DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



>39 



the Yelloxv anil Black Locust, but in making par- 

 ticular inquiries, in order to distinguish them, I 

 could not find out whether the one cultivated here 

 was the yellow or black ; and I had concluded it 

 was the yellovv. Your reply to W. H. F., how- 

 ever, makes it clear that it is the Seed Locust. 



It has been a matter of surprise to me and to 

 many others, that you should speak so lightly, in 

 your " Landscape Gardening," of the claims of the 

 Locust as an ornamental tree. Since it has been 

 cultivated here, it has been considered the most 

 beautiful of all trees of its size in this climate. 

 Its exceedingly vigorous and rapid growth, when 

 quite young — the ease with which it is transplant- 

 ed — and the light, airy, and graceful luxuriance 

 of its dark green foliage — render it deserving of 

 the rank it has taken, as the favorite tree of this 

 region. F. J. Scott. Toledo, Ohio. 



[If our correspondent will wait till the Locust 

 attains the age of fifty or sixty years, he will agree 

 with us in our estimation of the Locust as an or- 

 namental tree. Nothing can well be prettier than 

 the Locust for the first ten or fifteen years after 

 being planted — and we have cheerfully borne tes- 

 timony to the freshness and varied beauty of its 

 tints at that time. But as a full grown tree, the 

 Locust is undeniably meagre and poor when com- 

 pared with the grand and massive Oaks, Elms, 

 Maples, and other fine trees which belong to this 

 country. — Ed.] 



The Patjlownia We saw while visiting the 



gardens of Messrs. Parsons & Co., of Flushing, 

 L. I., that their largest specimens of this new or- 

 namental tree, we believe the oldest in the coun- 

 try, has formed clusters of &ne Jlower buds, which 

 may be expected to open next April or May. This 

 will, we presume, be the first tree of the kind to 

 flower on this side of the Atlantic. 



A specimen of the Paulownia in our own grounds 

 has made a leading shoot this summer IS feet long. 

 Some of the leaves measured two feet and a quar- 

 ter across. The general habit of the tree, how- 

 ever, is much like that of the Catalpa. 



be happy to furnish you with cuttings in due sea- 

 son. I am very trulj' yours, .fllex. H. Stevens, 

 .Astoria, Long-Island, ibtli Sept. 1846. 



Rapelje's Seedling Pear. — Dr. Stevens of 

 New-York, has favored us with the following no- 

 tice and outline of a pear, which appears to be a 

 variety of merit. Another season, we hope to 

 see specimens of the fruit, that we maybe able to 

 judge of its excellence ourselves. 



Dear Sir — I wish to make known, through your 

 valuable publication, the existence in this neigh- 

 borhood, of a seedling pear, of unsurpassed excel- 

 lence, and which, as I am informed, is entirely 

 unknown to any of our commercial gardeners. It 

 is now ripe, 15th Sept. In size and flavor, much 

 like the Doyenne blanc, the favorite old Virgalieu 

 of our market, now become scarce. Its color, 

 when fully ripe, is a brownish yellow or russet. 

 Its form is peculiarly beautiful. If it be divided 

 on a plane, about two-thirds of the distance from 

 the insertion of the stem to the calyx, the stem 

 end will form a regular pyramid, the other moiety 

 a half sphere. The stem is long, not inserted in- 

 to a depression, and the calyx is very slightly hol- 

 lowed. I have budded it on quince stocks, and shall 



Fig. 62. The Rapelje Seedling. 



P. S. Can you give me any information on the 

 cracking and hardening of pears ? I have lost all 

 my Virgalieus by this malady this season. This 

 leads me to hail with particular pleasure the advent 

 of the Rapalje Seedling, which worthily replaces it. 

 J. H. S. . , 



Dr. Stevens will find the article in this number, 

 on " renovating outcasts," exactly to meet his 

 wants. — Ed. 



HORTICULTPRAL NOTES TAKEN AT PLYMOUTH. 



Having learned that there was to be an exhibition 

 of the Plymouth Horticultural Society, now in its 

 infancy, and having never, (to our confusion and 

 shame be it said) visited Plymouth Rock, we took 



