734 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



e vaporation does not go on in glass bottles, 

 a nd Saint Vincent therefore recommend- 

 ed that all bottles should be secured by 

 bladders, not corks, so that evaporation 

 might not be carried on in them. His ad- 

 vice has not been followed. 



Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. 



An Item in Heat Farming. 



There is a slovenly practice among far- 

 mers, and some pretty good ones, of put- 

 ting logs, brush, stumps, &c, &c, into the 

 nearest branch or gully in the field. Some- 

 times they are put into the fence corners. 

 Now I protest against anything of the 

 kind. They are an abomination to a real 

 neat farmer. If you cannot find time to 

 burn them as they should be, then you 

 had better make them into piles or heaps 

 in the field, and plow round them ; tor 

 after awhile you will get tired of going 

 around them so often, and will set them 

 on fire. Better dig pits, like the Florida 

 man, and bury them. 



Some men suffer bushes, briers and 

 "weeds to grow along the branches and 

 thus form a crooked, horrible looking 

 hedge, a fit harbour for snakes, frogs, 

 minks, and other varmints. Clean out 

 those places when you are tending your 

 crops or after harvest. 



Instead of letting the. bushes grow up 

 along the branches, a good plan is to have 

 a strip of meadow on each side. Along 

 the margin of a branch the grass grows 

 most luxuriantly. A strip of meadow 

 will catch the rich soil that washes from 

 the adjacent fields and prevent it from be- 

 ing lost to the rightful owner. This is 

 much better than to try to raise corn in 

 the bends or crooks of the branches, 

 where it is so difficult to plow, and in- 

 finitely better than to have those ugly, 

 crooked hedges. Brother farmer, I move 

 that we repudiate such hedges. Who'll 

 second the motion ? — Valley Farmer. 



A Chinese Garden. 



Mr. Fortune gives a curious description 

 of a Chinese Garden in a recent letter, 

 irorn which we make the following ex- 

 tracts : 



" The plants consist of good specimens 

 of Southern Chinese things, all well known 

 in England, such, for example, as Cym_ 



j bidium sinense. Olea fragans, Oranges, 

 Camellias, Magnolias, etc., and, of course, 

 'multitudes of dwarf trees, without which 

 | no Chinese garden would be considered 

 complete. In the above alluded to there 

 are some nice stone seats, which look 

 cool in a climate like that of Southern 

 China. The floor of this building is rais- 

 ed a few feet above the ground level, so 

 that the visitor gets a good view of the 

 water and other objects of interest in the 

 garden. That this is a favourite lounge 

 and smoking place with the Chinese, the 

 following Chinese notice, which we found 

 on one of the pillars, will testify: — u iH 

 careful and earnest notice : This garden 

 earnestly requests that visitors will spit 

 betel outside the .railing, and knock the 

 ashes of pipes also outside.' Several fine 

 fruit-trees and others are growing near the 

 walks, and afford shade from the rays of 

 the sun. On one of these we read the 

 following: 1 Ramblers here will be excused 

 plucking the fruit on this tree.' How ex- 

 ceedingly poliie ! 



" Near the centre of the garden stands 

 a substantial summer-house, or hail, nam- 

 ed the ' Hall of Fragrant Plants.' The 

 same notice to smokers and chewers of 

 betel nut is also put up here, and there is 

 another and a longer one which I must 

 not forget to quote. It is this : ' In this 

 garden the plants are intended to delight 

 the eyes of all visitors ; a great deal has 

 been expended in planting and in keeping 

 in order, and the garden is now beginning 

 to yield some return. Those who come 

 here to saunter about are earnestly prayed 

 not to pluck the fruit or flowers, in order 

 that the beauty of the place may be pre- 

 served.' And then follows a piece of 

 true Chinese politeness : " We beg per- 

 sons who understand this notice to excuse 

 it!' Passing through the Hall of Fra- 

 grant Plants, we approached, between two 

 rows of Olea fragrans, a fine ornamental 

 suite of rooms tastefully furnished and 

 decorated, in which visitors are received 

 and entertained. An inscription informs 

 us that this is called the ' Fragrant Hall 

 of the Wooche tree.' Leaving this place 

 by a narrow door, we observe the follow- 

 ing notice : ' Saunterers here will be ex- 

 cused entering.' This apparently leads 

 to the private apartments of the family. 

 In this side of the garden there is some 

 artificial rockwork, which the Chinese 



