AMERICAN AG-RIOIJLTTJRIST. 
175 
1861 .] 
of Fowler’s apparatus with steam plows al¬ 
ready invented on this side the Atlantic, pro¬ 
nounce several of the latter superior; but even 
these have not reached the point of excellence 
demanded by the wants of cultivators. The 
field is still open for inventors, and some one 
■will yet reap a fortune, and enrol his name with 
Watts, Arkwright, Fulton, and Whitney. Ag¬ 
ricultural Societies can do much to encourage 
this enterprise. There has been unfortunate 
misunderstanding or mismanagement in the of¬ 
fers and awards of premiums for steam plows. 
Let this be guarded against. 
--—-- 
Use the Crowbar. 
A lively Yankee once begged us to advocate 
the crowbar. Not that he had any patent which 
he wanted to introduce. Any sort would do, if 
it were only strong enough not to bend, and 
light and smooth enough to handle convenient¬ 
ly. Then use it. The rocky hill-sides of New- 
England were the grand field of its display, the 
old, half sterile farms, which the Yankee boys 
were leaving for the fat prairies of the West. 
Stay at home, some of you, and handle the crow- 
Dar. Clear up those stony acres, and build from 
the proceeds imperishable fences, and then bury 
the plow deep in the unburdened soil. And let 
the manure fork finish up what the crowbar and 
plow have begun. What need of all the sons 
hurrying away from the old homestead, and go¬ 
ing where schools and churches, and good 
roads and good society, and other like good 
things, have all got to be created. No, no: use 
the crowbar, and contentedly stay where you are. 
About Pomological Societies. 
Many things can be said for and against these 
associations. There is danger that some per¬ 
sons will endeavor to use them for selfish ends. 
For instance: nurserymen, or growers of any 
specialty of fruit, or flower, or shade-tree, or 
manufacturer of patent manures and the like, 
may take advantage of their power and influ¬ 
ence as members of such society, to introduce 
their favorite articles to public notice, and to 
get certificates and recommendations which 
they do not really deserve. By personal influ¬ 
ence, or the use of that which is said to “ make 
the mare go,” they may get opinions manufac¬ 
tured which will serve their purpose very well 
before the deluded public. Indeed, we have 
known interested persons to join these societies 
with the sole aim of pushing their own wares 
into market, and then to resign their member¬ 
ship in disgust, as soon as their selfishness was 
detected and exposed. We have also known 
persons to join these societies for the purpose of 
gathering all the information they could obtain 
from the study and experience of others, while 
they selfishly and meanly withheld their own 
from the common benefit. 
The opinion is somewhat widely prevalent 
now, that our various pomological societies are 
only another name for nurserymen’s clubs, got 
up Dy them, and managed and sustained for their 
mutual profit. Their approaching meetings, 
so we are told, are heralded loudly in the pa¬ 
pers, their discussions and opinions are reported 
at length in numerous journals, and thus an in¬ 
terest is awakened in the public mind in behalf 
of pomology and kindred pursuits. All of this 
contributes largely (are you so blind as not to 
see it?) to the sale of the nurserymen’s articles, 
be they good, bad or indifferent. So think the 
suspicious ones, and they declare their suspi¬ 
cions, and so excite wide-spread prejudices and 
fears, and in this way the good cause of horti¬ 
culture gets many a put-back. 
It is perhaps not growling too much, to say 
that some persons are willing to pay the annual 
fee of membership, solely for the privilege of 
hearing themselves talk at the public meetings, 
and of having their names and speeches report¬ 
ed by the public press—a cheap way of becom¬ 
ing notorious, if not famous. 
We are not disposed to defend the nurserymen, 
but there is another side to this matter. What 
if men are a little selfish here, and seek to pro¬ 
mote their own welfare ? Is this the only place 
that selfishness shows itself? May not the nur¬ 
seryman look out for his own advantage, and at 
the same time promote the public interest ? If 
he fail to consult the good of his patrons, it will 
soon be found out, and he will suffer ten-fold. 
Both parties are bound together by the tie of 
interest. If a man endeavors to promote his 
own advantage by fair and honorable means, 
no one should complain! All business oper¬ 
ations are conducted on this principle. Every 
man must take care of his own interests ; and if 
in so doing he benefits society at large, it is all 
very well: it is just as it should be. 
Furthermore; it is very natural and proper 
that nurserymen should be the leading and most 
numerous members of these societies. Horti¬ 
culture is their business, they feel attached to it, 
they are generally better informed about it than 
other men, and they desire to increase their 
stores of knowledge from the experience of oth¬ 
ers. In order to adapt their stock to the wants 
of the market, they desire to learn the experi¬ 
ence of horticulturists in all sections of the coun¬ 
try. And in no way can they gather the need¬ 
ful information better than by attendance at the 
meetings of these societies. 
But these associations are not composed en¬ 
tirely of nurserymen. Our country has now a 
large number of amateurs who pursue horticul¬ 
ture from simple, love of it, who are desirous to 
learn all they can, and are willing to teach all 
they know about it. A pomological discussion 
by well informed men is to them a feast of fat 
things. A new hint about the management of 
fruit trees, shade trees, or flowers; information 
as to the merits of any new variety of tree, vine, 
shrub or flowering plant; in short, any new fact 
touching horticulture in any of its branches, is 
received by them with avidity and delight. 
Then, too, the simple fact of meeting with a 
large number of gentlemen engaged in kindred 
pursuits, feeds their zeal, and gives them new 
interest in their favorite employment. 
And then, as all who desire can not personal¬ 
ly attend these public meetings, the discussions 
are reported in our leading journals, and are ea¬ 
gerly read by thousands in every part of the 
country. 
As to some of the other objections already re¬ 
ferred to, they can be remedied or borne with. 
If a member becomes too loquacious, measures 
can be taken to excuse him from such duties. If 
some will allow themselves to be bribed to re¬ 
commend worthless articles—why,we must work 
harder, and hurry in the Millenium, for that 
alone will put a stop to all bad things! 
But again; as to these societies in their asso¬ 
ciate capacity using their power to foist poor 
or worthless articles upon the public, the gener¬ 
al fact is right otherwise. Humbugs ordinarily 
keep at a distance from pomological associa¬ 
tions. For, the members living in different sec¬ 
tions of the country, come together as independ¬ 
ent and disinterested judges. All they care to 
know about any article presented for their ex¬ 
amination is, the facts: the name of the person 
introducing it, is to them, a matter of indifference. 
Their inquiries are, simply—“ Is it meritorious ? 
Is it worthy of recommendation to the public ? 
How does it compare with some acknowledged 
standard in the same department ?” And when 
these gentlemen pronounce judgment, they know 
that discerning men throughout the country will 
carefully scrutinize it, and will respect their opin¬ 
ion only as it proves to be well founded. One, 
or at most two instances of weak or biased judg¬ 
ment will destroy their reputation with the pub¬ 
lic. Hence, we say, impostors keep clear of these 
societies. Their wares will be weighed in hon¬ 
est scales, and if they prove wanting, the public 
will be told of it. 
For these, and other reasons which need not 
be enumerated, we bid the pomological societies, 
good speed ! and urge upon all fruit growers 
to share in the benefits of membership. To the 
members we say, make it your sole object to 
gather and to disseminate facts, regardless wheth¬ 
er it affects this or that man’s personal interests. 
Associated effort can accomplish vastly more in 
the way of experimenting, than individual ef¬ 
fort can—why should we lose this advantage, 
because of an occasional abuse of it ? Do not 
be too ready to suspect a brother member of sin¬ 
ister design, because he advocates this, or con¬ 
demns that. Give him a chance to be honest. 
Strive to gather into your society a large num¬ 
ber of careful observers and candid, upright men, 
for they are the men who give weight to a so¬ 
ciety’s judgment. Let each man bring to the 
meetings his best information, and try to make 
the discussions useful and entertaining. And, 
as one has well said, “ Let there be courtesy in 
debate, brevity of speech, decorum, and the care¬ 
ful observance of parliamentary rules; for thus 
only can the rights of all be secured. In the ab¬ 
sence of these, wordy and discursive debate soon 
assumes the whole field, and the true object ot 
the meeting is lost.” 
-0—4-i n a^O B— »-<»■- 
God Seen in the Flower. 
The argument for the existence and wisdom 
of God, drawn from the marks of design in the 
works of creation, is one which can not be con¬ 
troverted. And it meets us at every step. In 
this flowering month of June, the gardener may 
discover so beautiful an illustration of divine 
wisdom, that we must call special attention to 
it. It is in the habits of the plant known as 
Colcliicum. It blooms in October, sending up 
from the damp soil its flower-stems without 
leaves, and then disappears. Flowering thus 
just upon the verge of Winter, it has not time 
to perfect its seed and so provide for its own 
reproduction. But the un-matured seed lies pro¬ 
tected in the bulb below ground through the 
Winter; then, in the Spring, up shoots a fruit- 
stalk on which the seeds mature and ripen, 
about the first of June. What an admirable 
provision ! Does this happen by chance 
---—- 
Evergreen Seeds should be sown in a 
shady place, covered shallow with a mixture of 
sand and peat or loam. The shade of an ever¬ 
green tree is a good place to sow the seed. If 
exposed to the full rays of the suiq many of the 
young trees will die off the first season. It takes 
a long time to get trees large enough for a hedge, 
or for planting, and if time is any object with 
the planter, it is much cheaper to purchase 
trees from a well established nursery. 
