262 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
JorfiniHiiral Jeprtmetti 
BROOKLYN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It gives us pleasure to speak of the doings 
of this young but vigorous association. 
Scarcely a year has yet passed since its first 
organization, yet it has scarcely an equal in 
the country in point of numbers, enterprize, 
and the activity of its members. We see by 
reference to the treasurer’s report that over 
thirteen liendred dollars have been received 
during the first year from membership fees 
alone ($3,00 each). We have had frequent 
occasion to observe the untiring efforts of 
both the officers and members. Some of 
these, and without designing to be invidious, 
we may particularly mention the President, 
John W. Degrauw, Esq., have devoted weeks 
and months of constant labor to the enter¬ 
prize. Such efforts, and we feel quite sure 
they will be continued, must succeed in se¬ 
curing the ultimate aims of the society. 
On the 7th ult. the society met for the 
election of officers for the ensuing year, at 
which time a very interesting address was 
delivered by the President. We have had 
time to only partially peruse a published re¬ 
port of the address, but have read enough to 
appreciate its value and appropriateness. It 
gives a review of the doings of the society 
and conveys many hints valuable to this and 
other similar associations. A touching and 
merited tribute is paid to the memory of 
Mr. S. Griswold, a member of the society, 
who. having fully passed the allotted three 
score and ten years, has passed away and 
gone to revel in gardens of paradise ; and to 
Mr. James B. Lenore, another member, who 
had crossed the Atlantic with his family to 
pay a last visit to the home of his infancy 
and early impressions, and while returning 
to the land of his adoption, went down to the 
shadowy depths with the wreck of the ill- 
fated Arctic, We can not in this brief notice 
do full justice to the address, and we would 
recommend our horticultural readers to ad¬ 
dress some officer of the society, and pro¬ 
cure a copy for perusal. 
We append a list of the officers for 1855. 
President— John W. Degrauw. 
Vice-Presidents— John Maxwell, Stephen 
Knowlton, Henery A. Kent, Smith J. East¬ 
man, John W. Towt. 
Treasurer —W. S. Dunham. 
Corresponding Secretary —D. W. Beadle. 
Recording Secretary —Joseph Lees. 
Executive Committee —M. L. Schaefer, Ira 
Smith, H. A. Graef. 
Finance Committee —Joseph H. Lester, 
John A. Nexsen, A. J. S. Degrauw. 
Library Committee— M. Arrowsmith, John 
Maxwell', H. A. Graef. 
Premium Committee —John W. Towt, Geo. 
Ingraham. 
Committee on Fruits —J. E. Ranch, James 
Weir, William Poynter. 
Committee on Plants and Flowers —George 
Gamgee, Joseph Lees, M. Brandigee. 
Committee on Vegetables —George Hamlyn, 
D. W. Beadle, W. Park. 
We learn that the Astoria Horticultural 
Society has given up its independent organi¬ 
zation and becomes incorporated into that of 
Brooklyn. 
THE HORTICULTURIST FOR DECEMBER- 
The editor opens with a timely leader upon 
“ Pears on Quince Stocks,” discussing the 
cause of the remarkable destruction among 
them last winter. The season was so dis¬ 
astrous that many were very much alarmed, 
and began to suspect that the cultivation of 
dwarf pears would have to be abandoned al¬ 
together. He thinks there is no good foun¬ 
dation for this opinion, and that suitable pre¬ 
cautions will prevent the recurrence of sim¬ 
ilar calamities. The peculiarities of the 
winter that destroyed so many dwarfs were 
these : in the month of January we had first 
a severe cold, which in the absence of snow 
on the ground penetrated it deeply ; then 
came a slight fall of snow; and then a thaw. 
The thaw for a day or two was rapid, and 
just as the snow was all melted, and the 
ground about half-thawed, intense cold set in 
all at once. . The whole surface of the 
ground was covered with water which 
could not get down, and this water was sud¬ 
denly converted into ice ; so that one might 
have skated for miles over the country; the 
wind blowing a perfect hurricane, and twist¬ 
ing the ice-bound trees with great severity. 
The cold, intense as it was—ten degrees 
below zero—would not have done the least 
injury had it not been accompanied with a 
boisterous wind. Of this we are perfectly 
satisfied; because trees standing in low, 
sheltered places escaped completely, while 
on all high ground, knolls, &c., the destruc¬ 
tion was very great. The injury was in 
proportion to the exposure, and to the pro¬ 
portion of the quince stock that stood in the 
water when the freezing commenced. The 
part above, the water and ice line was, we 
believe, safe in all cases. In heavy clay 
ground so compact as to shed the water off 
its surface, instead of imbibing it, as light 
sandy ground did, the trees escaped with 
less injury. 
The calamity impresses three important 
truths on the minds of cultivators. 
1. The importance of shelter. Every 
day’s experience strengthens our conviction 
that, in this country, it is one of those re- 
quisits which should receive the earnest at¬ 
tention of every cultivator, and which can 
not be overlooked with impunity. In the 
case of last winter’s destruction to the 
quince we have seen that, in most cases, it 
proved a perfect safeguard. 
2. Mulching is a protection against intense 
cold, and driving wind. In the worst, places 
if the roots had been covered with three or 
four inches deep of mulching, decayed 
leaves, manure, saw-dust, tan or any thing 
that would have excluded the wind, all would 
have been safe. We therefore advise mulch¬ 
ing all dwarf pears, and especially all those 
in exposed situations, before the winter 
fully sets in ; and we should do this, even if 
assured that we should never have so severe 
a winter as the last. The roots of the 
quince are spread out near the surface, not 
running deeply like those of the pear. We 
found that all quince roots below a certain 
depth were safe last winter. 
3. If trees do suffer from some cause that 
can not be averted, we must not fold our 
arms and see them die ; but, on the first 
symptom of injury, search out the seat of 
ailment, and apply a remedy. 
This is unquestionably, good counsel, 
whatever may be thought of the ingenious 
theory upon which it is based. The winter 
mulching is our own practice with all young 
fruit trees, strawberries, rasberries, &c. We 
have do doubt it pays well upon all trees 
and shrubs, that are worth growing. 
There is an excellent article on raising 
fruits from seed, in which M. P. Wilder’s 
views are advocated. The seeds of the 
most perfect fruits are most likely to give us 
improved varieties. 
A young beginner gives us a chapter of 
his experience in the culture of grapes in a 
cold vinery. He approves of early produc¬ 
tion, though nearly all authors condemn it. 
Grape culture in cold vineries is, in this 
country, in its infancy ; and when a nov ice 
looks in the books, he will find sufficient di¬ 
versity of opinion to afford him full scope 
for enterprize and experiment. Take for 
instance, the following suggestions by au¬ 
thors of repute: “ The Muscat of Alexandria 
requires a high moist temperature, when in 
bloom.”— {McIntosh, p. 439.) “ For the Mus- 
cat of Alexandria, a dry atmosphere when 
at rest and when in bloom is indispensably 
necessary.”-— {Chorlton, page 43.) “ Open 
the grapery soon and close early, is a maxim 
that ought to be well riveted on the mind.”— 
{lb. page 58.) “Open late.”—(if. G., Bos¬ 
ton Horticulturist, 1852, page 323.) “ Give 
little air until fruit is ripening.”— {Ib. p. 323.) 
“ Give plenty of air.”— {Downing.) 
Mr. Chorlton has an article on green-house 
plants for winter bouquets, showing how 
they are to be managed, and giving a list of 
varieties most desirable for this purpose. 
W. R. Prince, of Flushing, gives qn inter¬ 
esting article on the varieties of sumac, re¬ 
commending the Rhus copallinum, as the best 
native species for tanning. This is already 
gathered in some parts of the country and 
cured for the purpose of tanning. The Si¬ 
cilian Tanner’s sumac is imported to a con¬ 
siderable extent—an article for which our 
own might very profitably be substituted. 
Halliday’s wind engine for raising water, 
is figured and favorably noticed. 
The report of the Mississippi Fruit Com¬ 
mittee to the American Pomological Society, 
is given at length. It gives us much valua¬ 
ble information of the capacities of that re 
gion for fruit-growing. As the volume of 
the transactions of the third session of this 
society will soon be published, we hope to 
give this and other valuable reports to our 
readers. 
In the Editor’s Table there is a favorable 
notice of Cross’s adjustable and elevating 
grape frame. This frame, it is thought, will 
facilitate the protection of such vines as re¬ 
quire it, and horizontal training may prove 
a safeguard against mildew. Our experi¬ 
ence does not harmonize with this theory. 
