V ol. 1 No. 45. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



35"! 



ject. The claims of con nlry ot such a time are 

 not to be questioned; obedience to her call is the 

 paramount duty. But Government has no right 

 to exact a useless service, or to impose a burden- 

 some tax which is not calculated to produce a 

 benefit proportionate to its burdensomeness. The 

 1 military tax, therefore, is not unjust merely be- 

 cause it is unequal. Il cannot be unjust unless it 

 is useless and unnecessary. We will attempt in 

 our subsequent numbers to show that it is useless 

 and worse than useless. S. 



CHAPIN'S ADDRESS. 



We are happy in giving our readers Mr. Cha- 

 pin's excellent address, delivere 1 before the West- 

 ern Domestic Horticultural Society, at Ly- 

 ons, 21st Sept. last. Tins is a clever exhibition 

 of the writers talents and research, and worthy 

 of perusal by all class s. 



Gentlemen of theDomcstic Horticultural So- 

 ciety : 



Improvement in the various arts applica- 

 ble to the necessities, wants and pleasures 

 of life, is the sure and abiding leward of 

 well directed and continued exertion. Na- 

 ture, prolific as she is, unaided y the indus- 

 try and ingenuity of man, would furnish hut 

 a scanty subsistence fur manor beast But, 

 with the aid of skilful industry, her products 

 are multiplied an Hundred fold, aid the 

 means of subsistence and enjoyment are 

 augmente in an equal ratio. Th- develop- 

 ment of new sources of delight, by constant- 

 ly progressive anainments in Knowledge, con- 

 stitutes in a high degree, the jo) ol an im- 

 mortal mind. We deuve from the daily 

 exercise of our senses, an argument, strictly 

 analogous, in suppoit of ibis proposition — 

 The eye becomes wearied by continually 

 surveying the same object, howevei novel, 

 or interesting it may have been, at the first 

 view. n tune, however harmonious its 

 notes, or melodious its strains, becomes irk- 

 some to the ear, by frequent iteration. — 

 Much of the zest of the most deli' ions vi- 

 ands is lost by repeated use. Indeed, uur 

 pie surable emotions aie limited only bv the 

 extent and variety of our knowledge. Ii is 

 undoubtedly true, that the wants and de- 

 sires of mankind multiply as their knowl- 

 edge increases ; and these eyer present and 

 exciting motives are constantly impelling 

 them to make higher and more perseveiing 

 exertions, which ar generally crowned y\ 

 richer rewards. Every new acquisition in 

 science is attended with an invinci le de- 

 sire to apply it, so far as may be consistent, 

 to practical use, and derive from it some 

 positive good. To this principle, may be as- 

 cribed, the astonishing improvements which 

 have crowned the efforts of men ol science, 

 in all that pertains to the useful arts, for the 

 last half century. 



The state of horticultural improvement, in 

 some good degree, indicates the social con- 

 dition and refinement of society. In savage 

 life, the unbroken and uncultivated earth, 

 the rude, but magnificent forest, are the gar- 

 den, and the orchard, from which savage 

 man draws his daily subsistence. His de- 

 sires, limited by hi< knowledge, seek their 

 gratification in the chas , and in the sim- 

 plest roots and fruits of the earth He is an 

 entire stranger to the highly flavored fruits, 

 and esculent vegetables, which are to be 

 found on the tables of civilized men. Most 

 if not all, of the finest varieties of fruits, es- 

 culent plants and flowers, have been produ- 



ced, and brought to their present high stale 

 of perfection, by experimental cultiue. E- 

 ven the Romans, in the summit of their 

 power, as we are informed by Pliny, culti- 

 vated but twenty-two sorts of apples. At 

 the present day. two hundred and forty-one 

 varieties of the same fruit, specifically known 

 and described, are cultivated in the British 

 nursery gardens, as dessert, kitchen and ci- 

 der fruits. Ii seems, indeed, the kind Pa- 

 rent of the Universe designed, that improve- 

 ment in the products of the earth, in variety, 

 in quantity and quality, should in some de- 

 gree, keep pace with the progressive in- 

 crease intelligence and refinement of man- 

 kind. 



Ii is a maxim of political economy, that 

 other things being equal, the happiness on a 

 given territory is in proportion to the popu- 

 lation. The lowest stages of human society, 

 of which voyagers and travellers have given 

 any account, are to be found in countries 

 where the population is the most thinly scat- 

 tered. The inhabitants of Terra del Fuego 

 and Van Dieinen s land, are at the veiy bot- 

 tom of the scale of human beings. They 

 have not sufficient s igacity to cultivate the 

 earth, and drag out a wretched existence in 

 the constant search of food which consists 

 of the lowest order of animal and vegeta- 

 bles. Every thing that voyagers have lela- 

 ted of savage life is said to fall short of the 

 barbarism of tnese people. " Their counte- 

 nances exhibit the extreme of wretchedness, 

 a horrid mixture of famine and ferocity ; and 

 their attenuated and diseased figures plainly 

 indicate the want of wholesome nourish- 

 ment." 



" A few berries, the yam the fern root and 

 the flowers of the different banskias made 

 up the whole of the vegetable catalogue of 

 the New-Hollanders," when visiied by Capt. 

 Cuok. The most elegant repast of which 

 this people appear to have any knowledge, 

 consisted of some large grubs found in the 

 body of the dwarf gum nee, and a paste, 

 formed of the fern root, and ihe large and 

 small ants bruised together, and in the sea- 

 son, adding the eggs of this insect. If this 

 be a faithful picture of the simple condition 

 of human beings, in the unsophisticated 

 state of nature — and it is drawn from the 

 most authentic sources — we look in vain for 

 the charm which poets have attempted to 

 throw around ii, and cannot but rejoice, that 

 we are so far removed from the primitive 

 s mplicity o nature, and are steadily advan- 

 cing onward, in the high road of intellectual 

 culture anil social refinement. In countries 

 where productive industry is unknown, and 

 the inhabitants depend upon the scamv and 

 uncertain products of the earth for subsist- 

 ence the population must be, of necessity, thin- 

 ly scattered, and the condition of the inhab- 

 itants, extremely wretched. 



It is apparent, that the population of the 

 old world is fast pressing up to the limit 

 which nature has fixed as its i tniost bounds, 

 that is to say, the means which the earth 

 can afford, under the highest state of culti- 

 vation, of subsistence. Indeed, it is not 

 chimerical to suppose, that ultimately, the 

 necessities of a crowded population will im- 

 periously require, that the earth should be 

 devoted to that kind of culture which will 

 yield the greatest possible quantity of hu- 

 man sustenance. The Empire of China, 

 one of the most populous portions of the 

 globe, from the beginning of the monarchy 

 has been devoted to agriculture. It is sta- 



ted by Duhalde, that one of the Emperors 

 of the highest reputation was raised from the 

 plough to the throne. Another Emperor 

 wrote several books on the manner of culti- 

 vating land, by manuring, tilling and water- 

 ing it. To encourage the husbandman, a 

 great festival in honor of agriculture is held 

 each year, at which the Emperor himself 

 proceeds in a solemn manner to plough a 

 (ew ridges of land, and the princess of the 

 blood, and other illustrious persons, connect- 

 ed with the government, hold the plough af- 

 ter him. Ii is natural to suppose, that these 

 high honors paid to the cultivation of the 

 earth, connected with the fact, that the hus- 

 bandman holds the first place in the graria- 

 tion of rank would have a powerful and sal- 

 utary effect. The country of China is re- 

 markable for the fertility of its soil, and for 

 the sobriety and industry of the inhabitants. 

 The whole surface of the Empire is, with 

 trifling exceptions, devoted to agriculture. — 

 It is stated, by Jesuit Premare,that the coun- 

 try of China, however fertile and extensive 

 it may be, is not sufficient to suppoit its in- 

 habitants. 'A Chinese will pass whole 

 days in digging the earth, and sometimes up 

 to his knees in water, and in the evening, is 

 happy to eat a little spoonful of rice, and 

 drink the insipid water in which it was boil- 

 ed." This is said to be all they have in 

 general. It is computed by Malihns, that 

 " the population of China is to that of France, 

 according to their respective superfices, as 

 333 to 208, or a little more than three to 

 two." According to this ratio, the State of 

 New York would contain more than eight 

 millions of inhabitants, oi about one person 

 to every three and an half acres of land ; 

 and upon the same relative calculation, the 

 people within the territory of th B United 

 States would amount to the incredible num- 

 ber of :5Gi2 millions. Taking the population 

 of France at 28 millions, which is somewhat 

 short of the present enumeration, and the 

 State of New-York in order to sustain an e- 

 qual number, in proportion to their respect- 

 ive square miles, would contain 5,980,000, 

 or nearly six millions of inhabitants. And 

 should the ratio of increase continue ihe 

 same it has been since the settlement of this 

 country, for forty years more, the State of 

 New -York will, at the end of that period, 

 contain six millions of inhabitants. (live 

 the State of New-York a population equal 

 to thai of Ireland, in proportion to their ras- 

 j pective square miles, anil it would contain 

 upwards of 3,300,000 souls, which falls short 

 of the numbers that the late Governor teu- 

 ton computed this State could sustain, about 

 700,000. This would give S!13 to each 

 square mile, or about one inhabitant to every 

 three acres of land. 



These facts and examples show, in a stri- 

 king manner, the paramount utility of hor- 

 ticultural pursuits These pursuits lead di- 

 rectly to a critical examination of the soils, 

 of tiieir adaption to the growth of particular 

 vegetables and fi nits, and to a knowledge of 

 the nature and quality of these productions, 

 and of the best mode of tilling, manuring 

 and irrigating land-, in order to obtain the 

 greatest possible quantity of the finest flavor- 

 ed fruits, and most nutritious vege ables. — 

 Thus the necessities of man are constantly 

 u ging him to make further progress in sci 

 ence and the arts, and to draw from their il- 

 limitable domains, treasures rich and ex- 

 haustless, which in their turn, minister to the 

 sustentation and enjoyment of human life. 



