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GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE…
GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. (From the Gardeners' Magazine,) Kitchen garden requires now a general clearance of plots that have borne peas, beans, &c., to burn all the dry haulm and weedy stubble and fork over and put on manure if necessary all winter crops will do better in the ground well dug, even if not manured, than with a mere scratching of the surface. Where there is much demand for potting cum posts, the kitchen garden will supply useful material for the muck-pit, which is a more economical method in the long run than the burning of rubbish, though the latter is a clean and quick way to get rid of it, and the ashes are useful. Save all the soot that can be got to make a puddle for dipping the roots of broccolis, cabbages, &c., when planting out from the seed-bed, and store away at once all pea-sticks worth keeping, to preserve tidiness and prevent waste. Sow Early York, Battersea, Shilling's Queen, and Rose wort cabbage, Early Horn carrot, green curled endive, cabbage and cos-lettuce, turnips, and prickly spinach. Make ready the ground for winter spinach, the time for sowing being near at hand. Celery newly-planted will require abundance of water. Plant out as fast as possible, if any left in beds or pots. The fly has not seriously damaged the crop this season, and where it has not appeared there is now no further danger, and the late celery is likely to escape ltogether. Winter Spinach.—The time being at hand for sow- ing winter spinach, we are reminded of a peculiar failure of the crop which occurred to us a few years since. It may be worth while to state how this oc- curred. The ground was got ready in good time after potatoes, and was not manured. The spinach was sown as usual, and we had a splendid plant. But very soon after the plant was established, and the leaves were three inches long, they began to drop off sud- denly. On scraping away a little of the soil from the plants that were affected, we found that detestable thing the larva of the Daddy Longlegs, which always attacks plants at the junction of the stem with the roots. Experience taught us there was nothing to be done. We might have wasted money on gas-lime, or on searching out the grubs by hand, but we knew too well the folly of attempting to cope with this pest in a remedial way, and quietly suffered the plantation of spinach to perish, which it did in a rather summary manner. But a preventive process may be adopted. Let the ground be dug a little earlier than usual, and left rough for a week or ten days. Then cart in a good dressing of manure, and have the whole piece trenched, and the manure put in the bottom of each trench. The plant will derive no immediate benefit from the manure, which is an advantage for if we have a hard winter, it will endure the frost better than in poor soil. Y et the manure is not wasted, for in the spring, when the plant begins to grow again, the roots will have got down on the manure, and in the dry weather of March we shall see the spinach.producing huge fat leaves when other things are not growing at all. So much for the manure and the plant in their relation. You will now ask what about the vermin. Well, the first digging will expose the grubs and the robins, and blackbirds, and rooks—so fond of newly-dug or newly-ploughed ground-will pick them up by thou- sands. Then those that escape death that way will be either buried in the trench at the next digging, or ex- posed to the view of the birds to be devoured. Thus the ground will be well cleansed for a year, and will not want manuring in spring, for the spinach will not consume all the strength of the manure. When the crop is removed, therefore, a deep digging with a four- tined fork is all it wants to prepare it for any kind of spring seeds, whether green crops or roots. As for other matters, all we need say is, lay out the ground in four feet beds, sow in drills, and thin in good time to six inches apart. All sowings of winter spinach should be finished by the 15th of August. Flower Garden.—Geraniums should be propagated at once by cuttings put in the open ground in a sunny place, or singly in thumb-pots in frame or on a moist bed in a house facing south. If this work is postponed, the plants will be more difficult to keep through the winter. If quantity is an object, every two joints, one joint in and one out, will make a good plant but one joint will do very well of any variety it is necessary to cut hard, as to form roots a joint in the soil is not necessary, as the internodes will root nearly as soon as the joints. Carnations, picotees, and pinks to be propagated largely now from layers and pipings, both easy and certain methods. Pansies to be propagated from cuttings of young wood the old hollow stems are quite unfit for the purpose. Keep the cuttings shaded, and sprinkle fre- quently, but the soil of the cutting pans only moderately moist. Beds to be planted to stand over winter should now be deeply dug and manured, which will tend to reduce wireworm, as they will be turned up in the process and be destroyed. After the beds are made ready, set traps for vermin, and persevere to get the ground clean, as the losses in winter often arise through the eating away of the roots by marauders. Dahlias want a heavy mulch after the ground has been lightly forked. This is said to harbour vermin, but practically its few disadvantages are balanced by the superior health of the plants and the beauty of the flowers, and the labour of watering got rid of. As for earwigs, they always go upwards, and may be trapped with certainty. Roses may be multiplied by putting short cuttings, selected from the shoots of this season, in a bed of sandy soil, in a frame, keeping them shaded and sprinkled. Nine-tenths will root with ordinary care, and ninety-nine hundredths where the cultivator is quite au fait at propagating. Budding on brier and manetti stocks may be carried on. It is a good time to buy in new roses, and plant them, as they will be well established before winter, if taken care of, as to shading and watering, for three weeks after planting. Annuals for Next Season.—The finest show of annuals early in the summer is to be had only by autumn sowing. During the latter half of August and the first half of September is the best season to get them strong enough to stand the winter if sown earlier they get too forward, and are apt to suffer from frost. An open quarter sheltered from the north is to be preferred, and the ground should be as hard as flint. On this hard surface lay down a shallow bed of poor sandy soil, and on that sow the sorts in rows pretty close together, each marked with a good-sized tally. In gardens that are very dry or insufficiently drained, the plants will have a better chance if the bed is made to slope southwards this will carry off excess of wat r, and the plants will start better in spring. They are to be transplanted singly into beds, borders, ribbons, &c., as desired, as early in March as the weather will per- mit. The soil in which they are to bloom should be rich and well worked, and as every one of the plants will grow to twice the size ordinarily attained by the same sorts when sown in spring, they must be planted at double the ordinary distance apart. To make more sure, .it would be as well to sow at least one pan of each of the same sorts as those sown on the border these to be kept in a pit or frame and dealt with in the same manner for blooming. Some of the improved forms of hardy annuals are equal to anything we possess for brilliancy of colour and effect in masses for instance, Iberis Kermesina, a new crimson candytuft, makes as grand a bed as the finest verbena or geranium in our collections, though it does not last in its prime more than four or five weeks. The old Campanula speculum is a charming thing for masses, the rich bluish purple of the flowers being enhanced by the white eye. In- deed, all the established annuals are worthy of more attention than they commonly receive, and will repay for all the extra care bestowed upon them, besides which they are particularly interesting as botanical studies. The following are among the best annuals to be sown at once :—Calliopsis, Clarkia, Collinsia, Con- volvulus minor, Escholtzia, Godetia, Hibiscus, Dwarf Larkspur, Lupinus, Nemophila, Nolana, French Poppy, Schizanthus, Saponaria, Virginian Stock.
BANNS OF MATRIMONY BILL.
BANNS OF MATRIMONY BILL. In the House of Lords, the other evening, Lord Houghton, in moving the second reading of this bill, said that its object was to remove any doubt with respect to the period of Divine service at which banns of matrimony should be published. In the Lower House of Convocation on the 17th January last, some opinion was expressed in favour of the publication of banns after the reading of the Nicene Creed but he understood that it was almost the universal practice to publish the banns after the second lesson, and this bill would confirm that practice. The main object of the publication of banns was to give them publicity, and that publicity could be much better secured by publishing the banns at the morning service than would fee case if they were published at the evening ser- vice. The present bill would indemnify any clergy man who had hitherto published banns at a wrong period, and establish the legality of all such marriages; and he thought it was most desirable that it should speedily be passed into law. The Archbishop of Canterbury had no objection to the second reading of the bill, but he did not agree with the first clause. He wished, however, to correct one mistake into which the noble earl had fallen. Banns were usually published immediately after the Nicene Creed, and the reason was because that was a time when a greater number of persons were likely to be present than at any other period of the service. The Bishop of Oxford had no objection to the second reading of the bill. There should be no ques- tion as to the legality of the marriages which had already been solemnised at whatever time the banns had been published, and it was most desirable that the indemnification clause should be passed. It was by no means the universal custom, as the noble lord opposite had stated, that banns were published after the second lesson there were many churches in which the publication 'occurred immediately after the Nicene Creed. The Bishop of London said that while the question remained in uncertainty, banns would continue to be published at two different times in different churches. The object of the publication of banns was, that anv person who objected to any particular marriage should be present and have an opportunity of making his ob- jection. If the time were not fixed the person who wished to object might suppose that the banns were not to be published on that day, and the very object for which banns were published would be lost through the uncertainty which existed as to the time. He therefore thought it would be infinitely preferable to pass this bill than to allow that uncertainty to remain. The Lord Chancellor thought the matter was one of great importance. They had had a great deal of evi- dence on the subject of the publication of banns, and the impression which that evidence had made upon his mind was that the publication of banns was per- fectly illusory. The object of publishing the banns was to give a notification to those persons who might be interested that a marriage was about to take place, but for that purpose the publication was of no use whatever. They all knew from their own experience that in the great London parishes when banns were published no one attended to them at all. Many per sons had a great objection, when they were about to be married, to publishing the banns in their own parish, and the consequence was that they got the publication performed elsewhere. He should be glad to see banns swept away altogether, and some other method devised for giving notice to those interested. But it appeared that there were in many cases most distressing doubts as to whether marriages which had taken place were legal in consequence of the time when the banns were published, and those doubts he thought Parliament ought instantly to set at rest. The publication of banns was not a religious matter, and it did not signify one farthing whether banns were published after the second lesson or after the Nicene Creed. He hoped most earnestly that there would be no postponement of this bill, which would set at rest the uncertainty at present existing. Lord De Ros said that in many churches in Ireland there was no publication of banns at all. The bill was then read a second time.
THE "MIND DISEASED."
THE "MIND DISEASED." Judged by the returns of the Lunacy Commissioners of the United Kingdom relative to the whole body of lunatics under their supervision, or of whom they have cognizance, an undeniable increase of insanity is going on but then we know the extent to which the enumeration of inmates of asylums, &c., may be relied upon as evidence at different times and in different places depends upon the relative amount of provision made for those afflicted; for if the ratio of accommoda- tion provided fluctuates, the effect will be to repress or augment unduly the numbers recorded as coming under treatment at various times. This should be borne in mind when comparisons of one year with another are made. The twenty-first report of the English Lunacy Commissioners states that on the 1st of January, 1867, there were in England 49,082 recognized lunatics, whose distribution was as follows:-In county and borough asylums, 24,590 in hospitals, 2,216 in licensed houses, 4,478; in naval or military hospitals and in criminal asylums, 630; in workhouses, 10,307 residing as single patients with relatives or others, 6,861. In 1857 the recognized lunatics numbered 33,791, so that during the lapse of ten years there has been an absolute increase of 15,291 patients. The relative increase—that is, making due allowance for the growth of the population-is determined by the fact that in 1857 there was 1 recognized insane person, to every 570 of the English population, while in 1867 the ratio is increased to 1 in 430 or, to put it another way, the population increased 11.5 per cent., while the recognized lunatics increased between 45 and 46 per cent. in the last ten years, so that these latter increased four times as fast as the general population. Now, it was estimated by one of the Commissioners in evidence before the Select Committee on Lunatics in 1859 that the ratio of insanity in the aggregate at that time was 1 to every 520 of the population. It appears from this that an allowance of nearly 10 per cent. must have been made for unrecognised cases; and if that proportion obtained now, we should have probably about 54,000 persons amongst us, who by reason of mental incapacity are unfitted to live in a state of freedom, and hence there would result a ratio of 1 person insane or imbecile to every 392 of the population of England. To be on the safe side, it may be well to assume that the proportion of unrecognised cases has considerably decreased since 1859; and we shall therefore venture, upon the best calculation we can make,, to put our estimate of the present ratio of insanity at 1 in 410 of the population, which would bring us to the conclusion that mental diseases have gained on the population to the extent of at least 3per cent. per annum since 1859. How far this apparent increase-which at best we only submit as approximate to the truth—may be due to the detection and registration of cases in later years which were formerly unnoticed, how far to prolonga- tion of life in chronic cases brought under proper care, and how far to an absolute increase of insanity, we have no means of judging. These are points which deserve the most careful attention of psychologists and physicians, who should urge upon our authorities the necessity for more satisfactory data than are at present obtainable from official returns. If the cynical theory of Rochefoucauld that the mis- fortunes of our friends are not always commiserated have any foundation, we may derive some satisfaction from knowing that at any rate there are others even worse off than ourselves. From an elaborate series of articles on Insanity in France," which appeared in the Medical Times and Gazette last year, we learn that, taking the nearest comparable period of five years, the relative increase of population and insanity in Eng- land and France stands thus :— In France the population increased 2 per cent. and in England 5 per cent. the numbers insane in France in- creased 40 per cent. and in England 21 per cent. the ratio of insane to population in England was 15 per cent. and in France 37 per cent. Therefore if these figures are worth anything at all, they clearly show that, after allowing some- what for the greater accuracy of M. Behic's returns, mental disorders are being reproduced twice as fast in la belle France as amongst the inhabitants of this island. The ninth annual report of the Scotch Commissioners in Lunacy gives the number of insane in Scotland on the 1st of January, 1866 (exclusive of unreported lunatics maintained in private dwellings from private resources), as 6,662, whereof 3,207 were distributed in public and district asylums, 812 in private asylums, 1,008 in parochial asylums and lunatic wards of poor- houses, 46 in the lunatic department of the central prison, and 1,589 in private dwellings. The number of insane under supervision in 1858 was 5,774, and the increase in eight years was therefore 888, which is equivalent to 15 per cent. The population increased 4 per cent. in the same interval, and thus in Scotland, as in England, the officially recognised lunatics increased about four times as fast as the population. The ratio of insane was last year 1 in every 478 of the inhabitants of Scotland.. The sixteenth report on the Irish Lunatic Asylums returns a total of 8,962 insane on the 31st of December, 1866, distributed thus :—In public asylums, 5,070 in private asylums, 613 in gaols, 339 in poor-houses, 2,748; in asylums for criminal lunatics, &c., 184. The registered lunatics have increased from 8,272 in 1864 to 8,845 and 8,962 in the two succeeding years, while the population is assumed to have decreased. The ratio of insanity is now 1 in every 625 of the population. This brings us to a grand total for the United Kingdom with its 30,000,000 of inhabitants of (in round numbers) about 65,000 persons of unsound mind, which is in the ratio of 1 to every 462 of the population. It is thus seen that England has the highest ratio, and Ireland the lowest, while the ratio of of the United Kingdom is a mean between those of England and Scotland. The knowledge that there are within this realm between 60,000 and 70,000 of our fellow-creatures whose "untuned and jarring" senses have made them objects of sympathy and pity, the majority being not only dependent upon public charity for care and pro- tection against the consequences of a calamity which deprives them of the power of self-control, but also for the common necessaries of life, is suggestive of many serious considerations. Of these unquestionably the most important is the problem involved in a possible rapport between the exciting "high pressure" com- petition which life has now become, and the increased development of a state of mental and nervous excite- ment subversive of that equable balance which nature always aims at preserving. British statistics of lunacy, which ought to be available in the solution of that problem, are, unfor- tunately, of small value for such purpose in their pre- sent form. This ought not to be for there is no country which makes more ample provision, not only from public funds, but also from private enterprise, for the unfortunate victims of insanity than our own. In the various institutions so liberally supplied the patients are constantly under the eyes of men supposed j to be specially acquainted with mental disorders, and it ought, therefore, to be possible without difficulty to obtain from this staff of observers such data as would yield approximately definite conclusions upon all the important idiosyncrasies of the "mind diseased." But until the tables of different reports are brought into harmony with each other upon a well-digested and uniform plan all labour will be thrown away upon them, and they will contain, as heretofore, not infor- mation, but only the semblance of it.
BODY SNATCHING. --
BODY SNATCHING. The following is from a book entitled My Life and Recol- lections by the Hon. Grantley F. Berkeley:— One of the ablest professors of his time was Joshua Brookes; he had created a fine museum of preparations at his house in Blenheim-street, where he taught the more important branches of his profession. Late one dark night there was a ring at the bell the house- pupil recognising the summons, proceeded to the door, and admitted, as usual, two ill-looking men bearing a heavy burthen in a sack. Not a word passed, the sack was put down, some money placed in the hands of the bearers, and they, with rather more than their customary alacrity, were preparing to depart, when the young doctor, by the dim light he carried, noticed a movement in the sack. "Hullo!" he cried, "this subject's not dead." Then kill him when you want him," was the laughing reply, and both men rapidly disappeared into the dark street. Pursuit was out of the question, so the house-pupil, with the mortifying conviction that he had been the victim of a hoax, lost no time in untying the sack, determined to have a reckoning with at least one of the confederates. A stalwart Irishman stepped out at the first summons, but he swore so lustily that he had but just come to life, and seemed so certain that the doctor was bound to provide for him for the rest of his existence, that the greatly embarrassed pupil, as a last resource, sent for his pro- fessor. Brookes heard the story with undisturbed countenance, and at the end seemed to acquiesce in the man's extravagant idea. "My good fellow," he answered, with a grim smile, nothing can be more natural. To-morrow morning I will arrange every- thing. To-night you must be content with such ac- commodation as I have at my disposal. Mr. Wat- kins, show him into the theatre." "0 it's mighty fond of theatres I am," exclaimed his visitor, fol- lowing, well pleased, the steps of his conductor, the dim light the latter carried barely enabling the Irishman to see two or three figures of birds or beasts, he hardly knew which, that moved as he passed them. Presently a door was opened, and Pat stepped jauntily over the threshold. There was a strong light in the place, and every object could be distinctly seen in it. The man made a sudden stop, his hair stood upright on his shock head, his eyes started from their sockets, his knees knocked together in a paroxysm of fright. He stood for a moment with open mouth, white face, and staring eyes, then with a yell loud enough to have awakened the dead (he beheld there in horrible states of prepara- tion) from their long sleep, he sprung back into the yard, dashed past a wolf that leapt at him as far as his chain would permit, fled by a vulture that with outstretched wings was about to make a grab at him as he advanced, rushed through the street door that had been conveniently left open for him by the grimly- grinning professor, at the top of his speed fled up Blenheim-steps into Oxford-street, and then ran in the direction of Seven Dials as if pursued by the terrible inmates of the anatomical theatre with whom he had been expected to pass the night.
THACKERAY AND AYTOUN.
THACKERAY AND AYTOUN. At a time when Thackeray's great powers were com- paratively unrecognised, Aytoun had in more than one of his papers spoken of them with warm admiration. This kind of service was likely to be deeply felt by Thackeray, who had for many years been doing a great deal of first-class work, without earning either fortune or fame. He was therefore predisposed to like Aytoun, and when they met in London, they took most cordially to each other. It could scarcely be otherwise with two men who, apart from their intel- lectual gifts, were both so thoroughly genial, kindly, and natural. Their correspondence was of the frankest and most friendly kind. Some of Thackeray's letters have fortunately been preserved, and will be read with interest, specially by those who will recognise the friend they loved in the tenor of every phrase of such letters as the following 13, Young-street, Kensington, Jan. 2, 1847. "My dear Aytoun,—I hope The Maclosky received the Mulligan present. I ought to have written before, answering your kind, hearty letter, but business, you know, and weariness of quill-driving after business hours, &c. I don't write to anybody, that's the fact, unless I want something of them, and perhaps that's the case at this present. I think I have never had any ambition hitherto, or cared what the world thought of my work, good or bad but now the truth forces itself upon me, if the world will once take to admiring Titmarsh, all his guineas will be multiplied by ten. Guineas are good. I have got children, only ten years more to the fore, say, &t- now is the time, my lad, to make your A when the sun at length has begun to shine. "Well, I think if I can make a push at the present minute—if my friends will shout, Titmarsh for ever!- hurrah for, &c., &c., I may go up with a run to a pretty fair place in my trade, and be allowed to appear before the public as among the first fiddles. But my tunes must be heard in the streets, and organs must grind them. Ha! Now do you read me ? Why don't Blackwood' give me an article? Be. cause he refused the best story I ever wrote ? Colburn refused the present 'Novel without a Hero,' and if any man at Blackwood's or Colburn's, and if any man since—fiddle-de-dee. Upon my word and honour, I never said so much about myself before but I know this, if I had the command of Blackwood,' and a humouristical person like Titmarsh should come up and labour hard and honestly (please God) for ten years, I would give him a hand. Now try, like a man, revolving these things in your soul, and see if you can't help me. And if I can but save a little money, by the Lord! I'll try and keep it. "Some day when less selfish I will write to you about other matters than the present ego. The dining season has begun in London already, I am sorry to say, and the Christmas feeding is frightfully severe. I have my children with me, and am mighty happy in that paternal character—preside over legs of mutton comfortably—go to church at early morning and like it -pay rates and taxes, &c., &c. Between this line and the above, a man has brought me The Times on The Battle of Life' to read. Appy Dickens! But I love Pick- wick and Crummies too well to abuse this great man. AJiquando bonus. And you, young man, coming up in the world full of fight, take counsel from a venerable and peaceable old gladiator who has stripped for many battles. Gad, sir, this caution is a very good sign. Do you remember how complimentary Scott and Goethe were ? I like the patriarchial air of some people. Have you ever any snow in Scotland ? [Here follows an admirable drawing of a dust- man singing beside his cart; with snow deep in the street.] "As I was walking in just now I met this fellow singing 'I dreamt that I dwelt inmarble h&Us/ driving a dust-cart. I burst out laughing, and so did he. He is as good as Leech's boy in the last Punch. How good Leech is, and what a genuine humour! And Hans Christian Andersen, have you read him ? I am wild about him, having only just discovered that delightful delicate fanciful creature. Good-bye, my dear Aytoun. I wish you a merry Christmas, and to honest Johnny Blackwood. Thank himfor the Maga- zine. I shall enjoy it in bed to-morrow morning, when I've left orders not to be called for church.—Yours ever, T." Thackeray seems to have been under the mistaken impression, which afterwards became very general, that Aytoun was the editor of "Blackwood." Whether he thought so or not, it was very natural he should suggest to Aytoun that a timely word of commenda- tion in the magazine would be much to his advantage. Had it been given, which it was not, it would have been given with all sincerity, as Thackeray himself would have given it to a well-deserving friend in a like case. But the suggestion was withdrawn in the fol- lowing letter almost as soon as made, and in a manner eminently characteristic. Thackeray was too honest, two straightforward; he had too strong a sense of what is due to the public in matters of criticism, even to seem to claim from friendship one jot of considera- tion which was not his by right, or of panegyric, which, to be of any value, "must come unsought for, if it come at all." 13, Young-street, Kensington, Monday Night, Jan. 13,1847. "My dear Aytoun.—The copy of Mrs. Perkins which was sent by the Mulligan to the other chieftain has met with a mishap. It travelled to Edinburgh in the portmanteau of a friend of mine, who arrived at ten o'clock at night, and started for Inverness the next morning at six. Mrs. P. went with him. He forgot her at Inverness, and came back to London, whither Mrs. Perkins was sent after him at a cost of 4s. 10d. for carriage. She is not worth that money either for you or me to pay, and waits in my room till you come to town in spring. I have been thinking of the other matter on which I unbusmd myself to you, and withdraw my former letter. Puffs are good, and the testimony of good men but I don't think these will make a success for a man, and he ought to stand as the public chooses to put him. I will try, please God, to do my best, and the money will come, perhaps, some day Meanwhile a man so lucky as myself has no reason to complain. So let all puffing alone, though, as you know, I am glad if I can have and deserve your private good opinion. The women like Vanity Fair,' I find, very much, and the publishers are quite in good spirits re- garding that venture. This is all I have to say-in the solitude of mid- night-with a quiet cigar and the weakest gin-and- water in the world, ruminating over a child's ball, from which I have just come, having gone as chaperon to my little girls. One of them had her hair plaited in two tails, the other had ringlets—[here follows a sketch of the children]—and the most fascinating bows of blue ribbon. It was very merry and likewise sentimental. We went in a fly quite genteel, and, law what a comfort it was when it was over Adyou, —Yours sincerely, M. THACKERAY."
THE WHEAT AND OTHER CROPS.
THE WHEAT AND OTHER CROPS. Mr. J. J. Mechi, of Kelvedon, Essex, an authority on agricultural matters, writes;- I fear that the wheat crop on stiff clays, even where well drained, will this season, as last, be diminished some ten to twenty per cent. by what is commonly called root-falling, but which is really root rotting. Owing to so much rain, and the frequent absence of sunshine, the stem, just above its junction with the crown of the root, and where it rises from the surface, has become brown, soft, and, in fact, rotten, so that it falls at the first wind, and the ears shrivel or die, according to the amount of decay or detachment. In a dry, bright season, like 1864, this portion of the stem would be hard and glassy, thus protect- ing the circulation, supporting the superstructure, and producing large ears and fine grains. I would illustrate this process of decay by that which takes place with even our largest gate posts when in- serted in such soils. In the course of time-say twenty years-one of eighteen inches diameter will have become as rotten as touchwood, especially if made from fir timber. To prevent a similar decay in telegraph posts, I observe that in summer the earth is removed from around them, and the portion just above and below the surface of the soil is tarred or painted to exclude moisture. On our chalks, light lands, and gravels I believe that the injury from this cause is not so likely to occur. The cereal crops generally have very much improved, and the hay crop is superabundant in quantity and excellent in quality —a most important fact, as effecting our supply of meat, milk, cheese, and butter, seeing that nearly half the surface of the United Kingdom is in grass. Our clover and green crops are also unusually good. It has been said that a good and abundant hay crop and a good cereal crop seldom occur together. The clouds and moisture which suit the grass are injurious to the grain. There is an unusual pest of slugs this season, which is a disagreeable omen. STEAM CULTIVATION AND UNDER DRAINAGE. On this subject, Mr. J. Bailey Denton, of 22, Whitehall place, London, writes:— We are on the verge of a harvest as precarious in character and as doubtful in yield as perhaps we have ever known, and an illustration of how much under drainage and deep surface cultivation will increase the yield of stiff soils may be considered opportune. Within a few miles of the metropolis, in North Park Farm, Blackheath, the property of Earl St. Germans, Mr. Shepherd has raised a breadth of wheat which any earnest agriculturist will be pleased to see. It is growing on land not naturally fertile, which Mr. Shepherd underdrained at his own cost, and has since cultivated with Fowler's steam-plough. The yield has been estimated by good judges at an average of 45 bushels per acre. At 8s. per bushel this will bring 181. per acre, irrespective of the straw, which may be con- sidered as equivalent to the harvest expenses. Adjoining North Park Farm is some very good wheat growing on similar land equally well drained and treated, except in the one particular of steam cultivation. It has been horse-ploughed. The yield may be fairly put at thirty bushels, which, at the same price per bushel, will bring 121 per acre. Within sight of these two instances may be seen some wheat also growing on land similar in character to Mr. Shepherd's which has neither been drained nor steam cultivated, the yield of which cannot be estimated at more than twenty bushels to the acre. The return in money at the same price per bushel will be 81. per acre.. Hence we have within a short drive of London three cases for comparison which cannot fail to show that by the adoption of deep steam cultivation on deep drainage the produce of our stiff soils may be doubled.
A VOYAGE ALONE.
A VOYAGE ALONE. A correspondent, signing himself J. M writing from Littlehampton, Sussex, makes the following remarks to The Times :— As it seems to be the fashion now for two or three men to sail long distances without any pleasure by the way, perhaps it is worth while to record a voyage of 1,000 miles I have just made entirely alone, but with most agreeable accompaniments all the way. Seven weeks ago the Bob Boy yawl, of three tons, was-launched at Limehouse, and on the same day I started for Paris, sailing along the French coast, and being towed up the Seine. I stopped a fortnight in Paris, living on board my yacht, which was moored at the Pont de'J ena, and then at St. Cloud, where we had an English regatta, with the very best English oarsmen, and very valuable prizes, but only a few hundred spectators to witness so novel a scene. I then sailed with the current, and was towed part of the way down the beautiful Seine. This was a tedious business, and far more dangerous and trouble- some than coasting or open sea work. From Havre I started in a south-west gale to sail across to England, and was becalmed after about 60 miles, but finally reached within 10 miles of the Eng. lish coast, when the night was so dark and thick, and the sea so high, that I had to lie to all night and sleep on deck wrapped in the mainsail, with my ship's light lashed alongside. Thus I drifted 20 miles, but next day reached Littlehampton, and was ready for a good English bed, having had little more than four hours' sleep on any night for a week. Numerous adventures, a few hardships, and much excitement occur in voyages of this sort, and when every single thing has to be done by your own hands you learn to appreciate the needless duties often im- posed on those who serve us. Entering the narrow French ports was dangerous, especially at night, and frequent collisions with French vessels in them added to the risk. In leaving Havre my bowsprit was broken, but I managed to set the jib again when out at sea. The healthful life in the open air and constant occu- pation of body and mind make a voyage alone by no means unpleasant, and certainly not at all lonely, and I cannot help thinking that two months spent in this active manner might go far to cure the common malady of ennui which grows upon idleness pampered with luxury.
---BALLOON SURVEY OF A PENDING…
BALLOON SURVEY OF A PENDING STORM. Mr. Henry Coxwell, the celebrated aeronaut, sends for publication the following interesting account of a recent Balloon Voyage:- On Thursday evening in last week I ascended from the Crystal Palace and witnessed, during a tour into Berkshire, the peculiar formation of vapour and clouds which ended in one of the most disastrous storms on record. The ascent was by private arrangement, and decided upon only an hour or two previously,—in fact, it was a trial trip with a new and very small balloon, the dimensions of which as compared to my larger ones are as 1 to 5 and 7. With 18,000 feet of gas only Captain Woodgate, his brother, and myself ascended about six p.m. The sky had become overcast during the inflation, and a falling barometer indicated change, but there was time, I thought, before nightfall to journey and land safely. When we rose over the centre transept the country southward was clear for many a mile distant. Towards London, however, and down to the mouth of the Thames heavy vapour rose up from the river and con- tinued westward until it mixed with the London fog. It ceased to follow the river's course at Chelsea, and so clear was the water at Richmond round to Chertsey that we discerned patches of weeds at the bottom of the Thames as numerous boats rowed over its trans- parent surface. From the metropolis this long line of leaden vapour made a continuous course towards Windsor Castle, so that it was impossible to discern the Castle. As Captain Woodgate wished to visit the barracks, I descended near the Great Park, and, taking in sand equal to his weight, Mr. Woodgate and I reascended with the intention of going on further. We had not long entered upon our second voyage when the clouds gathered overhead in a tempestuous form the deep line of mist resting on the earth had effected a reunion with the Thames. On passing over it the temperature was less by 6 deg. at 4,000 feet than it was at a similar altitude when we moved in a clearer atmosphere. I observed that twice previously I had seen that kind of cloudscope, and that each time it was followed by stormy weather. At 8.30 heavy clouds gathered up from the south and west. We were then passing Reading, which was lighted up with gas. The clouds were fast closing in around us, and fine rain began to fall. At last these huge clouds, the land mist, and northerly masses of vapour all met, and so dark and dreary was the land- scape that we descended at Englefield-farm, and had not long packed up before .the rain commenced. It may possibly happen that these varied appear- ances of the atmosphere, especially the line of strongly defined vapour along the river, may not have been (indeed, they could hardly be) so well observed by others on the present occasion. I merely call attention to the facts. This was not an ascent for meteorological observations, and I only had with me a thermometer and barometer but the cloud modifications were most striking, and have without doubt an interesting connexion with the laws of storms.
OUT OF COLLAR.
OUT OF COLLAR. The following sketch of the working man out of employ- ment is from Dickens's "All the Year Round — In a general way, there is nothing that so materially and frequently affects the well-being and social position of a working man, as the circumstances arising fronl being, in his own phrase, "out of collar," that is, his being unable to obtain work when he is able to do it, and anxious to get it to do. Out of collar, in its least aggravated form, means distress of mind, curtailment of the ordinary comforts and necessaries of life, the expenditure of the little savings that may have been laid by for sickness or old age, the getting into debt on the books of the small shopkeeper, ultimately, perhaps, the breaking up of a home, the selling of "the few sticks of furniture," and. the "trapesing" across the country of the wife and family to join the bread-winner in the far- away town in which he may have again found employ- ment. To many, it means an empty cupboard, a fire" less grate, scanty clothing, a starving wife and family,, sickness of body and mind, brought on by these ills .at a time when they are least prepared to battle with it- To some, it means days of dull weary footsore tranip* ing from town to town. And to all it means anxious inquiry where men are wanted or trade is good, earnest letters or personal entreaties to friends and acquaint- ances to speak for them," "put a good word in them," or otherwise use their influence to Se them work. Finally, the hanging about workshop gates, the often fruitless attempts to see the gaffer?,, the dispiriting replies of "We're full-handed, No chance," "We're discharging hands," received in answer to application for work. Working mea as a body, may sometimes be given to grumbling without much cause but they are by no means wont to make loud or open complaint of the inevitable dis- tresses incidental to their position in life. Even when out of work they try to put a good face upon the matter. But while they bravely bear, they know and keenly fear and feel, the ills resulting from being out ot collar. In a large work shop, when hands are being "sacked," thewistful glances that attend the office-boy as he goes round with the notices of discharge, the anxious inquiries who has, who has not, got the bullet," the relieved looks of those who have not got it, and the pale faces and shaking hands which belie the affected don't-careishness of some of those who have, all testify to the working-man's dread of the grim consequence of being out of employment.
THE BANK OF ENGLAND.
THE BANK OF ENGLAND. The public will learn with much satisfaction that » change is talked of in the "issue" and "tellers" de- partments of the Bank of England, whereby mucb time and no little annoyance will be saved (says the Pall Mall Gazette). It will be remembered by who are in the habit of changing Bank of England notes for gold that, upon entering the office set apa^ for that purpose, the bearer, after having written name and address upon the note, is required to hand it to a gentleman upon the other side of some brass railings for examination, in the first place, to ascertain whether it be a genuine note, and, in the second plae, whether it is stopped. The examiner has before hUj* an extensive list of the numbers of the notes whiv* have been stopped, which list must be diligently scrutinised to discover if the number of the presente note be there or not. On receiving his note back to bearer works his way out of the crowd which will bl, generally found collected in front of this examining cashiqf, or inspector of notes," as he is professional called, and proceeds to obtain gold for his note. Her a second delay takes place, the duration of which proportioned to the number of people to be served; Instead of the inspection of the notes being confined to one spot in the office, and constituting the duty °l one person alone, each cashier in the issue departnaen will for the future—i. e., when the organisation of new system is completed— assume the responsibility 0 inspection himself.
UNCLAIMED DIVIDEND.
UNCLAIMED DIVIDEND. In the Court of Bankruptcy, in London, in the caS6 of Re Brandon," a bankruptcy of twenty-six standing, Mr. Rook made an application to the judgs for permission to advertise a sum of 1 500l. The failure occurred so many years since that the proceed- ings had been lost, the assignees were dead, .and theI appeared to be no one left to claim a dividend. The* had been some Chancery proceedings arising out of vK bankruptcy, and a sum of 1,500?. was received a sho»* time since. The matter had been duly advertised^' His Honour And no one claimed the fund?—^ L ) Rook: No. We now wish to advertise the m°n'Z r again.—His Honour Very proper. Ifnooneanswe's does the money go to the bankruptcy fund Rook No; I believe it goes to the next of kin °*fp{!e bankrupt.—His Honour: That is very just, i advertisement may be inserted.—Application grantew