FOREIGN NOTICES. 



141 



Har 5 it reserablecl, in the rigid droop of its branches, 

 the weeping ash, with a leaf much like that of our 

 pin oak. The evergreen cypress would be a 

 great acquisition to American pleasure grounds ; 

 it is of such a bright, cheerful green. Peaches 

 will not stand in this part of Denmark ; and pears 

 and apples suffer much from our^lre blight! The 

 gardener said he had lost a great many wall pear 

 trees in England from the same disease, and he 

 was convinced that the only remedy is severe root- 

 pruning to prevent vigorous growth. Pray tell this 



to that unfortunate pear cultivator; . 



20th July.— We spent yesterday at Potsdam. 

 This deserted-looking city is, as you well know, 

 interesting from its connection with Frederick 

 THE Great. There are six immense palaces, 

 within half an hour of each other, containing from 

 300 to 400 state rooms, filled, like all other palaces, 

 with pictures, statuary, &c., and some rooms 100 ft. 

 long, are entirely covered with mirrors and gilding. 

 Tbfs palace-seeing becomes, after ten months' 

 practice, rather heavy work. * ♦ « Prussia is 

 perfectly flat and sandy ; and the grounds at all 

 these palaces (for they have mostly 100 or 200 acres 

 each,; are kept at great expense by Matering. 

 Upon the lawn in front of the terrace, at Sans 

 Souci, was a clump, consisting of Indian corn, In- 

 dian shot {canna.) and muUen in flower, and in ano- 

 ther place a large mass of rhubarb ; all these 

 "rown here for ornament! There is plenty of 

 ^' snap dragon" in Prussia. At Sans Souci, Frede- 

 ric's favorite residence, we saw 600 orange trees 

 in boxes 180 years old,— especial pets of the great 

 monarch, and originally belonging to his grand- 

 father. * * * Yours, very truly, H. W. S. 

 Berlin, July, 18, 1848. 



PoMOLOGicAL NoTES— ^. /. Downiug, Esq.— 

 I have a seedling pear which fruited last autumn 

 and ripened in April. It is from Easter Beurre. 

 Only two plants came up ; and one of them will, 

 I think, prove one of the hardiest and best late 

 sorts we have. So much for chance ! Tiie pears, 

 Susette de Bavay, Jesephine de Malines, and Beurre 

 Brelonneau, originated by the late Major Esperin, 

 are worthy of especial notice. The first is my fa- 

 vorite ; it forms such a handsome pyramid, and is 

 so hardv and excellent. If I was in yom- country, 

 I should plant 10 acres of that sort alone. 



A great deal was said last year in France about 

 Bigarreau Monstreux de Mezel cherry. I have a 

 very strong belief that it is our favorite Bigarreau 

 gros ccDuret. The trees of both sorts are growing 

 side by side here, and are exactly alike. Wishing 

 to make sure of having it correct, I ordered it from 

 three of the continental nurseries. All are alike ; 

 and I believe all are gros cauret. 



May, here, was hot and dry. June and July, 

 cool, showery , pleasant and growing weather. Au- 

 gust has commenced in like manner, — weather very 

 pleasant, but not hot enough for fruit. Pears and 

 plums are a very short crop. Wall-fruit, i. e., 

 apricots, peaches, &c., abundant. I am, dear sir, 

 yours, very truly, Thos. Rivers. Nurseries, Saw- 

 bridgeworth, Herts., England, August 1. 1848. 



German Pomology and HoRTictJLTURE. — [We 



extract from a letter lately received from a Ger- 

 man horticulturist, residing on the shores of the 

 Baltic, the following items, that may interest some 

 of our readers. Ed.] * « * Looking round for 

 some German pomological works, which might be 

 of use to you, I found in the list prefixed to your 

 own work on " Fruit Trees," that you are already 

 in possession of the most valuable one, so far as re- 

 gards kernel fruits, viz ., that of Dr. Diel. There 

 are scarcely to be found any descriptions of apple 

 and pear trees upon which more confidence may be 

 placed. Dr. Diel was a zealous amateur of the 

 culture of fruit trees ; a man of great knowledge 

 and the strictest veracity. All his descriptions are 

 the results of personal observation. His experi- 

 mental garden was situated in the beautiful valley 

 of the river Lahn, in the duchy of Nassau, and was 

 highly favored by the soil and climate. His com- 

 plete work consists of 27 small volumes ; and, 

 though it is far from being exempt from errors, Dr. 

 Diel'.-< statements are still the first authority in our 

 country. You will find in this book, for the most 

 part, an accurate description of the growth and 

 habit of the trees, their shoots, foliage, &c., which 

 I beg to remark with reference to an article of 

 Mr. Phcenix, in your Horticulturist of 1847, p. 355. 

 Our best pomological authors will not neglect to 

 add the necessary remarks about the vegetation of 

 the tree, which in many cases is very characteristic. 

 There is an abundance of pomological books in 

 German literature ; but the greatest number of au- 

 thors have mixed their own observations with those 

 borrowed from others, and in consequence thereof, 

 are not to be relied cm with certainty. I have, 

 therefore, limited myself to sending you the follow- 

 ing :— 



Liegel's Anlietung Zur Kenntrick der PJlaumen. 

 LiegeVs Anweistmg mil welchen sorten verschie- 

 dene obstbaum-unlagen beselzt iverden sollen. 

 Liegel's Ubersicht der PJlaumen. 

 Metzer, die Kernobslorten des sudlichen Deittsch- 

 landes. 



This latter work is a description of the kernel 

 fruit trees, cultivated in the southern parts of Ger- 

 many, examined by a wandering [travelling] so- 

 ciety, which makes excursions through the country 

 for that purpose, identifying the dubious sorts, and 

 taking notice of the false or provincial names under 

 which the trees are known in their district. The 

 result of these investigations proves that a deplora- 

 ble confusion exists everywhere ; and that a great 

 number of contradictory names are applied to one 

 and the same kind. 



Hoping that you will find some notices in these 

 books that will interest you, I shall not fail to send 

 you new publications of a similar kind as soon as 

 they appear, provided they are not compiled from 

 works already known to you. 



You make, in the Horticulturist, page 24, a re- 

 mark respecting the Arbor Vitse which coincides 

 with my observations. I have been in the habit of 

 receiving American seeds from Messrs. Thok- 

 BURN, from whom I once received a quantity of 

 Thuya seeds, under the name of T. occidentalis ; 

 and another time, under that of T. Americana. 

 The latter name is not mentioned in Loudon's Ar- 

 boretum. Still, two varieties can clearly be distin- 



