Vol. VII.— No. 50. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



397 



following remarks : — 



" It appears from experiments, that the gastric 

 fluids, of sheep, for example, has no effect in di- 

 gesting plants, unless they have been previously 

 masticated [chewed] ; that it only produces a 

 slight maceration [softening] nearly as common 

 water would do in a like degree of heat ; hut that 

 when once vegetables are reduced to pieces by 

 mastication, the fluid then exerts upon them its 

 specific operation. Its first effect is to soften 

 them, and to destroy their natu2-al consistency ; it 

 then goes on to dissolve them ; not sparing even 

 the toughest pans." The inference from this doc- 

 trine is, that cutting fodder into fine parts will fa- 

 cilitate the maceration, mastication, and dissolu- 

 tion of the fodder; and consequently the ])repara- 

 lioii of its nutritive elements for admission into 

 the numberless minute vessels destined to absorb 

 and convey them through the whole system for 

 the nourishment of the animal. 



(To he concluded next week.) 



From Ihe Gardener's Magazine. 



On rendenng Pear Trees and othey Fruit Trees 

 fruitful, by operating on th-e Borders, and by JSTat- 

 ural Training. By Mr Robert Hiver. 



Sir — There are few subjects in horticulture 

 which can be more acceptable to your readers 

 than a system by which good crops of fruit may 

 be obtained from pear trees planted against the 

 east and west walls in gentlemen's gardens ; the 

 bad crops these trees have afforded have been pro- 

 verbial ever since I can remember ; and the un- 

 natural schemes which are now resorted to, such 

 as strangulation, ringing, depressing of the 

 branches, and reverse-grafting, show that a good 

 system of cultivation is not yet established. This 

 failure has generally been imputed by gardeners 

 to the climate ; but as the trees are seldom with- 

 out fruit at the extremity of the branches, the 

 supposition may be considered erroneous. 



It is about twenty years ago since I noticed a 

 Brown Beurre pear tree, trained against the east 

 front of a farmer's cottage. This tree grew upon a 

 limestone rock, where there was very little earth, 

 yet it never failed to yield, yearly, plenty of large 

 and well flavored fruit. From what I observed of 

 this tree, it a|)pcared evident that the rich and 

 deep border, usually prepared by gardeners, was 

 decidedly wrong, as the plants in this case gener- 

 ated too much sap, which always induces disease 

 and barrenness ; and, I believe, it will be found 

 in the tree, as in the human constitution, that the 

 state of health consists in the medium between 

 emptiness and repletion. Sir H. Davy has shown 

 the utility of stones in agricultural crops ; and I 

 have found them exceedingly beneficial in the 

 formation of fruit tree borders ; they prevent the ac- 

 cumulation of water in very wet weather, and also 

 retain suflicient moisture for the purposes of the 

 plant in dry seasone. In 1813, I replanted an old 

 pear wall, 240 feet long : the border for these trees 

 was 12 feet wide, and only 26 inches deep, 8 

 inches of which were filled with stones, such as 

 could be most readily procured in the neighbor- 

 hood, and the remaining 18 with the mould 

 which composed the old border. 



By this scanty supply of earth for the roots of 

 these plants I have succeeded in obtaining a fruit- 

 ful and healthy growth, equally remote from de- 

 bility and luxuriance ; and by this simple process 

 I procured fruit all over the tree, as regularly as if 



it had been mechanically placed, both plentifully 

 up the main stem, and on the lowest horizontal 

 branches. My trees are fan-trained in the best 

 manner ; the shoots are kept as uniform and 

 straight as the plications of tlie instrument from 

 whence the term is derived, and, when the fruit 

 is full grown, exhibit one of the most interesting 

 scenes to be met with within the confines of a 

 garden. 



With regard to pruning, the knife should be 

 used as sparingly as possible ; I conceive it to be 

 as injiu-ious to this tribe of fruit trees, as the lancet 

 is to animal life ; it creates those inconveniences 

 which it is employed to remove ; whoever in- 

 dulges in its free use, most certainly defeats his 

 own purpose. Let any man who is inclined to 

 dissent from this opinion, consider the common 

 thorn confined in a hedge, where it annually un- 

 dergoes the operation of clipping, and the shrub 

 in its primitive growth, and he will want no argu- 

 ments to convince him of the impropriety of the 

 practice. But my plans require very little assist- 

 ance from the knife : they make no breastwood, 

 the energies of the tree being chiefly engaged in 

 forming bloasom-buds for the future crop. 



It may be justly inferred, from what is here 

 stated, that the bad success which most gardeners 

 have experienced in the cultivation of this valu- 

 able fruit, arises principally from the luxuriant 

 state of their trees ; the limited space which they 

 occupy on the wall is so disproportionate to their 

 natural growth, that it is almost impossible, with 

 deep and highly manured borders, to reclaim them 

 from a habit of plethorical sterility. , The farina, 

 and the whole fructification, partake of this un- 

 healthy condition ; and it may be observed, that 

 fruits fecundated with bad pollen scarcely ever 

 resist the atmospheric changes which they after- 

 wards encounter. 



. From observations made in vegetable physiolo- 

 gy, I am persuaded that the tree is principally the 

 produce of the earth, and the fruit of the atmos- 

 phere ; as great diminution of vigor may take 

 place in the one, without any perceptible altera- 

 tion in the other. It is, therefore, the first object 

 of the cultivator to proportion the supply of nutri- 

 ment to the extent of his tree, and this will be 

 best effected by the shallow border above describ- 

 ed. 



These are the remarks of a man long devoted 

 to the difficulties of his profession, such as have 

 been suggested by nature, and confirmed by ex- 

 perience ; and if they are found to be sufficiently 

 instructive for the pages of your useful miscellany, 

 I shall feel ha])py in being numbered amongst 

 j'otir many corrcsjjondents. 



I am, Sir, yours, &c., 



ROBERT HIVER. 



Indian Cure for Fever and Ague. — David Ford, 

 a respectable citizen of Ogdensburg, New York, 

 where this disease prevails to a considerable ex- 

 tent, recommends the following as a certain cure : 

 Take equal quantities of inside bark of Fir Bal- 

 sam and Yellow Birch — boil them down to a very 

 strong decoction, or tea. Give to a grown person 

 two spoonfuls in the same quantity of wine, just 

 before eating, three times a day ; young persons 

 in proportion — say, to a child five years old, 3tlis 

 of a table spoonful, with as much wine. It will 

 probably at first j)roduce sickness at the stomach 

 and vomiting. Such are its effects sometimes, 

 but it will cure. — Ohio Repository. 



Observations on a Leech — made by a gentlemau 

 who kept one several years for the purpose of a 

 weather glass. A phial of water, containing a 

 leech, was kept in the lower frame of a chamber 

 window sash, so that v.'hen I looked in the morn- 

 ing, I could know what would be the weather on 

 the following day. 



If the weather prove serene and beautiful, the 

 leech lies motioidess at the bottom of the glass, 

 and rolled together in a spiral form. 



If it rain before or after noon, it is found crept 

 up to the top of its lodging, and there remains till 

 the weather is settled. 



If we are to have wind, the poor prisoner gal- 

 lops through its limpid habitation with atnazing 

 swiftness, and seldom rests till it begins to blow 

 hard. 



If a remarkable storm of thunder and rain is to 

 succeed, for some days before it lodges almost 

 continually without the water, and discovers un- 

 easiness in violent throes and convulsive-like mo- 

 tions. 



In the frost, as in clear weather, it lies at the 

 bottom. And in snow, as in rainy weather, it 

 pitches its dwelling upon the very mouth of the 

 phial. 



The leech was kept in an eight-ounce phial, 

 about three-fourths filled with water. In the simi- 

 mer the water was changed once a week, and in 

 the winter once a fortnight. — Casket. 



Mr Parmentier's Garden. — We lately visited 3Ir 

 Parmentier's Horticultural Garden, situated at the 

 junction of the Jamaica and Flatbush turnpikes, 

 two miles from Brooklyn. We remember thi.s 

 spot five years ago ; it was then unenclosed, and 

 as sterile and stony a piece of land as could be 

 found for miles around — it is now a delightful 

 spot, laid out with great beauty and taste, rich 

 with all the flowers and shrubs of the season,"both 

 indigenous and exotic. The Garden, which con- 

 tains twenty-five acres of land, nearly in a trian- 

 gular shape, enclosed by a massive stone fence, is 

 certainly one of the best planned and executed 

 models that we have ever seen. The richness 

 and variety in sliape and color, of the various 

 shrubs and flowers — the beautiful foliage and del- 

 icate blossomings of our native jilants, render it a 

 most attractive place. Those who are disposed 

 to decorate their grounds with fruit and ornament- 

 al trees, will find every variety at Mr Parmen- 

 tier's. — JV. Y. Enquirer. 



The Legislature of New Jersey, at its late ses- 

 sion, passed a law by which the coroner is releas- 

 ed from the necessity of calling a jury of inquest, 

 in case of a violent, sudden, or casual death, un- 

 less he believes there is cause to suspect some one 

 of being guilty of murder or manslaughter in the 

 (Heniises. 



[This is as it should be all over the country. — 

 To summon a jury in every case of manifestly ac- 

 cidental death, is but the continuance of a most 

 useless ancient custom. Cases may occur in 

 which the investigation of a jury would be advis- 

 able. In such cases, leave it in the sound dis- 

 cretion of the coroner ; but not one time in a hun- 

 dred would the interposition of a jury lie of the 

 least utility.] — Col. Cent. 



More than nine hundred miles of Canals and 

 Rail Roads are finished, or under contract, in 

 Pennsylvania, at this moment, all leading to Piiil- 

 adelphia market. 



