112 Jo] ill Bachman. 



gardens ; and which ought to be encouraged there 

 by all the allurements in our power. 



The Purple Grackle, in New England, was de- 

 stroyed in consequence of the Governor's offering 

 three-pence per head ; and the result was, that the 

 insects multiplied so rapidly, that the herbage was 

 destroyed, and the inhabitants were obliged to 

 obtain liay from Pennsylvania and England. The 

 poor Wood-pecker is shot by every idle boy, because 

 he is said to extract the juices of apple trees ; when, 

 in most cases, he is attracted there by the worm 

 Avhich is perforating the tree ; and thus the bird on 

 which the sentence of death is pronounced as an 

 enemy, has come to save the tree by feeding on its 

 destroyer. Let then a sufHciency of Ornithology be 

 known by the cultivators of the soil, to distinguish, 

 in the feathered race, an enemy from a friend. If 

 the hawk, the crow and the starling, are deserving 

 of death for their depredations, let us spare the 

 beautiful warblers — the thrashes, and the Avrens, 

 that come to our gardens to claim the worm, and to 

 reward us with a song. 



The science of Chemistry advances no inconsidera- 

 ble claim to the attention of the horticulturist. 

 In order to the successful rearing of plants, we must 

 l)lace them in soil adapted to their natures. The 

 okra, tomato, watermelon, etc., while they grow 

 well in some soils, in others struggle through a 

 sickly existence, and die before they bring their 

 fruits to maturity. As an evidence of what can be 

 effected by a combination of chemical and practical 

 knowledge in the cultivation of the earth, it is only 

 necessary to mention the experiments of the great 

 chemist, Lavoisier. In order to impress on the 

 minds of the people of La Vendee, France, the ad- 

 vantages of combining chemical with practical 

 knowledge, he cultivated two hundred and forty 



