314 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



they might have escaped this, would any one pre- 

 tend to say that a visia of hollow-hearted, deformed 

 and iintiqiialed cherry trees would be as great an 

 enibell'shiiient to the place, or as desiruble to the 

 citizens, as the present graceful forest trees? So of 

 the shai e trees on the Western Avenue, or Mill-dam; 

 supplant them by cherry trees, or fruit trees of any 

 kind, and in a few years, comparatively, the place 

 Would verge upon the hideous— saying nothing of 

 the premium on truancy. Near the city of Boston 

 I know of no fruit trees planted by th ■ road-side 

 Every one readily sees the impropriety of it, as or 

 chards and gardens need close watching, and it is 

 Bearly impossible to keep even horse-chestnut trees 

 free from the stones and clubs of boys 



Far back in the interior, where the population is 

 very sparse, and where forest trees are seen on every 

 hand, it might be safe to plant truit trees on the 

 highway — thus giving more numerous tokens of the 

 progress of civilization, and affording to the traveller 

 a happy contrast wiih the surrounding scenery. In 

 such cases cherry trees would be the most ornamen- 

 tal, but lae apple trees would be the most profit- 

 able. Wild districts, however, are rare in Massa- 

 chusetts, though they may not be in Western New 

 York; but in both places they must be growing rarer. 



Our cative forest trees are beautiful, and merit 

 preservation. They should have a place around our 

 d^vellings and along our highways. The Elm, the 

 Maple, the Tulip tree, the Pine and Hemlock, and 



" Lord of the woods, the loDg-sarviving Oak," 



aj-e not the least de.serving objects for street-planting. 

 Many foreign trees, also, should not he neglected in 

 the highway. Forest trees generally grow with 

 vigor, furnish ample .-hade, while the blasts of a cen- 

 tury will not mar their beauty. 



In a thickly settled countrj', I am of the opinion 

 th?.t good taste would sooner permit ornamental 

 trees to intrude upon the garden, rather than fruit 

 trees upon the street. If we had no valuable forest 

 trees, the case would be far diSereut. Our forests 

 are rapidly disappearing, to make room for the plow, 

 and in a few years their noble representatives will 

 eeldom be seen if not in our highways and around 

 our public buildings. 



The construction of a highway is a permanent 

 th'n?, to which we set no liinit; and the durability 

 of the trees set upon its borders should be in har- 

 mony with this idea — tre"s that will not perish in 

 hilf a century, but move their tops in unabated 

 vigor when the hand that planted them shall have 

 been trai sformed into the elements which give them 

 vitality. D. W. Lothrop. 



fV. Medford, M ms., Au^., 18.0 7. 



"S30TJLD FARMERS' WIVES BE EDUCATED T' 



iKDEEn they should; and no man of a sound and 

 caliiva'ed micd could answer it in the negative. The 

 wives, not only of farmers, but of every other class 

 of men. are the great builders of the nation's char- 

 acter; and its destiny lies within the hands of the 

 wives and mothers, who implant the first seeds in 

 the minds of the embryo men they rear, which must 

 ere lonsj hear good or evil fruits. 



They occupy the most important station that it is 

 pofisible for mortals to hold. Keep woman in igno- 

 rance, and she will rear a race of ignorant, degraded 

 aaen-^a scourge to the country, which generations 



could not remove. On the other hand, educate and 

 refine her, and her influence on all around hei- — hus- 

 band, children, friends and nei^ibbors — will not only 

 be pure and holy, but conducive, in the hi^he.st de- 

 gree, to their pTo-iperity and happiness. The station 

 sui-h a woman occupies, as ^ promoter of the coini- 

 tr\'s prosp«;rity, no language cun describe. Aid 

 farmers wives — the wives of one of the most -useful, 

 classes of society — why should not thfy he educated 

 as well as those of any other cla-^s? Their education 

 shoidd indeed be more extended than that of any 

 other class, for her sphere is more extended. 



She should understand every branch of house- 

 keeping, for her home should be as neatly and taste* 

 fully arranged as that of any other individual; and 

 iis she has the entire control of the cooking depart- 

 ment, is in need of a better knowledge of philosophy 

 chemistry and physiology, than many of her city 

 friends. She should be refined and polite, that her 

 home may be a happy one; for truly, ignorance is a 

 ino>"t fruitful cause of misery and trouble. 



This is a subject on which little can be said with- 

 out a repetition of ideas, which may be summed up 

 as follows, viz: In a maternal point ot view, it is as 

 useless to argue the importance of a good education 

 as it is to discuss the neces.sity of virtnous and intel- 

 ligent men in a prosperous community. The '■ oB- scour- 

 ing" of the land spring from the hovels of ignorance. 



She has as many duties to fulfil a,« a woman of any 

 other class — luid more than the generality; and no 

 ignorant wife could conduct the multitude of affairs 

 comiccted with a thrifty fanner's household. As a 

 conipanioii for her husband, who has the means of 

 enjoying liR^ more than any other man, slie should be 

 well educated, and refined in her manner.-- — for what 

 man of any mind and heart would want an '■'igvm-a- 

 mvs'' for a wife? A well stored mind is an inex- 

 haustible source of true hapjjiness, while ignorance 

 is continually leading astray ; and miserable mugt 

 that farmer be, who ha? a "blockhead'' for a wife! 



iSalem, Ohio. David SxREFrr. 



IS IT PKOPER FOR LADIFS TO ASSIST IN THE 

 GARDEN 1 



M \.\Y in our day, and age of the world, have ar- 

 rived at the determination that it is out of the lati- 

 tude of a lady to help in the garden. AJthouyh 

 they may have condescended to assist in the should- 

 be delightful household duties, yet to go into the 

 ganlen and cultivate vegetables is entirely beneath 

 their dignity. 



And why is this so? Surely it is a very healthy 

 occupation; far more so than work which is prepared 

 within doors. Is it because they fear they will per- 

 form more than their .share of the work? But this 

 should not be, for in the beginning (iod created wo- 

 man as a helpmeet for man — a sharer of all his joys 

 and sorrows; and shame on the woman, who, when 

 the man is forced to neglect the garden, will let it 

 run to ruin. But this is equally true with the man 

 who does not deign to assist when convenient in the 

 house; and there is as much accordingly in this 

 sphere for him to do. as there is, on the other hand, 

 for the lady And the man who despises the woman 

 who is above working in the garden or milking the 

 cow.s, &c., should, before expressing his dislike, first 

 examine his own habits, and see if there is not as 

 large a beam in his own eye. Miss S, E M. 



dirard, Erie Co, Pa, ^ 



