THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 185 



culture, cither in pots or glasses. By a little management in potting at stated 

 intervals bloom may be had a considerable portion of the winter. It is some- 

 times desirable to have Hyacinths grow taller than they are disposed to; this 

 they can be induced to do by coiling a paper 7 or S inches wide around the 

 plant, leaving it open at the top to admit some light. This is an old and o-ood 

 idea. Smilax is a beautiful vine ; trained on a neat trellis, it is unrivalled as a 

 parlor ornament. It should rest during the summer months; in autumn the 

 tubers should be repotted ; it is impatient of the hot air of a room, which is 

 the chief cause of failure wiih this plant. It is sometimes asked where the 

 profit conies in in the pursuit of this pleasure? Generally this has not been 

 correctly estimated. To study for the purpose of following some profession is 

 considered laudable ; but to be possessed with a love for the beautiful is not 

 considered meritorious, certainly not profitable. It is matter for wonder that 

 so little has been said about the education of the senses, when it is known that 

 character depends so much upon our tastes and sentiments rather than upon 

 intellectual culture. Its importance in a scientific and practical sense is readily 

 admitted, the difficulty being in acknowledging its influence on the moral 

 nature of man and of society at large. The remedy for this is in educating 

 ourselves to appreciate what is beautiful, and symmetrical, good and pure, if 

 we would keep above the degradation into which the senses, unchecked, might 

 lead us. James Cassidy. 



Agricultural College. 



OLD AND NEW ROSES. 



The cultivation of the rose in this country, has become much more general 

 within the last few years, but has not attained such great proportions as in 

 England. There, owing to a favorable climate, as Avell as intelligence and skill 

 in their cultivation, roses are grown in the greatest perfection, and we there- 

 fore naturally turn to English sources for information respecting varieties, 

 mode of culture and all else pertaining to the subject. In the Journal of Horti- 

 culture for October 5, 18 ?G, we find a very interesting and instructive table 

 compiled by Mr. Joseph Hinton, the result of a rose election, in which forty- 

 seven electors took part. The electors were -composed of the most extensive 

 and successful exhibitors and growers, both nurserymen and amateurs. Each 

 was recpfired to name the fifty varieties which he considered the best, and to 

 underscore the best twenty of these. 



The result has been a table that cannot but be of very great service to all 

 rosarists, and which should call forth the gratitude of all florists to Mr. Hinton 

 for his labors. 



The table runs in this way : The first column is a number denoting the esti- 

 mation in which the rose is held ; next the name of the variety ; then initials 

 denoting its character; then its date of introduction; then the raiser ; then 

 come the three columns of amateur votes, A denoting the number of first-class 

 votes, or those varieties underlined, B the number of second-class votes, and C 

 the total of amateur votes; the same letters with an asterisk denote the same 

 votes of nurserymen. The last column shows the total number of votes re- 



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