Vol. 1.— No. 30. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL,. 



23T 



Possibly one of several double varieties of Pceo- 

 nia officinalis, or of Paonia paradoxa. 



"Silver Abeal." I presume this is the Abe- 



)e tree, (Populus alba.) 



"Service tree." Aronia botryapiwm. is cal- 

 led the " service tree," and sorbus domeslica, is 

 ■ailed the " service tree." 



Albany Horticultural Society. 



" June 28. A splendid collection of flowers con- 

 sisting of Dianthus Carryophillus [caryophiUns] 

 Hbrtensis, Chinensis and ZJarbatus — Delphini- 

 um elatum and Azurcum [azureum] — Sephara 

 [Sophora] cerulia [cerulea] and Alba — Spina 

 [Spircea] ulmaria — Lonicera caprifolium and sta- 

 laca" [Italica ?] The above is a true copy from 

 \\\eprintcd account with the corrections in brack- 

 ets. Whether such mutilations can be useful, let 

 the reader judge. Bad spelling may be avoided 

 by a reference to botanical authors, and so may 

 an improper use of capitals in the specific names. 

 With but few exceptions, specific names are lit- 

 erally adjectives, and no more require a capital 

 letter ia Latin than they do in English, the New- 

 Edinburgh Encyclopaedia to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. I have marked such improprieties in 

 dalics. To save the compositor from mistakes, 

 gjf^Ae Recording Secretary ought to write all 

 suck names as plain as print. I know by expe 

 rience that it is worth the pains. 



"July 5. — From the garden of J. Buel — dou- 

 ble red and white green [queen] of the " mead 

 ows." Spircea ulmaria <f- S.filipendula are the 

 only species of Meadow Sweet known to botanical 

 authors with double flowers, and both have white 

 flowers. I regret that the account is so imperfect. 

 " From the Albany Nursery — Five varie- 

 ties of perennial larkspurs." This notice is very 

 exceptionable. Perennial larkspurs, of which there 

 are many species, are not much disposed to run in- 

 to distinct or remarkable varieties, and I therefore 

 infer that the writer meant 5 sorts or species of pe- 

 rennial larkspurs. But even with this emenda- 

 tion what was presented must remain a secret. 



" Rose willow wort." I guess Willow Herb 



(Epilobium) was meant, but I guess no further, 

 as Professor Eaton gives 6 species with red or 

 purplish flowers, and we know there are several 

 rxotics of this color. 



" Japenese three day lilly." The species of 



Hemerocallis are called day lillies ; and as H. ja- 

 ponica flowers in Autumn, we are left to infer that 

 //. c cerulea was exhibited, as this and the former 

 are the only species indigenous to Japan. The 

 word ,: three" was probably a misprint. 



" Rose Potentilla." Was this Potentilla a- 



'rosanguinea? or P. ncpaulensis? or some oth- 

 er kind? 



" Blue spiked Veronica." At this, even con- 

 jecture is bewildered ; for there are more than six- 

 ty species of Veronica with "blue spiked" flowers. 

 ' Do you give it up 1" Yes. 



Rensselaer co. Horticultural Society. 



li June 14. — Mrs. Cone — a very pretty thorn- 

 less double and single French rose [I cannot com- 

 prehend whether there was o ne or two roses] and 

 elegant Hiderangea." I regret that Prof. E. has 

 introduced, unaccompanied by any mark of dis- 

 approbation, some such corrupt pronunciation in- 

 to his Manual of Botany. 



" From A. Walsh — Hop tree." I suppose 



this name is of recent manufacture. 



- —-"(white Tartarian) yellow, Spanish, Apple, 



and sevenother varieties of cherries." I shall not. 

 venture any opinion on the meaning of this mess. 

 Q. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



I bespeak for our horticultural shows, and for 

 our printers, the charity of your correspondent 

 "CI." It will take sometime to arrive at any 

 thing like correctness in botanical names. For 

 there is probably not one man in a hundred who 

 attends our shows that is able to determine the 

 generic, much less the specific names, of the flow- 

 ers which are shown. And our type-setters are 

 often in fault ; for many of the errors complained 

 of arise from their not knowing how to spell bo- 

 tanical names. The criticism is however well e- 

 nough, and will make gardeners, and I hopeprin- 

 ters, more cautious about using their p's and q's. 

 A NOVICE. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



In some of the Middle States, it is customary 

 to begin hay-making when the grass has scarcely 

 dropped its blossoms. This lias been the prac- 

 tice of several generations ; and though unaided 

 by philosophy, the farmers of those districts had 

 adopted the very plan which seems warranted by 

 the experiments instituted by the Duke of Bed- 

 ford, and which seem to prove that the greatest 

 quantity of nutritive matter is obtained from the 

 grasses when in flower.* Hay made from early 

 cut grass, moreover, has a brightness and fresh- 

 ness of appearance altogether superior to hay 

 made late in the season. 



Yet notwithstanding both theory and appear- 

 ance are in favor of early hay, my experience is 

 in direct opposition. My horses have always 

 turned from it, whenever an opportunity for such 

 choice was offered, to old rusty hay, cut after har- 

 vest when the grass appeared half dry as it stood 

 and this they have eaten with avidity. A circum- 

 stance of this kind is strongly imprinted on my 

 memory. An old kinsman who was a strenuous 

 advocate for making early hay, said to me when 

 I once called on him in sleighing time, " Go to the 

 barn, there is plenty of hay, and there is none finer 

 or better in the country." This was said with a 

 slight reference to our former debates on the sub- 

 ject I went and found hay, cut when the grass 

 was in flower, and which seemed to have preser- 

 ved all its greenness ; yet my horses, though hun- 

 gry, would not eat it, but the remnants of some 

 from my own barn which had been trodden un- 

 der foot in the sleigh, was eaten with an evident 

 relish. 



It would be gratifying to have some remarks or 

 explanations on this subject. It is certainly a 

 great saving of labor to cut our grass late in the 

 season. Many a ton of hay have we taken in, on 

 the afternoon of the same day in which the grass 

 was cut; while in England, according to Sir 

 John Sinclair, the shortest time in which hay can 

 be made is 4 days, and 5 hay makers are requi- 

 red to take care of the grass cut by one mower. 

 A FARMER. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mr. Editor: — I am a plain farmer and cannot 

 always tell when things are called by their right 

 names. I have often tried to bud and graft some 

 of our cultivated cherries upon the wild black 

 cherry, so called, but I have never succeeded. I 



I 



*Is Timothy (Phleum pratensej) an exception? 

 have not the account of those experiments at hand. 



have began to think there might be some mistake 

 in the name, and that it did not belong to the 

 same class with other cherries. Now if you or 

 your correspondent D. T., or some body else 

 would tell me whether the tree I allude to, is in fact 

 a cherry, and whether other cherries, as May 

 dukes, black hearts and morellas, can be propa- 

 gated upon it ; you would save me the trouble oi 

 puzzling my head about that which I do not un- 

 derstand. With respect I am &c. 



A YOUNG FARMER. 



SELECTIONS. 



FLAX AND HEMP. 

 (Documents continued from page 227.) 

 A. 

 On the culture and preparing the hemp in 

 Russia, transmitted by the Hon. J. Q. Ad- 

 ams, Minister at St. Petersbitrgh, March, 

 1810. 



In Russia, when the season is mild, the 

 hemp seed is sown about the 1st Juue, old 

 style. The richer the soil of the land em- 

 ployed for it, the better. Achetwirtofseed 

 (100 chetwirts are equal to 73 quarters, 

 Winchester measure,) is sown on a piece of 

 land of 80 fathoms (English feet) long and 

 GO fathoms broad. 



The land is first ploughed and harrowed, 

 and, about 200 single horse loads of dung 

 being spread upon it, it is left for six days, 

 when it is again ploughed, and the seed sown 

 and harrowed the same day. In about four 

 months the seed becomes ripe, and the hemp 

 is then pulled up with the roots; if it be al- 

 lowed to remain too long in the ground, it 

 is apt to become harsh. It is bound into 

 heads or bunches of four handfulls each ; 

 these are hung upon sticks placed horizon- 

 tally, thus :>:-0-0-0-0-0-0-X and allowed to 

 remain so for two days. It is then made in- 

 to cut or thrashed hemp as may be agreea- 

 ble. The cut hemp is made by chopping off 

 the heads containing the seed. These are 

 put into the kiln, and, after remaining there 

 for eighteen hours, the seed is beaten out. 



If thrashed hemp is to be made, the heads 

 or tops must not be cut off, but the bunches 

 of hemp placed entire in the kiln; and, if 

 the weather be warm, it will be sufficiently 

 dry in three days, when the seed must be 

 thrashed out of the heads. In either case, 

 three days after the seed is separated from it. 

 the hemp must be put to steep or rot, either 

 in a stream or pond, and that the hemp may 

 be entirely immersed, it is put under wood- 

 en frames 

 placed, 



upon which stones are 

 they are not to be had. 



or, where 

 earth is substituted, after the frames are co- 

 vered with planks. 



The clearer and purer the water, the bet 

 tcr will be the color of the hemp. Where 

 the water is warm, three weeks steeping will 

 be sufficient ; but if cold, as in rivers, springs, 

 &.C. five weeks or longer may be necessary. 

 At the expiration of this period, a head of 

 hemp is taken out and dried ; if, on beating 

 and cleaning it, the husk comes off, the 

 hemp may then taken out of the water ; but, 

 if the husk still adheres to it, it must be al- 

 lowed to remain some time longer. This 

 trial must be repeated from time to time, till 

 the husk separates, when the hemp must be 

 taken out of the water, and suspended to 

 dry, as directed before, on its being taken 

 off the ground. 



The hemp is now made into the two sorts, 

 distinguished by the names of Spring and 



