442 Notes and Recollections of a Visit to the 



Art, III. Notes and Recollections of a Visit to the Nurse- 

 ries of Messrs. Hovey Sf Co., Cambridge. By London- 



lENSIS. 



The following notes were written for publication in one 

 of the gardening newspapers in London ; but a friend of the 

 writer, to whom the letter had been shown, was so much 

 gratified with them, that he has, with his permission, for- 

 warded us an extract, giving a brief account of a visit to the 

 grounds of Messrs. Hovey & Co., which, as showing the 

 opinions of a foreigner upon the extent and management of 

 American, nurseries, will be found very interesting : — 



As you are already aware, I am not much prepossessed in 

 favor of the American method of nursery management, if 

 method it can be called ; the culture and keeping of them, 

 being apparently determined by the quantity of ground occu- 

 pied by the respective individuals. As to keeping, in its 

 general acceptation, it is, except in a few solitary instances, 

 unknown. The most striking feature in an American nur- 

 sery is the want of system, or method, in the disposition of 

 the grounds, and the arrangement of the articles for sale. 

 On calling at a nursery for a dozen pear trees, for instance, 

 you will probably be shown to as many different places 

 before you can decide which to take ; and, if the weather be 

 damp, certes, this is no pleasant business, as there are no 

 walks, and you may as well go through a ploughed field. 

 In short, the nurseries of this country present, with a few 

 exceptions, a inelange of weeds, and confusion. 



I have said that there are some exceptions to this sweep- 

 ing statement ; and one of the most striking exceptions is 

 that of the nurseries of Messrs. Hovey & Co., at Cambridge, 

 near Boston, which I visited a short time since ; and, as 



]y existing, to the quantity which would be required for saturation ; for, calling the term of 

 saturation 1.000, as the elasticity of vapor at the temperature of the air is to the elasticity 

 of vapor at the temperature of the dew point, so is the term of saturation to the actual 

 degree of moisture. 



