MARCH. 73 



sprinkled with brown specks ; eye small, and set in a small even 

 cavity, and has a long reflexed calyx. Stalk an inch long, and set 

 without depression, and usually reclining to one side ; flesh yellowish 

 and melting, and possesses a very refreshing juice, with a flavour 

 resembling that of the Swan Egg, and usually ripens through November 

 and December. The tree is of strong growth and upright habit, and 

 bears freely in a young state, producing fruit from the points of the 

 previous year's growth. It is a very suitable kind for the .orchard or 

 for pyramid culture. 



J. Powell. 



THE ARTICLE WITHOUT A NAME. 



[Concluded from page 25.) 



I was sitting to-day, Mr. Editor, in a very tranquil state of mind — 

 so tranquil, indeed, as to approach that Elysium of forgetfulness 

 attained by a certain celebrity, who — 



" Went along thinking of nothing at all ;" 

 when that dusky Mercury from Bagnigge Wells Road alighted, not 

 like his renowned ancestor of Shakesperian memory, "upon a heaven- 

 kissing hill," but from the top of a two-penny omnibus, and came 

 thundering at my door for a " remedy." Having a lively recollection 

 of the circumstances under which I had made his impship's acquaint- 

 ance, I was about to despatch him to my friend the chemist over the 

 way for a dental application, when, happening to turn to your last 

 Florist, which lay on my table, I found that the first part of this 

 article closed with the promise of a "remedy " in a future paper. The 

 true state of the matter was at once apparent. " God bless me," I 

 exclaimed, " Why, it's the conclusion of the article without a name the 

 boy is waiting for." " Yes," interposed he, " and I am not to go back 

 without it ; and here is the 24th of the month again, and not a line 

 written." Propitiating the imp with a shilling for the pantomime 

 (there was a morning performance), and instructions to call again at 

 four o'clock, I seized a pen, made an effort, and here, my dear Sir, is 

 the result. 



" Variety, in some instances," observes Shenstone, in his Uncon- 

 nected Thoughts, " may be carried to such excess as to lose its whole 

 effect," and this is exactly what results from our usual mode of shrub- 

 bery planting. Extremes meet, says the old adage, and here we have 

 practical exemplification. Variety there may be if you select merely a 

 square rod or two in any one part, but the same features are repeated 

 so continuously that the dullest monotony is the combined effect. 



Now, w r hy cannot we discard this tedious antiquated sameness for 

 something better. I have a profound respect — nay, veneration — for old 

 and time-honoured customs, but when their adoption only defeats the 

 end in view, as in this instance, they should be permitted to pass 

 quietly away. Writers on gardening are fond of believing themselves, 

 and persuading their readers, that Nature is their great fount of 



