290 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 86, 1S34. 



large a share of common conversation — often en- 

 tirely excluding those unprofitable and acrimoni- 

 ous discussions on politics, and those religious 

 controversies which are so apt to terminate in un- 

 charitableness and ill-will. Never before was 

 there an opportunity for the interchange of such 

 cheap but acceptable civilities, as the offer ol de- 

 sirable plants, seeds and scions of favorite fruits, 

 or the timely donation of a delirious melon or a 

 basket of grapes. By these means, harmony of 

 neighborhoods has been preserved, valuable ac- 

 quaintances acquired, unpleasant feuds have been 

 suppressed, and many petty jealousies, which se- 

 cretly rankled in the bosom, have been allayed, 

 and may soon he forgotten. Not only the grounds 

 of the men of wealth, but the home of the laboring 

 poor has in not a few instances acquired an addi- 

 tional point of interest, to attract him from the 

 haunts of dissipation ; his leisure hours are pleas- 

 antly occupied ; his mind expanded, and his heart 

 warmed and softened." 



Similar testimony is given of the influence of 

 Horticultural Societies elsewhere. How indeed 

 can this influence be otherwise? To be delighted 

 with the productions of Nature, the desire to cul- 

 tivate the earth, are sentiments natural to the hu- 

 man heart. Nourished and protected by her 

 bounty, it were monstrous indeed did he nut love 

 his pareut and benefactress. The first man, and 

 the first men, in all ages, cultivated the earth. 

 The anxious merchant, the pale artizan, the worn 

 and harassed professional man, during the hours 

 of relaxation from their grinding labor, dwell fond- 

 ly upon the thought of possessing at some future 

 day a spot of earth where they "can play witli 

 ilowers and babble o' green fields." feace, Health 

 and Contentment are the spirits that gladden the 

 habitation* of the devotees of Agriculture and Hor- 

 ticulture. Happiness is associated with our ideas 

 of the enjoyment of a garden. The care of one 

 to all men, and especially to the female sex, whose 

 sensibilities are " tremblingly alive" to impres- 

 sions of the beauties of nature, is a source of in- 

 exhaustible pleasure and of innocent domestic 

 recreation. In this fondness of a garden, as con- 

 stituting a part of the female character, who does 

 not acknowledge a peculiar propriety? It has been 

 so in all ages and nations, from the period, when 



" Proserpine gatherd flowers, herself the fairest." 

 How dreary would be the world without a flower! 

 It would be as the heavens without a star. From 

 rosy boyhood to withered age, flowers are the 

 cherished objects which afford the purest and most 

 innocent pleasure. Their airy form and viewless 

 fragrance make us think of invisible beings, and 

 "the thoughts of the invisible are the thoughts of 

 the good." The Scriptures abound in allusions to 

 flowers. The Saviour expressed his deep sense of 

 their beauty: "Behold the lilies of the field! they 

 toil not, neither do they spin, yet Solomon in all 

 his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The 

 admired attention of the most heedless observer, 

 of the obtuse and cold-hearted, is irresistibly at- 

 tracted to them. And what favorable impressions 

 do we receive of the taste and disposition of the 

 inmates of the humblest cottage, on witnessing the 

 woodbine trailed over the porch or lattice, and the 

 flowers glowing in variegated beauty in their gar- 

 den. The electric chain of our sympathies is iu- 

 Btantly touched. 



" One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin." 



Horticulture, then, is entitled to our special at- 



tention. Its pursuits are eminently peaceful and 

 salutary to the physical and moral nature of man. 

 They invigorate the body, expand the mind, refine 

 the taste, and open a wide field for rational enjoy- 

 ment. No pursuit affords better opportunities for 

 observing many of the most striking and import- 

 ant operations of the material world. In connex- 

 ion with the business of horticulture, the study of 

 nature is carried on with peculiar advantage. By 

 his constant attention to the plants under his care, 

 the horticulturist becomes acquainted with their 

 habits and modes of life, and his knowledge of 

 them is greatly facilitated by the aid of Chemistry, 

 Botany and Geology. Intelligence, industry and 

 skill are of course indispensable agents in the busi- 

 ness of horticulture. No state of existence is less 

 enviable than that of the owner of a fitrni or garden 

 who has not knowledge or science enough to be 

 interested in bis occupation, or in the scenes around 

 him. 



We might further enlarge on the importance 

 and excellence of the pursuit of Horticulture — im- 

 portant, as bringing into use as articles of food 

 foreign plants, or improving the quality of those 

 we possess — excellent, as refining the taste, soften- 

 ing the heart, and elevating and expanding the 

 mind. But it is unnecessary. Every person in 

 this audience, who has a mind and a heart will 

 respond to what we have said. 



The establishment of a Horticultural Society in 

 this county has long been a desideratum. You all 

 have witnessed the beneficial influence of the Agri- 

 cultural Society, in stimulating our farmers to be 

 perfect in the arts of husbandry — in elevating and 

 ennobling their culling — in inspiring them with 

 just and honorable sentiments — and in contributing 

 to develope the social and best feelings of their 

 nature. But a Horticultural Society, besides be- 

 ing a valuable auxiliary, would if possible produce 

 better results. It would attract to its pursuits 

 many, who, from mistaken notions of respectabil- 

 ity, and the means of procuring happiness, are 

 averse to agricultural employments — it would de- 

 velope aixl diffuse a knowledge of the sciences — 

 it would be the means of collecting seeds, buds, 

 scions and plants of the best varieties, and as a 

 certain consequence every house, however humble, 

 would be embowered in the shade of many of the 

 most excellent kinds of fruit trees — it would ren- 

 der our beautiful villages still more beautiful — its 

 beneficent energies would be spent in causing two 

 plants to grow where but one flourished before — 

 it would create a species of property which does 

 not now exist — and it would impart additional at- 

 tractions to the picturesque topographical features 

 of the hills and valleys of our own Berkshire. 

 Ceres would have no rival in Flora, but a beuigu 

 and beautiful companion. 



Inspired by views and considerations like these, 

 this meeting has been convened. Shall not the 

 designs of the gentlemen who called it be seconded ? 

 But we will not insult you by a formal appeal to 

 your understandings and feelings. You have 

 taste, you have hearts, you have patriotism. Need 

 we add more ? No. Let us combine, then, in the 

 spirit of union and harmony, becoming the lovers 

 of nature and the lovers of man. Let our aim lie 

 to do good, by unfolding and circulating the treas- 

 ures of science and the treasures of earth. Let us 

 re-peruse, and induce those who have not, to read 

 the open volume of nature, for the harmonies of 

 this beautiful universe ; for traces of the finger of 

 God ; for proofs that divine love and wisdom ra- 



diate from every object, however minute or great, 

 from the minutest atom to the most majestic of 

 the orbs that roll in the infinitude of space. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FRUITS EXHIBITED. 



Saturday, March 22rf, 1834. 



,/lpples. From II. Manning, Winesap, a fine 

 fruit, — and Borassa ; also apples, name unknown, 

 brittle and fine. 



From Mr. S. Balch of Ro\bury, a Newton pippin, 

 in good preservation, and of fine taste and flavor. 



Pears. From It. Manning, Catillac or 40 ounce 

 pear, and Easter Bettrre. 



Easter Beurre from E. Phinney, good and well 

 worthy of cultivation. W. S. Pond. 



ON THE CCLTUKE OP .THE GARDEN BEAN. 



I have been very successful for half a dozen years 

 in obtaining two crops of beans from the same 

 plants. In the summer of 1S26, my first crop of 

 mazagan and early long pod beans was by a very 

 strong and violent wind blown down ; this was 

 done when the beans were in full blossom. The 

 crop from the blossoms which the plants then pos- 

 sessed wasvery fine andabundant, andgathered du- 

 ring July. In three weeks after the beans were 

 prostrated, each stein pushed forth from near the 

 root one or more, in some instances four to six 

 fresh stems ; these bloomed freely and produced 

 an abundant crop which was gathered during Sep- 

 kihImt. Since that grew, I have uniformly bent 

 down, so as to break the stalk near the root, my 

 first and second crops of beans; I have by his 

 means obtained four crops of beans from two sow- 

 iiijs, and which supplied me from July 1st to 31st 

 of October. By this method only half the seed 

 was required which I had been accustomed to use 

 and the greatest advantage to me was that only 

 half the ground was required, so that my advan- 

 tages by this method are four-fold. I always pinch 

 out the tops when the plants are in full bloom ; 

 this throws the vigor into the production of fruit 

 instead of a continued increase of stem and foliage. 

 — Cobbett. 



TO DESTROY MOLES IN GARDENS. 

 Collect earth worms, kill them, and mix them 

 with the powder of mix vomica. After the mix- 

 ture has remained in a heap for 24 hours, take the 

 worms and place one or two here and there in the 

 route and hole of the moles. The desired effect 

 is said to be the result. — Bulletin Univeisel. 



RECIPE FOR AN OLIVE GREEN. 



Let the article be first washed in soap and wa- 

 ter, then wetted out in warm water ; then boil two 

 ounces of chipped logwood and three ounces of 

 chipped fustic together for half an hour ; dip out 

 your dye liquor, and put it into a pan with hot wa- 

 ter ; put in your goods; dissolve two drachms of 

 verdigris in a teacupful of warm water, which put 

 into a pan of cold water ; take your gown from 

 the dye, and run it through the verdigris water, 

 well handling it for ten minutes; take it out and 

 wash it in clean water, and through the dye liquor 

 and again in the verdigris water, and so continue 

 this process till you obtain the color required, only 

 taking care to wash it out of the verdigris water 

 before you put in the dye liquor : dry it in the 

 shade. 



