308 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Rural Gossip 
It was the writer’s wont, during some of the 
warm afternoons of the past summer, to leave the 
sanctum and saunter through our garden and 
grounds for recreation. The walk, in one direc¬ 
tion, leads to an arbor built under and around an 
ancient elm, a picture of which we have formerly 
given to our readers and now reproduce. 
This was a favorite resort because, though 
completely shaded from the sun and concealed 
from street goers, it yet commanded a fine land¬ 
scape. Here we often sat undisturbed for hours, 
and made many jottings in our portfolio for the 
Agriculturist. Sometimes, the members of our 
family would follow us, and occasionally, a visi¬ 
tor or two would seek us out and claim a seat by 
our side Would it be strange if in our afternoon 
\,alks, there were some of them worth recording! 
Would it he strange if, with a group of young 
and old about us, on the grass, we sometimes 
opened our note book and read an occasional lu¬ 
cubration! Here is one of them : 
ABOUT GARDENING. 
How suggestive the word, garden ! The very 
sound carries us away to Eden, the first garden, 
and brings before us a fairy scene of fruits and 
flowers, of sunlight and shade, of perfect beauty 
and unmingled delight. It recalls whatever his¬ 
tory, poetry and books of travel have told us of 
beautiful scenes in the East, in southern Europe, 
and in our British father-land. What wonder 
that the most cultivated nations, ancient and 
modern, have been noted for their love of gardens ! 
Where could Plato and Aristotle have more suc¬ 
cessfully taught philosophy, than amid the groves 
of the Academy ! 
[Here, an old gentleman who had hobbled up, 
begged leave to interrupt us by saying that if 
Plato had taught philosophy as sensibly as Bacon 
did, the world would have got on better and fast¬ 
er. He wondered if Plato's fondness for gardens 
and trees didn’t make him the ‘highfalutin’ philos¬ 
opher he was! We simply replied that Plato’s 
philosophy was very good of the sort, and that 
Bacon was as much of a garden-man as Plato.] 
Pliny and Horace seldom wrote better than 
when rural life was their theme. And who can 
forget that our Savior spent some of the most 
trying hours of his life in a garden, and in a gar¬ 
den made his grave! Divest literature, ancient 
and modern, of its essays and poetry on country 
life, and of its illustrations drawn from rural 
scenes and employments, and you strip it of half 
its charms. 
[“ How doth the little busy bee,” &c., chirped 
in a curly head, at our feet. After patting her 
locks, and thanking her for her appreciation, we 
went on :J 
The influence of a garden upon the forming of 
the mind and character of youth, is of greater 
importance than is generally supposed. Not a 
few men have been saved from vicious indul¬ 
gence, not a few have been directed into paths of 
virtue, and honor, and high endeavor, by reason 
of their early association with beautiful scenes in 
nature. Train up a child in a home destitute of 
rural attractions, where the beautiful in the sur¬ 
roundings of daily life is ignored, where the rul¬ 
ing motto is : “ Money makes the mare go,” and 
it will be strange if that child does not grow up an 
avaricious, cold, calculating miser. He will, at 
least, care little for personal improvement, will 
possess little in his character to win the affections 
of others, and will do little to make the world 
happier or better. His own children will grow 
up with little attachment for home, and, unless 
their finer feelings are crushed out, will be glad 
to escape from it as soon as possible. 
How different the case when parents surround 
their homes with some kind of rural embellish¬ 
ment 1 They need have no grand and expensive 
garden, nothing that requires the neglect of other 
things, or imposes a burden of care and labor. 
He who has the time and the means, may gather 
about his dwelling all manner of curious and 
rare trees and shrubs; velvet lawns may stretch 
away cn every hand, and everywhere there may 
be seen the hand of educated taste and skill. 
But a garden may be much less than this, and 
yet be very attractive and useful. It may consist 
of only a few favorite shrubs and old-fashioned 
flowers, and a little grass-plot, nothing more. 
The planting and tending such a garden may he 
the recreation of the family in the intervals of 
other pursuits. It will he loved all the more, if 
the work is not done by the “hired man.” 
But let no one undertake to do up all his gar¬ 
dening at once. For the first year, it will be 
enough to break up the ground and set out a few 
trees and plants. Next season, manure and pul¬ 
verize the soil more thoroughly, and add a few 
hardy herbaceous perennials and annuals, and lay 
out a walk or two, which may be gravelled. For 
another year, introduce some choicer plants and 
vines, look well to the weeds in the walks, keep 
the grass-plot trim, and build a rustic arbor or 
seat, in some appropriate place. The experience 
and reading of each year will suggest something 
new for the year to come. And so the labor of 
each season will be comparatively light, and the 
curiosity will be continually awakened and grati 
tied. 
The young should be taught to love gardens, 
not only for their beauty, but also for the study 
they afford of the works of Nature. With the 
first swelling of the buds in Spring, explain to 
them the mystery of the rise and fall of the sap, 
and of the growth of all vegetation. 
[Here, a schoolmaster present, wanted to know 
if ive understood this mystery. Could we, or 
anybody else, tell exactly what caused the sap to 
ascend ! And as to its descending, he would like 
to see satisfactory proof of it. The school 
teacher was implored to wait until another time 
for an explanation. Expressing our surprise that 
he should doubt that an Editor knows every¬ 
thing, we proceeded ] 
When flowers appear, take one and dissect it, 
and even a young chi d will wonder admiringly 
at the mechanism and • rangement of its sever¬ 
al parts, the design o' : tlyx, petals, and stamens, 
and pistils. And wh<?:. Winter approaches, ex¬ 
plain to your pupil why the leaves fall; show him 
the next year’s buds already formed at the bases 
of the leaves, and the ripened wood prepared to 
resist the action of storm and frost. In this way 
a spirit of inquiry will be aroused, which will re¬ 
sult in the acquirement of mental discipline and 
an improvement of the character. For the in¬ 
vestigation of one subject will lead to the study 
of others, and familiarity with pure and beautiful 
objects w ill tend to personal refinement. No one 
can he long engaged in gardening, without wish¬ 
ing to acquire a knowledge of botany. Ladies, 
espe'-ially, find great attractions in this study. It 
gives them a new insight into the traits, the voiy 
heait, of the plants they cultivate ; it leads them 
off into pleasant and healthful strolls in field and 
forest, in quest of flowers ; and the habit of close 
examination and nice comparison which the 
study fosters, often gives their minds an acute¬ 
ness and force as great as can he derived from 
classical studies. 
[Here, a young lady, attending a 'boarding- 
school near by, re-arranged the folds of her dress, 
and sat tip a little more erect. We shut up our 
portfolio at. this point ; whereupon the old man 
before mentioned, said our piece was a pretty 
smart one, and good doctrine on the whole, and 
he hoped we would put it in the paper. We have 
followed his advice.] 
Set Out a Shade Tree. 
Fou admired those trees in Mr. Smith’s yard, 
last Summer. How cooling their shade, how am¬ 
ple and rich and graceful their foliage ! How fine¬ 
ly they set oil'the house behind them ! You said 
to yourself that those trees added $500, to the 
value of his premises, and you resolved that when 
another planting-time came around, you would 
set out a good lot of trees around your own home¬ 
stead, and along the street in front of your land. 
Now, that planting time has come, be sure and keep 
your vow. Don't say, I havn’t time, or it wont 
pay, or I am getting too old to plant trees, I shah 
never live to sit under their shade. Don't indulge 
in any such vain pleas for indolence. You have 
time to set out, at least a few. It ivill pay, as 
every year’s observation shows. Very likely, you 
will live to enjoy their shade. Trees grow very 
fast, if well planted and afterwards well-cared for. 
We have known men to go about, making the 
last-named excuse ten years in succession, a long 
time enough for their trees to have grown to con¬ 
siderable size, had they been energetic enough to 
plant them at the outset 
And what if you don’t live to enjoy their shade! 
Under whose trees do you walk or ride every 
day, when you go down the street! Trees which 
men planted before your day. From whose fruit- 
trees do you gather an abundance of delicious ap¬ 
ples and pears every year ! Trees which men 
planted before your day. Now, suppose they had 
said : Let us not waste our time and money and 
strength in planting trees, for we shall not live to 
enjoy their shade and fruit,—the present gener 
ation would have her-n poorly off in these respects. 
Who can not see that every generation is indebt¬ 
ed to those preceding it, and should make the 
debt for those following, larger still! It is a debt, 
strange to say, which enriches those on whom it 
is entailed, and whten makes children bless the 
memory of their fathers. 
--» -—3<S>ra--- -- 
Redeeming Time.— “ I say Peter, in going round 
the world a man loses a whole day from his life. 
Can he in any way make it up again !” “ Oh 
yes! that’s easy. Let him turn round and go 
hack again.” 
