Vol. VIL— No. 40. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



317 



the samples e.xhibited to the New York Horticul- 

 tural Society, I understand tlie opinion to have 

 been pionounced, by the intelligent horticulturists 

 of that Society, that we can cultivate them suc- 

 cessfully. I have seen several varieties fruiting 

 in pertectiom as far north as Clermont, Catskill, 

 Athens, Albany, Troy, Stillwater, and Ballston, 

 and have known vines to withstand the severity 

 of our winter without covering. In many locali- 

 ties, and in particular seasons, the fruit is apt to he 

 destroyed by mildew. Observation and experi- 

 ence may enable us to discover the cause, and to 

 apiily the remedy. But without depending on 

 foreign varieties, we have an abundance of native 

 kinds, every way adapted to our climate, and our 

 wants, both for the table and for the press, as the 

 experiments of Adliim, Gimbrede, and many otli- 

 €rs amply demonstate. 



Twenty years practice in cultivating and multi- 

 plying our native varieties, with the zeal for horti- 

 cultural improvements which now pervades the 

 country, cannot fail to devclope the excellence of 

 our climate for the culture of this valuable fruit. 

 The Melon. — " This exotic says Loudon, re- 

 quires the aid of artificial heat, in the greater part 

 of the year, and even in the warmest months, it 

 cannot be brought to perfection without the aid of 

 glass." (Enc. of Gar. ]). 643.) The price of tiis 

 fruit in the London market, which 1 propose heie- 

 after to quote, will show that it is cultivated in 

 Britain at so great an expense, as to place it alto- 

 gether beyond the means of the mass of the Brit- 

 ish population. It will not be necessary to sho v 

 that the melon is a very common product of our 

 gardens, because all know that it is sold in our 

 markets in great quantities, and at very moderate 

 prices. 



The Cucumber is somewhat more hardy than 

 the melon, hut yet too tender for an English sum- 

 mer. Hence, to adopt the language of Loudon, 

 p, 627, it is forced in pits, hot-beds, hot-houses ; 

 and the heat of fire, steam, and dung, are applied 

 to its culture. " As far as I know, says Macphail, 

 the vegetable calleil cucumber, does not, in any 

 part of this country, come to any great degree of 

 perfection without some assistance of artificial heat. 

 Therefore, as the natural hea^f the climate is 

 deficient in its production, those who wish to have 

 it in perfection nuist have recourse to art to sup- 

 ply the insufficiency of nature." (Gar. Rem. p. 39.) 

 Loudon, however, adds, that in some of the 

 southern counties the cucumber is pretty e.xten- 

 eively cultivated for pickles, in the open ground. 

 With us this fruit is as common, to all classes, in 

 its season, as the potato. 



The Cabbage family, including the cauliflower, 

 broccoli, &c. grow better, and form a more impor- 

 tant article of food, in Great Britain, than In the 

 JUidiUe States. A kale yard is as essential to a 

 Scotch, as a jiotato )>atch is to an Irish cottager. 

 The cabbage, in its varieties, therefore, occupies a 

 large portion of an English kitchen garden, at 

 least an eighth of the open quarters, according to 

 Loudon. With the exception of the good people 

 of Bergen, our countrymen are not celebrated for 

 raising great quantities of this vegetable. The 

 cauliflower and broccoli are of but comparative 

 modern culture among us ; but they promise to 

 furnish a cheap and constant delicacy for our ta- 

 bles. I will make a remark here which will ap- 

 ply to most of the garden products of the two 

 countries ; the period of culture is longer in Great 

 Britain than iti America, and of course involves 



more labor and expense. Thus for the early sum- 

 mer crops of cabbage, the seed is sown in Eng- 

 land in Sept., the plants subsequently ])ricked out, 

 and protected during the winter ; and for the au- 

 tumnal crop, it is sown in February and March. 

 While with ns, the seeds of the early kinds, are 

 sown in Biarch and April, and those for the main 

 crop, the last of May and first of June. 



The Bean forms an important article of sum- 

 mer diet in both countries ; but the varieties cul- 

 tivated are very different. In England the culti- 

 vation is principally confined to the Broad Pods, 

 ( Vicia Faba) siivh as the Windsor, &c. and to 

 some of the hardier Dwarf Kidneys. With us the 

 Dwarf Kidneys are preferred to the Vicia Faba, 

 and both give precedence to some of the runners, 

 particularly to the Lima, which is esteemed above 

 all others, and which, I believe, is not attempted 

 to be cultivated in England, and certainly cannot 

 come to maturity in that climate. 



The Pea, Beet, Carrot, Parsnip, Onion, Salad, 

 ami many other esculents, are common to the gar- 

 dens of both countries, and I will not pretend to j the gooseberry in this neighborhood, being stimu- 

 say in which they succeed the best, under the like lated thereto either by a spirit of emulation, or the 



of the bean, (phaseolus,) the onion, squash, pump- 

 kin, tomato, water melon, sweet potatoes, okra, 

 egg plant, and pepper, than the climate of England 

 is ; that on the other hand, the gooseberry, cauli- 

 flower, cabbage, and broccoli, thrive best in the 

 cliniate of tiie latter. For other productions of 

 the garden, I do not know that there is any ma* 

 terial preference to be given to either. 



From Luudon's Gardeuer's Magazine. 



On the great Height to which the Culture of tht 

 Goostbejry has arrived, with some remarks on their 

 different Peculiarities. By iVlr Joseph Clarkson. 



Sir — One of the most surprising subjects in 

 modern gardening is the improvement which has 

 taken jilace in fruit during the last fifty years, es- 

 pecially in that of the gooseberry. By consulting 

 the gooseberry-growers and their records, 1 find 

 that the heaviest berries at the conunencement of 

 the above period seldom exceeded 10 dwts. It 

 was about that time that people began to cultivate 



culture. I have noticed a remark of Mr Knight'.s, 

 that the onion is of less size in England than in 

 Spain and Portugal ; and he makes a suggestion, 

 that the Pennsylvania practice would be an im- 

 provement in the English culture, \iz. to plant the 

 second season the small bulbs which form the first. 

 This practice is not known in the State of New 

 York, where the prevalent fear is that the onion 

 will grow too large in one season. 



There are several other garden jjroductions 

 which enter somewhat extensively into our com- 

 mon diet, that the natural climate of England can- 

 not produce, and which are there consequently 

 limited in their cuUure and use. Of this class is 

 the water melon, tomato, pepper, okra, sweet po- 

 tato, pumpkin, squash, egg plant, maize, &c. The 

 superiority of our climate for these productions, 

 over that of England, is unquestionable. 



There is another consideration entitled to weight 



value of the prizes. 



The perfection of gooseberry fruit owes noth- 

 ing to men of scientific knowledge, being cultivat- 

 ed scarcely by any but the lowest and most illiter- 

 ate part of society, at least in this neighborhood ; 

 but, by continued experience, and perseverance 

 in growing and raising new sorts, they have 

 brought the fruit from 10 to upwards of 30 dwts., 

 and that, too, under the greatest disadvantages, not 

 having the privilege of soil, manure, situation, fec^ 

 like the gardeners of their more wealthy neigh- 

 bors, but oftentimes limited to a few yards of land, 

 either shaded by trees, confined by buildings, or 

 exposed to the most unfavorable winds, and so 

 barren that they have frequently to carry on theil 

 shoulders a considerable way the soil in which the 

 plants are to be set ; yet so resolute are they in 

 overcoming every obstacle, and so successfully in- 

 genious in assisting nature in her efforts, that 



in settling the question at issue. TTie amount of l they are enabled to produce fruit surprisingly 



labor required in the two countries to bring the pj-o 

 ducts of a garden to a state of maturity. In the 

 Middle States, gardening is a business, in general, 

 of six or seven, and in no case more than nine 

 months, in a year ; in England it seems to form a 

 continuous round of employment. Our sununer 

 heats accelerate the growth and maturity of gar- 

 den vegetables, with ordinary labor ; while it is 

 necessarj', to produce the like results in England, 

 to aid the climate by protracted and expensive op- 

 erations. We have very little occasion for the ar- 

 tificial soils, forcing pits, fruit walls, and grape 

 and peach houses, which occupy most of the Eng- 

 lish books upon horticulture. The finest produc- 



large. 



I have made inquiry of the oldest growers I 

 could meet with, some of whom are upwards of 

 eighty years of age, but I have not been able to 

 ascertain the time when, nor the place where, the 

 improvement of gooseberry fruit first commenced. 

 I have met with lists of several meetings which 

 took place in 1786, in which I find the fi-uit di- 

 vided into four classes, red, yellow, green, and 

 white ; each class containing four sorts, making 

 sixteen sorts at one meeting, no one sort being al- 

 lowed to win more than one prize at the same 

 show. The classification of the fruit, the number 

 of meetings held at different places, and the vari- 



tions of the garden are within the reach of our ely of sorts cuhivated at the above time, suflicient- 

 most ordinary farmers, and mechanics. And yet , ly piove that meetings must have been held for 

 we cannot withhold from our parent country, our 



admiration of her successful efforts to remedy the 

 defects of her climate. Science, hidustry, and 

 perseverance, have combined to elevate her horti- 

 cultural character above that of any other nation. 

 VVe have learnt much from her excellent example, 

 and there is ample room for us to profit further 

 by it. 



From the foregoing considerations and facts, I 

 am induced to believe, that the climate of the 

 Middle States is better adapted to the culture of 

 tte apple, pear, peach, plum, nectarine, apricot. 



cxlubiting the fruit several years before. 



Tlie attention of the growers was early directed 

 to the raising of new sorts, being encouraged 

 thereto by the liberal price given for each sort 

 that was deeined to be a large one, all other prop- 

 erties being of a secondary nature ; so that we 

 are now furnished witli an extcMisive variety, pos- 

 sessing excellei.t qualities, both for size, quantity, 

 beauty, and flavi r. I would here observe, for the 

 information of those who have no experience in 

 gooseberry-growing, nor any knowledge of the 

 peculiarities of the diflerent sorts, and there is con- 



grape, cucumber, and melon; the finer varieties jsiderable latitude in the properties of this excellent 



