VOL.. XIV. NO. 30. 



A i\ U Ci A R D E N E II ' S JOURNAL 



:35 



(Tram the Saletu Ohserver.) 

 HORTICULTURAL ADDRKSS. 



Our young towiisiiian, John L. Rupsoll, deliver- 

 ed the Address before llie Ulassacliuselts Horticul- 

 tural Society, the present year, being the Seventh 

 Anniversary occasion. Mr R., it will be recollect- 

 ed, is Professor in the Society. His thorough 

 knowledge, enthusiasm and delight in this and 

 kindred subjects of natural science, are well 

 known to all who know the author ; and on this 

 occasion he seems to haVe acquitted himself with 

 great felicity and credit. 



The following extract contains pertinent and 

 just sentiments : — 



" The simplicity of nature is overlooked in too 

 many instances for the more gaudy and dazzling 

 productions of art. Among the supposed trea- 

 sures of collections, in vain may one seek for 

 some species, till at length, disappointed in his 

 search, he tinds it under the disguise of an anom- 

 alous character, in some mutilated hybrid, or mon- 

 strous developement. Our floriculture needs thus 

 a cautious hut reforming hand ; a substitution of 

 some of that zeal for new and foreign eccentrici- 

 ties of floral skill by a closer attention to the rich 

 native treasures of our own smiling fields and 

 verdant meadows, of our forest clad mountains 

 and limpid streams, and an endeavor to take a 

 deeper interest in nature, as she is. She recog- 

 nizes, it is true, none of the artificial distinctions 

 lof science ; but what superfluous production of 

 ithis or that organ, what operation of art by the 

 'Curious effects of cultivation, can exceed the sim- 

 iple beauty of a permanent species. What skill 

 Ihas imitated or excelled the vivid glory of the 

 •Cardinal Flower,* mocking the dyes of the pain- 

 Iter ? What perfection superadded to the white 

 water-lilyt, of unrivalled purity, floating amidst 

 lits broad protecting shield-like leaves ? Does 

 ithat little harbinger of our lingering northern 

 •springs, the pale liverwort,! which dares to tell us 

 lof the coming sunny days, appear more interest- 

 liog to the cultivated and refined eye, because art 

 Ihas succeeded in producing a few more petals, by 

 itbe destruction of its tiny filaments, which other- 

 wise contrast so delicately with them.' The al- 

 itnost endless varieties which have sprung into 

 lexistence in the floral department, it has been 

 lasserted has given alarm to system makers and 

 iscientific men. Whether this be so or not, the 

 itoo prevailing taste for variety is more to be la- 

 mented than deprecated ; and it becomes the en- 

 deavors of every learned and enterprising Society, 

 founded for the encouragement and pursuit of 

 horticultural skill, and a taste for gardening, to 

 form a new standard of merit or value for the sub- 

 jects of its pursuits. Did fashion, that mighty 

 potentate over hiiman society, sanction the taste 

 for the pure sim| licity of Nature, and were plants 

 adtnired for their intrinsic value, rather than as 

 artificial productions, there would be as much 

 satisfaction, not to say more intellectual improve- 

 ment, in that taste which dictates her study ; and 

 our gardens and conservatories would shine con- 

 spicuously by the harmonious blending of true 

 species with curious and costly varieties. The 

 perfection of her works is lost in the mutilations 

 of art. We can admire a fine column, or gaze 

 with just admiration on a splendid edifice ; but 



even tliesr shrink irj comparison, .■mil cannot ln-.n- 

 the Ic.-l of her unrivalled siiill. ]f we carry our 

 operations into her precincts, we cannot improve, 

 we must mar." 



•Lobelia Cardinalis. tNymphoea Odorata. 



$Hepatica triloba. 



MicASURFS IN Length. — Pleasures in length 

 are the distance of one object to another, in some 

 agreed standard. 



A line is the tenth of a digit and the 100th of 

 a foot. 



A geometrical pace is 4-4 feet English ; and 

 an English mile contains 1200, or 1760 yards, or 

 5280 feet. 



A Scotch mile contains 1500 paces ; a German 

 mile 4000 ; a Swedish mile 5000 ; the Russian 

 mile 750 paces. 



A hand used in measuring the height of horses 

 is 4 inches. 



A degree of latitude at the equator, is 69 l-7th 

 English miles. 



A surveyor's chain is 4 poles, or 66 feet, divided 

 into 100 links of 7 92 inches. A square chain is 

 16 poles, and 10 square chains are an acre. 910 

 acres are a square mile ; and 4840 square yaids 

 are an acre, 169 58 yards each way. 

 The Irish acre 7840 square yards. 

 The Scotch acre 1 27 English. 

 A French arpent 5-8ths of an English acre. 

 121 Irish acres are equal to 196 English. 

 48 Scotch acres are equal to 61 English. 

 11 Irish miles are equal to 14 English. 

 80 Scotch miles are equal to 91 English. 

 A sea league is 3, 4536 miles, or the 20th of a 

 degree. 



6078 feet are a sea mile. 



A degree at the Equator is 365, 101 feet, or 69 

 148 miles, or 69 l-7th nearly. In latitude 66 20 

 Maupertius measured a degree of latitude in 1737, 

 and made it 69 603 ; and Swauberg in 1803, made 

 it 49 292. At the Equator in 1744, four astrono- 

 mers made it 68 732 ; and Lambton in lat. 12, 68 

 743. Mudge, in England, makes it 69 148 ; Cas- 

 sina, in France, in 1718, 1740, made it 69.12, and 

 Biot 68.769 ; while a recent measure in S|)ain 

 makes it but 66 63, less than aX the equator, and 

 contradicts all the others, proving the earth to be 

 a prolate spheriod, which was the opinion of Cas- 

 sina, Bernouilla, Buler, and others, wliile it has 

 more generally been regarded as an oblate sphe- 

 riod. 



Degrees of longitude are to each other in length, 

 as the cosines of their latitudes. For every 10° 

 they are as follows. 



44 48 

 39 69 

 24 6 

 23 67 

 12 02 



The pendulum which vibrates seconds, 39 1393 

 inches, at Lomlon, is the standard for the British 

 measures. One mile is equal to 16 18.833 such 

 pendulums. 



Fatteni.ng Hogs on Apples. — Mr Tucker: 

 I send you the result of my experience of fattening 

 swine on apples, although far from an accurate 

 statement. I had about 400 apple trees, mostly 

 sour, occupying about 10 acres of land — the 

 trees have been planted from 20 to 25 years. I 

 had 30 swine, and from 30 to 40 shoats and pigs ; 

 they were of the small Grass breed, and in com- 

 mon order on or about the 15th September, at 



wliicli time they wi'ro turned into the orchard, 

 win 10 tluy roniaiiH;d until most of lii'in were 

 butchered, which was the latter part of November 

 and first of December. The whole amount of 

 pork I am iinalilc to state accurately, having 

 used some in Qur family without weighing ; pro- 

 bably 300 lbs. besides which I butchered 5,156 lbs. 

 which was wholly fatted on apples wilhout any 

 grain. The pork was as good as any I ever 

 tasted, and I fhallenge any gourmand to tell the 

 difference between that and corn fed pork. Be- 

 sides this, I sold $12 worth on foot, and have 

 about a dozen store hogs in fine order. 



\\ hat the value of the hogs were when I com- 

 menced fatting, I am unable to state, but this I can 

 say, that I never saw hogs fatten any faster than 

 they do on good ripe apples, whether sweet or 

 sour, although sweet ones are the best. 



I would ask my farming brethren, who are in 

 the habit of working their apples into cider, many 

 of them at 75 cents per barrel, whether they are 

 making better profits, or adding more to the com- 

 forts of their fellows, by so doing, and thus sup- 

 plying a class of men wit:i a drink as injurious as 

 the worst distilled liquor in our country? This 

 is the fourth time I have fatted hogs on apples, and 

 invariably with good success. — Correspondent of 

 Gen. Farmer 



To COOK Caoliflowers. — Cut it when close 

 and white, and of a middling size ; cut the stem 

 SO as to separate the flower from the leaves below 

 it. Let it lie in salt and water awhile ; then put 

 it into boiling water, with a handful of salt. — 

 Keep the boiler uncovered, and skim the water 

 well. A small flower will require about fifteen 



minutes boiling — a large one about twenty 



Take it up as soon as a fork will easily enter the 

 stem : a little longer boiling will spoil it. Serve 

 it up with gravy, or melted butter. — Gen. Far. 



JoHN.NY-CAKES. — .\ Correspondent at Goshen, 

 sends us the following directions for inaking su- 

 perior Indian Johnny-Cakes, with a request that 

 they may have a jilace in the Cultivator. 



"Take one quart of milk, three eggs, one tea 

 S|ioonful salteratns, one tea cup of wheat flour, and 

 Indian meal sufficient to make a batter of the con- 

 sistency of pan-cakes. Bake quick, in pans pre- 

 viously buttered, and eat warm with butter or 

 milk. The addition of wheat flour will be found 

 to be a great improvement in the art of making 

 these cakes. Those who have not got eggs will 

 find that it will do very well without." — Mb. Cul. 



Chemistry applied to Agriculture. — It is 

 stated that the celebrated chemist, Lavoisier, cul- 

 tivated 240 acres of land in La Vendee on chemi- 

 cal principles, in order to set a good examjjle to 

 the farmers. His mode of culture was attended 

 with such success, that his crops amounted to a 

 third more than those which were produced by 

 the usual method; and in nine years his annual 

 produce was doubled. Yet the generality of our 

 yeomanry would as soon think of studying He- 

 brew, as the elementary principles of chemistry. 

 — Gibbon's Adv. of Sci. 



Speaking of the ancient Romans, Johnson said 

 — "They were a people, who, \^^.ile they were 

 poor, robbed their neighbors ; and when they be- 

 came rich, robbed one another." — Bosicell. 



