nDDDnDDDnDDnDannDnaDnnDDDDaDDDDD D D D D D D D a ,<^°;^% a D n D s'diAb\ D D D > gl vwV J3 m D 1 D * ^i va| Asl ^ D 1 D ■? ^^k^^^ff ^ D ^ D D "^^fgS^A** D D D D D D D D D D UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS D D a a LIBRARY D D n D D D D D D a D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D □ D D D D D D D D D D D □ D D D D D D D D D D D > D D D n D D D D D D D D D D n n D D D D D D DDDnnDnnnnDDDDDDnDnnnDDDDDnnDnDD UbrarV IJN!VE^-S TY i F MASSfC^iliSaiS THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE, BOTANY, AND ALL USEFUL DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN RURAL AFFAIRS. " Je voudrais echauffer tout I'univers de mon gout pour les jardins. II me semble qu'il est impossible qu'un mechant puisse I'avoir. II n'est point de vertus que je ne suppose a celui que aime a parler et a faire des jardins. Peres de famille, inspiiez a jardinomcinie a vos enfans." — Prince de Ligne. VOL. XXVII. 1861. (vol. II., FOURTH SERIES.) Edited by C. M. H O V E Y. AUTHOR OF THE "FRUITS OF AMERICA." BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY HOVEY AND CO., 23 KILBY STREET. 1861 . V. 27 H. W. DUTTON AND SON, PRINTERS, 90 Washington Steeet, Boston. CONTENTS. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 73' 193 198 GENERAL SUBJECT. The Progress of Horticulture. By the Editor, 1 The Sacredness and Use of Standing Groves. By Wilson Flagg, 16 On the Inclination of Glass Roofs. By Thos. i\ Walph, 30 Classification of Wood Scenery. By Wilson Flagg, 53 Notes on the Vegetation of Japan. From the Gardeners' Chronicle, Geothermal Cultivation By the Editor, . On the Hardy Evergreens and their Cult- ure. By Evelyn, The Palm and Pine Forms. By Wilson I Flagg, 214 Acclimation of Plants. By the Editor, . 241 | Cultivation of our Native Pine.s. By Evelyn, 247 Geothermal Cultivation. By M. Naudin, 252, 301 [ Agriculture as an Art. By the Editor, . 289 Cultivation of Evergreens By Evelvn, I 296, 392, 439, 498, 537 Taxation of Agricultural Property. By j Wilson Flagg, 344 The Cucurbitaceous Plants. By the late Dr. T. W. Harris, 348 Variation in Plants. By the Editor, . . 385 HORTICULTURE. Horticultural Orthoepy. By Geo Jaques, . 25 Cogswell and Ohio Nonpareil Apples. By C. Downing, . ' 59 Descriptions of Select Apples. By the Ed- itor, . 66 Shiawasse Beauty, Carolina Red June, Dyer, Quince. The American Pomological Society. By the Editor, 97 Remarks on Fruit Tree Stocks. Dy Dr. Jas. Hogg, 107 Fruit Culture in Belgium. By J.deJonghe, 113 The Best Apples and Pears. By the Editor, 145 Delaware and Concord Grapes. By Chas. Downing, ....... 151 Standard Grape Vines. From the Garden- ers' Chronicle, 158 Lyon Pear. By Hon. J. M. Earle, . . 160 A New Mode of Raising Peaches. By Jas- per Stand.still 208 Strawberry Culture. By the Editor, . 337 Summer Pruning Grape Vines. By the Editor, 397 Orchard Houses By the Editor, . . 433 Descriptionsof Select Pears. By the Editor, 445 Clapp's Favorite, Walker's Seedling, Durandeau. Strawberries. Bv the Editor, . . . 481 Grapes. By the Editor, . . . .529 Growing Fruits in Moss Baskets. By Al- fred Chamberlain, 542 The Penn Pear. By the Editor, . . 546 Pomological Gossip, 63, 116, 1.52, 204, '.'58. 306, 404, 450, 489, 544 ARBORICULTURE. The Half-Hardy Conifers and Evergreea*^- By the Editor, 49 Stuartia Pentagynia By Messrs. Parsons & Co., . . • 124 Arboricultural Notices, 119, 180, 211, 308, 352, 406, 491 FLORICULTURE. The Gazania Splendens and Double Zinnia. By the Editor, 38 Forcing Roses and Lilacs. From the Gar- deners' Chronicle, ..... 127 The Cultivation of Native Flowers. By Mrs. Isaac Clement, 162, 218, 262, 821. 361, 415, 460 The Variegated Begonias. By the London Horticultural Society 163 The Ferns as Cultivated Plants. By J. L. Russell, 173 Caladiums as Border Plants. By the Edi- tor, 220 Improvement of the Gladioli. From the Gardeners' Chronicle, .... 264 The Silver-leaved Fern. By the Editor, . 269 Ornamental Plants with Variegated Foli- age. By the Editor, . . . .312 Perennial Herbaceous Plants. From the Florist, 315 Lilliputian or Bouquet Dahlias. By the Editor, 322 How to Preserve Flowers. From the Gar- deners' Chronicle, 3.55 Yucca angustifolia. By the Editor, . . 359 Ornamental Foliaged Plants. By the Edi- tor, 416 Is the Heath a Native Plant. By the Edi- tor, 419 The Cyclamen. By the Editor, . . .452 Winter and Spring Flowering Begonias. By the Editor, 502 Thunbergia laurifoUa. By the Editor, . 508 The Bignonias. From the Illustrated Bou- quet, 549 Floricultural Notices, 79, 130, 221, 272, 324, 362, 461, 556 IV CONTENTS. LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. TREES AND PLANTS. page. . 41 5. Double Zinnia, 11. Figure of the Stuartia slightly reduced in size 126 4. Gazania splendens, . . . .40 19. Lilliputian or Bouquet Dahlia, . . 323 22. Ornamental Foliaged Plants, . . 418 18. Silver Leared Fern, .... 271 12. Standard Grape Vine, . . . .159 10. Stuartia Pentag.vnia, .... Vlb 26. Thunbergia Laurifolia, . . . .508 21. Yucca Angustifolia, .... 360 DIAGRAMS. 2. Angle reflecting the sun's rays. . 33 1. Illuminating power of the sun's rays, . 32 3. Mode of finding the angle of the roof, . 34 16. New outline of the form of the Gladio- lus, 268 17. New outline of the form of the Gladio- lus, 268 fg. - page. 14. Section of a trellis for cultiyating the peach, 209 OPERATIONS. 20. Bell gla.ss for preserving flowers, . . 357 15. New mode of cultivating the Peach, . 209 27. Moss Basket for growing Fruits, . . 543 FRUITS. APPLES. 7. Carolina Red June 69 8. Dyer, ....... 71 9. Quince, 72 6. Shiawasse Beauty, .... 68 23. Clapp's Favorite Pear, . . . .446 25. Durandeau or De Tongres Pear, . . 449 13. Lyon Pear, 161 24. Walker's Seedling Pear, . . . 448 28. Penn Pear, 647 LIST OF PLANTS. In the body of the Magazine, a few errors occur in the spelling of the botanical names, the capitalizing the generic and specific names, their derivation and accentuation; these are all corrected in the following list of plants : — Lists of Indian Azaleas, . . . 189, 284 List of Winter-floweriug Begonias, . . 504 Lists of Variegated-leaved Begonias, . 164, 475 Lists of New Coniferous Trees from Japan, 119, 211 Lists of Cannas for Flower Gardens, . 187, 520 Lists of Cyclamens, .... 328, 454 List of New Chrysanthemums, . . . 224 List of Chrysanthemums, .... 563 List of Prize Dahlia.s, 562 List of Lilliputian Dahlias, . . . 324 List of Everlasting Flowers, . . . 226 List of Fine Double Fuchsias, . . . 463 List of Fine Gladioli, 462 jl'bies amibilis, 120 Alcocqwidna, 122 firma, 212 leptolepis. 121 microsperma. 120 nobilis. 121 Nordm an/dna. 121 polita, 122 Tsiiga, 121 V6itchji, 121 AMtilon Due de Malakoff 131 ,190 Bera nger. 131 Abr6nia umbellita, 521 ilcicia Drummondii 190 oleifolia elegans. 333 X^cer pseudoplitanus. 518 Acrostichum alcicome, 17c ,285 Adiintum peditum, 178 .ajchmea Melinnnii 273 ^'sculus argiit'V, 181 A^gave yucca ISlia, 84 jlgrostis vulgaris, 378 colorita. 378 Aildnthus glandul6su8, 518 Allaminda violicea. 558 A'loe albo-cfucta, 83 Alsophila excelsa. 175 itlyssum saxitile, 376 Tariegitum, 378 Lists of Ferns and Lycopods, . 231, 461, 475 Lists of Hardy and Half-hardy Trees at Kew, 496, 497 List of Hardy Evergreen Trees, . . . 309 List of Roses for Forcing 28 Lists of New and Fine Roses, 221, 332, 421, 512 List of Plants with Variegated Foliage, . 313 List of Perennial Herbaceous Plants, . 315 List of New Bedding Plants, . . .329 List of Plants for Garden Decoration, . 376 List of New Pelargoniums, .... 325 Lists of Japan Trees and Shrubs, 74, 352, 412 List of New Verbenas, .... 325 jlmygdalus persica pleno, 180 versicolor fl. pi. 181 Anatidssa sitiva variegita, 284 Anemone Scarlet Soldier, 319 Josephine, 819 Aquilegia canadensis, 263 A'rabis alplna, 376 Arilia reticulata, 284, 475 Arauciria Rule!, 493 Areca Verchaffeltii', 276 Ardisia crenulita, 279 Arisae^ma praeVox, 500 Arn^bia Griffith i(, 559 .4'runi triphyllum, 219 jlriindo phragniites, 378 .4sclepias incarnata, 361 tuberosa, 361 Aspidistra Klitior, 372 Aspidium elongatum, 173 jlsplenium ebeneum, 179 Azilea indica America, 190 Beauty of America, 189 carnosa superba, 189 carnation, 225 crispiUora, 189 Criterion, 189 coronata, 189 Dieudonne Spae, 225 Due d'Aremberg, 132 Etoile de Gand, 225 Aziiea Gledstanes/?, 189 Glory of Sunning Hill, 189 Leopold II, 190 Mattapan, 190 many varieties, 189, 284 nudiflora, 263 triumphans, 190 variegata, 189 Begonia Dasdalea, 223, 365 Duchess de Brabant, 285 Frederic Siesmayer, 272 glandulosa, 465 imperiaUs, 224, 365 var. Smargdina, 81 incarnata, 426 New Dwarf, 272 phyllomaniaca, 464 President, 286 Rex, 285 rosea carminata, 131 several new varieties, 285 Van de Hecke, 285 Beloperone violicea, 275 Beschorn^na yuccoides, 85 Bignonia Chamberlaynii, 650 grandiflora, 552 jasniinoides, 652 venusta, 551 several species, 549 Bilbergio bivitUta, 561 CONTENTS. BougainTillea speciosa, 368 Botrjchi-ium lunaroides, 179 £lechnum corcoradensis, 285 Caldr/iiiw argyrites, 284 Bellevmei, 284 Chantim, 284, 465 esculentum, 77, 5'20 Tioliceum, 520 Verschaffelt;!, 559 Callirhce pedita, 173 digitita, 173 CaJceoliria bellldifolia, 364 sulphurea splendins, 320 C4Ila Kthiopica, 282 Cal}stegia sepium rar. 378 Camellia Hovey-s new seed- ling, 189 Hovey's scarlet seedling, 189 Campcinula carp^tica, 320 877 nivea, '320 pumila, 320, 377 ilba, 320 rotundifolia ilba, 319 rostia, 319 several species, 377 Camptosorus rhizophyllus, 179 CampylobotrysGhriesbreglitu', 365, 367 pyrophvlla, 3(54 regilis," 284 C4nna A'nnei, 187, 417 indica, 417 Warscewiczu', 187, 417 Carnation de la Malmaison, 273, 284 Cirya, texina, 182 Caryota urens, 276 Ceanothus elegans, 133 americinus, 321 Cephalotaxus drapacea, 123 Cereus McDonildiJ, 365 granditiorus, 365 Cerinthe retorta, 559 ChanijeH-ops Fortune/, 184, 493 Cheirunthus alpinus, 317 Marshall!, 318 Chelone barbata, 377 glibra, 416 Chysis aurea LemmJnghei, 560 Cibotium Oummingn, 175 Cineriria, several varieties, 284 Cissus discolor, 83, 2S5 velutinus, 83 Claytoni'a caroliniina, 219 virginica, 218 Clematis lanuginosa, 284 Clypeola maritima, 467 05marum palustre var., 378 Convalliria Sieboldf, 378 Convolvulus Mauritiinus, 275, 365 ColeuR inflitus, 274 Collinsoum canadensis, 415 Cordyline indivisa, 81 Cornus stolonifera, 263 Craspedia Klchea, 561 Cryptomeria japonica, 74, 120, 123, 309 Cucumis Anguria, 183 Cuciirbita mammeita, 349 maxima, 351 indica, 349 melopepo, 351 Pepo, 351 several speciei, 351 verrucosa, 351 Cuphea eminens, 368 Jorullensis, 868 Cupressus Lawsonj'dna, 355 Cyanophyllum magnlficum, 284, 475 Cyclamen Atklnst, 131, 828 roseum, 131, 328 coum, 327 persicum, 327 many varieties, 131, 328 Cydonia Gaujardt!, 80 japonica,' 80 Papeleui';' 80 Princess Emilia Sontzo, 80 Cystopteris frigUis, 178 Cypripedium parviflorum, 263 Dasystoma quercifolia, 415 Delphinium, several species, 876 Desmodium canadense, 416 Dianthus hybridus mult. 557 Dickson ;a linaria, 285 Dimorphotheca graminifblia, 464 Dioscorfa batitas, 381 I}isa grandiflora, 365 Doodfa liniita, 285 Dodecitheon gigintea 377 DracK^na umbracaulifera, 81 bicolor, 369 Drosera spathulita, 274 E'pacris liEvigita, 190 multiflora, 132 £rica Beaum6ntia, 28J Oavendishij, 284 ventricosa, 284 vulgaris, 419 Erodium pelargonii-florum, 88 Erythrouium americinum, 219 Eupat6ri'»m ageratoides, 461 fistulosum, 461 Euphorbia Jaquiniflora, 282 Eucharis amazonica, 567 Exochorda grandiflora, 190 Farfiigium gr4nde, 272 Festuca glaiica, 878 Forsythm suspensa, 181 Francisea exlmia, 285 i Frixinus Nutt4Uj, 182 Fuchsia Solferino, 327 Mad. < ornelissen, 82'! Gardenia florida, 474 Gazinia pavonia, 330 rigens, 330 major, 330 splendens, 38, 173, 284, 330 Genista tinctoria pleno, 319 Gomphia olivaeformis, 558 Gossypium arboreum, 521 herbiceum, 78 Gymnogramina ochracea, 177 Glycine moniaca, 460 Halesia reticulata, 181 Hemionitls dealbita, 174 Hep4tica triloba, 218 Heteroceutron microdon, 74 roseum, 4-8 Iloya Shepherdi';', 561 variegita, 285 Hydrangea nlvea. 354 quercifolia, 354 Hypoxis erecta, 264 /beris corifolia, 376 cordifolia, 317 8ax4tilis, 317 sempervirens, 817 Tenoredna, 376 Imantophyllum miniitum, 139 Impjttiens Jerdonios, 233 Wilkeri, 274 Ipomae^a hederse^foUa, 375 Ipomse^a LeinV, 427 Juniperus chinensis, 408 rigida, 123 virginiina, 408 Eilmia angustifolia, 321 Lapageria rosea, 656 Latinia aurea, 276 borbonica, 285, 475 rubra, 276, 284 Laurus benzoin, 262 Liboc^drus tetragdna, 310 Liniria vulgiris, 322 Lindenia rivilis, 465 iinum flivum, 317 Lilium californicum, 331 canadense, 361 colchium, 331 cordifolium, 331 giganteum, 272, 372 Philadelphicum, 361 puniceum, 331 several species, 331 Takesema, 331 tenuifblium, 331 Thunbergidjtuwi gran- ditlorum 331 Sieboldi, 331 Wallich?dn«w , 331 Liriodendron tulipifera, 389 Lobfelia cardiniUs, 321 siphilitica, 322 i-ychnis BungedTta, 377 Haagedna, 377 several species, 377 Sieboldit, 377 Lycopodium leptophyllum, 285 Magnolia Lenne, 181 Soulangedna, 181 Malortiea simplex, 369 Methonica grandifldra, 84 Plantii, 84 superba, 84 Mitella dyphilla, 2(i2 Mimulus cupressus, 364 rivuliris pardinus, 318 Mycrdpteris elegans, 285 Myosotis aziirea grandiflora, 377 several species, 377 A'arclssus bulbocodium, 318 tenuifolia, 318 Negiindo fraxinifolium var 491 lYiiphar adv^na, 461 (Enothera macrocirpa, 320 prostrita, 377 serdtina, 377 several species, 377 Onoclea sensibllis, 178 O'rchis fimbrita, 460 Polemonium coeriileum va- riegcitum, 377 Panrfdreiis javinnicus vari- egitus, 474 mauritiinus, 131 Paritium elitum, 869 Passiflora Barracjuini'dna, 224 hybrida floribiinda, 284 Pediculiris canadensis, 263 Pentstemon spectabilis, 466 Pet-dnia inimitlbilis fl. pleno, 326 Madame Jacotot, 284, 326 Phlox prociimbens, 377 Triumph de Twickel, 12 vemilis, 377 Pimelei Nieppergi'dna, 131 Pinus Bonapartea, 121 densifldra, 211 Friesidna, 411 VI i'inus Massom'ana, Plitanus acerifolia, orientAlia, Platycodon grandiflora, Pleroma elegans, Polygonum chinense folius pictis, Polypodium giginteum, Prenanthes Albus, Prinos gliber, Prunus cerasifera, sinensis pleno, rosea, Ptelea trifoliita variegita, Pteris cretica Albo lineita, i rubronerya, argyrea, 10, 177, 270, ■ serrulita, longifolia, tricolor, 10, 284, ■ Puya Alstensteim'i, grandiflora, Pyrus Pollvern, Quercus annulita, Durandn', ShumardiV, Texina, Paniinculusamplexicaulis, Retinospora ericoides, obtusa, 74, 212, i pislfera, 74, Rondeletf'a speci6sa, Kodinthe atrosanguineum, i niaculita, M4nglesii, Rhopila corcoVadensis, glaucophylla, Jonghit, CONTENTS. 211 Rhododendron Bijou de Gand, Thuja filif&rmia, 406 518 82 Iloveyi, 411 518 Sdhal umbracuUfera, 276 orientilis, 74. 386 408 377 iSilix tricolor, 312 flagelliforniis 409 4t)7 Sanguiniria canadensis. 219 p^ndula, 74, 386 406 Saponiria ocymoides. 377 pensilis. 408 274 Saxlfraga granulita. 378 Thujop.sLs boreilis, 122, 309 355 174 Sciadopitys verticillita, 120,352 dolobrita, 74, 122 352 362 Scllla campanulita 41ba, 317 variegata. 122 354 intermedia 318 Tiarella cordifolia 262 112 nitans. 317 Tigridia oonchiflora. 280 180 iS^dum icre, var. 378 pavonia. 280 180 carneum variegitum, 463 Tilliudsm ac4ulis zebrina 285 411 Fabirium, 223 recurvifolia. 369 365 telephium. 377 Torrej'a nucli'era, 123 365 .Sfenecio mikanioides. 472 Trillium, 219 461 Sisyrlnchium 4nceps, 321 Tropse^olum speciosum, 326 177 Solinum eseulentum. 77 Yeitch/a japonica. 213 177 Solidigo gigantea, 461 Veron ica caucisica, 319 461 lanceolata. 461 chamse^drys. 378 285 Spigelia splendens. 560 n&na. 318 273 jSpirae'^a Kegel/djia, 411 pitens. 318 110 tomentosa. 416 teucrium, 318 182 Stanhopea tigrina, 333 Tirginica, 415 182 Stitice Hilfordj, 284 Fibiirnum acerifolium, 263 182 Stenogister concfnna, 864 ,464 oxycoccus. 263 182 Stephanotus floribundus. 285 yinca rosea, 473 376 Stokesfa cyinea, 463 7iola palmensis. 317 495 Streptoc4rpus Saunders/?, 463 Washington/a gigintea, 123 352 Stuirt/a pentagynia, 124 ,180 Weigelia GroenewegenM, 181 212 Yirginica, 127 new, 310 284 Swainsonia eoronilliflora, 285 rosea, 181 ,310 362 (Symphytum officinale, 378 Yiicca aloifolia, 363 362 rhalictrum corniiti. 264 angustifolia. 359 362 dioicum. 264 canaliculata, 84 284 Thca Bohea, 78 gloriosa, 84 475 Thunbergm laurifolia. 508 Zinnia new double. 273 284 LIST OF FRUITS. APPLES. Buckingham, Carolina Red June, Cogswell, Dyer, Early Harvest, Fameuse, Gipson's Kentucky Seedling, 206 Governor Charter's Seedling, 118 Missouri Janet, Moreland, Myers' Nonpareil, Ohio Nonpareil, Ortley, Primate, Quince, Shiawasse Beauty, White Belltlower, Winter Harvey, Winter Pippin of Vermont, 60 White Winter Pearmaiu, 60 List of native varieties, 152 List of best apples for cen- tral Massachusetts, 157 Many varieties, 98, 146 CHERRIES. Cocklin's Favorite, Transparent, 262 206 61 69 60 69 71 61,67 60 60 405 115 CURRANTS. Bronze, 101 Cherry, 101 Imperial Jaune, 101 Imperial Red, Prince Albert, Several varieties, List of currants, 101 101 101 101 GOOSEBERRIES. Mountain Seedling, 103 Downing"s Seedling, 103 List of gooseberries, 103 GRAPES. Adirondac, 490 Allen's Hybrid, 104, 532 Alvey, 6 Anna, 104, 534 Barbarossa, 307 Bidwell's Seedling, 7 Black Hamburgh, 7,62 Blussard Noir, 307 Buckland Sweetwater , 7, 306 Burchardt's Prince, 307 Catalenesia Neva, 307 Catawba, 7 206, 262 Clark's Seedling, 533 Clinton, 206, 262 Concord, 5, 64, 151, 206. 207, 262 623, 530 Chasselas Vibert, 544 Cuyahoga, 6, 60, 534 Delaware, 6, 62, 61, 151, 206, 262 523, 531 Diana, 6, 65, 151, 262, 490, 523, 531 Elizabeth, 6 Elsinboro', 151 Eureka, 6 Golden Hamburgh, 406 Gros Panse, 307 Hartford Prolific, 7,151,206, 262,533 Ingram's Hardy Prolific Muscat, 205, 307, 450, 523 Isabella, 7,206,262 Jeddo, 268 Logan, 524, 534 Morocco Prince, 307 Muscat of Alexandria, 307, 451 Sluscat Hamburgh, 406 Muscat Trouveron, 307 Newell's Seedling, 307 CEillade. 307 Oldaker's St. Peter's, 308 Ontario, 6, 104, 534 Oporto, 6 Perkins, 523, 532 Prune d'Herault, 308 Kaabe, 151 Raisin de Calabre, 308 Rebecca, 6, 151, 623, 631 Red Chasselas, 6 Rogers' No. 4, 104, 489 No. 15, 104, 489 Seedling, 533 Taylor, 6,262 Union Village, 524, 633 White Nice, 7 White Seedling, 7 Woodward, 207 List of grapes. 103 of native grapes. 163 of many sorts, 529 CONTENTS. VU PEACHES. Duboscq, 154 Early Victoria, 545 Grand Admirable, 354 Hale's Early, 65 Morris's Red Rareripe, 66 Salway, 451 Sturtevant, 65 Van Buren's Golden Dwarf, 118 Vessier's, 545 YeUow Seedling, 154 List of native peaches, 154 PEARS. Alexandrine Douillard, 259 Barry, 66 Bartlett, 242 Hartram, 154 Bergamot d'Ame, 116 Beurre d'Anjou, 449 Bachelier, 66 Clairgeau, 66, 242, 451 Hardy, 105 Langelier, 105 de Montgeron, 105 Nantais, 105 Sterckmans, 105 Bezi Mai, 116 Bonne d'Ezee, 106 Boston, 246 Buffum, 246 Chancellor, 105 Clapp's Favorite, 154, 446 Colmar Bonnet, 66 CoUius. 105 Columbia, 260 Comtesse d'Alost, 66 Cumberland, 43 Des Nonnes, 106 Dix 246 Dorchester Beauty, 154 Docteur Gall, 260 Doyenne de Bordeaux, 260 Bassiuer, 116 du Cornice, 449 Downing, 66 Itobia, 106 Due de Brabant, 66 Due de Nemours, 260 Duchess, 451 Duchess de Bordeaux, 491 Durandeau, 449 Easter Beurre, 372 Fondante, 105 Golden Beurre of Bilboa, 106 Henkel, Hosen Shenck, Howell, Kirtlaud, Leopold Riche, Lodge, Lyon. Omer Pacha, Penn, Poire Montchallard, Prince Camille, Professor Du Breuil, Richardson's Seedling, Saint German Gris, Seckel, Selleck, Sterling, Stevens' Genesee, St. Menin, Uwchlan, Van Assche, Vineuse d'Esperin, Walker's Seedling, Washington, Windsor, Many varieties. 43,105 106 260 105 116 105 160 106 546 260 116 261 544 261 105 105 106 106 106 105 261 447 105 106 7, 105, 154, 259, 447 66 105, 148 List of new pears, of pears, of native pears, 154, 261 of best pears for central Massachusetts, 157 PLUMS. Bowen Gage, 154 Kohlen Kamp, 164 McLaughlin, 406 Washington, 406 List of native plums, 154 RASPBERRIES. Allen, 102 Belle de Fontenay, 102 DooUttle, 102 Hornet, 102 Kirtland, 102 Prince of Wales, 154, 182, 373 List of raspberries, 102 STRAWBERRIES. Admiral Dundas, 483 Ambrosia, 205 Austin Seedling, 9, 334 Bartlett, 9 Black Hautbois, 426 Bonte de St. Julien, 404 Boston Pine, 338, 486 Brighton Pine, 339, 486 British Queen, 63, 483, 545 Due de Malakofif, 380 Durfee's Seedling, 487 Early Virginia, 488 Eclipse, 404 Emma, 204 Empress Eugenie, 204 Frogmore Late Pine, 205 Hovey's SeedUng, 338, 379, 487 Jenny Lind, 342, 428, 487 Keens' Seedling, 63, 404, 483, 645 La Constante, 8, 115, 235, 334, 380, 426, 487 La Reine. 426 La Sultanne. 204 Lady of the Lake, 334 Marguerite, 204, 489 May Queen, 380 McAvoy's Superior, 487 Methven Scarlet, 405 Napoleon III., 204 Newton Seedling, 405 Oscar, 334 Prince's Magnate, 429 Ritleman, 405 Rivers' Eliza, 425 Sanspareil, 404 Scott's Seedling, 187 Sir C Napier, 307, 483 Triumph de Gand, 9 Viscountess de Hericart, 63, 490 Virginia, 338 Wilson's Albany, 9. 308, 339, 380, 429, 483 Wonderful, 380 List of strawberries in Eng- land, , 424 List of strawberries, 101 LIST OF VEGETABLES. Brussells Sprouts, 372 Cabbage, Marblehead Drum- head, 378 Cucumber, new species, 183 Lettuce, Algerine, 611 Mushroom, Miltrack, 184 Pumpkins, 351 Squash, Com. Porter's Val- paraiso, 349 Autumnal Marrow, 349 Acorn, 350 Hubbard, 478 Squash, Summer, 351 Winter, 351 Tomato de Laye, new. 44,478 Vegetable, new. 372 many kinds, 478 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS. Bavne, J. H., C.H. B. B., Chamberlain, Alfred, Clement, Mrs. Isaac, 162, 218, 262, D. S. D., Downing, C, . Earle, Hon. J. M., . Editor, 1, 38, 42, 49, 63. f 1.30. 145, 152, 158, 163 211, 220, 221, 241, 2.58, 30H. 312, 322, 324, 337 404. 406, 416, 419. 433, 481, 489, 491, 502, 508, Evelyn, . . 198, 247, 296, 3,79 180, 269, 352, 445, ,529 392, ,97, 188, 272, 359, 450, ,644 439 429 381 542 321, 361, 415, 460 381 . 59, 151 160 116, 119, 19 i, 204, 289, 306, 362, 385, 452. 461, , 549, 556 498, 537 Flagg, Wilson, Harris, T. W., Hogg, James, LL. D., F. R. S , Jacques, Geo , Jasper Standstill, Jonghe, J. De Kirtland, J. P., Naudin, M., . Parsons, Messrs. & Co., Prince, \Vm. R., Rivers. Thomas, Rus.sell. John L., Sargent, Epes, Waish, Thomas F. 15 53, 214 344 348 107 2i 208 113 66 252, 301 124 236, 331, 566 118 173 548 GENERAL INDEX. Agriculture as an Art, .... 2S9 Agricultural Library Associations, . 43 Property, taxation of, . . . 344 Ailanthus, Value of for Sandy Soils, . 371 Amaryllises, 329 American Nurserymen, Encouragement of, 566 American Plants, Artificial Composts for, 229 Annuals , Sowing Tender and llalf-hardy, 374 Apple Trees, Root-grafted, . . . 155 Apples and Pears, the Best, ... 145 for Central Mass., 156 Apples, Description of Select. . 66 Arboricultural Notices, 119, 180, 211. 308 352, 362, 406, 491 Azaleas, Chinese, Treatment of, . 236 Hardy, Simple Mode of Propagating, 183 Beck, Mr. Edward, Death of, . . 188 Begonias, The Variegated, . . . 163 Winter and Spring Flowering, . 502 Bignonias, The, 649 Bouquet, A French 467 Oaladiums as Border Plants, . . . 220 Calla Ethiopica, How to Flower, . . 282 Cannas for Flower Gardens, . . . 187 Catalogues, Books, &c., . . 140, 237 Chrysanthemum Show, .... 562 Chrysanthemums, Training, . . 564 Cold, Extreme in Great Britian, . . 86 Conifers and Evergreens, The Half-hardy, 49 Manuring, 472 Cultivation, Geothermal, . 193, 252, 301 Cuttings, Striking, .... 138 in Autumn, . . 509 Cyclamens 827,452 Dahlias. Lilliputian or Bouquet, . . 322 Dahlia Shows of 1861, .... 562 Evergreens, Hardy, at Fishkill, N. Y., . 308 The Hardy, and their Culture, 198, 296, 392, 439, 498, 637 Ferns and their Adaptation, . . . 230 as Cultivated Plants, . . . 173 Exotic, Hints on the Management of, 468 Silver-leaved, 269 Field Notes, 44 Floricultural Notices, 79, 130, 221, 272, 324, Florists, Hints for. Flowers, Everlasting, How to Preserve, 461, 556 136 226 355 Flowers, Native, The Cultivation of, 162, 218, 262, 321, 361, 415, 460 Fruits and Vegetables, Fruits, the Native, of America, Growing in Moss Baskets, Fruit Crop of the Year, Culture in Belgium, Great Exhibition of. Trees in Shrubberies, Gardens, Japanese, Geraniums, .... Gladioli, Improvement of. Glass Hoofs, On the Inclination of, Grafting, New Mode of. Grape Vines, Standard, Summer Pruning, Grapes, Groves, Standing, the Sacredness and use of, 16 Heath, Is it a Native Plant? . Hedges Evergreen, Management of. Horticulture, Progress of. Horticultural Orthoepy, Operations :- January, 46 February, 9.5 March, 142 April, 190 May, 238 June, 286 Horticulturist, The, Hovey's Nurseries, Visit to. Hyacinths, Cultivation of. Ivy, The German, . Japan, Notes on the Vegetation of, Plants of. Junipers, Management of. Labels, Denni.'*on's Tree and Plant Lilly of the VaUey, Lime as a Soil Improver, July, . August, September, October, November, December, 79, 43 116 542 258 113 563 234 233 471 264 30 183 168 397 529 419 280 1 26 335 383 431 479 527 566 566 379 515 375 73 119, 211 426 139 85 327 Mealy Bug, Destroying the, . . 474 Mignonette, 280 Mushroom Culture, 184 Mushrooms, New Mode of Growing, 664 Obituary, .... . 14, 188 Orange and Lemon Trees in Orchard Houses, .... 232 Orchard Houses, .... 431 A Plea for Small, 470 Park, New York Central, 42 Palm and Pine Forms, . . 214 Palms, 275 Peaches, A New Mode of Raising, . 208 Pears, Big. How to Grow, 370 Description of Select Varieties, 445 Ripening Easter Beurre, . 372 Paeonies, Herbaceous, . 428 Phloxes as I'ot Plants, . . 613 Pines, Cultivation of our Native, . 247 Plants, Acclimation of, . 241 A few Herbaceous, . 466 rather new Bedding, 328 Cautions respecting Packing, . 373 for Exhibition, 371 Herbaceous, for Garden Decoration, 376 in Pots, Remarks on Shifting, . 279 in Rooms On Growing, . 133 Ornamental, with Variegated Foliage, 312 Perennial Herbaceous, . 315 The Cueurbitaceous, . 348 Variation in, . 385 with Ornamental Foliage, 416 Polvanthuses from Seed, 378 Pomological Gossip, 63, 116, 152, 204 . 268, 306, 404, 450, 489, 544 Primrose, The Chinese, . . 283 Reaper, Mci ormicks, . . 141 Red Spider, Remedy for the, . . 140 Rose, Great Exhibition, . 421 Stock, The Manetti, . 139 Roses and Lilacs, Forcing, 127 among Thorns and Grass, 187 Decorated, . * . 185 for the Million, 183 New, . 221 Propagating, .... . 370 Pyramidal Hybrid Perpetual, . 277 Striking Cuttings of, 509, 521 Seeds, How to make Germinate, . 86 Silk-worm, New Kind of, 135 Slugs, How to Destroy, . 184 Society, American Pomological, . . 97, 152 Belmont Farmers, . . 331 Chicago Gardeners, 92 Connecticut Grape Growers, . 91 Fruit Growers, of Eastern Penn., 429 Western N.Yoi k, 88, 522 Horticultural, of Montreal, . 429 Illinois State Horticultural, . 92 Pomological, of Lyons, France, . 269 Progressive Gardeners, . 91 Worcester Horticultural, 86 Massachusetts Horticultural, 4^ ), 93, 141, 189, 237, 332 , 381, 430 Annual Election, . 526 Exhibition, . . 472 Finance Report, 93 Opening of the Hall, . 284 Soil, Effect of, on the Hardiness of Tr ees, 495 Spruce, The Hemlock, . 44 Stocks, Remarks on Fruit Tree, . . 107 Strawberries, . 481 in England, .... 424 New, ..... . 204 Propagating, .... . 511 Strawberry, A Fashionable, . 42 Culture, . 337 Plants for Early Forcing, . 375 Tom.ato, New Upright, . 44 Trees of Paris, .... . 517 Tree Cotton, 621 Vegetable. A New, .... . 372 Vines, Bottom Heat for. 228 Violets in Pots . 277 Wardian Case, .... 665 Watering Pot Plants, . 235 Window Gardening, . 471 Wood Scenery, Classification of, . 53 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. THE PROGRESS OF HORTICULTURE. The advent of a new year brings us to our oft-repeated task of summing up the progress of the past, and offering suggestions for the future ; of discussing subjects which may be profitably indulged in at this season, both for our present instruction and prospective benefit. A brief account of what has been done, often teaches us many a useful lesson ; for we can then detect what has been erroneous, and apply such teaching to the improvement of the future. In the wealth of ideas which flow from so many minds engaged in a science fraught with so much importance to mankind, there are many, which, but for a little reflection, would be lost sight of, though often containing the germ of what may become im- portant truths, leading to changes in modes of culture quite at variance with our recognized notions of things. The brief history of a single flowering plant has often reversed the whole course of treatment followed for years ; and though such cases are few, they remind us that we cannot overesti- mate the importance of a careful consideration of every sub- ject brought to our notice. At this somewhat leisure season, therefore, a careful retro- spect of the past is not only a source of much gratification, but is a means of our advancement in the art and science of cultivation. We can weigh carefully the opinions of this or that correspondent, and see how far they correspond with our own views. And we may occasionally find suggestions that never occurred to us, which, worked out, lead to results we had never attained. And then the coming year has its antici- pations, and a preparation must be made to meet them. These should not be left to the moment of fulfilment, or dis- VOL. xxvii. — NO. I. 1 2 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUBE. appointment may ensue. But exercising our thoughts now, and strengthening them bj the aid of other minds, we shall accomplish even more than even our most cherished realiza- tions. We give below a short account of the weather of the past year. January opened exceedingly cold, with the temperature 4° to 8° below zero ; but the second week it was mild again, with rain, and snow had nearly all disappeared. On the 12th, six inches of snow fell ; after which it was rather mild to the end of the month, with the thermometer at 40° on the 31st. With February the cold was renewed, the mercury falling to 6° below zero on the 2d, one of the sudden changes of 46° in thirty-six hours ; on the 6th, it moderated, with rain, and the snow nearly gone. The 10th was very windy and cool. On the 16th and 18th the most snow of the winter fell nearly, on both days, a foot, and it was cold up to the 23d, when it rained, with the thermometer 60° at noon, when the snow again disappeared. March opened quite rainy and warm, with the mercury at 50°, and the range was nearly 32° for the next fortnight, with white frosts and some rain, when it was a little cooler, though the temperature did not fall below 20° during the whole month ; the 31st was quite warm, the thermometer indi- cating 65°. The commencement of April was cold, even colder than any day in March. On the 3d the temperature was only 19°. The 5th was milder, and the 8th rainy. Frequent light showers continued up to the 15th, when it was quite cool again, (only 24°,) and so continued till the end of the month, with frequent heavy white frosts, and without rain. May was warmer than usual, and with less rain than any May for several years. On the 13th the temperature was 80°, but on the 15th it fell to 37°, with slight frost in some localities. The 19th was the first shower for more than three weeks. The 21st it was cool again, and the remainder of the month was cool, without any rain till the 30th. June was very cool, with light rains and showers up to the lOth, when it was fine again. The 14th was the warmest JANUARY. 3 day, only 90°. The remainder of the month was mostly fine, and rather warm, without much rain. July continued cool, with the temperature as low as 50° on the 6th. The 16th was the warmest day, when the tempera- ture was 90°. Fine weather followed, with occasional light showers, and the month closed cool, and rather dry. The first two weeks of August were the warmest of the season, the thermometer ranging from 80° to 85°, and as high as 98° on the 8th, with heavy showers. After a few days of cool weather the month closed fine and warm, with light refreshing rains. September commenced quite warm; but cool rains set in on the 8th, and on the 11th the temperature fell to 42°. It was then warm and seasonable, with Tery heavy thunder showers up to the 29th, when a sudden change indicated only 32°, with a slight frost ; and this was succeeded by another frosty morning on the 30th. The first day of October was the coldest in the latitude of Boston for thirty years. The mercury fell to the extraordi- nary low point of 26°, killing everything in the way of tender vegetation, and actually freezing fruit upon the trees in more exposed localities. It then became fine again, and so con- tinued to the close, with only one light frost, on the 16th. November was milder than usual. In very sheltered gar- dens we noticed dahlias in bloom on the 24th, unusually late. The weather continued mostly fine, with occasional rains and slight frosts up to the 25th, when the temperature fell to 16°, and to 14° on the 26th, with the ground frozen two inches or more deep. But December more than made up the average tempera- ture ; the first fortnight having been, according to careful observations, 8° below any December for forty years. The first day was only 20°, with three inches of snow on the 4th, which now covers the ground. Xot one morning has the temperature reached 32°, and on the 15th, when we are writing, it has fell as low as 1°, thus closing up the year. Notwithstanding this exhibit, which ordinarily would not be called favorable, or up to the average, the season has been attended with the most successful results. Never has there 4 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. been larger or finer crops of fruit. Apples were plentiful throughout the whole of the Northern and Eastern States ; only in some portions of Pennsylvania have we heard of any scarcity. Pears were so abundant as to glut the market; the very finest selling at prices which would have been thought ruinous a few years ago. Cherries and plums liter- ally bent beneath their heavy crops. Peaches in the favored states of Delaware and New Jersey were this season a partial failure, while in Western New York the crop was so large that immense quantities were sent to the Eastern markets, heretofore supplied from the South : in the vicinity of Bos- ton the trees were loaded down with fruit. The small fruits were never better. The strawberry crop was unusually large. Grapes were the only fruit that seemed to have been affect- ed by the season, which was too cold and damp in the early part, which retarded the growth of the fruit, and mildewed the foliage, and in unfavorable localities what were not in a forward state, were either injured or ruined by the sudden frost of October 1. In Ohio, however, we believe the grape crop was large and fine, and gathered in excellent order. The large and fine pear crop has been the subject of con- siderable remark among cultivators, who have contrasted it with that of previous years, and various suggestions have been made as to the cause ; but, so far as we have heard, all seem to agree that it was mainly owing to the remarkably dry, even, and genial weather of May, when the young fruit was set- ting, and the somewhat cooler, but moist and very uniform temperature of June, both free from cold westerly winds, or chilly easterly storms ; the weather, in fact, for two whole months, being more like that of an orchard-house or cool grapery, than the usual changeable character of that season. Watching very carefully for years the effect of climate upon fruits, more particularly pears, we have no doubt the unusually fine crop has been owing to the above causes ; and the lesson we learn from it is, that shelter and uniform moisture are es- sential in the superior culture of this fruit : and without them it is a difficult task to produce many of the choice varieties in fine condition. How this should be done we have already given our opinion, and shall take occasion so to do again. JANUARY. 5 The autumn was highly favorable. The sudden frost of October 1, checked the vigorous growth of trees, and the subsequent mild weather placed the trees in just that favora- ble condition that every cultivator wishes to find them on the approach of winter, full of ripe solid wood, covered with an abundance of plump-looking fruit buds. Whatever may be the characteristics of the coming year, the most enthusias- tic fruit-grower could not desire a more favorable aspect than the trees present at this time. Our prediction last year that the " ensuing season would be more than usually fruitful" having been fulfilled, we trust we may prove as good a prophet at the present time. HORTICULTURE. The orchard-house having ceased to be the engrossing theme with English cultivators, our own amateurs are dis- cussing its merits, and entering somewhat zealously into the experiment. We have heard of several attempts on a some- what extended scale, that of the Hon. W. B. Lawrence at Newport being the largest. Around Philadelphia some structures have been erected which are favorably alluded to by horticultural writers. In our own vicinity we believe the experiment of G. G. Hubbard, Esq., is the only one of note ; as Mr. Walsh has submitted an excellent account of this, we shall await with pleasure future results. Mr. Walsh's trees are all at the present time (December) in the very highest condition, and with the advent of good weather in early spring will be set to work with the expectation of a most satisfactory success. Our correspondent, the Hon. Mr. Cabot, just returned from his European tour, noticed the orchard-houses of Mr. Rivers, and we hope to have some account of them from his pen ; the opinion of one so well able to judge of this khid of culture would materially assist our amateurs in regard to the importance of orchard-houses. The grape has monopolized the space in our gardening journals, absorbed the attention of cultivators, and awakened increased interest in horticultural associations. A subject which was barely mentioned before the Concord grape ap- peared, now commands universal attention. It has been 6 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. attended with great good, for it has at least made known in what tlie merits of a fine grape consists. It has brought knowledge out of chaos : for a grape that was only " fit for jellies," by the process of free discussion has come to be the finest of all hardy table grapes, thanks to the friends of fair dealing. The Delaware is now before the bar, and while some do not admit the great superiority that has been claimed for it, others think it has no equal. As a wine grape it is undoubtedly valuable, but, as a table grape, it is too small, and we do not believe all the praise and all the certificates of its excellence will make it the popular grape. One might just as well try to convince the people that the Red Chasselas was a better grape to cultivate in the grapery than the Ham- burgh. A popular grape must have more than one quality. It must, above all things, adapt itself to all the circumstances of ordinary treatment, which we are satisfied the Delaware or Rebecca will not. The Diana falls in estimation for the same reason. Fine, indeed, it is, but certain only with good treatment. Of new candidates for public favor their name is legion. The Alvey, Taylor or Bullett, Ontario, Oporto, Cuyahoga, Elizabeth, Eureka, are but a few of the great number described or no- ticed in various journals and newspapers. Time will estab- lish their merits. Upon the subject of grape culture we have given a few articles which are worthy of the attention of grape-growers. If they have no other value they may lead them to avoid errors, which have caused the failure of many painstaking cultivators. What the finer grapes appear to require is a warm rich soil, not too deep, nor too damp. For though we may ask if our native grapes do not grow in deep soils and damp places, in hedgerows and coppice, still they are native^ and not a dozen removes from it by seed, in which all the rough hardy material is worked out. As they become civil- ized, they like the little refinements of a civilized home. This is the difference even between our native and our hybrid or seedling varieties. Perhaps we should say something about some of the new seedling grapes, that are attracting attention. But as these JANUARY. 7 are yet quite new and in process of trial any decision regard- ing them would be premature. Mr. Bull, the originator of the Concord, has a large number of seedlings, the product of this variety, in the second and third generations. We have not had the pleasure of seeing or even tasting but few of them, but we learn that some of the number are remarkable, particularly a white variety. Mr. Bull exhibited six of his seedlings the past autumn, and the committee, in their report, highly commend them, particularly the White Seedling, which is " nearly of the same color as the White Nice, with whitish bloom berries, and large bunch, without any foxy taste what- ever, and in quality eqiial or nearly so to any foreign grapes this day shown ; and after a careful comparison with the Concord, Diana, Delaware, Hartford Prolific, Catawba, and Isabella, they consider it much the best native grape shown." And these were raised on the original vine, which never had any protection, was never winter-killed, and does not mildew in the same locality where the Diana was badly injured. It will undoubtedly be a great acquisition. Grape culture in Great Britain and on the Continent is occupying much attention. In France, M. Robert has pro- duced a large number of seedlings, some of which are said to be very fine. In England additional sorts have been brought forward, of which the Buckland Sweetwater and Bidwell's Seedling are the most remarkable, the former being Mdiite, with berries and bunches as large and handsome as the Black Hamburgh. The opponents of Dwarf pear culture seem to have retired from the field, whether because they have written out, or from any change of opinion, we are not enabled to state ; but more probably because they became aware of the little impor- tance in which their labors were estimated. Our old friend, Mr. Allen, who has been very severe, has recently, however, congratulated himself upon one great result of his Dwarf pear articles, that being " an entire revolution in the manner of working, cultivating and restricting the variety of pears proper to be worked upon the quince ; and for such valuable labor he charges the indulgent public," who have been saved large losses, just — nothing — although he " receives any amount of 8 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUEE. contumely for his interference," Now we do not exactly un- derstand what he means, or what new mode of cultivation has been introduced, but we do know that he is greatly mis- taken if he thinks he has added anything to what was known before — as to restricting the kinds to be worked on the quince. A reference to our Magazine, as long ago as 1849, (Yol. XV. p. 390,) will show that we had often stated that there were but a limited number of pears that would succeed upon the quince, and advised our cultivators to be cautious in working new varieties. Dwarf apple culture, which has as yet received but little attention, is a subject deserving the especial notice of fruit- growers. The apple, as a standard, has been almost excluded from suburban gardens, on account of the room required for the trees, and their long time in coming into bearing. But Dwarf trees, as objects of ornament as well as luxury, are scarcely less valuable than the pear. They need but little space, come into bearing immediately, and a small plantation of them will supply an abundance of fruit of the finest quality. Their importance has been altogether overlooked. The truth with standards is, that when they begin to bear they produce more fruit than is needed, and they do not afford a variety or succession, unless several sorts are grafted on a tree. Dwarfs obviate this ; a single tree or two produces as many of one sort as are wanted, and the little room they occupy allows the planting of two or three dozen varieties, which ripen their fruit every week from July to winter. They supply the pos- sessor with apples of varied beauty, dissimilar flavor, and the highest excellence. We shall have more to say about them hereafter. The introduction of new strawberries, and the qualities of our American seedlings, have been sulijects of considerable interest. Several new foreign kinds have fruited the past year, and some of them have attracted mucli attention, par- ticularly a Belgian kind. La Constante, which has proved, so far as our experience goes, the most satisfactory foreign va- riety. Another year will more fully prove its value for gen- eral cultivation. It is a large, very handsome and well- flavored berry, and the vines appear to possess all the charac- JANUARY. 9 teristics of our American seedlings. Triumph de Gand, an old sort, is attracting some notice at the South, but we have no evidence of its excellence here. It remains to be seen whether it will bear the ordinary treatment to which every variety must be subjected for universal culture. Wilson's Albany, so great a favorite in some localities, does not appear to be very highly estimated around Boston, where the market has so long been supplied with superior varieties. The Austin Seedling, Bartlett, and other new kinds, will come up for trial during the coming season, when we shall be better able to judge of their merits. Progress in the science of culture is evinced in the valuable articles we have copied from the French, illustrating the new mode of training the pear and pruning the peach. The first, by what is termed training in single oblique lines, (Vol. XXY. p. 452,) and the second by the new mode of pinching the young wood, as practiced with the pear, and fully described in our last volume, (p. 298.) We see no reason to doubt the truth of M. Dubreuil's statements, who is one of the most skilful gardeners in France : and the success which has attended his experiments must result from similar treatment in our own climate, so much like that of France. We shall be glad to see it tried, and give a report of the result. Other contribu- tions to scientific culture are those of Mr. Cornelius, an ama- teur of Philadelphia, who strikes cuttings and grafts by an original process of his own invention. Mr. Cornelius first gave us a brief account and rough sketch of his method a year ago ; but in the hope of receiving a more detailed plan, or of inspecting his experiments personally, we neglected to maike use of the information. Having more recently attracted attention we shall give an article in reference to it in our present volume. For some purposes his invention, no doubt, possesses considerable value, founded as it is on physiological principles. A review of pomological information would only be a repe- tition of our gossip for the year, to which we refer for an account of all the new fruits, &c. Some, undoubtedly, have been overlooked, for, among the mass that are yearly brought to notice, it would be almost impossible to enumerate 10 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. all. Yet we think no variety of importance has been omit- ted. Every local fruit does not possess qualities that entitles it to universal recognition, though it may be well enough for those who have the time and the leisure to follow such pur- suits, to give them a trial. We have recently noticed in some of our exchanges that the Southern apples, of which so much has been said, are " generally not equal to the most widely known standard sorts." A full review of the doings of the last Pomological meeting in Philadelphia will appear as soon as we receive a copy of the proceedings, which make any further remarks regarding new fruits unnecessary at this time. FLORICULTURE. The introduction and culture of ornamental-foliaged plants continue to interest amateurs and nurserymen, both at home and abroad, and new acquisitions are continually being made by collectors of plants and by hybridization. Continental plant-growers, with a zeal which commands admiration, have enriched our collections with many very splendid specimens ; and, without naming others, the Caladiums of M. Chantin, and the Ferns and Begonias of M. Linden, have created an entire new feature in every collection of liothouse and conser- vatory plants. Nor have our hardy trees and shrubs been neg- lected in the passion for these ornamental-leaved plants ; for the enthusiasm of cultivators has led them to select, from tb.e millions of seedlings annually raised, numerous variegated, singular or peculiar tinted leaves, which will increase the variety, beauty, and general interest of our lawns and pleasure grounds. We shall continue our figures and descriptive ac- counts of the most popular ornamental-leaved plants. » Increased attention has also been bestowed upon another class of plants, the Ferns — both hardy and tender — which are now leading objects among plant cultivators in Great Britain, and to a slight extent, we are glad to know, among our own nurserymen and amateurs. The introduction of the new variegated species, Pteris argyrea and tricolor, greatly increased the taste, already apparent, and the hope of adding many of equal beauty gives renewed interest in the introduction of others which may have been overlooked in the JANUARY. 11 collection of flowering plants. Our own hardy Ferns are many of them exceedingly beautiful, and a group of the best would form one of the most attractive objects in our gardens ; easily cultivated, we hope to see them, as well as exotic spe- cies, more frequent denizens of every amateur collection. We have heretofore only incidentally referred to these plants, though our correspondent, Mr. Flagg, has eloquently pleaded for them, (Vol. XX. p. 300.) But we intend they shall not receive the same neglect hereafter. Plants of quite another character, belonging to the stately or symmetrical group, liave within a few years, from somewhat neglected objects, become highly popular. These are the Yuccas, the half-hardy Palms, the Pampas Grass, &c. Either as ornaments of the lawn in summer, and the con- servatory in winter, or as decorative objects of the garden, they are among the most attractive plants ; especially are the hardy Yuccas noble objects ; their tall spikes of large white bell-shaped flowers, set off by the rigid and symmetrical foliage, giving an oriental aspect wherever they are intro- duced. The Pampas Grass is a magnificent thing ; and now that it has been found to be of easy treatment we hope to see it become a general favorite. It is gratifying to observe tliat a higher standard of culture is beginning to be appreciated. Amateurs, through our Horticultural Societies, are demanding it, and with the de- mand the supply will come ; only let the encouragement be reciprocal, and we venture to predict that an inferior-looking specimen will never be offered for exhibition. But it must not be forgotten that superior culture is only attained by su- perior skill, and no little expense ; and to require the per- formance of a great deal on tlie part of the amateur or profes- sional man, it is important that tlie reward should be in some proportion to the former, not as a remuneration, but as a prompter to his zeal in the cause of floricultural science. The past year has been prolific in the introduction of new and beautiful plants. Perhaps the most important, because adapted to every garden, have been the Japan pinks, which are truly magnificent. The new varieties of the Nasturtium have also been a new feature in this class, heretofore tall and 12 THE MAGAZINE OF HOKTICULTURE. straggling, but now reduced to compact bushes of gay and brilliant colors. The new varieties of Phlox are great im- provements, where it was thought perfection had almost been reached: the new striped kind, Triumph de Twickel, is very delicate and superb. The Gladioli, so rich and splendid in their variety of tints, have been still further enriched by new and elegant combinations of color. The Pyrethrum, so long an ordinary garden plant, is becoming, by the skill of the hybridizer, a beautiful addition to every collection. Tri- toma uvaria and its varieties have equalled the reputation which preceded their introduction, and they must be consid- ered invaluable ornaments to the flower border. We might name many other attractive plants, without counting the new Azaleas, Pelargoniums, Roses, and Begonias, but as tliese have been noticed or described under our Flori- cultural reports, we must refer to them for further informa- tion. ARBORICULTURE. There is no abatement in the taste for coniferous trees in Great Britain, or on the Continent. Yery few additions have been made, but the more recent acquisitions have been multi- plied rapidly, both by seeds and grafts, and are now sold at prices within the reach of the mass of cultivators. It is grati- fying to know that there is a prevailing taste among our own planters for hardy trees of the same class ; and many small collections have been begun, which we hope to see increased to large ones ere long. Every day reveals the fact, that though our country, tlie richest of any in native species, abounds in immense plantations, they are fast disappearing in the vicinity of our large towns and cities, leaving an ap- parently barren and treeless aspect in winter, when they are so much needed as objects of shelter. For this purpose, if no other, their introduction into suburban gardens is especially desirable. But it is as ornamental features of a landscape that we hope to see them planted far more extensively than at present. Their perpetual verdure is, at all times and in all seasons, cheerful, and, in judicious combination with deciduous trees, give to all grounds, of greater or less extent, a landscape JANTJABT. 13 effect that cannot be produced "svitliout tbem. Our Tvish now is to have all the supposed hardy species have a fair trial, to test their capacity for enduring our New England winters unharmed. LANDSCAPE GARDENING. Some progress has been made in this department during the last few years ; a more general desire has been manifested to seek the aid of professional men in laying out our country residences ; and though there are few who are competent to the task, the simple demand alone shows an appreciation of true landscape art. The New York Central Park we have just alluded to, and noted the progress made towards its completion. The Balti- more Park is under the charge of our old correspondent, Mr. H. Daniels, of New York. From his well-known ability as a Landscape Gardener, and the facilities he has had for obtain- ing information in his profession, we doubt not he will lay out the grounds in an acceptable manner, and afford the public an opportunity of learning what a City Park should be. Boston, with lamentable taste, is cutting up the very small public grounds she is fortunate enough to possess into a skating pond, for merely a week or two's amusement in our variable and uncertain winters. Twenty acres of ground are being spoiled merely to gratify this now fashionable sport, which could be had on a scale, which nature alone supplies, by going a much less distance than the New Yorkers who visit the Central Park. The thousands of dollars that have been already spent, would have filled, graded and planted the ground in such a manner as to have been alike orna- mental and honorable to the city. We have been surprised at the immense appropriations for destroying what few acres of ground have been forever dedicated to the use of her citizens. HORTICULTURAL LITERATURE. Few additions have been made to our horticultural litera- ture. Beyond the little manuals which appear yearly, the Rural Annual, published by Mr. Harris of Rochester, and 14 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the Illustrated Register, by Messrs. Tucker & Son of Alba- ny, there is not much to note. Bright on Grape Culture has attracted some attention from the peculiar notions of the author on shallow planting. The Proceedings of our Agri- cultural Society have become the most important sources of agricultural information ; and foremost among them we must place the Transactions of the New York State Agri- cultural Society, by Col. Johnson, the efficient Secretary. That for 1859, just issued, is full of useful and instructive papers. The new edition of Dr. Harris's work on Insects is, we believe, nearly ready for publication, and will be a valua- ble work. The Agricultural Journals have been considerably improved, and some of them enlarged. obituary. We have the melancholy duty of adding the names of many horticulturists, who have deceased during the year. A. H. Ernst, of Cincinnati, Ohio, died on the loth of February last, at his residence in that city, at the age of 64 years. He was of foreign birth, but was so thorouglily nationalized that he took a very deep interest in American institutions. He was an early subscriber and occasional correspondent of our Mag- azine, and was the pioneer Pomologist of the West. He was one of the originators, and first President, of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, and President of the Ohio Pomological Society at the time of his decease. His modesty, suavity of manners and kind feelings, endeared him to a large number of friends. Mr. Benj. Y. French died on the 10th of April at Dor- chester, Mass., aged 68 years. Mr. French was best known as the Norfolk farmer, from the interest which he took in agriculture, and the many experiments he conducted on his former place at Braintree. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and for many years one of its Yice-Presidents. He was also a Yice-President of the United States Agricultural Society, and an active member and ofiicer of other kindred State and County Associations. A large number of acquaintances deeply lament his death. Mr. George C. Thorburn, the well-known seedsman of JANUARY. 15 New York, and son of Grant Thorburn, died at his residence in Newark, N. J., in November, from injuries received from a fall. He was universally known and esteemed, both for his horticultural enthusiasm, and his public-spirited character as a citizen. To him, as much as to any other man, are the cultivators of the whole county indebted for the early intro- duction of numerous plants, seeds, and vegetables. He was an early friend and occasional correspondent of our Magazine. None knew him but to love him, and his memory will be gratefully cherished, wherever he was known. He had been appointed superintendent of Mount Yernon, but the time had not arrived to enter upon its duties, which he would undoubt- edly have filled better than any other person. He died at the age of 66. Mr. Samuel Walker, the well-known nurseryman, of Rox- bury, died, at his residence in that city, on the 11th of Decem- ber, at the age of 67. Mr. Y^alker is known to many of our readers as an early contributor to our pages. He was of foreign birth, and by profession a printer, which he followed Tip to a late period. As the publisher of JosQphus's Works and Hinton's United States, he circulated an immense num- ber of these valuable books. He early became attached to his adopted country, and latterly filled many important offices with credit and zeal. For many years he was deeply engaged as an amateur cultivator of the Tulip, of which, at one time, he had a large and fine collection. During the last ten or fifteen years he became interested in fruit-growing, and not only converted his flower-garden into a fruit-orchard, but ex- tended his premises and commenced the labors of a nursery, in which he was deeply engaged. He was formerly President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and had pre- viously filled the important trust of Treasurer for several years. As a pomologist and cultivator he was well known and much esteemed. i Mr. John Washburn, of Plymouth, Mass., died in Novem- ber, aged about 65 years. An ardent horticulturist and zealous cultivator of new fruits, he introduced and dissem- inated in his section of the State all the varieties worthy of general cultivation, and his loss will be greatly deplored. 16 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Among others who have devoted themselves to horticultural science, we may name M. Louis Vilmorin, the eminent seeds- man of Paris, who died in the early part of the year. Mr. J. W. Jones, editor of the Southern Cultivato?', died in Jan- uary last. Mr. E. W. Keyser, Vice-President of the Penn- sylvania Horticultural Society, and one of its most active and distinguished members, died on the 7th of February. He was universally respected. Mr. Rob. Elrington, superintendent of the London Horticultural Society's garden, died the latter part of September. He was not only a thoroughly scientific gardener, but a writer, whose practical communications added greatly to the horticultural literature of the present century. His contributions commenced in Loudon's Magazine, and were continued in various periodicals up to his death. Few men have done more to raise the character and condition of the British gardener to their present elevation. THE SACREDNESS AND USE OF STANDING GROVES. EPITOMIZED FROM EVELYN. BY WILSON FLAGG. Standing woods and forests were not only the original habitations of men, for defence and fortresses, but the first occasion of that speech, polity and society which made them differ from beasts. According to Vitruvius, the fires in the woods, produced occasionally by the friction of one tree against another in a violent wind, invited the savage foresters by its warmth and by the spectacle it afforded them. By this acci- dent assembled together, they began to find the benefit and sweetness of social intercourse. But they advanced also the interests of society, by the timber they furnished for all kinds of building purposes, and for the ships whicli landed people into new worlds. Indeed, trees and woods have twice saved the world ; first by the Ark, then by the Cross ; making full amends for the evil fruit of the tree in Paradise, by that which was borne on the tree in Golgotha. But that we may give an account of the sacred and other uses of these venera- JANUARY. 17 ble retirements, we will proceed to describe what those places were. Though Sylva was the more general name, denoting a large tract of wood or trees, there were several other titles attributed to greater or less assemblies of them. "When they planted them for pleasure and shade only, they called them Nemora, corresponding with our limited groves : and as the moderns have parks for the preservation of game, so they had their Saltus and Sylva invise, secluded for the most part from the rest. But no descriptions of wood are more fre- quently mentioned and celebrated by ancient authors, than those plantations which they called Luci ; and which, though sometimes dedicated to particular purposes, comprehended also all kinds of forest. In many cases Lucus was distin- guished from Sylva, by its use and dedication, for solemn religious rites, and never allowed to be violated with the axe. Some had from great antiquity been consecrated to holy uses, both by the Gentiles and the Patriarchs, the last of whom did frequently retire to such places to serve God, compose their meditations, and celebrate sacred mysteries, prayers and oblations ; following the tradition of the Gomerites, or de- scendants of Noah, who first peopled Galatia and other parts of the world, after the universal deluge. Abraham is said to have entertained God himself under the branches of an oak. Some report that this oak sprang from a staff, which one of the angels, who appeared to the patriarch, fixed in the ground. There can be no doubt that the patriarchs per- formed their devotions in groves, till there was a fixed altar, and worship was confined to the temple and tabernacle. From the very infancy of the world, in which Adam was entertained in Paradise, and Abraham received his divine guests under the shade of trees, all intelligent persons have embraced the solace of shady arbors, and all devout persons have found how naturally they dispose our spirits to religious contemplations. Hence they often planted their trees in circles, and gave that capacious form to the first temples, for the accommodation of their assemblies, and also because that figure resembles the heavens. These had no roof but heaven, VOL. xxvii. — NO. I. 2 18 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. until the goodliest cedars and most costly woods were carried to Jerusalem, to build the sumptuous temple of Solomon. In such circular recesses were the ancient oratories built at some distance from the cities, and made use of among the Gentiles as well as the Jews. They formed also the rendez- vous where poor people used to frequent to beg alms of devout and charitable persons. It was then considered im- pious to cut down a single tree or stick of these groves. Plutarch describes the feast of Bacchus as closely resembling the Jewish feast of tabernacles, attended each by the custom of carrying about branches of palm, citron and other trees. Evelyn complains of the imitation of this custom on May-day in England, by young people, who cut down and spoil young springers, to dress up their May-booth, and dance about the pole like the wanton Israelites about the golden calf. On account of certain abuses of these rites, which were performed in groves, denunciations against them are found in divers places of Holy Writ. In fine. Paradise itself was but a kind of.nemorous temple or sacred grove, planted by God himself and given to man, for religious purposes, — a place conse- crated to sober discipline, and to contemplate those myste- rious and sacramental trees which they were not to touch with their hands. Holy men used afterwards to plant and cultivate groves, when they performed divine worship ; and the Rabbins add a reason wliy tliey were reputed so venera- ble ; because, being retired, they were apt to compose the soul, and fit it for divine actions. It is natural for men to feel an awful and religious terror, when placed in the centre of a thick wood ; on which ac- count, in all ages, such places have been chosen for the cele- bration of religious ceremonies. Pliny, speaking of groves, says, " these were of old the temples of the gods ; and after that simple, but ancient custom, men at this day consecrate the fairest and goodliest trees to some deity or other ; nor do we more adore our glittering shrines of gold and ivory, than the groves in which, with a profound and awful silence, we worship." Individual trees were sometimes deified, and the Celtic statue of Jupiter was a prodigious tall oak ; hence the reverence of the Chaldean priests for that tree. JANUARY. 19 Learned men have mentioned that it was the custom of prophets and persons inspired of old, to sleep upon the boughs and branches of trees, on mattresses and beds made of their leaves, when they asked advice of God. The Laurus and Agnus Castus were trees which were supposed greatly to compose the fancy and to facilitate true visions. Hence the Delphic Tripos, the Dodonean Oracle in Epirus, and others of that nature, had their origin ; for indeed the Delphic Oracle was first made of the branches of laurel, brought from Thessaly, bended and arched over, in the form of a bower. From hence began temples to be erected and frequented in. such places, and we find sanction for the custom among the laws of the Twelve Tables. As there was hardly a grove without its temple, so aln\ost every temple had a grove belonging to it, where they placed idols, altars and lights, endowed with fair revenues, which the devotion of super- stitious persons constantly augmented. Hollow trees were reputed to be divine, and the habitation of departed souls ; and that they were places of protection and privileged like churches and altars, appears from Livy and others. The famous Druids, as is well known, celebrated their mysteries in woods and forests, and their religion has been called Oak-theology, from their veneration for the oak. They chose the woods not only for their religious exercises, but their courts of justice. The whole institution and disci- pline was afterwards translated into Gallia, and the ancient Gauls used to travel to Britain, the once happy island of groves and oaks, to obtain their initiation. That in Great Britain men should be so extremely devoted to trees, and especially to the oak, the strength and defence (as Evelyn remarks) of all their enjoyments, is not to be wondered. From these sylvan philosophers and divines, it is believed that the great Pythagoras instituted his silent monastery; and we read that Plato entertained his auditors among his walks of trees. After they were destroyed by Sylla, who cut them down to build forts against Pyrasus, Plato planted another grove with his own hands, wherein grew that cele- brated Platanus, under which he introduces his master Socrates discoursing with Phasdon concerning beauty. Un- 20 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. der such shades and walks was at first the famous Academia, so venerable that it was esteemed by the old philosophers profane so much as to laugh in it. Thucydides is said to have written his noble history in the Scapian groves ; and Pliny, in order to show by his own example how study and forest sport may consist together, tells his correspondent, how little the noise of the chasers and bawling dogs disturbed him. So far was he from being idle, when at any time he indulged himself in that healthful diversion, that, beside his javelin and hunting-pole, he never omitted to carry his style and table- book with him, that upon any intermission, while he now and then sat by the toil and nets, he might be ready to note down any noble thought, which might otherwise escape him. The very motions, says he, and agitation of the body in the wood and solitude, are strong incitements to meditation ; and he counsels his friend to " be sure never to carry your bottle and bisque into the field, without your style and tablet ; you will find Minerva as well as Diana in the woods and mountains." Indeed the poets thought of no other heaven upon earth, or elsewhere ; for when Anchises was setting forth the felicity of the other life to his son, the most lively description he could make of it was to tell him — " We dwell in shady groves." Therefore, wise and great persons have always had these sweet opportunities of recess ; and poets and philoso- phers have not only in times past withdrawn themselves from the vices and vanities of the great world, into the inno- cent felicities of groves and woody retreats, but have also commended nothing so much in their immortal works. Here then is the true Parnassus, the true Castalia ; here dwell the muses, and respond from their venerable trees to all sincere invocations. Indeed the ancients honored temples with the name of groves, though they had not a tree about them, be- cause at an earlier period a temple and a grove were the same. Innumerable are the testimonies I might produce concern- ing the inspiring and sacred influence of groves, from the ancient poets and historians. Here the noblest raptures have been conceived, and in the walks and shades of trees poets have composed verses which have animated men to glorious JANUARY. 21 and heroic actions. Here orators have made their pane- gyrics, historians their grave relations, and profound philoso- phers have loved here to pass their lives in repose and con- templation. Nor were the groves thus frequented by great scholars and wits only, but by the greatest statesmen and politicians also. It was under a vast oak, growing in the park of St. Vincents, near Paris, that St. Louis was wont to hear complaints, determine causes, and do justice to such as resorted thither. People have been known to crown their kings under a goodly tree, or in some venerable grove, where they had their stations and conventions ; for so they chose Abimelech. Augustin the monk held a kind of council under a certain oak in the west of England, concerning the right celebration of Easter, and the state of the Anglican Church ; where also it is reported he performed a great miracle. The Athenians were wont to deliberate on their gravest matters and public affairs in groves. Thus the poet Waller : — In such green palaces the first kings reigned, Slept in their shades and angels entertained; With such old counsellors they did advise, And by frequenting sacred groves grew wise. Free from th' impediments of light and roise, Man, thus retired, his nobler thoughts employs. Groves were used also for private affairs. Young people used to engrave their mistresses' names on the bark of trees. Euripides, in Hippolitus, shows us how they made the incision whisper their soft complaints, and tell the fair Cydippe how she was beloved. These pretty monuments of courtship were much used on the cherry tree, on account of its smooth bark. Deep incisions were made also on the plane tree, so that one might run and read them. And tluis forsaken lovers appeal to pines, beeches, and other trees of the forest. To the gods, and to the memory of famous men and heroes, were dedicated a great number of groves ; and a certain custom then was for the parents to plant a tree at the birth of an heir or son, presaging, by the growth and thriving of the tree, the prosperity of the child. Thus we read in the life of Virgil how far his natalitial poplar had outstripped the rest of its contemporaries. And the reason doubtless of all this 22 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. was the general repute and sanctity of trees ; for no sooner does the poet speak of a grove, but immediately some conse- cration follows, as believing that out of these shady profundi- ties some deity must needs emerge. The consecration of these nemorous places, together with the rites attending them, we find in Quintus Curtius, and in what is related of the Longobards, who not being capable of philosophizing on the physical causes which they deemed supernatural and plainly divine, were allured, as it is likely, by the gloominess of the shade, size and altitude of the stem, floridness of the leaves, and other accidents. And this deification of their trees, among other things, beside their age and perennial viridity, says Diodorus, might spring from the manifold use they afforded, and which haply had been taught them by the gods, or rather by some godlike persons, whom, for their worth and the public benefit, they esteemed so. And it might be a mo- tive to this reverence that divers of them were reputed to have been metamorphosed from men into trees, and again out of trees into men ; as the Arcadians gloried in such an origin. That every great tree included a certain tutelar genius or nymph, living and dying with it, all the poets de- clare ; a special instance of which we have in the prodigious oak, that fell by the fatal stroke of Erisichthon ; but the Hamadryads, it seems, were immortal, and had power to remove and change their wooden habitations. The groans of these nymphs were supposed to be uttered when the stroke of the axe was laid upon the tree ; and the superstition may have had its origin in the creaking and groaning sound, which a tree often makes during its fall ; and sounds often issue from trees by the action of the wind. Something of this kind probably gave occasion to the famous Dodonean Oracle. Methinks (says Evelyn) I still hear, sure I am that I still feel the dismal groans of our forests, pro- duced by that dreadful hurricane of November, 1703, which subverted thousands of goodly oaks, prostrating the trees, laying them in ghastly postures, like whole regiments fallen in battle. The public account reckons no less than three thousand brave oaks in one part only of the forest of Dean blown down ; in New Forest in Hampshire about four thou- JANUARY. 23 sand ; and in about four hundred and fifty parks and groves, from two hundred large trees to one thousand of excellent timber, without counting multitudes of fruit and orchard trees ; and about the same proportion were destroyed through all the considerable woods in the kingdom. It is not to be thought strange that certain nations should worship the wind which is capable of doing such mischief, as the Indians do the devil, that he may do them no harm. Scaliger affirms he could never convince his learned antag- onist, Erasmus, but that trees feel the first stroke of the axe, and discover a certain resentment, and seem to hold the edge of the fatal tool, till a wide gap be made. And so exceed- ingly apprehensive they are of their destruction, that, as Zoroaster says, if a man came with a sharp axe intend- ing to fell a barren tree, and a friend importunately depre- cate the angry person, and prevail with him to spare it, the tree will infallibly hear plentifully the next year. We might here produce the wonderful apparitions of spirits interceding for the standing and life of trees, when the axe has been ready for execution ; also accounts of the fearful catastrophe of such as causelessly and wantonly violated those goodly groves. One might fill a volume with the histories of groves that were violated by wicked men who came to untimely ends, especially those upon which the misletoe grew, than which nothing was reputed more sacred. The Druids esteemed nothing more venerable than the misletoe and the oak upon which it grows. Indeed they did nothing of importance without some leaves or branches of this tree, and they esteemed its very excrescence as sent from heaven. The misletoe was not to be gathered, but cut by the priest with a golden axe, praying for a blessing upon the Divine gift ; after this, two white bulls were offered up as a sacrifice. The Minturensian grove was esteemed so venera- ble, that a stranger might not be admitted into it ; and the great Xerxes, when he passed through Achaia, would not touch a grove which was dedicated to Jupiter, commanding his army to do it no violence. It was not lawful to hunt in these consecrated groves, unless it were to kill for sacrifice. It is reported by Strabo, that in the ^tolian groves, sacred 24 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. to Diana, the beasts were so tame that the stags would follow a man, lickmg his hands and fawning on him. There were many forests consecrated to Jupiter, Juno and Apollo, and all the gods. And so superstitious were the people that there was no meddling with these devoted trees, and even before they pruned one of them, they performed sacrifice lest they might offend in something ignorantly. But to cut down was a capital offence, and never to be done with any offering whatsoever, except in case of lightning, when the whole tree that was struck might be felled, as marked by heaven for the fire. Cicero sharply reproves Gabinius for his prodigious spoil of woods in Greece ; and it was in late days held a great piece of inhumanity in Charles the French king, when he entered the Frisons, after he had slain their leader, to cut down their woods, a punishment never inflicted upon the enemy by sober princes. England, however, has in former days suffered severely by this kind of spoliation committed by usurpers and sequestrators. To these remarks of Evelyn may be added that the super- stitions connected with trees and groves very probably orig- inated with wise men, who believed that such holy fears alone could restrain men from devastating the whole earth, by the destruction of woods. The people of the United States, un- fortunately, are restrained by no such fears or reverence. The god whom they most worship is the steam engine, and they believe it lawful and right, if needful, in order to feed this monster, to sacrifice all the woods in the land. Philoso- phy, at the present time, strives in vain to provide that se- curity for trees which was so happily provided by the religion of the ancients. In all ages whole countries, regions, cities and towns have received their names from trees ; as Cyparissa in Greece, Cerasus in Pontus, Laurentum in Italy, Myrrhinus in Attica. Hence the Viminalis ^sculetum, &c., all of which may be attributed to the spontaneous growth and abundance of such trees in the respective soil. In England a part of Kent was called Seven Oaks, as reputed from some goodly oaks grow- ing about it, and Old Sarum, or Sorbiodunum, had its name from Sorbus. Mr. Camden thinks the whole country of JANUARY. 25 Buckingham had its name from the plenty of beech trees in that region. The author concludes by speaking of some of the iises of forests, that in some parts of the world they have no water to drink except what their trees afford them — sometimes from their sap, and sometimes from their drippings, when exposed to the evening dews. He thinks that if the woods were de- stroyed in warm countries, the inhabitants might perisli for want of rain. Thus Barbadoes grows every year more torrid, and has not near so much rain as it formerly enjoyed when it was better covered with trees ; and in Jamaica the rains are observed to diminish as their plantations extend. HORTICULTURAL ORTHOEPY. BY GEO. JAQUES, WORCESTER, MASS. The annual round of horticultural life is far from being all sunshine and roses. The successive seasons invariably bring with themselves obstacles to be surmounted and diffi- culties to be overcome, so that it is only by unremitting war- fare against the adverse agencies of animate and inanimate nature, tliat any rude semblance of the humblest features of the primeval Eden can be maintained in a modern garden. Among these troubles, there is one — if indeed it may be ranked with them — which would be altogether insignificant, were it not magnified into importance by the constant liability of its recurrence. While other annoyances — frost, drought, blight, insect, flood — have each their appointed time, and dis- appear, there is not a day in the year when an occasion to mention the scientific or foreign names of fruits and flowers may not occur. Add to this, also, the disagreeable certainty witli which a single mispronunciation may damage one's literary reputation, and the correct enunciation of these perplexing words becomes a subject of some interest. The real difficulty with the orthoepy of these names, is that they are not English. One large class of them, the entire vocabulary of botany, is derived from the Greek and Latiu 26 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. languages. Of these ancient classic tongues the true sounds have been to a great extent irrecoverably lost. Nevertheless, as most of the finest specimens of the literature of antiquity were produced before grammars or dictionaries were known, there can be no doubt that these languages were originally written as pronounced, and, consequently, that the number of syllables in any of their words must have equalled the number of vowels or diphthongs. This rule of syllabication, therefore, is still adhered to ; but, aside from this conformity to ancient usage, each modern nation now pronounces Greek and Latin according to the analogies of its own language. Thus the Greek and Latin orthoepy of Italy is Italian ; of France, French ; and of English-speaking countries, English. It is true, indeed, in regard to the pronunciation of these old languages, that a kind of compromise system — based on the general similarity of the sounds of the continental tongues, and hence styled European — has been attempted to be intro- duced into this country ; but, wliile the very title of this sys- tem is a misnomer, its reality, as heard in our schools and colleges, seems ludicrously unlike anything else that human ear ever listened to, either on the earth or in the waters under the earth ! The best Greek and Latin pronunciation, then, of Great Britain and the United States — the Cambridge pronunciation of both countries — is, as it should be, substantially governed by the laws of English orthoepy, differing therefrom, for the reason above given, merely in making the number of sylla- bles of any word equal to its number of vowels and diph- thongs. The only considerable source of vexation, in the pronunciation of a word of this class, consists in knowing whether the accent — or stress of voice — fall on the second or third syllable from the end. For example, the Greek name, clem-a-tis, and the Latin, g-la-di-olus, are both very often spoilt by being accented on the second syllable from the end ; while in the word, pol-y-an-thus, that syllable is the proper one to receive the accent. The grammarians, of course, fur- nish copious directions for the correct accentuation of the Greek and Latin languages, but, as many a fine garden would look worse than the weedy field of Solomon's sluggard JANUARY. 27 before these dry rules could be fixed in the memory, a far more efficient remedy for mispronunciation would be for horticultural editors to print these botanical terms with the accents marked, after the manner of some of our popular school-books. A much more troublesome description of words now re- mains to be considered. What is merely Greek or Latin, in his vocabulary, the gardener may with a little perseverance contrive to master. The case is widely different, in regard to many of the floral and pomological names which he receives from the living languages. With these it is no longer a mere question of syllables and accents, but the various organs of speech are very frequently to be exercised upon sounds to which they are wholly unaccustomed. The pronunciation of these foreign appellations, which are for the most part either geographical or personal, is an extremely difficult branch of orthoepy. While the strict letter of orthoepical justice doubt- less would require that all such foreignisms should be traced home for their true pronunciation, the law, practically, proves too intolerably severe ; for who proposes to undertake to speak French like a Frenchman, or German, like a German ? Nor, on the other hand, can a too near approach to the oppo- site extreme be possibly endured, since a man must possess iron nerves, indeed, who would not cut down his finest pear- tree, were his neighbors to conspire together to call it a " Glout Morceau,'" with the full English sounds of all the letters ! The fact is, these foreigners in the domain of our English speech must be regarded, horticulturally speaking, as being in all stages of acclimation. The name of the French capital, for example, is perfectly Anglicized, and is pro- nounced Par-is, as though it belonged to our own language. To give the letters the sound Pah-ree (accenting the ree,) after the French, would, while one is speaking English, be the height of pedantry. Of other words, again, a portion only of the letters are Englished, as the word depot, which, on the authority of Dr. Worcester, should be enunciated like the first four letters of depose, that is, the first syllable must sound English, and the last, French. As a third illustration, a phrase may be instanced, which, although totally un-An- 28 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. glicized, is still so familiar that even our third-rate bar-room politicians make a cheap display of learning, by throwing off a " coup d'Etat,^'' with the faultless intonation of a well-bred Parisian. Many other similar fragments, also, of easily utter- able phraseology, especially from the Italian and Spanish, lose nothing of their vernacular enunciation, in passing into use here, since even American-born children pronounce with en- tire correctness such names as Civita Vecchia, Trinidad, &c. But such accuracy occurs only when the foreign word con- tains no vocal elements unknown to the English tongue ; for the moment Jonathan, or his cousin Mr. Bull, tries his inex- perienced jaws upon such letters as the French w, the German cA, or the Spanish j, the poor sounds rarely escape except in a most ma.ngied condition. Even the veriest trifle of a diffi- culty has served to transform the names of two well-known pears — Belle et Bonne and Duchesse (TAngouletne into Belly- bone and Dutch'' s Dangle-llmb ! I The orthoepy of words from foreign living languages being thus spread — so to speak — over the whole intermediate space between vernacular and English, their pronunciation, by the educated, constantly tends towards affectation, as towards vulgarity, on the part of the ignorant. The safest guide, then, must still be the same with these, as with all other words ; — it is to follow the usage of the best-educated society in England and the United States. From this usage there can be no appeal. But how shall this standard pronunciation of so many outlandish names be diff"used among the millions who plant and prune skilfully enough, but have little leisure or taste for reading ? The question admits of some sort of an answer, at any rate. Whoever writes a treatise upon fruits, would contribute greatly to this end, by giving the pronun- ciation, when not obvious, of every un-Englished word that his work should contain. Editors of magazines and other publications specially designed for horticultural readers, might also make a rule, for the future, to exhibit the orthoepy with the first mention of any new foreign name, of the class above described ; and indeed an extension backward of the rule to a goodly number of words now in familiar use, would doubt- less prevent many a ludicrous blunder. In some such way, JANUAEY. 29 it seems possible that the orthoepical mistakes of reading people might be gradually diminished, while those who do not read would profit by their intercourse with such as do. Obviously, it would not be easy, in all cases, to fix upon the least objectionable pronunciation of some of these words ; nor would it be always possible to represent their exact sounds by English letters. Still, to attempt nothing, becausq every- thing cannot be accomplished, is a fool's wisdom, and shuts the door against all improvement. In the meanwhile, and without wandering farther into this literary labyrinth, it may be safely concluded, that, until more light shall be in some way diffused, these troublesome w^ords, whether from ancient or modern sources, will continue to be divided and spoken by the generality of people, pretty nearly according to the English sounds of their letters. To demand more than this from those who have no opportunity to learn the elegantly correct pronunciation of finished schol- ars, would be to require white kids of the man who sells charcoal in the public streets. « We commend the communication of Mr. Jaques to the attention of our readers. We have endeavored as far as possible to obviate what he so truly sets forth as an obstacle to correct pronunciation, not only by carefully accenting all the names of plants enumerated in the Magazine, (see Index,) but by giving their derivation, whether from the Greek or Latin, commemorative or aboriginal, by the use of italics. The names of fruits are more difficult, as Mr. Jaques has shown, and can only be rendered more uniformly spoken in the way he indicates. The late Mr. Loudon was the first to introduce accentuation in his Gardeners' Magazine, in 1826, which system was fol- lowed in all his subsequent works ; and as a guide to all who would attain correctness, as nearly as possible, we shall pub- lish in an early number the rules which he laid down, and which we have invariably followed, as a reference to our vol- umes will show. We hope thereby to do all in our power to accomplish what Mr. Jaques suggests. 30 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. ON THE INCLINATION OF GLASS ROOFS. BY THOMAS F. WALSH, GARDENER, BOSTON LUNATIO HO.-PITAL. The proper inclination to the horizon of the roofs of horti- cultural structures is a principle of the utmost importance in the construction of these edifices ; and directly in proportion to its importance it appears to be neglected or overlooked. Wliy this should be, in the present advanced state of the science, it is difficult to understand ; and being so, it is a blot on our horticultural escutcheon. " Like buoys that never sink into the flood, On learning's surface we but lie and nod." Professional writers, since the time of Knight, have strangely omitted all consideration of it, with the exception of a few — mere copyists of Knight — whose flimsy and superficial man- ner of treating it, evidently shows that they were unable to investigate the subject, or develop its theory ; and contenting themselves with iterating his opinions, in an unconnected and ambiguous form, they dismiss it so hastily as to imply that they thought the farthest limit of inquiry had been gained. But with all due deference to the immense intellect of that great gardener, he did not fully elucidate the question, for he has written nothing with regard to it of any real practical utility to working men ; and, excepting a few general obser- vations, and the results of some experiments, the principle remains as vague and ill-defined as he found it after Boer- haave, who was the first to observe its importance. Wilkinson, in the " Horticultural Transactions," as quoted by Loudon, gives a clumsy rule for determining the angle ; and, curiously enough, endeavors to illustrate it by an exam- ple not solved as the rule directs. In the same connection he also says, " The angle contained between the back wall of the forcing-house, and the inclined plane of the glass roof, always equals the sun's altitude, when his rays fall perpen- dicularly on that plane, provided that the inclination of the plane to the horizon be at an angle not less than 28° 2', nor greater than 75°." Here is an obscure way of telling us that 28° 2' is the angle of inclination at the summer solstice. JANUARY. 31 and 75°, or, rather, 74° 56', the angle at the winter solstice, in the latitude in which lie wrote (51° 29') ; whereas the obvious inference, from "the unqualified manner in which he puts it, is, that perpendicularity could not take place outside these limits in any latitude. Johnson, in his " Principles of Gardening," gives another rule, couched in general terms, which is only of limited appli- cation. It is therefore an unsafe guide, and calculated to mislead the reader. And "The Encyclopaedia of Gardening" gives such an Ossa-upon-Pelion grouping of authorities and opinions on the subject, that, while the patient industry of the writer excites admiration, the lack of really useful information which so many and varied sources presuppose, cannot but be deplored. Instructions of this nature, it is reasonable to infer, can hardly fail to be productive of error; and that they have been, no other proof need be required than the number of improperly inclined and ill-adapted roofs to be seen almost everywhere, both here and in Great Britain. Such being the obscure state of the question as exhibited by our standard authorities, it is hoped that the attempt to evolve it from this obscurity, to place it on a fixed basis, and to render it more intelligible, will not be deemed presumptu- ous in the writer, who, taking no rule unsupported by science on authority, however great might be the prestige of the name which had established or advanced it, has dared to enter that arena where Knight strode in all the majesty of his mighty and comprehensive mind. The admission of light is the sole object of transparent roofs ; for it is well known that it exerts a powerful influence on the vitality and growth of plants. The green color of leaves, the hue of flowers, and the flavor of fruit depend on it ; and these effects must have been observed by man far back in the youth of the world. When it is considered, according to the experiments of Herschel and Berard, that solar light possesses three distinct powers, — those of heating, illuminating, and effecting chemi- cal combinations and decompositions, — it will be seen how important a part it acts in the economy of plants, and how 32 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. necessary it is, that all the light possible be secured to glazed horticultural structures, as, in proportion to its amount, will be the extent of these vivifying po'wers. When luminous rays proceed from a very distant body, as the sun, they may be regarded as parallel, and when parallel rays fall upon a plane surface, their illuminating and heating powers vary with the angle they describe with it ; the most perfect illumination being produced when they fall perpen- dicularly upon it. 1. ILLUMINATING POWER OF THE SUN'S RAYS. Let the parallel rays, a, b, c, d, e,f, fall upon a plane sur- face 0 P, perpendicular to the horizon / H, and it is evident they will all aid in illuminating its surface ; but if 0 P be inclined successively to PR, PS, PT, but five of the six rays will impinge upon it in the first case, four in the second, three in the third, and in each case as it recedes from the perpendicular and inclines to the horizon it will be propor- tionally less illuminated. Hence the law in optics, as quoted by Loudon, that the influence of the sun's rays on any sur- face, both in respect to light and heat, is directly as the sine (R Y) of the sun's altitude ; or, in other words, directly as his perpendicularity to that surface. It is, therefore, evident that the farther the roof reclines from the perpendicular, the fewer direct solar rays will it receive, and the nearer the angle, which the plane of the roof makes with the path of the luminous ray, approaches to a right angle, the more rays will impinge upon it, and consequently the more light and heat will be acquired. Again, when a ray of light falls upon a plane polished sur- face capable of reflecting it, it is thrown off again from that surface at an angle equal to that by which it impinges upon it. JANUARY. 83 Suppose A B to be a smooth polished surface, and a ray of light proceeding in the direction D C, to impinge on that surface at C, and to be reflected from it in the direction C E. Through the point C, draw C P perpendicular to the surface; then, the angle P C E is called the angle of reflection, and D C P the angle of incidence. Now, it is a law established c 2. ANGLES RIFLECTING THE SUN's RATS. by the experiments of Bouguer, Arago, Fresnel, and others, that the quantity of light regularly reflected increases with the angle of incidence, and nearly vanishes when that angle becomes 0, or when D C, the incident ray coincides with P C, or is perpendicular to the plane A B. Therefore the intensity of illumination is greatest at any point in a reflecting surface, when the incident ray is perpendicular to that surface. These experiments, though instituted for a very different purpose from that in which they are now employed, namely, to determine the intensity of reflected light, exhibit in a forcible manner the loss sustained by the improper inclination of glass roofs. Bouguer has given the following numerical relations of incidental to reflected rays at difierent angles from a surface of glass, the number of incidental rays being supposed to be 1000 : Of 1000 rays falling upon such a surface and making an angle of 5° with it, 543 are reflected ; 300 w^hen the angle is 15° ; 112 when 30° ; 25 when 60°, or above. Here, then, is another loss, of the rays that impinge on roofs much inclined to the horizon, by their being reflected, or thrown back again into space. The method of finding that pitch of the roof will now be considered, by which these losses will be obviated, and by VOL. XXVII. — NO. I. 3 34 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. which all the intensity of illumination and heat, possible, will be obtained. Let C be the centre of the earth, N C S its axis, then are N and S its poles ; E Q its equator ; and D Z, the prolonga- tion of the terrestrial radius C D, the zenith of the station D, or of Boston ; the arc E A, the sun's declination, or his angu- lar distance north of the equator ; the dotted line A C, the path of a luminous ray ; and the dotted line C R, the plane of the roof at right angles with A C ; for, as has been shown, it is in this position that most rays impinge, and are least N.POLE — a S.POLE 3. MODK OF FINDING THE ANGLI OF ROOF. reflected ; and neglecting the size of the earth, and conceiving the observer stationed at its centre, everything may be refer- red to his rational horizon H C F ; for, if the planes of both horizons — the rational and sensible — be prolonged in imagi- nation till they reach the region of the sun, although sepa- rated throughout their whole length by a semidiameter of the earth, they will, on account of the vast distance (95,000,000 of miles) at which that semidiameter is seen, be confounded JANUARY. 35 together and undistinguishable from each other in that region, when viewed by an observer on the earth. Now, from this construction it will be seen that the angles A C R, and D C F, are right angles, having the angle D C R, comniDn to both, which, if taken away, the remaining angles A C D, and R C F, will be equal ; but the angle A C D, is the difference between the sun's declination and the latitude ; and the angle R C F, is that which the plane of the roof makes with the horizon of the observer's station. Again, suppose the sun to be south of the equator; then the arc E G, will be the declination ; the dotted line G C, the path of a luminous ray ; and the dotted line C P, the plane of the roof at right angles with G C. Here, the angles G C P, and D C F, are right angles, having the angle D C P, common to both ; let this be taken away, and the remaining angles G C D, and P C F, will be equal ; but in this case, the angle G C D, is equal to the sum of the latitude and declination, and the angle P C F, equal to the inclination of the roof. Setting aside the declination and latitude as data, the required angle may be obtained from the sun's meridian altitude. Let the angle H C A, represent his distance above the horizon, or his meridian altitude ; then will the angle A C D, be its complement, or what is wanted to make the angle a quadrant, or 90°, which, as above shown, is equal to the angle of inclination R C F. From these simple geometrical considerations, the follow- ing general rules are deduced : — Rule 1. — If the sun's declination be north of the equator and the given place in the northern hemisphere, subtract the declination from the latitude, and if south of the equator, add it to the latitude ; this sum, in the latter case, or that differ- ence, in the former, will be the angle of inclination required. That is, from the vernal to the autumnal equinox the decli- nation must be subtracted from the latitude, and from the autumnal to the vernal equinox added to it. The declination for any given day may be found in a nau- tical almanac ; or on an artificial globe as follows : Find the 36 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. day of the month on the declination scale, or on the ecliptic. Bring either to the universal meridian, and the degree over it will be the declination. Rule 2. — Find the sun's meridian altitude by a quadrant, subtract it from 90°, and the remainder ivill be the angle of inclination. The greatest angle of inclination in this latitude (42° 23') will be 65° 50', and the least, 18° 56'. The application of these rules to practice must, of course, depend altogether on the purpose for which the structure is to be employed. In greenhouses, for instance, devoted specially to the preservation and growth of plants during winter, the solar ray should be perpendicular to the roof about the time of the winter solstice. Now, the sun's declination on the 21st of December will be 23° 27' south, and the latitude of Boston is 42° 23' north ; therefore, according to Rule 1, 65° 50' will be the angle which the plane of the roof should make with the horizon at that season. Again, to illustrate Rule 2. The sun's meridian altitude on that day will be 24° 10^ ; subtract this from 90°, and the remainder will be the angle, as before. A very convenient method in this case is, to eliminate the 5° 50', and consider the angle 60° ; then the inclination will be readily obtained by making the length of the rafter equal to twice the width of the house, which should be the rule generally adopted for lean-to plant houses in this latitude, as, according to Bouguer, the loss by reflection will not be any more than at 65° 50'. For span roofs the length of the rafter should be equal to the width of the house. In cold vineries, where the fruit is to be matured by the heat of the sun alone, its rays should be perpendicular to the roof about the 10th of September ; for the crop generally begins to change color in August, and ripens about the mid- dle of that month : Latitude of Boston, 42° 23' north. Sun's declination, September 10th, 4° 51' north. Then 37° 32' will be the angle of inclination in this case. JANUARY. 37 In vineries where fire-heat is employed, and forcing com- mences about midwinter, this normal condition should be ful- filled about the 10th of May ; for the change of color in the fruit takes place some time before, and begins to ripen about this date : Latitude of Boston, .... 42" 23' north. Sun's declination, May 10th, . 17° 41' north. For such structures, 24° 42' will be the proper inclination. Finally, the angle of inclination being given for any place in the northern hemisphere, that for any other place therein may be found as follows : If the place be south of that for which the angle is given, subtract the difference of latitude between both places from the given angle of inclination, and tlie remainder will be the angle of inclination for the place required ; and if the place be north of that for which the angle is given, add the differ- ence of latitude to it, and the sum will be the angle of incli- nation for that place. Further illustration is deemed unnecessary. These rules are so plain and intelligible to any inquirer who will enter seriously into the subject, so easily applied to any particular case, and so readily deduced from the principles laid down, that the writer hopes they cannot be misunderstood. They are therefore respectfully submitted to the perusal of the intelligent gardener, who will doubtless find very little difii- culty in their application, whenever, in his practice, an occa- sion arises. We are pleased in giving our readers so good an elucida- tion of the principles of the inclination of glass roofs, as that furnished by our correspondent. For, although Knight and Wilkinson have laid down similar principles, they are only accessible to those who possess the Transactions of the London Horticultural Society — a scarce and valuable work. A re- sume^ therefore, of these principles, in the clear manner above given, is a valuable paper to all cultivators. We differ, however, somewhat from our correspondent, as 38 • THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. regards the slope of greenhouse roofs, which he fixes at 65° 50' in tlie latitude of Boston, on the supposition that the sun's rays should strike the roof at nearly right angles December 21st, the winter solstice. Now it appears to us that the period when the sun's rays are most needed in such a structure is in February, or nearly March 1st, when the plants, after a due period of rest, begin to grow and bloom, and require a greater degree of light and heat. This would therefore give a plane of roof of little more than 45° in the latitude of Boston. There is a serious objection to very steep roofs, such as that of 65°. The stage for plants requires to be so high that they are not seen to advantage, and renders their proper management inconvenient, even allowing it to be the angle securing the greatest amount of the sun's rays. What is sacrificed by reflection is more than made up in other ways, to say nothing of the ill appearance of such roofs. As regards the angle of roofs for viueries, as given by our correspondent, there is no doubt of the correctness of the principle ; but here again arises another objection to such a slope as that of 24° 42' for early grapes. An angle so flat does not take off tlie water rapidly enough, and the roof is apt to be leaky. Hence an angle of 30° to 35° has been thought, all things considered, the best. There is no doubt of the truth of the principles laid down ; and all who are about building greenhouses, conservatories, or graperies, should fully understand them, varying them only according to circumstances, their application and fitness in connection with other buildings, &c. — Ed. THE GAZANIA SPLENDENS AND DOUBLE ZINNIA. BY THE EDITOR. GAZANIA SPLENDENS. Every plant that adds to the decoratioii of our summer gardens is an invaluable addition. For although we are rather too partial to bedding plants, and ignore annuals and JANUARY. 39 perennials, which contribute so much to the beauty of every parterre, it is not to be denied, that a due proportion of the former, with their masses of gay colors, enrich and embellish in a high degree every garden. But unfortunately most of the popular bedding plants are of two prevailing colors, viz., red in its various shades, lighter or darker, and white. Of blues and yellows there is yet a want, particularly the latter. Saving the Lantanas, which change into pinks and reds, there are few deep orange tints, which are necessary, in due proportion, to make up an har- monious arrangement of colors. To supply this want, the Gazania is especially fitted. Pos- sessing all the requisites of a bedding plant, a free grower, dwarf compact habit, neat foliage and abundant bloom, its golden orange flowers with a black centre are particularly conspicuous and showy ; flowering when quite small, and con- tinuing to open its gay florets till late in the autumn, it will rank with the gayest of summer blossoms. Planted in alter- nate beds, with the deepest blue Verbenas, Salvia patens, or other blue tinted flowers, it forms a rich contrast, and en- livens a border, which would be otherwise tame in color. For ribbon borders, when they are attempted, no plant we are acquainted with could supply its place. This beautiful Gazania, (fig. 4,) which we have already briefly noticed, (XXVI. p. 179,) is apparently a hybrid pro- duction, between the old G. rigens, pavonia, or uniflora, resembling in its general growth the latter, but differs in its dwarf, compact, close-branching habit. It is at first sub-erect, but becomes decumbent from tlie weight of its large blossoms, which are from three to four inches in diameter, resembling rich golden-orange Chrysanthemums, with gracefully decurved margins, marked at the base of each petal with a black blotch, upon which there is a distinct white spot. It is these combi- nations of color that produce such a. gorgeous effect. The foliage is also unique, being of a silvery hue beneath, which adds to its ornamental aspect. It is a plant of- the easiest culture, not being particular as to soil or aspect, but, like others, thriving best in a rich mel- low soil suited to Verbenas or Petunias. It begins to bloom 40 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. in June, and continues until the latest period in autumn. Upon the approach of severe frosts the plants should be pot- ted and wintered in the greenhouse, where, after a due season of rest, they will again open their rich blossoms. It is propa- gated by cuttings in the usual way. 4. GAZANIA 6PLENDENS. As a decorative plant, for vases or pots, it is equally adapted, blooming freely, and not liable to the attacks of insects, which often injure or destroy more tender-foliaged plants. For this reason, and its other fine qualities, it must prove one of the most " brilliant and effective flowers yet introduced." JANUARY. 41 THE DOUBLE ZINNIA. The Zinnia, in its many varieties, is one of the most familiar, as it is one of the most showy, annuals. For years and years it has been extensively cultivated, but without any other change than the addition of some new tint, which, in its spor- tive character, has been obtained in common with other plants. No appearance of anything like a double flower has ever been seen till very recently. Messrs. Vilmorin, the great French 5. DOUBLE ZINNIA. florists, state, that all their attempts to produce a double variety have been unsuccessful. Yet the past year magnificent specimens of double Zinnias have been exhibited in London, both from English and French cultivators, which attracted unusual attention, and were of so much merit as to elicit awards of first class certificates from the Floral Committee of the London Horticultural Society. Singular as it may appear, these double Zinnias are of Eastern origin, the seeds having been first received from the 42 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. East Indies, by M. Grazani of Bagneres, France, and subse- quently by Messrs. Carter of London. Messrs. Vilmorin saw them with M. Grazani in 1858, and now for the first time they are introduced to the pubhc. How they came to India is at present unknown ; but that they are a great acquisition, " not a whit less interesting than that of double Dahlias," is admitted even by Dr. Lindley. A full account of the in- teresting exhibition of flowers will be found in our last volume, (p. 518.) We have produced a representation of the flower, (fig. 5.) The Zinnias are easily produced from seed, and retain their double character. Under good culture they are very double, and their introduction to our gardens, with that of the Japan pinks, marks a new era in their decorative character as dis- tinctive as that of the Dahlia, which has so long been the pride and glory of the autumnal garden. Gossip of tlje ^oirflj. American Institute Exhibition. — Our correspondent, " Verophilus," who writes in relation to the award at the late Exhibition at the Palace Gardens, is informed that we appreciate his criticism, but tliink it unneces- sary to discuss the subject at this time. Another year may remedy any defects. The Hon. Joseph S. Cabot, whose European Notes in our last vol- ume were so widely read, has returned safe home, delighted with his jour- ney. Want of time has prevented him from giving us further details, but we hope he may yet favor us with some account of his visit to English nurseries, which will lose nothing by delay. We welcome him home, and are glad to hear he has been so well pleased with his tour. A Fashionable Strawberry. — One of our cultivators, in advertising Wilson's Strawberry, among other reasons why it should be planted, says, '' Because it is the most productive, the largest, and finest berry out. In fact, it is the " fashionable" berry. New York Central Park not Extended. — The Central Park Com- missioners, at a meeting December 26th, voted to discontinue all further proceedings in taking the extension to the Park from One-Hundred-and- JANUARY. 43 Sixth to One-Hundred-and-Tenth street, on the ground that the valuations were much larger than was contemplated when they moved to have the extension made, and that they deemed it unwise to make the addition at the price which it now appeared must be paid for the land. A large portion of this land is, it is obvious to all who are acquainted with the ground, very desirable to the Park, and there is a general feeling of regret among the members of the Board that they are compelled to forego the addition. There was but one vote against the discontinuance. — Tribune. The Commissioners have acted wisely in this. No doubt the addition would add greatly to the extent and beauty of the Park, but the cost is altogether too great even for New York, with all its wealth and extravagance. The cost of the extension, about 188 acres, is upwards of $1,500,000, making a grand total of the whole, when completed, as it has been begun, of upwards of $20,000 000, being an annual interest of $1,200,000, be- sides more than $500,000, annually, for keeping it in order. As a speci- men of the way the money is expended, the surveyors' and other bills con- nected with the 183 acres, were nearly $100,000 ! It is the opinion of com- petent men that the whole could have been done for one quarter of the money. Premiums for New Fruits and Vegetables. — The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, through their respective Committees, have awarded Mr. F. Dana, of Roxbury, a gratuity of $20, and a silver medal, for the production of his new Seedling Pears ; and Mr. J. J. H. Gregory, of Marble- head, a gratuity of $25, for the introduction of the Hubbard squash. We are glad to see encouragement thus held out to zealous horticulturists for new and valuable productions, and we are sure the Massachusetts Horticult- ural Society will never overlook meritorious acts of this kind. Agricultural Library Associations. — We are highly pleased in announcing the success of Mr. John Reynolds, of Concord, Mass., in estab- lishing Agricultural Libraries throughout our State. He has already got up more than one hundred and fifty in various towns, and is still engaged in his labors. In the city of Cambridge he has established two of the largest in the State. The influence of these Associations is beyond estimate. Through the medium of valuable books, many of which are loo expensive for individuals to possess, our farmers, gardeners, and country gentlemen, become familiar with horticultural and agricultural science, in its present condition, everywhere ; and the diffusion of taste consequent upon such information is becoming apparent wherever these Associations have been established. We would advise their formation in every town in the State. The Cumbkrland Pear of Van Mons. — Our explanation respecting this variety in a late number, (Vol. XXVI. p. 508,) seems to have been mis- understood. We stated that it was the same as the Henkel, and accounted for the mistake by supposing Van Mons, or his gardener, had misapplied the label of the scions of our native Cumberland, which were sent him by 44 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The Henkel was raised by Van Mons, and sent to Messrs. Manning & Kenrick in 1834. Many years after, the Cumberland was introduced from Van Mons's collection, and hence we thought as both were raised by him, and he would not be likely to give two names to one pear, the error occurred as above. The Henkel is not a native, as our friend Mr. Berckmans seems to have understood from our notice above. Field Notes. — Our contemporary, Col. Harris of the Ohio Cultivator, is out with his prospectus of a new folio Journal, to be published weekly, un- der the above title. His success with the Ohio Cultivator has so enlarged his circle of readers, that he finds it impossible, in the limited space of that semi-njpnthly Journal, to furnish them with the abundance of good things his head and heart contain. We doubt not it will be a Journal worthy of the Buckeye State, which already has some valuable papers. At the same time the Cultivator will be continued at a reduced price. Hear what the Col says about new subscribers : — "Great Premiums for Subscribers. — An experience of sixteen years with the Ohio Cultivator has convinced us that the system of offering sen- sational premiums indulged in by many of our contemporaries is deceptive in character and vicious in practice. We shall put the value into our papers, and make them the attraction instead of hiring people to take them by the offer of silly sugar plums. We are down on all shamming, and this practice is becoming one of the greatest shams of the age." " That's so," Col. These Gigantic Gift Newspaper Establishments are mighty institutions. The Fruit Growers' Societt of Eastern Pennsylvania will hold its Second Annual Meeting in the city of Reading, on the first Wednesday of February, 1861. The Hemlock Spruce. — This is undoubtedly the queen of evergreen trees. Of all the new and rare pines, cypresses, &c., that have been intro- duced, not one can excel our native hemlock ; indeed, few can be compared to it, either in beauty of growth, or general usefulness. To the landscape gardener it is invaluable; no other tree can take its place in rounding off groups and defining outlines. It conveys an impression of finish, when properly disposed, more effectively than any other of our hardy ever- greens.— [Fhrmer and Gardener.) New Upright Tomato. — Messrs. Vilmorin, the Paris seedmen, are offering for sale seeds of a new upright tomato, which requires no support in its growth. It is said to be entirely different from the kinds previously known. The stem is two feet high, or more, quite upright, and so remarka- bly stiff as to be strictly self supporting. It branches less than the Com- mon Red, is less leafy, and does not want so much pinching. The leaves are rather curled, much puckered, very firm, and closely placed on the JANUARY. 45 sturdy branches. Their color is a remarkably deep shining green. It does not bear so freely as the common kind, but its fruit, which is of the same color, is larger, and more regularly formed. In earliness it is inter- mediate between the Early Red and the Giant Red. It was raised from seed by Grenier, the gardener of M. d. Fleurieux, at a place called the Chateau de Laye, and this variety is therefore called the Tomato de Laye. Saturday, Abr. 3. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to- day,— the President in the chair. The Committee appointed to consider the expediency of publishing a Monthly Journal requested to be discharged. Benard Rosier, physician to the king of Greece, and B. E. Cotting, were Chosen Corresponding Members. The following members were elected : — C. C. Burr, Wm. Whiting, W. T. Merrifield, R. S. Frost, J. H. W. Page, J. VV. Hollis, Nathl. Philips, J. W. Stone, Alex. Dickinson, John G. Wetherell, Jos. M. Williams, John Savage, Jr., E. H. Luke, J. D. Bradlee, Henry Y. Hill. Adjourned to December 1. Dec. 1. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to day, — the President in the chair. Mr. W. H. Spooner, Jr., moved that the Committee, having in charge the subject of the Back Bay Reservation, be requested to mature some plan for the consideration of the Society. T. P. Lerned, N. R. Childs, Jos. Andrews, and H. L. Hazeltine were elected members. Adjourned two weeks, to December 15. Dec. 15. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day, — the President in the chair. A handsome painting, representing the Cactus, as it grows in Mexico, was presented to the Society by L. M. Sargent, Esq., and the thanks of the Society were voted for the same. The Committees on Flowers and on the Library presented their Annual Reports, which were accepted. C. M. Hovey, from the Committee appointed for that object, made a Report in relation to the Back Bay Reservation, embracing the views of the Committee in relation to the same, and it was voted that the Report be laid upon the table until the quarterly meeting in January. Hon. M. P. Wilder offered the following Resolutions upon the death of Samuel Walker, prefacing them with some appropriate remarks, in refer- ence to his long association with tlie Society, his continued services in its behalf, and the deep interest which he felt in its future usefulness and prosperity : — 46 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Resolved, That the Massachusetts Horticultural Society have learned with profound sorrow and regret of the decease of the Hon. Samuel Walker, one of its earliest, most active, and influential members, who for more than thirty years has labored with zeal, energy and well-timed exertions to promote its welfare. Resolved, That in his death this Society and the country have lost one of the standard-bearers of American horticulture, and that we will ever hold in grateful remembrance his valuable services and his private worth, and will cherish his memory as a public benefactor. Resolved, That while this bereavement will be long and deeply deplored far beyond the circle of his family, we tender to them our sympathy and aflfection in this hour of their deep affliction. Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to transmit to the family of the deceased a copy of the above resolutions, and that they be copied in the papers of the day. Adjourned one week, to December 22. Dec. 22. — No business of importance was transacted, and the meeting adjourned to December 29. Dec. 29. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day, — the President in the chair. Messrs. Stickney, Wilder and Austin were appointed a Committee to settle with Mount Auburn Cemetery. The Committee on Gardening, the Fruit Committee, and the Vegetable Committee, submitted their Annual Reports, which were accepted. Messrs. C. M. Hovey, Cabot and Austin were appointed a Committee to nominate a Committee of Arrangements for the ensuing year. Mr. George W. Pratt presented the Society with three volumes of Agassiz's Contributions to the Natural History of the United States, and the volumes hereafter published. The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. Pratt for his very handsome gift. The Executive Committee reported an appropriation of the sum of $3,200, for premiums for 1861. S. W. Hathaway, G. W. Palmer, Thos. D. Parker, G. B. Upton, and Dr. I. Warren were elected members. Meeting dissolved. iorticultaral ©ptrations FOR JANUARY. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. December was one of the coldest for several years ; in the first half, especially severe ; the latter, though milder, still cold. There have been but few days in the month when the temperature was as high as 32° at JANUARY. 47 sunrise. In conFequence of this severe weather all out-door work was stopped at once ; but the previous month having been favorable, fortunately there was little preparatory work for winter left undone. At this season nothing of importance can be accomplished in the open air, except in the southern portion of the country, where our remarks can have no application, our operations for April answering to this month in that locality. But indoors there is plenty to occupy the attention of the industrious gardener, especially where there are graperies, forcing- houses, &c. An abundance of preparatory work for spring can now be done, even when there are no other labors to be attended to. Making labels, preparing stakes, and similar operations, will greatly facilitate the work of the summer. Grape Vines, in the earliest houses, will now begin to ripen their fruit, and will need less care, while the grapery or succession-houses will need par- ticular attention. Usually, grapes in these houses commence growing earlier or later in February, according to the temperature. If not already pruned this should at once be completed, and the vines cleaned and washed so as to destroy every insect. Tie up to the rafters as soon as the buds begin to swell, and syringe often till they are well broken. See that the border is well protected, and begin with a moderate temperature, 45° to 55°. Scions of Frdit Trees may be cut in good weather, and preserved in earth or sand in the cellar. Peach in Pots, having had the protection of a cellar or warm shed, may now be brought into the grapery, forcing-house, or greenhouse. Vines may be managed in the same way, as also figs. FLOWER department. The conservatory or greenhouse, to be fully appreciated, should always preserve an air of neatness, which, though not indispensable as regards the vigor of the plants, is especially so as regards the enjoyment of their beauties. However so healthy, vigorous and flourishing each plant may be, if all is not arranged in good taste, and kept in an orderly manner, the gayest blossoms, displayed in abundance, fail to satisfy the most ordinary lover of fine plants. The labors of the best gardener, without order and neatness, are often less estimated than those of ordinary capacity, with a good share of each. January, therefore, should find the skilful man with his houses in perfect order, the pots washed, the plants neatly staked up, the climbers pruned into shape, and a rich assemblage of beautiful blossoms ; with a stock to succeed those soon passing out of flower. He will also improve all the spare time to prepare for spring, that the labor of three months may not be hurried into one. Pelargoniums, of which there is scarcely a spring-flowering plant that surpasses it in attractiveness, will soon be objects of special attention, if handsome specimens, full of flowers, are the object. Keep them cool and rather dry for a while, pmching oflf all vigorous shoots, tieing out the 48 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. branches so as to form broad heads. Air abundantly, and keep as near the glass as the means will allow. The object should be to get a good foun- dation, on which all future growth depends. Cinerarias are very ornamental when rightly treated. Shift at once, for the last time, and water moderately, keeping the plants stocky and dwarf, so as to throw up an abundance of vigorous flowering stems. Fumi- gate for the green fly. Azaleas. These will soon begin to grow, unless pains have been taken to keep them very cool. Commence at once to tie the plants into shape, if not already done ; then move them to a rather warm situation, well ex- posed to the light, where they can be freely syringed. Water rather sparingly for a time. Begonias, which have been dried off, may now be divided and repotted, placing them in the very warmest part of the house. Water very sparingly till they begin to grow. Amaryllises should be repotted as soon as they show signs of growing. Camellias should be more freely watered, and syringed occasionally. Put in cuttings if wanted, and inarch or graft. Young stock may be re- potted. Calceolarias may be treated as we have advised for Cinerarias. Orchids should be kept rather dry and cool at this season. Ferns will soon begin to grow, and may be repotted. Cyclamens should be more freely watered, and, if they require it, repotted. Fuchsias, intended for specimens, should be encouraged by a shift into larger pots. Scarlet Geraniums may now be shook out of the old soil and repotted. TROPiEOLCMs, of the tuberous kinds, should be repotted. Gladiolus, of the ramosus tribe, should now be potted and placed in a cool place till they begin to grow. Pansy Seeds may be sown for a spring stock. Seeds of many kinds of plants, for spring or summer blooming, may now be planted. Verbenas may be propagated from cuttings. ^ Rhododendron Seeds may be sown. Roses, now blooming freely, should be watered with liquid manure. Marantas, Dracjcnas, and similar plants, that have been kept rather dry, should now have a warm situation, and be freely watered. Heaths should be kept as cool as possible, and have an airy place and abundance of light. Petunias should be repotted. Caladiums should now be shook out of the old soil, and repotted in fresh earth, composed of decayed leaves, peat, fibrous loam and sand. Water sparingly, and keep in a warm place. Insects should be looked after, fumigating with tobacco for the green fly, and with sulphur for the red spider. THE HALF HARDY CONIFERS AND EVERGREENS. Every tree that adds to the embellishment of our gardens possesses a greater or less value according to its capability of enduring our severe climate unharmed. If perfectly hardy, the simple fact at once conveys the idea of inattention, neg- lect, little danger of loss, and, what is all-important, no expense attending its cultivation, — it will take care of itself. Hence the first and natural inquiry in regard to every new tree, Is it hardy — will it stand our cold winters ? If so, it will be an acquisition ; if not, it is worthless. These are the answers of too many, though, we are glad to add, not all the lovers of beautiful trees. A real love of beautiful forms and elegant foliage has taken too strong hold of many of our American planters to resist the culture of half hardy shrubs and trees, which later years have introduced from the moun- tainous regions of temperate climes, no matter what the expense, or however so great the labor attending their growth. "We shall not attempt to deny the additional value which everv beautiful tree possesses on the score of its entire hardiness ; but that a slight susceptibility to a hard touch of jack frost should place it out of the pale of cultivation, simply because it needs the protecting hand of man, we must emphatically object to. What we can have at but little or no cost, is gen- erally lightly appreciated ; while that which " eternal vigi- lance" only enables us to possess is intrinsically beyond price. We see this in our general taste for Evergreen or Coniferous trees. What the British planter considers one of his greatest treasures, Americans look upon as almost a cumberer of the ground. A magnificent specimen of our common White, or Weymouth pine, as it is called in England, is the pride and glory of the English landscape, whilst it is here spurned as a common vagrant of our woods. What the English lover of trees groups around his pleasure ground, — the Scotch and Austrian pines, — we reject because they look too much like our common pines. We are constantly seeking for something new, some- VOL. XXVII. — NO. II. 4 50 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUEE. thing recherche, and when we have found them in the rare Deodar cedar, the Pinus patula, or some other elegant tree, we reject them because care and protection are needed to make them an ornament to our lawns ; so that between the common trees which look too much like our pine woods, and the rare trees which need some protection, we are reduced to the scanty supply of some dozen or so of kinds, that are duplicated and re-duplicated around our suburban houses, about our pleasure grounds, and upon our lawns, till the whole is a monotonous display of similar vegetation. By this we do not mean to deny the value of every coniferous tree. Far from it ; they each and all have their value and import- ance. An attempt at variety where there is not room to dis- play it, would be insulting to good taste. In limited places, a few Norway spruces, a few arbor vitses, and a few pines are all that need be planted. But in grounds of extent, this is all reversed. Variety judiciously introduced, not promis- cuously scattered about, enhances the picturesque effect, and adds to the grandeur of every plantation. It is well and proper too that the trees for such purposes should be hardy. But with the increasing taste for garden scenery there is another description of embellishment, where the bristling pines, the rugged cedars, the soldierly arbor vitass, and the stately spruces can only be introduced sparingly ; where their places must give way to more delicate and slender forms, more graceful and airy foliage, more verdant or emerald tints. This is around the lawn, in the near vicinity of the house, or surrounding the flower garden. Flowers and flow- ering plants, with few exceptions, or only when grouped in beds of various patterns in one harmonious whole, are out of place, and it is here that the half hardy evergreens fill a gap, so necessary to the full development of the scene. Sunk in large pots, with their beautiful foliage reclining on the verdant turf, or standing in vases at prominent points, they catch the eye, and change the common character of the scenery to one of enchanting beauty. What hardy coniferous tree possesses any of the habits peculiar to the Deodar cedar — and how un- like them the Cryptomeria japonica, or the Araucaria imbri- cata ! What a fountain of gushing foliage is the Pinus patula ; FEBRUARY. 51 and if it should not prove hardy, (which we hope it may,) where shall we find anything so truly lovely as the Cupressus Lawsoniana, the queen of coniferous trees ? All these and dozens more possess a distinctness and a beauty which render them preeminently the ornaments of the lawn and winter garden, where the latter may, as we doubt not it will, be attempted. So beautiful, so desirable, and, after all, so little care and trouble are they, let us devote a few words to their treatment, for the objects we have named. In doing this we shall but be reiterating what we quoted in our last volume from the excellent Supplement to Downing's Landscape Gardening, by H. W. Sargent, Esq. Yet, at the risk of doing so, we shall go over it again. Nearly all the half hardy trees we have alluded to are na- tives of the mountainous regions of Mexico, South America, and Asia, growing at elevations where snows frequently fall, but where the thermometer rarely sinks below 20°. They will therefore bear a moderate frost with impunity, \^hilst zero weather would be fatal to them ; consequently they are not, excepting a few of them, hardy enough to endure the winters north of Washington with any degree of certainty, even with moderate protection. Mr. Sargent succeeds with several, but when one of our severe winters sets in, they are terribly cut up, and their real beauty destroyed beyond recov- ery. But this is easily obviated with a little ingenuity. All they require is a place where the temperature will not fall below 20°. Mr. W. Reid, nurseryman of New Jersey, who possesses a fine collection of conifers, and who is very suc- cessful in their culture, has long protected his half hardy kinds in winter, lifting every plant on the approach of cold, and planting them out again in spring. The effect of this annual transplanting is to form eventually a ball of roots, by which they do not suffer in the removal, but put forth with a vigor unimpaired. They are either planted in beds or in parterres, where they form conspicuous objects of the grounds. The plan of protection is as follows. Select a dry and airy position, and dig out a pit six or eight feet wide, and from two to eight feet deep, according to the nature of the subsoil, which should be dry or thoroughly drained^ and as long as required 52 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. for a greater or less number of plants ; board or plank up the sides to prevent the caving in of the earth, and fit the top with a frame, to be covered with boards or shutters in winter. Noth- ing more is needed. As soon as cool weather sets in, say in November, take up the trees carefully, merely shaking off the loose earth, and place them at one end of the frame, selecting the dwarfest, banking up with earth to cover the roots. The next row may be taller, and laid in a slanting direction over the first ; the next row may still be larger, till the last row, when plants may be put in ten to twenty feet high, in a frame only four feet deep. The frame being filled, shade from hot sun, and, as soon as cold, frosty weather occurs, cover the roots and branches with six or eight inches of dry leaves, and put on the boards or shutters so as to keep out all rain and snow. Here they will safely remain till spring, when they may be taken out and planted for the summer. This, of course, is the cheapest way of effecting the object. "When expense is no great^object, a larger house could be erected and properly prepared for their safe keeping. But a frame will be amply sufl&cient even for trees fifteen feet high. H. H. Hunnewell, Esq., of West Needham, who has a large collection of the fijlest coniferous trees, has erected a house for wintering them, and other plants, such as the half hardy Yuccas, Agaves, Palms, &c. &c. All who have seen his Italian garden, know how much these add to its embellish- ment in summer ; in fact, without them it would be but an architectural object. Such a frame as we have here described is also a safe asy- lum for the half hardy Rhododendrons, some of which are far richer colored than the strictly hardy sorts ; the Portugal laurel and Bay trees, with the rich foliage of the Orange, the noble Magnolia grandifiora, and the evergreen shrubs. After one or two removals, even such as naturally have long roots will form compact balls, that will scarcely retard their growth by change. Enough has been said to show how useful such frames are, and how much of beauty lies in store for all who will try the experiment. Our New England climate is fickle, changeable, and rough. Had we but the temperature of Virginia, how glorious would be FEBRUARY. 53 our gardens ! Every tree, shrub and plant that now enriches English gardens, the conereeated treasures of the world, would flourish with equal or greater success ; but if we have not, as we cannot have, that, we have still the skill and the means to master great obstacles, and what milder climes onlj afford on an extended scale, may be enjoyed in our ice-bound region in a smaller way, by the aid of the winter garden. Here these trees will retain their summer verdure, and enable us to rob winter of its dreary aspect. CLASSIFICATION OF WOOD SCENERY. BY WILSON FLAGG. The most obvious and natural division of wood, as a pai't of landscape, is that of evergreen and deciduous kinds, be- cause the two differ not only in the habit of continuous verdure on the one part, and of leafless hybernation on the other, but also in the general hues cf their foliage, and in the forms and outlines of the trees embraced in the two divisions. We should miss one of the most grateful features of a north- ern winter landscape if the coniferous evergreens were ab- sent from it ; and sad and sombre as they appear in the spring, when the deciduous trees are putting forth their light green leaves in lively contrast among their darker masses, we still set a high value upon them, regarding them as indispensable to the perfection of winter scenery, and as contributing more than other trees to our comfort in cold and tempestuous weather, by protecting us from the wind and storm. On the estate of George Ellis, Esq., in Ballard Yale, Ando- ver, the advantages of an evergreen wood, in exactly the right situation for comfort, protection, and the improvement of landscape, are pleasantly exemplified. His farm comprises a broad tract of table land, perfectly level — and his dwelling- house is on the brow of this level, just as it begins to descend into the valley of the Shawsheen. A beautiful pine wood, of natural growth, covers the remainder of the slope, spreading out upon the level above it, all round the north side of the 54 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. farm, extending from the house, in an easterly direction, about two furlongs, and forming a northern boundary unsur- passed in natural beauty, and a bulwark that defends the ■wliole farm from the force of the north winds. It forms like- wise a comfortable promenade for the inmates of the family, during any of the coldest days of winter, when the sun is out, pouring his warm rays directly into the shelter of these noble pines. This wood is the most important natural ornament of the farm, and gives variety to the scenery not often seen upon a level. Mr. Ellis is a gentleman of excellent attainments, who knows how to appreciate whatever is valuable in land- scape, and to distinguish between the false and the true in rural ornamentation. Our New England farmers, on the other hand, whose general system of farm management I am not disposed to censure, have seldom been provident enough to preserve these natural bulwarks for their farms. But the public is becoming gradually informed that groves and belts of wood are a great protection to farm crops — to orchards as well as to tillage — and that they improve tlie beauty of the landscape no more than *hey increase the value of the farm. Deciduous woods, though inferior to evergreens as natural bulwarks, are more agreeable objects in village scenery, be- cause they are more easy and flowing in the character of their foliage and branches, and present a greater variety in their hues and general appearance, from season to season. Decid- uous trees always form agreeable consonances in an assem- blage of any number of species — no single individual of normal shape seeming to be out of character. Though certain spe- cies approach to the pyramidal form, they are never so stiff or so prim as to make a disagreeable composition when mingled with the round-headed trees. The stiff, spiry forms of the fir, the spruce, and their like, with the exception of the pines, on the contrary, blend very inharmoniously with the general wood scenery of our villages. The broad-spreading ever- greens, like the white and the pitch pines, are greatly prefer- able to any of their allied species, when standing in a wood, or in belts and groups, or by the way-side. There are other divisions of wood scenery founded upon situation. A wood in a valley between two hills is very FEBRUARY. 55 different, in its effect, from one on the hills \dth an open pastoral meadow between them. The latter was called by Whately a " hanging wood," because it seems to overhang the valley that adjoins it. This produces contrasts of a very agreeable description, by lifting its summits into the sunshine, while it deepens the darkness of the valleys by its shadows. Wood on steep declivities is exceedingly attractive, especially when an occasional opening reveals the precipitous character of the ground, and shows the difficulties which the trees have overcome, under circumstances so adverse to their growth. Some of our pleasure comes also from the evident utility of such a wood ; for we see at once that a rocky steep could not be occupied by any other kind of vegetation of equal service to man or brute, and that without the trees the ground would be dangerous and difficult to the person who should attempt to climb it. The trees cover with verdure a space which would otherwise be disagreeably bald, and they yield the frowning rocks an expression of cheerfulness and beauty. They make the barren rocks teem with products for the pro- tection and sustenance of living creatures ; and thousands of birds and small quadrupeds, which must, without this shelter, have never come into existence, are cherished in their recesses. The forest in these situations is likewise productive of valua- ble materials for the fertilization of the valleys below, and will keep in thriving condition a space of meadow at the foot of it, equalling the area of the slope. It is from these considerations that I always feel a deep sense of regret when I see the wood entirely removed from one of these steeps, where wood only can be made profitable to man or to any living creature. On a level or an undulat- ing plain, a wood, after being cut down, will immediately spring up anew ; but on a steep, rocky declivity, the wood- man should never make a " clean sweep" of the timber. He should select a few trees for occasional removal, taking care that the rising growth should keep even pace with the prog- ress of the axe. If the surface in such places be left bare, the torrents in rainy and thawing weather, that rush forcibly down the steep, will be fatal to all the young trees, by laying bare their roots in some cases and overwhelming them with 56 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. rubbish in others. The slope, indeed, would soon be deprived of its thin coating of soil, which had accumulated under its ancient growth of wood, and nothing could grow upon it afterwards except a few lichens and dwarfish shrubs in the crevices of the rocks. The removal of a wood from a rocky steep occasions a loss to the public which is not likely ever again to be restored. Some legal measures ought, therefore, to be used to protect the wood on such declivities, — not by forbidding the owner to use it as he pleases ; not by infringing upon his right of prop- erty,— but by exempting from taxation all wood growing upon steeps, and other places where the continuance of it would be advantageous to the public, while it is valuable to the owner only in the shape of fuel. The owner would not then be tempted to cut it down, to avoid the tax which is levied upon it. A citizen should never be tempted by injudicious taxation of this kind to destroy anything that is particularly valuable to the public ; but I will leave this subject for future consid- eration, as it is of sufficient breadth and importance to deserve not only that an essay but a volume should be devoted to it. No subject has been so injudiciously managed as the taxation of woodland. Writers in general make a distinction between wild-wood and open-grove, — the former term being applied to wood that is not divested of its undergrowth, the other to wood that is cleared of this obstruction. The most of our artificial plan- tations are open groves ; for in this country there has not yet existed a necessity for making extensive plantations of timber. An open grove is preferable to a wild-wood, if it is to be used for a pasture or a pleasure-ground ; but the wild-wood is a more picturesque and a more agreeable feature of landscape. The painter finds in it an endless variety of grouping and out- line, for the exercise of his art, and tlie naturalist discovers in its interior, and in its glens and hollows, thousands of plants which culture eradicates from the soil, and animals that can find neither security nor sustenance in an open grove. It is these associations, no less than the greater vari- ety of picturesque grouping in a natural wood, that yield it this superior interest. FEBKUARY. 57 There is another peculiar feature of wood scenery in New England, that requires some notice here, as characteristic of rural landscapes in the northern States of America. I allude to those irregular rows of timber trees that skirt the fields and by-ways in our country villages, apart from the town. Here nature has preserved on our farms an important growth of wood, which the taste or good sense of the inhabitants would not probably have supplied. In too many instances our farm- ers have been tempted, by the want of a spacious wood-lot, to strip the land of its valuable groups of trees ; for taste and consideration have seldom preserved a tree, when avarice has prompted the owner to destroy it. This sort of devastation is most apparent on those farms which have been leased to ten- ants who felt no interest in the preservation of their valuable features. Tliis border growth of wood forms, in some cases, a natural belt around the divisions of the farm, and making amends, in some degree, for the absence of more compact groves, which ought to have been saved for its shelter and ornament. Arti- ficial belts are very convenient around an estate, to guard it from tlie winds, and to promote a pleasant seclusion within ; but they are seldom cheerful objects to be seen from the road. They shut out desirable prospects from our view, and com- monly present an uncouth front against the road-side, divided as they usually are from the road by a high fence or an ugly, formal hedgerow. ' If one surrounds his lands with a belt of wood, and means that it shall add any beauty to the prospect, he should not permit these incumbrances on the outside of it, but train it so as to resemble a natural wood, and should create seclusion within it by planting it with an undergrowth of indigenous shrubs. The imagination of the traveller might be' excited by this natural barrier of trees to fancy a little paradise within ; but a high fence would place such a damper upon this faculty, that disappointment would drown all poetic reveries. There is another form of wood, consisting of rows and groups of trees and shrubbery skirting a small river, and in- dicating its course, through the half cultivated plain, by their embowering verdure. Our farmers have encouraged these 58 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. growths, because they protect the river banks from the wash- ing of the stream, during a period of overflow. When a small river is divested of this embroidery, it is sadly wanting in attractions, though occasional openings are greatly condu- cive to cheerfulness and variety of expression. River vistas are formed by such wood, when the river pursues a straight course through it, surpassing almost anything else in natural scenery. Such a vista may be seen from the bridge that crosses the Shawsheen in Andover, just at the south end of Indian Ridge. Here we obtain a view of this incomparably beautiful stream, through a vista of oaks and maples and an undergrowth of alders. In my early days I was never tired of visiting this spot, especially in June or in October, or even in winter, while the trees were robed with crystals of ice, or in a plumage of snow, when the river seemed to be flowing through the very temple of the Naiads. There are some of our readers who question the profitable- ness of discussions like that which has occupied my present essay ; but they ought to consider that neither the culture nor the ornamentation of the ground can be pursued with the best advantage, unless they be founded on just ideas of nature as well as of art. I speak but little of art, because art is well understood both by the ignorant and the educated. I say a great deal of nature, because nature is not understood ; the uneducated know nothing of it, and the learned have con- fined their studies of nature to technical and scientific specu- lations. Between the scientific and the practical, there is a middle ground, neglected by the learned and despised by the ignorant, and not appreciated by the public in general. It is this middle ground which I have endeavored, in the most of my communications, to elucidate. It is a field which has been almost entirely neglected ; but it embraces topics of the greatest importance, compared with which the mere embel- lishment of suburban residences sinks into insignificance. FEBRUARY. 69 COGSWELL AND OHIO NONPAREIL APPLES. BY C. DOWNING, NEWBURGH, N. T. When at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Exhibi- tion in September last, the Cogswell and Ohio Nonpareil apples were on exhibition, and yourself, and I think others, decided they were the same ; also on former occasions you believed them to be identical ; but not being satisfied, and hav- ing heard the two kinds were growing near Cleveland, Ohio, I requested Dr. E. Taylor of that place to send me specimens of both sorts from the same locality, which he kindly did ; — also Samuel Myers of Salem and S. B. Marshall of Massillon, Ohio, both sent me specimens of Ohio or Myers Nonpareil, and after a close examination I have come to the conclusion that they are two distinct varieties, although in general ap- pearance they considerably resemble each other. The Ohio Nonpareil has a longer and slenderer stem, a larger basin, calyx larger and more open, and the skin of a finer texture and brighter color. It also ripens much earlier, commencing, Mr. Myers says, about the first of October, and continuing in use till the last of November ; while the Cogs- well is in use from December to March. The growth is also distinct, the Cogswell being a vigorous, upright grower, and the Ohio Nonpareil, Mr. Myers says, " makes a beautiful, vigorous growth, forming a low, spreading top ; a good bearer, but not prolific ; fruit always fair, and esteemed a superior apple." I have the two sorts grafted upon the same tree, but they have not yet fruited. The young wood of the Ohio Nonpareil is of a brighter color and more distinct specks, and the growth is much more horizontal than the Cogswell. Its origin and history appear not to be fully known. Mr. Myers says, " we never could obtain any reliable information about it. At one time it was thought to be a seedling ; then it was said to have been introduced from Pennsylvania. We found it in New Lisbon in 1833, and it was then called Rusty Core — afterward Nonpareil, next Ohio Nonpareil, then Myers' Nonpareil." Cattell apple, of Pennsylvania, is said to be the same. If any friend from that State is acquainted with the 60 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. Cattell apple they will do us a favor to give the history of it to the public. In one of the late volumes of your Magazine you gave it as your opinion that " White Winter Pearmain" of the West, and " Winter Harvey," were identical ; but in my examina- tions the past year or two, I find them to be distinct, both in fruit, young wood, and growth. " Winter Pippin of Yer- mont," and " Winter Harvey," will probably prove to be the same. I do not agree with you in your remarks respecting the Delaware grape, in the last number of your Magazine, page 6, where you say, " as a table grape it is too small, and we do not believe all the praise and all the certificates of its excel- lence will make it the popular grape." Now I differ with you, and believe it will become a popular sort, especially with the ladies, as a dessert fruit for parties, TS FOR 1S(30. To cash paid Mount Auburn, in full, principal and interest, - S<3,4i)6 90 - premiums and gratuities, - 2,124 00 " *' salaries, - - - - 650 00 printing, binding, and advertising. 55S 00 expenses Annual Exhibition, - 1,718 54 painting, papering, plumbing, whiten- ing, ttc, new quarters, - 82Q 00 carpeting and furnishing same, - 958 00 cancelling leases on School Street, 2,225 00 H. Mnnroe. bills job work and repairs to roof of old building, - 227 93 rent, two quarters, - - 775 00 special awards, mechanics and mis- cellaneoos bills, - - 1709 76 11.768 23 Investment — ^To cash paid 65 shares Fitchburg R. R.. cost, - 6,625 75 Ca^h in the treasury, December 31, 1860, ... 940 83 $25,831 71 Pb.opertt of the Societt. Pennanoit Funds, --.... 4000 CO Lymui Fond, ------- 10,000 00 20 slrares Portland and Saco Railroad, . . - 2.000 00 16 shares Boston and Maine Railroad, - - . 1,600 00 This year — 65 shares Fitchburg Railroad, . - - 6,500 00 " ~ Parkers note, secured by mortgage, - - 60,000 00 " " Library, ^2000 : furniture and glass, 02500, - 4,500 00 Cash on hand, December 31, 1860, - - - - 940 83 §89,540 83 Note. — The Society having paid to Mount Auburn S6496 90, in fnIL owe now no debt, nothing bat the prizes and bills incident to each new year, and the amoant voted towards the expenses of waterworks at Mount Anbum. It will be seen it has cost the Society over $4000 to cancel leases and I»epare new quaitere, which has added to the expenses this year, and will not occnr again. $500 were a{^)ropdated for the Library for 1561. It was voted that a piece of plate, of the value of $75, be presented to Ae Librarian, R, McCleary Copeland, for his services and efficiency in placing the Library in its jsesent condition. Messrs. J. O. Williams, K S. Rand, Jr. and W. C. Strong were appointed a Committee to discharge that duty. TTie sobject of the Back Bay Reservation was then taken np, and dis- cuased by Messrs. C. M. Hovey, H. W. Fuller, M. P. Wilder, Tappan, FEBRUARY. 95 Rand, Binney, Cabot, and others, when it was Toted to petition the Legis- latare for the grant of land to the Society, to be appropriated exclasirely to horticultural purposes. Adjourned four weeks to Feb. Qd. iorticnitnral t^prrations FOR FEBRCART. FRCIT DEPARTilE^T. Since our last remarks under this head the weather has been more stead- ily cold than the average of our winter months. Early in January the ther- mometer fell as low as 14" below zero on one morning, and there has not been more than one or two which might be termed warm winter days since Dec. 1. The snow now covers the ground to the depth of a foot, very solid, and nearly three quarters of January has been cloudy with snow. After so much cold weather we may look for a warm February. Grape Vi.tes in the grapery and greenhouse will begin to swell their buds, and, if good weather, will be quite in leaf by the end of the month. Syringe freely every fine day as soon as the buds begin to break, and maintain a slightly increased temperature as the month advances. When the buds are well started, tie up the vines to the trellis. Vines in pots may be brought into the grapery or greenhouse for a succession : those now in fruit should be freely watered with liquid manure. Vines may now be propagated from eyes or cuttings in a moderate heat Setoffs of fruit trees may be cut this month, and placed in earth or sand in a cool cellar. PRC>'i>"e may be commenced the latter part of the month, where there is much to be done. RooT-GRAFTiSG should be done now, where this mode is practiced. Grafti:^g cherries may be commenced the last of the month, if the weather is mild. Strawberrt, Rasfberrt, and other fruit seeds may now be placed in boxes or pots in the greenhouse or frame. FLOWtR DEPARTME>'T. (Continued cold weather prevents the accomplishment of much work con- nected with the greenhouse and conservatory. Usuilly at this season, by the aid of hotbeds, many things may be brought forward for early flower- ing in the open air: but so far it has been too cold to do this with advan- tage. In consequence of very little sun, plant-houses do not look so gay with flowers as usual at this period of the winter ; and even the plants for want of this, together with an excess of fire heat, look less stocky and ro- bust. Care should be taken, therefore, the first good weather, to air finely, 96 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. and harden off this plethoric growth, which will tend to the great henefit of the plants, even to the sacrifice of an early display of flowers. This month should afford time to look over the whole stock, shifting or top-dressing all that require it, and bringing others forward that have been set aside for rest. Early completion of such work adds to the gayety of the greenhouse and better adornment of the garden in summer. Pelargoniums will now, after a month's cessation of active growth, have acquired a robust and vigorous habit and good root action, which will ena- ble them to maintain a good bloom. Keep them still rather dry and cool, with an abundance of air and a place near the glass ; finish repotting all young stock, and tie out specimens so as to form handsome heads. Azaleas will now push vigorously ; syringe often, water carefully, and shade when the flowers begin to open ; tie all plants into some good shape, whether pyramid, conical, or round-headed, and keep in a slightly increased temperature till the flowers expand. Young-growing stock should be re- potted. Camellias will now be in full bloom : water more liberally, and when they begin to grow syringe very freely at least every day in fine weather: graft and inarch now. Gloxinias and Achimenes should be shaken out of the old earth and freshly potted, placing them in a hotbed, or the warmest part of the house. Amaryllises should be repotted as soon as they begin to grow. Heaths should be shifted if they require it ; now is the time to put in cuttings. Cinerarias will soon begin to bloom ; give them an airy situation near the glass, and fumigate often for the green fly. Gladiolus of the ramosus tribe should be repotted this month. Begonias may now be divided, potted, and placed in the warmest part of the house, watering very sparingly till they begin to grow. Tritomas, repotted now, will bloom earlier and much stronger. LiLiUM GiGANTEUM, as soon as they begin to grow, should be repotted. Rhododendron seeds should be planted. Ferns of all kinds should now be turned out of the pots, the soil partly shaken off, and repotted in a mixture of peat, leaf mould, fibrous loam and sand. Callas may be repotted. Cuttings of all kinds of bedding plants should now be put in. Seeds of Petunias, Asters, Balsams, Stocks, Dianthus Heddewigi, and similar annuals, now planted, will furnish a fine stock for early bloom. Neapolitan Violets in frames, now brought into the house, will make a fine display. Hyacinths in frames may now be brought into the house for early bloom. Orange Trees may be grafted. Orchidaceous Plants, which have been kept rather dry, should now be more freely watered and have more heat. Insects must have attention. Look after the red spider and green fly, and destroy the mealy bug and scale. THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. The eighth session of this Society was held in Philadelphia, September last, as we have already announced to our readers. Reports of the proceedings were published in some of the horticultural and agricultural papers, which were tolerably full and complete ; but we have preferred to await the ap- pearance of the published volume of the Society before giving a full review of its labors. And here we beg to offer our small meed of praise to Mr. Vick, under whose superintendence the present volume has been issued, in conjunction with Mr. Field, the Secretary. The discussions, though still incomplete, are free from the errors of some of the preceding publications. If all that was said is not reported, neither is that reported which was not said ; nor have the remarks of one member been reported for those of another. The volume is one every way worthy of the Society. The attendance of members was large, especially of southern and western cultivators, whose absence was regretted at the previous session. The season, too, was propitious, and the display of fruit was by far the largest and most complete ever made by the Society. In this respect the contrast was very great. "Western apples, which, from a variety of causes, have not been brought forward so freely as was expected, were ex- hibited in large variety and of fine quality. Pears, too, were abundant, and unusually fine. Grapes were rather sparingly shown, owing to the unfavorable season. On the whole, the display was highly satisfactory. The President opened the meeting with the customary ad- dress, which was devoted mainly to native fruits and grape culture. Mr. Wilder continued to urge the production of seedlings, both by the choice of the best varieties and by care- ful fertilization, — for by the former mode have most of our best American fruits been raised. He also urged the officers and members of the Society to " increased vigilance and cau- VOL. XXVII. — NO. III. 7 98 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUEE. tion in the recommendation of novelties until they have been thoroughly tested by competent judges," — a timely hint, and deserving of remembrance. Agreeably to a recommendation of the President in his address, that " no revision of the catalogue embracing fruits for general cultiA^ation be attempted at this meeting," the committee appointed to prepare the order of business reported in concurrence therewith. They also reported that what time was not required to transact the usual business coming before the meeting should be devoted to discussions on the list that promise well. In compliance with this, and to give Western cultivators an opportunity to bring forward their favorite apples, to commence with this fruit, following with the smaller fruits and grapes, and closing with pears, peaches, plums, and cherries. The business committee also recommend that the Society appoint a comrnittee of pomologists from different sections of the country, who shall meet ad interim, and prepare a revised list for general cultivation in the several natural regions or subdivisions of the country. The committee also desired to be indicated that the Society do not wish it under- stood that all varieties in the list heretofore recommended for general cultivation will certainly succeed in every situation over our extended country. The Society then adjourned to Tuesday, the second day, when the discussion would com- mence with APPLES. Buckingham. — Pronounced by Dr. Warder the same as the Bunkum of North Carolina, and Winter Queen of Virginia. Fallawater. — Valuable in Pennsylvania, where it is ex- tensively cultivated. Dr. Warder thought it might be stricken from the list. Genesee Chief, — Dr. Warder thought it large and coarse. Mr. Barry said it was one of the largest apples, and, when ripe, of very superior quality. Sarrison, of Pennsylvania, thought it one of the best. Jeffries. — Mr. Hooker thought it one of the finest of ap- ples, and others concurred in this opinion. King of Tompkins Co. — Mr. Lyon said its greatest fault MARCH. 99 was its size, being too large for market. Mr. Bateliam said reports from Ohio are not so favorable. Dr. Warder concur- red ; thought it ripened too early, and prone to rot. Winter Sweet Paradise. — Messrs. Bateham, Barry, and Saul thought it one of the best sweet apples of the season. Mr. Rutter, of Pennsylvania, thought it inferior, but it ap- pears there are two different sorts cultivated under this name, and the probability is that Mr. Rutter described the wrong sort. This completed the revision of the list, when proposed • additions to it were taken up. Summer Sweet Paradise. — Pronounced by Messrs. Lyon, Saul, and others excellent, and it was adopted as promising well. Ben Davis. — A Kentucky apple, of medium size, and keeping well, but so little known out of a few localities, that, after some discussion, the variety was withdrawn by Dr. War- der, who proposed it. Fall Wine. — Mr. C. Downing thought it a pleasant apple, and Mr. Barry a fine one, and it was added to the list. Cannon Pearmain. — Dr. Warder stated that it was an ex- cellent keeper, and could be kept till May, but not of the highest quality. Others thought it only a good apple. It was added to the list. Early Joe. — No objection was made to this fine apple, and it was added to the list. Willow Twig, also known as James River. A large apple, and one of the best Western market fruits, where it is raised in large quantities for shipment down the Mississippi. A great bearer, not high flavored, but keeps well. Added to the list. Limber Twig. — Another Western and Southern favorite. An excellent keeper, hardy and productive, but rather dry and spongy in spring. Added to the list. Bonum, or Magnum Bonum. One of the finest fall apples in North Carolina, where it originated. We have fruited it, and think it a very desirable variety — large and handsome, and with us a winter apple. Added to the list. Stansill. — Highly praised by Messrs. Steele and Berck- 100 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. mans as an earlj bearer, and standing any amount of beat. In eating in January. Added to tbe list. New York Pippin. — Higbly praised by Dr. Warder and others, but as there was doubt in regard to its identity, it was referred to the Committee on Synonyms without a further vote. Rome Beauty. — Considered a very handsome apple, and hence exceedingly popular, though not more than second quality. Passed over. White Pippin. — Mr. Bateham thought it indispensable in a list of twelve winter apples for the West. Its origin and his- tory is unknown, but it is believed to come from the East. Mr. Downing thought it different from the French Pippin. Added to the list. Mexico. — This fine old apple was very little known to the members, and passed over. Pryor's Red. — This famous Yirginia apple, of which so much has been said, was variously estimated by different cultivators. As it is a popular fruit South and West, it was added to the list. Winter Queen. — Not known to the members generally, and passed over. Strobe's Birmingham. — Mr. Downing said it was two thirds the size of the Porter, and not half as good. Not recom- mended. Ohio Pippin. — So little known that it was passed. Baker. — Recently introduced to notice in Connecticut, -and thought by Mr. Rockwell one of the best apples, keeping until March. The President said he entertained a good opinion of it as a cooking fruit. Passed over. Keswick Codlin. — Generally praised as an excellent cook- ing apple, and recommended as promising well. The idea of recommending fruits as promising well that have been universally cultivated from twenty to fifty years, seemed so singular, that Mr. Bateham suggested the necessity of changing the old heading of the list by striking out the word " new," which was carried, so that it now reads, " Yarie- ties that promise well." MARCH. 101 Rawle's Janet. — A popular and well-known fruit South and West, but not of very high quality. It was not added to the list. Hawthorndean. — Messrs. Hovey, Barry, Lyon, Buist, and others thought it a valuable variety for cultivation, bearing early and abundantly, and as a cooking apple very fine. It was not, however, recommended. Maidens' Blush. — Similar to the Hawthorndean, and Mr. Barry thought both eminently worthy of culture. Generally a favorite, and it was added to the list. Dyer. — Universally approved of, and unanimously added to the list. Summer Queen. — Thought by some an excellent summer apple, and by others good for cooking. It was added to the list. Father Abraham, Moore's Sweeting, Eidge Pippin, Princely, and Sweet Bellflower were discussed, but no vote taken. currants. Cherry. — Messrs. Lyon, Hovey, Downing, and others thought it altogether too sour to entitle it to be kept on the list; but notwithstanding its very general condemnation, it was retained. Fertile de Pallua, White Gondouin, and Imperial Jaune were added to the list. Bronze, Imperial Bed, Prince Albert, Attractor, and La Hative were discussed, but they were passed over. strawberries. Vicomptesse Hericart. — This old sort was considerably praised by some of the members, who thought it fine flavored and productive. But, after discussion, the name was with- drawn. Triomphe de Gand. — A long discussion ensued upon this variety. Messrs. Barry and Knox thought it was one of the finest of all strawberries, and we would quote their remarks if we had space, simply for reference two years hence — not because we do not tbink it a good strawberry, but because we are sure it will not be a popular one. It can only be grown 102 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. successfully, as all English strawberries are, by high culture in hills or single stools, and hence will be forgotten, as Keens* Seedling and other superior English varieties have been heretofore. The report does not state that it was added to the list, though it is our impression that it was. Jenny Lind. — No objection was made to this excellent variety, and it was added to the list. Scott's Seedling elicited an animated debate. Various opinions were entertained respecting it. It was finally passed without taking a vote. Brighton Pine did not sustain its original reputation. In general it was considered a poor bearer, which is the opinion of most cultivators. Passed over. Moyamensing Pine. — Highly recommended by Mr. Knox, but no members had so regarded it. Passed over. raspberries. Allen. — This was placed on the rejected list, by general consent. Kirtland. — Dr. Warder spoke highly of it, but others knew little about it. Passed over. Hornet. — Messrs. Reed, Barry, and others thought well of this new sort, and it was added to the list. Belle de Fontenay. — Mr. Barry thought it desirable for amateurs, and the President thought it valuable if rightly managed. Passed over. DooLiTTLE. — This is an improved variety of the Black rasp- berry, as it is often called, though in reality a thimbleberry — holding the same relation to the wild berry that the Dorches- ter does to the wild blackberry. Messrs. Barry and Hooker thought it only improved by cultivation. Mr. Yick stated that Mr. Doolittle obtained it from the fields, and that a superior system of cultivation and raising young plants from the ends of the shoots had given it its character. Mr. C. M. Hovey said that if it was so much better, as was admitted, than the wild one, it ought to have a distinct name, that it might not be mistaken for the common Black Cap, as it is usually called; and it was voted to call it the Doolittle, an'^ recommend it for culture. MARCH. 103 GOOSEBERRIES. The Mountain Seedling and Downing's Seeding were both well spoken of, and recommended as promising well. GRAPES. In consequence of the limited information respecting new grapes, it was not deemed advisable to add any varieties as promising well. The discussion would elicit such informa- tion as would enable the members to judge of their relative merits. Taylor or Bullitt. — This new Kentucky grape was praised by Messrs. Byam, Eshelman, and Rutter. The latter gentle- man thought it equal to any out-door grape. Raabe. — Mr. Bruce stated that he had found it a perfectly native American grape, the sweetest, perhaps, of American varieties ; the cluster small, and early in ripening ; similar in size to the Delaware. Crevelling. — Has been cultivated for some twenty-five years in the neighborhood of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and called Columbia Bloom. It is large, oval, less pulp than the Isabella, two weeks earlier, and some think it superior to that old variety. Maxatawny. — Supposed to have originated in Berks county. It is a white grape, with a Malaga appearance, and rather late, not ripening till October 1st. Clara. — Contradictory opinions were expressed about this variety. Dr. Grant stated that its leaf shows its foreign char- acter, but that it was as hardy as the Isabella. Mr. Miller, on the contrary, said that his vines were partially winter killed, not having any protection. ToKALON. — No new information was elicited. With Dr. Grant it ripened well ; others liad not been so successful. Clinton. — Astonishing as it may seem, this grape was highly praised by Messrs. Prince, Miller, and otliers. The President said it was one of the most vigorous frost grapes he ever saw, which best expresses its quality. A great bearer, and perhaps valuable for wine, but unfit for the table. Marion. — Dr. Grant stated that it was unfit to eat till touched by frost, and belongs to the Clinton family. 104 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTUEE. Pauline. — Mr. Berkmans stated that it liad been cultivated for fifty years as a wine grape. Allen's Hybrid. — Nothing especial was known in regard to this new and fine grape, as it has not yet fruited out of Mr. Allen's collection. Those who had seen and tasted it pronounced it one of the very best. KoGERs' Hybrids. — Also unknown, except from specimens of the fruit that had been sent to diiferent gentlemen. The President said Nos. 1, 15, and 19 are the only ones that he could recommend ; and he further remarked, that " we ought to be very cautious indeed in recommending new varieties." Mr. Strong said the vines mildewed more than others. Emily. — Two varieties have been disseminated for it, one of which is worthless, and the other did not appear to be known to the members. Massachusetts White. — Mr. Strong said that the least said about this grape and the less it is cultivated the better, as it is entirely worthless. Norton's Virginia. — Stated by Mr. Prince to be hardy in Massachusetts, and a fine wine grape. It has been found wild in Virginia. Anna. — Dr. Grant said that in a week or two, if the weather was favorable, it will be ripe, and is then exceedingly rich and of high flavor. Mr. Harrison said he had fruited it several years, though we thought it a new grape. Mr. Reid said it had a hard pulp. Mr. Harrison said it commences to ripen with the Catawba, but is often not fully ripe till after that variety. Ontario. — Mr. Prince thought it would prove to be Union Villaore. Mr. Miller said the berries were the size of Black Hamburgh. Mr. Barry said it had a thick skin, and he thought it worthless. Mr. Salter thought it a good grape, with a skin about as tough as the Isabella, and pulp about the same and a little sweeter. It is a very strong grower. From this discussion, and what we know of the grape from specimens sent to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, we should have little doubt it was* the same as the Union Village. It is handsome in appearance, and if early enough for our climate will be valuable. Of this, however, there is very «;reat doubt. MARCH. 105 PEARS. The discussion upon the revision of the list of varieties recommended as promising vs^ell did not elicit much additional information. A few varieties appeared to have some pecul- iarities, which we enumerate ; the others we omit. Beurre' Hardy, or Sterckmans, all concurred in as being one of the best pears. Beurre' Langelier. — The weight of the testimony was that it was a shy bearer, at least on young trees. Beurre' Nantais. — A very handsome pear, of good quality ; not high flavored, but a handsome-growing tree and great bearer. Chancellor. — Not handsome in appearance, but large and of excellent quality. Collins. — Stricken from the list, on account of the diffi- culty of obtaining good healthy trees. The President and Mr. Saul said it would kill any tree upon- which it was worked. We are rather surprised at the decision of the meeting. It is a fine pear, and the original tree is a perfect pyramid, forty feet high. It certainly has a tendency to injure or kill the stock on which it is grafted, but yet we have some very fine and vigorous trees. Sterling. — Pronounced by all a beautiful tree and, beauti- ful pear, and an excellent market fruit. Fondante Noel was stricken from the list. Eight. Henkel. — Mr. Reid thought it one of the very finest of orchard pears. Hosen Shenck. — One of the best pears in the Lancaster market, and succeeds well in Indiana. Kirtland. — A good pear, but rots at the core. Lodge. — One of the finest pears, as good as the Cabot. Van Assche. — Mr. Barry thought it one of the largest and handsomest pears we have. Additions to the list were then called for by the President. Washington. — Pronounced one of the best pears brought to the Philadelphia market ; always good. It was added to the list. Beurre' de Montgeron. — Mr. Reid had had it in bearing some time, and liked it well. A good market pear. Adopted. 106 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Doyenne' Robin. — The President and Mr. Barry thought the pear good, but the tree not vigorous. Passed over. Windsor, or Summer Bell. — Was considerably discussed, several members thinking it one of the most profitable pears to cultivate for market ; but as the object of the Society was only to recommend superior fruits, no vote was taken. Bonne d'Ezee. — A most excellent pear, but the tendency of the tree to crack, like the Van Mons Leon le Clerc, was considered an objection to it. UwcHLAN. — A good pear, of medium size, found wild in Chester county, Pennsylvania. It was added to the list. Selleck. — Was well spoken of, but too little known to be adopted. Des Nonnes. — A pear of good reputation and many fine qualities, but not sufficiently known. St. Menin, or Omer Pacha. — Mr. Reid and others had fruited it. It resembles the Beurre Hardy, but is four weeks earlier. It was added to the list. Stevens's Genesee, — This was stricken from the list in 1858, and an effort was made to replace it. The opinion of the meeting was that it had a tendency to crack, and there- fore objectionable. Golden Beurre' op Bilboa.— Mr. Field, as well as Mr. Barry, stated that the tree was unhealthy, which is the first time we have ever heard such an objection against it. The President stated very truly that, though not a first-rate pear, it is beautiful in appearance, and takes prizes at our shows. No vote was taken. The cultivation of pears upon the quince was then taken up. The discussion was brief, and the experience of members very limited. No vote was taken, and no decisive results attained. This closed the discussion on fruits, and the remainder of the proceedings is occupied with the report of the com- mittee on native fruits, and reports of State committees. The report on fruits will appear in our next number. At the close of the meeting, resolutions were passed approv- ing of the appointment of a special committee of five to receive the reports of local State committees of five each, whose duty MARCH. 107 it shall be to compile from the local catalogues prepared by the local committees, and from the present catalogue of the Society, " full lists of the fruits therein named, properly clas- sified and arranged with due regard to nomenclature and terminology, and to submit the same at the next biennial session for its consideration and action." The President an- nounced the committee, and the meeting then voted to hold the next session in Boston, in 1862. REMARKS ON FRUIT TREE STOCKS. BY JAMES HOGG, LL.D., F. R. S. Mr. Rivers sends us the following article on Fruit Tree Stocks, which he thinks will be interesting to our cultivators. It is from the Gardener's Year Book, by Dr. Hogg, just pub- lished. We scarcely need add that the information is highly valuable. The distinctions in stocks are very great, and while some are adapted to certain fruits, others are very preju- dicial to them. We all know how inferior are some kinds of quince stocks for the pear. Dr. Hogg's remarks give us all that is known in reference to the various kinds of stocks, and we can commend them not only to the attention of nurserymen, but to all who cultivate fruits. The subject of fruit-tree stocks is one with which fruit- growers, and even nurserymen generally, are but very slightly acquainted ; and those who have written upon the subject have done so either from very limited experience, or merely as copyists from those who preceded them. When we con- sider the influence the stock has upon the tree which is graft- ed on it, and also the influence that the tree in many instances has upon the stock, it seems a matter for surprise that more attention has not been paid to the subject. In the following remarks it shall be our object to make our readers acquainted with the different sorts of fruit-tree stocks, and the uses to which they are severally applied. There are 108 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. sorts which are doubtless new to many, and it is with the view of directing the attention of fruit-growers to these, and to the subject generally, that we have thus gone so minutely into it, believing that much good may result from careful experiment on this interesting department of fruit-tree cultivation. STOCKS FOR APPLES. The Ajjple or Free Stock is raised from the pips of cider apples, and grows with great vigor ; it requires a deep and good loamy soil. The Crab is the hardiest of all stocks, for it grows wild in woods and hedges all over the country. It is, like the preced- ing, well adapted for orchard trees. It must be recollected that although it is so very hardy, yet when grafted with a del- icate sort its hardiness is to a certain extent gone. Thus, a Ribston pippin, grafted in one of the crabs growing in the gravelly clay of Epping Forest, would soon show symptoms of canker. The English Paradise roots very readily at the surface, and thus gets proper food within circumscribed limits, and by its dwarfing properties it soon brings the sort grafted on it into a bearing state. There are many varieties of this stock. The French call it the Doucin, and reckon it as the best stock for garden pyramids. A sort of apple called the Bmr Knot, and which strikes from cuttings, is also a good stock for gar- den trees. The French Paradise, or Pomme paradis, is too tender for open-air cultivation in England. The French gardeners use it for small bushes, or for training en cordon along the sides of their garden walks. One shoot only, trained horizontally, is fastened to a piece of iron wire about one foot from the ground, which is supported by iron or oak uprights. This " cordon" is pinched in all summer, and owing to its being near the ground, the fruit is invariably large and liandsome. In England, it succeeds well in pots in the orchard-house ; and to those inclined to go into something new in gardening, nothing can be thought of more interesting in apple culture than a collection of these pretty little trees in pots. They should be kept under glass almost constantly, or their roots MARCH. 109 suffer from cold and wet, and the trees canker, so that it is unfit for open-air culture. STOCKS FOR PEARS. The Wild Pear stock is well known. It is generally raised from the small perry pears which are grown so largely in Worcestershire and other great orchard districts. It will scarcely be credited that tons of pear pips are annually pre- pared in Southern Germany, thence exported to France, England, and the United States, and forms quite an article of commerce. The Angers Quince is a very free-growing sort, and one of the best on which to bud the pear. It is, however, a little tender in cold climates, as the early autumn frosts are apt to injure its young shoots, and they sometimes suffer also from late spring frosts. The Douai Quince is, if anything, more robust in its growth, more hardy than the Angers, and an excellent stock for most kinds of pears. The Round-leaved Quince requires a rich deep soil, other- wise pears budded on it do not do well. The worst of all quince stocks is the common Pear-shaped English Quince, on which too many pears have been budded, and have lingered through a short life. The Mountain Ash, as a stock for the pear, succeeds in some soils. It is, however, difficult to point out the kind of soil that suits it, so rarely does it succeed. It does very well on rocky soil, or moist shelving steeps, where there is not sufficient soil to plant the pear. The White Thorn is in nearly the same category for a stock as the Mountain Ash, but very few pears succeed in it. That very fine pear, Josephine de Malines, does, however, in grav- elly soils unfavorable to the pear or the quince, and Passe Colmar grows very freely on it in hard calcareous clay. Like the quince, it pushes the tree quickly into a bearing state. Another variety — Reine des Poires — succeeds admirably on the White Thorn, and one of the handsomest and productive pyramids of this variety is growing on that stock, and is now twenty-five or thirty years old, and not more than fourteen feet high, never having been root-pruned. 110 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUEE. Pyrus Pollverii is also an excellent dwarfing stock, and forms a clean and even junction with any of the varieties ; but the great difficulty with it is its propagation, which can only be done to any extent by seeds. It will grow from lay- ers, but the process is too tardy, and the quantity obtained too small. STOCKS FOR CHERRIES. The Common or Black Cherry or Gean is the kind of stock commonly used, and although the Hertfordshire or Common Black, which grows wild in the woods of that and several other counties, is so different from the Red Gean, yet, as stocks, they are not distinguishable. This is what in some counties is called the Mazzard or Merrie, and is the Cerasus sylvestris, from which all the sweet cherries originate, the kind of stock used for orchard trees, and for all the Bigarreau and Heart varieties of cherries. The Mahaleb is employed largely on the Continent, but is not much used by English nurserymen. It is an excellent stock on which to graft the Duke, Morello, and Kentish cher- ries, and will flourish on thin, calcareous, sandy soils, or even on the hard calcareous clays, where the cherry on the com- mon stock would not exist. The Kirsch is the sort so largely planted in Germany for Kirchenwasser, and will grow in soils which are almost blow- ing sands. It is the Cerasus vulgaris, from which the acid cherries originate. Although it reproduces itself from seed, and forms a fair-sized tree, miles of which may be seen plant- ed for avenues in Northern Germany, it acts as a dwarfing stock. Before giving the names of stocks employed in the cultiva- tion of the larger kinds of stone fruits, it will perhaps be as well to give a detailed list of the sorts of Plums employed for stocks, and then to state the sorts of fruit they are best adapt- ed for. They are as follows : — 1. Beef Plum : 2. Black Damask : 3. Brompton : 4. Brus- sels: 5. Common Plum : 6. Mirabelle Petite : 7. Muscle: 8. Pear Plum: 9. Pershore Plum: 10. Quetsche : 11. Red Cherry, (Mirabolan of the French) : 12. Yellow Cherry, (Mirabelle of the Belgians) : 13. Saint Catherine : 14. The Sloe. MARCH. Ill STOCKS FOR APRICOTS. The Common Moorpark (for there are several varieties) grows freely on the Muscle stock, as do the common kinds of apricots, such as the Breda, Blenheim, Orange, and also the Kaisha. The Peach apricot, although nearly related to the Moorpark, refuses to grow on tliis stock, but succeeds perfectly on the Black Damask, Brompton, and pretty well on the Brussels. The Saint Catherine is an excellent stock for all kinds of apricots, as is also the Pershore Plum ; and in the United States, peach stocks raised from peach stones are used as stocks for apricots, inducing very early fruitfulness in the trees, which are however short-lived. STOCKS FOR PEACHES AND NECTARINES. The Muscle is more extensively employed in England in the cultivation of peaches and nectarines than any other. All the hardy sorts of peaches, such as the Royal George, No- blesse, Barrington, Acton Scot, Early York, Yiolette, Hative, Walburton Admirable, and many others, succeed on it to perfection. The " French peaches," as they are called by the nurserymen, i. e., such sorts as the Grosse Mignonne, Belle- garde, Chancellor, and others, which are now known to be synonyms of some of the above, used in old-fashioned times to be budded on to the Pear plum, a stock which in most soils was short-lived, owing to the bud swelling much more rapidly than the stock. The Brompton is more employed for these peaches both for standards and dwarfs, and although greatly abused by Lindley in his " Guide to the Orchard," it is a last- ing and good stock in rich deep loams ; but in sandy or poor calcareous soils, it is apt to gum and canker. The best stock known for all the French peaches is the Black Damask. Nearly all the nectarines succeed well on the Muscle stock ; the exceptions in some soils are the Balgowan and Imperatrice. In the southern districts of France, the Almond is the stock usually employed for the peach, the summers being too hot and dry for plum stocks ; the peach stock is also used, but not so generally as the almond. The latter is almost the only stock employed by the American orchardists in the United 112 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUEE. States ; it is not so liardj as the almond, and liable to the " yellows," a disease binder which the leaves of the peach turn yellow, the shoots become feeble, and the tree dies. In England, neither the almond nor the peach can be rec- ommended as stocks for open-air cultivation, unless in very dry soils in the extreme southern counties, where the peach on the plum stock refuses to grow. STOCKS FOR PLUMS. All the varieties of plums will succeed more or less on all the plum stocks above enumerated. It is, however, good policy to graft the downy-shooted kinds in the Brussels and Beef Plum, both of which have downy shoots. The latter is a stock peculiar to the vale of Evesham, and a more vigorous grower than the former. The Orleans, Victoria, Prince of "Wales, and the other kinds with downy shoots do well in those stocks. The Common Plum (or Commoner, as it is called in Sur- rey) is a stock as extensively employed for plums as the Mus- cle plum is for peaches and nectarines. The Mirabelle Petite, or Mirabelle de Metz, is the small yellow plum so extensively grown in France for culinary uses. It reproduces itself from its stones, and, as it is very dwarf, may be employed by the curious to form very dwarf bushes. The Red Cherry (Pru- nus cerasifera) plum is raised from seed extensively in France, and used for the Green Gage (or Reine Claude, as the French call them) class for very light, sandy soils, as in like manner the Yellow Cherry, falsely called Mirabelle in Belgium, is employed there in some districts in the light barren soils not only for plums, but for peaches and apricots. This sort is not raised from seed, but from cuttings, wliicli on light siliceous soils takes root freely. In our moist climate this stock is too vigorous and suffers from late spring frosts. The Quetsche Plum, which is raised from stones imported from Germany, is a very hardy, valuable stock ; all the varie- ties of plums succeed perfectly on it. In districts favorable to the growth of the Sloe (Prunus spinosa), it may be employed as a stock, as it will flourish in soils unfavorable to plum stocks. It acts as a dwarfing stock. MARCH. 113 and the plums grafted on it soon become fruitful bushes, even in hard clayey soils. It is, however, a difficult stock to man- age, as neither grafts nor buds take readily. The Pershore Plum is a variety the fruit of which is like the White Magnum Bonum, a little more perhaps than half its size when grown, as it generally is, without being thinned. The gardens in the vale of Evesham and about Pershore are crowded with this sort, and thousands of bushels are sent off weekly in August and September from Evesham and Per- sliore per rail to the North. Very recently it has been found to be valuable for dyeing when in a green state, which has led to an increased demand for the fruit. It is raised from suck- ers or root shoots, and seldom or never grafted. The trees are exposed in the markets during the autumn and spring, and are sold by the thousand. A landed proprietor near Pershore intends this season to make a plantation of 10,000, feeling confident that the demand for the fruit will be constant and increasing. FRUIT CULTURE IN BELGIUM. BY J. DE JONGHE, BRUSSELS. I received, a short time since, the Magazine of Horticulture for July, in which you have made mention of La Constante strawberry. I thank you for your attention in forwarding me the Magazine, and am glad to perceive that this variety of my seedlings has succeeded with you as it has in all other places. It is this which proves its real merit. You have, with much candor, spoken of its origin. Mr. Prince, in his Catalogue sent me, has described it as a new French variety, " valuable for amateurs." Indeed ! I had no knowledge of what you had written in 1838, rela- tive to what should be the merits of a choice strawberry. The ideas which I have received have been the results of my personal observations in studying the numerous varieties that have been cultivated in my coUection. It is in the study of fruit trees and other species that I have established the con- ditions of perfection. These ideas have served to guide me VOL. xxvn. — NO. III. 8 114 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. in the choice of new varieties, that are yearly produced among my numerous seedlings, which you have already al- luded to. Referring again for a moment to the strawberry. At the end of your article, (Vol. XXVI., p. 347), you say, " several varieties fruited which received the approbation of the Horti- cultural Society and pomologists." This is a compliment to the intelligence of yom- Society. Permit me to doubt not that the compliment was the expression of your sincere thoughts. In fact, you well know that it is the grower and the cultivator who know best the qualities and the defects of a new production. It takes time and numerous experiments in order to study and to know them well. Here is the con- clusion of the report of the Society : " None of the foreign sorts rank high when compared with the best American vari- eties." This is again a compliment addressed by the Society to the American cultivator. In my opinion, it is not witli compliments that we can establish a pomological fact. There are certainly not four varieties enumerated which eclipse, in all respects, La Constante. If you are not already convinced of this, you need not wait another year to share in this opin- ion. In this case the Society could not be sufficiently informed to arrive at a conclusion so plain, an expression not patriotic, which has been pushed too far. The coming year they will be ready to admit that it can be recommended for extensive cul- tivation. I will add my experience : — In the month of April last, I prepared in the nursery a large square of 20 yards in length by 30 feet in width. I planted it with 800 plants of La Constante. I gathered from the same ground 108 kilogrammes of fruit from the 15th of June to the 20th of July. The fruit was sold for from eighty centimes to one franc twenty-five centimes the kilogramme (2 lbs.) The result has produced in all 117 francs. About the 16th to the 20th of last month, (July), one third of the plants had begun to bloom again, and at the present time (Aug. 6) the flower stems are strong, presenting seven, eight to twelve berries, having attained one quarter to one third of their size. If the temperature remains favorable, with a heat of 12 to 15° (Reaumer), I count upon having a second crop towards the latter part of September. MARCH. 115 This peculiarity has not been remarked in La Constante. Is this the consequence of too late planting, or the variations of temperature during tlie summer ? I cannot answer this ques- tion. I should remark that the plantation is made in a cold, damp soil. Yet the fruit has preserved nearly all its quali- ties. This plantation was made expressly with a view to obtain strong plants in the autumn for supplying my numer- ous customers. Plant La Constante in a warm soil and a favorable expos- ure, you can gather beautiful fruit about the commence- ment of June. lu a colder soil, about ten days later, or towards the end of the month. In a strong soil and in a shady situation, the fruit ripens in July. In a soil strong and cool, the plant shows all its qualities — dwarf habit, flower stems strong and robust. In a warm soil and with a good exposure, the fruit shows all its qualities. It ripens in succes- sion, and it obtains its normal form ; this again is an impor- tant point. Among my seedlings raised in 1857, I remarked in June and July of 1859 and 1860, a certain number which I have noted. These new and distinctive varieties, which I have thougiit would prove indispensable, have been named, and will soon be offered to cultivators. It is in this way that I proceed with my fruit trees. But the study of them is much longer. I have obtained a variety of cherry, to which I have giveii the name of Transparent. It belongs to this family, the best of all the cherries. A beautiful tree, distinct, hardy, product- ive, large and beautiful fruit and of excellent flavor, growing freely upon the Mahaleb stock. In its genus I consider this variety as a precious acquisition. I have two apricots suitable for orchards. 03 has a sweet kernel, fruit large, very beautiful, tree superb. It is twenty years old. In 1856 it bore 1500 fruits ; in 1857, 2000 ; in 1858, 3000 or less ; in 1859, 300, and in 1860 about 1000. 010. A large fruit, has a bitter kernel, excellent quality. The tree is not so productive as the other, and the fruit does not so well resist high winds. 116 THE MAGAZINE OF HOBTICULTURE. Bezi Mai pear. See the description in the Gard. Chroni- cle of February, 1860, (which we have copied, see Yol. XXVI., p. 153,) very exact. Bergamot d'Arne, Leopold Riche, (end of December.) Prince Camille, (Dec.) Doyenne' Bassiner, (March.) The descriptions will appear in the Gard. Chronicle in the autumn, or during the winter. All these varieties have been fully proved in the nursery. The trees have produced from 50 to 200 and 300 fruits. These fruits have obtained the first prize whenever they have been ofifered at tlie exhibitions here, in France, in England, and in Germany. Bruxelles, Sept., 1860. We are highly pleased in presenting to our readers the above article by M. de Jonghe, one of the best Belgian pomol- ogists, and the originator of some of our best fruits. His letter should have appeared some time ago, but the transla- tion of some technical terms caused a delay. It will lose none of its interest for the delay. We hope to have the pleasure of welcoming otlier contributions from M. de Jonghe in our pages. — Ed. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. The Native Fruits of America. — Our correspondent, Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, sends us the following interesting notes relating to the native fruits of America. During the severe cold weather in December last, he found leisure to look over Lewi,s and Clarke's Travels in America, and from these has made several extracts in regard to our wild fruits. '■'■ How rich you are," he writes us, " in such things, and how little advantage seems to liave been taken of such riches !" Yours is indeed the " land of the vine, offering a great con- trast to Europe, in which the grape has never been found wild, and yet it is now the land of wine." We doubt not our cultivators will appreciate Mr. Rivers's labors, and some use- ful results arise therefrom. MARCH. 117 I have lately been interested in finding in " Lewis and Clarke's Travels across the American Continent, 1804-5 and 6," published by Longman & Co., London, 1817, in three volumes, the following notices of your native fruits, and have felt some surprise that they have not been brought into culti- vation and improved by American gardeners, for surely they must be susceptible of improvement ; so let us hope that we shall yet hear of their being brought into notice. Vol. L, p. 17. On the banks of the Missouri they found " grapes and other fruits, among which is tlie Osage plum, of a superior size and quality." Page 21. " Along the shores are gooseberries and rasp- berries in great abundance." Page 34. " The wild cherry of the Missouri is like our own, but larger, and growing on a small bush." Page 67. " We also procured an excellent fruit resembling a red currant, growing on a shrub like a privet." Page 69. " There is a fruit now ripe which looks like a currant, except that it is double the size, and grows on a bush like a privet ; the size of a damson, and of a delicious flavor." Page 74. " Here we gathered some delicious plums, grapes, and blue currants." Page 75. " We have great quantities of grapes, and plums of three kinds, two of a yellow color, and distinguished by one of the species being longer than the other ; a third, round and red — all of excellent flavor." Page 89. " This week has obtained the name of plum week, from the number of that fruit which are in that neigh- borhood, and of a delightful quality." Page 372. " There is a species of gooseberries growing abundantly among the rocks on the sides of the cliffs ; it is now ripe, of a pale red color." Vol. II., page 7. " There are also great quantities of red, purple, yellow, and black currants. The currants are very pleasant to the taste, and much preferable to those of our common garden ; the fruit is not so acid, and has a more agreeable flavor." Page 8. " The service-berry differs from those of the Unit- ed States ; bushes small, not more than two feet high, and 118 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. rarely exceed eight inches. The fruit is of a very dark pur- ple. They are now (July 17th) ripe and in great perfection." Page 15. A black currant, " the flavor of which is prefer- able to that of the yellow, and would be deemed inferior to that of any currant in the United States." Page 40. A black gooseberry, " as large as the common garden gooseberry, and black as jet." Vol. III., page 2. " A thistle, with an edible root about the size of a man's thumb ; its taste is exactly that of sugar, and it is indeed the sweetest vegetable employed by the Indians." Page 350. " Captain Clarke found to-day a species of cherry which he had never seen before." This was near the confluence " of the Yellow Stone river and the Missouri." Page 375. Plums of three species are found ; and Page 376. " We made an excursion to a large orchard of delicious plums." All the above fruits were found on the banks of the Missouri. Some of them appear as if they could be improved by culture ; the question is, have they been noticed by modern cultivators, and if any have been hybridized so as to improve them ? — I am, dear sir, yours very truly, Thos. Rivers, Rose Hill, Sawbridge worth, England. Governor Charter's Seedling Apple. — A new variety, described in the Prairie Farmer as a medium-sized apple, slightly and in some instances quite conical, occasionally ribbed. Color, light yellow, with bright blush in the sun, covered with well defined yellowish specks ; stem, short, slen- der, deeply set in a regular cavity, sometimes russeted ; calyx, closed ; basin, moderately deep, slightly furrowed, open ; flesh, white, cuts firmly, fine, tender, pleasant, juicy, scarcely acid, and sliglitly aromatic; core, small, fleshy; seeds, plump, small, dark brown, ovate, roundisli. In eating the last of October. The beauty as well as the quality of the fruit is commended to the attention of orchardists as a market fruit. It is sought for in the market where known, and it is hardy and productive. Van Buren's Golden Dwarf Peach. — A new variety, raised by Mr. Van Buren, nurseryman, of Georgia, who sent an account of it to the editor of the Gardener's Monthly, who MARCH. 119 thinks it " so decided an acquisition " that he gives his de- scription of it : " Enclosed I send you a drawing of a new- seedling peach of my own raising, which I think will prove to be a valuable variety. The tree is dwarf, is now four years old, and but twenty-eight inches high to the topmost leaf; has small flowers. The drawing sent is the exact size of an ordinary specimen, for I made the measurement. The fruit is a clingstone, and of first-rate flavor. I think it will be invaluable in the cold climate of the North, where the buds get winter killed, for cultivation in small lots and gardens in cities and towns, as well as for border walks, for it is truly a beautiful sight to look at these miniature trees, with their golden and carmine fruit." We think we can say, with Mr. Van Buren, it will be a valuable variety, not so much perhaps for the fruit, which is a clingstone, but as the parent of a new race of dwarf peach trees with free stones. On this account alone we trust it will attract the attention of nurserymen who should attempt the growth of new seedlings from it. Trees of the size of Mr. Van Buren's seedling could be easily protected with straw, or even wholly covered up, thus insuring them against the severity of our winters, which, like the one just past, destroy all the flower buds. Mr. Van Buren says that last spring, while every peach bud on his grounds having small flowers was killed by frost, he saved this by inverting over it a three-bushel basket, and throwing on a horse blanket. Last year was the second year of its bearing. It only grows three or four inches a year. ARBORICULTURAL NOTICES. New Coniferous Trees from Japan. — In our last number we gave an account of the vegetation of Japan, furnished by Mr. J. G. Veitcli, who travelled through a portion of that country, and in localities where no foreigner had ever before been. Since that account was published, Mr, Veitch has sent home seeds and 'dried specimens of the coniferous trees he discovered, several of which prove to be entirely new and 120 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. heretofore undescribed, and others exceedingly rare. Dr. Lindley, to whom the specimens were submitted, lias named and described the several species. To these descriptions we have annexed what information Mr. Veitch supplies in his letters in relation to their habits, growth, &c., from which their comparative hardiness may be inferred. We have no doubt a portion of them will prove as hardy as our native species, and hence possess great value to American planters. Their introduction will be hailed with the liveliest pleasure, and lead to the hope that further explorations will achieve further and equally important results. SciADOPiTYS VERTiciLLATA Zuccavini. Kanagawa. Tree, 120 to 140 feet. Habit, pyramidal, distinct, and fine. J. G. Y. This is, perhaps, the most remarkable coniferous plant yet described. It is erroneously described by Siebold as a mere bush, twelve to fifteen feet high. It has stout whorled, yel- lowish green leaves, resembling that of an ordinary cedar, related to Washingtonm as this is. Its name is derived from two Greek words signifying a parasol and a fir tree ; its spread- ing whorled leaves looking like the ribs of a tiny parasol. Judging from Mr. Yeitch's specimens, it must be a plant of extraordinary beauty. Mr. Veitch states that " Sciadopitys verticillata and Cryp- tomeria japonica are certainly the finest conifers I have met with. The former (Sciadopitys) is apparently very scarce. I have as yet found but ten or twelve trees in this neighbor- hood. It assumes a pyramidal habit, and retains the same form when a tree of one hundred to one hundred and thirty feet, clothed to the bottom with branches. This tree is cer- tain to be appreciated at home, and will doubtless prove hardy" [in Great Britain]. A^BiES MiCROSPERMA. Lindley. Leaves, ten lines long, three quarters of an inch wide ; cones, two and a quarter inches long, pale cinnamon color, two and a lialf inches round ; seeds, pale cinnamon, one line ; wing, two inches long, nearly ovate, and occasionally notched, Hakodadi. Tree, 40 to 50 feet high ; under side of the foliage very glaucous. Its foli- age resembles spruce in point of color, but. the leaves are f*/ long as A^bies amabilis, and perfectly silvered underneath, i MARCH. 121 saw numbers of trees, but found only two solitary cones. The quantity of seed you receive will therefore be very small. J. G. V. A beautiful thing, quite unlike any other spruce, with slender, delicately toothed cones, as broad at one end as the other, and the smallest seeds of the genus. Abies leptolepis? Zuccarini. Mount Fusi Yama. Tree, 40 feet. The tree which grows at the highest elevation on the mountain, 8,500 feet. J. G. V. As this was found growing with the common larch, near almost perpetual snow, it will undoubtedly be quite hardy in the United States. Abies Tsuga. Zuccarini. Mount Fusi Yama. Tree, 100 feet. Trees are much used by the Japanese. 6,000 feet. J. G. V. A kind of Hemlock spruce, much like that plant, and grow- ing twenty-five feet high. Its wood is described as excellent, yellowish brown, and employed for the manufacture of various small ware articles. This species was also found at an elevation of 6,000 feet, growing just below the larch, and in company with the oak, lime, beech, &c., and undoubtedly hardy. Abies Yeitchii. Lindley. Leaves, varying in length six to twelve lines, three quarters of a line broad ; cones, two and a quarter to two and three quarters inches in circumfer- ence ; seeds, testaceous, two lines long ; wing, blackish, two lines long, with a very narrow curved crest at the base of the wing. Mount Fusi Yama. Tree 120 to 140 feet high, between A. nobilis and A. Nordman/a«a. J. G. Y. This most remarkable species looks like a small-coned Sil- ver fir, and is wholly different from anything previously described. I have named it after Mr. J. G. Yeitch, whose great merit, as a very energetic explorer of the vegetation of Japan, it gracefully records. As to the pine called by the same name by Mr. Roezel, whether or not it is the same as P. Bonapartea, as the writer of the Pinetum surmises, is un- important, since names so published can have no place in systematical botany. 122 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Abies Alcoquia^na. /. G. Veitcli in litt. Leaves, six inches long, half an inch wide ; cones, rather more than two inches long, four inches in circumference ; seeds, cinnamon-colored, two lines ; ring, four lines long. Mount Fusi Yama. Tree 100 to 120 feet. Wood used for light house work. 6,000 to 7,000 feet. A noble spruce fir, in some respects resembling the A^bies polita of Zuccarini, from which it differs in having much smaller cones, with scales of a different form, very small, leaves glaucous on the under side, blunt or emarginate, not mucronate, and flat, not four-sided. Named in compliment to Rutherford Alcock, Esq., H. M. Minister at the Court of Jeddo, to whose kind protection and assistance Mr. Veitch has been greatly indebted. Probably hardy, from the very high elevation at which it was found growing. Thujopsis dolabrata Zuccarini. Hakodadi. Tree, 40 to 50 feet. Habit, drooping ; prefers shady places. J. G. V. A very few plants of this glorious evergreen tree have al- ready been raised in Europe from cuttings taken from one or two imported specimens ; and now we shall have seedlings, Mr. Veitch having been so fortunate as to meet with the tree just when the cones were ripened. The tree looks like a huge arbor-vitas, with magnified leaves of a black-green color, glaucous beneath. The wood is excellent, tlic aspect of the plant superb. All who have seen the beautiful Thujopsis borealis can ap- preciate the above description, though the T. dolabrata is still more beautiful. Tliat it will prove hardy tliere can be little doubt ; and if so, what a treasure to our gardens. Mr. Veitch says it appears to prefer shady situations, the foliage being more luxuriant than when exposed to the sun. It may, how- ever, be guaranteed as being perfectly hardy. It grows where snow covers the ground for five months together, and where the thennometer is often below zero. At Messima, on the route to Mount Fusi Yama, the woods were composed of this Thujopsis, wliich were among the finest trees. In the Temple Gardens, at Omee, Mr. Veitch saw speci- mens of Thujopsis dolabrata variegata, though it is not MARCH. 123 enumerated in this list. Probably we shall have an account of it hereafter. ToRREYA NUCiFERA Zuccarini. Kanagawa. Tree, 20 feet. Foliage, sharp. J. G. V. The specimens sent home are identical with those in our herbarium from Zuccarini himself. Cephalotaxus drapa^cea Siebold. Kanagawa. Tree, 20 to 30 feet. J. G. V. Mr. Veitch's specimens are, however, very much more glaucous on the under side of the leaves than the plants now in cultivation. JuNiPERUS RiGiDA Siebolcl. Atame. Tree, 12 to 15 feet. J. G. V. The specimens sent home have the leaves very narrow, exactly like the figure in the Flora Japonica. Cryptomeria japonica. — Mr. Veitch speaks in raptures of this tree. The approach to Hakone was lined by one of the most magnificent avenues he ever beheld. It consisted en- tirely of Cryptomeria, the trunk of every tree as straight as an arrow, averaging 130 to 150 feet high, by 13 to 15 feet in circumference. On the road from Messima to Atame, he states that he met with three noble specimens standing singly in tlie midst of a small village, about 170 feet high, and 16 feet 6 inches in circumference at three feet from the ground. Near Atame he passed a forest remarkable for the peculiar straight trunks of the trees. Tiiey had grown in close prox- imity to each other, and consequently had lost the greater portion of their branches. The effect produced was very similar to that of an immense number of ships' masts. Mount Hakone, 7000 feet in elevation, is clothed to the top with dense forests of Cryptomeria, Thujopsis dolabrata,