Vol. C. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



93 



HORTICULTURAL DEPJlRTMEJYT 



BY P. BARRY. 



ORNAMENTAL HARDY TREES & SHRUBS. 



In our last number we mentioned a few trees 

 and shrubs that had blossomed, or were then in 

 bloom. We will now notice a few more that 

 have blossomed during- the past month. It is 

 hardly necessary to state, that these notices and 

 similar ones, that we may make from time to time, 

 are not intended for the experienced cultivator, to 

 whom the subjects we notice, and their seasons, 

 are perhaps as familiar as the rising and setting of 

 the sun. Our sole object is to benefit those who 

 have just commenced, or who have begun to think 

 of commencing, the work of ornamental gardening 

 or the cultare of trees and shrubs for ornament. 



Horse Chestnut — (JEsculus hippocastanum.) — 

 This is a lofty, regular-shaped, beautiful tree. It 

 ranks first amongst ornamental trees. It attains 

 an immense size, 40 to 50 feet in height. Now, 

 and for lO days, it has been covered with long 

 spikes, of beautiful white and pink flowers, of agree- 

 able fragrance. The leaves, too, are very pretty. 

 This tree is admirably adapted for ornament, ei- 

 ther in avenues for which it is much used, or to 

 stand singly on lawns. 



Ohio Buckeye. — (JEscuhis pallida.) This spe- 

 cies also attains a large s'ze, is of a regular com- 

 pact form ; foliage dark-green and glossy ; flowers 

 pale, greenish yellow. This is a very desirable or- 

 namental tree — it has just passed out of bloom. 



Laburnum, or Golden Chain — (Ci/tissus lahur- 

 nvm.) — This is one of the most beautiful flowering 

 trees we possess — attains the height of about 15 

 feet. Those in our grounds, now, are loaded with- 

 long clusters of brilliant golden yellow flowers, 

 which hang down like beautiful gold chains. It 

 is perfectly hardy, and easy of cultivation. 



There are three other beautiful species of the 

 cytissus now in bloom — viz ., the purpureus or pur- 

 ple-flowering, J'alcatvs or sickle-shaped, and pen- 

 duhis or weeping. The two last are of dwarf 

 growth. The falcatus is a most profuse bloomer ; 

 showy yellow blossoms and delicate foliage. The 

 pendulus is a slender, v.'ceping species, with pretty 

 bluish-pink blossoms. We have it grafted on the 

 common species, 5 to 6 feet from the ground, and 

 it makes a beautiful object for standing separate. 



Hawthorn — (Cratregvs.) — There are numerous 

 species of the hawthorn that arc very ornamental. 

 The Red Flowering, now and for ten days past in 

 full bloom, is a beautiful tree — the branches arc com- 

 pletely covered with flowers of delightful fragrance, 

 and these are succeeded by pretty scarle' fruit. The 

 Double White, a variety of the English White 

 Thorn, so much used for hedges, now in blossom in 

 our grounds, is more admired than anything else. 

 The flowers are small, pure white, and very double, 

 resembling pretty little roses. These are perfectly 

 hardy, and will succeed almost anywhere. Several 

 of the nutive species, now in full bloom in the v/oods 

 and fields, all around the country, are well worthy of 

 cultivation. The flowers are snow-white, very fra- 

 grant. The trees generally are of handsome form, 



and possess a great diversity of fruit and foliage. In 

 passing through the country, we find some grand 

 specimens here and there by the way side, or in the 

 fields, that the choppers have graciously spared — 

 thanks to them. 



American Judas Tree — (Cercis canadensis) — 

 This is a beautiful tree when in blossom, which is in 

 the early part of April. The flowers appear before 

 the leaves, in large nvmierous clusters — are o! a fine 

 purple color and pea-blossom form ; leaves rich dark 

 green, medium size, heart-shaped, and very desirable 

 for its early blossoms. 



Stoneless Cherries. — There is a chance for 

 some of our farmers' boys to amuse themselves. 

 Cherries without stones are produced in France — 

 and if in France, they can be here. The process is 

 as follows : Early in spring, before the sap is in full 

 flow, a young bearing tree is divided in two, down 

 to the branching off of the roots, the pith carefully 

 removed with a wooden spatula, the parts again 

 united, (the air being excluded by an application 

 of potters' clay the whole length of the opening,) 

 and bound together by woolen cord. The sap soon 

 re-unites the severed parts, and in two years the 

 tree will produce cherries of the best kind, and hav- 

 ing in their centre, instead of the usual kernel, a 

 thin, soft pellicle. — Phil. Sat. Post. 



The above article has been circulated widely by 

 country newspapers — editors, no doubt, believing it 

 to be a very extraordinary and valuable discovery in 

 fruit culture — really " stoneless cherries" must be a 

 great delicacy in their luxurious imaginations. The 

 worst that we wish them is, that they may live to 

 witness the successful results of the experiment, 

 and eat heartily of " stoneless cherries." In our 

 humble opinion, however, farmers' boys, who feel 

 disposed, may amuse themselves in making experi- 

 ments of a much more rational and useful character 

 than this — let them all take such steps as will se- 

 cure an abundance of good old-fashioned cherries 

 first. This they cannot do, and need not attempt, 

 by any unnatural process. New and improved vari- 

 eties may be produced by the same legitimate and 

 scientific course pursued by Van Mens, Knight, and 

 others ; but not by splitting the trees and removing 

 the pith. It would be about as sensible to iop off" a 

 man's head, and take his heart out, with a view to 

 producing a superior variety of the genus homo! 



P.S. Since the above was written, we find this ar- 

 ticle in "Hovey's Magazine" for May. That being 

 the only journal in this country that pretends to elu- 

 cidate horticultural science, wo should have expected 

 some satisfactory vouchers for the authenticity of 

 the discovery, as well as some exposition of the 

 principles which it involves. We do not, however, 

 find either, and we are at a loss to know what they 

 wish their readers to think of it. 



The small space necessarily allotted to us for hor- 

 ticultural items, in this journal, does not enable us 

 to present our views as fully as we could wish on 

 this or any other subject. The reader, we presume, 

 is not at all sorry for that. The " stoneless cher- 

 ries" remind us of the tricky Monsieur somebody, 

 who sold such a quantit}' of wild single roses to our 

 citizens, in the spring of 1844, under the name of 

 Blue Moss Roses. These Frenchmen are cpicer 

 fellows, some of them ; they are continually start- 

 ling the world with their horticultural discoveries 

 and curiosities. 



