AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
ADAPTED TO THE 
4Y arm, GrarcLen, and Honseliold, 
AGRICULTURE IS THE &OST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —WASHINGTON. 
©RANGE JlTDi), A. BI., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842, 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. XIX.—No. 5. 
S'lice ut 189 Wntcr-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
OTCoutcnts, Terms, <&c.,oii pases 1 56-60. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, 
iby Orange Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District 
Court of the ynited States for the Southern District of 
New-York. jgp*N. BE.—Every Journal is invited freely 
tto copy any and all desirable articles, if each article or 
illustration copied be duly accredited to the American 
Agriculturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
American Agriculturist in ®*rman. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
both the English and German Languages, Both 
Editions are of the same size, and contain, as 
nearly as possible, the same Articles and Illustra¬ 
tions, The German Edition is furnished at the 
same rates as the English, singly or in clubs- 
May. 
At length the finished garden to the view 
Its vistas opens, and its alleys green. 
Snatched through the verdant maze the hurried eye 
Distracted wanders ; now the bowery walk 
Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day 
Falls on the lengthened gloom, protracted sweeps, 
Now meets the bending sky, the river now 
Dimpling along, the breezy ruffled lake, 
The forest darkening round, the glittering spire, 
The ethereal mountain, and the distant main.— Thomson. 
The genius of gardening was very late in de¬ 
scending upon our shores, and, even now, has 
made n-o very decided impression upon American 
landscapes. Horticultural societies are of mod¬ 
ern origin, and it is only within a score of years 
that the public has taken any marked interest in 
gardening as an art. It is far from being popu¬ 
larized now, though every year witnesses an in¬ 
creased interest in the cultivation and adornment 
ofthe grounds around dwellings, and finer horti¬ 
cultural products at our Summer and Fall exhibi¬ 
tions. In many parts of the land, one may travel 
for days if he will keep clear of the steamers and 
railways, without seeing any evidence that hor¬ 
ticultural societies are known, or that papers 
which treat of gardening are published. There 
is no artificial arrangement of the grounds about 
the dwellings, no planting of trees by the way- 
side, no fruit yard, and nothing beyond a few 
square rods devoted to cabbages, peas, beans, and 
cucumbers, that has the name of a garden. 
In the cities and villages, and their suburbs, 
and along the lines of our great thoroughfares, 
NEW-YORK, MAY, 1860. 
the evidences of horticultural taste are numerous. 
We see not only beautiful dwellings, villas and 
cottages, but appropriate ornamental grounds 
around them, like precious stones in their settings 
of gold. One has only to pass up the Hudson, or 
the East river at this season of the year, to see 
that the Genius of gardening has been domiciled 
among us. The cities of New-York, Philadelphia, 
and Boston, to say nothing of smaller places, are 
surrounded with a net-work of country residences 
where the landscape gardener has applied his 
skill. There are, no doubt, many examples of bad 
taste, both in the architects, and in the garden¬ 
ers, but taken as a whole, these suburbs are a cred¬ 
it to the horticulture of the country. For twenty 
miles around Boston, in all directions upon the 
land, you will find little else, than thrifty homes, 
however small, still surrounded with fruit and or¬ 
namental trees, adorned with flower borders and 
shrubbery, luxuriating in strawberries, and in the 
clusters of the vine. Owing to the superior at¬ 
tractions ofthe scenery around our bay, and our 
facilities for water communication, our cultivated 
homesteads are more widely scattered. Down¬ 
ing has left his footprints all along our noble riv¬ 
er, on both its banks, and his memory will be 
kept fresh and green, while the grounds he laid 
out and the trees he planted are preserved. 
But the mass of our people have neglected the 
garden and have no taste for its delightful em¬ 
ployments. The farmers, as a class, are often 
found to be behind the shop-keeper, and the me¬ 
chanic, in horticultural skill. The unrest of our 
rural population, kept alive by the spirit of emi¬ 
gration, has been exceedingly unfavorable to gar¬ 
dening. The garden implies a fixed abode, and 
is one of the strongest influences to foster the 
love of home, and to hallow one spot of earth 
Our hearts go out spontaneously to the garden, 
as these gladsome days return. The esthetic 
nature of man craves communion with flowers. 
“Along these blushing borders bright with dew, 
And in your mingled wilderness of flowers, 
Fair handed Spring unbosoms every grace, 
Throws out the snow drop, and the crocus first, 
The daisy primrose, violet darkly blue, 
And polyanthus of unnumbered dyes, 
And full ranunculus of glowing red. 
Then comes the tulip race, where Beauty plays 
Her idle freaks ; from family diffused 
To family, as flies the father dust, 
The varied colors run ; and while they break 
On the charmed eye, the exulting florist marks, 
With secret pride the wonders of his hand. 
Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells, 
With hues on hues, expression can not paint 
The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.” 
We doubt if any means of educating and re¬ 
fining the taste of children is more potent than 
the flower garden. There is cultivation of mind 
and heart in the care of these beautiful plants. 
We know that many despise the flower border 
because there is no pecuniary profit in it. They 
can understand the language of clover heads, and 
red top, of the spikes of maize and the potato 
vines, for these products of the soil will sell in 
[NEW SERIES—No. 181 
the market. “ But what is the use,” say they, 
“ofyour pinks and roses, jonquils and tulips. 
They look well enough, but wont fetch a red cent.” 
And it is because they look well enough, that 
we would have flowers around every farmer’s 
home. Pray, what has the Creator given us 
eyes for, and a sense of the beautiful, if they are 
not to be gratified 1 Roses are certainly more 
beautiful than red cents, and, if they have the op¬ 
portunity, the hearts of our children will go out 
after them more spontaneously. No wise father 
will grudge the labor and expense necessary to 
form these cheap bonds of virtue around his home. 
The seeds of the annual flowers are purchased 
for a trifle, and the bulbs, and roots, and shrubs, 
in this age of nurseries, are within the reach of 
most thriving farmers. Make a beginning this 
Spring, and let your son, when he goes forth to 
seek his fortune in the world, have occasion to 
remember “ his mother’s rose bush.” While that 
is striking its roots, his heart will go down into 
the soil of iiis birth place, with a depth and fer¬ 
vor of attachment that new scenes will never 
eradicate. While flowers bloom, the picture of 
his early home will grow brighter in memory. 
But if we submit the garden to the test of util¬ 
ity, we have the strongest inducements to culti¬ 
vate it. It is a school of industry lor both boys 
and girls, forming habits of systematic labor, and 
making work attractive by the pleasures that ac¬ 
company it. Almost any child will dig in the 
soil for the sake of beautiful flowers, and fine 
fruits. These habits formed in our early years, 
abide with us. They lay the foundations of char¬ 
acter, and are worth more than gold. The hoy 
that learns to love work under ten years of age, 
has a fortune in that habit, useful for all after life. 
The garden is not to be despised,, as a means of 
family support and comfort, and of profit as well. 
*• And see, my friends, this garden’s little bound, 
So small the wants of nature, well supplies 
Our board with plenty ; roots or wholesome pulse, 
Or herbs, or flavored fruits ; and from the stream 
The hand of moderation fills a enp, 
To thirst delicious. Hence, nor fevers rise, 
Nor surfeits, nor the boiling blood, inflamed 
With turbid violence, the veins distends.” 
A family of the average size may have hail its 
table expenses met by a well cultivated garden. 
Here is asparagus, pie plant, lettuce and other 
salads already in profusion. A little further on 
in the season, the ground grows red with straw¬ 
berries, and all the smaller fruits hang tempting¬ 
ly from the boughs. Here are peas, beans, and 
green corn, beets, onions, and tomatoes, okra, 
egg plant and celery, squashes, melons, and the 
larger fruits of Autumn. It were a long catalogue 
that embraced all the delicious vegetables and 
fruits that a well appointed garden produces. 
There is health as well as economy in the culti¬ 
vation of these articles. There can be no doubt 
that, as a nation, we live far too largely upon 
meat. Were fruits and vegetables as common as 
they ought to be upon the farm, this evil WUUl'i 
