250 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Feb. 22, 1833. 



The great care of the farmer ought, therefore, to 

 be, by proper mixtures to reduce his lands to that 

 state and temperament in which the extremes of 

 hot and cold, wet and dry, are best corrected by 

 each other, to give them every possible advantage 

 flowing from the benign influences of the sun and 

 air ; to adopt such kinds of plants as they afford, in 

 this state, the greatest nourishment to, and to re- 

 new their fertility by a judicious allowance of the 

 most proper manures. Where these things are 

 done, there are few spots so unfriendly to cultiva- 

 tion, as not to repay his expenses and labor with a 

 plentiful increase. But without these, the best 

 tracts of laud will in time become a barren waste, 

 ©r produce little but weeds. 



Alluvion, as it is composed of earthy and vege- 

 table matters, easy of access, and found in plenty 

 on almost every farm, may justly be considered as 

 our first and best resource in the admixture iuid 

 improvement of soils. But without any great diffi- 

 culty we can obtain access to many other mate- 

 rials, which will produce very permanent, if not 

 so immediate and perceivable good effects. We 

 need not confine our researches to the surface of 

 the earth ; a vegetative principle is found in every 

 stratum of it to the lowest depth penetrated by 

 man. In digging far into the earth for materials 

 to mix with the soil, we find those which, if ])ro- 

 perly applied, will produce very lasting good ef- 

 fects. We thus obtain a virgin mould, soon to be- 

 come the parent of a vigorous and numerous pro- 

 geny. Earth taken at some distance below the 

 surface, can be incorporated with any sort of soil 

 with some beneficial results, — because the influence 

 of the air upon the new earth will occasion so active 

 an operation of the vegetative principle, that any 

 kind of soil will be stimulated and assisted in that 

 operation. It is, however, advisable, even in the 

 application of pit earth, to regard the Swiss max- 

 im and place it on a soil of diflferent quality. The 

 different qualities of the pit earth and the soil 

 where we would place it, can be ascertained with 

 accuracy enough by inspection. It is necessary to 

 penetrate considerably below the surface of the 

 eaith to find several substances, which become ac- 

 tive and powerful, when mixed with suitable soils. 



To t>ocontinuec]. 



HORTICULTURAL PREMIUMS. 



Mr Fessenden — A writer in your paper of the 

 8th insumt, under the signature of 'Rusticus,' has 

 pointed out, what he considers to be gross inequal- 

 ities in the list of Premiums for Vegetables, Fruits, 

 and Flowers, proposed by the different committees 

 of the Horticultural Society, for the two past years. 

 As I dissent from him in some ])oints of fact, as 

 well as the inferences to be deduced therefrom, I 

 propose to examine his objections. 



Commencing with the list of Garden Vegetables, 

 he enquires, ' what do we find, a prize of one dol- 

 lar for a dozen beets ; a dozen carrots, &c, &c, the 

 same ; cucumbers raised in the open air, two dollars, 

 — and those forced, but one. Is not hero a great 

 mistake .' Vl'^hy, does not every person who knows 

 anything of raisiug such vegetables, know that to 

 grow a beet or a carrot, requires but little more 

 than a mere novice, — while to force a cucumber, 

 is one of the first requisites of a ])erfect gardener ? 

 What kind of a gardener would he be thought 

 (especially in England), who, on inquiry whether 

 he coidd force cucumbers, grapes, and melons, 

 should sav he could not ? Why no gardener at 

 all,' &c. 



All premiums, I take it, are but means to an 

 end ; first, to create, or increase certain skill in the 

 competitors, tending to produce some desirable 

 ultimate result ; the object with these roots, as well 

 as other articles on the premium list, is precocity 

 of groAvth ; and Avhoever can cause a supply of 

 them to be had for three or four weeks earlier than 

 it otherwise would be, — as a substitute for the 

 wilted, decaying and unhealthy things of the same 

 kinds, which have been housed through the win- 

 ter,— renders an important service to tlie commu- 

 nity ; and, althougJi it is no very diflicidt matter to 

 grow a beet or a carrot, yet, a novice would find 

 sometbmg to do to insure the most successfid cul- 

 tivation of an early crop, — or, if he pursued it as 

 an object of field culture, our Agricultural Soci- 

 eties have, and no doubt with great propriety, of- 

 fered liberal premiums for them. And now. Sir, 

 I should be glad to learn of what value to us here, 

 is the skill used in forcing melons, that a high pre- 

 mium should be offered for it? In England, 

 where, as Cobbett tells you, a melon is a melon, — 

 and where they are carried, by twos and threes, 

 and with as much care as a new-born baby is car- 

 ried, and sold at a dollar to four dollars a-piece, — 

 it is, no doubt, of great importance ; but in a coun- 

 try where they are grown in such perfection in the 

 open air, and in such profusion too, that the whole 

 community are satiated with them diwing their 

 natural season, it is absolutely of no utility. Whq 

 would attempt to force melons for the market ; or 

 for any purpose, other than to please the taste of 

 an amateur cultivator ? 



The same remarks will apply to cucumbers. 

 Many of our market gardeners understand th(! sim- 

 ple method of bringing tliem forward under what 

 arc termed hand lights, {not forcing them,) with no 

 other heat than that of the sun ; so as to have them 

 in so early, that the weather is sometimes cold 

 enough to give one a chill to think of such a thing. 



As to grapes, if it is contended that it requires 

 less skill to cultivate them, successfully, in the 

 open air, tlian in green-houses, I have a different 

 opinion ; — and I will adduce, as evidence of the (iict 

 that it does not, what it is no uncommon thing to 

 see, that is, — while the grapes in the green-house 

 are in fine condition, those on the o])eu trellises are 

 languishing — and all muler themauagenient of the 

 same cultivator ; the reverse of this I have never 

 seen. 



The importance, too, of growing grapes in open 

 air, should it ever be the ciLse that it may be more 

 constantly certain in the result, — I conceive to be 

 infinitely greater than that of forcing them ; and if 

 ever they should be so abundant as to become an 

 article of common indulgence as table fruit, it will 

 be by open culture; and I have arrived at this con- 

 clusion, partly, from the relative prices which this 

 fruit bears in the London and Paris markets. In 

 England, where the art of forcing fruit has reached 

 a greater degree of perfection than in any other 

 country,— with their infinite number of forcing- 

 houses, cheapness of fuel, and cheapness of labor, 

 we find the prices extremely high. In the reports 

 of the Covent Garden market, hot-house grapes are 

 quoted at 2.?. a 3s. dd., 4s. a 6s. ; and in March, 

 when they are said to be just coming in, as high 

 as 30s. to 40s. sterling, or S6 67 to §10 a pound. 

 While in the reports of the fruit-market of Paris, 

 the Chasselas de Fontainbltau, a leading ])opular 

 variety, is quoted in some months at 1.3 fr. 50c. |)cr 

 basket of ten and a half pounds, about 24 cents per 

 pound ; in others at 25 cents per pound. 



The premium list for flowers is suid, too, to ha 

 out ol" joint ; but I doubt much, whether, if it wero 

 arranged in accordance with the views taken of it, 

 it wotdd make much practical difference in the 

 result ; for the truth is, the competitors have been 

 much more numerous for the premiums which it 

 is recommended to have increased, than they have 

 for those which it is recommended to lower. 



It is said, too, a system is wanted in awarding 

 premiums ; and that general satisfaction has not 

 been given ; and you tu-e told, — what may have 

 been considered a piece of very interesting intelli- 

 gence to the benighted gentlemen who have acted 

 as adjudicators of premiums, — that, sometimes in 

 awarding premiums for flowers in England, the 

 pots, &c, are arranged in rows, and uimibered ; 

 and that, without the least knowledge of the grow- 

 ers of a single article, the persons, whose duty it is, 

 step in, and decide at once who are entitled to the 

 prizes, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. 

 And is this the system which it is intended to be 

 understood that we want? Surely, Sir, those who 

 award prizes in future, iiuist be incorrigibly stupid, 

 if they do not go right with this luminous system 

 before them. I had previously thought, that in 

 England, it was considered rather difficidt, always 

 to decide correctly on horticultural premium.s ; and 

 I had thought so because I find it so stated to be 

 the fact, by those who have most ably treated the 

 subject in their periodical journals; — and as an 

 apology for such an opinion, I beg leave to .subjoin 

 some of the general rules laid down by them for 

 the adjudication of prizes. In the first place, they 

 sav, ' Horticultural Societies would do well to de- 

 cide as much as possible, between the result of 

 chance and the result of skill ; for it should ever 

 bi^ itorne in mind, that the merit for which a prize 

 oucht to be awarded, exists not in the production, 

 but in the producer; and therefore the merit of the 

 exhibiter is to be estimated by the degree of sci- 

 ence, care and skill exhibited in the cultivator.' 

 There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining 

 these qualities, because in very many cases, they 

 can only be inferred from the productions them- 

 selves. The best dish of cherries gathered in Jidy, 

 perhaps, from standard trees planted twenty years 

 ago, may imply but slender merit in the person 

 who produced them. The following good quali- 

 ties inherent in fruits are to be considered, as a 

 means of amviug at a correct result, viz: 



Rarity of sort ; 



Precocity of season ; 



Magnificence of size and weight ; 



Fineness of color ; 



Excellence of quality ; 



Extent of quantity sent for exhibition ; 



Ingenuity of culture; and 



Cheapness of production. 

 But of how little use are these considerations, when 

 you are at once provided with a system which ob- 

 viates the necessity of attending to the most im- " 

 portant of them at all. And now, sir, while I am 

 entirely willing to admit that your correspondent 

 ' Rusticus,' was influenced by the best motives in 

 producing the essay which lias occasioned these 

 remarks, yet I must take occasion to say, that such 

 sweeping censure is not particularly acceptable to 

 those upon whom it directly reflects ; and the more 

 so in a writer, who fails, not only to propose any 

 remedies for the defects he discovers, but who seea 

 defects where in fact there are none. 



Yours with great respect, 



Dorchester, Feb. II. A Cultivator. 



