Vol. IX.— No 3. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



la^ 3j a avS ^ a ^ Tj^iu 12 » 



Mk Fesse.nde.n — I am liuppy to find, by the 

 Mowing notice, in tlie 33d. No. of the Aunales 

 Horticulture, recently received, that the scions 

 d grape vines, which we sent to the Horticultur- 

 Society of Paris, have reached their destina- 



Meeting of the Council of Administration on 



7th of .^pril, 1830.' 



After tlie Proces-verbal of the hist meeting 

 d been read and adopted, the President com- 

 micated a letter from Mr Dearborn, President 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, coji- 

 ning information on the labors of that in.stitu- 

 n accompanied by a collection of grafts, con- 

 ting of ten varieties of Perrs, si.\ varieties of 

 pies, one variety of Cherry, and thrco varieties 

 Grape Vines. The Council voted thanks to 



Dearborn and to the Massachusetts Society, 

 i decided that the present be honorably men- 

 led in the Anuales. Tlie Grape Vines were 

 fided to M. Lacouete De Muriiiais, and a regis- 

 of inscription, for the distribution of the grafts 

 s immediately opened.' 

 The letter sent with the scions and vines, and 



description, the varieties furnished by Mr Dow- 

 , are published, in the above named number 

 the Annales. 



DOUBLE FLOWERS. 



\s double flowers are unnatural and ' are con- 

 jred accidental, or the result of some peculiar 

 de of cultivation, but which has ever been in- 

 ;red in mystery, I inclose an extract from the 

 Dales de Horticulture, containing an account of 

 ovel theory, which has been illustrated by sirc- 

 sful experiments. 



Although botanists consider double flowers as 

 QSters, they are still much admired, and florists 

 e been assiduous in their efforts to produce 

 m. Numerous methods have been suggested 

 he cultivator, but as vague and uuphilosophical, 

 he recipes of the alchymist, and with results, 

 experiment, equally unsatisfactory. If the pro- 

 5, which has succeeded so completely with the 

 na Aster, should prove to be applicable to 

 3r flowers, an important and most interesting 

 overy has been made in the economy of the 

 etable kingdom. To ascertain this, experi- 

 its must be multiplied on a great variety of 

 amental plants, and they are worthy the atten- 

 of all, who are zealous to extend the delight- 

 domain of Floriculture. 

 \Vith sincere esteem, 



Your most obedient servant. 



inley Place, Roxbury, ( H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



July iit), iDoO. ) 



EXTRACT NO. XIX. 

 From the Annales D' Horticulture. 

 hod of obtaining Reines Jilarquerites, Aster Chi- 

 lensts, with doublt flowers, from the seeds pro- 

 luced by Reines Marquerites, with simple floicf rs ; 

 ly M. Poiteau. 



u collecting the seeds of the China Aster, it is 

 general custom to give a preference to those 

 :he superior flowers, as they are larger and bet- 

 nourished ; and this choice is founded on the 

 ef, that the double flowers are the result of 

 augmentation of vigor, and of a more consider- 



developmeiit in the plants which produce 



1. 

 [t is very natural, indeed, that cultivators should 



attribute th- cause of double flowers to a more 

 consiilerable development, because they very of- 

 ten sec, that the plant.-«, whose flower.s are double 

 also become more vigorous, than those of the 

 same species whicli produce simple flowers. 

 They also see that double flowers become simple, 

 when their culture is neglected, or when tliey 

 are abandoned entirely to the care of nature. 



Notwithstanding, a contrary doctrine has been 

 maintained, by some of the learned, within fifteen 

 or twenty years : Bosc participates in it, and he 

 has endeavored to establish it in Deteiville's 

 Cours iC Agriculture. This doctrine consists in 

 regarding the doulile flowers as the result of an 

 imiioverishment of the jjlants, instead of an aug- 

 tnentalion of vigor and development. This is 

 the principal argument adduced in its favor ; that 

 all t' e substance of a double flower in a dried state, 

 is less than that of the seed and its appendages 

 which u'ould have been produced, if the flower had 

 not become double. 



I shall not attempt to urge the objections which 

 might be raised to this doctrine ; but the fact 

 which I am about to state is favorable to it. 



In 1786, having in my garden only single Chi- 

 na Asters, a curate of the neighborhood desired 

 me to give him some seeds ; I did so ; he planted 

 them and obtained only sing-le flowers ; but I was 

 much astonished, on visiting the curate the second 

 year, to behold his China Asters all double, and 

 of the greatest beauty. Presuming he had ob- 

 tained his seeds elsewhere, I hastened to ascer- 

 tain of whom he had procured them. The seeds, 

 he replied, were collected from your China As- 

 ters, which have produced these beautiful flowers. 

 Still more astonished, I desired him to inform me 

 how he had done it. ' I have,' lie replied, ' col- 

 lected them only from the little heads of the in- 

 ferior branches of the plants ; it is necessary to 

 have patience to do this, for these little heads do 

 not all contain seeds, and most of them have but 

 one or two.' The same year I gathered only the 

 seeds of the small heads of my plants and the 

 year following they yielded magnificent double 

 flowers. 



This proces.s, as has been seen, is not new, for 

 it was known before 1786 ; nevertheless, I believe 

 that many amateurs are ignorant of it. I publish 

 it for the interest of Horticulture, and as a fact in 

 support of the theory, which assigns, as the cause 

 of double flowers an impoverishment in the plants 

 which produce them. 



From the Windsor (Vermout,) Chronicle. 



NEW ENEMY TO WHEAT. 



We have just returned from examining a field of 

 S[)ring Wheat, belonging to the Hon. J. H. Hub- 

 baid of this place. On approaching the field, the 

 appeaiance promised a good crop. On e.xamin- 

 the heads, minute black spots were found, 

 generally near the centre of the chaffy covering 

 of the kernels, which appear to have been made 

 by some insect, piercing the chaflT to deposit its 



;s. On removing the chaff", the kernels were 

 found to be infested with small yellow worms, sub- 

 sisting upon its juices. They commence their 

 opprations on the surface of the kernel, where the 

 egg was at first deposited. In some cases, only a 

 slight injury is inflicted, the growth of the kernel 

 on that side is checked, and the kernel grows ' out 

 of shape.' In others, where the mischief seems to 

 have commenced earlier, the juices of the kernel 

 have been wholly consumed, and a mere speck 



remains. Several worms were commonly found 

 feeding en the same kernel. On one we counted 

 ELEVEN. Some heads are nearly destroyed, others 

 less, and others little if at all. There will be 

 fiom one fourth to half a crop. They were first 

 observed about the middle of last week, when 

 they were much larger and more active than at 

 present. We hear that several other fields of 

 Spring Wheat have sustained similar injury. 

 Some fields of Winter Wheat have escaped ; 

 others have not. 



Here is work for our entomologists, scientific 

 farmers, and Lyceums. Let us learn the whole 

 history of this insect, and we shall doubtless find 

 some way to attack him successfully. In order 

 to this, many persons must busy themselves in col- 

 lecting facts, and these facts tnust be brought to- 

 gether, compared and arranged. We invite atten- 

 tion, therefore, to the following points: 



1. A description of the perfect insect ; the 

 time when, and the circumstances under which, 

 it first appears and deposits its eggs. 



2. How long before the egg becomes a worm ; 

 and are there any circumstances, which hasten or 

 retard the change ? 



3. What other changes does it undergo, before 

 it becomes a perfect, and, as it probably does, a 

 winged insect : and how long is the time ; and 

 what effect has any kind of weather, or other cir- 

 cumstances, on its progress? 



4. Where, and in what condition, does it spend 

 the winter.' 



5. Does it, in any of its states, feed on any 

 plant except wheat ; and if so, on what ? 



6. Are there any kinds of wheat, which it 

 does not attack, — and if so, what appears to be 

 the reason ? 



Any one can collect information on these and 

 similar points, and all, put together, will teach us 

 how we may best guard against this new enemy 

 of our agricultural interests. 



^m'w ^iTt^Stiisrs) ii^ii^Mi^^a 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1830. 



BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES. 



We are sorry to perceive, by an article in the 

 last N'ational JEgis, that our remarks on a disease 

 in pear trees, [page 6 of our current volume] 

 have been thought to be intended to ' carp at' 

 some observations on the same subject by ' Agri- 

 cola,' which were republished from the jEgis, and 

 immediately preceded the observations alluded to. 

 We were perhaps unfortunate in expressing our 

 ideas, but we meant to convey opinions coincident 

 with those of that writer, viz. that the insect in 

 pear-trees, technicaly called Scolytus Pyri was 

 one cause, but not the sole cause of what is called 

 the blight in ]>ear-tree3. We had no intention of 

 being ' pungent,' and our similes were meant to 

 elucidate, not to throw an air of ridicule on the 

 subject. The quotations from Coxo and Miller 

 were intended to corroborate the opinions of ' Agri- 

 cola,' who observes 'that there is a disease often 

 affecting the pear tree, external indications of 

 which are similar to those exhibited on limbs of 

 that tree girdled by bugs or insects, which origi- 

 nates from an entirely different cause.' The fact 

 is, that like some other cross-grained people we 

 sometimes have the appearance of being a little 

 tart, without being aware of our testiness. 



If the author of ' Agricola' is the person to 

 whom we attributed that article he is the last per- 



