388 



Itract from the Report of Ibe Committee aiipiiiiited by Ihj 

 reniuylvani.i Horticultural Society, to exaniiiie and mike a 

 report on lllo present state oflhe Nurseries and Gardens ia 

 the neighborhood of Philadelphia :- 



BAIITRAM BOTANIC GARDEN AND NUR- 

 SERY. 

 RoBF.RT Carr, Proprietor. 

 This Garden is situate on tlie west linnk of the 

 river Scliuylkill, about 4 mil* froui Pliihidelphia. 

 It was established as early as 1720, by that jjreat 

 vegetable naturalist, John Bartram, the elder, at a 

 time when iiothinf; of the kind existed in the then 

 Colonies, except Dr Clayton's in Virginia. Here 

 are concentrated very many of the indigenous 

 plants and trees of North America, and in greater 

 profusion, perhaits, than can be found elsewhere. 

 Mr Bartrani a»d his Sons were industriously em- 

 ployed in making this collection, for 100 years ; 

 so that in reference to out door plants, it must ne- 

 cessarily stand unrivalled. The present proprietor, 

 is likewise adding annually and extensively, and 

 the coinniittcc consider his garden and grounds as 

 a J'ich deposit of the American Flora. 



From this nursery many thousands of plants 

 and seeds, are exported every season to Europe 

 and South America. 



It is computed that there are 2000 species of 

 our native productions, contained in a space of 

 si.x acres. Plants of every size are to be seen 

 here, from the minutest Marchantia to the loftiest 

 Cyiiress. One of these (Cupressus dislicha) is 

 about 118 feet high, 2.5 feet in circumference 

 and 91 years old. A yoimg Norway spruce of 

 80 feet, stands close by ; and also one of our na- 

 tive Magnolia, (^1/. acumtnf((«) of the same height. 

 Here too, is the Kentucky ColTee-tree. The Acacia 

 Julibrissin, so beautiful in flower and giaceful in 

 form ; the fly-catcher — [Dioncza muscipula.) &c. 

 On the south side of the garden is a field of 3 

 acres, preparing for a vineyard, as an addition to 

 the one already planted. Mr Carr has 145 sorts 

 of grapes, from some of which he has made very 

 good wine, for several years past. 



The exotic department of this establishment is 

 also very rich, consisting of 1000 varieties besides 

 a splendid collection of more than 800 Camellias, 

 containing 36 sorts. The Green-bouse and hot- 

 houses arel96 feet long, and much framing is in 

 use. The largest Sago-jjalni that we have ever 

 seen is here. The circumference of the foliage 

 is 22 feet and of the stem 3 feet 4 inches. Some 

 beautiful species of tropical productions may be 

 enumerated, such as the Euphorbia heterophylla, 

 with its large scarlet bracteas ; Zamias, Paiidatms, 

 Marantas, Ficns, and aTestudinaria Elephantipes, 

 supposed to be 150 years old ; some curious spe- 

 cies of Cactus, lately received from Mexico. — 

 These last arc astonishing i)roductious, and new to 

 us. A Lemon tree, from seed, is worthy of no- 

 tice, on acco\int of its easy propagation. 



Mr Carr's Fruit nursery has been greatlv im- 

 proved, and will be enlarged ni'xt spring to 12 

 acres : its present size, is eight. The trees are ar- 

 ranged in systema;ic onler, ami the walks well 

 gravelled. The whole is abundantly stocked, from 

 the seed bed to the tree. Here are to be found 

 113 varieties of apples, 72 of pears, 22 of cherries, 

 17 of apricots, 45 of plums, 39 of peaches, 5 of 

 nectarines, 3 of almonds, 6 of quinces, 5 of mul- 

 berries, 6 of raspberries, 6 of currants, 5 of fil- 

 berts, 8 of walnuts, 6 of strawberries, and two 

 of medlars. 



The stock considered according to its growth, 

 has, in the first cUtss of ornamental trees, esteeir^ed 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



for their foliage, flowers or fruit, 76 sorts ; of the 

 second class, 56 sorts; of the thiril class 120 sorts, 

 nd of ornamental evergreens 52 sorts ; of vines 

 and creepers for covering walls and arbors, 35 

 sort? ; of honey suckles 30 sorts, and of roses 80 

 varieties. 



Mr Carr who deserves so much credit for the 

 classification of bis nursery, is no jess entitled to 

 praise for the admirable order iu which his tool- 

 house is kept : a place that in most gardens, in- 

 stead of possessing regularity, is made a mere lum- 

 r room. The best order is likewise preserved 

 in the seed room, in putting up our native seeds. 

 That apartment, moreover, contains a library of 

 upwards of 400 volumes, in which are all the 

 late works on Botany and Horticulture.' 

 Samuel, Breck, ^ 

 Edward Coleman, j Committee of 

 Thomas Hibbert, ^ Pcnnsylmmia Hor- 

 JoH.N M'Arran, I ticuUural Society. 

 George Pepper, 3 

 October Uth, 1830. 



PRESERVING FRUITS 

 MkS.mith — A member of the Dublin (Ii-eland) 

 Society, has presented me with the following 

 method of preserving fruits of different kinds about 

 twelve months, for which a premium often guin- 

 eas was given by the Dublin Society, to Signer 

 Ignacia Buonsegna. I ara desirous of having it 

 disseminated through the medium of your widely 

 circulating paper. By so doing you will, as the 

 proverb says, ' kill two birds with one stone,' as 

 you will confer a favor on the public as well as on 

 Amicus Humani Generis. 

 It is necessary to pull the fruit two or three 

 days before you begin the process. 



Take care not to bruise the fruit, and to pull 

 them before they are quite ripe. 



Spread them on a table, over a little clean straw, 

 to dry them ; this is _best done on a parlor floor, 

 leaving the windows o|)en to admit fresh air, so 

 that all the moisture on the skin of the fruit may 

 be pi:rfectly dried away. 



Pears and apples take three days — strawberries 

 onlv twenty four hours, these latter should be ta- 

 ken up on a silver three pronged fork, and the 

 stalk cut ofl^ without toucliing ihem, as the least 

 pressure will cause them to rot ; lake only the larg- 

 gest and fairest fruit. 7'his is the most tender 

 and diflicult fruit to preserve ; but if done with 

 attention will keep six months ; there must not 

 be more than one pound in one jar. 



Choose a common earthen jar with a stopper 

 of the same, which will fit close. 



The pears and apples then, sorted as before, 

 must be wrapped up separately in soft wrapping 

 paper, and twist it closely about the fruit, then 

 lay clean straw at the bottom, and a layer of fruit ; 

 then a layer of straw, and so on until your ves- 

 sel is full ; but you must not put more than a 

 dozen in each Jar; if more their weight will 

 bruise those at the bottom. 



Peaches and apricots are best stored up wrap- 

 ped each in soft pa])er, and fine slired paper be- 

 tween the fruit and also the layers. Grapes 

 must be stored in the jar with fine shred paper, 

 which will keep one from touching the other as 

 much as possible. Fiveorsix bunches are the 

 most which should be put into one jar: if they 

 are large not so many ; for it is to be understood 

 that whenever you open a jar, you must use that 

 day all the fruit that is in it. 



June 22 , 1831. 



Strawberries as well as jieacbcs should have 

 fine shied paper under and between them in the 

 place of straw, which is only to be used for ap- 

 ples and pears. Putin the strawberries and the 

 paper, layer by layer ; when the juris full put on 

 the stopper, and have it well luted round, so as 

 perfectly to keep out the air. A composition of 

 rosin or grafting wax is best ; let nou3 of it get 

 within side the jar, which is to be placed in a tem- 

 perate cellar ; but be sure you finish your process 

 in the last quarter of the moon. 



Do not press the fruit, as any juice running out 

 would spoil all below. — American Farmer. 



Sweet Potato. — A new variety of this root 

 grown in the forcing garden of Versailles, is thus 

 noticed in the 30tb No. of the Gardeners' Mag- 

 azine — ' A sort of Sweet Potato is grown here, 

 obtained from St Domingo, and there called the 

 "Qxtaraidin," which as the name imports, produces 

 tubers fit to eat in 40 ilays.' In a country like 

 ours, where the Sweet Potato furnishes so largB 

 a portion of the food consumed both by man ami 

 animals, a variety like the one mentioned above 

 would prove valuable, if it possesses any portion 

 of the g'ood (pialities of those now grown by us. 

 These last are not dug even for immediate use in 

 less time than from 139 to 150 days. To a plan- 

 ter who has made a short crop of provisions, the 

 Quarantiii would be of great value. — Souther>\ 

 Jlirrictiltiirist. 



Swiss Chard — mode of cooking. — The follow- 

 ing directions for dressing this vegetable, liave 

 been politely furnished us by Mr G. B. Smith, to 

 whom we are indebted for all the seeds we have 

 distributeil among our friends. — Editor So. Agr. 



' We cook the Swiss Chard as folliiws - trim the 

 leaf from the stem with a knife, and boil the stem 

 in water with a little salt till tender, then lake 

 them out and drain all the water off, put them in 

 a stew-pan, pour on some tlrawn butter, [sauce 

 blanche, as the French call it) cover them close 

 and stew them for 15 minutes. This dish is then 

 equal (to my palate) to asparagus. 



' The leaf part is cooked in the same way, and 

 some cook the leaf and stem together, but I 

 prefer them separately. Cooked thus the leaf is 

 fully equal to spinach — to my i)alate of course. 

 The French have various modes of dressing 

 Swiss Chard, but 1 am unacquainted with any bnt 

 the ab(;vc.' 



Coffee. — Coffee was first introduced into Eng- 

 land by Pasqua, a Greek, inlG52. It was orig- 

 inally brought from Arabia Felix ; and its effect 

 was discovered by a goatherd on his flock, which 

 after browsing on the berry of this tree, would 

 'wake and caper all night.' Its first use was tried 

 on the monks, to prevent their sleeping at matins. 



Sick Peach Trees. — It was mentioned some time 

 since by a corrcspiindont in the papers of this city 

 that certain facts had lately come to his knowledge, 

 which were stated, inducing- the belief that jiow- 

 dered charcoal strewed about the roots of peach 

 trees, would be a great preservative against disease 

 produced by insect, worms, &c. The Boston Cou- 

 rier coiToboratcs the above opinion by his own ex- 

 perience : anil adds that trees planted in burnt land 

 are universally healthy and free from worms at 

 the root. 



