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THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



"One of the most interesting visitors to Hoosick 

 Falls this summer was Fred. Vervaenc, superin- 

 tendent of the greenhouses and grounds of the 

 Messrs. Burden, of Troy. Mr. Vervaene was pro- 

 pagator in the exotic department of the govern- 

 ment gardens at Van Houte, Belgium, thirty-five 

 years ago, and shortly afterwards came to this 

 country on a botanical expedition, exploring Mex- 

 ico and Central America. Like many other emi- 

 nent Europeans, he found a more extensive and 

 congenial field for his talents here, and never re- 

 turned to his native country. Selecting New 

 England to commence operations, he found in Na- 

 thaniel Wheeler, of sewing-machine note, a faith- 

 ful friend and employer, whose elegant grounds at 

 Bridgeport, directed by Mr. Vervaene, soon be- 

 came the envy of gardeners and many distin- 

 guished visitors— among the latter the late Horace 

 Greeley and President Grant. As the pioneer of 

 rose growing, he attracted universal attention, and 

 the method of his early success is still practiced by 

 many of our rose-growing establishments. He 

 was subsequently engaged in the commercial 

 florists* business at Bridgeport, where for twelve 

 years he carried on one of the largest establish- 

 ments in the country. In his present situation he 

 directs all departments of his profession, plain and 

 scientific, and flowers annually upwards of five 

 thousand roses, and produces fruits and flowers at 

 all seasons." 



Montreal Horticultural Society — Eighth 

 Annual Report. — It is interesting to note by hor- 

 ticultural reports from different points of our great 

 cosmopolitan parish, how different is the idea of 

 horticulture in dififerent parts thereof. In some 

 parts the number of barrels of cranberries to an 

 acre is horticulture pure and simple, while the true 

 unadulterated article of horticulture in some other 

 parts would be the number of pennies which could 

 be squeezed out of the consumer on a quart of 

 blackberries or a bushel of peaches, and where 

 if any one suggested that some attention should be 

 given to the improvement of a public road, or the 

 ornamentation of a window sill by a few geraniums 

 in a tin can, he would be looked down on as a trifler 

 of the meanest possible description. But horticul- 

 ture to an editor means gardening all over the 

 world— gardening by the fruit-grower, whether of 

 oranges in Florida or cranberries in Cape Cod ; 

 by the vineyardist of California or the cocoanut 

 planter of the West Indies ; the flower-lover, the 

 tree-planter, the grower and the admirer ; the 

 amateur and the professional cultivator; garden- 

 ing for pleasure and gardening for profit ; garden- 

 ing in short, whatever and wherever found. So 

 there are some localities which send us horticul- 

 tural reports which treat of things wholly from the 

 open air, and there are reports from countries 

 where the best gardening is that which records a 



' triumph over hard-hearted stony nature, which 

 I demands that everything you do shall be in spite 

 I of her continual efforts to destroy what you under- 

 ! take. 



Of this latter class is the report before us. Que- 

 bec is a province of great cold in winter, and of 

 great heat in summer, and walled gardens, conser- 

 vatories and greenhouses are in order. Protection 

 is the one word which makes a successful gar- 

 dener. 



So we have here papers on those fruits which 

 require the least protection, and Russian fruits 

 come in for a goodly notice. Many of the best are 

 sketched and described. Trees which may do 

 without much protection, as, for instance, a list 

 prepared for Iowa, gives much valuable informa- 

 tion, though not free from some minor errors and 

 oversights. The best kinds of fruits for profitable 

 j orcharding are treated of; greenhouses and win- 

 I dow gardens get the attention one might expect in 

 a region where the best half of the year we must 

 garden under glass, if at all. It is very interest- 

 I ing reading, on the whole, and aside from this, in- 

 I dicatesa prosperous and useful society. 



An Italian Exchange. — Every country is hav- 



i ing its especial Horticultural Magazine, either as 



an individual enterprise, or as the emanation of 



' some public body. Before us we have the Bulle- 



tino della R. Societa Toscana di Orticultura. The 



I number before us gives an account of a great Na- 



[ tional Exposition in May last. Orchids, palms, 



I yuccas, ferns and leaf plants generally seem to be 



I the most popular plants exhibited, though pelar- 



' goniums in their various sections, rhododendrons 



' and azaleas, roses, 1 50 varieties by one exhibitor, 



and some other things, received attention. There 



are descriptions of fine gardens, and among other 



items of interest an account of the doings of a 



society established to prevent tourists from utterly 



rooting out rare botanical specimens. 



Agricultural, Botanical and Chemical 

 Results of Experiments on the Mixed and 

 Permanent Meadow. By Drs. Lawes, Gilbert, 

 and M. T. Masters. Published by the Royal So- 

 ciety of London. 



This is the botanical portion of this wonderful 

 work, undertaken by these painstaking experimen- 

 ters. The grass land was left twenty years in sod, 

 and the changes which occurred by the use of pe- 

 culiar manures, peculiar seasons, peculiar soils, or 

 peculiar circumstances of any kind, were carefully 

 noted. The different species of grass in the mea- 

 dow at the commencement, perhaps the same at 



