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The HrMiculturist and Journal 



ever imported, and all for the low considera- 

 tion of ten cents per packet. His most fertile 

 field of operations was in the large workshops 

 and stores. Nearly all his customers indulged 

 in two packets, as it was so cheap as well as 

 rare. That he must have netted a very 

 handsome sum we believe, as we know that 

 he took about $40 out of one large establish- 

 ment alone, and, as he canvassed the business 

 portion of the city thoroughly (as well as 

 •expeditiously), he must have been well satis- 

 fied with the results of his labor. The seed 

 he imposed upon his customers proved to be 

 the comino'it garden Radish. His plan of 

 procedure consisted in filling a sponge with 

 seed, and, after sprouting it by means of hot 

 water, etc., to perfume it sufficiently to give 

 weight to his story. When last heard from 

 he was visiting eastern cities, and there dis- 

 playing his wonderful phenomenon." 



Where, oh where, is the Department of Agri- 

 culture, or our enterprising seedsmen. Here 

 is a fine chance for that I'er&ian Asparagus. 



Hoiv Dr. Torrei/ hi-cntnit tt liotutiint. 



The late Dr. John Torrey, the distin- 

 guised scientist, is said to have first acquired a 

 taste for scientific pursuits in the following 

 remarkable manner: — His father held some 

 ofiicial station which required him to visit the 

 prisons of the city of New York, and the lad 

 frequently accompanied the parent on these 

 tours of inspection. In the old State Prison, 

 which at that early day was somewhere about 

 Twenty-third street,and situated in the country, 

 they found a man in the ofiice of the superin- 

 tendent who'had been condemned to serve out 

 a short term, but was generally believed to have 

 been innocent of any offence. This prisoner was 

 taken into the ofiice to keep the books. He was 

 a man of learning, and especially a fine botanist. 

 Whenever young Torrey appeared at the 

 prison the bookkeeper would point out from 

 the window some -plants growing in the vacant 

 lots opposite, and. ask the boy to go and fetch 

 them ; the two then sat down in the ofiice to 

 analyze and dissect the specimens, presenting 

 the curious spectacle of a prisoner in convict's 

 costume teaching a well dressed boy. The 

 lad never forgot the lessons, and from the 



taste thus acquired dates his application to the 

 study of botany, in which science he was destined 

 to achieve the most distinguished success. 



A. J''iiie ynrk. 



In a recent issue of LippincotCs Magazine, 

 appeared a commendatory notice of the success- 

 ful efforts of Robert Morris Copeland, in 

 developing fine architectural and landscape 

 effects wherever he had fully opportunity to 

 carry out his plans. 



The* plan of Ridley Park was confided 

 to him. He knew well how to compose his 

 picture, arranging the groves and lakes in the 

 most beautiful sequence, leaving sites for fine 

 houses in the manner of pedestals for beautiful 

 statues, and shading with discreet and natural 

 veils the more utilitarian and prosaic features 

 of thcscene. He already had much experience 

 in the laying out of towns on novel plans adapt- 

 ed to the situation. His improvement of parts 

 of Newport had elevated his name into very 

 proud notoriety. At Martha's Vineyard he 

 built a summer village known as Oak Bluffs ; 

 on Long Island he designed a beautiful city 

 of summer worship for the Methodists, half 

 encampment and half metropolis — a very Jeru- 

 salem for loveliness ; he established and de- 

 signed an ornamental village on the seashore 

 at Duxbury, near Boston ; and planned another 

 near Grantville, on the Boston and Albany 

 railroad. He was also the author of an in- 

 genious public plan for the improvement of 

 Boston with a constellation of small parks and 

 pleasure grounds, skillfully arranged in the 

 portions where land is cheapest and most 

 available. Even in his temporary residence 

 at Ridley, the restless itch of artistic skill 

 did not permit him to leave the place without 

 changing an eyesore into a master-piece. A 

 little judicious rustic work transformed the 

 farm-house assigned for his residence into a 

 beautiful vine-clad chalet, and he surrounded 

 it with spacious and rare flower beds, which 

 look like cathedral windows lying on the 

 ground. The railway station even at Ridley 

 Park is a novel and interesting piece of archi- 

 tecture, bridging the whole breadth of the 

 road, provided with elevators for the baggage, 

 and fancifully sheeted with slate. 



