AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKEl" STREET, (Agiwcultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XV, 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 25, 1837. 



MO. 29. 



THIRD ANNUAIi REPORT Olf THE MANAGER.S 



or THE BOSIO.M ASYLUM AJiD FARM SCHOOL. 



The Managers of the above Institution resppcl- 

 fiilly submit to the Corporation tiie following Re- 

 (jort : — 



The present Board of Managers was elected Vi 

 the month of June last, and this report comnien 

 ces with that period. 



Tlie olijccts of the Institution are presumed 

 be well understood. To rescue from the ills and 

 the teinjitations of poverty and neglect, those who 

 have been left without a parent's care ; to reclaim 

 from moral exposure those who are treading the; 

 paths of danger ; to " place the solitary iu fami- 

 lies ;" to give to those who know nothing of the 

 ties or influences of home, some taste and fond- 

 ness for a local habitation, at the least ; and to of- 

 fer to tliose, whose only training would otlierwisf 

 have been in the walks of vice, if not of crime, 

 the greatest blessing which New England can be. 

 stow upon her most lavored sons, a good edur . 

 tion, are some nf the purposes for which the As'- 

 lum and Farm School was endowed. Under tli- 

 blessing of God, success bus thus far attended the 

 exertions which have been made to accomplish 

 these objects. From the monthly reports of th-'" 

 Superintendeiit, and from the personal exaraina 

 liou of the establishjuent on Thompson's Isium^, 

 the Board of Managers are satisfied tliat there h^ 

 been mucli improvement in the character of tlie 

 boys who have been committed to the charge '.f 

 the Institution. In the last report of the Superfn- 

 tendent, 62 boys are | laced in the highest or first 

 grade, 40 iu the second, 4 in the third, and 1 in 

 the j'ourth. 



The number of buys on the Island at the titiie 

 of the last report, was 92 ; since that time 18 bojg 

 have been aditiitted, and three withilrawn. Tl*,^ 

 number on the 1st of January, 1837, was 107 ; a] 

 of whom, as well as all other persons conueete! 

 with the estahliahiuent on the Island, were in goo' 

 health, and there has been no death at the Insti 

 tulion since the last report was hiade. The oc 

 cupations and oniploynient of the boys vary witlj 

 theseason. Iu Spring, Summer and Autumn, th< 

 larger boys, in classes, work upon the garden anc 

 farm, of whose labor they perform a large part 

 The younger hoys have small gardens of their 

 own, wliieh afford them recreation when relea.sed, 

 from school. In the winter season most of them 

 attend school, where they are instructed in the 

 learning usually taught in our common schools 

 and some of them assist in making clothes and 

 mending shoes. The winter evenings are occu- 

 pied with the study of Geography, and the use ol 

 Globes; B tany and Practical Agriculture; Lec- 

 turing on different subject.s. Singing and Reading. 

 The Superintendent states that "every boy in the 

 Institution is required to be present during the 

 evening exercises, .if he is able, which are very 

 pleasing to them, and which we all enjoy very 

 much." • 



A largf number of mulberry trees have been 

 planted upon rhe Island, and tln-re are many silk 

 worms at tlie establishment. It is cotjtetuplated 

 to improve the advantages of the location in the 

 production of raw silk for manufiictnre. 



As to the sucee.«s of the boys in the fanning op- 

 erations, Capt. Chandler, the superintendent says, 

 " they have succeeded far beyond my expecta- 

 tions ; I think they have done more work, and 

 done it better, than the boys of their age who 

 have been regularly brought up to the business iu 

 the country generally do." And as to the com- 

 fort and contentednessof the boys, be says, "they 

 are all comfortably clad with woolen clothes, 

 shoes, stockings and caps, and appear to be as hap- 

 py in their prt;sent situation as boys generally are 

 under the paternal roof. 1 hey appreciate their 

 advantages, and most of them are grateful to the 

 benefactors of the Institution and their friends for 

 placing them h«re. The boys are well supplied 

 with bo< ks, and keep them in excellent order; 

 our Library contains between 4 and 500 volu/nes 

 of well selected l)ooks. 1 have also an agricultti- 

 ral Library containing about 30 volumes, to which 

 the boys have access." 



Opportunities are ocrasionally offered to the 

 friends of the lioys at the Institution, of visiting 

 them on the Island in the summer months. 



The School is under the immediate charge of 

 Mr George U. Hyde, and h>^ iis will as the ''u- 

 perinteudent and all engaged in the establish- 

 ment, are believed to merit the continuance of 

 the confidence which has hitherto been reposed in 

 them. 



During the past summer, several parties of la- 

 dies and gentlemen, at the request of the board of 

 tnanagers, visited Thompson's Island. At these 

 visits there have been many persons present, and 

 an examination of the boys in their different stud- 

 ies has been ac(om|ninied by some remarks (ui 

 the 'objects ami prospects of the Institution. — 

 Among those who have thus visited the Island, 

 nave been irjany strangers, who have always ex- 

 pressed their interest and pleasure in its obj(^cts 

 and condition. 



And liow should it be otherwise tlian an object 

 of interest? an Institution designed to rescue the 

 destitute orphan boys of our city from vice and 

 ruin; to withdraw them from scenes and asso 

 ciates, whose coulaminatiug iufiuence would quick- 

 ly destroy the perceptions ot' conscience, and leave 

 them deprived of that monitor, to pursue tlie nii- 

 pulses of passions which inevilaiily destroy tlnir 

 victims, l^iany are tlie worlliy ol jec ts of the "-liar- 

 itable institutions among us : our Hospitals re- 

 lieve the sulferings of the sick, and restore them 

 to health and usefulness ; they are a blessing 

 which may be required by all of us, and we would 

 not detract from their deserts. But we conceive 

 hat an institution which is to rescue immortal 

 'eings from the stain of siii, which could hardly 

 oherwise be avoided, which is intended to have 

 »i influence on the youthful mind, and lead it to 

 * understanding of its own capacities, responsi- 



I 



bilities and hopes, deserves the fostermg care of 

 an enlightened, benevolent community, as much 

 as those associations whose aim is to cure the dis- 

 eases of the bod}', or to restore the wanderings of 

 intellect. Such an institution as the Asylum and 

 Farm School, is in true accordance with the spir- 

 it of the Pilgrims ; it carries into effect the first 

 objects ef their solicitude, the education of the 

 young — of that young whose talents would oth- 

 erwise be employed to violate the peace and vir- 

 tue of society. 



It w.ll be seen by the report of the Finance 

 Committee, that the expenses of the Institution 

 for the year ending January 1, 1837, have aniouut- 

 ed to $6,100, while the receipts for the same time 

 have amounted to $3,500, leaving a deficiency of 

 $2,600. To meet this excess of expenditure over 

 income, and to prevent its recurrence, it will be 

 necessary to appeal to the liberality of the |)ublic. 

 The board of managers had intended to have made 

 that appeal in the autumn of the past year ; but 

 tlie condition of the financial affairs of tliis coin- 

 niimity induced them to defer it. They would 

 r<x-ominend the subject to their successors as one 

 requiring their attention when a suitabh; time shall 

 have arrived for its execution, with the confidence 

 that the appeal will be cheerfully and promptly 

 answered. For the Managers. 



WM. GRAY. 



At the annua! meeting of the Corporation on 

 the 10th inst., the above Report was accepted and 

 ordered to be published, together with the follow- 

 ing vote, viz: ' 



Voted, That the Managers be directed to devise 

 ways and means to relieve the corporation from 

 the present debt. The following gentlemen were 

 elected officers lor the ensuing year : 

 Samuel T. Armstiong, President. 

 Jona. Phillips, Vice President. 

 VVm. Hales, Treasurer. 

 H. B. Rogers, Secretary. 

 Managers. — Thos. G. Cary, Benj. .A. Gould, 

 Moses Grant, Wm. Gray, Geo. H. Kuhii, Charlen 



C. Paine, Francis Parkman, Edw. S. Rand, Jno. 

 Tappan, Joseph Tuckernian, Henry Uphaui, Jne. 



D. Williams. 



ON TRAWSPLANTIMG. 



'I'here is no operation more important to the 

 agriculturist llian that of planting out fruit trees; 

 because, if pro|!erly performed, the benefits of the 

 oiicralion are for himself and for his posterity. 

 Hence the damage of introducing improper prac- 

 tices fouudfcd u(ion unsound principles, in plant- 

 ing. 



Haviu" observed in your November number of 

 till! Western Farmer, some " Notes on Trans- 

 lilanting," copied from the New York Farmer, 

 recoiiimendiMg the planting out of trees without 

 lopping oV any part of the top or branches — and 

 apprehen ling that the reasoning in favor of thai 

 practice is incorrect, and might mislead, to their 



