CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANY. 123 



rid origin — the dead carcasses of the earth ; — this fact, stated by 

 iiebig, is so singular, that I confess my incredulity until, a few 

 jears ago, I satisfied myself of its truth in regard to both snow 

 nd rain. 

 I have nothing to add, but to ask your pardon for the long race 

 have taken on one of my hobbies^ when really I had only intended 

 short canter. 



JOSEPH E. MUSE. 



Saturday, June 28, 1845. 



PHILADELPHIA AND HORTICULTURE. 



Gentlemen — It is a fact worthy of notice that in our large 



■wns and their immediate vicinity, the most energetic and best 



rected efforts for the improvement of the various branches of 



ijriculture, spring up. Little as we might expect to find here a 



jste for rural pursuits, it is nevertheless true, that within the brick 



.|»d mortar walls of the city there actually is found a zeal and 



iterprise, far outstripping the most active energies of the coun- 



V. Very many there, are taking a deep and strong interest in 



(• progress of agriculture, and directing to the subject an untiring 



■ re and patient perseverance. And we need not marvel at it ; for 



am ready to confess the surprise I feel, that any man who loves 



ilture and worships nature's God, if only in a little corner of his 



l|art — can ever be content — shut out from the green fields and trees 



;[d flowers, and know no change of season but from the burning 



sin of summer to the frosts and snows of winter. And I am not 



Srprised, that under such circumstances men should try even on 



teir few square feet of soil, to produce some of the fruits and 



fvvers that waken remembrances of the country. 



But this is not all. Our cities are of necessity the head quar- 



s of science ; and it is there that its application to the arts must 



tested. It requires leisure and money to carry out experiments 



any branch of knowledge, and the farmer has no great share of 



her. If then he labors to supply the large cities with food, 



him remember that he may not only receive an equivalent in 



tmey, but also in that knowledge which is both an aid to his 



)or, and a special source of happiness to himself and his children. 



