DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Its habit is stiff and bushy, leaves of a pecu- 

 liar dark green with red petioles. They are 

 verticillate, in fours, and the flowers are pro- 

 duced from their axils, one from each leaf. The 

 flowers are one and a half to two inches long, 

 the calyx or tube of a fine bright rose, the points 

 of the sepals or division being green; the corol- 

 la is scarlet, with a shade of orange. Altogeth- 

 er, when in bloom, it is a beautiful plant. We 

 propagated it last spring for the first, and had a 

 nice stock of young plants, but were disappoint- 

 ed in its not blooming with the hybrid varieties 

 during the summer. The plants were allowed 

 to remain on the stage in the greenhouse all 

 summer, without any shifting or care beyond a 

 supply of water. In the autumn, when the 

 t)lants were housed, the Serratifolia was placed 

 among the others in a cold corner, and much to 

 our surprise, they soon began to show blossoms. 

 Tliey were then brought forward, and continued 

 to bloom finely through the whole of November 

 and December, although not over 10 or 12 in- 

 ches high, late spring cuttings. 



Thus you see its season of beauty just opens 

 when most of the others are to be laid on the 

 shelf to rest; and this ti'ait, I consider, entitles 

 it to j)articular attention, for a beautiful plant 

 like this, blooming in the dreary winter months, 

 is a real acquisition. This late blooming sug- 

 gests the necessity of a different mode of treat- 

 ment from the summer flowering sorts. We 

 would in future either turn out the young plants 

 into the border about the first of June, and re- 

 pot them in September, or M'e would plunge 

 the pots during summer in an open border, and 

 manage them something like Chrysanthemums. 

 In either of these ways we will get good strong 

 plants and bushy, (if kept topped) that will 

 give a superb bloom in November and Decem- 

 ber. An English gardener in a late number of 

 the Chronicle, states that he has been very suc- 

 cessful with a treatment i>imiku- to this. His 

 cuttings were struck early in February, and 

 after being potted off, they were repeatedly 

 shifted into a mixture of equal parts of loam, 

 peat and leaf-mould with a little silver sand, 

 until about the middle of May, keeping them 

 well topped. By this time they were nice plants. 



As soon as the weather permitted, I then 



them into the open borders where the 



as not over rich, choosing as dry a place 



as possible, and no fartlier notice was taken of 

 them, till the end of September, when they be- 

 gan to show flower buds. 



He then prepared the same soil for them as 

 before, and carefully lifted them into suitable 

 pots, according to their size, keeping them in 

 a close pit for a few days, and .syringing them 

 every evening, till they had recovered from the 

 check, giving air by degrees until they could be 

 fully exposed . He then placed them in a shaded 

 situation until they were housed with the other 

 green-house plants. Two year old plants he 

 cuts back when done flowering, reduces the ball 

 when they commence growing, and shifts them 

 like young plants. Under this treatment they 

 bloom from November till February. The 

 same treatment exactly will answer here, but 

 the plants will probably bloom sooner and last 

 not quite so long. 



Among the hybrid varieties I have noted. 

 Pearl of England. Fair Rosamond. Maiiifi- 

 cent, Eliza Mielliez, President (Touell) and 

 President For cher, (Mielliez) are first rate, and 

 Serratifolia multiflora, Serratifolia alba and 

 Spectabilis will take the same rank. P. B. 

 Rochester, N. F., Jan. Ifi, 1851. 



Mass. Central Board of Agricclture. — 

 This Association met at the green-room in the 

 state house, at 10^ yesterday morning. The 

 Board was called to order by Hon. JIarsiiall 

 P. Wilder, the President, and Simon Brown, 

 editor of the New-England Farmer, was ap- 

 pointed Secretary pro tern. The attendance 

 was quite large, and much interest was mani- 

 fested by the delegates in the objects of the board. 



Eeports were submitted as follows: From Mr. 

 Wilder, delegate to the Hampshire Society; 

 Hon. Allen W. Dodge, delegate to the Hamp- 

 shire, Hampden and' Franklin; Hon. John W. 

 Proctor, delegate to Worcester Society, and 

 also to the Bristol Society; Mr. Wiiitaker, 

 delegate to the Plymouth Society; Hon. B. V. 

 French, delegate to the Bershire Soc. ; Hon. 

 Dr. Gardner, delegate to the Franklin Socie- 

 ty; Col. Page, delegate to the Essex Soc, and 

 Ex-Gov. Everett, who attended the Middlesex 

 Exhibition. Other reports will be submitted at 

 a future time. 



Lieut. Gov. Cushman, from a committee ap- 

 pointed for the purpose, reported a constitution 

 and series of by-laws for the goverrnnent of the 

 Board. The constitution styles the Board the 

 " Massachusetts Board of Agricultuie."' It con- 

 tinues the organization of the Board as before, 

 with the addition of an Executive Committee 

 of five. The report was accepted and the con- 

 stitution adopted. 



Rev. Mr. Sewell, from the Committee on 



