THE 



JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE. 



Vol. II. 



JULY, 1847. 



No. 1. 



The multiplication of Horticultural So- 

 cieties is taking place so rapidly of late, in 

 various parts of the country, as to lead one 

 to reflect somewhat on their influence, and 

 that of the art they foster, upon the char- 

 acter of our people. 



Most persons, no doubt, look upon them 

 as performing a work of some usefulness 

 and elegance, by prom.oting the culture of 

 fruits and floAVers, and introducing to all 

 parts of the country the finer species of ve- 

 getable productions. In other words, they 

 are thought to add very considerably to the 

 amount of physical gratifications which eve- 

 ry American citizen endeavors, and has a 

 right to endeavor, to assemble around him. 



Granting all the foregoing, we are in- 

 clined to claim also, for horticultural pur- 

 suits, a political and moral influence vastly 

 more significant and important than the 

 mere gratification of the senses. We 

 think, then, in a few words, that Horticul- 

 ture and its kindred arts, tend strongly to 

 fix the habits, and elevate the character of 

 our whole rural population. 



One does not need to be much of a phi- 

 losopher to remark that one of the most 

 striking of our national traits, is the spirit 

 OF unrest. It is the grand energetic ele- 

 ment which leads us to clear vast forests, 



and settle new States, with a rapidity un- 

 paralleled in the world's history ; the spirit, 

 possessed with which, our yet comparative- 

 ly scanty people do not find elbow-room 

 enough in a territory already in their pos- 

 session, and vast enough to hold the great- 

 est of ancient empires ; Avhich drives the 

 emigrant's wagon across vast sandy deserts 

 to California, and over Rocky Mountains 

 to Oregon and the Pacific ; which builds 

 up a great State like Ohio in 30 years, so 

 populous, civilized and productive, that the 

 bare recital of its growth sounds like a 

 genuine miracle to European ears ; and 

 which overruns and takes possession of a 

 whole empire, like that of Mexico, while 

 the cabinets of old monarchies are debating 

 whether or not it is necessary to interfere 

 and restore the balance of power in the 

 new world as in the old. 



This is the grand and exciting side of 

 the picture. Turn it in another light, and 

 study it, and the effect is by no means so 

 agreeable to the reflective mind. The 

 spirit of unrest, followed into the bosom of 

 society, makes of man a feverish being, in 

 whose Tantalus' cup repose is the unattaina- 

 ble drop. Unable to take root anywhere, he 

 leads, socially and physically, the uncertain 

 life of a tree transplanted from place to 



