14 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



Jan. 15,1831. 



ly embellished as Pra:t's garden, having more 

 of the wildness of nature, it is a charming re- 

 sort ; an 1 the visitor of lasle will scarcely won- 

 der, that ihe enthusiastic and amiable Wilson, 

 the ornithologist, expressed the wish thu his 

 remains might repose under the spreadins 

 branches of Bartram's garden. As if 'he wild 

 mudic of the birds, rioting amidst the foliage, 

 which had so often lent a charm to his life, 

 could also 



" Soothe the dull, cold ear of death. 



The London Horticultural Society have bo 

 tanical gardens to the extent of thirty acres, 

 maguificently covered with the productions of 

 everyknown part of the world. They contain 

 five thousand species and varieties of fruits a 

 lone. The society send explorers to all parts, 

 who are still constantly enriching the gardens, 

 with nowly discovered plants. One of these 

 has traversed our own country, quite to the Pa- 

 cific- The London Gardener's Magazine for 

 1828, pronounced this country " rich beyond all 

 others in stores of botanical wealth." 



Botanical and horticultural soienco is adap- 

 ted in some degree, to almost every condition 

 of life. It has attractions and enjoyments for 

 all ages, and both sexes. Ladies frequently 

 excel in botanical attainments and skilful culti- 

 vation. They have honored our exhibition to- 

 day, with their grateful offerings, and have 

 manifested by their piesence and attention, the 

 interest they take in our success, Woman is 

 indeed most attractively nngaged, when busied 

 in the care and culture of plants and flowers — 

 tjie apt emblems of virtue, of love, and of 

 fjuth. 



If we may denominate Agriculture the prose 

 so we may rank Horticulture as the poetry of 

 rural life. On the former, we depend for the 

 necessary and the substantial, '('be latter a- 

 dorns, refines, and heightens the pleasures of 

 existence. It invites us to take interest in the 

 smiling offspring of the earth, dressed in Ran- 

 diest and variegated hues, and offering us an 

 atmosphere of riehest odors. It affords us a- 

 rnuscment, refreshment and recreation. It ex- 

 hibits nature to us in her garb of loveliness, 

 and calls up to light and usefulness, her hidden 

 treasures. The trackless swamp, the deep 

 glen, the wild crag, the prairie and the forest, 

 all yield their tribute to the botanist's claim. 



As the poetry oflanguage is a valued auxilia- 

 ry in the service of religion, so what we have 

 denominated the poetry uf rural life, is no mean 

 minister ill teaching man his love, his duly, 

 and his countless obligations to our Heavenly 

 father. 



It has been well remarked, that the order, 

 the beamy, the laws of motion of the vast uni 



few years, have been witnessed with eatisfac-l 

 tion by all. All therefore will be gratified, if 

 there be reasonable prospect, that ours may 

 become a wine-producing country; for the 

 people of almost every nation famous for this 

 product, have been comparatively temperate. 

 In the south and south-western parts of En- 

 gland, vineyards appear to have flourished at 

 an early perod, and down to tie time of the 

 Reformation, were attached to all the princi- 

 pal religious foundations in the kingdom. — 

 Since the Reformation, the vineyards have 

 generally disappeared — forthe reason perhaps, 

 that the passiuns and prejudices of men rarely 

 admit of their retaining the good, while they 

 are engaged in extirpating the evil of obnoxious 

 institutions. Tlie great commercial facilities 

 of England have rendered the replanting of her 

 vineyards almost unnecessary to her in modern 

 limes: butgrapes for the table, in great varie- 

 ty, excellence and abundance, continue to bo 

 cultivated. We surely therefore, need not be 

 discouraged, from making the experiments of 

 establishing vineyards, in our climate. 



And among the other valuable and ornamen- 

 tal products, that this Hoiticuluiral Society 

 may be the means of introducing and diffusing 

 through the country, we trust it may ere long 

 be said, 



•• The vine too, here, her curling tendrils shoots; 

 Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south, 

 And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky." 

 We d'ire hope that some future voyager upon 

 the Susqnebannah, the Hudson, or the Gene* 

 see, may sing of the culture of their banks, as 

 song the inimitable Childu Harold of 



" the wide and winding Rhine, 



Whose breast of waters broadly swells 

 Between the banks, that bear the vine, 

 And hills all rich with blossomed trees, 

 And fields which promise corn and wine, 

 And scattered cit.es crowning these, 

 Whose far white walls around them shine, 

 ****** 

 The river nobly foams and flows, 

 The charm of this enchanted ground, 

 And all its thousand turns discluse 

 Some fresher beauty varying room!. 

 The picturesque lakes of this region already 

 show many spots where the advantages of na- 

 ture and the embellishments of art, combine to 

 produce scenes of surpassing beauty. Hereon 

 the shore of the Seneca, the eye is regaled with 

 terrace gardens, rich in fruits, flowers and ver- 

 dure, springing beautifully op, from the very 

 bosom of the waters. 



As the topics of the three able addresses, that 

 verse, demonstrate the existence of Divine |i liave already been delivered before this Soeie- 

 wisdom. The botanist, not less than the as- \ l y< are J et lr,!sl1 '" lne recollection of" all of us 



tronoruer, learns at every step, some furtf'er; 

 proof of a protecting Providence. He discerns | 

 hi the tree, the shrub, and the flower, marks of 

 r.ifinite coptrivance and all-sustaining care. — i 

 The seal of Omnipotence is stamped alike, on' 

 'ho simplest plant of the field, as on the bright] 

 "st orb of I he heavens. In Ilia glorious works, [ 

 liowever magnificent or minute, tho philoso-j 

 jjher and the religionist find constant cause for 

 wonder aud adoration 1 — and in the broad vcl- 

 |imc of creation, carry their studies, with over 

 increasing delight, " up to nature's God" — and 

 read on its ample pages, in ulestial characters,' 

 a.revelation of boundless goodness, which "uoi 

 ume can change, no copier can corrupt." 



The attention of horticulturists in the United 

 rilatos is at this time generally, and very prop- 

 erly, directed to inquiries in relation to the cul- 

 ture of the viae. The opinion is gaining ground. 

 that ortr soil and climate are well adapted to 

 various kinds of wine-yielding grapes. The 

 njfccefsful experiments of many, among whom 

 I may particularize Col. Carr, of Rarlram's gar- 

 den, and Maj. Adluin, of tin " 

 l!.:urgetnwe, have proved that good aiid wliole-, 

 -I'M.' .vim's may be made from sever."}! kinds of 

 unr native, and long ricglectfidgrapes. 



Tlieylutary effects of the weight of public: 

 hpiniun hi Hid if igurpavjftCe, wiflffB i 



— the two first by members not only well ac- 

 quainted with the theory of their subject, but 

 both eminently successful as practical horticul- 

 turists; and the last by a young gentleman, to 

 whom it has evidently been not les a pleasure 

 than a duty to become u proficient in botanical 

 science, and whoso recommendations to the 

 Society were as judicious as they were happily 

 conveyed — little is left me at this time to ob- 

 trude upon your notice. 



Under these circumstances, though I yielded 

 to tho invitation of the committee, I did so un- 

 der the conviction that the custom of making 

 an address, would be, at least on tho present 

 occasion, " more honored in the breach, than 

 in the observance." 



Since, however, I am before yon, 1 beg leave 

 to call your attention to one other object, hith- 

 erto neglected among us— tho culture of SU.K. 

 It may he deemed worth; the best attention of 

 the Society. And that bramli of ihe subject, 

 tho cultivation of the food fur the silk worms, 

 is strictly within its province. And the whole 

 VineynrJ nearj subject bolongs to all who have the best inter- 

 ests of our country at bean ; fur it is an axiom) 



In several parts of the United States, silk of 

 very superior quality has been produced, on a 

 small scale. The culture of it, however, has 

 been retarded, from the want of persons skil- 

 led in the roelim; and other processes of prep 

 aration. This discouragement is now about to 

 be removed. About a, year ago, the attentioi. 

 of the public was called, through the National 

 Gazette, to this subject, by a series of able es- 

 says on American silk, by Mr. D'Hornerguc, 

 then recently arrived in Pennsylvania from 

 France. He was educated in an extensive 

 French silk manufactory, and well acquainted 

 with all the processes, from the raising of Ihe 

 silk worm to the fabrication of the finest stufis. 

 Mr. D'Homergue first gave us the pleasing in- 

 telligence, that American silk is decidedly su- 

 perior to that of France or of Italy; not only 

 n the weight of the cocoons, but in the quality 

 and ihe color, or to use his own expression, 

 the .dazzling whiteness,'' and consequent 

 fitness to receive the most delicate dyes He 

 believes that a rich field of national wealth lies 

 invitingly open to us; that raw silk maybe 

 made a most important and profitable article of 

 asportation, even should we not choose to go 

 largely into the manufacture of it ourselves. 



Mr. D'Homerguo is now at the head of a silk 

 establishment in Philadelphia, made either di- 

 rectly by, or under the immediate patronage of 

 the venerable P. S. Da Ponceau, President of 

 the American Philosophical Society. Not on- 

 ly are the preparative processes, before un- 

 known iu our country, here in successful ac- 

 tion, but silk dyeing is also performed, in n 

 style equal to the French. 



I hope therefore, that this Society will deem 

 the cultivation of the Italian white mulberry 

 tree, with a view to the production of silk, ap 

 object worthy its immediate attention. In oUY 

 interior situation, silk would be a particularly 

 desirable product, from its high value, the tri- 

 fling expense atiending its transportation to 

 market, and the delicate and interesting em- 

 ployment it would afford to many of the fe- 

 males of our country. Well established and 

 extended in our country, the silk worm will, 

 in the progress of taste and improvement, have 

 made the circuit of the globe. It seems to bt> 

 a native of China, where it has been reared 

 from a moslreinoio period. It was introduced 

 into Europe in tho year 555, by two monks;, 

 who under the patronage of Justinian, brought 

 great quantities of the worms from India to 

 Constantinople. Venio supplied the west of 

 Europe with silk for many centuries, from the 

 manufactories of Greece, whence the art pas> 

 sed to Sicily, Italy and Spain. It afterwards 

 came into France, acid was introduced into En- 

 gland about three hundred and fifty years ago. 

 It affords ground for vheering exultation, thai 

 the most sagacious mindi are now convinced, 

 "that tlie United States are destined to be: 

 come a rich silk growing and silk manufacturing 

 country." And it much depends on societies 

 like this, to accelerate this " consummation, 

 devoutly to be wished." 



Rural pursuits have ever been the recreation 

 and the solace of the wisosl and the bes*. o.f 

 men. \ long catalogue of distinguished names., 

 aucicnt and modern, who have delighted in, the 

 improvement and culture of their fields and 

 gardens, could be presented to you. But time 

 is denied (is. 



He, who lived aud died "first in the hearts 

 of his countrymen," sought, after having cqh- 

 tributed largely to the happiness of his country 

 and of mankind, quiet enjoyment amid ihe 

 shades of Mount Vernon ; and these of us, who 

 have made the pilgrimage to that consecrated 

 spot, have seen the yet living ami fruit fill preof,s 

 thut he. whose great employment had beeli 

 ebtainnig freedom for an empire could also ap- 



preciate the pure pleasures of superintending 

 his fields and his gardens. The late high It 

 respected Judge Peters, of Belmont, on the 



in political economy, that the more we extend If Schuylkill, used to show in Iris garden a fine 

 and diversity tho valuable productions of then well grown chesnut tree, which sprung from a 

 soil, the more i ilu ibl d i v. e fender ljip.se ni-f nut. plant"'! bv Washington, (in the occasion 

 realty esfabMiod. 



•*,- \Ts1f ' • flint dlSjirj3O.is.hed agriciflTij'- 



