DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



the roots of his grapevine, early in the spring, 

 by raising a curb or box of boards, so that the 

 soil over the roots will take a couple of barrels 

 of water without allowing it to run to waste. 

 He provides himself with a quantity of the 

 sweepings or manure of the poultry yard, keep- 

 ing it constantly diluted or dissolved in a barrel, 

 at the rate of a peck to a barrel of water. 

 Every week, at the close of the " washing day," 

 he first empties upon the roots of the vine a 

 pailful of the manure water from the barrel, and 

 afterwards as much of the '•' suds" as the vine 

 will take up. The consequence, as may be ex- 

 j)ected, is a great luxuriance of vine, and enor- 

 mous clusters of fruit. A very large back, 

 building is covered by this vine, and the fruit is 

 just twice as large, in bunch and berry, as those 

 on the other vine, left to ordinary good garden 

 soil. A neighbor, who had an old Isabella vine 

 that had failed for several years to bear any 

 good fruit, has taken the hint, and applied the 

 " weekly wash," with the fertilizer as aforesaid, 

 and has been gratified with a larger and more 

 promising crop this year, than the vine ever 

 bore previously. 



A WELL DESERVED TRIBUTE. The NeW- 



York State Agricultural Society has, by its 

 steady devotion to the interest of the farmer, 

 by the solid sense and intelligence of its officers, 

 by its liberal premiums and its great annual 

 fairs, become one of the most useful, honora- 

 ble, and influential institutions of the country. 

 Its premiums now amount to over six 

 thousand dollars per annum, and its Trans- 

 actions, published every winter, contain a great 

 amount of valuable experience and observation. 

 Few of those even who share in the reputation 

 and are benefitted by the results of such a so- 

 ciety, know how much of the labor is done by 

 a few earnest, devoted men, who, though not 

 the conspicuous dials of the time keeper, are 

 the concealed balance wheels or regulations so 

 much more neces.sary to the accuracy and per- 

 fection of the machine. The Treasurer and 

 former Secretary of the Society, Mr. Tucker. 

 pre-eminently belongs to this class, and we no- 

 tice with no ordinary pleasure that by the fol- 

 lowing resolutions of the society, passed .some 

 time since, the executive board have determined 

 to present him with a handsome service of plate, 

 acknowledgement of their estimation of 

 th. 



TThereas it is the opinion of this board, that 

 the New- York State Agricultural Society is 

 greatly indebted to Mr. Luther Tucker for 

 his able, efficient and long continued labors, as 

 a member of the Executive Committee, having 

 acted as its secretary and business officer for the 

 first three years after its reorganization, in 1841, 

 and aided most efficientlj' in perfecting its or- 

 ganization , and in carrying into successful opera- 

 tion its first Fairs, at Syracuse, Albany and 

 Rochester, furnishing an office for the Execu- 

 tive Committee, the necessary stationery, &c. 

 for the three years; prei)aring for the Press, 

 and superintending the printing and distribu- 

 tion of its Transactions, and in performing all 

 the duties devolving upon its local Secretary, 

 for all of whicli, as well as the expense incurred 

 by him in the performance of these services, he 

 declined to receive any reward: and, 



Whereas Mr. Tucker has, with the excep- 

 tion of the year 1844, when he declined to act 

 as Secretary, on the ground that the Society 

 was then quite able to pay for such services, and 

 the year 1847, when he again declined the secre- 

 taryship, to which he had been elected, served 

 the Society, as a member of this Bo^rd, or as 

 its Secretary or Treasurer, from its reorganiza- 

 tion to the present time, without remuneration, 

 except for the year 1845, when he was allowed 

 $300, an amount less by $250 than was paid for 

 the same services the previous year: therefore, 



Resolved, as the unanimous opinion of this 

 Board, that to no man more than to Mr. Tuck- 

 er is the Society indebted for its present highly 

 prosperous condition, and that the thanks of 

 the Executive Committee, together with a ser- 

 vice of plate to the value of $500, be presented 

 to him. as a testimonial of their high apprecia- 

 tion of his services and character. 



The Cold Winter in Arkansas. — A.J. 

 Downing, Esq — Dear Sir: As you expressed in 

 the Horticulturist a wish to hear from different 

 parts of the country, respecting the efiect of the 

 last extraordinary winter on trees and plants, 

 I will endeavor to tell you how things stand in 

 this neighborhood, although it is doleful enough. 

 The latter part of the summer of 1851, as well 

 as the autumn and forepart ot winter, was 

 unusually dry. and the trees making no late 

 growth, the wood was perfectly matured. The 

 first cold weather was on the 15th of December, 

 the thermometer standing at 4. On the 18th 

 it was at zero. January 13th, 2 below zero; 

 19th, 28 below zero; 22d, 16 below zero, all at 

 sunrise, when the thermometor was at its lowest. 

 28th, at noon, it was 70, and Blue birds sing- 

 ing ; 30th, at sunrise, 60. Here was a difier 

 ence of temperature of 98 degrees, in the 

 space of nine days; no wonder it proved 



