358 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



November 12. 1631 



The garden of Eden, in which Adam anil 

 Eve were placed by their Creator, is pei 

 haps, no unfitting emblem of the condition 

 which the earth will ultimately assume, in 

 order to meet the wants of the countless myi 

 iads of human beings who are crowding upon 

 the stage of life and who are constantly 

 multiplying wherever the means of subsist- 

 ence can be obtained. 



The most prosperous and happy conditio 

 of human society will be found. 1 apprehend, 

 where the population is of a medium densi- 

 ty, as in the .States of New England, and 

 wheie a certain and sufficient supply f the 

 nee ssaiies and comforts f life can be ob- 

 tained, by the regular industry of the great 

 mass of the inhabitants. Man is not a mere 

 passiv being. His pleasures flow from ac- 

 tive principles in his nature. Inaction is the 

 death-sleep of intellectual improvement and 



ed 1153 parts of starch — fibrous matter a- 

 nalogous to starch 540 parts — albumen 107 

 parts — mucilage 312 parts." The sum of 

 these products amounts to about one third 

 of the potatoes subject to the experiment. — 

 Dr. Ives, professor of materia medica and 

 botany, in Yale College, in an essay, on the 

 comparative quantity of nutritious mattei 

 which may be obtained from an acre ol 

 landwhen cultivated with potatoes, or wheat, 

 upon an average crop, says, '• that the nutri- 

 tious matter of the crop of potatoes to that 

 ol wheat, is, as 5600 to 1500," or about as 

 three and three-fourths to one. Potatoes 

 may he reduced to starch which can be pre 

 served for any length of lime, and used as a 

 substitute for u beaten Hour. New varieties 

 are obtained by planting the seeds of the 

 potato ball. Jefferson states, thai the best 

 round potatoes be ever saw. he found at Di 



soci ll enjoyment. /\ constant succession ofiijon, in Fiance. The Pink-eve is one of 



labors, of some kind, is indispensable to his the best varieties known for the table. This 



highest happiness . and when all other mo- vegetable, on account of the ease of its cul- 



tivesf il.it is kindly provided for his good. that lure, the certainty of its products, and the 



that ins natural wants oblige him to make great comparative amount of its nutritious 



reasonable exertion of his corporeal and in- matter, will always occupy a place in the 



tellectual powers. Without steady ex rtion cottage and kitchen garden. And, I would 



. . respec fully, to suggest foi con- 

 sideration, ihe propriety of offering a suita- 

 ble premium, for the bust potato, lo be rais- 

 ed from the seed, and presented to the Soci 

 Thatgrows to seed; things rank, and gross in !*et? at the autumnal meeting in 1833, as it 



requires two seasons to mature the tubers. 



The plum, the apricot and the nectarine, 

 and, indeed, most of the smooth skin fruits. 



and vigilant culture, man's moral and intcl- 

 lecual nature becomes a barren waste, or 

 like 



" anunweeded garden, 



nature, 

 Possess it merely." 



The paramount object of this Society, is 

 to cultivate, unpiove and extend the taste for' 

 horticulture, as a useful art ; for as such, it 

 claims priority to any other. Objects of 

 immediate and practical utility, in the pres- 

 ent condition of horticulture among us, have 

 the firs claims upon our attention. The 

 culti ation of green house plants, and orna- 

 mental shrubbery, and the improving and 

 ornamenting of pleasure grounds, should be 

 by no means neglected; but these, in the 

 natural order of improvement, and in the 

 scale of utility, are certainly, of secondary 

 Consideration. As a Society, vv should not 

 Oveilook what is necessary and useful, in 

 order to obtain that which is merely elegant. 

 \niong the esculent vegetables which 

 claim and receive the fostering care of the 

 Society, the potaio,.?o/»»t'M tuberosum, is the 



suffer much, throughout this region of coun- 

 try, from the attacks of t lie curculio. The 

 ravages of this insect occasions incalculable 

 injury to these fruits, and renders the culti 

 vat ion of tlnni, in some seasons, almost 

 worthless. Trees, of the description ibove 

 enumerated, thrive well in this pan of Ne« 

 York, and generally bear an abundance ol 

 fruit, until it is stung j this insect, when ii 

 wallers and falls to the ground. It is thought, 

 by some, not to he an extravagant assertion, 

 that ten thousand dollars would scarcely re- 

 pair the injiHV done annually by the curcu- 

 lio, within the hounds of this Society. It 

 probably falls short of the real damage sus 

 tained. Various modes of protecting the 

 fruit, and destroying this insect, have bi e i 

 suggested, none of which, so far as my 

 know ledge extends, have been attended « ith 



mo-si import nil, as ii respects its wholesome complete success. Would not more experi 



nutritious qualities, its general acknowledged ments, on this interesting subject, to he made 



utility, and the universality of its culture. — under the direction and patronage ol the 



It belongs to the natural family of the Luri- 

 d/e, several of which are deleterious, and all 

 of which are forbidding in their aspect. It 

 is a native of America, and was found by 

 the fust Spanish emigrants, growing wild 

 and uncultivated. It was also found by the 

 colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, in 

 1584, in Virginia, wdio returned to England 

 carrying with them the potato, in 1580. It 

 was the middle of the eighteenth century, 

 before the excellent qualities of this vegeta- 

 ble, were generally known, even in England. 

 It is now considered, universally, the mosl 

 useful esculent that is cultivated, and its use 

 has become general, throughout Europe and 

 America. In its qualities, it approaches 

 nearer to the nature of the flower, or farina 

 of grain, than any other vegetable root pro- 

 duction. Sii Hum h ey Davy considers, 

 that one fourth part of the weight of pota- 

 toes is nutritious matter. According to the 

 experiments and analysis of this vegetable 

 by Einhoff, ■' 76*9 parts »f potatoes afford- 



Soi ii ty, the results of winch should be com 

 mnnicated at some future meeting, be pro- 

 ductive of salutary effects.' 



The culture of the vine is worthy the high- 

 est regard of the Horticulturist, on ai 

 of the delicacy, beauty, and richness nl 

 its linits, anil the generous flavor of its vi- 

 nous products. Experimental culture was 

 i fully applied lo the grape, by the an- 

 cient Greeks and Romans,as well as by mod 

 em cultivators, in order to multiply ind im- 

 prove its varieties, and perfect its fruits. A 

 detailed account of the manner of cultiva- 

 ting and pruning the vine, adopted by the 

 ancient Greeks, is given in the travels of 

 Anacharsis, the younger, as explained i>\ 

 Euthymenes. Ii furnishes signal examples 

 of the ingenuity of this highly polished na 

 tion. when applied to this kind of culture. 



" To obtain grapes without stones," he oh 

 serves, "you must take a vine-shoot and cut 

 it lightly in the part which is to be set in the 

 ground; lake out the pith from this part, K- 



nite the two sides separated by the incision, 

 cover them with wet paper, and plant them 

 in the earth. The experiment will succeed 

 better, if the lowei part, thus prepaied.be 

 put in a sea-onion before it is planted. — 

 '■' nuld you wish to have on the same vine 

 both black and white grapes, or clusters, the 

 berries of which shall lie some hlack and 

 otheis while; take a shoot of each kind, 

 innise them in the up er part so that they 



lav closely mute and incorporate, tie them 

 together ami plant them." 



The Greeks adopted the low stock train- 

 ing which has bi -<l and followed 

 in Fiance. The Romans cultivated the tall 



t ock, in i in supported on trees or 



>alisades. The Greeks were familiar with 

 the process of propagating fruit by ingraft- 

 ing. The difl of sex was admitted by 

 them in tiers and plants. Salt was one of 

 the dressing* I lem as a man. ire for 

 thi ir gardens. 'I I ssively fond 



■ I' rustic employments, and enamored with 

 the delights of a country life 



" See there the olii of A 



Plato's lie Attic bird 



Thrills her thick war' the 



long; 

 There flowery hill i.. ■ th the sound 



Of bees' industrious murmur, oft invites 

 To studious musing — 

 To sage philosophy next len 1 thine ear, 

 From Heaven descended to the low-roofil 



house 

 Of Socrates ; see there his tenement, 

 Whom well inspired the oracle pronon 

 Wisest of men; from whose mouth issued 



forth 

 Mellifluous streams, that watered all the 



■ i 

 Of Academi -s ol ' I 



(Remainder next tree':.) 



From in.- \ Vi k F*n nicr. 



THE COUNTRY FARMER— NO. VII 



ition, continue — with awk 



ward attempt tit Philosophizing. 



!VIr. Fleet, — P Ii is siid, m 



perfect,. How I shall succeed, in phi 



on paper, is \ , and 



so I set out with the above caption. The 

 tine business ol n. should be, I 



think, to form the c aracter, diversified, ol 

 course, according to the various j 

 ces of individual cases, in which learning 

 should be considei it. not the whole. 



in tins i ieu iii the subject, we m 

 timate the importance of sound good sense, 

 in those eni| Teachers, nol m 



ature, bin in every tl 

 with the formation of character, in the boj 

 or girl. Work, then, and familiarity with 

 w ilk hen mies :, \ i \ important part of ! d 

 ucation, not only for thi se » hi re ' 



by honest industry, in sonu war, bul 

 as a means of bringing into actual develop- 

 ment, by use, those facultii -. and po 

 and energies, of hodyr and mind, which arc 

 ueil for future useful i *s in the various 

 duties and functions of life. He wh 

 do nothing, is ■ "I for nothing, howevet 

 much learning he in. ' h ve. A ' eery learn- 



ed schoolmaster,' tin . fore, full of thi 



her sh of the 'higher schools,' as they are 

 called, his latin, and l unknown tongue' wis 

 dom, should never he entrusted With tl 

 ucation of Fanners' children. There is 



