Vol. 1.— No. 4. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



29 



PROFIT BY EXPERIENCE. 



It is a great misfortune that mankind do not 

 profit more by the experienee of those who 

 have gone before them. This observation 

 willaDply 'o agriculture as well as politicks. — 

 But in both, we see men doing those things 

 which a slight examination of the acts of past 

 ages, would satisfy them were not profitable ; 

 and leaving undone many things which would 

 result in the happiness of mankind, as well as 

 for the interest of individuals. We are very 

 apt to think that the ages which have preceded 

 us, were ignorant, compared with the present ; 

 therefore we do net think it worth our time to 

 examine, with a view to profit by the past. — 

 But let us remember that one of the wisest of 

 mankind has said, that " there is no new thing 

 under the sun." " Is there any thing where- 

 of it may be said, see, this is new? It hath 

 been already of old time, which was before 

 us." This was a declaration, made nearly 

 three thousand years since, by a man who 

 wrote as much, perhaps, upon natural history, 

 botany, and those thing immediately connect- 

 ed with agriculture, as any* man has done sirtce. 

 He was also a practical man, for he says, " I 

 made me great works ; I builded mu houses : 

 I planted vineyards ; 1 made me gardens and 

 orchards, and I planted trees in them of all 

 kind of fruits; 1 made mo pools of water to 

 water therewith the wood that bringeth forth 

 trees; 1 got me servants and maidens, and 

 had servants born in my house; also I had 

 great possessions of great and small cuttle, 

 above all that were in Jerusalem before me; 

 I gathered me also silver and gold and the pe- 

 culiar treasure of kings, and of the provinces; 

 I got the men-singers and women-singers, and 

 the delights of the sons of men, as musi. 

 cul' instruments, and that of all sorts." — 

 Of him it is said in Kings, "and he spake of 

 the trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, 

 even to the hysop that spritigeth out of the 

 wail: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl 

 and of creeping things, and of fishes/' Now 

 when we consider that such knowledge ha^. 

 preceded us thiee thousand years, we must 

 either allow that the march of improvement 

 has been slow, or that we have profiled very 

 little by the experience of past ages. The only 

 excuse that can be offered for us is, the de- 

 struction that has been mado of the records of 

 past experiments. This, to-be-sure, may be 

 offered for the first two thousand years ; but 

 what apology can be offered for the slow pro- 

 gress of agriculture for the last thousand joars. 

 1 know of but ono that can be used, and that 

 is. our agricalturists do not read enough concer. 

 ning their profession, and we are glad to wit- 

 ness at this time, something that looks as if 

 our stale legislators were taking into conside* 

 ration the subject of tho education of the ag- 

 ricultural class of community, as well as for 

 other professions. When we compare tho im- 

 portance of agriculture with professions, and 

 the reading attending both, we must acknowl- 

 edge that they are in an inverse ratio to their 

 rational importance. 



It has been remarked, that agriculture was 

 confined to an humble class of citizens, who 

 were compelled to follow it for support. Du- 

 ring the dark ages, when learning was confi- 

 ned to the priests, such an observation might 



have been correct ; but at this time it is differ- 

 ent : we now find that men of the first ac- 

 quirements are willing to pursue those inno- 

 cent employments which were first taught by 

 the Creator, "on that day when he created 

 the heavens and tho earth." 



Loudon says, •' the recent discoveries in 

 chemistry and physiology, have led to the most 

 important improvements in the culture of 

 plants, and the breeding and rearing of ani- 

 mals ; agriculture is in Consequence no longer 

 an art of labor, but of scieme ; hence the ad- 

 vantage of scientific knowledge to agricultu- 

 rists, and the susceptibility of the art of pro- 

 gressive advancement." " Agriculture," Mar- 

 shall observes, " is a subject which viewed in 

 all its branches, and to their fullest extent, is 

 not only the most important and the most dif- 

 ficult in rural economies, but in the circle of 

 human arts and sciences." 



SLIPS. 



Ladies who are fond of green bouse plants, 

 and have it in their power to procure slips of 

 various kinds, will find a great benefit, and a 

 most certain preventive of failure, particu 

 larly either in a warm room in winter, or a 

 warm sun in summer, by covering their slips 

 with bell glasses, or where they cannot be pro- 

 cured, with tuir.Mers, or any kind of glasses 

 that will admit light, observing to admit air, 

 at least one hour each day, and not keep the 

 slips too wet, as it has a tendency to rot them 

 before i hey strike root, or have leaves to carry 

 on evaporation, By this process, hardly any 

 single instance of a plant has been known to 

 fail. In setting slips, it is important to clip near- 

 ly all the leaves, else there is too great a call 

 for sap ere it has rooted. An ounce of salt- 

 petre, or a spoonful of chloride of lime, in a 

 gallon of water, is a great quickener of vege 

 tation.artd at once shews its beneficial effects. 



TO CONVEY LIVE FISH. 



As there are many natural, as well as artifi 

 cial ponds that are destitute of the most valua- 

 ble kinds of fish, and from the rapidity with 

 which lish are increased, it froquen tlv becomes 

 an, object to transport them alive, for tho pur 

 pose of stocking such waters. Winter is the 

 most favorable season for this purpose. Al- 

 though fish are fond of cold water, yet when 

 the temperature is reduced to 32 degrees, 

 they become almost torpid —thoir motions are 

 very slow, and they do not require the same 

 quantity of water for a given time, that they 

 do in warm weather. Now, as long as snow or 

 ice wh"ii mixed with water, will remain un- 

 thawed, it indicates tho temperature of thirty 

 two degrees. Therefore, let a cask of suffi- 

 cient size be provided, and fiilled with snow or 

 ice, and water, into which put the fish, intend- 

 ed to bo transported, as soon as caught. It is 

 not necessary that the water should be entirely 

 filled with ice or snow, (the latter is prefera- 

 ble) only to keep a sufficient quantity in the 

 cask to insure the temperature ; neithershould 

 the water be allowed to freeze solid, which 

 may bejpre vented bv the introduction of a pail 

 fill of water occasionally from a well. In this 

 manner, fish maybe taken a distance of thirty, 

 or fifty, or one hundred miles by land, with 

 less troublo than any other method and with 

 perfect safety. 



THE VINE. 



The following letter was received by one of 

 'lie editors of the Genesee Farmer, in 1825, 

 from our friend Horatio Gates Spafford, and al- 

 though not intended for publication at that 

 time, we think will be read with pleasure bv 

 those who feel interested in the propagation of 

 the grape. This letter, when compared with 

 one of recent date, from the same gentleman, 

 published in our last, will afford conclusive ev- 

 idence of his conviction, that the cultiva- 

 tion of tho grape is of great importance ; and 

 we sincerely hope he may yet live to realize 

 all that his zeal in the cattso ever led him to an- 

 ticipate, and that he may " sit under his own 

 vine and fig tree, and there be none to make 

 bim afraid." 



I am glad to perceive by thy letter of the 22d 

 mst. that thou art still intent on the culture of 

 tho grape. Of the sucoess, ultimately, of this 

 culture in this country, I cannot doubt, because, 

 .wherever wild grapes grow, spontaneously, 

 without any care from man, ripen, and in many 

 instances produce heavy loads of fruit, the best 

 being selected,pruned, worked with care, tied on 

 stakes, or trained on arbors or fences, the qual- 

 ity would as surely be improved, and the crop 

 iioreased, in this as in any other culture. By 

 grafting, which is done more readily on the 

 vine than on any other vegetable, and by vari- 

 ous other means, new varieties would be pro- 

 duced, even from our native stocks, indige- 

 nous, always to be preferred ; and we have the 

 m^ans of selecting from all countries, where 

 the vine has been cultivated for thousands of 

 years, and may soon have a few hundred root- 

 ed plants, from cuttings and layers, the product 

 from any on>! favorite vine. All this requires 

 care and labor, but just such as every man of 

 intelligence,' some science, and a love of Na 

 tuie and fcer works, would most naturally de- 

 light in. I am very fond of this kind of a- 

 musement, and mv garden is beginning to show 

 that it is success fully bestowed, I havo 8 

 kinds, select, besides many seedlings, kinds 

 not yet known, all growing very prosperously, 

 and though but tho second year, producing 

 soi., i fruit, a charming foliage, and cheering 

 hope with future prospects. 



I rejoice to see the increasing attention to 

 the s?rape culture, not only in this state but 

 throughout the Union, wherever our Eugle is 

 known. Disappointment must be expected, 

 however; — for like all other business, expe- 

 rience must first be acquired, and, perhips, 

 in many instances, at a dear rate. In nothing 

 will this be more likely to come than in large 

 expectations from foreign grapes, some in a 

 soil unsuitable, too new, unworked, from a cli- 

 mate too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet. too 

 much neglected, for the old varieties of the 

 vines, brought from old vine regions, will re- 

 quire much nursing, nice care, constant 'itt.;n- 

 tior and old ground, where the soil is perfect- 

 ly unmixed. If we would, in every region, 

 plant the best varieties of native grapes', from 

 the woods around us, there would be much 

 less danger of disappointment. 



The nursery men. dealers in tho vine, havo 

 such a habit of giving new names to their 

 vines, calling some natives by a foreign name, 

 or a foreigner by a good name, or popular one, 

 of the moment, that I apprehend no small dif. 

 ficully from this source. All this, again, might 

 be prevented, if we would select for ourselves. 

 1 have a fox grape, thus selected from the 

 woods, that yields fruit in abundance, equal in 

 strength of juice, and flavor, to the best dark 

 colored grapo grown in this state, excepting, 

 perhaps, one kind of the Burgundy, and the 

 Purple Frontinac. It is larger than the Pur- 

 ple Hamburgh, round, the size of an ounce 

 leaden ball. But why mention this? There 

 are thousands of such, on our hills, and many 

 others, some of which may be even better than 



