195 



My sojourn iu England has not been as long as I had anticipated. 

 A country whose agricultural and domestic economy is so remarkable, 

 claims more extensive and particular observations than those which are 

 possible to the transient traveler ; and I purpose during some summer 

 vacation to cross the ferry between New York and Liverpool, for the 

 purpose of visiting, at my leisure, the rural districts of England. A 

 more scientific and artistic agriculture does not exist in the world, than 

 that which has been introduced by the enlightened land-holdem of 

 England. The result is, that a very small country is made to support 

 a very large population. Waste land is everj-where reclaimed, and 

 every variety of soil is appropriated to its fitting cultivation, and made 

 to produce, perhaps, to its utmost capacity. England, therefore, wears 

 the appearance of one beautiful and verdant garden, whore science and 

 taste have directed industry to the most beneficent results. 



There are now only two things upon which I would venture to re- 

 mark. The first is the system of drainage in England. If the irriga- 

 tion of Lombardy would save us from the drought, the drainage of 

 England would recLiim valuable lands in our own State. Thus we 

 should be fortified against the diy and the moist. 



The other remark relates to the hedge-rows of England. I might 

 descant here upon the beauty of the hedge-rows. I might tell you how 

 all the real beauty of England would be marred by our crooked rail 

 fences, and how om' own State would put on much of the beauty of 

 England, could we remove our own fences, and write upon our land- 

 scape these verdant lines of poetry ; but independently of this the con- 

 siderations of mere utility and economy are sufiicient to decide the 

 question. A hedge-row is a perpetual fence — once made, with proper 

 care, it is made forever. Nor does it require a long time to realize it. 

 Five or six years growth make the hedge-row impenetrable. If, when 

 you make yom* fence, you will at the same time plant your hedge-row, 

 before your fence is half decayed, you will be able to remove it. And 

 where you have old fences, which terrify you with the prospect of a re- 

 newal in a few years, if you will only plant the hedge-row, you may 

 give up sphtting rails forever. 



Whether the hawthorn will serve our purpose, can only be deter- 

 mined by experiment. But we are not limited to the hawthorn — there 

 are other plants, and among the rest the Osage orange, which can be 



