VISITS TO COUNTRY PLACES. 



and dwarfs, half an acre or more of currants, and his place is beautified with shade 

 and ornamental trees, forming a tout ensemble of plenty and beauty such as thou- 

 sands living in cities might envy, and if they would study the subject as the doctor 

 studies it, might reap rich returns from. 



Though this place has been in the tenure of its present owner but ten years, 

 the returns are already nearly sufficient for the wants of a large family. The 

 strawberry culture is of recent introduction, and we shall be surprised if the entire 

 returns of the present season do not considerably exceed three thousand dollars, 

 with abundance of all farm produce for himself. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, 

 fine wood and water, an intelligent home and visiting circle, our friend and corre- 

 spondent enjoys a life much to his own taste, and confers a useful boon on his 

 fellow-men. In winter, the family remove to Philadelphia, where the doctor lec- 

 tures to a class of medical students, and attends to the education of his family. 

 This is a picture so pleasing to the mind, and so eminently worthy of imitation 

 for its utility, that our host will pardon our holding it up in this way as an ex- 

 ample to others. Already his neighborhood is benefited and improved by seeing 

 his success ; in a few years, this section of New Jersey will be a main prop in 

 supplying the greedy maw of its neighbor, New York, to the advantage of both. 



Dr. Ward, after much examination, has adopted the Iowa or Washington 

 Strawberry, as producing a large and valuable crop. Burr's new Pine, he thinks, 

 will prove too soft for a carrying crop, though its flavor is unsurpassed. The 

 Early Scarlet follows Iowa in ripening, and is a good market kind. Hovey's 

 Seedling he considers an excellent market crop, and that it must always continue 

 to be valuable. Several other kinds are under experimental cultivation. We were 

 so fortunate as to be there at the earliest picking, when the citizens were paying 

 any price demanded for the first berries of a good size and from the neighborhood, 

 the Southern ones being discarded as soon as the Jersey crop made its appearance. 

 The pear-trees here will yield an average crop, which may be worth a thousand 

 dollars ; much more than this sum will, no doubt, be realized per annum, when 

 the standard trees come into bearing. Dr. Ward has himself enlightened our 

 readers on his mode of pear culture, so that we need not enter now on the subject. 

 All the larger cities of the Union, and even very many small ones, offer induce- 

 ments to cultivators to pursue the system we have faintly indicated. A few years 

 only will elapse before this gentlemanly system will be extensively imitated. 



We also visited the nursery grounds of Mr. William Reed, of Elizabethtown, 

 N. J., which are among the neatest and best kept in America. His lawn 

 around his house was so neatly sheared, and in such fine condition, as to put 

 to the blush many grand gentlemen's seats, Mr. Reed is famous for the beauty 

 of his specimen hedges, which he shears twice a year, in June and September, 

 The three-thorned locust, GJeditcMa iriacanthos, he considers to be the best for a 

 farm hedge, superior to the Madura for turning cattle, and having this advantage, 

 that when planted close, if neglected, it still forms an impenetrable fence. His 

 beech, arbor vita), holly, juniper, Japan quince, and other hedges, arc fine exam- 

 ples of beauty added to scenery by this method. 



We saw here fine specimens of the Magnolia conspicua. Purple Elm, Pinus 

 palustris, or long-leaved Pine, White Spruce, Juniperus oblonga pendula, and 

 Communis pendula or Cracovia, Savin, Halesia diptera, a plant now much sought 

 after, the Holly-leaved Cherry, and many of the new Evergeens and rarities which 

 he takes pleasure in introducing. Mr. Reed's nurseries are all drained, and he 

 therefore lifts his trees for spring sales at an earlier date than others ; broad ave- 

 nues of well pastured grass intersect his grounds, and through these the 

 from the drains trickles in the driest seasons. Every nurseryman should see 



