stove, which, if it is new, or worthy of note, we shall lay before our readers. We would call the attention of gentlemen who are building green-houses to the annexed plans and descriptions. They are, we believe, as intelligible as it is possible to make such; and, sufficiently so, we hope, to enable any person to construct one in a similar manner. To enumerate all the little items about such a building would occupy too much space. We have, however, added a great many, with the intention of making it perfectly understood. ART. II. On the Cultivation of the Plum, with some Remarks upon Grafting on Peach Stocks. By S. POND. HAVING frequently been called upon to state some reasons why the plum trees in my garden are so much more healthy and vigorous than trees in general, and so much more free from all kinds of insects which infest these trees in great numbers in many other places, I send you the following remarks, which, perhaps, if they contain nothing very new, may be of benefit to some of your readers, and, at least, call attention to the subject. In the neighborhood in which I reside, the plum trees, in the various gardens, have been declining in vigor and health for many years, and where, formerly, bushels of fine fruit, though of the more common kinds, were raised, now scarcely enough is produced to remunerate for the labor of picking; indeed, a large part of the trees have decayed and been rooted up by the proprietors; some few young trees have been set out; but many of these have shared the same fate of the old ones; the same insects and the same disease, if such it is that destroys the trees, from inattention, having been allowed to spread to such a great degree as to defy all attempts to save them. The first object in planting plum trees is, to select fine, healthy, handsomely formed ones, about two or three years, from the bud or graft, and worked upon their own stools; be careful, in transplanting, to cut the roots as little as possible. The soil of my garden where the trees are planted, is deep and rich and quite moist, and I find that they bear fruit much more abundantly in such than in a lighter one. The situation is very low, so much so that, about four or five years since, in the month of March, the salt water, from the unusual height of the tide that season, overflowed the whole of it to the depth of fifteen or twenty inches. At the time, I had a fine lot of cherry and peach trees which were covered with flower buds; but as soon as the warm weather of spring came on they soon gave signs of decay, and, before the close of summer, were all nearly or quite dead. Grapes, strawberries, &c., shared the same fate.* I was much surprised, however, to notice the vigor of the plum trees that season; they made uncommonly large shoots; and the foliage was of a dark green and most vigorous growth; they seemed, in fact, to have taken a new start, and they have ever since continued to grow with the same strength, bearing full crops every season, more particularly the last. The bark is smooth and free from all excrescences of any kind; and the fine appearance they have is entirely different from any other I have seen. Plum trees I have found are kept in better health and a more vigorous state, by setting their roots somewhat higher in the soil than most other trees. In planting I have set them at the distance of about twenty feet apart. In pruning, considerable care is requisite, and the branches should not be cut indiscriminately as is often done by many persons, taking out a branch here and there, and leaving the tree without any shape; in the first place, very few large limbs should be taken off at all; all trimming should be performed on the young wood, and the judicious pruner must look ahead a year or two if he would excel in the cultivation of the plum. Cut out the branches in the middle of the tree and keep it open, so that the air and sun can penetrate freely to the fruit. In the month of July, part of the new shoots should be rubbed off with the fingers, and the others headed down so as to make them throw out laterals upon which the greatest quantity of fruit is produced; keep the branches well shortened, and every year, in the month of July, go over the trees and rub off and cut away as above directed. By this course of culture the trees will be more dwarf in their growth, and the branches, being kept thin of wood, will produce a much larger quantity of fruit. The grafting of the plum on peach stocks has lately prevailed to a considerable extent with nurserymen, and many trees have been spread about the country grown in this manner. A few years since, I visited many of the nurseries near the city of New York, and purchased from one or two a large number of plum trees. I did not know, at the time, that they were on the peach stock; but when I received the trees and commenced setting them out, I immediately perceived what they were. They were planted with the same care that all my other trees were, and during summer they made a vig * Residing in the same neighborhood, and very near Mr. Pond, our garden suffered in a like degree with his. Many of our trees were injured, and strawberries and many other small plants totally destroyed. The plum trees were, however, all the more vigorous.-Conds. orous and strong growth, and I began to think that they would answer a better purpose than those on their own bottoms. But, by the next spring, they presented a different appearance; many of them had begun to decay at the root and gradually they became less and less vigorous until autumn, when some of them showed signs of immediate death. The succeeding winter the cold was rather severe, and towards spring, at the season for swelling their buds, but few of the trees showed any signs of vegetation. I took the soil away at the roots, and there found what a moment's reflection would have convinced me I should. The stocks just below where they were grafted were completely covered with gum; and the borer, which seldom touches the plum, had made sad ravages. I soon determined to root them up, and also came to the conclusion never to plant a plum tree, grafted on a peach, again. The only advantage that I have ever heard advanced in favor of peach stocks is, that the plums grown more vigorously and consequently come into a bearing state at an earlier period than when on their own bottoms; every body knows how short-lived the peach. tree is in our climate; how subject to gum, canker, and other diseases; and to graft a tree, so hardy as is the plum, upon it, seems too absurd for belief. Gaining a year or so in procuring fruit, if indeed this is the fact, which I am inclined to doubt,-is very little in comparison with the loss of the tree after three or four years of care and expense in bringing it into a bearing state. But with all these obvious facts before the public, hundreds of trees, worked upon the peach, are yearly sold and planted. One great object in grafting or budding upon the peach, is the facility with which the scions or buds take, while the plum stock is extremely difficult, and often one half or more of them do not grow at all. Plum stocks are also not easily to be procured of size large enough for grafting, as they require to be three years old, while the peach requires but one. The demand for plum trees having been very great, is probably one reason why more peach stocks have been used; but the purchaser should always be informed when such is the fact. I would never plant a plum tree upon my grounds again unless it was budded or grafted on its own kind. Among the many kinds of plums with which our catalogues abound, the following I can recommend as excellent, having fruited them successively for two or three years: "White or yellow fruited. White Gage, Bingham, Coe's Golden Drop. Purple fruited. Semiana, Seedling. These are all constant bearers, and of large size, beautiful appearance, and fine flavor. The old Green Gage, with me, is a shy bearer. Corses' Field Marshal has not yet come into bearing, but it promises well, and is a very vigorous and hardy kind. Bolmar's Washington has not yet produced much in my garden, although the trees are quite large, and have flowered every season. Of the above list, the Royal de Tours is quite early, and the Semiana a very late plum, in eating from the middle of October to the middle of November. Some trees, only two years from the graft, produced twenty or thirty plums last season. At the season it ripens, there is but little other fruit, and on this account it is a very valuable sort. There are some insects which attack the plum, and, in some districts, destroy the whole crop of fruit. But as I have never been troubled to any great extent, I can say but little about them. The curculio I have seen on the trees sometimes, and I am very particular to have every fruit picked up as soon as it falls from the tree. By this means the insect has been prevented from spreading, while in gardens almost adjoining, they have destroyed the crop for several years. The black excrescence which appears on the branches, I have also, as yet, seen but a few times and this I immediately cut away. I have no doubt but it is caused by an insect, although some cultivators attribute it to disease arising from the soil and situation. I have always given great attention to the cultivation of the plum, and have found no trouble in procuring fruit; and if the same care is given by other persons, I see no reason why plums should not be as plenty as any other fruit. Cambridgeport, April 4, 1835. Yours, S. POND. ; ART. III. Rural Scenery: The Thatched Cottage. By JUNIUS. THERE are but few objects in landscape scenery that form a more rural characteristic than "the thatched cottage," by the side of a wood, which serves to protect it from the cold winter blast, and has the effect of a shady retreat for summer. To impart to the traveller pleasing ideas of the fertility and domestic comforts, blended with rural economy, of the country through which he passes, is, perhaps, one of the very best criterions of his opinion of the more rapid improvement and increase of the value. of property; and the 'cot' spoken of is one of the sure features to attract his particular attention. There is something about a thatched cottage which is always inviting, and reminds us of the comforts of life. I disagree with Dr. Johnson, who deems all things of a rustic nature, as the abode and choice of the unrefined; or, in plain words, expressive of rudeness in every degree. I very much doubt if the greatest monarch is more intelligent, oftentimes, than those who dwell beneath a cottage of thatch; nor are his domestic comforts any more elevated or constant than the cottager, although fame extends his name to a more distant part, where rumor often falsifies his real character. The cottager rarely has any thing to fear on this subject, as his only object is to make home agreeable to himself and its inmates; and this effect being observable to the passer by, it engraves on his memory the snug appearance of the thatched cottage. Snuguess is not altogether the only feature displayed in such dwellings, but there is a character of retirement, blended with hospitality. By general observation, it will be seen that the sites of such dwellings are well chosen where the requisite comforts for domestic purposes are of easy access. Shelter and shade are the first consideration in this case, and are a grand feature, namely, the fine impression given on landscape scenery. The rustic construction of the cot is always pleasing when we can see natural materials in every way made useful, and not too much transposed into something, of which all recollection of its primitive state is lost, to appearance. The thatch, being of straw, reminds us of the utility it has been in another way-when the bearer of grain; and the rude unhewed post of the porch (on which twines the honeysuckle) of the use of forest trees. The plan of the cot is mostly neat, and generally in the Gothic order, with the upper windows peeping out of the thatch. The approaches and appendages are always corresponding. The rustic arbor well covered with native grape vines that give a natural effect, and impart a luscious reward to the humble pruner. The approach is generally converted into a neat and well kept flower-garden, which gives a healthy employment, or rather recreation, to an aged mother or some rosy cheeked prattling children, who are often seen strolling from their plot in quest of flowers to decorate the little parterre, transplanting them with care to their new habitations among, perhaps, some delicate exotics. The vegetable garden, well filled with esculent vegetables and fruit, with a small orchard and meadow, are often appendages to the "thatched cottage." A running stream or brook in its vicinity gives a mellowness to the scene, and some rich verdant spots near the dwelling forms a part, of social effect, but seldom rivalled in landscape scenery. Were I to choose a dwelling for retirement, when age wears off that activity and zeal from a life of bustle and business, it should be the |