284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MARCH 15, 1837 



SHF.PARDIA OR HI FFALO BRRRY — Winship's 

 Nursery, Brighton, Mass. 



Friekd : — You know we wnre old eonfcflorates 

 in robbing the morn of certain hours, whicli dairy 

 maids and other early risers say liolong to her. — 

 With ail ihe ^,>rojudices of early education, strength- 

 ened by long iiabits ofslolh in the morning, I had 

 become a confirmed skeptic in the hearing of any 

 such statement as that there is such an hour as 6 

 A. M., and such a daily event as sunrise. Anxious 

 to be convinced, I directed a trustworthy jicrson 

 to give me a call at that rumored time of day, and 

 "to make assurance doubly sure^" as Shakspcare 

 says, I fixed my alarm watch so that its tiiitinabu- 

 lation should break the dead ear of morn, at the 

 precise time aforesaid, 6 a. ^f. Well, between 

 thoui both, I was actually awakened — rose — and 

 drew on my habiliuients. 



One daring deed accomplished, leads to the at- 

 tempt of others. 1 sallied forth to enjoy an aute- 

 breakfast walk in mid winter. It was a piece of 

 temerity I know, but a man who can turn out at 

 6 A. M. can do anything " strange and imnatural." 

 Chance led me in my peregrinations within hear- 

 ing of the depot boll of the Worcester Railroad, 

 and all at once it happened to pop into my head 

 that your old friends, the Messrs Winships, or, as 

 we style them, the Captain and the Squire, enjoy 

 all the inconveniences of a convenient distance 

 from the metropolis, at Brighton, four miles out. 

 With an aptness of iNemory which can only be 

 conceived by one who «anls a breakfast, it also 

 occurred to me that 1 hail a standing invitation 

 from those gentlemen to visit tlieni whenevtr it 

 suited my leisure — and when so suitable a time 

 as when I had redeemed three hours from sleep ? 

 Of the reception I met, and all that, I will not 

 tantjilize you by speaking. The nursery of young, 

 useful and ornamental trees, looked more exten-. 

 Bive in its winter desolation, than it looks beauti- 

 ful in its summer fidiage — just like .-my nursery 

 except — and the exception is one half the reason 

 of my writing — very tendei affection for you, and 

 self-laudation being the other half. 



It was neither more nor less than a fruit tree in 

 full bearing. In a green house ? you say. No. 

 Not only had it l)een exposed to ail the rigors of 

 the winter, but it takes a smart chance of iVost to 

 bring its fruit to maturity, I iuquired its name, 

 and the Captain called it the Shepardia eleag- 

 noides. Whereat I requested him to pencil that 

 name down for the benelitof my botanical friends, 

 and to give me another which I might use in the 

 vernacular. lie then ofl'ei'ed me the silver leaf 

 Shepardia, but that had still a smack of the |>a- 

 gan in it, and to Hcconiniodate my predilection for 

 a Christian name, he then told nie I might call it 

 the Butlalo Berry Tree. It will live in almost 

 any climate — the harder the better — being a na- 

 tive of the Rocky mountains. The tree forms an 

 elegant continual ornament for any gentleman's 

 groimds ; being in sununer clothed with a rich 

 egg-leaved foliage, bright green on the upper side, 

 and delicate silver beneath ; and in winter red, 

 with thick clusters of its fruit. This latter is in 

 size and shape like a currant, and in taste has a 

 pleasant tartness, which I can liken exactly to 

 nothing else I have tasted. Preserved, it makes 

 an elegant jam. They have quite a nursery of 

 fruit-bearing trees, ready for transplanting in the 

 spring. The jjarent tree, now aliout twenty feet 

 in height, was raised from seed, repeived per mail 

 <rom Wm. F. Redding of Baltimore, 15 years ago. 



Uncle Sam's mail carriers had no fancy, when 

 transporting the letter, that they were carrying an 

 elegant feature of the New England landscape — 

 or what will be an elegant feature when people 

 become acquainted with the tree. If they are not 

 persuaded to transplant it to their grounds for its 

 own -sake, they will certainly give it the prefer- 

 ence over others, when the matter of planting trees 

 is decided on, without reference to this particular 

 one. 



Its name indicates the fondness of wild animals 

 for it ; and hunters frequently uuike it an essen- 

 tial ])art of their food, even before their stores are 

 exhausted, or much diminished. The Captain has 

 quite a bevy of pensioners in the robins, who, by 

 wintering with him, seem tacitly to accuse the 

 southern climes of having nothing better to ofTer 

 them than the Butlalo Horry — sometimes called 

 the Atnerican Olive, but why, I carinol exactly 

 imagine. 



After sufficiently admiring the tree, and the 

 green-house of the Messrs Winships, one of those 

 gentlemen politely offered me a seat in his chaise, 

 and took Watertown in the way to Boston, to call 

 at Mr Cushing's place, and at Mount Auburn. — 

 The first feature that strikes the visitor at the con- 

 servatory of Mr Gushing, is its jieculiarly ha|)py 

 location. A grove of pine trees (natural growth) 

 protects it from the easterly wintis, and the ap- 

 proach to the mansion, is an avenue shaded by 

 forest trees. A fountain is in the centre of the 

 area — scaled, of course, in the winter season, and 

 extensive ranges of trellis work fur grapes and 

 other vines, with a floor of strawberries, &.c. must 

 make the sjoce before the green-houses one of 

 the most delightful sjiots conceivable in its season. 

 Should I prolrai t my v-sit to ibis jYorthern world 

 into the summer, I snail take opiortunity to enjoy 

 a visit to it — as I certainly shall to the Messrs 

 Winships. Entering the green-house, the first 

 object wliich strikes the visftor, is the disposition 

 of a nundjer of beautiful orange trees, so arrangeil 

 that their yellow fruit is an admirable contrast 

 with the deep green foliage of other plants, which 

 conceals all their trunks. 'J ime and space would 

 fail me, to enumerate even the names of the rare 

 and beautiful exotics from every quarter of the 

 globe, whicli are here collected ; much less is it 

 possible to altem|)t a description of them. All 

 commendation is due, however, to the pure taste 

 which led the proprietor of this Eden tlius to ap- 

 propriate a portion of his abundant means — and 

 all praise should be accorded to Mr Haggerston, 

 the intelligent gardner, for his share in the dispo- 

 sition and culture of plants re(piiriug so dissimilar 

 niaii'.'gement as is su])poscd, by their various ori- 

 gins. It does appear to me, that no person who 

 lives thus " among the roses," can be but improv- 

 ed and rendered better, kinder, and more suscep- 

 tible to the best impulses of our natni*, by con- 

 vei'se and communion at all times with the most 

 beautiful things in creation. 



At Mount Auburn, we did not alight. Had we 

 done so, my space «ould not sufHce to enter into 

 u description. The aspect of the spot as we pas- 

 sed it, suggested only the gloomier thoughts of 

 which death is the prompter — but wiih that gloum 

 came relief from the natural connection of the 

 promise of the return of spiiiig, the regeneration 

 of the vernal features of the place, and the beauti- 

 ful mystery of the resurrection from the dead, 

 taught by our lioly religion. Yours, 



Boston, Jan. 1837. [Silk Cult. 



On the Qdality and (jrcwto of Wheat. - 

 ^rom a late London paper, we learn that Col. 1 e 

 Couteur, an officer in the Jersey militia, lias r ?- 

 cently published a small work, "on tlie varietii s, 

 properties, and classification of wheat." The de- 

 tails are the results of the writer's own experi- 

 ments, on his own property. Circumstances lid 

 him to make a collection of wheats; and in the 

 course of five years' close attention and research, 

 it increased to upwards of 150 sorts. To show 

 the importance of attending to the varieties ai d 

 (iroperlies of wheat, Col. Le Couteur mentions, 

 that among these varieties, there are some tliat 

 will thrive better than others in the particular sods 

 and situations adapted to each, all over the kini'- 

 dom ; that one ear, of a superior variety, sowi d 

 grain by grain, and suffered to tiller apart, pr i- 

 duced 4 lbs. 4 oz. of wheat, whereas, another ear, 

 of an inferior sort, treated in the same manner, 

 produced only 1 lb. 10 oz. — a jiroof of the par; - 

 mount importance of selecting the most produi^ 

 tive and farinaceous sorts f(U' seed, the profit ( f 

 sowing one sort, and the loss resulting from tli ; 

 other being manifest. The writer remarks that 

 his atteniion was directeil to this important sub- 

 ject, by professor La Gasca, Curator of the Royal 

 Gardens at Madrid ; that five years since, he ac 

 cidentally saw about eighty distinct sorts of wheat 

 growing in a nursery garden in Jiscy, some sev 

 en feet high, some only four, the ears of some 

 being three, others six inches long; and that the 

 professor explained their nature to him. He re- 

 quested the professor to visit his crops, consider- 

 ing them to be as pure and unmixed as those of 

 his neighbors. To the writer's dismay, the pio- 

 fessor drew from three fields, twenly-three sorts, 

 some white wheat, some red, some liver-colored, 

 some spring wheat, some dead ripe, the corn sha- 

 king out, some ripe,some half so, some in a milky 

 state, and sonie green. He thereupon became 

 convinced, that "no crop, in that state, could ei- 

 ther produce the greatest weight of corn, give the 

 largest quantity of flour, or make the best or 

 lightest bread, such as would be produced from a 

 field in an equal and perfect state of ripeness." — 

 He then selected the best and most productive sorts 

 of wheat, and secured 14 sorts, which he after- 

 wards cultivated with great care and success, sh'av- 

 ing the groat (u-ofit lesuliing from this care .-ind 

 selection, and arguing on the immense consequen- 

 ces to the country, if attention to this subject could 

 be made a national object, 'i'he modes by which 

 Col. Le Couteur proceeded and succeeded, occu- 

 py large portiois of the volume; but tlie jiaper 

 fiom which we fiave drawn the preceding ac- 

 count, gives no further information. — Boston 

 Courier. 



A steam FlouringMill is cont^-mplated at Gosh- 

 en, N. Y., the capital of the fertile County of Or- 

 ange. Goshen is an interior town, but in the 

 centre of a celebrated butter and grain region. — 

 She has no water power, and proposes to make 

 up for it by the mills in question, in using Avery's 

 newly invented steam engine, by which it is be- 

 lieved 150 bushels of grain may be ground by one 

 cord of maple wood, and with four run of stones, 

 385 busliels per 12 hours. Maple wood delivered 

 at the mill, would cost $3,50 per cord. — A^. York 

 Star. 



A company with a capital of $100,000, has been 

 established in Wilmington, Delaware, for the man- 

 ufacture of silk. 



