210 Rural Scenery : the Thatched Cottage. 



bearer. Corses' Field Marshal has not yet come into bearing, but 

 it promises well, and is a very vigorous and hardy kind. Bolmar's 

 Washington has not yet produced much in my garden, although 

 the trees are quite large, and have flowered every season. Of the 

 above list, the Royal de Tours is quite early, and the Semiana a 

 very late plum, in eating from the middle of October to the mid- 

 dle of November. Some trees, only two years from the graft, pro- 

 duced twenty or. thirty plums last season. At the season it 

 ripens, there is but little other fruit, and on this account it is a very 

 valuable sort. 



There are some insects which attack the plum, and, in some 

 districts, destroy the whole crop of fruit. But as I have never 

 been troubled to any great extent, I can say but little about 

 them. The curcuKo I have seen on the trees sometimes, and 

 I am very particular to have ever]/ fruit picked up as soon as it 

 falls from the tree. By this means the insect has been prevented 

 from spreading, while in gardens almost adjoining, they have de- 

 stroyed the crop for several years. The black excrescence which 

 appears on the branches, I have also, as yet, seen but a few times ; 

 and this I immediately cut away. I have no doubt but it is caused 

 by an insect, although some cultivators attribute it to disease arising 

 from the soil and situation. I have always given great attention to 

 the cultivation of the plum, and have found no trouble in procuring 

 fruit ; and if the same care is given by other persons, I see no 

 reason why plums should not be as plenty as any other fruit. 



Yours, 



Cambridgeport, Ajjril 4, ISS5. S. Pond. 



Art. III. Rural Scenery : The Thatched Cottage. By Junius. 



There are but few objects in landscape scenery that form a 

 more rural characteristic than " the thatched cottage," by the 

 side of a wood, which serves to protect it from the cold winter 

 blast, and has the effect of a shady retreat for summer. To im- 

 part to the traveller pleasing ideas of the fertility and domestic 

 comforts, blended with rural economy, of the country through 

 which he passes, is, perhaps, one of the very best criterions of his 

 opinion of the more rapid improvement and increase of the value 

 of property ; and the ' cot ' spoken of is one of the sure features 

 to attract his particular attention. 



