JUSTICE DUDLEY'S ACCOUNT. 17 



" Our Peach Trees are large and fruitful, and bear commonly in 

 three Years from the Stone. I have one in my Garden of twelve 

 Years Growth, that measures. two Foot and an Inch in Girt a Yard 

 from the Ground, which, two Years ago, bore me near a Bushel of 

 fine Peaches. Our common Cherries are not so good as the Kent- 

 ish Cherries of England, and we have no Dukes or Heart Cher- 

 ries, unless in two or three Gardens." 



Justice Dudley gave the measurements of several forest trees of 

 remarkable size, among them a Platanus occidentalis, or button- 

 wood, nine yards in girt. An onion set out for seed would rise to 

 four feet nine inches, and a parsnip would reach eight feet. He 

 gave some remarkable instances of the power of vegetation, 

 including a wonderful crop of pumpkins from a single seed. The 

 intermixture of the different varieties of Indian corn had been 

 noticed by the aborigines, and attributed by them " to the Roots 

 and small Fibres reaching to and communicating with one 

 another ; " but Dudle}' was "of Opinion that the Stamina, or Prin- 

 ciples of this wonderful Copulation or mixing of Colours, are car- 

 ried by the Wind ; and that the Season of it is, when the Corn is 

 in the Earing, and while the Milk is in the Grain, for at that Time, 

 the Corn is in a Sort of Estuation and emits a strong Scent." 

 He had examined an apple tree in his own town which bore a 

 considerable quantity of apples, especially every other year, but 

 never had a blossom. Probably this was similar to the varie- 

 ties with petalless flowers known in our own day. It had been 

 discovered that ' ' molosses ' ' could be made by boiling down the 

 juice of sweet apples. A summer variety was used, and the 

 farmers ran much upon planting orchards of this sweeting for 

 fatting their swine, and assured him that it made the best kind 

 of pork. 1 



We find, in the first half of the eighteenth century, gardens 

 attached to the residences of the wealthy citizens of Boston. 

 When these were situated on the slopes of the various hills, the 

 ground was shaped into terraces both in front and rear, planted 

 with shade and fruit trees, and embellished with flowers. The 

 gardens were laid out in the style then prevalent in England. One 

 of these estates, on Tremont Street, midway between the entrance 

 to Pemberton Square and Beacon Street, was the residence of 

 Gov. Bellingham, and afterwards became the property of Andrew 



1 Phil. Trans., Vol. VI. pp. 379, 380. 



