342 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



the others, and mean to try and raise hybrids, as, 

 also, to see what diHercnce cultivation will make 

 on the fruit. Yours truly. James Dougall. Rose- 

 bank, near jimherstburg, Canada West- 



Climate of Part of Canada West. — With 

 regard to the effect the proximity of the ^rrcat lakes 

 has in amelioratinnf the climate, I fear my observa- 

 tions have not been sufficiently accurate to trive 

 much interest. I, however, think that the climate 

 here is as mild as it is considerably farther south on 

 the sea-board ; as I have, several times, left New- 

 York city after the Dahlias had been destroyed by 

 frost there, and on reachino; here found them unin- 

 jured. The thermometer seldom falls very low in 

 winter, and we have very little snow. We are, 

 however, often subject to late spring frosts which 

 do considerable injury, and which 1 think are caused 

 partly by the large quantities of floating ice in the 

 upper lakes at that season of the year. 



On examination, I find the first fall frosts in the 

 last three years, were on Oct. 15th, 1845, Oct. 

 22d, 1846, and Oct. 14th, 1847; and the latest 

 spring frosts in the same years were on May 8th, 

 1845, April 15th, 1846, and April 18th, 1847. On 

 29th May, 1845, there was also a severe frost ; but 

 it w'as occasioned by a most destructive hail storm, 

 the stones of which were from two to three inches 

 in diameter, and covered the ground to the depth 

 of a couple of inches. 



The coldest days in the winter months of these 

 years were, 

 1845, Jan. 31st, 10°; Feb. 6th, 8°. 



1845 and '46, Dee. 18th and 19th, —1°; Jan. 22d, 

 4°; Feb. 26th,— 1°. 



1846 and '47, Dec. 15th, 17°; Jan. 8th, —3°; Feb. 

 23d, 5°; March 12th, 14°. 



We are much troubled with some kinds of birds 

 in this part, which, as far as I can see. confer little 

 or no benefit to compensate for the loss of nearly 

 all our fruit ; as they only make their appearance 

 in the gardens when the fruit begins ripening, and 

 leave as soon as it is over. The worst are the 

 American Robin, Cedar Bird, Scarlet Tanag^, 

 and Louisiana Tanager ; of these, the last is deci- 

 dedly the most troublesome, as nothing that I can 

 try — nets, sheets, &c., can keep them from the 

 fruit. They are very fond of gooseberries ; and 

 though I covered some bushes with nets, and others 

 with sheets, they would creep under them and eat 

 every berry on the bushes. As to cherries, we 

 never get any ripe. 



I am convinced my peach crop was much injured 

 last season by the Orchard Oriole. When the trees 

 w-ere in blossom, I noticed several of these birds fly- 

 ing from flower to flower, and inserting their bill 

 in each one on the tree, nearly. At first, I thought 

 they were eatciiing insects ; but on closer examina- 

 tion I found it was the nectareous juice that they 

 were sucking, as ever}' flower they had been at had 

 the corolla slit open to the bottom ; while, on exa- 

 mining some branches that they had not been at, no 

 insects could be discoveied in the flowers. None 

 of the flowers that were slit perfected their fruit ; 

 nearly all dropped off; a few set and produced de- 

 formed fruit, while the only ones that produced 

 good fruit were the few they had missed. Should 



these birds make their appearance next year, I in- 

 tend giving them a warm reception. 



I intended, to enable you to judge better the na- 

 ture of our climate, to have gtven you the time of 

 ripening of diflercnl kinds of fruit here; but I find 

 I have forgot to do so at the proper place, and as 

 my letter is already far too long, I will not trespass 

 on the patience of your readers further at present. 

 Yours truly. James Dougall. Rosebank, near 

 Amhcrstburg, Canada West, 6th Dec, 1847. 



Removing Budded Peach Tbees. — I have about 

 seven hundred peach trees of ray own raising. Last 

 fall I had them budded with choice varieties, and 

 lost about 15 per cent, of the buds ; these I have 

 again budded this fall. I am very anxious to set 

 them out in their places next spring ; and should 

 be much obliged if you would inform me, through 

 3'our journal, if I can remove those trees, which I 

 budded this fall, with any hope of not losing the 

 buds. I am, very respectfully, yours, etc. F.C.B. 



[Yes, without losing one of the buds, if the re- 

 moval is carefully done. Everything, of course, 

 depends upon the care exercised not to rub off the 

 bud which is to form the future tree. They should 

 be headed down to within a couple of inches of the 

 bud, before removal, or directly before planting 

 them. We have seen hundreds of peach trees 

 moved " in the bnd," as nurserymen say, into good 

 soil, and the buds make heads three or four feet 

 high the same season.] 



William Penn Chrysanthemum. — We saw, 

 last month, in the fine conservatory of N. J. Becar, 

 Esq., Brooklyn, N. Y., a new antl remarkably fine 

 Chrysanthemum, received, under this name, from 

 Philadelphia. It appeared to us one of the most 

 perfectly formed flowers of the genus we had ever 

 seen : each blossom very full double, symmetrically 

 shaped, and almost globular in form. The color is 

 white ; and it is. on the whole, much superior to 

 any of the new European varieties of this old au- 

 tumnal favorite, which have reached this country 

 lately. Will some of our readers in Philadelphia 

 give us an account of its origin ? 



Nurserymen's Convention. — A convention of 

 nurserymen and fruit-growers was held at Colum- 

 bus, Ohio, the first week in October, with the laud- 

 able purpose of comparing fruits from different 

 sections of the State, correcting errors in names of 

 fruits, establishing a correct standard of nomencla- 

 ture lor the varieties in general cultivation, etc etc. 

 Our correspondent, Mr. Springer, was appointed 

 chairman, and Messrs. Elliott of Cleveland, and 

 Bateham of Columbus, secretaries. The conven- 

 tion commenced the session, by "unanimously 

 voting that the ' Fruits and Fruit-trees of America' 

 be the standard work from which the names of fruits 

 be determined." A large number of fruits, especial- 

 ly of apples, was, we understand, exhibited — and 

 much confusion in nomenclature discovered, and the 

 true names determined. Mr. Elliott has, we 

 learn, undertaken the labor of preparing a report 

 of the proceedings, which we shall look for with 

 interest. 



