THE CULTIVATOR. 
77 
■cultivated grasses, and the husbanding our manures—the use of 
lime, marl and gypsum,—are the true basis of improvement; and 
that if we would compete with England in fine cattle, we must imi¬ 
tate her example in providing for them more abundant and nutritious 
food. 
It should be borne in mind, that half a century ago many of the 
lands in Great Britain were in the condition of millions of acres in 
our own country—either left in their w r ild state, as unfit for culture, 
or exhausted of fertility by constant cropping, and thrown into com¬ 
mons and wastes, like much in Maryland, Virginia, and elsewhere ; 
that it is this description of lands which have been enclosed, reclaim¬ 
ed, and brought into a highly productive state, by the new system of 
husbandry —the alternating, the clover, the turnip and the draining 
system; and that this improvement has taken place under burthens, 
in the shape of tithes, poor rates and rents, to which the American 
farmer Is in a measure a stranger, and which here would be deemed 
highly oppressive. 
And why cannot we adopt the sa?ne improvctnenls, with certainly of 
success, that have proved so highly salutary in our father land 7 We 
have as strong arms, and as stout hearts, as cur ancestors. But we 
lack the necessity which there prompts to industry and economy, and 
we fear the intelligence—the lights of science, that there guide and 
direct the labors of husbandry. Yet we are on the high road of im¬ 
provement. Agricultural publications are multiplying—they are im¬ 
proving in character and in patronage—and it is our firm conviction, 
that they are adding ten per cent every year to the amount of our 
agricultural products. The establishment of schools of practical and 
scientific agriculture, which even those advanced in fife may yet 
hope to see established among us, which shall concentrate and teach 
all that is most useful in theory, and most perfect in practice, will 
accellerate our improvements in progressive ratio. Well does the 
agricultural press deserve public countenance and support. It ex¬ 
cites none of the bad propensities of our nature ; but it tends to les¬ 
sen the wants and the vices of the human family, and to diffuse use¬ 
ful knowledge, increase industry, and promote virtue and happiness. 
It is scattering the good seed, pure and unmixed, free from cockle, 
chess or tares—the seed has germinated, and under the fostering 
care of the husbandman it must continue to grow, and to yield an 
abundant harvest. 
PLANTING.—No. I. 
Trees give to a farm half its intrinsic value. Without trees about 
it, a farm house looks naked, cheerless and uncomfortable ; and with¬ 
out trees man enjoys but a modicum of the blessings which provi¬ 
dence has destined for his use. Trees are the fanner’s resource, in 
most cases, for building, for fencing and for fuel. About farm build¬ 
ings, they afford shelter, and are conducive alike to health and beau¬ 
ty. In the orchard and garden, they are sources of interest, of lux¬ 
ury and substantial profit. It is announced in a late Northampton 
paper, that Captain Hale, of that vicinity, had sold thirteen locust 
trees for <$153, and a red oak for $30; and that a wlnte ash, wliich 
grew in that neighborhood, when converted into plank, brought in 
market the round sum of $70. Besides then - intrinsic value for tim¬ 
ber, and fruit, the judicious planting of trees, in open and exposed 
situations, “improves the general climate of the neighborhood, the 
staple of the sod, as regards the gradual accumulation of vegetable 
matters, affords shelter to live stock, promotes the growth of pasture 
and corn crops, beautifies the landscape, and thus greatly and per¬ 
manently increases the value of the fee simple of the estate and ad¬ 
joining lands.” 
“ What is your age 1” was the interrogatory which an eastern 
prince caused to be put, by one of his attendants, to a very old man, 
seated by the way side. “ I am four years old,” was the reply.— 
“ Do you intend to insult his majesty V’ was the rejoinder. “ No, 
may please your majesty—it is but four years since I began to live, 
as I ought, for posterity —since I first planted a tree." According to 
this definition of living for posterity, but comparatively few of our 
countrymen have began yet to five; for instead of planting, their 
study and occupation have been to destroy trees. But every consi- 
deraton of interest and comfort admonish us, to change our habits in 
this respect, and to provide in time for the wants of posterity. The 
old settled states are already experiencing a scarcity of wood, and 
they contain vast tracts of land, now in a great measure unproduc¬ 
tive, which, if planted, would in a few years yield a profitable return 
in wood, and the great Prairie West is rapidly filling with a popula¬ 
tion which will soon exhaust its spare woods. 
Planting woodland may be regarded as a new business with us, 
though the Massachusetts agricultural society have endeavored to 
encourage it by liberal premiums, and individuals, in different parts 
of the Union, have directed some attention to it. It is related of a 
farmer on Long Island, that he planted a hundred locust trees on the 
birth of each child, and that the proceeds of the hundred trees, when 
the child became of age, afforded to it a handsome outfit. It is a 
branch of rural economy which we must begin at some time, and the 
sooner we begin the better. Many districts on the old continent 
have become desolate, and almost uninhabitable, in consequence of 
the total destruction of the wood. This is the condition of many 
tracts in Asia, in Spain, and in the environs of its capital, and even 
in Russia. In speaking of the maize and vine district of that em¬ 
pire, lying upon the Black sea and the confines of Turkey, a late 
writer, said to be a Russian statesman, mentions as a great defect of 
this region, the almost total absence of forests ; and he recommends 
the planting of larch and other quick growing trees in spots where 
the soil is suitable, and sheltered from the strong blasts which sweep 
the plain ; to rear other plantations under shelter of the first; and 
the planting of trees near farm houses, and villages, round the fields, 
along the roads, and especially in the ravines, as means of ameliorat¬ 
ing the climate, and increasing the productiveness of the soil. 
The planting of forests and ornamental grounds, has long been 
practised in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, where it is sedu¬ 
lously encouraged by statesmen as well as landholders. It has con¬ 
tributed much to beautify the country, as well as to improve the pro¬ 
ductiveness and profits of the soil. Some idea of the extent to which 
it is carried may be formed from the fact, that in the twenty-seven years 
between 1802 and 1809, the Duke of Bedford alone, had planted up¬ 
on his estate, 1,540 acres of ground, with five million seven hundred 
and thirty-five thousand trees, exclusive of 680 bushels of acorns and 
other seeds put in with the dibble. 
The business of planting, like the culture of turnips, or any other 
neio branch of rural economy, seems much more formidable and ex¬ 
pensive in prospect, than it turns out to be hi practice. It may be 
managed upon every farm, with but trifling expense, by the ordina¬ 
ry laborers. Seeds of our forest, ornamental and fruit trees may be 
readily gathered at the proper seasons ; and under the plain direc¬ 
tions which we intend to give, they may be sown, and trees reared 
and planted and grown without difficulty. 
It is not our intention, in these remarks, to say any thing of trees 
exclusively ornamental, or particularly belonging to the orchard or 
garden, except to express a hope, that at least orchards already ex¬ 
isting may be spared from the axe, if not for the liquor they afford, 
or the important material of diet they furnish in the kitchen and in 
the dessert, at least for the profit of the proprietor, in feeding and 
fattening his hogs and other farm stock. Ample and indisputable tes¬ 
timony has been recently afforded, that the same area of land is far 
more profitable, for feeding farm stock, in an apple orchard, than it 
can be made in growing for them grain or roots. Our present ob¬ 
ject is to make some brief suggestions on planting forest timber, par¬ 
ticularly for the benefit of our subscribers in the Prairie West, where, 
if we understand the condition of the country, this ought to be one 
of the first subjects that should engage the attention of the settler. 
BEET SUGAR. 
We have received a communication from a friend, soliciting our 
co-operation with the friends of improvement in Pennsylvania, in fur¬ 
thering the culture of the beet, and the manufacture of sugar from 
this root. Some gentlemen m Philadelphia, impressed with tl. e im¬ 
portance of the subject, have patriotically sent Mr. James Fed la to 
France to acquire the knowledge requisite to the culture and m vnu- 
facture. Our correspondent says, “I have samples of the sugar 
made from the beet root, equal to the finest loaf I ever saw, t nd 
which only cost nine cents per pound in France. When I return I 
will furnish you with the sample. France last year manufactured 
eighty millions pounds.” 
Had our correspondent examined our last volume, he would have 
seen that we had anticipated his request. At the suggestion of a 
correspondent in the far west, we gave a summary of the mode of 
culture and manufacture, from M. Chaptal, than whom no one was 
more competent to instruct, as he conducted the business on a large 
scale for twelve years, and was withal, one of the best chemists of 
the age. This summary will be found in pages 85, 86 and 114.— 
The whole process is minutely detailed in Chaptal’s “Chemistry 
applied to Agriculture.” We stated that beet sugar could be sue- 
