II 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Aug. S, 1S3I' 



nie not in perfection in th'; sonth. It is in Penn- 

 sylvania, Virginia, Mavjland, Jei'sey, and in the 

 north of Europe, that we enjoy them, although, 

 originally, they came from places near tiie tropics. 

 The peach of the Carolinas is full of larvse, gum, 

 and knots, and too stringy and forced to liu juicy 

 and flavored. The apple of the south is too acerb 

 to be either eaten or preservoii. The pUnns, apri- 

 cots, cherries, currants, gooseberries, &o, will not 

 even mature until we go far north. All the trees 

 which bear these delicious fruits will grow luxu- 

 riantly in the soutli, maUe much foliage and wood, 

 with but little pulp, and that imsavory. The ker- 

 nel in one seeded fruit, seems to be the first object 

 of natiu'e in southern climes : that becomes strong, 

 oily, and enlarged ; and one of the peach family 

 lias so entirely neglected the |)ulp, that it has only 

 a husky matter around the kernel, as tlie almond. 

 The changeablencss of the weather in the south, in 

 the spring season tlnows plants oflf their guard ; the 

 frosts attendant on those changes, destroy the yotnig 

 fruit ; and it is oidy once in three years that the 

 crop liiis at all. The dessiccated or dried statcof 

 these fruits enables us to enjoy them through tlie 

 year; but in the south, their acidity carries them 

 into fermentation or decomposiiiou before they can 

 be divested of tlieir aqu'^oiis parts. The climate 

 of the soutli is equally against converting them 

 into cider, or any other fermented liquor, because 

 the heat forces their compressed juice so rapidly 

 into an active fermentation, that it cannot easily 

 be checked until it passes into vinegar. For the 

 same reason distillation goes on badly in hot cli. 

 mates, and cannot be checked long enough at the 

 proper point to give mni-li alcohol ; and whether 

 ive aim to enjoy the delicious freshness of these 

 fruits themselves, sip the nectarine of their juices, 

 refresh ourselves with their fermented beverage, 

 stimulate our hearts with their brandies and cordials, 

 or feast through the winter upon the dried or pre- 

 served stores of their fi uits, we are continually baulk- 

 ed by the severity of a southern climate, and fur 

 such enjoyment must look to the north. 



The melons are always affected by too great 

 n, degree of heat, even ihougli their vines flom-ish 

 so much in southern latitudes. The forcino- sun 

 liurrics them on to nialiu-ity before they have at- 

 tained much size, or acquired that rich saccharine 

 and aromatic flavor for which they are so much 

 esteemed. The cantelopc melon will rot, or have 

 its sides baked by a hot sun, before it is fully form- 

 ed ;^and the watermelon is always wood" dry, and 

 devoid of its peculiar sweetness and richness in 

 the south. Vines have been known to rnn 100 

 feel, and bear no melon. It is in Philadelphia and 

 its neighborhood, and in similar latitudes, that the 



and excellence of the fruit. They have found out | has for the preservation of her animals anil plants 

 that gradual and uniform heat is the desideratum ; {agahist the devastation of the ehmieuls; he sees 

 countervailing the cold, rather than imparting ' an occasional apfiarcnt neglect of individuals, but a 

 much heat. Fruit thus produced, is pronounced { constant parental care of races. In everything he 

 better than any grown in tiie natural way, however sees the wisdom and benevolence of Uod. \V. 

 Jierfect the climate. 



The juices of the grape are best matured for 

 wine near the northern limit of their growth. On 



the Rhine in Ilimgary, the sides of the Alps, and FARMERS AND FARMERS' DAUGHTERS, 

 in otlnu- elevated or northern situations, the wine '*'" Fessenden — I observed in a late number 

 is strongest, richest and most esteemed. The o*" }'""' N. E. Farmer, an extract from the 

 French wines rank before the Spanish and Italian ; Christian Examiiiei-, on the ' morigaged farms of 

 and in no southern country of Europe or .\frica, ^''^'^' I^ugland.' I have long been perfectly aware 

 except Madeira, where elevation makes the dif- '>'" t'l's 'liHiculty that our farmers and mechanics 



fOK THE NEW EXGI-ANU FAKMER. 



fereiice, is the vine in much repute. The grapes 

 of France are more delicious for the table than 

 those of Spain or Madeira. In the southern part 

 of the United States, the excess of heat anil mois. 

 ture blights the grapes to such an extent, that nil 

 attempts have failed in its cultivation. The grape 

 vine, however, whether wild or cultivated, grows 

 there very luxuriantly. The vinous ferinentation 

 can also be best conducted in a climate compara- 

 tively cool ; and all the pressing, fermenting, and 

 distillation of the juice of this delicate fruit, can be 

 safer and more profitably managed in a mild 

 region. 



The olive, and other oleaginous plants, yield 

 more fruit, of a richer flavor, and can be better 

 pressed, and the oil preserved, in a mild climate. 

 In France the tree is healthier, and the fruit and oil 

 better than in Spain or Italy; and the Barbary 

 states arc known to import their oil from France 

 and Italy. 



Many other plants might be named, whose 

 habits would equally support our position. It is 

 presumed, however, ilmt enough has been cited to 

 call the attention of philosophy to this curious 

 subject, and enable us to a;ivo proper attention to it, 

 in all the practical operations of agricultural pursuit. 

 Much time and expense might be saved, and pro- 

 fits realized, if this were more generally under- 

 stood. 



We have already observ(!d, that the heat of the 

 sun ill southern climes forces plants to a false ma- 

 turity, runs them on too rapidly to fructification, 

 and renders dry and woody the culms, stalks, and 

 leaves of the plants, where these parts are used. 

 Hence the chatTiuess of the leaf, the dryness of the 

 culm, the lightness of the grain, and the unsavory 

 spongy quality of the pulp of the plants in those 

 hititiides. Hence the diflicnlty of ffirmsnting thtir 

 juices, distilling their essences, and preserving for 

 use the fruit, juice, or blades ofsuch plants. The 

 prevalence of insects is another bar to the produc 

 tiveness of southern plants ; swarms of them invade 



markets are loaded wtth dehcous melons of all and .strip the leaves, bore the fruit, .and lead to 

 sons, whose flavor .so much rerreshes and delights blight and decomposition ; and just in proportion 

 ns It IS there, near their muthern limit, that we as the labors of man have rendere.l plants suceu- 

 cultivate them with .such uniform success. lent, and their fruits and seeds sweet and 



The orange, strictly a tropical plant, is more pleasant, do these in.seets multiply on them, de- 

 pncy,large,auddehc,ons,atStAugustinc,(Florida,)|vour their crops, and defeat the objects of lu.s- 

 than at Havana ; and fruiterers, in order to recom- ! bandry 



mend an orange, will say that it is from some place 1 The labor of man too is more conservative in 

 out of the tropics. In the West Indies, the pulp| northern climates, because his arm is better nerv- 

 of t he orange ,s s^.ongy, badly filled w ib juice, k-d for exercise, his health and spi 



r^LT'"^ r^^^^^r ! , °"' "'"' ''""' "'"M''"«'"P«™'«'-"'"""=stli»t.nancanbetnostfamilia, 

 now the productions of the hot houses of London, with nature ; it is there he has the best opportuni- 

 ran,, i.r, astonish and delight us with the quantity ties of observing the guarantees which nature 



are laboring under, — ' an appalling amount of pe- 

 cuniary oliligatiops ;' — and that 'debt, univer- 

 sal debt, will meet us, wherever we turn our eyes.' 

 After noting this ealainity, the Examiner goes on 

 to say — ' Now, there aro several causes to be 

 assigned doubtless, for this extraordinary state 

 of things ; but one distinct and prominent cause 

 unquestionably is to be found in that state of 

 political equnlity which we aro considering. It 

 creates a large unproductive class, in the female 

 members of innumerable families in the country. 

 The daughters of our substantial farmers, (as they 

 are ca.'led) cannot go out to service ; it would be 

 a degradation, as they would deem it. Meanwhile, 

 the cheapness of the fabrics sent out from our 

 manufactories puts an end to the labors of the 

 loom and the distaff. Sjiinning and knitting are 

 absolute toils. And the labors of only one or two 

 can contribute anything to the support of the fam- 

 ily,' &c, &c. 



The delineation of the evil is correct, and it is 

 an evil that we should all understand ; hut let us 

 be permitted to hope that the causes of this grow- 

 ing calamity are not so well understood by the el- 

 oquent writer, as its character and extent. As re- 

 publicans, and in a professedly republican commu- 

 nity, the only causes that are suggested, if admit- 

 ted to be at the root of the evil, lead us to alarm- 

 ing reflections. They are, as noted by the writer,| 

 the state of 'political equalittj' whieli pervades 

 this coinmimity, cieating a large unproductive 

 I'hiss in the ycmu/e members of innumerable fam- 

 ilies in the country ; — and, as a consequence of this 

 political equality, tlie circumstance that ' tiie daugh- 

 ters of our substantial farmers (aa ihey are called) 

 cantiot go out to service.' 



It is true that even in our favored land, political 

 equality is talked about,- as we would discourse of 

 the milleniiim, and accounted rather n subject of 

 hope than of present fruition, — yet so far from 

 avoiding it, we are most grievously at fault, if the 

 grand aim of the founders of our governineni, 

 was not the nearest practicable approach to polit- 

 ical equality, or if it dues not continue at this day, 

 to be the dttarest object of pursuit to every sincere 

 frienil of his country, or of the human race. 



The proportion of onr community who are pre- 

 pared to receive the daughtGrs of our substantial 

 farmers into their kitchens, is probably not consid- 

 erable enough to save us, should the young ladies 

 conclude that it is their duty to 'go out to serviced 

 The number of families in New England, who by j 

 successful industry, by good luck, or possibly by 

 fraud, are in a situation to make hewers of wood 

 and drawers of water of their less fortunate sisters 

 and brethren, is undoubtedly much larger than 

 any man who loves lii9 country, and understands.'! 

 Is true interests, coukl wish, — yet it is scarcely 

 one to fidy ; — and the suggestion of saving th« 



