556 



CRITIQUE ON THE APRIL HORTICULTURIST. 



given to distinguished foreigners, in show- 

 ing him the attractive features of Niagara 

 scenery, as well as their hospitalities ! 

 There is a traveller for you, fit to describe 

 a country ! and he is a type of hundreds. 

 Yet Dickens wrote a book when he got back 

 to England, "describing" our American 

 scenery, as well as manners ! 



You perceive that I have, thus far, but 

 commented on the metaphor which introdu- 

 ces you to the' subject of discussion. No 

 matter. It is a good text for my purpose, 

 so far. 



T am glad to see you blow up those for- 

 eign gardeners, too many of them quacks, 

 as almost everybody here, who has had oc- 

 casion to employ them, pretty well knows, 

 although there are many practical, good, 

 modest men among them. But I have 

 rarely known any one of them who, ac- 

 cording to his own story, was gardener, 

 when in England, to any thing less than a 

 Duke, and left his Grace's employ because 

 things were not satisfactory to his — the 

 gardener's, mind you — satisfaction! What 

 work do we often see in the first essays of 

 these " highly educated " gentlemen gar- 

 deners, in our country ! Put them to school 

 at once on their arrival, and in time they'll 

 become what they now profess to be — good 

 for something. 



Rough Notes on Horticulture, fyc. — Were 

 I to say what I well might say, from the 

 little personal knowledge I have of Doctor 

 Kennicott, your readers Avould think We 

 were bandying compliments ; therefore, I'll 

 let him pass for the present. But I do like 

 such " notes." There is a freshness about 

 them sui generis. Excuse my Latin, for I 

 can find no English that gives the exact 

 idea like it. I'd like to have a long sum- 

 mer's day horse-back ride with you, Doctor, 

 over those grand Illinois burr-oak openings 

 — lunch in saddle-bags — old fashion — with 



a clear spring, under a broad tree, to eat it 

 by — and then a long winter's evening, be- 

 fore that crackling hickory fire, in your log 

 house, where stars would shine upon us 

 through the chinking. Rely upon it, we'd 

 make a stretcher of that same night, before 

 we got through with it. How many de- 

 lightful — aye, glorious — nights have I 

 passed in those same log-cabins, stretched 

 before their huge fires on a Buffalo-skin, in 

 years gone by ! Yes, when, after a long 

 social evening to close an active day, pro- 

 miscuously, in the same primeval attitude 

 of rest, lay scattered, judges, lawyers, suit- 

 ors, and travellers, during their sojourn at 

 the new county-seat, in court term ! And 

 among them are since some of our eminent 

 jurists and statesmen. Oh, what a train- 

 ing does this same woods and prairie life, 

 to finish off with, give, in energy and prac- 

 tical character, to our American men ! 



But, to the point. The great states of 

 the west are to be the future fruit paradise 

 of America, and 'tis most cheering to all 

 lovers of fruit cultivation, to hear the suc- 

 cess of the efforts made there to produce 

 them. 



The Uses of Charcoal. — There can be no 

 doubt of it. It is the greatest purifier and 

 fertilizer in the world — in its own way. It 

 can hardly be applied too freely— let it be 

 only pulverized thoroughly. 



On the Beauty of our Indigenous Plants. 

 — Here is one who talks up to the mark. 

 Had Dr. Comstock done no more than bring 

 the splendid native shrubs and plants and 

 flowers into notice in this manner, (why 

 don't he give their common or vulgar names, 

 together with the scientific ones ?) his ser- 

 vices would deserve a gold medal, and the 

 especial thanks of the whole gardening 

 community. Let any one Avho doubts the 

 splendor and beauty of our wild American 

 flowers, but spend a summer among our 



