VOl.. XII. NO. 5. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



35 



much more regarding it, but again refer your read- 

 ers to the essays above referred to. 



Very respectfully, yours, 



WM. B. MEARES. 



EDITORIAL,. 



On raising .flpplt Trees from Seeds, Cross-fertili- 

 zation, ire. — The following is the substance of an 

 article which was published in the Horticultural 

 Register for May last, with the signature J. C. K. 



The best time to sow apple seeds is in au- 

 tumn, immediately after they have been taken from 

 the fruit ; for if delayed till spring, the greater 

 part will be found to have lost their germinating 

 power. But if it is determined to keep them, they 

 must be mixed with sand and closed from the air; 

 this occasions considerable trouble, if the pippins 

 of different varieties, as they always should be, are 

 preserved distinct. 



In practising cross fertilization the writer adopts 

 the following mode : 



" After selecting a few conveniently situated 

 branchlets, in different parts of a tree, I remove 

 all the blossoms, with the exception of three or 

 four of the most promising, from which, a day 

 or two before their expansion, I extract the an- 

 thers with a small pair of scissors, or tweezers, 

 and cover each branchlet with a piece of thin 

 gauze, taking care that no opening lie left by which 

 bees, flies, or other insects, might gain admission, 

 an 1 thereby mar the experiment by bearing to the 

 stigma the pollen of some variety other than the 

 one I may desire to employ. The gauze should 

 also be rendered secure, so that the wind may not 

 partially open it, nor entirely carry it away. When 

 the blossoms are fully expanded, and the stigma 

 by bursting is ready to receive the influence of the 

 pollen, it must be supplied by the application of a 

 flower of whatever variety has been fixed upon as 

 the male parent, and the gauze replaced till the 

 fruit is set. As the fruit increases in size, if more 

 than one or two remain, judge which gives the 

 best promise of attaining perfection, and the rest 

 remove ; it will be advisable to distinguish each 

 branch by a label affixed. The above, or some 

 similar method alone can determine with any cer- 

 tainty which is the male parent ; or indeed there 

 may be many, which accounts for the diversity of 

 the products obtained from seeds of the same in- 

 dividual fruit. 



"Last year I gathered the first produce of some 

 seedling strawberries, raised by cross fertilization 

 in a similar manner ; and am looking forward 

 to the result of subsequent experiments, which 

 from the success I have already attained leads me 

 to believe will prove highly satisfactory. Two or 

 three of the varieties obtained, (but one more es- 

 pecially) possess excellent properties of growth, 

 fecundity and flavor, and differ remarkably from 

 any previous one which has come under my ob- 

 servation. * * * 



" Throughout the vegetable kingdom, it is found 

 that there is a certain point or degree of ramifica- 

 tion more or less in different individual members, 

 removed from the parent stem, previous to the 

 attainment of which, a plant is incapable of put- 

 ting forth fruit blossoms ; the cause of this it were 

 difficult to explain satisfactorily. Having ascer- 

 tained the numerical amount of this requisite de- 

 gree of ramification in conjunction with a knowl- 

 edge of thu habits of the plants, as to the number 

 of successive shoots it protrudes in the course of 

 the year, we may form a pretty accurate estimate 



of the length of time required before it shall attain 

 to a fruit bearing state. 



" Thus, other circumstances remaining the 

 same, the oak, did it not send forth two shoots, 

 the one in spring, the other in autumn, would be 

 double the long period it now is, ere it begun to 

 produce acorns. The exact number, however, 

 cannot be ascertained, since all traces by which 

 they might be computed are in the older portions 

 of the wood entirely lost. It is by earlier inducing 

 this degree in the melon, which is generally the 

 second from the main stem, that the pruning or 

 stopping is effective towards the accelerating of 

 the emission of fruit blossoms. 



" In the apple the twelfth, and the pear the eigh- 

 teenth, are about the minimum number of degrees 

 of ramification distant from the parent stem that 

 are required ere flowers are put forth ; that period, 

 however, is often protracted. In computing these 

 numbers, a shoot succeeding after a quiescent pe- 

 riod, whether still projected in a line with the 

 older wood, or at an angle from it, is equally con- 

 sidered as a distinct branch ; there is indeed a 

 knot at the junction, as much of the one as the 

 other ; anil it is the number of these knots, by re- 

 tarding the flow, or causing the accumulation of 

 the sap, which would appear to bear some part in 

 effecting a fruitful .state. From these circum- 

 stances the inference to be drawn is, that if we 

 can cause the formation of three or four succes- 

 sive shoots in the course of the year instead of 

 one, or at the most two (as would be the case were 

 the tree left to its natural growth,) that we shall 

 thereby anticipate by a half or two thirds, the 

 usual period of fructification. 



" With this aim then, it will be necessary to 

 maintain the young seedlings by due care and ju- 

 dicious culture in a vigorously growing state, and 

 two or three times, or even oftener, as the cir- 

 cumstances may warrant, nip oft" or prune back 

 the leading shoot, whereby at each operation a 

 new branch will be protruded, which otherwise 

 would not have been the case, until the succeed- 

 ing spring. By a continued repetition, however, 

 of these operations an inconvenient number of di- 

 verging shoots will also be excited ; consequently 

 attention must be paid to regulating their number, 

 by disbudding the branches accordingly, which 

 will also infuse more vigor into those remaining. 

 It will not be advisable to continue the stopping 

 far into the season, otherwise the young wood will 

 not have time to ripen ; and the frosts of winter, 

 by killing the new-formed portions, will counter- 

 act the advantage obtained. By duly following 

 this method, the usual period of fructification will 

 be shortened with the apple, to and from the fifth 

 to the seventh year, instead of the twelfth to the 

 twentieth, and the pear in like proportion." 



Birds. When the corn-crake (Ortygometra 

 crex,) is alarmed, it has the instinct in common 

 with some other animals, and especially insects, to 

 feign death. A gentleman had one brought him 

 by his dog ; it was dead to all appearance. As it 

 lay on the ground, he turned it over with his fjot ; 

 he was convinced it was dead. Standing by, 

 however, some time, in silence, he suddenly saw 

 it open one eye. He then took it up, its head 

 fell, its legs hung down, it appeared again totally 

 dead. He then put it into his pocket, and before 

 very long felt it all alive and struggling to escape ; 

 he took it out, it was lifeless as before. He then 

 laid it on the ground, and retired to some distance : 



in about five minutes it warily raised its head, 

 looked round and decamped at full speed. — Field 

 Nat. Mag. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS AT THE MASS. 

 HORT. SOC. ROOMS. 



Saturday, .dug. 10, 1833. 



Thomas Mason, Charlestown Vineyard, Cam- 

 panula pyramidalis ; Dahlias, variety. 



S. Walker, Roxbury, Dahlia Dennisii ; do. La 

 Brilliant ; do. Hall's Mogul ; do. Barrett's Susan- 

 nah ; Cantua coronopifolia ; Phlox pyramidalis. 



M. P. Wilder, Dorchester ; Rosa Thea, brae- 

 teata plena ; do. a new French tea Rose ; do. 

 Gen. La Fayette ; a new French Noisette rose — 

 both imported by Col. Wilder. 



Wm. Kenrick, Newton, Malva rosea-; Monarda 

 fistulosa ; Lobelia fulgeus ; Helianthus multiflora; 

 Bignonia Minor ; Tradescantia alba. &, rubra Dah- 

 lias ; Magnolia cordata, or yellow twice flowering. 



P. B. Hovey, Jr. Cambridgeport, Dahlia, Blaz- 

 ing Comet ; Alexandria Victorina ; Nuttalii, Coc— 

 cenia Superb ; Washingtonian, seedling. 



EXHIBITION OF FRUITS. 



Apples. By Mr. Whitmarsh, Early Bough and 

 Early Harvest. By E. Vose, Esq. Early Shrop- 

 shirevine, or Sops of wine. By M. I'. Wilder, 

 Dorchester, Red Summer Colville. By Mr. R.- 

 Ward, Roxbury, Early Sops of wine. By E. M. 

 Richards, Benoni, Red Juneating and Large Early 

 Bough. By Robert Maiming, Red Astracan. 

 By Mr. Joshua Gardner, Dorchester, River Apple. 



Pears. By Eben. T. Andrews, Esq. Dorchester,, 

 Bellissime d'ete or Beauty of summer. 



Plums. By Mr. Manning, Prince's Blue Pri- 

 mordial!, a small, oblong, early, sweet plum ; Da- 

 mas D'ltalie or Italian Damask, a large and beau- 

 ful round plum of a blue or violet color and fine 

 flavor — as early as the preceding, and very pro- 

 ductive. By Air. Samuel Pond of Cambridge, spe- 

 cimens for a name, of a large, round and hand- 

 some purple plum, of a sweet fine flavor at ma- 

 turity — a native introduced by Mr. Pond to notice, 

 and named by the committee Pond's Purple Plum. 

 By Col. Wilder, large round purple plums, not yet 

 at maturity, and name unknown. By Mr. Isaac 

 Bailey of Newbury, Vt. a Branch with unripe spe- 

 cimens of the Canada Plum. 



Apricots. By Mr. Samuel Pond, a fine specimen. 



Grapes. By Hon. Richard Sullivan, six beau- 

 tiful clusters of ripe Black Hamburg from his 

 grape house in Brookline — the largest bunch weigh- 

 ing 2| lbs. 



A fine specimen of sewing silk was presented 

 by Mr. Brooks, which was reeled, twisted and 

 doubled by the machine lately invented by him — 

 the whole being operated by a single movement. 

 William Kenrick. 



N. B. The following regulations have been 

 adopted by the Committee. The exhibition of 

 fruits will in future close at 12 o'clock ; and visit- 

 ers are respectfully requested to withdraw at this 

 liour — after which the examination by the com- 

 mittee will take place. Those who offer fruits for 

 exhibition only, will please to call or send for them 

 by one o'clock, at which hour the doors of the 

 Hall will be finally closed. 



Per order of the Committee, 



William Kenrick. 



Errata in last week's report. Under Pears ; for " Posse/' 

 read Passe ; for " d'eti" read d'ete ; for " Breeze of Summer" 

 read Beauty of Summer. 



