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KDITOU S TAHLi:. 



thftt thny will, but disturhinp; causes abroad may disappoint the best foundod expecta- 

 tions. ^Vc shall as a producing; country have much to bcU, and it would appear that the 

 I'liitod Stntc's, us a whole, are just now in a most prosperous condlLiun, however much 

 individuals have been suffering: 



"All nature is but art unknown to thcc ; 



All chance, direction which thou canst not see ; 



All diftcord, harmony not understood ; 



All partial evil, universal good." 



Lii!ERAT,iTV. — At a meeting of the Executive Board of the Pennsylvania State Agri- 

 cultural Society at liarrisburg, a communication was received from (Jen. James Irvin, 

 offering the Board from two hundred to two hundred and fifty acres of land in Centre 

 county, near the geographical centre of Pennsylvania, for the purposes of a State Agri- 

 cultural School, provided the same is located thereon. This species of liberality is but 

 too rare ; a gift of this kind in this neighborhood for a Horticultural Garden and School 

 for young gardeners would be gladly chronicled. 



"It is one of the features of our rapidly progressive sub-arctic climate, that the summer fruits 

 are almost ripe, before one can report certainly upon the effects of the winter and spring freez 

 ing — we have now advanced so far into the summer that things may be considered established, 

 unless we get a very untimely frost which sometimes has happened even later than this. 



The wheat in this region protected by the heavy snows has been but little winter killed and 

 looks unusually fine and flourishing — there has been a great deal of it sown and the yield will 

 in all probability much exceed the ordinary crop. 



The Apple orchards blossomed in moderation, but the fruit has set remarkably well and there 

 is a prospect of an abundant supply. Pears and Quinces also make a good show of fruit. The 

 better kinds of Cherries did not bloom, though some of the hardier varieties seemed to have 

 suffered but little. The poor Peach trees showed a sad amount of dead wood in April, and May 

 has not much improved them — though the limbs are not killed outright; the buds, both wood 

 and blossom were nearly all destroyed and the trees will look ragged until a new set are formed. 



I think the trees will survive the freezing they have got, although they will be enfeebled and 

 damaged by it. The lateness with which many of them came into leaf has saved them from 

 the curl, and if they are subjected to no unfriendly weather hereafter, the damage may be less 

 than we at first anticipated — a few stray blossoms here and there show themselves, but (except 

 from some of the hardy country seedlings which are good for nothing) it is settled we shall 

 have no Peaches. The Currant bushes are full of fruit, and the Strawberries full of blossoms, 

 though the latter as well as our meadows would be the better for rain. 



The winter has acted singularly on vegetation — thus, the Pawlonia and Osage Orange, which 

 generally freeze in part, are putting out leaves to the very extremitj' of their branches. 



We are having dry, musky, Indian summer weather at present, and though the subsoil is not 

 very dry, we need rain to establish the grass which started well, but which now threatens to 

 be light. 



Knowing the interest you take in fruit culture generally, must be my apology for this inflic- 

 tion. Hoping you have as little to mourn over in your section, as we have in our orchards, 

 I remain, very respectfully, A. Huidekoper. — Meadville May 29, 1855. 



P. S. — I have got my vines nicely in bloom and hope to make a good report of them in 

 August." 



A day or two after our friend's letter was written, his section of country and indeed a 

 great part of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, enjoyed the benefit of an abundant 

 rain. — B. 



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