S54 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAY 23, 1833. 



every farmer ought to go to college, or to lieconie a 

 proficient in Greek and Latin. I jpeak ol' tlieni 

 as a class : and by a liberal educatioji, I mean such 

 a course of intellectual discipline ai will fit them 

 to sustain the rank which tliey ought to hold in 

 this repuljlic. They are by right the sovereigns 

 of the land, because they constitute «u overwhelm- 

 ing majority. AVhy do they not then, in fact, rule 

 the land? Because, and only because, they are too 

 ignorant. And thus they sink into comparative in- 

 significance : and sufl'er themselves to be used as 

 the mere instruments of creating their own mas- 

 ters, who care as little for their real welfare as if 

 they were born to be beasts of burden. Were it 

 possible, I would visit every farmer in Tennessee, 

 who is not already awake, and endeavor to arouse 

 him from his fatal lethargy, by every consideration 

 which can render life and liberty desirable; and 

 urge him to reclaim his abandoned rights and his 

 lost dignity, by giving to his sons that measure of 

 instruction which will qualify them to assert and 

 to maintain their just superiority in the councils of 

 the State and of the Nation, like men proudly con- 

 scious of their intellectual as well as physical power. 

 The same general remarks apply to mechanics 

 and to all the laboring classes, in proportion to 

 their numbers. An educatiou, even of the high- 

 est order, itiay be as valuable to them as to others. 

 In our free country, a farmer or mechanic, Avith 

 equal talents and intelligence, would be more like- 

 ly to become a popular favorite, than either a law- 

 yer or the well-bred heir of an opulent patrician 

 family. Suppose a farmer coidd speak as well, 

 write as well, appear as well versed in history, 

 geography, statistics, jurisprudence, politics, and 

 other matters of general and local interest, as the 

 lawyer — would he not stand a bettor cltance of be- 

 ing elevated to the highest, most honorable, and 

 most lucrative offices ? 



The grand heresy on the subject of education 

 seems to have arisen from the usage which ob- 

 tained at an early period in modern European so- 

 ciety, and which many centuries have sanctioned 

 and confirmed, namely: — that a learned or liberal 

 education was and is deemed important ony for a 

 liberal profession, or for gentlemen of vvea'th and 

 leisure. Hence the church, the bar, and tie med- 

 ical art, have nearly monopolized the learuiig of the 

 world. Our people reason and act in accordance 

 with the same absurd and aristocratic systim. The 

 cut bono is upon every tongue. ' What good, it is 

 asked, will college learning do my son? He is to 

 be a farmer, a mechanic, a merchant.' Now, I 

 ■would answer such a question, in the frst place, 

 directly, thus: — 'A college education, or the best, 

 most thorough and most extensive edication that 

 can be acquired, will be of immenss benefit to 

 your son, simply as a farmer, mechan'c, merchant, 

 manufacturer, sailor or soldier.' Ard I would pa- 

 tiently endeavor to show him how, and in what 

 respects : but I will not attempt to illustrate such 

 truisms at present. But, in the second place, I 

 would reply to my plain frienJ's interrogatory, 

 thus: — 'Educate your son in the best manner 

 possible, because you expect him to be a Man, and 

 not a horse or an ox. You cannot tell what good 

 ho may achieve, or what important offices he niay 

 discharge in his day. For aught you know, he 

 may, if you do your duty by him, become tlie 

 President of the United States. At any rate he 

 has reason and understanding, which ought to be 

 cultivated for their own sake. Should he even.u- 

 ally live in the most humble retirement, and stb- 



ist by the hardest manual labor, still he may en- 

 joy an occasional intellectual feast of the purest 

 and most exhilarating kind.' If all our laboring 

 fellow citizens could relish books, and should have 

 access to them, what a boundless field of innocent 

 recreation and (irofitable entertainment would al- 

 ways be at baud and within their reach ! What 

 a flood of cheering liglit axtd happiness would be 

 shed upon the dark path, and poured into the bit- 

 ter cu[) of millions of rational, immortal beings; 

 who, at present, rank but little above the brute in 

 their pursuits, habits and enjoyments! 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Proceedings of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, at a meeting held in tlie Hall of the In- 

 titution, on Saturday the 18th of May, 1833. 



H. A. S.Dearborn, the President of the Society, 

 made the following Report : — 



It will be recollected, that during the last season, 

 a connnuuicatiou was received from David Por- 

 ter, Esq., Charge D'AfBiirs of the United States, 

 at the Ottoman Porte, in which he kindly proft'ered 

 his services, in procuring and transmitting such 

 seeds and plants as the society might be desiroTis 

 of possessing. Having so favorable an opportuni- 

 ty to increase the varieties of our fruit, timber, and 

 ornamental trees, and culinary vegetables, I wrote 

 hiin last autumn, that it would be considered a 

 great favor, if lie could obtain and forward seeds 

 of the (jiul Ibrischim, — samples of the grape vines, 

 cherries and other fruits of the Crimea, — seeds of 

 such forest trees as were considered valuable for 

 economical purposes, and of such other plants 

 as would flourish in our climate. Within a few- 

 days the following letters has been received, with 

 the seeds therein named. 



let it take its chance with the hope of its reaching 

 you. 



The North will be able to exchange with the 

 south ; and it is worth making the exchange, for 

 there cannot be a doubt that they are varieties. 

 If one of each comes to maturity, I shall feel my- 

 self well rewarded in the satisfaction of having in- 

 troduced so beautiful an object into our gardens. 

 It is a hardy plant, it flourishes here in 41 deg. 

 hut it is not so cold as in the same latitude in 

 America, yet I have no doubt it will thrive in 

 Massachusetts. 



I have endeavored in vain to find the Plana 

 you mention, or to get some intelligence respect- 

 ing it. Mr. Eckford, could give mo no informa- 

 tion about it, nor could Mr. Rhoades, bis farmer, 

 who is something of a Botanist. Both, however, 

 assured me that they had the live oak here equal 

 to that in the United States, and they liave shown 

 mc several fine trees of it, growing. The Turks 

 are ignorant of the treasure they possess. Their 

 tiinlier for ship building is, take i\ altogether, the 

 finest in the world. I have never seen such fine 

 lots of wood for the frames of ships as I have seen 

 debvered from vessels at the Navy Yard, not cut 

 exactly to mould, but nearly so. It is brought 

 chiefly from the Black Sea. Immense Rafts of 

 Pines pars are annually brought down from tlkcnce 

 to Constantinople. 



A long spell of sickness, the prevalence of the 

 Plague, and various other causes, have prevented 

 my being as active as I should have otherwise 

 been, but tlic prospect of a return of health en- 

 courages the hope, that next spring and summer, 

 I shall be able to accomplish all the wishes of the 

 so-icty as expressed in your letter. With great 

 respect, your most obedient servant. 



David Porter. 



To the President of the 



Mass. Hor. Soc. lioslon. 



Pera, Jan. 3, 1833. 



Sir, — I have received your favor of the 2.5lh 

 Sept. 1832, accompanied by a Diploma, with 

 which the society over which you preside, has 

 honored me as corresponding member. Also a 

 nundjer of the New England Farmer, noticing my 

 communication respecting the beautiful Guul 

 Aghailj. 



As the name of H. E. the Baron Ottenfcls is 

 mentioned in that eomnmuication, I took the lib- 

 erty of sending it to him, and he did me the hon- 

 or to call on me the next day, bringing with him 

 a quantity of the seeds of the Tree to which the 

 communication alludes, as growing in his garden ; 

 he had collected them for the purpose of taking 

 with him to Vienna, for which place he takes his 

 departure from here in a few days. 



These seeds which are fresh from the Tree, he 

 desired me to present in his name to the society. 

 They are not exactly the kind which I sent to Mr. 

 Skinner, but a variety of the same family, and I 

 am in hopes may prove still more beautiful. The 

 Baron calls the Tree the Gul (Guul) Ibrischim, the 

 seeds are larger and blacker than those of the 

 Guul Aghadj. The pod is nearly double the size. 

 Guul as I mentioned in my former communication 

 is tlte Turkish tor Rose. Ibrischim as nearly as I 

 can ascertain means Silk Tassel. The Silk Tas- 

 sel Rose is certainly a most appropriate name for 

 it. Yel I should be soiTy that it should loose the 

 name which it bears in Turkish. 



A few of the seeds I shall put up in this letter, 

 the rentainder I shall put in a clean Tin Box, and 



Pera, Jan. 30, 1833. 



SiE, — As the seeds of the Oriental Cypress 

 have arrived to maturity, I have had some collect- 

 ed, and inclose them to you under the impression 

 that his stately and magnificent evergreen has 

 never been introduced into our country. 



Every body has read or heard of the Cemeter- 

 ies of Scutara, of Constantinople and of Pera. 

 Thej would be nothing without this tree ; to it they 

 owe all their beauty. Trees of this kind grow to 

 the largest size, and of an enormous height, so thick 

 togeher that a bird cannot penetrate their branch- 

 es, offijriug an eternal shade. 



The Cypress grows well from the cutting. 

 Brai.ches when planted with care, of the size of 

 the leg or arm, never fail to take root. 



By the Turks it is considered a sacred tree, and 

 is never allowed to be cut down, e.\ccpt under an 

 absolute necessity. 



From the ground to the first branches of a well 

 grown tree, is from fifteen to twenty feet; the base 

 of a beaatilul cone is then formed, which elongates 

 itself, terminating in a single point at top, of a 

 dark green, which continues throughout the year. 



The male and female Cypresses are very dis- 

 similar in their appearance, the former resembling 

 our snagged i)ine, while the other is tall taper and 

 graceful— more beautifully shaped than it would 

 possibly be cut by the hands of man. 



I bav3 seen some attempts in our country of 

 giving to the cedar, by means of the shears, the 

 shape of the Cypress, but no art can give to the 

 cedar its height and magnificence. 



