190 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



low the surface, the leaf-stalk protrudinfr as an in- 

 dex of position ; a hand glass is then put over them, 

 and in a few weeks they form nice little plants, 



like the current year's seedlino-s, and flower itncn- 

 riantly the followinfr season, if properly treated.-—' 

 J. B. Wier, Galashiels, Jvly H.~^Ib. 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



The National Pomological Convention at 

 New- York. — This convention is likely to be the 

 most important and interesting one, in a horticul' 

 tiiral point of view, ever held in America. We 

 learn that a large number of delegates have al- 

 ready been appointed by the various leading horti- 

 cultural and agricultural societies throughout the 

 country ; and that the deleirations embrace many 

 of the most experienced and distinguished cultiva- 

 tors throughout the Union. 



A very large collection of fruits v.'ill be taken to 

 the convention, not only of new or rare sorts for 

 exhibition, but of old ones, from various parts of 

 the country, for comparison. 



Preparations are making for a more systematic 

 review of the fruits and fruit culture of the United 

 States than has hitherto been attempted ; and from 

 the names of those who have taken an active inte- 

 rest in the matter, which are already reported to 

 the American Institute, we look forward with great 

 interest to the result of their labors. 



The convention meets at Judson's Hotel, Broad- 

 way, on the 10th of October. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Show. 

 — This was the greatest eflTort ever made by the 

 Boston Society. Finding at their last annual ex- 

 hibition, that their own Hall was not large enough 

 by half to hold all the contributions of the mem- 

 bers, they very wisely this season took Faneuil 

 Hall — one of the largest public rooms in the coun- 

 try. The choice was a wise one. The old Hall 

 was beautifully and tastefully decorated for the 

 occasion — the galleries filled with a grove of large 

 exotics and evergreens — the columns tastefully 

 huno- with wreaths. Among these decorations 

 were conspicuously seen the names of distinguished 

 horticulturists; at the head of the hall, those of 

 Wilder, Vose, Cook, Dearborn, Bradlee, Low- 

 ELL, and Lyman, now or formerly presidents of 

 the society — while on the spaces between the 

 columns, on the other three sides, were the names 

 of Linneus, Decandolle, Douglass, Plumier, 

 MicHAUx, Loudon, Duhamel, Knight, Van 

 MoNs, Prince, Fessenden, Lowell, Buel, and 

 Manning. 



On the western wall, were the following mot- 

 toes: " Your voiceless lips, flowers, are living 

 Preachers," and on a pendant, " The breath of 

 Orchards big with bending fruits." On the east- 

 ern wall, was the following: 



" O friendly to the best pursuits of man, 

 Friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace." 



On either side of this couplet was another, from 

 Horace Smith's beautiful ode — 



" Each floral beli, tolling its perfume, makes Sabbalh in the 



fields;'* 

 and as a companion to itj on the right—* 



" In flowers and blossoms we are wont to trajc 

 Emblems of woineu's lovelin^^ss and grace." 



In short, as the Boston Transcript happily ex- 

 presses it, " Old Faneuil Hall looked like 

 " A bower of Roses by Bendamore's stream." 



On entering, the display ot fruit was almost 

 overwhelming, by its quantity, quality, and varie- 

 ty. It seemed as if even Faneuil Hall is not 

 large enough to serve as a cornucopia for these 

 zealous eastern cultivators. Strangers from all 

 parts of the country held up their heads in as- 

 tonishment, first at its enormous quantity — then at 

 the wonderful variety— and lastly at the individual 

 perfection of the fruits shown. It was, no doubt, 

 the finest show of fruit ever seen in America. 



We have not time, at the late hour at which 

 this goes to press, to go into details. They will 

 appear next month in the society's official report. 

 We will only notice the truly maffnificent foreign 

 grapes of G. R. Russel, Esq., of West Cambridge, 

 —by far the finest we ever saw— the basket of 

 Seckel pears, (as large as Doyennes,) from Mrs. 

 AdamS; of Roxbury — the prize basket of fruit, a 

 wonderfully handsome arrangement, by Otis John- 

 son, Esq., of Lynn. Our attention was also es- 

 pecially arrested by specimens of some of the old 

 pears, of unusual size and beauty, from the garden 

 of Col. Wilder, of Dorchester . and Mr. Wash- 

 burn, of Plymouth, grown by the aid of special 

 manures, (bone dust and iron,) from trees that 

 formerly only gave cracked and blighted speci- 

 mens. 



We noticed that Mr. Manning, of Salem, had two 

 hundred and fifty varieties of pears, and one hun- 

 dred and eighty of apples. The President of the 

 society. Col. Wilder, had two hundred varieties of 

 pears, Ijesides other fruits. Mr. Walker, of Rox- 

 bury, had a hundred varieties of pears, and many 

 other gentlemen exhibited large quantities of fruit 

 and of flowers, which will be noticed more at 

 length hereafter. 



The committee on Grapes have awarded the 

 following prizes: — to G. R. Russell, for the best 

 five varieties, the first premium of $15; to Thomas 

 Needham the second premium of $10, for the best 

 three varieties; to J. F. Allen the third premium 

 of $7, for the best two varieties; to Nahum Stet- 

 son the fourth premium of $5, for the best one va- 

 riety. They also recommended a gratuity of $1.5 

 to J. F. Allen, for his extensive collection of 



