266 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
m them is woman’s province, her very life, 
else how could she make home so beautiful? 
Yet on this Tree Igdrasyl grow many other 
beautiful leaves, upon which pictures of life 
and lessons of heart knowledge are daguer- 
reotyped with exquisite truthfulness. We 
will pluck but one ; 
“I confess I am not philosophical enough 
to get quite above this matter of dress. I 
think there is more in the mind’s craving for 
perfect harmony and fitness in outward 
things than many of our sages admit. The 
The dress of every woman should be evolved 
from her mind—an indication of the grace, 
truth, purity and beauty within. * * * * 
Only as the ‘ outward and visible sign ’ of 
the inward harmony should dress be made a 
study ; never for vulgar display.” 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Preserved Vegetables and Fruits. —The 
season is close at hand when those desirous 
of securing a late fall and winter’s supply of 
the above, must set about preparing them. 
I should be greatly obliged if some of your 
lady readers who are most intelligent on the 
subject, would give us the best methods for 
preserving both as vegetables and sweet¬ 
meats, some of the leading products of the 
garden, and especially the tomato for cook¬ 
ing, when wanted as a vegetable. 
An Inexperienced Housekeeper. 
POUGHKEEPSIE—ITS ENVIRONS. 
BY C. N. BEMENT. 
Poughkeepsie, to the traveler passing up 
or down the Hudson, either on the river or 
Rail-Road, presents nothing prepossessing or 
very attractive worthy of note. Bold and 
craggy bluff's line the banks, and here and 
there may be seen docks or landings cosily 
ensconced between the projecting cliff's. The 
city proper lies on an eminence about 150 
or 200 feet above the level of the river, and 
is reached by a tolerably broad, paved, and 
nearly straight road to the plateau on which 
the city is situated. At the termina¬ 
tion of this road, Main, the principal business 
street commences and stretches off in an 
easterly direction some three-fourths of a 
mile, losing itself in the great eastern turn¬ 
pike. Other beautiful streets, running paral¬ 
lel and across Main-street, are studded with 
shade trees, gardens and shrubbery, in which 
residences, all very pretty, and many splen¬ 
did mansions, have been erected. 
Until 1836 Poughkeepsie remained nearly 
stationary, when a company was formed, 
called the “ Improvement Company,” of 
which the late Mr. W T alter Cunningham was 
the energetic and principal mover or actor, 
and to whom much credit is due for carrying 
out the views of the company. From this 
period Poughkeepsie commenced to expand; 
farms and lands were purchased, streets and 
parks laid out, trees planted, and houses 
erected, many of which were elegant man¬ 
sions, surrounded with fruit trees, ornament¬ 
al shrubbery, gardens, &c. The spirit of 
improvement once started, seemed to diffuse 
itself throughout the whole length and 
breadth of the village (it has since grown 
into a city), ornamental trees and shrubbery 
planted, houses and fences newly painted, 
giving an air of neatness, comfort, beauty 
and freshness, truly pleasing. 
The good roads, the picturesque scenery, 
the Catskill Mountains on the north, the 
Highlands and Fishkill Mountains on the 
south, added to a healthy climate, have all 
tended to attract the attention of those seek¬ 
ing country residences, and many wealthy 
families have purchased and located in the 
vicinity. The sites most sought after appear 
to have been eminences, overlooking the 
river and country—no matter how rough, 
rocky, or sterile, so much the better, as it 
offered an opportunity of expending their 
taste and money in improvement by art over 
nature. 
Among the many charming seats or resi¬ 
dences in the suburbs of Poughkeepsie, we 
will mention “Spring-side,” the beautiful and 
picturesque country seat of Mr. Vassar, sit¬ 
uated on the south line of the Corporation 
limits of the city. 
On a recent visit to Poughkeepsie we had 
the-pleasure of a stroll through these grounds. 
It was on one of those lovely mornings in 
June, succeeding a refreshing shower, the 
sun beaming forth in its full radianee and 
glory, and vegetation dressed in its most 
gaudy attire, fresh and blooming, that we 
might have been seen winding our way to 
this lovely abode. After passing nearly the 
whole front, which is inclosed with a sub¬ 
stantial stone wall, surmounted with a beau¬ 
tiful evergreen hedge, we enter the gate, 
near which stands the Porter’s Lodge, a 
tasteful and beautiful structure, in the Gothic 
style. 
The first object meeting the eye, after 
passing the gate, is a small pond or lakelet, 
crossed by a very pretty foot-bridge. In the 
center of the pond is a small island, in which 
stands a house for aquatic birds, of which 
the stately swan, or white Chinese goose, 
(which most resembles the swan in its light 
and airy appearance on the water), would be 
appropriate. But we found no such orna¬ 
mental birds there. 
The next object of attraction was “ Wil¬ 
low-dale,” so named by us, from the great 
number of weeping willows with their long 
and delicate branches reaching to the ground. 
On the left, a little further on, we passed 
“ Penguin knoll,” which we so named in 
consequence of the unique and singular ap¬ 
pearance of certain long narrow stones set 
on end, and giving the appearance of a flock 
of penguins standing about as sentinels. 
These knolls, by the way, are covered with 
large native forest trees, giving them quite a 
romantic appearance. 
Further on, in the center of a vale, sur¬ 
rounded by knolls studded with evergreens, 
flowering shrubbery, &c., stands an elevated 
vase of water, in which sits the figure of a 
beautiful white swan, with outstretched neck, 
and head pointing upward, spouting from it- 
bill a jet of water high in the air, falling in 
a basin or tank of pure crystal water, in 
which sports quite a number of gold fish, 
now poising on easy fin, and now sculling 
about in playful mood. We noticed also 
several other fountains and pools of water 
with gold and other fish, which give a pic¬ 
turesque and pleasing view to the scenery. 
On leaving this charming valley, the road 
taks a short curve to the right, which brings 
in view “Monumental Hill” (our name again), 
from the peculiar position in which long 
pieces of rock are placed upright, and capped 
by other pieces of stone, giving the appear¬ 
ance of numerous monuments. Around 
on these knolls and hills, among the rocks, 
rustic seats are placed, on which the weary 
may rest. 
We now take a sudden turn to the left, 
which presents to our view a beautiful frame 
cottage, in old English style, with carved 
verge boards and pendants, irregular outlines, 
and in Gothic order of architecture. This 
cottage, standing as it does, nestled among 
the knolls, has quite a picturesque and ro¬ 
mantic appearance. About one hundred 
yards north of this cottage, Mr. Vassar has 
caused to be erected a large and commodious 
grape and green-house, which may be con¬ 
sidered one of the best finished and well- 
arranged edifices for the purpose in the 
State. It is heated by Hitching’s improved 
steam and hot water apparatus. Near this 
stands the Gardener’s cottage, a very neat 
and pretty Gothic structure, corresponding 
with the other buildings. It must be recol¬ 
lected that all the improvements on these 
premises are new, having been made within 
the last four years. On the east of the cot¬ 
tage is the vegetable garden, bounded on the 
north by a high, thick stone wall, intended 
for the protection of plants and fruits in the 
garden from the cold north winds. The 
garden is well stocked with choice varieties 
of fruit, and dwarf fruit trees in full bearing. 
Adjoining is an apple, plumb, peach and 
cherry orchard in a thriving condition. 
We will now return to that point of the 
road which brought us in view of the Eng¬ 
lish cottage, for here stands the model car¬ 
riage-house and stables, beautiful and nice 
enough for farmers’ residences. It is upon 
the side of a hill, the lower story is appro¬ 
priated to the work horses, for stables, har¬ 
ness room, and room for storing vegetables. 
The second story, which is level with the 
ground in front, is the carriage house, har¬ 
ness room, and sleeping room for the driver 
on one side, and stable for the carriage horses 
on the other, with hay-loft in the attic. This 
building is Gothic in style, also. Near by, 
on the side of the same hill, stands the dairy 
building, with an ice-house inclosed on the 
principal of a refrigerator, the shelves for 
the milk surrounding the exterior of the ice¬ 
house. 
But by far the most interesting to me, was 
the group of buildings or sheds forming the 
poultry establishment. They form an oblong 
square, the roof on three sides pitching out¬ 
ward. The space, or inner yard, is protected 
with lattice wire work to prevent the ingress 
of birds of prey from without or the egress 
of the fowls within. One side is divided off 
into coops forgallinaceons fowls, so that the 
different varieties can be kept separate for 
breeding pure birds of each kind. The op¬ 
posite side is devoted to aquatic birds, having 
tanks of flowing spring water within the in¬ 
closure. Overhead are accommodations for 
