1 THE SUMACH, (Rhus coriaria.) THE genus to which this plant belongs contains between twenty and thirty species, many of which are useful in the arts. The Sumach of the Morocco-leather makers, (Rhus coriaria,) is a shrub from ten to twelve feet in height: the bark and the covering of the leaves of this species have a texture resembling velvet; its flowers are small, of a greenish-white colour, and grouped in large bunches at the extremity of the branches. grows wild, in dry stony grounds, in the south of France, and in other parts of southern Europe; it is also found in the Levant. means at present adopted in them to recommend the Gospel to their notice and belief. When Allahabad was visited by Bishop Heber, who deeply lamented its destitute state, in reference to this point, he found there a number of Christians of the Church of England, but unprovided, as it seems, even with a single clergyman. "I remained," says the good bishop, "ten days at Allahabad; during this time I had the pleasure of confirming twenty persons, two of them natives, and of preaching and administering the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to seventy or eighty, of whom some were also natives, or at least in the native dress. The residents here are exceedingly anxious for a chaplain, but that one should be appointed at this time I entertain but few hopes, though it is very sad that such a congregation should want one." If this reasonable want has not yet been supplied, it is to be hoped that the attention of the governors of that noble institution, Bishop's College, at Calcutta, may be directed to it, and that as they have been able to send forth ordained missionaries to new stations, of which Cawnpore, before described, was one, so this neglected spot may also in time receive the needed aid; for, from what we have seen in this paper of the character and situation of the place, we must necessarily conclude, that if the Gospel were once to make a firm settlement there, a most favourable opportunity would be afforded, both by its being a favourite resort of pilgrims, and, also, in consequence of its ready means of communication with all parts of India, of spreading the knowledge of its blessed doctrines and principles. D. I. E. [Abridged from BISHOP HEBER'S Journal in the Asiatic Journal.] THE NATURALIST'S SUMMER EVENING WALK. As fancy warms, a pleasing kind of pain Steals o'er the cheek, and thrills the creeping vein. Each rural sight, each sound, each smell combine The tinkling sheep-bell, or the breath of kine; The new-mown hay, that scents the swelling breeze, Or cottage chimney smoking thro' the trees. WHITE, of Selborne. WHATEVER strengthens our local attachments is favourable both to individual and national character. Our home, our birth-place, our native land; think, for a while what the virtues are which rise out of the feelings connected with these words!The Doctor. The fruit of this Sumach is astringent, and was formerly used in medicine; it was employed by the ancients, on account of its acid flavour, as a seasoning to various dishes, and it is said the Turks still use it in the same manner. The Greeks and Romans used the young branches of this shrub, when dried and reduced to powder, as a substitute for oak-bark, in the process of tanning, and it is still used in Spain and Italy for the same purpose, principally in the preparation of goat-skins, in the manufacture of black Morocco leather. This shrub, although tolerably hardy, is unable to endure the frost. The Sumach of Virginia, (Rhus tiphinum,) is cultivated in the gardens of Europe as an ornamental shrub, for which purpose it is well adapted, from the beautiful red colour of its berries, which hang in long and graceful bunches, and from the varied, rich, and brilliant tints which its leaves assume in the autumn. In America, the bark of this tree is dried and reduced to powder, and used for the same purposes as the young branches of the last-mentioned species. The Varnish Sumach, (Rhus vernir,) is a shrub from twelve to twenty feet in height; it is found in Japan, made in the bark. This liquid hardens into a gumand yields a milky sap, which will flow from incisions resin, and, when dissolved in some peculiar oil or spirit, forms the beautiful varnish for which this nation is so much famed. The seeds of the same tree give out, by pressure, a kind of concrete oil, of which candles are made. The Copal Sumach, (Rhus copallinum,) a smaller species, is found in the dry and sandy soils of South America. It produces that valuable material in the composition of varnishes, Gum-Copal. The Poisonous Sumach (Rhus toxicodendron) resembles the last considerably in outward appearance; it is originally from the same country, but it is cultivated in France and other parts of Europe. The poisonous property of this plant, although it exists to a certain extent in the leaves and in its sap, appears from experiments made for that purpose, to reside more particularly in the exhalations that arise from the surface of its leaves, when they are not exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The gas thus evolved, has been ascertained to consist of carbon and hydrogen, the first of which, if inhaled, is destructive of life. The ordinary effects of this deleterious air, when a person is exposed to its influence, is to produce a swelling of the eyelids, and frequently of the whole face, and a smarting and burning sensation in the hands, followed in these parts with an eruption of little watery vesicles; but these effects are, of course, varied in intensity, according to the constitution of the individual. In spite, however, of the noxious properties of this shrub, it has been used on the Continent in medicine, particularly in cases of paralysis. Most of the species of this useful tribe of plants are used in tanning, and one in particular, (the Rhus cotinus), furnishes us with a yellow dye, but it is not considered very durable, when employed without mixture with other colouring matters. In England, advantage is taken of absence of colour in the tanning principle of this shrub, by applying it instead of oak-bark, in the preparation of boot-tops, thus preserving the leather as white as possible. INSECT SAGACITY. THE OCEAN AND THE RIVERS. A FABLE, THE Rivers, having long paid their just and voluntary tribute to the Ocean, were at length spirited up to opposition by some stagnant pools, which being formed into canals, had found their way to the grand reservoir of waters. These upstart gentlemen, with a characteristic pride, began to exclaim, "What! shall we, who have been collected with so much care, and conducted hither with so much expense and art, lose our freshness in the briny wave? Were we rivers of magnitude, like the Danube, the Nile, the Ganges, and the Plata, we would soon teach the ocean to be a little more reasonable and polite; and instead of converting every thing to its own filthy purposes without acknowledgment, we would make it know to whom it is indebted for the consequence it assumes. parts we are ashamed of such tameness. Does not the Ocean deprive us of our sweetness and purity, and yet monopolize the gratitude of surrounding nations, which is due to us alone? If it will not allow us to assert our natural rights in the scale of social union, we are determined immediately to withdraw our support from the voracious abyss that swallows us up, without mercy and without thanks." For our From this mean source the murmurs of discontent arose, and the collected puddles had influence enough to spread their disaffection among the noble streams. Some of the rivers hoped to usurp the dominion of the whole, and therefore sided in the quarrel. Each had his private views in what he did, or wished to do. Committees were formed-resolutions were passed and deputations appointed. Memorials, remonstrances, and all the artillery of political manœuvres, were determined to be played off, against the venerable head of the waters. The Ocean heard of these meditated attacks; but heard them unmoved. It knew the general good; even the order of nature had sanctioned and would maintain its supremacy; and on this account, it did not fear the blind malice of ignorant and impotent opposition. A NUMBER of curious trees, shrubs, and aromatic plants adorn the wilds of Turcaseer: among them are extensive forests of the banbat-tree, (the acacia, or Egyptian thorn,) much esteemed in the materia-medica of the ancients for When deputations, however, arrived from the its gum, which it produces in great abundance, with every principal rivers, to state grievances, and to demand property of gum-arabic. The leaves, like all the mimosa tribe, are pinnated, the branches covered with sharp white redress, they were respectfully received. The firmthorns, adorned with clusters of fragrant globular blossoms, ness that will not yield to idle murmurs of discontent, in great profusion, pink, yellow, or white; the most beauti-and the pride that despises them, are very different ful is an oblong flower, the lower part nearest the stalk of a delicate rose-colour, the other half a bright yellow. The gum oozes from the bark on the trunk and larger branches. From the flowers it is said the Chinese extract a beautiful yellow dye. The banbat-tree afforded a curious specimen of insect sagacity, in the caterpillar's nests suspended by thousands to the branches. This little animal, conscious of its approaching change, and the necessity of security in its helpless state, as a chrysalis, instinctively provides itself a strong mansion during that metamorphosis. As a caterpillar, it is furnished with very strong teeth; with them it saws off a number of thorns, the shortest about an inch long, and glues them together in a conical form, the points all tending to one direction, the extremity terminating with the longest and sharpest. This singular habitation is composed of about twenty thorns for the exterior, lined with a a coat of silk, similar to the cone of the silk-worm, suspended to the tree by a strong ligament of the same material. In this asylum, the banbat-caterpillar retires to its long repose, and, armed with such formidable weapons, bids defiance to birds, beasts, and serpents, by which it might otherwise be devoured. When the season of emancipation arrives, and the chrysalis is to assume a new character in the papilio form, the insect emerges from the fortress, expands its beautiful wings, and, with thousands of fluttering companions released at the same season from captivity, sallies forth to enjoy its short-lived pleasures. FORBES' Oriental Memoirs. qualities, and should be differently appreciated. Having patiently listened to futile and unmeaning complaints, the mighty chief thus attempted to silence them :- -"Gentlemen," said the Ocean, "after having so long enjoyed the uninterrupted liberty of falling into my bosom-where, by my chemical power, I preserve you from corruption, and render you not only harmless, but useful in promoting the intercourse of nations-it is with surprise I hear your claims. Were I to refuse taking you under my protection, what would be the consequence? You must, in that case, overflow your banks, and deluge the countries you now beautify and delight. Your streams would run counter one to the other-you would soon become tainted-and mankind would be destroyed by your unbridled violence, or by your pestilential effluvia." "What is mankind to us?" exclaimed a little scanty stream. "Hold!" replies the ocean. "It is useless I see to waste words. If argument and mildness cannot bring you to reason, force, however unpleasant to me, must. Till you agree to flow in your accustomed channels, I will cut off every secret communication that supplies your springs, and thus feeds your pride. Know, ye are entirely in my power: the favours I receive from you are amply and gratefully repaid. From me at first you come; and to me you must again return."-DR. Mavor. CHINESE LETTER WRITING. THE following letter of business, copied from the original document, an exact translation, in the hand-writing of the late Rev. Dr. Morrison, was addressed a short time since, by one of the Hong merchants at Canton, to Mr. L., a British agent residing at Macao. The Hong, or Security merchants, who are the only individuals in China legally permitted to trade with foreigners, are responsible to the government for paying all duties, whether on imports or exports in foreign vessels; and every ship that enters the Port of Canton is required to have a Hong merchant as a security for the duties, before she can commence unloading. The meaning of the word Hong is a factory, a place of com mercial business, a commercial establishment. The name of Mr. L.'s correspondent is GoQUA, or Seay-woo-kwan: his Hong name is Tung-yu-Hang: the official name is that of the elder brother, Seay-te-hwa. LETTER FROM GOQUA. M. WE have been separated several months. My mind has been constantly and intensely going after you, to receive the beams of your felicitous countenance. It is impossible to express the wing-spread, tip-toe desire which I have felt. Of late the mountains' peaks have been topped with variegated clouds, and the sun's rays have been increasing in warmth: but you, benevolent brother, great man, have been soothed by the order of the seasons, and have experienced a congelation of bliss. Assuredly you have had an abundance of tranquillity and delight. I have lately heard by Bohea Tea letters, that the price is very high and dear. At first I did not much believe it, but now I have received successive letters from my own farms, which say, that, in consequence of excessive rains in the spring, and previously of falls of hail, the quantity of tea obtained was small; and therefore the dearness of price. The first spring crop of Congou was dearer than last year, upwards of six dollars per pecul*. Happily the leaf was rather good. The second spring crop, up to the present time, had not fallen in price. Of the Hea-mei, Pekoe, the first spring crop was also about five dollars dearer than last year. These are the circumstances concerning Boheas †. The Ganhwuy green teas this year are only about seven-tenths the usual quantity. The price also is very high. I have ascertained that these are the facts; I write on purpose to inform you. We, simple brothers, relying on your protection enjoy a coarse repose. Don't trouble your embroidered thoughts about us. This expects you have enjoyed recent tranquillity, and moreover hopes you will condescend to review it, though incomplete. Your younger Brother, Seay-te-hwa, respectfully announces these things. To Mr. Leeting, (Layton) Benevolent Brother. May his azure eyes extend to this! = A weight mich used in China, about 133 lbe Avoirdupois. In China almost every thing is sold by weight, not excepting even liquids and live stock. The principal weights are Taels, 16 of which make a Catty, 1 lb.; 100 Catties make a pecul, = 1334 lbs. + All the black tea is included in the general term Bohea. Ganhwuy is a Chinese province, containing a population of upwards of 34,000,000 persons. As it appears by examining the natural system of the universe, that the greatest and the smallest bodies are invested with the same laws; so a survey of the moral world will inform us, that greater or less societies are to be made happy by the same means, and that however relations may be varied, or circumstances changed, Virtue, and Virtue alone, is the parent of felicity.-DR. JOHNSON. A SELF-TAUGHT MATHEMATICIAN. EDMUND STONE, a celebrated mathematician, is an extraordinary instance of a man uninstructed and selftaught, acquiring, by dint of perseverance and genius, a thorough knowledge of languages and science. His father was gardener to the Duke of Argyle. Young Stone was eight years old before he learned letters of the Alphabet, nothing more seemed wanting to read. A servant having by chance taught him the to expand his genius. He applied himself to study, and, by the time he was eighteen, he had attained, without a master, a knowledge of perfect geometry. The Duke of Argyle, who united with military talents a general acquaintance with the sciences, walking one day in his garden, saw a Latin copy of Sir Isaac Newton's celebrated work, the Principia, lying on the grass. He called one of his servants to pick it up and carry it to his library, from which he supposed it to have been brought. The young gardener told his grace that the book belonged to him. "To you!" replied the duke, "do you understand geometry, Latin, Newton?" "I know a little of them," answered the youth, with a look of simplicity, arising from a profound ignorance of his own talents and knowledge. The duke was surprised, and entered into conversation with the young mathematician. He asked him several questions, and was astonished at the force, the accuracy, and the frankness of his answers. how," asked the duke, "came you by the knowledge of these things?" Stone replied, "One of your grace's servants taught me to read about ten years since. What need one know more than the letters to learn any thing one wishes." "But The duke's curiosity was still more strongly excited, and he requested him to relate how he had proceeded to become so learned. "I first learned to read," said the youth. "The masons were then at work upon your house. I went near them one day, and saw that the architect used a rule and compasses, and made calculations. I inquired what might be the meaning and use of these things, and was informed that there is a metic and learned it. I was told that there is another science called Arithmetic. I purchased a book of arithscience called Geometry. I bought the elementary books, and learned geometry. By reading I found that there were good books on these sciences in Latin. I bought a dictionary, and learned Latin. I understood also that there were good books of the same kind in French. I bought a dictionary, and learned French. And this, my lord, is what I have done. It seems to me that we may learn every thing when we once know the letters of the alphabet." The duke was delighted with this account, and gave him an employment which left him sufficient leisure to cultivate his favourite pursuits: for he discovered the same genius for music, painting, architecture, and all the sciences which depend on calculations and proportions. Neither the time nor place of his birth is known, but he died in 1768. WE are naturally desirous to live; and though we prize life above all earthly things, yet we are ashamed to profess that we desire it for its own sake, but pretend some other subordinate reason to affect it. One would live to finish children, and to see them well matched: one would fain his building, or to clear his purchase; another to breed his outlive his trial at law, another wishes to outwear an emulous co-rival: one would fain outlast a lease that holds him off from his long expected possessions; another would live to see the times amend, and a re-establishment of a public peace. Thus we would seem to wish life for anv thing but itself. BISHOP HALL. THE USEFUL ARTS. No. V. GARDENING. THE most obvious distinction between Agriculture and Horticulture has been already alluded to, but it must not be supposed that the employment of hand-labour in gardening is solely determined by the circumstance of the size of the ground not admitting the use of the plough; for an easy remedy would instantly suggest itself in this case, that of increasing the area of land cultivated for gardens, or what is equivalent, uniting several small gardens into one large one. The true cause of the necessity for digging with a spade, instead of ploughing, is, that the plough is inadequate to bring the soil into such a state as is necessary for raising the proper produce of a garden with the least quantity of subsequent labour. The greater part of the vegetables raised in gardens are either exotics from warmer climates, or indigenous plants improved by careful tillage bestowed on successive generations of them for many centuries; and if this care were not constantly employed, the plants in their improved state would not be able to bear the comparative rigour of our climate, but would speedily degenerate to their original, or natural, state. It has been stated that the chief object of all tillage is to supply the growing plants with constant nourishment, by the frequent moving of the soil about them, and also to prevent their being robbed of that food by weeds growing among them. The operations required to effect these objects, can only be carried on when the plants are placed with great regularity in straight lines; and that each plant may be accessible, they must be planted in small patches, or beds, of earth, with walks between them. Instead of sowing the seed of many vegetables in drills, and afterwards rooting up the superabundant plants, (as was stated in a preceding article,) to be the mode of cultivating turnips in fields, it is productive of more economy both of seed and time, as well as of more benefit to their subsequent growth, to sow the seed closely in a small patch of ground, and to transplant the young plants when arrived at a certain age. By this means they may not only be planted in their proper beds with the utmost regularity, but there is also another motive for adopting this plan. Every plant has particular seasons at which, when growing in its native soil or in its native climate, the various stages of its development take place, and if transferred to a less genial situation, it must be sheltered during its infancy from the severity of the air; added to which these successive stages of growth in all plants may be accelerated within certain limits by the application of artificial heat, in order to promote the germination of the seed and its early and rapid growth. This is a desirable object, in order to meet the demands of those who, having the means of purchasing luxuries, furnish the remuneration due to those who employ their care and skill in raising early produce by forced cultivation. The artificial heat is applied in various manners, according to the vegetable and to the mode of its growth, but the premature germination of the seed is effected by sowing it on a hot-bed, which is prepared in the following manner. Stable-litter (or straw which has been saturated with the dung, &c., of horses and cattle) is piled with care and regularity into a quadrangular heap flat at the top. The putrefactive fermentation which speedily ensues in such a mixture of animal and vegetable matter, evolves a quantity of heat which is maintained and confined by the magnitude of the mass: on this heap fine mould is strewed, to the depth of seven or eight inches, and on the whole a frame is put, which is covered over with matting, or, if intended to be permanent, with glass lights. The seed being sown in this mould, the heat confined by the frame excites germination, and produces rapid growth in the plant. When strong enough to bear the open air, to which they must be gradually habituated, the young plants are taken up with every care, that the fine fibres of their roots may not be injured, and they are then planted in the bed in the following manner. The earth being broken fine by digging and raking*, a • The gardening rake is shown in the preceding cut, as well as several other tools alluded to in these papers, as the hoe, dibble, trowel, &c. The dibble is a short thick piece of round wood, tapering to a point, and is usually made out of the handle of an old spade; if the point is shod with iron, the tool will last longer and effect its object more readily. The trowel resembles that used by bricklayers and masons in size line is set out by means of a string stretched between two The plants after this removal will languish for a day or two, particularly if the weather be hot and dry; but they will then revive and grow with increased vigour, in con derive nourishment. Plants should never be planted out sequence of the greater space from which their roots can in wet weather, or when the earth is wet from recently fallen rain, for the mould in this state would, after being worked, harden into a mortar, which the fibres of the roots could never penetrate. When it is practicable, the operation should be performed just before rain, when the earth is too dry for it to adhere at all in clods under the hoe or spade. recently moved plants begin to grow again, the earth As soon as possible after the transplanting, when the should be hoed or dug between them, and, if necessary, a little should be drawn up the stems. Weeds must always be eradicated, or hoed down by the Dutch or Thrust-hoe, the growth of the plants, the earth between them should as soon as they appear; and once or twice, at least, during be dug deeply, except the plants are vegetables cultivated for their tap-roots, as carrots, parsnips, beet, &c., or are bulb-bearing, as onions, leeks, &c. If the earth were dug deeply between the former class of plants, the roots would fork, or throw out side shoots, instead of growing straight such a case, not form large and full bulbs, but would run or undivided; and the last-named kind of plants would, in to neck. but the seed must be sown thinly, in straight and equiMany kinds of vegetables will not admit of transplanting, distant drills; and when the young plants are fairly out of the ground, they must be thinned out by the hoe or by hand, leaving single plants only at such distances apart as they will require to be at when they are fully grown. It should be mentioned here, that nothing is so prejudicial to plants as allowing them to be too close together; more produce, whether it be in roots, leaves, or fruit, is obtained from fine healthy plants, that have had sufficient room to grow in, than from twice their number grown in the same. space, and, consequently, crowded together. Peas, scarlet-beans, and other climbing-plants, require sticks to be put to them to climb up; the sticks used for underwood, &c., with the smaller branches and twigs left this purpose are the loppings of young trees, cuttings of on; these sticks are set on each side of the row of peas, and are set sloping in contrary directions, thus forming a lattice-work, which furnishes support for every shoot to mount up by means of its tendrils. bottom of trenches, dug twelve or eighteen inches deep; in In con Sea Kale is blanched by remaining constantly covered during its growth by earthenware pots, made tall expressly for this purpose. The pots have a small cover, which takes off to allow of the progress of the kale being examined. and general figure, only it is made of iron and is curved round a little, instead of being a flat piece of tempered steel. It is used for taking up small plants with a ball of earth round their roots, and for resetting them by making a hole in the mould to receive that earth: by this mode the plant receives little or no check to its growth during the process. A small fork like a dung-fork is also used to in consequence of this removal; for the roots remain untouched without cutting or injuring the roots as a spade or hoe would do, take up plants with, or to stir the earth close to them, which it does Plants that grow early in the spring, or which are pre- | maturely brought forward by forcing on hot-beds, require to be sheltered on the approach of frost. A very slight covering is sufficient in many cases, straw-litter or fernleaves even being enough to prevent the radiation of heat from the earth, and when, in addition to these, mats of bass are spread over them, the frost must be severe that can penetrate to the plants beneath. Single plants are sheltered by covering them over with garden-pots, or with hand-glasses, small frames made of lead or iron, in which panes of glass are inserted, as the casements of cottages are glazed. The potato thrives best in a light, dry, loamy soil, and does not require much manure of any kind. This plant is never raised from seed for a crop, but small pieces of the tubers, or potatoes, are cut out, each having a bud, or eye, in it. These pieces are called sets, and are planted in rows in March or April. The potato requires a considerable quantity of tillage during its growth, the crop must be kept perfectly free from weeds by frequent hoeings, and the weak stem must be supported by having the earth drawn up about it when the plants are young. The crop is gathered in October or November, when the stalks begin to decay; the plants are dug up, and the tubers taken off from the roots. If stored in a cool, dry place, the potato will keep till near Midsummer of the following year, though in Spring the tubers will begin to put forth roots, especially if any damp gets to them. Should this vegetation proceed too far, the root is unfit for food, in consequence of the chemical changes brought about by the vegetable vitality. The potato belongs to a family of plants, almost every one of which is, in a greater or less degree, poisonous. The noxious principles generally abound in the fruit or leaves, while the roots, and the subterranean stems, such as the potato, are commonly innocent, if not wholesome, when boiled; but so formidable are the deleterious properties of the order, that even in the case of the valuable vegetable now under our consideration, the water in which it has been cooked is, in a certain degree, poisonous. Starch in considerable quantities is obtained from potatoes, by crushing them, and well washing the pulp repeatedly, in cold water, till all the starch is extracted; the water then must be evaporated, or decanted off, and the starch will be left nearly pure. THE PRINCIPAL GARDEN VEGETABLES WHICH SERVE FOR FOOD. THE great variety of vegetable productions which serve as food to man, speaking especially of those which he cultivates, may be classed under a few great divisions, conformably both to their botanical characters, and to the part of the plant which is consumed. Though there is no part of a plant, which, in different species, is not eaten, yet, as forming a considerable portion of his diet, it will be found that it is either the root, the stem, the leaves, or the fruit, that man makes use of, while the bark, the seed, the flower, the bud, &c., of other species, are commonly used only as condiments, or sauces. Next to the Cerealia, the seeds of that order of plants, called from their fruit, Leguminous, contain the greatest proportion of farina. The pea and the bean are the principal genera of the order employed as food by man in Europe. The PEA is a climbing annual plant with a white flower; the seed, in its green, or unripe, state, constitutes a favourite dish, but for this purpose it is cultivated as a garden vegetable, while agriculture can alone furnish the ripe seed in sufficient quantities to supply the demand for dry peas, in the Navy, in Hospitals, &c. The pea requires a warm soil, the crop is gathered when the pod is quite ripe and dry, the seed is threshed out, the stalks and leaves, or the haulm, is sometimes given to cattle as fodder. The seed of the pea tribe divides into two more readily than most seeds containing two cotyledons, or seed leaves. Split-peas are produced by grinding the seed lightly between mill-stones, or plates of iron, in mills constructed for the purpose; this operation frees the germ of the seed from the skin or coats, and also separates the former into the two portions, each of which consists of an undeveloped cotyledon. The BEAN. This name is given to different species of plants, though all belonging to the Leguminous order: the broad bean, of which the unripe seed alone is eaten as a vegetable, is a species of the genus Vicia, or Vetch; an annual, growing to the height of from two to three feet, which, unlike the other species, is not a climbing plant. The delightful fragrance of its black and white flowers is familiar to every one; but the principal use of this bean when ripe, is as fodder for horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry. The French or Haricot bean is a dwarf species, and the Scarlet-runner, in Britain one of the most universally cultivated of all garden vegetables, is another species of the same genus Phaseolus; the whole pod or fruit of these plants is eaten before it is ripe. Both are of the easiest culture, but they must not be sown till all danger of frost is over. There are numerous varieties, and some of these are cultivated for food in nearly every country of the world where gardening is practised. The TARE and the LENTIL are species of the genus Ervum, and are used as food in some continental countries, but in England they are only cultivated for fodder. The Leguminous order contain but few positively unwholesome or poisonous genera; among these the Lathyrus, Laburnum, and Orobus, are best known for their beautiful or fragrant flowers, which are such universal favourites. MELON FRAME, AND GARDENING TOOLS. |