16 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
tering, and oftener would be better. Remember that 
the oftener it is done the easier it is accomplished. 
There are many other particulars where neatness may J 
be attended to in winter. Gate hinges and gate fasten- j 
ings often need repair, that they may shut like clock j 
work; boards become loose on old barns and board ! 
fences; tools become awkward for use, and need re- j 
modelling or renewing; and many other small matters, 
in doors and cut, require attention. We are aware that j 
to many of our readers, who are already examples for ! 
others, such hints as the preceding are not applicable— ! 
to such we can say that they need not read them—like ! 
the man who chisseled on the stone at the fording place,! 
“ When the water comes to this stone, it is unsafe to 
cross.” 
CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS. 
Address delivered before the Aurora Horticultural Society:, Sept. I 
23, 1845, by David Thomas, President. Pamphlet, 11 pages. 
Some months since, we noticed the new and prosper¬ 
ous Horticultural Society at Aurora, Cayuga county, 
and had occasion to allude to the intelligence, taste, 
and enterprise, which conducted its proceedings. The 
present address is one of its ornaments and fruits. It is j 
truly an interesting and valuable production. It could j 
not fail to be otherwise, from the talents and long ex¬ 
perience of its well known author. Our readers will' 
doubtless agree with us, when we have given a few ex¬ 
tracts. The following remarks on the subject of horti¬ 
culture, furnish some new as well as instructive facts:— 
“It might be hard to say what spot of the earth’s 
surface has furnished the most flowers for our gardens; 
and whether that spot is located in the eastern or west¬ 
ern hemisphere. It is true, the Cape of Good Hope has 
produced an astonishing number of beautiful plants; 
but most of them are unavailable to us on account of 
the severity of our winters; and yet so bountifully has 
our globe been replenished, that there are more from 
the colder regions than we can find room for, in our 
borders. Mountains that extend far to the south, yield 
us plants from their cold sides or summits. Thus shrubs 
and trees from the elevated parts of Carolina and Geor¬ 
gia, are generally hardy here; and even (Enother rosea 
from Peru, abides our coldest seasons, and becomes a | 
weed. In this way, or on this principle, Mexico fur- j 
nishes Chelone barbate; Nepal, the Potentilla formosa , 
and the same southern range of the Himalayas, the most 
delicious fruit of the temperate zone: I mean the peach. 
“ Plants conform by a kind of instinct, to the climates 
in which they are indigenous. Thus, on the approach 
of heat and drouth, the tulip contracts itself into a 
bulb, and waits for a more genial season to resume its 
growth. The Auricula, though an evergreen, sleeps 
safely under the snows of the Austrian Alps, but perishes 
without protection in the valleys below; and the holly¬ 
leaved barberry, another evergreen from the Rocky 
Mountains, suffers under our milder but more variable 
winters. We have, therefore, tender plants from very 
cold, as well as from torrid regions.” 
The importance of a diversity in soils, to successful 
garden management, is strongly illustrated:— 
“ The farmer and the florist act from very different 
motives, and select very different plants, nutriment 
being the main object with one, and beauty with the 
other. From the fertile plain, and the river flat, the 
cereal grasses were probably derived, as well as those 
that constitute our pastures and meadows; and it is wor¬ 
thy of notice that all these delight in calcareous soils. 
On the contrary, the florist has taken a wider range, 
and chosen his favorite from every variety of soil: not 
only from plains and alluvions, but from the cold moun¬ 
tain, the rugged hill, the moist valley, the compara¬ 
tively barren waste, the shady swamp, and the open 
marsh. To many of these plants, however, lime is dele¬ 
terious; and a perfect flower garden ought to represent i 
a diversified country in miniature: shade and sunshine; ! 
here a plat of fertile soil, there a tract of bog, near it I 
sterile earth, and yonder a bed of sand. * * * | 
“ Vfhen we consider that soils of almost every pecu¬ 
liarity have furnished us with plants, we cannot expect 
all these ' delegates to give up their predilections; and 
consent to grow side by side in the same border. Many, 
it is true, will do it, perfectly indifferent to soil, satis¬ 
fied wherever their lots may be cast, and flourishing 
without abatement; but the wild lupin pines for its bed 
of sand, and f the superb lily’ for its bog. The laurel,, 
so abundant ninety miles to the south, declines in health 
when removed to our common soil, and eventually per¬ 
ishes as if it were poisoned. The rose-acacia also re¬ 
fuses to flourish where lime abounds, unless lifted above 
it by engrafting on the common locust. 
“ Peaty earth, mixed with silicious sand, seems best 
to agree with delicate feeders, but soils in which peat 
forms no considerable portion will answer in some 
cases. Several years ago, I procured a Chinese Magno¬ 
lia. It flowered once or twice, but became sickly, and 
its leaves lost their fine green. Being at a friend’s 
house among the sandhills of Junius, I told him I want¬ 
ed a.bushel or two of the poorest soil of his farm ; anti 
got such as Indian corn might grow in, with pale yellow 
leaves and perhaps a foot high. In the spring I remov¬ 
ed all the earth round the magnolia, as well as I con¬ 
veniently could without disturbing the roots, and applied 
the steril mass, three or four inches in thickness. In a 
month, or less, the leaves resumed their fine green, and 
it has continued vigorous ever since.” 
The brilliant effect of cultivating flowers in large 
masses, is thus vividly depicted:— 
“Many of you must have seen, or heard of,.the flow¬ 
ery prairies of the west; and have noticed the enthusi¬ 
asm with which travellers describe them. Now could 
Ave not get such glorious flowers for our gardens? Yes, 
but most of them would grow dim before the superior 
beauty of our old flowers. I am confirmed in this opin¬ 
ion by what I have seen of them in their native locali¬ 
ties; and by examining herbariums of prairie plants. 
How then, you may ask, is an effect, bordering so close¬ 
ly on the sublime, produced by such means? I answer, 
because they appear in masses. The greater the multi¬ 
tude and the wider the space, the greater the display; 
and though within our walls and fences, Ave cannot 
equal nature, we can imitate her, for while she presents 
flowers by the acre, we can do it by the square yard. 
The snoAv-drop, crocus, hyacinth, and tulip, may all be 
I employed for this purpose; and when congregated, have 
the most imposing effect.” 
SOIL FOR GARDENS. 
With another quotation, we close these extracts, 
which are only an average specimen of the rest of the 
[ address. The following remarks apply strictly to heavy 
soils, which to a greater or less degree, constitute the 
greatest part of the soils of this country:— 
“ Away from cities, the comfort of families depends 
much on the kitchen garden. The soil ought to be dry, 
rich, and easily pulverized. In this district, it is gene¬ 
rally a heavy loam; and other means besides the plow, 
spade, or hoe, should be used to subdue its stubborn na¬ 
ture. In all cases, it should be well drained. All sur¬ 
plus water, whether on the surface or below, should be 
led off. Every tendency to poaching or baking should 
be prevented. Some of you will understand the bene¬ 
fit of ridging the ground in the fall, so that the coming 
frosts may press in between the particles of every clod, 
and thrust them asunder; but many persons have yet to 
learn that the sweepings of the blacksmith’s shop, chip 
dirt, and old plaster from walls and ceilings—too often 
thrown into the road—are excellent manures, and at 
the same time keep the soil loose and mellow. 
“ Carting in sand is another labor-saving operation. 
It Avill last for ages, and prevent many a hard thrust of 
the spade, or stroke of the hoe. Let me suggest, how- 
j j eA r er, that a stiff soil is broken most by coarse sand; and 
| from observation, I incline to believe that one load of 
j this kind Avill do as much good as several loads where 
! the particles are very fine. 
“ The effect of blacksmith's cinders Avhen broken and 
I applied; and burning the soil , which I have also tried to 
