This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
In the whole range of agricultural and horticultural esthetics we candidly think nothing has a more pleasing and permanent effect than illustrations. It is almost as good to look upon the picture of a lovely fruit or handsome tree as to behold the object itself in natural reality.
In the management of the various agricultural and horticultural journals of the day, the editors have appreciated the value of illustrations in intensifying the effect of their literary matter, and money is freely spent in the production of anything of this nature possessing interest and attraction.
An agricultural paper which from begin-ing to end is plain, bare, unadorned with some little cut of beauty or use, is like a pasture drear and forlorn. But just throw in a beautiful engraving of a fine fruit, or a sketch of a flower, or enliven its pages with the drawing of a house, and behold the interest which the reader immediately takes ! How eagerly he catches the paper and looks on the picture with admiration! From picture he turns to explanation, and lo! how indelibly the remembrance is stamped on his mind and memory !
Hence it is that we see agricultural papers using illustrations more and more frequently. A description of a new fruit is too often as dull as a dark, cloudy day, unless a sketch is given to throw it out into a full and tangible relief.
A new shrub may be enthusiastically noticed, but its effect is greatly increased if the picture of its form and appearance accompanies it.
There are a few publications of the present day which are especiately noteworthy for the admirable display of this most agreeable entertainment to readers.
"With what a peculiar pleasure does the possessor of a set of The Horticulturist take each volume carefully down from the wide library shelf and glance over the pages, rich with horticultural lore, and fraught with so many delightful memories of Downing, its founder, and of the various editors and contributors it has so well and prominently possessed! His eyes first turn to the goodl.y illustrations, which come thickly thronging along. Now it is a shrub; now it is a cottage; now a fruit; now a view of some suburban villa; and, as he approaches a still later date, they become more and more frequent, and of a more elaborate and tasteful execution.
Since its possession by the Messrs. Wood* ward, large sums of money have been liberally spent in the production of engravings of the most tasteful nature, and no stint is made as to number or excellence. What has been the result ? A love of horticulture has been fostered and stimulated from year to year, to better and better results; a desire for more tasteful cottage building has been kept up, and designs have followed one after another in quick succession and found a ready adoption. Country Homes and Rural Art, the collection of many of these designs, are the most popular architectural books in the country, and together have reached sales of over 10,000; while regular editions are still constantly issued without any flagging of the popular interest. - N. Y. Independent.
 
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