"VOL. XIV. XJ. *7- 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



8tS 



do the sanip? Mniiy of tlicm we know do,asllio 

 horses ot" Anihia the horned cattle of Kgypt ; the 

 sheep of Africa, &c. I have no <li)uht we have 

 among us the desceuilants of some of Joh's stiiils, 

 flocks and lienls. There is at least one spring, or 

 pond, in this State, where the pot fish frniii the 

 East Indies, which are so fasliionuhie among us, 

 are propagated, and are as much at home, as they 

 would he in the tanks or streams in the vicinity of 

 the Gangi^s. — Fanners' Mvocate. 



ENGLISH CUI^TIVATION. 



I had heard and read much, before I went to 

 England of the beauty of its scenery the perfec- 

 tion of its roads, and of the high state of cultiva- 

 tion which prevails through the country. But 

 when I came to see those things with my own 

 eyes, 1 lound that my [irevious conceptions were 

 extremely inadequate. I cannot do justice at all, 

 to any of those objects which interested and de- 

 lighted me so much the moment I saw them. — 

 IJut nnagiiie yourself safely landed as I was, at 

 Liverpool in the month of April. You recollect 

 that in New England, and even much farther 

 south, winter still lingers — that the fields are 

 brown, the trees leafless, and the roads had. Not 

 so in fngland. — You take the coach for Lon<lon. 

 As you go out of to«vn you are very much sur- 

 prised to see a deep June vegetation, especially 

 when you recollect that you are in the fifiyfourth 

 degree of north latitude, and you ascribe it to some 

 peculiar advantage of soil, or early exposure. But 

 as you are home rapidly along, you find other 

 fields still more verdant. The scene opens wider. 

 Field beyond field, and lawn beyond lawn, rises 

 in endless perspective. The faniis are regularly 

 laid out in squares and parallelograms, of fron two 

 to forty acres ; and in general are laid down as 

 smooth and level as the roller can make them. 

 Here is a luxuriant wheat field, and there a mea- 

 dow, and next a rich pasture, and there busy 

 preparation for))ultiug in potatoes or turnips; and 

 there barley or oats just shooting up from the dark 

 and rich soil. But scarcely a rod of fence such as 

 we meet with every where in the United States of 

 America, do you see in your two hundred miles 

 ride from Liverpool to London. All is haw- 

 thorn ; and these hedges, which are for the most 

 part kept neatly trimmed about the garden and farm 

 houses, and by the road side, add more to the 

 beauty of the country than any description had 

 pictured upon my mind. The common method 

 of making the hedge is this; first the ridge is 

 thrown up, jierhaps a foot above the level of the 

 fields which are to be fenced in ; when the young 

 thorn is to be planted in two parallel rows, about 

 a foot or eighteen inches apart. The growth is 

 not very rapid ; but when it has attained the 

 height of four or five feet, in about as many years, 

 it becomes so dense that no domestic animals 

 would think of breaking through it. 1 he leaf is 

 small, deeply verdant, and beautifully serrated. — 

 In the month of May these hedges are clothed 

 with a white fragrant blossom, very much re- 

 sembling that of the thorn of our own coiintry : 

 and it is then that the honey suckle and other 

 wild flowers enfold their bright hues and mingle 

 their sweetness with the hawthorn. In the hedg- 

 es, trees, such as the oak, the elm, and the horse 

 cbesnut, are planted, sometimes in rows, near to. 

 jether, but oftener far apart, so that each one rises 

 ind waves in grandeur by itself over the hundiler, 

 jut not less charming growth below. Single 



trees very large are sprinkled here and there in 

 ev ry direction, and, every now and then you 

 catch a glimpse: in the distance, of a grove or cir- 

 cular clump, which add not a little to the beauty 

 of the landscape. 



Let me n(rt be iinderslood as intending to con- 

 fine my remarks to the country between Liver- 

 |iool and London, as if they were richer or more 

 highly cultivated than other parts through which 

 I afterwards travelled, for, in truth it is less so. 

 With the exception of the downs, and here and 

 there a heath, what I saw of tlie English scenery, 

 taken altogether, very much surpasses my exjiCc- 

 tations — not in boldness, not in grandeur — but 

 in richness and beauty. It seemed to me as I 

 jiassed rapidly along, from town to town, and 

 from city to city, more like one interminable se- 

 ries of gardens and pleasure grounds, than any 

 thing else to which I could com; are it. In addi- 

 tion to what I have already mentioned, the tur- 

 rettcd castles and halls of the nobility and gentry ; 

 their immense parks and jirincely domains, some- 

 times embracing several miles square of fine ter- 

 ritory, and enclosing gardens, lawns, and forests, 

 adorned with avenues, and fishponds, and streams. 

 All these and many other features of the island, 

 serve to increase your admiration of what nature 

 and taste have done for*our father land. — Dr. 

 Humphrey's Tour. 



SUCCKSSION OF CROPS. 



But however well adapted the soil and climate 

 may be to the cultivation of any particular kind 

 of vegetable, the former soon ceases to be produc- 

 tive if constantly appropriated to the culture of 

 ])lants of the same or analogous species. In order 

 that land may be cultivated successfully, various 

 kinds of vegetables must be raised upon it in suc- 

 cession, and the rot.ition must be conducted with 

 intelligence, that none unsuited either to the soil 

 <r climate may be introduced. It is the art of 

 varying the crops upon the same soil, of causing 

 different vegetables to succeed one another, and 

 of understanding the efl'ect of such upon the soil, 

 that caii alone establish that good order of succes- 

 sion which constitutes cropping. 



A good system of cropping is, in my opinion, 

 the best guarantee of success that the farmer can 

 have ; without this, all is vague, uncertain and 

 hazardous. In order to establish this good system 

 of cropping, a degree of knowledge is necessary, 

 which nnhapjiily is wanting to the greater part of 

 our practical farm.'rs, 1 shall here slate certain 

 facts and principles which tnay serve as guides in 

 this important branch of agriculture. 



Principle 1. All plants exhaust the soil. 



Principle 2. All l)lauts do not exhaust the soil 

 equally. 



Principle ii. Plants of difleient kinds Jo pot 

 exhaust a soil in the same manner, 



Principle 4. All plants do not restore to the 

 soil either the same quantity or the same quality 

 of manure. 



Principle 5. All i)!ants do not foul the soil 

 equally. 



From the principles which I have just establish- 

 ed, we may draw the following conclusions : 



1st. That however well prepared a soil may be, 

 it cannot nourish a long succession of crops with- 

 out beet ming exhausted. 



2il, Each harvest impoverishes the soil to a 

 certain extent, depending upon the degree of nour- 

 ishment which it restores to the earth. 



3d. The cidtiva'ion of spindle roots ouglii 

 to succeed that of running and sujicrficial 

 roots. 



4th. It is necessary to avoid returning too .soon 

 to the cultivation of the same or of analogous kinds 

 of vegetables, in tlie same soil. 



5th. It is very unwise to allow two kinds of 

 plants, which admit of the ready growth of weeds 

 among them to be raised in sucjession. 



6th. Those jilants that derive their principal 

 support from the soil, should not be sown, except- 

 ing when the soil is sufficiently provided with ma- 

 n u re. 



7th. When the soil exhibits symptoms of ex- 

 haustion from successive harvests, the cultivation 

 o( those plants that restore most to the soil, must 

 be resorted to. 



These principles are confirmed by experience; 

 they form the basis of a system of agriculture rich 

 in its products, hut more rich in its economy, by 

 the diminution of the usual quantity of labor and 

 manure. All cultivators ought to be governed 

 by them, but their application must he modified 

 by the nature (f soils, and climates, and the par- 

 ticular wants of each locality. — Chaptal's Chem- 

 istry. 



Lunar Influences. — A writer in the JVeio 

 York Farmer has the following remarks on the 

 subject of the influence of the moon upon the 

 weather. 



In the course of my observation, I could not but 

 refer at times to the remark of the Indians, the an- 

 cient inhabitants of the country of njy youth, of 

 which there were a number of them living, and 

 that was, that after the changes of the moon, if the 

 corners pointed up in the form of a dish, it would 

 be dry weather that moon, but if one down and the 

 other up, it would be rainy or wet. Although as- 

 tronomical knowledge taught me that this was 

 without foundation, still from repeated remarks, I 

 was finally compelled to admit that there was 

 some truth in the observation; and in jirocess of 

 time, was led to form the following conclusion: that 

 is when the moon changes in high north latitude^ 

 it is generally .cold and dry ; but if in extreme 

 south latitude, warm and wet, and apt to be stormy. 

 It may be renvtrked, that when the moon changes 

 in high north latitude, it makes the figure of the 

 corners pointing Uj*, and in extreme south the other 

 figure, which verifies, in a measure the truth of 

 the old Indian's remark. Hence, although ad- 

 mitting that lh& suij and moon are the principal 

 agents in govtiniiig tlje wtathe* there see.ms to be 

 other causes vvhich at times vary their influence, 

 so that it is still an uncertainty ; but I have very 

 rarely known it to fail that thj moon in extreme 

 south latitude, denotes warm and stormy weather, 

 and in high north latitude, cold and dry ; and if 

 we have ever so great prospect of storms in the 

 lafter, they are apt to he of short duration. As my 

 limits will not allow me to go farther into detail, 

 It may suffice to remark, that if our almanack ma- 

 kers woidd give us the latitude of the moon at the 

 full, change, and quarters, with the course she is 

 going, whether north or south, we might foretell 

 the weather for ourselves, or they might give it 

 by their own judgment from the moon's latitude 

 in probability^ 



A skilful agriculturist will constitute one of the 

 mightiest bulwarks of which civil liberty can 

 boast, 



