9^^^^«: 



BOUYARDIA IIOUTTEAXA.* 



TiiK old Bouvardia tripliylla is a well known favorite, but yet not near as com- 

 mon as it deserves to be. ^lost cultivators are well aware of its beauty and in- 

 terest as a pot i)lant for the <rreenlionsc or conservatory ; but few know how ex- 

 cellently it thrives in the 0])eu air, in summer, as a border ])lant. The whole tribe 

 is well adajited to this mode of culture, from B. triphylla to B. leianthe, B. lonn:i- 

 flora, and the handsome addition we now afford our readers an illustration of, B. 

 Iloutteana. As winter blooming plants for the greenhouse, there are few things 

 superior to the different kinds of Bouvardias, and they are all of the easiest ])os- 

 sible culture. They are raised from cuttings of the young wood, but much more 

 easily and rapidly by cuttings of the roots, taken off in February, planted in sandy 

 soil, and kept for a few weeks in a moderate hotl)ed. The present variety is from 

 the princely establishment of M. Louis Van Iloutte, of Ghent (Belgium), and 

 will, we are sure, soon become common. 



RETROSPECT OF THE FRUIT SEASON IN 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY WILLIAM BACON, RICHMOND, MASS. 



In my last, dated early in the spring months, when the opening season existed 

 more in hope than reality, I stated the favorable condition in which our fruit-trees 

 had passed the severe freezing terra of winter. Then, our hopes of a plentiful 

 supply of all delicious fruits were high ; but we " know not what a day may bring 

 forth." In our New England climate, we cannot prescribe the bounds to the 

 occurrence of wintry winds and merciless snow storms ! The very heavy snow 

 of April (the heaviest fall of the season) came moist, and remained upon the trees 

 for some four or five days ; in many instances it broke down branches. After 

 this snow had passed away, our peaches presented a very different appearance 

 from that of the first of the month; the joung shoots withered as though a Gre 

 had passed over them ; of course they were dead, and gave us no fruit — not even 

 blossoms. Many of the trees proved so nearly dead as to become useless ; others 

 revived, and now present a healthful appearance to inspire new hopes, perhaps 

 to wither in another spring storm. Now, the query is, what was the cause of this 

 sudden change in these trees? It could not have been frost, for vegetation had 

 not started, and the temperature was scarcely below freezing. Be this what it 

 may, however, one thing is certain : it was the spring killed these shoots, and not 

 the severity of winter. 



The destiny of the cherry was very similar to that of the peach ; many trees 

 died, and others had the growth of last season destroyed. In both cases, the 

 most vigorous growing trees suffered most. Do we not sometimes injure our 

 trees by nursing them too much, and thus making them too tender ? This is not 

 likely to be the case, we are sure, l)ut we have become convinced it may he done. 

 No necessity, however, of cautioning the mass of cultivators on this point ; for 

 there are yet quite too many who manage their trees with the same degree of 

 roughness as though harsh usage was the essential to a rapid and healthy growth. 



Our peaches, then, were a total failure ; cherries, a very moderate crop ; apples 

 (many apple-trees were broken down by the same sad, untimely snow storm), in 



* See Frontispiece. 



