98 
American agriculturist. 
on the last evening of the fair, and though Ole 
Bull with the magic of his bow presented un¬ 
usual attractions in another part of the city, the 
hall was crowded. It is somewhat ungenerous, 
perhaps, to put music and flowers in competition. 
They are so manifestly congenial that a lover of 
the one, is almost always fond of the other; 
which to choose must have been a nice question 
to decide with many that evening, and it was 
only, perhaps, that Ole Bull wove his spell for 
the ear, but once in an age, while flowers held 
out their charms every week, that kept the hall 
from uncomfortable crowding. There was a 
spirit in the assembled throng that we have 
rarely met with on similar occasions. Woman 
was there with her flowers, and if the June 
roses were wanting, their shadows at least 
lingered on her blooming cheeks. Mothers and 
their daughters were there to sec their own 
handiwork, and that of their neighbors; pleased 
to hear the products of their flower-borders 
praised, more pleased to praise a fairer flower, 
from a successful rival’s garden. Man in his 
pride of intellect was there, and apparently as 
much carried away with the generous enthusi¬ 
asm of the occasion, as the gentler sex. All the 
professions were represented, and some of them 
very largely; and among the finest fruits upon 
the tables were some pears from the garden of 
an ex-senator of Connecticut, and apples from 
the homestead of a clergyman. The doctors 
were fully represented, content, for the evening 
at least, to “throw physic to the dogs.” Hor¬ 
ticulture seems to find a congenial soil in the 
homes of professional men. Whether it be that 
fruit-growing is one of the best relaxations from 
their^mental toils; or that minds, liberalized by 
classic studies, appreciate better than others the 
beautiful products of the garden, we have never 
inquired. The fact is apparent to the most care¬ 
less observer. We have rarely known a profes¬ 
sional man, settled on any spot favorable for 
horticultural pufsuits, that did not greatly excel 
his neighbors in gardening. In a multitude of 
country towns, they are the pioneers in this 
work. The parsonage is not unfrequently the 
seed-plot and nursery, whence are scattered the 
choicest flowers and fruits over the surrounding 
homesteads. The same selfish-looking two¬ 
wheeled vehicle, that peddles pills, often distri¬ 
butes rare seeds and scions of the finest varieties 
of apples, pears, and plums. The lawyer, with 
visage as passionless as the most dusty of the 
sheep-skin volumes upon his shelves, is found 
as familiar with Flora and Pomona, as with 
Coke and Littleton. When we saw the cha¬ 
racter of the visitors at this fair, the secret of 
the splendid specimens of fruit upon the tables 
was solved. Considering the age of this Society 
they have accomplished wonders in fruit-grow¬ 
ing. Taking the pears and apples as a whole, 
and they would have done credit to any of the 
older societies in eastern Massachusetts. If the 
horticulturists of Hartford carry out their good 
beginning, the solid men of Boston will have 
occasion to look to their laurels. If Boston 
pears are ever beaten east of the Hudson, we 
predict that that feat will be accomplished in 
the valley of the Connecticut. 
Looking at the fruits a little in detail, we saw 
very fine specimens of theBeurre Diel exhibited 
by W. L. Collins. One weighed eighteen and 
three-quarter ounces, and another twenty and 
one-quarter. There is as much satisfaction in 
knowing the weight of a fine pear as in know¬ 
ing the length of shanks and neck, of the latest 
importation of China fowls, and we were glad to 
see the weight upon them. The best specimens 
of Duchess d’Angouleme that we noticed were 
from'Staten Island. This great favorite with 
the Boston fruit-growers does not do well at 
Hartford. It is inferior in size and rarely first- 
rate in flavor. It does much better at New 
Haven, where the soil is lighter and more sandy. 
The finest White Doyennes were in the collec¬ 
tion of Mr. John M. Niles. Most of the speci¬ 
mens would not compare well with this beautiful 
fruit sold in the New-York market. The Louise 
Bonne de Jersey, and the Flemish Beauties 
were very fine, but hardly equal to the show of 
these pears atNew-Haven. TheBeurre d’Arem- 
bergs, Yioar of Winkfield, Beuoro Boses, Colum- 
bias, Urbanists, Washingtons, and Dixs were 
magnificent, some of them surpassing any thing 
we ever met with in a similar exhibition. 
The peaches, considering the lateness of the 
season were very fine. We have rarely noticed 
more beautiful dishes of late Crawfords, Wash¬ 
ington Clings, and Seedling Clings, than were 
shown by Mr. H. Mygatt. If this region can 
produce such fruit as we saw, it can compete 
successfully with Delaware and New-Jersey; 
and there is no good reason why Hartford should 
not have her Reybold, and send off a steamer 
every evening to New-York, laden with this 
delicious fruit. The speculation would pay 
much better than many that are tried by very 
shrewd men. Indeed it would hardly be a spe¬ 
culation, for it would be almost without risk. 
Fruit-trees, well cared for, disappoint no rea¬ 
sonable expectations. 
The grapes, both those grown under glass, 
and in the open air, were very good. We no¬ 
ticed but a single poor sample, and those were 
the Diana. This grape, where it finds congenial 
soil and climate, is superior in this climate to the 
Catawba for the table. Mr. Longwortii accuses 
it of rotting on the clayey soil of Ohio; and 
from the fact that it is poor here, while it thrives 
admirably at New-Haven, leads us to suspect, 
that a lighter soil is better adapted to it. We 
found the Hartford prolific under cultivation ; a 
grape which originated in this vicinity. It is 
a seedling from the wild grape, and is described 
by horticulturists here as being a great bearer, 
with bunches about the size and color of the 
Isabella, almost equal to it in flavor, and three 
weeks earlier. An early grape of the quality of 
the Isabella is a great desideratum in New-Eng- 
land, and all the Northern States. We hope 
our Hartford friends have found it. Should any 
of our readers wish to try a new grape, that is 
not a humbug, they can procure this at the 
nurserymen’s, at a moderate charge. 
We also found here the somewhat famous 
Charter Oak grape. A vine, with this patriotic 
name, has been in the market for several seasons, 
and has now been sufficiently tested by compe¬ 
tent horticulturists, to have its merits pronounced 
upon. It professes to have originated in the vi¬ 
cinity of Stafford, Ct., we believe, and as we are 
here in the shadow of the oak that gave it a 
name, we may as well ease our minds of a bur¬ 
den that has for some time been resting upon it. 
It is set forth, in the advertisements, as some¬ 
thing superior to the Isabella. Indeed, it is 
hinted, that that well-established favorite might 
pack up its things, and be off. These flattering 
commendations, from disinterested and compe¬ 
tent judges doubtless, have had their influence 
with the public; and vast quantities of these 
vines have been sold from one to five dollars a 
piece. We have heard of them in various parts 
of this State and in New-York. 
We confess to having been victimized with a 
single specimen of this native. It fruited with 
us this season, and proved itself a humbug. 
The berry is very large, large enough to have 
been called the Shanghai, and we wonder that 
those who stood sponsors at the baptism of this 
progeny should have been satisfied with its pre¬ 
sent unpretending title. The berry sometimes 
reaches an inch in diameter, but there are few 
of them in a bunch, so that a bunch of Isabel¬ 
las, on an average, would probably weigh twice 
as much as a bunch of Charter Oaks. It is a 
red grape, and for color much like the Catawba. 
We saw a vine in bearing condition in a gentle¬ 
man’s garden here, and did not observe a 
bunch with more than ten berries on it. He 
remarked that it was worthless as a table grape, 
and he only used it for making preserves and 
jellies. When fully ripe, its juice', next to the 
skin, is sweet; but it has nothing of that spicy, 
delicious flavor, which mark perfect Catawbas or 
Isabellas. Its pulp is tough, and, next to the 
seed has that sour, foxy taste which mark all 
our wild grapes. It is no better for eating than 
almost any other wild grape you will find in our 
swamps and along our rivers; and this, we 
think, will be the unanimous testimony of all 
competent horticulturists. In any climate where 
Isabellas or Catawbas will perfect themselves, 
the Charter Oak will prove a nuisance in the 
garden. And while we utter this judgment 
against this humbug, we wish to relieve its pro¬ 
jectors from the responsibility of any intentional 
fraud. There are multitudes of fruit-growers 
who are incompetent judges of good fruit, 
because they are unacquainted with the finest 
varieties. Such might innocently call this a 
first-rate grape, or a coarse seedling pear a fruit 
of the first quality. Humbugs of this kind are 
to be looked for in the present imperfect diffu¬ 
sion of horticultural knowledge among us. No 
new fruit should be offered to the public, until 
it has been approved by some Horticultural 
Society. This course will save inexperienced 
fruit-growers a good deal of mortification. 
Among the vegetables, first and foremost, was 
the orthodox pumpkin, the veritable mother of 
thanksgiving pies, and the soul and marrow of 
that Puritan festival. The squashes, however, 
are fast eclipsing this old sun in our heaven, 
and we fear his golden glory has departed. 
Commerce has brought us a much superior 
article from the South Sea Islands, and from 
Valparaiso, and this squash and its hybrids 
thrive well in our climate. We saw fine speci¬ 
mens of the Boston Marrow Squash—a sight 
quite too rare at the fairs out of Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island. The water-melons and the 
nutmegs were fine. The Imperial was exhi¬ 
bited, a water-melon recently introduced from 
the Mediterranean. It is globular, the rind a 
yellowish green, and very thin, the flesh re¬ 
markably firm and sweet, and the seeds very 
small. It is sometimes called the Peruvian 
melon. We have raised it in our garden for the 
first time this season, and think it the finest 
of the water-meions. 
This fair, fine as it is, is only an antepast of 
what is coming a few weeks ahead. At the 
Agricultural Fair the county will be out in its 
strength, and all departments of agricultural 
industry will be represented. A still better ex¬ 
hibition of fruits is anticipated on that occasion. 
REARING AND CULTIVATION OF CIDER 
APPLE TREES. 
Tree Guards .—Many proprietors at the pre¬ 
sent time go to the expense of posts, two, three 
or four of which they join together with cross¬ 
pieces. This is unquestionably the best mode 
of protecting the trees against cattle and wind, 
but it is not every where adopted. In many 
places guards are employed that injure more 
than they protect the trees, and Which cannot 
in any case maintain them against the action of 
the wind. 
With the view of preserving them from' the 
shock of axles, shafts, horses’ collars, &c., the 
stems of the young Apple trees which are in 
tilled ground are completely and closely twisted 
round with straw ropes to the height of 4T feet. 
The bad effects of this guard, which in nowise 
prevents the trees from being thrown down 
when they get a severe shock, are to cause 
strangulations of the stem, and, above all, to de¬ 
prive it of the free access of air and light, which 
are always of great benefit to the young bark; 
and lastly beneath the straw covering various 
insects that are hurtful to vegetation breed in 
perfect security. 
Leaning Trees .—Many apple trees, especially 
in the fields, lean to one side from the effects of 
the wind ; and in our part of the country they 
lean so much over from the west, that a stranger, 
if he were lost, could find the right direction by 
merely looking at the stems of these trees. The 
majority of them have been thus blown aside 
for want of a post guard, to which they might 
have been fixed, or the tree might have been 
kept upright by means of some sods piled 
against the stem on the side opposite to the di¬ 
rection of the wind. 
The neglect of these precautions renders the 
trees disagreeable to the eye, obstructs cultiva¬ 
tion, and makes them more liable to be over¬ 
thrown by high winds. 
Suckers. —Trees often throw up suckers which 
absorb the sap to no profit, but, on the contrary, 
to the injury of the head of the tree. Common 
sense would teach us to uncover these suckers 
to the place where they originate, and then cut 
