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374 



Sl'IUNG MO VI NO. 



But, nt a later date, when the old Uiiitarinn clergyman had sold his property, and told tlio 

 liistoiy of his treo with garrulous fondness, again the iron girdlcMvas doing evident miKchief : 

 but Iho Btory of the tree, besido its beauty, gave it value and interest to the new owner, and 

 with pcrhapd better mechanical conception, he sought a new remedy for the evil. A straight 

 iron rod, having a head at one end, and a screw upon the other, was now passed hori- 

 zoutally through the centre of each trunk, and, by means of an iron nut on the screw end, 

 the security of the tree was accomplished without injury. The bark in time grew over 

 the ends of the iron rod, and for nineteen years tlie locust-tree had llouri.slied, at the period 

 of tlie intended coming of the doctor's fruit-trees and plants. Sympathy with the past, and 

 even witli the far-famed ballad of George P. Morris, " Woodman, Hf)aro that Tree," came 

 into conflict with tlie claims of the doctor, with the desire to gratify a valuable and excel- 

 lent man : it was April, the time for tree moving had arrived, and when the medical pomo- 

 logist came to make his next friendly visit, the old locust-tree lay in sections upon the grass 

 plat. 



It is now scarce a month since this city clearing, and the seedling pears, with their many 

 grafts, the raspberries of different varieties, &c. &c., gratefully occupy the space so long 

 monopolized, if not hallowed, by the Scotch gentleman's gift of friendship. And with early 

 sunrise, may be seen daily from the back windows, the doctor inspecting and enjoying the 

 new nursery, thus renewing the sentiment associated with the first planting there, and cer- 

 tainly no less valuable or interesting to a warm and honest friendship.* 



* May 1, 1856. — We cannot resist the desire to give vahic to our little narrative, by adding an article from tlie 

 gifted pen of a mutual friend, and which lias reference to the same distinguished poinologist. We quote from 

 the columns of the Korth American and United States Gazette of July 20, 1S17. So just and eloquent a tribute 

 to merit deserves a more enduring form than that afforded by the passing sheet of a daily newspaper. 



The Love of the Beautiful and Useful. 



There is a class of human beings — its name is legion — who are good and benevolent to an infinite degree, in 

 theory. Tlioy would perform wonders if they had the power ; but their vast ambition to pursue the ideal 

 beautiful and good, cannot stoop to any of the achievements within their own contracted sphere. Their imagi- 

 native benevolence travels over boundless fields of usefulness ; they endow, with unearned wealth, hospitals in 

 the air ; indulge their vanity in erecting colleges upon vast foundations of imagination ; gather fruits that require 

 no culture ; rejoice over ores that are not dug from the mines ; and are good and great, in their own esbmation, 

 upon this aerial principle. Those men are loud in their lip-love of all that is good and great ; but, because tlioy 

 cannot enjoy the princely advantages required to carry out their magniflccnt schemes, they do nothing. There 

 are others to whom no opportunity to do good, or cultivate a grace, is lost — who would be useful to their race 

 even in a dungeon, and would discover some beauty upon a barren rock in the ocean. We were impressed with 

 this truth, by becoming ca.sually acquainted with the secret pursuitsof oneof our most estimable and enlightened 

 citizens, in the fragmentary periods of leisure that fall olf from a life of intense and persevering professional 

 labor His life has lieen devoted, day and night, to the studies and duties of his science ; and no one would 



dream that Dr. had leisure for any thought or purpose beyond it. But who has not leisure tliat practises 



economy of time, and learns to relieve one species of labor by another of a differept character, all swelling the 

 amount of his tribute of good to the Author of all good ? In the midst of a most active life, and in the centre of 

 a crowded city, he has been for years engaged in practical experiments in horticulture, and has succeeded in 

 attaining results that contribute more to the race than the best fought battle-field of the age. Of course, it will 

 be supposed that he has a large space of ground for these experiments, and every aid that can further them ; 

 but, on the contrary, his garden lot is twenty by twenty feet, on the most fashionable square in Chestnut Street. 

 Within that limited space, and in the midst of a large practice, he has still found time and means to make the 

 most important contributions to the horticulture of the country. By the application of science to the culture of 

 most valuable plants, he has been enabled to add new and rich varieties; to discover and illustrate important 

 laws, and to etfect, in the offcast minutes which others fail to improve, results that will make millions more 

 happy, when his career of graceful, modest, and untiring goodness and usefulness shall have been closed. 



We dare not refer to him in such a manner that even he may discover the allusion ; and we mention the fact 

 with the sole purpose of illustrating the truth, that there is no sphere so crowded that it has hot room for a new 

 light, a new grace, a fresh achievement for the good, a novel enjoyment for the lovers of nature. The posses- 

 sors of thousands of acres might envy, and must admire, the student who, in his twenty by twenty lot, 

 noble resources of enjoyment, and attains results which add to the comforts and happiness of his race. 



