voh. \vt. Ko.aa. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



251 



arm at Riiniho.iillet have been deservedly cele- 

 •nted, as Minoiig the most useful inslitutlons of 

 odern tiuios. The invalunble nurseries of I'ro- 

 ssor Vnu Moris at Brussels nod Louvai'i, forcrc- 

 iog new varieties of fruits from the sceil, hnvu 

 rifled a novel and most important theory in veg- 

 t>lc reproduction, and estahlished a mcineralile 

 oeh in the history of arboriculture. The Bo. 

 nical Gardens of Chelsea, Camliridge, Oxford, 

 verpool, Glasgow, Ediuburf>h and Dublin, and 

 nse of Leyden, Florenoe,Vienna, St. Petersburg, 

 d Moscow are well known fur the great advan- 

 jeR, which the countries in wliich they are situ- 

 !d, have derived from them ; and tlie facilities 

 5y have afforded for the acquisition and difl'u- 

 n of intelligence, upon all subjects connected 

 th the vegetable realm. 



The best model of an Experimental G.irdcn, 

 i school of instruction, is that at Fromont in 

 nnce. It was foumled in 1829 by the Chevalier 

 ulange Bodin, — one of the most eminent horti- 

 Itural authors- and practical cultivators of the 

 !. The Garden is at Ris, in the Department 

 Siincet at Oise, and contains about one hun- 

 ;d and thirty acres of land. It embraces tlie 

 ily and knowledge of all plants reared in nur- 



ies and gardens; their multiplication and 



ir applications both to our wants and our 

 ttsures. Lectures are delivered and illustrated 

 botany and physiology, as applicable to horti- 

 ture ; — the culture of fruit, forest and orna- 

 ntal trees, culinary and other plants, indigenous 

 1 exotic ; — and the theory and composition of 

 [Iscape gardens. To coiii|)lete the stuilies,there 

 1 library, a cabinet of demonstrative instru- 

 its, models, implements ami an berhary. For 

 I>ractical studies and employments, — besides 

 various labors of the grounds, which are per- 

 ned by the pupils, there are groups of planta- 

 s, for the experimental f)perations of the For- 

 jnd Pomological Departments, and for the ex- 

 nation and verification of the species, and va- 

 es of fruits, and the comparison and nianage- 

 t of forest trees. 



le pupils are admitted at fifteen and remain 

 three to five years. No compensation is 



ired, as their labor is considered sutScient to 

 ny the expense of instruction and support, 

 be establishment, which is required in this 

 should be so far eidarged as to inclinle, be. 

 3 a branch, like the superb institution of Fro- 



, farming in all its details, as applicable to 



soil and climate, and a spacious Botanical 

 len, scientifically arranged, 

 acb of these three Grand Divisions of the in- 

 tion, to be under the management of well ed. 

 ed and practical professors, with able aasis. 

 who are thoroughly acquainted with the 

 ry and art, and capable of giving instruction 



directing the labors of the several depart- 

 ts, in each of the chief divisions, and the 

 to be under the control of a General Su. 

 itendent. 

 'he means for carrying such a plan into suc- 



ul operation, it is confidently believed, are im- 

 iately available, — for th rr, is a spirit abroad 

 lg the people, as enlightened, patriotic, and 

 getic, as the demand for such a movenn.nt is 

 ent and imperious. By a union of the funds 

 le Massachusetts Agricultural and Horticultu- 

 Bocieties, and the Botanical department of 

 'ard University, with the generous co-opera- 

 of the officers and members of these three 



institutions, as well as of the affluent, intelligent, 

 and liberal throughout the state, an esiablishmnnt. 

 of the character proposed, could be formed in the 

 vicinity of Boston, which would do moio tfi dif- 

 fuse a knowledge of the science and art, and a 

 taste for husbandry, gardening, and botany, and 

 to advance the general weal, than has bean ac.com- 

 plisheil, or it is possible to effect, wliilo each of 

 those very valuable institutions is acting with lim- 

 ited means, and independent of the others. 



There is a tract of land in Brookline, ovvneil by 

 the Hon. David Sears and Ebenuzer Francis, 

 Esq., near the termination of the Western Avenue, 

 where from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 

 acres could be selected, remarkaldy well adapted 

 for the various purposes of a spai-ioiis far.n and 

 Horticultural and IJotanical Gardens of Experi- 

 ment. Its topographical features, and proximity 

 to the capital, recommend it in preference to any 

 other, within a proper distance for the convenience 

 of those persons who may be the most active in 

 the foundation, and interested in tlie success of 

 the establishment. 



Is not such a project worthy of serious consid- 

 eration ? — and as a first step, is it not expedient 

 that committees be appointed, by the Agricultural 

 and Horticultural Societies above named, to de. 

 liberate on, and report what measures may he most 

 effectual for accomplishing so desirable an object .' 

 Conferences could be held by those committees, 

 with the offiGers of the University, as to the pro- 

 priety of the plan, and if sanctioned by each 

 of these institutions, a public meeting might be 

 called, and all persons invited to attend who were 

 disposed to aid in the undertaking. If pro.'^ecnted 

 with zeal, there can be little doubt, that the legis- 

 lature would aft'ord generous encoiiragenieiit. To 

 what more appropriate purpose can an endowment 

 in land be made, out of the vast tract, owned by 

 the commonwealth in Maine ? It will not onlv 

 enhance the value of the cultivated land within 

 our own borders, to an amount far beyond that for 

 which the former may be sold ; but add thousands 

 of acres to the domain of agriculture, which are 

 either untilled, or so very imperfectly as to afTord 

 but liille more of subsistence than the wilderness, 

 which it proposed to render tributary to the imme- 

 diate wants and comforts, and the future pros- 

 perity of the whole people. 



By experiments which have been made, during 

 the past year, it has been idearly shown, that 

 large portions of the northeastern States are 

 capable of yielding, with proper management, as 

 bountiful crops, as those more naturally favored 

 districts of the country, which have been signifi- 

 cantly designated as the " Wheat growing regions" 

 of the Union. If the Middle and Southern Slates 

 seek, as fertilizing materials, the ashes of the East 

 and the gypsum of the Uritisb i)rovinces, — and 

 the farmers of England collect the bones, wfiicli 

 are wastefully scattered over continental Europe, 

 and even import them from this country, to enrich 

 their lands, why should not Massachusetts make 

 her distant possessions subiiervient to that intel- 

 lectual cultivation, experience, and practical skill, 

 which will render her soil as prolific, as that, from 

 whence we annually receive, such a vast amount 

 of the first necessaries of life. Intelligence and 

 practical skill can convert the most barren earth 

 into luxuriant fields ; and for the attainment of 

 thoije indispensable prerequisites of good husban- 

 dry, — to accomplish an object so momentous, the 

 state will not fuil to aflbrd'lhe n^ost ample assistance. 



Industry, guided by genius and science and 

 aided by art, have trium|ibed over all the obst.i- 

 cles which impeded man in the march of civiliza- 

 tion ; ihoy have unveiled the wonders of astrono- 

 my and the mysteries of chemistry, — explored the 

 three vast realms of natural history, — embalmed 

 and per()etiiated the wisdom of ages in letters, — 

 illnstrati^d the splendors of architecture, sculpture 

 and painting, — discovered and apjiroximated em- 

 pires by navigation, — founded, multiplied, and fa- 

 cilitated lines of intercommunication by the con- 

 struction of canals, and rail ways, — pressed into 

 their service the mighty elements of fire and wa- 

 ter, and bade them perform the office of the winds 

 on the ocean, and furnish the motive power of 

 t ansportation, and the hydraulic energies of the 

 cataract on the land, — and now, their last and 

 and most splendid victories are to be achieved, for 

 the benefit of the cultivator of the earth. 



COLCMGLLA. 



ANECDOTES OF ANIMAL INSTINCT. 



In a paper in the June number of the Bibli- 

 ntheque Universellc de Geneve (so ably edited by 

 M. de la Rive, who read several papers at the re- 

 cent meeting of the British Association,) there are 

 some curious anecdotes, tending to prove how 

 near, if not quite, to the power of reasoning the 

 actions of animals a))proacli. Two men, who 

 were about to walk to Vevey, agreed to ineet at 

 an appointed place. One of them, who arrived 

 first, fancying be was too late, resolved to push 

 on and overtake bis comrade; but his dog showed 

 symptoms of disliking this proceeding. He ran 

 backwards and forwards, lingered b hind, and at 

 length totally disappeared, but sjicedily returned 

 with the walking stick of the second person in 

 his mouth. He bad come late, and sat down to 

 wait for his friend ; but the sagacity of the ani- 

 mal resorted to this evident means of teaching 

 them their relative positions and bringing them 

 together. Another dog which they were trying 

 to leach to mount a ladder, got so tired of his les- 

 son that be ran away ; but next day he relurned 

 alone to the ladder, and applied hiniself to the 

 task just as if his vanity had been piqued into 

 learning the exercise. A third dog that had been 

 taught to carry a lantern with its owner, on winter 

 mornings before daylight, as the latter carried milk 

 to a neighboring farmer, happened one dny to be 

 shut up when his master departed. When loos- 

 ened, be ran after and overtook him, but, per- 

 ceiving that be had not the lantern, he returned 

 to the house, and causing it to be given to him, 

 again hastened to his accustomed tight work. 

 Another, belonging to a young stndeni, whose 

 master, while bathing, bid himself among soir 

 rushes, was hallooed into the water, as if an ? 

 dent had happened, when, instead of phini'' 



he ran lower down the rapid stream, an', ,^ , , .' 



. ' , .J took hiS; 



station, watching the river, where ,[ 



likely to bring down the body fo ^. ,.ggg„„ 

 conclude with one fact more, '.elating to, an ani- 

 mal of which we have been used to consider in- 

 nocence, rather than wisjo,,,, the characteristic' 

 A pigeon, familiarized to ,he kitclien, where it waa 

 fed and caresseil, oPe Jay witnessed the killing of 

 a pulkt, and it ir.imediately flew away and never 

 returned to the scene of slaughter! The kitchen 

 death of a chicken is not very unlike the death 

 of a dove, and the warning was not logt, 



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