river makoa it ten degrees warmer than with us in the city. East of us the ground ri/.es gradu- 

 olly for three miles and tlicu descends towards Troy. On that ridge they raise I'eachos almost 

 every year. A farmer who lives there told mc, lately, that he has a tree that has borne every 

 year for the last twenty years, and hist year bore two bushels. Some of its fruit-buds have sur- 

 vived the past winter. 



The fall of 1835 was very mild, and, before the ground was frozen, eight inches of enow fell on 

 the 23d of November; immediately the winter set in, and on the .'id of December the thermom- 

 eter was four degrees below zero ; on the IGth, fourteen below in the morning, ten below in the 

 middle of the day, and fifteen below at nine in the evening. The 9th of January, 1836, more 

 than two feet of snow fell ; on the 25th, two and a half feet. During the month the thermometer 

 was six times below zero — three times, fifteen below. In February it was nine times below zero 

 — the lowest, eighteen and nineteen. A great deal of snow fell, so that it was five or six feet on 

 a level. In March it was four times below — the lowest, five, on the 0th. The ground being 

 deeply covered with snow, and no frost in it, the trees were not prepared for the severe cold, 

 and our Peach trees were killed. Three out of five Quince trees in our garden were killed ; the 

 other two were killed to the ground, but sprouted again and have borne fruit to this time. 



As to the past winter, the thermometer was two below zero the 19th of December; twelve 

 below, the 20th; at zero, the 21st; five below, the 22d; and ten below, the 23d. In the out- 

 skirts of the city, it was three or four degrees lower. I examined the trees a few days after and 

 found the Peach fruit-buds all killed, and two-thirds of the Apricots. The few Apricot buds 

 that escaped are swelled out and beginning to open. Tlieir impunity is owing to their being 

 protected by buildings from the morning sun ; they are young, being only five feet high. The 

 wood of our Peach and Apricot trees is sound to the very ends of the branches. C)ur Plum buds 

 are safe ; so are the Cherries, except a few on the Elton. The 5th of February the thermometer 

 was two below zero ; on the 6th, twelve below; on the I7th, seventeen below — at College Ilill, 

 twenty-two below. The past winter the ground was frozen from three to four feet. My friend, 

 who lives near the rapid spoken of before, has just told me that his Peach buds are nearly all 

 alive. Our Pear trees are safe. Charles IL Tomlinsox. — Schenectady, X. Y 



Magnolia coxspicua. — In looking over Mr. Prince's new catalogue, he says: " Tlie above 

 Mcynolia conspicuas are grown from seed, seven years old, well branched, very vigorous, and 

 perfectly hardy, and are splendid specimens. They are the only ones of this character ever 

 ofi"ered for sale — all others being grafted and weakly." 



As an offset to grafted or budded trees being weakly, I send you an account of my tree, which 

 is six years growth from the bud. It measures over sixteen feet high from the ground; width 

 of branches, eleven feet in diameter, which commence at twenty inches from the ground, and 

 it has on now (May 4th) nine hundred and eighty perfect blossoms and is a beautiful sight. If 

 Mr. Prince, or any other person, can show as large and perfect a specimen grown from seed in 

 six years, or even twelve, I hope they will give some notice of it. My experience is, that Maynolia 

 connpicua and Solangeana grow twice as fast budded on M. acuminata stock as they do from seed, 

 and nurserj'men would find it to their advantage to proj»agute them in this manner. These 

 Chinese Magnolias are yet scarce and in demand, and will find readj' sale at good prices for 

 many years to come. Cuas. Downing. — Xewburgh N. Y 



Mowing Machines for Lawns. — Your Hartford subscriljcr must be mistaken in Shanks A Sons 

 address. I have seen the mowing machines used in small places where there were no regular 

 gardeners, to mow short grass. I think Shanks & Sons advertised them some years since in 

 Arbroath, Scotland — not New Brunswick. A Nurseryman. — Mt. Pleasant, C. W. 



