iTol. VIII.— No. 30. 



AND HORTICITLTUllAL JOURNAL. 



237 



RTICULTURAL INSTITUTE OFFROMONT. 

 [r Fessenden— Whenit is fully understood, wlat 

 able exertions have been made in Europe to extend 

 science, and pjrfect the art of Horticulture, it is con- 

 ntly anticipated, that the citizens of the United States 



not linger in the rear of this age of general improve- 



t ; they will present examples of generous patronage, 

 evince a zeal for the encouragement and extension of 

 .1 economy, which shall be in some degree, commen- 

 te with the vast extent of their country, and the great 

 ety of its soil and climate. 



is only twentyfour years since the London Horticul- 

 I Society was established, and there arc novf nearly 



similar institutions, in the Island of Great Britain. 



first to commence in the career of cultivation, Eng- 



still maintains her distinguished position in the ad- 



e. Her fruit and floral nurseries supply the gardens 

 conservatories of the continent, with some of their 



valuable and splendid ornaments, 

 ranee is rushing onward in the same honorable course, 



that energy and intelligence, which triumphs over 

 mpediments. In the various provinces where Horti- 

 jral Societies have not been established, those of Ag- 

 Iture, of the Sciences or Arts, have created a depart- 

 t expressly devoted to that interesling pursuit ; and 

 ng the last summer, a Practical and Theoretical School 



founded at Fromont, by the illustrious Chevalier Sou- 



GK BoDiN, for the improvement of the various 

 iches of Gardening. 



ooking forward, with cheering hopes, to the period, 

 n our distinguished, intelligent, and wealthy fellow 

 ens, aided by the munificent patronage of the govern- 

 t, will emulate this magnificent example, I have he- 

 ;d that the character, plan, and object of the School 

 'romont, would be interesting and instructive, and 

 3se the account which has been given of it in the 

 alesde laSocietie D'Horticulture de Paris. 



is impossible that we should long remain destitute of 

 advantages of a Garden of Experiment, at least ; and 

 either the national, or state governments will extend 

 ■ protection over such important, — such indispensable 

 tutions, the people will come forward with individual 

 ■ality, and place themselves on an equality with the 

 ects of the eastern continent, by the liberal endow- 

 it of seminaries, for the promotion of this, and every 

 r branch of science, the arts, and literature, Massa- 

 letts has thus far stood preeminent, for her numerous 

 iges, academies, schools, and societies of instruction. 



will hasten to gather fresh laurels in the boundless 



of intelligence. 



Very respectfully, 



Your most obedient servant. 

 rinley Place, > H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



Tan. 25, 1830. $ 



EXTRACT NO. III. 



■iicultural Inslitnte of Fromont, in Ris, Dtpnrt- 

 xtnt of Seine-et-Oise, under the direction of 

 If. Le Chevalier Soulange Bodin. 

 is worthy of remark, that tlie inost simple 

 I of industry, and the rudest occupations, are 

 jected, by public opinion, to the necessity of an 

 renticeship of longer or shorter duration ; and 



nts, who destine llieir sons to the practice of 

 se arts and occupations, consider themselves 

 ged to dispense with their labor for several 

 rs, and even to pay an annual sum for their 

 ruction ; and yet, what is the information 

 oh it is requisite they should acquire ? — what 



and complicated studies have they to pursue ? 



repeat, some details of practice, and the use 



few tools, for which, it is thought they do not 



pay too dear, by lo.-;iii^ the tiiue of the young 

 men, for tlnee or four years. And the gardener, 

 who, to merit a ci.tuin degree of confidence, 

 should acquire theoretical information on the 

 physical, chemical, and natm-al sciences ; — the gar- 

 dener, who becomes a really useless agent, when 

 his labors are not guided by rational practice ; — the 

 gardener, wlio should take counsel of his intelli- 

 gence, and of circiunstances, which vary accord- 

 ing to place and time, and the olijects to which 

 he applies his industry ;— the ganlener, we say, 

 is generally, in France, left to his own education ; 

 while it is indispensable that he should derive, 

 from the instructions of an able master, elemen- 

 tary ideas on botany, vegetable physiology, on 

 physics and chemistry, on mechanics, geometry, 

 and more especially, on the cidture, multiplication, 

 support and conservation of all kinds of vegeta- 

 bles, which constitute the domain of Hortictdture, 

 he does not receive even that degree of instruc- 

 tion which an apprenticeship gives to the work- 

 man, in the most simple meclianical profession. 

 For, what are the greater part of our journeymen 

 gardeners ? men who labor, sow, plant, water, 

 and successively prune, graft, &c ; — this is all, 

 nnd it may be said. Without knowing what they 

 do, or why, — imitating in all these operations tlie 

 master gardeners, who, \'t[ie them, having received 

 the same instruction, for the saine work, have ex- 

 ecuted it ill the same manner, and without ever 

 applying to it a single reflection. We know, that 

 in tlie capital and its environs, there are a consid- 

 erable number of honorable exceptions ; distin- 

 guishe<l cultivators have transmitted their theore- 

 tical information, elucidated by the practice of 

 several disciples who are worthy of them, and the 

 Royal Garden, especially, imder the illustrious 

 Andre Thouin, has produced many excellent pu- 

 pils ; but, in a general thesis, it may be said witli 

 truth, that in most of the de|)artments of France, 

 the gardens are abandoned to the blindest routine ; 

 still, it is seen, that gardening is aii art which can- 

 not be learned by an apprenticeship, under the di- 

 rection of a mere practitioner, however able he 

 may be ; theoretical knowledge is necessary, 

 which can oidy be displayed, developed, and fol- 

 lowed in its application by the learned. 



It is certain, that in proportion as we remove 

 from the capital, the various branches of garden- 

 ing have been struck with sterility. The embar- 

 rassment which proprietors daily experience, in 

 procuring gardeners, who, by their intelligence, are 

 a little elevated above the conmion practitioners ; 

 — the spirit of routine in vvhicli are conducted, 

 not oidy the greater part of the ])rivate gardens, 

 but even the establishments of the industrious, 

 on whose cidtivation, whether well or ill managed, 

 depends the prosperity or ruin of a laboring fa- 

 mily ; — the contempt of the greater part of prac- 

 titioners for that instruction which is communica- 

 ted by books ; — the ignorance of even a large 

 number of proprietors, with regard to an industry 

 and a kind of labor, which touches, nevertheless, 

 so nearly, their interest, by increasing the value 

 of their pro[ierty, — their enjoyments, by the mul- 

 tiplication of products, — their satisfaction and re- 

 pose, by the amelioration of the social and moral 

 condition of the cultivators, and by the greater 

 coinfort in everything by which they are snr- 

 roundeil, are the considerations which have in- 

 duced Rl. SocLANGE BoniN to found the Horti- 

 cultural Institute of Fromont, which is intended 

 to embrace the study and knowledge of all plants 



cultivated in nurseries and gardens, — their multi- 

 plication, and their applications both to our wants 

 and our pleasures. 



To attain this result, he has made the following 

 arrangements in the establishment. 



1st courses — viz. a course of botany and vege- 

 table ])hysiology applicable to Horticulture, by 

 professor Guillemin ; a special course of culture, 

 a[)plicable to fruit, forest, and ornamental trees, 

 cidinary and ornamental plants, indigenous and 

 exotic, by jirofessov Poiteau ; a course on the 

 theory and composition of landscape gardens. 



2(1. — To com])letc these theoretic studies the es- 

 tablishment possesses a library, a cabinet of de- 

 monstrative instruments, models, implements, &c, 

 and a Hcrbary. 



3d. — For the practical studies, besides the vari- 

 ous labors of the Garden of Fromont, which are 

 to be performed by the iiupils, there will be formed 

 groups of methodical i)lantations, and st]uares of 

 experiments, for the j)ractical studies. Among 

 these groups, there will be some assigned to the 

 formation of a Pomological School, for the exami- 

 nation and verification of the species of fruits, 

 and others to a Forest School, for the examination 

 and comparison of exotic forest trees. 



The pupils have the title of Candidates of Hor- 

 ticulture, aui\ to obtain admission, they must know 

 how to read, write, cipher, be fifteen years of age, 

 I'urnished with good recommendations, and engage 

 to work for a d«erminate period, which is gene- 

 rally three years ; no compensation is required of 

 them, their labor being considered sufficient to 

 defray the cost of instruction, and all other ex- 

 penses. 



On leaving the establishment, those who have 

 passed through all the courses of instruction, in a 

 satisfactory manner, receive a brevet, certifying 

 their studies and abilities. 



The Garden of Fromont contains about 130 

 acres. Extensive green houses, stoves, and orange- 

 ries, have been erected, and all the other ap]uo- 

 priate appendages, which are required to render 

 the establishment effectual for instruction and ex- 

 periment in the various divisions of Horticulture. 



The Institution was opened on the fifteenth of 

 May, 1S29, under the auspices of M. De Boiseer- 

 TRA.^D, Director General of Agriculture, and Vi- 

 comle Hericort De Thury, President of the 

 Royal and Central Agricultural Society. Dis- 

 courses were pronounced by them and professor 



PolTEAO. 



The founder and inst/ucters ]>repare and issue a 

 monthly publication, called the " Annales de I'ln- 

 EtitiJt Horticole de Fromont," devoted to the illus- 

 tration of the studies pursued in the establishment, 

 and to whatever is interesting and instructive in 

 botany or gardening. H. A. S. D. 



COFFEE. 



There are probably many house-keepers who 

 will he interested in the following simple rules 

 for the preparation of an important item of do- 

 mestic luxury. It is somewhat remarkable that 

 an infusion which may be made with great ease, 

 and in a very short space of time, is, in many fa- 

 milies, the cause of more vexation and complaint 

 than all the other i)elty annoyances of the house- 

 hold put together. The suggestions below, which 

 we copy from the Virginia Literary Musemn, may 

 he the means of soothing the diurnal irritation of 

 many an unquiet spirit. — Boston Daily Mverliser. 



