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E0RT1CULTUEI1 MBIAL, 



A MAGAZINE OF 



Horticulture, Botany, Agriculture, and the Kindred Sciences. 



Edited and Published byR. ROBINSON SCOTT, No. 63 Walnut Street, between Second 

 and Dock Streets, Up stairs. 



YoL. I.] 



Philadelphia, December, 1852. 



[No. 



Progress of American Horticulture — Glazing. 



There is a great difference between the objects aimed at in Agricul- 

 ture and Horticulture. The former seeks to raise the largest quantity 

 of produce at the smallest possible cost — the latter aims at gratification 

 and pleasure, aside from the cost. The boast of the agriculturist is> 

 that he raised so many bushels per acre, whilst the cost amounted to 

 only so much. The pride of the horticulturist is, that he possesses 

 the rarest flowers, the choicest fruits, the most superb vegetables; that 

 his grounds are unique, his arrangements pleasing, his trees magnifi- 

 cent, his whole garden a source of unparalelled pleasure. Yet the 

 cost has something to do with horticulture — a given sum will only 

 purchase a certain amount of pleasure, and the cheaper we can make 

 horticulture, the greater and more extensive can the gardening opera- 

 tions become. This is a grave question for gardeners. They are in- 

 terested in every thing that tends to lessen the cost of gardening ope- 

 rations to their employers. We all often inquire whether gardening 

 ever will be carried on to the extent in this country that it is in Eng- 

 land; and when we look at the vast fortunes of the English nobility, 

 the hereditary pride in their gardens handed down by their ancestors, 

 bound fast by the ties of the law of primogeniture, we deem it impos- 

 sible that the accumulations of one man's life can ever give American 

 gardening so high a pedestal in the temple of fame. Yet there is one 

 avenue left open for us, one course by which we may possibly contrast 

 favorably with them — in producing the same results we can aim at re- 

 ducing the cost. We are far behind in machinery connected with our 

 profession. Agriculture should make us blush. The strong compe- 

 tition in it has brought machinery to a point seemingly approaching 

 ^perfection. What has Horticulture done — leaving out the hydraulic (A 



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