A DAY AT KEW GARDENS. 



suliject of the diffL'reuce between the value of the dwarf and the standard pear- 

 tree, whicli it is well to discuss, now that so many years have elapsed since the 

 experiment was commenced. We shall be glad to receive the doctor's continua- 

 tion. 



With regard to manure for orchards of all kinds, it will probably be found that 

 "street dirt" contains the elements necessary to success; where it can be i)rocurcd 

 without a long pull, it will be cheap. — Ed.] 



A DAY AT KEW GARDENS, LONDON. 

 No. II. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



We must move on ; fatigue it will not do yet to listen to ; we shall probably 

 never have such another opportunity. As yet we have scarcely begun to see and 

 hear. 



Sir William evidently enjoyed with a high zest any discoveries which led to the 

 detection of imposture. Such is the Eci-elenta of the shops, advertised all over 

 London, which is nothing but a Hour or meal prepared from the seed of lentils ^ or 

 beans, to which the fabricators give a strangely corrupted name ; and in order to 

 carry the deception further, the advertisements exhibit a tropical scene of lusty 

 negroes cutting down palm-trees amid Hindoo temples, for the preparation of 

 lentil-meal from a humble vetch! They use the seed of Ervum lens, and the good 

 English women have been giving it as the most wholesome dish to their children, 

 till it was found out and exposed. — Here is Shola, the very soft pithy wood of 

 Jj^schynomene aspera, of which those Sincapore hats are made. Used for a 

 variety of purposes, where softness and lightness are required ; floats for fishing- 

 nets, &c. — Divi divi; the pods are most powerful astringents and rich in tannin ; 

 3,000 tons are annually imported ; the plant is Ca^salpina coriaria. — The order 

 Rosacese, Rose family, of which roses are the type, including a large proportion 

 of our esculent fruits; you see the various products either in reality or wax models 

 of great beauty. From the kernels of the West India cherry, Cerasus occiden- 

 talis, Noyeau is prepared. — There is Henna, leaves, powder, and fruit of Law- 

 sonia inermis, used in the East for dyeing the finger nails. — Sir William smiles as 

 he shows the piles of tobacco and bundles of cigars of all possible shajjcs and 

 sizes, probably at the universal weakness of mankind ; but he tells you that the 

 English imports of all products of tobacco exceed 40,000,000 lbs. annually, and 

 produce a revenue of twenty millions! of dollars. — Here is your American Poke- 

 Weed, Phytolacca decandra, the root used in medicine, and the berries for sta 

 wine, which is sent you of such good colors! from your own weed gro 



