46 Notes and Recollections of a 



One of Mr. Kent's practices, which he adopts very gen- 

 erally, to procure good blooms, is to shade the flowers. 

 This is effected by means of small earthen pots, of a round 

 form, swelling out below the rim, so as to hold the flower 

 without injuring the petals ; these are about five inches in 

 diameter, and made with an open bottom, in which a small 

 pane of glass is set. The object of the glass is to allow 

 sufficient light to the bloom, so that it may not be deficient 

 in its proper colors ; for being placed over the bud just as it 

 begins to open, if it was opaque, the flowers, if light kinds, 

 would be nearly colorless. The object of the pot is as 

 much to produce a moist atmosphere around the bud, as to 

 shade it ; the pot becoming warmed by the heat of the sun, 

 the air inside is rendered much warmer than the outer air, 

 while the moisture which is deposited at night by conden- 

 sation, owing to the cooler temperature of the outer air, is a 

 reserve during the day. These pots are placed on a flat 

 board about six inches square, with a hole in one side to 

 let in the stem. This is nailed, nearly in the centre, to an 

 upright stake, which is pushed into the ground, more or 

 less, (having them of different lengths,) to suit the height 

 of any particular bloom. The pot is placed on when the 

 bud begins to show color, and is not removed till sufliciently 

 expanded for cutting. From the good effects we saw of 

 these shades, under Mr, Kent's practice, we would advise 

 amateurs, who wish to produce fine shoiv Jlou-ers, to make 

 use of them. Their cost would not exceed four cents each, 

 and in a collection of one hundred plants, a hundred pots 

 would be suflicient to shade enough blooms to make a good 

 selection for a stand of twenty-four or thirty-six. 



We here saw a bed of oiu" seedling Strawberry, which 

 in 1842 did not produce scarcely any fruit, and Mr. Kent 

 concluded at once that it would be so poor a bearer as not to 

 be worth cultivating; he therefore let the bed run to weeds, 

 intending to root the plants up ; but forgetting to do so, the 

 bed, last summer, was one mass of fruit, so profusely cov- 

 ered as to be almost red with the berries, and this, too, in 

 the absence of any other variety in its vicinity. 



We found Mr. Kent dibbling out his cabbages for liis 

 spring crop — a I'egetable which he raises in abundance, 

 and carries the first to market. We also saw large beds of 

 celery, of which he grows great quantities every year ; the 

 past season it rusted badly, and some of the rows were 



