2 Progress of Hortimilture 



The yearly advancement in an art like gardening must be 

 necessarily limited: improvements constantly arise, but there 

 are few startling discoveries, or wonderful achievements, to 

 record. Science is always unfolding something new to the 

 cultivator, but experience only will confirm the value or im- 

 portance of innovations upon established rules and systems. 

 The old routine of practice is not to be thrown aside at once ; 

 neither should customs be pertinaciously adhered to which 

 had their origin at an early period, and have become part and 

 parcel of our knowledge. But the cultivator who would aim 

 to excel, must make himself familiar with all the principles 

 of the art ; continual study and research, united with obser- 

 vation and experience, will then enable him to attain the most 

 satisfactory and successful results. 



The season of 1846 has been throughout New England as 

 dry, or drier than the three previous dry ones of '43, '44 and 

 '45 ; that is, there has been less rain during the summer of 

 1846, than during that of 1845 ; yet vegetation has gone on 

 as if the season had been nearly an average one as regards 

 moisture ; trees have made a most remarkable growth ; crops 

 have been generally exceedingly good; there was a good 

 yield of grass, and the fruit crop was far above an average 

 one. All this, however, has taken place in the absence of 

 actual rain ; but if we could know exactly the atmospheric 

 moisture, we should find that it has been very much greater 

 than in 1S45 ; there has been a constant succession of cloudy, 

 misty and hazy weather throughout the summer and fall, 

 which has so far prevented evaporation, that what rain has 

 fallen has had the greatest effect. 



The winter of 1845 and 1846 was considerably colder than 

 that of 1843 and 1844. It commenced very early in the 

 west ; large quantities of snow fell ; and a series of severe 

 frosts injured all kinds of roots and plants, killing many, 

 which had stood out for years, quite down to the ground. 

 January was tolerably mild, with one heavy drifting snow 

 which, however, nearly disappeared the latter part of the 

 month. February was a cold and stormy month, with two 

 drifting snows, and good sleighing the whole month ; the 

 thermometer indicating 6° below zero. March, on the con- 

 trary, was a month of more than ordinarily mild weather, the 



