154 



^EW I:N GLAND FARMKR, 



t»ec. 4, IS'^'i. 



Roxliury, an to leave lillle or no room to iloiilit llic 

 gciiuiii'-iiusii of lliat vuiiiriy as tlie lilaiurs grajiu. 

 But wliutlier it uvHiiiiially |>rovur( llial wi; aro right 

 or wrong, in consicluriiig it tlic Ulunil'.", it will not 

 diiiiinisli iiiir CMtiniato of its value ; as " a rose by 

 any otiiirr name would nini-ll as >wi'ei," so tliis 

 grape, lie its nuuieuclaiure what it ni.iy, will con- 

 tinue to l>c classeii ainoug the most valued of any 

 of our native varieties of tliut fruit. 



We have seen, the presi-nt season, two other 

 varielies of grapes, sent from a southern nursery 

 for the Bland's, one of which wns as white und 

 trans|)ari;nt as the Clnusselas ; the oth'T a pale red ; 

 the Ibruier so entirely unpjilatable as to create a 

 surprise in our minds that nature couhl, in her first 

 process, have infused so much acidity into go 

 small a compass. The other hore .some resem- 

 blance to what we hclicve to he the geiruine Bland's 

 grape, hut could not be identified as such, although 

 it was not essentially objectionable in its taste. 



Dorchester. ZEBEDEE COOK, Jr. 



JUDGE niJEL'S ADDRESS, 

 Jit the First .'hiniversari/ Meelitig of the Albany 

 Hirlicitllural Society, September 1, 1829. 

 Ge.ntleme.n — No person having hccn appoint- 

 ed to address you on this, the first Anniversary of 

 our Society, I beg leave to offer a iVw remarks 

 upon the objects of our association, and the claims 

 it has to the countenance and support of the citi- 

 zens of Albany and its vicinity. 



The object of the society is, the advancement 

 of an art upon which depends many of the com- 

 forts and enjoyments of civilized life ; an art, 



which contributes much to gratify the alimentary 

 wants, and to interest, elevate, and rcfme the in- 

 tellectual faculties of man. I will not say, that 

 the state of horticulture in a community, forms a 

 just criterion of the mental and moral condition of 

 iu population ; but I think it does of thoir Kociul 

 and household enjoyments. It is an art that is 

 never cultivated in savage life, and never nclect- 

 ed by a civilized and polished people. It has ever 

 flourished in the most enlightened ages ; and at- 

 tained to the highest perfection among nations of 

 the greatest refmemenr. It rose, iti ancient Komc, 

 to the rank of the One arts. It sunk, under her 

 Vandal conquerors, to a menial employment. It 

 now stLStains an elevated rank in the best portions 

 of Europe. In Germany, the Netherlands, Fiance, 

 and Great Britain, in particular, its pursuits and 

 its improvements, engage the attention, and em- 

 ploy the capital, of men of the first wealth and 

 talents ; ami even nobles and princes become 

 competitors for the prizes which it awards to me- 

 rit.* Nor have the labors of the learned ami af- 

 fluiiit of Europe, been without benefit oven to our 

 horticulture. The soil of our city already grows 

 esteemed varieties of fruits and culinary vegetables, 

 which owe their origin to the labors of Knight, 

 Van Mons, and other foreigners of horlicultinal 

 acience ; while our grounds abound in useful and 

 ornamental e.xolics, ccdiected, in the first instance, 

 by the societies of Europe, from the remotest 

 quarters of the globe. 



Tine new varieties of the pear, of fine quality, 

 recently produced in tlio Netherlands alone, prin 



cipally by gentlemen of fortune or of literary pur- 

 suit!!', exceed two huiiilred, nod comprise u succea- 

 sion of choice table fruit for the entire year. Great 

 Britain has also done nmch to swell the catalogue 

 of fruits by ne»v and esteemed varietie.", produced 

 by artificial means. Some idea may be formed of 

 the |iomidogical features of Germany, when I state, 

 oil the authority of l.oudon, that the public road 

 from Sirasburgli to Munich, a distance of two 

 Imndred and fifty miles, is an avenue of fruit 

 tr'jes, unbroken except by towns and villages. 



The taste fi>r rural improvement is not restricted, 

 in Europe, to fruits and euliiiary vegetables ; but 

 " most towns of any si/.e on the continent," says 

 a late tourist, " boast of their promenades anil 

 public gardens." I will quote what he says of 

 Frankfort, as an illustration. " This town is sur- 

 rounded, except on one side, where the river 

 Maine runs, with a pleasure ground at least two 

 miles in length, commenced in 1809, and occupy- 

 ing the breadth of the former ditch and ramparts, 

 and affording n great variety of shady walks and 

 picturesque scenery. One particular feature of 

 this pleasure ground is, that it is not confined to 



b. fore he had thought superior of ilinr kind, ^lay| 

 been thrown into the back ground by st^augel^ a 

 greater merit. 



This society cinima the patronage of our citi 

 zens from various cuiiiiideratioiis. The owiii-nt ^ 

 gardeiiH will acquire by its labors, not only ne^ 

 seeds and plains, and the knowledge of iiiiprotei'^ 

 nicihodsuf ciillivaiioii, but will be eiiublt-d to sc 



't the best, and to reject all of inferior qmilii] 



le 



The London Ilorticulliirul garden wan iitrjt 

 IS 18. In 1826, it contuined, as appvars by il 

 catalogue printed in that year, more llinii twi I? 

 hiiiidrvd cniimeraled varieties of the apple, 700 c 

 the pear, 220 of the peach, 300 of the plum, 7f 

 of the nectarine, .'50 of the apricot, Sec; in ■■' 

 more than 4000 varirties, collected from < i 

 country and people. I'liese numerous fruits I 

 not been introduced with a \iew to the perrn 

 culture of them all, but to enable the ><uciety I 

 select from the many, those, which on coiiipar 

 son, shall be found best adapted (o their cli 

 and their waiit.s. As the proiluctsof hurticuliut 

 constitute an essential part of diet among ail rial 

 scs. those who depend on the market for a dail 

 siqiply, are no less interested than the cnltivmo 



trees and shrubs, but contains a profusion of the 



choicest flowers, such as roses, dahlias, chrysau- | ill must eat, niid all will therefore l>e benefiiei 

 tbemuins, &c., together with most of the showy loth on the score of economy utid of health, b 

 annuals, as asters, balsams, &c., and even gerani-j ( very measure which tends to improve the <pial 

 liiims, ferraria tigrida, pinks, and superb cliiiii|is 



of datura arborea, salvia coccinca, and the like 

 Though merely separated from the public road by 

 a hedge which may be stridden across, and at all 

 times accessible to every indiviilual of a population 

 of 50,000 souls, and constantly frequented by ser- 

 vants and children of every dcscriptio!!. Hot a 

 flower, or even a leaf of any one of the plar.ts, 



, niultiply the varieties, and increase* the qnai 

 lity of our vegetable productions. Who h 

 noticed the great and beneficial changes whjc 

 ten or twenty years has brought nboni in our iV 

 and vegetable markets.- .And shall we prel« nd 

 set limits to improvement in the horticultural art 

 lltindreds of new plants arc annually iiiirodiict 

 to Great Britain, by means of her societies hi 



from the rarest and most showy, even to the bum- 1 the imlividuul enterprise which they have exi iie 



blest, seems ever touched. A printed paper is af- 

 fixed on a board at each entrance, expressing that 

 the public authorities, baviijg originally formed, 

 and anmially keeping up, the garden, for the gra- 

 tification of the citizens, its irdes, shrubs, and 

 fioweis are committed to the safeguard of their 

 individual protection." This garden, to quote 

 again our author, affords a striking ])roof of the 

 improved state of German manners. When may 

 we hope to see this German spirit animating our 

 citizens — and particularly our worshipful city 

 councils ? 



The means by which this society hope to im- 

 prove the horticulture of this vicinity, depend for 

 their efficacy, in a nieosure, upon the liberality and 

 supjiort of the citizens nt large. By holding out 

 rewards to merit and excellence, we expect to ex- 

 cite a laudable competition, and to give a new 

 impulse to the skill and industry of professional 

 ganlencis. By establishing a correspondence with 

 like societies, abroad and at home, and from the 

 efforts of public spirit in its inembers, wc antici- 

 pate valuable acquisitions of u.seful and ornamental 

 plants to our gardens. .Ami we think we shall ex- 

 cite, by our exhibitions of improved horticiilliiral 



which add to her resources or her tnjown 

 liir most of thetn are useful for the table, for coo 

 loeriw;, for the arts, or for ornament. .May « 

 not expect like benefits from the use of li) 

 means ? 



But there are considerations other than those' 

 a mercenary nature, or which regard the anim 

 ap|>etites, that appeal to our understandings c 

 this occasion — considerations which etVeci tl 

 health of our families, and tl>» moral condition • 

 society. 



From whence comes the fruit which supplii 

 our summer markets .- .'Much of it from a di.-tani 

 of thirty, sixty, anil one hundred and fifty mils 

 and a portion from rennsylvaniH, Virginia, and tl 

 Carolinas. It is notorious that it must be gnthert 

 in an unripe state, to bear transportation ihc: 

 distances, and that its delcter'iuus qualities :i: 

 ailgiiR'iitcil by being stowed in a mass in the li' 

 and confined air of the boat in which it is broiigi 

 to market. It is then often exposed in the fril 

 shops till it lins attained a state of partial pnin 

 faction. That which is brought a distance i 

 wagons is in little belter condition. IIow scldoi 

 lo wc find a good eating, ripe apple, pencil, \ 



productions, a more general taste fiir its interest- ' plum, or melon, among the wagon loails whic 



• In May, 1H2^, at an exhibition hold ut Vienna, pliinte 

 wero aont from Iho Einpernr'n garden Schoonbrun. Tito 

 Brut proTiiiuni wan nwirdnd to tho nrrh-duko Anthony, 

 ths second to tho Oant<"(« Zicliiii I'Vrrnris, tho third lo 

 tho baroo Weldan, the fiiur.'h tn|iriii<;o Mottarnich, <&c. 

 — Soo Loudun't Uardcner't Mitiiuii'", .lugusl, I82t). 



iiig piirsnils. Similar socii-ties have been fi>uiid 

 highly nsefiil in Europe, and in our own country 

 and state. It is by comparison alono that we are 

 onabled to judge of the relative value of friiitv, 



I Mowers, and other products of the garden. \l- 



tboiigh this society, has been but n few months in 

 existence, I believe thtrre is no gentleman who 

 has attended its exhibitions, but will admit, ihiilat 

 lhc.se, new and valuable varieties have been first 

 Jirescnled to bis notice; ond that many which 



aro hawked through our streets in suiiiuk 



as an amateur would be proud to treat a frien ' 



with ? Ought it to surprise us that dysenteri>'«. ft 



vers and deaths are so cuminon in our • 



liazartl the opinion, that the diseatics |" 



the summer will be found to be confiin 



pally to families who buy unrijio fruits .n 



vogelnbli's ; while those who feed on th. ; 



of their own garden.«, are but seldom or | 



afflicted. Soijtid ripo fruits, of improved varietM*'" 



