1846 » 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
223 
cannot ascertain that the Trenton limestone has been 
used in any way as manure, unless previously burnt; but 
it seems reasonable that the effect of road-scrapings from 
this material would be similar to lime, allowing for the 
effect of the animal manure whieh would be mixed with 
the scraj-mgs. 
FRENCH NAMES OF FRUITS. 
The name, merely, of a fruit may seem a matter of 
comparatively small importance; but one which is pro¬ 
nounced fifty times a year, by ten thousand cultivators, 
should be as little troublesome as possible. Hence, 
while the quality of the fruit is the main point, a con¬ 
venient name should not be overlooked. 
It has been remarked that the English language is 
“rich with the spoils ” of all other languages; a motley 
mixture of spellings and sounds, and a labyrinth of 
rules. This ditficulty will not be diminished by the 
free introduction of the foreign names of fruits. Every 
man who owns land should cultivate the best varieties, 
and as a consequence, he must use the names; but to 
insist that every cultivator should know how to pro¬ 
nounce French, is asking too much. If we pronounce 
such names as Drap d’Or, Figue de Naples, or Pourpree 
Hative, as in French, three quarters of our intelligent 
fruit cultivators will not understand us; and if we give 
them the English sound, the effect is like horrible jar¬ 
gon on the ears of one who is accustomed to the true 
sound. Other names do better, as Passe Colmar, Reine 
Caroline, Florelle, and Belle Lucrative, where the 
French and obvious English pronunciation are nearly 
the same; but such cases are rare. 
It would therefore seem desirable in all practicable 
cases to give the English translation; for instance, in¬ 
stead of “ Figue de Naples,” to say Fig of Naples; 
Flemish Beauty instead of “Belle de Flanders;” Early 
Purple , instead of “Pourpree Hative;” Skinless for 
“Sanspeau;” Early Rousselet for “Rousselet Hatiff;” 
and Double Mountain , instead of “ Double Montagne.” 
Every person of taste will of course avoid the union of 
French and English in the same name, which would be 
too much like the mixed phrase we used to hear from 
the schoolboys, “Je ne know pas;” or the “Gryllus 
grassus ” of Eaton's Zoological Text Book. 
Such names however as Brown Beurre and Summer 
Bonchretien, can be hardly regarded as objectionable, as 
these seem to be quite Anglicised, and indeed no other 
names for these fruits are commonly known. Hence 
also we would agree with Lindley, Thompson, and 
Downing, in saying “Summer Franc Real,” instead of 
“ Franc Real d’Ete;” and “Spanish Bonchretien,” in¬ 
stead of “ Bon Chretien d'Espagne.” 
There are some foreign names, so well known and so 
exclusively used, that it may be entirely useless to pro¬ 
pose any other; as Passe Colmar, Belle Bonne, Bezi de 
la Motte, and Beurre d’Aremberg. 
Downing very properly follows Lindley, and rejects 
Thompson, in giving the names Henry the Fourth, and 
White Winter Calville, of the former,—instead of 
Henri Quatre and Calville Blanche d'Hiver , of the lat¬ 
ter. Downing has in nearly all cases, however, fol¬ 
lowed the authority of Thompson, although the latter 
appears to have laid dowm no fixed rule in the use of 
English and French names, but has done it indiscrimi¬ 
nately. Hence we find in “ The Fruits and Fruit Trees 
of America,” that Thompson is followed in the adoption 
of the names Summer Bonchretien, instead of Bon Chre¬ 
tien d 5 Ete; Summer St. Germain, instead of St. Germain 
d’Ete; Charles of Austria, instead of Charles d’Autriche; 
Gray Doyenne, instead of Doyenne Gris; and Winter 
Nelis, instead of Nelis d’Hiver, on the one hand; and 
Bergamotte Suisse, instead of Swiss Bergamot, as by 
Lindley; Figue de Naples, instead of Fig of Naples, 
as by Manning; and Bergamotte d'Holland, instead of 
Holland Bergamot of Lindley, on the other. Uni¬ 
formity, at least, should be sought. 
While we have an especial dislike to the taste, or 
rather want of taste, which inclines to the rejection of 
every thing except the vulgar and unrefined, we have 
a strong aversion to another disposition, of straining at 
a modish style. The English is a very respectable 
language in the main, and it appears to be well adapted 
to the use of those who speak it; and we should be glad 
to see it preserved in as pure a state as possible, even 
in the apparently insignificant matter perhaps, of giv¬ 
ing names to varieties of fruit. Some of the sugges¬ 
tions already made may be erroneous, but our princi¬ 
pal object is to invite the attention of writers on fruits, 
to this subject. 
DURHAMS vs. NATIVES. 
L. Tucker, Esq. —In perusing the June number of 
the Cultivator, my attention was drawn to some edito¬ 
rial strictures, on page 178, in relation to the remarks 
of Mr. Buckminster, and other gentlemen who took 
part in the discussions at the weekly agricultural meet¬ 
ings at Boston, the past winter, and which have been 
reported in many of the papers published in that city. 
Permit me to premise by remarking that, from the 
well-known high character and standing of the gentle¬ 
men who took part in these discussions, I do not enter¬ 
tain a particle of doubt that their object was to elicit 
and diffuse what they considered to be useful infor¬ 
mation among the agricultural community, as to the 
relative value of the different breeds of cattle for dairy 
purposes. The Durhams, Herefords, Devons, Ayrshires, 
and Natives, have each their advocates; yet discussions 
upon the value of these different breeds of cattle for 
dairy purposes, can be of little or no use to the public, 
unless predicated upon well established and reliable 
facts. Without this, discussion may continue for a 
century, and at the end of that time, the real merits of 
the question will remain in the same mystery and un¬ 
certainty as at its commencement. 
In the discussions above referred to, one of the gen¬ 
tlemen, Mr. Buckminster, is reported to have said— 
“ he was somewhat prejudiced against the Durham breed 
of cattle. He had taken much pains to know what was 
their product in milk and butter. He had invited 
owners of such cattle to show the yield of their dairies, 
and though he had found instances of very good cows 
of that breed, he was bound to say, that generally, they 
were not equal to the native cattle of the country.” 
From these remarks it would seem, that the owners 
of Durham cattle have declined comparison, and from 
this statement it might be inferred that they lacked 
confidence in their dairy qualities. This should not be 
so, as the agriculturists are deeply interested in estab¬ 
lishing this point; and all who are the friends of this 
great branch of national industry should be willing to 
contribute to its prosperity, however it may affect their 
private interests. 
The writer of this is the owner of a herd of Durhams 
of about forty head, young and old, and is willing, how. 
ever it may affect his interest, to submit their dairy 
qualities to a fair test. He has now on his farm eighteen 
cows and heifers, a part of which are in milk, and the 
remainder will calve in the course of the summer. He 
can spare from other purposes, five of them to test 
their qualities in this respect in comparison with any 
other breed. He therefore accepts the offer of Mr. 
Buckminster on the following conditions, viz: 
Any individual now the owner of a herd of not 
exceeding tw r enty cows, in milk and to be in milk du¬ 
ring the present summer, may select from that number 
five cows, and the writer will select from his eighteen 
a like number to be put on trial in the course of the 
summer for thirty successive days; the cows to run in 
pastures, and to have no other feed during the trial than 
pasture, nor for twenty days previous to being put on 
trial. The milk drawn from the cows on any one day 
of the first and last weeks of trial, to be measured in a 
sealed wine-quart measure, and also to be weighed; the 
quantity of milk so drawn in these two days to be stated 
in quarts and pounds, as well as the w-'eight of the but¬ 
ter made in the thirty days, and the result, stating that 
all these requirements have been complied with, to be 
verified under the oath of the owners of the cows, and 
