200 



cultural WeeJdy, a report of an exhibition in Mos- 

 cow, the ancient Capitol of Russia. 



Most of the plants exhibited, as achievements of 

 the gardeners' skill, were such as are quite common 

 to us, and are properly not considered by us worthy 

 of a higher cultivation. Skill in fact is measured 

 by the difficulties to be overcome, and things, grow- 

 ing easily enough with us, are pretty hard to raise 

 under the Russian climate. There winter and sum- 

 mer may be called equally vigorous. The winter 

 is long and severe, lasting seven months or more ; 

 the summer is but short, and almost without tran- 

 sition of any spring succeeds winter. Tt also is very 

 hot, so as to perfect in its short term all that man 

 and beast require during the long winter. We 

 can easily fancy to what difficulties vegetation, ex- 

 cepting the native one, is subjected. 



To bring the matter nearer home. Suppose the 

 Pennsylvania Horticultural Exhibition^ by some 

 magical feat, stepped from that directly into the 

 Newfoundland Horticultural Exliihition^ or vice 

 versa. How poor the one, how rich the other ! 

 would they exclaim. Yet, Pennsylvanians- and 

 Newfoundlanders glory alike, and glory justly in their 

 respective exhibitions. 



"Poor Newfoundlanders!" Poor Newfound- 

 landers? Not at all poor. There are some degrees 

 of latitude yet from Newfoundland to the North 

 Pole, and each degree thinks itself higher gifted 

 than the other, and thanks God and nature for it ; 

 till the highest limits of the globe are reached, and 

 man and vegetation cease together. 



Still, how often in our nursery practice have we 

 had to listen to grumbling. Mostly from such as 

 had visited Europe. 



One said: "There are more American Rhodo- 

 dendrons to be found in France than in our own coun- 

 try." 



The other said: "We have the latitude of 

 Malaga and cannot grow its grapes." 



A third said: " The fine Portugal laurel grows 

 in cold clammy, northern England, and we cannot 

 raise it even in Virginia, so much more southerly 

 than Portugal itself" 



A German says: " Our winter kills his German 

 nut trees." 



An Englishman : "Oh for the sweet-scented live 

 hedges of old England, why cant I succeed with 

 them?" 



An Italian : "I have tried the olive in Georgia 

 and have lost my time, my money, my trouble and 

 my hopes." 



Now, each and all of these complaints are true. 

 True but wrongful. A wilful and deliberate shut- 



ting of the grumblers' eyes against the many advan- 

 tages of this country and sections of country against 

 this or that country, or against another section of 

 our own country. A clean forgetting of the great 

 Compensating Spirit which prevades all creation. 

 An utter neglect of trying to strike a balance be- 

 tween advantages and disadvantages. 



And now let our readers cheerfully and conten- 

 tedly return with us to Moscow. 



There they see a good many of our "weeds" 

 cultivated and exhibited as things to be enjoyed 

 and to be proud of. They see further, and smile 

 again, most indifferent cherries and pears are eyed 

 at as fruit fit for the gods of Olympus. And they 

 feel a certain pleasant sensation when they see Lima 

 beans and sweet potatoes raised at enormous ex- 

 pense in Prince Cherchinakoff's hothtuse for the 

 Cherchinakoffian table. A certain pleasant sensa- 

 tion which, according to La Bruyere^ we cannot 

 help but feel when we hear of a friend's misfor- 

 tune ; a feeling, which, according to him, means: 

 'tis his misfortune, not our own. 



Before we leave the Moscow exhibition, held in 

 one of the Imperial arsenals there, we beg our 

 readers to look at those pears and those grapes. 

 Hothouse growth to be sure. But don^t they look 

 as it taken off this very morning? "Certainly." 

 Well, they are nine and ten months old. The fact 

 is, such fruit is so rare, and so valuable, and so 

 expensive that the clever Russians have found out 

 the best way to preserve them, and long before Nyce 

 was heard of. And when we get our All the World's 

 Horticultural Exhibition^ to be held in Richmond, 

 Virginia, before many years, we hope our good 

 neighbors, the Russians, will tell us all about how 

 to preserve fruit. 



PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 



BY "C," NEW YORK. 



I find, in most of the agricultural journals of the 

 present day, advice freely given to prune orchards 

 in the month of March. 



This, I presume, arises from a custom handed 

 down to us from our fathers, which "is better, 

 however, in its breach, than in its observance ;" 

 originating from the fact that pruning was a neces- 

 sity, and that March was the best month, as the 

 farmer had more time at that particular period, 

 and other out-door work could not then be well or 

 profitably done. 



But my experience and observation has shown 

 me that June, of all months, is preferable for the 

 pruning of fruit trees ; that when pruned in this 

 month the limbs heal over more readily and 



