NEW ENGLAND FAllMER 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSELL, at the corner of Congress and Lindall Streets, Boston — THOMAS G. FF.SSEXOEN, Editor; 



VOL.. IV. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 3, l»2(i. 



JNo. 32. 



OnZGZNAI. COI«BSUNICATSONS. 



TO THG EDITOR OF TVS. KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRUIT TKEF.S. 

 Epping, {.Y. H.) Feb. 20; 182G, 

 MrFessetoen— As you have, from lime 

 time, "iven jonr readers mnch useful informa- 

 tion respecting Fruit Tree?, I lake the liherty 

 to con?-ilt you on this su'i'ject. 1 have already 

 a few Irees ; and am desirous to add considera- 



!i) 



;.li}'l(s known in the United Str.tes, would be c.onEitJtT- 

 cd an acquisition of i.r.portance, bnt their names are 

 derived from such various and capricious causes or in- 

 cidents, that a correct list cannot Le easily accompli.-h- 

 ed ; some have received names descriptive of the fruit, 

 and others are derived from the places where they have 

 been first found, or from the original cultivator. But a 

 serious misfortune is, in several instances the same fruit 

 bears many different names' in dilfercnt places; which 

 sul'jects the planter to much inconvei.i; ncc ; and it 

 frequently happens that grafts of a supposed new varii;- 



b y, this sprin?, to llieir number — Imt I have ■. • , . 1,^ . u- . 



■'' '^ =• , ,. • 1- ■ ,,io^-i,-,n (y are oniained nndor a diflirent name, whivh evenlu- 



not the meins ol making a judicious selecaon. , „ ,-, r\ ■. •., i.- -u 



,, , . , ,. ■ ■■■ • , ,,.„„., ,(,•,( ally prove to produce the same kind of fruitwith which 



Ply object therefore in ivnting, IS to request that ■' » j , j . , „ .^ n> 



•' ■' , , . ,- , ■ „„ i;^, ,,rori..r his orchard already abounds." Dr 1 hachf.r gives us 



vou would iiuhhsh jn your (taper a lisl, prepai- . / ^,^ ". . 



ed by vour^lf, or by some sUiHul iiorticulturisl, | « ''=' °f VO vanet.esof" apples heW m most estimation 



of the best \pple, Pear, Cherry, Peach and Plumj "> 'h<-- United States," which may be found in the work 



trees, which are lo he had in our nurseries and j above quoted. It is not in our power lo select six or 



are knoivn to liourish in the climate of Neiv- eight of them, as best adapted to the " small but select 



England. 1 do not ask for guud fruit merely, 

 but for the best. This of course implies selec- 

 iioD. On looking info the Catalogue, (22d edi- 

 tion^ of Prince's Nursery, at Flushing, Long 

 Island, 1 find the names of 114 kinds of Apples, 

 107 kinds of Pears, 74 kinds of Peaches, 53 kinds 

 of Cherries, and 48 kinds of Plums. We may 

 suppose all these kinds or varieties lo he good, 

 — hut which are the besl ? For the purpose 1 

 have in view — the formation of a small hut se- 

 lect collection of fruit trees— 1 am none the 

 wiser for having examined this and other volum- 

 inous catalogues. What I want is, the names ol 

 six or eight of the hest kinds of Apples ; as many 

 Pears ; four or five of the best peaches; and as 



collection of fruit trees," conteniphited by our corres 

 poudenl. This list occupi.;s more than twenty pages of 

 the American Orchardisl, and a short description of the 

 properties of each kind of aj'ple inserted in the list is 

 attached to its name. 'VVc sjiould hardly feel authoris- 

 ed to copy this catalogue, as it is a copy-right work, 

 and it may be had at Cummings & IJiiliard's in this 

 city. 



The American Orchardist likewise contains cata- 

 logues of pears, peaches, cjitrries, and plums, brief 

 descriptions of their qualities, and times of ripening. — 

 But tastes differ, and perhaps we should scarcely find 

 any two connoisseurs in fruit, who would coincide 

 iu opinion, with regard to forming a catrilogiie to meet 



many Plums and Cherries. 1 need hardly ,««> (iis wi.'hesofa ".A Lover of Good Fruit." We should 



that they should be such ns ripen and come in 

 use in succession, so as to cover, as far as possi- 

 ble, the whole circle of the year. Take pears 

 for example — which is the best early summer 

 pear, the best late summer pear ? the best early 

 and late autumn pears? and the best early and 

 late winter pears? Here are six pears calcu- 

 lated to last through as many months, or per- 

 haps longer: — the same of apples? — and as far 

 as they extend, of peaches, plums, and cherries ? 

 Such a Catalogue Kaisonne as is here rc[]uesl- 

 ed, formed by some skilt'ul horticulturist, whose 

 name, known to you at least, if not communicat- 

 ed to the public, would give authority to his 

 opinions, and whose decision should he toanded, 

 in each case, on his own personal observation 

 and experience, would be of great service to 

 many persons who have not themselves the 

 means of correct information. Such a catalogue 

 might not be an infallible guide, since no man's 

 infiJrmation or taste is perfect ; but it would give 

 us, in each case, if not the very best friit, at 

 least something very near it — and this would be 

 no small gain. 



Your attention to this subject, in seas.in for 

 the approaching spring, is respectfully solicited 

 by A Lover of Good Fiuit. 



Remarks by the Editor. — We should be happ^ to give 

 information to the full extent requested by oir corres- 

 pondent, but must confess our inability. Ur Thacher, 

 in the last edition of the American Orchardist, observes 

 that " an accurate technical list of the v'lriouj sorti of 



be happy, however, to receive from practical and sci^ 

 entilic cultivators of fruit trees such communications on 

 this subject, as should be deemed most likely to iffect 

 that ol)ject ; and by favouring us with their names, and 

 informing where and of whom the fruit trees which they 

 may recommend, may be obtained, they would greatly 

 enhance the value of the articles which they may be so 

 good as to send us for insertion in the New England 

 Farmer. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW EKGL.1.ND FARMER. 



SPRING FASTENINGS FOR HORSES. 

 Dorchester, Feb. 23, 1826. 



Mr Fessenden — Permit me to recommend to 

 you twd Spring Fastenings for horses, which 1 

 have in use in my stable ; one consists of a three 

 inch screw inserted in the lower edge of the 

 front board of the manger, projecting £ of an 

 inch. Across the bottom of the manger is a hard 

 wood spring of 1 ft. in length, extending in front 

 under the end of the screw, thereby preventing 

 the escape of the ring by an upward or horizon- 

 tal strain, but permitting it to escape free by 

 downward pressure. 



The other consists of an iron plate with a stub 

 of suitable size to hold the ring at one end, the 

 other bent into a proper shape for a spring to 

 prevent the escape of the ring in any other di- 

 rection than by a downward pressure. They 

 may be easily attached lo any stall. 



The first described may be affixed to any stall 



lor the sum of !3J cci.-ls ; the second for 37i ; a 

 cheap in.= uranf.e on a valuable horse. 



The above articles may be found at the Ag- 

 riculiurul Establishment, No. 108 State Street. 

 Youis, rebpectf'ully, 



J. MEARS. 

 0:irO>Ir Mhars has left (wo of hi.i Spring Fas- 

 tening.s nt the office of the New England Farm- 

 er, for the inspection of the public. 



TO THE r.DlTUU OF THE NEW EXGl.AND FARMER. 



Framingham. Feb. 24, 1826. 

 INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON VEGE- 

 TATlOxN, kc. 

 Mr Fe=sekden — In conversing with an intelli- 

 gent farmer a few days since on the subject of 

 the flowing of sap from trees, I was surprised to 

 learn that the Ahion was considered by him as 

 an imporlatit agent in tliis operation of nature. 

 He assured mo that he had been in the habit of 

 tap[iing trees for a number of vears, and that he 

 had invariably found the sap unwilling to flow in 

 the eld of the Alooii. If this is consistent with 

 experience, it certainly ought lo be generally 

 known, — as perhaps our farmers have in some 

 cases been disrotiragcd from attending to this 

 branch of dnmcslic economy by bleedmg their 

 trees at an improper season of the Moon, when 

 least inclined l» yield their sap. I should like 

 extremely well, sir, to know your opinion on 

 this subject, lo which if will not at least be ?(?i- 

 seasonabte to call the attention of your readers. 

 1 have another question, sir. which you will 

 allow m-< to propose to you relative to the sub- 

 ject of sap vessels. According to Mr Knight's 

 theory, explained with approbation by President 

 Smith in his Introduction to Physiological Bota- 

 ny, republished in Boston by Dr Ricriow, the 

 'ap is carried from the root to the branches and 

 leaves by a set of vessels ranged along the me- 

 dulla or pith of the plant, which Mr Knight calls 

 the central vessels. Nothing is said directly by 

 Dr Smith concerning the existence of any other 

 conveyance of the vegetable blood, and the idea 

 of a circ 'dating system is entirely rejected. !n 

 a note by Dr Bigelow (to whose botanical labors 

 in general we are so much indebted,) the prac- 

 tice oi' girdling trees is spoken of as exemplify- 

 ing the truth of this theory,* which to my miud 

 affords evidence directly opposite. How can 

 the removal of a circle of bark and alburnum, or 

 outer wood, affect the interior central vessels, 

 through which, according to Mr K. and Dr S. 

 the sap is conveyed ? Another set of vessels at 

 least must be supposed connected with the bark 

 and alburnum ; — but even then the difficulty is 

 not altogether removed, as the central vessels 

 still exist, and might be supposed sufficient for 

 the supply of sap and life to the plant. 



INVESTIGATOR. 



Remarks by the Editor. — With regard to the moon's 

 influence on the flowing of sap, we must confess onr 

 ignorance, and till better rnformed, we shall doubt 

 whether that planet has any agency in that operation. 



any. 



Chap. Vlil, page 31, Boston edition, Smith's Bet- 



