167 



and free from worms, excepting on a few of his, on which the error 

 had not been committed for twenty years, if ever ; and those few (four) 

 continued to bear abundantly annually ; that he had no recollection of ever 

 seeing an imperfect wormy Plum on either of these four trees, but that he 

 had never supposed that to have been the cause of their perfection." 



The Senator from South Carolina, (Mr. Calhoun,) to whom I am indebted 

 for pointing out one symptom of the error, and for a valuable suggestion in 

 the culture of plants, said, "while examining the defective trees around the 

 Capitol, that the principle when exhibited was very plain and simple, that 

 it was philosophical, and in his opinion it could not be neglected without 

 injury to the health and growth of trees and plants, and deserving of pub- 

 lic patronage." 



" The Vice President of the United States, (Mr. Johnson,) said, that my 

 discovery was perfectly consistent with the laws of nature ; and (when 

 observing a few trees near the Capitol, which had been injured by the error, 

 and were recovering,) farther remarked, that my theory was essentially cor- 

 rect and obvious to the most superficial observer." 



" The member from New-York, (Mr. Jackson,) said, that he had reared 

 an orchard on which he had carefully avoided an excess of what I call the 

 common error, and that it had been admired as the most flourishing and 

 fruitful orchard in the neighbourhood ; and that he had recently seen a field 

 of Indian corn, which yielded more than one hundred bushels of shelled 

 grain to the acre, in which an excess of the error had been avoided, while 

 the success was attributed to quite a different cause." 



From the preceding extracts, it is evident that this inestimable treasure 

 lays near the surface ; and from the disclosure having been communicated 

 to rational and intelligent minds, it is preposterous to expect that those 

 gentleman can, in the pursuit of their rural avocations, act directly con- 

 trary to knowledge and sound judgment ; they must, therefore necessarily 

 and unavoidably communicate the secret by their example, which will 

 eventually disseminate in proportion as mankind take an interest in the 

 merits of the alleged discovery. 



But lest the full benefits of this invaluable remedy should be withheld 

 from the community for want of the action of the United States Congress, 

 I have submitted an exposition of my views of the particular points 

 adverted to in the preamble, which may be found under the heads, Necta- 

 rine, Peach, and Plum, pages 91, 98 and 124 of the third part of the present 

 edition of the Young Gardener's Assistant ; and I would furthermore 

 remind my readers that the directions heretofore given in this and previous 

 editions of the work are in strict accordance with the same doctrine ; and 

 that although the error alluded to is admitted to have been very generally 

 committed, I am not aware that any writer has ever taught or encouraged 

 the error, either direct or indirect ; I confess, however, that I have been 

 induced to expatiate on this malpractice in horticulture from the subject 

 having elicited the grave consideration of enlightened legislators of these 

 United States. 



And lest these my voluntary disclosures should prove to have no bearing 

 on the alleged discovery, I would prepare the public mind for its reception 

 by an exhortation to temperance and moderation, as the only safe 

 course that can be considered applicable to the cultivation of all the varied 

 species of plants, which comprise " the whole vegetable kingdom." In 



