evening 79°. Lowest on
the 7th; morning 50°, evening 62°.

September was cool and pleasant. The first
frost was on the 22d, but very slight, as were all
succeeding it this month. Average temperature,
morning 44°, evening 54°. Highest temperature
■was on the 4th ; morning 55°, evening 71°. Low-
est on the 28th; morning 30°, evening 44°.

October was, on the whole, quite pleasant. In-
dian summer commenced on the 5lh, and continued
10 days. Frosts were all light. Average tem-
perature, morning 38°, evening 49°. Highest
temperature on the 16th; morning 53", evening

54°. Lowest on the 18th; morning 25°, evening
34°.

November was more unpleasant than usual here.
There was not one fine day previous to the 17th.
The first snow fell on the 8th, to the depth of
two inches. Temperature through the montli was
much lower than usual. Average temperature,
morning 23°, evening 34°. Highest temperaturo
on tiie 29th; morning 44°, evening 40°. Low-
est on the 9th; morning 10°, evening 24°.

December. The temperature through this month
was quite equable and agreeable. Commenced
snowing on the night of the 20th, and continued
until morning of the 22d, — depth 20 inches ; an
unusual quantity here. On the 27th there was a.
fall of 3 inches more. Average temperature,
morning 25", evening 30°. Highest temperature
was on the 19th ; morning 52°, evening 36°. Low-
est on the 13th; morning 13°, evening 34°.

The lowest degree of cold during the year was
on the 4th of March, when the thermometer stood
at zero at 6, A. M. The warmest day in the
year was the 4th of August, — thermometer 90"
at 12, M.

The growing season was remarkably favorable
for luxuriance of vegetation, and cultivators were
taxed severely to keep under the many trespass-
ers which frequent and copious showers threw ia
the way.

The amount of rain during the year did not
vary much from 55 inches; and nearly twice tho
quantity fell in July of any other month.

The following table, made by Geo. Duffield, of
Detroit, shows the total of rain which fell in each
of the eight years preceding 1848. It would not
vary much from one made for this locality:

Total of rain in 1847, was 37;674

do 1846, do 53.334

do 1845, do 33.411

do 1844, do 45.654

do 1843, do 37.920

do 1842, do 40.089

do 1841, do 33.907

do 1840, do 36.842

Yours respectfully, W. H. Scott. Toledo, Ohio,
February, 20th, 1849.

To Destroy Moles. — Dear Sir : At your re-
commendation I obtained, last spring, in Phila-
delphia, a lot of Osage Orange plants for hedg-
ing. The ground was good and well prepared, —
the plants carefully hoed and cultivated through
the season. They made a fine growth and looked
flourishing ; but when I came to examine them
this spring, I found that, in some places, the
moles had destroyed nearly all the plants, by
eating off" the bark below the surface of tho
ground. Some of the plants they cut entirely off",
and even followed up the small roots and eat
them. The work of destruction they seem to
have accomplished last fall, after we ceased to
cultivate them, and the plants had stopped grow-
ing. If you, or some of your numerous corres-

540

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

pondents, cannot communicate somctliing for our
relief in this case, I am afraid we shall be under
the necessity of abandoning the cultivation of the
Osage Orange as a hedge plant, from this cause
alone. We have some fine hedges of the Cock-
spur or New-Castle thorn; but their growth is
slow, and the haws or seeds vegetate with diffi-
culty. If we had some remedy for the moles, I
am confident the Osage Orange would make a
fence in one-half the time. I have never found
the roots of any other plant so much eat by the
moles as I have found my Osage Orange. I see
it stated in an old vol. of the jiinerican Farmer,
that ground planted with the Castor Oil Bean was
avoided by moles.* Yours, John Diehe. New-
Castle CO., Bel., Jpril 15, 1849.

Specific Food for tiii; Grapf. — ^^. J. Down-
ing, Esq: In the '' Living Age," p. 246, the
Paris correspondent mentions, among the reports
of the Academy of Sciences, one from M. Persoz,
relating a new method of cultivating the vine, by
applying at one vine a particular maoure, to in-
crease the growth of the wood ; and at another
time, " substances which serve exclusively for the
development of the fruit." The correspondent
does not state the substances M. Persoz recom-
mends. And it has occurred to me that, from
among your numerous means for information, you
might obtain the report, and lay its substance be-
fore the readers of the " Horticulturist." With
much respect, Geo. N. Chapiii. Providence,
February, 1849.

t^^ See article in a preceding page of this num-
ber, on the culture of the grape.

Visits to Gardens. — Having this day visited
some horticultural establishments, in the vicinity of
New- York, it has occurred to me that some rough
notes respecting them might be interesting for the
readers of the Horticulturist.

I first call attention to Mr. Thorburn's collec-
tion, at Astoria, Long-Island; Mr. T. having
kindly shown me everything new and rare, showy
and interesting, in his houses. Entering a long
range of glass, the first thing to attract attention
is a beautiful collection of roses, intermingled with
Rhododendrons and other evergreen shrubs, among
which I noticed a fine specimen of Norfolk Island

* We imagine that moles will only be found troublesome
to hedges in very light sandy soil, where they can easily
burrow.

We agree with our correspondent, that if they are, as he
thinks, especially fond of the Osage Orange, some remedy
must be found, in districts infested with tliis creature. We
find the following recipe for destroying them, strongly re-
commended in a little work, entitled " JPests of the Farm,"
lately puljlished in London :

"Take a quantity of fresh worms, put them in a wooden
box witli a sjnall quantity of cnrbonnle vf barytes in powder,
and let tliem remain for an hour or two; then find out the
runs, where tlie moles leave the fences for the land ; lay in
every run five or six worms, and continue doing so as long
as the worms are taken away by the moles. I was infested
by moUs before I used tliis remedy, which was about fifteen
years since, but have never been injured since, by giving a
little attention to them in the spring." Ed.

pine, (Eutassa exceUa,) about fifteen feet high.
Adjacent to it is a beautiful specimen of Cycas
revoluta, a palm-like plant, held in high estima-
tion by the Japanese. The Japan soldiers are
said to exist a long time on a small quantity of
the Sago, procured from the cellular substance
occupying the centre of their stems, and is so
liighly esteemed that it is contrary to the laws of
Japan to take any of the trees out of the country.
Mr. Thorburn seeins to have more than ordinary
veneration for his specimen, I suppose from the
fact, (as he informed me,) that it once belonged
to General Washington. There is, also, in
the same house, the fi.nest specimen of Metro-
sideros lanceolata that I ever beheld, bearing
numberless heads of fiowers in every state of de-
velopment. On the front shelf, in an adjoining
stove, is a handsome plant of Nepenthes distilla-
toria, trained to stakes, and several small pots of
Begonia hydrocotilifolia, Begonia manicata, Bil-
bergias, and the curious Dioncea muscipula placed
round it, all mantled with the pretty trailing
mosses, LycOpodiuni stoloniferum, and Lycopodi-
um c cesium, so as to hide the pots entirely from
view, — the whole having the efl'eet of a miniature
rockwork, carpeted with the loveliest green. I
also observed two good specimens of Cereus seni-
lis, coimnonly called the " Old Man's Cactus,"
from its shaggy gray hair-like spines, resembling
an old man's beard. In the third division are
large and handsome specimens of the genus Ca-
mellia; a genus whose dark green foliage, and
the splendor of their blossoms, make them desira-
ble in every collection. Among the many fine
specimens here, was a handsome plant of the
weeping pine of New-Zealand, (Dacrydium cu-
pressinum,) several feet high. In the fourth and
last division are Camellias, and other tender
plants, of various sizes from the grafts; and this
department seems to be exclusively devoted to
propagating.

To the left is the new " Rose-house," mentioned
in a former number of the Horticulturist. The
plants are clean and in good order, with, at the
present moment, a tolerable bloom. I here ob-
served a large plant of Strelitzia regina, bearing
several stems of beautiful orange coloured flowers.
To the right and left of the door is several plants
of the well known Richardia africana, with its
snow-white spathc and golden spadix, looking
very handsome at this season, when the majority
of plants are done blooming. On the pit wall was
a pot of Lobelia belladifolia, with its light blue
flowers hanging gracefully to the ground.

Exclusive of the plants here enumerated, there
are several splendid and different coloured Aza-
leas, Rhododendrons, &c., intermixed with the
other plants. As a whole, I found here a floral
display and richness of foliage that do the estab-
lishment much credit. The stock of young plants
is large and thrifty, mostly of the newest and
rarest kinds. In front of the green-houses is a
good specimen of Magnolia conspicua ; and not-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

541

withstanding the severity of the winter, its (low-
ers will be expanded in a day or two. I tirst
thought it had been covered during the severe
frost; but upon inquiry, Mr. Thorbukn informed
me of the contrary. Being a stranger, Mr. T.
asked me if I ever saw so tine a specimen of this
Magnolia. He seemed not a little surprised on
my remarking that I had seen one double its size
in the grounds of the editor of the Horticulturist,
at Newburgh. From this, I conjecture that large
specimen plants of this Magnolia are rather scarce.

I next refer to the collection of A. P. Cum-
MiNGS, Esq., at Williamsburgh, N. Y., who was
equally courteous in showing mc everything inte-
resting in his well stocked houses ; among which
I noticed several fine Azaleas, Camellias and Rho-
dodendrons. Good specimens of Araucaria bra-
ziliensis , and Eutassa {Araucaria,) excclsa ;
also, a good specimen of Casuarina equisetifolia,
a curious plant, native of Australia, and known to
the aborigines by the peculiar name of " Beef-
wood." A Banksia serrata, several Acacias,
and many flowering plants of Chorizema varium.
polygallas, and Echeveria grandijlora. Good
flowering plants of Burchellia capensis, and a
pretty Aristilochia. A good plant of Ardesia
crenulata, about 2^ feet high. The contrast of
its scarlet fruit with the dark green crenate foli-
age, had a pleasing effect. Among other novel-
ties in tills gentleman's collection, I saw good
plants of the double purple and white Chinese
Pruiirose, — varieties yet little known; the purple
being seldom seen, even in Britain, the emporium
of horticulture.

I must now conclude this little excursion, with
alluding to a private collection, already noticed in
the Horticulturist, but which cannot be too often
cited as a model of good cultivation. I mean Mr.
Becar's unrivalled Camellias, which is indeed a
grand one. Several of the varieties were still in
bloom. His Azaleas have far surpassed any I
had seen. Some of them are so loaded with flow-
ers that scarcely a bit of their foliage could be
seen. His collection of Calceolarias is large and
healthy. Few of them are yet in flower, as a
matter of course; but those which I saw in bloom
were excellent sorts. I saw, also, in his collec-
tion a good plant of the pretty Kennedia Marxjuta.
I am, sir, respectfully yours, M. C. Newburgh.
April 6, 1849.

Florists' Flowers. — Dear Sir: I have been
an attentive reader of the Horticulturist from its
commencement, and have been much pleased with
the several numbers as they have appeared. I
was much interested in reading the treatises on
the culture of the Geranium, Carnation and Pansy,
and have been expecting to see other treatises
occasionally appearing, such, for instance, as those
on the culture of the Calceolaria, Fuchsia, Aza-
lea indica, Ranunculus, Anemone, Picotee, Rose,
Hyacinth, Tulip, Auricula, Polyanthus, &cc. Such
popular treatises would no doubt be read with

much interest by your readers generally. I hope
you will favor your readers occasionally witli one
of them. By no one will they be perused with
greater interest than by your obedient servant,
Wm.Lunn. Montreal, March 26, 1849.

[Wo look to the several eminent florists among
our readers to meet the wishes of our Canada sub-
scriber. Ed.] ....

Effects of the late Winter. — Neither the
Red nor Yellow Antwerp, the Franeonia nor Fas-
tolff raspberries will stand the winters with us;
even the spurious Antwerp is sometimes injured.
I find some of my young cherry trees injured this
spring, especially the Elton, Uownton, B. Tarta-
rian, and Bigarrcau. Tlie Belle de Choisy ap-
pears as hardy as the Mayduke and pie cherry ;
they are affected on tlie south or soutlieast side of
the tree, near the surface of the ground, in the
form of a small brown patch, as if they had been
scorched by fire. Would not grafting or budding
strandard high on the common Mazzard or Mo-
rello cherry prevent this, in a measure ? The
varieties that I alluded to as having suffered were
budded quite low down. The Ross Phcnix straw-
berry is an entire failure with us; it will not with-
stand our hot and dry summers. [It succeeds best
at the north, and in a cool moist soil. Ed.] The
peach crop will be very short with us this season.

If you shall deem my communication worthy of
notice, I may trouble you again. Yours, respect-
fully, John Diehe. New-Castle co., Del.

Magnolia grandiflora. — In the Horticultu-
rist for February last, (p. 375,) one of your cor-
respondents, writing from Philadelphia, says —
" Magnolia grandijlora, and many other ever-
greens of the southern states, grow well in Britain,
yet they are tender and by no means hardy in the
middle states." This might discourage some of
your readers here ; and as this grand tree is my
especial favorite, and worthy of all care and at-
tention, at any cost, for a good specimen tolera-
bly grown is well worth one hundred dollars to
any residence, permit me to state the following
facts :

There are two specimens averaging twenty-five
or thirty feet high, and of magnificent foliage, on
the farm of Owen Sheridan, ten miles north of
Philadelphia, which flourish and flower superbly
(the word superb is weak in conve3'ing my mean-
ing,) every season, and are the source of admira-
tion to numerous visitors ; while the flowers are
plucked by baskets-full for the gratification of
friends.

There was a similar specimen at the Landreth
nurseries some years ago, which perfected its
seeds, and some of its beautiful descendants are
now flourishing in my possession in the open air.
Unfortunately, it was not planted in a suitable
soil, and was blown over by a gale and died. I
have myself a specimen, removed from a Phila-
delphia garden, that is fifteen feet high; though it
lost its top by the process, it has recovered its

642

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

vigor, and has bloomed since perfectly. There
was too, till lately, a specimen at tiie Hamilton
estate, below Pbiladelpliia, planted by Pursh,
Mr. H.s' gardener, whicli did well, till the place
was ne<Tlected and went down, when some animal
rubbed and partially injured it. There are many
others smaller than the foregoing, bearing the
present hard winter perfectly, as far as I yet per-
ceive; and I mention them in the hope that no
planter hereabout vrill neglect to procure one or
two specimens, at whatever cost. Nothing that
I know of could tend to make his heirs, if they
have any rural appreciation themselves, so proud
of their aiicesters, as a good Magnolia grandifo-
Ha, a Deodora, and a Cedar of Lebanon.

The present is the season for removing trees,
and getting together the variety, without which,
planting is little less than useless. Young plant-
ers should not be discouraged because they cannot
get together, in one season, all that they may
want. Collecting even a moderate variety, in
this country, is about as discouraging at first as
forming a collection of coins or autographs. Good
specimens of the most valuable trees are very
scarce. For the best kinds there is little or no
demand, because the mass of the people have not
learned their names, or their value ; consequently,
the gardeners raise only the rapid growing and
rapid selling. This is somewhat modified of late,
and specimens are coming forward ; but it is dis-
couraging, when one wants a Deodora Cedar, to
find only small plants of one foot high. I know of
rone others for sale. Let those who would benefit
posterity plant these, however, and for immediate
effect put in bushes, such as the filbert, the mist
tree (or Venetian Sumac,) &c. &c. Filberts are
excellent to hide a boundary, or to close the vista
of a walk; and, moreover, produce really valua-
ble fruit.

One of my favorite trees is the Siberian crab ap-
ple, which bears abundantly, and is very orna-
mental when loaded down with its delicate fruit,
from which, too, may be prepared one of the most
agreeable winter preserves. By no means forget
the native holly, all the hardy Rhododendrons,
the climbing plants named in the February Horti-
culturist, and especially the Irish ivj', which will
make six or seven feet growth the first year, if
well rooted when it is set out. The Irish ivy
alone is worth cultivation to those who wish rapid
results ; and unfortunately it is not always to be
had. I have rooted one thousand plants in a
green-house this winter, and distributed them
wherever my neighbors have the good taste to
apply for them. But many persons will not ap-
preciate the beautiful in nature; and one, other-
wise well informed individual, has just said he had
plenty of ivy, but did not know if it was evergreen
or not ! Loudon says there is a species of yel-
low ivy which, if planted with the green, would
entwine among it, and appear at a little distance
like flowers. See, in his Jlrboreium. Brittanicum,
the article on " Ivy," some extracts from which

it would be appropriate to publish in the Horti-
culturist. My pen would never tire of these
themes; but your columns are too valuable for
long communications. Yours, /. J. S., PAi/o-
deiphia, March 5, 1849.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Evergreens. — B. Thompson, (New- York.)
These may be planted till the young shoots are
grown from half an inch to an inch long. Al-
though it is somewhat opposed to theory, yet
many of the most successful planters in this cli-
mate prefer to wait in the spring till the buds are
swollen, and the young shoots begin to put out.
Clioose a moist day, keep the roots wet, and pre-
serve some earth about them whenever it is possi-
ble, and you will find no difficulty in removing
evergreens. — W. W., (Baltimore.) As Finns
cephalonica has proved hardy in our grounds,
there is no doubt of its doing well with you. — .An
Amateur, (Trenton, N. J.) The Deodar cedar is
hardier than the Cedar of Lebanon, and will bear
a temperature of 12 degrees below 0 of Fah. with-
out injury.

Annual Vines — A Lady, (New Haven.) The
best and most rapid growivg vines for your pur-
pose, are Cobea scandens, (blue bell-shaped flow-
ers.) Pcrgularia odoratissima, (white flowers,)
Tropcolum canariense, (yellow flowers,) Mauran-
dia Barclayana, (purple,) and M. lophospermum,
(pink flowers.) All these can be had in pots, of
any of the leading florists. Turn them out in a
rich border, and they will climb from 10 to 20
feet, and flower all the season. Among the an-
nuals, the Cyprus vine, Scarlet and Morning glory,
Orange Loasa, and Balsam pear are the best
vines. Sow the seeds any time this month — the
sooner the better.

Florists' Flowers. — A Tyro, (New Bedford.)
If you use chopped turf from an old pasture for
the basis oiyouv compost, enrich it with manure
from an old hot-bed, and lighten it with silver
sand, you will succeed so far as the soil is con-
cerned.— JR. B. W., (Philadelphia.) Rananculu-
ses must not be planted in an open border, as they
will not bear our blazing summer sun. They also
want a cool, deep, rather moist, but well-drained
site, and are, on the whole, by no means easy of
culture in the United States, though we occasional-
ly see very beautiful small collections.

Bulbs.—/. C. W., (Weverton, Md.) Prepare
a border for the hardy bulbs which do not succeed
with you, by throwing out all the soil 20 inches
deep, rejecting your clay subsoil, and filling up 8
inches deep with small stones. On the top of this
place a foot of good, light, rich soil, in which
plant the bulbs. The Double Narcissus needs an
open exposure, so that the leaves may grow large,
and mature fully ; it will then bloom abundantly.

Drying Fruits. — W. S. Matthews, (Canton,
Ala.) The flue in the German apparatus for
drying prunes, is of the thickness of a common
brick. This flue passes through the middle of the

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

543

bven, the compartments for drying the fruit beings
on each side. The trays slide on wooden bearers.

Laving out Grounds. — .d Nfw.Yurk Subscri-
ber. If you will send us your address we will fur-
nish you with the information you wish.

Diseases of Fruit Tkkes. — R. M., (Brook-
lyn.) Your cherry trees are hide-bound. Read
Prof. Turner's article published in a late num-
ber ; strip off the outer bark and the trees will
recover. We have found the plum tree knots cu-
rable on large limbs by cutting out the atfeeted
part, and washing the wound over with a weak
copperas water — half an oz. to two quarts of wa-
ter.— A Constant Reader, (Northampton, Mdss.)
Your peach trees have the yellows, for which as
yet no remedy has been discovered. Dig them up
and burn them, rcot and branch. Pruning a
healthy peach tree after cutting a branch from one
affected by this disease, will communicate it to the
healthy one. Procure a fresh stock from some
nursery where the disease is unknown — as it is
in many places. — A. B., (Orange Co.) Your old
pear trees have stopped bearing because they have
completely exhausted the soil. Dig a trench 3
feet wide and IS inches deep, all reund the tree,

at a distance of five feet from the trunk ; cart
away the old soil,, and fill up the trench with a
mixture of sods, leached ashes, and bone-dust —
using one bushel of the latter and six bushels of
the former. It will speedily recover and bear
good fruit again.

Strawberries. — A Jerscyman. The Large
Early Scarlet is a sort that never fails to bear a
good crop alone by itself, having an abundance of
both pistils and stamens in the blossoms. Burros
New Pine is the best American Seedling variety
that we have yet tasted. There are few more
productive sorts for market than the Hudson.
Trench the soil two feet deep, and bury your fresh
manure deeply, and you will find no difficulty in
getting good crops. The Hudson being a pistil-
late sort, a bed of the Large Early Scarlet or
some other staviinate variety should be planted
near it to insure a crop. One-fourth staminate
plants is a sufficiently large proportion. — •' Buffa-
lo," Keen's Seedling is worthless for general cul-
tivation in this country, as the plants burn up in
summer, and "freeze out" in winter. Black
Prince is the best substitute for it in this cli-
mate.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The stated meetinsr of this society occurred on Tuesday
evening, April 17, 1849, — the President in the chair.

On tliis occasion, the display was surpassingly fine. 'J he
great variety, number, and beauty o(" the specimens of
plants, in full bloom, was the theme of the numerous visi-
tors. The contributors of the designs of cut flowers, baskets
and bouquels, evinced good taste and judgment. Of rarities
among tlie fruits, were apricots, grapes, just taken from the
vine, strawberries and barbadoes gooseberries; also, a
number of seedling apples from various sources.

Tlie premiums awarded were as follows :

By the Commiitee on Plants and Flowers. — For the best
ten varieties of Pelargoniums, to Robert Buist; for the se-
cond best ten, to Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope.
For the best ten everbloomi ng roses, named varieties in
pots, to .Tohn Sherwood. For the best six named varieties
of Hyacinths, to Robert Buist; for the second best six, to
Ben Daniels. For the best six varieties of Pansies. to Ro-
bert Kilvington; for the second best six, to ,Tas. Powell.
For the best three named varieties of hot-house plants, in
pots, to .James Bissett, gardener to .Tames Dundas : for the
second best three, to tlie same. For the best three named
varieties of green-house plants, in pots, to Robert Buist ; for
the second best three to Ben Daniels. For the most inte-
resting collection of named plants, in pots, to Maurice Finn,
gardener to John Lambert ; for the second be.st collection,
to James Bisset, gardener to Jas. Dundas ; for the third best,
to Ben Daniels. For the best display of indigenous plants,
in pots, to Robert Kilvington. For the best design of cut
flowers, to Ben Daniels ; for the second best, to James Bis-
set, jun., gardener to Joseph Ripka. For tlie best basket of
cut flowers, to Maurice Finn ; for the second best, to Ben
Daniels. .

The committee awarded a special premium of one dollar,
for a fine h.asket of cut flowers, to Peter Raabe ; and took
much pleasure in calling the attention of the society to some
beautif"ul specimens of the Souvenir de Malmaison Rose,
from the garden of Jos. Ripka, Manayuiik ; and also to a

very beautiful specimen of Camellia japonica, var. Prattii,
from the collection of James Ritchie.

The Committee on Fruits beg leave to report, that Ihey
have noticed, with pleasure, many specimens of seedling
apples:

No. 1. A large red apple, which they consider a good
sprightly apple, and wortliy of cultivation; from Mr. How-
ard, Delaware county. Pa.

No. 2. " Fallen Walder," beautiful specimens, but dry;
from Dr. Kittoe, Muncy. Pa.

No. 3. " Spriiig Pippin," second quality ; from H.N. John-
son, Germantown.

No. 4. '"Brandywine Pippin," good, and worthy of fur-
ther trial ; from John Lodge, near Wilmington, Del.

No. 5. " Major," of second quality; from Dr. Kittoe.

No. 6. "Water-melon," Montgomery county, wants cha-
racter ; deposited by A. W. Corson.

No. 7. Worthless ; from Wilmington. Del.

The committee also noticed a dish of excellent strawber-
ries, Breda apricots, grapes, and the fruit of the Cereus
Mallisoni.

The Committee on Vegetables report, that they have award-
ed the following: For the best cucumbers, to Ben Daniels,
gardener to C. Cope ; for the second best, to Patrick Devine,
gardener to Sam'I C. Ford. For the best cauliflowers, to
James Leddy, gardener to Pierce Butler. For the best sea-
kale, to Ben Daniels. For the best rhubarb, to Anthony
Felten ; for the second best, to Ben Daniels. For the best
asparagus, to Isaac B Baxter; fur the second best, to Ben
Daniels For the best display, and for the second best dis-
play, by market gardeners, to Anthony Felten. For the
best display, by amateurs, to Ben Daniels; tor the second
best, to Wm. Johns; for the third best, to Maurice Finn,
gardener to .John I.iambert. The committee noticed four
heads of very fine lettuce, by Pierce Butler's gardener.

A communication from James Kitchie was read, stating
his success with a new remedy in destroying mildew, which
is a weak solution of tobacco, syringing plants aflTected

544

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

tlierewitli, and afterwards using pure water to remove the
tobacco solution. Two application? effeclually destroyed
the mildew on plants affeoled with liim.

Members Elected. — Messrs. ilarry Ing-ersoU. H. W. Cleve-
Sand, Robert Forsyth, P. B. JMingle, James Redings, and
John Kinnier.

Objects Exhibited — Plants. — By Ben Daniels, gardener
to Caleb Cope, New Fuclisias, Exquisita, and Sir Henry
Pottinger ; newPelargoniuni<, Pearl's Pompey, Rachel, Ex-
celsa, Dusliess of Saxe. sanguinarium, Beauty Supreme,
and a table of standard varieties; also, Spircea lanceolata,
Bilbergia, from Mexico, Rondeletia speciosa, Pedilanthus
carinatus, Euphorbia tetragona, E. horrida, Maxillaria cris-
pa, jEschyzanthus parasiticus, MammiUaria Wildiana, Cal-
colariE^eteor, Maliunia odorata, Rhododendrum Cunning-
bami, a new white variety, Camellias, Primuloe sinensis,
Azalea sinensis, seedling Cinerarias and Petunias.

By Robert Buist, Robert Scott, foreman. Azalea varie-
gata, Cytisus raceraosus. Fuchsia coronet, Pelargonia of va-
rieties, Symmetry, Orion, Hebe, Rosy Circle. Blood Royal,
Mrs. Smith, Helen Buist, Flash, Gauntlet, Emma Louisa.
Witch, Vesta, Rosetta, Nonsuch, Conflagration, Gigantea,
Life-guardsman, Margaret, Anais Lannoxii, and a dozen
Hyacinths.

By David Scott, gardener to Fred'k Lennig, Clivea nobi-
iis, Spiroea lancifolia, Tritonia sp.. Azalea coccinea. Ca-
mellia japonica, var. candidissima, Coreus .lenkinsonii, Ci-
neraria Queen, Gloxinia speciosa coelestijia, G. maxima de-
Ucala, G. Menziesii, G. caulescens, and new G. Fifiana, G.
Teiehlerii, G. alba sanguinea, and five seedling.s.

By James Bisset, gardener to James Dundas, a table of
Pelargonia, — very fine specimens of green-house and hot-
house plants.

By Maurice Finn, gardener to John Lambert,
collection of select green and hot-house plants.

By P. Raabe, fine Camel's, Azaleas, Hyacinths, Roses, etc.

By John Sherwood, Roses of varieties, — Commandant,
Fourier, Baron Prevost, Abbe Mioland, Madame Lafay, Cor-
ronne de Purple, La Gracious, Bouquet de Flora, Melanie
Cornu, Wra.Jess, and Celina.

By James McDonald, gardener to Miss Gratz, a table of
beautiful Pelargonia, tec.

By Robert Kilvington, indigenous plants, — Droseva filifcwi
mis, ScliizaB;ipu.iila, Caulorhyllum tlialutroides, Hepatioutri-
loba. Anemone, Ferns, etc. etc. and Panaies.

By James Powell, choice Pansies.

By Wm. Rottanbury, beautiful Pansies.

Designs unci Bouqutis. — By Ben Duiiels, a design in farm
of an open temple, and beautiful basket of cut flowers.

By James Bisset, a large cone bouquet.

By James Bisset, jr., gardener to Jos. Ripka, a cone bou-
quet.

By Maurice Finn, a handsome basket of cut flowers.

By Peter Raabe, a neat basket of cut flowers.

By Robert Kilvington, hand bouquets.

Fruii — By Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope, straw
berries, var. Hovey'sand Keene's Seedlings, iMyatt's Eliza,
and La Fayette Hautboy; grapes — White .'riweetwater, and
Rose Chasselas, and Breda apricots.

By John R. Brinckle, Barbadoes gooseberries, — tlie fruit
of Cereus MaUisoni.

By John Perkins, apples, — several varieties.

Seedling Apples. — By Mr. Howard, Delaware county; Dr.
Kittoe, Lycoming county; John Lodge, Del.; A. W. Cor-
son. Montgomery county; Dr. Thomson, Wilmington ; and
H. N. Jolmson, Germantown.

Vegetables. — By Ben Daniels, gardener toC. Cope, cucum-
bers,— Marshall's Seedling, — 2.3 inches long. Prince Albert
peas, mushrooms, three var. of peppers, lettuce, rhubarb,
sea-kale, kidney beans, spinach, asparagus, radishes, pota-
toes ; all out same day.

By Anthony Felten, a great variety of fine specimens.

By Wm. Johns, lettuce, radishes, etc.

By Isaac B. Baxter, asparagus, etc.

By James Leddy, gardener to Pierce Butler, cauliflowers
and lettuce.

By James McDonald, gardener to Miss Gratz, lettuce and
cucumbers.

By Patrick Devine, gardener to S. C. Ford, cucum-
bers.

By Maurice Finn, gardener to J. Lambert, a small collec-
tion.

Thos. p. James,

Rec. Secretary.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

March 31, 1849.— President Samuel Walker in the chair.

The Committee on Flowers recommended that a semi-an-
tiual exhibition of the society be held in June, commencing
on the 19th, and terminating on the 23d ; and it was voted to
place $.50 at their disposal, to be awarded in premiums at
said exhibition.

Voted, That a committee of three be appointed by the
chair, to take into consideration the expediency of award-
ing to J. F. Allen, Esq., of Salem, a testimonial of their
approbation and thanks, for his valuable contributions of
green-house fruits, during their exhibitions of past seasons;
and Messrs. I. S. Cabot, Cheever Newhall, and Eben'r
Wight, were appointed that committee.

A letter was received from S. P. Hildreth, Esq., of Ma-
rietta, Ohio, accompanied with a painting ef several of the
native fruits of that part of the country; and the thanks of
tlie society were voted to Mr. Hildreth, and his communica-
tion ordered to be printed in Hovey's Magazine.

Alvah Kittredge of Roxbury, and E. E. Rice of Boston,
Were elected members ef the society.

Apri^ 7(/i — President Samuel Walker in the chair.

Voted, That the thanks of the society be presented to W.
C. Brinckle, M. D.. of Philadelphia, for his generous con-
tribution of scions of rare fruits ; also, to A. H. Ernst, E>q.,
of Cincinnati, Ohio, for scions of new and rare fruit.

Voted, That the thanks of the society be presented by the
Corresponding Secretary, in a complimentary letter, to Si-
las DuRKEE, M. D., of ijoston, for his contribution of beau-
tiful specimens of Prairie grass, for the use of the society.

On recommendation of the committee, appointed for that
purpose, it was voted, that a piece of plate, of the value of
$-J.5. be presented by the society to J. F. Allen, Esq., of
Salem.

Voted, That the sum of $200 be placed at the disposal of
the Committee on the Library, for the increase of the li-
brary.

The following gentlemen were elected members: A. C,
Bowditch, life: Wm. Underwood, T. R. Marvin, B. K.
Bliss, and Rev'd T. M. Clarke, subscription.

E. C. R. Walker,
Recording Secretary.

THE

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Vol. III.

JUNE, 1849.

No. 12.

*' If you, or any man of taste, wish to
bave a fit of the blues, let him come

to the village of . I have just settled

here ; and all ray ideas of rural beauty
have been put to flight by what I see around
me every day. Old wooden houses out of
repair, and looking ricketty and dejected;
new wooden houses distressingly lean in
their proportions, chalky white in their
clap-boards, and spiriachy green in their
blinds. The church is absolutely hide-
ous,— a long box of card-board, with a huge
pepper-box on the top. There is not a tree
in the streets ; and if it were not for fields of
refreshing verdure that surround the place,
I should have the optlialmia as well as the
blue-devils. Is there no way of instilling
some rudiments of taste into the minds of
dwellers in remote country places ? "

We beg our correspondent, from whose
letter we quote the above paragraph, not
to despair. There are always wise and
good purposes hidden in the most common
events of life ; and we have no doubt Pro-
vidence has sent kim to the village of ,

as an apostle of taste, to instil some ideas
of beauty and fitness into the minds of its
inhabitants.

That the aspect of a large part of our
rural villages, out of New-England, is dis-

VoL. HI, 35

tressing to a man of taste, is undeniable.
Not from want of means ; for the inhabi-
tants of these villages are thriving, indus-
trious people, and poverty is very little
known there. Not from want of materials ;
for both nature and the useful arts are
ready to give them everything needful, to
impart a cheerful, tasteful, and inviting as-
pect to their homes ; but simply from a
poverty of ideas, and a dormant sense of
the enjoyment to be derived from orderly,
tasteful and agreeable dwellings and streets,
do these villages merit the condemnation of
all men of taste and right feeling.

The first duty of an inhabitant of forlorn

neighborhoods, like the village of , is

to use all possible influence to have the
streets planted loith trees. To plant trees,
costs little trouble or expense to each pro-
perty holder ; and once planted, there is
some assurance that, Avitli the aid of time
and nature, we can at least cast a graceful
veil over the deformity of a country home,
if we cannot wholly remodel its features.
Indeed, a village whose streets are bare of
trees, ought to be looked upon as in a con-
dition not less pitiable than a community
without a schoolmaster, or teacher of re-
ligion ; for certain it is, when the aiTec-
tions are so dull, and the domestic virtues

546

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTRY VILLAGES.

so blunt, that men do not care how their
own homes and villages look, they care
very little for fulfilling any moral obliga-
tions not made compulsory by the strong
arm of the law ; while, on the other hand,
show us a Massachusetts village, adorned
by its avenues of elms, and made tasteful
by the affection of its inhabitants, and you
also place before us the fact, that it is
there where order, good character, and vir-
tuous deportment most of all adorn the lives
and daily conduct of its people.

Our correspondents who, like the one
just quoted, are apostles of taste, must not
be discouraged by lukewarmness and op-
position on the part of the inhabitants of
these GRACELESS VILLAGES. They must ex-
pect sneers and derision from the igno-
rant and prejudiced; for, strange to say,
poor human nature does not love to be
shown that it is ignorant and prejudiced;
and men who would think a cow-shed good
enough to live in, if only their wants
were concerned, take pleasure in pronounc-
ing every man a visionary whose ideas rise
above the level of their own accustomed
vision. But, as an offset to this, it should
always be remembered that there are two
great principles at the bottom of our na-
tional character, which the apostle of taste,
in the most benighted graceless village,
may safely count upon. One of these, is
the principle of imitation, which will never
allow a Yankee to be outdone by his neigh-
bors ; and the other, the principle of pro-
gress, which will not allow him to stand
still when he discovers that his neighbor
has really made an improvement.

Begin, then, by planting the first half
dozen trees in the public streets. "They
will grow," as Sir Walter observed, " while
you sleep ;" and, once fairly settled in their
new congregation, so that they get the use
of their arms, and especially of their tongues.

it is quite ext^^^aordinary what sermons they
will preach to those dull and tasteless vil-
lagers. Not a breeze that blows, but you
will hear these tongues of theirs, (which
some look upon merely as leaves,) whisper-
ing the most eloquent appeals to any passer
by. There are some, doubtless, whose au-
riculars are so obtuse that they do not un-
derstand this language of the trees ; but let
even one of these walk home in a hot July
day, when the sun that shines on the Ame-
rican continent has a face brighter thaa
California gold, and if he does not re-
turn thanks devoutly for the cool shade
of our half dozen trees, as he approaches
them, and rests beneath their cool boughs,
then is he a worse heathen than any pira-
tical Malay of the Indian Ocean. But
even such a man is sometimes convinced,
by an appeal to the only chord that vi-
brates in the narrow compass of his soul, —
that of utility, — when he sees with sur-
prise a fine row of trees in a village,
stretching out their leafy canopy as a bar-
rier to a destructive fire, that otherwise would
have crossed the street and burnt down
the other half of the best houses in the vil-
lage.

The next step to improve the graceless
VILLAGE, is to persuade some of those who
are erecting new buildings, to adopt more
tasteful models. And by this, we mean
not necessarily what builders call a " fancy
house," decorated with various ornaments
that are supposed to give beauty to a cot-
tage ; but rather to copy some design, or
some other building, where good propor-
tions, pleasing form, and fitness for the use
intended, give the beauty sought for, with-
out calling in the aid of ornaments, which
may heighten but never create beauty. If
you cannot find such a house ready built to-
copy from, procure works where such de-
signs exist, or, still better, a rough and

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTRY VILLAGES.

54*?

cheap sketch from a competent architect,
as a guide. Persuade your neighbor, who
is about to build, that even if his house is
to cost but S600, there is no economy that
he can practice in the expenditure of that
sum, so indisputable, or which he will so
completely realize the value of afterwards,
as $10 or $20 worth of advice with a few
pen or pencil marks to fix the ideas upon
paper, from an architect of acknowledged
taste and judgment. Whether the house
is to look awkward and ugly, or whether it
is to be comfortable and pleasing for years,
ail depend upon the idea of that house
which previously exists in somebodi/s mind,
— either architect, owner or mechanic, —
whoever, in short, conceives what that
house shall be before ii becomes "a local
habitation," or has any name among other
houses already born in the hitherto geace-

LESS VILLAGE.

It is both surprising and pleasant, to one
accustomed to watch the development of
the human soul, to see the gradual but cer-
tain effect of building one, really good and
stasteful house in a graceless village. Just
as certain as there is a dormant spark of
the love of beauty, which underlays all
natures, extant in that village, so certain
will it awaken at the sight of that house.
You will hear nothing about it ; or if you
do, perhaps you may, at first, even hear all

kinds of facetious comments on Mr, ^'s

new house. But next year you will find
the old mode abandoned by him who builds
a new house. He has a new idea; he
strives to make his dwelling manifest it;
and this process goes on, till, by-and-by,
you wonder what new genius has so changed
the aspect of this village, and turned its
neglected, bare, and lanky streets into
avenues of fine foliage, and streets of neat
and tasteful houses.

It is an old adage, that " a cobbler's

family has no shoes." We are forced to
call the adage up for an explanation of the
curious fact, that in five villages out of six
in the United States, there does not ap-
pear to have been room enough in which
properly to lay out the streets or place the
houses. Why, on a continent so broad
that the mere public lands amount to an
area of fifty acres for every man, wo-
man, and child, in the commonwealth,
there should not be found space suffi-
cient to lay out country towns, so that
the streets shall be wide enough for ave-
nues, and the house-lots broad enough to
allow sutficient trees and shrubbery to give
a little privacy and seclusion, is one of the
unexplained phenomena in the natural his-
tory of our continent, which, along with
the boulders and glaciers, we leave to the
learned and ingenious Professor Agassiz.
Certain it is, our ancesters did not bring
over this national trait from England ; for
in that small, and yet great kingdom, not
larger than one of our largest states, there
is one city — London — which has more acres
devoted to public parks, than can be num-
bered for this purpose in all America.

It may appear too soon to talk of village
greens, and village squares, or small parks
planted with trees, and open to the com-
mon enjoyment of the inhabitants, in the
case of GE AGELESS VILLAGES, where there
is not yet a shade tree standing in one
o[ the streets. But this will come gra-
dually; and all the sooner, just in propor-
tion as the apostles of taste multiply in
various parts of the country. Persons in-
terested in these improvements, and who
are not aware of what has been done in
some parts of New-England, should imme-
diately visit New-Haven and Springfield.
The former city is a bower of elms ; and
the inhabitants who now walk beneath spa-
cious avenues, of this finest of American

548

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTRY VILLAGES.

trees, speak with gratitude of the energy,
public spirit and taste of the late Mr. Hill-
house, who was the great apostle of taste
for that city, years ago, when the streets
were as bare as those of the most graceless
village in the land. And what stranger
has passed through Springfield, and not
recognized immediately a superior spirit in
the place, which long since suggested and
planted the pretty little square which noAV
ornaments the town ?

But we should be doing injustice to the
principle of progress, to which we have
already referred, if we did not mention here
the signs of the times, which we have lately
noticed ; signs that prove the spirit of
rural improvement is fairly awake over this
broad continent. We have received ac-
counts, within the last month, of the doings
oi ornamental tree associations, lately formed
in five different states, from New-Hamp-
shire to Tennessee.* The object of these
associations is to do precisely what nobody
in particular thinks it his business to do ;
that is, to rouse the public mind to the
importance of embellishing the streets of
towns and villages, and to induce every-
body to plant trees in front of his own
premises.

While we are writing this, we have re-
ceived the printed report of one of these
associations, — the Rockingham Farmer's
Club, of Exeter, New-Hampshire. The
whole report is so much to the point, that
we republish it entire in our Domestic No-
tices of the month ; but there is so much
earnest enthusiasm in the first paragraph
of the report, and it is so entirely apposite
to our present remarks, that we must also
introduce it here :

" Why are not the streets of all our vil-

* We cannot deny ourselves tlie pleasure of commendincf
the public spirit of a gentleman in one of the villages in
western New-York, (see our last No., p. 53'3,) who, by of-
fering a bounty for all trees planted in the village wliere he
lives, has induced many to set about the work in good
earnest.

lages shaded and adorned with trees ? Why
are so many of our dwellings still unpro-
tected from the burning heat of summer,
and the ' pelting of the pitiless storms' of
winter ? Is it because in New-England
hearts, hurried and pressed as they are by
care and business, there is no just appre-
ciation of the importance of the subject?
Or is it that failure in the attempt, which
almost every man has made, once in his
life, in this way to ornament his home, has
led many to the belief that there is some
mystery, passing the comprehension of com-
mon men, about this matter of transplant-
ing trees 1 The answer may be found, we
apprehend, partly in each of the reasons
suggested. Ask your neighbor why he has
not more trees about his home, and he will
tell you that they are of no great use, and
besides, that it is very difficult to make
them grow ; that he has tried it once or
twice, and they have all died. Now these,
the common reasons, are both ill founded.
It is of 7ise for every man to surround
himself with objects of interest, to cultivate
a taste for the beautiful in all things, and
especially in the works of nature. It is of
use for every family to have a home, a
pleasant, happy home, hallowed by purify-
ing influences. It is of use, that every
child should be educated, not only in scien-
ces, and arts, and dead languages, but that
his affections and his taste should be de-
veloped and refined ; that the book of na-
ture should be laid open to him ; and that
he should learn to read her language in the
flower and the leaf, written everywhere, in
the valley and on the hill-side, and hear it
in the songs of birds, and the murmuring
of the forest. If you would keep pure the
heart of your child, and make his youth
innocent and happy, surround him with
objects of interest and beauty at home. If
you would prevent a restless spirit, if you

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

would save him from that lowest species of
idolatr}', 'the love of money,' and teach him
to * love what is lovely,' adorn your dwell-
ings, your places of worship, your school-
houses, your streets and public squares,
with trees and hedges, and lawns and flow-
ers, so that his heart may early and ever
be impressed with the love of him who
made them all." * * * *

What more can we add to this eloquent
appeal from the committee of a farmers'
club in a village of New-Hampshire ? Only
to entreat other farmers' clubs to go and do

likewise ; other ornamental tree societies
to carry on the good work of adorning the
country ; other apostles of taste not to be
discouraged, but to be unceasing in their
efforts, till they see the clouds of ignorance
and prejudice dispersing; and, finally, all
who live in the country and have an affec-
tion for it, to take hold of this good work
of rural improvement, till not a graceless
VILLAGE can be found from the Penobscot
to the Rio Grande, or a man of intelligence
who is not ashamed to be found living- in
such a villasre.

A CHAPTER ON NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

BY THOMAS RIVERS, SAWBRIDGEWORTH, ENGLAND.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — 3Ii/ Dear Sir : The
weather is cold and unusually unpleasant
for out of door occupations, generally so
pressing at this season ; and so I have
taken pen in hand to give you a little gos-
sip ablbut gardening matters.

And first, John Bull like, let me tell
you about the weather. We had an ad-
mirable winter, — no snow, and April wea-
ther in December, the greater part of Janu-
ary, (only a short interval of frost — lowest
17 to 15 degrees below freezing,) and all
February ; March, mild and dry, and this
month cold, stormy and disagreeable. On
the morning of the ISth inst., after a night
of snow storms with violent wind, my
thermometer registered 19 to 13 degrees
of frost ; (it was suspended six feet from
the ground, on the north side of a tree,
fully exposed.) Our plum trees were white
with bloom, and many of our pears, such
as Louise Bonne de Jersey, Beurrt d'Aman-
lis and others. They are now brown, and
I fear the crop is gone. Beurre de Capi-
aumont is much later in unfolding its blos-

soms ; so that of that and a few others we
have hopes. But a frost, even when the
bloom is not expanded, is generally fatal
to pears. Their blossoms expand, and they
look well ; but instead of setting their fruit,
it all drops at the critical moment. Last
year, on the 27th of this month, we had a
hoar frost, but the thermometer only regis-
tered 27. The pears were nearly all in
full bloom ; but although the frost was so
slight, nearly all were destroyed. My ex-
perience, as to new varieties, is therefore
very limited. 1 will however give you,
from memory, a few notes on new pears, —
objects, as 1 am aware, uf great interest in
your country.

Just/phuie (it Malincs. I ate my last spe-
cimen of this (I had only two,) the 28th of
February; it was fully ripe, meiiing and
sugary, with a i^eculiar delicious flavor,
such iis 1 never before tasted in any pear ;
not muoky, or that flavor generally called
"periuiiicu," but something quite fcz<:2^e«e-
rm ; to a certainty, this will prove one of
our leryjincst pears. In appearance, it is

550

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

much like a middle sized Passe Colmar.
The tree grows freely on the quince, but
does not bear till three or four years old.
This, as is now well known, was raised
by chance, by the late Major Esperen, of
Malines.

Belle A'pres Noel. A chance pear, raised
by the same gentleman. It ripened in
January. A moderate sized, good, melt-
ing pear, i. e., a first rate pear.
Bergamotte d' Esperen. Ripened in March.
Size third rate. Bergamot shaped. Fla-
vor inferior. This pear, I have since learn-
ed, varies much in character, and requires
a warm rich soil, and a warm season ;
when it is first rate, and keeps till April
and May.

Beurre Bretounean, (Esperen's.) I have
real pleasure in telling you all I know
about this truly valuable pear. I have two
specimens only ; in shape and appearance
they are much like Beurre Diel, and in
size about equal to a second or third sized
pear of that sort ; so that it is of a good
size, although not No. 1. Technically, it
is oval, or slightly turbinated. But the
terms in general use, in my opinion, fail
to give a correct idea of the shape of any
pear, unless its characters are very strongly
marked. On looking at my specimens to-
day, kept on a shelf in a dry airy cellar,
each wrapped in three or four folds of a
piece of newspaper, I found them fine, and
likely, in all appearance, to keep a month
or six weeks longer. But as I was writing
you this pear gossip, and felt anxious to
know something about a pear so handsome,
(colour yellow, thickly — very thickly dotted
with russet spots,) I could not help scoop-
ing out a taster. To my great delight, I
found it a genuine melting pear, — rich,
sugary and soft, approaching only to ripe-
ness. I should calculate that it will be
fully ripe about the middle of next month.

Now when I looked round my fruit shelves,
and found this the only melting pear left,
(for pears in this country, in spite of the
cloudy, cool, unripening summer of 1848,
nearly all ripened prematurely, — Beurre
de Ranee in January ; Ne Plus Meuris in
March, instead of April, as usual, etc. etc.,)
that this new variety should even surpass
the description I had with it. The tree is
remarkably hardy, and very thorny; it
does not grow when grafted on the quince,
unless " double-worked," and then but
slowly, at least at present ; but it is so
new that one can scarcely describe what
it will do. I have no doubt that, in due
time, we shall find these " refractory" pears,
which require double-working to make
them take kindly to the quince, will also
require to have a proper kind of pear on
which to double-work them.

Susette de Bavay, (Esperen,) of which I
have no specimens, I have every reason to
believe, will prove a late pear, equally as
valuable as the preceding. The readers of
the Horticulturist should know ihat^Glout
Morceau has been sent out for this pear; it
was, I think, in 1845, that a well known
nurseryman in Belgium, professed to have
all the pears raised by the late Major Es-
peren to dispose of. I received from him
the following : Susette de Bavay, Beurre
Lombard, and Beurre d'Esperen, all of
which proved to be Glout Morceau. The
true Susette de Bavay has shoots of a
light greenish brown, entirely thornless ;
and the tree is so inclined to the pyramidal
shape, that it will form a handsome close
pyramid, almost without attention. All the
above, I understand, Avere raised from seed
by chance, i. e., seeds of good pears were
sown without any attention to impregna-
tion, or going through two or three genera-
tions. What a comment thus offers itself
on the fanciful theory of Van Mons ; and

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

551

what encouragement for us all to go and
da likewise !

You will see in the "Miniature Fruit
Garden," which I now send you, allu-
sion made to a seedling from the Easter
Beurre, My specimen ripened this sea-
son towards the end of February. It is
almost more than melting. Mr. Thomp-
son writes me, that although "not quite
so sugary as its parent, it is a first rate
iate pear," The parent tree is the thorni-
est, ugliest, vagabondish looking tree you
ever saw.

Although time has tinted me with sober
grey, I am still annually raising seedlings.
My mode of management is perhaps ori-
ginal, and may amuse you.

To raise late pears is my grand object ;
and to effect this, I take pips from Beurre
de Ranee, Beurre d'Aremberg, Fortun'e,
Ne Plus Meuris, Winter Nelis, Passe Col-
mar, &c. These are sown in seed pans,
and placed in gentle heat under glass.
They soon spring up ; and as soon as five
or six leaves are formed, they are placed
singly in small pots, then shifted into larger
pots, and placed on a gentle hot-bed in the
open air. Last year, with this mode of
culture, I obtained a growth of two feet,
and a thickness equal to a large quill.
Each sort is kept carefully named and la-
belled, as follows : " from Passe Colmar,"
" from Beurre d'Aremberg," &c. This
spring they have been planted in rows,
thus ; No. 1, a seedling ; No. 2, a pear,
worked on a quince; No. 3, a seedling;
No. 4, a pear, worked on a quince, and so
on, through the row. The tops of the
seedlings were cut off in January, and they
have been recently grafted, commencing
with No. 1, which is grafted on No. 2 ; No.
3 on No. 4, and so on, through the row.
Each sort has its label as above ; for of
some such as the Ne Plus Meuris, there

are twenty or thirty which follow each
other regularly in the row. Now by this
method great interest is created, as they
are double-worked, and I trust will soon be
in bearing. In the first place, the parent
tree will always be known ; and the dif-
ference in the time of bearing between the
seedling and the graft from it, will be ac-
curately ascertained. This, to me, is an
object of great moment ; for I do not re-
member ever seeing or reading anything
relating to it.

I hope, D. v., or, perhaps, I had better
say, under God's blessing, to solve this
very interesting horticultural problem.

I forgot to say, that I prefer to take the
pips (seeds) from fruit gathered from trees
standing isolated. The race is then more
pure ; and I observe that some varieties
produce seedlings bearing much resem-
blance to their parents in their habits.
This is particularly apparent in those raised
from Ne Plus Meuris. By the way, do
you know that our Ne Plus Meuris is al-
most, or quite, unknown on the Continent ?
Both in France and Belgium, Beurre d'An-
jou, an excellent pear, but not nearly so
late, bears that name.

Seedlings from Beurre de Ranee vary in
a most extraordinary manner. Some are
very delicate and slender ; some robust and
with large leaves; others covered with
thorns. Those from Passe Colmar seem
to bear a close resemblance to their parent,
as do those from Fortimie and Beurre d'-
Areniherg. If the late Mr. Knight had
crossed some of these fine pears with such
lasting pears as Leon Le Clerc, de Laval,
and other long keeping baking pears, how
rich we should have been. This is a field
still open. Mr. Knight employed parents
but ill adapted to produce good results;
and thus, after years of experiment, only
gave us one pear really fine and good, — ttko

652

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

Monarch* This is " pear gossip ;" there-
fore I am privileged to ramble. A new
pear:

Beurre Gouhault bore fruit here last sea-
son. It is a very handsome Doyenne-like
pear, about the size of Doyenne Blanc,
with a smooth, shining, greenish-j^ellow
skin ; flesh exceedingly melting, sugary,
and good. Ripe in September.

Are you aware that Colmar Charney,
which I saw in France three or four years
since eaten in autumn, and which was
pointed out to me as a very fine late pear,
proves to be the Amrial, or Arbre Courbe
of Van Mons, — an excellent October pear ?
St. Marc is Urbaniste. For two seasons
I did not detect this, owing to the fruit of
one being from a tree on the quince, the
other from a tree on the pear stock. We
nurserymen, as soon as we detect an error,
ought to " make a clean breast and con-
fess."

Episcopal is also, I strongly suspect, only
Forlunee. From my trees, the fruit of the
former was green ; of the latter, covered
with russet ; but the leaves and shoots of
the young trees made me look more closely
into the matter. This last year the latter
was excellent, — nearly as good as Beurre
d'Aremberg, and kept sound and good till
June. In the south, with you, this will, I
think, prove worthy of extensive cultiva-
tion.

Crassane d^Hiver, (Bruneau,) or Beurre
Bruneaufis a handsome and delicious pear.
Form roundish; size No. 2. My speci-
mens ripened towards the end of last
March. They were melting, with a very
high vinous perfumed flavor, and were de-
licious.

Mr. "Williams, of Pitmaston, has raised
a new Wi7iter Gansell's Bergamot. I en-

* Of which, strange to say, from causes perfectly unex-
plained as yet, not a single Jine flavortd specimen has yet
teea grown in America. Ed.

close his description.* This will, I think,
prove something out of the common way.

Your orchardists ought to know one of
the most profitable pears they can plant, —
the Colmar d'Ete, (or Colmar Prince, and
Colmar d'Automne ; for such are its syno-
nyms.) It is one of the most rigorous grow-
ers of all pears on the quince ^ to which it
seems to unite itself without the usual
swelling over, at the junction of the graft
with the stock. Its bearing qualities are,,
to quote Dominie Sampson, prodigious.
The fruit hangs in clusters, like,. to use a
rural expression, " ropes of onions." I
know not why this pear should be called a
Colmar. It has not the least family resem-
blance to that race. It is of the second
size, rather long, something like the Jar-
gonelle, yellowish-green, with red next the
sun ; very juicy and refreshing, but not
melting, neither is it a breaking pear ; still,
it is very agreeable, and likely to be popu-
lar, as it bears carriage well. It ha&
ripened here, these two last seasons, about
the end of September.

Among the pears of the late M. Esperen,
and likely to prove of much value, is the
Cassante de Mars. This was originally
named by him Bonne de Malines ; but on
finding that name a well known synonym
of the Winter Nelis, it was changed to the
above, which is very expressive of its qua-
lity. For in March, it is hard and break'
ing ; but if wrapped in paper and kept
carefully, it may be preserved till June,
and even July. It then becomes soft, per-
fumed, and very agreeable, like Fortunes
and other late pears. It cannot always be
preserved ; for in some seasons, at least in
this country, the hardiest and latest pears
will ripen prematurely. We shall perhaps
one day know the reason of this variation.
I think I have generally noticed that when

♦ Which we will give in our next. Ed.

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE.

553

Ollf summers have been cool find unri-
pening, our pears have ripened prema-
turely.

I hope this season to hear from you, re-
specting the identity of Beurre d'Arcm-
berg with Orpkdine d'Engke/m,- — the Sol'
dat Laboureiir of France. With me, the
trees are most distinct, and remain so,
whether young or old, on the quince or on
the pear, in all soils, and in all situations.
The fruit of the former, with me, is gene-
rally a trifle smaller ; but it is in its shoots
and general habit that it difTers so much.
Its shoots are of a darker brown, always
thorny, its leaves more pointed, and smaller
than the latter. When in Belgium, in
1847, I found two pears there, — one called
Orpheline d'Engheim, the other Beurrt^
d'Aremberg. I imported both, and find
them exactly identical with those I have
for some years cultivated.

My Beurre d^Aremberg I received from
the Horticultural Society of London about
fifteen years ago ; and Orpheline d'Eng-
heim I received from Van Mons about the
same period, binder the name of Beurrl'
d'' Ar&mherg. Finding it different to that
which I possessed, I distinguished it as
"Beurre d'Aremberg, (Van Mons,") in my
catalogue for several years. I then found
that the Soldat Laboureur of the French,
and Orpheline d'Engheim of the Belgians,
were the same ; and I may also add that the
pear " Vrai Arentberg''^ is the same. In
the English nurseries, both varieties are
cultivated, mixed generally, under the
name Beurre d'Aremberg.

You will smile when I tell you that, out
of my collection of nearly 1000 sorts of
pears, I cultivate for profit, i. e., for their
fruit, to send to Covent Garden Mar-
ket, four, viz., Williams'' Bon Chretien,
(your Bartlett,) Beurre d^Amanlis, Bejirre
Capiaui/iont, and Louise BoJine de Jer-

seij.* Of the first, I have about 500 bear-
ing trees, frcm five to twenty-five years
old, on the pear stock. Of the second,
about the same number, on the quince, as
pyramids, This latter does admirably on
the qtiince; and an orchard of pyramids
would be very profitable. (Let some of
your young ciiliivators recollect this.) Of
the third, about 2,500 fine trees, from five
to fifteen years old. They are beautiful
trees, and perfect pyramids, growing so
naturally, with but very slight attention to
shortening their side shoots. Trees of this
kind are all on pear stocks. La^itly, I
have 2,500 trees growing in my orchard,
of Louise Bonne de Jerseij, all on the quince.
These are three to six years old, all pyra-
mids, full of blossom., and charming trees.
What a comfort, that we have no pear
blights in this country, no frozen sap, etc-
A pear tree, once well planted here, pro-
gresses not rapidly, but surely. I find that
my trees of Beurre Capiaumont, ten years
old, on pear stocks, make, annually, shoots
from twelve to fifteen inches in length-
Louisa Donne de Jersey, on quince stocks,
five years old, as nearly as possible the
same annual growth. These trees are an-
nually covered with blossoms, and give
fine crops. It may, perhaps, assist some of
your young cultivators if I give, in a few
words, the best mode of combining a pear
orchard with a nursery or kitchen garden.
1 think one or two of your countrymen have
already taken notes of it, but perhaps not.

I purchased, some few years ago, a con-
siderable quantity of freehold land ; and
not feeling sure that the demand for roses
and ornamental shrubs would continue, I
resolved to plant pear trees, and thus have
two strings to my bow. I commenced, by
purchasing all the old and overgrown trees

* How exactly this corroborates the advice we gave to
orcliarclists, as coiitrnsted with amateurs. (See leader, in
our lust March number.) lio.

554

NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE,

I could find in the London nurseries.
Many of them were as stout as the small of
a man's leg, and seven to eight years old.
These were planted in rows from N. E. to
S. W., 20 feet row from row, and 10 feet
apart in the rows,— a path 2 feet wide on
N. W. side of row, and border 18 feet wide.
After remaining one season, these were
cut down and grafted,— half the trees as
standards, and half as half-standards, regu-
iarlv alternating in the rows. These are
all Beurrj Capiaumont, and most charming
trees, just ten years old. The half-stand-
ards are finer trees, and much handsomer
than the full standards.

Experience soon told me that 20 feet,
row from row, is not quite enough. The
border for cultivation is too narrow. In my
next plantation, I planted my rows 24 feet
apart. This is of Loiiixe Bonne de Jersey^
as pyramids on the quince. They are only
Jive feet apart in the rows ; so that they will
soon form a perfi;ct barrier to the N. W.
wind. They have regular summer finch-
ing, &c. &c., to keep them in a nice pyra-
midal shape. A palh 2 feet wide is on the
N. W. side of each row ; and a border for
young trees in rows, &c. &c., 22 feet wide.*
This plantation of Louise Bonne pears con-
tains 2,500 trees. The effect is admirable.
The profit is, and will be, very great. By
having the trees N. E. to S. W., you will
at once see that the trees give but little
shade ; the path on N. W. side of row is
the only part much shaded. [In this cli-
mate, on the contrary, shade for the bor-
ders is desirable. Ed.] The soil is a ha-
zel, friable loam, from eighteen inches to
two feet in depth, under which is a friable
white clay, full of chalk stones. This gives
a yellow tinge to the leaves of trees, when

* When the trees iiinrease in bulk, I shall have a path,
three feet wide on each side of tlie row. This will leave a
border in the centre 18 feet wide; a most eligible site for
young trees, or other crops.

too near the surface. Under the white clay
is sand ; so that this soil is never too wet,
and never too dry,— just the happy medium
for pears. I may observe, that although
the soil and climate, in the valley of the
Thames, is much more favorable than
it is here for many kinds of pears, yet
the Beurra Capiaumont is much inferior.
There, it is covered with russet, and is of
a greenish yellow. Here, it is bright scar-
let and gold, and really a superb pear.
The Louise Bonne, on the quince, is equally
fine. All those who intend to grow pears
for supplying the markets, must watch
them carefully. With what a large por-
tion of my life has my experience been
bought. Listen, and I will tell you some
of my trials. Easter Beurra I thought a
splendid pear, and one that must always
sell well. I grafted three to four hundred
fine trees, purchased of the nurserymen, as
before stated. The grafts grew beautifully,
bloomed bountifully, bore a fine fruit, which
was hard, and never ripened. After seven
years' trial, half were grafted with Capi-
aumont, (all right,) th& remainder with
Knight's Winter Crassane, a vile pear for
the market. It bears abundantly, but has
no flavor or reputation. These trees are
this spring grafted with B. Capiaumont.

The self same history, (of years wasted,)
appertains to Beurr^ de Ranee, BeurreDiel,
Hacons' Incomparable, Althorpe Crassane,
Knights' Monarch, — (I suffered 150 fine
trees of the thorny, spurious sort, first sent
out by (he Horticultural Society, to reach
the age of ten years before I would re-graft
them ;) Summer Franc Real, Bezi de Cais-
soy, Passe Colmar. None of these pears,
I found, would pay ; and so they are all
grafted with B. Capiaumont. In this country,
the million seem to buy pears freely in the
autuimi only; and, therefore, too few sorts
can scarcely be grown. To some of your

EFFECTS IN LANDSCAPE OF VARIOUS COMMON TREES.

555

young cultivators,! can also give the result
of my experience as a nurseryman. Autumn
pears, such as I have named, are all gathered
and sold before the tree business begins.

I have 150 fine trees of Marie Louise,
just twenty years old. They are, as usical,
full of blossom ; but it is five years since I
had a crop, which is also the case in the
pear gardens near London. I am, dear
sir, yours truly, Tho's Rivers.

Sawbridgeworth, Herts, England, April 26, 1349.

[We commend the foregoing most valua-
ble article to the careful perusal of all our
pomological readers. Mr. Rivers is not
only the most extensive grower of fruit
trees in England, but he is also one of the
most accomplished English pomologists ;
and, as our readers will see, has had not a
little experience in giowing fruit for mar-
ket. Ed.]

THE EFFECTS IN LANDSCAPE OF VARIOUS COMMON TREES.

BY W. LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS.

I WISH to enter a special plea in favor of
that much abused tree, the Lombard]) Pop-
lar. It is the most formal of deciduous
trees, and, therefore, the most effective
when properly used, and the worst when
abused. When the planting of poplars
was the rage many years since, it is no
wonder that when the long lines of mono-
tonous trees sprang up all over the coun-
try, people got tired of them, and cut them
all down. But here and there a single
fine tree or two was spared. In this part
of the country there are half a dozen of
these trees in conspicuous situations, that
are landmarks in the landscape, towering
with their green spires above the rounded
forms of the other trees, and fixing the eye
at the distance of miles, by an irresistible
charm. A single poplar, if a thrifty and
vigorous tree, is never out of place. It
supplies, as no other tree can, the want of
perpendicular forms in the level or rounded
lines of our landscapes. The same quality
that makes to the eye the hidden charm of
castle and crag, viz., perpendicularity , is
possessed by this tower of foliage. When
backed or supported by other trees, and
especially if water in front be added, as on

the shore of a river, three poplar trees, of
different heights, produce a magically pic-
turesque effect ; the sketcher cannot go bv
them without opening his portfolio.

Among our native trees, many that are
formal when young, acquire with age and
exposure a peculiarly picturesque appear-
ance. The White Pine, when growing in
exposed situations, becomes very stocky,
and frequently branched and spreading.
Its effect is so beautiful in this form, that
I have often thought of cutting off the
leading shoots of some fine young trees,
to cause them to branch. Thrifty pine
trees, in open ground, that lose their lead-
ing shoots at ten or fifteen feet from the
ground, frequently make the most beauti-
ful spreading trees.

The greatest beauty of the Hemlock is
in its youth, and in masses or clumps ; the
Pine, on the contrary, requiring much
room, or it will grow slender and throAv
out no side branches. The Hemlock seems
to grow the more thrifty the more it is
crowded. Twenty young trees will unite
into one impenetrable mass of verdure.
As they grow large the smaller die out,
and the large trees form the densest shade

656

EFFECTS IN LANDSCAPE OF VARIOUS COMMON TREES.

of our forest, — so dark that no underwoods
o-row beneath them. The greatest beauty
of the young Hemlock may be seen where
they spring up by thousands in our open
pastures, always arranging themselves in
o-roups that no art could mend. 1 think
the finest large Hemlocks I have noticed
were on a mountain top, where a small
number had been left by the wood-cutters.
These trees, dwarfed by the bleak moun-
tain air, had stems of great thickness, sur-
mounted by an unusual breadth of the
thickest dark green foliage. They pro-
duced that effect of breadth and massive-
ness usually wanting in our forest trees.

The Fir Baha/n, when of large size
and in open ground, is sometimes of re-
markable beauty. The lower branches, if
they remain thrifty, droop beautifulh'.

The Larch also requires room and age
to develop its beauties. I think it is our
usual fault in planting, that we plant too
mu3h in groups, for immediate effect, and
to rarely see the greatest beauty our trees
mio-ht attain. Also, we do not take pains
enough to have our trees branch low, which
is essential to produce massive trees, and
massive effects. A trunk that branches at
six or eight feet from the ground, can bear
a vastly greater weight than one of the
same size that is twice that height ; and
nature always follows the hint. When
the trunk is short, the main limbs become
subordinate trunks, and acquire a greater
size than they could maintain on a tall
trunk.

T J return to individual sorts. The Eln?,
even when thrifty, often grows lanky and
slender, and not LufHciently furnished with
branches. If the principal part of the top
be cut out low down, in healthy trees,
even of large size, it seems to produce a
thicker habit and vigorous growth. In one
instance, a neighbor informs me that he

cut two cords of Avood from the centre of
an Elm, some forty years ago. This tree
is the largest and finest in the neighbor-
hood ; and though the work was roughly
done, shows no signs of decay. Another
tree, about forty years of age, has so thick,
beautiful, and regular a head, that it is
universally remarked. This, I have been
told, was produced in the same manner.

The Birch, Yellow and White, single
trees on the edge of an evergreen wood,
produce a charming effect of contrast.

The Maple, Its form is too regular
usually to produce single standard trees,
comparing with the Oaks, Chestnuts, and
many others ; but it forms the most beau-
tiful groups. The White Ash changes iu
autumn to a deep slaty purple, — so re-
markable among the gaudy colours of the
Maple, that the eye at once detects a sin-
gle tree on a mountain side. I would al-
es

ways plant a single tree in the groups of
Maple.

To produce the most beautiful effects of
autumn tints in a plantation, the pure
lemon yellow of the Yellow Birch, and the
dark green of the Hemlock, must no more
be omitted than the scarlet and russet of
Maple and Oak. The Beech, also, its green
leaves unwillingly turning to brown on
the outermost edges, is an exquisite tree
in autumn, as at what season is it not?
Why is it that the Beech is so little culti-
vated, and that we so rarely see this most
beautiful of deciduous trees in perfection
in this country ?

The Mountain Ash is a charming tree,
with its formal shape and scarlet berries,
but it must be backed by tall evergreens
to be seen to advantage. Formal upright
trees usually require a background of ver-
dure, though occasionally a single one may
stand out against the sky with great ef-
fect, in contrast with other forms. Ave-

CULTURE OF THE GOOSEBERRY.

557

nues especially produce a meagre effect,
when they consist of formal or regular
trees. Even the Maple grows too uni-
form and globular. The Chestnut is very
desirable for this purpose. With the
exception of the Oak, which we cannot
wait for, the Chestnut, when growing
alone, produces the most massive and
varied forms of any tree I know in these
parts.

The beautiful thorns that grow in abun-
dance among our hills, are a singular in-
stance of the effect of form apart from size.
Aged trees, of a century's growth, with
their broad flattened heads and short mas-
sive trunks, suggest ideas of venerable
antiquity, that the upstart Maples beside
them can never attain. I have noticed the
same effect in a few aged Apple trees, and
have two in my mind that I would gladly
transplant as ornaments to my house.
There is another form of the thorn which
is very beautiful, and easily produced. A
stocky thorn, transplanted into rich ground,
and headed down with those outside shoots
and suckers, which, with a little care to
prune a straggling limb, will produce a
rounded pyramid or sugar loaf of solid
green. I have seen beautiful thorns of

this shape in the meadov/s, pruned only
by the mower's scythe.

Unique effects are produced by the dwarf-
ing effect of the exposed and open sides oi
our bleak mountains. Oak trees of great
age, with v/ide spreading arms, their tops
not more than fifteen or twenty feet from
the ground, and diminutive forests of
Beech, of a similar character, make you
believe that you have reached the country
of elves and pigmies. The mountain pas-
tures and the charcoal tracts, sometimes oi
thousands of acres, without fence or house,
presenting large spaces of open ground,
broken by groups of second grovvth wood,
and with every varied form of ground,
from ravine to mountain, present a charm-
ing field for observation to the lover of
the picturesque effect of trees. W.

[We recognize, in the above excellent
paper, one of the most cultivated and ar-
tistic minds in the country ; and we are
glad to find that the rich store of observa-
tions, which we know the writer has ac-
cumulated, are beginning to rise to the
surface, and overflow a little for the good
of others. We shall alwaj's welcome with
pleasure any contribution of " W." in this
journal. Ed.]

"lytrt^l' "tCvrt-^ir

NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE GOOSEBERRY.

BY THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE IIORT. SOCIETY OF AUVERGNE.*

The interest with v.'hich the English col-
lect, every year, new varieties of the goose-
berry, and institute special prizes for them,
in the various horticultural societies, is
well known. Indeed, in Great Britain,
where all fruits are rare, and where the
greater part of those we obtain so easily
are rendered impossible by the climate, it
is quite natural that every care and atten-

tion should be given to an indigenous spe-
cies, which there comes under the most
favorable conditions of development.

It is not even necessary that the fruit of
the gooseberry should be ripe, in order to
be prized by our neighbors. Tarts and
pastry are made of them before the matu-
rity of the fruit ; and the excellent sauce

» Translated from the Revut Horticok.

558

CULTURE OF THE GOOSEBERRY,

which accompanies mackerel and other
fish, and which adds to the piquancy of
even these delicate dishes, requires the
green gooseberry only, which are even
known by the name of the fish. They are
also preserved for this purpose by the
method used at Appert, Belgium, England,
and the north of France, — the only coun-
tries where the art of the gastronome num-
bers genuine disciples, who appreciate
justly the green fruit of the gooseberry.

We will not say this fruit cannot attain
to maturity with our neighbors. On the
contrary, the climate of England is more
favorable than ours to the development of
all kinds of gooseberries ; and they reach
there a perfect maturity. Moreover, these
plants grow there in the gardens, without
culture, and bear constantly. It also flou-
rishes here; but the heat of our summers
is often fatal to great numbers of our
gooseberries, and we cannot, moreover,
hope to obtain fruits equal in size to
those which the English raise for exhibi-
tion or prizes.

We have already remarked, that, by
sowing seeds and by hybridizing, we may
obtain in France, as well as in England,
new and meritorious varieties. These
seedlings are so easily raised that there is
always an advantage in raising them, and
in reserving for them those sorts raised
from seed, instead of those multiplied by
i cuttings. This last mode of increase is,
indeed, employed to propagate the finer
varieties ; but, by sowing only seeds of
fine fruits, remarkable kinds are infallibly
obtained.

These seedling plants are very vigorous,
and resist much better than others the
heat of summer, their greatest enemy in
our Auvergne climate, and still more so
in the south of France. [We commend
this fact to American gooseberry growers.

Ed.] All kinds of soil axe suitable for the
mackerel gooseberry ; [i, e., those grown
for tarts.] They prefer, however, that
which is rather new and strong ; they
shrink from the sun, but like still less,
entire shade ; and, as between two evils,
we must choose the least, it is better to
plant them in the open sunshine, provided
their roots are shaded, and that the ground
which surrounds them preserves its mois-
ture. In the other case, the plant withers
before ripening its fruit, and perishes en-
tirely, or, at least, down to the ground.

The best method of treating these goose-
berries, is to cover the earth around their
roots with stones, tiles, or with a sort of
paving brick or tile ; and this practice, so
necessary for the plants in question, is al-
ways excellent for all fruit or other trees ;
and we always find those specimens doing
well which are planted in well paved
yards, where their roots are kept cool, and
protected by the stones. This may readily
be understood, when it is remembered that
stones do not exhaust the ground, like any
plants or weeds which might spring up
therein ; and also, that a close pavement,
or tiling, would prevent the evaporation
of the soil, its consequent drying, as well
as hinder it from burning.

This action of the sun, with the conse-
quent heat and evaporation, often injurious
to large trees, whose roots spread to a con-
siderable extent for nourishment, is often
fatal to the gooseberry, whose smaller and
more delicate roots suffer excessively in a
hot and dry climate.

T/te roots being protected, the gooseberry
may be cultivated in three different ways :
as a bush or shrub, as a vertical espalier,
or as a horizontal espalier.

As a bush or shrub. It sufiices, for the
first purpose, to let it grow at will ; and
for the second, to cut out down to the

CULTURE OF THE GOOSEBERRY.

559

base or main stem all the superfluous
young shoots, in order to keep it to a sin-
gle stem. It is the plan generally prefer-
red, and that which gives the least trou-
ble.

As a vertical or upright espalier. I have
always tied those which I have cultivated
in this way upon an arbor or trellis of
Provence reeds. After some years, they
are well filled up, planting them at the
distance of three to four feet. The long
branches should be slightly bent ; they
bear sooner and more abundantly. Trim
them boldly, and part all the shoots which
crowd or cross each other. This arrange-
ment has the advantage of displaying the
whole plant at a glance ; and besides, the
fruit is larger and more abundant. It
is so fully exposed, that it also ripens
sooner.

As a horizontal espalier. This may be
accomplished in two ways : at a certain
distance above the ground, or upon the
ground itself. In the first method, the
bush is trained up to one stem, then the
branches allowed to spread over a sort of
rounded table, on which it extends itself,
the top diverging like a flat umbrella top.
This arrangement, which at first appears
quite original, has an undoubted advan-
tage over the others. It is that the fruit,
not being suspended, but resting on the
wood, acquires a larger size ; and this fact,
confirmed by experience, applies not only
to gooseberries, but to all fruits. Thus,
if a pear or a peach he accidentally supported
in this way, it will he larger than its neigh-
bor, which hangs by its own weight. It is
partly owing to this fact, also, that even
vertical espaliers, whose branches are well
fastened, produce larger fruit than stand-
ard trees, exposed to the wind, even
when the pruning has been done with care
and judgment.

As to the gooseberry trained as an es-
palier upon the ground itself, it is doubt-
less the method to obtain the finest fruit,
and it is the most simple way of cultivating
these plants. This plan consists simply in
surrounding the bush at its base with tiles,
and making for it a circular area, slightly
raised at the circumference, so that the
rain and the watering of the plants may
descend directly to the roots, and not re-
main upon the tiles. Over these tiles the
branches, loaded with blossoms, are al-
lowed to spread from the centre to the
circumference. If they do not immediately
attach themselves to the area, they are
sure to do so afterwards, by the weight of
their fruit ; or, at least, they become so
much bent, that the extremities are cer-
tainly supported. Except the judicious
pruning of too numerous branches, there is
nothing more to do, but to await with con-
fidence the ripening of the gooseberries.
It is easy to perceive the advantages of
this mode of culture. The roots are pro-
tected from the heat by the tiles, all natui
ral or artificial waterings are carried di-
rectly to the roots of the plant, and larger,
earlier, and cleaner fruit are obtained at
scarcely any care or expense. Such are
the results of this method.

In all these different plans of cultivating
the gooseberry, if the beauty of the fruit is
more desired than its quantity, a large part
of the fruit must be thinned out ; and this
operation should not take place until the
young berries have attained a certain size,
[say a fortnight's growth,] as the larger
and finer fruits may then be selected to
remain, which could not be done if they
were removed at an earlier stage.

We are confident that in following with
success the principles here suggested, we
should be able to place upon our tables
such fruit as would here appear extraor-

560

VILLA IN THE TUDOR STYLE.

(linary, and more so as we are less ac-
customed to see them in all their perfec-
tion. H. Lecoq,

Vice President of the Hort. Society of Jluvergne.
[The foreg-oing article is much better

adapted to this climate than any from Eng*-
lish horticulturists on this subject. M.
Lecoq properly explains the secret of
raising fine gooseberries in a hot and dry
climate, viz., keeping the roots cool. Ed.]

DESIGN rOH A VILLA IN THE TUDOR STTLE.

BY GBRVASE WHEELER, ARCHITECT, HARTFORD.

"We are indebted for the design in our fron-
tispiece, of this month, to Mr, VVheeler,
an European architect of ability, who has
established himself at Hartford, Ct. Our
engraver has, to our regret, by no means
done justice to the drawing sent us; but it
will still give our readers an idea of the
merits of this style. Mr. Wheeler has
well explained the plan of this house in the
following remarks :

This design is that of a country residence,
suited to the demands of a family of taste
and wealth, and is made in the Tudor
Gothic style of architecture, adapted to the
wants of the present day.

The disposition of the plan provides for
a large dining and drawing-room, which
communicate with each other, and also, by
means of glass doors in the side of the
rooms, with a conservatory or plant cabi-
net ; an arrangement which would be found
very beautiful in effect, and convenient for
many purposes. This conservatory might,
in the summer, be covered with an awning,
thus making a small saloon, or additional
boudoir ; and in the winter, being filled
with flowering plants, it would add greatly
to the beauty of the internal aspect of the
rooms which open into it.

There is next to the drawing-room, and
communicating with it, a boudoir, or la-
dies' room ; and the dining, drawing, and
this latter room opening en sidle ; the space

capable of being thrown open, on occasion
of company, would be found very liberal.
Next to the boudoir is the library, a large
well lighted, and handsome room. All of
these rooms, with the exception of the li-
brary, are fourteen feet high, and large in
proportion.

A kitchen, large staircase and entrance
halls, pantry, &c.,and back staircase, com-
plete the accommodations on this floor.

Entrance is gained to the house by means
of an angular porch, consisting of a single
pillar, from which spring two arches, stop-
ping against the wall of the house, and
resting on corbels on either side of the spa-
cious entrance doorway. This porch might,
if desired, be made very much larger, so as
to admit of a carriage driving through, andi
permitting visitors to enter under cover.

Over the library and kitchen is a large
room, which it is intended, in the present
instance, should be used either as a private
chapel or large library ; but if such an ar-
rangement is not desirable, the room could
be divided into three chambers, or other-
wise distributed as may be required. The
boudoir forms the lower story of a species
of tower, which is carried above the roof.

The large angular bay of the drawing-
room is also extended to the room over,
which room would thus make a very spa-
cious and desirable chamber.

The style of the house is one that would

VILLA IN THE TUDOR STYLE.

iS^J

T-T

OIIVINC ROOnA ■=

Id X2S

lEksfT;^ OliAW\NV< ROOM

25 X22

PRINCIPAL FLOOR,

[H'iri Full. I^4<

TWO BEAUTIFUL NEW PLANTS.

561

be peculiarly adapted to those localities
where the scenery was rather sylvan than
wild, and on an undulating lawn, stretch-
ing away to a broad river or lake, and
backed by tree clad hills, would look very
well.

The material might either be entirely
stone, or brick with stone dressings ; this
latter being a frequent and very appropriate
manner of building in this style.

The windows should be glazed in a
manner accordant with the spirit of the de-
sign, and the interior of the rooms protected
from the heat of the sun by inside shutter
blinds, made to slide into the walls, whilst
there might be in the drawing and dining-
rooms, sliding doors, glazed or otherwise,
which could be made to entirely shut ofT
the bays, ("the rooms being sufficiently
lighted in other ways,) either to contract
the size of the rooms in cold weather, or to
shade the rooms from the sun in the mid-
dle of the day during the summer.

The inside finish should be carried out
with due regard to the detail externally
exhibited, and the furniture, without being
outre, or possessing any of the absurdities
so much of our modern " Elizabethan" fur-
niture presents, might be made to harmo-

nize with the house very readily. The
cost of the building would vary from eleven
to fourteen thousand dollars, according to
the location and price of materials.

The whole composition is the result of
an endeavor to adapt a well known and
really beautiful style of the long-gone past
to the wants, improvements, and habits of
living of the present time. It is not, how-
ever, by servilely copying any one speci-
men of such a style that the demand in
these, our own days, is to be met ; it is not
by imitations of battlemented parapets and
castellated mansions, with draw-bridge, and
portcullis, and moat to boot, — things no
longer necessary, and therefore no longer
beautiful, in new composition ; the vital
element of beauty — fitness, being away.
But it is by working out the same unerring
principles that governed the productions of
an art that obtained such glory in medicEval
days, that we must hope in the nineteenth
century to succeed in producing results,
which to posterity shall be as beautiful
and as loved monuments of our artistic
achievements as those we now retain in
the old world are of those who have gone
before. G. W.

Hartford, May 16, 1849.

TWO BEAUTIFUL NEW PLANTS.

Oim enterprising plant-growers have lately
introduced from England two beautiful new
plants, both of which will no doubt prove
perfectly hardy, and very great acquisi-
tions to the beauty of our flower gardens
and shrubberies. We give brief notices of
them now, that our amateur readers may
take pains to possess themselves of these
charming novelties.

I. Lady Larpent's Leadwokt — {Plum-
VoL. III. 36

bago LarpentcB.) This is a Chinese plant,
growing in low tufts, with numerous stems,
and bearing a profusion of clusters of bios*
soms of the most exquisite gentian blue
colour. The first living plant of this new
Plumbago was sent from China to Sir
GEoaGE Larpent, who exhibited speci-
mens in bloom before the London Horticul-
tural Society, in July, 1847.

Mr. Fortune, the botanical traveller,

662

TWO bEAUTIFUL NEW PLANTS.

Fig. 60. — iMdy LarpenCs Leadwort.

found this exquisite Leadwort growing out
of an old wall near Shanghai ; and it is
described as one of the most ornamental
plants in all China. As the climate of
Shanghai is not unlike that of Philadel-
phia,— the thermometer falling as low there
in winter as 13=" in February, and rising
as high as 110° in August; and as this
plant is found growing along with the
Wistaria sinensis and the Wiegela rosea,
both of which have proved perfectly hardy
in this country, we cannot doubt that it will
be found to stand our winters in the mid-
dle states without protection.

As our hot siimmers so much more
nearly resemble those of China than the
English summers do, and as this plant
likes a dry sunny exposure, it will be more

likely to thrive and bloom abundantly here
than in England.

We imagine Lady Larpent's Leadworl
will prove a superb addition to our list of
plants for "bedding out," as it extends it-
self near the surface of the ground, and is
so prolific of blossoms, that a single plant
last year, in the possession of Messrs.
Knight and Perry, English florists, bore,
in the month of October last, 4,000 flowers !

It of course requires a dry warm soil.
The stems are numerous, slender, and a
little wavy, or zig-zag, in their growth.
The leaves are obovate, narrow at the base,
and finely serrated and fringed along the
edges. The floAver is of an exquisite blue,
with a reddish or violet throat, and is borne
in dense terminal or axillary heads. The

TWO BEAUTIFUL NEW PLANTS.

563

Fig. 61.— The Darle Green Forsythia.

Ijlant grows very freely from cuttings of
she stem, or by dividing the root.

As yet, this new plant (of which we are
indebted for a fine specimen to Mr. Buist,
©f Philadelphia,) has only been grown in
pots, and is still very scarce in the United
States. But it will doubtless thrive best in
the open border, and is likely to be pret-
ty widely knov/n t» amateurs by another
year.

II. The Dark Green FoRSYTHiA — (For-
sythda viridissima.) This fine new hardy
shrub is one of the novelties brought from
China to England, by Mr. Fortune, in
1846. It was introduced into this country
last season, and has flowered finely this
spring. The following is Mr. Fortune's
account of it :

" This is a deciduous shrub, with very
dark gtQen leaves, which are prettily ser-

rated at the margin. It grows about eight
or ten feet high in the north of China, and
sheds its leaves in autumn. It then re-
mains dormant, like any of the deciduous
shrubs of Europe, but is remarkable for th«
number of large prominent buds which are
scattered along the young stems, produced
the summer before. Early in spring those
buds, which are flower buds, gradually
unfold themselves, and present a profusion
of bright yellow blossoms all over the
shrub, which is highly ornamental.

"I first discovered it growing in the same
garden with Wiegela rosea, which I have
said in another place belonged to a Chinese
mandarin, on the island of Chusan, and
was generally called the " Grotto Garden"
by the English. Like the Wiegela, it is
a great favorite with the Chinese, and is
generally grown in all the gardens of the

564

THE PRUNE D'AGEN.

rich in the north of China. I afterwards
found it wild amongst the mountains of
the interior of the province of Cheekiang,
where I thought it even more ornamental
in its natural state, amongst the hedges,
than when cultivated in the fairy gardens
of the mandarins.

" In England, it is probable thai it will be
nearly hardy ; but I advise the possessor of
it, in the first place, to keep it in the green-
house until its constitution is proved. It is
a free growing bush, and is easily in-
creased by cuttings or layers."

We are happy to be able to add to the
foregoing, that this new shrub has proved
perfectly hardy in the United States, in
this latitude. The specimen from which
our sketch, fig. 61, was made, was taken
from a plant in the nurseries of our neigh-
bors, Messrs. A. Saul & Co., of Newburgh,
N. Y. This specimen was planted last

season in the open border, in a cold and
exposed site, where it remained during the
past winter, exposed to 10^ helow the zero
of Fahrenheit, — an unusually low tempe-
rature. Notwithstanding this, it was found
quite uninjured this spring, and was among-
the earliest shrubs to open its blossoms,
which began to expand directly after the
Mezereon, and remained in bloom the whole
month of April. When the flowers first
expand the shrub is leafless ; but before
they fall, the l^ves commence unfolding.
The great number of these bright yellow
flowers, and their cheerful as well as beau~
tifiil aspect at tha^ early season, will soon
render the Forsythiia a very popular hardy
shrub.

We will rnention, also, that the stems
are green, the leaves oblong,, and emit a
slight balsamic odor; and the foliage ha^
a very rich effect in the shrubbery.

NOTICE OP THE PRUNE D'AGEN.

J. W. KNEVELS, FISHKILL LANDING, N. V *

The Agen Date Prune is also known as
the Rohe de Serge7it, Prune d'Ante,1 (d'Astt,
of the London Hort. Society's Catalogue,)
St. Maurin, and de BignoUes of some. It
has been cultivated in the south of France
from time immemorial ; and our author
thinks it almost inconceivable that so va-
luable and hardy a tree should have been
so little known or cultivated beyond its own
immediate district ; (in the department Lot

* From a paper by M. Tourres de Machetaux, in the An-
nates de Fromunt.

t The Prunes of Agen, which are considered the best in
France, and are a good article of exportation, are termed
"Entes," from ente, a graft — Malie Btun. (PRmivBl?.* prii-
tion)

-Mulle Brun-, (Percival!s edi-

t The Prune d'Ast is not the same as that of Agen; for
which, see Prince's Pom. Man'l, and the authorities quoted
bjrhim.

et Gaironne, of which Agen, on the latter
river, is the capital.)

He assures us, further, that it is entirely-
indifferent to the quality of the soil in which
it is planted, and bears abundantly in all
exposures ; " an intimate eomp>anion of the
vine, they unite in decorating the precipi-
tous slopes of the calcareous legions, the
sandy plains, exposed to the north winds ;
the court and grounds of the wealthy, as
well as the contracted limits of the cottage
garden.*'

" It may be said that wherever the vine
grows, the Prune d'Agen will succeed.'*

" As to the transplantation of this tree
into a more rigorous climate than ours» the

THE PRUNE D'AGEN.

565

question has been already resolved. The
mountains of Auvergne, some valleys in
the Pyrrenees, several places in the ' Lan-
des' — localities differing in themselves,
but all cold, and where grapes scarcely
ripen, exhibit this tree in successful culti-
vation."

*' It is already cultivated largely in the
United States. One o{ my neighbors, a
nurseryman, sent out to one person in Phila-
delphia all his remaining stock of this
plant, which was quite large."

And again, he says, " I am informed by
a countryman, living in the vicinity of
New-York, to whom we had sent out a
parcel of about one hundred of this tree, in
1822, that they succeeded perfectly, and
were beginning to bear in abundance.*
(1832.) During the severe winter of 1829
and '30, almost all our apricots were killed,
together with a great number of other fruit
trees ; but the Robe de Sergent, on its own
stock, whether old or young, did not suf-
fer at all, but bore fruit as usual the en-
suing season. On the contrary, however,
grafted trees of this variety were much in-
jured."

" The fruit is oval, compressed, {aplate,)
divided by a longitudinal suture on one
side. Its colour is a violet red, more or
less vivid on the sunny side ; the peduncle
is from five to ten lines in length, (rather
vague.) It begins ripening about the end
of July. The leaves are lanceolate, some-
times curled at the edges ; the colour a
pale green, and the petioles are, when
grooving, sometimes tinged with red."
■ In Prince's Pom. Man'l, it is said — " the
skin is purple, approaching to black ; the
stone is very flat, and rather smooth. This

* It would certainly be interestinpr to find out what has
become of the importation here specified; and we hope if
the gentlemen here referred to should see this number of
the Horticulturist, that they will communicate the result of
these important experiments, giving us a de-cription of tlie
tree, and its fruit, its quality, hardiuess, use, and any other
interesting details.

plum is often confounded with the Royal
de Tours, but may be readily distinguished
by its darker colour, and by its stone being
more flattened. It ripens about the mid-
dle of July."

Mr. Downing, in his book of Fruits,
mentions it in the following terms, which
does not agree with Mr. Prince's descrip-
tion: "A French prune of good quality,
(L. H. S., Col. No. 1,) chiefly used for prunes
or preserving. Branches smooth ; leaves
narrow; fruit of medium size ; skin purple,
with a blue bloom ; stalk short ; flesh
greenish yellow, sweet. It is a freestone,
and makes excellent prunes. It ripens
Iwe in September, and bears prodigious
crops."

Liegel, (the German pomologist,) in his
Introduction, speaks of the Prune d'Agen
as a handsome variety of the Red Egg
plum, (not the Red Imperial,) having the
same habit, ripening at the same time, —
end of August, and of about equal value.
He adds, — " Some of the fruit are a little
more projecting at the stem, which is also
observable in the stone. Generally, they
are strikingly large, and a little larger
than their parent, the Red Magnum Bo-
num." In his " Survey of Plums," with-
out referring to this description in his for-
mer work, above quoted, and without giving
the synonym Pr. d'Agen, he describes the
Kobe de Sergent as a mediian, large, oblate
shaped plum, of very good flavor, &c. &c.
These discrepancies lead one to believe
that the same plum was not intended by
these writers, and that the Robe de Sergent
is not (always) used as synonymous with
the Prune d'Agen.

" The fruitfulness of this tree," Mr,
TouBRES continues, " is extraordinary; one
of our friends and a neighbor, M. BouR-
DEY Beaulieu, of MoNCLATT, has One of
these trees, a large and superb specimen,

566

THE PRUNE D'AGEN.

from which he has obtained 105 livres of
dried fruit; (52^ kilograms, or about 115
lbs. avoirdupois ;) and another individual,
in the environs of Machetaux, sold, last
year, (1832,) 750 francs' worth of dried
prunes, — the produce of a space of about
the fourth of an hectare ; (rather more than
half an acre.)

Our author recommends, from his own
experience, that this tree should be propa-
gated by offsets from the roots, — a method
generally adopted in its own district; as-
serting that grafts are not lasting, worked
upon the peach or almond stocks ; it thrives
for a time, and makes great shoots for
several years, but after that, languishes and
dies.

As to the process of making the prunes,
they are placed on hurdles made of straw
or weeds, raised two or three feet from the
ground, and are left there to wilt for about
48 hours, when they are shifted to other
hurdles, and put into an oven, the heat of
which is but a third of that required for
bread. The mouth of the oven is closed
with damp straw. This operation having
been repeated thrice, the fruit is ready for
consumption or sale. Those to be used in
the house are stored away in rather a dry
than damp quarter ; and those to be sent
abroad are packed in boxes of proper size,
lined with brown paper. A leaf or two of
the Bay tree put into each box, gives the
fruit an agreeable perfume.

M. TouKRES concludes, by remarking,
that if the inhabitants of Provence pride
themselves upon the possession of the " Tree
of Minerva," (the Olive,) his district has a
great reason for glorying in the possession
of this finest of prunes. He also declares
that if the author of the Essay upon the

Statistics of Provence, (to be quoted direct-
ly,) had ever tasted their first rate prunes,
(" de nos belles primes de premie choix,") he
would have taken good care not to compare
with them the prunes of Brignolles. From
the last mentioned essay, — " Statistique
Horticole de Provence," suffer me to ex-
tract from the article on the plum tree the
following : "The cultivation of plum trees
was more attended to than that of any
other fruit tree in other countries, princi-
pally on account of the trade carried on in
prunes, dried in the sun, and known as the
'Pruneaux de Pistoles.'" "The Prunes
of Brignolles," (a small town of Provence,)
deserved their celebrity ; but at the present
moment, it has lost its former plum planta-
tion. The prunes, now sold as such, come
from the environs of Digne, especially from
Estoublon. They are packed in boxes,
covered with a paper, stamped with the arms
and cypher of Brignolles. These prunes
are superior in quality to those of Tours,
and even to those of Agen, but still are not
equal to those of the district whose name
they have assumed, where, however, a
few plum trees are still left, justifying
their title to the distinction they have ac-
quired."

My apology for this long and, perhaps,
tedious article, must be the conviction I
feel, that in our every year increasing fruit
tree cultivation, the making of prunes wilj
become an important branch of our horti?
culture, especially in this district of coun-
try, where the plum succeeds so well, and
under our serene and resplendent autumn
skies, which almost supersede the neces-
sity of artificial furnaces.

J. W. Kneyels.

Fishkill Landing, N. Y , May, 1843.

A NOTICE OF THE CHANCELLOR FEAH.

BY DR WM. D- BRINCKLE, PHILADELPHIA.

CHANCELLOR.
Green''s Germantowii , )
Early St. Germain, } Synonyms.

This fine large autumn pear was exhi-
bited at the annual exhibition of the
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, in
September, 1848, by Samuel R. Sim-
mons, Esq., one of our most prominent
amateur horticulturists. The fruit was
procured from a grafted tree, in the
possession of Mr. Joseph Green, of Ger-
mantown. The graft was obtained ten
or twelve years ago by Mr. Green from
a tree on the premises of Wharton
Chancellor, Esq., on School-House
Lane, near Germantown.

From a close examination of the tree,
tit Mr. Chancellor's, as well as from
the testimony of persons who have long
resided in that vicinity, there can scarce-
ly be a doubt that it has never been
worked, and that it has stood in its pre-
sent location upwards of fifty years. It
is therefore, in all probability, a native
Pennsylvania variety ; and we are under
great obligations to Mr. Green and Mr.
Simmons for bringing it into notice.

The original tree stands in a circular
enclosure of beautiful evergreens. A foot
above the ground, it is four feet nine inches
in circumference ; but its height is not pro-
portionate to the size of the trunk. The
branches grow somewhat horizontally ; the
young wood is slender, and of a yellowish
brown colour ; leaf lanceolate. The tree
has a healthy appearance, and is said to be
an abundant bearer.

Fig- e2.— Chancellor Fear.

Fruit large, nearly four inches long by
three in width ; form obovate, or obovale-
pyriform ; skin green, covered with minute
brown specks, and some russet blotchee,
with occasionally, though rarely, a faint
speckled brown cheek ; stem one inch long,
rather thick, and inserted in a small irre-
gular cavity, sometimes elevated on one
side ; calyx small, set in a contracted ba-
sin ; core medium ; seed long, yellovrish
brown; flesh very melting; flavor rich, and
exceedingly agreeable. Ripo last of Sep-
tember. W. D. B.

TIMELTT HINTS ON DESTROYING INSECTS.

With all the luxuriance of spring vegeta-
tion, and all the vigor of early summer
growth, comes the army of countless
thousands of insects, with which the gar-
dener has to contend.

This is often a drawback so serious, that
the inexperienced aniateur who, resting on
his hopes and the promise of fruition, which
nature holds out, is bitterly disappointed
to find that just in the midst of this fair
promise, the insect army attacks him, and,
if it does not completely put him to rout,
at feast vexes him Tery seriously in all his
oi^tposts, and not unfrequently lays his
cQuntry under ve)ry heavy contribution.
: Curculios, rose-bugs, rose-slugs, aphides
of every hue, borers, caterpillars, — these
are a few of the names of the principal
regiments of the allied array of attack.

We have nothing new to ofifer regarding
the two first, which have been pretty libe-
rally discussed iu our columns already.
The only effectual way of raising stone-
fruit, on a large scale, in curculio districts,
is to plant the trees in a quarter by them-
selres, where pigs and chickens, having
the run of the ground beneath them, may
keep them (the insects) down. For a
wJbolesale mode of destroying the rose
bug, the pest of light soils, we are yet in
the dark ; the usual way, of handpicking
aad scalding to death, being that practiced
by. all skilful growers as yet.

"Kut wlule these insects are in a great
degree local, the aphides, (or plant lice,)
'and the rose slug, are becoming general
depredators, and must have especial at-
I'erition at this season of the year, or they.
will suck the juices out of the young
growth, and destroy the beauty and value
of the garden.

Our own favorite remedy against these,
(and a large part of the regular army be-
sides,) is tobacco water. Every good gar-
dener, and every amateur, should have a
few gallons of it at hand at this season,
and should use it the moment they per-
ceive the attack of the insects commen-
cing. After trying many remedies, we
find this the most unfailing in its effects.

But tobacco water, like gunpowder, must
be used with caution. Though perfectly
harmless to plants if used in -a diluted
form, yet it may be made so strong as to
injure or partially destroy the foliage. Ix
is impossible to lay down any precise rule
for the novice, unless we say that water
should he added till it is brought to the
colour of weak black tea. A better mode
is to try a little on the foliage of the plant
infested. If, tAventy-four hours after ap-
plication, the foliage is entirely uninjured,
but the insects destroyed, then continue
the dose on a larger scale. If it is too
strong, of course dilute it, and try again.
This little trial is the more necessary, for,
while some plants and some insects will
bear a strong decoction of tobacco water
with impunity, others are injured by a
much weaker dilution.*

A syringe affords the easiest and best
mode of applying the tobacco water; and
towards evening, or very early in the
morning, is the best time of applying it.
When only the ends of small trees or
plants, which are standing in rows are
infested, a dash from a small broom or
white-wash brush will answer the purpose.
In the case of delicate plants, roses, small

* The tobacco liquor, or juice, to be had always in quan-
tity at the tobacconists, is tlie easiest and best form in which
to get this fluid It will usually require the addition of two-
thirds water before using it. Those who cannot get thia,
may boil tobacco stalks till a strong decoction is made.

DESTROYING INSECTS,

569

flowers, etc., a plentifal sprinkling of clean
Water over the foliage, eight or ten hours
after applying the tobacco water, will be
of service ; but it is not necessary for more
sturdy trees or plants.

The rose slug — that very small, slimy
worm, — which makes its appearance about
the first of this month, on the under side of
the rose leaves, and frequently so devours
them as to wholly destroy the beauty of
the plant, may be effectually killed by syr-
inffinii- the under side of the leaves with
tobacco water in the evening. It should,
to be effectual, be done twice, — once at
the first appearance of the insect, while the
roses are yet in bud, and once a few days
afterward, so as to catch any second rein-
forcement that may have escaped the first
dose.

Mr. Haggerston's mixture of whale-oil
soap and Avater, (two lbs. of the soap to fif-
teen gallons of water,) is also a well known
und equally efficacious remedy against the
rose slug, and a host of other small in-
sects.

Just at this moment, too, the borer, which
■attacks the trunks of the apple and other
fruit trees, as well as that which punctures
the ash, is flying about, depositing their
eggs in the bark of the trees. Lose no
time, therefore, in defending such trees as
are most precious, and most open to as-
-sault, by washing the trunks over with a
mixture of soft soap and strong tobacco
water, made just thin enough to be ap-
plied easily with a brush.

Caterpillar nests must be taken off by
hand early in the morning, while the dew
is on them, and the insects at home, and
crushed under foot. A little timely atten-
tion with these pests will save a vast deal
of after trouble ; as the inhabitants of a
single nest, if left in quiet possession for a
fortnight, will have grown strong enough

to attack a whole orchard, and carrj' it by
storm.

If you find the insect army is fairly down
upon you, do not lose your temper, b\u
keep cool, and go quietly and regularly to
the attack. Devote half an hour or an
hour every morning regularly, and he will
soon be forced to yield to your systematic
warfare, especially if you give him a libe-
ral allowance of tobacco water,

Posfsaipt. We find the following mode
of destroying the little green fly insect?,
given by Professor Lindley ; and, as it
is neater than tobacco water, it will no
doubt be patronised by many of our ama-
teur readers. :

" Elsewhere will be found various re-
ceipts for the destruction of the aphides,
which are swarming in our gardens. The
efficacy of each receipt is vouched for by
its advocates, and, we doubt not, in all
cases truly. Tobacco water, tobacco dust,
soap-suds, and gas water, all have their
admirers. We patronize smelling salts.

" We doubt not, however, that complaints
may, and will come, of the inability of all
these applications. People fancy that it is
enough to throw or trundle the fluid over
the infected bushes, once for all, and the
thing is done. They forget that no appli-
cation whatever can reach the insects that
lurk in the folds of the leaves ; that others
will be misspd even on the surface ; and
that these creatures multiply at a rate
somewhat greater than even the popula-
tion of London. Thousands and tens of
thousands may be destroyed to-night, and
to-morrow others fall into the rai.ks, and
recruit the legions.

" One or two applicaiions of any sort
can be prodticlive of little relief. They
must be frequently repeated, and skilfully,
by sharp and qi/ick expulsions from a fine
rosed syringe. If thai is done, we gaaxaxi-

670

HEALTH AND LONGEVITY OF FRUIT TREES.

tee the riddance of the pest by means of
carbonate of ammonia ; for we have re-
moved it ourselves within the week.

" As to the proportion of carbonate of
ammonia, Csmelling salts,) which it is ex-
pedient to use, that depends upon its qua-
lity. If bought fresh of the wholesale
chemist, half an ounce to a quart of water is

enough ; but it is often much weaker, when
the proportion of the salt must be larger.
" It has the great merit of being dean
and cffec/ual ; besides which, it improves
the health of the foliage very much. All
the other washes, although they be as
powerful, are dirty, and, therefore, objec-
tionable in flower gardens,"

**«>»> —

HEALTH AND LONGEVITY OF FRUIT TREES.

BY DR ESHLEMAN, DOWNINGTOWN, PA.

It is now almost universally admitted, that
seedling trees retain their health and vigor
longer than those produced by the various
modes of propagation. It is therefore natu-
ral to inquire, why it is so. If the age of
the tree whence the scions were obtained,
(running out of varieties,) is assigned, we
naturally answer, the original seedling still
stands in green old age, while numbers of
its engrafted progeny have passed into the
" sere and yellow leaf." The stock exerts
an influence upon the scion, and if it be
diseased, the duration of the tree will be
diminished. This is satisfactory, so far as
it goes ; but we are writing about healthy
stocks. Both may be healthy, but their
vascular system, or their whole organiza-
tion differs, and consequently, there is some
impediment to the free circulation of the
fluids, and disease follows. It is barely pos-
sible, that this cause should produce a con-
stitu'.ional taint, which should operate so
slowly as only to show its effects in twenty
or thirty years. But vascular structure and
aestivation, are better tests of varieties, than
difference of size and general external con-
figuration ; and the fact of a scion growing
well upon a stock, is demonstrative evidence
of similarity of structure, — at least not dif-

ferent enough to be a common cause of
disease.

Is there not reason to believe, that a more
fertile cause than all these, may be found
in the usual clumsy mode of propagation ?
Some insert their scions on pieces of roots
in the cleft manner, Avithout regard to the
thickness of either : others transplant their
seedlings, removing some of the roots, al-
low them to grow one or more years, and
cleft graft near the surface of the earth :
and yet others, prefer budding their trans-
planted seedlings. Who cannot perceive,
that in either case, great injury is done the
stalk. Especially is the second objection-
able, if the seedling have made a vigorous
growth and attained the size of one-half
or three-quarter inches in diameter. Ex-
cision, cleaving and inserting a scion one-
eighth or one-twelfth that size, must pro-
duce more injury and exposed surface, than
its vital energy can ever repair, and all the
wax and shellac solution cannot prevent it.

If in connection with the foregoing, we
take into account the beautiful theory of
Prof. Turner, of the vitality of that part
of the tree upon which this mutilation is
generally inflicted, is it not strange, that
trees after having repaired, in a measure,

HEALTH AND LONGEVITY OF FRUIT TREES.

571

these injuries, shou'd live so long? What
would be thought of the skill of a surgeon,
who in performing an operation, should
leave exposed fifteen-sixteenths of a cut
surface to heal by the natural method of
granulation and cicatrization ? Would not
such practice, from its want of success, and
constitutional effect upon the patient, de-
serve contempt ? And should not a si ;,ilar
practice in vegetable operations, when at-
tended by similar results, and loss to pur-
chasers of such mulilaled stumps, meet
with equal reprobation ? And yet stocks
one inch in diameter, four feet from the
ground, have been at that point cut off",
cleft, a small scion inserted, which grew
eight or ten inches, and the ensuing antumn
sent out by the " proprietors of nurseries
at Flushing," at the very i::oderate price of
thirt3'-seven dollars per hundred.

A muchbetter method than these — though
less expeditious, and consequently less popu-
lar, because we like to grow potatoes, yea !
and apples too, as well as talk by electricity
— would be to select good seedling stocks,
scions of the same size, uniting them in
the splice or whip method,* or rather a
combination of the two ; apply some melt-
ed wax,t and it is done ; or wrap them
tightly with some destructible substance.
If the union is to be under ground, apply
no wax, as it will prevent the decay of said
substance, and make a defect. Trees en-
grafted carefully in this manner, after two
years' growth may be cut in thin longitudi-
nal slices, without detecting where the
union was effected.

If the whole theory of Prof. Turner be
correct, mine is of less importance, but it is
probable that the age of varieties, and

• See Fruit and Fruit Trees of America, p 15-16.
t lb. p. 19.

whether a scion or single bud be used, has
less to do with the premature decay of
trees, than the manner of insertion and
future treatment. When the bud grows,
the main stalk is cut off above, and is a
cause of disease in proportion to its thick-
ness and the length of time required to
" grow over." But even after this partial
reparation has taken place, who cannot see
that the ascending juices here meet an im-
pediment, and are required to adopt a new
course, and long before air, moisture and
heat have ceased to operate directly upon
this offending foreign substance, decom-
position has commenced, and consequent-
ly deterioration of a portion of the ascend-
ing juices, carrying disease through every
branch? Nor does it follow, because this
diseased condition does not sooner manifest
itself, that therefore it cannot thus be pro-
duced. Who does not know, that by dry-
ing, the destructibility of wood is diminish-
ed, but not prevented? Hence the greater
durability of the tree with hard wood, if
the cut surfaces have been carefully cover-
ed. Does not the premature decay of
peach trees, even when not affected with
the " yellows," confirm this theory ? Let
the doubter examine his budded trees at
the place [of union, even after five years
apparent healthy growth.

These reflections have been suggested
by the examination of a number of trees
felled in two orchards during the past
autumn and winter. In one the trees were
all seedlings, and by their concentric circles
indicate fifty year§' growth, perfectly sound
to the centre ; the others, grafted trees,
about twenty years planted, and invariably
decayed at the centre, near the earth.

J. K. EsHLEMAN, M. D.
Lovningtovm,. Pa., May, 1849.

§:2

THE MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, &c.

REVIEWS.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE O.V THE MANAGEMENT OF

Fruit Trees, ada^itud to the interior of New-
England. By George Jaques. Worcester,
184D.

No better proof is needed of the increas-
ing taste for horticulture, than the produc-
tion of little volumes like this, int-jnded for
particular districts of country ; for it is suf-
ficiently evident that if fruit trees were not
now pi'ttty extensively planted and grown
in the " interior of New-England," neither
authors nor publishers would be tempted to
produce works thus adapted to especial
localities.

Every one, however, who is conversant
with fruit tree culture, knows that while
there are many truths of universal applica-
tion, there are also many others which have
a purely local value ; and hence the utility
of works of this character.

Mr. Jaques has, we think, peformed his
task well, and aiming only to produce a
useful manual for the New-England fruit-
growers, has collected many valuable facts
and arranged the whole so as to convey the
largest amount of instruction. We recog-
nize in the early chapters of the work the
same arrangement as in our own larger
volume on this subject, and a somewhat
similar treatise. But this is probably owing
to the difficulty of going over the same
ground with the appearance of freshness.

There is a very good chapter on the
" orchard business," which the author thinks
a capital investment of money for the land-
holder ; and another on the ' ' nursery busi-
ness," which he thinks usually a poor one,
closing his remarks on this subject with the-
following paragraph :

"The nursery business requires very

much more skill than ordinary farming, and
its profits are far more uncertain. Upon the
whole, it is a much better avocation to
amuse a rich man's leisure than to replenish
a poor man's purse. The reader may rest
assured that there is no more satisfactory
way of arriving at a realizing sense of the
truth of this assertion, than to give the
business a thorough trial. For ourselves,
we confess that we have fairly and clearly
' seen the elephant ' that eats up the profits
of raising or buying fruit trees for sale."

The descriptive lists of fruits in this
manual are small, for the best of reasons,
viz : that only a small number of unexcep-
tionable fruits can be safely recommended
for cultivation in any given locality, and
Mr. Jaques appears to have made his se-
lections wisely.

Altogether, this pocket volume of 256
pages, is highly creditable to the author,
and will we have no doubt be found a
very acceptable contribution to the horticul-
tural knowledge of the Eastern States di-
rectly and indirectly, for novices in fruit"
growing the whole country over.

The American Farm Book, or Compend of
American Agriculture. By R. L. Allen. Ne-w-
York, 1849.
This work was first published two years
ago, under the second portion of the above
title, and was so favorably received by the
public that it has undergone in the present
revised edition, considerable improvement,
and now makes its appearance under the
more popular name of the " American
Farm Book,"

Having commended it in very strong
terms in a former number of this journal,

FOREIGN NOTICES.

573

and the work being substantially the same,
there is no necessity of our repeating our
praises of the ability with which it is writ-
ten, in all that relates to agriculture.

The author, since that period, having re-
sided nearly the whole time at the Soulh,
has been able to add considerably to the
departments of the work relating to south-
ern agriculture, which cannot fail to in-
crease its value south of the Potomac.

We commend the volume to all those
who wish to improve themselves in the
science and art of cuFtivating a farm well
and wisely.

The Columbian Drawing Book, adapted from
sketches of the first inasters. By C. Kkrchel.
With directions for the use of the student. By
G. Wheeler. Hartford, 1849.

Every intelligent man who lives in the
country, whether he is a lover of nature
and art, and therefore desires to write down

fragments of her language of beauty, by
means of what artists call drawing, or
whether he is a mere creature of facts, and
therefore finds it useful to know how to copy
the plan of a house, or draw out the figure
of a plough, must equally have felt many
times in his life that the importance of
being able to represent the figure und ap-
pearance of things by the proce s culled
drawing, is scarcely less valuable than that
of representing words or ideas by the pro-
cess called writing.

We are induced to recommend to such
persons the use of such works as the pre-
sent, by the aid of which, even without
any teacher, and only with a little patience
and industry, they may speedily be able to
achieve the very desirable result of being
able by a few strokes to perpetuate or pro-
duce all beautiful and useful forms at their
own pleasure.

FOREIGN NOTICES.

[From late letters of our foreign correspondent,
though not intended for publication, we venture
to extract some passages referring to English
places and English landscape gardening, which
cannot fail to interest many of our readers. Ed.]
Torquiiy, Devonshire, ^pril 12, 1849. — I send
you in this letter a vignette showing a front view
of Luscomb House, belonging to the Hon. Mr.

H , M'hich has pleased me as much as any

place I have seen yet, as the best part of it has
been made within fourteen years, and the trees
and shrubs are therefore of an intelligible age
to an American. * * » About fourteen
years ago, was planted the " American garden,"
(one of the most interesting features of this place,)
which the late Mr. Loudon, the year before his
death, said was the finest in England. The size
of the trees in this garden is truly remarkable for
their age. This portion, therefore, pleased me
the most; but before describing it, I will go back
a moment to the house. In the vignette you see
about half of the house. In addition to the part
upon the left, come the stables, and a beautiful
dairy, all in conection. The house itself stands
in a long, narrow valley, witb a hill rising in

front, well planted with groups and masses of
trees, and stretching away three hundred acres,
either side, from the house. The hill-side, whicli
rises immediately in the rear, is planted in a
dense mass of Rhododendrons, for more than half
a mile long, and about four hundred feet wide.
(You may imagine the cflect when in bloom.)
Above this comes a strip of lawn, about the samo
lengtli and twice the breadth of the Rhoiloden-
dron bank, surrounded by gravel walks, and
planted in clumps, masses and single trees, with
every species of rare foreign and American ever-
greens. Above this again, a dense, picturesque
hedge of holly, laurel and Rhododendron, shuts out
the American garden from one of the park roads.
All the sod was laid, and everj' tree and shrub
planted in 1835, except one clump of nine cedars
of Lebanon, planted in 1804, — the finest and most
finished specimens, for their years, I have seen.

I will now mention the trees, or some of them,
that you may compare them in growth with simi-
lar varieties, or in fact, any varieties planted in
an equal number of years, in the United States.
In the first place, the deciduous Cypress, and
thrco or four magnolias, are the only deciduous

674

FOREIGN NOTICES.

trees, — everything else being evergreen ; conse-
quently, this gai-den is as fine in winter as in sum-
mer. Passing by some immense masses of all
our own, and the best English Rhododendrons —
twelve or fourteen feet high — all our magnolias,
laurels, azaleas, etc., the following plants struck
me, and I noted them and their si/e down:

Rhododendron Smithii, twelve feet high, (one
mass of bloom) ; and a very fine new white va-
riety, equally gorgeous, eight feet.

Juniperus pondula, twelve feet, beautifully
graceful.

Araucaria imbricata, thii-teen feet, — said to be
the finest specimen but one, in England.

Abies douglassii, twenty-five feet, — very fine.

eephalonica, do. do.

Cedrus deadora, twenty feet, — beautiful.

Erica arborea, twelve feet, — in bloom.

Bcrbens asiatica, eight feet

Rhamnus latifolia, eight feet, — from the Azores.

Photenia scrriilata, six feet, — China — beautiful.

Thea viridis, (green tea,) seven feet, — China.

Ligustrum lueidum, five feet.

Some of the above have only been planted about
five years. These trees wore all perfect in shape
and colour, and most luxuriant in their growth.

Near the house, among other rare trees, were:

Quercus cervis, thirty feet.

peduneulata, fourteen feet.

oBgilops, (from Greece,) nine feet.

At an angle of the porch, (in the vignette,)
you will observe a plant; this is a double red
camelia, which was in flower, and which, as well
as the Thea viridis, or green tea of China, stands
rhe mild winter of this part of England without
the least protection. The larger tree beyond,
near the next angle, with a drooping head, is a
Deodar cedar, nineteen feet high, — not quite as
long as the one in the American garden.

The lawns are mown and swept every week.
The park is fed (i. e., the grass kept short,) by
deer and sheep. Reyond, and behind the Ameri-
can garden, commence the farm lands, of some
thirteen hundred acres, divided by iron fences
and beautiful hedges, into lots of two, three, ten
and fifteen acres, all in the most perfect order.
All the farm roads are Macadamized, with raised
gravel foot-paths on one side, and are over ten
miles in length. All the gates are opened by one
key, as also ail the ditterent park gates, where
there are no lodges. The laborers' houses are
charming; stowed away, every half mile or so, in
some cozy recess of the park, or some snug little
valley of the farm, and made picturesque by
tliateh, ivy, vines and rustic work. No muddy,
poached cow-path leads from cottage to cottage,
but a nicely gravelled and well edged path; and
as you walk or drive by, the pretty, ruddy chil-
dren, and their tidy, honest looking mother, come
to the door to give you a curtsy or a bow.

The vegetable gardens, which lie some distance
from the hall, consist of four acres, surrounded
by a brick wall ten feet high, and divided by cross-

walks of brick into four other gardens, of one
acre each. Nothing can exceed the order and
keeping here. Along the walks of red gravel,
(with a delicate little, pebbly, paved gutter on
each side,) were pears and apples, root-pruned,
and not over ten feet high, — but the walls were
covered with very fine espaliers, — peach, plum,
fig, apricot,* all in bloom, protected by nets,
which were kept off from the blossom by iron
hooks.

There were three vineries and two pineries.
The vineries containing eighteen varieties of
grapes, selected from one hundred sorts which had
been tested. The gardener told me his favorite
grapes were Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alex-
andria, the three Frontignans, Black St. Peters,
the Syrian, and the White Nice. The Syrian,
when well grown, with sufficient heat, he thought
one of the finest. The two last named sorts he
grew to be eight pounds the cluster, and the
Black Hamburgh to six pounds. He gets ripe
grapes for eight months, and this year he antici-
pates having them for ten months.

These forcing-houses, gardens, lawn and Ameri-
can garden, with a small flower garden near the
house, are kept up (and Luscorab House has the
reputation of being the best kept place in Eng-
land) by a gardener and four under-gardeners,
with eight men every morning for two hours be-
fore breakfast; — the latter being afterwards sent
into the plantations and farm.

I am glad to be able to add to this feature, that
the owner of this fine seat is universally beloved
here. All the surplus of the place, milk, fruit
and vegetables, besides £10,000 or £12,000,
($.50, to $60,000,) are annually given to the poor.
Every one in distress comes to Luscomb House,
and no one goes away without sympathy or relief.

Torquay is the wintering place of the English
consumptives, instead of Italy, and it is a thou-
sand times preferable in climate. The myrtle,
oleander, geranium, fuchsia, &c., stand the winter
here without protection.

From Luscomb we drove three miles to Main-
head, the seat of Sir Robert Newman, who ex-
pended from £80,000 to £90,000 upon his house !
and whose park, for combination of land and sea
view, with the river Exe, is unequalled in Eng-
land. I have never, in all my experience in Eng-
land, had my ideas of park scenery and park
trees more entirely satisfied. From the front of
the house, which stands on a terrace with a
pretty flower garden on one side, you look over a
rolling, undulating park, some six miles of glade,
and hill, single trees and masses of wood, to the
river Exe, and the sea. This park is filled with
sheep and cattle, as the trees round the house are
with rooks, who, regarding us perhaps as intru-
ders from a rival country and republic, across the
seas, kept up the most exaggerated cawing.

* Which were washed wth a composition of lime potash,
&.C , and tlicn re-washed with lamp black, to make their
colour agreeable to the eye. .

FOREIGN NOTICES.

575

To an American, the rooks are, in their domesti-
city, a most novel and interesting sight, especially
when waddling about in the park, among the
sheep, and riding on their backs. Here, at Main-
head, the cawing of the rooks, and the bloating
of the lambs, all over the hill-sides and valleys,
fill the air with the most delightfully varied
sounds.

The great features of this place, after the park,
arc the stables, — an immense pile of red stone,
built in imitation of a castle in Cumberland,
(which is in very bad taste. Ed.,) partly hid with
ivy, and producing a wonderfully hne elTect, and
a most charming old church in the park, covered
with ivy, and shaded on one side by a very fine
cedar of Lebanon, and on the other by a yew,
the trunk of which, at the base, is forty-eight feet
in circumference !

Near, or rather in the rear of the house, is a
hill, covered by magnificent cedars of Lebanon.

Chichester, Sussex, April 19, 1849. — My last to
you was from Torquay, which we left on the lltli,
and have since been to Teignmouth, Exmouth,
and Exeter, where we managed to get outside
places upon one of the few mail coaches left in
England, — which, in the style and manner of the
coachman, the perfection of the carriage, and the
blood and grooming of the horses, quite equals,
if it does not surpass, my expectations. We drove
on this coach to Axminister, thirty-one miles, in
two hours and forty-eight minutes, — changing
three times. The coachman never once undoing
his whip, which he carried with the lash in a long
loop.

Axminster being forty miles from any rail, is
now seldom visited, and comes among Howitt's
Nooks and Corners of England. You cant ima-
gine anything more old-stage-coachy tiian our inn,
'' The George," with its inn-yard, into which we
drove ; the kitchen, with its great settle before the
fire, and its range of bright pewter pots; the
chambers, as usual, redolent with diviity, — bed
and window curtains, toilet, etc., dimity, dimity.
When we walked through the town, there did not
seem to be over 30 people in it, — the old men in
small clothes, — the old women in their mob-caps;
none under 80 ; no children ; for all the people
looked as if they were born old. Our tea at the
old inn corresponded to our idea of its cleanliness.
A snug little parlor, curtains drawn — a bright
kettle hissing on a brighter fire — the nicest of
muffins, and the most extraordinary of rump
steaks !

The next morning we posted again to Dorches-
ter, where, taking the rail, we returned to South-
hampton, passing through some 20 miles of the
southern portion of the new forest, disturbing
many herds of deer.

The succeeding day we took the steamer, and
in one and a quarter hours we were at Cowes,
where we lunched, anJ, taking post horses, we
passed, on our route, Osborne House, the marine
residence of Her Majesty, — not particularly inte-

resting, and in a very disturbed state, from tho
process of converting some 300 acres of farm
land into park. Most of the plantations were
made during the winter and this spring, and were,
therefore, extremely like our improvements at
home. Every single tree, and ever clump were
protected by a circle of stakes, or wooden hur-
dles. And here let me remark, I have been very
much surprised in England, at the smallness of
the lawns. Even in many parks, several miles
in circumference, the mown lawn is not really
much larger than yours. I have seen many a
mansion, tlie front of which would extend 150
or 200 feet, with the same sized lawn as yours.
Outside of this comes a wire or hurdle fence, and
then a park of 50, 100, or 1000 acres. All this
park is kept short by deer, sheep and cows. The
division between tlie park and the lawn, immedi-
ately around the house, is by an iron fence; but
all the clumps, masses, imdergrowth, and small
trees, are invarialily surrounded by wooden hur-
dles or palings — in some instances higher than
the trees they enclose.

We made a circuit of the Isle of Wight, which
is England in miniature, in four days, — visiting
every town, and, I believe, every place. We
passed many quaint old places ; that which pleased
us most was Northcourt, belonging to Sir Wil-
LOUGHBY Gordon, a fine old mansion, built in tho
reign of James 1st, with the date 1615 on the
shield over the door. It was built of gray stone,
and is now much covered with moss and ivy. The
house is in the pointed style, and stands upon a
raised bowling-green, or terrace, of exquisite turf,
which the old gardener, who had lived here 48
years, said he presumed had been laid the year
the house was built, and never broken up since.
It was mown once a week, and was nearly all a
fine moss and grass — as fine as the hair of one's
head.

On one side of the house are quaint old " hang-
ing gardens," with walks or avenues of Yews,
210 years old, finely terraced, with gray stone
balustrades, and also with some peculiar terraces
of grass, — their corners rounded so as to permit
the turf walk to go over them.

The gardens were only an acre and a half,
walled, but filled with curious old espaliers of ap-
ples and pears. One of these trained trees — a
Ribston Pippin — extended 56/ee<,and was plant-
ed by the old gardener in 1800. This tree was
only three feet high, trained with only three
branches on each side, that almost met; so hard
had they been spurred. The estate is 2000 acres;
but the park only 15 acres, — with majestic oaks,
running back up a hill till lost to sight. On one
side of the house is the finest Larch I remember
to have seen ; and on the other, a Norway Spruce.
The homeish little park, separated from the strip
of lawn by the invariable wire fence, was alive
with sheep and rooks. Take it all in all, the lat-
ter, from its size and snugness, pleased me hugely.

This afternoon we have been to Goodwood, tho

576

FOREIGN NOTICES.

Duke of Richmond's; a place that has disap-
pointed me. The park is immensely large, but
iiat, and though admirably planted and wooded,
yet it is terribly poached, and the woods are
weedy and out of order. Immediately adjoining
the house is a sort of hay-scale, and some of the
plantations and offices are protected from cattle
by the most seedy, post-and-single rail fence.
The house is an immense pile of building, 378 ft.
front; and the whole place, though the family
were at home, indicated a carelessness which, in
a place of its magnificence, and considering the
wealth of the Duke, is unpardonable. From the
bouse there were no views, except of extensive
plains through large groups of oaks and beeches,
and some fine Cedars of Lebanon. In the most
distant parts of the park there are some fine
views; but these parts are as wild as an Ameri-
can forest. The house is built of flint stones,
about the size of your hand, and, at a little dis-
tance, the walls look as if built of oyster shells.
Yours sincerely, H. W. S.

Culture of Dwarf Cherries. — The follow-
ing notice of the culture of the cherry, as dwarf
bushes on the Mahaleb, (Cerasus Mahaleb,) is
from Rivers' Miniature Fruit Garden :

This stock has been long known in our shrub-
beries as the " Perfumed Cherry;" its wood, when
burned, emits a most agreeable perfume. In
France it is called " Bois de St. Lucie," and has
been there used for dwarf cherries for very many
years; why it has not been employed by English
nurserymen I cannot tell. My attention was called
to it in France, some ten or twelve years ago,
since which I have used it extensively, annually
increasing my culture. Its great recommendation
is, that cherries, grafted on it, will flourisli in soils
unfavorable to them on the common cherry stock,
such as strong white clay, or soils with a chalky
subsoil. Although the trees grow most vigor-
ously the first two or three seasons, yet after that
period, and especially if root-pruned, they form
dwarf, prolific bushes, so as easily to be covered
with a net, or what is better, muslin, or bunting,
which protects the fruit more effectually from
birds and wasps, thus giving us, what is certainly
most rare, cherries fully ripe, and prolonging
their season till the end of September. The trees
may also be protected from spring frosts by the
same covering, or by woollen netting, which is
preferable, as it admits air to them while in blos-
som. These dwarf bushes may be planted from
five to six feet apart, and their branches pruned
so that seven, or nine, or more, come out from
the centre of the plant, like a well managed goose-
berry bush. These branches will, in May or June,
put forth, as in the horizontal shoots of pyramidal
pears, several shoots at their extremities, all of
which must be pinched off", to within three buds of
their base, leaving the leading shoots untouched
till the middle or end of August, when they must
be shortened to eight, or ten buds.

The Heart Cherries, and Bigarreaus, which ar»
more vigorous, may be left a trifle longer than the
Morello, or Duke Cherries, say twelve buds for
the former, and eight for the latter: if, however,
the space is confined in which they are planted,
this length may be reduced ; for, by root-pruning,
the trees may be kept exceedingly dwarf. The
end is to form the tree into a round bush, not too
much crowded with shoots. Towards the end of
September,* or, in fact, as soon as the antumnal
rains have sufficiently penetrated the soil, a trench
may be dug round the trees, exactly the same as
recommended for root-pruning of pears, the spade
introduced under the tree to cut all perpendicular
roots, and all the spreading roots shortened with
the knife, and brought to the surface, previously
filling in the trench with some light friable soil
for them to rest on, and spreading them regularly
round the tree, as near to the surface as possible;
then covering them with the soil (if not too tena-
cious,) that was taken out of the trench: no dung,
or manure of any kind is required, as this stock
seems to flourish in the poorest soils. Some short
litter, or half decayed leaves, will however be of
much benefit, placed on the surface round the
stem .

I have thus far given their culture for small
gardens ; but those who have more space may dis-
pense with root-pruning, and allow their cherry
trees to make large bushes, which may be planted
eight feet apart, and pinched regularly in the
summer, and managed as directed for root-pruned
trees.

I have a plant of the late Duke Cherry, now
ten years old ; it has never been root-pruned, and
yet is a small prolific tree, five feet in height, and
its branches the same in diameter. It will much
facilitate the operation on their roots if the trees
are placed on small mounds.

In forming plantations of dwarf cherries on the
Mahaleb stock, it is necessary to arrange them
with a little care. The three groups, those of
the habit of the Morello tribe, the Bigarreau
family, including the Heart Cherries, and tiiose of
the compact habit of the May Duke, should be
planted in separate rows.

The following arrangement will assist the
planter:

SECTION I.— The May Duke Tribe.

Arch duke X
May Duke X
Royal Duke X
Jeffrey's Duke X

Belle de Choisy

Cerise Iiidulle, or Early May

Donna Maria

SECTION II.— The Morello Tribe.

Carnation

Carnation, Coe's Late X

Kentish

Late Duke X

Griotte de Chaux

Morello X
Heine Hortense X
Louis Philippe X
Belle de Sceairs
Noir de prusse

* This early autunmal root-pruning: will he found very
advantageous. The flow of sap is checked, so that the
shoots are well ripened and the pruned roots soon emit freall
fibres to feed the tree the foUowtug' season.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

577

SECTION 111.

B1GARRE.A.U AND Heart Cherry Tribe.

Early Amber Heart

Elton

Florence

Holland Bigarreau (Downhiff)

Kniglit's Early Black X

Kniglit's Late ditto

Manning's Early White

Tradescanl's Black

Trempc Precoee

Werder's Early Black Heart

Banmann's May
Belle d'Orleans X
Bigarreau de Hildersheini
Bigarreau gros Cojiiret X
Bigarreau Napoleon X
Black Eagle X
Black Tartarian
Buttner's Black Heart
Buttner's Yellow
Downer's Late Red
Downton

Cherries planted on the Cerasus Mahaleb are
eminently adapted for espaliers, or for walls, as
they occupy less space, and are much more fertile.
They may be planted twelve feet apart, whereas
espaliers on the cherry stock, require to be planted
eighteen or twenty feet apart. To those, also,
who have no walls or fences, and who wish to
grow Morello cherries, the Morello on the Maha-
leb, will be of great advantage ; for the trees bear
most abundantly, and form most ornamental little
bushes. For potting, for forcing, cherries on this
stock are highly eligible, as they do not gum, and
are very prolific.

The following directions, as to the proper dis-
tance for planting pyramidal and other fruit trees,
■will be probably of use to the planter:

Pyramidal pear trees qn quince stocks, root-
pruned for small gardens, four feet apart.

The same in larger gardens, not root-pruned,
six feet apart.

Pyramidal pear trees on the pear stock, root-
pruned, six feet apart.

The same roots not pruned, eight to ten feet,
the latter if the soil be very rich.

Horizontal espalier pear trees on the quince
stock for rails or walls, fifteen feet apart.

Upright espaliers, on the quince stock for rails
or walls, four to six feet apart.

Horizontal espaliers, on the pear stock for rails
or walls, twenty to twenty-four feet apart.

Pyramidal plum trees, six feet apart.

Espalier plum trees, twenty feet apart.

Pyramidal apple trees on the paradise stock,
root-pruned for small gardens, four feet apart.

The same roots, not pruned, six peet apart.

Espalier apple trees, on the paradise stock, fif-
teen feet apart.

The same on the crab stock, twenty to twenty-
four feet apart.

Peaches and nectarines for walls, twenty feet
apart.

Apricots for walls, twenty-four feet apart.

Cherries, as bushes on the Mahaleb stock, root-
pruned for small gardens, four feet apart.

The same, roots not pruned, six feet apart.

Espalier cherry trees on the Mahaleb, for rails
or walls, twelve to fifteen feet apart.

The same on the cherry stock, twenty feet
apart.

Standard pear, apple, plum, and cherry trees,
for orchards, twenty feet apart.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The N. a. Pomological Convention. — Our
readers will recollect our remarks relating to the
anonymous circular, issued from Albany last win-
ter, and appointing state commtitees to act for
this association.

In a second circular, the matter of the former
one is vouched for by a committee (of which Mr.
Nelson, of Indiana, is chairman ;) which com-
mittee claims to have been appointed at BuflTalo,
for the purpose referred to. Why a circular so
important as the first alluded to, should have been
published without the name of the chairman or
any member of the committee by whom it was
issued, we do not yet well understand, since it is
always customary, when making appointments,
to show some authority for so doing.

We most willingly accept the assurance of this
committee that they were appointed at Buffalo,
with full power to appoint state committees, etc.,
and should not have ventured a word of doubt on
the subject, had they appended their names to the
anonymous circular, as they were bound to do, —
especially as a large portion of the gentlemen in
different states appointed by them as members of
■the state committees, were not at Buffalo, and

VoLo m. 37

did not know of the powers bestowed on such
committee.

In justice to ourselves, we must be allowed
however, to state two facts: —

1st. That by a perusal of the Report of the
Buffalo Pomological Convention, it does not ap-
pear to us that a single ofliicer of that body was
appointed to hold office beyond the time of its
adjournment; and that this committee referred to,
was appointed " to take into consideration the pro-
priety of holding future pomological conventions,
and to report such plan of organization, if deemed
advisable, as may be deemed necessary." The com-
mittee did so report before the Buffalo Convention
adjourned, viz : 1st. " That hereafter an annual
convention be held, under the name of the N. A.
Pomological Convention ; and 2d. That the record-
ing secretary of the New- York State Agricultural
Society be entrusted with the charge and solicited
to give due notice of the time of meeting," etc.

2d. That at the New- York Pomological Con-
vention, held subsequently. Dr. Wendell, of Al-
bany, (who was himself one of the members of
the committee appointed at Buffalo,) with a sin-
cere desire, as we believe, to unite the material

578

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

of two conventions into one national association,
proposed the appointment of a special committee
to consider the means of such an union ; whicli
iiroposition was adopted.

We were upon that committee, and as several
members of it aj^reed with Dr. Wendell regard-
in"' the advantaiie of such an union, the question
was distinctly raised how we could confer with the
Buffalo Convention for that purpose, as no perma-
nent officers, committee or board of directors had
been appointed by that body. Dr. Wendell, as
the members of that committee will all recollect,
admilted that there was no standing committee of
the Buffalo Convention in existence, with whom
the New- York Convention could confer on the
subject, and the union was therefore, with some
regret, laid on the table as impracticable, until
perhaps at tlie assemblage of the next Pomologi-
cal Convention which was to be called by the
recording secretary of the New-York State Ag.
Society.

With this explanation we dismiss the subject,
wt without a word of surpri.se at the misinterpre-
ation one or two of the western journals have
mt upon our remarks. Certainly no one can look
rith more satisfaction upon the success of ponio-
)o-ical conventions — especially those of this state
-than ourselves; but we cannot but maintain our
pinions, both that the public interest can only be
effectually promoted by one national convention,
ind that the Congress of Fruit Growers
^ which first assembled, last October, in New-
York,) is the only body whose organization and
composition are such as to give it that national
character.

In the mean time, we doubt not that a great
deal of additional spir(it will be elicited, for the
moment, by the meetings of more than one porao-
lo<Tical association; and we are not without hopes,
that when the real objects which pomologists and
fruit "rowers have at heart in this matter, are
more fully and calmly considered, the union of
the two associations may still be accomplished.

and will soon be quite naturalized in the waters of
the Hudson.

Gold Fish in the Hudson. — This beautiful fish
a species of carp, originally from China, and
hitherto chiefly known in ornamental ponds or
"lass globes in this country, has become quite
naturalised in this part of the Hudson. The fish-
ermen here have caught a great many fine plump
and deep golden red specimens from eight to ten
inches long, both in the Hudson itself and in the
mouth of Matteawan creek, which empties into
the Hudson, opposite Newburgh. We learn that
a quantity of this species of fish was put into this
creek, about ten years ago, by one of our corres-
pondents residing there, J. W. Knevels, Esq.,
and they have now multiplied so largely as to
have fairly stocked this part of the river.

Our neighbor, Captain Henry Robinson, has
made a similar experiment with the large Carp
of Europe, which are now beginning to multiply,

Fine Collection of Heaths. — This most
fairy-like and exquisite genus of plants is too little
valued in this country, while thousands are spent
upon Dalilias and Fuchsias. We are therefor^
induced to recommend amateurs of the Krica, in
all its wonderfully varied forms, as well as those
who wish to make its acquaintance, to call and
inspect the collection of Mr. J. E. Roach, a Ger-
man exotic nurseryman who has established him-
self in Brooklyn, N. Y., about half a mile north
of the Greenwood Cemetery. They cannot fail
to be gratified with the great number of speci-
mens which they will find there, and will be able
to purchase plants, if they desire it, at the most
moderate prices.

The Ladies' Sweeting Apple. — Until we pub-
lished an account of this fruit, we believe it had
only a local reputation, — confined to the banks of
the Hudson. We are glad to learn that it having
now become disseminated pretty extensively, fruit
growers are becoming aware of its superior quali-
ties, and that it is greatly sought after.

An apple that will keep in the freshest and most
perfect manner, as well and as long as the
Newtown Pippin, with a perfume on opening the
barrel like that of a basket of roses; a juicyness
and freshness certainly not surpassed in any other
variety which is in eating in April or May; a
saccharine flavor so delicate and agreeable that
it is by far the finest of all sweet apples for the
dessert, — if these are qualities which ought to
commend a fruit to popular favor, then certainly
the Ladies' Sweeting deserves to become a popu-
lar apple.

Hardy Raspberries. — The past severe winter
has brought complaints from all sides, of the want
of a good, hardy and first-rate Raspberry, — the
canes of the Antwerps, Fastolff, and most others,
having been killed nearly to the ground.

If our amateur fruit growers or nurserymen of
spirit, will take the trouble to sow seeds of the
finest European varieties, they will no doubt suc-
ceed in obtaining new varieties equal in all other
respects to the old sorts, with the advantage of
being hardy in the climate whore they ai'e thus
originated or regenerated. This is the only way
to overcome the difficulty; — and now that Mr.
Burr, of Ohio, has succeeded in producing such
remarkably fine American seedling strawberries,
there is great encouragement to make a trial with
seedling raspberries.

Bottling Insects — Dear Sir : You cannot too
strongly recommend to your readers the advan-
tages of hanging bottles, filled with a mixture of
sweetened water and vinegar, in their fruit trees,
at this season of the year. If wide-mouthed bot-
tles can be had, it is all the better. I succeeded,

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

579

in this way, in keeping down the insects surpris-
ingly on my own grounds last season, — catching
them so fast, that I was obliged to empty the
bottles weekly : the insects accumulated in them
rapidly. The bottles should only be lilled half
full of the litpiid. Yours, A Novice. New Ha-
ven, May 8, 1849.

[We have received the following graceful and
touching " Singing Bird's Petition to the Sports-
man," from some young incognita at Philadel-
phia:]

Wouldsl tliou have me fall or fly .'
Hear me sing', or see me die ?
If thy heart i.s cold and dull,
Knowiji-ir nothiu!;: heautiful —
If thy proud eye never glows
With the light love only knows —
If the loss of friend or home,
Ne'er liath made life wearisome —
If thy cheek lias never known
Tears th.tt fall with sorrow's moan —
If a hopeless mother's sigh
Brings no tear-drop to thine eye.
Thou may.st smile to see me diel

But, if thou can.st love the lay,
Welcoming the birth of May —
Or summer's song, or autumn's djrge,
Cheering wnter's dreary verge —
If thou lovest beauty's hues,
Decked with light, or gemmed witii dews —
If, all meaner thoughts above.
Thou canst hope, and trust, and love —
If, from all dislionor free,
Thou can<t Nature's lover be, —
Spare iier minstrel, — pity me I M.

Philadelphia, May, 1S49.

Protecting Fruit Trees. — A. J. Downing.
Esq.: During the nights of tiie 15th and 16th of
April, the thermometer, at this place, fell to 27"".
Having a number of pear trees on (juince stocks
of such small size that they could be covered or
nearly so, with u sheet, and they being then in
full blossom, I determined to try to save the fruit
by that means, but as there was a light breeze
blowing I feared that the flapping of the sheets
upon the blossoms might do more harm than tlie
frost ; iiowever, I covered part of them and part
of those which were left uncovered were syringed
with cold water before sunrise the next morning,
it being then so cold that the water was immedi-
ately converted into a coat of ice on the trees.
As the fruit is now fully set, I have just been
making the following memorandums which I have
thought might prove of interest to some of your
readers:

Duchess D'Angouleme. — Two trees, witii ten
or twelve clusters of blossoms each. One was
covered by a sheet and the blossoms were unin-
jured, except a few on the windward side which
the sheet rubbed against. The other was uncov-
ered, and the blossoms were all killed.

St. Michael Archangel. — Two trees, about
eight feet liigh, and both completely covered with
blossoms. One was unprotected, but was syring-
ed before sunrise, and every blossom was killed.
The other was covered with a sheet and all the

blossoms saved, except such as were rubbed by
the sheet.

Louise Bonne de Jersey. — One tree, very full of
bloom, was covered with a sheet and all saved.

Beurre Diel. — One tree, uncovered; a few blos-
soms were saved.

Napoleon. — Six trees, all very full of blossoms,
of whicli four were covered, and nearly all the
fruit saved on every one, — one was syringed and
one left untouched and both lost all their fruit.

William's Bon Chretien. — Two trees, both en-
tirely unprotected and quite full of bloom, but not
as far advanced as the others, and both escaped
unhurt.

Eadcr Beurre. — Two trees, both uncovered,
but one of them was syringed, and all the fruit
was saved on each.

All the above were on quince stocks. On pear
stocks I had no trees that were not too large to
be easily covered, but made the following memo-
randums:

Bloodgood. — One tree — literally covered with
blossoms, and every one killed.

St. Ghislain. — One tree — very full of blossoms,
almost all of which have set fruit.

£aster Buerre. — One tree — ten or twelve
bunches of blossoms unhurt.

White Doyenne. — One tree — very full of blos-
soms and unhurt.

I think there is sufficient evidence of the advan-
tage of protection, and also, that some kinds re-
quire protection much more than others. With
dwarf trees, I cannot but think, it would be worth
while, certainly for those who have only a few
trees, to have tents made of some light stuff which
could be stretched over the trees on such nights
as the above named, and fastened in such a way
as to protect their rubbing against the blossoms.
Very truly yours. //. W. S. Cleveland. Oat-
lands, Burlington, N. J., May 16, 1849.

Dear Sir. — Our experience of last winter has
disproved the opinion of a writer, in your paper,
or tlie Cultivator, that peach blossoms are always
killed, wiien the thermometer is 14" below zero.
We have had the coldest winter ever known here,
and our peach, and all other fruit trees, are in full
bloom. On the prairies, from half to two-thirds
of the peach blossom buds were killed ; but we
shall have a fair crop, if no more frost falls. The
trees protected by our blutl's will have as much
fruit as they can hold. For days, during the
winter, the thermometer was 20° below zero; the
preservation of our trees, was probably owing
to deep snows, and uniform cold weather. Yours
truly, James Grant. Davenport. Iowa, May,
1849.

[We I'car that when the blossoms have fallen,
and the young fruit begins to swell, our corres-
pondent will find the promise of fruit less than he
now anticipates. We entertained similar views
this year, when the peach and cherry blossoms ex-
panded, but we now think, that the crop of fruit

580

DOMESTIC NOTICE,S.

generally, owiiij^ to the unusual severity of the
pasit winter, will be lishtcr than it has been since
1836.— Ed.]

Wintering Verben.^s. — Many ol" your readers,
who, like me. have no green house, have also,
doubtless, been puzzled to keep young plants suf-
ficient for •'bedding out'' the next season, as
cuttings or young plants taken off in autumn are
veiy apt to die off.

I succeed admirably in this way. I preserve
one plant in the spring and plant it in a moderate-
ly large pot, sinking the pot in the ground in a
sunny open aspect. I train the trailing shoots of
this plant up the twigs of a branch of a tree, from
one to two feet high, which I stick in the pot for
this purpose. About the 1st of September, I lift
the pot out of the ground, and gradually withhold
its supply of water, in order to check its growth,
so as to ripen the young shoots as much as possi-
ble. I then carry it in doors at the approach of
hard frost, and find no more difficulty in keeping it
through the winter (minding to water it as little
as I dare,) than any other plant. As suon as the
spring opens I jjlant cuttings from this mother
plant, which strike very freely at this season, so
that from one plant I have raised tliirtv or more
this spring, all fit for planting out in the borders
now. Yours, — Aa .Imateur Florist. New-York.
May, 1849.

The Misletoe. — It appears strange that a
genus of plants haviii<z so widi' a geopraphical
distribution as the iVIisletoe family, is so little
known except to IJotauists, or that the Misletoe
itself is so little cultivated on ornamental trees in
our lawns and pleasure grounds. This curious
para.-iite deserves our attention for manv reasons,
but more especially for the historical recollections
it brings to mind, as well as the rich poetical and
legendary allusions concerning it. The Misletoe
when found on the oak was consecrated, and held
in the greatest veneration by the Druids in Britain,
and from time immemorial to the present, misle-
toe boughs have been cut and hung over the hall-
door on Christmas eve, in England. Yet, not-
withstanding all the attention paid it, it appears
strange that so few efforts have been made to
transfer it from its native wilderness to localities
where it is unknown, and that many of tlie most
experienced plant cultivators are not very suc-
cessful in cultivating it. The cause of so few
attempts to cultivate it artificially, might be
justly iittributed to the failures arising from the
modes adopted being unsuited to its parasitical
nature. Indeed so diflicult did it appear to
ancient and modern naturalists that they imagin-
ed the seeds required to be passed througii the
stomachs of the birds that feed on them, in order
to undergo some chemical change preparatorv to
germination. The Thrush fanjily are among the
principal agents for disseminating it in England,
particularly the large speci's, T. vi-civonrs.

which takes its specific name from feeding so
much on the seeds; although the aiisleto6 is a
true parasite, deriving its nourishment from other
plants, it has been proved that its seed will ger-
minate on many kinds of substances where a suf-
ficient degree of moisture is maintained; for in-
stance, on wood, (whether living or dead,) stones,
glass, and even iron. M. Du Trocket has caus-
ed it to ffcrminate on a cannon ball. In this case
the embryo finds the first materials of its growth
in the visciil siibstanre that covers the seed. Al-
though the seeds germinate on those materials,
the plants will perish on all, except the living
wood, as soon as the food in the pericarp will be ex-
hausted from those experiments. From the nature
of the plant itself, as well as from the habit of the
birds that feed upon them, I might safely .sug-
gest, that the growing of ijood misletoe plants
from seeds, is one of the sin)|)lest things imagina-
ble, if properly managed. The viscous nature of
the seed causes it to adiierc to the beak of birds,
and in order to get rid of them they occasionallj
rub it against the tree, thereby leaving some of
the seeds fixed to the spot, where they stick fast
and vegetate; they also, when ripe, drop from the
plant, and in their descent sometimes come im
contact with other branches ; the viseou.s matter
causes them to adhere in like manner till they
germinate. From this, their natural disjiosition,
I can but infer, that means as similar as possible
are to be used to grow the seeds artificially, and
not by placing them in the chinks of trees, nor by
boring holes, nor tying them on with moss, or by
raising the bark in the spring and inserting the
seed, as is detailed in the ICncyclopedice of Plants,
all of which methods arc occasionallv resorted to,
and to which I can add but little.

When the seeds ar'.> ripe, in the fall, take well
ripened plump seeds, and place them gently on
the smoothest and healthiest part of the tree, to
which they will readily adhere, and on withdraw-
ing the finger and thuud), the vicious matter
already alluded to will stick to them and permit
of being drawn out to tlie fineness of a thread,
which should be taken over the seed as often a.s
possible, iu various directions, allowing it to touch
the bark each time it crosses the seed, and thus
binding down the seed with its own substance,
which soon becomes dry, and fixes the seed finally
to the bark till germination takes place; this will
be in about two months after the seeds are put
on. If the seeds are left to remain for any consi-
derable time the mucilaginous substance loses its
adhesiveness, and consequently will not stick for
any length of time. This is the only point of
importance now gained, stating precisely as I
have done, how the seeds are to be fixed on the
tree, and which I know to have proved successful
with my respected friend David Moore, Esq.,
Curator of the Royal Dublin Society Botanic Gar-
den, Ireland, with whom this system originated.
I have no doubt any person carefully trying the
above method will succeed. It is, however, to be

DOMESTIC NOTICi:iS

381

observed, that much nf tln> bll(•^;L■!^s duperids on
getting the .seeds as fresh a.'- jwssihle. Having al-
ready remarked that germination takes plaee in
about two months after the seedn are put on the
tree, which is readily known by the roots, fre-
quently two horn-like processes (resembling the
horns of the common garden snail,) rising from
the opposite side of the seed, they first siioot out
nearly straight, and after some time recurve back
till their extremities touch the bark in opposite
directions, (providing two radicles have been
emitted.) Thev remain in this position for the
first year, bent like a bow, with one end fastened
to the seed and the other to the l)ark. The se-
cond year the seeds rise Uroni the bark when the
cotyledons or seed leaves belonging to each radi-
cle separate, and each becomes a seperate plant,
whether there be two or three as sometimes oecnr.

At this stage, the plants are to be considered
fairly established, but do not make much growth
till the thinl year, when they grow rapidly.

A still more successful, and readier mode than
jrrowinrr from seed, has been lately discovered:
that of propagating it by graftim^; — an operation
which modern physiologists min;ht have supposed
almost impossible. It is supposed that a union is
not formed by the wood of the mistletoe and the
stock, as is usual with f)thcr trees; but that the
grafts absorb their noiuishment from the moisture
the albumen the plant aflbrds, as well as the
atmospheric air, similar to the branches of other
plants, while undergoing the process of rooting
by cutting. May is thought to be the best time
for the operation.

Another mcthotl is, to cut the young slioots on
which the seeds have germinated, and grafting
them on stocks of tlie same kind ; — which operation
the plants are said to undergo without beiiiir mueli
affected .

Mr. MooKic says the best trees to irraft it u])on
are tiie ajiple, pear, poplar and willow; and for
seeds, those are also its favorites. But it will
grow Oil most kinds of hardy trees.

It is occasionally found on the pine and cedar,
in this country: and a writer in the March number
of the Horticulturist, savs it grows in South Caro-
lina on the persimon, honev locust, and oaks of all
kinds. I am, sir, respeetfullv yours, M.C. Neic-
burgh. May, 1<S49.

P. S. I take the opportunitv of correcting some
errors that occurred in mv letter on Orchi'lar.a> :

Page 348, for European, read foreign. Page
349, for Drymosa, read Drymoda. Page 343. for
fumble, read jumble. Pa^e 443, for 3 o'clock,
read 7 o'clock. Pase 490, for Eucas, read Erias.

M. C.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Quinces. — Chax. G. Greene, (Boston.) Plant
your i|uinces in good soil, well trenched, dry, and
highly manured. For the rest, see the excellent
aiiicle p. 63, Vol. II., of this journal.

Rapid Climbkr.s. — 'Jn Old Subscriber, (Phila-
delphia.) Plant Cobea xcandens and the Balsam
Pea vine immediately. They will run twenty feet
in a season.

Dwarf Appi.ks. — E. N. R., (N. A. Phalanx,
N. J.) The apple may be kept down to a tree
twelve feet high, by root-pruning. We will en-
deavor to give some further remarks regarding it
in om- next.

Rose Slugs. — H'. Buhop, (N. Y.) Use to-
bacco water, sprinkling it copiously on the under
side of the leaves, with a .syringe, after sun-set,
and washing off the leaves by sprinkling them
with a w^ater jiot the next morning.

Apples. — An Enquirer, (Springfield.) The
Mother Ajiple is a fruit of the finest cpiality, and a
native of New-England. You will certainly be
able to get it of Mr. CoLTtfN, nurseryman at
Worcester. — B., (Columbus, Ohio.) Mr. Ernst,
of Cincinnati, has investigated the history of the
Wh'te Bellejieur apple, and has given us a paper
on this subject, which we will publish soon.

Lawns. — A. R. .S'., (Boston.) The tine fra-
grance from particular meadows, is aflorded by
the sweet vernal grusg. Seed of it ma)- be had at
Thorburn's, or any of the leading seedsmen, and
a small proportion mixed with other grass seed
in sowing a lawn, will secure this delightful fra-
grance every time the grass is cut. You must
not only mow, but roll your lawn, frequently —
especially after rain — to secure the close texture
vou desire.

EvERBLooMiNG RosES. — in Amateur, (Albany,)
You do not succeed with your roses, because as
soon as the roots get into the cold, clayey sub-
soil, the plants cease growing. You must pre-
])are your beds next spring, by digging them two
feet deep — filling the bottom, six inches, with
stones, and the rest witli cfood, rich soil ; then re-
plant them, and they will flourish well.

Pyramidal Pear Tree. — James W. Grimes,
(Burlingtim, Iowa.) We shall give a very com-
plete article on pruning and training Pear trees in
this form, with illustrations, in our next number.

English Black Mulberry. — 5. Williams,
(Newark.) This i.s a scarce tree in this country,
and rarely succeeds well, though we have seen
very fine fruit grown on the Hudson. It does not
appear to suit the climate . Seedlings should be
raised from it, to get more hardy varieties.

Crossing Grapes. — Experimentalist. Cut out
the stamens as soon as the blossom of the native
grape opens, with a pair of small scissors; then
bring the pollen from blossoms of the Black Ham-
burgh, or other foreign sort, and dust it over the
stigma with a camel's hair brush. A bit of milinet
should be tied over the blossom till the fruit sets,
to prevent access of bees.

Trained Currants. — N. R. S. No plant is
more easily trained, and none more improved ia
its fruit by the i)rocess. than this. A trellis thi-ee
feet high is sufjicicnt, a'ld it .nay be placed in any
aspect.

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

BUSINESS MEETINGS.

April 21, 1849- — President Samuel Walker in
the chair. A communication was received from
George B. Jones, Esq., of Boston, accompanied
with an elegant Chinese vase, as a gift to the So-
ciety, and it was voted that the thanks of the So-
ciety be presented to Mr. Jones for his liberal
donation.

Scions of new varieties of fruit were received
from L. P.Grosvenor, Esq. of Pomfret, Mass., and
J. M. Earle, Esq., of Worcester, Mass.; and it
was voted that the thanks of the Society be pre-
sented to Messrs. Grosvenor and Earle, and the
scions placed in the hands of the Committee on
Fruit, for distribution among the members of the
Society.

April 28, 1849.— The President in the chair. A
communication was read from L. P. Grosvenor,
Esq., accompanied with specimens of a new seed-
ling apple. Voteit, that the thanks of the Society
be presented to Mr. Grosvenor, and the fruit
placed in the hands of the Committee on Fruit for
examination. Also votoil, that the letter of Mr.
Grosvenor, together with an engraving of the
fruit, be published in "Hovey's Magazine of Hor-
ticulture."

The grafts of a new variety of apple were re-
ceived from Sam'l J. Gustin, Esq., of Newark,
N. J., and the thanks of the Society were voted to
Mr. Gustin, and the grafts placed in the hands of
the Committee on Fruit for distribution.

May 12, 1849. — The President in the chair. A
vacancy having occurred in the Committee on
Flowers, it was voted that Parker Barnes be ap-
pointed to fill such vacancy.

Hon. Ben J. V. French made a report in behalf
of the committee appointed last January, to pro-
cure and present a Piece of Plate to Col. Wil-
der, late President of the Society; that the duty
had been performed by presenting to him, with the
copy of resolutions passed at that time, a massive
silver pitcher, highly wrought, and chased with
fruits, flowers, foliage, &c., manufactured bj- Jones,
Ball &. Poor, in their best style; and upon whicn
the committee had caused to be engraveii the fol-
lowing inscription:

HUN. MARSHALL P. WILDER,

President of the Marsachusetts Horticul-
tural S(ClETV,
From A. D ]S41 to l!-'4f)
This Piece of Plate is presenteil by tiie .Society, as a Testi-
monial of Respect and Appreciation of iiis valua-
ble services cluriiiLj tlie above period,
January, 1S49.

Mr. French also submitted the following cor-
pondence:

Boston, May 1, 1849.

Hon. Marshall P. Wilder — Dear Sir: At a
meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society,
held in their Library room, Jan. 6, 1849, the fol-
lowing resolutions were passed :

[Here follow the resolutions that we published
at the time.]

And, now sir, in compliance with the above
resolutions, we present for your acceptance a Sil-
ver Pitcher, which we request you to receive as a
token of esteem for the zeal and success with
which you have served in the cause of Horticul-
ture, and Floriculture, while a member of the So-
ciety, and more particularly while acting as Presi-
dent, during the term of eight years.

With sincere wishes for your continued useful-
ness, health, and prosperity, we are, sir, most re.
spectfuUy, your friends, Benj. V French,

Cheever Newhall,
Joseph S. Cabot.

Boston, May 10, 1849.
To the Hon. Benj. V. French, Cheever New-
hall, Esq., and Hon. Joseph S. Cabot, Com-
mittee.

Gentlemen : The splendid testimonial which ac-
companied your esteemed favor of the 10th instant,
has been received; also a copy of the resolutions
passed by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society,
on the occasion of my retiring from its Presidency.
I accept of this rich and beautiful gift, with live-
ly emotions of gratitude; n^t for its intrinsic value,
but as an enduring memorial of the confidence and
respect so uniformly extended to me, during the
many years of my administration.

I gratefully acknowledge the kind manner with
which you have performed the duty assigned to
the committe. Permit me also to tender through
you, to the members of the Society, my sincere
thanks for this substantial manifestation of their
approbation, ami to assure them, that I shall ever
regard it as a lasting record of relations, which to
me, have been both pleasant and honorable.

The high appreciation of my humble services,
which you have caused to be inscribed on the
bright tablet of this elegant present, will excite
renewed interest for the welfare and fame of our
noble institution; and I doubt not, that long after
we have passed from this earthly scene, it will be
preserved by my tlescendants as a valuable memen-
to of a society from which I have received distin-
guished favors, and of endeared friends, with whom
I have ever felt it an honor to have my name as-
sociated.

Please accept for yourselves, gentlemen, my
most grateful thanks, and for the Society, the as-
surance of my highest regard.

Marshall P. Wilder.

WEEKLY EXHIBI IONS.

Saturday, May 12, 1849.

Flowers. — From S. Walker, President of the
Society, a variety of cut flowers, amongst which
were Pansies, Fritillarias, Anemones, Pseonia
tenuifolia, &c., &c.

From M.irshall P. Wilder, Epacris pulchella.
Erica ventricosa alba, do do Cavendisliii, do do
brevifiora, do do superba, do do hirsurta, Erica ova-
ta; Camellias — Queen Victoria, Caroline Smith,
and Henry Favrc, Azalea indica, Gladstanesii, and
three seedlings; Ccreus Jenkinsonii, Rhododen-
dron catawbiensis, and R. catawbiensis hybridium.
A fine collection of cut Rose flowers, of the fol-
lowing kinds; f-'olfaterre, Safrano, Dupetit Thou-
ars, Lamarque, Chromatella, Sec, &c. The above
collection was very beautiful, and all first rate
specimens.

From N. J. Becar, Brooklyn, L. I., a beautiful
collection of Calceolarias, thought to be much su-
perior to any before exhibited.

From Azel Bowditch, Laure Davoust, and Queen
of the Prairie Roses, four varieties of Antirrhinum
majus. White Ivy-leaved Geranium, White Moss
Rose, Cal jstegia pubescens; Cactus, var., Nemo-
phila insignis, Veronica Lindleyana, Cytisus for-
mosus, eighteen varieties of Calceolarias, and four
bouquets.

MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY.

583

From G. C. CrowninshieUl, by John Quant,
Erica altheatlora, Azalea variegata, Abutilon
striatum, Anigozanthus cocci. nea, Tropisolum
tricolorum, Mahonia odorata. Cactus Jenkinsonii,
Mimulus rivularis, Crinum amabile, Hydrangea
chinensis, anil (lie following Pelargonium ?: Ce-
lestial, Dutchess of Sutherland, Prince Albert,
Orange perfection, Unity, Latly Villars, Wilson's
Superb, Jenny lind, Ananus, Fair Mary Devon,
and two varieties, names lost.

From James Nugent, the following varieties of
Pelargoniums, which were much the best collec-
tion and finest flowers exhibited, b.it being cut from
the plants, were not entitled to the ^^ociety's pre-
mium: Nestor, Jenny Lind, Fair Maid of Devon,
Queen Phillippi, Celestial, Unit, Garth's Perfec-
tion, Diailimatum, Dutchess of Sutherland, liclla-
dona. Beauty Supreme, and three seedlings; also
four varieties of Calceolarias, I yrus Japonica,
Gladiolus gandivensis, Pansies, White Phlox
Drummondii, Ageratum odoratum. Sweet peas,
and Bignonia earium; Roses — Prince Albert, Clara
Sylvain, White Tea, Yellow Tea, Bougere, Buret,
and Blush Tea, one round table bouquet.

From J. Breck & Co., a very large and superior
collection of Hyacinths, and the following cut
flowers: Pulmonaria Virginica, Fritillarias, Pan-
sies, &c., &c.

From R. M. Copeland, a fine collection of Hya-
cinths; colors of the flowers very delicate and
perfect.

From Orr N, Town, Oncidium flexuosum.

From Dr. D. Osgood, fine specimen flowers of
Cape Jasmine.

From John Kenrick, Magnolia conspicua, and
pyrus japonica.

From W. Ashby, Newburyport, a collection of
Pansies.

A collection of Green House Pl\nts from Hovey
& Co. D. Haggerston, Chairman.

Premiums awarded for Flowers and Plants,
May 12, 1849.

Pelargoniums, 1st class — For the best six new
varieties, by John Quant, $6.

2d Class — For the best six varieties in large pots,
John Quant, $6.

Cut Flowers— For the best display, James Nu-
gent, §3.
Cactus— For the best 6 varieties, Hovey ^S; Co., $3,

Calceolarias — For the best six varieties, A.
Bowditch, *3. 2d best ilo., John Quant, $2.

Heaths— For best 6 varieties, I\l. P. Wilder, $3.

For the best display of various sorts of green-
house plants, M P. Wilder, $8. 2d best do., Ho-
vey & Co., !t5.

Hyacinths— For the best display, J. Breck & Co
$b. 2d best, do., R. M. Copeland, §3. ''

For Round Table bouquet, James Nugent, $1.

For hand bouquets, A. Bowditch, $1.

Gratuities.— To N. J. Becar, for fine display of
Calceolarias, the Societys Silver Medal.

To A. Bowditch, for show of green-house plants,
$2. To John Quant, do.

To i\l. P. Wilder, for show of Cut Roses, $'5.

To James Nugent, for show of Cut Roses, >2.

To Hovey & Co., for fine specimen plants of
double Purple and While China Primrose, i3.

Fruits. — From Hovey \'. Co., strawberries
var., Aberileen Bee-hive. Messrs. Hovey & Co!
have had vines of this kind fully exposed during
the pasi severe winter, and the plants have come
out in the finest condition; while plan s of our na-
tive seedlings, in adjacent beds, have been entirely
destroyed.

From J. Fisk Allen, Grapes— larly Black Julv,
Chasselas, Bar Sur-aube, Pitmaslon White Clus-
ter, White Early, of the French, Gros Noir de
Lorraine; Chasselas de Fontainbleau, Black Ham-
burgh, Grisly Frontignan, Ferrol; Figs, Black of
St. Michael. Kbkn Wight.

Vegetlbles.— May 5. From H. B. Crooker,*by
Thomas Needham, brace or Barne"s Man of Kent-
brace of Weeilon Cucumbers. '

From G. C. Crowninshield, by John Quant
brace of Allen s Victory Cucumbers. '

.V/ay 12. From Orr N, Town, two brace of very
fine Cucumbers.

From W. W. Wheildon, by Peter Naylor, Early
Frame Cucumber.

From H. B. Crooker, by Thomas Needham, brace
of Barne's Man of Kent; brace of Wcetlon Cucum-
bers. A. D. Williams, Jr., Chairman.

PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The stated meeting of this Society was held on
Tuesday evening, May 16, 1849. Tne Presideni in
the chair. The exhibition on this occasion was
very handsome, anil exceeded expectations, and as
usual, the hall was thronged with the beauty and
fashion of the city. In the numerous colle -tions of
plants, as objects of interest might be noticed, a
specimen of Azalea, variegated in perfection, pre-
senting one mass of the richest flowers, from Peter
Mackenzie's green-house. Campanula nobilis,
very appropriately named, being truly a noble
specimen, from whose branches pended so grace-
fully its innumerable large, bell-shaped flowers;
this species is of recent introduction into l-'.urope
from the East Indies, through the exertions of that
indefatigable collector, Air. Fortune, and was
shown by Mr. Buist, who also exhibited Fuchsia
gigantea, and F. coronet,- handsome plants of those
choice varieties; a fine collection of Pelargonia
and Cinerarias. Mr. Dundas' gardener exhibited
several most beautiful specimens of Azalea, varie-
gated, a Clematis seiboldii and Pelargonia. From
the President's fine collection were observed seve -
ral air plants — Maxillaria aromatica, M. crispa, M,
p., and Gongora purpurea, Achimenes picta,

Cacti, Pelargonia and Cinerarise. From John Lam-
berts, a fine, large plant of Leptospermum scopa-
rium, in flower, Metrosideros semperflorens, Lan-
tana mutabilis, with many others. And by Miss
Gratz' gardener, a table of Pelargonia Mathiolse
and choice Roses. By John Sherwood, remarka-
bly fine Roses, by Wm. Hall; also of choice varie-
ties by Robert Kilvington, interesting indigenous
plants; Dodecatheon Meadia, large specimens
Orvihis spectabilis, Drocera filiformis, etc. 'J'he
beautiful designs baskets of cut flowers and bou-
quets, by the President's gardener, Mr. Dundas
John Lamberts, and Robert Kilvington, added
greatly to the attractions of the exhibition.

Of Fruit, Henry N. Johnson, of Germantown,
exhibited a dish of very large Lemons.

Of Vegetables there was a profusion of the
finest sori^s. Cauliflowers of large size, from
Pierce Bu ler's and Chas. Chauncey's garden. A
specimen of Asparagus, of great weight, by Wm.
Lutzs, Kingsessing; many fine specimens of Rhu-
barb, Mushrooms, Cucumbers, etc., were shown.

reports of COMMIT! EE3.

The committee on plants and flowers, report the
following premiums:

584

PENNSYLVANIA HORT. SOCIETY.

Camellias. For the best American seedling du-
ring the season, to Peter Mackenzie.

Pelargoniums. For the best ton named varieties,
to P. Gallagher, gardener to Miss Gratz.

For the second best do.', to Ben. Daniels, gar-
dener to Caleb Cope.

A'oses— Perpetual. For the best six named va-
rieties, in pots, to Wm. Hall.

For the second best do. do., to John Sher-
wood.

Tulips. For the best single twelve named va-
rieties, to Matthew Mills.

For the second best do. do., to Jonathan Bass.

Cinerarias. P'or the best four named varieties
in jtots, to Robert Buist.

For the second best do. do., to Ben Daniels.

Hot-house Plants. For the best three named va-
rieties, to Ben Daniels.

Green-house Plants. For the best three named
varieties, to Robert Buist.

For the second best do., to Ben Daniels.

Indigenous Plants. For the best display in pots,
to Roliert Kilvington.

Plants in Puts. For tlie best collection, to Mau-
rice Finn, gardener to Jno. Lambert.

For the second best do., to Ben Daniels, garden-
er to C. Cope.

For the third best do., to P. Gallagher, gardener
to Miss Gratz.

Designs of Cut Flowers. For the best, to Ben
Daniels, gardener to C.Cope.

Of indigenous, for the best, to Robert Kilving-
ton.

Basket of Cut Flmcers. For the best, to INIaurice
Finn, gardener to Jno. Lambert.

For the second best, to Ben Daniels.

The committee were liighly gratified with a
beautiful Azalea variegata, siiown by Mr. Macken-
zie, and much pleased with the extent of the dis-
play generally.

The Committee on Fruits report that the only
fruits exhibited this evening, are a dish of very
fine Lemons, by Henry N. Johnson, for which they
award a special premium of one dollar, and a
melon from the President's green-house, of the
Ionian variety.

The Committee on Vegetables report that they
have awarded the following premiums :

Cucumbers. For the best four, to Ben Daniels,
gardener to Caleb Cope.

For the second best do., to Jas. Leddv, gardener
to P. Butler.

Rhubarb. For the best twelve stalks, to Samuel
Cooper.

For the second best do., to Robert Dunk.

Peas. For the best half a peck, to Ben Daniels.

Potatoes. For the best fourth of a peek, to Jas.
McKee, gardener to C. Chauncey.

For the second best do., of a different variety, to
the Same.

Vegetables. For the best display, by market
gardeners, to Anthony Felten.

Nor the second best, do. do., to Anthony Felten.

For the best display by amateurs, to Pat. Galla-
gher, gardener to Miss Gratz.

For the second best do., to Ben Daniels.

For the third best do., to Wm. Johns.

The Committee also award the following spe-
cial premiums: For Asparagus, very fine, to Wm.
Lutzs, of $1 ; for Sea Kale, very fine, to John
Sherwood, $1 ; for Cauliflowers, very fine, to Jas.
Leddy, gardener to Pierce Butler, of one dollar;
for Cauliflowers, to James McKee, gardener to
C. Chauncey, one dollar.
Mtmbers FAeded. Hon. John K. Fane. Alexan-

der Brown, John Dickson, P. S. Justice, John
King, and James Bisset, Jr.

The objects exhibited consisted of
Plan's. By Peter Mackenzie, a beautiful speci-
men of Azalea, variegated, who also exhibited to
the committee since the last meeting, two very
fine seedling Camellias.

By Robert Buist, Campanula nobilis. Fuchsia
coronet, F. gigantea, Cupea platycentra. Antir-
rhinum luteum, 12 Tulips, 10 Pelargonia, and 8
cinerarias.

By Ben Daniels, gardener to Caleb Cope, from
Springbrook Farm, Pelargonia, 10 varieties.
Fuchsias, var. Napoleon, exoniensis, mirabilis. Sir
H. Potlinger, Chauverii and delicata, Cinerariffi,
Maxillaria aromatica, M. crispa, M. sp., Gongora
purpurea, Achimenespicta, Russelliajuncea, Mam-
millaria scopa, Echinocactus otlonis, Cereus spi-
nu osus, Clerodendrum squamatum, Cuphea platy-
centra, Sempervirum urbum, Swainsonia galegifo-
lia. Camellia myrtifolia, Asclepias curassavica, Mi-
mulus Smithii, Mahernia odorata, etc.

By James Bisset, gardener to James Dundas, six
Azalea variegata. Clematis Seiboldii, and Pelar-
gonia.

By Maurice Finn, gardener to John Lambert,
Leptospermum scoparium, Metrosideros semper-
florens, Pentas carnea, Lantana mutabilis, Ardisia
crenulata, Begonia hydroeoteifolia, Cardenia ra-
dicans. Gloxinia alba, G. speeiosa, Asclepias cu-
rassavica. Calceolaria, Azalea, Cineraria, Strepto-
carpus Rexii, Tropaeolum perigrinum, etc., etc.

By P. Gallagher, gardener to Miss Gratz, Pelar-
gonia, Mathioiffl Roses, Calcolaria, etc., etc.

By John Sherwood, 12 clioice Perpetual Roses.

He also exhibited a seedling Camellia to the
committee since the last meeting, a white variety
of merit.

By Wm. Hall, 12 varieties of Roses.
By Robert Kilvington — Indiginous — Two fine
Dodecatheon Meadia, Viola cuculatta, V. pdatta.
Orchis spectabilis, Krigea Virginica, Saxifraga
Pennsylvanica, Drosera filiformis, Proserpinaca
pectinacea, etc.

By Jonathan Bass, clioice Tulips.

By Matthew Mills, fine varieties of Tulips.

Designs, baskets, and bouquets, by Ben Daniels,
James Bisset, Maurice Finn, and Robert Kilving-
ton.

Fruit. — By Henry N. Johnson, a dish of very fine
Lemons.

Vegetables. — By Anthony Felton, two very fine
tables.

By Ben Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, Cuthberts,
black spined, Lyon-house and Marshall Cucum-
bers, Cauliflowers, Peas, INIushrooms, Peppers,
Potatoes, Lettuce, Radishes, Spinach, Cabbage,
etc.

By P. Gallagher, gardener to Miss Gratz, a fine
collection.

By James Leddy, gardener to Pierce Butler,
Cauliflowers and Cucumbers.

By James McKee, gardener to Chas. Chauncey,
Cauliflowers, Cucumbers, Potatoes, etc.

By Wm. Lutzs, very superior Asparagus .

By Wm. Johns, a good variety do.

By Robert Dunk, fine Rhubarb and Asparagus.

B3' Samuel Cooper, superior Rhubarb.

By Wm. Hobson, Rhubarb.

By John Sherwood, Sea Kale, fine.

By Maurice Finn, gardener to Jolin Lambert,
an excellent display.

On motion, adjourned.

THO, P. JAMES, Recording Sec'y.

GENERAL INDEX.

Achimenes grandiflora, 138.

Agalmyla siamiiiea, 139.

Ag College, commissioners for. 533.

Agricultural Congress, 310.

Aloe, American, 529.

Amateurs, practical hints to, 285.

Analysis of soils, 5.35.

of coal aslies, 464.

Anemone japonica, 533.
Annuals, 103.

Annual vines for flowering, 542.
Anthracite coal dust, 200, 351.
Apostle of taste. 545
APPLE.'< :

Decision of convention at Buffalo
in, 252.

How to dwarf, 531.

In Ohio, 439.

Packing to keep, 296.

President Waikers's list of select,
535.

Phenomenon of, 292.

'J wo new, 3:32.

Valk's list of select 216.
APPLES— Varieties :

Baldwin, 419.

Belle et Bonne. 322.

Cumberland Spice, 391.

Dw^arf of Armenia, 144.

Fall Pippin, 345.

Holland Pippin, 345.

Ladies' Sweeting, 578.

Mother, 581

Melon, 292.

Newtown Pippin, culture of, 240,
420.

Northern Spy, 47.

Paradise, 1.52.

Pennock's Red Winter, 395.

Rawle's Jennet, 3C9.

Republican Pippin. 3-32.

Rhode Island Greening, 292, 420.

Ribston Pippin. 421.

Smokehouse.. 333.

Summer Bellefleur. 168.

Summer Hagloe, 249.

Vandervere, 419.

Wagener. 95.

Waxen, 419.

Winesfip, 420.

Yellow Bellefleur, 249.
APRICOT:

Dubois' Early Golden, 103.

Large Eiirly, P2. 103.

on plum stocks. 2!!6.

Sheker Para, of Ispahan, 144.

Valk's list of select, 219.
Araucaria, 351.
Arbor Vitffi, 141, 151.

ARCHITECTURE, RURAL;

Cottage, design for a small, 47.

Swiss, design for a, 2S7.

Suburban, design for a, 521.

In the B.astcrn States, 326.
Green-houses, 51, 122.

chapter on, 257.

mode of lieating, 273.

on heating, 391.

Villa, design for a small, 3.34.
Villa in the Italian style, 4-35, 483.
Villa in the Tudor .style, 560.

Aristolochia sipho, 356.
Artichokes, .lerusalera, 514.
Ash, Weeping, 176.
Ashes for fruit trees, 418.
Aslies of anthracite coal, 351.

of bituminous coal, 293.

Analy.sis of, 464.

Asparagus, cultivation of, 517.

beds, 52S.

Azalea nudiflora, .393.

Barry, Mr., of Rochester, his departure
for Europe. 292.

in London, 4.35.

visit to gardens at Kew, 476.

Beans, Haricot, 516.

Scarlet, 515.

Beet, cultivation of the, 513.

Bassaiio, 103, 495.

Belgian window gardens, 427.
Bellagio, description of. 45.
Birch, weeping, 140, 245.
Bird's petition, 579.

Bitter rol,447.

Blackberry, improvement of, 103.

Bone dust, 185

Bones, decomposition of, 93, 393.

Books, horticultural, 52, 296, 389.

Botanic garden at Padua. 386.

at Venice. 384.

at Kew. 476

Botany, familiar 264.
Brocoli, cultivation of, 518.

Early Walcheren, 103.

Brugmansia, the double. 239.
Bruiisvigia Josephina, 139.
Buckthorn Hedges, 275.
Budding, 152.

reverse, 176.

Bug, white mealy. 147.
Bulbs, winter, 387!

hardy. 542.

Burnt sods, 491.

Cabbase, cultivation of. 515.

Camellia, culture of, 269 39t, 447.

hardiness of the. .342. 374, 417.

General Lafayette, 139.

Mrs. Wilder, 139, 439.

Camellia Wilderii, 139, 439.
Carnations, 188.
Carrots, cultivation of, 513.
Catalogues, 255.
Cauliflowers, how to keep, 249.

how to grow, 517.

in winter, 489.

Cedar, new Japan, 482.

Deodar. 103, 476.

sales of, 343.

Celery, 189,. 495, 516, 530.

stewed, 294.

to keep, 249.

Cereus crenatus, 293.
Charcoal dust, 351.

Cherokee rose, for hedges, 249, 395.
CHERRIES :

Bursting of, cure for. 381.

Dwarf, culture of, 576.

Gum on, 2.55.

Three best late, 296.

Trees at the south, 49.

Mahaleb Stocks for, 255.

Valk's list of select, 218.

Weeping, 177.
CilERRlKS— Varieties :

Arden's Early Heart, 52.

Belle magnifique, 98, 149.

Bigarreau monstreuse de Mezel,
296.

Bowyer's Early Heart, 52.

Buttner's Yellow, 84.

Coe's Transparent, 296.

Early White Heart, 52.

Elton, 52.

Flesh-coloured Bigarreau, 52.

Kirtland's Mary, 47.

River's Early Amber, 10ft
Chicago, horticulturally, 459.
Chimney tops, ornamental, 37.
Chrysanthemum, culture of the, 171.
Clay, burning of, 184.
Clematis, sweet scented, .366.
Climbers, on cedar trunks, 359.

annual, 542.

Coal ashes., analysis of, 464.

anthracite, 463.

bituminous, 293.

Coal dust, anthracite, 200, 351. ■ :

Cobea scandens, 581

Cocomores, 384.

Colman, Henry, report of. 292.

Cologne, garden at, 189.

Combretum purpureum, 528.

Committee, general fruit, list of, 248.

— :— •: correction in, 292.

circular of, 387.

in Iowa, 389.

in Maine, 389.

IV

GENERAL INDEX.

Como, scenery o/ llie Jake of, 40.

Compost, 447.

Conservatory climbers, 528.

Convention, pomological, at Buffalo, 47,
145, 192, 252.

Convention of fruit-growlers at New-
York, 48, 145, 190, 246, 291, 295, 421,
424.

Convention, pomological, 421, 485, 577.

Ohio fruit, 439.

Cope, Caleb, Residence of, 411.
Cottage?, drapery for, 353.
■ prairie roses for, 355.

Chinese Wistaria for, 355.

small, 47.

suburban, 521.

. Swiss, 287.

Country seat for sale, 249.
Cryptomeria japonica, 482.
Cumming's garden at Williamsblirgh,

540.

Cunninghamia lancifolia, 536.

Curcu'io, prevention of, 146, 200.

Currant, Cherry, 66, 85, 150.

Currant juice, preservation of, 189.

Currants, Valk's list of select, 219.

'— 10 train, 581.

Curtis, T. B., address of, 229.

Cydonia japonica, 390.

Cytisus laburnum, 65.

Dahlias, 187.

Dearborn, Gen., address of, 231.

Deodar cedar, 103, 476.

■ sale of, 343.

Deutzia sanguinea, 5-33.

Diastase, 317.

Dignity of labor, 350.

Disbudding, effects of, 143.

Dowming, A. J., address of, 231.

Drying fruits, 200, 378, 542.

Dutchman's pipe, 356.

Dwarf trees, 296, 576.

Eastern states, gardening and architec-
ture of, 326.

Echites suberecta, 528.

Elm at Geneva, 178.

Endive, cultivation of, 518.

England, letter from, 573.

Epiphyte, meaning of, 441.

Errata, 254, 295, 398, 447, 581.

Evergreens, 51, 151, 152, 220, 349, 398,
542.

Experimental fruit culture, 310.

Experiments in horticulture, 114.

Farm, Meacham's dairy, 200.

Feminine taste in rural aiffairs, 449.

Flower borders, 255.

Flowering plants, 495.

Flowers, Florists', 541, 542.

Flowers and the French revolution, 360.

- bedding out, 488.
-^— late autumn, 293.

Flax water for, 142.

winter, 254.

Forcing plants, 147.
Forest trees, groups of, 447.
Forsythia viridissima, 533, 563.
Frankport, public garden at, 155.
French revolution and flowers, 360.
Frosts, singular case of protection from,

37. 150.
FRTUT.S :

In London. 435.

Lists of select, 94, 200, 254, 535.

Seedling, 535.

New Syrian, 143.

New, proved excellent, 81.

New native, 166.
Fruit culture at the south, 99, 5.37

- experimental, 310.

Fruit trade in Wayne county, N. Y., 95

- in Oneida county, N. Y., 95.
FRUIT TREES :

Covering the soil about, MQ.
Diseases of, 543.
Forcing, 351.

FRUIT TREES— Health and longevity
of, 570.

Protecting, 579.

Manures for, 401, 445, 495.

Russian mode of training, 343.

Seeds of, 391.

Transplanting, 169, 310.

Value of ashes for, 418.

Vitality and longevity of, 128.
Fuchsia spectabilis, 139.
Garden, plan for a suburban, 380.
Gardening, economy in, 497.

of the eastern states, 326.

productive family, 510.

Gardens, continental, 244, 384.

near New- York, visits to, 540.

window, Belgian, 427.

Garnkirk chimney tops, 37.
Geneseo, park at, 163.

Geneva, lake of, gardens near, 244.
Geranium, culture of the, 71.
German greens, 99, 149, 532.
German pomology, 141.
Ginko tree of Japan, 150.
Gladiolus gandavensis, 491.
Gloxinia fyfiana, 138.
Goldfish in the Hudson, 578.
Goodwood, England, 575.
Gooseberries, culture of, 538, 557.

Houghton's seedling, 119.

successful mode of growing, 27.

wthout mildew, 119.

Gourds, 384.

Graft budding, new mode of, 276.
Grafting grain and grasses, 437.

humbugs, 437.

large trees, 325.

notes on, 330.

wax, 349.

Grafts by mail, 495.
GRAPES :

Allen's ten favorite, 339.
Crossing, 581.
Cost of vinery for, 339.
Cultivation in pots, 109.

of native, 60, .320.

of foreign in pots, 212.

in the vinery, .364.

Forcing, .344.
Grafting. 200, .350.

In Ohio, 440.
In a cold vinery, 294.
Tn vineries, 296.
Insects that infest, 28.
Important to cultivators of, 525.
Manures for, 525.
New varieties of foreign, 290.
Prevention of rot in, 121.
Prizes for new native, 291.
Pruning, 495.
Rot in. 151, 161, 255.
Shrivelling of, 103.
Specific food for, 540.
Sulphur for, 526.
Texas seedlings, 489.
Valk's list of select, 219.
GRAPES— Far/eries;

August Muscat, .3-39.

Black Hamburgh, 494.

Black Prince Hamburgh, 144.

Bland, 151.

Blussard Noir, 290.

Bowker, 339.

Cannoiihall Muscat, 339.

Charlesworth Tokay, 339.

Chasselas Musque. 339.

Clinton, .328,398.

Gros Gommier du Cantal, 290.

Palestrina, 339.

Pitmaston White Cluster, 339.

Red Cha.sselas, 330.

Reeve's Muscadine, 290.

Royal Muscadine, 33fl.

Sabihee, 290.

Verdal, 290.

Verdelho. 339.

GRAPES— Victoria Hamburgh, 339.

Wilmot's new Black Hamburgh,

339.
Zinfindal, 339.
Green-house, cheap, 440.
Green-houses, construction of, 51, 349,
351.

polmaise method of heating, 122.

Green-house plants for early flowering,

243.
Guava, 406.

Gum shellac solution, 149.
Hague, description of, 140.
Hardy shrubs, 495.
Heaths, fine collection, 578.
Hedges, plants for, 52. 200, 255, 274.

Cherokee rose for, 294, 395.

O.sage Orange for, 294, 351, 390,

398, 445, 447.
Hemlock for hedges, 255.
Hollyhock, propagation, 189.
Honeysuckle, Japan, 356.
Horse chestnut flour, 438.
Horse yoke for orchards, 398.
Horticultural agency, 194.

festival at Faneuil Hall, 224.

addresses at, 226.

humbugs, 199.

honor, 438.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES:.

Albany and Rensselaer, exhibi-
tions of, 55, 101.

annual exhibition, 146, 201.

Columbus, fourth amiual exhibi-
tion, 195.

London, (Eng.,) exhibition of, 142.
Massachusetts, annual show of>
190, 224, 297.

business meetings, 53, 100,

202, 256, 304, 352, 399,
448, 544, 582.

notice of the president, 14.

Transactions of, jNo. 2, 47.

weekly exhibitions, 52, 203.

Montreal, exhibitions of, 146, 196.
New-Bedford, exhibition of, 253.
New-Haven County, 101, 146.
Pennsylvania, exhibitions of, 56,

104, 152, 352, 400, 448,
496, 543, 583.

elections of, 400.

Valley of the Genesee, annual ex-
hibition, 195.
AVorcester, annual exhibition, 345.
Horticulture at Nashville, 49.

in Carolina, 99.

in Iowa, 397.

random notes on, 222.

Hot-bed lights, 447.
Hyacinths for glasses, 254.
Hybridizing plants, 21.
Improvers, hints to rural, 9.
Improvement of country villages, 545.
Indian corn, garden culture of, 99.
Insects that infest grapes, 28.

bottling, 578.

lime for, 343.

mixture to drive away, 81.

wood ashes for, 293, 395.

how to destroy, 578.

Ipomoea Horsfalliae, 528.
Isle of Wight, 575.

Italy, beautiful gardens of, 44.

Ivy, American and English, 357.

Jardin des plantes at Paris, 289.

Johnson, Otis, cf Lynn, 439.

Journals, agricultural, -390.

Kale, Scotch, 515.

Kew, Mr. Barry's visit to, 476.

Kirt'and, Professor, letter from, 443.

Kitchen gardens, treatment of, 325, 471.

Koelreuteria paniculata, 536.

Labels for trees, 292.

Landscape, in planting trees, 555.

Laeliasuperbiens, 491.

Langwood, 435.

GENERAL INDEX.

Laikspur, Double Dwari". 103.
Lawns, 151.

jfrass for, 495, S'^l.

top-dressing for, 431.

Leaves and roots, functions of, 314.

Leeks, cultivation of, 51().

Lettuce, cultivation of, 510.

Library, horticultural, 389.

Life in the country, mistakes of, 305.

Lilies, .lapan, in the open jfi^ound, 143.

146.
Lily tribe, 536.
Lime, 495.

for insects, 343.

uses of, 416.

Linnaean system, 267.

Loniccra japonica, 356.

London horticultural exliibitions, 142.

Luscunil) House, 573.

Magnolia grandiflora, 149, 541.

Mainhead, England, 574.

Mahaleb for cherries, 576.

Maize sugar, 529.

Mandevilla suaveolens, 528.

Manures, 151, 296.

discussion on, 492.

special, 2.51, 443.

McMichael, Morton, address of, 235.
Meacham's dairy farm, 200.
Melon, Ispahan or Persian, 103.

surest mode of grovi'ing, 480.

use of young, 2S7.

Meteorology, 198, 489, 538.
Mettray, agricultural colony at, 340.
Michaux's forest trees, new edition, 351.
Mignonette, 185.
Misletoe, 438, 580.
Mississippi, orchards in, 147.
Mistakes of citizens in country life,

304.
Mole?, to destroy, 5.39.
Mortar floors, 446.
Mulberry, Large White, of Iran, 144.

Bngli.sh black, 5S1.

Mulching, 180.

Myrtle tribe of plants, 404.

Nashville, horticulture at, 49.

Nasturtium, 185.

NECTARINES:

Downton, 193, 446.

Elruge, 446.

Large Early Violet, 193.

Slanwick, 245.

Valk's select list of, 219.
New-Mexico, products of, 529.
New-York State Agricultural Society,
suggestions relative to fair of, 97.

preparations for fair of, 145.

exhibition of. 194.

North A. P. Convention, 421, 577.

Norway spruce, 51, 148, 151.

Notes from the continent, 139.

Nurseries, 151.

Nursery booths at Holstein, 140.

Oak, Overcup, 116.

Ohio, fruit convention, 439.

— - trees in, 116.

Okra, 152.

Onions, culture of, 513.

Orange trees, 447.

Orchards, planting of, 394.

on the sea coast, 398.

of G. Olmstead, 322.

Orchidaceous plants, 348, 441, 490.
Ornamental plantations. 472.
Ornamental trees in villages, 513.
Osage orange for hedges, 294, 351, 390,

398, 445, 447.
Overbearing of dwarf trees, 534.
Packing trees, 397.
Paeonia teunifolia, 138.
Palm-house at Kew, 477,
Passiflora racemosa, 528.
Park at Geneseo, 163.
Parks and gardens, public, 153, 347.
Parsnips, garden c\iltare of, 5)3.

Paulownia imperiali.s, 530.
PEACH TREKS:

Analysis of the ashes of, 34.

Budding, 200.

Buds killed by cold, 579.

Disease.s in western New- York, 33.

Prevention of mildew on, 293.

Pruning, 440.

Rotting of fruit on. 102.

Singular growth of, .30.

Valk's list of select, 218.

Wood ashes for. :J.5, 310.
PEACHES— Varieties :

Brevoort, :349.

Coolidge's Favorite, 193.

Crawford's Early, 193.

Early Barnard, 35, 193.

Early Maiden, 193.

Early Tillotson, 191.

Enormous, 251.

Pine specimens of, 254.

Haines' Early Red, 193.

Hardy Galande, 162.

Jacques' Rareripe, 193.

Large Early York, 193.

Oldmixou Free, 193.

Royal George, 193.

Snow, 193.

Sweet kernelled, 144.

White Imperial, 193.
PEAR TREES :

And their culture, 549.

At the soutii, 151.

Belgian, 3-35.

Blight, cutting out, 9S.

iron for, 150.

Bissel on tiie, 313.

on the Mississippi, 367.

Wendell on, 329.

Cuttings, 441.

Experiments in planting, 414.

Growth and habit of, 408.

Hints to cultivators of, 32.

New early, 4.32.

.\ew and valuable, 241, 549.

Notes on, 141.

On quince stocks. 1:36, -3.37, 341.

Original Seckel, 347.

Selection of, 151.

Straw protection for, -32.

Valk's list of select, 217.

Valkon,:3:35.

Walker's select list, 5:35.

PEARS :

Eight of the first quality, 193.

Fifty new or rare, 445.

For orchards, 500.

In Ohio, 439.

Orchards, 254.

Ripening, 238.

Seedlings, 151, 191, 251.

Seeds, 296.

Stocks, raising, 253, 488.
VF.XRS— Varieties :

Alpha, 456.

Ambrosia, 456.

Ananas d'Ete, 241.

Andrews, 193.

Angleterre of Noisette, 459.

Ashton Town, 450.

Bartlett, 500, 553.

Bergamott Cadett. 455.

Belle Apres Noel,'550.

Bergamotte Parthenay, 456.

Bergamot, Easter, 457.

d'Esperen, 550.

Beurre Adam, 456.

Beurre Bosc, 409.

Beurre Brelounean, 550.

Beurre d'Aremberg, 263, 453.

Beurre d'Angleterre, 456.

Beurre d'Aumalis, 193, 409.

Beurre Delbecq, 456.

Beurre Diel, 410.

Beurre Goubault, 552.

Beurre Kenrick. 456.

PEARS— Btfurrc of Bolwiller, 456.
Beurre Ranz, 409.
Beurre Spcnce, 193.
Beurre Van Marura, 456.
Beurre Witzhnmb. 456.
Bezi de la Motte, 193.
Black of Worcester, 100.
Hloodgood, 193.
Brande's St. Germain, 456.
Brandywine, 166.
Brown Beurre, 193.
Bruno de Bosco, 459.
Burgomaster, 4.50.
Caen du France, 457.
Calebasse Monstreuse, 45S.
Capucin, 457.
Chancellor, 507.

Citron des Carmes panache, 458.^
Citron of Bohemia, 459.
Clara, 457.
Columbia, 457.
Coter, 457.

Crassane d'lliver, .552.
Cassunte de Mars, 552
Cushing, 193.
Cuvelier, 457.
Dearborn's Seedling, 193.
Dix, 137.

Doyenne Boussock, 457.
Doyenne d'Ete, 1,36, 458.
Doyenne d'Hiver, 457.
Doyenne, White, 502.
Duchess d'Angouleme, 501-
Duchess of Orleans, 458.
Dundas, 457.
Early Catherine, 503.
English Jargonelle, 410.
Episcopal, 552
Fantassie Van Mons, 459.
Flemish Bon Chretien, 457.
Foster's St. Michael, 457.
Gendeseim, 457.
Gilogil, 457.
Glout Morceau, 262.
Green Sugar, 457.
Hacon's Incomparable, 411.
Hampden's Bergamot, 459.
Henkel. 450.
Hessel, 410.

Jalousie de Fontenay Vendee, 459,
Jean de Witte, 458.
Josephine de Malines, 549,
Johonnot, 4.59.
Julienne, 193.
Las Caiias, 458.
Limon, 458.

Louise Bonne de Jersey, 501, 553,
Madeleine, 503.
Manning's Elizabeth, 458.
Marie Louise, 193, 408.
Marulis, 459.
Napoleon, 263.

Onondaga on Quince, 98, 136, 251,
Orange Bergamot, 193.
Osband's Summer, 136.
Ott, 4:32.

Paradise d'Automne, 454.
Parmentier, 457.
Passe Colmar. 410.
Plombgastel, 458.
Pratt, 147.
Rostiezer, 191, 19.3.
Seckel, 103, 146, 503.
Soldat Laboureur, 553.
Steven's Genesee, 193.
St. Andrew, 459.
Striped Madeleine, 458.
Surpasse Virgalieu, 503.
Suset de Bavay, .550.
Tyson, 193, 458.
Van Mons' Leon Le Clerc, 103.
Vicar of Winkfield, 10.3, 410,
Wa.shington, 193, 503.
Wilbur, 457.
Winter Nelis, 409.
Peas, cultivation o.*", 398, 430, 520.

VI

GENERAL INDEX.

Pelargonium Lucia Rosea, 527.
Penstemon geutianoides, 488.
Periodicals, agricultural, 390.
Perkins, S. G., 233.
Phosphate of lime for trees, 92.
Photinia glabra, 536.
Pimenta vulgaris, 400.
Pine apple, cultivation of, 526.

ste;im used fur growing, 293.

Pinks and Picotees, propagation of, 187.
Plants, covering tender, 243.

effect of winter on, 536.

in cellars, 296.

new hardy, 533.

rare, at Thorhurn's, 251.

select list of early blooming green

liouse, 243.
Planting .slopes of railroads, 438.
plumbago larpentce, 133,561.

capensis, 528.

plum trees, brewers' grains for, 283.

cure of black knot on, 30, 277.

curculio in, 52.

grafting, 495.

nine first rate, 194.

notes on forcing, 283.

on heavy soils, 296.

on sandy soils, 398.

stocks, raising, 253.

stocks for, 351.

three best for Pennsylvania, 296.

unfruitfulness in, 396.

Valk's li.st of select, 219.

"Walker's list of select, 535.

PhVMS— Varieties :

Aloo Bokara, 144.

Canada, 296.

Coe's Late Red, 292.

Diapr?e Rouge, 29.

Fine specimens of. 254.

Frost Gaffe. 446.

General Hand, 191, 332.

Jefferson. 52. 349.

La Royal e. 194.

Mimms, 29.

Prune de St. .lean. 396.

Red Diaper, 29.

Smith's Orleans, 104.

St. Martin's Quetche, 345.

AVhite Magnum Bonum, 194.
Poivrea coccinea, 528.
Polmaise method of heating green-hou-
ses, 122.
Pomegranate of Tabriz. 144.
Pomological notes, 141.

queries from Ohio, 100.

reform, 105, 159, 215.

Pomology, German, 141.

- information wanted in, 262.
Portland, Ducliess of. 453.
Pot plants, manure water for, 527.
Potatoes, how to preserve, 387.
— — garden cultivation of, 512.

cooking, 530.

Potsdam in Prussia, 141.
Primrose, Fringed Chine.se. 433.
Privet for hedges. 275.
Prunes, apparatus for drying. 378.

culture of, at Agen, 564.

Pruning, 4.30.
Psidium, 406.
Quinces, Angers or Orange. 100.

culture of. 254, 5S1.

Japan. .390.

of Persia, 144.

pruning. 151.

stocks, 488.

Valk's list of select, 219.

Quincy, Josiah, sen., address of, 229.
Quincy, Josiah.. jr., address of, 229.
Railroads, planting slopes of, 438.
Ranunculus, 542.
Raspberry, culture of, 48, 120, 527-

hardy, to raise. 578.

protection of. 254.

Valk's li.st of select, 219.

RASPBERRY— FarfetiM :

Col. V^^ilder. 1.35.

Fastolff, 151.

Large Fruited Monthly, 290.

Red Antwerp. 120.
Rats and mice, destruction of. 290.
Reform, pomological. 105, 159, 215.
REVIEWS :

Allen on the grape-vine. 338, 392.

American Farm Book, 572

Columbian Drawing Book, 573.

Cottages and cottage life, 179.

Stopping and thinning
STRAWBERRIES:

185.

Answers to inquiries on, 200 431
Culture of, 51, 67, 68, 114 '295
445, 447. ' '

Market, New- York, 103.
Notes on, 253.
Queries relative to. 351.
Remarks on new, 66.
Selection of varieties, 68.
Top-dressings for, 431.
Valk's list of select. 219.

Flore des serres el des jardins de STRAWBERRIES — Varieties:

52, 103.

Europe, 133
Gravs's genera of the plants of

the U. S., 484.
Jaques' Fruit Book, 572
Proceedings of the National Con-
vention of Fruit-growers, 484.
School-house arcliitecture, 182.
Transactions of N. Y. S. Agricul-
tural Society, vol. 7, 92.
Rhine, scenery of the. 140.
Rhubarb. 4.30. 520.

colossal, 5.36.

Rice, upland, 296.

Ridging soil of gardens, 325.

Rockingliani Farmer's Club, 548.

Rogers, Rev'd Mr., address of, 229.

Roots, functions of, 314.

Rose bugs on grape-vines, 113.

Slugs to destroy, 581.

ROSES:

Boursaults, 355.

Budding and layerin

Chapter on, 57.

Cherokee, 249,395.

D. Thomas on', 199.

Everblooming, how to grow, 522,
581.

Grafting and budding, 117.

Insects on, 185.

In Mississippi. 348.

I/ists of favorite. 61.

Perpetual, flowering of, 51.

Prairie. 3-55.

Stocks for, 398.

Tender, covering. -389.

Tliree constant blooming per-
petuals, 398.

Trioniplie de la Duchtre, 249.
Rural life, morale of. 373.
Rural taste, formation of. 467.
Russell, J. L., address of. 237.
Russian mode of training fruit trees, 343
Sargent. Eppcs, song by. 231.
Sali.sburia adiantifolia, 150.
Schools, agricultural, remarks on, 85.
Sea-kale, 151, 519.
Seedling crops, 288.
Seeds, 255.

mailing of, 495.

of fruit trees. 391.

preparation for sowing, 531.

Severe winter. 494
Seward, W. H

Hall, 2.33.
Sh.ide trees, premium for, 196, 333.

societies for planting, 548.

Sheep, use of on lawns, 499.

Siberian kale. 99.

Sigournev. Mrs. L. H., ode by, 237.

Skinner, J. S., address of, 233.

Soap weed, 529.

Soil for potting, 531.

South, hints from the, 494.

Spider, red, 296.

Spinach, 520.

Spirea, Double Japan, 377.

Springbronk, the residence of Caleb

Cope, 411.
Stanhopea, cultivation of, 491.
Statice imbricata, 138, 148.
Stephanotis floribimda, 528.
Stock, influence of on grafts, 191.
Stocks, 255.

Aberdeen Bee-hive. 2,90.
Bicton AVhite Pine, 151.'
Bishop's Orange, 09. 102.
Black Prince, 67, 69, 102
Boston Pine, 67.
Brilliant. 70.
British Queen, 116.
Burr's New, 143, 196.

New Pine. 67, 70, 83, 151

Rival Hudson. 70.

Caroline Pine, 99.
Charlotte. 67. 69.
Cornucopia. 70.
Crimson Cone, 07, 69.
Crimfon Pine, 69
Cushin?, 70.
Eberleiii, 67, 70.
Hovey's Seedling, 68.
Hudson, 395.

Iowa, 70.

Jenney's Seedling, 67.
Large English Scarlet, 51.
Magnifique, 70.
Montevideo Pine, 70.
Primate. 70.
Primordian, 70.
Profuse Scarlet, 67, 09.
Prolific Hudson. 70
Prolific Swainstone, 70
" Refiilgent, 70.
Ross' Phcnix, 151.
Taylor's Seedling, 71.
Unique Prairie, 71.
Unique Scarlet, 70.
White Wood, 35].
AVilley, 51. 102, 146.
Strawberry question. Cincinnati report
on. 197.

Further notes on, 19.

Huntsman on the. 49, 150.

J. M. B. on the. 50.

liOngworth on the, 100, 250.

Valk, Dr., on, 101.

Sunflower, uses of the, 289.
Sycamore, curious growth of, 178.
Tea plant, cultivation of in U. S., 533.
Teconia grandi flora, 358.

jasminoides, 528.

Terra cotta ware. 37.
Thorburn's exotic nursery, 51, 540.
Thorburn's rare plants, 251.
Tomatoes. 151.

address of in Faueuil Top-dressing, 186

Torenia asiatica, 523.

Tozza vases, 40.
Transplanting trees, 200, 275.

art of. 209.

practical hints on, 321.

large trees, 466.

Trellis, moveable, .3.59.
Tree associations, 545.
Trees, girdled, 447.

in Ohio, 116.

packing for tran.sportation, 397.

rapid growing, 2.55.

effect m planting. 555.

J. — training fruit, 577
I'ricosanthes columbina. 138.
Turnips, garden cultivation of, 514.
Vases, ornamental. 37.
Vegetable marrow. 519.
Vegetables, special manures for, 487.
Verbenas, to winter, 580.

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

VU

Vernal prass, 5S1.

Villages, improvemeiil of, 545.

Vine, Allen on 0ie,338, 302.

borders, 447. 538.

formation of, 474.

Vines, bugs on. 101.

in pots, 504.

Vineries, care of, 51.
Vineyards, experiments on, 113.

visits to tlie best French, 279.

Vineyards, profits of, 334.

in Indiana, 350.

Viola arborea, 244

Virginia creeper, .357.

Wadsworth, .fames and James S., 163.

Wash for buildings, 150

Water in level countries, 340.

Weather, changes indicated in the,

28S.
Weigelia rosea, 533.

Wilder, Marshal P., notice of. 14.

liorticultural honor to, 438.

Window gardening, 370.

Wine on the Ohio, 250

Winter, effects of in Delaware, 541.

Wintering plants in pots, 345.

Wintlirop, Robert C, address of, 229.

Wistaria sinensis, 03, 355.

Wood ashes for insects, 293.

Yoke for horses, 398.

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

LIST OP PLATES.

I. Marshal P. Wilder, President of liie Mas- ) to face

sachusetts Hort Society, - • - ) page 14

II. Design for a Small Cottage, - ... - 47

III. Souvenir de la Malmaison Rose, - - - - 57

IV. Designs for Rural Scliool-houses, .... 182
V. View in the .Meadow Park at Geneseo, . . 103

VI. Horticultural Festival at Boston', .... 224

VII. Cottage in the Swiss Style, 287

VIII. Design for a small Villa. 334

I.X. Plan of a Suburban GardL-n. - - - - 379

X. Langwood, ^fo

XI. Design for an Italian Vdla. *»■>

XII. Design for a Suburban Cottage, ... - 521
XIII. Design lor a Villa in the Tudor .Style, . - - 560

LIST OP ENGRAVINGS.

FI-OWEnS.

Geranium, 73.
Chrysanthemum, 171.
Double Brugmansia, 2.jfl.
Double Japan .Spiraia, 377.
Fringed Chinese Primrose, 434
Asiatic Torenia, 523.
Plumbago Larpentoe, 502
Forsythia viridissima. 503.

FRUITS.

Apples :
Summer Bellefleur, 16'.
Belle et Bomie, 323,
Republican Pippin, 333.
Smoke-house, 334.

Apricot :
Large Early, 33

Cherry :
Buttner's Yellow. 84.

Currant :
The Cherry, 85.

GoOSEBEItRV :

Hougliton's, 120.

Pears :
Ananas, 242.
Brandy wine, 107.
Chancellor. 507.
Ott. 4.32.

Plum :
Red Diaper, 30.

Raspberries :
Col Wilder, 135
Modes of growing, 527.

Strawberry :
Burr's Xew Pine, 84.

Miscellaneous :
Ornamental vases, 40.
Ornamental fountain, 41.
Lower part of .-■. svcainorf'

178.

Botany, illustrations of the Lin-
nocan system, 205, 200, 207, '268.

Climbing plants on cedar trunks.
.359.

Moveable trellis, .359.

Oven for drying prunes, 379.

AVindow gardens, 428

Great palmhouse at Ke%v, 478.

New Japan cedar. 482.

Rural Architecture :
Chimney tops, five small sized, 37.

three medium sized, -38.

three Grecian or Italian, 38

Elizabethan, 39.

Grccn-house, section of, showing Pol-

maise mode of heating, 124.

ground plan of, 124.

Polmaise furnace, 120.

groundplanof the same,

120.

plan for a .small, 259.

section of the same, 259.

simple mode of lieating, 273.

VTpper floor of an Italian villa. 483.

INDEX TO CORRESPONDENTS.

A. D. C , Aiken, S t'.. 100.

A. F., Lancaster. Ohio. 44).

Allen, Lewis F.. 486.

Amateur, New- York, 51. 320. ."{OO. 5'2'2.

Amateur Florist. 488, 491. .580.

A Novice, 578.

A, P , Miss, 49.

Arboriculturist, Pliiladelpliia. 275.
Austin, AV. R.. Dor-hester. V^l.

B, Chester CO., Pu . ICl.
B., Pousjlikeepsie, 115, 414.

Bacon, William, Riclimoml. .Mass., 472.

Balmano, Robert, ]7(i.

Baker, John, Eiip.. 144

Barrett, S. A . Milton, N. Y.. 120, 240.

Barry, P., Rochester, 435, 476.

Bateham, M. B.. Ohio, 415.

Becar, Noel .1 , 2i>!»

Bissell, .J. AV.. Rochester. 33, 311.

Brinckle, Dr. AV. 1)., Philadelphia, 1.35,

332, 347, 432. 507
Bucks County Reader. 147
Buist, R.. Philadelphia. 213. 533.
Burr, J , Ohio, 148.

C, New- York. 28.
Calkins, Georpre \A^, 441.
Chapin, Geo. N., Providence, 510.
Chisholm, Robert, 149.
Chrysops, Brooklyn. 293.
Cleveland, H. AA'. S , Burlington, N. .f.,

11.3, 579.
Comstock, J. S., Hartford, 19!».
Connecticut Subscriber, 440
Constant Reader, 410.
Cornell. AV. Enir . liTi.
Crapo, Henry H., 98. 169.

C. T , Buffalo. 446.

Cutter, B. F., Pelhani. N II . 490.
Cynic, in Miss , 494

D , New-A'ork, 80.
Daggre. E.. 294
Danvers, H . 101.
Dickson, ,1. Hill, 143.
Diehe. .lohn. Delaware, 540.
Dwinelle, AV. H , Cazenovia. 36.
Elliott, F. R., Cleveland, 146, 41S.
EUwanger & Barry. Rochester. 47.
Ernst, A. H., 196, 2-5.3
Eshleman, Dr., Pa.. 570.
Pahnestock, A. 331.

P. E , New-York, 251.

Peast, Samuel, Baltimore, 417, 530.

Forbes, J M , Milton, Mass , 148

F. AA'. P., AA'estchcster. 495

Fulton, J., Chester co.. Pa , 395.

Gabriel, Georjre, New-IIaven, 364.

Glenn, Alex. E , 196.

Glennv. (ieoro'e. l4ondon, 71, 170

Gootlale, S. L., Maine, 397.

Goodwin, Amos, Indiana, 350-

Gookins, S. Si.. Terre Haute, 467.

Grant, James, Iowa, -397, 579.

H- B, Lubeck,142

Hamilton, Charles, 446-

Harris, Professor. Cambridge, 277.

Hodge. B., Buffalo, 48

Huntsman, G. AV.. Flushing, 49, 66. 150.

II. AA'. 8., 44, 1.39, 214, 573

Ives, J M , Salem, Massachusetts, 119.

I. AV. S., Philadelphia, 492

Jaques, George, AVorcester. Ma.ssachu-

setts, 191, 373
Jerseyman, 439, 121.
J. J. S., Philadelphia. 542.
J J. T., Macedon. 191.
J. MB, Lancaster, 51.
Johnston, Alexander. Alaine, 405.
Justicia, 411.

Kidd. Geo . Blithewood, 212.
Kirtland. J P , Cleveland. 445
Knevels. J. AV . Fishkill Landing. 2S3,

564.
Knoop, Jacob, Troy, O , 116.
Leavenworth. E AA' , Syracuse. 220.
Lecoq. H . France, 500.
Lindley, Professor, Eng.. 427.
Little, Henry. Bangor .537.
Longworth. N., lOti, 250, .394, .395.
Lunn. AA'illiain, Montreal, 541.
M , Philadelphia, ,579.
Mallinckrott. E.. St Louis. .367.
Manning, Robert, Salem, 455.
Maryland Subscriber, .32
M. C. 319, 443.491, 541. 5SI).
M. D. M , P>irt Gibson. Miss., 1.50.
Mechi, J J . Eng, 18 J.
Miller, David, Carlisle. Pa . 119-
Miller, S-, Lebanon, Pa , 192.
Mississippi Reader, 348.
M- P. AV. Boston. loO.
M. R. AV , Jersey City. 293-
New-Haven, 147-
New-Jersey Subscriber, -394, C3s-
New Subscriber, Philadelphia, 48-
North River. 99
N. Y. Farmer, 150
Ohio Cultivator. 150.
Old Digger, 285, 430
Old Gardener, Philadelphia, 81.
Olmsted, Prof. New-Haven. .322.
Olmsted, George, East Hartford, 322.
Original Subscriber, Brooklyn, 315.
p.. Salem, Massachusetts. .538.
Parsons & Co., Flushing, 162
Paul, Dr. James, Trenton, N- J.. 314.
Peck, A. H.. Port Gibson. Miss., 276.

Philadelphia Subscriber, 293.

Phillips, M- AA' , Miss , 148, 4h9, ,537

Pike County P'ree Press, 150.

Pine Barren Subscriber, .396.

Practical Gardener, 51.

Prichard, AVilliam, Nashville, 50.

Prince, AV. R , Flushing, 68, 196

P. AA^ R , New- York, 274.

R., Schenectady, 191

Reagles, C-, Schenectady, 30

Reed, James E . Dalton, 0-. 252.

Reid, AA'illiam, New-York. 408, .500.

R. H-, Mobile, 99

R. H T, Delaware, 27-

Ritchie, James, Philadelphia, 374.

Rivers, Thomas, Eiiglanil, 141. 549, 576.

Russell, G. R ,

S., Baltimore, 99.

S., Philadelphia, 1.50

Sargent, H. AV., AA'odenethe, 279

Saundeis, AA''m., New-Haven. 474.

S. B G .Terre Haute, 316

Scott, F- J., Toledo, 0-, 100

Scott, Robert, Philadelphia, 370.

Scott, AV. II , Toledo, O.. 327, 539.

Scotch Gardener, Boston. 325

Senex, 19-

Shepard, Professor. 85

Smith, C-. Newport. N \' , 321-

S. N. T-. Vassalboro",

Spencer, John, Bowood, Eng , 109-

Stewart, James. AA'ashington, 504

Subscriber, Chicago, 251.

Subscriber, AVilliamstown, Ma.ss., 147.

Subscriber. Monroe, MichigMU, 272.

Summer, AA'illiam, S. C , 439

Sylvanus, Cincinnati. 222.

Taylor, A'ardley, A'irginia, 425. ,

Thomas, D , 199- i ■

Thomas. J J , Macedon, 4S. 252.

Turner. Professor, Illinois College, 12S,

294, ,381. 397.
Valk, AV. AA'., Flushing. 63, 101, 14S,

159, 215. 219, 264. 293. 3.35, 401.
A'an Mons, Dr Belgium, 117.
AV., Lenox, Mass., 555.
AA'a.shburn. John, Plymouth. 251.
AA'endell, Dr- Herman. Albany, 329
AVest Jersey. 403.
AA'e.<ton, F.,' Sandy Hill,
AVight, J A-. Chicago, 459.
AA'ilder, AI. P., Boston, 146
AA'illiams, John, England, 115.
AVilson, James. Albany, 377, 391.
AA'ilson, AV. C , Baltimore, 349.
A'eomans. T- G . 310, 349. 398, 533.
A'oung Planter, 262
X.Y Z., New-Jersey, 489.

New York Botanical Garden Librar

3 5185 00247 3054

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