SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
18 !I 
from fatigue and cafe. The pursuit of office or wealth is 
laid aside for the study of nature ; the society of the street 
and market place is exchanged for the society of home. 
Every man will have amusements of some kind, and his 
character is often determined, for good or for evil, by the 
nature of his amusements. Gardening affords a rational, 
innocent recreation, and one which carries with, it the 
salutary influences of home. 
This pursuit tends to repress evil passions.. One can 
not get on at all while in a state of excitement. The em- 
ployment requires patience, sober thought and careful 
manipulation. And there is something in the very aspect 
of a garden adapted to soothe irritated feelings and to pro- 
mote peace of mind. Graceful trees seem to wave a wel- 
come to the gardener’s footsteps; flowering plants, hold- 
ing up their little cups to catch the dew, seems to smile 
upon him as he passes, and heavy laden fruit trees drop 
their ripe products into his hands, as if to reward him 
for his care. 
“Yes! in the poor man’s garden grow 
Far more than herbs and flowers ; 
Kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind, 
And joy for weary hours.” 
“A gai'den is a place of healing to the soul. It would 
seem as if from the growth of leaves and flowers and shrubs, 
there exhaled a silent dew, which brought comfort to the 
heart blistered in the sultry suns of life. The intercourse 
of men and woman is often harsh and chafing. Little ir- 
ritations, like nettles, lie hid along the paths — but the 
silent growth of a garden communes without speech, and 
every leaf becomes a leaf of healing” 
This pursuit fosters a habit of industry, and so benefits 
the character. A garden requires daily care. The seeds 
sown, the bushes and trees planted, must be also watered 
and pruned, and trained, and kept free from weeds and 
innumerable insects. A little neglect, and all is lost. 
That notorious and busy personage, who is said always 
to find some mischief for idle hands to do, we verily be- 
lieve passes by the gate of every gardener, in despair ! 
This pursuit tends to cultivatea feeling of dependence up- 
on^n overwhelming Providence. When the gardener has 
prepared his soil, planted his seeds and his trees, he can do 
little more. He must wait for a higher power to waken into 
life the seed-germ, and to excite into active growth the roots 
branches of the tree. It is not human skill that makes and 
the radicle descend and the plume rise; that causes the 
sap to flow, the roots to push out their mouths into ihe 
soil in search of food, the buds to expand, the branches 
to extend, the trunk to enlarge, and flowers and fruit to 
follow each other in succession. Human power does not 
bring down the needful rains and dews, neither does it 
give or temper the light and heat of the sun. When the 
stated order of things is interrupted — when the showers 
and dews are withholden, and the thirsty earth is parched 
with drouth, or when the rain descends in torrents, or the 
sun hides his face, and blighting winds and untimely 
frosts descend — how entirely helpless is man ! And 
when all circumstances combine to favor the gardener’s 
operations, how can he help seeing the hand of Provi- 
dence — a Hand co-working with and blessing him con- 
tinually h 
And this suggests the collateral thought, that gardening 
tends to lead the thoughts heavenward. Theoljjects, with 
which the gardener is daily familiar are peculiarly the 
works of God, and are suggestive of his power, wisdom 
and goodness A clerical friend, who sometimes indul- 
ges in a vein of pleasaniry, writes us that he now coming 
to find some meaning in horticulture. Formerly , he got 
no further tlian to see the will symbolical in quack-grasses 
and Canada thistles; the affections in clinging vines ; the 
understanding in sober rows of well-meaning vegetables; 
fancy in the flaunting tulip; calm satisfaction in the well- 
grown turnip; wise intelligence in a successful cabbage- 
head; and a sympathetic influence, a power of melting,^ 
even to tears in the onion ! But now, he saw something 
more; something, indeed, to amuse him, but more to ex- 
cite sober reflection. He could not help “hearing the 
voice of the Lord, walking in the garden in the cool of the- 
day.” Fie saw a divine Hand rolling onward the seasons 
in steady succession, and sustaining all the forces of na- 
ture. He thought the undevout gardener a mad-man, no 
less than the undevoiU astronomer. 
As the gardener beholds all vegetation reviving in 
Spring, his thoughts are carried forward to another season 
when his own body shall awake in new and immortal life. 
He sows his seed in the spring, assured that he will gath- 
er its fruit in the autumn ; how natural the reflection that 
from the seed sown in this life, the spring-time of nis ex- 
istence, he will gather the fruit in the harvest-time of the 
Future life. He beholds around him, not only what is 
necessary for his susistence, but a superabundance, untold 
gratifications of the senses and the Intel ectuai tastes, 
tokens of the boundlessness of Divine power and love; 
how natural the reflection that the future abode of the 
good will be, in beauty and enjoyment, far beyond all 
human conception. A D G , 
\i% Country GcnUemani. 
WATERING .STltAWBEKKIES. 
In general we are opposed to the system of watering 
plants which some persons so much affect. Strawberries, 
however, require water in large quantities, and from our 
experience we are convinced that it is every way proper 
to give them water constantly and liberally even in the 
wettest seasons. It has been our habit for many years to 
water our strawberry plants from the time that they 
bloom until the fiuit is all gpthered, and the beneficial re- 
sults have been so marked and striking, that we cannot 
hesitate to recommend it to every cultivator. The advan- 
tages may be briefly stated, as securing much larger ber- 
ries and increasing the crop fully threefold. Where water 
is freely applied, almost every bloom will bring a berry, 
and the quantities which can be gathered (rom a small 
plantation are really astonishing, to those who have never 
i tried the experiment. Those of our readers who doubt, 
j are earnestly r< quested to try an experiment of watering 
half their plants, and withholding water fiom the other 
half, and whatever may be the character of the season, 
whether wet or dry, the results will be of the most surpri- 
sing character. 
The water should be poured from a sprinkling pot and 
should be plenteously bestowed. A slight application 
will do very little if any good. It may be applied eve- 
ning or morning if convenient, but never during the heat 
I of the day, and all the troul-le and expense will be amply 
compensated by the grateful return of improved fruit and 
an increased crop . — tiovihern Planter 
BENE PLANT. 
The following, from a correspondent of the Patent 
Office, may contain the information desired by H. P. L , of 
Alabama : 
“In 1843; I sent sixteen bushels of seeds of theBene plant 
(sesmu7)i orientale) to a mill in Cincinnati, to be manu- 
Lclured into oil. It yielded thirty nine gallons cf clear 
oil, and about 5 quarts of refuse oil, or about ‘2l gallons to 
the bushel. 
“In consequence of the mill imparting the flavor of fl4x 
seed, I could not use it as a salad oil, for wliich purpose 
I am confident it would be superior, when [»ure, to the 
adulterated imported olive oil I used if, however, as a 
substitute for castor oil, and gave a considerable quantity 
of it away for that purpose. All who used it praised it 
