DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Such infol-mation miglit be easily obtained of 

 each subscl-iber of the Hoi-ticulturist, by giving 

 notice nf such request in the next number, post-' 

 paid. It would certainly be quite interesting to 

 the readers of your valuable Journal. 



Cherries of the fine kinds, will not stand this 

 climate, unless the body of the tree is protect- 

 ed with straw, to keep the sun frotn the tree. 

 A board Should be set on the south side of the 

 stems in summer, and well wrapped round the 

 body in winter. With this care they do finely; 

 otherwise, it is better not to plant. The only 

 kinds, out of some 60 varieties I liave, that are 

 not killed in the bud, are the following i^May- 

 duke. Belle de Choisy, Late Duke, Black Ea^ 

 gle, and Ilolman's Duke. The latter is one of 

 the hardiest, fruit and trees, I have — earlier 

 and finer than Mayduke — bears abundantly, and 

 is excellent. 



The buds of our fine Plums are generally kill- 

 ed, except the following: — Peach Plum, unhurt, 

 stands this climate first rate. Corse's ^otabene, 

 as hardy as a Damson, and very fine. Sharp's 

 Emperor, Downton, Imperatrice, Bleeker's 

 Yellow Gage ; Coe's Golden Drop stands any 

 degree of frost here — and the Jefferson, too, 

 which is altogether one of our very finest plums. 

 I think the apples and pears are not injured as 

 yet. The weather is as balmy as May, to-day; 

 frost all out of the ground, and quite spring- 

 like. Yours respectfully, Joseph Clark. 

 Lewis, Brown Co., Ohio, Feb. 23, 1852. 



The state of Ohio seems to have suffered 

 more from the excessive cold of the past ex- 

 tremely '-'hard" winter, than any part of the 

 country. The peach crop here is wholly des- 

 troyed in some places — but has quite escaped in 

 others. Wherever the thermometer has fallen 

 12° below zero, the germ peach bud is destroy- 

 ed — but, as usual, the orchards on the hills have 

 escaped, while those in the valleys have suffered. 



We shall be glad to have accounts from all 

 parts of the country, of the precise effects of 

 the past winter — admitted, we believe, to be the 

 most severe for 40 years. It will be interesting 

 to ascertain what plants and trees have suffered 

 most; what have been destroyed; and the soils 

 and sites that have best preserved the trees, &c., 

 growing on them. It is singular, that young 

 n the nurseries have suffered far less from 

 ffects of the cold, the past winter, than 



they did from the freezing and thawing of the 

 previous one= — though a mild winter. Antwerp 

 Raspberries, after being killed by a inild winter, 

 appear perfectly uninjured, where they have 

 been left without covering, in our garden. 



Thorough Draining the Son. ^— Mr. Down- 

 ing: Having, since the commencement of your 

 HorticultUiist, derived from it many valuable 

 hints for the culture of plants, I will hazard 

 giving you a history of an experiment made by 

 me in this city, in hopes 1 7nay in some measure 

 reciprocate. In October, 1849, I commenced 

 my house, number 1 Madison SqUare, north, 

 and after the roof was on, say June, 1850, I 

 hired an old gardener to prepare my lot for a 

 garden, in viy own way. It was only after 

 much conversation, that I could persuade him 

 to follow my directions; and after consulting 

 some of his fellow gardeners, who had heard 

 that I knew something of Horticulture, and 

 finding that I was detcrinined, he put himself 

 under my direction, being very careful to warn 

 me that he could not be responsible for the fail- 

 ure that must ensue. 



He then, with carts, took away the top, con- 

 sisting of clay, sand, and other rubbish, four 

 feet deep of the entire surface of my lot ; he 

 then pl-aced all over the bottom, stones of all 

 sizes, thrown in carelessly, but as level as possi- 

 ble, about twenty inches deep. Over these he 

 put quite small stones, and the screenings of 

 building sand, filling up all the holes, and cov- 

 ering over the larger stones about six inches. 

 The remaining part was then filled with a fine 

 sandy loam, every load of which I inspected 

 personally . While this was being done, a crowd 

 of curious people watched our proceedings, and 

 all, {with no exception,) pronounced it worse 

 than useless — bad in every respect, and calcu- 

 lated to kill the plants by drouth in summer. 



I confess I was rather shaken in my determi- 

 nation, when some of my friends, amateur hor- 

 ticulturists and gardeners, in whom I place 

 great confidence, gave their opinions, that " hav- 

 ing the free use of the Croton water, I might 

 keep my plants a/ive through the hot weather;" 

 but as I had some reasons I thought good, for 

 commencing, I concluded to carry it through, 

 and I laughingly told them, that I hoped to 

 avoid the very evils they feared, by thus 

 ing the soil. 



