AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



I'llBLISHCl) l!Y JOSEPH BREGK & CO., NO. 52, NORTH M.VRKET STREET, (AfiRicui.TUBAi 



Wabkhouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



vol.. xv. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 19, 1837. 



NO. 41. 



<a.-©isiai-^2'®s>?E'WSi4^mi 



(From the American Quarterly Review.) 

 A«UICXIL,TtJRE. 



(Concluileii.) 

 " By niPlIiods of aniilysfs, depending U[)on 

 olieiiiical and eluctritvd iiisti-nnients discovered in 

 late times, it lias been aseeilained that all the va- 

 rieties of material substances may be resolved in- 

 to a -comparatively small number of bodies, wliicli, 

 as they are not capable of being decompounded, 

 are considered, in the present state of chemical 

 knowledge, as elements. The bodies incapable 

 of decomposition, at pi-escnt known, are fortysev- 

 en. Of these, tliirtyeight are metals, six are in- 

 flammable bodies, and three substances which 

 unite with metals and inflammable bodies, and 

 form, with them, acids, alkalies, earths, or other 

 analogous compoiuids. The chemical elements, 

 acted iijon by altraetivn powers, combine in dif- 

 ferent aggregates. In their simple coud)inations, 

 they priiduce various ciystalline substances, dis- 

 \tinguishcd by the regularity of their forms. In 

 We're coui| licated arrangements, they constitute 

 the varieties of vegetable and animal substances, 

 bear the higlier character of organization, and are 

 rendered sid'servierit to the purjioses of lift. And 

 by the influence of heat, light, and electrical i)ow- 

 eis, there is a constant series of changes ; matter 

 assiimes new forms, the destruction of one order 

 of beings tends to the conseivation of another, 

 solution and consolidation, decay and renovation, 

 are connected, and whilst the parts of the system 

 continue in a state of fluctuation and change, the 

 order and harmony of the whole remain unalter- 

 able." pp. 7—9. 



Sir Humphrey, in the same part of his works, 

 superadds some valuable remarks concerning the 

 organization of plants; the effect of air, earth and 

 water, in producing their ditl'erent natures, the 

 philosophy of fallowing and irrigation, and also 

 the character (.f manures, and their chemical ef- 

 fect upon the soil. 



The aid of science has not only been exerted 

 in ailvaneing the best modes of tillage, but also in 

 conjunction with the mechanic arts, it lias led to 

 the invention of new, and the unprovcment of old 

 instruments of husbanilry. The plough, the har- 

 row, and many utensils of less consequence, have 

 been gradually advancing from the rough model 

 of the original inventor, to the finished and com- 

 modious instruments now in use, which have vast- 

 ly auirmented the profits and lightened the labor 

 of agricultural industry. 



But notwithstanding science has very material- 

 ly aided the progress of agriculture, it is, after all, 

 mainly owing to the strict observation of |)ractical 

 results, that the most solid advantages have been 

 obtained. For this object, the experience of prac- 

 tical farmers is invaluable. By comparitig the 

 results of their practice, general facts have been 

 established. To furnish an organ for the colla- 

 tion ol these fiicts, societies have been formed, and 



agricn'tural journals have been published, in al- 

 most every state of the Union. It is only within 

 the last ten or twelve years, however, that the 

 public mind has been awakened to an effective 

 impulse in the cause of husbandry, as vvell as the 

 other branches of national industry. Among the 

 most prominent societies vvliich have been estab- 

 lished in tills country for that object is the Amer- 

 ican ItiSlitnte, the title of whose Journal we have 

 placed at the head of this paper. That society 

 was organized about eight years ago in the city 

 of New York, " for the jiromotion of agriculture, 

 commerce, manufactures, and the arts." Its de- 

 sign is to arouse and concentrate the pnlilic mind 

 upon a great American system of domestic indus- 

 try. It is founded on the fact, that the U. S. pos- 

 sesses within its boundaries all the means of nation- 

 al comfort anil stiength, without a necessity of de- 

 pendence fiM-any thing upon foreign markets ; and 

 all which is required for the devcdopnient of tha 

 resources whicd.' are spread around us, is active, 

 intelligent, vigorous industry. 'Ihe American In- 

 stitute, in accordance with its charter, liolds its 

 stated periodical meetings, anniiitl addresses are 

 (hdivered before the socii'ty, fairs are held, roti- 

 tributions made of valuable tiicts, new discover- 

 ies, improvements, or inventions iii the arts ; and 

 premiums are awarded to the most approved ar- 

 ticles of domestic manufacture. The Journal of 

 the Institute, which we regi)r<l as a valuable com- 

 pendium, professes to give, in monthly numbers, 

 a record of the transactions of the society, it is 

 also in contemplation by the Institute, to estab- 

 lish, in connection with a library, a repository in 

 the city of New York, which shall be a general 

 rece|itacle of models in ihe arts — we mean those 

 models which have been recently invented. Who 

 ever visited the patent ottice at Washington, be- 

 fore its destruction, could not fail to be surprised at 

 the amazing activity of the American mind in new 

 inventions, or to be convinced that an institution 

 like that which wo have hist mentioned, would be 

 desirable in tlu commercial metropolis of the 

 country. The vast advantages of a society like 

 the American Institute, must be manifest to every- 

 body. It concentrates public attention upon im- 

 provements in domestic industry. It eidarges the 

 boundaries of practical knowledge, by the estab- 

 lishment of facts founded upon the experience of 

 difterent minds, and excites emulation in the arts, 

 by the prizes which it holds out to competition. 

 Besides this society, others of like character have 

 been instituted* in the different States of the 

 union, some, we believe, nmler government pat- 

 ronage. The establishmimt of agricultural socie- 

 ties and journals in the different states, we trust, 

 is the harbinger of greater advancemrnt in science 

 and the arts throughout the country. It -is clearly 

 right that inventions in the arts, or great skill and 

 care in raising sto(d<, should nieet with rewanl, 

 and accordingly the premiuius which are awarded 



*VVe need scarcely allude to ilie Friinklin Institute of 

 Pennsylvania, a noble inonnnient of the skill and en- 

 terprise of this powerful and growing Slate. 



at our agricultural fairs, to the ov.ners of first-rate 

 cattle and approved specimens of domestic man- 

 ufacture, are attended with the benefit of exci- 

 ting the ambition of these two classes of produ- 

 cers. 



Societies, similar to tbose which we have inen- 

 tioneil as existing in this country, have for a long 

 lime been established in Great Britain, which 

 hold annual fairs, whei-e the nio=t ajiproved breeds 

 of sheep, cattle and horses, as ^vidI as agricultural 

 productions, are cxiiibited. t-'imilar societies have 

 been organized in France, and the reiiort of the 

 Central Royal Society of that country, read at its 

 last public silting in April, 1836, by Jl. Bodin, 

 may be found in the Journal of the American In- 

 stitute. Several enterprisii;g gentlemen of the 

 northern as well as the soiitliern states, indepen- 

 ilently of these societies, have made extraoidinai-y 

 inrdividnal exertions in the cause, by importing 

 exotic plants, and the most approved sto^k. 



• Horticnltun;, which may be consitlered lUefne 

 a,ts of agriculture, has also received considerable 

 attention in this country, through the agency of 

 private and public enterprise ; and theannual hor- 

 ticultural exhibitions in our largecities, give prom- 

 i.si! of brilliant success. Besides the vaiious pub- 

 lic gardens devoted to this object, there are pri- 

 vate" establishments deserving of all commenda. 

 tion. 



In Boston, Philadelphia and New York, pid)lic 

 spirit has made still farther advances. Tiie de- 

 parted, who were before consigned to the barren 

 heath, or the crowded grave-yards of tumultuous 

 cities, may now be congregated in beauty and 

 peace, among silent groves, where nature, learn- 

 ing, architecture, poetry, and sculpture weave 

 their brightest trophies over the monuments of the 

 dead. 



Why has not husbandry advanced more rapidly 

 in this country, with its wide field of operation, 

 aided as it is'by the most valuable agricultural 

 journals, and such apparently energt^io societies? 

 To this (pipstion we answer, that there are two 

 prominent causes which tend to impede the pro- 

 gress of agricultural industry thi'oughout the Uni- 

 r<'d States. 'Ihe fust which we shall mention, 

 may perhajis appear somewhat paradoxical. It 

 is the excess of good land, in a country of lim- 

 ited extent and den.-^e population, there is neces- 

 sarily a resort to artifi'jial means to augment the 

 produce of the soil, and this tends to thead\aiice- 

 mcnt of husbandry. 'J his is doubtless the foun- 

 dation of the progress of that science in England. 

 VVboi-e, however, the ttrrltory is so wide and fer- 

 tile as our own, farmers are unwilling to exjiend 

 their labor and money in cultivating a naturally 

 bai-ren or worn out soil by artiiieial means, when 

 the vast regions of the west are spreail out before 

 them. Doubtless the high cultivation of a small 

 surface of naturally barren soil would be more 

 advantaiieous to the owner, than a gi-eat extent 

 poorlv cultivated, but it seems to be the ambition 

 of oiir American fanners to extend their ojiera- 

 tions over ha-ge tracts. It is equally clear, that 



