vol.. Wl. .NO. 31. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



ROHAN POTATO. 



We liMve had occasion to mention il,is potato 

 a ninnner to draw piililic curiosity stiongl.v lo- 

 iriLs it. We subjoin, tljcrctbrv, (Ne iiccoiint givi-ii 

 it in tlio Edinliiirgli QiiartLTly Joirrnal of A^. 

 ulture. Sofiieofiljese potatoes liavc heen raised 

 Mr Thompson of Catskill, and by Ju.lge Bnel 

 Albany, who received some tuber-s throiif;h the 

 Illness of Mr Thompson. The circumstances 

 ler which they have been cultivated here,were 



altogether favorable ; and the yield not so 

 at as represented in the Journal from which 



quote, but sufficiently remarkable to indulge 

 guine expectations of their extraordinary pro. 

 itiveness. Their value for eating has not been 

 irtained. Their value for stock is undoubted. 

 ; Agricultural Commissioner was able through 



politeness of Judge Buel to obtain a few 

 Its ; and others by purchase, which he will 

 I care to distribute among those who will give 

 u a fair trial. We learn that Messrs Ureck & 

 have the promise of a small quantity for sale 

 1 Catskill, which may be expected as soon as 

 season will admit of ti.eir transportation. 

 'he Rohan Potato, a new variety. — The follow. 

 s an extract from a letter written from Ge'ie- 

 f date 25th April 1834, by Prince Charles de 

 m to M. Jacq^iemot-Bonnefoiit, Nurseryman 

 iney, in the Ardeche. 



t send you, through my friend M. Romilly 

 otato which I promised you ; and to which 

 ame lias been given in this country. The 

 •y of this potato is not less singular than the 

 3 Itself. He who obtained it from seed four 

 ago shews it, but will not give it to any per- 

 he has refiKsed it to King William. He has 

 ated It m a little walled inclosure • he only 

 3 to see It in perfection, and the seed of the 

 ing year. He makes them to be taken up 



presence ; keeps them under lock and key 

 ' he cooked for hin.self and cattle before his 



It IS at great risk that I have been able to 

 re two tubers. This exclu.sive amateur hav- 

 arm that I had got some cactuses, which he 

 J much to have, begged tue to give him 

 I wished no money, but very much to 

 lome of his wonilerful potato. He gave me 



them, and made me give my word of hon. 

 t J would never sen.l any of them to Hol- 

 Belgium, England, I'russia, or Germany.— 

 ly he has not thouj.-ht of Switzerland nor 

 i; for without this omission, I could not 

 ad the pleasure of offering these to you 

 l"s IS the mode of cultivating this potato : 

 arth IS dug to the depth of twenty inches : 

 he distance between the holes four feet and 

 or three eyes, or sets, in each hole. Earth 

 \uently The stalks, reaching six or seven 



height, must be supported on transverse 

 Ihe kind being late, the tubers, which 

 y farinaceous, should only be taken up 

 'lartinmas, when the stalks wither 



give -you an idea of the extraordinary pro 



this potato, I give three examples at ran. 

 M. E. Martail, at Alias, gathered last an- 

 ibers weighing 13 lbs. 7 oz., 11 lbs. 9 oz., 

 is. 13 02. M. de Montet, a proprietor neaH 



243 



me, «„kr,l me for tubers wlien 1 could not give 

 limi mo;e than a single small tuber having four 

 pyps. He weighed it for curiosity, and found that 

 It wanted a few grains to n;ake 'half an oimre _ 

 However, this small tuber being planted, jroduc 

 '•it 48 ]-4 lbs. Tlie Attorney of the Abbey of 

 Auterive, canton of Friboiirg, to who'ii 1 had giv- 

 en two tubers two years ago, and who, delighted 

 with his first harvest, aft.-r having eaten and giv 

 en some to bis friend.s, planted the rest, and ob- 

 tained last autumn six double-horse loails and 

 eight scmtle-fulls. It is not the largest tubers 

 vvhich succeed best as seed."— Le Cultivateur 

 Journal des Progres Agricoles. 



WINTER SCENERY OF THE WHITE 

 MOUNTAINS No. I. 



A residence of a few weeks in a flourishin"-and 

 pretty town about 18 miles distant from the TaiiKe 

 of the White Hills, has lately enabled the writer 

 to visit that spot. Seldom any traveller, except 

 the man of business, is wont to take such a jour- 

 ney, to gaze on the magnificent desolation of win- 

 ter, which reigns for a great part of the year over 

 the region. Ascent of the principle peak, the lof- 

 ty Mount W.-.shington, is made when the bland 

 zephyr and the tardy breezes of .summer have 

 fanned its sides, and awakened into life and beau- 

 ty the alpine plants, which in daring hardihood 

 peculiar to themselves, thrive and bloom amid the 

 waste of rocks, and despite the influence of al- 

 most continual fro«. 1 was informed, however 

 that the peak in question was ascended on the lat- 

 ter part of November of the last year, immediatelv 

 after a snow storm, and on a very cold day, by aii 

 advent.iious English gentleman, under the gui- 

 dance of Mr Fabyar, who keeps the excellent 

 house, formeily occupied by Mr E. A. Crawford 

 It was in the evening of the second of January' 

 that I rode down as far as the Willey Houst' 

 through the stupendous rift of the "Notch." The' 

 moon w.as in silent beauty and majesty, shinin- 

 directly over the aby.ss, and silvering with its 

 mild light the [irecipitous mountain cliffs on either 

 side. The evening star shone brilliantly over a 

 range of peak.s, now sinking for a moment be- 

 neath some culminating point, now twinkling 

 amidst the feathery crest of shrubs and dwarfish 

 trees, ami anon resting as it were on some bold 

 and bare level, according as I wended my way 

 through the narrow defile. The denser and pur- 

 er streaks of snow and ice down the ravines denoted 

 the desolating track of frightful slides produced 

 by rains. Scarcely a sound broke on the ears — 

 Nature was iu its accustomed though silent beau- 

 ty ; the murmur and music of its thousand voices 

 of merry birds, ami leaping, babbling brooks, and 

 foaming waterfalls had ceased, under winter's im- 

 perious sway. And yet there was the music of 

 harmony and perfection, the eloquence of crea- 

 tion, in the siient appeals of grandeur and sublim- 

 ity. Deity was walking, as of ol,i, amidst the 

 scene ; invisible spirits were in attendance to min- 

 ister unto the higher capacities of man. 1 pluck- 

 ed a dried flower stem of the pearly "everlastin"'' 

 from the rude but proud mausoleum of the hum 

 ble family buried beneath the avalanche a kw 

 years ago, and retraced my ste|,s to "mine in " 



The mildness of the atmosphere denoted a 

 change of weather, nor was I disappointed on the 

 next morning to find the highest elevations envel- 

 oped in clouds and mist. A short but pleasant 



ramble enabled me to catch a glorious and exten- 

 ded prospect from the summit of fdount Vision 

 (or i\]ouiit Deception, as it is sometimes called,) 

 a hill rising to the height of 710 feet from the ad- 

 jaceiit plain. 'I'he precipice of the "Notch," vva.« 

 the only unclouded portion of the White ' Hills 

 over which the sun was just breaking from the 

 vapor, and ilhiminaling with peculiar splendor ila 

 snowy sides ; while far down the gap, on the most 

 distant horizon, a narrow but clear spot denoted 

 fair weather beyond, h seemed a glimpse to 

 some goodly an.l promised land, to the access of 

 which were intervening dangers and perils 



I observed the " h ,bernal vestiges " of many 

 interesting plants ; while numerous'beautiful moss- 

 ses and curious lichens were visible on the rocks 

 now dripping with the humidity of the morning.' 

 A species of Xylostcum, seemed the most abun- 

 dant plant, while the withered leaves of the di-' 

 minutive Cornus Canadensis, and the tall pedun- 

 cle of an ^d«a, denoted the garniture of summer, 

 of which these were sad but lingering mementos.' 

 Farther up, the broad footsteps of the gaunt and 

 grim wolf, easily distinguished by the print of the 

 two long claws projecting from the track, served 

 as an excellent guide to the easiest ascent; while 

 the recent marks of the timid hare, and the wild 

 screech of the blue jay, reminded me that life 

 was busy, even amid the seeming barrenness of 

 winter. Nor was I unattended. A group of 

 fairy minstrels, bedecked in a costume peculiar to 

 their vocation, and suitable to the inclement air 

 of the season, welcomed my api)ioach. With 

 their characteristic boldness, ihey twittered the 

 cheerful " Chick-a-dee, dee, dee!" as they flitted 

 from branch to branch, now near and now more 

 remote ; a simple lay, but eloquent and touching. 

 They were the black capped Titmice, the most 

 agile and prettiest of nature's birds, so well known 

 iw winter, nor unobserved amid the gayer tribes 

 of summer. What child has not noticed them, 

 or their song, when the fast falling snow drives 

 them to the door-step, or to the tall and dry stalk 

 of the sun-flower — now with clenched claw grasp- 

 ing a plum seed, and anon splitting it with re- 

 markable facility to extract the delicious kernel .' 

 A reception so gracious, was as pleasant as it was 

 unexpected, and added in no humble degree to 

 the enjoyment of the occasion. I could do no 

 less than join in their cheerfulness and glee, for 

 Nature was imprinting on my feelings the sensa- 

 tions of joy, and the juxury of existence, which 

 elicit the constant chorus of praise and gratitude 

 to Ihe Author of AW.—Horl. Register. (X ) 



Gardens in Cities.— For the plot in front, we 

 should recommend Auculia japonica as an ever- 

 green, because this remarkable plant, although a 

 native of Japan, endures the smoke of London 

 better than any indigenous evergreen shrub what- 

 ever, and, as a deciduous slirub, the common pur- 

 ple lilac, which is both hardv and beautiful and 

 comes early Into leaf. The trees in the back gar- 

 dan might be double-blossomed and scarlet thorns 

 both of which will grow and look well forat^leSst 

 eight Or ten years ; the laburnum, the almond, the 

 mulberry (which thrives admirably in the most 

 smoky places,) and the weeping or allsaints cher- 

 ry, which is one of the few flowering trees that 

 prosper in the gardens of Latiibeth Palace, though 

 enveloped in the smoke of numerous houses and 

 nfTmufactories. Ivy, whether common, giant, or 

 variegated, will thrive in the very lieart of Lon- 

 ' don. — Loude".'s Suburban Garrl-ner. 



