853 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 8. 
True, those engaged in the expedition were most, if not all, 
destined for the medical profession; hut why should not a 
band of young clergymen do the same? gather health and 
strength and pleasant thoughts, aye and good illustrations, 
too, for their sermons, amid the glorious works, the beautiful 
material revelation of the Creator, whose other revelation it 
will be the business of their lives to carry forth to men. 
Nay, if we must add to the argument, did not He who gave us 
that revelation illustrate his own seimon—the Sermon —by 
a reference to flowers ?— 
ct Flowers ! when the Saviour’s calm benignant eye 
Fell on your gentle beauty ; when from you 
That heavenly lesson for all hearts he drew, 
Eternal, universal as the sky. 
Then in the boson of your purity, 
A voice He set as in a temple-shrine ; 
That life’s quick travellers ne’er might pass you by, 
Unwarned of that sweet oracle divine. 
And though too oft its low celestial sound 
By the harsh notes of work-day care is drowned, 
And the loud steps of vain, unlistening haste ; 
Yet the great Ocean hath no tone of power, 
Mightier to reach the soul in thought’s hush’d hour 
Than yours, meek lilies, chosen thus and graced.” 
Mrs. Hemans. 
“ But we bear some reader remark, Why are these 
pleasures only to be enjoyed by young medical men, or 
young clergymen ? Surely others may band together for 
the like purposes ? And surely they may. We would see 
the school-class, the naturalist’s club, the association of any 
kind, promoting alike their health, their good fellowship, 
their knowledge of the useful and of the beautiful in God’s 
created works, by practically searching them out—not flowers 
only, not one department of the kingdoms of Nature, but 
all. The formation of the earth, its rocks and stones and 
shells, as well as its plants and trees, its birds and its 
insects. The study of these will (jive real improvement to the 
mind, quicken, ns no other studies perhaps can, the powers of 
observation and of accurate perception. They will exercise 
the memory; and they ought to call forth, not only the 
intellectual but the reflective faculties, ascending till they 
reach the highest—veneration for the Supreme Being. 
Thus will the mind ascend from Nature to Nature’s God. 
Like the angels in Jacob’s vision, the thoughts first ‘as¬ 
cending,’ will then ‘ descend ’ laden with blessings. Most 
unaccountable has been the neglect hitherto of the natural 
sciences as a part of the system of education in this country. 
The cry has been, ‘evi bono ?’ ‘What profit are these things?’ 
The remark; ‘ It is all very well for medical men to learn them 
as a part of their profession ; but the future clergyman must 
keep to his classics and mathematics, the intended merchant 
to his double and single entry.’ The time for such argu¬ 
ments has passed away never to return. Now it can be seen 
that the acquisition of a knowledge of classics and of natural 
science is not incompatible: nay, it is pretty well ac¬ 
knowledged, that some of the long dreary years which it 
has been the custom to devote to Greek and Latin, may be 
allotted to the studies we advocate, with greater advantage 
to the general cultivation of the mind : that the intellectual 
education is no loser, the heart education has great gain. 
Moreover, it is every now and then found out that a good 
knowledge of natural ^science may become a source of 
profit pecuniarily to the merchant, or to the traveller, whom 
it enables to take advantage of circumstances which are hid 
J from the eyes of the ignorant. Enough, let us turn to our 
“ Monthly Illustrations.” As might be expected, the first 
I months of the year offer but slight matter in the way of 
wild flower blossomings; advantage, therefore, has been 
taken of this, to give a few requisite directions respecting 
the collecting and preserving plants ; and, in like manner, 
in concluding months of the year, when— 
“ The dead leaves strew the forest walk, 
And withered are the pale wild flowers.” 
I “ We have chosen the time to tell our readers somewhat 
i of the fruits and seeds, which are alike the harvest of the 
fowls of the air which sow not, reap not, nor gather into 
< barns, and the great storehouse whence He who made 
them, raises the ‘ blooming wonders ’ of another summer. ” 
In No. 9 of a series of papers entitled “ Nugae Rus- 
tiefe,” published in the “ Derby and Chesterfield Re¬ 
porter,” “ the perils of the Poultry Show ” are admirably 
described. 
The hazards there incurred are truly spoken of as 
having reference not merely to the birds themselves, 
but as concerning their owners likewise; and the ' 
writer’s first inference, that “ birds suffer severely from 
the Exhibition unless great care be taken,” is ably 
shown to be by no means the sole drawback to the i 
breeder’s public competition. Thus the second and 
third inductions of tho “ Derbyshire Yeoman ” state i 
“ that the best birds do not always gain the prize,” and j 
“ that different judges have different standards of merit 
in judging of poultry, and that it being known who, of 
the more prominent judges of the present day, is about 
to officiate, it may be predicated what character of fowl 
in each class will gain the prize.” 
The first allegation we wholly coincide in, knowing 
from our own, as from other’s experience, that even 
with the utmost care in transit, and at the Exhibition, 
manifold casualties constantly occur ; on this, therefore, 
wo need not dwell. But were the second and third 
charges generally authenticated, Poultry Shows would 
justly receive so severe a blow, and such heavy dis¬ 
couragement, as would inevitably tend to their rapid 
decline. We propose, therefore, to make a few remarks 
on the extent to which acquiescence may be accorded 
to the “ Yeoman’s” observations, and thus hope to 
exonerate the unfortunate officials who arc called on 
for the thankless task of judging poultry from the 
sweeping censure that this clever article would inflict 
on them. 
It is quite possible that from the limited period too 
frequently allotted for judge’s duties, that such a blemish 
as the absence of the fifth toe in a Dorking pen may 
have escaped observation, although prize birds are 
diligently scrutinized in this very particular by all 
those with whom it has been our lot to have been 
associated in this office. Wo are unable, indeed, to 
recall a single instance, as eye-witnesses, in which such 
an omission has occurred. But even had this happened 
in a solitary case, we cannot consider such an error as 
sufficient authority for the general charge of “passing j 
over the best birds.” Our reasons for insisting ou the j 
presence of the fifth too have been often expressed, and I 
need not be now repeated, and we can only say 
that however meritorious in other respects, a pen 
thus defective should certainly never receive a Dorking 
prize at our hands. 
A second instance referred to in evidence of judicial 
short comings relates to the sex of Geese. Here we [ 
certainly envy the quick appreciation of the relative 
genders evinced by the “ Yeoman’s” servant on the first 
opening of the hamper. “ Here arc two Ganders and 
one Goose.” But nothing is stated as to the ago of the 
birds in question ; if exceeding six months, sexual dis¬ 
tinctions should be sufficiently apparent, but far more 
so in the field, than in the cramped, unnatural position of 
the exhibition-pen. At and under that age, the closest 
