The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1859-01-07
Farmers Department.
Planting Trees.

An extract IRON horace UTeeley
,peeeh at the Indiana State Fair -
How light the occasional labor and how
,,-reat the success with which even the
Rumblest home may be enriched and
besuti6ed, especially by tree.planting, is
vet but imperfectly realized. Only a iew
can live in lordy mansions, but roadside
elms which shade the iowliest cot may De
as stately and graceful as any that stud
the mark of the wealthiest merchant, the
proudest earl. As am whirled through
our rural districts, and see house alter
house unsheltered by a single tree, l
mourn the heedlessuess, the blindness,
which thus denies them an ornament and
comfort so completely within the reach ol
the poorest. The farmer who goes 10
mill or TO market, may return with sap
ling which once fairly planted (and 1t is a
good half. days work TO prepare the
ground for and properly plant tree and
efFec.ually shielded from injury, will be
solace and JOY to his family and their sue
cessors for centuries. Ina country whose
forests are SO rich in admirable trees as
ours-where the buckeye, the tulip, lhe
elm, the maple, the whi.e oak and The
hickory are so easily procured-lt Is a
shame that even one human habitatIon so
much as a year old should be still unblest
by shade-trees. Every school house,
every church-at least where land can
still be bought by the acre-shouId oe
half hidden by grove Of the most UNI
brapeous. hardy, cleanly trees, and every
school.boy should consider hmsel deb
Ior by at least one tree, to the little edltct
in which the rudimsnts Ct knowledge were
first instilled into his understanding. un'
iii such grove shall there have beer
completed.
In our capricious, fervid climate, WI
need shade.t tees, but no: these alone
The dearth Of fruit, especially in the west
is almos: universal. Not one dwelling ii
ten is flanked and backed BY such bel
Of apple, peach, pear, cherry, ounce am
plum trees as should thrive there.
rrapes, there is not vine where ther
should be hundred. Even the hard
and easily started currant.bush is not ha
so abundant as it deserves to be. Mos
farmers would deem it a waste to devot
two square rods of each of their garden
10 the stra wberry while the bare idea
cultivating raspberres or biactberrle
strikes a large majority Of them as lr
tensely ridiculous. Now there is no dr.
pu,e as to the folly OF cultlvatlng TN
which abounds on every side and may I
obtained without labor or care ; and
Judge from observations on the fcnce-sld'
and corners of many farms, that the cult
walton Of anything of the briar kind G
those farms would be supeltiuous unde
taking. Yet do not less insist, that,
a people, we have far too little fruit, al
that most of this is of needlessly inter
quality that the grossness of our food
the cause of many painful and disabllr
diseases which free and frequent use
good fruit would prevent that, even r
garded solely in the light OF profit o
farmers ought to grow more and oett
fruit, both for their own use and Tor salt
and that noble orchards as well as tsre'
must in time diversity the bare landsca
even OF the great prairies, breaking t
sweep OF their fierce winds, and contrib
ting in a thousand ways TO the physic
enjoy yment and spiritual elevation OF ma