THE FARMER AT HOME. 455 



them we should wander through a dull desert, as dusty as the grave. 

 Take but a single drop of rain, cloistered in the green fold of a blade 

 of grass, and pour upon it one ray of the morning sun, where will you 

 get a lapidary, with his utmost skill, to cut a diamond that shall shine 

 like that ? Oh, no ! blessed forever be the beautiful drops of the sky, 

 the refreshing soothers of the seared earth, the nourishers of the 

 flowers, that calm race of beings which are all loveliness and tran- 

 quility, without passion, or pain, or desire, or disappointment ; whose 

 life is beauty, and whose breath is perfume. 



WATER. CHESTNUT. An aquatic plant of China. The Chi- 

 nese cultivate even the bottom of their waters, and the beds of their 

 lakes, ponds, and rivulets, produce crops that to us are unknown. Their 

 industry has found out resources in a number of aquatic plants, among 

 which the pitsi, or water chestnut, is one of the greatest delicacies of 

 a Chinese table. The government has caused this plant to be culti- 

 vated in all the lakes, marshes, and waste grounds, covered with water, 

 which belong to the state. And tl^ emperor has ordered all the lands 

 which ornament his gardens, to be planted with it, and the greater 

 part of the ditches round his palace are full of it ; the flowers and 

 verdure of this plant cover those two vast sheets of water in the 

 centre of Pekin, which are adjacent to the gardens of the imperial 

 palace. 



WATER FOWLS. A class of fowls which are surprisingly con- 

 formable in the structure of their bodies, to their destination and 

 manner of life. It must be obvious to every observer, that Providence 

 has given these a different formation from that of the land fowls ; as 

 their legs and feet are formed for the purposes of wading in water, 

 or swimming on its surface. In those that wade, the legs are 

 usually long and naked ; in those that swim, the toes are webbed to- 

 gether, as we see in the feet of a goose, which serve, like oars, to drive 

 them forward with great velocity, 



WATERING GARDENS. Opinions are divided on the best 

 time to water gardens, whether morning or evening. A writer ob- 

 serves : Water, when exposed to the sun and air, during the day, will 

 be better applied after four o'clock in the afternoon than at any other 

 time, for then the heat of the sun's rays is decreasing, and the tempe- 

 rature of the soil may be a little modified also ; nor do I think there 

 is any great difference betwixt the morning and evening temperature 

 of the soil in the summer months, whilst that of the water must be 

 decidedly great, as is obvious from its having been nine or ten hours 

 without the influence of the sun's rays. I think, therefore, that reason 

 and science justify the practice of evening watering ; the oxygen the 

 plants absorb during the night, being restored to the atmosphere during 

 next day ; therefore water, if applied in the evening, whether to 

 the roots or leaves, or surrounding surface, will increase the quantity 

 of oxygen to be re- absorbed during the night, and again liberated with 



