No. 7. Horticultural Society and Nomenclature of Fruits. 



217 



plough, is being remedied ; for by the next 

 shipment from Boston, left-hand ploughs, of 

 the real Prouty pattern, will be forwarded 

 to their house at Philadelphia, No. 176 Mar- 

 ket street; where our friends may get sup- 

 plied with implements that will do all but 

 talk. They will be rather of large size; 

 those accustomed to the left-hand plough, 

 being accustomed to keep large and strong 

 teams, and are themselves able to manage a 

 large implement. So far good, but when 

 your correspendent goes to say, " Any 

 ploughman, good or bad, will always make 

 better work with a left, than a right-handed 

 plough," I must beg leave to agree to differ 

 with" him. Nor anT I certain that I under- 

 stand his doctrine respoctin,^ the leading of 

 the land-horse ; but one thing I know, the 

 furrow-horse is always the lead-horse in 

 England, whether the land be ploughed 

 hither, or thither about; and where the left- 

 hand plough is almost or quite unknown. 

 And to constitute him the leader, the land- 

 horse is coupled to his neck or shoulder, by 

 the bit of the bridle; so that when he turns, 

 he has the power to lead the land-horse after 

 him easily. And see now the force of cus- 

 tom ! Having been so long habituated to 

 this coupling, I prefer it to every other, and 

 conceit, that any ploughman, good or bad, 

 would find it more convenient than any 

 other mode of gearing. But as to the ques- 

 tion, whether there be really any advantage 

 in favdur of the left-hand plough over the 

 right, I would refer it, with perfect confi- 

 dence, to the decision of your valunble cor- 

 respondent, Mr. Penn Kinzer, and his near 

 neighbour Mr. Brinton, — both of whom have 

 left-hand ploughs only — and to my young 

 friend George, the son of the latter gentle- 

 man, who IS, perhaps, the very best plough- 

 man in Pequea valley, I-ancaster county, 

 Pa., so famous for good land, good horses, 

 and "ood managers; and will they answer? 

 James Pedder. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Horticultural Society and Nomenclature 

 of Fruits. 



The labours of the Horticultural Society 

 of Philadelphia, have been productive of 

 much good to the public, in stimulating in- 

 dividuals to increased exertion in cultivating 

 improved fruits and vegetables, and in greatly 

 increasing their variety. They also deserve 

 much praise for the increase of good taste 

 which they have disseminated in the propa- 

 gation of tlie finer varieties of ornamental 

 plants and flowers, and it is hoped they will 

 not relax in their labours until they accom- 

 plish much more. There is a wide field be- 



fore them, some parts of which have not yet 

 received that attention which they deserve. 

 The nomenclature of our fruits demands a 

 thorough overhauling at their hands, and it 

 is hoped will early claim their attention. 

 We have numerous local names for our ap- 

 ples in different parts of the country, which 

 are very embarrassing to those who are de- 

 sirous of setting out orchards. Different 

 nurserymen call the same fruit, in many in- 

 stances, by different names, and persons buy- 

 ing trees, often obtain those they had not 

 intended to purchase, and miss obtaining 

 those they desired to possess, owing to the 

 confusion of names. A good descriptive cat- 

 alogue of fruits, with synonyms from so high 

 an authority as the Horticultural Society, 

 would do much good and prevent much con- 

 fusion. At present, when a nurseryman or 

 farmer has a fruit that he don't know the 

 name of, he forthwith christens it, when per- 

 haps, it had long belbre enjoyed a good name, 

 well known in some other district of country. 

 There is now a growing disposition through- 

 out the country, to extend the cultivation of 

 fruit trees; and it is desired that our Society 

 would take up the subject of looking after 

 their names and descriptions; and as they 

 progress with the work, I would suggest 

 that they should publish from time to time, 

 in the Farmer's Cabinet, which circulates 

 generally, among all intelligent nurserymen 

 and farmers in the middle States, as well as 

 in all the other States of the Union. There 

 are already several respectable catalogues 

 of individuals, and some books on the sub- 

 ject, among which, the valuable work of 

 " Cox on Fruit Trees" may be mentioned, 

 which was written nearly thirty years ago, 

 and is now out of print ; would it not be ad- ' 

 visable to correct and post up Cox's work, 

 and publish a new edition of it corrected and 

 extended down to the present time, by some 

 experienced and able hand, under the direc- 

 tion and patronage of tlie Society ] This 

 work is often sought for by persons desirous 

 of acquiring information on the subject of 

 which it treats, but it is believed not a copy 

 remains on sale in the city. P. 



Dr. Beekman stated in his Address before 

 the late New York State Agricultural Fair 

 in Rochester, that 10,000,000 of cattle, and 

 44,000,000 of sheep, are kept in England, 

 advantageously, on a territory but little 

 larger than the State of New York. This 

 is not far from twice the number of sheep 

 now in the whole United States. The Eng- 

 lish cultivators of the soil, harvest, annually, 

 according to Dr. Beekman, 262,000,000 bush- 

 els of grain. 



