JVeio York, Philadelphia, Ballimore, S,c. 373 



We passed half a day with Mr. Downing in looking through 

 his nursery, and were highly pleased with every part of it. 

 The trees were all very well grown, and the grounds kept 

 clean. The trees are set in rows about four feet apart, and 

 the soil tilled beween with the cultivator, and afterwards gone 

 over near the trees with the hoe. The soil is a good loam 

 upon a dry, firm subsoil, and the trees stand the winter well, 

 rarely having any of their branches killed. The stock of pears 

 is large and good, as is also the stock of apples and plums, 

 among the latter two or three seedlings raised at Newburgh by 

 the Messrs. Downings; one called the Emerald Drop is a su- 

 perior fruit. The scions of many of the new pears were ob- 

 tained of Mr. Manning, of Salem, whose accuracy is well 

 known. Mr. Downing is particular to keep the varieties dis- 

 tinct, and no tree is sold when the name is doubtful. 



In speaking of the practice of budding, &c., INIr. Downing 

 stated to us that he had lately piactised with considerable suc- 

 cess a new method of grafting. The object is to put the top of 

 a shoot of a seedling tree, or anew variety when it is desirable 

 to procure fruit immediately, upon the top of a thrifty shoot of 

 a middle aged tree. Of this he showed us many specimens: 

 the process is simply to take thrifty shoots about a cpiarter of 

 an inch in diameter, and cut them in a slanting manner clean 

 through, so as to detach about four inches of the top from the 

 rest, making the line of the angle about an inch; the stock is 

 to be cut in the same manner; the backs are then to be care- 

 fully united, and bound up with yarn, covering the whole with 

 grafting wax to exclude the air and wet. By this mode, fruit 

 may be obtained in a short period, so as to test its correct- 

 ness at an early day. The operation is simple, and attended 

 with scarcely any danger of loss. 



Mr. Downing has raised a new variety of rhubarb, which 

 promises to be a large and fine kind. We noticed here a fine 

 large variety of the black currant, producing fruit nearly the 

 size of small grapes; we think the variety must be the large 

 black Naples. He has also a Missouri currant, which pi'oduc- 

 es an abundance of oblong black fruit, quite different from that 

 which is grown around Boston under the same name. Mr. 

 Downing is quite an amateur in pinks, and has raised some 

 good sorts: he intends another year to grow a great number of 

 seedlings, from which he hopes to obtain a (e\v select kinds. 



Our visit to Newburgh was rendered very pleasant by the 



