REMARKS ON THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 



505 



the different classes of fruit thrives best | plete is the protection afforded by the steady 



here, for the soil and climate are adapted, 

 in an unusual degree, to all hardy fruits. 

 It is one of the fortunate circumstances of 

 this part of the Hudson, for which we in- 

 dulge our " amiable fondness," that plums, 

 apricots, and nectarines, — smooth skinned 

 fruits, which are by no means produced with 

 equal ease in all parts of the country, — 

 succeed most perfectly here. There is a 

 farmer, about two miles from Wodenethe, 

 who has sold, of his own produce, nearly 

 S2000 worth of plums in a season, and the 

 gardens here abound with the finest gages.* 

 Peaches are highly flavored, and so com- 



temperature of the river against sudden 

 changes, that we do not remember but a sin- 

 gle year, when the crop of this fine fruit was 

 destroyed by frosts. It is in this respect 

 that we may fairly claim for a portion of the 

 banks of the Hudson, as well as those fine 

 districts bordering on the great lakes of this 

 State and Ohio, a climate very unusually 

 adapted to the growth of the finest fruits. 



But we must forbear, or we shall receive 

 a broadside from the west, which will dis- 

 turb our otiurii cum dignitate, (or, as a witty 

 gardening friend will have it, " opium cum 

 digitalis,'''') for an indefinite length of time. 



REMARKS ON THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING.— No. I. 



BY DR. WM. W. VALK, FLUSHING, N. Y. 



We are inclined to think the subject an in- 

 teresting one, and as fully calculated to lead 

 to great improvements in the whole system 

 of culture, as at present understood and 

 practiced by the best horticulturists, either 

 at home or abroad. 



For many years, gardening, as well as 

 agriculture, has been conducted upon very 

 loose principles, and both are as yet but in 

 their infancy. Every thing was, (and in 

 most cases is,) routine ; an overseer orders, 

 and his juniors or laborers obey; no one 

 gives a reason, and thus are effects produced 

 without any inquiry into causes. These 

 facts, which all acknowledge, and many la- 

 ment, indicate, beyond all doubt, that semi- 

 naries or institutions are required wherein 

 every element of the art should be strictly 

 investigated by competent persons, and the 

 results be taught to the pupils of the estab- 



• All acquaintance of ours, about two miles south of New- 

 burgh, gathered last season 8 bushels of the finest Elruga nec- 

 tarines from foitr standard trees, grown with little or no care. 



64 



lishment, who should go through a regular 

 course of experimental inquiry in all its de- 

 partments. 



For agriculture, something has been done. 

 A state of torpid ignorance no longer exists ; 

 and seminaries or schools of investigation, 

 have been suggested, and steps taken to 

 establish them. In France and Germany 

 vast improvements have been effected, as 

 may be seen by a reference to " Backers 

 Report on Education in Europe,''^ for a de- 

 scription of " The Institute of Agriculture and 

 Forestry, at Hohenheim, near Stuttgard," 

 described and reputed to be the most com- 

 plete agricultural school in Europe. In the 

 U. States a beginning has been made in 

 furtherance of scientific agriculture, by Mr. 

 Wilkinson, who has advertised for pupils, 

 and made arrangements for giving them in- 

 struction in all the details of theoretical and 

 practical farming. 



But not a single instance can be disco- 

 vered of the establishment of a Horticultu. 



