DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



489 



never seen northern quince stocks before, and 

 thought a freer grower was used than wc had ; 

 but now, I shall not think of ever paying freight 

 for such puny fellows. Indeed, cuttings prepared 

 by me this evening, will be larger next January 

 than these small stocks. I shall set to-morrow 

 1000 cuttings, and hope to have budded before 

 October 1500 pears on quince. 



I am satisfied that when pears become better 

 known, that there will be an immense demand 

 for the fruit, and that dwarf pears will be sought 

 for. 



I am almost afraid to say, that I have now here, 

 somewhere about 170 A'arieties of the pear, — 60 

 of them being upon quince, (50 varieties on the 

 quince, received a short time only.) But when 

 I say to those who are opposed to so many varie- 

 ties, that my object is to test the varieties not 

 adapted to the south, I am in hopes they will let 

 me pass. 



I do not know any place south of 36 degrees, 

 where 20 or 30 varieties of the pear are fruited ; 

 therefore it is impossible to form a correct opinion. 

 I will have some ten or twelve to fruit this sea- 

 son, and probably double that in 1851 ; and in 

 1852, all my dwarfs and an increase of standards. 

 I intend to have 400 varieties, and to work 200 

 upon quince. I can afford to do all this, as I can 

 sell enough to pay for all expense : and my labor 

 is of no sort of value; for were I not at that, I 

 might be in mischief. 



I have now sold peach trees enough to pay for 

 investment ; and I am greatly indebted to my 

 southern friends, and I hope the country will be 

 again benefitted; for where 150 varieties of the 

 peach come into bearing, I should think that there 

 would be some choice varieties meeting us, espe- 

 cially as we have the peach latitude — deny it who 

 dare! 



I have some 20 or 30 seedling grapes, from 

 Texas seed; the seed sent me by Mr. Stewart, 

 of Montgomery, Texas. These same grape-vines 

 are the hardest ca%es I have yet had. They grew 

 the first year three to ten feet, — many of them in 

 pots. I turned them out in a border, and headed 

 them down, and they have grown none at all. I 

 will try them this year and quit. I am, dear sir, 

 sincerely yours, M. W. Philips. Edwards, 

 Mississippi, Jan. 24, 1849. 



Cauliflowers. — I have been eating delicious 

 cauliflowers all winter, thanks to your directions 

 in the Horticulturist. I sowed seed for the win- 

 ter crop about the middle of May, and when win- 

 ter approached I lifted the plants in a damp day, 

 with a little earth attached to the roots, and set 

 them on the floor of a warm cellar, under one of 

 my out-buildings. They were most of them not 

 even showing the least signs of flowering when 

 they were put in the cellar, and I confess I was 

 a little incredulous as to their " coming to any- 

 thing " in their winter quarters. But they soon 

 began to form blossom crowns, and I have cut the 



whitest and most delicious cauliflowers from these 

 plants since lasl December that I have ever tasted. 

 As this mode of treating cauliflowers is not gene- 

 rally known here, I have quite astonished my 

 neighbors by the sight of such a fine winter vege- 

 table in abundance. 



I obtained seed of the Late Walcherea variety, 

 as you advised, at Thorburn's, in New- York. It 

 is certainly the best cauliflower I have ever 

 grown. Yours, X. Y. Z., New-Jersey, March. 



Meteorology. — Our readers will remember 

 Dr. Comstock's theory, in a former ninnber, re- 

 specting the influence of railroads and telegraph 

 wires on thunder showers. Sec. He has favored 

 us with the following answer to his inquiries, re- 

 ceived from an observer in New-Hampshire, to 

 which we cheerfully give place. Ed. 



Dear Sir — I noticed an article in the Horticul- 

 turist for October, '48, from you, on the subject 

 of " Meteorology." I have looked in vain for a 

 reply in the two succeeding numbers, and now 

 take the liberty to say a few words on the subject, 

 by making a few plain statements. 



1. I live in the extreme south part of this town, 

 four miles north of the Merrimack river at Lo- 

 well, and four miles east of said river at Hudson 

 on the east and Nashua on the west, or northwest. 



2. The Boston and Lowell railroad was finished 

 in 1835. 



3. We have not had a single occurrence of vio- 

 lent thunder shower, of the old fashioned stamp, 

 since that time, with one or two exceptions, that 

 happened before the Lowell and Nashua railroad 

 was built; and those came from the northwest, 

 and were more out of the influence of the Boston 

 and Lowell road. 



4. Previous to 1835, it was very common for 

 the lightning to strike trees, buildings, and other 

 objects, and as often as once a year, or nearly so, 

 it would strike on the farm I now occupy. 



5. Since 1835, it has struck two trees only on 

 my farm, — one in 1837, and one in 1846. 



6. Showers rising in tlie west have all the ap- 

 pearance of those of former times, until they get 

 in the vicinity of the Nasiiua road, when the 

 lightning and thunder almost entirely cease, and 

 in some instances the shower has been entirely 

 broken up. 



7. We have had more severe dry weather since 

 1835 than formerly. 



8. We have had later frosts in the spring and 

 summer, and earlier frosts in 'the autumn than 

 formerly. 



9. I have made frequent inquiries about the 

 showers at the north, and found that people there 

 did not observe anything different from former 

 times. 



10. There are no telegraph wires on the above 

 nnmed I'oads at present. 



11. I have advanced the above ideas through 

 the columns of the Boston Cultivator several 



