Vol. VII.— No. 34. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



269 



ries, that the President had much at heart the in- 

 troduction into our country, from ain'oad, of plants 

 of every descri|ition not already known among us, 

 whether used as food, or for jinrposes connected 

 with the arts, through the agency of our ministers, 

 consuls, and other public agents in foreign coun- 

 tries. 



Ornamental gardening, in its broadest range, 

 lias at one time or another been made to include 

 almost every class of objects, both in nature and 

 art, from the association of which pleasure could 

 naturally be derived. Milton describes the gar- 

 den of Eden as containing, " in narrow room, na- 

 ture's whole wealth, yea more, a heaven on 

 eartli." 



But the more restricted and essential idea of a 

 garden, is that of a place where, by the aid of cul- 

 tivation, vegetable productions may be reared 

 more excellent in kind, and more pleasing in dis- 

 tribution, than the ordinary growth of nature. — 

 Beauty and use are both included, though they 

 may both exist, in an almost infinite diversity of 



stood, us applicable to many of them : the proper 

 use of tlie pruning knife, so essential to some of 

 his highest jiurposcs ; the various means of im- 

 proving the flavor and size of fruits, which will be 

 acknowledged to have been most successfully in- 

 troduced, when it is remembered that the largest 

 and most delicious apples upon our tables have 

 been derived from the aiisteie Enghsli crab ; the 

 measures most effective towards meliorating the 

 less esteemed culinary vegetables, which he will 

 not consider unimportant when he learns that 

 some of them, now the most savory and nutritions, 

 were, in their uncultivated state, of but little claim 

 to notice, such as the a; 

 cauliflower, the potato ; the c 

 aging flowers, by which the single and most 

 scentless blossoms of nature have been swelled 

 into much greater compass, and new varieties of 

 beauty, and filled with an intenser fragrance : but 

 the accomplished gardener should understand the 

 best methods of acclimating jjlants not indigenous, 

 v/hieh may contribute, jirodigiously, to em'iellish- 



relative iiroportions, according to the diversities of, ment and use, and which involves the knowledge 



taste, and skill, and means in cultivators. 



The direct objects of gardening, in the more 

 restricted definition, besides earth and water, are 

 trees, and shrubs, and fruits, and flowers, and es- 

 culent vegetables, with the best modes of propa- 

 gating, nourishing', arranging, improving, and pre- 

 serving them. To these objects the manuring, 

 mixing, and working of soils, the construction of 

 fences, walks, terraces, quarters, borders, trellises, 

 arbors, and implements, are every wiiere subsidi- 

 ary ; while, in climales subject to frost, the wall, 

 the hot-bed, and the green-house are valuable and 

 agreeable auxiliaries. 



The succe.ssful conduct of the business of a gar- 

 den requires labor, vigilance, and knowledgo . 

 Ever since the sentence of the Most High subject- 

 ed man to earn his bread in the sweat of his face, 

 labor has been the ajipointe*! means of his ad- 

 vancement and happiness. Without il, it is im- 

 possible for us to have healthy bodies, or cheerful 

 minds. And the worth of all the valuable posses- 

 sions which we acquire, is tneasured by the 

 amount of it which they respectively involve. It 

 is not wonderful, therefore, that much of it is es- 

 sential to the iriost desirable Horticulture. Though 

 it is not merely gross corporeal labor that is re- 

 quired, 



" Slrenqth mr, v' ^vield the poii lerous spado, 

 May turn die clod, and wheel llie compos home; 

 J!ul elcjaiice, cliiefgrace ilic garden shows, 

 And most aUrai-live, is the fair resu't 

 Ordioughl, ihe creature of a polish'd mind." 



And labor is not more indispensable than vigil- 

 ance — keen-sighted, unremitted vigilance. Many 

 of the nurslings of the garden are so tender and 

 .so exposed to accidents, for months together, tliat 

 an hour's neglect may lead to cureless ruin, and 

 disappoint hopes long and fondly cherished. 



But, without knowledge, labor and vigilance 

 arc vain. The accomphshed gardener must know 

 the best manner and time of performing a great 

 multiplicity of manual operations peculiar to each 

 season of the year, all of which are essential to his 

 success, and the knowledge of which cannot be 

 obtained without much experience and observa- 

 tion. Every direct and every subsidiary object of 

 his pursuit demands care, and reflection, and 

 knowledge. lie must not only know the modes 

 and times of propagating trees, and shrubs, and 

 flowers, of which there are several already under- 



of botanical geography. And he should have all 

 that science which may be conducive to the ut- 

 most possible perfection of every subject of his 

 care. To this end chemistry, natural history, and 

 botany are necessary. 



(To be continued.) 



EVERY MAN A FARMER. 



The cultivation of the earth is congenial to the 

 nature of mankind ; and a very large proportion 

 of men, during some share of their lives, either do, 

 or have a desire to, become farmers. Besides 

 those who, in civilized countries, are bred to the 

 culture of the soil, and make it their sole pursuit 

 ,l..-o...»u i;fo, »l,orp are tliousands of Others who re- 

 tire from the bustle and anxieties of trade, the 

 vexations of a professional, or the turmoils of a 

 public life, to rural quiet and the undi-sturbed cul- 

 tivation of a few acres of land. The merchant, 

 whose youth has been spent behind the counter, 

 whose prime of life and middle age have passed 

 between the leger and the strong-box, between 

 the hopes of gain and the fears of loss, having at 

 length realiz<«l a plum, retires from the crowded 

 city and tl.e an,xieties of trade, to the jiure air of 

 the country and the peaceful cultivation of afarin. 

 The lawyer, having acquired wealth and profes- 

 sional fame, abandons his causes for a more 

 tempting cause, the pursuit of agriculture, or min- 

 gles with his |irofessional labors the excercise of 

 the spade and the plough. In like maimer the 

 phys'.cian and the divine, the cmers of jibysical 

 and moral diseases, consult their own health and 

 quiet, and find a balm for body and mind, by 

 snatching a few hours from the calls of profes- 

 sional duty, to ap|)ly them to the grateful pursuits 

 of tilling tlie earth. Why should we mention the 

 statesman and the warrior ? They too are inclined 

 to become farmers ; the one leaving the field of 

 ambition, the other his harvest of laurels, both 



lie in the rural church yard with his kindred, to 

 finding a bed in the bosom of the deep. The me- 

 chanic too is smit with the love of farming, and 

 exchanges the dust of the shop for the furrows of 

 the field, the confined air of crowded rooms for 

 the free atmosphere of the heavens, and the noise 

 of machinery for the music of birds. 



Nor is this prevailing love of agriculture, which 

 sooner or later in life discovers itself, to be won- 

 dered at, whether we consider it as implanted in 

 our nature, or whether it be the result of reason 

 and experience. If it be innate, it is merely kept 

 down for a while by the engrossing pursuits of 

 laragus, the celery, the | wealth, the calls of ambition, or the strife of glory, 

 banning art of man- I Hot these being satiatc-d or disappointed, the mind 

 set free, returns to its native desires, and applies 

 its retnaining energies to their peaceful gratifica- 

 tion. But reason and experience may well be al- 

 lowed their .share in bringing so large a [lortion of 

 mankind ultimately to the cultivation of the earth. 

 Who, that values his native dignity and independ- 

 ence, would not prefer to be lord of a few acres of 

 land, with nobody's buniors to consult but hii 

 own, and nobody to jileaso but his Maker, to the 

 cringing, the fawning, and lying that are apt to 

 enter so largely into political, professional, mercan- 

 tile, and mechai'iic hfe ? If any man on earth can 

 emphaticall-y say—"/ csk no favors" — it is the 

 farmer. Skilful and honest labor is all that the 

 earth requires, and it yields a due return— no fa- 

 vors dearly bought witii the surrender of independ- 

 ence, of honor, of truth, and of all noble and man- 

 ly feelings ; no truckling for ofiice, no ftiwning for 

 popularity, no lying for gain. No man can say of 

 farming " I have served a faithless master! I have 

 sacrificed honor, and conscience, and independ- 

 ence of mind, and what have I gained ?" Among 

 farmers there are no deserted Wolseys, and no 

 Bermarius. lives a reproach to agricultural pursuits. 

 The choristers of the field never sing to deceive, 

 the flowers of the mead never bloom to hide a de- 

 formity, and nature never smiles to betray. — Berk- 

 shire American. 



MAPLE SUGAR. 



The season for the manufacture of this article 

 is near at hand, and it behoves all who have the 

 means, to be in readiness to improve such oppor- 

 tunity as the season may afford. The making of 

 maple sugar is highly itn[)or^nt to the interests of 

 the people of this state ; and it is in our opinion 

 treated with too much neglect. Great improve- 

 ments may be made both in regard to quantity 

 and quality. Immense sums of money are annit- 

 ally carried out of the state for the purchase of 

 sugar, which is admitted by most people to be 

 quite inferior to some of our maple sugar. A 

 great proportion of this money might be saved 

 hi this state, by a suitable improvement of the 

 means in our power to prevent it. Sugar is an 

 article of which every family among us, whether 

 rich or poor, must necessarily use more orlfiS!!, 

 and it is certainly very desirable, that, so fur as 



seek a soil more congenial to the best feelings of | possible, they should be supplied Ironi the produc- 

 man, and end the career of life, like Cincinnatus, tions of our own soil. Large quantities and some 

 at the plough. Even the mariner, the advenlur-lof a very fine quality are made in this state every 

 ous son of Neptune, whose home has been for! year, but it is believed that the country might be 

 many vears, professionally and practically, on the | made to produce double the amount which is now 

 deep-^who has sailed to all lands and visiied every I iiroduced, and that great improvements may be 

 sea, bringing with him the rarities of every coun- j made in the quality. Particular care should .>e 

 try and \he products of every clime— purchases 1 taken to keep the fap from all tilth as riiuc.i as 

 a home on the land, transplants his exotics into possible, and to cleanse the syrup of such as will 

 his native soil, and prefers that his last rest should , unavoidably accumulate in the process of manu- 



