PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



ABOUT 



FRUIT, FLOWERS AND FARMING. 



PRELIMINARY. 



WE understand very well that every region must fashion 

 its system of agriculture upon the nature of its soil, its cli- 

 mate, etc. The principles of agriculture may be alike in 

 every zone, but the processes depend upon circumstances. 

 It would be folly for a new country, without commerce, to 

 imitate an old country with an active commerce ; it would 

 be folly, where land is cheap, abundant, and naturally fer- 

 tile, to adopt the habits of those who are stinted in lands, 

 who have a redundant population, and who find a market 

 for even the weeds which are indigenous to the soil. The 

 husbandry of Holland is suited to a wet soil, and of Eng- 

 land to a humid atmosphere and a very even annual tem- 

 perature. But our soil is subject to extreme wet in spring 

 and dryness in summer, to severe cold and intense heat. A 

 farm whose bottom-lands are reinvigorated by yearly inun- 

 dations, may thrive under an exacting husbandry that would 

 exhaust an upland farm in a few years. Modes of agricul- 

 ture must be suited to circumstances. Nevertheless, the 

 experiments and discoveries and practices of every land are 

 worth our careful attention. We do not import clothes 



