CRITIQUE ON THE MAY HORTICULTURIST. 



23 



water, if tliey can. It is not a very nume- 

 rous army to contend with ; a large portion 

 jiiust perish from the egg to the perfect in- 

 sect. Judge Darling, (an experienced en- 

 tomologist,) used to say they deposited about 

 thirty eggs each. Where their marks are 

 numerous, they themselves are but seldom 



seen, I believe their eggs are deposited 

 during the day, as I have several times caught 

 them in this business. These eggs may be 

 destroyed, i. e., the punctures cut out, with 

 any pointed instrument, and the plum will 

 heal and mature. G. Gabriel. 



New-Haven, June, 1850. 



CRITIQUE ON THE MAY HORTICULTURIST. 

 BY JEFFREYS, NEW-YORK. 



Your Leader. — A Spring Gossip. — Why, 

 my dear sir, you must have been dreaming 

 when you wrote that mild, flowery, sun-shiny 

 article ! for that venerable personage, " the 

 oldest inhabitant," never saw such a spring 

 before. How it may be in your own " High- 

 land garden," I know not ; but with us in 

 the city, and so far as I have ventured to 

 to poke my nose into the country, the weather 

 has been a perfect budget of abominations for 

 gardeners and farmers. Even the great Horse 

 Chestnuts, in the church yard of old Trinity, 

 whose roots luxuriate deep among the human 

 dust below, are hardly in full leaf, (May 20,) 

 to say nothing of the Elms and the Maples, 

 tJie Limes and the Catalpas ; while Thorbum, 

 and all the other Hyacinth and flower deal- 

 ers, are fretting and fuming at the " extr 'or- 

 dinary cold season," while shivering over their 

 unoccupied counters. However, I shall soon 

 venture out into the fields — even if with great 

 coat and mittens — for the summer won't post- 

 pone its arrival, whether warm weather does 

 or not. But thus far there has been no "po- 

 etry" in the season, if it exists "in the soul." 

 Even in the latter case, I can't feel it as yet. 

 If I did, I would make an eff'ort to echo some 

 of your bird-throated warblings. 



Fruit. Culture at the South. — Why, my 

 good Doctor Phillips, will you so misun- 

 understand me ? I simply mean to say, that 



every locality, as a general rule, will origi- 

 nate, from its proper seeds, its own best (on 

 all accounts) productions — be they fruits, 

 grains, or vegetables. And so I think is the 

 weight of proof, not that I object to introdu- 

 cing the better kinds from other localities, 

 when the desired standard of excellence does 

 not -exist at home, provided they may become 

 acclimated and naturalized to answer the pur- 

 poses ; but I would encourage by all means 

 the production from seed of the best varieties, 

 which under all circumstances can be depend- 

 ed on for domestic use. Meantime, cultivate 

 the good kinds from abroad that you can suc- 

 cessfully. 



Hints for raising Seedling Pears. — I wish 

 that some of our American pomologists would 

 go into a systematic plan of producing new 

 fruits, as Mr. Walker suggests. Something 

 might thus be grown, if not superior to the 

 excellent new varieties already originated here, 

 at least proving that the thing may be done 

 by desigti as well as by accident, as most val- 

 uable kinds have already originated. 



A fetv words to beginners. — I have no per- 

 sonal acquaintance with Mr. Beeciier ; but I 

 never saw an article of his on the garden, or 

 its fruits, but was worth a year's subscription 

 to any paper which such an article adorned. 

 He is here, as always, to the point exactly. 

 Of all things, do I love to hear people talk 



