Uk^a- 
NOTES, CULTURAL, CRITICAL, AND SUGGESTIVE. 
for a second person to pump the water, supposing the pump to be the source of supply ; for the vessel 
may be placed on a stand or stool at any convenient height, and the person who carries it can thus fill 
it readily. Very often the supply is obtained from a tank, and in this case the vessel might be placed 
on a stand, and filled by means of a common pot or bucket. After all that can be said in favour of this 
novelty, the quantity of water which a man can carry on his back for any length of time is not very 
great ; and though the invention seems to have been suggested with a view to dispatch, it is only 
adapted for certain circumstances. Where there is a great deal of watering, and the distance of 
carriage long, nothing yet noticed is so convenient and effective as an oval tub, capable of containing 
from twenty to thirty gallons, and mounted on wheels. This can be conveyed to any distance with 
ease, and the water supplied to the plants by means of the common pot. For lighter work, the 
Schnellgiesser, with the improvements here suggested, is perhaps preferable. 
NOTES, CULTURAL, CRITICAL, AND SUGGESTIVE. 
eNDER this head we propose, from time to time, to string together such short paragraphs as may 
suggest themselves to our regular contributors, or to ourselves, and to answer such questions from 
correspondents as may be deemed too important for the cover of the Magazine. All queries not 
answered by ourselves, will be placed in the hands of such of our contributors as we know to be com- 
petent to the task, and thus we hope to produce a page or two of varied and interesting information. 
Those culturists, also, who have not the faculty of elaborating articles for the press, will here find a 
place for their short communications, and such contributions, whether critical or otherwise, will always 
be acceptable to us. 
77(e Crystal Palace. — Taste is a jade so fickle and inconstant, more especially in this country 
among we common work-a-day people, that it is not right to expect us to decide the question between 
Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Sang, the decorative artists ; but still, we can have no hesitation in asserting, 
that if the matter of painting and decoration had been left entirely to Mr. Paxton and the contractors, 
they would very likely have produced a more satisfactory result than is likely to emanate from the cogi- 
tations of Mr. Owen Jones. The mistake which this gentleman appears to have fallen into, is that of 
treating a building with a transparent roof, and to appearance of the most insecure and fragile character, 
the same as he would a Cathedral with massive architectural proportions, stained windows, and subdued 
lights. And he also seems to have forgotten that the productions to be exhibited will, to a considerable 
extent, be of a very gaudy character : such as the silks of Cashmere, India, China, France, and our own 
country ; the coarser fabrics of Kidderminster, Manchester, and other towns ; the porcelain and china 
of Dresden and Staff ordsliire ; the varied specimens of papier-machee, cabinet, and fancy stationery 
work, to say nothing of the sculptuary ; and when we consider the varied tints and gay colours thus 
brought together, it does appear absurd to make the interior of the building as gaudy as Mr. Jones 
proposes to do, for certainly a quiet tint to relieve the eye would be much more appropriate. 
Every person who has paid any attention to decorative gardening is aware that a flower-garden, 
upon wann gravel, filled with gay and principally warm-coloured flowers, has in bright light an effect 
anything but satisfactory upon the organ of vision ; but if the same colours are interspersed with 
grass, we can look upon them with satisfaction and delight. The same rule will apply to the decoration 
of the Exhibition building ; the things exhibited will present colour enough ; therefore the more 
quiet the colour of the building the better. Green bronze, as suggested by Mr. Sang, for the iron 
work, is certainly preferable to the jimcrackery and barber's-poles recommended by Mr. Jones ; and 
perhaps white, with a slight tint of blue in it, would be the most appropriate for the wood work. The 
building itself is quite light enough ; and to render it to appearance still more slight by the introduc- 
tion of light and gay colours, will be, in our opinion, the height of bad taste. 
Cleanliness among Plants. — The doctrine is a singular one, and perfectly true, but still our con- 
temporary need not have consulted French authors for a confirmation of an opinion as old as the hills 
to practical men. Those who supply the Exhibition tables at Chiswiek are well acquainted with 
the importance of washing plants, and the enveloping of orange-trees in a foam of soft soap, to 
destroy insects and clean the foliage and wood : they were among the first operations of our apprentice 
days. Frequently have we advised amateurs, when they get plants from the smoke-stifled London 
nurseries, to subject them, as a starting point in good cultivation, to a thorough washing, to lay them 
on their sides, and to syringe them with lukewarm water until the stem and foliage is perfectly clean. |, 
Such an operation clears the pores of the plants, promotes perspiration, and consequently adds to the e 
health of the plants. How far the Chancellor of the Exchequer may be inclined to repeal the soap /J 
