TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. We invite the attention of our readers to the first article in this number. It should be read by every person interested in the architecture of country residences. The hints it contains on the employment of vases as garden ornaments, should also be read attentively. Our articles II and IV may be of some service. The reviews are among the most valuable matter of this number, and we commend them to our readers. In miscellaneous intelligence we are in arrears, but hope to make it up in our next. Our horticultural and floricultural calendar is unavoidably crowded out. We must again request our correspondents to send in their articles as early in the month as possible. Received.-Manuscript Communications from A. J. Downing, An Amateur, T. S. P., J. W. Russell, R., S. S. Books and Printed Papers.-Genesee Farmer, Nos. 24 and 25, 1836. American Farmer and Gardener, Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 1836. Yankee Farmer, Nos. 13 and 14, 1836. The Silk Culturist and Farmer's Manual, No. 4, for July, 1836. The Vermont Farmer for July, 1836. The Southern Agriculturist, No. VII. Vol. IX. 1836. Maine Farmer, Nos. 22, 23, 24 and 25, 1836. The Cultivator for July, 1836. The American Silk Grower and Agriculturist, No. 4, 1836. Newspapers.-Mechanic and Farmer, and Nantucket Enquirer. Articles. Fine specimens of Rhubarb, one stalk weighing two and a quarter pounds, from W. Oaks, Ipswich. Any Books, Papers, Drawings or Communications, as also Seeds or dried specimens of plants, the conductors will be grateful for. They may be directed to the publishers, Cornhill, Boston. Editors of those papers with whom we exchange will confer a favor, which will be gratefully reciprocated, by publishing part of the advertisement, or otherwise noticing the commencement of Vol. II. Subscribers and Correspondents, and Editors of those periodicals and papers with whom we exchange, must be particular and direct to the AMERICAN Gardener's Magazine-there being two papers published in Boston called the Gardener's Journal, and Gardner's Magazine; and several of our papers have been miscarried. THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S MAGAZINE Was commenced on January 1st, 1835, and is continued monthly, at $3 per annum. No. XX. is published this day, and may be had at the Bookstores of Messrs. Hilliard, Gray & Co., Russell, Shattuck & Co., James Munroe & Co., E. R. Broaders, and at the Seed Warehouse of Messrs. Hovey & Co., 79 & 81, Cornhill, Boston. Ives & Putnam, Salem. H. Mann, Dedham. J. F. Thayer, Woburn. Chas. Whipple, Newburyport. J. F. Shores, Portsmouth, and George Tilden, Keene, N. H. Colman & Chissholm, Portland. Duren & Thacher, Bangor. C. Shepard, Providence. Clarendon Harris, Worcester. S. O. Dunbar, Taunton. S. H. Jenks, Nantucket. A. J. Beckwith, and Office of the Silk Culturist, Hartford. G. C. Thorburn, Israel Post, New York. D. & C. Landreth, J. Buist, and C. P. Fessenden, Philadelphia. Pishey Thompson, Washington. S. C. Parkhurst, Cincinnati, Ohio. At the seedstore of William Thorburn, Albany, N. Y. THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, AND REGISTER OF USEFUL DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN HORTICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS, IS PUBLISHED IN MONTHLY OCTAVO NUMBERS, Volume II. commenced on January 1st, 1836. THE FIRST VOLUME MAY BE HAD, BOUND IN BOARDS, AT $3. THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S MAGAZINE has now been established above a year, and its success has fully realized the expectations of its conductors and friends. It is a gratifying fact to them, to know that it has already been the means of spreading a greater taste for the pursuits of horticulture and floriculture, and awakening a greater attention to their importance and utility. In one point of view, it has been particularly useful: it has called out communications from various amateur and practical gardeners, containing valuable information, which would undoubtedly, had it not been established, long remained unknown. No. XX is this day published. The number of subscribers is sufficiently large to insure it a permanent standing; but in proportion as they increase, efforts will be made to enhance the value of the Magazine, by procuring the most scientific and practical contributers; by increasing the number of engravings; and by improving the appearance and typographical execution of the work; thus, with other additional expenditures, rendering it one of the most useful and important periodicals on the subject of horticulture. To perfect our intentions, we have endeavored to secure more aid, and have already received such assurance from many eminent individuals, that the present volume may be considered as having a much greater claim upon the patronage of our friends. Shall we be thought presumptuous, if we follow the example set by a distinguished editor of one of the most sciectific American journals, to increase the number of our readers,-namely, to recommend to every subscriber to procure an additional one? This number will enable us to do justice to a work which we have had the pleasure to establish, and which it will be our greatest pride long to sustain. The conductors have the pleasure of naming the following gentlemen as contributors :-Elijah Vose, M. P. Wilder, and S. Downer, Dorchester; Wm. Kenrick, and J. A. Kenrick, Newton; Prof. John Lewis Russell, Salem; S. A. Shurtleff, and B. V. French, Boston; S. Walker, Roxbury; R. Kittredge, Portsmouth, N. H.; A. J. Downing, Botanic Garden and Nursery, Newburgh, N. Y.; R. Manning, B. Hale Ives, E. Putnam, and C. Lawrence, Salem; Grant Thorburn, Hallet's Cove, L. I. E. M. Richards, Dedham; J. W. Russell, superintendent at Mount Auburn, Cambridge; Dr. M. A. Ward, Athens, Georgia; D. Haggerston, gardener to J. P. Cushing, Esq., Belmont Place, Watertown; Ed. Sayers, New York; Wm. R. Prince, Linnæan Botanic Garden and Nurseries, Flushing, L. I.; E. B. Kenrick, Watertown; R. Buist, florist and nurseryman, Philadelphia; Robert Murray, gardener to the Hon. Theodore Lyman, Jr., Waltham; T. H. Pleasants, Beaverdam, Virginia; Peter McKenzie, gardener to Henry Pratt, Esq., Lemon Hill, Philadelphia; M. Floy, Jr., nurseryman, New York; S. Sweetser, S. Pond, and Wm. Leathe, Cambridgeport; and many other amateur and practical gardeners. CONTENTS. ART. I. On the Use of the Osage Orange, (Maclura aurantiaca), as Food for Silk-worms. By T. S. P., Beaverdam, Va. ART. II. On the Cultivation of the most beautiful Species and Varieties of the Cactus and Cereus. In a Series of Papers. By ART. III. Calendar of Plants and Shrubs in bloom from the month of May to October, inclusive. By the Conductors, ART. IV. On the Germination of the Nelumbium Speciosum. ART. V. On the Cultivation of the Pink (Dianthus), more particu- larly the Carnation, Picotee, and Pink. By S. Walker, ART. VI. Some Remarks on the Tree Pæony, (Pæonia Moutan), including its history, introduction into England, the production of new seedling Varieties, propagation, cultivation, &c. By the ART. VII. Notices of new and beautiful Plants figured in the Lon- don Floricultural and Botanical Magazines; with some Account THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S MAGAZINE. SEPTEMBER, 1836. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. ART. I. On the Use of the Osage Orange (Maclura aurantiaca), as Food for Silk-worms. By T. S. P., Beaverdam, Va. SOME months ago, the Farmer's Register contained a translation of an interesting article by M. Bonafons, giving the result of an experiment on feeding the silk-worm on the leaves of the Maclura. Although the authority of that gentleman may be regarded as decisive on any matter connected with the culture of silk, yet, as many substitutes for the mulberry have been successively used and discarded, it was reasonable to suppose the maclura might share the same fate. On trial, however, I find it to answer all the purposes for which M. Bonafons recommended it; and as the silk business is becoming an important branch of the industry of the United States, I am induced to detail, in corroboration thereof, the result of my own experiment. In the month of May I had a few thousand eggs to hatch; and, during the three first ages, the worms were fed exclusively on the leaves of the maclura. At the commencement of the fourth age they were divided into several parcels, with a view of giving to each a separate kind of food. About one third were continued on the same-the native mulberry was given to an equal number-a portion of the balance was fed on the maclura and Chinese mulberry indiscriminately-and the remainder on the Chinese mulberry alone. During the process, I could not perceive that the worms manifested any partiality between the leaves of the maclura and those of the Chinese mulberry,-if they evinced any, it was certainly not in favor of the latter. But they greatly preferred either to the leaves of the red mulberry, |