426 Domestic jyotices. 



leaves, and shot out anew, (some of mine-,) and, in all things which 

 came under my observation, a vigorous and large growth has been 

 evident. 



Fruits, mostly apples and peaches, have been very abundant and 

 fine; — the peach trees set their fruit successfully, and were beyond 

 the reach of danger when an unfavorable week in May came upon 

 them. The greatest difficulty here, with those fruits that are sus- 

 ceptible to the early warmth, has been, to protect them against the 

 later frosts, which, I am told, are very commonly destructive. I 

 have recommended to plant on northern ex{)osures; but advice 

 which costs little, is of course little valued or regarded. 



The trees (peach) have been overloaded with fruit; many of them 

 have broken down under it, and are spoiled for a time, if not for- 

 ever: the probability is, that all fruits, next year, will be scarce. 

 Notwithstanding the great crop, good fruit has sold well, as it always 

 does, for that matter. One yellow Spanish cherry tree brought to 

 its owner, (as he told me,) twenty dollars; peaches have sold at 

 from one to five dollars the bushel; pears from two to five; and good 

 apples now, with a market full of them, sell at forty to fifty cents. 

 Good fruits have of course been, and are still, rare; but the new 

 and improved sorts are now coming in here fast. Nurseries 

 are starting up on every side, and should they all succeed, we 

 shall rival Flushing. Such, however, is unlikely. Many now are 

 turning every way to keep the way of the tree of life: — they have 

 the impression that they shall live pleasantly, do little, and sell 

 much; all they have to do is to sit still, and let the trees grow; — 

 these will, after a few years of disappointment and vexation, go to 

 something which requires less labor, less close attention and perse- 

 verance: — perhaps I shall be among them. 



I expected, too, to leave behind me most of that gardening taste 

 which now so distinguishes Boston, and has contributed to make its 

 environs the most beautiful and interesting of any in the country; — 

 I find more here than I expected. Mr. i3uchanan, Mr. Brigham, 

 Mr. NeflT, and perhaps others, (beside Mr. Longworth,) are well 

 known as liberal and successful amateur horticulturists. 



Mr. Ernst's is perhaps the oldest nursery and garden in this vi- 

 cinity. Without paying great attention to floriculture, he has a 

 good collection of bulbs, and this season had a beautiful bed of car- 

 nations in bloom; beside these, a great variety of hardy flowering 

 shrubs and plants. 



Mr. Jackson is known as a florist: he has a large catalogue of 

 roses, which I have not seen in bloom; but I have seen at his place 

 a show of dahlias which would have done honor to Boston's exhi- 

 bitions, and I think finer blooms among them than any I saw there 

 last fall. 



Mr. Sayre is hardly established yet, and I have not had time to 

 visit him: I hear him well spoken of. Of my own garden I have 

 nothing now to say. Give me time. 



I hope, next year, that we may be able to get up a fruit and flow- 

 er exhibition. This year we had material enough for it, and could 

 have made a very creditable one. We want a {"ew more such men 

 as I have named, to take the thing in hand; — men of taste, leisure, 

 and means — men who have weight and character to make the start. 



