





Critique on the February Number. — The Gardens of America. — A 

 most worthy example of them you have selected for number one, if all the reports 

 that I hear are true, for though I have never had the felicity of viewing Ellerslie 

 Park, the fame of its beauty has reached my ears as unsurpassed in this country, 

 and Mr. Foulis's excellent description confirms it. I must set it down among 

 the first on the list of places to be visited in the "good time coming," and I 

 advise all the readers of the Journal, who have the opportunity, to do the same ; 

 for from what Mr. Foulis tells us of the liberality of the proprietor, in throwing 

 open his grounds, I am sure that they will meet with a hearty welcome. Such 

 liberality is, as Mr. Foulis intimates, not universal ; but how any man, who cares 

 enough for fine gardens, trees, flowers, and fruit, to keep up, with infinite 

 pains and cost, a first-rate place, can feel repaid until they have gratified as many 

 eyes as possible, is more than I can see. Perhaps in near neighborhood to 

 great cities it would not do to throw open one's grounds indiscriminately ; but 

 v.e, Mr. Editor, who believe in progress, look for a time when it will be possible, 

 because all shall be educated to such a love for the beautiful and good, that they 

 would not knowingly mar a tree, or plant, or flower, nor even unnecessarily 

 injure the grass beneath their feet. Happy the man who lives in a community 

 where such a love for beauty, and such a respect for the property of others 

 already exist, that one can throw his gates open to all without misgiving ! 



The Alton A'litnicg Melon. — Most admirably illustrated. In beauty of 

 design and workmanship, the engraving can scarcely be surpassed. It is a gem. 

 But are you aware, Mr. Editor, that the statements of our best known and most 

 experienced cultivators, with regard to the real merits of this melon, are most 

 strangelv contradictorv .^ Such, however, is the fact ; for while one class of 



