2K2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



March 23, 1831. 



From Culley on liveslock. 



' Many bulls have lately been purchased and 

 hired into the East Riding at high prices from 

 the neighborhood of Darlington in the county of 

 Durham, where a much superior breed of Skort- 

 horns avefuunii, possessing alt the perfections and 

 qualities, which arc wanting in the Holderness 

 breed ; they are smaller in size, lighter in the bone 

 and hide, and have a much greater propensity to 

 become fat.' 



From Ihe Rev. Henry Berry, :i dislinguished writer and a saga- 

 cious breeder of caule at tliis time. 



' To the banks of the river Tees separating the 

 counties of Durham anil York, reference is to 

 be had to the account of the originals of the Im- 

 proved Short-horns. There, upwards of eighty 

 years ago, existed a breed of cattle, for a descrip- 

 tion of which the author is indebted to an old and 

 celebrated breeder now living in Colow, resem- 

 bling what is called the Improved breed of the 

 present day, e.xcepting thai the fashionable roan 

 was not quite so prevalent ; they arc described in 

 general character also to have differed very little 

 from their descendants. Possessing a fine mellow 

 touch, good hair, light offal, particularly wide car- 

 casses, and deep fore qu.irters, they were also justly 

 celebrated for e.xtraordinary proof when slaugh- 

 tered, resembling thus closely their descendants of 

 the present day.' 



.•4>i Aceouni of the Proceedings of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society, at a meeting held at 

 the Hall of the Institution, on the 19th of March, 

 1831. 

 Iteportniade by H. A.S. Dearborn, Tresident of the Society. 

 Since the last regular meeting of the Society, 

 the Diplomas have been completed, and transmit- 

 ted to the Honorary, Corresponding and Subscrib- 

 ing members. Communications have been made 

 to the officers of the Horticultural Societies in the 

 United States, England, Scotland and France, on 

 subjects relating to rural economy, and for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining intelligence in many of the de- 

 partments of gardening, as well as some speci- 

 mens or seeds of such new, interesting and valuable 

 varieties of fruits, and plants as may be success- 

 fully cultivated in this climate. 



Several additions have been made to the library 

 and among them is the New Du Ilamel, — a mag- 

 nificent work in 76 folio Livraisons, containing 

 superb colored plates, of all the varieties of fruits, 

 cultivated in France. 



Among the numerous letters which have been 

 received are the following, which merit the special 

 attention of the Society. 



1. A letter from S. P. Hildreth, Esq. of Ohio, 

 accompanied by a package of seeds and drawings. 



.Marietta, Ohio, ISih February, 1831. 

 To Gen. H. A. S- Dearborn, 



ffesident ofthe M-9». Hort. Society. 

 MvDE.iR Sib — I have the satisfaction of an- 

 nouncing to you, that I have this day completed the 

 packing of a box of seeds, cuttings, &c, and for- 

 ward the same to the care of Messrs Landreths, 

 No. 85 Chesnut street, Philadelphia. The box 



our native ornamental forest trees, shrubs, 

 creepers, and annual and perennial flowering 

 plants — cuttings of thirteen new varieties of seed- 

 ling apples, collected from the orchards in this 

 county, one seedling pear, four seedling peaclies, 

 and native plum, grape, gooseberry, and crab apple ; 

 cuttings from the large native plum at Granville, 

 Ohio, I could not obtain in season, but have sent 

 some of the stones of the fruit, which will doubt- 

 less produce the same ; also stones from 12 of our 

 best varieties of peoclies, some of them very fine. 

 This climate is favorable to the growth of the 

 peach, and seed from a milder region, would pro- 

 bably flourish better in New England, than grown 

 in a climate rather too cold for the peach tree. Ac- 

 companying the cuttings, are drawings of ten of 

 the apples, taken last autumn by Mr Bosworth, 

 who has succeeded in giving very perfect and ac- 

 curate likenesses of the several kinils ; also a piece, 

 representing a basket of Ohio fruit, intended to 

 decorate the hall of the Society, should they deem 

 it worthy so distinguished a privilege. In the bo.x 

 is a catalogue of all the articles forwarded, with 

 descriptions of the new varieties of apples. They 

 are as yet without names excepting three or four 

 kinds, which are noted in the list ; the Society will 

 therefore furnish them with such names as they 

 may think most proper. I believe on cultivation, 

 you will find all but two or three of the thirteen, 

 deserving a place among your best fruits. That 

 we should be able to furnish so many new and 

 good varieties of the apple is not so surprising 

 when it is considered that numerous orchards of 

 the very best apples found in the middle and east- 

 ern states, were planted and engrafted from 

 30 to 40 years since ; and that the seeds of 

 these superior apples have been generally used in 

 planting out nurseries from that day to this. The 

 fruit of Washington County has for many years 

 been noted for its superior excellence in New Oi- 

 leans and the towns on the Ohio and Mississi|)pi 

 rivers. Thousands of barrels are annually sent 

 down the river by the farmers of this counts, 

 where they bring from two to four dollars a ba-- 

 rel. The winter with us has been one of unusuil 

 severity; hut I do not discover as yet any injuiy 

 done to the fruit buds by the cold. The lowest 

 temperature was five below zero, of Fahrenhei", 

 the 22d December. It has been for several days in 

 February at zero early in the morning ; but we now 

 have mild weather, the rivers open for navigation, 

 and the temperature on the 26th at 66° in the 

 middle of the day. 



Wishing you continued health, and renewed 

 pleasure in your horticultural pursuits, when spring 

 shall again revive the sleeping plants, I remain 

 your friend, S. P. Hildreth. 



2. A letter from Doct. David Ilosack of New 

 York, with a donation of Books. 



New York, Februarys, 1831. 



Dear Sir — I had the honor of receiving the 

 Diploma conferred by the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society over which you preside. 



I duly appreciate the favor, and will gladly do 

 all in my power to merit the distinction it conveys. 

 With the exception of the general principles 

 of agriculture, the nature of soils, the operation of 

 manure, as connected with my early botanical 

 pursuits, I am yet but a tyro in practical horti- 

 culture, to which I am now about to devote my at- 

 tention. Should anything offer in this new field of 

 inquiry, that may appear wor:hy of conimunica 



contains 30 small packages of seeds, mostly of tion to your Society, I shall not be unmindful of 



the duty which their kindness has imposed, I 

 beg, too, to say that it will afford me the highest 

 gratification to see you or any of the members o( 

 the Society at my residence at Hyde Park, on the 

 Hudson, which I am now cultivating with thu 

 view to the great objects of our favorite pursuits. 



By the earliest opportunity I will have the 

 pleasure of forwarding to the Society a few vol- 

 umes of which 1 beg their acceptance. 



1 am, dear sir, with sentiments of great respect, 

 your humble servant. David Hosack. 



H. A.S. Dearborn, Esq. 



Pres. of the .Mass. llort. Soc. 



3. A letter from John S. Skinner, Esq. of Bal- 

 timore, accompanied by a package of seeds, from 

 Weslern America, with a letter from the adven- 

 turous J. S. Smith, Esq. of St Louis, containing 

 a description of the plants from which the seedt 

 were obtained. 



Baltimore Tost Office, aist Feb. 1831. 



Sir — If I have been slow to acknowledge ii 

 permit me to assure you that 1 am not the lest 

 prouil of the honors you announced to me of my 

 having been elected an Honorary Member of thf 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. — But th< 

 pleasure of being thus associated, even by name 

 with gentlemen of science and efficient patriotisn 

 is accompanied by an unfeigned consciousness o 

 iny inability to make any adequate return to thi 

 SoLiety. 



The only contribution I have now to offer con 

 sists of seeds ol hitherto uncultivated plants,recent 

 lyre:eived from regions far West which may aflbrt 

 valiuhle additions to the horticultural products o 

 Masiachusetts, if by careful efforts they can bi i 

 gradually accommodated to your so much mon | 

 noiinern climate. I leave to the better judgmen I 

 of the Society to say how far the prospect of sue 

 cess may warrant the trouble of experiment ; an( 

 only beg leave to add that whatever may be thi I 

 value of the result, it is to Mr Smith, who mad^ I 

 (he collection, and whose description accompaniei ( 

 this, that will be due the thanks of the Society j 

 while a high appreciation of its objects, and « I 

 readiness to co-operate most cordially for thei' ' 

 attainment in my humble way, are the only claimf 

 that can be oflTered for its consideration. 

 Your mo.st obedient servant, 



J. S. Skinner. 



St Louis, Missouri, 27th December, 1830. , 

 Dear Sir — During my travels of nine years i« 

 the country on the sources of the Missouri Rivei ' 

 and in the Territory of Mexico and the Unitet! 

 States, west of the Rocky Mountains, and on the 

 coast of the Pacific, I have at different times gatli 

 ered the seeds of such shrubs and plants as ap 

 peared peculiar to that country. Some of thest 

 may claim consideration from their inherent quali 

 ties, and others may find a place in the gardens ol 

 the curious from the fact that they are natives of tlic 

 nost distant and wild territory of our Republic. ' 

 It may perhaps be a pleasure to a lady of the Atlan- ' 

 tic to gather Cherries or Currants from a shrill 

 whose parent stock is now growing by the bant 

 of a stream that flows unmarked by the eye c 

 civilized man to the calm Pacific. A few sample 

 I inclose to you, in the hope that you will niakf 

 such a disposition of them that I may insomefuturi 

 time see them blooming in the gardens of the Ai 

 lantic. The different parcels are numbered and ol 

 each I give n short description. 



No. 1. Large black gooseberry, found on ihehea'i 

 of the Platte, in wet ground, in the vicinity of spring- 



