^^ 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



that "host of all flowers," the Cauliflower, although a thermometer in their immediate 

 vicinity f-'equentl}' fell six and eight degrees below zero. These were kept scrupulously 

 drj- — " dry as dust," and carefully excluded from clear sun-light for some days after fine 

 weather set in. 



As we become more familiar with the natural habits of plants, and knowledge in the 

 science of cultivation increases, it may be exi^ected that a large number of plants which 

 are now considered tender, will prove to be much hardier than is generally supposed. It 

 is u fact that many of the fiiilures in cultivation are caused by a mistaken eagerness to 

 keep plants in an artificial instead of a natural condition. In their native countries, many 

 of the plants we cultivate in our hot-houses, are subjected to extremes of temperature 

 which they cannot endure under ordinary artificial treatment. In Australia, for instance, 

 such plants as jlcacias, Bovonias, Mimosas^ Eucalypti, f/oveas, Myopoviums, and others, 

 Avhich are generally considered to be more susceptible of cold than these, are found grow- 

 ing and flowering where the night temperature falls many degrees below the freezing point. 

 No doubt this power of resisting cold is attributable to the high, arid temperature to which 

 they had previously been subjected, evaporating and solidifying the juices so as to bring the 

 plant into a state of comparative dryness. It is a very prevalent opinion that all tropical 

 plants should be constantly kept in a state of active vegetation. This opinion is unfound- 

 ed; for there is no climate in the world without its periodical seasons of excitement and 

 repose, as regular as our summer and winter. A knowledge of the natural climates, soils 

 and stations of the plants we cultivate, is a desideratum of the highest importance. Not 

 only should we be acquainted with the climate and phj'sical condition of the atmosphere 

 in the countries to which they belong, but also the altitude at which they are found. A 

 plant growing upon a bleak mountain side, where it can scarcely find root-hold on the 

 rocky surface, exposed to every change of temperature, must require very different artifi- 

 cial treatment from one located in a valley, luxuriating in the rich depositions of the sur- 

 rounding elevations, where a free current of air rarely visits it. There is a great want of 

 authentic, practically useful information on this subject. 



It is questionable whether we do not, in our aim at what is called high cultivation, 

 sometimes overstep the simple means nature employs for her purposes. The closer we 

 can imitate nature, the more likelihood is there of success; and though there is much in 

 nature that the wisest cannot understand, there is also much that is intelligible to the 

 most illiterate. William Saunders, Gardener to Johns Hopkins, Esq. 



Clifton Park, Baltimore, Md., Jan. 6, 1851. 



lOnrtiriilturnl Inrirtirs. 



MASS. HORT. SOCIETY. 

 The annual meeting of this Society was held 

 in the Library room, at Iloi'ticultnral Hall, in 

 School-strc^et. About fifty members were pre- 

 sent. Samuel Walker, Esq., the President 

 of the Society, on assuming the chair made the 

 foUowhig address: 



Gentlemen — Laboring together, as many of 

 us liave done for nearly a quarter of a centurj', 

 under, as we trust, the guidance of that all- 

 wise Providence whose works have been our 

 and delight, we are again called to enter 

 le respective duties assigned to us by the 



ty. 



That oneness of purpose and action which has 

 been so characteristic of the members of the se- 

 veral committees, together with their increased 

 knowledge from past experience, and the judi- 

 cious rules and regulations that they have from 

 time to time adoi)ted for their future action, 

 gives assurance that they will be able satisfacto- 

 rily to discharge all the duties imposed ujjon 

 them, notwithstanding the increased exhibitions 

 at the Hall, and the more frequent application 

 for information respecting new fruits, &.c.,from 

 abroad. 



It gives me great pleasure, gentlemen, to 

 state that the purpose for which this Society 



