84 Remarks upon the State 



rants, raspberries (white and red Antwerp), strawberries, 

 gooseberries, were thriving — and many select varieties of 

 pear and apple. The whole garden bore evidence of care- 

 ful cultivation and good taste. Snch a spot, in such a 

 town, and behind such a house, surrounded, and almost 

 overshadowed by the forest, and produced not by wealth, 

 but by the personal labor of one man — poor, advanced in 

 life, delighted me more, I do believe, than would the 

 grounds of the London Horticultural Society. If every 

 county in our State had one such citizen, 1 should not fear 

 for horticultural interests in our State. The best assort- 

 ment of seeds and plants which our town will afibrd, shall 

 be at the service of such a cultivator, the coming spring. 



We know of no way of circulating your excellent Mag- 

 azine so feasible, as oflering it as a premium, and you will 

 see that we have done so in several instances. 



You will be pleased to learn that many of the pears 

 which have given out in New England, do well as yet with 

 us. The St. Michael (or fall butter as it is called here), 

 thrives and bears excellently well, though Kenrick, follow- 

 ing Fessenden, says that in New England it is " an out- 

 cast, intolerable even to the sight." The specimens at our 

 fall fair could hardly be surpassed. 



A number of public-spirited gentlemen have associated, 

 to plant all the private streets in this town with shade trees. 

 We shall select from the ample stock of our own forests, 

 mostly. But it is proposed to put in a niuiiber of pear and 

 plum trees — the first being a beautiful-shaped tree as well 

 as fruitful, and the plum, it is thought, will be free from 

 the curculio, planted upon a highway. In the three 

 squares, upon which stand the State House, Court House, 

 and Governor's House, it is proposed to gather and plant a 

 specimen of all our forest trees. 



This reminds me of an incident in our early town his- 

 tory related to me by one of the first settlers. A large cir- 

 cle of nearly four acres was reserved in the centre of the 

 town, and the native trees, sugar maples, left standing upon 

 it. Under these trees, before churches were built, religious 

 meetings were held in summer, and the prospect was that 

 our town would have an adornment in this little grove, 

 which no architecture can bestow. One morning, however, 

 he was attracted thither by the sound of an axe, and found 

 one of the leading lawyers in the place, exercising himself, 



