24 



THE BOSTON NECTARINE. 



fence, so much used in England, were in- 

 troduced among us more, which does not 

 mar the beauty of the hedge, and at the 

 same time answers the purpose of protec- 

 tion. With either of the above precautions, 

 the Arbor Vitae may be made to answer 

 every purpose as a hedge plant ; the expense 

 and trouble in keeping Hawthorn and such 

 hedges, free of weeds, and the frequent use 

 of the hedge shears, not required in the 

 after management of the Arbor Vita;, would 

 more than balance the expense and trouble 

 of the protection required by the latter, in 

 localities exposed to much trespass. Final- 

 ly, its exemption from all the pests that 

 prey upon the Hawthorns, such as borers, 

 aphis, blight, &c. ice, and its being an 

 evergreen, which is not the case with the 

 Crataegus, Gleditschia, Madura, &c. &c., 

 renders it incomparably superior to any other 



plant for this climate, as an evergreen hedge 

 plant. A. Satil. 



Highland Gardens, Newburgh, June, 1816. 



Remarks. — The Arbor Vita; of this part 

 of the Hudson river, is so distinct in its 

 habit, and so peculiar in its symmetrical 

 growth, that we are more than half inclined 

 to think it a distinct variety. It forms, 

 without any pruning, a regular, conical 

 tree, of from 10 to 30 feet high, feathered 

 thickly with branches quite down to the 

 ground. Certainly nothing can well be 

 more perfect or beautiful, than a well grown 

 hedge or screen of this tree. We look upon 

 it as standing at the head of all evergreen 

 hedge plants for this country ; as we do up- 

 on the Buckthorn {Rhamnus catharticus,) 

 as the very best of deciduous plants for our 

 use. — Ed, 



Some Account of the Origin of the Boston Nectarine, 

 BY SAMTEL G. PERKINS, BOSTON. 



[The following account of the origin of 

 this very handsome fruit, we extract from a 

 letter from our veteran horticultural friend, 

 S. G. Perkins, Esq., a gentleman for whose 

 profound practical knowledge, especially in 

 all that relates to the culture of fruit trees, 

 we entertain the highest respect. He who 

 wishes to see the espalier culture of fruit 

 carried to its highest perfection, in a Avay, 

 too, the most rational, simple, and unexpen- 

 sive, can no where pass so instructive an 

 hour, as in the garden of this gentleman, in 

 that most beautiful of all suburban neigh- 

 borhoods, Brookline, near Boston. — Ed.] 



This fruit — the Boston, [or Lewis, or Per- 

 kins' Seedling, as it is often called] I ob- 

 tained from Mr. T, Lewis of Boston — in 

 whose yard it was produced, from the kernel 



of a peach stone, as he and his mother both 

 informed me, they, at the time it first bore 

 fruit, never having seen a Nectarine, Mr, 

 Lewis, as the tree came forward, always 

 supposed it would produce what is called a 

 peach ; but on seeing, when it first appeared, 

 this beautiful fruit, with a smooth skin, was 

 impatient to know what it was, and carried it 

 to the late Mr. S. Pomeroy, who was then the 

 leading cultivator of fruits in this region, 

 Mr, Pomeroy brought it to me, for although 

 he knew it to be a Nectarine, he had never 

 seen any so large, and as I then had the 

 Red Roman in perfection, he wished to com- 

 pare it, 



I immediately obtained buds from the 

 tree for Mr. Pomeroy and Mr, Preble, as 

 well as myself. All these failed — mine 

 alone being preserved. The original tree 



