190 Calls at Gardens and Nurseries. 



Art. IV. Calls at Gardens and JVurseiies. 



We have made our calls at several of tlie Gardens and Nnrseries, and 

 have hecn gratified to oltserve the very rapidly increasing lasie for Floricul- 

 tnral productions. New and beautiful planus have been added to several 

 collections during the spring, and larger additions are expected. The present 

 year, we tlfnik, will show a greater advancement in llorriculture than any 

 previous one. We have been necessitated to make our notes as sliort as 

 possible, in order to give jdace to oiu- correspondents. 



Chnrkstown Vineyard, Thomas Mason. — April. This place, so well known, 

 and formerly under the superintendence of Mr. Haggerston, now gardener to 

 J. P. Gushing, Es(\., is undergoing several alterations. Mr. Mason has rooted 

 out most of the vines which were jjlanted Ity Mr. Haggerston, and have oc- 

 cupied the groiuid for st^^vcral years. This he was induced to do, as they 

 suffered from the nfddew, and produced but very little fruit. He thinks the 

 soil, which is a strong loam, rather i)rejudicial to them, and the great expo- 

 sure of the place to the weather, the cause of thrir unproductiveness. He 

 )iow intends jjlanting several |»each and plimi trees, and to train them to the 

 old grape trellises, (every other one of which, however, he has had removed,) 

 thus giving the sim greater action upon the soil. 



Mr. Mason hiformed us, tliat he hail destroyed all the old strawberry beds, 

 excejnone, and had replanted the healthy young runner.s, after manuring and 

 well preparing the soil. The old beds had been planted several years, and 

 had become overrun with grass, &c. The first Keen's seedlings in the coimtry 

 were introduced to this garden by Mr. Haggerston. The raspberry bushes, 

 of which there is here a good stock, look well, and will produce a fine crop. 

 In the house which was built for grapes and peaches, and which is without 

 a flue, the plants have been almost wholly destroyed by the extreme cold of 

 the last winter. The vim-s which are ))Ianted inside, Mr. Mason cut down 

 even with the sm-face of the border. The i)each trees are in bloom, but the 

 flowers begin to fill, and the foliage to turn yellow. The cause must liave 

 been from the wood not being well rijjened ; as peach trees, out in the 

 garden, have not been near so nuich injured. 



In the green-honsc, the grape vines will be in blossom in the course of a 

 few days. The main stems of the vines, where they enter the house, are 

 too near the flue, and the great heat which was required to he kept up during 

 the severe weather, has injured them materially. We would here suggest to 

 those who are building green-houses, and inteiid to introduce grape vines, 

 the importance of placing the front flue at least eighteen inches from the 

 stems of the vines. It is im[)ossible to expect a good crop, if their shoots are 

 nearly dried up by the warmth from the flue, for half of the winter. Mr. 

 Mason has the largest stock of that most desirable plant, the Tea Rose, that 

 we have ever seen ; we counted upwards of fifty flowers open. He has, also, 

 two or three good plants of the yellow Tea. 



Belmont Place, Wateriown, J. P. Cushing, Esq.— We have hut room to say, 

 that the conservatory is now in its greatest elegance. The Geraniums are in the 

 heighth of their splendor; among the numerous varieties, we noticed Mary, 

 Queen of Scots : it is a late addition to our gardens, but it is one of very 

 great beauty ; it is somewhat in the style of the Washingtonian, but the petals 

 of a brighter red, and the lines and stripes on the upper ones much darker; 

 it has aiso the good properties of free growth, and fine foliage. 



In the stove we observed in flower the Cyrtanthus obliqua, for the first 

 time, we presume, in this vicinity. It is a most su|)erb species of this elegant 

 genus, belonging to the Amaryllidea3. Tlie flowers are produced on the 

 head of a stein about two feet "high, and are pendulous, of an orange and 

 green color, resembling, somewhat, in general habit, the Crown imperial, 

 but not having that coarse appearance ; the petals being of a very delicate 



