102 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Oct. P2, 1&3L 



grass had become a little too much ri|)encd was 

 sometimes iiistiuiiiental in producing the same 

 effect. Lorain's Husbandry contains several pas- 

 sages implying that the second crop of clover 

 was a well known cause of Ptyalism in his vicin- 

 ity. The probability is that there are several 

 sorts of vegetable poisons, which produce the 

 same or similar cflTects in horses; and that to at- and transmitted to me at the same time tlie Char- 



I-'lurcnce, 29th June, 1631. 

 Henry A. S. Deardorn, Esq. 



Pres. of Ihe Mass. Hnrl. Soc. DosKin. 



Sir — I have received the honor of your letters 

 of the 12ih August, 18'29, and of the 6th of 

 December last, in the former of which you in- 

 formed me that I had been elected a corresponding 

 member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 



tribute the slobbering of horses exclusively to any 

 one of the causes assigned for it is erroneous. 



Proceedings of ihe Massachusetts HorlievUural So- 

 ciety, at a meeting held at the Hall of the Insti- 

 tution, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 1831. 

 The President made the following report. 

 Since the last meeting of the Society, letters 

 have been transmitted to Doct. Van Mens, of Lo- 

 vain, in Belgium, announcing our grateful acknow- 

 ledgments for the scions of his choice collection 

 of pears, and the portion of his valuable Porno- 

 graphic Belgique Moderne, which he so kindly 

 presented, and requesting that he would do us the 

 favor of sending dni)licates of the former, and of 

 such other new varieties, as were considered 



quisitions by the amateurs and cultivators of Eu- I vate individuals, except the garden of the Imperial 

 rope. He was assured that his very acceptable Royal Academy^ of Geoigofili, and the Botanical 

 favors shoidd be reciprocated and that a package Garden, adjoining to the Boboli Garden, belong- 

 of scions of our native fruili would be forwarded ing to the Grand Duke. The fortunes of the noDil 



ter, Constitution, By-laws, &c, of that Institution, 

 and in the latter advised me that you transmitted 

 to me its diploma. 



I regret that my inability on subjects relating 

 to rural economy will prevent me from giving your 

 Society that useful information that they might 

 expect ; furthennore, the very insufficient patron- 

 age and encouragement bestowed on the art of 

 Horticulture by the Tuscan government, and by 

 the Tuscan nobility and gentry, cause that the 

 great advantages of tliis country, which from the 

 variety of its soil and from the softness of it's cli- 

 mate, might lender it the spot of the finest hor- 

 lulan display, remain still in a great degree un. 

 improved. 



There are in Florence no conservatories of pri 



to him next February. 



Letters have also been written to La Vicomte 

 Hericort De Thury, President of the Hor. Soc. of 

 Paris, the Chevalier Soulange Bodin, founder of 

 the celebrated Garden of Fromont, G. C. Earnet, 

 Esq. Consul of the U. S. in Paris, and Col. Thomas 

 Aspinwall, Consul in London, on subjects relative 

 to Horticulture, and especially desiring plans and 

 descriptions of some of the most celebrated Gar- 

 dens of Experiment and Rural Cemeteries, in 

 France and Great Britain. 



Letters have been received from Henry Pid- 

 dington, Esq. Foreign Secretary of the Agricul 

 tural and Horticultural Society of India, James 

 Ombrosi, Esq. Consul of the U. S. in Florence 

 and Doct. J. S. Rogers of Hartford, with a box of 

 Black Hautbois Strawberry plants. As the latter 

 arrived last Monday they have been set out, 

 they shouhl perish, and will be distributed, next 

 season, among the members. 



Respectfully submitted by 



H. A. S. Deareob.n, 



C.-ilciilla, Mnrch 1, I?:il. 

 To Ihe Secretary of the AgriciillurnI ami Mori. Society of Bosiod. 

 Sir — The Agricultural and Horticultural Socle- 

 ' ty of India have directed me to request your kind 

 attention to ihe present circular. 



The Society are convinced that the freest possi- 

 ble exchange of the natural productions of every 

 country will be found in the end most conducive 

 to the prosperity of all, and guided by these priu- 

 ciides, they desire to offer both to societies and 



ity and gentry in Tuscany not being such as to 

 enable them to a lavish expenditure on their 

 grounds and gardens, and from their being inclined 

 to expenditures of another kind. 



The most remarkable plants we have in Tuscany 

 are the different kinds of Olive trees, of mulberry 

 trees, among which there is a new one with very 

 broad leaves and shrubby, and also fruit trees of 

 every kind, the most part of which from the Le- 

 vant, and from the north, to wit, from Gerinany, 

 and also forage plants, among which red trefoil 

 is of the greatest usefulness with us. 



Our implements do not present anything remark- 

 able ; our ploughs, and spades, being almost the 

 same heavy ones made use of by the old Romans. 



As to the cultivation of all sorts of kitchen 

 herbs, as cabbages, salads, and the like, in the 

 neighborhood of Florence, they are rather industri- 

 ous, and they have them in a fine method. I will 

 send your Society some seeds next winter, in or- 

 der that they may reach you in the Spring. 



The new trees introduced in Tuscany since a 

 few years, are for the most part ornamental ones, 

 the most part from America, as various kinds of 

 ash-trees, maple trees, and oaks. 



There are but a few per.-'ons in Tuscany who 

 devote themselves to rural pursuits, and those (cw 

 ones are not capable of holding a scientific corres- 

 pondence. The best instructed gentleman is Doc- 

 tor Anthony Taryvoni Torretti, prof, of Chemis- 

 try in the Imperial Royal Lyceum, and professor 

 of Botany and materia niedica, of whom honor;i 



individuals in every quarter of the globe any of the '''e mt^'Xion must be made, and whose exertions 



Agricultural and Horticultural inoducts of India 

 or any information relative thereto, which may be 

 desired, in exchange fur such as may be forward- 

 ed or communicated to tlicni. It will be most 

 gratifying to the Society, if you can point out to 

 them any desiderata which can be supplied from 

 India, or if you can by any means forward to them 

 seeds, plants, useful coinmunications or suggestions. 

 The Society will feel much obliged by your giving 

 every publicity in your power to this communication. 

 I am. Sir, yours, &c, He.mit Piddington. 



Foreigu Sec. Agr. and Hort. Soc. India. 



are highly inerilorioiis, though little helped and 

 assisted by the liberality both of our Grand Duke, 

 and of our Government. Should jour Society 

 want any information on any particular subject he 

 will be very happy in giving it. 



The most industrious Pepinierisle or nursery- 

 gardener in Tuscany for ornamental trees is Mr 

 Beiu-a, a native of France, formerly gardener lo 

 Count Bouterlin, a Russian ; but he now chieHy 

 imports the plants from Chambery and from Turin, 

 where is Mr Boudin. 



As to the plants lately introduced in Tuscany, 



it is not yet ascertained how they will succeed, 

 the seeds having been lately imported from Egypt, 

 to wit, various kinds of Acacias, and of legum- 

 inous and graminaceous plants. 



The best collections consist of different varieties 

 of citrons, lemons and oranges, which Florence 

 has abundance of. As to flowers we have all the 

 Camellias, and the Tuscan nobility and gentry 

 all have some plants, but their collections are very 

 small and imperfect. ( 



Our best work on agricultural subjects is the 

 Agrarian Journal, published by Beussieux, to which ' 

 a part is joined of the Acts of the Georgofili So- 

 ciety. 



We have no new method on anything whatso- 

 ever, except on the bringing up of the silk worms, 

 and on the manner of making or spinning Sillt. 



I will procure you in the month of Sepicmber, 

 the different kinds of seeds which I shall think 

 most suitable for you. 



Begging you to be with your Society the inter- 

 preter of my sentiments of gratitude for the high' 

 honor they have conferred on me, I remain very 

 respectfully. 



Sir, your most obedient servant, 



James Ombrost, 



U. S. Consul at Florence. 



Hartford, Sept. S4, 1831. 



Mt Dear SiR^ — I avail myself of the ojiportu- 

 nity afforded by the return of my brother-in-law, 

 Mr Bowdoin, to forward to you a small bo.x con- 

 taining a few strawberry plants of a kind which, 

 with me, has proved very choice, both in regard 

 to the ipiality of the fruit and the abundance in 

 which it is yielded. The original stock was given 

 to me, about eighteen months since, under the 

 name of ' Black Hautbois,' and I have had this 

 summer, an opportunity of comparing it with 

 some other varieties which have been growing 

 side by side, with it. In the same compartment of 

 my garden with it, I have the common Hautbois, 

 the Chili, the Pine Apple, the white Hautbois, 

 the French Hautbois, — and I should give it the de- 

 cided preference to either or all of them ; it ri- 

 pened about a week after the common Hautbois ; 

 continued to produce fruit for about six weeks ; 

 and although its quantity munerically was, per- 

 haps rather less than that of the other, it was fully 

 equal, if estimated by weight, as the berries are 

 considerably larger. It is probable that its flavor 

 might not be acceptable to all, as it is pecuhar; 

 differing from that of any other fruit with which 

 I am acquainted ; to me, however, it was very 

 agreeable. I may also remark that the Black 

 Hautbois suffered less from some very dry weath- 

 er which we had while it was coming forward, 

 than the other varieties which were near it. 



I know not but that I am treading on ground 

 which has been frequently passed over ; but as 

 this article is new to me, and as I found no one in 

 this vicinity who knows it, I have ventured to send 

 it, as at least an evidence of my desire to contrib- 

 ute my mite to the general stock of horticultural 

 knowledge which is so largely indebted to the 

 Massachusetts Society for its diffusion in this sec- 

 tion of our country. 



The ' Pine Apple strawberry,' which you were 

 so good as to send me about two years since, I 

 planted beside some plants which we have cultiva- 

 ted as the ' Chili ;' we have given the same atten- 

 tion in every respect, to each, and I can find no 

 difference either in the plants, or in the fruit, al- 

 though I have compared them together at differ- 



