Vol. X.-No. 3S. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



299 



because it may be sawed l)y water niacliinery ; 

 such was the red sand stone fVoni Connectieut 

 river, which some yeare ago was much used in 

 Boston, and which has been superseded, in some 

 measure, by granite. Rocks of any kind, blown 

 by gunpowder, would also answer tlie purpose ; 

 and in fact, any stones that will lay a strong field 

 wall, may be made to answer a useful purpose for 

 building with mortar, if not a handsome house, at 

 least, a solid and lasting one. 



If the materials should be collooted in winter, 

 or at any leisure time, and be handy to the spot, 

 it is presumed that the cost of a neat and handsome 

 stone house, wonld not exceed much, if any, the 

 expense of a wooden building, when the timber 

 and the boards are to be purchased and carted 

 from some distance. 



I have endeavored to collect, as above, the re- 

 sult of my observation and the reminiscence of 

 yonnger daye, to satisfy in some measure, as you 

 wished, the inquiries of your friend ; from prac- 

 tical men he could obtain more precise and minute 

 information. A fact is evident to us all, which is, 

 that almost all over New Englaiul, the traveller 

 sees vast quantities of building stone, and almost 

 none but wooden buildings. Another fact, equally 

 certaiu, is, that the buildings in England, France, 

 and I believe the whole continent of Europe, are 

 tiled ; we have good clay almost all over New Eng- 

 land, and yet our buildings are ahnost all shingled. 

 Respectfully, yours, &c, J. M. G. 



ffeston, March 26, 1832. 



INJURY TO FRUIT TREES. 

 T. G. Fessenden, Esq. — Noticing several com- 

 niiinicatious from ditlerent sections of our country, 

 announcing the dire eftects on fruit trees, caused 

 by the past winter, I have made it a point to ex- 

 airiine its effects on our nurseries and on the or- 

 chards of this vicinity, and the result of these in- 

 vestigations has proved the injuries to be so trivial 

 in extent, that I have thought it well to communi- 

 cate the facts. Peach and apricot trees are gen- 

 erally deemed the most susceptible of injury by 

 cold, but I have not seen a tree of either species, 

 among all that are standing in our nursery rows, 

 that is injured; and even some peach trees, the 

 roots of which were buried in trenches last au- 

 tumn, have only about a third part of the blossom 

 buds killed, the others being green and perfect 

 ■when cut open, although on tlie outside they have 

 the appearance of being somewhat affected. I 

 particularly examined the buds of apricots, which 

 had been inserted by inoculation the past season, 

 and found them perfectly ahve and uninjured. I 

 have seen no plum or apple trees the least injured. 

 In regard to nectarines, the same remarks will 

 apply as made above in regard to peaches. Cher- 

 ries have in a few instances been injmed at the 

 extremities of the young shoots, where the trees 

 are young and the growth has been rapid ; but of 

 the thousands in our grounds, I dont think there 

 are two hundred which have been injured, and 

 those to so small a degree as to be unimportant ; 

 and on no tree over two years from the inocula- 

 tion, have' I seen even a branch affected. Pears 

 have withstood the winter remarkably well, and 

 although we have more than forty thousand that 

 are of two or more years' growth from the inocu- 

 lation, there is not a single tree of them that is in- 

 jured in the least. The only instance of any injury 

 is about fifteen trees of one year's growth, that 

 stand in a shady location exposed to the north, 



where the wood did not become well matured. 

 Ciuiufcs are entirely uninjured, but they appear to 

 possess, naturally, a very hardy character. Al 

 monds are also free from injury, except a ~few of 

 the tender twigs of the more delicate species. 

 Of the hibiscus syriacus, or the althea frutex, no 

 varieties are affected except the double white 

 and double deep blue, and these but partially so ; 

 and the varieties which we have originated here 

 from seed, appear to be exceedingly hardy. But 

 what surprises me most is the niorus muliicaulis, 

 which, contrary to my expectation, has not been 

 injured; this species, it is well known, continues 

 to vegetate to a later period in autiunn than most 

 other trees, and it is thence to he inferred that the 

 late formed shoots are more susceptible of injury, 

 hut even these appear to have been sufliciently 

 matured the past season, to withstand the rigor of 

 our winter. 



I can only account for the small extent of the 

 injiu-y sustained by the diflTercnt species of trees 

 in our nurseries, on the ground of location ; 

 the land being mostly elevated* and exposed to 

 all winds; to those from the ocean, on the south ; 

 to those from the sound or East- river, on the 

 north ; and to those of Flushing bay. on the west. 

 From this free and open exposure, the wood be- 

 comes luore fully matured during the summer, 

 and acquires a degree of hardihood which renders 

 tlie trees more cai)able of supporting the rigors of 

 winter, and when thus hardened by nature, they 

 are found extremely eligible for removal to colder 

 latitudes. I am therefore of opinion, that elevated 

 situations are decidedly to be preferred for nurse- 

 ries. Taking into consideration the frequent va- 

 riations from the extremes of cold and warmth, 

 which have distinguished the winter just passed, 

 1 consider it the most trying one, in its influence 

 on trees and plants, that I have ever experienced. 

 Yours, respectfidlv, 



VVM. ROBERT PRINCE. 

 Lin. Bat. Garden, March 24, 1832. 



js will be pro- 

 in better con- 



POULTRY. 



Mr Fesse>'de.\ — Allow me to make a few re- 

 marks upon poultry yards. Poultry are very profita- 

 ble incumbents of a farm, but not unless consider- 

 able care is devoted to them, for if left to take care 

 of themselves, they are the most vagrant and vex- 

 atious creatures living. Now I say, the art of 

 keeping them to advantage consists in having for 

 them a proper and convenient yard. In the first 

 place it should have a pleasant southern aspect ; 

 they will not thrive in a severe exposure, for if it 

 is placed as it frequently is, on the north side of a 

 barn or in some cold situation, that it may not oc- 

 cupy a choice spot or be in the way, the poultry 

 suffer, do not thrive, and when let out for recrea- 

 tion, will not return. In our severe winters, hens 

 are sometimes frozen, and as the most profitable 

 kind (a mixture of a small and the large English) are 

 somewhat delicate, from not being quite hardened to 

 our climate, care should be taken that the yard be 

 in a warm situation, which they so much prefer, 

 that they will lay, thrive and flourish, sufficient to 

 repay the expense of the situation. 



Next, a poultry yard should be in a dry situa- 

 tion, and for the simple reason that a damp and 

 wet ])lace is also generally cold, and fowls are fond 

 of light and fresh air. But I would observe, that 

 they should always have clean and fresh water, by 



From one part of our nursery gromuls, the rocky pal- 

 lisades of the Hudson are plainly visible. 



which a much greater number oft 

 (lueed, and the fowls themselves \y 

 dition for eating. 



Next, the yard should be large ; well and high 

 fenced, of course. The size must depend upon the 

 discretion of the raiser; I should say, the larger 

 the better ; it would depend upon the quantity of 

 space to spare, and the nund)er kejit. If it is 

 large, it will admit of many conveniences which 

 could not be aflbrded in a small yard — for Instance, 

 a part should be supplied with gravel, lime from 

 old bricks, rubbish of that kind and clean shells, 

 which fowls convert to their use. A part should 

 be occasionally turned over with the spade, a few 

 minutes labor, and which furnishes much food ; 

 there might be a few bushes or shrubs planted in 

 a part, as fowls are fond, in a sultry day, of repos- 

 ing in their shade, and the many insects creeping 

 about them, serve for a ready food — all this would 

 not require much space, though the more the bet- 

 ter. I would say concerning the poultry house, 

 which should open upon the yard, that the princi- 

 pal thing to be attended to is, that it be kept as 

 clean as possible ; or the hens will wander, if pos- 

 sible, and prefer the sweet scented hay-mow for 

 their purposes. There is a double profit in keep- 

 ing the house clean, as the fowls not oidy thrive 

 better, lay a greater number of eggs easy to be 

 got, but the contents when swept out, are the 

 most useful of garden manure. The poultry 

 house, if in a conspicuous situation, might be of a 

 fanciful and tasteful form. 



These remarks are the result of some experi- 

 ence, and are suggested on the consideration of 

 the high price of eggs in the market, generally, 

 and more esjjccially the past winter, and of the 

 high price of fowls, when well raised and well 

 cooked. W. 



THE SEASON. 



Extract of a letter to the Editor, dated Johnstown, 

 A'. 1'. March 23, 18.32. 



We have had, thus far, a very severe winter 

 with us. The snow felj here on the 21st day of 

 November last, and the ground has not been bare 

 since. The snow is now on an average in the 

 wood about us, three feet deep, and the sleighing 

 very good. A gentleman who has been careful to 

 measure every snow that has fallen since Novem- 

 ber last, tells me that' we have had more than 

 twenty feet of snow. The thermometer in De- 

 cember was at eight degrees below zero ; in Jan- 

 uary, at twentyfour degrees below zero ; in Feb- 

 ruary, at twenty degrees below zero ; -and in the 

 present month of March, at sixteen degrees below 

 zero. This will give you rather a frightful picture 

 of the severity of our climate. Yet, the snow 

 having fallen early, there is but little frost in the 

 earth ; and many tender plants, to wit, the poly- 

 anthus, carnation, magnolia, and China roses, in 

 the open ground, will have escaped uninjured 

 from the severity of the frost. 



Yours, &c, T. A. STOUTENBURGH. 



Frnit Trees. — The editor of the Worcester Spy 

 says, from some observation and inquiry, there is 

 good reason to believe, that that vicinity has al- 

 most entirely escaped the evil which seems to 

 have fallen on other parts of the country. In 

 many orchards and nurseries, the trees look re- 

 markably well, and there is no reason to suppose, 

 that, throughout the conntiy, they have suffered 

 more in the average, than in common seasons. 



