178 Quarterly Journal cf Agriculture. 



On the Value of Agricultural Societies. — The writer says that "they have 

 been the means of diffusing much knowledge, and of calHng forth the 

 practical application of much that existed. They have been instrumental 

 in generating a kindlier and more confidential feeling between landlord and 

 tenant. They have raised his general standard in the management of a 

 farm, by bestowing due honour and commendation on the active, indus- 

 trious, economical, and neat-handed farmer. They have been the means of 

 introducing better stock, better seed, better implements of husbandry, and 

 better modes of culture. And they have contributed not a little to rub off 

 that rusticity which might leave us fit for a market or farm, or for bearing 

 a prominently ridiculous place in the picture of 'The Rent Day;' but 

 •which completely unfitted us for general society." Their decay he attributes 

 to the depressed state of agriculture during the last thirteen years, and he 

 calls on the editor to use his exertions to revive them, because " we are, 

 of all men, most in danger of getting into a lifeless, unprofitable routine 

 in the management of our work; and of adopting (unless we are af- 

 fronted out of it by the example of our neighbours) Mrs. Macclarty's excuse 

 for all our slovenliness, — "It will just do well enough." 



A few Hints on ornamenVmg luith suitable Plaiils the Grounds about a 

 Country Residence. By Mr. Steuart Menteath, younger, of Closeburn. — 

 Mr. Menteath humanely directs attention to the ornamenting of cottages 

 by evergreens and creepers, and the planting not only of fruit trees, but of 

 flowering shrubs in their gardens. " From such improvements in their 

 gardens, it may reasonably be expected that the inmates of the cottages 

 would gain not a little in point of taste and good feeling; order and clean- 

 liness would supplant disorder and filthiness ; and, above all, if the cottage 

 child, during his hours of leisure and relaxation, were trained to look after, 

 and take an interest in, a few flowers and evergreens, he would, from such 

 salutary and healthful occupations, form a kind attachment to the vegetable 

 kingdom, and, instead of wantonly impairing, cutting, or destroying the trees, 

 of which we have so many disgraceful proofs, he would feel a disinchnation 

 to offer them any injury. 



" The mutilating of statues, even in our churchyards ; the destruction of 

 the cope-stones of walls and bridges, and of the very milestones on our 

 public highways, are instances of wanton mischief, which we believe to be 

 more often seen in Scotland than elsewhere, and it is a disgrace to the most 

 enlightened and virtuous peasantry in the world. Means ought to be em- 

 ployed to counteract this tendency, and that which we have suggested may 

 not be altogether devoid of use in this respect." 



Mr. Menteath thinks with many people, and, we believe, with most of his 

 countrymen, that the laborious classes of Scotland, are the " most en- 

 lightened and virtuous in the world," and we thought so too, till we had 

 been in Wurtemberg and Baden. He adds, " it is well known how much a 

 regard for the lower animals is cherished in youth, by having some favourite 

 to look after and fondle, and how indifferent to the brute creation, and 

 how reckless of human life, those are who have never been accustomed to 

 take an interest in it. On the same principle, those who have been brought 

 up in heaths and districts bare of wood, are generally observed to do the 

 most wanton mischief to trees. With a view to such objects, it might be 

 advisable to attach to every parochial school, indeed to all schools, a small 

 plot of garden-ground, ornamented with flowers, evergreens, and most of 

 the plants used for domestic purposes. Such a garden, but upon a larger 

 scale than would be adopted in ordinary schools, is to be seen at the 

 Academy of Dollan, to which the youth have constant access. It should 

 also be made a part of the master's duty, to direct the attention of his 

 scholars to the plants of the garden, — to teach them their history, — • 

 describe their uses, and point out their culture. All this might be easily 

 done, as any master could soon learn all that is useful to know of such 



