670 OBITUARY, ETC. 
On Preserving Tobacco. — "About the middle of August, the early tobacco 
will have attained its height and size ; as it approaches maturity, the leaves ac- 
quire a whitish velvet down, the corrugate aud yellowish shoots appear upon 
the elevated parts, and a certain iudication of maturity is the appearance of 
livid spots upon the stem or midrib of the leaf." 
" The best mode is to take oft' so much of the bottom leaves as exhibit the 
marks above mentioned, these may be foin- or eight, and leave the rest on the 
plant to acquire strength and maturity. These leaves are suffered to lie on the 
ground for some time, and when they lose their brittleuess, and can be safely 
handled, they are carried to any convenient office, and there put in a heap for 
fermentation ; on this fermentation, depends in a great measure, the colour of 
the tobacco, if moderate it will be light, and if permitted to penetrate the leaves, 
it will produce a brown colour. The greatest heat the leaves ought to arrive 
at, is from one hundred to one hundred and ten degrees, Fahr. After it has re- 
mained for two or three days in the heap, it is to be cooled, and the leaves hung 
up in an airy shed or stove, after which, it is fit for use." 
T. K. S. 
OBITUARY. 
" He hcing dead, yet speaketh.'" 
We have to announce with deep regret, the death of Mr. \Vm. Mowbray, Cura- 
tor of the Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Garden, which took place, 
after a painful and proti-acted illness of several mouths, on Tuesday the 10th 
of July, at Hitcheu, in Hertfordshire, where he had retired for the benefit of his 
health. Mr. Mowbray's constitution has for some years had within it, the germs 
of consumption, and we fear his unwearied exertion, both mental and bodily, 
together with the great anxiety he felt iu the formation of the Manchester Gar- 
den, has much contributed to assist the decay of his health. What is there com- 
pleted, shews his superior abilities, and stands a monument to his fame, as a 
scientific and practical gardener. He was born at Hitcheu, iu Hertfordshire, 
where his father still carries on the business of gardener and seedsman ; he was 
upwards of forty years, of age, eleven of which he was gardener to the Earl of 
Mount- Norris, at Harley-Hall, Staffordshire, where from his general behaviour 
and modest habits, he was highly respected. On the breaking up of that garden- 
establishment, he was engaged to fill the situation he held at his death ; he was 
warm and sincere in his attachments, humble aud unassuming in his deportment, 
unwearied in the performance of his duty, a Christian in his actions, and in the 
words of a friend of ours, who communicated the painful intelligence of his 
death, " he has left behind him a character crowned with great respect." 
