276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEU, 



March 20, 1829, 



An Initiatory Discourse, delivered at Geneva, -llth 

 November, 1828, hefore an assembly, from which, 

 on that day, was formed the Domestic Horticultural 

 Society of the tccslern parts of the state of Mw 

 York. By Myro.n Holt,ey, Esq. 



(Continued from page 268.J 

 The produclious of the garden are affected, ei- 

 ther for evil or for good, in the diflerent stages of 

 their growth, by the most minute and the most 

 magtiificent otijects in nature, by tlie bugs, by the 

 worms, by the flies, by the birds, by the clouds, by 

 the air, by the sun. The knowledge of these ob- 

 jects, with all their means of favor or annoyance, 

 and the superadded knowledge of all the other ob- 

 jects and means by which the effects of these, so 

 far as they are good, may be promoted, and so far 

 as they are evil, may be prevented, should be era- 

 braced within the scope of his acquirements. The 

 science of Horticulture, therefore, does not merely 

 admit — it demands, excites, and favors the most 

 extensive and diversified intellectual attainments. 

 But, it has pleasures to bestow which amply 

 repay all its demands, both upon the body and the 

 iuind. 



It gratifies all the senses. 



The feehng is gratified, by its smooth walks, its 

 »oft banks, the touch of many of its leaves, and 

 fruits, and flowers, and by the refreshing coolness 

 of its shades. 



The smell is agreeably excited, from unnumber- 

 ed sources. From the lowliest pot-herb to the 

 stateliest tree ; from the humble violet and mign- 

 ionette to the splendid tulip and the queenly rose, 

 a garden is the unrivalled repository of fragrance. 

 The gratification of the ear, in a garden, is ad- 

 ventitious, not of man's procurement, but never- 

 theless certain and real. The most tasteful of the 

 animal creation, in their flight, from one end of 

 the earth to the other, discover no spot so alluring 

 to them as a well replenished garden. The birds 

 are fond of its shade, its flowers and its fruit. — 

 Amidst these they love to build their nests, rear 

 their young, and first win them to that element 

 which seems created to be their i)eculiar field of 

 Joy. And if they sometimes commit unwelcome 

 inroads upon the delicacies which we prize, they 

 more than compensate us by their cheerful and 

 continual songs, and by destroying innumerable 

 and more dangerous intruders in the air, in the 

 trees, upon the plants, and on the ground. 



The taste finds its choicest regalement in the 

 garden, in its sweet roots, its crisp and tender sal- 

 lads, its nutritious and acceptable pulse, its pun- 

 gent and salutary condiments, its fragrant and de- 

 licious fruits, with a countlens list of other palata- 

 ble productions, all existing in such inexhaustible 

 variety, that the art of cookery takes more than 

 half its subjects from that overflowing store- 

 house. 



But the eye delights in a garden, as if all its la- 

 bors, its cares, aud its knowledge had been dedi- 

 cated to that single sense. From every quarter, 

 and border, and arbor ; from every bank, and 

 walk, and plant, and shrub, and tree ; from every 

 single object, every group of objects, and every 

 combination of groups, spring forms of beauty, 

 fresh, living, well proportioned, graceful beauty, 

 natural though cultivated, innocent though gay. 



Horticulture gratifies the higher facidties of our 

 rature, the intellectual taste, the reason, the 

 heart. • 



Doctor Aiken has justly remarked, that " no 

 pleasure, derived from art, has been so universal 



as that taken in gardens." And from the remark 

 we should infer, what the history of every enlight- 

 ened people will demonstrate, that, on no subject 

 have men exerted themselves more, for the dis- 

 play of taste, than on this. That delicate power 

 of gifted and cultivated minds, v^hich almost iutu- 

 itrvely discerns, and nicely enjoys, all the genuine 

 beauties of nature and art, and turns with sudden 

 disgust, from eveiy species of deformity, has al- 

 ways regarded a well stored, well arranged, and 

 well dressed garden with peculiar satisfaction. — 

 And this is undoubtedly, owing, not solely or 

 chiefly to the numberless and exipiisiie gratifica- 

 tions of sense which such a garden aftbrds, hut 

 also to the pleasing effect which it naturally pro- 

 duces on the imagination, and other faculties of 

 the mind. 



All desirable objects which excite the mind 

 without fatiguing it, are the sources of agreeable 

 emotion. And the senses, which we have seen 

 are all brought over to he the advocates of Horti- 

 culture by most of the wealth of nature, of which 

 they can appreciate the value, are, in a garden, 

 constantly soliciting the mental faculties. The 

 eye particularly, by its delicate susceptibilities, its 

 great range, and the number of objects which it 

 can embrace at a single glance, is forever exciting 

 the imagination by the most agreeable appear- 

 ances which it presents, of color and form, each 

 considered singly in all its varieties, and both 

 blended into combinations more diversified and 

 more beautiful than even those of the kaleido- 

 scope. And the imagination yielding to the ex- 

 citement, calls up the other intellectual powers to 

 jjartake of her pleasures. Then, the higher joys 

 of taste commence ; then, the exalted beauties of 

 order, design, intelligence, are disclosed : then, 

 objects are viewed in reference to their congruity, 

 their contr.nst, their regularity, their proportion, 

 their simplicity, their variety, their novelty, their 

 beauty, their sublimity, their adai)tation to an end, 

 and tiie value of that end. Each of these views 

 introduces a broad theme of agreeable contempla- 

 tion. Collectively they comprehend all the charms 

 and glories of the external world ; every thing but 

 the moral sense, and the sympathies of the heart. 

 And I shall endeavor to show, that they are of 

 vast importance to the highest improvement and 

 proper enjoyment of these. But, before entering 

 upon that exhibition, which necessarily refers to 

 the most comprehensive and permanent benefits of 

 which man can be made the partaker, permit me 

 to advert to several of the subordinate benefits of 

 Horticulture. 



The proper objects, and pleasures, and uses of 

 Horticulture are all beneficial, and are acknowl 

 edged to be so, universally. And it may well be 

 thought extraordinary, with this acknowledgment, 

 that societies for its promotion were not earlier es- 

 tablished. It is not surprising that they did not 

 exist among the nations of antirpiity, because, 

 among them, there was not, in general, indulged to 

 private people sufficient freedom of conmiunication 

 and concerted action to permit such institutions. 

 Besides, if the inclinations of the common people 

 were ever so much in favor of the fruits and pleas- 

 ures of gardening, it was impossible for any to cul- 

 tivate or to ei^oy them extensively, but the great 

 ones of the earth. They were of too costly a rel- 

 ish for general participation. Kings, and princes, 

 generals, and senators, ay)plied to them their pow- 

 er, with emulous devotion. How would the inter- 

 ests of humanity have been promoted if their 

 power had never been worse applied ! 



But considering the more enlarged diffusion of 

 wealth and freedom, in modern times, it might 

 have been expected that associations, in aid of 

 their rational pleasures, and beneficial uses, would 

 have been sooner commenced and more generally 

 adopted. It is believed that no such associatioa 

 existed in the world before the latter end of the 

 last century. Though if their rise was late, it was 

 honorable. It is certainly creditable to human 

 nature that the first of these institutions proceed- 

 ed from the exalted aud libernl motives originating 

 in the love of science. Botanical societies paved 

 the way for rioiticultura'. societies, and for associ' 

 ations, in which the objects of both were happily 

 united. Soon after the great northern light of the 

 world of natural science shed its benignant beams, 

 with peculiar brilliancy, upon botany, revealing all 

 the recesses of that science to the admiring obser- 

 vation of man, societies were instituted for its pro- 

 motion. Several of these exist on the continent 

 of Europe, under the patronage of men illustriou* 

 for science and philanthropy. 



(To be concluded next week.) 



DISEASES OF TIIE TEETH AND GUMS. 



Bad teeth are sometimes the effect of {1st) gen- 

 eral bad health ; but they are more commonly the 

 effect of local causes. One of the most fruitful 

 sources of diseased teeth is (2d) the alternate ef- 

 fect of heat and cold — breathing cold air, drink- 

 ing hot tea, eating hot victuals, and taking water 

 into the mouth immediately after. In the West 

 India Islands, where the climate is uniformly warm 

 and the water not cold, the inhabitants are re- 

 markable for their fine teeth,except in the Island of 

 St Croix, where the water issuing from the sides of 

 the mountains is very cold, and of course a great 

 luxury and much used, the inhabitants have bad 

 teeth. (.3d) Unskillul dentists frequently occasion 

 the destruction of teeth by filing or in other ways 

 destroying the enamel, but more commonly by the 

 use of acid dentifrice, washes, and powder. These 

 whiten, but wound and create a morbid sensibility 

 in the nerves and corrode the enamel, in both 

 ways insuring their de«ay. (4th) Biting hard sub- 

 stances is extremely hurtful, not from the mechan- 

 ical injury done to the bone of the teeth, but from 

 its aflecting the fine organization of their vessels 

 and jiroducing internal diseases and decay. {5lh) 

 Permitting the teeth and gums to become foul, the 

 accumulated matter growing acrid and corroding 

 the teeth or irritating the nerves. (6th) Remedies 

 applied for the toothach, such as the metalic salts 

 and the essential oils. (7th) One diseased tooth, 

 by internal sympathy, or by the deposition of mat- 

 ter externally, injuring others. (8th) The scurvy; 

 which is occasioned by the irritation of tartar, that 

 is suflered to accumulate on the teeth. (9th) By 

 the gums becoming soft and spongy from not be- 

 ing sufliciently rubbed. (10th) Tartar is produced 

 by the neglect of cleaning the mouth. These are 

 some of the principal causes of diseased teeth. 

 Good teeth contribute to beauty ; to health, by en- 

 abling us to masticate our f(fod well ; and to pleas- 

 ure, for a person whose mouth is filled with de- 

 caying bones, must be disagreeable to himself and 

 others. Avoiding the causes will do much. A 

 few preventive and curative remedies will be men- 

 tioned. 



1. The mouth ought to be rinsed, and the gams 

 and tongue rubbed with a brush early in the morn- 

 ing, to remove the accumulation of the preceding 

 I night. 2. The mouth should in the same man- 

 Iner be washed after meals with water not cold, and 



