V >t,. XXI. NO. 44. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



355 



many European countries, and in some parts of the 

 United States. They are cultivated not only for 

 the amusement of botanists and amateur florists, 

 but, particularly in France, as a source of profit, 

 and for supplying the market. The flower mar- 

 ket, in t!i«' French capital, exhibits a rich display, 

 •and is almost as regularly visited by the citizens, 

 to supply their daily wants of flowers, us is the 

 market for the sale of provisions. 



.Market gardens abound in the neighborhood of 

 all large towns, and administer largely to the 

 health and comfort of their population. Those in 

 the neighborhood of London cover an area of 

 more than 5000 acres ; and are not only appro- 

 priated to ordinary culture, but go largely into the 

 forcing branches of the art. Almost every kind of 

 fruit an. I esculent vegetable is forced in them by 

 artificial heat ; and the cultivator finds ample re- 

 muneration for his extra labor and expense in the 

 high prices his products command in the market. 

 A quotation of some of these prices, which 1 make 

 from the Gardener's Magazine, will not only verily 

 the truth of my remark, but will serve to convej 

 some idea of the horticultural luxury indulged in 

 by the wealthy classes of the British metropolis. 

 Forced strawberries are quoted at 4s. sterling the 

 ounce; peas at 2/. 2s. the quart, shelled; peaches 

 and nectarines at the same price per dozen ; grapes 

 the same per pound ; cherries at 31s. Gd. per lb. ; 

 pine apples at 24s. per II).; beans at OS. per 100 

 pods; potatoes at 3s. per lb. ; asparagus at 15s. per 

 100 ; rhubarb 2s. Gd. per 100 ; cucumbers 24s. per 

 brace, &c. It will be recollected that the English 

 shilling is about 22i cents. The market gardens 

 of our country are on a more humble scale. Few 

 of them employ artificial beat. But if we judge of 

 the future by past improvement, and by the in- 

 creasing taste of our citizens for the rare and finer 

 productions of the garden, we may expect to see 

 them ere long engaged in the forcing department 

 on a pretty extensive scale. The first market gar- 

 den from which this city was regularly supplied 

 with vegetables, was established about the com- 

 mencement of the present century, as 1 am in- 

 formed, at Whitehall. At present some hundreds 

 of acres arc appropriated to this purpose, and the 

 business gives employment to a large number of 

 hands. 



As having particular relation to those who de- 

 pend upon these gardens for horticultural produc- 

 tions, for daily u^, 1 take occasion to remark, 

 that the quality of market garden productions de- 

 pends materially on the judgment and liberality 

 of the buyers. The object of the gardener is 

 profit ;. and so long as the purchaser regards the 

 price rather than the quality, he will continue to 

 raise those varieties which give him the greatest 

 product. The difference in the varieties of the 

 same vegetables are manifestly great. This exists 

 not only in the flavor, hut in their nutritious and 

 healthful properties : some varieties, particularly 

 fruits, bring absolutely prejudicial, while other 

 varieties of the same species are highly conducive 

 to health. In the potato for instance, the dif- 

 ference in nutritive matter amounts to nearly a 

 half in different varieties. Some of the coarser 

 kinds, yield but 14 and 16 per cent, of nutritive 

 matter; while some of the finer kinds have given 

 2S per cent. And it is worth regarding, that good 

 quality is almost inseparably connected with grate- 

 ful flavor. 



Horticulture as an employment, is highly con- 

 ducive to the healthful vigor of the body, and to 



an agreeable exercise of the mind. The labor 

 it demands, is neither severe in degree, nor monot- 

 onously tiresome in kind. It affords continued 

 change and variety. The interesting subjects of 

 which it has cognisance, — as the germination of 

 the'seed, the developement of the leaf, the growth 

 of the stock, the expansion of the flower, the 

 swelling, maturing, and gathering of the fruit, 

 and the diversity in foliage, flower and fruit, of 

 the various vegetable families under its care, pre- 

 sent to the mind capable of appreciating and ad- 

 miring the beauties of the vegetable kingdom, a 

 succession of the most agreeable sensations. 



As a recreation, horticulture offers all the pleas- 

 ures I have enumerated, without the fatigues, 

 which accompany its manual operations. What 

 more grateful pleasure to the sedentary and stu- 

 dious, or to him who is habitually involved in the 

 mercenary cares of business, than the relaxation 

 afforded by a well kept garden, which exhibits to 

 the senses, the fragrance, the beauty, the order, 

 and harmony, which Providence has imparted to 

 the vegetable kingdom. Here is nothing to awa- 

 ken jealousy, to excite distrust, to beget envy — 

 or to inflame any of his grosser passions ; but 

 every object is calculated to tranquilize the mind, 

 to soften down the asperities of his nature, and to 

 beget towards his fellow beings, feelings of kind- 

 ness, philanthropy, and love. 



As a science, horticulture is rich in stores of 

 intellectual wealth and usefulness. It embraces 

 glossology, which teaches us the names of the 

 parts of plants ; phylography, or the nomenclature 

 and description of plants ; taxonomy or their clas- 

 sification ; vegetable organology, or the external 

 structure of plants; vegetable anatomy, or their 

 internal structure ; vegetable chemistry, or pri- 

 mary principles of plants ; vegetable pathology, 

 or the diseases and casualties of vegetable life ; 

 vegetable geography and history, or the distribu- 

 tion of vegetables relatively to the earth and to 

 man ; and the origin of culture, derived from 

 the study of vegetables. It also embraces the 

 study of the natural agents of vegetable growth 

 ami culture — as earths, soils, and manures; the 

 agency of heat, light, electricity and water, in 

 vegetable culture, and of the atmosphere in vege- 

 table developement. 



Whether we regard horticulture as an art or 

 a science ; — whether we consider it as adminis- 

 tering to our wants, convenience, and pleasures'or 

 as promotive of useful knowledge, — it has high 

 claims to our notice and regard. 



In passing the threshold of manhood, young 

 gentlemen, with high hopes, and ardent desires, 

 for fame and fortune, let me counsel you to culti- 

 vate a taste for this humble pursuit. Without ab- 

 stracting you from business, let it at least interest 

 you as a useful and elegant recreation. The pas- 

 sions in which you now indulge — the pleasures 

 which you now pursue, — are to have in all proba- 

 bility, a controlling influence over your future 

 characters and happiness. Select then those which 

 will wear well, and set comely and comfortable in 

 riper years. Let horticulture be embraced in the 

 selection. Implant but the seeds, ere the soil 

 becomes foul with weeds, and they will germi- 

 nate and grow. And when the dreams and vis- 

 ions of youth shall have faded into sober realities : 

 and the mind tired with the hustle and turmoil 

 of life shrinks hack upon its own resources for re- 

 pose and enjoyment, then will horticulture he 

 found capable of imparting rational and substan- 



tial pleasures, and of increasing in interest with 

 the increase of years — for of all employments a 

 taste for this is least apt to lose its enjoyments in 

 the wane of life. 



From GoodseWs Farmer. 

 CANADA THISTLE. 



Having seen a communication in your paper, 

 over the signature of C. dated Woodland, Dec. 16, 

 1S33, recommending as the most sure method of 

 extirpating the Canada thistle from our soil, " to 

 plough the ground and sow it with large red clo- 

 ver, which he recommends to have mowed the 

 first and second years without feeding it, af- 

 ter which the land may be ploughed, and sowed 

 with wheat, when it will be found that the roots 

 of the thistle are perfectly destroyed, so far as re- 

 gards vegetation." Having myself practised a 

 method very similar with complete success, I was 

 forcibly struck with the propriety and accuracy of 

 his remarks. 1 cannot account for the destruc- 

 tion of the thistle in this case, otherwise than that 

 the clover grows earlier and more luxuriantly than 

 the thistle, and by overshadowing it, the thistle 

 is kept in a dwarfish and sickly state, until the clo- 

 ver is mown, at which time the stalks of the thistle 

 will be found hollow, and having a whitish, sickly 

 appearance : and they will not immediately send 

 up young shoots unless the clover is fed oft'. It is 

 advisable to mow them in a warm clear day, and 

 remove the crop immediately, that the sun may 

 shine directly upon the emaciated stalks, which 

 will not only retard their growth, but accelerate 

 their destruction. I have written the above as the 

 result of my own experience, and feel confi- 

 dent that any person who is troubled with Cana- 

 da thistles, may adopt the course recommended by 

 your correspondent C. without fear of disappoint- 

 ment, and that he will find his communication 

 generally correct. Josech Eddv. 



Willianisori, March 4, 1834. 



A'oie. It is a well known fact, that neither 

 plants nor animals can enjoy good health, unless 

 they have the advantages of light. Light is im- 

 portant in the elaboration of the juices of plants 

 which is furnished by the roots, and unless they 

 are allowed to produce leaves, and those leaves 

 have the action of light upon them, the juices con- 

 tinue thin and watery ; circulation becomes lan- 

 guid, and the plant dies of a disease as near drop- 

 sy as the nature of the case will allow. — Ed. G. F. 



ITEMS. 



Potatoes. Try it — Those who are fond of baked 

 or roasted potatoes, will he gratified by trying the 

 following method : 



Place them clean in the bottom of a bake-pan 

 or kettle, dispensing with the cover — hang them 

 over the fire and shovel the coals on them. It 

 will be as quick and as cheap as any other method 

 of cooking them ; and they are not so soggy as when 

 baked under the cover, nor burnt as they com- 

 monly are when roasted on the hearth — and the 

 flavor will be excellent. — Maine Farmer. 



Ink spots. It is perhaps not generally known 

 that a piece of blotting paper, crumbled together 

 to make it firm, and just wetted, will take ink out 

 of mahogany. Rub the spot hard with the wetted 

 paper ; when it instantly disappears ; and the while 

 mark from the operation may he immediately re^ 

 moved by rubbing the table with a cloth. 



