RECENT RURAL PUBLICATIONS 405 



climate of Canada being similar to that of some of our more northern 

 States, Tve quote this gentleman's remarks as follows on the ovcrstim- 

 iilating of young pear-trees : 



In the first i)lace, tlio nnrseryman endeavors, hy liigli manuring and cnUivation, to 

 have his trees fit for sale at two, or most, three years from the bnd, and his trees are 

 as large as they ought to ho at twice that age. These, frothy half-ripened things are 

 sent all over the country. The parties who buy them read up on the subject of horti- 

 fulture ; they learn of the immense i)rogreRS trees make witli high culture and ma- 

 iinriug, and they saturate their ground with rich, stimulating manure. In a season or 

 two the roots have got fully established, and a strong, rapid growth follows, very 

 delightful to look at, but which the succeeding winter will certainly destroy. 



Inconsequence of this overstimulating method of cultivation, the pear-trees which 

 looked so promising in the fall are jierfectly hideous in the spring following, and, if 

 not lolled outright, the half-ripened wood speedily decays, and the trees die of oid ago 

 before they are out of their '*' teens." I have no hesitation in asserting that in this 

 northern climate 90 per cent, of all the pear-trees which are planted and (jrow, die from 

 manuring, alone ; whereas, by jjlanting in weU-drained ground which has only been 

 enriched by the rain, snow, decayed foliage, and air, pear-trees wiU grow slowly, but 

 they will be sound and healthy ; and when they arrive at bearing-condition, by top- 

 dressing them every fall v^i\\ a compost of lime, wood-ashes, and bone-dust, increasing 

 the quantity as the trees bear more profusely, the varieties suitable to the climate will 

 be sure to do well. 



The Unity op Law ; as exhibited in the relations of physical, social, mental, and 

 moral science. — By II. C. Carey, Philadelphia, 1872. 8 vo. 473 pp. 



In this work the distinguished political economist demonstrates the 

 necessity as well as the possibility of national or State dependence upon 

 self-resource. In the most comprehensive manner he treats of man as 

 the subject of social science ; of physical and social laws ; of societary 

 organization ; of matter and mind ; of mind and morals ; of civilization, 

 and of scientific relations. He shows that agriculture and manufac- 

 tures should be interdependent, and that to the extremest i^ossible extent 

 the nation ought ui)on itself to depend for both these elements of na- 

 tional wealth. Eelative to the processes of agTiculture Mr. Carey well 

 says that man is but making a machine which supports him while en- 

 gaged in making it ; that " the more time and mind he devotes to the 

 development of the powers of the earth, the gTcater must be his i)Ower 

 of production ; and that the more rapidly the consumption of food fol- 

 lows its production, the more prompt will be the reproduction of the 

 elements required for new supplies thereof." 



The undoubted conclusion is that greater attention ought to be paid 

 to the conversion of material raised from the soil into valuable form, 

 thereby stimulating production and adding to the proceeds of industry. 



It is the argument, and a just one, that the wealth from this source 

 to the country can scarcely be estimated. Let industrial employments 

 be more sedulously cared for, and the prosperity of the country will be 

 the more certain. 



Eeferring to the very bad effects of an exclusive agriculture, the crea- 

 tion of material for shipment abroad when it could be utilized at home, 

 Mr. Carey quotes from a journal of the day, as follows, especially relat- 

 ing to the coffee-trade : 



Since the emancipation of the negroes in Jamaica, where formerly large crops were 

 gathered, coffee-culture has almost entirely ceased. Cuba has changed from coffee to 

 sugar, though that island has exported as high as 15,000 tons per annum. The produc- 

 tion in the French colonies has almost ceased, amounting to less than 200 tons per 

 annum. Saint Domingo's production, in consequence of the disoi'ganized condition of 

 public affairs there, is also yearly decreasing. Porto Rico yields gradually less every 

 year, while the plantations of Surinam, Berbice, and Demerara have not been worked 

 for several years. Venezuela maintains about an average crop, but cannot be counted 

 on for any portion of the increase necessary to meet an increased demand. Maracaibo 

 produced 2,500 tons in 1867, and may be counted upon for something near that figure 

 constantly. Trinidad orchards are worn out and abandoned. Coro and Curajoa pro- 



