MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



alike of the poor and the rich, the pubhc and 

 the private house. We do not mean exotics to 

 be stimulated under glass or other costly pro- 

 cess, and after all possessing neither the fra- 

 grance or sweetness that Nature yields to solici- 

 tation, never to force : but we call for, as due to 

 the welfare and the reputation of every respect- 

 able Farmer, a fuU supply of choice plain fruits 

 in their seasons, such as can be obtained by, and 

 only by, the continued exercise of skill and close 

 personal attention, and some study, from year 

 to year; and are not these means within the 

 reach and capacity of every industrious Farmer ? 

 and is not the object worthy of the highest stim- 

 ulus of honor and reward that a society can of- 

 fer ? To the man who, according to his means, 

 would set the best example in this respect, we 

 would hold out the hope of an honorable name 

 among farmers. He should be respected and 

 esteemed and annalized as a social and moral 

 reformer of the first order, who, by inducing all 

 his neighbors to provide themselves with a full 

 supply of apples, and pears, and peaches, and 

 melons, and figs, and grS^es, and plums, should 

 therein teach them how to multiply the attrac- 

 tions and enjoyments, the virtues and the graces, 

 of the homestead and the fireside. A carnivor- 

 ous will always be accounted a sanguinary peo- 

 ple ; and he whose skill and good taste contri- 

 bute to lead us to desert the butchers' shambles 

 for the vegetable and the flower-market, acts 

 the part and deser\-e3 the glory of the true pa- 

 triot and friend of his country. It is he who 

 would carry us back most nearly to that state of 

 nature, of which it basJ)een so beautifully writ- 

 ten : — 



In the same temple, the resounding wood 



All vocal beines hj-nm'd their equal God, 



The shrine with gore unstain'd, with gold undrest, 



['nbrib'd, unbloody, stood the blameless Priest : 



Heaven's attribute was universal care. 



And man's prerogative to rule, but spare. 



And yet look at the public taste so far as indi- 

 cated, not by this list of premiums paiticularly, 

 but by all such as are usually framed by Agri- 

 cultural Societies. For the " best Boar," $10, 

 and for '• the greatest variety of table Pears," 

 S3 ! and for '• the be.st twelve kinds of Apples," 

 $3 ! Yet look at the difference in the degree of 

 intelligence and industrial habits which the pro- 

 duction of these objects respectively employ ! — 

 The difference of skill, length of time and exact- 

 ness of personal attention, and the presumption 

 of intellectual refinement and taste in the two 

 cases ? It is not a little, in cases like this, in 

 our humble opinion, that European Societies 

 excel ours — we mean in the dLsposition of their 

 funds. They offer high rewards for objects that 

 at once indicate and demand a higher exercise 

 of intellect, and which can only be the fruit of a 

 more continued and enlightened study of sub- 

 jects and sciences promotive of the art of Agri- 

 (412) 



culture, and of a higher and wider range of ru- 

 ral enjoyment. They stimulate their scholars 

 and talented writers and lecturers, by appropri- 

 ation of a large portion of their funds, to go pen- 

 etrate and labor in the regions of investigation 

 and discovery, and to bring into view and prac- 

 tical exercise the philosophical principles that 

 give labor-saving qualities to agricultural ma- 

 chinery, and a more scientific combination and 

 efficient use to the various substances that serve 

 o feed, sustain, improve and multiply their ani- 

 mals and their crops. And if these considera- 

 tions have preponderating weight in forming 

 the scale of premiums there, how much more 

 should they have here, where labor is so much 

 dearer and science not so much advanced ? We 

 ■will venture to affirm that a .suitable premium 

 or other inducement, that should prevail with 

 such a man as Mr. Thomas or Mr. Downing, of 

 this State, or Mr. Haggerston or Mr. McLellan, 

 superintendents of the grounds of Mr. Gushing 

 and Mr. Pratt, near Boston — to give for publica- 

 tion their experience in the culture and man- 

 agement of fruits and flowers — it would do 

 more ulterior and permanent benefit to the State 

 and the Country, than the public exhibition of 

 every fat bullock, and every fine gelding in the 

 Union ! 



But we are indulging in remarks that might 

 perhaps better have place in a separate discus- 

 sion. Certain it is that nothing is more deserv- 

 ing of thorough revisal and, as we humbly think, 

 of reform, than the ordinary scales of Agricul- 

 tural premiums, and the objects which the pro- 

 grammes put forth by Agricultural Societies 

 should be framed to accomplish. In too many 

 cases the funds are frittered away on things in- 

 tended to form and to multiply attractions for 

 the eye, and thus give transient ecl4t to a spec- 

 tacle for gathering a crowd, which might be 

 gathered as easily by a mule race or a show of 

 monkeys. The fact is, we require too much to 

 be done in this country for nothing. Men may 

 work for nothing and find themselves for a short 

 time, but that cannot be expected to be often 

 repeated and yet have the work well done. To 

 disbur.se the funds of a State Society, and to de- 

 vise the best means of bringing into public view 

 for the general use and common welfare that 

 which would otherwise not be discovered, or be 

 but partially known, is no trifling undertaking. 

 It is a matter worthy of the deepest and most 

 anxious study, and then to caixy out the best 

 system is a matter of much labor and detail, re- 

 quiring the devotion of much time and personal 

 attention — time, every moment of which is pre- 

 cious to men equal to the duty ; time which, ac- 

 cordingly, ought to be well paid far, if we would 

 have the work well done fix)m year to year. 

 But here again starts a train of reflection that 

 we must at once cut short, even though we 



