Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-01-11
NOVEL HoRr1ol LrURE.

NOVEL RORTIOL LTURE.
Elder Evans is the chief apostle of
the Shakers sect whose leading
articles of faith are the duty of sell
ing garden seeds. The Shakers al
so believe in maple sugar aud prac-
tice apple sauce, though these TWO
doctrines are not expressly men
toned IN their written creed. As
they, like the Quakers, are non-re-
sistants, and advocates Of universal
peace, they wisely abstain from mar
rage. Were it not for the fact that
the sun -bOnnets of their women have
a most depressing effeet,-in some
cases causing the beholder to feel
that he does not want to live any
longer in a world where such bon
nets are likely to occur,-The Shak-
ers might be regarded as harmless
collection of drab lunatics.
Elder Evans has departed from
the ways of his predecessors, by be-
coming an inventor. He has invent
ed method of combining Shakers
and trees which promises excellent
results. When Shaker dies and is
buried, Elder Evans plants tree
over him, and that tree, as it gradu-
ally absorbs the deceased Shaker,
puts on drab leaves and
bears apples, pears, or peaches, as
the case may be, characterized by a
sort of neutral flavor which is reeog-
nized as peculiarly Shakerian. The
ingenious Elder has now a large or
chard full of dead brothers and sis
ters, under whose shade he walks on
Summer afternoons, and whose fruit
he tastes on Winter evenings. Oc-
casionally a sister preserves her
original tartness when transformed
into apples, and it is said that one
young Shakeress who died four
years ago is extensively sold in the
shape of canned peaches of unusual
sweetness; but as rule, the dead
Shaker of either sex is too tasteless
for apple sauce or preserves, and is
ground up for cider.
1t is evident that Elder Evans
method of modifying the character
of fruit trees is capable of very wide
application, and that when persons
of strongly marked character are
planted, instead of colorless Shakers,
valuable results may be obtained.
There are many men for whom no
use has ever been hitherto suggested
who might prove of inestimable val
ue to the scientific farmer. There
is Mr.. Stanley Matthews, for exam
pie. Were Mr.. Matthews to be
crossed with a Winter squash, we
should have a vegetable which,
though perhaps less nourishing than
the ordinary squash, would be much
softer and more nearly resembling
custard. There also, is Mr.. David
Davis. If we should plant him in
cabbage field, the resulting Davis
cabbage would doubtless be of enOr-
nous SIZE and of beautiful change
able color when viewed in the sun
light.
Enterprising nurserymen and
kitchen gardeners, should they
adopt the new system of horticult-
ure, would be constantly in the mar
ket bidding high prices for eminent
remains" wherewlth to experiment
Gen. Butler-not the Administers
ton Senator, but the Massachusetts
Representative-would be eagerly
sought after by the cultivators of
horse-radish, into which he could un-
questionably infuse a sharpness and
acridity far surprising that of the
present variety. The "Sweet Singer
of Michigan" if planted early in the
Spring the earlier the better
in hOt-bed sown with lettuce-seed,
would nfallibly give rs variety of
lettuce greener and more tender
than anything now on earth. Posi-
bly,, Timothy Titcomb would be
deemed useful as an element of the
ideal turnip of the future, but his
true sphere is probably the flower
garden. He should be planted now,
when he is in his prime, in bed of
daisies, and we could thus confident
ly expect crop of dazzling simplic-
ity and unequaled absence of per-
fume. What gorgeous sun-howers
might be raised by Mr.. Conkling,
and what superbly tart gooseberries
might be produced by an intermIx-
ture with Gail Hamilton we can on
ly imagine. If there is any desire
for a variety of red, blue, and yel-
low morning glories, with extraor-
binary abilities for climbing the
highest walls and thrusting itself in
to the most private windows, let the
astute florist keep a close watch up
on Mr.. Talmagc, and plant him at
the earliest possible moment, and If
there is q market for psOnies of ex-
ira size and unprecedented redness,
it may be ultimately supplied with
a new Beecher-peOny.
Though Elder Evans only COM
bines one Shaker with each tree,
there is no good reason for such a
limited application of the principle.
If he should take say one-fourth of
Mr.. Hayes and three-fourths of
Wade Hampton, and plant this mix
ture under a blackberry bush, he
might produce a unique variety of
fruit, which if called the concilia-
ton berry, would perhaps prove
very popular among the class OF
people who might happen to like 1t.
The sweetness of Mr.. Hayes and the
vigor of Mr.. Hampton could hardly
fail to be found in the new fruit,
and the fruit would have a flavor
peculiarly its own, though whether
it would prove wholesome or not,
experience alone could decide. In
like manner, a combination of Pat
terson aud Conover might be used
to develop a new variety of monks
hood which would be a valuable ad-
dItion to the list of poisons now
found in the materid naedicG.
Of course, success IN the cultlya-
tion OF hybrid plants could not be
expected at the very start. We
should have to ascertain by expert
ment where to plant statesmen,
| v,bara tn SOW authurs. and WHARF 10