THE GREAT DISCOVERY IN VEGETATION. 73 



bonus of $150,000 to make his secret public, for the benefit of all 

 cultivators of the soil ? Either the thing is pure humbug, or there 

 is something in it worthy of attention. Pray enlighten us on this 

 subject. Yours, &c. 



Yes, we were upon that committee, and nothing would give us 

 greater pleasure than to unburden our heart to the public on this 

 subject, and rid our bosom of this " perilous stuff" that has weighed 

 upon us ever since. But alas ! this gentleman who has been urging 

 his great discovery upon the attention of Congress and the Legisla- 

 ture for ten or twelve years past, put all the committee under a 

 solemn vow of secrecy, though we protested at the time against his 

 expecting that a horticultural editor should preserve silence touching 

 any thing that is told him sub rosa. 



And yet we would not treat our correspondent rudely ; for his 

 letter only expresses what a good many others have expressed to us 

 verbally. We shall, therefore, endeavor to console him for the want 

 of the learned dissertation on vegetable physiology which he no 

 doubt expected, by telling him a story. 



Once on a time there was a little spaniel, who lived only for the 

 good of his race. He had a mild countenance, and looked at the 

 first, enough like other dogs. But for all that, he was an oddity. 

 Year in and year out, this little spaniel wandered about with a wise 

 look, like the men that gaze at the stars through the great tele- 

 scopes. The fact was, be had taken it into his head that he was a 

 philosopher, and had discovered a great secret. This was no less 

 than the secret of instinct by which dogs do so many wonderful 

 things, that some men with all their big looks, their learning, yes, 

 and even their wonderful knack of talking, cannot do. 



It was curious to see how the little spaniel who had turned philo- 

 sopher, gave himself up to this fancy that had got into his head. He 

 had a comfortable kennel, where he might have kept house, barked, 

 looked after trespassers, where he might have been well fed, and 

 had a jolly time of it like other dogs. 



But no, he was far too wise for that. He had, as he said, found 

 out something that would alter the whole " platform " on which 

 dogs stood, something that would help them to carry their heads 



