246 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
Cullen Bryant, the Poet, but he was absent 
for the reason stated in the following inter¬ 
esting letter to Wilson G. Hunt, Esq., the 
President of the Society, which Avas read to 
the audience by the Secretary, Peter B. 
Mead: 
New-York, Tuesday, June 19, 1855. 
My Dear Sir : May I ask of you to lay 
before the company assembled this evening 
in the rooms occupied by the Exhibition of 
the Horticultural Society my apology for not 
appearing to address them as I had engaged 
to do. For some days past I have suffered 
with a swelled face which has prevented me 
from preparing myself for the occasion in 
the manner I wished, and which unfits me 
for appearing to-day. 
It had been my intention to advert to some 
of the more remarkable triumphs of horti¬ 
culture in lightening the beauty of flowers 
and improving the quality of fruits, and 
thence to draw encouragement for those 
who follow this pursuit in our oavh country. 
The favorite varieties of cherry in France 
and England decay for the most part the in¬ 
stant they ripen in the warm and often 
showery weather of our June and the be¬ 
ginning of July, and we have yet to acquire 
varieties suited to our climate which will 
preserve their freshness a reasonable time 
after maturity. The apricot blossoms are 
so often nipped by the Spring frosts that 
they can never be relied on to produce fruit, 
and we have yet to inquire whether more 
hardy, or, at least, later blooming varieties, 
could not be found on the declivities of Le¬ 
banon, or further North on the skirts of Cau¬ 
casus, Avhich are in some cases covered in 
large tracts with apricot trees. I intended 
to have given some facts from my own ob¬ 
servation to show that the grape of Eu¬ 
rope in its natural state is not by any means 
the agreeable fruit we find it in the cultivated 
varieties. From these and from the tenden¬ 
cy of our native grape to run into innumer¬ 
able varieties, I thought it might be reasona¬ 
bly expected that we should yet produce on 
vines of a hardier and more luxurient growth 
native grapes, rivaling in every respect 
thorse of the old world. I meant to show that 
the American gooseberry naturally passes 
into varieties very different from each other, 
and from this to infer the improvability of 
the fruit to such a degree that we might 
hope to produce it of as large a size and as 
fine a flavor as those of England, yet free 
from the mildew which attacks the English 
goosberry in our climate. The fruit of the 
American blackberry is naturally of a finer 
flavor than the European and greatly varies 
in quality even in the fields. We may yet 
have as many varieties of this fruit as of the 
raspberry. No attempt, I believe, has been 
made to improve the fruit of the American 
plum, whether the Chickasaw, the red or the 
beech plum, while the art of the gardener 
has been exhausted in obtaining from the 
plum of the old world varieties most remark¬ 
ably different in size and flavor, from the 
little mirabelle of the size of a bullet to the 
magnum bonum vicing in dimensions with 
the peach. If the custard-apple of the West 
had been a native of Europe, can we sup¬ 
pose it would not have been brought into 
the gardens centuries ago, cultivated with 
care, rendered prolific, improved in size and 
flavor, and made a common table fruit in its 
season 1 
One of the most splendid,'garden flowers 
is the pansy. Its parent is the little three- 
columned violet of Europe, pretty, but too 
small to be conspicuous. By crossing it 
with other species of the violet and pamper¬ 
ing the hybrid plant, a dazzling combination 
of glowing colors has been produced ; the 
stalks have become tall and the petals broad. 
Wo have among the flotvers of our own 
fields a little white violet of intense fra¬ 
grance. By the same process of hybridiza¬ 
tion it is probable that its size might be en¬ 
larged and its fragrance retained, and a new 
ornament be added to our gardens. We 
have other beautiful flowers in our forests 
and fields for Avhich art has yet done nothing 
to make their bloom less transient. In the 
prairies of the West flourish bulbous plants 
worthy of a place on our window-sills in 
March with the hyacinth, narcissus and the 
Syrian anemone. 
These are some of the topics on which I 
intended to dwell, and I mention them now 
because it seems to me that as suggestions 
of what may yet be accomplished in horti¬ 
culture, they may be considered as not en¬ 
tirely without value. 
I am, Sir, respectfully and tfuly yours, 
To Wilson G. Hunt, Esq. W. C. BRYANT. 
After this letter was read, Rev. Mr. Osgood 
was called out, and taking the stand, he gave 
a short address, Avhich was received with 
frequent bursts of applause. The following 
is an outline of his remarks : 
In this world of sharp corners I have tried 
to do a few good-natured things, but I think 
to consent to come here and speak Avhere 
Bryant Avas expected is certainly no small 
sacrifice. You are disappointed, and I am 
inclined to believe that the flowers are too ; 
for all beauties have a kind of an understand¬ 
ing with each other and are fond of each 
other’s society ; and I have no doubt but 
there is a sympathetic vain between the beau¬ 
ty of the flower and the beauty of the fancy 
of the poet. But I remember once of read¬ 
ing in the poems of a Russian poet of a clod 
of earth that Avas fragant; and they asked 
ot it, “ What is this, are you musk or amber 
that you are so fragrant 1” And the clod re¬ 
plied, “ Oh, no ! I am nothing but earth; but 
the roses have dwelt near me, and their 
sAveetness has penetrated all my being.” So 
then listen to me, although I may be but a 
clod among the flowers. You expected Bry¬ 
ant to address you to-night. It is a pleasant 
thing that our great American poet has been 
so much interested in the culture of flowers; 
and it is also pleasant that he has written a 
letter that shows so much knowledge as Avell 
as so much heart. We find that his majestic 
imagination is Avilling to stop and see beauty 
in a Avay-side flower. Now, ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen, I Avill not conceal it from you that I 
am in a difficulty. I am here to say some¬ 
thing. What shall it be % I suppose that 
W all-street is here to-night in good numbers. 
Wall-street is everyAvhere. I believe thathe 
is sometimes very much calumniated. I am 
inclined to think that old Cent Per Cent 
when he is counting his dollars in Wall- 
street once in a-Avhile dreams of green fields 
and blooming flowers. Whenever a little 
child comes to him Avith a bouquet of flowers 
I Avarrant you that his heart beats in the im¬ 
pulses of true humanity, and old Cent Per 
Cent is, after all, a man. Goethe, in his 
Faust, makes Mephistophiles fear the influ¬ 
ence of fiOAvers. When he Avas claiming 
Faust a shower of roses fell about them, 
and soon Mephistophiles became alarmed 
for himself, and was so affected that he was 
obliged to close his nostrils lest he should be 
converted and be no longer a devil. The 
value of fiOAvers is not Avhat they bring in the 
market, but in their own loveliness. When 
Ave ask of the little flower Avhat is its use, it 
can ask back to many of us, “ Sir, of what 
use are you I” There are many of us who 
live a Avordly and not a beautiful life, who 
Avould find it pretty hard to stand the test of 
the little flower’s catechism. When we make 
a present we find it difficult to direct what 
to give. We desire that a gift be valuable. 
But there is one coin which in the market of 
sentiment is always gold—it is the coinage 
of Nature’s sweet flowers. The language of 
flowers always goes to the heart. It is a 
language not in books, but is written in the 
hieroglyph of Nature itself. I do not know 
how they learned it, but Ave have all had 
proof that they understand it ; and if a per¬ 
son who has reached the years of discretion 
has never felt this language of flowers go 
direct to his heart, I can only say that I look 
upon him Avith feelings of commiseration. 
So much for the beauty of flowers, those 
messengers of Heaven that are constantly 
rebuking our gross utilitarianism, and teach 
us that God has made life to be lovely as 
well as useful. I believe that Ave are Amer- 
cans, for I think a great deal of being an 
American. If we try to be something else 
than Avhat Ave are, we simply make ourselves 
ridiculous. If we try to be Counts and 
Dukes, we are just nothing at all, neither 
Counts, Dukes, nor Americans. The true 
course is for a.man to be himself, the son of 
his own father, and the fellow-citizen of his 
own fellow-citizen. With this great idea in 
the minds of the people, I can see a noble 
future for America in social refinements and 
beautiful tastes. We are to have a life far 
more beautiful and festive than we have ever 
knoAvn. What a connection there is be¬ 
tween the cultivation of flowers and the re¬ 
finements of home ! With horticulture we 
have seen a neAv system of architecture. 
What name stands higher than that of Down¬ 
ing 1 Go where you will and you will see 
some memorial of his fine fancy—some mon¬ 
ument of his architectural skill. We are a 
business people, but we believe in being a 
refined people, and will welcome the day 
when in our homes, in the green fields 
under the spreading trees, Ave shall enjoy 
ourselves Avith childhood and age, man and 
Avoman, music and flowers, and will receive 
the benediction of God smiling doAvn upon 
us. 
Previous to reading Mr. Bryant’s letter, 
the President gave a short address, returning 
thanks to the gardeners and amateurs for 
their valuable contributions, and to the Mer¬ 
cantile Library Association for the use of 
their Hall, which had been generously ten¬ 
dered to them gratuitously. He stated the 
objects of the Society to be to familiarize the 
people Avith the science of Horticulture, to 
awaken a love for the beautiful, and to culti¬ 
vate a taste for this chaste and elevating oc¬ 
cupation. 
PREMIUMS. 
At the conclusion of Mr. Osgood’s re¬ 
marks, the Secretary announced the follow¬ 
ing list of premiums were awarded to the 
competitors in the exhibition : 
Plants in Pots .—Best collections of Fuch¬ 
sias, premium of $5; awarded to David 
Scott, gardener to Mrs. Holbrook, 19th-st., 
New-York. 
Best single specimen-plant in bloom, pre¬ 
mium of $3 ; awarded to David Scott for 
Azalea Danielsiana. A special premium of 
$3 for the same, to Martin Collopy, gardener 
to J. H. Prentice, Esq., for Cissus Discolor. 
Seedling Plants .—Premium of $2; aAvard- 
ed to J. Suttle for a fancy Pelargonium. 
Premium of $1; awarded to Mr. Cranstoun 
for seedling Autirrhinums. 
Premium of $2 ; awarded to D. Boll, 49th 
st., for the best seedling Verbena. 
Diploma awarded to James Weir, Go- 
wanus, L. I., for second best seedling Ver¬ 
bena. 
Roses. —Best collection, premium of $8; 
awarded tu M. Donadi, Astoria, L. I. 
Second best collection, premium of $5 ; 
awarded to D. Boll, 49th-st. 
Roses .—Best twenty-four, premium of $3; 
awarded to G. Marx, Astoria, L. I, 
