38 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
written in the eulogistic style of a political 
admirer, and were it in a political paper or 
pamphlet, we should think that some indis¬ 
creet friend of his had put him upon the 
track for the next Presidential campaign. 
But as it is here in this journal, we can only 
attribute it to an error in judgement, in dis¬ 
cussing the genus homo, where some horti- 
cu'tural genus had been a little more appro¬ 
priate. The engraving which accompanies 
this biography is exceedingly fine and life¬ 
like, and will recall very vividly to all his 
friends, the presiding genius of the last 
meeting of the American Pomological So¬ 
ciety. This is announced as the first of a 
series of sketches of distinguished pomolo- 
gists. We trust sketches rather than bio¬ 
graphies will be given. Biographies of fine 
fruits, and their illustrations, are the proper 
illuminations of the pages of the leading 
horticultural journal of ihe country. Thom¬ 
as Hogg, of Yorkville, is announced to ap¬ 
pear next, with a portrait. Please let the 
life be razed, Mr. Editor. 
There is an article on Daisy ChrLanthe- 
mums, to accompany a very beautiful boquet 
of eight varieties, taken from a collection of 
sixty sorts. These are much cultivated in 
England and France, and are growing in favor 
with us. 
B. Munn has an article on evergreen 
shrubs. Though the materials are rather 
meager, he thinks the artist who is familiar 
with his subject can. with them, create much 
of picturesqe, or of graceful beauty, even 
with the winter scenery of a country resi¬ 
dence. He fears the European Holly will 
always be scarce, as there are few situations 
in which it will succeed. But the American, 
which is so very beautiful, is entirely over¬ 
looked. Though it can easily be raised by 
the thousands from seeds picked up in the 
woods, it is rare to find this shrub at our 
nurseries. The Rhododendrons and Kal- 
mias of our own woods may be introduced 
with good effect Many of the hybrid varie¬ 
ties of Rhododendron, which have been 
originated in Europe of late years, may be 
found eligible for ornamental purposes. 
There is hope also, that the varieties from 
the Himalaya, introduced by Dr. Hooker, 
may prove hardy in our climate. 
A Yankee subscriber has a chapter on the 
beauty of neglected things, which is one of 
the most sprightly articles of the number. He 
touches that poor, commonplace evergreen, 
the Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana), and 
really makes quite a lion of it. It seeks the 
driest, and most sterile soils along our road- 
sid s, and in our neglected pasture-fields, 
clothing the bleakest aspects, as in charity, 
with its mantle of green. But though par¬ 
tial to granite hill-tops, and barren fields, no 
tree will show quicker the results of gener¬ 
ous culture. It is beautiful as a single tree. 
It seems to sport from seed into almost in¬ 
numerable varieties of every habit of growth, 
and every shade of green ; some throw out 
long and sparsely-foliaged branches at stiff 
ight angles with the trunk ; some have the 
oose and airy appearance of the hemlock, 
hat queen of evergreens ; and others are as 
closely conical as an arbor vit«e. Their shades 
of color vary as their forms, from the liveliest 
green, to the most somber mixture of that 
color and blackishness. We have often no¬ 
ticed this sporting of the cedar in its native 
localities. As a hedge or screen it is equal to 
almost any of its fellows. He speaks from ex¬ 
perience, having thoroughly tried it. Its great 
hardiness and thrifty growth insure success, 
if the least care is used in its transplanta¬ 
tion. If the plants are set about a foot or 
eighteen inches apart in a continuous line, 
and suffered to growuntouchedby the shears, 
they will in a few years form an imper¬ 
vious and picturesque screen, whose beauty 
is exceeded by few evergreens. But it bears 
trimming as well as the buckthorn, and you 
may make of it as trim and beautiful a verd¬ 
ant wall as you may desire. It loses some¬ 
what of its brightness in the winter, but not 
so much as the arbor vitte ; and withal, it is 
not that dead, yellowish, Russia-leather look 
whieh belongs to the latter, but rather a sober 
and becoming livery. It has an evanescent 
and borrowed beauty, for which it is well 
worth cultivating a single specimen, if no 
more. When the first still snow storm of 
winter comes, its dark branches become 
sprinkled over with a fleecy burden, until 
they bend beneath it, and the tree looks like 
a fairy chandelier, prepared for Titania's 
revels. 
This now will be right good news to all 
lovers of home-bred trees, and Sam is a 
goose if he does not henceforth take to Red 
Cedar for his evergreen hedges. It is par¬ 
ticularly good news to those who live along 
the shore, for this plant seems to love the 
smell of the sea breeze, and is found in great¬ 
est abundance near tide-water. It is visible 
all along the shores of Long Island Sound, 
even to the water’s edge. We have a native 
in our garden that extends its roots into soil 
strongly impregnated with salt. We have 
noticed that where this tree stands alone and 
is left to nature, it throws out its branches as 
near the ground as a Norway spruce. If 
any of our readers have experience with 
Red Cedar as a hedge plant, we shall be glad 
to hear from them. 
William Saunders, of Germantown, Pa., 
has an article on grape mildew. He thinks 
the mildew is the result of disease in the 
vine, and has long been persuad d that it 
may be prevented by judicious airing. He 
rejects the theory that it is caused by damp¬ 
ness. 
Mr. Chorlton has a very full and excellent 
article on the tomato. They may be im 
proved in shape and flavor to very great ex¬ 
cellence. They yield to the law of progress 
as readily as any plant that man has taken 
under his care. Pick the very best smooth¬ 
est samples for seed each year. W T e have 
had samples of this vegetable of two pounds 
weight, and should hardly consider a further 
enlargement any improvement. We think 
with Mr. Chorlton, that the flavor improves 
with the size. They are easily preserved 
in tin cans, cooked a little and seasoned, and 
then sealed tight, so that any housekeeper 
may easily have them, the year round, with 
a little care. 
“ My life in the Country,” is continued, and 
some good hints to house-builders are 
dropped by the way. First determine the 
rooms you want, and build your house to 
suit the rooms. Never build a house in a 
hurry, or you will repent at your leisure. 
Don’t think you can build a large house, for 
a small price. Ai range every detail before 
you begin. Get estimates of cost from sev¬ 
eral builders, and rest assured that you can 
not build it for any thing less. 
In the Editor’s Table, fears are expressed, 
that the severity of the winter has been fatal 
to the fruit crop for 1855. The peaches are 
gone at Rochester; not only are the fruit 
buds killed, but he fears the trees them¬ 
selves are frozen to death down to the very 
roots. In cutting through the bark, he finds 
the wood quite discolored, and to all appear¬ 
ance completely disorganized. We have 
just had the curiosity to examine our own 
peach buds, and find very few of them dis¬ 
colored at all, which leads us to hope, that 
no very serious injury has been done to the 
orchards along the sea board, where the 
thermometer did not sink so low, by some 
twelve or fifteen degrees, as at Rochester. 
An imposition is noticed : a man selling the 
Northern Muscadine grape in Ohio, for three 
dollars a plant, an article not worth planting. 
It is not quite time for the usual advertise¬ 
ments of the Charter Oak grape to come out, 
at 2, 3, and 5 dollars a plant; but they are 
sure to come, and the green ones who do not 
take the papers are sure to buy, and repent 
of it at there leisure. 
Lucy Fitch’s Prolific Strawberry, a new 
western seedling, is noticed, and in the ad¬ 
vertising department is offered for sale. It 
is a pistillate plant, and appears to be across 
between the Alpine and Hovey’s seedling. 
It. continues in bearing much longer than 
Hovey’s seedling. We do not see that it has 
been approved by any Horticultural Society, 
and we doubt the propriety of purchasing any 
fruit, that has not the approbation of some 
responsible body of fruit-growers. It may 
do very well pecuniarily to sell it. Horti¬ 
cultural Societies are a protection against 
humbugs. 
Lime refuse from the gas works is pro¬ 
nounced worthless for a manure. We should 
like to know the evidence on which this 
opinion is based. A large per cent of it is 
still caustic lime, and we have never seen 
any evidence, that it would not answer to de¬ 
compose peat and coarse vegetable matter 
as well as other lime. If we recollect right¬ 
ly, the late Professor Norton recommends it 
for this purpose. It is the cheapest source 
of lime accessible to those who live near our 
large cities. A farmer near us uses it in 
large quantities, and we have never heard 
that it was not satisfactory m its action. If 
any of our readers have had experience in its 
use, we should like to have their opinions, 
and the reason for them. 
High culture of dwarf pears, is a good top 
dressing of three or four inches deep of com¬ 
post every autumn, and a light mulching of 
decayed leaves, or some other such substance, 
during summer To this, add regular and 
judicious pruning, and your dwarf pears will 
answer all reasonable expectations, if not 
