DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



243 



are frequently employed as a means of counter- 

 balancing defective and unsuitable management. 



In conclusion, for the benefit <>l* the purses of 

 those who intend to try the paving system, 1 

 would suggest that instead of using bricks, a thin 

 layer of concrete be employed for this purpose. 

 This is easily procured; a mixture of lime, coal 

 ashes, sand, or earth of any description — the lime 

 uot to exceed one-tifth of the whole — well worked 

 to a mortar, and laid down about a couple of 

 inches in thickness, will form as effectual a bar- 

 rier to the progress of the curculio as any system 

 of pavinti with bricks ; and the expense of it is 

 next to nothing. Before laying it down, the ground 

 must be made smooth and level, and be in a me- 

 dium state with regard to moisture. In this con- 

 dition it will remain for a long time 



When the curculio season is past, the concrete 

 can be removed and applied as manure,— thus 

 giving the roots the benefit of the atmosphere, to 

 enable the tree to complete its growth, and form 

 healthy, well ripened wood for a future crop. 



A friend suggests the use of tin or zinc, instead 

 of paving, fitting it closely round the stem of the 

 tree, and extending it as far as necessary. I 

 think the suggestion is good; as it could be re- 

 moved when found to be no longer useful, and re- 

 placed when a<rain requisite. If painted of a eo- 

 lour to harmonise with the soil or grass on which 

 it may be placed, it would last for many years. 

 Win. Saunders. New-Haven, Oct. 16, 1849. 



Western Fruits. — Among the numerous no- 

 tices of fine peaches in every section of the west, 

 as well as in the columns of your valuable journal, 

 I have sought in vain for mention of a splendid 

 freestone peach, of high reputation about thirty 

 years ago; I mean the Madeira Freestone. It is 

 twenty-five years since I have seen the fruit; but 

 from my recollection of it, there is nothing equal 

 to it among those now in high repute. It was of 

 Very large size, very round and perfect in shape. 

 Colour — a beautiful combination of yellow and 

 red. Pulp — remarkably firm, but not tough, and 

 of a delicate yellow tinge. Flavor — rich sub-acid, 

 and highly scented. Stone — very small and smooth, 

 separating very freely from the pulp. It was grown 

 in Muskingum county, Ohio, side by side with the 

 New- York Rareripe, Old Mixon, Red Cheek Ma- 

 lacoton, and various other of the finest kinds from 

 Long-Island, and, as well as I now recollect, 

 ripened later than any of those mentioned; but 

 wa> greatly preferred to all others. If, in the 

 long period mentioned, it has lost its old name, 

 but still exists as rich and fragrant, under some 

 other name, I should like much to be introduced 

 to it under its new title; as I wish to renew my 

 acquaintance. 



The present season has been a very cold and 

 backward one; but fruit generally, and the peach 

 especially, has been very abundant — near St. Louis 

 and Alton — of large size and fine (lavor; but in 

 this section, it is at least two weeks later than 



usual, and rather too arid, especially all the earlier 

 sorts. let, generally, with proper selections 

 and culture, the peach succeeds well here, espe- 

 cially near the high banks of the Mississippi , along 

 the lower rapids where' it is seldom wholly de- 

 stroyed by frosts. On the prairies, remote from 

 the river, it is more uncertain. The wild (ilmii 

 grows in every thicket in this country, and this 

 year has borne most abundantly: ami although 

 usually a small, poor, and too acid fruit, vet oc- 

 casionally I have met with those- that would coin- 

 pare favorably with the finest cultivated plum. I 

 found a tree this year, growing in a garden where 

 it had been allowed to stand when the garden was 

 enclosed j the fruit was huge, of a bright red and 

 yellow; thin, tender skin, with sweet pulp; stone 

 large, and inclined to adhere to the pulp; very 

 fragrant when ripe, — so much so, as to scent the 

 garden in which it grows. The tree has a free, 

 open, thrifty head, and is represented to be a 

 prolific bearer. I regard it as quite equal to any- 

 thing of the plum kind that I have seen, and in- 

 tend to propagate from i*. in the spring; but I 

 fear the curculio will be fatal to it when brought 

 into the vicinity of the domestic plum. 



If you can give me information, through vour 

 journal, respecting the peach I have described, I 

 shall be much gratified. Respectfully your ob't 

 servant, /. B. Mathews. Warsaw, Illinois, 

 September 22, 1849. 



English Parks. — Your criticising correspond- 

 ent, at p. 145 of the Horticulturist for September, 

 speaks of the parks of the English gentry as if 

 the\ T were so many pieces of waste land, useless 

 for all purposes except mere ostentation and dis- 

 play. Now, with all due respect for your excel- 

 lent correspondent, I must say that his prejudice 

 has to all appearance, got the better of his know- 

 ledge. In short, he misrepresents Mr. Colman's 

 excellent work in depicting the English as they 

 are, and manifest:? total ignorance of what he is 

 writing about. It is a notorious fact, that the pri- 

 vate parks of the gentry are more fertile, and dou- 

 bly more productive than any equal surface of land 

 in the whole island. Productive of what ? Of hu- 

 man food — and human labor, independent of the 

 grandeur and beauty they give to the landscape. 

 Where is the farm or field in the kingdom that 

 produces an equal amount of these two grand re- 

 quisites of society, ' food and labor,' as these pri- 

 vate parks? I ask '•Jkkfr.ys" to point out 

 any park in that kingdom, including trees and all 

 — those monuments of time, coeval with the 

 growth of centuries, that is not twine as produc- 

 tive as any other portion of the owner's estate. 

 Look for instance, at Windsor Park, embracing a 

 surface of many square miles, and where stands, 

 perhaps, the finest avenue of trees in the world; 

 a lover of landscape beauty would not grudge to 

 cross the Atlantic to look at it. Now, according 

 to the phraseology of " Jeffreys," one would 

 suppose this beautiful park just so much waste 



