The New Road, or Papineau Road, Nursery is the next in rank as a nursery, and is the property of an honest industrious man, Mr. M'Kenzie. His garden contains a very large assortment of fruit trees; and I trust that, ere many years are past, the blunt but open-hearted proprietor of the Papineau Road Nursery will be the owner of a much larger establishment. Mr. McKenzie does a great deal in the market-garden way. The Montreal Botanic Garden is the next in rank, as being the latest established, and, though last, by no means least. On this garden I can dwell with pleasure, as it is the first instance of a French Canadian (Canadian of French extraction) embracing the profession of a nursery and seedsman. It is conducted by S. Guilbault and Co., and has only been in operation about twelve months. Mr. Guilbault is a promising and industrious young man; and, though he has not received a botanical education, he is striving hard, by intense study, to attain a perfect knowledge of his profession; and I can give you no better description of his garden than by sending you his catalogue, which you will find contains 327 kinds of green-house plants, 88 kinds of ornamental trees, evergreens, &c., besides a large collection of fruits, &c. It may be necessary, in justice to the other nurserymen, to state that this catalogue contains numbers of plants and trees, of which Mr. Guilbault has only single specimens, and will not, therefore, be ready for sale for a couple of years: in this state are at least two thirds of his green-house plants, and as many of his perennial herbaceous plants. S. Guilbault and Co. have erected a very capital green-house in the botanic garden. There are one or two other nurseries, but not of sufficient note or extent to require separate descriptions. In Quebec, horticulture has latterly become very much attended to, and numbers of beautiful and picturesque situations have been laid out in gardens, in which very beautiful country seats have been erected. In climate, Quebec is very different to Montreal, the high grounds about the former city being more exposed to cold sea breezes than the level ground of the country of Montreal. I will at a future period give you a distinct account of the Quebec gardens and country seats, accompanied with, perhaps, two or three sketches of the most picturesque situations, particularly the country seat of William Atkinson, Esq., at Carouye, near Quebec. The scenery about Quebec, being perfectly sublime, deserves a distinct article. And now a few words as to horticulture, and horticulture among amateurs, in Montreal. In the first place, the lower order of French Canadians are very fond of flowers, parti cularly those residing in town, and in winter they succeed remarkably well in blooming their plants, owing to the extreme heat kept up in their houses by means of the stoves in use in this country. It is by no means an uncommon sight, in passing through the suburbs of this town in winter, to see a dozen or twenty Canadian houses, in fact almost every house that is inhabited by a French Canadian, with the front windows decorated with roses, carnations, and pelargoniums (particularly the countess seedling and pine-apple pelargoniums), in full bloom, and flowering in a style that would not disgrace the most scientific gardener. Their gardens (each generally of a small plot of ground adjoining the house, in which they raise their culinary vegetables) are in summer generally graced with a few showy hollyhocks and roses, particularly the cabbage rose, together with the large crimson pæony, and perhaps a few plants of bachelor's buttons, and a few annual flowers. Two things are always found in Jean Baptiste's garden, a lilac tree in one corner of it, and the flower borders full of mignonette. Latterly the Canadians are becoming more fond of fruit trees, though those who could afford them always had one or two in their gardens. As to the gardens of the better-conditioned order of French Canadians, and of the English residents, they are generally very well cultivated, and contain several varieties of the apple, pear, cherry, plum, grape, and gooseberry, together with white, black, and red raspberries, and white, red, and black currants, alpine strawberries, and sometimes the pine-apple strawberry; the grapes most commonly grown seem to be the sweetwater and blue cluster. Among the larger and most highly cultivated gardens are those of John Molson, sen. Esq., the Hon. John Forsyth, John Molson, jun. Esq., H. Corse, Esq. (of whom more anon), James Leslie, Esq., — Leprohon, Esq., B. Holmes, Esq., Jacob Dewitt, Esq., and many others. In the garden of Mr. Molson, sen., there is a great variety of fruits of such kinds as the peach, apricot, nectarine, apple, pear, plum, cherry, and grape. Mr. Molson has also a Canadian arboretum, and his garden is extremely well attended to by a very deserving man, James M'Millan, for some years gardener to J. S. M'Coul, Esq. In the various gardens above mentioned are cultivated the following kinds of apples: -Fameuse, Pomme grise, Bourassa, Reinette du Canada, all Canadian apples (the Bourassa dying off very fast. Why? It is said to be because the original tree lasts only a certain length of time, at the termination of which period even the young trees inoculated from it die off!); Calvilles of kinds, Early harvest, Garden pippin, Nonpareil, Carse of Gowrie, Irish codling, Blinkbonny seedling, Juneating, and several other kinds. In my father's garden are the Smith's and Esopus Spitzemberg, and the Rhode Island greening, and Newton pippin, all excellent apples. Of pears the following kinds : Summer and Winter bonchrétien. Doyenne blanche, Cuisse madame, Vargalien, Beurré, and Seckle. Of plums, the Bulmer Washington; purple, white, and yellow egg plums; white and green gages, large Orleans, Bingham plum, and Prince's white gage. The only kinds of cherry which succeed here are, the Kentish, Cluster, and Early mayduke. The grapes most commonly cultivated are, the White sweetwater, and Blue cluster, or Black Hamburgh; but in almost all the above gardens are the White chasselas and the Wellington, a very large and fine grape; also the Portugal grape we have also the Isabella grape cultivated, which is an indigenous grape; and I saw in the market, exhibited as a show by Mr. Leprohon from his garden, two or three bunches of the Isabella, each from 14 to 16 in. long, and about 4 or 5 in. broad at the broadest. I will obtain from Leprohon the weight of the largest bunch, and let you know it. The strawberries cultivated in the gardens of the most wealthy inhabitants, and in those of amateurs, are, the Alpines, Devonshire, Chili, Pine-apple, and by one or two (being just introduced) Wilmot's superb. The gooseberries cultivated are generally the Top sawyer, Whitesmith, Rockwood, Crown Bob, General de Rottenberg (a seedling named after a governor of the province). These are the fruits most generally introduced by the above gentlemen. With regard to floriculture, we have very fine beds of tulips, ranunculuses, anemones, auriculas, polyanthuses; in fact, of all florists' flowers; a great variety of herbaceous plants. Dahlias (or georginas, as they are more correctly_termed) have been but lately introduced; and my father (Benjamin Hart, Esq.) can boast of the best collection of them, more than twenty of the finest double dwarf and tall kinds having flowered in most splendid style at his garden (Beaulieu, near Blinkbonny), and among them Coccinea máxima, King of the Whites, King David, Purpurea, Countess of Liverpool, Beauté d'Angleterre, Golden yellow, and Spectábilis (anemoneflowered). The whole collection was a present from Briscoe, Esq., of Firtree Grove, near Dudley. The exotics cultivated are generally pelargoniums, of about 40 kinds; camellias, 10 or 12 kinds, including the Chándleri, only one of which is in Montreal, one which I imported from Messrs. Chandler's having died; aloes, ericas, cactuses (particularly the speciosíssima), Crassulæ, Hóya, Heliotrò pium, Justícia. Lobèlia fúlgens and spléndens, Jasmìnum, Nèrium Oleander, Pittosporum, Prímula præ'nitens, and many others, all of which we bloom in the windows of our houses, as the heat requisite to be kept up in winter is quite sufficient for the cultivation of the above exotics. Very few persons have green-houses here; the neatest is one which Mrs. Bingham, the lady of William Bingham, Esq., has this year caused to be attached to her house. It contains a very well selected collection of plants, and does credit to Mrs. Bingham's taste and knowledge of floriculture. I must now return to Henry Corse, Esq., whose garden, in St. Anne's suburbs, is a perfect curiosity. It is not above 80 ft. deep by about 100 ft. broad, and contains as much as many well cultivated gardens of four or five acres. Mr. Corse, who is a practical gardener, is fond of budding and grafting a number of species on the same tree, and from grafts received by him from Messrs. Landreth of Philadelphia; from the late M. Parmentier of Long Island; and from the London Horticultural Society, through one of its members; he. has grafted at least twenty new kinds of pears, and fifty of apples, all on about two dozen of trees, and all his grafts are doing well. He has raised three seedling plums, one of which, Corse's seedling (I think it is so called), is as fine a plum as any I have ever tasted, and is of a very large size; it is of the magnum bonum kind. Mr. Corse is a great fancier of florists' flowers, in the raising of which he excels. We have no horticultural society in operation in Montreal. Some years ago there was one in existence, which had been carried on for a number of years, and awarded medals and silver cups as prizes for florists' flowers and for fruit; but by degrees it sunk into a kind of torpid state, in which it has remained for (now) more than eight or nine years. I consider it defunct; but whenever a proposition is made to establish a new society, up starts a member of this (cataleptic) society, and says, "Oh no! I cannot join any such society, as the Montreal Horticultural Society is still in existence:" in other words "It is not dead, only in a trance!" However, a number of amateurs are determined to throw off the shackles of this half dead and alive association, and form a horticultural society, the prospectus of which I hope ere long to send you. Before I close my letter, I beg to make a few remarks on the prospects of gardeners coming out to Canada. In Canada we have no employment for forcing-gardeners, unless it be forcing raised in hot-beds in the open air. We only wish for and would employ men who understand their trade, are something of botanists, and well-educated men. By well educated men, I mean men possessing a good English education, and who can read and write well. None but those who are industrious, honest, and sober men can hope to find employment. Once drunk, and a gardener loses the confidence of his employer; once discharged without a certificate of good conduct, and he will never obtain employment again. A gardener's wages vary from 21. to 31. 10s. and 41. per month; an assistant gardener from 17. 10s. to 27. per month. Farm labourers get here from 127. to 187. per annum; farmers from 20l. to 401., or generally on shares. Although I find that my natural love of scribbling and talking (for which faults blame my profession) has lengthened this communication to such a degree, I still must extend it a few lines, to say that we have a very capital society in existence in Montreal, "The Montreal Natural History Society," of which I am a fellow. I will hereafter send you a description of this association, and of its museum; and I will by the first favourable opportunity send the Transactions of the Quebec Literary and Historical Society, of which two volumes are published. I remain, dear Sir, yours, &c. St. Vincent Street, Montreal, Oct. 25. 1832. WE are extremely obliged to Mr. Hart for the above communication, and others which we have received from him; and we have also to thank our old and much esteemed friend, Mr. Cleghorn, for a packet and a letter. We wish we could hear from both parties frequently. Cond. ART. III. On the Disabilities experienced by young Gardeners, in acquiring professional and general Knowledge. By SCIENTIE ET JUSTITIE AMATOR. Sir, AFTER the interesting remarks you made upon my last communication (Vol. VIII. p. 644.), it is almost unnecessary to trouble you with another of a similar nature. It is indeed too true that the evils of which we complain are undoubtedly great, and although it is rather unpleasant to reflect that the effectual removal of them can only be accomplished" in a succeeding generation," yet surely the consideration that our efforts may in the least be instrumental for bettering the condition of our brethren will more than induce us to use every means in our power" for impressing upon the minds of all" the great im |