1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
The Birch as an Ornamental Tree. 
The fragrant birch above him hung 1 
Her tassels in the sky.—B ryant. 
Messrs. Editors —Enclosed I send you a drawing 
of the leaf and blossom of the Black birch, a native of 
our forests, which has grown to be a favorite tree of 
mine.* 
I frequently see an article in the columns of The 
Cultivator and The Horticulturist, enumerating various 
kinds of forest trees as suitable shades for the lawn or 
street, and the Birch not among the number. And I 
noticed especially an article in The Horticulturist for 
1S.52, from the pen of the late lamented A. J. Down¬ 
ing, encouraging the planting of more of our native 
forest trees in preference to those of foreign production, 
that manifested a feeling in which I felt a strong sym¬ 
pathy ; but those sympathetic feelings were not a little 
dampened when, in looking over the list I could not 
find my favorite tree among the number which that po¬ 
pular writer had named as being worthy to take the 
place of foreign trees; yet I find it had not entirely es¬ 
caped his notice, for, in looking over “ Downing 
Landscape Gardening,” I felt relieved of my mortifi¬ 
cation, those sympathies were heightened, and my af¬ 
fections were more closely entwined around the spirit of 
that departed man, when I read the following remarks 
on the Birch: 
With us it is a great favorite; and we regard it as a 
very elegant and beautiful tree, not less on account of 
the silvery white bark of several species, than from the 
extreme delicacy of the spray, and the pleasing light¬ 
ness and airyness of the foliage. In all the species, the 
branches have a tendency to form those graceful curves, 
which contribute so much to the beauty of trees. * * * 
The American sorts, and particularly the Black Birch 
start into leaf very early in the spring, and their tender 
green is agreeable to the eye at that season ; while the 
swelling buds, and young foliage of many kinds, give 
out. a delicious though faint perfume. Even the blos¬ 
soms, which hang like little brown tassels from the 
drooping branches, are interesting to the lover of na¬ 
ture. 
And in a quotation from Bernard Barton, he says: 
See ihe beautiful birch tree fling 
Its shade on the grass beneath— 
Its glossy leaf ambits silvery stem; 
Dost thou not love to look on them ?” 
Its smooth silvery bark, its straight and beautiful 
trunk dividing out into numerous stately branches, and 
subdividing into such a dense mass of fibrous boughs, 
forming that “extreme delicacy of spray,” with its 
still thicker mass of glossy and beautiful leaves, 
through which the rays of the sun cannot penetrate. 
Its pendulous blossoms hanging like silver-tissued tas¬ 
sels, its cleanly habits, as well as neat appearance, to¬ 
gether with its fragrance, render it to my taste one of 
the most inviting shades in the American forest. 
Were I on the banks of the Hudson, I would seek out 
and select some sequestered spot where Downing used 
to ramble in his meditations; that spot I would conse¬ 
crate to the lover of nature, adorned and beautified by 
art; and there I would plant “ the fragrant birch,” 
whose beautiful and stately trunk should point heaven¬ 
ward, while its fragrance should lend a sweet perfume 
* We have been compelled to reduce the drawing to one- 
half its original diameter.—E d. 
Black Birch. Betula lenta, Li 1. (Male flower 
to the surrounding atmosphere, and through whose leaf 
and “ little brown tassels hanging from its drooping 
branches,” the sighing breeze should sing a requiem 
o’er his departed spirit, as it would occasionally return, 
methinks,.to visit that consecrated spot. Respectfully 
yours, Eli Moore. Southington , Conn. 
Cultivation of the Cranberry. 
Most of the attempts at cultivating the cranberry 
have been decided failures; but a very few quite suc¬ 
cessful experiments have served to keep up a succession 
of efforts, with the hope of final and uniform success. 
Most usually the most sanguine have had to hope 
against hope. A very enterprising cultivator has just 
informed us that although his plants grow well, and 
begin to bear, on the low ground on which he has 
planted them, and where they succeed much better 
than on upland, yet the growth of the grass so greatly 
overtops them, that he is nearly ready to give up the 
struggle, having spent about forty dollars already the 
present season in fruitlessly endeavoring to weed them. 
A letter lately received from a close and experienced 
cultivator, contains the following remarks on this sub¬ 
ject: “Much has been said about raising cranberries 
on. upland; but I think the main point has not been 
understood. Such land as ours (strong, fertile soil of 
Western jSfew-York) would not produce cranberries ; 
but I have seen such among the Pennsylvania moun¬ 
tains, (called the Beech Woods,) which would doubtless 
prove congenial to that plant. It requires a cold, sour 
soil, such as would agree with the black spruce, and 
disagree with Indian corn. 
“ There are also great tracts in the primitive region 
north of the Mohawk, which I should judge would be very 
favorable—wet, sour land, where corn would refuse to 
grow, or to any advantage.- Could not such farmers, 
depending on oats or barley, and potatoes and cranber¬ 
ries, do as well as many who cultivate wheat I” 
