52 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



very much, niul we have resolved upon another ex- 

 hibition in September, when we antieipate a consi- 

 derable increase in the number of contributors. 

 Our Society as yet meets but monthly, and at each 

 meeting new members are added. Among the to- 

 pics particularly interesting to us in this vicinity, 

 now before the society for discussion, arc "The 

 Pear Blight, its causes and remedies ;" "The Cur- 

 culio, how are its ravaj^es to be prevented V etc. 



Our Society is the fii'st movement of the kind 

 west of the Mississippi ; and we are happy in be- 

 lieving that it is likely to succeed ab initio. 



The following is a list of the officers ; Thomas 

 Allen, President ; Gen. William Milburn, 1st Vice 

 President ; Capt. Lewis Bissell, 2d Vice President; 

 J. B. Crockett, 3(f Vice President ; John C. Bre- 

 dell. Treasurer ; Edward Hazen, Cor' Sec; A. B. 

 Chambers, Rec. Sec; Judge W. C. Carr, Chairman 

 of Council ; and there are five standing commit- 

 tees. Yours. .4 Subscriber. St. Louis, Mo., May, 

 1847. 



Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural So- 

 ciety. — At a meeting of gentlemen from Albany 

 and Rensselaer counties, held at the State Agricul- 

 tural Hall, on Monday, the 21st June, the meeting 

 was organized by calling Joel Rathbone, Esq., 

 of Albany, to the chair, and Stephen E. Warren, 

 Esq., of"Ti-oy, was appointed Secretary. 



The objects of the meeting were stated by Her- 

 man Wendell, M. D., and remarks in relation to 

 the propriety and expediency of organizing a Hor- 

 ticultural Society for the counties of Albany and 

 Rensselaer, were made by Dr. Wendell, B. P. 

 Johnson and J. J. Viele. 



On motion of Dr. Wendell, a committee of 

 five were appointed to propose a constitution and 

 by-laws for a Horticultural Society, to be called 

 the Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural Society. 



The committee retired ; and on their return re- 

 ported through their chairman a constitution and 

 by-laws, for the consideration of the meeting — 

 which after discussion and amendment, were unani- 

 mously adopted. 



Gen. Viele. from the committee to nominate 

 officers, reported the names of the following per- 

 sons who were iinanhnously elected : — 



President— JOEL RATHBONE, Albany. 



Vice-Presidents — Henry Vail, Troy; Herman 

 Wendell, M. D., Albany; Alexander Walsh, 

 Lansingburgh ; V. P. Douw, Greenbush. 



Secretary — B. P. Johnson, Albany. 



Treasurer— A. E. Brown, Albany. 



Managers — George B. Warren, Troy ; J. McD. 

 Mclntyre, Albany ; Albert Richards, West-Troy ; 

 S. E. Warren, Troy ; E. P. Prentice, Albany ; C. 

 F. Crosby, Watervliet ; James Wilson, Albany ; 

 Wm. Newcomb, Pittstown ; Wm. Walsh, Albany. 



Dr. Herman Wendell, S. E. Warren and J. 

 McD. Mclntyre were appointed a committee to 

 prepare and report a premium list for the year 

 1847. 



Cultivation of the Cranberry. — Sullivln 

 Bates of Bellingham, Mass., has issued a circular 

 in relation to the cultivation of the Cranberry, from 

 which we gather the follcv/ing : 



He states, that he has ascertained that there arc 

 three varieties of the Cranberry. Of these he 

 thinks there is only one, which he calls the " Bell," 

 that is adapted to a dry soil. He thus describes 

 this variety : "The berry grows much in the form 

 of an egg ; it is inclined to grow, in a wild state, 

 on the borders of Cranberry bogs, spreading its 

 way to upland soils. It is much larger than the 

 other kinds in its wild state." 



He advises, that persons engaging in the cultiva- 

 tion of the article, should commence with the 

 "Bell" variety; and he says, " by commencing 

 with those which have been cultivated, or natural- 

 ized to a dry soil, they will much sooner accom- 

 plish their object, and with much less trouble and 

 expense, as the plants multiply and increase abun- 

 dantly." He states that from one or two thousand 

 plants enough may be obtained in two or three years 

 to plant "acres." 



His directions for cultivation are, to select a 

 moist soil, not liable to bake. Loamy soils, which 

 are moderately dry, and contain a mixture of sand, 

 he states, are well adapted to grow the Cranberry. 

 He directs to prepare the soil " the same as for 

 sowing grain, by plowing, harrowing and making 

 it even, then mark it out in drills eighteen or twen- 

 ty inches apart, putting the plants in the drills five 

 or six inches apart ; hoe them slightly at first, till 

 the roots become clinched, and afterwards no other 

 cultivation is needed. The plants may be expected 

 to run together and cover the whole soil in two or 

 three years." 



Under cultivation, the yield of the Cranberry is 

 stated to be " from 150 to 400 bushels per acre ; its 

 fruit is two or three times as large as the wild, and 

 of a superior flavor; it readily keeps sound from the 

 harvest of one year to that of the next. The fruit is 

 generally gathered in September, with wire-tooth 

 rakes, made for the purpose ; one man generally 

 gathering from thirty to forty bushels per day, with 

 the aid of a boy to pick up the scattering fruit. 



The roots may be planted either in spring or fall. 

 Spring planting may be done from the time the 

 ground can be worked till the tenth of Ma}' ; fall 

 planting may be done in October and November. 



Mr. Bates has plants for sale, at the rate of 

 eight dollars per thousand for quantities less than 

 one thousand, and seven dollars per thousand in 

 larger quantities. 



Mr. B. G. Boswell, of Philadelphia, observes, 

 in regard to shipping cranberries, that they should 

 first " be run over aplatform slightly inclined. The 

 rotten or bruised fruit," it is said, " will not run 

 off, but stick going down the platform, and are 

 scraped off and thrown away. The perfect fruit 

 is then put into tight barrels, and when headed up 

 filled with water, and in this manner the}' arrive in 

 Europe in pei-fect order, and have frequently sold 

 in foreign ports at twenty dollars per barrel ." S. H. 



Position of Flower Beds. — It often happens 

 that two different flower beds may be equally well 

 managed, and flourish alike, yet one may be amass 

 of brilliancy, while the other exhibits little or no 

 beauty. There are many flowers which always 

 face the light or the sun ; consequently the beds 

 should be so placed that the spectator in the walk 



