50 



JOTJENMi OF HOKTIOULTCEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ July Ig, 1868. 



a farmf r. ' I am a farmer now,' is tbf proudest boast of some 

 poor fallow promoted to that post. The attention paid to the 

 liTU animals of the faa'm is unfaUing; whate-ver danger of 

 iicRlect keepers of cows mi^ht fear from the bo}-s who tend 

 theui, there is none from the idiots. The cows are the special 

 object of their lenarA, and when a calf comes, or a litter of 

 pigs, they are welcomed and oared for with enthusiasm, and 

 they will run eaperly to the hoase to tell of the addition to the 

 stouk ; only perhaps in mistaken terms, as one hoy did out of 

 breath—' Sir, sir, the pig has calved.' All the hay of a large 

 acreage is easily made by the idiots, only they would fail with- 

 out guidance in constructing the ricks. Idiot haymakers are a 

 joyous company, and the hay-field is a source of pleasure to 

 those too feeble to do any work in it. Nor is this labour with- 

 out profit, for the farm produce has been sold at Earlswood for 

 more than £1,000 in one year. Some boys are trusted with 

 miliung, and nothing in the way of pleasiu-e would keep them 

 from this duty, to which they go just before the tea is ready. 

 Somebody asked one of them who sat tugging at a cow's dug 

 after all the milk seemed to have been exhausted, ' Huw do you 

 know when to leave off ?' ' Oh,' said he, ' when the tea-heO 

 rings.' It is a pleasant sight to see them come in fi'om the 

 farm to a meal ; how carefitUy they wash their hands, and 

 dean their shoes, and taJie off their working clothes to go into 

 the common eating-room neat and with all propriety. It 

 would have been considered as utterly impossible to have 

 achieved such order and decorum with pupils whose previous 

 habits tended to the reverse, but it may be witnessed daily. 



" Indeed the sight of a large company of well-trained idiots 

 at table is most remarkable, and none are allowed to dine in 

 the principal dining-ball. till they have achieved all the acts of 

 feeding and sitting at their meals with due decorum. \Vhen 

 they.&st coiae into Ibe establiskmeut, unless they belong to 

 r '! aWctriid^/;! viov hnu ,-'.'i:ruiU!-. i.'A .-.•Mi'-r j: 'i ti i:f< ■ i ■■■•'•■ i.i 



the class who mope and are sluggish, they are as greeily and 

 ravenous as wild beasts, seizing and bolting everything 

 brought near them in the way of food, with a tendency, if not 

 cheeked, tu gorge themselves to excess. In time, however, 

 they are brought to enter the apartment in regular order, the 

 females arranging themselves on one side, and the males on 

 the other. By means of apparatus tor the purpose, the room 

 being close to and upon the level with the kitchen, the dinner 

 with the portion of each on a separate plate is served- in a veiy 

 short time. No one begins till all are served, when they 

 sing under the leadership of their master, a short griice, and 

 then commeuce. There is no apparent greediness, no un- 

 seemly feeding, but they form a cheerful and well-conducted 

 company, much gratified by the notice of visitors. The dinner 

 concludes, as it began, with another grace, and the room is 

 quitted in a quiet and orderly manner. Some of the pay cases- 

 at Earlswood have a dining-room apart, where the meal is 

 served as nearly as possible in the way they would have 

 it at home, and thus when restored to' their friends they are 

 not exchided from the family dinner because of any impro- 

 prieties. The preparation for ilinuer in the kitchen is a lively 

 scene at Earlswood, for there are about a dozen of the pupils 

 engaged as cooks in a subordinate capacity, and they are 

 dressed in white with the usual caps, looking the perfection of 

 cleanhness and neatness. They work with tlie greatest delight 

 in this employment, and are very fond of it. This occupation 

 does not interfere with the work at any trade, and it is one of 

 those beneficial changes in the daily routine which are found 

 so desirable. One boy has extreme pleasure in washing the 

 plates and dishes, doing it well. So absorbed is he in this 

 undertaking, that it is his principal thought ; and when asked 

 which he liked best, his present or former rChidence, he replied 

 'Oh, this, because there is a better sink here.' " 



'I 



POCKET FERN TROWEL. 



Yotin fair correspondent " Alice's " remark, in a late Num 

 ber of the Journal that she found a common screwdi-iver £ 

 tTsef 111 accessory to licr botanisiiig knapsack', ' Has indiiped me 

 to forward a sketch of a 

 vei'y useful form of trowel, 

 well adapted for the re- 

 moval of tenacious-rooted 

 pkauts, Ferns, itc, from ————■■ -■r-,r,..,r<-.-yj|-ni-^.»-»3^»q.yag 



walls. Indeed it will be , . 



fomid a very useful im- .'_..'. ;. ' ' |^ _ 



plement wherever the Coiimiori trowel miglit pe required, 



by any one of our hotanising friends to whom unnecessary 



kiggage woiild prove a gi-eat drawback in their customary 



rambles. 



Pocket Fern Trowel. 



The pocket Fern trowel is made wholly of steel, tbe who^e, 

 being polished, with the exception of the sm'face portion oif 

 the handle, which for greater ease to the hand in working, has 



affixed a piece of leather. 

 With this exception the 

 handle is identical -with 

 the blade rumiiug the 

 whole length of the same, 

 which gives it greater 

 strength. The trowel is 

 enclosed in a neat leather sheath, and the whole being only 

 6i inches in length, can readily be carried in the pocket. They 

 are manufactured by Messrs. Nunn & Sou of Hertford. — Wu.llu4-, 

 Eaeley, DigxiccU. 



GLEANINGS FROM ROCK AND FIELD TOWARDS ROINIE.— No. i. 



'.■VVe .left- Genoa on March 8th, passing through snow, which 

 was lying thickly on the gi'ound, and which gave to mountain 

 and valley a character of almost imearthly lovehness. The 

 road continued for the most part on the edge of a precipice 

 overhanging the sea, from which you looked upon the fair 

 villa^tes, stretching as far as the eye could reach, along the sea- 

 coast, and uesthug in groves of Oranges and Lemons, with 

 Olive-crowned hiUs at the back. Through all the towns we 

 passed there were such signs of life as I had hartlly hoped to 

 see in Italy,: in many places the seashore was lined with 

 vessels in every stage of progi-ess and completion ; there 

 seemed to be quite a swarm of men, women, and cbilth-eu 

 around these sliips, some working, others talking, while the 

 little cliddreu played in and out, making labour appear a very 

 holiday task in these beautiful regions. In several of the 

 towns there were large potteries, the sides of the houses being 

 stuck all over with pots and pans of clay, drying and hardening 

 in the sun: I could fancy that the captivity of the " Sleeping 

 Beauty " was over, and tlie Prince airived at last. 



We rested in the midtUe of the day at Kuta, a very fair type 

 of these Cornice towns. The inn was built on a terrace, mth 

 vineyards and oUveyards in terraces sloping down to the sea. 

 From the stone walls of these divisions I gathered Ceterach 

 and Aspienium ruta-muraria, -with Polyiiodium vulgare, in 

 large quantities. I fancied that the Ceterach was more di^^ded 



than is usually the case in England, but not so mucli,so as to 

 make it worth while to bring away any roots. tJnder the 

 Ohve trees I gathered large and beautiful Violets, which I took 

 back with me to adorn the dinner-table. Befiire the inn door 

 there was an alcove with stone seats, and wooden treUis adorned 

 with the leafless tendrils of Vines woven in and out like lace- 

 work ; sitting in the alcove were men — working men and beg- 

 gars — women and chilcb'en; these all gather round, a new 

 arrival, talking, and watching, and begging. The tUning-room 

 of the inn was at the head of a flight of rambUng stoue stairs ; 

 beyond the dining-room, opening from it, was a bedroom, and 

 opening from the bedroom a large arbor-Uke room, roofed only 

 ■with a trellis-work of Vines, and commanding a magnificent view 

 of earth and sea ; from the arbor you could descend by wooden 

 steps to a garden, and such a garden ! — Olives, Vines, chickens, 

 children, flowers, and weeds all mingled together in hopeless 

 confusion, and yet amidst all the untidiness and ruin, preserv- 

 ing its own wild luxuriance of beauty — a be.auty that in sum- 

 mer and winter is ulike there. 



On the 'Jth of March we left Sestri de Levaute with six horses 

 for the ascent of the Bracco Pass, which is even more terrible 

 in its unprotectedness than the Cornice. There is, indeed, no 

 railway, and there is plenty of room — mountain seems piled on 

 mountain, with every shade of colouring adorning them, up to 

 the very heavens. The different stages of vegetation on the 



