282 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



hidden from almost all my fellow-creatures, and, 

 as far as man is concerned, were seeminsly use- 

 less, and a waste of Divine power and wisdom. 

 The more I reflected, the more insane did it ap- 

 pear that such a being as I, or any other man, 

 should presume to criticise a faith which, in my 

 calmest moments, I knew was supported by un- 

 answerable proofs. I perceived that the frightful 



thoughts which had been haunting me were but 

 fond and foolish deceits, impressions made upon 

 my imagination, and snares from which, as a ra 

 tional being, I was bound to flee. Nevertheless 

 a terrible agitation still possessed me; and all I 

 could do was to cry aloud, again and again, " 

 God, have mercy on me; for I am nothing, and 

 thou art all in all !" Capes' Sunday in London. 



^-(^s^^ 



Covering half-hardy Plants. — After making 

 trial of straw, evergreens, and various other 

 things, as a covering for half-hardy trees and 

 plants, I have ascertained to my satisfaction that 

 boxes or old barrels are much preferable, when 

 they can be used. An old barrel, with one head 

 knocked out, turned over a favorite plant or shrub, 

 with the north side raised an inch to admit the air 

 and light, by placing a stone under it, affords the 

 most perfect protection to most things that require 

 it in winter. I have found that delicate things, 

 such as carnations and tender roses, that perished 

 when covered with litter or straw, pass the win- 

 ter quite uninjured in this way. Yours, ^n Ama- 

 teur . Northampton, Mass. [The dryer a half- 

 hardy plant can be kept in winter, the less it will 

 suffer from the frost. Hence the superiority of 

 boxes or barrels to straw or litter — the former 

 shedding most of the rain — the latter absorbing 

 and retaining it. Ed.] 



What is the best Fruit Room ? — A corres- 

 pondent in Ohio, has written us a long communi- 

 cation, detailing his experiments in keeping fruit 

 under diff'erent circumstances, and asking a minute 

 plan for a fruit room. 



Our views on this subject may be very concisely 

 given. The best possible place for keeping fruit, 

 is a perfectly dry cellar, or building below ground, 

 which should have all the qualifications necessary 

 for a wine cellar — that is, it should not have a 

 particle of dampness about it, very little light, 

 and the temperature should vary as little as pos- 

 sible all the year round. In such a cellar, fruit 

 may be kept perfectly sound for double the usual 

 length of time — either in barrels, or boxes, or in 



bins or upon shelves. Wherever a proprietor has 

 a dry, gravelly soil, such a fruit cellar may be 

 constructed with very little trouble. In such 

 places a pit may be dug and lined with logs, it 

 they are cheaper than stone or brick walls. 



It should be remembered that it has lately been 

 discovered that all rottenness in fruit is owing to 

 the attack of a fungus, which propagates itself 

 and spreads rapidly from a decaying fruit to a 

 sound one. Hence the necessity of examining 

 fruit in fruit rooms frequently, and taking away all 

 such as show the least marks of decay. 



When we were in the gardens of Mr. Rivers, 

 in England, we saw an admirable fruit room for 

 preserving fruit. It was an old vault, in the side 

 of a dry bank. Fruit kept there with the least 

 possible care — and we tasted a very good winter 

 pear, quite sound and perfect, which had remained 

 on the open shelf in this fruit room, from Novem- 

 ber till the month of August. 



Quick Lime in old Gardens. — A correspond- 

 ent at Norwich, Ct., inquires, "whether quick 

 lime would be useful in an old and long cultivated 

 garden, and how it operates." 



Quick lime is exceedingly useful, when applied 

 to old garden soils. Such soils are glutted with 

 half decomposed vegetable matter, roots and fibres 

 of previous crops, and insoluble and inert por- 

 tions of manure, so accumulated during a long 

 time, as to render the soil " sour," as the gar- 

 deners say. It acts by decomposing all such ma- 

 terial, and combining with all excess of humors, 

 and rendering the soil sweet and fit for the active 

 growth of plants. Nothing so wonderfully re- 

 stores the original fertility of an old and long cul- 



