000 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. —June 24,1850. 
2. Blade Prince (Gibbon).—A good black. Much 
more double than the older variety of the same name. 
3. Crimson King (Bragg).—Rich crimson colour. 
Very fine. 
4 . Duchess of Sutherland (Bircham).—Bright rose, 
tinged with a silvery hue. Very beautiful. 
5. Fireball Superb.— Brilliant fiery crimson. 
6. Isaac Walton (Holmes).—Colour a bluish-grey, 
shaded. Compact and well formed. 
7. Jenny Lind (Bragg). — Clear white, and very 
double. 
8. King of Roses (Bragg).—Light rosy-crimson. Full 
and compact. 
fi. Queen of Denmark (Bircham).—Colour an orange- 
yellow. Novel and distinct. 
10. Sir David Wedderburn Improved (Currie).—Rich 
dark maroon. 
11. Sultana (Bircham). — Ground colour purple, 
broadly edged with lilac, centre white. 
12. 'Yellow Model (Bircham).—Primrose-yellow on a ' 
chocolate ground, splendid form, and good petal. A 
fine variety. 
Price Is. Od. to 3s. 6d. each. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
DRUNKENNESS. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers." 
The following sketch is from the same kind hand and 
valuable pen which have so often aided me in my endeavours 
to warn or encourage those who may glance at my portion of 
“ the press; ” and I do most earnestly entreat the reader’s 
attention to the subject; because, whether high or low, it is 
imperative to use our utmost energy in checking the woful 
and fearfully-increasing vice which is here described. Every 
I man, every woman in England, may do something for their 
I God and country : they may use the influence each possesses 
j (every living soul has sonic degree of influence) in dis- 
| couraging, if not openly attacking, the enemy that lias come 
I as a flood upon the land; and I do not think that any alarm 
can be too loud, or any effort too extreme, that is made 
against this great and terrible evil. 
“ One of the greatest of our national sins is, I believe, 
allowed by all the inhabitants of England to be that of 
drunkenness. Happily, the vice is no longer tolerated in 
the middle classes ; and he who would hold a position in life 1 
must at once abandon that wretched and abominable habit; 
but, unhappily, the working classes are still the willing victims 
of this most successful of Satan’s lures. In the manu¬ 
facturing districts, especially, the sin is rampant, and the 
hard-working artisan is scarcely recognised by his brethren 
in the mill or forge, unless he is able and willing to consume 
a specified quantity of ardent spirits, or strong ale, at one of 
their habitual drinking-bouts. I believe, were the number 
of deaths, directly or indirectly occasioned by this vice, to be 
known, and the families necessarily supported by the middle 
classes, in consequence of the parents’ debauches, taken 
account of, the result would bo so startling that few would 
give credit to it as a simple matter of fact. 
“ Although hard drinking is far more prevalent in towns 
! than in rural districts, yet it will be admitted by most 
of the readers of The Cottage Gahden.ee, that it is by 
! no means confined to the artisan, but is a too frequently 
j prevailing sin amongst our agricultural population ; yes, and 
I that, alas! the well-bred gardener, living as he does among 
I purity of association, and lovely emblems of peace and 
innocence, is not altogether free from this degrading vice. 
“ It is now some years since I knew John Jones, a hard- 
: working and intelligent member of the “ blue aprons,” as our 
valuable friend, Mr. Beaton, would call him, who prided 
himself upon his knowledge of the profession, and who 
delighted to set at nought the skill of his neighbours, by 
the production of monster lettuces and gigantic cucumbers, 
to the rivalry of which he bid defiance to all competitors. 
He was at that time much respected by his employers, and 
gained an honest and excellent livelihood by working in the 
gardens of the neighbouring gentry. Eventually he married 
a respectable young woman, a faithful and valued domestic 
in the family of a clergyman with whom I was acquainted, 
and who deplored the loss of their old servant, as a treasure 
in their domestic arrangements not easily replaced. 
“ For awhile all went well—Jones was a kind and affec¬ 
tionate husband, and a steady, persevering workman; but 
the moral atmosphere of a town is ill suited to the develop¬ 
ment of regular and sober habits in a newly-transplanted 
agriculturist, unless, indeed, he determines, by God’s help 
and grace, to keep himself perfectly aloof from the enticing 
ensnarements of the idle and dissolute, who abound on every 
side in all large towns. Jones, unfortunately, was not of a 
nature to withstand such temptations, and being naturally 
inclined to enjoy the society of merry companions, he was 
at first occasionally induced to take somewhat more than he 
ought; and, alas ! we all know how readily bad habits are 
formed, and how difficult it is to break them off. From being 
now and then slightly intoxicated, his habits of intemper¬ 
ance became more frequent. About this time he was 
induced to try what could be done by cultivating a sort of 
Nursery-ground upon a small scale, and having by his 
former careful industry contrived to save a sum, which, 
added to his wife’s little hoard, was sufficient to commence 
a moderate business of this description, he was not to be 
blamed for making the attempt. Had he exercised his 
former self-denial, and acted with prudence and perseverance, 
there is little doubt but that his undertaking would have 
answered; as it was, his fits of intoxication increased, and 
in exact proportion he lost the respect and support of his 
friends. 
“ I have often wondered how a drinking gardener, after 
a night's sinful intemperance, can bear to look upon the 
lovely personifications of purity that meet him in his morning 
work. One would suppose he might fancy the dewdrops on 
the glittering leaves were tears of reproach and sorrow, and 
the whispering breezes among the summer foliage were 
gentle notes of mournful sadness for the sins of their 
unhappy master. 
“ To resume the story. The respectful aud staid 
demeanour of Jones soon became clouded and sullen, and 
the once cheerful tone of his voice became hoarse and rude. 
His poor wife’s feelings may be imagined, and she had no 
family to share her attention and modify her grief, which in¬ 
creased in intenseness as she noticed his failing health. 
Remonstrances in such cases are usually unavailing, and 
although the madman (for such, indeed, the habitual 
drunkard really is) will freely admit all that you say, and 
will frequently make ample promises of speedy amendment, 
yet rare, very rare are the cases of positive abandonment of 
the vice. Alas, poor Jones ! I think I hear now his loud 
shout, as I have passed his stall on a market day, during the 
last few months of his life ! His swollen face soon gave 
him an attenuated and meagre look, which spoke in an 
unmistakeable manner of confirmed ill health ; the loud and 
stentorian voice sank into a kind of hoarse whisper, aud the 
experienced medical man could say at once, pointing to his 
bending form, “There goes the victim of intemperance!” 
A little time longer, and all was over; poor Jones was laid 
in the bosom of that earth he had so long cultivated. “What 
were his feelings on his sad deathbed I never heard— 
whether he really repented of his profligacy, and became a 
sincere penitent, seeking peace where only it could be found, 
I know not—all I know is, that he died in the fiower of his 
age, a poor, decrepit creature, leaving an unhappy widow to 
struggle in the world, without a penny of her savings left. 
The Nursery, as might be expected, turned out a complete 
failure, and swallowed up what little remained of the united 
savings of the unhappy pair. 
“ Oh! that this simple narrative might arrest one from the 
downward path of destruction, and show him that “ strong 
drink ” is the mighty weapon in the hand of Satan, with 
which he slays his thousands and ten thousands in this 
favoured land of ours.—T. S.” 
“Sixty millions of bushels of bread-corn are annually 
destroyed in the making of intoxicating drinks.”— Rev. 
Henry Gale. 
