Vol 1. — No. 19. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



14M 



These are local names given to a middle si- 

 zed Potato, recently introduced into this 

 section of country from the place after which 

 we have named it. It is one of the finest 

 Potatoes with which we are acquainted. In 

 shape it is a flattened cone, with very few 

 eyes, which are small and but little indented ; 

 the skin, which is a dark purple, becomes 

 considerably checked and rough, from which 

 circumstance we have been led to conclude 

 that is the same one cultivated near Boston, 

 called there the Black Rusty-Coat. It pro- 

 duces well, the vines continuing green until 

 killed by frost. Having cultivated more than 

 thirty kinds of Potatoes, we recommend the 

 three above as being the best assortment for 

 the table that is grown in our country. For 

 feeding to stock, we would recommend the 

 Orange Potato, which is so generally known 

 that it needs no description, and the large 

 round flesh-colored, which bears a close re- 

 semblance to the former except in color. — 

 They are both early Potatoes, and we think 

 will produce more than any other kinds with 

 which we are acquainted. Either of these 

 two kinds can be taken off the ground in suf- 

 ficient season to follow them with a crop of 

 wheat. They are both very good early Po- 

 tatoes for the table, but are apt to become 

 hollow at the centre when kept late. 



PEACH GRUB. 



Our valuable and intelligent correspond- 

 ent, Dr. Spaflbrd, in our 17th number, has 

 given the public some valuable facts, justi- 

 fied by his own experience ; and his sug- 

 gestions on the same subject, as they are 

 on all others, are entitled to great considera- 

 tion. 



We have some misgivings, however, on 

 the subject of his application to expel the 

 peach tree grub in all cases, but having no 

 experience with his remedy, we beg leave 

 to give our readers what facts, pro and con, 

 which the subject recalls to memory, without 

 referring to any direct authorities on those 

 points. 



Sir George McKenzie, a distinguished 

 Scotch Horticulturist, gives some very sat- 

 isfactory results, on annointing the limbs and 

 bodies of trees with oils, to destroy the eggs 

 and pupa> of insects, but cautions against 

 touching the leaf or flower buds, in any case. 

 He further states that the only trees he found 

 injured by the use of oils, was the apricot 

 and cherry. A writer in the Plough Boy for 

 1823, after stating the troubles he had met 

 with from the peach grub, says that he found 

 lamp oil effectual in expelling them ; but 

 that the remedy was as bad as the disease, 

 as it invariably killed his trees. 



In an old almanac published in Hartford, 

 Conn, there is a communication which states 

 the circumstance ol the preservation of a 

 single tree, among a great number that were 

 destroyed by the grub, by the accidental 

 throwing of a quantity of rags about the root, 



which had been used to absorb some lamp 

 oil which had been spilled. 



If oi! does not prove deleterious to the 

 peach, or any of the stone fruits, it is truly 

 a most valuable discovery ; as it is of easy 

 application and within the reach of every 

 one, and we shall not fail to make the ex- 

 periment, and give our readers the result. 



We are disposed to think that the apple 

 tree borer and the peach grub are of two dif- 

 ferent species, as the latter only wounds the 

 bark to cause the tree to gum ; while the 

 former perforates the solid wood in every 

 direction. We are perfectly aware, that the 

 oils are bane to all the insect tribe and their 

 larva ; one drop of which will instantly 

 destroy the largest of the species. 



We would suggest the use of thick rancid 

 oils, which have lost their fluidity or had In. 

 dia Rubber dissolved in them, or turpertine 

 from the pine tree. All essential oils are 

 repugnant in the extreme degree to the whole 

 insect race. 



We should have no fears of using any of 

 these as an unguent, to simply annoint, or 

 oil the tree as a preventive to impregnation, 

 in such a manner as not to allow it to reach 

 the roots. 



The grub is often so encased with the out- 

 er bark and gum, that we should advise the 

 removal of the earth and gum, before any 

 application could be profitably made. * 



FORMATION OP HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETIES. 



It has been peculiarly gratifying to us to 

 observe the excitement which has prevailed 

 in this county since the last autumn, for in 

 troducing choice varieties of seeds and fruits 

 amongst our farmers and Horticulturists 

 One year ago this county was rather desti- 

 tute of the choice varieties of Pears.Peaches, 

 Plums, Cherries and Grapes. A few gentle 

 men had furnished their gardens with trees 

 and shrubs from New-York, but these were 

 unknown to the public, and the names of 

 most of them were to the individuals who 

 possessed them. Since that time there has 

 been introduced into this town about twen- 

 ty new kinds of Pears, forty of Peaches, fif- 

 teen of Plums, and fifty of Grapes. These, 

 in addition to the kinds growing before, make 

 the assortment of fruits now with us as ex- 

 tensive as can be found in any inland part 

 of the United States. These varieties have 

 not been procured to be locked up in gardens, 

 but for the purpose of distributing scions to 

 different parts of the county. Perhaps much 

 of this spirit of improvement has been ow- 

 ing to the formation of an Horticultural So- 

 ciety in this county the last year, by which 

 the exertions of those individuals who were 

 disposed to make them for their own comfort 

 and the benefit of others, were systematized 

 so that the least expense might produce the 

 greatest good. 



By the formation of such societies, we are 

 convinced that lasting benefits will result to 



society generally ; for when valuable fruit- 

 are once introduced into any section of our 

 country, there will always be found individ- 

 uals who will continue them, who perhaps 

 would never made exertions for their intro- 

 duction. Again, the organization of such 

 societies forms rallying points for the con- 

 centration of information on such subjects 

 as are connected with them, from whirl 

 each individual may be benefitted by the u- 

 nited experience and exertions of the whole. 

 Another advantage expected from the for- 

 mation of such societies, is to reduce to or- 

 der the confusion which now exists with re- 

 gard to the names of fruit. At present, one 

 kind of fruit may be found under a dozen 

 different names ; and, again, a dozen kinds 

 may be found under the same name. This 

 subjects every cultivator to serious and fre- 

 quent disappointments. The yearly exhi- 

 bition and comparison of fruits will be very 

 beneficial, as many new kinds will be brought 

 forward which have been raised from seeds 

 in this district, some of which perhaps will 

 be found equal if not superior to old varie- 

 ties — in short, several such have been dis- 

 covered which promise to be of importance 

 to the Horticulturist. 



We hope many of the adjoining counties will 

 be so far convinced of the utility of our society 

 that they will form similar ones, until our 

 whole country will be furnished with the 

 choicest fruits of the earth. If we look a- 

 round us in our own country, we find that 

 such societies have almost invariably suc- 

 ceeded; and in Europe they have been found 

 so useful, that the good men of every nation 

 have honored them with membership, and 

 that neither sectarian nor political jealousies 

 have ever affected them. Men of science 

 have patronized them, and philosophers have 

 allowed that the contemplations of the far- 

 mer and Horticulturist are more elevated 

 and sublime than those of any other class ot 

 people, their vocations tending directly to 

 lead the mind from Nature's works to Na- 

 ture's God. — — 



APHIS, OR PLANT LOUSE, 

 A small insect which infests almost every 

 species of tree or plant which is cultivated ; 

 and in many cases becomes a serious hind- 

 rance to the advancement of vegetation and 

 perfection of the fruit — infesting the young 

 and tender branches and the under side oi 

 the leaves : without eating or perforating the 

 leaves, they cause them to curl, dry up, and 

 die. By some process they destroy the func- 

 tions of the leaf which operate as the lungs 

 do in the animal economy, and cause a sac 

 charine matter to exude on which they exist, 

 and there is no doubt but their depredations, 

 under some particular circumstances, are the 

 cause of the production of the honey dew 

 The small Black Ant is often observed verv 

 busy among the leaves infested with Aphides, 

 travelling over and among them with great 

 eagerness and activity, and by some observ- 

 ers it was thought that they preyed upon then 



