AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
461 
I8S0.] 
ture was in a transition state, from the old style 
farming of fifty years ago, to the new ideas of the 
present generation. A great deal of new light has 
broken in upon the art of cultivating the soil, and 
farmers are studying, and learning, the science of 
their business. Some are apt scholars, and know 
what tools, manures, and stock are needed to make 
the particular farm they cultivate, pay. These 
men have no thought of going to the city, or going 
West. Their skill and labor are as well rewarded 
here as they would be at any place. They are fairly 
prosperous and enjoy life. Others are slow in 
learning, cling to the old methods, raise crops in 
competition with the new lands of the West, and 
get discouraged, and go into other business. Bet¬ 
ter times will come a while hence, when we get 
over the transition state, and understand better 
what crops will pay, and learn how to live well 
upon the limited income upon the farm.” 
These remarks of my neighbors show the drift 
of public opinion upon the great change that has 
come over our farming towns. The tide of popu¬ 
lation is away from the farm, in every agricultural 
parish in the State. Seventy-five of our rural 
towns, show a loss of twelve thousand in ten years. 
This is by no means an unmixed evil. It does not 
prove a decline in wealth, or in morals. If a far¬ 
mer who understands his business, buys up the 
land of his thriftless neighbor who is doing a los¬ 
ing business, the Commonwealth gains rather than 
loses. The acres, that did not pay under poor 
husbandry, will be made profitable under good, and 
add to the food supply of the State. An increasing, 
thrifty city and village population means a larger 
number of consumers, and better prices for the 
milk, butter, veal, lambs, pigs, poultry, eggs, and 
vegetables, and fruits, raised upon the neighbor¬ 
ing farms. The man who loses money in farming, 
for want of skill, may sell his labor at a profit in 
the city or village, and be a gainer by the change. 
With this fact of a declining population in the 
agricultural towns we have another, that farms in 
this State have appreciated in value, averaging seven 
per cent. Let us give thanks and take courage. 
Rookertown , Ct., I Yours to command, 
Oct. 10,1880. j Timothy Bunker, Esq. 
Notes from the Pines. 
When I wrote my last “ Notes from the Pines,” 
little did I suppose that the next “Notes” would 
be from among the “ Pines ” on the other side of 
the Atlantic. Here the most frequent Pines are 
usually called the Scotch Fir, though it is not a Fir 
at all. I do not propose to give, in these “ Notes,” 
an account of travel, which would be quite out of 
place, but merely note some horticultural matters 
that strike an American as different from those he is 
accustomed to in his own country. A brief sketch of 
The Route Travelled 
will indicate the localities referred to. After land¬ 
ing at Queenstown and reaching Cork, we went to 
the famed Lakes of Killaruey, by way «f Bantry 
and Glengariff. Our route took us through one of 
the wildest parts of Ireland. Through North Wales 
to Chester, to Liverpool, and thence to the vener¬ 
able University town of Oxford, where these Notes 
are dated. Glengariff is almost at the extreme 
south-eastern part of Ireland, on the Bay of Bantry 
and a popular watering place. Here we found 
Fuchsias in Hedges. 
In front of the hotel was a long hedge of what I 
took to be Fuchsia coccinea, one part of which was 
fully 8 feet high, the principal portion being kept 
at about 3 feet. This, with its myriads of pendu¬ 
lous, bright scarlet flowers, was a horticultural ex¬ 
hibition of itself. The Blue Passion-flower ran in 
among the Ivy which covered the front of the 
hotel, and displayed its flowers against the dark- 
green back-ground with fine effect. All through 
the mountains, from Glengariff to Killamey, the 
country was bright with 
Furze and Heather, 
both of which were in full bloom, the bright yellow 
of the Furze contrasting finely with the rose-purple 
tints of at least two species of Heath. The Furze 
or Whin ( Ulex Europceus), is much used for fencing 
all through this portion of Ireland. A low ridge of 
earth is thrown up, or a wall of turf (sods) is built, 
and Furze planted upon the top. This plant is a 
mass of thorns, and soon forms a complete barrier. 
It has its disadvantages, however, for, like all live 
fences, if neglected for a few years it becomes a 
shapeless and unsightly mass. Besides this, it is 
apt to become a weed, and spreading, probably 
by seed, establishes itself in the fields and, if not 
eradicated while young, will soon take possession. 
I noticed several pastures rendered useless from 
this cause. What a country this is for 
Broad-Leaved Evergreens 1 
Of course the Holly and Ivy are to be seen every¬ 
where, the Ivy just coming into bloom, while the 
Bay Laurel, Cherry Laurel, and a host of others 
that must be kept under glass at home, are here 
among the common out-of-door shrubs. 
In front of our window at Killarney was a speci¬ 
men of Aurucaria intricaius , the “ Monkey Puz¬ 
zler,” at least 20 feet high, and of the most per¬ 
fect form, not a single one of its branches missing 
to mar the formal arrangement. The American is 
frequently and unfavorably struck by the 
Paucity of Vegetables 
in this country. Cabbages and Potatoes are served 
everywhere; besides these, Cauliflowers, String 
Beans, Scarlet Runners, and Vegetable Marrow, are 
all that I have thus far mat with at the best or the 
poorest hotels. The Scarlet Runner, which we cul¬ 
tivate sometimes as an ornamental vine, is here 
common in gardens, but it is a sad substitute for 
our delicious Limas. Vegetable Marrow, rarely 
seen with us, is a long white squash ; it has very 
little character of its own, but is an excellent me¬ 
dium for butter or white sauce. I have eaten over¬ 
grown cucumbers dressed in the same manner, and 
think them quite as good. This country seems to 
be the home of all forms and varieties of the Cab¬ 
bage ; Kales, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Col- 
lards. besides the heading forms, are abundant in 
many gardens, and in the moist climate reach a 
perfection not known with us. Indeed, common 
Cabbage is so tender and marrow-like, that though 
it was served as Cabbage, it was so different from 
the same thing at home that, supposing some mis¬ 
take had been made, I inquired and learned that it 
was merely “ common Cabbage.”... .One thing that 
struck me particularly, is the almost entire 
Absence of Orchards. 
In the long journey from Cork to Dublin and 
Liverpool, and thence to this place, within about 
50 miles of London, I do not think more than a 
hundred or two apple trees were seen, and these in 
such small clumps that they could hardly be called 
orchards. Upon inquiry as to this absence of or¬ 
chards, the reason assigned was, that the land was 
rented, and the tenants did not care to plant trees 
upon land which they might be obliged to give up 
at any time. This must be a very poor apple year, 
as in the above-named cities I saw in the fruit 
stores and on the street the most wretched fruit, 
gnarled, specked, and so poor that our farmers 
would reject them even for cider-making. In the 
abundance of our own crop it is probable that a 
much larger amount will be shipped than ever be¬ 
fore. Plums seem to be the most abundant fruit, 
and often very good ; have seen no very fine pears, 
but it is probably early as yet. Grapes, though 
mainly raised under glass, are much cheaper than 
“ hot-house grapes ” are with us. Women in sever¬ 
al cases brought them to the car windows, offering 
bunches at a shilling each (24 cents), which would 
cost 50 to 75 cents at the Broadway fruit stores.. . 
One often sees a small or sometimes a large patch of 
Osiers, or Basket Willows, 
and baskets that are evidently home-made are very 
common. The great variety of baskets and ham¬ 
pers is very interesting ; there are large and small 
hampers, round, oval, and square hampers, some 
are shallow and others deep; hampers with covers 
and without. Hampers for lunches, for game, and 
all sorts of produce, up to enormous things too 
heavy, when empty, for one man to lift. All these 
are not home-made, though a large share is pro¬ 
duced by the farmers or gardeners. Whether this 
is an example that might be profitably followed by 
us, I much doubt. The time required by an expert 
workman must be so great, that with us a hamper 
would be a costly affair. Besides this, basket¬ 
making is a “ puttering” work, and of a kind that 
our people do not take to kindly. A boy with 
two or three pieces, as may be, of board, and some 
laths or slats, will knock together in a few minutes 
a crate which will answer every purpose of a ham¬ 
per that must require some hours to make. 
The Oxford Botanical Garden 
is not very large, but under the direction of Prof. 
M. A. Lawson, is in excellent keeping. It is inter¬ 
esting on account of its antiquity; and what, in 
this interesting town, is not old ?—even the hotel 
where I write was built before Capt. C. Columbus 
took that memorable voyage ! This is the oldest 
Botanical Garden in England, if not the oldest in 
existence. It was completed iu 1633, it being 
founded by the Earl of Danby for “ the improve¬ 
ment of the faculty of medicine.” Its gateway, 
containing statues of the 1st and 2d Charles, was 
designed by the celebrated Inigo Jones, and was 
paid for from a fine which one Anthony Wood had 
to pay for indulging in a libel upon the Earl of 
Clarendon. It was pleasant to meet with many of 
our familiar American plants, conspicuous among 
which was our Poke or Pigeon-berry. Another 
home plant was our Cardinal Flower (Lobelia car- 
dinalis), the flowers of which were much larger 
than at home, but not of such an intense scarlet. 
Those who read of Oxford as a University town, 
have little idea of what the term expresses. It has 
Over Thirty Colleges and Halls, 
each of which, with its chapel, quadrangles, etc., 
is larger than any American College, Harvard and 
Yale, perhaps, excepted, and dating from the first 
century all the way down, there being but two or 
three that are not over 300 years old. One could 
devote weeks to the place, and then not see all of 
interest it contains. Having only parts of two 
days here, but a few out of the many Colleges could 
be glanced at; the matter of interest about these, 
that can be properly mentioned here, are but few. 
One of the noted points is “Addison’s Walk,” in 
the grounds of Magdalen College. This name, by 
the way, I did not at first understand, when given 
the local pronunciation, which is as if it were spelled 
maudlin ; it is so called by those belonging to the 
College, as well as by the towns-people. The 
“ Walk ” is a well shaded avenue, with very irregu¬ 
larly planted trees, and with its abundant under¬ 
brush has a rather neglected appearance. The fact 
that it was the favorite resort of the author of the 
“ Spectator ” has given it a celebrity which would 
not otherwise attach to it. For me the most inter¬ 
esting thing about the walk was the view it allowed 
of a large herd of deer which were inclosed near 
by. While the walls of most of these old structures 
are abundantly clothed with Ivy, one is often re¬ 
minded of home by coming upon the 
Virginia and Trumpet Creepers, 
the one putting on autumn tints which but poorly 
represent the beauty of the vine in its own country ; 
the other is still showing a profusion of its scarlet 
blooms, which appear to be brightened in brilliancy 
as they are seen against the dark green of the Ivy. 
In the quadrangles there is generally a square of 
well-kept grass, looking as turf only can in this 
favorable climate; its brightness and freshness 
seeming to be out of place when surrounded on all 
sides by tall time-stained and crumbling buildings. 
If any attempts have been made at ornamental 
planting in these courts, we did not fall upon them. 
Enriching Poor Lands —There are three 
principal methods of rapidly increasing the supply 
of plant food in any soil: By feeding concentrated 
foods upon the land, as oil cake, cotton-seed cake, 
etc.; by the application of barn-yard manure, and 
the use of artificial fertilizers. Which of these 
three methods is to be adopted in any given case 
piust be determined by the many conditions and 
circumstances that surround it. It may be that the 
feeding of sheep with decorticated cotton-seed cake 
upon a poor pasture may be the quickest and best 
method of enriching the land. In other cases the 
purchase and application of barn-yard manure may 
