Revieios. — Address hy J. E. Tesckemacher. 419 



Mr. Teschemacher opens his address with a view of the 

 numerous benefits conferred upon society by the spread of 

 the science of horticulture, and contrasts the present state of 

 South America with what it would have been, had Pizarro, 

 and the ministers of rehgion who accompanied him, "associ- 

 ated the cross which they bore in one hand, with t)ie sjjade, 

 the rake, and the pruning knife, instead of tlie lance the 

 sword, and the gun, in the other." 



The author proceeds with his address, and alludes to the 

 rapid strides which horticulture has made, as a science. 



It is the rank to which Horticulture has recently attained as a sci- 

 etjce. It is no lon-jer a mere crude mass of {gardeners' secrets for |»ri)- 

 pagatiog or grouing certain plants, of nostrums and recipes for de- 

 stroying insects and cleansing trees; it has become the constantly 

 improving art of applying scientific, rational, and well digested 

 principles, to perfect the cultivation of the vegetable kingdom; it has 

 suddenly almost become a subject of deliirhtful and interesting in- 

 vestigation for scientific men of the most refined attainments. 



I am far, however, from despising these secrets, these nostrums; 

 they have frequently resulted from the close observation of men 

 of most excellent judgment, men who will be the first to accej)t 

 the aid of science to strengthen their reasoning powers and guide 

 their judgment. I only rejoice that neither the facts themselves, nor 

 the principles on which they are founded, will any longer remain 

 secret; they will henceforward be made known and commented on 

 by those accustomed to study and to trace carefully the minute ope- 

 rations of nature, to reason and reflect on each new appearance, and 

 to exert all their acuteness in tracing its cause to the utmost verge 

 of human knowledge. And these clear and simple principles, on 

 which all improvements are grounded, must henceforward be de- 

 scribed in such plain and intelligible language as will iriiide those, 

 who, without these habits of study and observation, pursue the cul- 

 tivation of the soil either as an occupation or a |)leasure. Horti- 

 culture is now capable of becoming to the agriculturist what the 

 chemical laboratory is to the dyer and the manufacturer. It is in 

 the garden and the green-house that useful experiments may be 

 made on the value of different manures when mixed with different 

 soils, their effects accurately tested on various kinds of plants, their 

 modes of operation carefully and repeatedly observed, and the econ- 

 omy of their application practically ascertained. And these experi- 

 ments are more necessary at the present day, when we are inundated 

 with artificial and natural manures and composts of all descriptions, 

 whose virtues and efficacy are boasted of and lauded for the purpose 

 of sale, with more than a pedlar's energy. 



The following are the experiments with guano, alluded to 

 in our remarks above: — 



The most recent, and probably most correct analysis of guano, 

 that by Voelckel, shows that it contains many of the ingredients fa- 



