250 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



THE LAZY GAEDENER. 



TuE lazy man is one of the biggest sin- 

 ners on earth ; it" he does nothing else, he 

 breaks one of God's greatest command- 

 ments. Tliere ■ivns a very strict Sabbata- 

 rian gardener, wlio was very hard npon his 

 master about his observance of the Sab- 

 bath. His master said to him, "Wliy, 

 yon break the commandments yourself." 

 "How?" said the gardener; "I don't 



work on a Sunday." " No," quoth the 

 master, " nor on any other day. Just re- 

 peat the commandment." The gardener 

 obeyed, and when he came to " six days 

 slialt thou labour, and do all that thou 

 hast to do," his master said, "There, stop 

 there; that is as much a part of the com- 

 mandment as that ' the seventh day is the 

 Sabbath.'" Rey. C. H. Spuegeox. 



CORN POUND WITH MUMMIES. 



It is a well-known fact that corn is often 

 found in the outer cases, or, in fact, coffins 

 of mummies, and it has also been stated 

 that such corn, on being sown, has yielded 

 a crop, notwithstanding its immense anti- 

 quity. In a late number of the Journal 

 Pratique iV Ar/ricuJtiire, M. de Vilmorin 

 casts a doubt on the geuuiuenes* of these 

 crops from seed upwards of 3000 years 

 old. There can be no doubt, he contends, 

 tliat the corn of our time loses its power 

 of vegetation after a lapse often or twelve 

 years at the utmost, even in the case of 

 Spanish or Moorish grain, which preserves 

 its vitality longest. Now, why should the 

 Egyptian corn, reaped thirty centuries 

 ago, be otherwise constituted in tliis re- 

 spect ? M. de Vihnorin admits that it has 

 had the advantage of a constant tempera- 

 ture during the whole period of its stay 

 in the catacombs, but this is not sufficient, 

 he remarks, to produce such astounding 

 longevity. If tbe vessel in which it was 

 contained was hermetically closed, there 

 must still have been air enough inside to 

 produce a certain degree of decomposition, 

 and render the grain raucid ; if the vessel 



was open, the bituminous effluvia of the 

 mummy could not fail to exercise their 

 well-known destructive inlluence on the 

 seed. Still, many highly respectable per- 

 sons have affirmed that they have obtained 

 crops from the corn of mummies. M. de 

 Vilmorin, without doubting their veracity, 

 tliinks they were mistaken ; tliey did get 

 crops, but not from the corn they had 

 sown. Were they quite sure, he asks, tliat 

 the mould in which they sowed, or the 

 manure they used, did not contain some 

 grains of corn ready to vegetate under 

 favourable circumstances ? Suppose a 

 man to sow some Egyptian corn on a par- 

 ticular spot of his garden ; if after a while 

 nothing springs up he forgets the circum- 

 stance, finding the failure perfectly natural. 

 If, on the contrary, a few stalks sprout up, 

 he is overjoyed, cultivates them with ex- 

 traordinary care, and obtains some excel- 

 lent grains of corn, perhaps of an extraor- 

 dinary size too ; and this he reaps, and 

 gives some to his friends as the genuine 

 produce of mummy corn. It is tlius, ac- 

 cording to M. de Vilmorin, the delusion 

 has spread and been generally adopted. 



CULTURE OF THE HYACINTH. 



These most beautiful flowers, for which 

 the demand is constantly increasing, are 

 adapted for cultivation in pots and glasses 

 in tlie house, and the borders in open air, 

 and bloom in almost any soil or situation; 

 but, if perfection of bloom is desired, 

 great care and attention are of course 

 requisite. Many persons have been de- 

 teri'ed from the cultivation of these 

 charming plants by an apprehension that 

 their culture was very difficult, but it may 

 be safely affirmed that a more erroneous 

 opinion has never been entertained, espe- 

 cially as the greatest difficulties, the rearing 

 and development of the bulbs during their 



infancy and early maturity, have been 

 already overcome in the countries whence 

 they are imported. This class of flower 

 (with otliers of the bulbous family) 

 affords unlimited scope for the exercise of 

 individual taste, and combinations of rare 

 and chaste beauty may be formed by the 

 rich and varied hues of the Hyacinth in 

 large or small beds, patches, edgings, or 

 ribands ; perhaps the most interesting 

 mode of culture is that of water or jjots, 

 upon which we dilate below ; but, in 

 whatever manner the Hyacinth may be 

 grown, it unquestionably deserves every- 

 thing that can be said in its praise. 



