186 
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THE CULTIVATOR. 
B3 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
The Hew American Orchardist 
Or an account of the most valuable varieties of Fruit, 
of all climates, adapted to cultivation in the United 
States ; with their History, modes of culture, manage¬ 
ment, uses, SfC. With an Appendix on Vegetables, 
Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers, the Agricul¬ 
tural resources of America, and on Silk, tyc. JBy 
William Kenrick:. Third edition, enlarged and im¬ 
proved. Boston: Otis, Broaders S,- Co. 1841. 
Some seven miles from Boston lie the heights of No- 
nantum, celebrated at a very early day in the history 
of New-England, and the place where the first Indian 
church and congregation, under the Apostle of the In¬ 
dians, Mr. Elliot, used to assemble. It is now more 
celebrated for the beautiful prospect from its summit, 
unequaled perhaps in New-England ; but still better 
known as the residence of the Kenricks, William and 
John, and their beautiful and extensive gardens and 
nurseries. Their farms consist of from 70 to 90 acres 
each ; that of the first lying on the western slope of 
Nonantum, and of this the nurseries occupy some thirty 
acres ; while the other, called Nonantum Dale, lies in 
the valley, and the nurseries here embrace a great va¬ 
riety of fruits, flowering shrubs, &c. most interesting 
to the orchardist, or the lover of the beautiful. It is 
probable that a greater variety of forest trees, fruit 
trees, flowering trees, shrubs, &c. can be found in these 
gardens and nurseries than at any other establishment 
in the country, one or two only excepted ; and the 
business done by them, as evinced by their annual sales, 
must be very satisfactory. 
William Kenrick, the elder of the brothers, is the au¬ 
thor of the book, the full title of which is given above ; 
and we have stated the above facts for the purpose of 
showing that he is not unacquainted with the subject 
of which he treats; but that his ample experience, and 
facilities for observation, entitle liim to speak with con¬ 
fidence. This third edition is merely said to be enlarg¬ 
ed and improved, but any one who will lake the trouble 
of comparing it with the former editions, will see from 
the quantity of valuable matter added, and the superior 
arrangement, as well as the greater clearness of the 
descriptions, that the work is essentially a new one. 
Embracing, as the volume noiv does, an introductory 
dissertation on the growth, management, propagation, 
transplanting, diseases, and general culture of fruit 
trees ; ample lists and descriptions of all the most valu¬ 
able apples, pears, plums, peaches, cherries, &c. known 
in this country, with many of the most celebrated ones 
abroad ; a catalogue of the vegetables suitable for the 
garden, and the best mode of culture ; and a descrip¬ 
tive catalogue of the choicest ornamental trees, shrubs, 
and flowers, it may be considered one of the most com¬ 
plete works of the kind, and one which should be in the 
hands of every man who owns an orchard or a garden. 
The getting up of this edition is very good, and we 
are glad to say that in this matter American publishers 
are making great advances, and we believe at the same 
time consulting their own interests in so doing. We 
would, however, hint to Mr. Kenrick, that if he will, in 
his next edition, give colored engravings of some of 
the most celebrated fruits and flowers in the style of 
McIntosh's London Orchardist, he would add greatly 
to its value and attractions. We know of no work ex¬ 
tant on the subject of the orchard, which we can so 
cheerfully recommend to the farmer, and the lover of 
good fruit, as this edition of the American Orchardist. 
Prof. Hitchcock’s Elementary Geology. 
We do not know when we have taken up an elemen¬ 
tary work on any science, and examined it with more 
pleasure than this one of Prof. Hitchcock ; or laid one 
down with a more perfect conviction of its adaptation 
to the purposes contemplated by the writer. Geology 
has assumed the rank of a science, second in its im¬ 
portance and results to few; it is so intimately inter¬ 
woven with most of the great questions of natural, and 
we may add moral philosophy, that a knowledge of its 
principles, and what it proposes to teach, and the manner 
in which it teaches is necessary to all. To the farmer, 
geology is peculiarly interesting. The soil he culti¬ 
vates, the earth he treads upon, the rocks he piles for 
fences or bores for water, are all the result of the 
changes with which geology has to do ; and even the 
plants and trees now growing, or which man wishes to 
cultivate, are greatly influenced by the revolutions and 
mutations which the crust of the earth has undergone. 
Fears have been entertained that geology would be 
found in conflict with revelation, but the progress of 
the science has shown these fears were without founda¬ 
tion, and that the truths which geology reveals, like 
those of astronomy, add to the evidence already exist¬ 
ing of the divine origin of the Bible. The numerous 
cuts and engravings which illustrate the volume, par¬ 
ticularly the Paleontological Chart, and the sectional 
profiles', greatly add to its value as an elementary work, 
rendering what might otherwise be difficult to under¬ 
stand, plain to the student. The researches and dis¬ 
coveries of Prof. Agassiz,on the effect of glaciers and ice¬ 
bergs in modifying the surface of the globe and in rais- 
ing\hose banks of rocks, sand, gravel, &c. so common, 
have enabled Prof. Hitchcock to add to this, his second 
edition, a most valuable chapter on these topics. To 
the various instances of these moraines which he has 
noticed in our country, it has occurred to us that he has 
omitted one which may be referred to this source, but 
which has hitherto been art inexplicable enigma go far 
as its formation is concerned ; we mean the Ridge Road 
on the south of Lake Ontario, We have long enter¬ 
tained the opinion, that in the action of ice and ice¬ 
bergs, a cause for the polish of the surface rocks on so 
large a portion of our country, where that surface is 
shown, as well as the grooves or strias which mark 
them, are to be found more satisfactory than any other 
which has been assigned. Prof. Hitchcock’s geological 
survey of Massachusetts, both in its scientific and 
economical aspect, was performed with such ability as 
to rank him among the first of American Geologists ; 
and the present work will not be likely to lower him 
in the respect of the learned or the good. Dayton &. Sax¬ 
ton, publishers, New York. 
Quarterly Journal of Ag.—Edinburgh, Sept. 1841. 
This Journal holds about the same place in Agricul¬ 
ture, that the Edinburgh Review, and Blackwood’s 
Magazine do in their departments of Literature. The 
papers are able and varied, and the facts and experi¬ 
ments detailed, numerous, and well calculated to in¬ 
terest and instruct. The first paper in the present issue 
is a continuation of the Review of Liebig. It is on the 
whole quite commendatory, though the writer finds it 
necessary to dissent occasionally from the theories of 
the learned German. Prof. Johnson’s notices of the 
English Agricultural writers of the 16th and 17th cen¬ 
turies are continued, and the numerous extracts he gives 
in this number from Mascal, Googe, and Markham, the 
three writers noticed, are at once curious and instruc¬ 
tive. In the midst of directions in Agriculture, found¬ 
ed on correct principles and practice, will be found 
opinions and recommendations the most revolting to 
common sense, founded on the superstitions and igno¬ 
rance of the times. Thus Mascal, in his remarks on 
the diseases of animals, gives ample directions for 
determining the “difference between a horse bewitched, 
and other soreness,” and ihe treatment recommended 
is enough to make a more patient man than Dean Swift, 
“ thankful that he was not a horse.” The work of 
Googe embraces gardening as well as field husbandry, 
and his list of garden vegetables embrace most of those 
cultivated at the present day, with the exception of 
potatoes which then (1614) were unknown. Ifisdirec- 
tions as to the time of the moon in which seeds are to be 
sown are very particular, and he decides that the best 
time of all, is when “the moon is aloft and not set.” 
The following extract from Mascal (1600) will show 
what absurdities passed current at that time : 
“ It is most true that in the high mountains of Spain, 
which lie towards the Occident seas, many jennets and 
youns mares have colts without the covering of the 
horse.” This is at least equal to the doctrines of 
spontaneous generation and transmutation, so common 
at the present day. Markham, in the “ English Hus¬ 
wife,” printed in 1615, has a remark, the good sense of 
which ought to outweigh some of the absurdities of his 
cotemporaries or his own ; for he maintains that “ an 
ignorance of domestic affairs, and culinary matters, 
should operate as a bar to marriage, because, indeed, 
in that condition a woman can but half perform her 
marriage vow, for she may love and obey, but she can¬ 
not cherish, serve, and keep him, with that true duty 
which is ever expected.” Dr. Duncan has another pa¬ 
per on the insects injurious to vegetables and animals ; 
and there are many articles of practical utility. 
Short and Simple Letter from a Conservative Bee 
Keeper. 
Here is a little publication of 24 pages, which con¬ 
tains a mass of common sense, practical information on 
the subject of the bee and its treatment, with which 
every person who keeps bees should be fully acquaint¬ 
ed. The books of Messrs. Weeks and Affleck, valua¬ 
ble as they are. have not rendered this “ Letter” use¬ 
less, as it enters into some practical details, particular¬ 
ly the driving of bees and uniting of swarms, more ful¬ 
ly than either of them. We are glad to find the wri¬ 
ter contending strenuously against the killing of bees 
for the sake of their honey, a practice as useless as it is 
cruel and impolitic. There are a number of engravings 
illustrating the plans of hives, implements for smoking 
out or stupefying the bees, plans for ventilation, &c., 
which render the subjects treated more easy of under¬ 
standing than they could be without them. We re¬ 
commend this work to all beekeepers. Boston: Charles 
P. Bosson, publisher. Price 12^ cents. 
Application of Clay to Boils. 
It is well known that the greatest benefit has been 
derived from the application of clay to sandy lands, it 
giving a tenacity and capability of retaining moisture 
which does not naturally belong to such soils. In Eng¬ 
land the practice of burning clays is much practiced and 
with excellent effect, although the rationale of its ope¬ 
ration has been very dilferently explained by those who 
have written on its use. Some have supposed that the 
greater capacity for moisture was the sole cause ; some 
that it contained salts ol potash or animal matter, some 
attributed it to lime, making it a marl ; but it seems to 
have been reserved for Professor Liebig to give the true 
solution. 
He attributes its value to the power which clay, par¬ 
ticularly when burned, possesses of absorbing and re¬ 
taining ammonia, in the form ot a carbonate, tor the 
use of plants. He says, “ Gypsum and some varieties of 
alumina, pipe clay for instance, emit so much ammo¬ 
nia, when moistened with caustic potash, that even af¬ 
ter they have been exposed for two days, litmus paper 
held over them becomes blue. Soils, therefore, which 
contain oxides of iron and burned clay must absorb 
ammonia, an action which is favored by their porous 
condition ; they further prevent the escape of ammonia 
once absorbed, byiheir chemical properties. The am¬ 
monia absorbed by the clay or ferruginous oxides is se- 
perated by every shower of rain and conveyed in solu¬ 
tion to the soil.” 
Is it not possible that the blue or green clay or marl 
of New-Jersey, and the Atlantic coast generally, which 
is so very valuable as a fertilizer, owes its power to the 
ammonia it contains, or is capable of absorbing from 
the atmosphere? It contains potash, and is or has 
been evidently rich in animal matter, as the remains in 
it at the present time prove ; and if it should be found 
to abound in ammonia, or to absorb it readily, its ferti¬ 
lizing power would be fully accounted for, and addi¬ 
tional encouragement would be afforded to the prepa¬ 
ration and use of such substances. It would be well 
for all those who have such clays on their lands, or in¬ 
deed beds of any kind, to test their qualities, and ascer¬ 
tain how far they can be made available, either in the 
burnt or unburnt state. 
Correspondence, Inquiries, &e, 
Agricultural Schools. 
We hope the friends of agricultural improvement will 
not lose sight of the establishment of agricultural 
schools, as we believe there are few things that would 
place the farming interest on a surer footing, or more 
essentially benefit the nation, than such schools. Where 
it is not convenient to found such institutions, or the 
funds are not forthcoming, professorships of agricul¬ 
ture might be attached to our colleges or universaties, 
where a series of lectures on the subject should be given 
annually, as is at present done in the English, and many 
of the German universities. In this important service 
such men as Liebig, Daubeny, Johnson, &c. are em¬ 
ployed, and the aid they render to the cause of agricul¬ 
ture cannot be easily appreciated. On the subject of 
agricultural schools we make the following extract from 
a correspondent in Sumpter county, Alabama : 
“ Before the farmers can properly see their own in¬ 
terest, their prejudices will have to be uprooted ; and it 
is much to be doubted whether this can be effected until 
agricultural schools are scattered through the country. 
Then, and not till then, can the absurd feeling, too 
common among ail classes against improvements be 
done away, and agriculture elevated to its proper posi¬ 
tion. That the other trades and professions think it no 
crime to extort from the ignorance or apathy of the far¬ 
mers in a few years, fortunes which itwould take him a 
life time to accumulate, though aided by capital and toil, 
is a fact evident to every observing mind. This state of 
things calls loudly for reform ; it must be corrected. 
Agricultural Schools are the panacea for these and 
similar evils ; let them be unceasingly urged before the 
public through the advocacy of the agricultural jour¬ 
nals ; and though the present age may not be greatly 
affected by them, the time will come when the truth 
will produce its effect, and the honest laborer go forth 
to the fields with a robust constitution, and a mind clad 
in an armor able to resist all the delusions of interested 
and unprincipled men. Then this earth, which is now 
a source of dread and profitless toil to him, would be to 
him a book from which to draw treasures of wealth ; 
and the field, not of stupid, but enticing toil. Every 
page of nature, as he labored on, would be to him a 
volume of instruction ; and whether in his mental wan¬ 
derings he traveled upon the earth, in the vegetable 
kingdom, among the clouds and storms, or among the 
starry heavens, every thing he met would afford to him 
themes of pleasure, and new evidence of a beneficent 
and controling Creator. To the spread of intelligence 
among farmers we look with interest ; and to agricul¬ 
tural schools and agricultural journals the country must 
look for the desired consummation.” 
Plum Tree Blight—Inquiry. 
Messrs. Editors —In some remarks you made not 
long since on the subject of the black blight, which is 
so rapidly destroying our plum trees, you pointed out 
the months in which the insects that cause the blight 
are the most active, as the proper time for cutting off 
the branches, and by burning them, freeing the orchard 
or fruit garden from their presence. Your remarks 
seem to have been made on the supposition that the pa¬ 
rent insect was active but a short time, that but one 
crop of eggs was deposited in a season, and of course 
but one production of grubs took place ; and that if the 
branches infested were cut off at this particular time, 
the evil would be arrested. I wish to ask whether it is 
not possible that more than one deposition of eggs takes 
place, or that the branches are repeatedly punctured at 
different times during the summer ? Is it known what 
insect it is that produces the mischief? And finally, can 
you tell us what trees are liable to be attacked ? 
Inquirer. 
It was our opinion, as Inquirer supposes, that the 
danger of the tree suffering from the attack of the blight 
insect was limited to a short period, and that like many 
other depredators, the annual deposit of eggs made, the 
insect perished, and no successors during the same sea¬ 
son were to be apprehended. In that case, if the in¬ 
fected branches were destroyed, the disease would be 
