No. 3. 



Farm of Mr. Belt 



81 



It is not difficult to see how strongly hor- 

 ticulture contributes to the development of 

 local attachments. In it lies the most pow- 

 erful philtre that civilized man has yet found 

 to charm him to one spot of earth. It trans- 

 forms what is only a tame meadow and a 

 bleak aspect, into an Eden of interest and 

 delights. It makes all the difference be- 

 tween " Araby the blest," and a pine barren. 

 It gives a bit of soil, too insignificant to find 

 a place in the geography of the earth's sur- 

 face, such an importance in the eyes of its 

 possessor, that he finds it more attractive 

 than countless acres of unknown and unex- 

 plored " territory." In other words, it con- 

 tains the mind and soul of the man, materi- 

 alized in many of the fairest and richest 

 forms of nature, so that he looks upon it as 

 tearing himself up, root and branch, to ask 

 him to move a mile to the right or tlie left 

 Do we need to say more, to prove that it is 

 the panacea that really "settles" mankind" 



It is not, therefore, without much pleasur 

 able emotion, that we have had notice lately 

 of the formation of five new horticultural 

 societies, the last at St. Louis, and most of 

 them west of the Alleghanies. Whoever 

 lives to see the end of the next cycle of our 

 race, will see the great valleys of the west 

 the garden of the world, and we watch with 

 interest the first development, in the midst 

 of the busy fermentation of its active masses, 

 of that beautiful and quiet spirit, of the joint 

 culture of the earth and the heart, that is 

 destined to give a tone to the future charac- 

 ter of its untold millions. 



The increased love of home and the gar- 

 den, in the older States, is a matter of every 

 day remark; and it is not a little curious, 

 that just in proportion to the intelligence 

 and settled character of its population, is the 

 amount of interest manifested in horticul- 

 ture. Thus, the three most settled of the 

 original States, we suppose to be Massachu- 

 setts, New York and Pennsylvania ; and in 

 these States horticulture is more eagerly 

 pursued than in any others. The first named 

 State has now seven horticultural societies; 

 the second, five ; the third, three. Follow- 

 ing out the comparison in the cities, we 

 should say that Boston has the most settled 

 population, Philadelphia the next, and New 

 York the least so of any city in the Union ; 

 and it is well known that the horticultural 

 society of Boston is at this moment the most 

 energetic one in the country, and tliat it is 

 stimulated by the interest excited by socie- 

 ties in all its neighbouring towns. The 

 Philadelphia society is exceedingly prosper- 

 ous; while in New York we regret to say, 

 that the numerous efforts that have been 

 made to establish a society of this kind have 



not, up to this time, resulted in any success 

 whatever. Its mighty tide of people is as 

 yet too much possessed with the spirit of bu- 

 siness and of unrest.— Z)oionm^'s Horticul- 

 iurist. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Farm of Mr. Bell. 



Statements like the following, are to me 

 exceedingly interesting, and if our farmers 

 would much more frequently give them, the 

 cause of agriculture would not only be bene- 

 fitted, but much additional interest would be 

 thrown around it What statements, for in- 

 stance, that have appeared in the Cabinet, 

 have been read with more interest than 

 those occasionally given by James Gowenl 



L. 



"The farm occupied by Mr. Thomas Bell, 

 is situated in Morrisania, near New York, 

 and comprises about 400 acres, being a part 

 of the domain of William H. Morris, Esq. 

 The present season 100 acres have been 

 cropped with hay, 40 acres with Indian 

 corn, 18 acres with wheat, 12 acres with 

 oats, 6 acres with rye, 5 acres with turnips, 

 3 acres with potatoes, and 10 acres with 

 corn, sown broadcast, or in drills, for soiling; 

 the remainder lying in pasture or fallow. 

 There are also on the place 25 acres of or- 

 chard, principally Newtown pippin trees, 

 from which were sold last year 400 barrels 

 of apples and 200 barrels of cider. 



The stock of the farm consists of 75 cows, 

 52 of which give milk, two Durham bulls, 

 25 heifers, 6 working oxen, 6 horses for la- 

 bour, 12 sheep of Bakewell or Leicester 

 grade, and 50 or 60 hogs and pigs. 



On the 16th of July last, the field crops 

 all looked well, which was doubtless owing, 

 in a great measure, to superior management. 

 The wheat was in the act of harvesting, and 

 bid fair to yield 25 or 30 bushels to the acre. 

 It was grown on land that had remained in 

 fallow for many years ; that is, a scanty pas- 

 ture, interspersed with alders, dwarf cedars, 

 wild grasses, &c. The ground was ploughed 

 twice in the summer of 1846, and previous 

 to sowing, 25 loads of compost, made of 

 swale or pond mud, mixed and fermented in 

 the heap with barnyard manure, were applied 

 to each acre. The field in which this wheat 

 was grown, at present is in excellent condi- 

 tion for laying down to grass, or for the cul- 

 tivation of almost any kind of crop. 



The fields of Indian corn, in general, 

 looked vigorous, dark-coloured, and were 

 just in tassel, although the land varied in 

 character, and had been differently tilled. 

 We were particularly struck with the vigor 



