28 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



from die city by enfeebled health, declining bu- 

 Biness, or, otherwise, total bankruptcy — until 

 circumstances lead him to occupy it himself, it 

 may aflbrd an honorable field of industry and 

 intellectual employment for a son, who might 

 otherwise be wasting his Ufe and energies in 

 town ; or may be rented at a saving interest to 

 a good tenant. To either of xhese, the Farm- 

 ers' Library, and Monthly Journal of Agriatl- 

 ture, might be tnmed over, to excite in the one 

 a fondness for agricultural science and literature, 

 and so practically instruct the tenant as to se- 

 cure certain improvement of his property and 

 easy payment of his rent 



Let those who have not carefully reflected on 

 these matters, now maturely consider the state- 

 ments, made by Gen. Dearborn, in a Lecture 

 delivered before the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Society. While contrasting Agricultural and 

 Mercantile pur.suits he remarked that men should 

 instil into their sons a love of Agriculture. He 

 declared that he would prefer a cottage in the 

 countn,-, witli five acres of gi-ound, to the most 

 splendid palace that could be erected in the city, 

 if he mast depend upon the success of mer- 

 chandize to support it. He then went on to-say, 

 " that ha\'ing been some fifteen years in the Cus- 

 tom-house, in Boston, he was surprised to find, 

 at the close of his term, an entire new set of men 

 doing business there. This induced him to look 

 into the subject, and he ascertamed, after much 

 time and research, that ninety -seven out of every 

 hundred who obtained their livehhoodbybujnng 

 and selling, /<2(7ei or died insolvent He then 

 submitted his calculation to an old merchant of 

 great experience, who confirmed it in every 

 particular. 



" The statement made by General Dearborn, 

 appeared to me so startling, so appalling," says 

 an intelligent obser/er, '• that I was induced to 

 examine it with much care, and I regret to say 

 I found it true. I then called upon a friend 

 of mine, a great antiquarian, a gentleman 

 alwavs refen-ed to in all matters relating to the 

 citj- of Boston, and he told me that in the year 

 1800, he took a memorandum of every person 

 on Long Wharf, and that in 1840 (which is as 

 long as a merchant continues bu.sine.ss) only five 

 in one hundred remained. They had all in 

 that time eitlier failed or died destitute of pro- 

 pem-. I then went to a verj- intelligent di- 

 rector of the Union Bank (a very strons: bank); 

 he told me tliat the bank commenced business 

 in 1798, diat there was then but one other bank 

 in Boston, die Mas.sachusetts Bank, and that 

 the bank was so overrun with business, that 

 the clerks and officers were obliged to work 

 nndl twelve o'clock at night, and all Sundays ; 

 that they had occasion to look back a year or 

 two ago, and they found that of the one thou- 

 sand accounts which were open with them in 

 starting, only six remained ; they had in die 

 forty years either all failed or died destitute of 

 property. Houses who.se paper passed vi-ith- 

 out a question had all gone down in that time. 

 Bankruptcy, said he, is like death, and almost 

 certain ;' they fall sinsrle and alone, and are 



(:c) 



thus forgotten, hut there is no escape from it, 

 and he is a fortunate man who fails young. 

 Another friend told me that he had occasion to 

 look dirough the Probate Office a few years 

 since, and he was sui-prised to find that over 

 ninety per cent, of all the estates settled there, 

 were insolvent. And widiiu a few days, I 

 have gone back to the incorporation of our 

 banks in Boston. I have a list of the directors 

 since they started. This is, however, a very 

 unfair way of testing the rule, for bank direct- 

 ors are the most .substantial men in the commu- 

 nit}'. In the old bank, over one-third had 

 failed in forty years, and in die new bank a 

 much larger proportion. I am sorry to present 

 to you so gloomy a picture, and I ti-ust you will 

 instil into your sons, as Gen. Dearborn recom- 

 mends, a love of agriculture, for, in mercantile 

 pursuits, they wUl fail to a dead certaiut}"." 



Are the business men of New-York, Phila- 

 delphia, Baltimore, ^Vashington, Richmond, 

 Charleston, Savannah, New-Orleans, Louisville 

 Cincinnati, St. Louis, moi-e prudent, sagacious, 

 or successfU than those of Boston ? And 

 whedier they are or not, the foregoing exti-aor- 

 diuary facts indicate the propriety with which 

 we invoke the business community, to bestow 

 more attention upon Agriculture, for recreation 

 in the season of a prosperitj-, and for sure refuge 

 in adversity. 



The Farmers' Library and Monthly Journal 

 of Agiiculture — (consisting each number of not 

 less than 100 pages) — of which the first number 

 is here-svith presented to the public, was estab- 

 lished partly with a view to supplying Mer- 

 chants and Manufacturers, as well as Farmers, 

 with every species of infomiation connected 

 with the culture and management of Faniis and 

 Gardens — and under a proper sense of the liber- 

 ality with which well-meant enterprises of this 

 sort are sustained by all enlightened communi- 

 ties, -we confidently anticipate a reasonable share 

 of that patronage, which will enable us to ex- 

 tend our usefulness in the broad field upon 

 ^vhich we have entered. 



Gigantic German Green. — There was srrow- 

 ing, in 18-12, in the garden of Mr. John Murray, 

 Ea.ster Newport, Fife, a plant of Gennan greens 

 of extraordinary dimensions. It was planted 

 about four years ago, in die ordinary ^vay, in a 

 corner of a plot, and, at the time above specified, 

 had attained to the following size : — it covered 

 an oblong piece of ground twenty-seven feet 

 in circumference. It sent forth seven main 

 branches, which supported other si.x;ty-one 

 branches, five of which bore seed in 1 ■?42. and 

 in September of that year the entire plant was 

 in a healthy growing condition. 



Feet. Inches. 

 The 1st branch bore 11 stems, each 9 9 in length. 



