KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



141 



certainly shows that he understands what is the 

 best way of treating them. Another day is al- 

 lowed to pass, and the soil at last is as dry as a 

 crust. " Now," soliloquises the anxious owner, 

 " I surely may water them — they at least are dry. 

 Very true, the leaves look sickly, one or two of 

 the flowers have dropped, and the buds of 

 others don't promise much; but I shall take 

 care to follow the instructions of the nurseryman 

 this time." The pots are accordingly charged 

 with water, which the dryness of the soil does 

 not permit to percolate till after some consider- 

 able time. The shoots do not regain their firm- 

 ness, the leaves turn no fresher, and everything 

 testifies, in the most unmistakeable manner, that 

 the remedial measure has been withheld till it is 

 " too late." Undoubtedly it is wrong to keep 

 such plants as mentioned, continually soaking in 

 water by means of saucers. This practice is so 

 common with window florists, that the opposite 

 extreme is not unfrequently taken, in following 

 the instructions not to water till the plants are 

 dry. But the horticultural signification of the 

 word dry has misled many. The soil in which 

 plants grow should never (on any account) be 

 allowed to get dry, for the nearest approach to 

 this condition which the roots will suffer is that 

 of dampness, such as we find in newly-baked 

 bread or soft cheese. This condition, how- 

 ever, will only keep a plant in health for a short 

 time, which should never be prolonged. It may 

 be ascertained by a perceptible adhesiveness of 

 the soil, on being gently pressed with the finger. 

 It is impossible to say how short or how long 

 a time may be required to produce this state. 

 It may be every hour in the day, or not oftener 

 than once in two days; all depending on the 

 weather. But it can always be readily disco- 

 vered by simply pressing the finger on the soil. 

 The safest condition, however, for such plants as 

 we have named is that of moisture. In this case, 

 the soil is not only found to be damp, but the 

 finger, on being applied to the surface, is found 

 to be distinctly discolored. Not visibly wet-, 

 this would indicate that state in which the soil 

 may be said to be a few minutes after the appli- 

 cation of water. — K. 



Shell-Fish. — I should like, Mr. Editor, to see 

 the following interesting notes on Shell-Fish re- 

 gistered in your estimable little Journal : — It 

 is nothing surprising that the different species of 

 walrus and narwhales, inhabitants of ocean, 

 should feed partly or principally on cuttles and 

 shell- fish ; nor that the whale should obtain a 

 large proportion of the nutriment for its huge 

 growth from the myriads of little pteropod Mol- 

 lusca, which crowd the Arctic seas; but perhaps 

 you would not expect to find among molluscous 

 feeders, animals which are strictly terrestrial. 

 Yet the ourang-outang and the preacher-monkey, 

 it is said, often descend to the sea to devour 

 what shell-fish they may find strewed upon the 

 shores. The former, according to Carreri Gre- 

 melli, feed in particular on a large species of 

 oyster , and fearful of inserting their paws 

 between the 'open valves, lest the oyster should 

 close and crush them, they first place a tolerably 

 large stone within the shell, and then drag out 

 their victim with safety. The latter are no less 



ingenious. Dampier saw several of them take 

 up oysters from the beach, lay them on a stone, 

 and beat them with another till they demolished 

 the shells. Wafer observed the monkeys in the 

 Island of Gorgonia to proceed in a similar man- 

 ner ; and those of the Cape of Good Hope, if 

 we are to credit La Loubere, perpetually amuse 

 themselves by transporting shells from the shore 

 to the tops of the mountains, with the intention 

 undoubtedly of devouring them at leisure. Even 

 the fox, when pressed by hunger, will deign to 

 eat mussels and other bivalves ; and the racoon, 

 whose fur is esteemed by hatters next in value 

 to that of the beaver, when near the shore lives 

 much on them, more particularly on oysters. 

 We are told that it will watch the opening of 

 the shells, dexterously put in its paw, and tear 

 out its contents ; but when it is added, that the 

 oyster, by a sudden closure of its shell, occasion- 

 ally catches the thief, and detains him until he is 

 drowned by the return of the tide — the story 

 assumes a very apocryphal character. The 

 American musk-rat, and an animal allied to it 

 in New South Wales, feed on the large mussels 

 so abundant in the rivers and lagoons of those 

 countries : the animals dive for the shells, and 

 drag them to the land, where they break the in 

 and devour the inmates at leisure. Our own 

 brown rat, having settled in many islets at a 

 great distance from the large islands of the outer 

 Hebrides, finds means of existence there in the 

 shell-fish and Crustacea of the shore ; and, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Jesse, the same rat, satiated as it 

 may be with the common fare, will sometimes 

 select the common brown snail (Helix aspersa) 

 as a pleasant entremet. I have gleaned these 

 facts from Dr. Johnston's researches. They assist 

 in illustrating; the habits of animals — Puis. E. 



Hints to Lovers of Flowers. — A most beau- 

 tiful and easily-attained show of evergreens in 

 winter may be had, Mr. Editor, by a very simple 

 plan, which has been found to answer remark- 

 ably' well on a small scale. If geranium 

 branches are taken fron healthy and luxuriant 

 trees, just before the winter sets in, cut as for 

 slips, and immersed in soap and water, they will, 

 after drooping for a few days, shed their leaves, 

 put forth fresh ones, and continue in the finest 

 vigor all the winter. By placing a number of 

 bottles thus filled in flower baskets, with moss to 

 conceal the bottles, a show of evergreens is easily 

 insured for a whole season. They require no 

 fresh water. — Emily P. 



Ladies' Costume. — As your Journal, Mr. 

 Editor, or rather our Journal, playfully " holds 

 the mirror up to Nature," thereby good-tem- 

 peredly providing a remedy where none other- 

 wise could be effected, let me enclose you as 

 severe a skit upon the Female Costume of the 

 present day as could well be penned. The 

 author is a " wag " of the very first order ; he 

 tells us of things that ought to be, as if they really 

 were, — and he provokes us by giving us the pic- 

 ture of a woman not to be found in Europe, save 

 in imagination ! The little book from which I 

 have copied the subjoined, is, I believe, an 

 American production. " The female attire of 

 England," says Jocosus, " is, upon the whole, in 



