192 
MR. TUDOR'S GARDEN.-AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
MR. TUDOR’S GARDEN. 
This superb garden is at Nahant, a rough, 
rocky, narrow peninsula, three or four miles long, 
jutting boldly into the sea, from the low sandy 
beach of Lynn, seven miles northeast of Boston. 
Being open to every ocean breeze, and with supe¬ 
rior bathing and fishing ground, it is a delightful 
summer retreat for the citizens of the adjacent 
towns, and has long been quite a fashionable water¬ 
ing place for the public at large. Several spacious 
hotels crown the dark cliffs of the south end of 
Nahant, while picturesque cottages are scattered 
here and there, occasionally varied by groups of farm 
buildings, pleasing for their tidiness, or the reverse, 
according to the means and tastes of their several 
occupants. The surface of this peninsula is com¬ 
posed mostly of rocks, or hard, dry gravel; profit¬ 
able gardening, therefore, much less farming, is 
nearly out of the question. In addition to the want 
of a good soil, the night and mornings are cold; 
and in the storms on the coast, the wind sweeps 
across the peninsula with great violence, loading 
the air and saturating the earth with salt spray 
from the sea. Under these circumstances, few 
shrubs and trees, and these of a peculiar kind only, 
can be reared here without strong, high shelter, 
while growing vegetables and grain are precarious. 
But there are so many persons at present residing 
ad Nahant during the summer season, that gardens 
have become quite a desideratum. 
Various schemes have been devised for a more 
successful growth of fruits and vegetables here, 
but nothing has been found to answer so -well as 
ample protection. Among those who have adopted 
this most extensively and successfully, is Mr. 
Frederic Tudor. His garden comprises about four 
acres, and is tilled with nearly every delicacy of 
flower, fruit, and vegetable, which it is possible to 
grow in the climate of Nahant. His method of pro¬ 
tection consists of a series of fences. The outside 
line is 16 feet high, made of large cedar posts, deeply 
sunk and braced in the ground, connecting with 
joists 3 by 5 inches, to which slats or pickets, 3 
inches wide and one inch thick, of tile same length 
as the posts, are nailed in an upright position 2 
inches apart. To this fence espaliers of the hardiest 
kinds of fruit trees are trained. A second fence of 
the same fashion and materials, but not quite so 
high, is run round the garden a short distance from 
the first. Then comes a third fence, with others to 
the number of nearly one hundred, short and long, 
running off at different angles from the first line, 
making a complete labyrinth of the garden. To 
these shorter fences are trained apricots, nectarines, 
peaches, grapes, and other delicate fruit. In ano¬ 
ther part of the garden is a peachery by itself, of 
300 trees, grown by the sides of short slatted fences, 
a few feet apart, protected in front by a thick hedge 
of dwarf willow. One would be surprised to find 
what a difference these fences make between the 
atmosphere of the garden and that surrounding it. 
Although it was in the month of July when we 
visited the garden, without, the air was chilly and 
blustering, within, bland and warm. Several kinds 
of fruits were in season, all of which we tasted, 
and found them as delicious as those grown in a 
much milder climate. 
We found several other things here well worthy 
of record: for example, Mr. Tudor’s contrivances 
with stones and different kinds of substance, such 
as peat, forest leaves, &c., to retain moisture there, 
the soil being excessively dry. This garden is 
well worthy of the visit of amateurs ; for, taking it 
all in all, it is quite unique, and an object of no lit¬ 
tle curiosity. We have never met with anything 
like it on so extensive a scale, either in this coun¬ 
try or in Europe; and we are informed that its 
opulent owner, with great liberality, allows all re¬ 
spectable applicants to walk over it at their leisure. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
This Institution held its regular meeting on 
Wednesday evening, May 6th. Although the 
number in attendance was small, the subjects dis¬ 
cussed were not deficient in interest. 
Alpaca Fund. —Mr. Moses Barran, of Mount 
Morris, N. Y., announced through the Treasurer of 
the Association, that he had subscribed $200 to¬ 
wards the enterprise of introducing the Alpaca into 
the United States. 
Syrian Millet. —S. B. Parsons, who had recently 
returned from the South, stated that the Syrian 
millet (Sorghum halepense) is successfully cultivated 
in Carolina and Georgia, from seeds procured from 
the banks of the Nile. This species of grass, he 
said, has a tuberous, perennial root, with a succu¬ 
lent top, and has grown five feet high on the dry, 
pine-barrens of North Carolina, and promises to 
afford a valuable forage for cattle, on the poorest 
soils of the South, without manure. 
Egyptian Horse Beans. —Capt. Luther T. Wilson, 
recently from Egypt, invited the attention of the 
Society to a few bushels of beans which he had 
brought from that country, and had deposited for 
seed in the warehouse of Mr. A. B. Allen, at 187 
Water Street, N. Y. He said that these beans grow 
all over Egypt, but principally in the upper part, 
and that they are much exported to England as food 
for horses. He remarked that they brought, at 
Cairo, seventy cents per bushel, by the cargo, and 
that the annual amount carried to Europe, he had 
understood, was 600,000 bushels. 
Mr. A mb. Stevens explained the difference be¬ 
tween the properties of Egyptian and other beans, 
and Indian corn, with reference to the feeding of 
horses, and pointed out the importance of obtaining 
a kind of bean that is not too stimulating to them, 
which can be cultivated in the United States as a 
field crop. He recommended that experiments be 
made in different parts of the country, with the 
Egyptian horse bean, both as regards its culture, 
and applicability as food for horses and other ani¬ 
mals; upon which, a committee was appointed, 
consisting of himself and the chemist of the Asso¬ 
ciation, to analyze and report upon this vegetable, 
forthwith, through the columns of some of the 
leading agricultural journals of the day. Mr. Ham- 
mersley offered specimens, procured by himself, of 
the strata of the banks of the Nile, for examination 
or analysis by the committee. 
The Association held a special meeting on Wed¬ 
nesday evening, May 20th, from which they ad¬ 
journed until the first Wednesday of October of the 
present year. 
