Designed to improve all Classes interested in Soil Culture 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —WASHINGTON 
OUAIGE JUDD, A. M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. XVIII—No. 10.1 
NEW-YORK, OCTOBER, 1859. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 153. 
jC^'Oi’fice at ISO Water-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
J3P Contents, Terms, Arc., on paje 320. 
[copy right secured.] 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, 
by Orange Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District 
Court of the United States for the Southern District of 
New-York. 
E1P3V. 51.—Every Journal is invited freely to copy 
any and all desirable articles with credit, and no use or 
advantage will be taken of the Copy-Right, wherever 
each article or illustration is duly accredited to the 
American Agriculturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
American Agriculturist in (German. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
both the English and German Languages. Both 
Editions are of Uniform 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. 
October. 
“ Distant woods and hills 
Are full of echoes, and each sound that stiikes 
Upon the hollow air, lets loose their tongues. 
The ripples, creeping through the matted grass, 
.. Drip on the ear, and the far partridge drum 
Rolls like low thunder. The last butterfly, 
Like a winged violet floating in the meek 
Pink colored sunshine, sinks his velvet feet 
Within the pillar’d mullein’s delicate down, 
And shuts and opens his unruffled fans. 
Lazily wings the crow with solemn croak 
From tree-top on to tree-top. Feebly chirps 
The grasshopper, and the spider’s tiny clock 
Ticks from his crevice.”— Street. 
It has been well said that “ Nature loves to die 
in bright colors.” The frost has hastened the 
maturing of the leaf harvest, and the foliage, 
that began to look “ sere and yellow ” in the last 
month, is now all aflame with the brilliant hectic 
flush that heralds the closing scene. Look out 
upon these October woods, so sadly beautiful, 
and yet never more full of promise and life, than 
when life seems to be departing. Here stands a 
grand o!<! maple, every green leaf faded, as we 
say, but really brightened with all the cheerful 
hues in the whole circle of colors—flaming scar¬ 
let, crimson, pink, violet, and yellow. It seems 
to have caught all the graces of the sunset hour, 
and like the god of day to make the last scene 
the most glorious of all. The pepperidge is not 
less brilliant, though less varied in its coloring. 
The deep scarlet prevails over all, and the Virginia 
creeper that clings to its mossy trunk and limbs, 
rivals the gaudy coloring of the tree it has over¬ 
grown. Wherever we see this trailing plant now, 
clinging to trees, climbing up the face of perpen¬ 
dicular rocks, or winding through deep fissures in 
the ledges, it wears the same rich, attractive 
dress. Though a common wild plant, and widely 
distributed, it is too generally overlooked in our 
ornamental grounds. Nothing can form a more 
beautiful contrast, at this season, than this plant 
trailing over walls, along with the European ivy. 
Here is a hickory grove, rejoicing in the so¬ 
berer tints of brown and yellow, and making all 
our young friends rejoice in its harvest of nuts. 
What boy’s heart does not leap up at the goodly 
sight of the shellbarks, dispensing their treasures 
by the bushel. Here they come, a whole troop 
of boys and girls, with bags and baskets, to se¬ 
cure the nut3, which the last storm has dislodged 
from the loaded boughs. There the nuts lie in 
bright contrast to the brown shucks that enclosed 
them. One of them has a ladder and a pole. He 
will climb into the tree-top, and save the next 
storm the trouble of beating off the nuts for his 
brothers and sisters. Possibly, too, he has heard 
of the oid proverb “ A bird in the hand is worth 
two in the bush,” and thinks that these nuts will 
be a great deal safer, in these days, in his bag 
than in the tree top. 
The butternuts are close by on the hillside, 
stretching out their broad limbs nearer the 
ground, and are easily shaken and gathered. 
These nuts are much larger than the hickory, 
and, though less known in the market, are by 
many preferred to the sliellbark. Both are im¬ 
proved by cultivation, and we are glad to see 
that our gardeners are turning their attention to 
them. New seedlings have been procured, im¬ 
proved in size and quality. It is not improbable 
that this field of improvement, when properly 
cultivated, will give us as brilliant results, as 
have been attained in the orchard and vineyard. 
It is hardly twenty years since the improvement 
of our native grapes has been generally attempt¬ 
ed, and already we have numerous seedlings, 
promising candidates for public favor. These 
nuts, to our taste, are quite equal to any thing im¬ 
ported, and are worthy of the best efforts of our 
amateurs for their improvement. 
The chestnut is a more magnificent tree than 
either of the former In the forest it attains a 
great hight, and is particularly valuable for its 
timber. In the open pasture, where it has ample 
room and good soil, it forms a broad expansive 
head, making a striking object in Ihe landscape. 
The ground is now covered with its burrs, and 
the brown nuts that have rattled out of them, 
one, two, and three, from each prickly encase¬ 
ment. 
In the southern part of our country the chinca- 
pin, or dwarf chestnut, is now shedding its nuts. 
The tree is not more than fifteen or twenty feet 
high, and the nut is smaller than the chestnut, 
but has the same delicious flavor. Here also the 
stately pecan, Carya oliveeformis, is scattering its 
treasures. This tree belongs to the hickory fam¬ 
ily, and occupies the same position in the bottom 
lands and valleys of the rivers emptying into the 
Gulf of Mexico, that the shellbarks do at the 
North. It has the same general appearance, but 
grows to a larger size, and makes a broader head. 
The nuts are oblong, very smooth, an inch, or an 
inch and a half long, with thin shells. They are 
by most persons regarded as superior to the best 
shellbarks. They form an increasing article of 
trade in Texas and Louisiana. Amateurs in 
the lower Mississippi valley are beginning to raise 
seedlings, and to improve them by cultivation. 
Now also the hazels along the walls and fences 
are dropping their nuts into the thick bed of 
leaves, and the squirrels are rivaling the hoys in 
gathering them up for Winter stores. The fil¬ 
berts of commerce, twice or three times the size 
of the wild nut, are simply cultivated hazel nuts. 
They are a good example of the results of art be¬ 
stowed upon these wild nut-bearing trees and 
shrubs. There is hardly a more promising field 
open to the horticulturist, than the improvement 
of these farinaceous nuts, with which our country 
abounds. By selecting seeds of the best varieties, 
planting them in a good, rich soil, and giving 
them generous cultivation, the most gratifying 
results may be anticipated, none the les3 valu¬ 
able, because we shall have to wait some years 
for the harvest. The choicest products of na¬ 
ture are slow in maturing. 
In all the harvests gathered at this season, we 
see the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator, 
providing for man and beast. “ These wait all 
upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their meat 
in due season.” In the fruits and grains gather¬ 
ed in Summer, we have juice and starch prepon¬ 
derating to meet the wants of the animal nature, 
amid heat and drought. In the nuts and corn we 
find oil largely concentrated, preserving them 
from decay, and furnishing the most desirable 
food for the cold and dreary Winter. Instinct 
teaches the squirrel, and many other tribes of 
animals, to lay up these oily stores, either in 
holes in the earth, or in the hollows of decaying 
trees, and rocks. They have a full supply of the 
richest food all through the Autumn months, and 
their bodies ar^ lined with a thick coat of fat, to 
protect them against the cold. Thus they go into 
Winter quarters, fully provided for all emer¬ 
gencies. 
The same provisions meet the higher wants of 
the human family. Reason takes the [dace of in¬ 
stinct, builds granaries and storehouses, secure 
from frost and rain, wherein we hoard our Win¬ 
ter stores. Many of the vegetable oils pass 
through a refining process, and become animal 
products, before they are deemed fit for use. 
Thus, butter is a concentrated oil derived from 
many grasses and herbs ; and mutton, beef, and 
pork are only different forms of supplying the 
same aliment for Winter use. In the great grain 
of our country, Indian corn, it is a noteworthy 
fact, that the proportion of its oil is measured by 
the latitude in which it grows, showing, by anal¬ 
ysis. the most oil in Canada, where the cold is 
most intense, and the least in Florida, where the 
reign of Summer is hardly broken. The wants ot 
our physical natures demand a larger supply of 
oleaginous food in cold climates, and the neces¬ 
sity is met. Thus there is in Nature a fulfill¬ 
ment of the promise of “ strength according to 
our day.” 
