220 
ON THE USE OF SODA. 
and some of the merchants imagine that they cannot make a more 
acceptable present to a European friend, than one of those dwarfed 
trees! 
Orange, shaddock, and some other fruit-trees are kept in pots for 
ornamenting their shops or parlours; and if they happen to be desti¬ 
tute of fruit, others are fixed to the branches, to deceive the spectator. 
Many flowering-plants are treated in this way, as has already been 
mentioned; it is a species of self-deception which appears delightful 
to the minds of a nation of men who are by no means wanting in either 
natural acuteness or sagacity.. 
Our social intercourse at Canton was far from being disagreeable. 
The presence of the British embassy, together with the officers and 
parts of the crews of nearly three-score Indiamen, of different nations, 
made the streets of Canton an amusing and busy scene. We met 
several old schoolfellows, and several officers of the embassy we had 
known in England, particularly the two botanists belonging to the 
embassy, Messrs. Haxton and Stronach, the former of whom, we believe, 
is still a member of the Linneean Society of London, though retired 
from professional business. 
(To be continued.) 
Sir, —I have sent you an account of an accident which has occurred 
to me; and if you think it worth a place in your Register, I shall be 
glad to see it, because I do not think it is generally known. 
In May last I planted out some Vegetable Marrow and Pampions 
against a piece of wall, merely to hide it, not being able to get dung to 
the place without disturbing other things. I scarcely expected them to 
grow. A piece of common soda that I had in my pocket fell into the 
watering-pot; being called away, I forgot to empty the water, making 
sure that the alkali of the soda would be too strong. In about a week 
they shot out. I assure you the fruit were larger than those from the 
same seed I left on the bed of dung. 
S. R., a Subscriber. 
P. S. I mean to try the effect of soda on natural Cucumbers this 
year. 
[We have long entertained an idea that soda, or pearl-ash, diluted 
in water, might be serviceable to vegetation, and particularly in pre¬ 
venting or curing the attack of mildew. We would caution our corre¬ 
spondent against making the solution too strong, which would certainly 
be fatal.—E d.] 
