REVIEWS. 



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.•I coiiipk'to iiiilfX. ^W' arc all in n Imrry in tliis cnmilrv, ami Imoks of rcfcrcnco — hanil- 

 liodks, 8iu-li as tliis — should lie so arraii;,^'*! u'* to coii^nrnf as littk- time as possible in tlio 

 pnilitless and nnpleasnnt labor of tnrniii^ leaves. 



Aliont i'ij:Iity-t\vo ponora t>f trees, and two hundred and seventy species and varieties, 

 are <leserihed : nine of Majdes, six of Heooh, ten of Ash, ten Magnolias, ten Poplars, twenty- 

 two Oaks, twenty AViilows, six Elms, eight Lindens, five Spruce, six Fir, fourteen riius, 

 i^c. itc. — Ei).] 



li- TiiK River. By F. AV. Siielton, Author of Rector of SL Biirdolplis, and Salandcr the Dragon. With Illustra- 

 tions from Original Designs. Ii'ew York: C'jiaklks Scriii.nkr, 1S53. 



"^Nlan made the City — God made the Country," is an old saying of more truth than 

 Avo sometimes find in "common sayings;" and yet man has some hand in giving character 

 to the country — lie may deform or beautify it. There is beauty in themicnltivated prairie, 

 where the foot of the white man has never trod ; the mighty forest, not yet desecrated by 

 the woodman's axe, is beautiful in its majesty. But these arc beauties to be enjoyed only 

 for a short season. The most enthusiastic lover of nature would soon grow tired of such 

 delights. The beauty of the prairie and the lonely majesty of the forest will tempt but few 

 to forsake the pleasures .of civilized life. The character of the country, then, as a home 

 for man, depends on man himself. 



In all parts of our country there is a new and constantly increasing disposition to shun 

 the city and seek the enjoyments of country life. The question arises, Avhat has given our 

 people such a love of rural life ? Perhaps our own and other borticidtural and the agricul- 

 tural journals have done as much as any one cause to produce this result. Then the better 

 cidtivation of the soil, better and more tasty buildings, improved stock and beautiful gar- 

 dens and orchards, have increased the attractiveness of the country, and thrown a charm 

 around country life. The log cabin, surrounded with stutups, Avas bearable ; it showed 

 necessity, and adaptation, and gave an earnest of better things in the future. But when 

 this was suffered to go to partial decay, or substituted by an unsightly board liouse, sur- 

 rounded with half decayed stumps and tumble-down rail fences, it was a picture by no 

 means attractive to the man of taste. 



With this love of Rural Life has sprung up a Rural Literature. "We have had Willis' 

 Rural Letters, Up Country Letters, and now Up the River, with many others of a some- 

 what similar character. We wish these authors knew more of horticulture — that they were 

 familiar with fruits and flowers, and jdant- and trees — then their writings woidd be more 

 interesting and profitable. Uad the author of this work known more of the beautiful col- 

 lections of fruits and flowers to be found '' up the river," he Avould not have devoted 

 twenty-five pages to a pair of Shanghae fowls. It is, however, a very interesting book, 

 and many of its descriptions are exceedingly fine. We marked a few passages, but can only 

 find room for a single extract. 



"What more rcfrceliing and delightful, especially in early spring, when sated and disgusted 

 with grease and animal diet, than a tumbler full of short-top, scarlet radislies, placed upon your 

 tea-table, to be accompanied with sponge-like bread and grass butter? IIow fresh, crisp, crack- 

 ling, sparking, they are, as you take them out of water! How you love to snap them in two like 

 brittle glass, dip the ends in a little salt, and crack them to pieces in your feverish mouth ! Such 

 indulgence is a harmless epicurism, which the present state of sumptuary laws docs not forbid, 

 hope that Radishes may be spared, although I foresee that the days of salad are numbered, 

 because lettuce contains opium, as is well known." 



