300 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept 
known there was a farm cultivated with so much skill 
near Albany, we should have visited it before this, and 
shall try to do so in future. Yours truly, L. Durand. 
Derby , Ct ., June, 1852. 
•-—^--— 
What Every Parmer may Have. 
Every farmer may, if he will, have a house , a neat, 
tasteful structure, adorning his farm, and contributing to 
his comfort. There is, on every farm, if one could but 
find it, a fit site for a house, with grounds near it suita¬ 
ble for a garden and out-buildings. 
What a pity such locations should not be selected, in¬ 
stead of the sorry places where too many farm houses 
are placed! We have seen a house standing on a ledge 
of rocks, and a recess for a garden excavated in a bank 
in the rear, when, not forty rods distant, a most inviting 
spot for building was neglected ; and another stuck down 
on a low swampy piece of land, with planks running to 
the road as a means of access, when on the opposite side 
of the road, a gentle eminence, crowned with noble for¬ 
est trees, was occupied by cattle. 
As to the houses themselves, much might be said. 
Generally speaking, they seem to he a product of the 
farm; that is, a thrifty well cultivated farm, has a snug 
dwelling on it, and a slovenly, ill-tilled one, has an over¬ 
grown or decaying tenement. 
A correct taste in building is not, nor cannot be. in the 
possession of every one. Architecture is a science, and 
taste is the result of cultivation, and none but men edu¬ 
cated to their profession, should undertake to design and 
build a house. 
It is true, that so many sticks of timber, hoards, nails, 
and shingles, will make a building, and so too, a given 
quantity of iron, steel, and brass, will make a steam en¬ 
gine, but a novice makes a failure when he undertakes to 
construct either. Still, a little attention, the perusal of a 
work on this subject, might form some taste, and substi¬ 
tute tolerable dwellings for the ungainly structures that 
so often are seen. 
Every farmer may, if he will, have a garden , not a 
patch of onions here, of beets there, of cabbages some¬ 
where else, interspersed with bean poles and potatoes, 
but a veritable garden, a cultivated place. 
A farm that has not a plot of ground adapted to the 
purposes of a garden, had better be abandoned at once. 
There is no good reason while the real luxuries that 
spring from the soil, under the culture of the practical 
gardener, should be confined to the lands of the gentle¬ 
man of leisure. They belong as legitimately to the stur¬ 
dy, hard-working farmer, and indeed more so; for he 
who labors most actively, should reap the richest har¬ 
vest. All that serves to make life more desirable, that 
tends to the improvement of the soil, the mind, and the 
heart, is not beneath the attention of man. We cannot 
conceive of a more fit place to commence the careful cul¬ 
tivation of a farm, than the garden. It would soon be 
evident that the greater care bestowed on the soil, the 
greater its product, and so a system of culture would by 
degrees be adopted, till the whole farm should become a 
fruitful field. 
In the cultivation of a garden, can be noted on a small 
scale, all the phenomena of growth, and from data there 
gathered, one can advance successfully from the tilling 
of narrow beds to that of broad acres. The knowledge 
necessary to success in gardening, is rather the result of 
experience, than of fixed rules. There is requisite a 
taste for the art, close observation, and a modicum of 
practical skill; give these, and common sense will sup- 
ply the deficit. We would not by any means, profess to 
teach gardening “ in six easy lessons,” but we assert 
that any one so disposed can make a beginning. 
There are certain adjuncts to a garden, which a majo¬ 
rity of farmers who take the trouble to cultivate a few 
esculent roots, seem to think altogether too trifling to 
merit their attention. Such are beds of flowers, flower* 
ing shrubs, and grape and other vines. That ever potent 
argument of expense, and the ready excuse of poverty, 
cannot be urged against these decorations of the farmer’s 
home. A man may be too poor to erect a costly cottage, 
but no one is too poor to cultivate a bed of flowers, to 
plant shrubbery around his humble dwelling, or to train 
a vine to relieve its bare exterior. A beauty unattained 
by any triumph of art, is thus in the reach of the most 
obscure. Nature waits to provide, i( without money and 
without price,” the ornaments of a cultivated field, and 
the pleasures of a cultivated mind. 
Contrast for one moment, the cottage and the lawn, 
with the rude dwelling and its unkept grounds—compare 
the beauty and fragrance of flowers, wfith the unsightly 
weed and its rank odor—mark the difference between 
the luxuriant green of shrubbery, and the vacancy of 
barren yards, and then decide whether an hour of time 
can be better spent than in effecting such a change. 
The past few years have wrought a manifest improve¬ 
ment in matters of rural taste, but as yet its evidences 
are confined to cottages and farm-houses, scattered here 
and there, like oases in the wide desert. It will be seen, 
however, that as agriculture advances, and system takes 
the place of confusion, all these things will receive the 
attention that they so richly deserve. 
Letter from New Brunswick. 
Eds. Cultivator— Although there is a considerable 
number of copies of the Cultivator circulated in this 
Province, and although that number is gradually increas¬ 
ing, few New Brunswickers are in the habit of writing 
for your great agricultural periodical. This will continue 
to be the case, until the system of direct taxation for the 
support of schools is adopted here; then you may safely 
reckon on more contributors. As you are no doubt 
aware, the science of agriculture is yet in its infancy 
among us; still there is a spirit of enterprise abroad. 
The system of rotation of crops is being generally adopt¬ 
ed, green crops are cultivated on a much larger scale 
than formerly, and more attention is given to draining; 
yet many abuses are remaining, and will remain, until 
the young agriculturist receives a thorough agricultural 
education. The notion that the farmer may safely re¬ 
main in ignorance of letters, formerly so prevalent, is 
fast wearing away, and the rising generation certainly 
promise to raise the agricultural profession considerably 
higher in the scale of society. The time is fast approach¬ 
ing when the “ tiller of the soil,” will be no longer look¬ 
ed upon as inferior to the merchant and the mechanic, 
