THE CULTIVATOR: A MONTHLY PUBLICATION, DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOUTH. PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF J. BUEL, J. P. BEEKMAN, AND J. D. WASSON. VOL. II COMMENCED MARCH LAST. In Quarto Numbers.-Price 50 Cents a year, in Advance. THE object of the publication is to disseminate useful information, among the agricultural community in the cheapest practical form; and the success of the undertaking and the character of the paper, are indicated by the fact, that although it has not yet reached the second volume, its subscribers exceed twelve thousand, and comprise residents of twentyone of the United States. The present volume has been so enlarged, that each number will contain as much matter as eighteen pages of the first. It contains many engravings and cuts executed by good artists, illustrative of implements, animals, and operations of industry. The post Vol. I may be had, stitched in a neat cover, for fifty cents. age is but 183 cents to any part of the Union. HOVEY & Co. are agents of the Cultivator for the New England States. FRUIT and ORNAMENTAL TREES, &c. FOR SALE at the Nursery of JOHN A. KENRICK, in Newton, five miles from Boston-a large and extensive variety of choice Fruit Trees, Ornamental trees and Shrubs, consisting of the best varieties of the new foreign and native Pears, Apples, Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Nectarines, Apricots, Quinces, Almonds, Gooseberries, Currants, Strawberries, Raspberries, Grapes, &c. In the selection of fruits, no labor or expense has been spared to procure from the best sources, those which have been proved, on trial, to be of the choicest kinds. The utmost accuracy will be observed, and purchasers may depend on receiving trees true to the kinds they order. Also, the finest collection of herbaceous perennial flowering plants. Pæonies, Double Dahlias,-and a splendid collection of hardy and Chinese Roses, selected with great care, both in regard to the beauty of their flowers, and the distinctness of their colors. Also, the MORUS MULTICAULIS, or true Chinese Mulberry, by the 100 or 1000, at a liberal discount.-White Italian do. and other varieties, making a complete assortment for stocking a Mulberry Plantation. All orders promptly executed, and trees will be packed to go safely by land or water, and will be delivered in Boston free of expense. Address JOHN A. KENRICK, Newton, Mass. Or all orders will meet with the same attention if forwarded or left with HovEY & Co., at their Seed Warehouse, Nos. 79 and 81 Cornhill, Boston, who are agents. Catalogues sent gratis, to all applicants. Nov. 1, 1835. HORTICULTURAL SEED WAREHOUSE. HOVEY & 60. (Nos. 79 & 81 Cornhill, Boston), Respectfully inform their friends and the public, that they have for sale, the most extensive assortment of GARDEN SEEDS, of the growth of 1835, of all descriptions to be found in New England. Particular care has been taken in the selection of the various articles, and they can confidently recommend them to be of the best quality. Some of the varieties more immediately in demand are here enumerated. do. do. Earliest Dwarf Peas Early curled Silesia do. Onion, silver-skin -Bailey's new gigantic Red -do. do. do. White Turnip, early Dutch Also every article connected with the Kitchen Garden of the best quality. HERB and MEDICINAL SEEDS. HOVEY & Co. beg leave to state, that their collection of FLOWER SEEDS, in addition to the old varieties, contains all those, new and rare worthy of cultivation, which have been introduced. They are in correspondence with several of the most celebrated Seedsmen, Florists, and Nurserymen in London, Liverpool and Paris, and they flatter themselves that they enjoy such facilities as will enable them to procure every thing new and beautiful. H. & Co. take this opportunity to state, that they have had great success in raising several new DOUBLE CHINA ASTERS. They would particularly invite the attention of their friends and the public to the unrivaled collection, which contains twelve distinct varieties. They have also most of the fine GERMAN kinds, of their own raising. BULBOUS ROOTS of all descriptions Amaryllis formosissima (Jacobean Lily), Tigridia Pavonia, and T. conchiflora (Tiger flower), Tuberose, Gladiolus Natalensis, &c. GRAPE VINES, Gooseberries, Currants, Strawberries, Roses, green-house and hardy herbaceous Plants of all descriptions. Agricultural Seeds of every kind, including all the kind of GRASS SEEDS; Lucerne, White Dutch Clover, Mangel Wurtzel, Altringham Carrot, Dale's new hybrid Turnip, &c. &c. They are Agents for the long established and celebrated Nursery of John Kenrick, Newton, and any orders addressed to them will be promptly executed. Orders from the Country will receive immediate attention, and seeds or plants packed with care, so as to be safely transported any dis tance. THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S MAGAZINE. FEBRUARY, 1836. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. ART. I. Observations on the Dahlia its Species and Varieties. BY JOHN LEWIS RUSSELL, Professor of Botany and Vegetable Physiology to the Mass. Hort. Soc. THE surpassing beauty and brilliancy of the dahlia has raised it, in the estimation of the floral taste, whether considered in its single unadorned simplicity, or when brought to the acme of perfection by the ingenious labors of the horticulturist. Scarcely rivaled by the unique elegance of the camellia, it has become, like that remarkably transmuted plant, as universal a favorite among the curious and wealthy; and still more a companion of the antique and venerable accompaniments of the cottage garden or the village flower-bed, of some humble admirer of nature's sportive wonders, such as may be found in every community, and not by any means few in our own, happy, smiling New England. Perhaps the moral and mental improvement of a people cannot be better estimated, surely not better promoted, than in the observation and introduction of the spirit of the love of the more elegant and refined occupations attendant on agricultural pursuits. For my own part, I want no better proof of a feeling and exquisitely sensible mind, even under a rough and rude exterior, than may be observed in a love of nature, particularly that which relates to the care of flowers. A rose-bush, a honeysuckle, a pæony-famed in village love for pharmaceutic worth-a lilac-bush, or even a huge tuft of the singularly striped ribbon grass," preserved by some rustic enclosure from the trespass of those sober, useful, though less intelligent, tenants of the farm-yard, 1 VOL. II.-NO. II. whose tastes are more alimentary than mental-all denote a higher order of mind, in some tidy housewife, or younger female; and when I discover the highly patronized dahlia, lifting its rich blossoms among the associates of its new and strange locality, to me it proves the gradual development of a purity of taste and feeling, which, though not incongruous, is not always to be expected in such scenes. From the elevated sandy meadows of Mexico, where, scarce half a century since, they were probably first known, and shortly after, were transferred from the Mexican Botanic Garden, the species, and almost innumerable varieties have extended with a greater rapidity and more accompanied admiration over the civilized world, than perhaps any other vegetable. The rich alluvial soils of the south, and the hard rocky lands of the north, are adorned with their cultivation; and with a singular accommodation to circumstances, they evince scarce a preference in the expansion of their blossoms, for one section than for another. It is presumable, however, that heat is injurious to the perfection of their flowers, a defect which might be obviated in a great degree by application of more moisture. Naturalization or acclimation cannot speedily, if at all, be expected in our northern latitudes, unless occasionally accidental escape from the effects of frost be deemed such, which has been known in this vicinity in several instances; and a case was mentioned of a root exposed to the winters of several years, protected entirely by the early and deep snows so common in the mountainous regions of New Hampshire. In the Azores, they are lifted out of the soil at the approach of the winter season, and left exposed on the surface till the returning spring, undoubtedly with the view to give a temporary repose, and secure a greater amount of flowers. So much has been said and written on the subject of my present remarks, that I can scarcely be expected to offer any thing new; and it is only with the design of presenting your Magazine with a succinct account of the early history and rapid progress of this superb flower, together with whatever observations may suggest themselves, that I undertake the task. Mr. Joseph Sabine, in the third volume of the "Transactions of the Hort. Soc. in London," has drawn up a very able and exceedingly interesting article, embracing all that was known at that time (1818); but as it may not be easily available to many of your readers interested in the subject, I shall consider it a sufficient excuse to pursue my intentions. "The dahlia," says Count Lelieur, "was originally from Mexico, and introduced into Europe in 1789."" From the Botanic Garden at Mexico, it was sent to that of Madrid, where it flowered for the first time in 1791." Cavanille (an ecclesiastic and eminent botanist) dedicated the genus to Dahl, a Swedish botanist, a disciple of Linnè, and the author of a work on his "Systema Vegetabilium." "In the same year (1791), he gave the description of three varieties sent from Mexico, which he considered as three species, constituting the genus Dáhlia, viz., pinnata, ròsea and coccinea" (Memoire sur le Dahlia, &c. pp. 3-4). In the number for March, 1835, of this Magazine (Vol. I, p. 114), some observations were made on the restoration of the old name of the genus, given by Cavanille, and altered from erroneous impressions of its being already appropriated, strengthened by a similarity of sound to Dalea, belonging to an entirely different natural order and artificial class. Willdenow, in his Species Plantarum, applied that of Georgina, after Georgi, an eminent Russian botanist, and De Candolle adopted it, apparently on such authority. With a similar desire of imitation, or the universal mania after new names, the florists of this country were fast falling into the supposed improvement, regardless of the untenableness of one averred objection, and the gross impropriety of violating that rule of every scientific nomenclature,-that the original name should be sacredly preserved, to the exclusion of every other, unless founded on good and substantial reasons of real physiological difference. It was with unfeigned pleasure that I therefore hailed the restoration of Dáhlia, and trust that the disciples of the illustrious star of northern Europe shall confer honor, and shed some reflected glory on the plant, which was dedicated to his fame and memory. In the third volume of the "Annales du Museum," we find a memoir on the Dáhlia, by M. Thouin, accompanied by a colored plate of three varieties, viz., ròsea, purpurea and coccinea, probably answering, at least in color, to the three species of Cavanille,-ròsea, pinnata and coccinea. M. Thouin remarks that rosea was of the size of Aster chinénsis L.; and from the plate, it seems to resemble a prototype of "Queen of Naples," a somewhat old variety. One of these varieties is figured with semidouble flowers,-a fact not a little remarkable, as this plate was issued in 1804, and Count Lelieur mentions that not until 1817 could he obtain even two or three double varieties; about the same time, indeed, that the Dutch florists began to procure theirs from seed. A similar curious fact was observed in the difference of seed raised at Anteuil and St. Cloud, the richer soil producing only pure and simple flowers, whereas the thinner and lighter soils of the former place was only prone to produce the seeds of double varieties-accounted for on the philosophical principle, that it was a greater effort to pro |