DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



529 



(hrin<j very fine, strong plants,) I placed a hot- 

 bed frame over them, had the Bides well proteoted, 

 ami the glass oovered with mats. In mild weather 



the mats were thrown off, — giving them plenty of 

 light, bat liuli' sun. Daring one or two severely 

 cold nights in the early port of the month) when 

 the mercury ranged from live to eight degrees be- 

 low sero, the ground was considerably frozen, but 

 the plants remained unimpaired. They are now > 

 looking finely, and promise well. Whether they 

 can be sufficiently protected every winter in this . 

 rigorous climate, is doubtful ; but I would recom- 

 mend its trial, it being attended with so little 

 trouble. I should add. that the idea of trying this 

 method was borrowed from your Washington cor- 

 respondent, who wintered them successfully last 

 season; but the climate of Washington, it must 

 be remembered, is widely different from that of 

 Berkshire. Yours truly, Theo. Clapp. Pitts- 

 field, Mass., Feb. 21, 1850. 



[We are greatly pleased and surprised to hear 

 of Verbenas standing five to eight degrees below 

 zero of Fahrenheit. Will our correspondent have 

 the goodness to say if they remain uninjured, and 

 start vigorously in the spring? Ed.] 



The Fire-blight. — Were it not for a very po- 

 pular error, (as I conceive, at least,) into which 

 many of your readers have fallen, and for the 

 purpose of awakening continued diligence in close 

 and attentive observation upon this subject, as 

 occasion may offer, I should much rather remain 

 a silent reader of your interesting journal, than 

 bring my humble experience before your intelli- 

 gent readers. But it seems that many of your 

 correspondents have settled down upon the pre- 

 mises, that the fire-blight of the west, and the 

 frozen sap-blight (if there really be such thing as 

 frozen sap-blight, which I very much doubt,) are 

 identical; that is, the fire-bliqht, so called, as it 

 makes its appearance during the summer, is no- 

 thing more nor less than an effect following a 

 cause that has preceded it some months, viz., the 

 sudden freezing and thawing of the sap during the 

 ■winter. I am aware of the difficulties attendant 

 upon disproving the ably written theory of Mr. 

 Beecher upon this subject, by an unlettered per- 

 son, like myself; but nevertheless, practical ob- 

 servation and experience sometimes will prove or 

 disprove what we may not be able to do by words. 

 To such as believe in frozen sap-blight being 

 identical with fire-blight, I offer a problem for so- 

 lution. I have two successive seasons, during 



the i lth of July, lost at least 1000 pear seed- 



Hiil's that had not vegetated until after the frosts 

 of spring were over. They came up about the 

 1st of May, grew finely, until about or near the 

 1st of July, when they began blighting; and by 

 the middle of July there were more than one-third 

 of them dead. This was the case for two seasons 

 successively. I have also frequently noticed pear 

 suckers which had sprouted from the roots of 

 larger trees, after the effects of spring frosts were 



over, die before tie middle of July from the same 

 cause. I have closely compared those blighted, 

 both Beedlings and Backers, with the branches of 

 the larger trees that were blighting around us at 

 the same time, and could see no difference in the 

 effects of the disease upon the one or the other, 

 in all seasons ol blight that I have observed. We 

 have, just previous and during the season of 

 blighting, frequent warm Bhowers, unattended 

 generally with lightning, but followed successively 

 by hot sunshine, and apparently humid atmos- 

 phere, — causing excessive luxuriance in vegeta- 

 tion. The blight with us has not been contined 

 to the pear alone. The Rhus cotinus, the Miner 

 willow, and one or two other shrubs, have suf- 

 fered more or less during seasons of blight, — being 

 affected in the same way as the pear in every re- 

 spect. The years of blight, alluded to above, 

 were '46 and '47. The past two years we have 

 suffered but little. Yours respectfully. /. C. F. 

 Cincinnati, Feb. 19, 1850. 



Beautiful Native Plants. — Dear Sir : Please 

 to insert the subjoined list of native flowering 

 plants, by way of addenda to Dr. Com tock's ex- 

 cellent paper, on " the beauty of our indigenous 

 plants," in your last number. With the exception 

 of half a dozen species, they may all be obtained 

 within five miles of any given spot, in New-Eng- 

 land. 



Arietinum americanum, 

 Adianinm pedatum. 

 Anemone nemorosa. 

 Apocyuum uiidrosaemiiblium, 

 Arethusa hulliosa, 

 A^clepias verticillata, 

 Chimaphila umbellata, 

 Claytoiua virginica, 

 Cornus sangumea, 

 Dielytra cucullaria, 



formosa, 



Calopagon puk-hellus, 

 Dentaria diphyila, 

 Dracuena borealis, 

 Epigsea repeus, 

 Eryllironium americanum, 

 Gentians crmita, 

 Goodyera pubescens, 

 Ilepatiea triloba, 

 Hydrapliyllum virginienjn, 



oanadense, 



Hypoxis erecta, 

 Ledum palustra, 



hmrblium, 



I ,uma- borealis, 



Your obedient ser'vt, 

 ton, Massachusetts. 



Mitella diphyila, 

 Nelumbinm luteura, 

 Oxalis violacea, 

 Panax quiiiqutlnlium, 

 Pegonia ophiogloesoides, 

 Polygala rubella 



paucifolia, 



sai guinea, 



Rhexia virsrmica. 

 Sabbatia chloroides, 

 Sangriinaria canadensis, 

 SisyriiH-liium anceps, 

 SoLannm dulcamara, 

 Spirsa tomentosa, 

 Corans canadensis, 

 Sireptapoe rosena, 

 Tiarella corditnlia, 

 Trientaba rirginica, 

 Triliuia creeiuin, 



piclum, 



I vularia perlobala, 



Bessiralia, 



Orchis orbieuutia, 

 Leontice thalictroides, 

 Calypso americana, 



Chas. G. Greene. 



Bos- 



Mur.rniM; with T\n\ — In the January num- 

 ber of the Horticulturist is a short communication 

 from H. W.S. Cleveland, in which, among other 

 matters, be speaks of using tan-bark with success 

 about the roots of an Isabella grapevine. Mr. C. 



speak- of this as a BlOgle experiment . and on that 

 account to be received with some qualification. 

 Some five years ago, I set eight 01 ten vines 

 (York Claret. Isabella and Catawba,) on the bor- 

 ders of one of my garden walks, with the view of 

 making an arbor. Soon after, I covered the 



