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[From the Monthly Visitor.] NEVER SAY FAIL. When exposed on the world all cheerless and lorn, Bbould adversity rudely assail. And tho’ the Bweet angel of peace mav have gone. I would charge thee, “Sever say fail!” Would reason say fail? 'tie an ignoble thought: Should sorrows encompass thee quite. Then, think of the battles that heroes have fought, And despair will vanish from sight. Nay, never say fail—’tis a maxim for all— A potent specific 'gainst fear— It severs the gyves of despondency's thrall. And quelle the old demon of care. If thou wilt examine the records of old, Thou'lt find it the motto of sages : For thee, as an aid, 'twill explore and unfold The wisdom of heaven’s bright pages. * Through region's of fancy thou with it may soar, • Or nde as a spirit the gale ; Thou with it can burrow the quarry of lore— None but cravens ever say “fail f” Let not ten ors appal, nor trials dismav. If thou would’st to glory attain ; Swerve not, nor falter, nor grow faint by the way— The ascent is steep to her sane. Fame’s tall Doric temple, by Jove rear'd on high. Thou mavest its pinnacle Beale, Or in light inscribo on the scroll of the skv , Thy name, “if thou’lt never say fail.” Norfolk, Va. g, g, p. Horticultural. [From the Farmer & Gardener.] ALL ABOUT GERANIUMS. Editor Farmer and Gardener: I have several tine, vigorous and healthy looking double geraniums, but the flowers never eotne to perfection. They open only partially, and then dry up. Why is it, and what can I do to remedy it? Does the Pelargonium die every year after flowering? If not how should they be managed after the flowering season is over. I had several fine ones last year, and after the flowering season was over, they commenced dropping their leaves, and finally died out. Mks. V. Rome , <Ja. Doubtless your Double Geraniums *•• • A.Ov ttb&l LaUiVl .K'll Id LHC them in open ground and the evil will be remedied. Pelargoniums are shrubby perennials —with proper care they can be kept in good blooming condition for several years, although yearling plants are preferable. When their flowering sea son is past, say July, the strongest branches must be cut back to within one or two inches of the main stent, and the weaker remove entirely. Re potting is indispensable at the time of, cutting back. Use a soil composed of part leaf mould and part rich garden soil, with a small proportion of well sifted decomposed cow manure. Keep the plants shaded until the new growth appears, then plunge the pots in the ; ground in a partially shaded place and leave them until Fall. Should they have made much growth at that time , the end of the shoots can be pinched in, but not touched again after that time. Keep the plants in a moderate ly warm temperature during Winter, and avoid forcing their growth. If the plants seem crowded in the pots, a shift in a larger size may be advisable at the beginning of Winter. But plants must remain in a dormant state from Fall until February or March, when the Spring growth commences. Most varieties of Pelargoniums can be made to bloom nearly all Summer by j cutting off the flowers so soon as they ! begin to fade; by preventing seed to ! form,the flowering period is lengthened. ! ROOTING GERANIUM CUTTINGS. | Editor Farmer and Gardener : Will you please answer through the j F. & G the following question: Which is the best way to root gera ; ilium cuttings ? E. 11. j Meridian, Miss. This depends somewhat upon the : time of the year. When plants are j grown under glass and the wood is ] BANNER OF THE SOUTH AND PLANTERS’,JOURNAL. tender, cuttings can be readily struck at any time from Fall until May—pro viding that the temperature is not al lowed to fall below 45°. During that period you can use ordinary flower pots j place some pieces of pots at bottom for drainage; use pure sand and if practicable plunge the pot in a hot bed where there is bottom heat. In a week or ten days the cuttings will be suffi ciently rooted to pot off singly. For the Summer we prefer the mud propa gation. This comists in using clean sand and keeping i well soaked with water. Place the pot in full sunlight, the winner the weather the better. Cuttings must be frequently examined and so soon as showing roots potted off or they will decay. This method is only successful during warm and clear weather; should the weather be cloudy the cuttings will damp off. SEEDLING GERANIUMS. Editor Farmer d? Gardener. I enclose a specimen of the flowers and leaf of a seedling Zonale Gerani um, that I have raised from seed of a crimson one but I think must have been impregnated with polle% from a delicate pink one I bad by it. The plant is very thrifty and has had bunch es of blooms with quite a fine head of florets, which are quite large and showy. Now the question is, is it a common or uncommon one; and if I have succeeded in raising a distinct variety? Mrs. S. A. 11. Ged ir Kegs, Eorida. The specimen shows a very good color, a light carmine, but the size o florets is deficient: Zonale Geraniums are divided in two sections as regards shape of flower, the Zonale proper with flowers whose petals are round and form a circular floret, and the nose gay section whose petals are narrow and long, the two upper being separ ated from the lower ones by an open space: in the latter section are found the largest heads of dowel's,; this sec tion is very prolific in blooms and well adapted for bedding. The original type of the Zonale Geranium produces scarlet flowers, but by skillful cultiva tion fora long series of years, number j less varieties have been produced which | range in color from scarlet to crimson, j pink or salmon to white, with all inter | mediate shades. The original type has | been modified to such an extent that j variation in colors rather than identity , seems to be the rule in growing plants from seed. Your plant is not without | a parallel in color, hut although perfect lon that point it must also combine compactness of head, size, as well as ; large number of florets, to bring it : within the requirements of a good va j riety. Os these latter points we are I unable to judge without seeing a plant growing or a full description of habit of growth. The latter must be I compact, foliage large and well mark j ed, trusses of flowers numerous and sufficiently well thrown above the: leaves so as not to crowd them. BRITISH QUEEN STRAWBERRY j Editor Farmd and Gardener : j Last year I brought over from Ire land .50 plants of the “British Queen j Strawberry," and succeeded in getting j enough runners to plant out a bed that Winter. | The plants bloomed this Spring and | gave line promise of fruit, but not a : berry has appeared. The fruit does | not swell. I think the plants are stain inate, but the most extraordinary thing I is that they came from a bed that fruit ! ed heavily the other side of the water. Will you be pleased to give me your views as to what I ought to do. Or is it worth while to cultivate them any longer. * J. W. B. * ■Jacksonville, Ala. We cannot account for the failure of the fruit not setting as the flowers of that variety are perfect, unless you have a spurious kind for the true one. All the European strawberries have perfect flowers, even the varieties derived from the Fine family, whereas many of the American varieties of this type have imperfect blooms. The British Queen ranks still in England and France among the select varieties, but in our hot climate it does not find the humid atmosphere it requires, and the product is consequently very limited and infe rior in size. It the flowers are staininate, as you state, the failure can only be accounted for by the influence of climate; and in any case we are of the opinion that the culture of this variety will not re munerate you. Better take the Wil son's Albany, which we see, from good reports, succeeds well in your locality. THE CIIAYOTE OF MEXICO. At the meeting of the New York Farmers Club (American Institute), of April 23d last, Dr. C. Naphegyi made an address upon the Chayote plant- or bread fruit of Mexico, and the Chairman, N. C. Ely, Es«p, appointed as a committee to re ceive and test the plants seven horticultur ists from different parts of the United States. We lender our thanks to Chairman Ely for the compliment in adding our name to the committee. From (he descriptions of this plant, as given at length by Dr. Naphegyi, we are in clined to believe this to be an old ac quaintance of our gardens, where it is known as Vegetable pear, Mango, Mirliton (in Louisiana), and by botanists as Sechium ednle. This vegetable, although known since the beginning of this century, having been in troduced here by refugees from San Do mingo, is still but little disseminated, and is considered valuable only as a curiosity. The following is the substance of the ad dress referred to : Dr. C. Naphegyi, having been invited by a unanimous vote of the Club to address them upon the chayote plant, or bread fruit, of Mexico, read as follows : Some time ago I had the honor of a call from Chief Justice Charles P. Daly, and while drawing Ids attention to the chayote plant, lie |)roni(Koi^ - Eo Flint: it before the notice of yourCmn; slid 1 tcred to have now the opportunity to demonstrate to you this most interesting plant, which for many years during my rambles through South America, and es pecially during my long residence in Mexico, lias engaged my interest to such a degree that as soon as I arrived in New York, and having had the opportunity to build myself a conservatory, 1 made it my object to have this plant imported with the view to intro duce it into this country and procure its propagation. The bread tree, which is known lo naturalists under the botanical name of “rima,” is one of those vegetables which nations possessing colonies in the torrid zone transport with difficulty to their lands; but in Central America, although “rima” does not abound, there is a fruit similar to it, namely, the “chayote,” which is a rare and admirable production of natnr , and is mentioned already by Fra Clyvijero, the historian, who accompanied Fernando 1 Cortez in his expedition to Mexico. The fruit is formed in the shape of an egg, about six inches in diameter, more or less; the skin is of a strong consistency, and covered with thorns; there are also some classes which have no thorns. Tiie interior is composed of a juicy pulp, in the centre of which is the kernel, elliptic in form, and about one . inch in diameter. The plant is curious, not only on account of its fruit and beauty, hut also for the means provided by nature for its propagation. When boiled, it closely | resembles the rima, or bread fruit, and while growing may be compared to a species of ! pumpkin, presenting a beautiful aspect, the i sprouts extending to a length of many yards, j which, when trained in a horizontal posi tion, completely cover the bed so as to form an imiKiuetralde harrier to water, as the leaves, which arc in abundance, form a roof after I lie manner of tiles. The plant pos- sesses the prerogative of not only fructify ing in warm climates, lmt also in the North, and when once planted sprouts every year over the bed, or climbs trees which may be in its vicinity. On all the knots of the plant there shoot out fiores which enable the vine to cling to the object which sustains it in an elevated ixisition, while, when it does not meet with tins object, it forms a spiral line which it winds around itself, and thus I furnishes an evidence that nature destined it to form a support for the buds, which are easily broken. The chayote is a plant which may he characterized as hydroptacal. If a sprout be cut immediately a large por tion of the juice is to be seen running down which is not the case, however, in dry situations, which proves that this plant re quires a humid soil to grow witii vigor aud extend its sprouts to a large circumference, [he chayote is preferable to the rima or bread tree, because the first year it is planted it fructifies, which is not the ease with the rima, which being a tree does not bear fruit until after a certain period of time corres ponding to that which nature has assigned to fructify. The “rima” produces fruit I solely, while the chayote, after having j given an abundance of fruit, gives at the same time a quantity of roots which make good flour for bread, and a fecula appro priate for making starch. The roots are tuberous, and from the principal ones, which are those which sprout annually, there ex tend others, formed like potatoes, from one to two feet in length and from three to four inches in diameter. These roots propagate in circles of from three to four or even sometimes six yards (or eighteen feet) around the central or principal roots. From the extreme ends of these roots sprout a filament nearly the twentieth part of an inch in diameter, from the extreme end of which again grow other roots, and so on to the above-mentioned distance. These secondary roots are those which serve for food, be cause it would ruin the utility of the plant to touch the principal roots in respect to the propagation for the ensuing year. Is there another plant in creation which produces fruit and during the same year roots which man can thus use to advantage? I have known by experience that one single chay ote plant lias given eighty fruits and some five fanegas or bushels of roots, and con tinue producing for the term of seven yearn. If this plant is admirable as an ali mentary production it is much more so in its mode of propagation, and is probably the only instance to he found in the vege table kingdom where the fruit is planted with the seed. The mode of planting is the following: Tiie fruit is taken in the month of October and placed in a hot-house or sus pended on a wall in a room of at least 00 degrees. In November the germ commences to sprout, and increases according to the quantity of juice contained in the fruit. In such a situation the stem grows from a half to three-quarters of a yard in length until the beginning of May, when the fruit with its branch is then planted in soft, humid ground, taking care that, the sprouts are not injured. This short description which 1 have given of this wondrous production of nature is merely for the purpose of bringing into notice its utility to the North, and affording an opportunity to make ex periments as to the use to which it may be best applied. In conclusion I will call your attention to one of the curious properties of this plant, and that is its cooling influence upon the system while partaking of it after a long and fatiguing walk in the sun, and it lias been said by those who have so experi mented that a certain degree of cold was felt coursing through their frames. Now, if it be true that all objects in a room manifest the same degree of heat, is it not strange that this sensation is ex perienced upon partaking of this fruit ? To test this an experiment was tried with a thermometer one being placed in a room and another inserted in a chayote, the fol lowing being the result obtained: The thermometer placed in the room showed 15 degrees; that in the chayote, 12j; at nine o’clock at night the first, 14J; tie seep-. i»>. 'i contradiction to what naturalists assert, that all bodies in a determinate atmosphere re ceive an equal degree of heat, and I am con vinced by this experiment that the cold manifested by the chayote is not apparent, hut real. It presents also another curious feature, and that is that when the fruit is flavored with sugar, in a few days it changes from sweet to sour, while the surface is covered witii microscopic plants. Prepared with vinegar it may present other pheno mena. Os what substances is it composed ? After concluding his written remarks, Dr. Naphegyi made some interesting state ments concerning tiie jalap root and other plants, and said that lie had no interest to serve, no money to make in any way out of this matter, hut had an ambition to he the introducer of this plant into this country, and if the Chairman would appoint a com mittee of such gentlemen as would make careful trial of it, he would present each one or more plants. Sources cf Fertility.— The sources of fertility to the farm are the refuse of the crops which they bear, modified by the farm stock, and preserved and judiciously applied by the husbandman. There is not a vegetable matter grown upon the farm, he it considered never so useless or obnoxious, hut will, after it has served ordinary useful purposes, impart fertility to the soil, and contribute to tiie growth of anew genera tion of plants, if it is judiciously husbanded and applied. There is not an animal sub stance, be it solid, liquid, or gaseous—be it bone, horn, hair, urine, wood or flesh, or the gases which are generated by the de composition of these matters—but, with like care and skill, may be converted into new vegetable, and afterward into new ani mal matters. To economize and apply ail these fertilizing materials is the province and the duty of tire husbandman. To Reduce Bones to Meal. —A writer in the Horticulturist says he buys bones of the butcher at a dollar the hundred pounds, and considers them the cheapest fertilizer he can obtain. He transforms them into meal by the following simple and effective process: I have a large water-tight hogs head standing out doors, near the kitchen- In the Spring I cover the bottom about six inches deep with dry soil. On this I put a layer of bones about the same depth, and cover them entirely with unleached ashes, on these another layer of hones, then ashes’ and so on until tiie hogshead is full. I leave it, then exposed to the sun and rain all Summer and Winter until the next Spring. Then, on removing the contents of the hogshead, I find nearly all the bones so soft that they will crumble to powder under a very slight pressure, and, mixed with the ashes and the soil, they give a nice little pile of most valuable manure, ready- for immediate use. Any cf the bones not suf ficiently subdued I return to the hogshead again for another twelve months’ slumber. ANGRY WORDS. Angry words are lightly spoken In a rash and thougtless hour; Brightest links of life are broken By their deep, insidious power. Hearts inspired by warmest feeling Ne’er before by anger stirred, Oft are rent past human healing By a single angry word. Poison drops of care and sorrow, Bitter poison drops are they, Weaving for the coming morrow, Saddest memories of to-day, Angry words, O let them never From the tongue unbridled slip ; May the heart's best impulse ever Check them, ere they soil the lip. • Love is much too pure and holy, Friendship is too sacred far For a moment’s reckless folly, Thus to desolate and mar." Angry words are lightly spoken, Bitter thoughts are rashly stirred, Brightest links in life are broken By a single angry word. Btate House Unroofed by a Thunder Shower. [Special telegram to the Charleston News.] Columbia, May 16. The thunder storm which passed over this city at eleven o’clock last night was more severe than was known at the time. Considerable damage was done, many fences and some twenty or more trees were blown down. The roof of one house was blown off, and fell on Clifford Cooper, who was in bed at the time, in flicting injuries that will probably prove fatal. Some houses had twenty or thirty lights broken by branches and trees being blown against them. A pro vidential visitation occurred at the State House. About forty-five feet in length and most of the width of the roof of the west wing was blown away, and the heavy timbers, boards and debris went through into the hall of the House of Representatives, caus ing a complete ruin of twenty or more desks, as many chairs, and the gorgeous carpet. The seats formerly occupied by Mobley, Byas, McDaniel, Jamison, and several others of the noisy members, were completely destroyed, and those brilliant lights of the Legislature could not have escaped death had they been in their seats at the time. The damage is estimated at from eight to twelve thousand dollhrs. The Sihithem and Atlantic telegraph office w \so visited by lightning, which melts tamber of the wires, which, ?V Ved / at . . m. ' kfi mscivniiy. - \ There is no change in prospects of the Treasury. Leading Republicans and the soundest of the members of the Legislature are doing all they can to prevent an extra session. It is under stood that the call lacks but two signa tures of members of the House. The members of the Senate are not so free m signing the call. The crops have been severely damaged six miles from the city by a hail storm. Encouragement to Manufacturers in Mississippi. —During the recent session the Legislature of the State of Missis sippi enacted a law, the intent of which is to encourage the introduction of ma chinery and the establishment oi fac tories in that State. Tiie law provides that all manufactur ing companies established in that State for the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods, or yarns or fabres composed of those or any other materials, and for the making of all kinds of machinery and implements of husbandry necessary for the cultivation of the soil, etc., whose capital stock shall not be less titan ten thousand dollars, paid in, shall be en titled to have all taxes to which they may be subject for tho period of ten years appropriated and set apart to be used for the payment of the debts and liabilities tliat any of these companies may have incurred in any legitimate wav The law provides also that whenever the profits of any of these companies shall enable it to pay to its stockholders an annual dividend of four percent upon its capital stock, over and above its liabilities, the appropriation of the taxes shall cease.— New Orleans Pica yune. A Huge Rattlesnake. —ln Bruns wick county, North Carolina, on the plantation of Dr. J. D. Bellamy, a young man, Alex Smith, on Monday last, shot and killed a rattlesnake over six feet long, nineteen inches in circumference, and which had eighteen rattles and two buttons. He had been a source of no little terror to the community in that section, and the intelligence that his snakeship had been killed was received with quite a feeling of satisfaction. Lexington, May 17.—Bazaine won the first race ; time, 1:45* and 1:42. Frog Town won the second ; time, 3:07 the fastest recorded by three-quarters of a second. Ottawa, May 17.—The bill regarding the Washington treaty passed to a second reading, and is practically ratified by Canada. 3