Vol. VIl.— No. 4. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



27 



couiageiueiit to hope for a better state of things ; Subscribers to the amount of 50 dollar 



to Iw.u, ,hat promised time, ihoiigli patiently ex- ! also have tickets of admission for Ufe for their fara- 



pecttM for beven years, has not yet arrived. iVIr ; dies oiilv. 



NuTTAi^L iias been for many years under the eye ; Subscribers to the amount of 100 dollars shall 



of the Board of Visiters. To the nation he was have tickets of admission, gratis, duriuir life, and 



before well known. His conduct and his acquire- shall be entitled to receive plants to the'amou'nt of 



inenls liave appeared to the Board of Visiters, all 3 dollars a year 



that ih-y coiiid wish or expect from a man, who i Subscribers to the amount of 200 dollars and 



has devoted his best days to illustrate the naturar upwards, shall have tickets of admission, "ratis, 



histor.', of these States. He has traver:;ed all the during lifo, and shall have a right to receive plants 



most iu:lieaithy climates of the United States, and to the value of 9 dollars per annum. 



The prices of plants shall be fixed by the Cura- 



froin lliem all collected additions to our catalogue 

 of pla; ts. As a writer on subjects of natural his- 

 tory^ iVlr NuTTALL takes a high rank. All Ids 

 works exhibit a clearness, and a thoroughness of 

 knowledge accompanied with simplicity, which 

 render tliein highly valuable in the infant state of 

 this scieixe in our country. His last work, in- 

 tended a 



tor, and shall be ]ilaced as low to subscribers as 

 they are sold Ar cash. 



It is, however, distinctly to be understood, that 

 there are many plants which from their rareness 

 or high value cannot be sold, but the classes of 

 plants which are ever sold, the subscribers sha 



an Introduction to Botany, for the use have an equal right with other purchasers to re- 

 of students, is one of the best in our language. ceive. 



Can ihere be a wish to restrict the compensation 

 of this deserving and unassuming man to a miser- 

 able [>ittance of 500 dollars a year? We cannot 

 expect that our Institution will flourish under so 

 parsimonious s system. Some additional labours 

 will be requirefl in the Garden to make it what 

 we wish it should be, an honor to Massachusetts ; 

 one of its sources of praise from foreigners, and of 

 pride to ourselves. 



For these various objects we ask only a sub- 

 scription amounting to half wliat our fathers did 

 for it, and for us. From 17 to 20,000 dollars wdl 

 place the Garden in a state, which will require no 

 furtl.er public aid. The Board of Visiters may 

 take some share of praise for having made the 

 Garden what it is, without calling for further sub- 

 scriptions. The Garden at Cambridge would be 

 deemed a respectable one in Europe. It is not 

 much inferior to that at Edinburgh, or Leyden, 

 and it is superior to an on'dent one at Rouen, and 

 many in Italy. In this address to the public we 

 shall not be able to enter into details, but we shall 

 publish in a separate sheet, the past and present 

 state of our collections. 



. Our proposed mode of placing this garden on a 

 footing with the one at Liverpool, (which is the 

 mark at which we would aim) is. 



First, by soliciting subscriptions in aid of the 

 permanent fund. These subscriptions are not ex- 

 pected to be great from each individual, though we 

 hope that the opulent, though often pressed into 

 the pubHc service, may set an example of liberality. 



In soliciting these subscriptions we shall appoint 

 those as solicitors (who we believe feel the impor- 

 tance of this school for a neglected science) to aid 

 our own efforts. 



Our second proposition is suggested by the ex- 

 perience of the Garden at Liverpool. That fine I 

 establishment is supjiortcd chiefly by the publick , 

 taste. The love and admiration of the beauties of 

 nature is taxed, and not taxed in vain. Annual 

 subscriptions are made for the privilege of visjtint' 

 the Garden, and we should hojie that this resource 

 will not be found unavailing here. 



It is proposed to have two prices for annual sub- 

 scriptions,— one of three dollars a year, for which 

 the subscriber shall have a ticket to admit his own 

 family gratis for the year in winter and summer ; 

 the second to be five doUars, for which the person 

 subscribing shall receive a ticket of admission on 

 the same terms as those above stated, and shall 

 moreover be entitled to receive plants, or cut flow- 

 ers for ornament to the amount of tAvo dollars. 



It may be proper to observe, that there arc 



shall the ablest men — The historian of Cyrus, puts 

 amongst the number of his titles to glory, hie hav- 

 ing planted all Asia Minor with trees. — Sully, who 

 had so many valuable economic views, planted 

 trees in almost every province of France. I have 

 seen many of them, to which public veneration 

 attached his name, and they reminded me of Ad- 

 dison's observation, whenever he saw a plantation 

 of trees, when he exclaimed " a useful man has 

 been here." 



" Man has only to plant trees once, and nature 

 does all the rest — they become an ornament and 

 enrich the proprietor, and they also add to the 

 salubrity of the air — for the leaves absorb carbon- 

 ic acid gass, which, when too abundant, is de- 

 structive of health, vvliilst they give out oxygen, 

 which is that part of air the most proper for res- 

 piration." 



Mr. Say also observes, that trees cause rain, 

 and also benefit the soil by sheltering it from dry- 

 ing winds. Mr. Say undoubtedly alludes only 



many hardy plants fit for privt.te gardens which to the ahsoi-ption of bad air, but trees may be 



are always for sale, and persons wishing to pro- 

 cure such plants are earnestly requested to give 

 to the Public Garden the preference. 



A taste for botany, and for flowers, as necessa- 

 ry as agreeable ornaments, is inseparable from a 

 state of polished society. It would not be credit- 

 ed, if we were to state the amount paid for flow- 

 ers in London, Paris, Liverpool, Amsterdam, and 

 all the other great cities of Europe. Our country 

 cannot form an exception. New York and Phil- 

 adelphia now support great establishments for the 

 cultivation of flowers. It is not to be believed 

 that a similar taste will not prevail among our la- 

 dies. We have one a<hant?.ge over our sister 

 states. We have a public garden, honorable to 

 the state, and to the city, whose inhabitants found- 

 ed it, and while we gratify our own tastes, and 

 give pleasure to those who visit us, by ornament- 

 ing our rooms with the choicest productions of 

 nature, we may fed at the same time, that we are 

 contributing to the advancement of an establish- 

 ment which will confer honor on this portion of j 

 our country. 



IlEPORT. 



The Committee to whom was referred the sub 

 je'ct of devising means of relieving the present ne 

 cessities and of promoting the future extension of 

 the Botanical Garden at Cambridge, and the Pro- 

 fessorship of Natural History, there eslabhshed, 

 submit the foregoing address to the imblic, and 

 plan to the consideration of the Board of Visiters. 

 JOHlVf LOWELL, Chairman. 



At a meeting of the Board of Visiters of the 

 Massachusetts Professorship of Natui-al History, 

 held at the house of the Hon. Richard Sullivan, 

 on the 10th day of August, 1828, the above re- 

 port was accepted, and the subject was connnit- 

 ted to John Lowell, Esq. Dr James Jackson, 

 and John C. Gray, Esq. to adopt such measures 

 as they may deem proper to carry the foregoing 

 plan into execution. 



Attest. B. CUILD, Secretary. 



TREES. 



Extract from an Address lo an Agricullural Society in Mary- 

 land, by Thomas Low, Esq. President of said Society. 

 Permit me again to urge you to plant locusts, 

 chestnuts, cherries, and other useful trees, along 

 your fences. Mr. Say, a much approved au- 

 thor on political economy, says, " In all times, at- 

 tention to trees is recommended most strongly by 



planted to improve it. The Asiatics have learnt 

 from experience, that trees are either prejudicial 

 or beneficial to health, according to their differeni 

 exhalations, and to confirm, tell a sloi-y of two 

 physicians, who resided at a distance, and wished 

 to ascertain each other's skill. Tlie first chose a 

 st.iUt man, and told hiin to carry a letter to the 

 other, and to sleej) on the road every night, under 

 a tamarind-tree — the jiurport of the letter was,* 

 that the bearer had a complaint, which bafiled his 

 .skill— the man arrived sick, the physician, by hip 

 inquiries, learnt the cause of his di..:order, and im- 

 mediately ordered him to sleep every night under 

 a banyan-tree, and to deliver this reply, " the bear- 

 er you will tjiid reeovered." — Wholesome trees, in 

 large cities, would perhaps prevent the yelloTX 

 fever. 



SELF-SHARPENING PLOUGH. 



An enterprising mechanic has been here during 

 the past week, exhibiting an improved cast fixm 



Plough, for which a patent has been obtained 



The advantage of this kind of plough is, that the 

 share or jioint, being separate pieces from the 

 mould iron, which have their upper and under 

 surfaces similar, may be turned whenever one .side 

 begins to wear away, so as to wear less fast, and 

 keep constantly sharp. This plough is much used 

 where it has become known, and is approved by 

 farmers, who have examined it here. The mak- 

 ing costs no more than that of the common kind. 



Saratoga paper. 



Domestic silk. — We were not less surprised than 

 pleased (says the Little Falls paper) to find, in a 

 late excursion to the south, that the manufacture 

 of silk is carried on as near as Paine's Hollow, in 

 the town of German Flats. Mr. PhiUp Swift has 

 cultivated the mulbeiTy tree, and reared silkworm."- 

 for some years past. Sixty skeins of fine silk were 

 made last season in his family ; and he has now 

 about 1500 or 2000 silk worms busily employed. 

 Let others of our enterprising citizens enter on 

 the busmess, and it may become as profitable here 

 as in the noted town of' Mansfield, Conn. Durin" 

 the war, the raw silk made by a single family in 

 a year, at the latter place, is said to have sold for 

 one thousand dollars. 



The breadfruit-tree is about to be introduced 

 into the gardens at Chis^vick, by the London Hor 

 ricultural Society. 



