No matter for the neighborhood of what city the following extract of a letter received this last Spring emanates; suffice it that it is genuine and only a portion of a history of an enthusiastic gentleman, still young, with all the appliances for happiness which education and wealth can command. It suggests an aspect of American life which it is pleasant to contemplate, and which is by no means rare in our country. He says: " On the first of April there was not a tree, nor shrub, nor apparent preparation for either on my place; even you, I think, will agree that I have been busy to have planted in one month some three thousand five hundred trees, among which I may mention, as giving the most immediate effect, over two hundred evergreens, mostly of the Norway Fir, of remarkably fine development of form, branching luxuriantly to the very ground. These plants are large for moving, but have abundant roots, and I superintended their transplanting from a neighboring nursery, exercising the utmost care in the preservation of the roots in a moist state, and in the preparation of the ground for their immediate planting.

"My business in the neighboring city prospered greatly, and heaven has blessed me far beyond my deservings. I now find myself kept pretty busy managing what I have earned. Taking the admonition of my father, who abandoned public life at an early day, I have never entered it, though solicited to do so, preferring the peace and independence of private life to the honors (?) and emoluments of office; I indulge no political aspirations, and keep aloof from politics. I love the country, and am actually retiring to it; though yet young, my thirtieth birth-day to be celebrated in the coming house-warming".

Our correspondent goes into other details of interest with regard to his intentions. He means to be fully employed in his retirement, and'has sought to know what small fruits will be the least trouble and yet yield a fair return. Currants, by the acre, will yield a good profit, and they have the advantage over some others, that they hang, if required, a long time on the bush, and can thus be picked when opportunity offers. Again, in case they do not meet a full sale, from any cause, they can be made into wine. Cranberries are another of the long-keeping, small fruits to which his attention may be turned, especially as he describes some of the land as suited to their culture. The sale of Cranberries is not confined to a few weeks, but extends over the entire year - an advantage to be taken into account when deciding upon a kind for the principal crop.

Then we have known success to attend those who devoted their attention exclusively to one article, reminding us of Horace Walpole's story of the reply of a general to the inquiry, "Why, you must have a terrible time, always at work fighting?" "On the contrary," said the general, "we only fight four hours or so before dinner, and then we have all the rest of the day to ourselves! " By putting your acres mostly in Asparagus, when near a city, very great returns are realized, and for most of the year it requires no cultivation whatever. The interval may be devoted to your fruits for home consumption, and to the ornamental around your dwelling; in other words, you can have the rest of the year to yourself. It may be that you do not choose to expend a very large part of your income in the purely ornamental, and, if so, it will be pleasant to think that all the money that comes out of the strong box for wages, etc, etc., went into it from the produce of the vegetable or fruit garden, be it Asparagus, Celery (this requires more labor than the former), or any of the small fruits.

If of the latter you decline the currant, select the raspberry; or if you can get the proper number of pickers at the proper time, and have a ready market, the strawberry is often very remunerative. Everybody's strawberries in the neighborhood, however, come in at the same time, and that time is rather brief; prices sometimes take a sad tumble just as your own lovely fruit is most tempting. Then strawberries have to be more or less carried, to their injury, to the consumer, and delay is fatal. With blackberries (cultivated), the season is a little longer, but they also must be carefully gathered at the proper moment, and likewise rapidly delivered; the raspberry and cherry somewhat the same. All will not select the currant; its advantages it is well to remember, however, and to have at least a fair portion of your ground occupied with the best kinds.

Returning to vegetables, we know of several instances where a speciality is selected with profit. Rhubarb cultivated by horse power has paid extremely well, and the owner has had "the rest of the year to himself." In whatever is undertaken, it is well to remember that success will depend on yourself. Get the best kind of what you intend to cultivate; see that it is adapted to your soil and climate, and, if possible, that it is always a sure crop; give it the right setting out, the proper exposure, shelter, (if it requires it), and the best manure. Economy in the latter will consist in not being stingy. This is your capital invested from which you are to reap your cent. per cent., provided you understand your business yourself, and do not leave too much to assistants who take little interest in any of your proceedings, except the hope of pay-day coming.

You may have, when Jacob is sick, some time or other, to drive the wagon loaded with berries to the steamboat wharf or the railroad station; you must not be ashamed to do so, nor be too much enervated by leisure not to take a pleasure and pride in your success, no matter how much money you have risked in the bank or any other doubtful corporation. If you are not about to attend to matters around you yourself, it will be better to rent the land to somebody whose interest it will be to personally superintend every operation, and give yourself up to a small garden that you can look after from the library window; for we have never known the mere employment of hired labor to produce a fortune in small fruits and vegetables to the looker-on, who passed the morning with the newspaper or the classics, and the afternoon with "clever fellows " over a dozen bottles of costly foreign wines.

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