A RUEAL WALK IN THE CITY. 
9 
A profound writer on “ The Age of Great Cities,” 
says:— * 
“If anything be certain, it would seem to 
be, that man is constituted to realize his destiny 
from his association with man, more than from 
any. contact with places. The great agency in 
calling forth his capabilities, whether for good or 
evil, is that of his fellows. The picturesque, ac¬ 
cordingly, may be with the country, but the intel¬ 
lectual, speaking generally, must be with the 
town. Agriculture may possess its science , and 
the farmer, as well as the landowner, may not be 
devoid of intelligence ; but in such connexions, the 
science and intelligence, in common with the nour¬ 
ishment of the soil , niust be derived, in the main, 
from the studies prosecuted in cities, and from the 
wealth realized in the traffic of cities. If pastur¬ 
age is followed by tillage, and if tillage is made 
to partake of the nature of a study and a science, 
these signs of improvement are peculiar to lands 
in which cities make their appearance, and they 
become progressive only as cities become opulent 
and powerful .” 
How true this is in regard to agriculture in the 
neighborhood of the great city of London, contain¬ 
ing upward of two millions of inhabitants, let 
any one who has visited inform our readers. The 
most able, and by far the greatest number of the 
agricultural periodicals in Great Britain are pub¬ 
lished in London. But to our point in hand. 
Seed-store of Mr. George C. Thorium , in John 
Street. —Taking Broadway for our line, about half 
a mile from the Battery, we diverge into John 
Street, and in the first square on the north side, 
we come to Mr. Thorburn’s seed-store. It is a 
brick building four stories high, and the front of 
the first half is occupied by a large show-window, 
14 feet in length, 10 feet high, and glazed with 
the finest French plate-glass, the two centre 
squares of which are each 5 feet by 4, and polish¬ 
ed like the best mirrors. Here the choicest varie¬ 
ties of Camellia, Japonica, Heaths, Correas, Roses, 
&c., are constantly exhibited in flower, and occa¬ 
sionally some of the most beautiful exotics, such 
as Hybrid, Rhododendrons, Chorozemas, and 
other shrubs and plants, making a splendid show 
that is truly delightful even to the most hurried 
passers-by to pause and look at. 
The interior of this store is quite spacious. It 
is 130 feet deep, the whole of which is thrown 
into one room. The walls are covered with pic¬ 
tures on one side, interspersed with garden and 
nursery implements tastefully displayed, while 
the other side is fitted up with numerous seed- 
drawers and shelves, filled with porcelain flower¬ 
pots, vases, and glass globes with water in them, 
and gold and silver fish playing about, while on 
each side, resting upon the floor, are long rows 
of bins, filled with all sorts of peas, beans, grain, 
and roots. 
Up stairs is a spacious picture gallery, contain¬ 
ing a select collection of fine paintings and engra¬ 
vings of plants and flowers, of some of the most 
interesting subjects of English and American his¬ 
tory. Here also is quite an aviary of Canary and 
Mocking birds, enlivening the room from morning 
to night with their cheerful melodious tones. 
How often, when tired of the counting-room, in 
former years in this city, have we come here, be¬ 
fore the establishment was half its present size, and 
stood back from the street with its pretty front yard, 
to enjoy a sight of the plants and flowers, and lis¬ 
ten to the sweet song of the birds. Altogether, we 
suspect that this is the largest, most varied, and 
showy seed establishment in the United States, 
and it is well worth visiting by all strangers com¬ 
ing to the city. 
Seed-store and Green-house of Mr. Smith , 385 
Broadway. —From Mr. Thorburn’s we return 
again to Broadway, and what a change from the 
quiet John Street. One is half stunned with the 
clatter of iron shod-hoofs, and the rumble of carts, 
omnibusses, and carriages; and along the spacious 
foot-walks is a crowd of pedestrians, and among 
them are flowers of a different order than those 
we left at Mr. Thorburn’s; but of these it does not * 
become us to speak, as they do not happen to be 
in our line: so, fair ladies, in gay bonnets and 
plumes, and dazzling dresses, and looking as 
smiling and rosy as you please, in gay groups, 
pass on. 
Though not as large as Mr. Thorburn’s, Mr. 
Smith has an excellent establishment. He makes 
all his own importations, and is as careful as pos¬ 
sible in their quality as well as those raised for 
him at home. Such as we inspected we found 
good, and were especially pleased with the sam¬ 
ples of Imperial oats which he showed us. They 
weigh from 43 to 46 pounds to the bushel, have a 
thin light husk, and seemed to contain a great 
amount of farina. These oats were originally im¬ 
ported four years since, and are now well accli¬ 
mated—the price is $1.50 per bushel. Mr. 
Smith has a pretty green-house in the rear of his 
store, where he keeps the usual variety of plants 
and flowers for sale; he has also extensive ranges 
of glass out of town, for the purpose of propaga¬ 
ting and supplying the city establishment. 
As we passed into the green-house at the left, 
occupying a large niche to itself, we observed a 
very splendid specimen of the Rhododendron Al- 
taclarensis in full bloom. It is a magnificent 
