88 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



1. August 1, 1865. 



side Grasses in my collection, and my delight was great when 

 I came upon the Elymus arenarius, Upright Sea Lyme Grass ; 

 also, the Triticum jimceum, Sea Wheat Grass ; and the T. cris- 

 tatum. A little further inland I found the Lepturus incur- 

 vatus, Hard Grass of Sowerby, or the Eottboellia incun-ata of 

 "Withering. There also, was the Poa lohacea, and close to it 

 the Carex intermedia. Soft Brown Sedge ; and Carex am- 

 puUacea, Slender-beaked Bladder Sedge ; mth some poor starved 

 specimens of a Bromus and Hordeum, the latter, probably, the 

 H. maritimum, and the former, I believe, was the Soft Brome 

 Grass, and I do not know how many kinds of Festucas, but I 

 have marked the F. imiglumis ; and beside it are several others 

 the names of which I am fairly puzzled to decide. In the same 

 sheet also are two dilapidated specimens of Bromus maximus, 

 peculiar, I believe, to Jersey, and rather celebrated from the 

 extreme length of the awns. Nearer the road, about halfway 

 .'between the beach and the hotel, we come upon the Poa mari- 

 tima. Sea Meadow Grass ; and the Glyceria maritima. Creeping 

 Sea Sweet Grass ; also, some good roots of the Hordeum mari- 

 timum, better nourished than those growing entirely in the 

 sand and closer to the sea. I considered myself very fortmiate 

 in securing so many varieties of my favourites. Saving the 

 falling of my little boy into a guUy formed in the sands, which 

 immersed him above the waist in salt water, and the restive- 

 ness of our borrowed pony on our return, we met with no very 

 tmtoward event. 



Another day we started on foot to witness a review of the 

 militia belonging to the island. They comprise both artillery 

 and infantry ; they are clothed by Government, but receive no 

 pay. Being drilled very frequently they have become a very 

 efficient body of men. There is, also, a juvenile corps, the 

 boys of which are exercised weeldy in summer time. It was a 

 pretty sight to see the men collecting from all parts of the 

 island, St. Helier's being their rendezvous. From the top of 

 " Gallows HiU," or Le Mont Patibulaire, which rises above the 

 sandy plain on which the town of St. HeUer's stands, we had 

 a fine view of their evolutions. 



Weaiying after a time of gazing down upon the beach in the 

 full blaze of a scorching sun, I turned my attention to a low 

 wall which was running along the top of the hill at my back, 

 and extracted from it roots of Festuca rubra. Creeping Fescue 

 Grass ; and F. ovina. Sheep's Fescue ; aud lower down amongst 

 the light sandy soils, the Poa loliacea. The damp air of even- 

 ing was slowly rising ere we tm-ned our steps, tired and fagged 

 as we were, to descend the hill towards St. Helier's, but I was 

 not too tired to notice a, to me, new Grass gi-owing xmder the 

 ■wall on the eastern side of the town. I sought for it subse- 

 quently in several botanical works, and have considered it the 

 Festuca myurus. Wall Fescue Grass ; I wUl not be certain that 

 I am correct, it is a slender Grass with smooth shining stems of 

 about 2 feet in height, rather roughish leaves, the panicle from 

 about 6 to 7 inches in length, unilateral ; flowers verj- small 

 and shorter very much than their long awns ; spikelets contain- 

 ing about six flowers. The general appearance of this Grass 

 has something extremely elegant about it ; the root, leaves, 

 awns, and flowers, all being exceedingly fine and delicate. 



■RTiilst writing of strolls about this island, my mind again 

 sees a picturesque group by the wayside. A donkey, goats 

 of all ages and sizes, from the ancient, important, aud 

 grey-bearded jiaterfamilias, upon the rock above, to the ten- 

 der kid quietly cropping the sw^ard below, perhaps thirty in 

 all._ And whose keen eye and quick voice reigned over this 

 united family ? Who so hastily chid the straying kid, or if 

 ■wearied took it up in her arms with the affection of a mother '! 

 In the midst of her pets stood, with all the authority of a 

 queen, a dark-haired, strange-looking woman. That her eye 

 was wild, her hair undi-essed, but beautiful ; that her manners 

 ■were those of a lady, aU this was seen at a glance, aud one was 

 fairly puzzled to guess what delight she could have in passing 

 days, and ■vveeks, aud months in the society of creatures of in- 

 stinct, rather than -with rational beings ; seldom noticing the 

 passers-by, or if she did so, merely giving an uninterested or 

 cursory glance, she busied herself with her pets, or sat quietly 

 ■upon a stone, or portion of rock, knitting. Her handsome face 

 ■was bronzed with exposure to the sun, aud rendered coarse 

 ■with years of battling against the wind and rain. Kind friends 

 there were at home, a room prepared, and affectionate welcome, 

 but seldom did she return thither. Wandering ! ever wandering ! 

 night and day o'er rock and hill, or do-svn the deep and silent 

 •valley midst the roar of the tempest, through the drenching 

 rain, those poor feet, so small, so pretty, so well fitted for the 

 dazzUng ball-room, and the comforts of home, foot-sore and 



weary, plodded their restless way. Hair falling straight and 

 long from beneath her brown hat, dress bedabbled, jaded as she 

 was, on she went ; beneath the parching sun of mid-day, or the 

 chills of night, it was always the same ; the moiiiiug dew and 

 the evening mist alike saw her pressing on and on mto an un- 

 seen future, ever striving and never attaining that object of 

 affection, whom years long back (so told the cottagers), some 

 suddeu and fearful calamity had torn from her. It was a sight 

 to make all those who saw her, with tearful eyes offer up a 

 prayer that her wandering spirit might, ere long, leaving 

 behind it this unsatisfying earth, with its soitows aud un- 

 quiet, attain mito that never-ending " rest which remaineth 

 for the people of God." Nothing would give me purer or more 

 saddened pleasure than to smooth the piUow aud comfort the 

 last hours of that most afflicted of birth's children. 



" God rest thee ! 

 We shall go about to-day 

 In our festal garlands gay ; 

 AVhatsoever robes we wear, 

 Not a trace of black be there. 

 ■Well, what matter ? None is seen 

 On thy daisied-covering gi"een. 

 Or thy maiden pillows, hid 

 Undei-neath a coiiin lid. 



God rest thee ! 



" God take thee I 

 Ay! no other. Sleeps beneath. 

 One who died a virgin's death ; 

 Died so slowly, day by day, 

 That it scarcely was decay. 

 Till this English churchyard kind 

 Opened, and we leave behind 

 Nothing but a little dust. 

 God is tender. God is just. 



God take thee I 



'* God keep thee ! 

 Nevermore above the ground 

 Be there relics of thee found : 

 Lay the turf so smooth, we crave, 

 None w ould guess it was a grave. 

 Save for grass that greener grows, 

 Or for wind that gentlier blows. 

 All the earth o'er, from this spot 

 ANTiere thou wert, and thou art not. 



God keep thee ! " 

 — Alice. 



THE GENERAL REJECTION OF TOADSTOOLS. 



I FEAE my letter on that species of Agarics called commonly 

 "Toadstools" must have escaped your attention, being satis- 

 fied that the importance of the subject has not been under- 

 rated by me. I believe this is the only ci^vUised cotmtry in 

 Europe where Toadstools are not eaten ■nith relish both by 

 rich and poor, more especially the latter, for whose especial 

 benefit the Eev. Mr. Badham, in his excellent book on " English 

 Fungi," seems to think a kind Providence intended them, 

 spreading them out in waste places, by roadsides, in forest nooks 

 and corners where the poor might gather them without tres- 

 pass. Mr. Badham, too, gives in his book excellent recipes for 

 cooking the different species of these Toadstools, and in lan- 

 guage graphic enough to make the mouth of a London alder- 

 man water for a taste. This, too, and August and September, 

 is about the season for these Toadstools ; not above one in a 

 himdred being poisonous in England, whilst in the vicinity of 

 Borne, where a much larger per-centage is poisonous, many 

 huntlredweights are sold daily in the markets at about 3(7. per lb., 

 and bought aUke by rich and poor, and eaten as nutritious and 

 jmlatable food. 



Surely it would be a gi'eat boon to the poor of this country if 

 the fooUsh prejudice against these Fungi could be got rid of. 

 In September, after the harvest had been secm'ed and work 

 became slack, the labourer might with little trouble gather a 

 plentiful meal for his family, which would, weU cooked, de- 

 light the palate of an epicm^e in Paris. 



Mr. Badham tells us the clergy of Confucius in China have 

 published a book enumerating over fom- hundred vegetable 

 articles of food that the poor might have recoirrse to in times of 

 dearth — such as the inner bark of certain trees and shrub.s, and 

 various leaves, berries, roots, &c., of weeds aud plants that 

 grow wild in the fields. Why should not your .Joui-nal open 

 the campaign against the fooUsh prejudice relative to Toad- 

 stools and all the Agaric tribe save Slushrooms ? — Wason. 



[We are doing the utmost that we can by publishing, for Is. 

 monthly, four coloured di-a^wings of the "Eatable Fiuiguses;" 

 but we cannot recommend the indiscriminate constimption of 

 " Toadstools." Orfila's " Toxicology," the " Transactions of 

 the London College of Physicians," the " London and Medical 



