THE geot:see farmer. 



123 



Fhiladelphm coronarius — Syringa, or MocTc 

 Orange. — This shrub grows from five to eight feet 

 high, and produces in June numerous pure white 

 flowers, resembling orange blossoms in form and 

 fragrance. 



Amygdalus pumila — Dwarf Double-flowering 

 Almond. — A beautiful little shrub, producing, early 

 in the spring, in the greatest profusion, small, 

 double, rose-colored flowers. 



Deutzia gracilis. — Introduced from Japan a few 

 years since. It grows about three feet high, with 

 somewhat of a drooping habit, and bears clusters of 

 delicate white blossoms in May. 



Syringa. — The Lilacs are too well known to need 

 descriptions, and too generally admired to admit of 

 recommendation. We would now only call atten- 

 tion to the Persian varieties, which seldom grow to 

 more than half the size of the common Lilac, and 

 are profuse bloomers, and on lawns are preferable 

 to the common sorts. 



Althea frutex — Rose of Sharon. — This is a beau- 

 tiful free-flowering shrub, growing from five to ten 

 feet high. There are many varieties, producing 

 purple, red, blue, and variegated and double flowers 

 of the form of IloUyhocks, but somewhat smaller. 

 It blossoms in August and September, and can not 

 be too generally planted. 



In the following extract from Cowpbb's Taslc^ in 

 the Winter Walk at Noon, we find allusion made to 

 many well known plants : 



"These naked shoots, 

 Barren as lances, among which ihe wind 

 Makes wintry music, sighing as it goes, 

 Shall put their graceful foliage on again. 

 And more aspiring, and with ampler spread, 

 Shall boast new charms, and more than Ihey hare lost 

 Then each in its peculiar honors clad, 

 Shall publish eren to the distant eye 

 Its family and tribe. Laburnum, rich 

 In streaming gold ; syringa, ivory pure ; 

 The scentless and the scented rose; this red 

 And of an humbler growth, the other* taU, 

 And throwing up into the darkest gloom 

 Of neighboring cypress, or more sable yew, 

 Her silver globes, light as the foamy surf 

 That the wind severs from the broken wave; 

 The lilac, various in array, now white, 

 Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set 

 "With purple spikes pyramidal, as if 

 Studious of ornament, yet unresolved 

 "Which hue she most approved, she choso them all; 

 Copious of flowers, the woodbine, pale and wan 

 But well compensating her sickly looks 

 "With never-cloying odors, early and late; 

 Hypericum all bloom, so thick' a swarm 

 Of flowers like flies clothing her slender rods, 

 That scarce a leaf appears ; mezereon too. 

 Though leafless, well-attired, and thick beset, 

 "With blushing wreaths, investing every spray; 

 Althsea with the purple eye ; the broom. 

 Yellow and bright, as bullion unalloyed, 

 Her blossoms; and luxuriant above all 

 The jasmine, throwing wide her elegant sweets. 

 The deep dark green of whose unvarnished leaf 

 Makes more conspicuous, and illumines more, 

 The bright profusions of her scattered stars. — 

 These have been, and these shall be, in their day 

 And all this uniform uncolored scene 

 Shall be dismantled of its fleecy load, 

 And flush into variety again. 



MASSACHUSETTS HOKHCULTUKAL SOdEIT. 



* The Guelder-rose. 



Wo make the following extract from the Report 

 of the Committee on Fruits for the year 185Y: — 



Pbaes — Preparing for MarJcet. — A Sub-Com- 

 mittee visited the fruit garden of Mr. John Gordon, 

 Brighton, which comprises some three or four acres, 

 the most part of which has been deeply trenched 

 and underdrained. The grounds are entirely cov- 

 ered with pear trees, thickly planted, about two- 

 thirds of which are on the quince — and so thickly 

 planted that he does not grow vegetables (as a gen- 

 eral thing) among his trees. Mr. Gordon confines 

 himself to only a few varieties, since he grows for 

 market, and by experience has learned what varie- 

 ties will and what will not pay a handsome return. 

 He says he finds a ready sale for those having a red- 

 dish or russety skin, while those with a green skin 

 could not be disposed of. All his fruit is carefully 

 gathered by hand, and some four days before 

 designing to market it he takes- his fruit boxes, 

 which are about twenty inches square and six or 

 eight inches deep, and places some woolen substanc© 

 over the inside bottom ; he then places a layer of 

 pears and then another layer. of woolen, and auoth«? 

 layer of pears, covering the whole with woolen. — 

 In no case does he pack more than two layers of 

 fruit. 



The fruit is then allowed to go through a sweat- 

 ing process, which serves to give it a rich colorings 

 and it is then sufiiciently ripened for market. We 

 asked him if cotton batting would not answer the 

 same purpose ? He said that cotton would not ripen 

 them so fast; that some woolen substance was bet- 

 ter, as being more expeditious, and that it left a 

 finer blush on the skin. 



Mr. Gordon is noted for his fine specimens of 

 pears, which command the highest price. Ho 

 instanced a fact in regard to his Bartletts, that, 

 " while his were yielding him ten dollars per bushel, 

 other wagons, by the side of his, had pears of the 

 same variety, equally as large, but in consequence 

 of retaining the green skin were oflered at three 

 dollars per bushel." 



Keic Varieties. — Merriam, a native, which has 

 seemed to escape the attention of pear cultivators, 

 though known for several years, has been shown in 

 remarkable excellence, attracting the attention of 

 all by its rich warm russet hue, and satisfying all 

 by its many fine qualities; it will become one of 

 the most popular market pears, being an enormous 

 bearer, ripening well, and coming in at a favorable 

 season just after the Bartlett. 



The Supreme de Quimper, exliibited by the 

 Messrs. Hovet, proved one of the best early pears, 

 quite equal to the Doyenne d''Ete, and much large?; 

 it will compare favorably with any of the summer 

 varieties, of which the number is yet limited. 



The Beurre Clairgeau has been exhibited by 

 several cultivators, and in various stages of excel- 

 lence as well as beauty. Though the Committee 

 found much difierence in the quaiity of the speci- 

 mens tested, they believe that when the trees ai*e 

 more advanced and well established, it will prove 

 equal to its reputation. Age is undoubtedly 

 required with this as well as with many other 

 pear trees, before the true qualities of the fruit can 

 be ascertained. Its size and beauty, in addition to 

 its good qualities, will render it a popular kiu4. 



