PAKE Am) BOTAifIC GAEDEN AT HAMILTON COLLEGE. 



^ong and proportionably slender, we have now large, broad leaves, and stalks so strono- 

 that all who see them are inquiring where we got our new variety of Plant, so luxu- 

 riant, strong, and beautiful. The answer is conclusive : cultivation has done it; and 

 the simple process we have followed, if pursued by others, will, on a small piece of 

 land, and with very little labor, furnish them with an abundance of pie material 

 at the season when, with many, there is the greatest dearth in that article. If 

 gypsum is sown on the young leaves when the dew is on, it will push their growth 

 finely by aiding the manure at the roots in giving them nourishment. We have no 

 doubt but this article can be raised in the way we have adopted, so as to furnish it to 

 cultivators at the rate of enough for a pie for half a penny. What a cheap comfort ! 

 We have somewhere in our travels noticed another error in the cultivation of this 

 plant. It consists in raising it in elevated beds, formed by making a large frame of 

 slabs or boards and filling it with manure and earth, in which the roots are planted. 

 This may give them a rick soil, but not a good one — too dry, decidedly. It may 

 answer well in early spring, when rains are frequent and plenty ; but as summer 

 approaches, and long, dry, warm days come on, the plants must suff'er for want of 

 proper moisture — the leaf-stalk lose its succulence, become stringy, insipid, concoct 

 more of the acid principle, by which it is rendered unpalatable, if not injurious, — 

 and thus its value for half the season be entirely lost; while with a proper locality 

 and care it will furnish a good article, always at hand until September, thus giving a 

 grateful variety to the rich contributions of the summer months. 



PARK AND BOTANIC GAPtDEN AT HAMILTON COLLEGE. 



BY A. D. G., CLINTON, N. T. 



It may not be uninteresting to you and your readers, to learn that the friends of 

 Hamilton College, at Clinton, N. Y., are now engaged in improving and adorning the 

 grounds which surround the buildings of this institution. Hitherto, only a small yard 

 immediately under the walls has been devoted to ornamental uses. In some parts of 

 this ground the soil has been so poor that grass could make but a feeble growth, and 

 the trees planted in it have either died at once, or have lived a lingering life, mere 

 poles, with small flags of distress flying at their tops. The walks have been simply 

 straight Hues, running here and there, and crossing each other at all angles, without 

 any regard to proportion or beauty. Of late, several more acres (fifteen) have been 

 inclosed within the College Park, and the whole has been surrounded with a hedge. 

 The ground has been thoroughly drained, and certain portions of it graded so as to 

 improve the form of its surface. The rectangular walks have been sodded over, and 

 the entire campus has been laid out in walks winding in graceful curves throughout 

 its whole extent. This arrangement of the grounds has been made principally in 

 accordance with a plan drawn up by J. C. Hastings, Esq., of this place. Trees 

 every description flourishing in this climate, are now being planted, bordering 



