so as to dwarf them, are to be purchased for the price of two or three shillings each, while apples, &c., are even cheaper. Where is he to get a catalogue? Let him look at the advertisements attached to this periodical, and selecting his nurseryman, commence his correspondence without delay, for every year's advance brings him nearer to the goal of his wishes. Let him at once read Barry's Fruit Garden, to learn the simple and best practical methods of trimming, and when his first year's purchases are in the clearing -our word for it, he has a source of pleasure in store, and baskets full of fruit in prospect, which will prove a never failing source of occupation, mental and physical, as long as he occupies his improving premises. These pets will be society to him in his otherwise lonesome hours; if he will at once take up the subject of a kitchen garden, his home is complete, the only danger being that he will not be induced ever to leave it. The first winter let him force a small hot-bed of salads and radishes, (with a corner filled with the most useful green herbs for his cook's especial delight) with his own hands, watching its progress, moving its shutters and glasses with every considerable change of temperature, reading up to his subject, visiting and observing his nearest successful neighbor, and he has out-door, healthful occupation for his winter, both day and night; such an amateur as our friend (for such we shall ever after call him,) has now become, will not go to sleep as soon as tea is over; he will read and re-read McMahon's Kitchen Gardener-one of the very best, after all, on the subject; Downing, Thomas, and Barry on Fruits, will become his manuals, while Parsons and Rivers on the Rose, will be consulted for a little variety. With what pleasure will he read Loudon and the horticultural and agricultural periodicals; we shall not despair in another year of seeing him bring into the parlor, for display to his neighbors, his largest pumpkin, which he remarks is a valuable article, it looks so like having results. A Ward's case, and a few house plants that will thrive in a sitting room, among which is a fine ivy in a receptacle large enough to contain its large roots, will make in-doors in a snow storm not only tolerable but delightful. Have we conjured up an amateur, by detailing the process by which this healthy action of the mind is produced? If so, we wish there may be thousands of these added every year to our population; thousands may be added, but we want thousands more. N. Y. H.

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREYS.

How to Popularize the Taste for Planting.—A very palatable talk to all, except such professional gardeners and nurserymen as think that every thing they give away is lost. Yet your reasons why they should believe in such doctrine, are too palpable to be long resisted by them. Our agricultural and horticultural periodicals, are doing great things in this line, among our country people, and planting once the fashion, every body's house will be smothered in trees and climbers. Railroads, too, help the people to travel. They thus see what other folks do; and they-that is, the most observant of the travellers-go home and do likewise. Rely upon it, the taste for planting is in progress. Compare the recently built farm-houses all over the country, with those of our boyhood, and mark the change! Then, they were as utterly bare of trres as of out-houses; stood all alone by themselves, naked, inhospitable, and desolate to the eye. Now, even the same old tene-, ments, inhabited by people of better taste, are changed in their outward style; various

offices are attached, and they are comfortably nestled amid the deep shadow of fine trees, and rejoice in plats of shrubbery and flowers.

It is wonderful to compare the taste of the laboring English with that of the same class of people in our own country. The one you can scarcely keep from cultivating his flowers; and if he, himself, has no time to attend to it, his wife and daughters will. The other you can neither drive nor coax into the slightest attempt of the kind. I have a quiet little cottage at one end of my principal farm-the tenement itself humble in appearancescarce worth an hundred dollars. I put into it an American " hired man," who chopped wood in winter, worked on the farm in summer, and was a capital hand at all sorts of rough labor. I had some fine young forest trees about the place, a comfortable garden stored with currant bushes, roses, and such like little affairs, as would make a laborer's home cheerful-for I like to see every body about me in the enjoyment of such little pleasant things, not costing much, and looking pretty. When he removed into it, I told him how comfortable and convenient these little appendages would be about the place, yet observed the incredulous and staring look he gave me by way of reply. To cut the matter short, during the year the man occupied the place, his "young barbarians” hacked into, girdled, and spoiled several of my trees; the currant bushes were mostly stripped of their branches to carry into the "shanty" to pick the fruit from, while the cow came in to browse the remainder. The pig was let loose into the wretched, weedy garden, after the potato and cabbage patches were cleared, and he rooted up the roses and hollyhocks, and the place was sadly in ruins. When I remonstrated against such vile destruction, the answer was, that "they had no use for such knick-knacks, and did'nt see the need of them!" This man "walked Spanish," of course, at the end of his year, and was succeeded by a quiet English laborer in like capacity, bating the "wood chopping"-Englishmen usually knowing little of such labor. And now came a change truly. "Oh, what destruction has been made here!" would he often exclaim. "I must fix these little things all up again. A nice bit of fruit we'll get from these currants, and properly trimmed they'll grow some good shoots again; and, sir, may I go into your house-garden and take up a few side-roots from the pœonys and roses, and sum'mut of other things that can be spared, and put in here? for I hate to see a place naked, and without something to rest one's eye on of a Sunday, and to give my wife a flower-pot now and then." "To be sure you can," was the reply, "and the more of them the better." All this was done in the course of the spring, and no time lost either-for it was accomplished out of the regular work hours; and in less than a twelvemonth the place was turned into a little paradise, where I often drop in and take a quiet chat as I pass, and learn from the laborer and his good-mannered wife, much of the humble and rural life of England.

This, to be sure, is in a sphere below the class for which the article under note is intended. But it is a part of the system, and the subject. The parallel will hardly, perhaps, hold good with the higher classes in America, but the difference in the taste of the two people is surprising. This difference is partly incidental to the newness of our land, but much more owing to a want of taste-that's the flat reason. Here, we go blundering and daundering along, looking to the "main chance," and to the main chance only, as if to gather together dollars and estates, with which to bespoil our children who are to come after us -and in which latter purpose we usually succeed to admiration-were the only object worth striving for in life! On the whole, however, we are improving-but not half fast enough.

Plan for Industrial Universities.-It is quite apparent that Professor TURNER is no "old fogy" in his notions of practical education. He is a man of sound sense and accu

rate views on this subject, and when more men like him get control of these matters, we may expect some useful result from the vast means which our different states, and our general government, have at command for such purposes. But a host of literary "grannys," who think that "education" is only intended for "the professions," must first retire from the field. Railroads, steam engines, and telegraph wires, will run them off the track after a while, and the demands of the time will set the thing right. So we live in hope.

Birds, Insects, and other matters.-A man who writes with the perspicuity and force, of J. C. H., should tell us something to instruct as well as to amuse. There is pith in him, beyond question; and he holds a quarry of information behind these salient arrows which he lets fly with such facile directness. He has a kind heart too; otherwise he could not talk of the charming little birds as he does. But my friend, many of them do catch worms-caterpillars even-and bugs, and spiders, although you may not believe it.

Closing remarks on the Theory of Pruning.-This is a most comprehensive subject, and I regret that Mr. YOUNG has "closed" it so soon. The question of "pruning" cannot be fully treated of in a general way. It must be applied to limited culture, as in the garden, the close fruit yard-to dwarf cultivation in fact, where ringing, tortillating, and root pruning may be tolerated. Also, to open orchard culture, and on different principles altogether, in practice, from the other, to make it applicable and understandable to all who would profit by its discussion. Dwarfing is, in truth, a perversion of nature-not wrongly-but for our own convenience and profit; consequently it involves more labor, more ingenuity, and is attended with greater risk, and demands deeper knowledge, and observation, both in vegetable physiology, and in the composition of the soils which may be occupied. In open, natural cultivation, the true theory of pruning is simple. Nature will there do her own work, with a little aid in removing incumbrances and repairing accidents. These performed, as a general rule, the less "pruning," scientifically, the better. But, good cultivation should be given, always. The best orchards, probably, in the United States, are those which have received little aid from the saw and knife, except in infancy, but whose soils have been well fed, if not originally stored with proper food, and carefully tended. Nature, to be perfect in any of her works, should not be forced. We may be impatient. Not so her. In her elaborate and harmonious labors, time must be given for all things; and all we have to do is to understand what she intends, and only lend her that grateful aid which will be amply repaid in ten-fold blessings upon our endeavors. Fruit growing at the South.-By "South," I suppose is here meant any territory below Mason and Dixon's line, for the neighborhood of Washington is not farther south than Cincinnati, which at the real "south," is called "north." It is a most refreshing idea to one who has the true feelings of an American about him, that there is a spirit waking up for good cultivation of any thing in that hitherto tabooed District of Columbia -as if it was not enough that the political bile of the country should concentrate there for its annual eruptions, but that its influence should keep one of the naturally loveliest spots on the globe, about it in a state of sterility. To foreigners, familiar with the capitals of their own country, after visiting Boston, New-York, and Philadelphia, Washington must look like a city of magnificent conceptions, wholly blocked out, partially built up, and then newly caught and squatted down into one of the most forbidding soils in the whole compass of the American continent. Instead of a place where the good taste and high cultivation of the several states should congregate and plant itself, to embellish the national capitol, every thing of the kind seems to have shunned it as they would an atmosphere of pestilence. I first knew Washington when a boy. Its market was then

supplied with miserable vegetables, raised by the neighboring "niggers," and who "trucked" their commodities to market in the oddest and most incongruous ways possible. A mule harnessed by the side of a broken down horse, or one of them "spiked" before a pair of the wretchedest "steers" on a miserable cart, or a worse waggon, and driven by an equally well conditioned "plantation hand," was the usual mode of transportation to the "city;" and these vehicles, with their appendages-that is, the jackasses and the "nigger"-standing in the open streets, were the "market houses" of the day. Starvelling poultry, and poor meats, were the companions of the meagre vegetables, and as for fruits, paw-paws wouldn't grow there, and persimmons were only in eating "after frost."

It is better now, somewhat, but Washington, in all these things, is a full century behind any other well conditioned town in America. It is a disgrace to somebody, that there is not higher and more abundant cultivation of fruits and vegetables in and about the place. The climate is delightful; bland as Italy, and inviting a world of vegetable wealth to its embrace. Prices are good, the demand for all edibles is steady and increasing, and why should not the country within sight of the capitol be a continuous and a perfect garden? I might guess, but that my solution might be offensive in some quarters; so I'll drop the subject. It is a good indication, however, that Dr. BAYNE has so spiritedly gone into fruit culture, and I hope that he will not only persevere, but that others will join him in such an important enterprise.

Memoranda on the Culture of Grapevines.—It appears, after all, to be a simple process to grow the best of grapes in a "cold grapery," to those who understand it. Some two years ago, I suggested in one of my critiques, the plan of getting up these establishments by contract, and on proper principles. Since then, I am gratified to learn, by his advertisement in your paper, that Mr. LUDLOW, of Yonkers, has undertaken the business, in which, I trust he has abundant patronage. I also suggested that a competent vigneron should plant the houses thus constructed, with suitable vines. Now, let me add a third requirement-which is, that in neighborhoods were these grape houses are built, competent vine dressers should establish themselves to prune and dress vines for those who need their services, in which occupation they would soon find abundant employ. Many people are deterred from building a grapery, from the fact that they cannot spare the time, and do not possess the knowledge of themselves to dress their vines, and cannot afford the expense of keeping a gardener for that purpose alone. They require only a small house and but a few vines for their family supply, and for the want of some such economical way of management, forego the luxuary these would give them. Why should not vine dressing become a profession in America, as well as in France, Germany, or Italy?

Seedling Foreign Grape.-A most welcome subject—an American seedling grape from foreign varieties, as I understand it. As Mr. ALLEN was kind enough to send me, through your hand, a specimen of this beautiful production, for which he has my thanks, I can fully confirm the good opinion you express of it. The muscat flavor, to my own taste, is altogether to its credit, and I cannot but hope Mr. A.'s success in its cultivation, will meet his wishes.

The seedling grape of Dr. VALK, of Long-Island, described in the June Horticulturist, if he be not quite mistaken in its qualities, is an achievement in the hardy grape cutlure of the United States. Aside from the Isabella and Catawba, we have scarcely a good out-of-door table grape for the northern states. These, when they ripen well, are delicious, and perfectly satisfactory grapes-and that is praise enough. But we do want a good table grape

that is hardy in the open air at Boston, Albany, Buffalo, Milwaukie and Prairie du Chien ; and if at Montreal, so much the better. At neither of these places can the Isabella or Cataw ba be depended on, and neither are fit for house culture, not producing their fruit in such high perfection as when suitably located in the open air. Dr. VALK is entirely right in resisting all applications for slips and buds of his vine, until he has thoroughly tested it under his own eye, and for a term of time in which he shall become perfectly satisfied of its productiveness, high flavor, and hardiness-wonderfully different in this from the empirics who flood and cheat the country with their new nostrums, before knowing whether they are worth the moss they are packed in, or not. If Dr. VALK SUCceeds in the anticipated qualities of his grape, his honesty of purpose will be amply rewarded in his success, even if he fail to produce his "ten, twenty, or a hundred thousand plants" for sale. But this he can do likewise. The latest discovery which I have noticed in the "native grape" invention, is from a Yankee manufactory, at Stafford, Connecticut, which I have seen figured, and published in sundry papers, and advertised extensively, with testimonials to match, from the neighborhood of the "Stafford Iron Works," ," all up to the mark in describing its "great size," "soft pulp," "thin skin," and "delicious flavor." Wonder if the "soft" pulp is soluble in aquafortis! I was once at Stafford "Springs," and if that salubrious region of huckleberries, sweet fern, and iron ore, spontaneously produces such grapes as are thus described, it must be a rare spot of earth, indeed. Connecticut-all New-England as well-is full of small rapid streams, on the narrow bottoms or intervales of which, grow thousands of wild grapes of many varieties, both in size and color, but with pulp as hard and indigestible as bullets; and this new "CHARTER OAK" grape, as it is so pretentiously called, to all appearance, is one of the same unadulterated type, which I have often plucked in my younger days, of equal size, and no doubt corresponding flavor. Of course, boys love grapes, and I often felt, when gasping to get their coarse, hard pulps down my throat, much as a young turkey looks when trying to swallow an acorn larger than its own head! But the "invention” has gone forth, and no doubt long before this, the peddlers of the grape are abroad, with vines duly labelled, and certificates amply verified, to edify the good country people with this "unrivalled discovery." A safe deliverance to the poor mortals who have to eat them! The only marvel in the whole affair is, that this wondrous fruit has never found "to the Editor of the Horticulturist."

its way

TO THE PUBLISHER.-Since writing the foregoing, the sad intelligence of the untimely death of Mr. DoWNING, has reached us. To that portion of the public with whom he communed with his pen, or who enjoyed his personal intercourse, his loss is irreparable. Polished in his manners; highly cultivated in his profession; gentle in his disposition; kind in his intercourse; of exceeding ability and great resource as an editor and an author, his death has left a void not easily nor readily supplied.

For many years Mr. DOWNING has exerted a leading and commanding influence in fashioning the public taste to the rural embellishment of our country, in the construction of buildings, gardens, lawns, and pleasure grounds. With many he was a standard authority, and it is certain that to his fine taste and discrimination we are greatly indebted for much of the improvement which has been so extensively and rapidly made in our country residences and grounds. As a Pomologist he was sound and practical, and a leading spirit in the progress we have accomplished in that interesting department of cultivation. In the very outset of his career-a young man-with so wide a harvest of reputation, use