THERE is so much deception used amongst gardeners, seeds-men, and florists generally, that it is only right to give a passing hint to the public to" take care of their pockets." 66 No one, perhaps, can speak more to the purpose than we can; for, in early days, believing that what certain advertisements stated was really true, we purchased a vast number of new and remarkable" strawberry plants, raspberry canes, &c., on their recommendation; and found they were even inferior to what were then growing in our garden! The fact is, all "novelties "must be viewed with suspicion. The dealers know John Bull's weak point, and they live by his ignorance. Then, as to the seeds purchased to make your garden look gay and animated,-three fourths of them are old and useless. You complain; and are told the soil was too dry, or too heavy, &c., &c. All those packets of seeds, so carefully done up in brown paper, and exposed for sale, with the names of the flowers on them, are refuse seed. They never come up, and we hardly need say they are perfectly valueless. Yet are they sold in hundreds. The public buy, and the dealer laughs at them. This subject has lately been taken up by the Gardeners' Journal, whose Editor has very honestly exposed the tricks of the trade. "We would not for a moment," he says, "discourage the introduction of valuable novelties, either of plants or seeds. On the contrary, we are always pleased to give our meed of praise where praise is due, and to do all in our power to recommend novelty when we are convinced that it possesses qualities worthy of such recommendation. But our position demands that we should be firm in our opinions, and discriminating in our judgments, when such matters are subjected to us; and, no doubt, we sometimes offend by condemning where we were expected to praise. And every day increases our responsibility in this respect, and renders it necessary that we should be more watchful. For our own part, we believe that matters have been already carried too far. of all the Capulets. know where to begin. peas, "There are too many kinds of brocoli, of cabbages, and so on, of all other culinary plants, with few exceptions. And in florists' flowers a like evil is apparent. In fuchsias, in geraniums, in pansies, in hollyhocks, in verbenas, in chrysanthemums, we have lists of worthless or but duplicate kinds thrust upon our notice as novelties worthy of cultivation. We would have those lists submitted to a severe jury, who should thin overcrowded ranks without pity, and consign them in hundreds to the tomb The difficulty is to "We are assured that all the influential and respectable members of both the nursery and seed trade, are desirous of a curtailment being made in the numberless kinds of the flower and vegetable seeds required to be kept in stock; entailing, as it does, an enormous expense, without any proportionate return to themselves, or to their purchasers. There can be no possible good in retaining so many kinds. Why do we require peas and cabbages by the hundred sorts? Surely the most fertile imagination cannot conceive circumstances that should require a tenth of the number to meet every demand. "The fault is evidently with private purchasers. While they exhibit a morbid demand-and it is a morbid demand for novelties, there will always be found those who are ready to meet it, no matter how, or by what means. Look at the advertising columns of all our agricultural and horticultural periodicals, and it is at once evident that the raising, or at least announcing, novelties, is a winning game;' or the poor superlatives of our mother tongue would not be so tortured and heaped one upon the other as they are, to palm off some unknown upstart of a kidney bean or a dwarf cabbage on the public. "We have heard that a distinction may exist without a difference. We believe it, and undertake to demonstrate it to the satisfaction of everybody. Take up any one of the seed lists now lying upon our table, and you shall find ten distinctions in name with no difference in the quality of the things represented. Now we must confess to a decided objection to this kind of trickery. The poet has said— "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ;' and so a quart of ordinary peas, or an ounce of common brocoli seeds, would doubtless be the same thing if called by any other name. To this change, if it were necessary and advisable, we should have no objection; but when under this new name we are called that we should if it had only its own proper upon to pay four times the amount for either, appellation attached to it, we become indignant. 66 of We can sit under Houdin, or Anderson, or Robin, or any other Wizard' of like celebrity in the Čabalistic art, and be fooled to the top of our bent,' and even feel a degree of pleasure in the process. We go to be cheated; and we should be disappointed if we were allowed to depart otherwise. But, when we are sold some cucumber seeds, for instance, at a shilling each, the plant from which we are assured will produce 'splendid and magnificent' fruit; or a dozen strawberry plants for a guinea, which we are in. formed will far outstrip in reality every superlative, Latin or otherwise-it is probable the name ends in issima-and that, after proving them, we find they are old familiar friends in a new dress, with the addition of a little gilding by the way-we certainly cannot subscribe to the sentiment conveyed in the Hudibrastic couplet, that LLL the pleasure is as great In being cheated as to cheat." "But, joking apart, reformation is needed; and the sooner it is commenced the better. If the practice of seizing upon every little variation in the appearance of a flower or a vegetable, as of sufficient importance to force it into public notice, and to demand a high price for it, is to be followed up, when and where is it to terminate? The practice ought, and must be condemned sooner or later; but, while it is allowed to be a lucrative speculation, there is no chance of its dying out." INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS. of a WE RECENTLY FELL IN WITH a very sensible travelling companion, in the New York Magazine. There was one short paper in this magazine which pleased us so much, that we were determined to let the readers of OUR JOURNAL share our pleasure. The writer says, when speaking of the part we are all called upon to play in the world: It is the duty of every one, to take some active part as actor on the stage of life. Some seem to think that they can vegetate, as it were, without being anything in particular. Man was not made to rust out his life. It is expected he should "act well his part." He must be something. He has a work to perform, which it is his duty to attend to. We are not placed here to grow up, pass through the various stages of life, and then die without having done anything for the benefit of the human race. It is a principle in the creed of the Mahometans, that every one should have a trade. No Christian doctrine could be better than that. Is Per circumstances; if he has no particular business a man to be brought up in idleness? Is he to live upon the wealth which his ancestors have acquired by frugal industry? Is he placed here to pass through life like an automaton? Has he nothing to perform as a citizen of the world? A man who does nothing, is useless to his country as an inhabitant. A man who does nothing is a mere cipher. He does not fulfil the obligations for which he was sent into the world; and when he dies, he has not finished the work that was given him to do. He is a mere blank in creation. Some are born with riches and honors upon their heads. But does it follow that they have nothing to do in their career through life? There are certain duties for every one to perform. Be something. Don't live like a hermit, and die unregretted. See that young man. No matter what are his Be something. Don't be a drone. You may rely upon your present possessions, or on your future prospects. But these riches may fly away, or hopes may be blighted; and if you have no place of your own, in such case, ten to one you will find your path beset with thorns. Want may come upon you before you are aware of it; and, having no profession, you will find yourself therefore, important that you should be somein anything but an enviable condition. It is, thing. Don't depend upon Fortune; she is a fickle support, which, often fails when you lean upon her with the greatest confidence. Trust to your own exertions. Be Something. Pursue that vocation for which you are fitted by nature. Pursue it faithfully and diligently. You have a part to act, and the honor in performing that part depends upon yourself. It is sickening to see a parcel of idle boys hanging around a father; spending the money which he has earned by his industry, without attempting to do anything for themselves. "Be something," should be their motto. "art, Every one is capable of learning some trade, or mystery," and can earn a competence for himself. He should be something, and not bring down the grey hairs of his father to the grave. He should learn to depend upon himself. Idle boys, living upon a parent, without any profession or employment, are ill qualified for good members of society. And we regret to say, it is too often the case that it is the parents' fault that they are thus brought up. They should be for themselves in case of necessity; and if they act taught to be something, to know how to provide well their part-they will reap the honor which therein lies. CORRECT TASTE IN ART. BY DR. W. H. HARVEY. TO ARRIVE AT ANY DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE in the arrangement of flower-patterns, it is important to possess a knowledge of Botany: this, whether as regards muslin, damask, or wall papers. It is quite certain that true taste will prefer the pattern which most nearly represents the natural flowers, with all their peculiarities of form, and in their true colors. The stems, in nature, may be stiff and angular: if they be so, it is vain to attempt, in the pattern, to give them graceful bends, and to hope, by so doing, to please the eye. To represent branches of hawthorn flowers on the twining stems of a convolvulus, would be monstrously are more diffused among the class engaged absurd. And yet faults as glaring are fre- in executing ornamental designs. quently committed by ignorant draftsmen, when they attempt the composition of floral patterns. Of course, I am not now speaking of the combinations of "fancy flowers"-blossoms that exist wholly in the brain of the calicoprinter or the paper-stainer-these may be as fantastic as you please. But I speak of the unnatural distortion of real flowers, resulting from the ignorance of the proper proportion and number of their parts. Why is it that floral patterns on wall papers are out of fashion, or are driven up to the bedrooms on the third landing, or to the backparlor of the country inn? It is not, surely, that flowers are out of fashion; or that the taste for them is less general than it was formerly. But it is, that the taste of the public is not properly ministered to: it has outrun that of the manufacturer. In a rude state of education, bright colors and gracefully-bended branches on the walls will please the eye that does not stop to question their propriety. But as refinement increases, truth in form will be preferred to brilliancy in color; and the twining of branches that is not natural, will be no longer thought graceful. It will be no longer regarded as a twining but a twisting-perverting nature for a false effect. This is the true reason why floral patterns in wall papers are now so much out of favor; and why, when selecting the paper for a room, one is forced (I speak from experience), after turning over books of patterns till you are weary, to take refuge in some arabesque design-some combination of graceful curves of no meaning-as an escape from the frightful compositions that are called flower-patterns. It is surely high time that our manufacturers should seek to correct this evil. These are not days in which any one can afford to be left a step behind the rest of the world. He that once loses his place in the foremost rank, is pushed aside and lost; in the crowd that is eagerly pressing forward, and almost treading on his heels. Already French wall papers are in extensive use. They have brought down the prices of the home manufacture considerably, and they will undoubtedly drive home-made papers out of the market altogether, if the manufacturers do not exert themselves to produce more artistic patterns than they commonly originate at present. The French have been before us in the establishment of Schools of Design. At their schools artistic botany, or correct flower drawing, is regularly taught; hence the great superiority of their flower-patterns, whether on china, on silk, on muslins, or on wall papers. It is not that French taste is superior to Irish or English taste; but it is that, in France, the principles of correct taste Our workmen have as much inventive talent, but it requires to be educated. At present, it wastes itself for want of proper direction and instruction. SENSIBILITY. SENSIBILITY is that susceptibility of feeling which lies at the foundation of all rational enjoyper regulation. Sensibility is the most exquisite ment. It however requires to be kept under profeeling of which the human soul is susceptible. When it prevades us we feel happy; and, could it last unmixed, we might form some conjecture of the bliss of those Paradisaical days when the obedient passions were under the dominion of reason, and the impulses of the heart did not need correction. It is this quickness, this delicacy of feeling which enables us to relish the sublime touches of the poet and the painter. It is this which expands the soul, and gives an enthusiastic greatness, mixed with tenderness, when we view the magnificent objects of nature, or hear of a good action. The same effect we experience in the Spring, when we hail the returning sun, and the consequent renovation of nature-when the flowers unfold themselves, and exhale their sweets, and the voice of music is heard in the land. Softened by tenderness, the soul is disposed to be virtuous. Is any sensual gratification to be compared to that of feeling the eyes moistened, after having comforted the unfortunate? Sensibility is, indeed, the very foundation of all our earthly happiness. But these raptures are unknown to the depraved sensualist, who is only moved by what strikes his gross thoughts and harmonises with his vicious propensities. As the embellishments of nature escape his neglected notice, so likewise do all the gentle and interesting affections. Sensibility can only be felt; it escapes discussion. THE ELOQUENCE OF FLOWERS. AMONGST all the pleasant things of life-and the all-bountiful hand of Providence has scattered the path of our days with innumerable pleasant things, if man would but enjoy them-amongst all the pleasant things of life, there are few more pleasant than a walk in the flower-garden before breakfast on a sun-shiny morning. To see those mute and still, though not motionless creatures-we mean the blossoms, opening their painted bosoms to the beneficent rays which give them their color and their loveliness, welcoming the calm blessing of the light, as if with gratitude, and seeking, in their tranquil state of being, for nothing but the good gifts of Godmight well afford a monitory lesson. Everything in nature has its homily, to the eager the blossoms stand in their loveliness; how placid hunters after fictitious enjoyment. How calm do in their limited fruition of the elements that nourish them! How, in their splendid raiment, do they sparkle in the sun; how do they drink up the cup of dew, and gratefully give back honey and perfume in return! Avoid that man, or that woman, who can see nothing beautiful in buds, blossoms, flowers, and children. HINTS TO AMATEUR GARDENERS. THE CALENDAR FOR JULY. WE are now beginning to reap some of the advantages of our toil, and to be in a great measure reconciled to our early disappointments in the fruit and flower garden. We have lost many of our pets, we grant; but they are replaced by others. It is true philosophy to take things as we find them, and to be thankful that matters are no worse. Ours is a singular climate! FRUIT. If it is intended to make new plantations of Strawberries, select now some of the strongest runners for that purpose; by planting out during showery weather at this season, they become well established before winter, and usually produce a few fine fruit the following season, which can hardly be the case when delayed until spring. Cherries, Peaches, or Plums, may now be bedded. Examine grafts, and remove any shoots or suckers that may withdraw nourishment from the scion, and keep it secure from injury by winds. Trained Pears, Plums, Apples, or Cherries, should have all the summer growths, except those intended to be trained in, shortened back to two or three eyes to encourage the formation of fruit-buds. Vines must be regularly looked over, and have all weak, useless shoots remo emoved, as last month: if the smallest berries are thinned out regularly and carefully with a pair of scissors, the remaining berries will swell much larger, and in favorable seasons be scarcely distinguishable from hot-house fruit. Currants and Gooseberries should have any of their summer wood that may shade the fruit, cut out. FLOWERS. ANNUALS, during showery weather, may be thinned out, and the thinnings planted. BULBS.-Continue to take up as their foliage decays, and supply their places with annuals or other plants. CARNATIONS.-Towards the middle or end of the month is the most proper time to layer these, for which choose dry weather; the shoots are then much less liable to snap off, when bending them after the incision is made. The operation is performed as follows: First remove the leaves from the part of the stem to be buried in the soil, and about an inch of the extreme points of the terminal leaves; then, with a sharp knife make an incision a short distance below the most eligible joint, to be found within about two or three of the top; the cut should pass half through the stem, and then upwards, nearly to the joint above, and cut the small portion of stem remaining on the tongue immediately below the joint; then bend the shoot down to the soil, which has been loosened for its reception, and secure it there with a small hooked stick-covering it with some finelybroken soil, an inch deep, made tolerably firm about it; after this, a watering renders the operation complete. All common layering is managed on the same principle, a layer being "a cutting not separated from the parent plant until it has emitted roots for its own support." In layering many kinds of brittle plants, it will be found a good plan to make the cut upon the upper side, instead of the lower one, for this reason: when the layer is bent down, after the incision is made at top, the strain is upon the stem, which will stretch a little without breaking; but when made at the under side, the strain is on the flat-sided wound, which readily snaps. Where the carnation stems are very numerous, it may be worth while to put some in as pipings, in the same manner as recommended for pinks, about the first of the month; these are much less certain than layers, but are said to make healthier and stouter plants when they do strike; a gentle bottom-heat would be of advantage to them. The opening flowers must be protected from sun and rain, the calyx tied or secured, and the petals arranged as has been recommended for pinks. If seedlings were raised last year, they will now be in flower; select those worth keeping. DAHLIAS.-Thin out weak branches, and keep the plants neatly and securely tied; cuttings may now be struck, for preserving in pots during winter. HEARTSEASE. Plant out seedlings, and propagate choice kinds by cuttings, in a shaded situation. HYDRANGEAS may be increased at this season by cuttings, or by layers, making the tongue at the origin of this season's young wood, and shortening the top. PELARGONIUMS which have flowered may be cut down, and cuttings of the best kinds put in; they will readily root now. PINKS.-Pipings may be still put in, and the decayed flowers removed. ROSES may be budded if the bark rises freely. The stems which have flowered should be cut down to a good eye. A succession of flowers will be thus encouraged; examine the earliest buds, that the ties are not pinching. STOCKS. In leaving single-flowered plants to produce seed, choose those containing the greatest number of petals. When double-flowering herbaceous plants are going out of flower, they will be usually found in the fittest state for increase. Clip Box-edgings also deciduous hedges. Keep creepers neatly trained up, and allow no weeds to be seen. TAKE CARE OF YOUR EYES. LET all who value their eye-sight, be careful how they trifle with it. The eye is easily damaged; and a hint or two to the thoughtless may be in season. Looking into the fire is very injurious to the eyes, particularly if a coal fire. The stimulus of light and heat united, soon destroys the eyes. Looking at molten iron will soon destroy the sight. Reading in the twilight is injurious to the eyes, as they are obliged to make great exertion. Reading or sewing with a side light, injures the eyes; as both eyes should be exposed to an equal degree of light. The reason is the sympathy between the eyes is so great, that if the pupil of one is dilated by being kept partially in the shade, the one that is most exposed cannot contract itself sufficiently for protection, and will ultimately be injured. Those who wish to preserve their sight, should preserve their general health-by correct habits, and give their eyes just work enough, with a due degree of light. MODERN IMPOSTORS,— WOMEN, AND THE "SPIRITS." Try the Spirits.-BOOK OF WISDOM. All the shelves, The faithless winds, blind rocks, and sinking sands, Are wоMEN all-the wreck of wretched men. LEE. NDEAVORS ARE NOW BEING 80 INDUSTRIOUSLY PUT FORTH, by those who ought to know better, to mislead the Public and to fright the town from its propriety elo -that we feel called upon to step in, and enter a formal caveat against the reigning imposture of the day. The world, we have said, is mad, ever has been mad; but it is going even beyond this! We will not be wearisome; but as ours is avowedly a JOURNAL OF NATURE, we must vindicate what is natural, and put down what is not. The Public need not now be told of what is daily going on at the west end of the town, in the way of humbug,-patronised, too, by the haut ton. We allude to the sleight-of-hand performances of a notorious female juggler. We would have left this wide-awake, vulgar woman, to fleece her visitors at her pleasure,-had she not secured to herself the sanction of so great an "authority" for her imposture as Dr. Ashburner. We regret, with the rest of his friends, that this worthy and very clever man should have been made the dupe of such a shallow artifice; for his was a fine mind. We judge him, not from hearsay, but from his own printed Letter to G. J. Holyoake, Esq. Let us join in the general remark,-" Alas, how are the mighty fallen!" Festus said of St. Paul, the Apostle,-" Much learning hath made thee mad." The remark was not true in that instance, however applicable it might be now. Nobody loves philosophy more than we do. Nobody takes greater pleasure in tracing every natural occurrence to its very source; but we deem it a mark of true wisdom to let our inquiries have reference to the present world only. All beyond this, we consider it unlawful to pry into; and when we mark the consequences" of doing so, we feel quite satisfied of the correctness of our views. "Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther." 66 We shall not attempt to analyse Dr. Ashburner's Letter. Everybody should read it. But we will offer one or two observations upon it. We pass over his experiments in omnibuses-inducing certain passengers, "by the power of his to fall asleep, and put their hands into his; besides doing other ridiculous things." He says "he has often done it." That may be. We certainly should not like any of OUR woman-kind to journey by the same conveyance as the worthy Doctor. We may be singular, but we speak our feeling on the point. Dr. Ashburner then goes on to say, that he lost his father fifty-five years ago; and he tells us gravely how, by entering into a coalition with Mrs. Hayden, the latter brought up the parental ghost, also, what the ghost said, totidem verbis. We think we behold the vision now. Oh, my prophetic soul,-my Father!" 44 VOL. III.-24. The Doctor has, we fear, fallen into bad hands. He is older than we are, and ought to know more than we do of Woman's power. When good, she is an angel of mercy. When bad, she is the let the Doctor fill up the chasm; for he must be well aware of the "Media" by this time! Women first draw us in with flattering looks We throw this out as a kind hint,-for the game cannot last very long. We have said, we love Philosophy. But can any one bring a philosophical countenance to bear upon such a ludicrous picture as we have brought That the Doctor upon the tapis? We think not. is sincere in his confession of faith, we readily believe. This makes us feel his lost position in society the more. His Letter is a great mistake. It will be used against him, and against the good cause he has until recently been so anxious to promote-both far and near. To show the state of Dr. Ashburner's mind, we will conclude with some few of his observations at Page 8. He says, after recording his imaginary conversations with certain ghosts,-"These are only a small part of the numerous proofs I have had of the identity of persons with whom I had been acquainted years ago. I have, in subsequent séances, had many opportunities of holding intercourse with a score of other persons now in the upper magnetic regions of space surrounding the earth,-intelligences, some of whom were friends here, and some of whom were individuals of whom I had been desired to learn facts that turned out to be marvellously true." It will be seen that the Doctor numbers his interviews with ghosts "by the score,"-like herrings. A few more, or a few less, are of little consequence. He whistles to them, and, singing sweetly— They come to his call, like the birds in the song of "Home, sweet Home." But we drop the curtain here; lamenting deeply the publication of such a document. Litera scripta manet. | No argument, now, can do away with what is indelibly impressed upon paper. Impiety like this; and so supreme a contempt for the Maker of Heaven and Earth, whose love for his children, and their everlasting happiness, is more boundless than the ocean,-needs only to be brought into view to be received as it ought to be, with undisguised horror. Before quitting this sad subject--for it is sad to see such a prostitution of time and intellect-may we ask, how so very many respectable mothers of families can persist in encouraging the imposture? If their own self-respect be of no consequence, let them,-pray let them consider their innocent children, and not initiate them in vice. When we lay aside this mortal coil, no fear shall we have of being subject to exorcism by strolling vagabonds, who can make spectres of us at will. Oh-no! The God we worship does not deal after this fashion. So let us now leave the whole crew to their meditations. BB |
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