336 



THE GARDENERS' MOiNTHLY 



[November, 



the last have broken very badly with the great 

 crop." 



Vegetables in England and America. — 

 "B."says: "I notice in Gardeners' Monthly 

 of August last, a brief review of the history of 

 market gardening and seed growing, etc. in Phila- 

 delphia. I also saw in Gardener's Monthly, 

 about a year ago, a long article giving details, etc. 

 of the growing of seeds ; and some, I think, mis- 

 statements. 



I write now for information ; would your con- 

 tributor kindly tell us the name of the only good 

 vegetables he calls blanched sprouts of perennial 

 plants? I am under the impression England has 

 good lettuce. The late James Vick once asked 

 the question, after a visit to England, "Why can- 

 not we have as good lettuce here as there?" 

 Green peas, I fancy, are superior there; cauliflow- 

 ers, broccoli, cabbage sprouts, brussels sprouts, 

 are certainly superior, and are sent to market with- 

 out being full of slugs. In this connection it might 

 be well to refer to a letter of the Hon. J. D. Camer- 

 on, in the New York 7}wc\y, Sep. 5th. After describ- 

 ing his visit to Hereford on a market-day, he was 

 surprised to find a well-dressed and intelligent lot 

 of people. He visits his gardener's mother, who 

 of course is delighted to see him. All the people 

 he saw appear to be contented and look as if they 

 had plenty to eat. I am sure they have plenty to 

 drink. This is the testimony of Mr. Cameron, of 

 your State — State Senator. Of course Britons do 

 not profess to grow tomatoes, or melons, as we do 

 potatoes here, simply because the climate is against 

 them. String beans and vegetable marrows, to 



which your correspondent refers, properly cooked, 

 even in England I have found equal to any here. 



[There is no need of controversy here, if we 

 say that both our correspondents are right in some 

 respects. Our first contributor is correct when he 

 says that in no part of the world is there so great 

 a variety of fine vegetables seen as in the markets 

 of Philadelphia ; but this is owing to its geographi- 

 cal position. The vegetables best suited to cool 

 countries are here, with those brought from far 

 South, and the intermediate location of the city is 

 favorable to very diversified growths. Blanched 

 perennials of course means sea kale, cardoons, as- 

 paragus, etc. 



On the other hand, our present correspondent is 

 correct in his point, that the original contributor 

 has under-estimated the vegetable productions of 

 Great Britain. Cool country vegetables do better 

 in England's cool climate than they do in the 

 warmer region of Philadelphia. It is only those 

 vegetables which like a warmer climate, which ex- 

 cel in this part of the world. — Ed. G. M.] 



Seedling from Marie Louise Pear. — Mr. D. 

 W. Lathrop sends us a pear marked No. i, raised 

 from Marie Louise, which we cannot compliment 

 more than by saying it has all the excellence of 

 that variety when in its best condition. It is 

 thicker in proportion to length, and with a richer, 

 russetty color on one side than we have ever seen 

 in its parent. In our climate Marie Louise ripens 

 too fast, and a few days after gathering rots at the 

 core. If this variety has more conservative quali- 

 ties in this respect than its parent, we should judge 

 Mr. Lathrop has a very good thing. 



Forestry. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



BEECH FORESTS. 



BY R. D., WAUKEGAN, ILLS. 



I never saw land apparently better adapted to 

 the growth of beech and chestnut trees than the 

 bluffs along the western shore of Lake Michigan, 

 from the Wisconsin line to within ten or fifteen 



miles of Chicago. A sandy, gravelly loam for the 

 most part, intermixed with spots more clayey, 

 sixty feet above the lake, thoroughly drained 

 naturally. 



Forty years ago the more sandy knolls were cov- 

 ered with a growth of red oak, and the more clayey 

 land with white oak trees. Where I reside, I had 

 the timber cut off in 1845, built my residence, 

 1850, and commenced planting in 1851. Every 



