ST8 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAT 1.1, ISIO. 



and horticultural rkgi3ter. 

 Boston, Wednesday, May 13, 1840. 



STATE OF THE SEASON. 

 We have been very <lesrirou.s of obtaining from some 

 one a statement of t!ie season and the pron;ress of vegeta- 

 tion^ For years tbc public depended on the caieful re- 

 ports of tlie excellent Mr Lowell. We know that there 

 are several farmers who keep such a record ; and they 

 would do us a great favor if they would communicate 

 them to us. We have engaged a t-alem friend to give us 

 at least once a month his weekly journal. In this case 

 we subjoin his journal of the last year, that every one 

 may compare for biniself the present with the past. Our 

 own condiliun being necessarily unsettled, leaves us no 

 power to do in this matter as we would. We believe the 

 present season is in advance of the past ; certainly until 

 the cold weather of the last weel,'. \Vc Jiave had cold 

 easterly winds, a good deal of rain, and scarcely any sun- 

 shine for the last eight days. Asparagus, which in. the 

 same situation is a tolerably fair test of She season, was 

 this year on the same l)cd, cut eight days earlier than the 

 last year. H. C. 



PROGRESS OF VEGETATION DUlllNG THE 



MONTH OF MAY, 1839. 



(Communicated lor the N. E. Farmer ) 



Mav 4. It has rained hard nearly every night since 

 Monday, April 29th, completely filling the earth with 

 water, and yesteiday and to-day the wind has blown 

 strongly from the north west. Ice made this morning of 

 considerable thickness, and although fruit trees in gener- 

 al are very forward and just ready to blossom, they have 

 not sustained any apparent injury. The Isabellas on the 

 back of the grapery have broken very finely, and several 

 of the shoots are showing minute bunches of fruit. The 

 buds of the Hambui^gs and .Sweetwatcrs upon the rafters, 

 arc just bursting into leaf formation-. Horse chesnuts 

 and mountain asli trees have leafed outmost grcenishly. 



May 1 1 . The weather has been cold aiwi easterly dur- 

 ing the week with ice and frosts. Some few -f my pears 

 and all my peach, plum and cherry trees are.in blossoms. 

 The mountain ashes, horse chesnuts. elnia, and abeles, 

 have greened out handsomely, and elfinglen is fast assum- 

 ing a summerish aspect. Strawberry vines have com- 

 menced blossoming. The vines in tlie grapery progress 

 slowly. A writer in the Transcript, 'C F.,' thus noti- 

 ces the cold of Wednesday : "This morning at sunrise 

 my thermometer stf\od at 25°, which is one degree lower 

 than I have any record of its having been in the month 

 of May for '62 years past. Ice was formed in vessels of 

 nearly 1-4 inch in thickness, and the ground wasa» white 

 with snow as at midwinter." . 



May 18. The weather has been very fino, with but 

 one rainy day during the week, and our spring work has 

 progressed very satisfactorily. We have been planting 

 peas, beans, potatoes. (Kohans, Dillinghauis and Rion- 

 eys,) canteleupes and cucumbers. The grapes have 

 grown finely both in the rafters and back of the house, 

 having generally made shoots I8and SO inches in length ; 

 all of whidi are showing two or three bunches of fVuit 

 Horse chestnut trees in blossom and a few apple trees. 



IMay 25.— Saturday. Since Saturday last the weather 

 has been dull and cold, with raw, c>iiili,ng winds frotn 

 E. S. E. with rain yesterday and on Wednesday. The 

 oniims, parsnips, beets and carrots sowed the 7th inst , 

 ate just visible upon ihe rows The " Tucker ■' corn 

 plaoted the 7lh inst., is up about two inches. Pease and 



beans planted the 15th, are just breaking ground. The 

 vine.* in the grapery have made rapid growth, and I have 

 shorlencd in some of the fruit bearing canes this evening. 

 Apples have been blossoming finely since Monday last 

 which is at least a week in advance of the last season. 



Ju^E 1. — Saturday. During the week past, the weath- 

 er has been cold, dull and rainy, with raweasterly winds. 

 The vines in the grapery have made some three and four 

 feet of wood, very strong. Peas are blossoming full ; po- 

 tatoes just showing themselves upon the rows. Trees 

 are looking finely. Pears, cherries and plums have got 

 remarkably full, and the foliage of both fruit and orna- 

 mental trees is as thick as it generally is by the 17th of 

 Juno. 



Dny,.f\ 

 month. 



(il 



50 



RECORD OF THE WEATHER FOR APRIL, 1540 

 fOimmunicated for the N. E. Farmer.) 

 T/tertnmtictcr. 



Fiicc of tlie sliy and course of 

 ]}. m. the wind. 



36 Clear : cloudy day : snow storm: 

 S. S.E E, 



33 Fair and extremely windy : N. 



N.W- : 2 inches of snow on 



the ground. 

 47 Fair mostly ; strong wind S. W. 

 44 Fair : cloudy mostly and very 



windy: S., S W., W ., N. W. 

 40 Clear ; clouds, and extremely 



windy : W. N. W. 



38 Clear: many clouds :ind windy. 

 W. N. W. 



32 Clear and very windy : N. W. 

 N. N. W. 



39 Fair; N. N. W. 



37 Perfectly clear all d.iy ; N. W. 

 W., S , S. W. 



54 Fair: uncommonly windy and 



dusty. S. S.W. 

 58 Fair : partly cloudy p. m. : S. 



S. W. 

 58 Cloudv, with frequent driving 



showers: S., S. W , W. 



40 Clear nearly, and verv windy. 



44 Fair: N. W., S. W., E.. S. 



45 Fair ; partly cloudy : S. W., 

 N. W , E , S. 



47 Fair: N., E , S. 

 .52 Cloudy and fair : slrong wind S. 

 (11 Fair mostly and extremely 

 windy : S., S. S. W 



39 Cloudy : fair day : N. N.W., E. 



40 Fair: at times cloudy with 

 squalls of rain : S. S. W., 

 N. W. 



40 Clear: N., N. E., E. 

 53 Fair and very windy : S., S. S. 



VV. stormy 

 68 Cloudy : the day fair and fine : 



S. W., W., N. W. 

 GL Fair and delightful day : N.W. 



N,N. E. 

 62 Clear mostly and fine : N. E , 



E,S. 

 67 Foggy and cloudy : fair and 



hril'liant day : S. VV. thunder 



shower. 



41 Fair and exlremly windy : per- 

 . feetly clear p. ni. : N. VV. 



43 Clear and frosty : great change : 



S. E., E., S. : cloudy, and in 



the night a stoi-m, 



53 48 Stormy roost ofthe day : E., NE. 



(y'i 56 Cloudv : (air day and very 



windy : K. VV. 



of the month, 4S.57 ; do. of the nionlli 



81 



60 



4G 



, 46.00. Range of thcrmomeler from 19 to &2 



Mea 

 last ye." 

 G-1 dcgi 



Average temperature of the month for 24 years, 44° II. 



Wannest April in that period, in IS27, 49° 21. 



Cocdest do " . " in 1«I8, 39° 10. 



With the single exception of 1827,. the month past has 

 been the mildest April foi more than .30 years; and the 

 season, as indicated by the trees and grass, is one of the 

 most forward that has ever occurred. But fcv days, 

 however, have been agreeably pleasant, in consequence 



ofthe boisterous winds which have prevailed during the 

 greater part ofthe month. At present there is a flatter- 

 ing prospect of a fruitful .season. Grass and grain look 

 remarkably well, and fruil, trees of every kind are exhi- 

 biting their buds and blossoms in most exuberant profu- 

 sion. C F. 

 Il'idtham, May 8, 1840. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 Pkemiums for Fi.owebs. 



A meeting of the Committee on Flowers of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticullural Society, was held May 9th, 1840. 

 C M. Hovey was appointed secretary. 



It was voied that the following premiums be awarded 

 for the ensuing year, viz : 



Hyacinths : For the best display, $5 



Tulips : First premium for the best twelve, dissimi- 

 lar bloom, 10 

 Second do for the next best twelve do 5 

 Pansies : First premium for the best twelve differ- 

 ent blooms, 5 

 Second do for the best six blooms, 3 

 For the best seedling, 2 

 Pasonies (berbaceousj ; For the best display, 5 

 Seconrl do do 3 

 Best seedling, 2 

 Geraniums: Best six plants in pots, 5 

 Second best do 3 

 Best seedling, 3 

 Pinks : Best display, 5 

 Kesl six flowers, 3 

 Best seedling, 2 

 Roses : Best fifty blooms, 8 

 >^ccond best do 5 

 Best display of China and other tender kinds, 5 

 Carnations : Best display, 5 

 Second do do 3 

 German Asters : Best display, 5 

 Second best do 3 

 Perennial plants: Best display, 3 

 Second do do 2 

 Annuals : Best display, * 3 

 Second do do 2 

 The committee proceeded thus far in making out- their 

 list of prizes : the rules and regulations for the govern- 

 ment gf the exhibition, will he passed at an adjourned 

 meeting next week, when all the members are requested 

 to be present. 



The first show of the season will take place on Satur- 

 diiy. May 23d, (unless notice be given to the contrary,) 

 and for the fi)Ilowing articles, viz : Tulips, Pansies, 

 Piconies and Geraniums. 



The flowers and plants must all be in the room by 9 

 o'clock. A. M for the inspection of the judges. 



Per order, C. M. HOVEY, Stc'ry. 



PREMIUMS FOR VEGETABLES. 



The Committee on Vegetables of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, to whom was commiticd the sub- 

 ject of premiums for 1840, ask leave to report: 

 For Asparagus, earliest and best four bunches, $3 

 Beans : Large Lima, best two quarts, shelled, 3 

 Beans : Early Dwarf, " ■■ " 2 

 Broccoli ; Best foul heads, 3 

 Beels : " twelve rools, 2 

 Cabbages: " six heads, " 2 

 Carrots: '' twelve roots, 2. 

 Cauliflowers: "four heads, 3 

 Celery : *' six roots in the season, 2 

 ('orii, for boiling: earliist and best, 2 

 Cucumbers: best threi; pair before 1st Sat'day in June, 4 

 Lettuce: finest six heads in season, 2 

 Peas : best specimen of half bushel, befiire 2d Satur- 

 day in July, 4 

 Potatoes: earliest and best peck, 2 

 Rhubarb : best dozen spears, ' 3 

 Squashes : summer, earliest and best dozen, 2 

 Siiuaslics : winter, best for season, 3 

 Tomatoes: best and earliest dozen, 2 

 Egg plants : best specimen, 2 

 Brussels sprouts : best specimen, 2 



The Committee will also award premiums and gratui- 

 ties lor specimens olincw or valuable varieties, or for any 

 extraordinary specimens of those above named ; and they 

 would respectfully but earnestly request all who feel any 

 interest in the Society or in the vegetable kingdom, ta 



