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KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

creatures; and to this very day their mother tries 
to brood them. She never once deserted them, 
although she has now laid an egg daily for many 
weeks ; and she is a living example that nature is 
not so unnatural as some people try to make out. 
To see this hen, and her over-grown children, 
crowding together on one perch, is a curiosity.— 
W.J., Camden Town. 
A Word fitly Spoken.—You did quite right, 
my dear sir, to give your readers a hint that 
they ought to try and increase the circulation of 
Our Journat. It is not correct that it should 
be borrowed and lent out from family to family. 
For my own part, I converse with you so naturally 
and so delightfully once a month, that although I 
have not yet had the pleasure of seeing you, I feel 
we are quite ‘one.’ We seem to be old, familiar 
friends; and why should it not be so? Ovr 
JouRNAL was established for this very purpose.* 
This induces me on principle,—to say nothing 
of interest, to exert myself for the good cause. 
I am canvassing bravely among my friends, and 
hope that so good an example will be cheerfully 
followed by your other legion of friends. I can see 
no reason—can you ?—why you should not have 
ten thousand subscribers.—JoHn GARLAND, Dor- 
chester. 
[No indeed! ‘The more the merrier,” is an 
adage we are ‘‘naturally” anxious to keep up. 
Itis this borrowing and lending system that does 
all the injury. A kind young lady residing in 
Lancaster, writes us, that all the world in those 
parts ‘‘are in love with Our Journau.” She 
adds, ““we are ten in family; and when our 
copy is thoroughly read (we read every line of it), 
we send it round during the month ¢o at least a 
dozen other families. So that you really ARE 
appreciated.” Have our readers ever heard of a 
“mistaken kindness?” Surely this is one! 
We cannot understand the extreme meanness of 
people who are in good circumstances. They 
seem to enjoy everything with a rich gusto, that 
costs them nothing! Fie, upon such a principle 
of action! We blush—yes, we blush to know 
that any person who “ loves Our JournAL”’ can 
be possessed of so paltry a spirit. We trust that 
such people will never publicly acknowledge that 
they are of the “ happy family ” about whom we 
so frequently speak. Oh,—no! But let us thank 
you, sir (which we do most heartily), for the 
honest expression of feeling that marks the 
materiel of which you are made. For such 
readers, we could write on for ever. We have 
your heart. Ere long (we hope) you shall have our 
hand. Nous verrons.| 

A Word in favor of the much-abused Race of 
Cats.—I really must bring under the notice of 
your readers (and more particularly under the 
notice of your truly amiable correspondent Puss), 
* By the way, on looking over our Note-Book 
the other day, we found a number of little com- 
plimentary remarks touching Our JourNAL, cut, 
at different times, from the public papers. An 
idea suggested itself, that we should print them. 
They will be found in our Advertising Columns. 
They say far more for us than we dare say for 
ourself.— Eb. K. J. 

a certain article which appears in No. 638 of the 
‘‘Tllustrated London News.” It is headed “A 
Chapter on Cats.” I know not who the author is, 
but the paper is most charmingly written. It is 
also so truthful—so naturally truthful, throughout, 
that it really must be read by all who love animals 
for their amiability. I know you are no friend 
to cats (indeed you have given us good reasons 
for your particular antipathy), but still I know 
you are not hard-hearted, and that you are ever 
ready to give praise where praise is due. Can 
you—and if so, will you print this article in our 
JourNAL? Such a gem surely ought to be “ set” 
in your pages. My own experience so fully verifies 
all the pretty facts that are adduced, that I feel 
the more anxious to see them brought prominently 
forward. The cat isa very ill-used animal—little 
understood, but capable of great affection. A. B. 
R. (the writer of the article I allude to) is surely 
“one of us.” May we live to see many more 
such papers from so graceful a hand !—Bomsyx 
Atuas, Tottenham, August 18. 
[Our good friend’s wish has been anticipated 
in a former page. We have not thought it just 
to appropriate all the article that he alludes ‘to ; 
but we have made a few excerpts from it, adding 
a little commentary of our own. A. B. R., if of 
the genus homo, is a “trump,” If A. B. BR. be a 
woman, she is an angel. There are few angels 
amongst us ; let us prize them highly—and “‘ when 
found, make a note of!’”] 

A Hint about Standard Rose Trees.—I offer 
to the lovers of standard roses a little plan of my 
own—it has succeeded admirably. An artificial 
prop to standard roses is unsightly, and it is both 
exposed to decay in the run of time, and to dis- 
asters from the raging of the wintry blast. In 
order to do without this prop, plant three standard 
roses (the longer the stem the better) in an equi- 
lateral triangle. Ifon a slope, one leg must be 
longer than the other two. They may be from 
eight to fourteen inches apart. Bring the stems 
together at the top, and bore a hole through each 
of them, a little below where they have been 
budded. Then, through these holes, thread a 
copper wire, such as is used for soda-water bottles, 
and bring the heads of the three plants quite 
close together, making the ends of the wire fast. 
This is all. You have here a group so firm and 
strong, that it can never break down, or ever 
require an artificial support. I made four groups 
last autumn. They are now in fine blow, and 
are much admired.—Cuar.es Waterton, Walton 
Hall, Aug. 4. 

Benefits from Sprinkling Plants with Water.— 
T am very anxious to have the opinions and ex- 
perience of the readers of our Journan on this 
subject. I have always been accustomed to 
sprinkle the floor of my greenhouse, and the 
foliage of my plants with water, under the idea 
that they were greatly benefited by the operation ; 
and I cannot help fancying that I have seen good 
result from the practice. But I have been told 
lately, that I am mistaken; that plants do not 
absorb water by their leaves, in any quantitity at 
least; and that, moreover, when the external air 
is colder than the atmosphere of the house, the 
vapors produced will rise to the glass, and there 

