NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. fi2 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDExN, EDITOR. 



VOL. IX. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL, 6, 1831. 



NO. 38. 



St ® sj te n ^ ur 'J. IS ijrjs ® a 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



l.ivisliod her treasures, as she still does, to the 

 . fortunate iuliabitants of tlio tropics. 



I Whether the earth has grown colder in those 



Mr Fessemde>-— In the September number, of' Po>-«""s the least e.xposed to the influence of tlie 

 ; Annates do L' Institut de Fremont, is a very : ^™. °'" ^''^t a too numerous population has flowed 



back from the equator towards the poles, it is at 



eresting lecture on fruit trees, by Professor 

 iteau, a translation of which I inclose. It is the 

 tcenth of his course on horticulture, in that ad- 

 •able school, where are assembled, pr.p'ds from 

 parts of France, to receive theoretical and prac- 

 il instruction, in every department of garden- 



i'ou will observe, that of the five works on 

 t trees, which he recommends to his students, 

 have enriched our library with two of the most 

 lable,. — Duhamel's Traite des .i-bres Fruiliers 

 Thonin's Cours de Culture.' The first is not 

 <,' the very best, but the most superb work ever 

 lished on Fruit Trees. In Ei:rope it is con- 

 :Ted indispensable in the libraries of all insti- 

 3ns, which have been founded for the diffusion 

 ntelligence in the various branches of rural 

 lomy ; and every gentleman, wlio has a taste 

 useful or ornamental planting, and is able to 



that splendid monument of Pomona, is am- 

 us to make the acquisition. As it is expen- 

 , costing in Paris about two hundnd .and fifty 

 irs, but few copies have reached his country, 

 ow of only two others, besides that which we 

 ived last autumn. It is itself a fiujt library ; 

 . a learned, and magnificent pil^cation as 

 ■s lustre to a nation and establishes ' .<v* epoch 

 3' history. 



he Manuel Complel du Jardinier by M. L. Noi- 

 , the Cours theorique et Praciique dc la iaUle 

 Irhrcs fruitiers by Dalbret, and the Pomoite 

 icaise, by the Comte Lelieur, would rendst 

 collection of French publications, on fitiit 

 i, quite perfect, and I hope we shall obtain 



before ne.vt autumn. 

 Very respectfully. 



Your most obedient servant, 



H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



inleyPlnce, ) 



EXTRACT NO. XXXIII. 

 leg L'Iristiliit Royale Horticole de Fromont. 

 'ERAL A>'D HISTORICAL REMARKS ON FRniT 

 TREES. 



Br Professor Poiteau. 



om considerations on the structure, power 

 use of our organs, and reflections on the 

 (1 and gradual progress of the human mind, 

 ophers and naturalists have, for a long time, 

 induced to think, that the primitive race of 

 had no other nourishment, than the simple 

 , which nature presented ; and that their 

 tudy was directed, to the amelioration and 

 plication of those, which were the most 

 able. 



is opinion, so universally entertained, and to 

 1 no one can urge an objection, places the 

 re of fruit trees, not only at the head of all 

 res, but of all human inventions. This cul- 

 ■-U it is true, must have been very imperfect dur- 

 in lany ages, for, probably, the cradle of the hu- 



nst certain, that it was the inhabit-ants of those 

 climates, wliicli are deprived of sufficient heat, wlio 

 first attempted to ameliorate the indifferent or bad 

 fruits, which tlieir soil produced, and to introduce 

 otiiers, which had been ameliorated, or were na- 

 turally good. Why, indeed, should the people, 

 who live near the tropics, trouble themselves to ob- 

 tain by cultui'e, those products of the earth which 

 nature lierself lavishes upon them ? Does she 

 not oflcr, in profusion. Bananas, Guyavas, Sapota- 

 Plums, Custard Apples, the fruits of the Palms, 

 tliose of tlie Bread tree and several others, which 

 have sufliced, and will for along time suffice to 

 support the inhabitants of those fortunate regions .' 

 But it was not the same, with the man who lived 

 in the temperate and cold climates ; the earth 

 yiehlod him nothing without great labor, and when- 

 ever he invaded her vast domains, she seemed 

 to reproach him, like a step mother, as if it Jiad 

 not been his country. 



Wearied by the rigors of nature, it was then 

 tliat the man of the temperate climate began to 

 dcvelope his august character, and to distinguish 

 himself from tlie brute, with whom he had con- 

 tended for his prey ; his genius soared, his con- 

 ceptions were enlarged, his ideas multiplied and he 

 combined them ; phenomena, which he had never 

 observed, attracted attention ; he drew conclusions 

 from some, conjectured others, and attempted to 

 imitate them. Soon, becoming master of the se- 

 crets of nature, he caused the pear tree to divest 

 itself of thorns and to change the hard and acrid 

 iflubstance of its fruit, into a rich and succulent pulp 

 he gave the sweetness of honey to the biting acid 

 of grapes, and to the disagreeable sourness of the 

 cherry; almonds lost their bitterness ; hard, juice- 

 less and tart peaches, were metamorphosed into 

 delicious fruit, which charmed the senses of vision, 

 taste and smell ; finally, man impressed the seal 

 of his power upon all objects which surrounded 

 him, not only making tliem administer to his wants 

 and his pleasures, but changing their habits, their 

 forms and their natural characters. 



All these wonders could only be effected in a 

 temperate climate ; that is to say, in one, not suffi- 

 ciently warm, for nature to produce spontaneously, 

 all that is necessary, for the support of man, nor 

 so cold, as to prevent the complete development 

 of all his physical and intellectual faculties. 



Indeed, the inhabitant of the tropics, yielding 

 to the sole imperious wants of nature, — to live 

 and reproduce, has never invoked the assistance 

 of genius, nor of that extensive power of ratioci- 

 nation, which it demands ; but he has continued to 

 vegetate in a state, but little elevated above the 

 brute, because he is wanting in that stimulant, so 

 necessary for the development of his intelligence. 

 On the other hand, the inhabitant of the frigid 

 zones, discouraged by nature, is indeed very sen-, 

 sible of his numerous wants, but the austerity of 

 ace was under the torrid zone, where nature his climate is constantly opposed to a flill develop- 



ment of his organs ; and with imperfect organs, he 

 cannot act or think, but in an imperfect manner. 



The inhabitant of the temperate zones, who is 

 as well organized as tliose of the tropics, contains 

 within himself tlie germ of genius, and of all the 

 intellectual faculties ; but tlio earth only presents 

 him acorns, brambles and thorns. Nevertheless, 

 obliged to procure the means of subsistence, he 

 constantly directs his attention towards those ob- 

 jects, which can satisfy his hunger, and labors 

 with his hands, to execute whatever his reason had 

 suggested. These various operations enlarge his 

 memory, favorable and unfortunate experiments 

 are recollected, and he learns to do better. IJe 

 ascertains what fruits are preferable ; he gives 

 them his exclusive attention, and has the pleasure 

 of seeing them ameliorate under his fostering cares. 

 Such discoveries, after the experience of several 

 generations, enlighten his mind, and give him the 

 first idea of the dignity of his character, and re- 

 veij to him the fact, that he alone, can rival na- 

 ture. 



Go long as cultivation was in its infancy, the 

 good fruits, which it had produced, existed no long- 

 er than the original trees which bore them, after 

 the death of which, they disappeared forever ; for 

 although the origin of the art of budding, grafting, 

 and the propagation by layers, is lost in the highest 

 antiquity, it is certain, that fruit trees had long 

 teen cultivated, before an attempt was made to 

 cause one of their branches to take root, and a 

 St.', longer lime before nature was imitated in the 

 operation of grafting by approach, — the only kind 

 of grafting of which sh e las given iis an example. 

 But it is most true that tllc^poriod is very distant, 

 when some parts of culture and of vegetable phy- 

 siology had been carried to a certain point of per- 

 fection, for the art of budding has been known, at 

 least, since the age of Hesiod, or for nearly three 

 thousand years. This mode of grafting is not an 

 imitation of nature, but the result of reason. Now 

 he, who knew how to reason so far, as to obtain 

 by budding, the same result, as from grafting by 

 approach, must have been as well acquainted with 

 vegetable physiology as we are, or as those who 

 have preceded us, during the last thirty centuries. 

 Besides, it is not astonishing, that in very dis- 

 tant ages, the cOlture of fruit trees, and of cereal 

 plants, should have been carried to a very high 

 degree of perfection ; for they have, during all 

 time, been the source of real wealth, and the most 

 legitimate means of prosperity ; they aflibrd salu- 

 tary exercise, and infinitely varied pleasures, which 

 very far from being injurious to the constitution, 

 like many others, they embellish the career, and 

 fill up the leisure hours of life. 



Even after tlie mind cf man had directed his 

 tastes towards other objects, in the acquisition of 

 riches, wise kings, and enlightened princes, ever 

 convinced of the value of agriculture, ceased not 

 to encourage the people, and to direct their atten- 

 tion, to the practice of that art ; and they did not 

 disdain to trace, with their own hand, its precepts 

 and its laws. Were not the greatest men of Rome, 

 alternately, cultivators of the soil and warriors -•' 

 It was at the plough, and in the midst of their 

 fields that they were sought, to be placed at the 

 head of armies, to be elevated as Consuls, or 



