VOL. Xlf. 



BOSTON. WEPNKSPAY EVENING, JANUARY 29, 1834. 



■ IIHIilllM 



NO. 



HYMN. 

 Thk following hymn, by I.. M. Sargext, V.-~q. wns srmsr/at 

 the anniversary meeting of ifoe Uoward Benevolent Society hi 

 itaston on Wednesday evening", January 15ih. 



< ;«m of i'ic rolling 3 ear — 1 Ii>* power 



Expands the germ ; unfolds iho llower; 



Matures, at last tin- golden grain ; 



And then restores the iron reign 



1 If dreary winter, drearier siiil 



To dio^e v hom age and penury chill. 



Thy power of frost has locked the ground. 

 And streams in icy chains are bound ; 

 Sparc dioii the heart of man below, 

 And hid the fount of pity flow. 

 Speed, Lord, diy backward stewards on, 

 Till mercy's holy work be done. 



The board with costly viands spread, 

 The blazing hearth, die downy bed; 

 God, thou art just ; — what mortal dare 

 Call these his own. (or thine they are! 

 Speed, Lord, thy backward stewards on, 

 Till mercy's holy work be, done. 



The hand that won the orphan's bread, 

 Is laid to slumber with the dead j 

 The barefoot boy, ? mid winter skies, 

 From door to door his labor plies. 

 Speed, Lord, thy backward stewards on, 

 Till mercy's holy work be done. 



Loud howls the storm, 'tis cold and late, 

 The shivering outcast tries the gate; 

 The backward steward of the poor 

 Turns down his light, and bars the door. 

 Speed, Lord, thy backward stewards on, 

 Till merev's holy work be done. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the New-England Farmer. 

 ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



It is remarkable that notwithstanding the rapid 

 progress which Horticulture is making in the 

 United States, so little attention is paid to the 

 planting ornamental trees, with a view to the em- 

 bellishment of our country residences. The mag- 

 nificent Parks of England, have been long and 

 justly admired, as constituting one of the most 

 beautiful features of that highly cultivated country ; 

 and although the horticultural creations of our 

 more limited means, may never equal in extent 

 and grandeur some of those of the aristocracy of 

 Europe, yet every person of cultivated mind, is 

 aware, how beautiful the hand of taste can render 

 even very limited scenes, by the proper application 

 of the principles and materials necessary to mental 

 pleasure and gratification. 



Considered in a single point of view, what an 

 infinite variety of beauty there is in a tree itself! 

 Every part is admirable, from the individual beauty 

 of its leaves, to its grand effect as a whole. Who 

 has not witnessed in some favorite landscape, the 

 indescribable charm thrown over the whole scene 

 by a single tree ? Perhaps a huge giant, whose 

 massy trunk and wide out-stretched arms have 

 been the production of ages ; or the more graceful 

 form of another whose delicate foliage reflects the 

 sunbeam, and trembles with the slightest breeze 

 that passes over it. There is no monotony in na- 

 ture — even in trees, every season has its own 



charms. Spring, the season ofj-enewed life, wit- 

 nesses the rush of the newly imbibed sap the 



buds swell — the tender leaves unfold, and the ad- 

 mirer of nature is delighted hj the freshness and 



vividness of the young foliage. Summercomes 



lie is refreshed by the fragrance of their blossoms 

 —their shade is a welcome luxury in the: noontide 

 1111— perchance their fruit nia.1 lie an acceptable 

 ifferiug to the palate, and who in this country has 

 not witnessed the autumnal glories of an American 

 forest ? 



There is no country of the globe which produ- 

 ces a greater variety of fine forest trees whether 

 considered for the purposes of ornament or timber, 

 than North America. Yet it is a fact that for both 

 these purposes, more particularly the first, they 

 are Horticullurally better known in many parts of 

 Europe, than they are now at home. Those gov- 

 ernments have imported the seeds of all our most 

 valuable forest trees, annually, for more than a cen- 

 tury. Instead of planting, our agriculturists have 

 hitherto been engaged in destroying. In the Atlan- 

 tic Stall's, this period is now past; and we would, 

 therefore, first direct the attention of the arbori- 

 culturist to our own trees. 



There is not in the whole catalogue, scarcely a 

 more interesting object than an immense oak tree, 

 when placed so, as to be considered in relation to 

 the large mansion of a wealthy proprietor. Its 

 broad ample limbs and aged form, give a very im- 

 pressive air of dignity to the whole scene. It is a 

 very common inhabitant of our woods, there being 

 44 species of indigenous growth between the 20th 

 and 48th degrees of north latitude.* The pendu- 

 lous branches of the American Elm — the light fol- 

 iage of the Birch — the cheerful vernal appearance 

 of some of the species of Maple — the delicate leaf 

 of the Locust, and the heavy masses of verdure 

 produced by the Beech, are sufficient to render 

 them all ornamental in Park scenery, and they 

 should ever find a proper situation in an extensive 

 lawn. Our American poplars should be recollect- 

 ed when a rapid growth and immediate effect is 

 required. Gleditschia triacanthos or the sweet lo- 

 cust, is interesting from its long masses of thorns. 

 One of our most ornamental trees, both in foliage 

 and flower is the white wood IAriodendron lulipif- 

 era. Its erect, tall form, large yellow blossoms, 

 and handsome leaves, have rendered it an univer- 

 sal favorite in Europe, and there can scarcely be a 

 more stately object to stand as an isolated speci- 

 men. The plane or sycamore (PUttanus octiden- 

 talis) is too much neglected because it is so com- 

 mon ; but in favorable situations, in deep soils, 

 and where ample room is afforded, it produces a 

 noble tree of immense size. Several have been 

 measured on the banks of the Ohio from 40 to 50 

 feet in circumference. 



A native tree but little known in our ornamental 

 plantations, is the Kentucky coffee Gymnocladus 

 canadensis. It is a native of Kentucky and Ten- 

 nessee, grows to the height of 40 feet, and its 

 doubly compound foliage, and very singular ap- 

 pearance when defoliated in the winter months, 

 are well calculated to render it an interesting fea- 

 ture in the landscape. Cupnssus disticha (Taxo- 

 dium Richd) the deciduous Cypress, flourishing in 



* Michaux. 



vast quantities in the southern parts of the Union, 

 is, though perfectly hardy and of easy cultivation, 

 hut little known in the Northern States.* lis beau- 

 tiful light green foliage contrasts elegantly with 

 the denser hue of other deciduous trees, aiid we 

 are hardly aware of an upright growing 'tree, bet- 

 ter calculated to give variety of color to groups 

 ami masses, than this. Catalpa Sgringajblia is a 

 most striking ornament to a lawn, when in the 

 summer months it is loaded with its large clusters 

 of parti-colored flowers. 



But the most splendid, most fragrant, and most 

 celebrated ornamental production of the woods and 

 forests of our country, is yet to be mentioned. It 

 is the unrivalled Magnolia grandijlora, the most 

 magnificent of the genus, a beautiful tree of 70 feet 

 in its native soil, only attains the size of a large 

 shrub in the Middle States, and will scarcely 

 withstand the winters of the Northern. But M. 

 aceuminata though not so beautiful, is a fine 

 large tree, sometimes attaining the height of 90 

 feet. Jt is abundant in Western New York and 

 Ohio. .1/. macrophylla is not only remarkable for 

 the beauty of its flowers, but also for the extraor- 

 dinary size of its leaves ; they having been meas- 

 ured so long as 3 feet. Magnolia tripetala, the 

 umbrella tree, is also a fine species growing in 



districts from Georgia to New York : its large 



cream-colored flowers, measure 7 or 8 inches in 

 diameter. Still more rare though highly ornamen- 

 tal, are M.cordata and M. aiiriculata ■■ ; small trees 

 which ought to he indispensable to every collection. 

 The species of smallest stature and most frequent 

 occurrence in the Middle States is M. glauca, the 

 flowers of which are highly odoriferous. It suc- 

 ceeds best in damp soils, and is found very plenti- 

 fully in situations of this kind in New Jersey. 



Ornamental trees from other countries should 

 find a prominent place in the plantations of our 

 Horticulturists. They not only have an intrinsic 

 value in themselves, but to a refined taste they of- 

 fer gratifications from the associations connected 

 with them. Thus the proprietor may view in the 

 walks over his grounds, not only productions of 

 his own country, but their fellows from many other 

 clinics. We may witness flourishing upon the 

 same soil, many of the productions of southern 

 Europe and Asia ; individuals from the frigid re- 

 gions of Siberia, and the almost unknown forests 

 of Patagonia ; vegetables which perseverance has 

 abstracted from the jealous Chinese, and which the 

 botanical traveller has discovered among the haunts 

 of the savage Indian. 



Among the foreign trees which are most generally 

 cultivated forornament in thiscduntry, we may men- 

 tion the two genera of Titta and JEscuhis. The Eu- 

 ropean Lime or Linden tree, with its fine stately 

 form and fragrant blossoms, is a most pleasing ob- - 

 ject as an ornamental tree. The Horse chestnut 

 [JE. Hippocastanum) is perhaps better known than 

 any foreign tree in the country; its compact growth, 

 fine digitate leaves, and above all, its superb, showy 

 flowers, distributed in huge bouquets over the 

 foliage, have rendered it here, as in Europe, an ob- 

 ject of universal admiration. We would here beg 



* We have seen a celebrated specimen in Col. Carr's gar- 

 den, Philadelphia, ISO leet high, 25 in circumference, and 31 

 years old 



