SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
columns are appropriate, to aid in supporting the great 
weight of a marble, granite, or other structure ; but no- 
thing is more like an eagle's feather stuck into the matted 
hair of a savage, than the frail plank pillars or columns, 
painted white, so ostentatiously stuck out in front or at 
the sides of a dwelling house. A worse taste can luu’dly 
be imagined. Simplicity, neatness and quietness ever 
indicate contentment, gratitude to God, and the promise 
of a long and happy life. Wheieas, the straining for ef- 
fect always suggests unfavorable thoughts, and not un- 
frequently provokes remarks expressive of contempt, 
rather than of admiration. Whatever contributes to the 
comfort of a family at a rural home, adds to its beauty, if 
properly placed and constructed. Thus, a well arranged 
kitchen, wiih a wood-house, cement cistern for holding 
i*ain water, and many other conveniences, are not only 
matters of interest, but really increase the attractiveness 
of a family residence. It is the judicious planning, com- 
bination and management of all the affairs, both in doors 
and out, on a farm, that make the farmer’s life happier 
than tliat of most other men engaged in different pursuits. 
He has the constant assistance of those wonderful powers 
known as vegetable and animal vitality, to multiply his 
agricultural wealth and beautify his plantation. Groves 
of forest trees, orchards of fruit trees, as well as all the 
benefits of the garden, are at his command. Park?, lawns 
and pleasure grounds he and his children may indulge in, 
if their tastes appreciate aad enjoy such improvements ; 
and it is better to cultivate a taste in this direction, than 
that which seeks amusement by visiting distant watering 
places and the gaieties of cities. To the owner-and cul- | 
tivator of the soil, hovie should be the most agreeable place j 
on, earth. There his best thoughts and efforts, his money i 
and his ambition, should find full employment. Absent- 1 
eeism is fatal to the Beautiful in Agriculture. A farmer 
should not only stay, as a general rule, on his farm, but 
live there, in the best sense of the term. This idea does 
not conflict witli a reasonable amount of travel, either fo,r 
recreation, or to obtain additional knowledge. Good 
books are now so . cheap and abundant, that a library 
composed, in a large degree, of works on agricultural and 
horticultural subjects, is found to yield both amusement 
and instruction on better terms, and of a better quality, | 
than the planter can obtain from any other source. It is i 
quite as easy to acquire a taste for agricultural reading, as ' 
for tobacco, tea and coffee. Alan is a creature of habit ; | 
and the best way to avoid bad habits in our children, is i 
to fix early in their constitutions, pure tastes ; the gratifi- 
cation of which will enoble, not degrade them. To culti- | 
vate the Beautiful in rural life has an elevating influence I 
on society, and thereby prevents vice and crime, poverty I 
and suffering. I 
Xature being the source of Beauty, we are to study her 
admirable processes as they are made known in the Na- 
tural Sciences. Chemistry, Botany, Geology, Vegetable 
and Animal Physiology, reveal to the human understand- 
ing a thousand charms in the perfect harmony that per- 
vades every form and condition of matter, and thus per- i 
petuates all the beauties and blessings which call into ac- | 
tivity both the gratitude and the reason of man. The 
powers within him, and the elements that surround him, 
act in concert to force his growth in morality and know- 
ledge, that he may become in each succeeding generation 
at once a happier and a wiser being. In connection with 
our moral and intellectual developments, so natural and 
so desirable, a higher degree of social and physical com- 
fort is clearly both attainable and susceptible of full en- 
joyment It is not every person, in whatever condition 
he may chance to be, in reference to culture, who is ca- 
pable of appreciating either the Beautiful in Agriculture or j 
in Nature. Hence, in all nations just emerging from bar- j 
barism. husbandry, tillage, architecture, and all other art^, j 
36a 
are prosecuted in the rudest manner. Some rise more 
rapidly than others in every attainment, but time is ne- 
cessary to the growth of every art and the perfection of 
every science. 
It is humiliating to our pride as a free, self governing 
people, to know that in ancient Greece the beautiful in 
agriculture and architecture was far in advance of our 
highest achievements. A thousand years before the birth 
of our Savior, Homer describes, in the fifdi book of the 
Odyssey, a landscape in which four fountains of white 
(foaming) water, each springing in succession, in perfect 
orderliness, sends the life of vegetation through a meadow 
in different directions. At that early period, agriculture 
was sufficiently advanced to have irrigation and meadows 
properly appreciated by the most civilized nations. We 
wish we could say as much for the agriculture of our own 
sunny South. But all must admit, that, with us, neither 
irrigation nor meadows are regarded as worthy of public 
attention. It is true, we know the value of hay, and con- 
sume many a bale from the North, for which we pay a/ 
least twice what it is intrinsically worth. 
Who needs to be told that luxuriant meadows, pas^ 
tures, and fine stock, add largely to the beauty, interest, 
and value of a plantation I Irrigated meadows and pas- 
tures are an inexhaustible source of manure foi enriching 
the tilled lands on a farm. Where nature periodically ir- 
gates river bottoms, the plow never exhausts the soil. 
Running water being nature’s grand restorer in tillage and 
cropping, why not use it to rejuvenate our old fields, and 
thus render them at once both attractive and profitable'? 
None of them are so elevated that water does not fall from 
above them, and run off their surfaces. Properly consid- 
ered, all the moving water on continents is rain water. 
It creates, as well as transports from one place to another, 
the fertility of properly irrigated lands The fertilizing 
influence of water, when judiciously applied to the earth, 
is well known. It is, therefore, in skillful hands, an in- 
valuable element of fruitfulness and beauty. More know - 
ledge and higher art will one day use water in this coun- 
try as successfully in agriculture as was ever done in 
Greece, Italy or Egypt. 
Next to irrigation, we regard the planting of the 
^eeds of all the more valuable forest trees and fruit trees 
that will grow and prosper in our climate, as the most 
commendable practice, with a view to promote the Beau- 
tiful in Agriculture. Land is now cheap, and there is a 
certainty, as population increases, that the demand for 
lumber and timber, for fruits of all kinds, and for fuel, will 
increase in an equal, if not greater ratio. By skillfu . 
planting, one may unite beauty and profit in an emincn’: 
degree. Black W'alnut plank are now worth, in all 
Northern cities, from four to seven dollars per 100 feet. 
With due care, the tree grows rapidly, and its fruit posses- 
ses considerable value. A forest of this and other well 
known trees would add an interesting feature to any plan- 
tation, while the expense of it would be a mere irifle. 
There is genuine poetry in trees — in their beautiful fo- 
liage, their charming blossoms, their delicious fruits, their 
cool and soothing shade, their stately trunks, waving 
tops and graceful outlines, and all speak to the eye and 
soul of man in a language not to be misunderstood. T 
was in the light and shade of groves that man first erected, 
his most elaborate temples, and there his ascending devo- 
tions sought communion wiih the Creator of all. No 
wonder that groves were often held as sacred to God, and 
still oftener made seats of learning — the chosen schools 
where sages taught, rnd thousands studied the profound 
mysteries of the universe. If the history of our raco 
shows anything good in man, it mny ' e stated, to his 
credit, that noble trees, of whatever kind, inspire some- 
thing akin to piety in his heart and in his thoughts. Cab 
this, if you please, an oriental feeling; it has been 
