340 



Dialogue — Cultivation. 



Vol. IV. 



ble can ever be brougfht to perfection ; 1 

 suppose you will have to pluck off more 

 than one half. The appearance of health 

 and strength is, however, much increased ; 

 and although the branch will always remain 

 like poor John, deformed, yet by careful and 

 kind treatment it might long continue one of 

 the most useful, although not the most or- 

 namental branches of the tree ; a living 

 proof of the value of judicious training. 



Father. — Well, now for Sister Susan. 



Frank. — Oh, sweet Sister Susan ! indeed 

 the likeness is complete ! there is the pretty 

 red branch, and the beautiful shining leaves, 

 with fine fruit peeping from beneath them ; 

 all of the same size, and growing exactly 

 where they ought to grow, with the red and 

 white so sweetly mixed, although still so 

 small in size, with a leading shoot from the 

 top of the branch, covered with leaves; 

 without blight, or canker, or mildew ! Oh 

 it is pleasant to look upon ! this comes of 

 good training. 



Father. — But is there any hope of Frank 

 on the other side of the tree "? 



Frank. — There is — and the first time I 

 saw the bud bursting from the body of the 

 tree, I confess that I was quite overcome by 

 my feelings : Oh, shall I not watch its pro- 

 gress, and witness its growth and tendency 

 with anxiety ! 



Father. — Let but my ])rayers be granted, 

 and I shall have abundant cause for re- 

 joicing! 



Fra7ik But, Father, is not the growth 



of the tree dependent, in a great measure, 

 upon the kind of soil in which it is planted 1 



Father. — There, my boy, you have laid 

 open a large field for observation and re- 

 flection ; and suppose now, we follow it out, 

 and see if it be not true, that " the growth of 

 the tree is influenced, in a remarkable degree, 

 by the nature of the soil in which it is plant- 

 ed." K Shall we divide the different qualities 

 of soil in the following manner : 



1st. The happy soil — neither too heavy or 

 too light, too wet or too dry. 



2d. The heavy soil. 



3d. The too light, or sandy soil. 



4th. The wet soil. 



5th. The dry and impenetrable soil. 



Gth. The rich surface, and sterile sub-soil. 



7th. The poor surfiice, and rich sub-soil. 



8th. The sour and stubborn soil. 



9th. The rich soil, with poisonous sub- 

 soil. 



10th. The sickly, or too highly manured 

 soil. 



Frank. — Well, here are varieties of soils ! 

 shall we be able to fit them all with likenesses, 

 do you think 1 



Father. — Many of them will bo easily 

 matched, I think — and to begin with 



1st. The happy soil ; which requires nei- 

 ther liming, manuring, draining, or watering 

 — whose excellent properties are so nicely 

 blended, and whose productions are so 

 beautiful, rich, and in such profusion — can 

 any thing be more like the Founder of the 

 Ladies' Depository in Philadelphia'? 



Frank. — Oh, excellent! a real portrait. 



Father. — 2d. The heavy soil, which pro- 

 duces a thick and burly bark, short, coarse, 

 rough leaves, with short, crooked branches ; 

 and fruit, although of a healthy growth and 

 colour, with no delicacy of flavour; bitter to 

 the taste, with large pints, to which the 

 flesh of the fruit adheres very closely. The 

 tree comes late into bloom, and the fruit 

 ripens late ; but it is generally a good bearer 

 of fruit, such as it is. Now, who is this ] 

 or shall I name him — what do you think of 

 Tom Dobbs, on the other side of the hill 1 



Frank. — As like as life ! even to the short- 

 ness and roughness of his limbs : a hard- 

 working man, but rough and brutal in his 

 manners; and although he provides for his 

 family as a duty, to the pleasure of the task 

 he must be a perfect stranger; his children 

 are coarse in their manners, and sour in their 

 dispositions, and are never sent to school ; 

 hard workers, however, and they produce 

 much fruit, such as it is. 



Father. — Very well — now, shall we culti- 

 vate the soil as we go "? This tree requires 

 but little pruning, you will observe, as it 

 produces but little wood; all that it does 

 produce, however, it ripens well. 



Frank. — Yes, let us cultivate as we go: 

 now, how would you set about it in this 

 case 1 



Father. — It would be merely to trench 

 about the tree, dig in a good quantity of 

 sandy loam, with lime as a sweetener, and 

 depend upon it, in a year after, the results 

 would be manifest — a more open disposition, 

 warmer feelings, sweeter fruit, a more luxu- 

 riant foliage, and a smoother hark. Now for 



No. 3. The too light, or sandy soil. This 

 is indicated by a tree of a weak and sickly 

 aspect; long and thin branches, very thin 

 and lio;ht-coloured leaves ; comes early into 

 bloom, and is very apt to blight in the spring, 

 if the season is cold ; it sometimes, how- 

 ever, escapes, and then it brings an early 

 crop of sweet fruits of little flavour. During 

 the summer it throws out much thin and 

 long wood, which is sure to die back in the 

 winter, rendering it necessary the next spring 

 to tread down almost every individual branch. 

 It sheds its leaves early in the autumn, and 

 its weak limbs are very liable to be broken 

 and wounded by the storms of winter. Now, 

 who is this ] 



Frank. — Oh ! I know that — it is Samuel 

 Slimm, the tailor in the village, and is it not 



