406 



EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE. 



these were the Frazimcs, Excelsior pen- 

 dula, Ulmus suberosa major, Uhnus mou- 

 tano vageta, Quercus cerris ; and among the 

 coniferas — Abies Douglassii, Pinus insignis ; 

 and last, but above all, the Deodar Cedar, of 

 which they have a magnificent specimen, 

 about 30 feet high, in full vigor and beauty. 

 I understand that it is in contemplation 

 to form a state agricultural school for 

 New-York. I hope that you, and those 

 who have influence in the right quarter, 

 will make a vigorous effort to have con- 

 nected with it a horticultural department, 

 where something similar to what has been 

 done at Chiswick may be accomplished in 

 this country; for, setting aside the fact 

 that no dependance can be placed upon the 

 character of fruits, as adapted to this coun- 

 try, which have only been tested abroad, 

 the influence of a properly and liberally 

 conducted institution of this kind, would 

 be incalculable ; and before fifty years have 

 passed over, this country would work many 



wonderful changes in the appearance, and 

 much to the real wealth of the country. 

 By all means let us have an arboretum, 

 where all can have an opportunity of com- 

 paring the merits of different species and 

 varieties, and beholding the beauty of a 

 perfect tree. Your truly, 



H. E. Hooker. 



Rodtester, N. Y., February, 1850. 



[Thanks for these interesting notes. Our 

 correspondent is quite right as to the value 

 of a complete school of everything relating 

 to the culture of the soil. The report made 

 by the commissioners, appointed by the 

 governor of this state, embraces all that is 

 requisite for a complete educational estab- 

 lishment, for those who live in the country. 

 All that is needful now, is that the agricul- 

 tural class shall lay their strong hands on 

 their servants — the legislators at Albany — 

 and give them no rest till such a school is 

 organised on a liberal and practical ba- 

 sis. Ed.] 



EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE— No. 3. 



BY B., POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 



[We request the attention of our readers 

 who are sufferers by the curculio, to the 

 successful experiment detailed in the fol- 

 lowing communication. Our correspond- 

 ent, who modestly withholds his name, is 

 known to us as one of the most able jurists 

 in the state, who devotes his leisure to the 

 pleasures of horticulture, and experiments 

 in his garden with the same knowledge 

 and precision with which he delivers an 

 opinion on the bench. Ed.] 



Plums. — In cultivating plum trees, the 

 great desideratum seems to be a sure and 

 practicable mode of preventing the ravages 

 of the curculio. Having about seventy fine 



trees, of good bearing size, in fine healthy 

 condition, and of choice kinds, I had been 

 much disappointed to find the fruit entirely 

 destroyed year after year. Some five or 

 six years ago, I set resolutely to work to 

 combat the enemy, and resorted to all the 

 approved methods of defence which seemed 

 to me worthy of a trial. My first experi- 

 ment, was to encompass the body of the 

 tree with a cloth bandage, which was kept 

 saturated with spirits of turpentine, or with 

 ammonia, — supposing that this would turn 

 the " turk," in his march up the tree. But 

 I found this ineffectual ; because, as I sup- 

 pose, he found some other mode of ascend- 



