voi>. xvm. xo. 3. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



25 



inoiit," it woiiUi linve a wonderful effect upon his 

 children— it would cause them to hold up their 

 heads and to sinir, " There's no place like home." 

 The other 100 dollars lay out in part for first rate 

 tools, such as the best cast iron ploughs, cultivator, 

 cast steel shovels, hoes, scythes, &.C., &c., not tor- 

 getting " Partrid<re's manure fork." Fifty dollars 

 will go some ways in buying tools; the increased 

 ease and facility with which the boys can work 

 with such tools, will render it rather a pleasure 

 ithan otherwise to labor. The other fifty dollars 

 may be most profitably expended in making a com- 

 post manure heap — or suppose the farmer is going 

 to turn over three acres of greensward this fall — the 

 practice of many is to do their breaking up in the 

 autumn— let liim go to his wood lot and scrape up 

 40 cartloads of decaying leaves, twigs and vegeta- 

 ble mould, and cart on to the acre and turn it be- 

 neath the sod — then tp his swamp, and cait on 40 

 loads til the acre and spread upon the furrow, that 

 the winter frost may break it down — next spring 

 apply his manure, and his following ex/m crops for 

 a series of years on his three acres, with the in- 

 creased value of the land, would more than pay the 

 interest of the 200 dollars. This course would be 

 bringing the land back into its original state, in 

 some measure as it was when the forest was first 

 cleared off, and partially returning the vegetable 

 matter that then made it so productive. Why, Mr 

 Editor, did you never notice in the vicinity of 

 where an old farm house had once stood, what 

 swarths of grass, what crops of corn and potatoes 

 ie land would yield where the wood pile used to 

 36 chopped, and the chips had rotted down to veg- 

 etable mould ? If you never did, call upon me, 

 ind I will show you many such spots — yes, and I 

 will also show you a spot that once was occupied 

 :}j a tan yard, and a large tract covered to a great 

 depth with hetrlock tan, which for 12 or 1.5 years 

 oast, has produced large crops of corn and potatoes 

 that would compete with the famed crops of the 

 west, without manure, except what the decaying 

 ,-egetable matter of the bark afforded. 



IV V H J„Iii IP.If). 



republican doctrines, in all legislatures of which 

 they are mem!>^ers. The only misfortune is, that 

 they are not elected to fill our legislatures or to 

 constitute a majority of them. 



If I am not greatly mistaken, one of the princi- 

 pal sources of the civil and political evils we suffer 

 is in makmg the profession of law so much the 

 channel to offices of emolument and honor. The 

 practice presents an inconsistency on the very face 

 of it. It is evidently inconsistent, and hi;;hly im- 

 proper, that one class of men should institute laws, 

 expound laws, and execute laws, which it may be 

 supposed they will do to promote their interests, 

 while that class constitutes a very small minority 

 of the community, though there are ten times, and 

 probably fifty times as many as the most healthy 

 state of the community requires. The greatly in- 

 creased, the rapidly increasing, and the largely 

 disproportionate number of our citizens who resort 

 to the law for a profession, is probably not the least 

 evil resulting from appointing so many of this pro- 

 fession to places of honor and trust. 



Without any prejudice against the members of 

 this profession as individuals, for by an extensive 

 acquaintance with them, I know many of them to 

 be honorable and respectable men, I am convinced, 

 as they themselves will undoubtedly acknowledge, 

 that a large number of lawyers promote litigation. 

 And no one will pretend that extensive litigation is 

 favorable, either to the pecuniary, the moral or so- 

 cial health and prosperity of the community, but 

 highly destructive to all. Consequently any ar- 

 rangements ormeasures adopted for conducting the 

 operations of society which have a tendency to in- 

 crease the number of lawyers, which is already en- 

 tirely out of proportion with that of other classes of 

 the community, must do an injury to that commu- 

 nity. And appointing them to fill the seats in our 

 legislatures, especially the chair of state and the 

 highest seat in the nation, must do a double and an 

 irreparable injury : it produces bad laws, and in- 

 stigates quarrels and contentions in the observance 

 and executing of those laws. 



To avoid these evils, and as far as possible, to 

 repair the injury alreadv done by the inconsistent 



sounder and safer men to be relied upon, and be- 

 cause by neglecting to fill our offices from the pro- 

 fession of law, the number engaged in that profes- 

 sion might be diminished, and litigation diminished 

 witli it; and by that means the wealth, the intelli- 

 gence and the virtue of our republic greatly pro- 

 moted. 



If the education of farmers was what a rational 

 and an enlightened system would make it, at a less 

 expense of time and money than is now incurred 

 for the purpose, they would be entirely qualified to 

 perform many kinds of business, for which they now 

 resort to the legal profession ; such as drawing 

 contracts, giving power of attorney, making out 

 bills of sale, conveying property by deed or other- 

 wise, and various other acts of a similar character, 

 which would save themselves great expense and 

 trouble, and permit lawyers to engage in pursuits 

 better calculated to promote the health of society.- 



To avoid the evils and secure the benefits here 

 referred to, no one need to act under the influence 

 of prejudice or desire of proscription. Farmers and 

 mechanics have simply to select and appoint indi- 

 viduals from their own professions to promote their 

 interests and to secure and protect their rights, and 

 they can hardly fail to accomplish their object. 

 I remain Yours, 



Truly and always, 



J. HOLBROOK. 



Strawberries. — The following extract of a letter 

 from Newton, Mass., is worth recording, as one of 

 the best fruit stories of this fruitful season. After 

 referring to the Jersey story of 240 dollars worth 

 of strawberries being raised from one acre of ground, 

 which story is travelling the rounds of the news- 

 papers, he says — " To recall our friend E. to re- 

 gions he was onco familiar with, we will state their 

 productions in one particular, that old New Eng- 

 land may not be forgotten. On a patch of 1800 

 square feet, being less than one-twentyfourth of an 

 acre, a neighbor of ours raised the last season, 120 

 quarts of strawberries, which, at 2.5 cents the quart, 

 the Boston price, would have produced 30 dollars, 

 .,„i t.. '?'>n ,1,.11ti-o nr..- .ii'i-ol Tupntvslv oiiarts 



