W ;jgO editor's table. 



For the best display of Catawba grapes, not loss than twelve bunches, $10 ; for the second 



best, $5. 



For the best display of native grapes, $10 ; for tlie second best, $10. 



For the best display of foreign grapes, $15 ; for the second best, $10. 



Sjiecial premiums will be awarded on melons, plums, and other fruits not enumerated, if 

 creditable specimens are presented. 



Class VIII. Native Wines. — For the best dry Catawba, 1855, $10 ; for the second best do., 

 1S55, So. 



For the best dry Catawba (older), $10; for the second best do., do., $5. 



For the best wine from the Herbemont Grape, $10 ; for the second best from do., $5. 



For the best Avine from the Schuylkill or Cape, $10 ; for the second best from do., $5. 



For the best wine from Isabella GrajKi, $10 ; for the second best from do., $5. 



For the best wine from any other grape, $10 ; for the second best from do., $5. 



For the best sparkling Catawba wine, $10 ; for the second best do., $5. 



For the best sparkling wine from any other grape, $10 ; for the second best do., from do., $5. 



With Mr. Wilder to carry out the grand programme of this National Exhibition, no one 

 doubts of eminent success. 



Gossip. — Pyramus, a resident of Babylon, became enamored of Tliisbe. Their parents 

 forbade marriage, but the lovers interchanged sentiments through the aperture of a wall. 

 They agreed to meet at a given time at the tomb of Ninus, which was overshadowed by a 

 mulberry-tree. Thisbe, first to come, was frightened by a lioness ; as she fled, she dropped 

 her veil, which the lioness left covered with blood. The lover soon arrived, and seeing 

 Thisbe's bloody veil, concluded she had been torn to pieces by wild beasts, and instantly 

 stabbed himself. When Thisbe returned, and saw the dying Pyramus, she, too, fell upon 

 the sword, and the mulberry -tree was stained with the blood of the lovers, and ever after- 

 wards bore fruit of that color. Think of it, when you eat mulberries ! — The leaves of the 

 olive-tree are not green ; they resemble those of a hedge covered with dust. " I am like a 

 green olive-tree in the house of God," should be translated vigorous. It is, notwithstanding, 

 a lovely tree in an arid climate, and a favorite haunt for singing birds, having a thin 

 shade, sufficient to shelter them from excessive heat, yet not excluding much light. The 

 leaves resemble somewhat those of a willow, and the plant is classed among evergreens. — 

 The superstitious ceremonies and histories belonging to some vegetables, have been not less 

 surprising than ludicrous ; the Druids are said to have cropped the mistletoe with a golden 

 sickle, and the bryony was said to utter a scream when its root was drawn from the ground ; 

 the animal that drew became diseased, and died ; on which account, when it was wanted 

 for medicine, it was usual to loosen and remove the earth, and then, to tie it by a cord to a 

 dog's tail, who was whipped to pull it up, and was then supposed to suffer for the impiety 

 of the action. More recently, bits of the dried root of bryony were rubbed smooth, and 

 strung, and sold under the name of anodyne necklaces, to facilitate the growth of children's 

 teeth ; we have met lately with people of education who believed and practised carrying a 

 horse-chestnut in each coat-tail pocket, as a remedial agent ! — In Gerarde's Herlall, printed 

 in 1633, he says : " Wine made of the juice of pears, being taken in small quantities, com- 

 forteth and warmeth the stomach, and causeth good digestion." Of a certain Parson Bod- 

 nome's apples, is this quaint remark : " The hogs are fed with the fallings of them, which 

 are so many, that they make choice of those apples that they do eat, who will not taste of 

 any but the best. An example, doubtless, to be followed of gentlemen who have lands and 

 livings." — One of the processes employed by the Chinese and Japanese for dwarfing their 

 little, stunted, specimen trees, is, as soon as they have germinated, to smear them with fluid 

 honey, or dissolved sugar ; they keep them in a little box, with a small glass for light, and intro- 



