374 



NKW ENGLAND FAIOIEK 



June 11,1830. 



BOSTO.V, FR 1 1) A \ , J I N K 1 1 , I s :io. 



In a ' Treatite on the CSiltHalion of the Mulberry 

 Tret, ifc. Abridged from the f>ench of M. De La 

 lirousse, I5y William II. Vkbno.n,' laldy pulilisli- 

 ed by HilliarJ, Gray, &, Co. Bostoo, wo have (he 

 following passage : — 



' It id almost an un|)ardonublc sin to sow or 

 plant a piece of land covered with the mulberry 

 of high growth ; hut it would he an art still more 

 inexcusable to sow with grain, or any other i)ro- 

 duce, an orchard of these trees newly set. Though 

 the ground be not wholly covered, and but partially 

 shaded by these small trees, yet any grain, roots, 

 or grass, would exhaust the soil, retard the activity 

 of the sap, and obstruct the expansion of every 

 part of the tree. Every proprietor who has at- 

 tempted to lake at the same time two full crops 

 from tlie same land, has unwisely exhausted the 

 sod, and finally diminished his income. By ma- 

 luiring well our fields, and requiring but one crop 

 at a lime, we shall make better harvests and re- 

 ceive a better rent.' 



The translator gives his sanction to the forego- 

 ing sentiments, and observes, in a note, that ' the 

 whole of this paragraph ought peculiarly to attract 

 the notice of the farmers of our own country ; for 

 it is of general usage with them to take a crop of 

 grain, of roots, or of grass, from their orchards. 

 This custom, so inconsistent with sound reason, 

 added to the careless treatment of their trees, is 

 the cause of that infertility of which wc- hear them 

 so often complain ; and it also very materially af- 

 fects the quality of the fruit. At Moiitreuil, a vil- 

 lage of nearly twenty thousand inhabitant.s, all 

 maintained by the cultivation of fruit for the sup- 

 ply of the city of Paris, a proprietor will not allow 

 even a plant of lettuce to be grown near fruit 

 trees. Every particle of the surface of the ground 

 is there kept in a friable state to the full extent of 

 the roots of the tree ; a due proportion of manure 

 is every year worked into the soil ; the art of trim- 

 ming is there perfectly understood and as perfectly 

 practised ; and there we never hear the barbarous 

 assertion that the a[)plc tree bears well only once 

 in two or three vears.' 



DIGGING AND PLOUGHING AMONG OR- 

 CHARD TREES, &c. 



Mr Loudon, the able conductor of the Garden- 

 er's Magazine, has published some extracts from 

 bis evidence, given at an invcsligation of the af- 

 fairs of The London Horticultural Society, relative 

 to the ' General Maniigement and Plan of the 

 Garden,' from which the following is selected : 



' The orchard is the most valuable department 

 in the garden ; but even here there arc hedges. A 

 great error in the management has been, first sow- 

 ing down the compartments containing the stand- 

 ard trees, with tap rooted [ilants ; and next, break- 

 ing it up and planting it with exhausting plant.<i, 

 such as the potato. After the trees were planted, 

 it ought never to have been once dug or cropped 

 in any way ; it ought merely to have been hoed 

 to destroy weeds. All cligginjr among fruit bear- 

 ing trees is highly injurious to them, by preventing 

 thi'ir roots from coming near the surface.' 



This doclrine is not exactly in accordance with 

 llii" recoiniiiendalions of most writers who have 

 given directions fi>r the culture of fruit tree's. It 

 lias been thought expedient to crop the ground on 



which orchard trees are plaiiird, at least for sev- 

 eral years, in order to defray the expense of hoe- 

 ing and cultivating it. This may perhaps be done 

 while the trees are small, or when fruit is not the 

 principal object of culture ; but as a general rule 

 one crop at a time is enough. 



Nicol, a famous Scotch Horticulturist, says ' It 

 is proper to crop the grouml among newly planted 

 orchard trees for a few years, in order to defray the 

 expen.se of hoeing and cultivating it, which should 

 be done until the temporary plants are removed, 

 and the whole be sowed down to grass. But it is 

 by no means advisable to carry the system of crop- 

 ping to such excess as is frec|uenlly done. If the 

 bare expense of cultivating the ground and the 

 rent be paid by such cropping, it would be consid- 

 ered enough. As the trees begin to produce fruit, 

 begin also to relinquish cropping. When by their 

 productions they defray all expenses, crop no long- 

 er. I consider these as being wholesome rules, 

 both for the trees and their owners.' 



Rule. — ' Crop to within two feet of the trees 

 the first year; a yard the second ; four feet the 

 third ; and so on until finally relinquished ; which 

 of course would be against the eighth year, pro- 

 vided the trees were planted at thirty or forty feet 

 apart, with early bearing sorts between. By this 

 time, if the kinds have been well chosen, the tem- 

 porary trees will be in full bearing, and will forth- 

 with defray every necessary expense while they 

 remain, or until the principal trees come into a 

 bearing state, and it becomes necessary to remove 

 them ; after which the land should be sown down 

 in grass. But until then, the ground should be 

 properly cultivated, though not cropped close to 

 the trees ; and a moderate quantity of manure 

 should be digged in every second and third sea- 

 son.' 



(J[^ Since writing the above, we have received 

 ajudicious article from an esteemed friend, wiiich 

 will be found on the first page of this week's pa- 

 |)er. 



An Mdress delivered at the opening of the Chirles- 



town Lyceum, January 5, 1830. — By Ti.motut 



Walker. 



We were sometime since presented, by its au- 

 thor, with a pamphlet with the above title : but 

 have been prevented by the number and pressure 

 of our avocations from acknowledging the favor 

 by a due notice of this useful and able productioij. 

 The topics are chosen with judgment, enforced 

 with perspicuity, energy and eloquence. Although 

 a suitable address for such an occasion could not 

 be expected to contain much novelty, without the 

 introduction of matter not appropriate to the ob- 

 jects, which induced the assembling of the audi- 

 ence, it exhibits nothing trite nor trivial, and what 

 ever is not new is 



' Truth and nature to advanttige dress'd 



What oft was (bought, but not so well ciprcss'd.' 



The most favorable notice we can give of this 

 address, will bo by quoting some passages as spe- 

 cimens of the remainder. This we think will al- 

 so be cpiile asfiiiras to make the article before us 

 an apology for writing a treatise of our own on 

 the same or similar topics after the manner of the 

 most celebrated modern reviews. 



'There appears' says, Mr Walker, ' to be one 

 general effort now making, to promote the great- 

 est iiiformalioii of the greatest number. 1 look 

 upon this to be the trait which distinguishes 

 the age in which it is our happiness to live, 

 from every other which history reveals. Men 



have hitherto leagued themselves to destroy, to 

 enslave their brethren — sometimes, as yonder 

 heights can Icslify to set their brethren free ; — 

 now they are uniting to enlighten their breth- 

 ren. And the prayers and benedictions of all good 

 men must be with them in this cause. 



'If knowledge be of all things most precious — 

 anil this I never heard that a human being doubt- 

 ed — then who would not labor in the field now 

 before us. Here, truly, the gi'rer is more blessed 

 than the receiver. More blessed because he has to 

 give ; and still more blessed because he gains by 

 giving. The man who gives money to another, 

 diminishes his own store, because he must part 

 nitli what he gives. But the man who gives 

 knowledge to another, not only docs not part with 

 what he gives, but actually enlarges his own store. 

 For in the very act and exercise of instructing 

 others he learns something new. Yes, the treasures 

 of the mind nm. capable of infinite diffusion, with- 

 out draining their immortal treasury. Let this 

 thought sweeten '!■ t.isk of the teacher in what- 

 ever sphere he labors. Other charity may sigh be- 

 cause it ha.s no more to give, but intellectual cha- 

 rity shall never know exhaustion. I can think of 

 nothing to which ideas may be likened. I was 

 going to compare them to the rays of light ; but 

 these as they are reflected from object to object, 

 are at length absorbed and lost, — whereas the 

 same individual idea may circulate from nation lo 

 nation, and travel down from age to age, until 

 millions have been gladdened by it, and yet suffer 

 no diminution. 



' How few persons are conscious of the power 

 they have to inform others ! Probably no two in- 

 dividuals were ever placed together, of whom one 

 did not know some one thing of which the other 

 was ignorant, .\ltnost every individual might tell 

 something new to almost every other. I beliere 

 this is literally true, and if so, let no one be kepi 

 back from the contribution of knowledge by diffi- 

 dence of his ability to add to the common stock. 

 We are too a|)t to think that great talents are in- 

 dispensable for cooperation in the immense scheme 

 of popular education. It is not so. Great talenta 

 indeed are never out of place ; and they may la- 

 bor in this vineyard with glorious success. Bui 

 they are not indispensable. I'seful knowledge i," 

 what we look for in Lyceums ; not brilliancy n<ir 

 wit ; sparkling genius will avail us far less than 

 unpolished common sense. Practical information 

 is what the many want, such information as they 

 can turn to useful account in the daily concerns 

 of life. To furnish this at the cheapest possible 

 rate, is what I understand to be the design of this, 

 and all similar as.sociations. .\nd, I repent it, let 

 no man hold himself back, by comparing himscir 

 with others whom he deems more able than he 

 is. I refer now to the contribution of intellectu- 

 al aid. 



' Lyceums do indeed make pecuniary demands ; 

 but they are trifling compared with the advanta- 

 ges to be purchased. And let it be observed that 

 they are diminished in exact proportion as the 

 numbers are incronscd. It ctsis no more to estab- 

 lish a weekly lecture for five hundred than it (toes 

 for twenty. But in the one case the individual 

 expense is only a twenlyfiflh port as much as in 

 the other ; and yet the benefit deriveil is precisely 

 the same in both cases. This reduction of the 

 pecuniary bnrlhen is undoubtedly luie of the 

 strongest motives fiir forming societies. One man 

 cannot aflbrd alone to furnish himself wiih the 

 means of instruction. Ho thercforo iinitCH with 



