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VOLUME 1. 



ROCHESTER, MAY 28, 1831. 



NUMBER 21. 



PUBLISHED BY I» TUCKER. &. CO. 



At the Office of the Daily Advertiser. 

 Terms— $2.50 per annum, or 



$2,00 if paid in advance. 



N. GOODSELL, EDITOR. 



EFFECTS OF WINTER. 



We have been favored by Judge Buel, of 

 Albany, with observations made by himself 

 upon the effects of the winter past on fruit 

 and forest trees, both in the orchard and in 

 the nursery, which we deem of the utmost 

 importance to the public. He is at this time 

 largely engaged in the cultivation of fruit 

 and forest trees, flowering shrubs and plants, 

 and observations from him may be consid- 

 ered as of first authority. We place his ob- 

 servations under the editorial head, to ac- 

 company each article with observations of 

 our own, made at this place, to enable our 

 i eaders the more readily to make their com 

 parisons as to the climate of the two places. 

 -' Observations on the Effects of the 

 Winter upon Plants, at the Albany 

 Nursery. 



" Location. — Three miles west of Albany, 

 and at an elevation of from two to three 

 hundred feet above the Hudson River. 



" Soil. — Sand and sandy loam, with oc 

 oasional patches of bog earth and clay. To 

 the west and north, unimproved sandy com- 

 mons, abounding in marshes, and pretty 

 much divested of timber. Greatest degree 

 of cold, 18 deg. below zero, or 50 deg. of 

 frost." 



Location of Rochester. — On the Genesee 

 River, sis and a half miles south from Lake 

 Ontario, at an elevation of about two hun- 

 dred and thirty feet above the level of the 

 lake. 



Soil. — Varying from sandy calcarious to 

 clayey loam, resting upon a superstratum of 

 geodiferous lime rock. Face of the coun- 

 try east, west and south, generally flat, with 

 small undulations; on the north descending 

 to the lake, not much cleared, timber pine 

 and oak, soil more light and sandy. Great 

 est degree of cold the winter past, 4 deg. be- 

 low zero, at sunrise on the morning of the 

 7th of February ; the mean temperature for 

 that month was 23 deg. 9-10. 



" Peachts. — Blossoms generally destroy- 

 ed. Trees on the north side of a high board 

 fence, and on the east side of a dwelling 

 house, showed most blossoms ; one the least 

 exposed to heat, and both least exposed to 

 sudden alterations of temperature — which 

 sudden changes 1 deem most destructive to 

 vegetable vitality. Several branches which 

 were apparently buried in a snovv-bank,were 

 loaded with blossoms. Old trees have gen 

 erally a sickly appearance, and many, as 

 upon the borders of the Hudson, died. Nur- 

 sery trees healthy, with the exception of a 

 few on a wet piece of ground." 



In the neighborhood of Rochester, the 

 peach trees were not injured by the winter — 

 blossomed very full, and now bid fair for a 

 plentiful crop of fruit. 



"Apricots. — Many young trees in the 

 Nursery partially or wholly killed, in sec- 

 tions where the peaches were not affected. 

 Old trees healthy, and blossomed fair, par- 

 ticularly on the upper branches. For three 

 winters the blossoms near the ground have 

 been destroyed, while those at the tops have 

 been but partially or not at all affected. I 

 mpute the circumstance to the great chan- 

 ges of temperature which take place near 

 the surface of the ground." 



Both young and old trees have not been 

 injured at this place. Old trees have blos- 

 somed very full, and the young fruit is now 

 the size of Almond kernels. Both hard and 

 soft shelled Almonds have withstood the 

 winter perfectly ; those of the soft-shelled 

 of the last year's growth were fresh quite to 

 the points of the limbs. 



" Pears and Plums. — Many tops of Nur- 

 serv trees of vigorous growth killed, mostly 

 on a southern aspect. Some varieties of 

 both, apparently the most hardy, remained 

 without injury. The injury probably ow- 

 ing to a late vigorous growth, and the wood 

 not having become well ripened and hardy, 

 from the confined location in the nursery 

 rows, when the severe weather set iu. Old 

 trees uninjured. The Pear has an abund- 

 ant show of blossoms, the Plum but a scan- 

 ty one." 



Both Pear and Plum trees, young and old, 

 have passed the winter without the least in- 

 jury by frost in this neighborhood, and bid 

 fair to produce an abundant crop. The 

 Plums rarely fail with us, only as they are 

 destroyed by the curculio. 



" Ailanthvs, (Tree of Heaven) a native of 

 China. The last year's growth (which was 

 ordinarily from four to ten feet) killed by the 

 winter. The preceding year's growth, the 

 root and collar uniformly uninjured and sen 

 ding out shoots." 



This tree has endured our climate the past 

 winter without the least injury, the young 

 shoot having put out quite to the points of 

 the limbs; even young trees that were trans 

 planted last fall are uninjured by the frost. 

 "Bignonia, (radicans) both in the nurse 

 ry and trained against a wall, but partially 

 or not at all injured. B. grandifiora equal- 

 ly hardy. 



These stand the climate of Rochester well 

 " Catalpa, (syringaefolea) as usual in our 

 winters, the extremities of the branches kill 

 ed, but shooting vigorously from below." 



We have noticed some young trees in this 

 neighborhood which have the ends of the 

 tender shoots killed ; older trees have not 

 been injured. 



" Viburnum, (lantana) suspected to be too 

 tender for our climate. Some trees which 

 have withstood two winters, were seriously 

 injured by the last." 



We have not noticed this tree growing in 

 this village. 



" Helesia, (letraptera) snow-drop or silver 

 Ibell tree of the southern states, partially in 

 'jured, but now in flower." 



We examined one yesterday which was 



passing froin flower ; it had not been injur- 

 ed in the least by the winter. 



" Rose greville withstood the winter, laid 

 down with a slight covering of tan, and one 

 in a sheltered situation is sending up strong 

 shoots, though the branches were killed down 

 nearly to the ground. 



Champney's rose has stood in the open 

 ground for several winters without serious 

 injury. 



" Camellias, viridis, and bohea, (green and 

 black tea) and several varieties of the Jap- 

 ponica, (Japan rose) Peonias moutan, var. 

 banksia and papaveracea, have kept well in 

 a pit eighteen inches deep, planted in the 

 earth and covered, without artificial heat.— 

 The Chinese varieties of herbaceous Peoni- 

 as, as the double white, Whitlei, double 

 crimson, Humei, and fragrans, (rose scent- 

 ed) are perfectly hardy in the open grounds." 

 The above plants have not been cultiva- 

 ted with us to any extent. 



Spanish Chesnut, (castanea vesca) has 

 been killed by the winter to near the ground 

 for eight years, but sends up new shoots ev- 

 ery year." 



This resists the severity of our winters per- 

 fectly, and we have seen it growing budded 

 into the common chesnut of the woods, where 

 it grew very luxuriantly. 



" White Mulberry, (morus alba) has suf- 

 fered in its branches more than usual by the 

 severity of the winter, and most in a loose 

 soil. The new broad-leaved variety lately- 

 introduced from China, seems as yet rather 

 more sensitive to severe cold than the com- 

 mon white." 



All the varieties seem perfectly hardy in 

 this climate, not having been injured in the 

 least by the past winter. 



" Weeping Willow, (salix babylonica) has 

 stood the severity of the past better than that 

 of ordinary winters. Its branches have been 

 but slightly injured." 



This tree withstands the winters of Old 

 Genesee in its branches, but some years we 

 have noticed black spots upon the bodies of 

 young trees which in some instances have 

 been injurious. 



" Madeira Nut (juglans regia) seedlings 

 have been partially frozen down. An old 

 tree remains uninjured." 



The habits of this tree are similar to the 

 Black Walnut, which grows spontaneous up- 

 on our river flats, but we have not seen the 

 Madeira Nut growing with us. 



" Altheas. — Most of the varieties have suf- 

 fered by the winter." 



We have not seen any injured by the win- 

 ter here, unless they were moved in the fall ; 

 some double whites under those circumstan- 

 ces have been injured. 



" Grapes. — Several foreign varieties left 

 uncovered have frozen down, but are start- 

 ing up again from the collar or surface of 

 the ground." 



We have a great variety of foreign Grapes 

 growing in this neighborhood, and we do not 

 know of but one instance where the vines 

 were covered : and in the same garden were 



