prove. In fifty or a hundred years, fashions may change, and they Tvill appear, 

 perhaps, quaint, possibly grotesque — at any rate, picturesque — but still strong, homelike, 

 and hospitable. They have no shingles to rot, no glued, and puttied, and painted gim- 

 crackery, to warp and crack, and moulder, and can never look so shabby, and desolate, 

 and dreary, as will nine-tenths of the buildings of the same denomination now erecting 

 about New-York, almost as soon as they loose the raw, cheerless, impostor-like airs which 

 seem almost inseparable from their newness. Wayfarer. 



We are very much indebted to our correspondent for his clear and pleasing account of 

 one of the most interesting public places of enjoyment in all Europe — and all the more in- 

 teresting, because it has been formed by the people themselves, and not made and presented 

 to them by the sovereign. We only regret that the people of our large cities, generally, 

 cannot see, with their own eyes, the beauty, and realize the advantages of such parks in 

 the midst of towns. New-York, for instance, now one of the largest cities in the world, 

 has no public park, whatever — no breathing place, no grounds for the exercise and refresh- 

 ment of her jaded citizens — for to call the Yiiile yards of land, covered with turf, and plant- 

 ed with trees, in various parts of the town, parks, is as much a misnomer as it would be 

 to spread one's handkerhief down on the floor of the rotunda of the capitol, and call it a 

 carpet. 



The fact is, Americans generally, have no conception of the value, extent, or importance 

 to the people of large cities, of public parks — and among the good results that will grow 

 out of the World's Fair in London, will be that of showing thousands of them, Hyde 

 Park, where the Crystal Palace stands — a building that covers twenty acres, and appears 

 to take up as little room there, as if it were in an oak opening in Illinois. 



We are glad to be able to say, en passant, that the government at Washington are ma- 

 nifesting a lively interest in this subject. The large tract of unimproved public lands lying 

 south of the city of Washington — consisting of between one and two hundred acres, has 

 just been taken in hand, at the desire of the President, with the view of making a Nation- 

 al Park — something really worthy of the name. If his views can be fully carried out, 

 that Park may exert an influence on the public taste of the whole country, as well as em- 

 bellish and improve, in the highest degree, its seat of government. Ed. 



NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF MELONS IN THE NORTH. 



BY C. SMITH, NEWPORT, N. Y 



Thk Melon is one of the greatest luxuries that can be grown in our climate,* provided 

 we have it ready for the table during the warm season. But if it is not matured and ri- 

 pened until the chilly days of September, it loses its delicious flavor, and will hardly pay 

 for cultivation. Those who grow it, therefore, should bear in mind that the harvest must 

 be made in August, and early in .September, in order to realize either profit or pleasure. 

 Of course, it is easy to start the plants soon enough, but how to remove them from the 

 hot-bed to onen culture, without stopping their growth from two to three weeks, is what 

 I have not been able to accomplish. Even when the plants were growing on inverted sods, 

 the same check in their growth would take place, although it would seem that the roots 

 of the vines could not have been disturbed to the smallest extent. I know of no vegetable 



write, of roiirse, for the northern part of the Union — for all over ihc southern and soutli-western portion; 

 lenty as blackberries. 



