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PUULISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AU. o^, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Ahkic ulturai. Waiu house.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



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BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL, 11, 1832. 



NO. 39. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Mr Editor — Ilaviiii:;, iliu-iiig tlic past season, 

 kept a jdiirnal oCsuiiie few horticultural operations, 

 I DOW sriiil it to you in the hope (imperfect as it 

 is,) that it may be of some use to your readers. 

 What I spikI is a copy, with the e.\ception of a 

 few omissions not important enough to he tran- 

 scribed. I send it to you. Sir, with great diffidence 

 as respects my skill in gardening and horticultural 

 accomplishiVients, generally, compared with those 

 of many of your ingenious correspondents; but 

 with entire confidence in my fidelity and most 

 anxious desire to advance our captivating, enno- 

 bling art, You will see that I have taken notice of 

 some of the most common, everyday operations of 

 the garden. This can l)e of no service to many of 

 your readers, but it may to some. There are al- 

 ways beginners, as I was, upon removing from the 

 city of Albany to the country, nine years since, to 

 whom even the simplest instructions are valuable; 

 indeed we must begin with A B C in every art 

 and science ; and tlie greatest error, perhaps, in 

 those who attempt to instruct is, that they consid- 

 er too many things as already known. 



Besides, Sir, many of these common circum- 

 stances that I have mentioned, may give all your 

 readers some idea of differences of climate. 



As to these particulars, they should know tlrat 

 my residence is at Stockbridge, Mass. thirty miles 

 from the Hudson, in the County of Berksliire, in 

 the latitude of Kinderhook on that river. I give 

 you, Sir, my name as a pledge of fidelity, and I 

 cannot but think that it would be more conducive 

 to the cause of truth and science, if the like were 

 generally done in such communications. I see 

 that many of your correspondents are anonymous, 

 with whom I should be ashamed to compare my- 

 self, either as a practical or learned gardener — it 

 is a fiilse modesty and injurious to our art. Mr 

 J6hn Lowell, who is our greatest benefactor in 

 this State, one of the greatest, certainly, to the 

 country, and whose general attainments, sound 

 judgment and pure life, are not surpassed, even by 

 his own great accomplishments, in our department, 

 has in this respect placed before even the humblest 

 of us, a tnie example. At a long distance from 

 him, I follow. 



I have inclosed in brackets, observations noio 

 made upon the subjects mentioned in the journal. 

 The reader will see that the various absences men- 

 tioned, have rendered it more imperfect than it 

 might otherwise have Ijeen. . 



THEODORE SEDGWICK. 



IVest Stockbridge, Mass. 



JOURKAL. 



1831. March 11th. Sowed lettuce and pepper- 

 grass seed in hot-bed. 



15th. Sowed, to be transplanted, in box No. 1, 

 Musk-melon, Green, [the name of an individual 

 from whom the seed was received ;] boxes Nos. 2, 

 3, 4, .5, Minorfti;.(3, 7, 8, large Ribbed Montreal ; 

 [these were sown in wooden boxes without bot- 

 tom, not having pots enough. The box is a bad 

 thing, as I was informed before I tried it — the 



wood absorbs moisture very rapidly, and inde[)cn- 

 deutly of that, for the plants had moisture enough 

 the wood seems to be unfavorable to the root oi 

 the jilant.] 



15th. SowedSpinach in hot-bed and on terraces. 

 24th. S|)inach in hot-bed up ; Lettuce ditto ; 

 Pejjper-grass about four days since. 



'U'nh. Planted, in pot No. 1, Casaba, [said to 

 be excellent in the P.Iediterranean, but cannot give 

 the correct name ;] Musk-melon, 2d ditto ; Dela- 

 van, .3d ditto ; 4, Green ; 5, C, Minorca ; 7, 8, large 

 Ribbed Montreal; 9, 10, 11, Boston Cantelope. 

 Planted also Cucumberseed in eight Squash shells, 

 [these are shells of the large summer Squash ; the 

 ]>lants flourished more in these shells than in the 

 J)oxes, or the pots. I find no difficulty in break- 

 ing them when the plant' is to be put out. The 

 bottom of the shell is cut out when the seed is 

 sown, to permit the roots of the plant to enter the 

 ground, their confinement in the pot seems to he 

 injurious. In the large shells I had the finest 

 plants, and have saved fine shells this year for this 

 purpose. It is 'proper to mention here, that the 

 numbers of my pots got into confusion, and my 

 plants, though put down in four different parts of 

 two gardens, of course became intermixed. 



2.5th. Sowed Cape Brocoli ; Montreal ; ditto 

 early York, ditto purple Cabbages. [These Bro- 

 coli seeds were Cabbage ; all false.] 



2Gth. Put out on terraces, in jjoxes, Kidney 

 potatoes to sprout for early potatoes, covered with 

 horse manure. 



April 1st. Put charcoal refuse about Baltimore 

 Grape, on surface of the ground. [I call this 

 " Baltimore " because I received the plants from 

 a friend there, it is very much like the Isabella, if 

 not the very thing. As to names, I hope that Mr 

 Prince's book will prove valuable to us, and his 

 nomenclature. It is certain that we ara in great 

 confusion now. As to kinds, I have many of 

 those usually recommended at the nurseries, and 

 by friends ; several of these I have rejected as 

 worthless where I am, on account of climate, and 

 I can say with truth, that had my varieties not 

 extended beyond three or four, I should have been 

 saved a great deal of vexation.] 



2d. Planted bishop and blue imperial dwarf 

 Peas ; sowed Cauliflower, Radish and Tomatoes, 

 in hot-bed. [These cauliflower seed, also entirely 

 false.] 



15th. Took jip several sweet-water grapes and 

 transplanted thetn ; buds not started, and wood 

 does not bleed when cut, season not being forward 

 enough. Took up the box of pippin Apples, 

 buried below the frost on terraces, about three- 

 quarters entirely sound ; all somewhat mouldy 

 from dampness, but not injured thereby ; mould 

 wiped off. [Apples in my ground have deteriora- 

 ted greatly in a few years. For the three last 

 years, including the present, there has not been 

 one apple in a hundred, not stung by the insect ; 

 this year worse than ever. I found the mode of 

 burying more jjerfect than any other for preserva- 

 tion ; though for two years i)ast, I have put many 

 with great care in cut straw, a layer of apples and 

 then a layer of straw. The burying is trouble- 

 some and not to be recommended ; where apples 

 keep well, I prefer the straw.] 



IGth. Uncovered some of njy vines and put by 

 them bass mats, in order to cover them at night 

 till the frosts are over. Tied all the limbs of the 

 vines, te.npomrily, to lower bar of trellises, in order 

 to cover without breaking young shoots, some 

 buds beginning to swell. [These mats I find very 

 usefid ; they come about Russia iron, and I have 

 bought the full size (new) for ]2i cents, and the 

 half size for 6 cents each.] — Fruit set on some 

 currant bushes. This is a mild rainy morning. 



18th. Peas up. Pear blossoms sufficiently ex- 

 panded to be visible. Planted Kidney potatoes, 

 some of which had sprouted, having been put 

 down for that purpose. Forked one square, on 

 which are grape vines. Transplanted several 

 plum trees, budded last season from a Reine Claude 

 imported from France. [In all cases lately of 

 trees budded in my own garden, I have, besides 

 the bud, preserved some of the natural wood, in 

 order to get varieties. I transplanted these bud- 

 ded trees this year, in order to try the effect upon 

 the buds ; the buds failed ; at the time that the 

 buds would have come out, the season was more 

 unfavorable from drought, than I have known at 

 that period of the year.] 



19th. A few strawberry blossoms appear on a 

 strawberry obtained from a neighboring garden, 

 and said to be a wild stiawberry ; these on terra- 

 ces. [These plants all males, not a single fruit ; 

 hII hoed up ; this is the second time that I have 

 had this mortification.] • 



19th. Transplanted plum and peach trees ; 

 wastjcd ,,fb- hark of yoiuig pear trees with very 

 strong lime water, [one of these trees being in a 

 miserable state, covered with Aphides, (vulgarly 

 called plant-lice,) is nearly recovered. I have in 

 other cases since, tried strong soap-suds, and be- 

 lieve it to be better than the lime.] 



19th. Transplanted Ilautbois strawberries, all 

 yovng plants of last year's growth, [this is essen- 

 tial.] 



21st. Planted sweet corn, and Mohawk bean • 

 sowed onions and beets. [This Mohawk bean is 

 a speckled bean, white and flush, well known in 

 the shops, but I do not know by what name ; the 

 best eai-ly string bean that I have seen ; next best 

 as a string bean to the red cranberry, that is 

 very late.] 



22d. Uncovered some foreign grapes on terra- 

 ces ; buds begin to swell, and a few are injured 

 in taking out, by pressing against the ground. 



2.3d. Put down grape slips, sweet-water and. 

 Isabella. 



27tli. Uncovered residue of grapes. Put char- 

 coal dust about an inch in thickness, about several 

 grape vines, in order to ascert.ain whether this 

 would accelerate the time of ripening, by increas- 

 ing the superficial heat, or had any other effect. 

 [No effect perceived as to maturing the fruit, but 

 I think the experiment is worthy of being contin- 

 ued ; whenever the ground was forked, I renew- 

 ed the dust.] 



27th. After looking diligently, I cannot find a 

 single live bud on peach or apricot tree. [These 

 uids I presume were destroyed, either during the 

 fall or winter. As early as March, I examined 

 them, when I supposed them nearly all to be dead.] 

 Plums have very few buds ; Prince's large green 



