126 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Aug. 1845 



ed, as we feel assured it will be, its influence will 

 be bencficiallj felt, in a few years, throughout the 

 whole of Canada West. 



Its next exhibition will be held in September. 

 We will endeavor to be present. 



The Fruits and Fruit Trkes of America, by A. 

 J. Downing, of Nkwbl'rgh, N. Y. 



This work, for which we have been looking' with 

 considerable anxiety for some time past, has at 

 length made its appearance ; and from the rather 

 cursory examination which we have given it, we 

 can say that it is the most complete and useful book 

 of the kind yet produced in this country. 



This was to be expected, not so much on account 

 of the peculiar qualifications of Mr. Downing, as of 

 the great facilities afforded for the compilation of 

 such a work, by the recent careful and systematic 

 investigations of European as well as American 

 Horticultural Societies, and the increased general 

 attention given to fruit culture every where. 



The work has evidently been prepared with a 

 great deal of labor and care, and with a view to 

 make it as perfect as possible at the present staije 

 of American experience in this department. We 

 cannot convey to our readers an idea of the impor- 

 tance of the work any better than by giving a sketch 

 of the van JUS subjects of which it treats. 



Chapter 1. Treats of the production of new vari- 

 eties of fruit. 



2. Propagation of varieties, grafting, budding, &.c. 



3. Pruning. 



4. Training. 



5. Transplanting. 



C. Position of fruit trees, soil and aspect. 



7. General remarks on insects injurious to fruit 

 trees. 



8. The Apple — history, uses, propagation, plant- 

 ing, pruning, insects injurious to it, gathering, keep- 

 ing the fruit, cider making ; and a description of 186 

 varieties, with engraved outlines, natural size, of 

 upwards of 30 varieties. 



9. T^ha Almond — history, uses, culture. Sic; with 

 a description of 7 fruit-bearing and 2 ornamental va- 

 rieties. 



10. The Apricot — history, uses, cultivation, and 

 diseases, with a description of 16 varieties. 



11. The Babernj — uses, culture, fcc, and de- 

 scription of 4 varieties. 



12. The Cherry — its history, uses, cultivation, 

 training, gathering the fruit ; with a description of 

 the several classes, and of 37 varieties, with en- 

 graved outlines of 31 varieties. 



13. T\ie Currant — uses, propagation, and culture; 

 with a description of 10 fruit-bearing and several 

 ornamental varieties. 



14. The Cranberry — general remarks on its lo- 

 calities, culture, uses, SiC. 



15. Th^Fifr — history, propagation, culture; with 

 a description of 15 varieties. 



16. The Gooseberry — its history, uses, propaga- 

 tion, and cultivation ; with a description of 40 sorts, 

 esteemed by Mr. Downing as most valuable. 



17. The Grape — Its history, uses, soil adapted to 

 its culture, propagation, cultivation under glass, with 

 and without heat — descriptive figure of a vinery — 

 Insects and diseases peculiar to the grape — adcscrip- 

 cription of 35 varieties of foreign grapes, 3 of ficm 

 figured in outline: lilack Hamburgh, Royal Musca- 

 dine and fVhite Muscat of Alexandria. Also a chap- 

 ter on the cultivation of the native grapej in the 



garden and vineyard — remarks on the diseases to 

 which they are liable — an i a description of twelve 

 varieties, 5 of them figured in outline, natural size; 

 viz: the IJland, Cutawba, PUs'ngburgh, Isabella, and 

 Ohio. 



18. The Mulberry. 



19. The .Xut. — Description and cultivation of the 

 walnut, hickory nut, filbert, Slc. 



20. The Plum. — Its history, uses, propagation 

 and culture — soil adapted to it — Insects and diseases 

 which attack it, with speculations on their causes, 

 preventives and remedies — and description of 97 va- 

 rieties, 29 of them figured in outline, natural size. 



21. The Pear, as the author says, " the favorito 

 fruit of modern times and modern cultivators.'' — Its 

 history, uses, gathering and keeping the fruit, prop- 

 agation, soil, culture — diseases — with a description 

 of 233 varieties, 80 of them represented in outline 

 figures, natural size. 



22. The Peach. — Its history, uses, propagation, 

 soil, and situation — pruning, training, insects and 

 diseases, with quite an elaborate disquisition on the 

 yellows; in which the author seems inclined to ad- 

 vocate the belief that this is a "constitutional taint," 

 existing in many American varieties of the peach and 

 produced, in the first place, by bad cultivation, in- 

 stead of being, as many suppose, a "contagious 

 disease" — to which is added, remarks on the distinc- 

 tive characters of the leaves of classes — and descrip- 

 tion of 79 varieties. 



23. The JVectarine. — History, culture, k.c. — and 

 description of 18 varieties. 



24. The Quince. — History, uses, propagation, 

 soil and culture — and description of five varieties — 

 three fruit bearing and two ornamental. 



25. The Raspberry and Blackberry. 



26. The Strawberry. — History, culture, &tc. — a 

 description of 36 varieties, with figures of the two 

 newest and best American seedlings: Hovey's and 



27. The Musk Melon. [Roes'. 



28. The JFater Melon. 



29. The Orange Family. 



30. The Olive. 



31. The Pomegranate. 



Then follows an essay on the " Duration of vari- 

 eties of fruit trees" — and the book closes with a very 

 useful appendage: a key to the pronounciation of 

 French names. 



INSECT BLIGHT. 



Mr. Editor — At the request of several gentle- 

 men, I give you a few lines upon the subject of the 

 ravages of an enemy to our orchards, commonly 

 called the insect blight. Some cases of it have oc- 

 curred in this vicinity from year to year, but this 

 summer it has been very prevalent; and unless all 

 interested join in its extermination, the production 

 of quinces, apples, and pears will be very much di- 

 minished. 



Scolytus pyri is the name of the insect causing' 

 this destruction, and it is so small as to be rarely 

 seen, though he leaves marks visible in almost every 

 orchard and yard. I have this summer examined 

 many branches stung by them, some just beginning 

 to wilt, and others quite dead, without being able 

 to find the insect in its beetle shape, though I have 

 found the larvro in the shape of a minute white grub, 

 which would not be noticed unless carefully search- 

 ed for. 



From the fact that many of this year's shoots have 

 been afTectcd at the centre of the growth, I think 



