. 



THE GENESEE PARMER. 





berries. Mulberries and JYuta, th 

 hard] . iiltivated, are left out 



. Pomegranate*) Olives, 



Oran i parts 



of the Unite I Si 



. - .. i: . ■ to the 

 plan compel us to think 



b good intention to make 

 a book that would be valuable and acceptable 

 to all, w ill be (>f very partial utili- 



ty I » : 



ie matter ofthebook, we have no1 

 ie examination. The 

 fiM part, of 1 00 pages, treating of "General princi- 

 ry good — better we think, 

 ne part of any other bee!; of the kind we 

 have. It contains the latest e * of the au- 



thor, and culih merally, j eaned from the 



eriodicals of tin 1 day, arranged in a compact and 

 ient manner. This part of the book will be 

 h much more to the cultivator than all the rest, 

 a d will not be too dear at the price of the book," for 

 those who are withou in tho*e matters. We 



oticed a f v rrors I ! at il would not be proper 

 On pa<je 28, on "the production of new 

 the word "inoculated" is frequently used, 

 instead of fertilized or impregnated; "inoculated', 

 is n>- in speaking of the application of the 



pollen of one flower to the stigma of another, but, is 

 u e I generally as synonomous with budding. This 

 is a 1 rifling error but worthy of correction. 



The classification of the different varieties strikes 

 us as very trood. It is the same as that adopted in 

 some European treatises. A pples are separated 

 into t'iree divisions — Summer, Autumn and Winter; 

 eac' division into two classes, sweet and acid; each 

 cl:.ss into two sections, color striped with red, and 

 color not striped. This last division of color we 

 have not met that we remember in any other book, 

 an I although not objectionable, will be of litttle 

 service. We think the distinctions would have read 

 correctly in this way, "color with more or less 

 nd "color without red" — because some apples 

 are wholly red or washed with red and not "striped," 

 those "not strip 'il'* might be wholly of any 

 color, like Black Detroit, or Red Astracan. Pears 

 ■anged in three divisions, Summer, ■ hx lumn and 

 Jf inter. Each division into three classes, "Distinct 

 Pyriform," "Obscure Pyriform," and "Ronudishor 

 Oblate;" each cl iss, into three sections, large, me- 

 dium, and small. In a scientific work these would 

 be very well ; but for pra< deal u^:^<. the divisions, as 

 ing and uses, table orcooking, would 

 be more simple and valuable. The cooking varieties 

 shoul 1 certainly be classed separately, as they have 

 now I i to numerous and distinct, an 1 the dis- 



tinct'' , d by all cultivators. 



The article on pruning is quite meagre and faulty, 

 particularly that " t te fruitfulness," 



" pyramidal trees." At the present moment' these 

 two branches of pruning are among the most inter- 

 esting subjects connected with tree culture, and Mr. 

 Thoi lid but very little about them, and that 



little is neither explicit nor correct. We could ex- 

 tract an article from a late number of Hovey's Mag- 

 azine worth ten times as much. Indeed Mr. Thomas 

 is evidently in the dark on this subject. No man, 

 however much he ma) have read or thought on the 

 subject, or how intelligent he may otherwise be, can 

 communicate intelligible or reliable information on 



pruning, until h I his knife for a long time, 



and observed well and extensively the efle< I 



tion. The- pruning of pyramidial trees, and 

 pruning to promote fi . require care, skill 



and caution, and if directions arc given they should 

 be fully and explicitly stated. We shall have more 

 to say on this subje.-t at another time. 



hi speaking of the culture of dwarf pears, page 1!)6, 

 it is tated that theorange quince had proved the besl 

 ock. Now this is a great error. A similar 

 statement was made by Mr. Downing some two or 

 three years ago, in the Horticulturist, and the confi- 

 placed in that Journal induced the general be- 

 lie! that this was so ; consequently a great many nur- 

 serymen commenced raising seedlings of the orange 

 quince to work the pear, and in most cases that we 

 know of it has proved a failure. A neighborof ours, 

 an excellent nurseryman, tried it, and had to pull up 

 and throw away his young trees at two years old. He 

 would not impose on his customers by selling them, 

 and he is now supplying his nursery with the French 

 stock. This is an error that will lead to serious con- 

 sequences we apprehend, and wo are astonished that 

 Mr. Thomas' great caution should have led him to 

 hazard such an opinion. 



There are many little matters through the book 

 we should like to notice. For instance the Carna- 

 tion Cherry is described as "yellowish white, mot- 

 tied and marbled with fine orange red ; leaves re- 

 sembling those of a heart cherry." When mature 

 the Carnation is light red, marbled with deeper red, 

 and the leaves are distinctly of the Duke or Morelb 

 classes, though large. 



There is an indefmiteness about the terms used to 

 denote the seasons of the ripening that will not be 

 found convenient to everybody. Instead of saying 

 " wheat harvest," "autumn," "mid autumn," "ear- 

 ly," "late," "rather late," "season medium," fee. 

 we would greatly prefer to have the months or parts 

 of months designated. It would take some people a 

 considerable length of time to figure up the exact date 

 of "wheat harvest," "mid autumn," or "medium 

 season." 



Iri the latter end of the book we find a chapter on 

 the pronunciation of foreign names, or rather a half 

 way attempt at anglicising them. Eeurre is here 

 made to rhyme with hurry — thus, "hurry." This is 

 quite new indeed. We should be much pleased to 

 have all foreign names anglicised, if it could bo done 

 properly ; but until we can have an English name in 

 reality, let us have the true French pronunciation, 

 I in books. 



We tre.st that what we have said will deter no one 

 from purchasing this work; for, although it is not 

 what we expected, nor what, in our humble opinion, 

 it ought to be, it. is a book of great value, and we 

 hope will find its way into the hands of every pro- 

 fessional and amateur cultivator in the country. It 

 but a dollar and there is many a dollar's wort!) 

 of useful matter in it, not in other similar works. 

 This much we feel it our duty to say. 



Transplanting. — Autumn transplanting is to be 

 preferred for all hardy trees and shrubs, except when 

 soil may be wet as in the very northern extremities 

 of the United States and Canada. 



Trees planted carefully — properly, as soon as re- 

 moval is practicable, will be nearly a year ahead of 

 those not planted till the following spring. 



