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and let in the sun and air, the grasses took pos session. Keep out the undergrowth now, and let in the sun and air again, and the woods will again be covered with native grasses, or if seed ed properly with richer and better perennial grasses, green in winter. Reason and experience, in many places in mid dle Georgia, go to establish the fact that these grasses can be successfully grown upon our ori ginal forest land and on our best open land, and if so, horses and mules, and hogs, cattle and sheep, with all their valuable products can be profitably reared in Georgia. The prices of horses and mules have steadily and rapidly risen, till we can hardly realize the fact that a pair of horses which could be bought a few years ago at S3OO, would bring to-day SBOO. We complain loudly; but it is all right, for it takes just such astonishing develop ments, and just such enoanous burdens to make men forsake the old and beaten paths of er ror, though leading directly to poverty. But says the “ croaker ” if this system of hus bandry be adopted generally, there is danger that there would be no demand for hay, and but ter, and beef, and mutton, and horses and mules, as every body would raise their own, (a consum mation most devoutly to be wished) while for cotton there is an unlimited demand, and local markets, and if the price does not suit at one time you can hold till it does, without injury or cost; while if horses and mules are not sold they will “ eat off their own heads,” and bread stuffs if not consumed perish on our own hands. These are indeed most admirable and valuablo conditions which have always made cotton a fa vorite staple. But there is another product which equally with cotton, possesses all these with one immense advantage over cotton, that it can be raised on poor land with little labor ; that staple is wool, worth in all markets about three times as much per lb. as cotton. There is good reason to believe that in this region it can be raised with much larger profit. Sheep possess in a most remarkable degree all the requisites for profitable husbandry. They are very prolific, of early maturity, and transport themselves even to distant markets at little cost, and best quality of all, they will live where other domestic animals would starve. It is a fact, not generally known, that all oyer Georgia many varieties of herbs grow, on which sheep feed, which no other animals touch. They are browsing, as well as grazing animals. In our old fields, wherever a few tufts of broom sedge grow, or a patch of briers, or even that badge of sterility, a thicket of sassafras bushes, there sheep will exist. You cannot find any where a hundred acres of land, which will not sustain a hundred sheep in the spring and summer, and with winter grazing on our forest lands, all the year. If this be true, our old exhausted lands can be made to pay an annual profit, which would make the usurer open his eyes in wonder. These lands (extensive old fields with small quantities of original forest, and strips of branch bottoms) can bo bought readily at three or four dollars per acre, or even less. Throw together a thousand acres of such land, put 1000 sheep upon it, obtain 3 lbs. of wool from each worth one dollar, and a lamb worth one dolllar and a quarter, and you may pay a shepherd to protect them from dogs, and realizo a clear profit of 30 or 40 per cent. Then how, rapidly these wasted lands might be enriched, by hurdling a thousand sheep upon them at night, instead of paying enormous pri ces for manures, brought from the distant islands of ocean; for it is a fact, established by careful experiment, that a given weight of food, fed to sheep, will produce greatly more enriching manure, than when fed to any other domestic animals. Let us then like sensible people, use the lands we have in raising such staples as they are adapted to, and soon we can change the tons of broomsedge and other forage found in abundance into pounds of meal and wool, for the food and raiment of men. — BENEFITS OF AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. Everything from the lips and pen of Daniel Webster still continues to be read with interest. The following is an extract from an Address of his, delivered at the Annual Fair of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, at Dedham, Massachusetts, intho year 1849: “ The principle of Association —the practice of bringing men together bent on the same gen eral end, uniting their intellectual and their phy sical efforts to that purpose is a great improve ment in the present age. We saw it years ago —perhaps I might say centuries ago. It began in the professional associations of the world—in the legal, the medical, the theological. But it was long, in that country and in this, before the principle of combination came to bo acted upon in tfie great system of Agriculture—before it was brought to that pursuit of life—before agricul turists were brought to act in unison. And the reason is obvious. In the city, communities strive together. The merchants and ship own ers can come together at the sound of a bell. — The mechanics, generally living in populous places, may do the same. They have the oppor tunity of interchanging sentiments every hour and what ont knows, all know, and what is the experience of one, all soon become acquainted with. But the agn^ ( itural population is scat tered over all the fields ye tho country. Their labors and their toils are in sou>* degree isolated. They are in the midst of hills ana the valleys, and the recesses of every solitary forest. There is no 'Change for them to assemble upon at uoo n . There are no Atheneums for them to meet at in tho evening and converse on their interests. “ Why, gentlemen, every man obtains a very great portion of all that he knows in this world, by conversation. Conversation, intercourse with other minds is the general soul, of most es our knowledge. Books do something, but every man has not opportunity to read. It is cover sation that improves. If any one of us is here to-day. learned or unlearned, should deduct what ho has learned by conversation from what he knows, ho would find but little left, and that lit tle not of the most valuable kind. It is con versation—it is the meeting of men face to face, and talking over what they have common in in terest—it is this intercourse that makes men sharp, intelligent, ready to communicate to others, and ready to receive information from them, and ready to act upon those only which they receive by this oral communication. “ Therefore, if there wero not a thing exhibit ed—if there were not a good pair of steers, nor a fine horse, nor likely cow in the whole country, if there be ladies, wives and daughters —if there be those connected with the tillage of the land, I say that these annual meetings are highly im portant to progress in the art to which they re fer. I come as a poor farmer, to meet with other better farmers, to receive from them any intimation their experience may teach, and de sirous only of suggesting something for their re flection which now or hereafter may draw it use fully, to something in the agricultural art”' TMM SOIHEFK3S3U& MMQ 3flfl3UßßX3)£. FARMING. An intelligent cultivator of the soil has lately expressed some excellent thoughts, in forcible style, which we here subjoin, hoping they may be attentively read: The life of the farmer has ever been consid ered by himself, one of toil and drudgery, but with how much reason, it may be well to ask, to investigate, and to become justified. It is the lot of man in general to have an occupation. If not necessary for a living, it is made a means of obtaining wealth, fame or power. A few, bom to wealth or titles, pursue no calling but that of pleasure. Such lead miserable lifes, and do little or no good in the world. It is appointed unto all men to work. It is necessary to health, strength, comfort and happiness. But to work, it is not necessary to guide tho plough or har row, to wield the axe or scythe, to sow or reap. There are other kinds of work, equally laborous and fatiguing, other occupations more wearing to the system, and attended with less pleasure. In this country, there are more men engaged in. farming than in any other occupation, and in the rural districts they constitute a large majority of the inhabitants, and as a consequence, see and know little of the drudgery of other occu pations. In their visits to the mechanic or man ufacturer, they see him sheltered from the storms and cold, they notice that his skin is less taw ney, his hands softer and whiter, and his clothes perhaps less soiled and torn; and it is but natural that they should think his labor less hard than theirs. They see the merchant be hind his counter, smiling to his customers, or at his desk counting his money, and they cannot think he works; and they go away, wishing that Providence had been as kind to them.— They see the lawyer advocating the cause of his client, uttering with eloquence witty or grave sentences, bringing tears to tho eyes, or laugh ter to tho countenances of judge, jury and spec tators, and they go away repining that the gifts of Providence are so partially bestowed. They see not tho mechanic at work by his lamp, while farmers are reading by their firesides; they see him not with his accounts, anxiously looking forward to the time when his payments become due, or his flour barrel empty, or his pork bar rel out, they see not the anxious and care worn countenance of the merchant, while alone in his office just before his bank note becomes due and no money to meet it; and they see not the lawyer in the still hours of the night, with ach ing head and wearied eyes, looking up authori ties to sustain his cause on the eve of trial. It is they themselves — the farmers —that have set the stamp oi drudgery upon their occupa tion. No one else admits or believes it. The lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and the me chanic, envy the farmer his farm and his happi ness, —his bread, butter and cheese, —his fruits, meats and grains, the product of his own labor, that he can eat with an appetite sharpened by muscular exercise, and knowing that they are pure and healthy. Ask the mechanic what he is striving for, and what is his aim. For a home, a piece of land that I can cultivate and eat the fruits of my own raising; the merchant will tell you that he hopes to end bis days on a tarra ; and the lawyer and doctor will tell you the same. What if their faces are blanched while the farmer is tawney,—their fingers delicate and supple, while the former are dingy and clumsy— their garments fine and clean, while his are soiled and coarse. Each is appropriate and equally respectable. A chimney sweep in white, or a farmer at his plough in broadcloth, would be an object of ridicule, equally with the lawyer in rags. More men make themselves ri diculous by overdressing than the reverse. If the farmer has not delicacy, he has strength, and power of endurance—far more valuable. If ho is not educated and refined, it is no fault of his occupation, did ho himself not think so; for no one has more leisure for reading and study.— If he mingles less with the world, and learns less of etiquette, he has an opportunity for thought, and learns less of deception, intrigue and chicanery, which make no one happy.— Whose sons make the most enterprising and successful merchants, the most profound states men, tho most eminent engineers, the most learned lawyers and divines? The farmers. They go forth from the farm, with healthy blood in their veins, inherited from healthy parents, and consequently have healthy and vigorous minds. Who are looked up to as defenders of our homes in case of invasion ? Whose names are in our jury boxes, and whose are sought for, (aye, little too successfully,) on a bank note? Brother farmers, let us not repine at our lot; let us not envy others while they envy us; honor our calling, and it will honor us: “ Ilonor and fame from no condition rise, He that would win, must labor for the prize." — Goward's Register. Danger of Lucifer Matches. —The New York Sun says that the operatives employed in factories where Lucifer matches are made, aro subject to a malignant, and often fatal complaint, which is known as the “ match disease.” It is produced by the inhalation of the phosphoric acid used in the factory, seriously affecting the jaw and teeth. The Sm says: “We learn from the physicians that the dis ease is quite common among those who work in match factories, and that it is dangerous for any one who has diseased teeth to be employed in the manufacture of lucifer matches. They al so state that the disease may be contract ed by those who have diseased teeth by lighting cigars or a pipe wilh lucifers, and inhaling the phos phoric acid which is liberated by their ignition. It is well for people to understand this fact, and, as tho doctors say, if a person has a diseased tooth, he or she should have it removed at once, «"id thus escape all danger of the match dis ease." Remedy foh Poison. —A correspondent of the London Literary Gazette, alluding to the numerous cases of accidental poisoning, says: “I venture to affirm that there u not a cot tage that does not contain an invaluable obtain, immediate remedy for such events, nothing mor« than a dessert spoonful of mado mustard, mixed in a tumbler of warm water, and drank imme diately. It acts as an emetic, is always read}’, and may be used in any case where one is re quired. But take this simple antidote, and you may be the moans of saving many a fellow-crea ture from an untimely end.” Porcelain Faced Bricks. —The New York Tribune has been shown a porcelain faced brick for which Mr. D. W. Clark, ofVermont, received a patent on the 10th ult. The patent, he says, consists in the employment of zinc as a flux for the felspar and quartz with which the ordinary porcelain is made. These bricks can be furnish ed, he says, at forty dollars per thousand, or a building can be faced with them at less than one-third of the cost of marble. Tho material is very beautiful, and might be used for an in side as well as an outside finish with fine effect. The same flux can be applied to articles from the coarser kinds of clay, which gives it a finish equal to any English ware imported into this country.. HORTICULTURAL. WM. N. WHITE, Editor. SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 1159. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Catalogues have been received fom the fol lowing Nurserymen: Annual Catalogue of Trees, eutivated at Gloaming Nursery, 1859 and 1860. Sarksville, Habersham county, Ga. By Jarvis Tan Bcren. Supplental Catalogue, of Fruit Tnes, Grape Vines, Strawberries, Roses, Shrubs, Sc., cultiva ted at Fruitland Nurseries, Augusta, Ga., by P. J. Berckmans Sc Co., for 1859-60. Catalogue of Fruit and Ornameital Trees, cultivated, and for sale by Peters, larden & Co., Downing Hill Nursery, Atlanta Je., 1859- GO. Catalogues of Roses, Ac., 1859-60. J. A. Mawge, Augusta, Ga. Descriptive Catalogue of Fruit Tnes and Or namental Shrubbery .cultivated and fer sale by Fleming Sc Nelson, at their Nursery on the Sand Hills, near Augusta, Ga. Other Catalogues received 'are of Verbenas from Dexter Snow, Chicopee, Jlass. Vines from Bissel Sc Salter, Rochester, 1. Y. Seeds at Wholesale, J. M. TnoRBURN & < 0., N Y. City.— Strawberries, W. R. Prince A (a., Flushing L. L Our Nurseries aro offering y< irly an increased stock, so that nearly all we nee can now be ob tained near at hand. NEW APPLE—'WINTE BELLE. We are exceedingly pleased rith a new apple sent us by J. Van Buren, Esq the well known nurseryman at Clarksville. lie calls it the Winter Belle. We quote from ns letter: “Itis a new apple, which found about a week since in my rambles : ong the side of Aleck’s Mountain in this com ;y, and about 7 miles from home, in my searcl after new native grapes. I passed across an old field ow grown up in pines and by the side of a attle path came across the tree with about a l isliel of fruit on it. It is probably an accident 1 seedling which has grown up where some one ias thrown a core. The field has been lying out f< r 20 years to my knowledge. I think I have pu ed the fruit some two or three weeks too early From its very fair appearance and unusually firm texture, I have scarce a doubt, it will prpve to be one of the best, if not the very best winter apple we have at the South. I think it will keep sound a year. I can hardly give an opinio* as to flavor yet, although it is now very pleasant.” When this apple becomes fit for eating, should its merits equal the promise of its present ap pearance, we shall give it a fill description. It will be a remarkable keeper, judging it now in comparison with Nickajack, and is more prom ising in this respect than eve* the Shockley. In the same box Mr. vln Bcren sent us handsome specimens of the Hickajack, Bachelor, Tenderskin, World’s Wonder, Chestatec, Dish aroon and some unnamed voieties, for which, and other like favors, he will please accept our thanks. The World’s Wonder and Chestateo are of but fair quality, the others are excellent. VARIETY. SPECIES AND GENUS. These are terms that wa shall have frequent occasion to use in the rural departments of this paper, and as in common language, they are of ten loosely used, we will concisely define them. Rightly understood and omployed they give greater precision to our ideas. A species includes all those individuals so es sentially alike that they evidently have sprung from common parents. Each species is char acterized by a peculiar form and liable to vary only within certain narrow limits. They may differ in size or color, or in certain other unim portant respects,but no other individuals so close ly resemble them as they do each other, and they can be permanently continued by natural propagation. They “are distinct forms origi nally created and producing by certain laws of generation others like themselves.’ ’ Tlius the Horse and the Ass are distinct species of ani mals ; tho red and white Oak, distinctspecies of trees. Animals when domesticated, and plants when brought under cultivation, being placed in new conditions manifest a tendency to “ sport ” as it is called, that is, to vary from the original type of the species more or less, and while under culti vation, or the care of man, these variations can often be perpetuated, and thus, in the same spe cies, distinct varieties are produced. All these have more or less tendency to go back to tho original type when left to themselves. Exam ples of varieties among plants, are the differ ent sorts of apples, pears and comellias. Among animals the different breeds of cattle,as Devons, Shorthorns Ac., so of dogs, horses and sheep. Never talk of a species of pear, apple, or horse, but use the word variety or breed. A breed, or race is where a variety originally strongly mark ed, has been kept pure for a long time by breed ing in and in, so that its tendency to return to the original type is greatly diminished. Varieties in the animal kingdom can only be kept up in this manner. In tho vegetable kingdom the strongly marked ones can thus be continued by seed, rejecting all that sport back to the type of tho species, but the only generally certain way of continuing them, is by division of the plant, as in grafts, cuttings, layers, bulbs, and tubers, Ac. Certain species, evidently not originating from a common stock, having common features of re semblance, are associated in what is called a genus. A genus, then, is an assemblage of spe cies possessing certain characteristics in common which distinguish tham from all others.* Thus in the animal kingdom, the ass and the horse are two species having certain features or re semblance with each other, which distinguish them from other animals, and are hence included in one genus. For the same reason wolves and dogs go into another. In botany all the species of a genus agree in their parts of fructification, and have at the same time a general resemblance •Sometimes * single species is so strongly marked, as by itself to constitute a genus, as for instance, man. in habit Thus the oak is a natural genus in which the species are all characterized by the peculiar acom and its cup, so different from the seed vessels of other plants, whilst the individ ual trees of the two hundred and thirty odd spe cies all have certain points of resemblance in common; so of roses, pines, lilies, Ac. Species of the same genus can nsusually be cross-bred, or hybridized. Thus the mule is the result of cros sing two species of one genus, the horse and the ass. In the animal kingdom hybrids are seldom if ever fertile. In the vegetable kingdom crosses are rather more frequent, but even here hybrids produce very few, or no seed, and if left to themselves soon die out, but can be continued indefinitely, by budding, grafting, Ac. Varieties of the same species, can be readily crossed, and the offspring is fertile, buj seldom will this be the case where the cross is between species of the same genu3. Families or orders.—Several related generally make up an order or family. Thus the oak, chestnut, filbert, and beech, are classed in one family; so the firs, pines and larches, all bear their seeds in cones, and hence are placed in one family, and called conifera. So in the animal kingdom, lions, tigers, cats and leopards, from certain common points of resemblance, are like wise thrown into one order. The orders most resembling each other, are also thrown into classes, as fishes into one class birds into another, Ac. CONSTRUCTION OF A COLM»IT FOR PROTEC. TING PLANTS. We were preparing an article on the construc tion of cold pits for re-interring plants, but find the matter fully treated in the article below from an old paper. Many persons who are fond of plants are dis couraged in their attempts to preserve them dur ing the winter, not having the accommodations of a green-house and are forced to abandon this gratification, as circumstances will not permit them to provide such a structure. A correspon dent so circumstanced wishes some information to aid him in the formation of a cold-pit, capable of protecting plants over winter, without the use of any artificial heat. Many half-hardy, or par tially tender plants may be secured in a wooden frame, made a little deeper than usual, and well protected by heaping soil and stable litter against its sides, to such a depth as to prevent the frost from penetrating; and covering it closely in winter when the nights are severe, by straw mats and boards. Such a frame; nine fee't long and four wide, furnished with three sashes, could be readily constructed by morticing tho end and side boards, or furnishing them with hooks and staples, which would admit of their removal if necessary. The frame should have a slope from back to front of about eighteen inches, with a southern exposure. If it is not intended to remove it, it may be made more firm by mor ticing tho end and sideboards also the sash boards, and corner posts which driven into the ground givo it stability. This will serve for the preservation of many valuable bedding-out plants such as verbenas, pansies, geraniums, carna tions, mignionetto, polyanthus, auriculas, and a variety of others not sufficiently hardy to sur vive the winter. All they would require in such a situation would be the occasional admission of air, when possible, and attention to avoid damp; very few applications of water would be found necessary, the plants being kept as much as possible in a state of rest. The inside of the frame should be covered with coal ashes or gravel as a bottom on which to stand the pots. When shel ter is required for tall plants, a sunk pit is no cessary; about 20 feet would be a convenient length, and four feet wide; less than this would not be worth the trouble of building. It might be sunk three feet below the level of the ground, if facilities existed for draining off the water which would accumulate; this must first be pro vided for, as the inside of the pit should be per fectly dry. The wall should be built of brick ; the back wall six feet high including three be low the surface, and the front four and a half, which would allow eighteen inches above the ground. The wall would require a wooden plate into which the sash posts are to be morticed, which could be so constructed as to be moveable, so as to afford facilities at any time for filling the pit with forcing material, for which purpose it might be conveniently used. In severe weather it would require to be close ly covered with mats and boards for the exclu sion of tho frost, and only exposed when the weather would admit of it. In a pit of ‘this size many valuablo plants could be wintered, such as geraniums, fuchsias, orange and lemon trees, tender roses, salvias, ageratumo, azeleas, and many other favorite plants, not able to withstand exposure during the winter. The plants required to fill the flow er borders each season could there bo secured, and would not require to be renewed at the nur sery. By dividing the pit into two compart ments, one would be appropriated to the raising of plants for removal to the kitchen garden, when the season would be sufficiently advanced, by which means tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and many other vegetables could be procured at a much earlier date than they would if sown at once in the open ground. The flower garden would be furnished with choice annuals in bloom in June, which had been forwarded and trans planted early in May, and would by this treat ment be worthy a place in the garden. The saving would in a few seasons make up for tho outlay in renewing each spring wjiat the previous winter had destroyed. Artificial Honey. —Take 20 lbs. Sugar, 3 qts. water, 6 lbs good Honey, 1 teaspoonful es sence peppermint, 1-5 ounce of cream of tartar : dissolve the cream of tartar in a little of the water, put all the ingredients in a preserving kettle, bring them to a boil, skim off the froth that arises; let it cool, and it is fit for use. The better the sugar, the nicer is the honey. Frost. —This has been a remarkably co v Eum ‘ mer at the North. In some towns in Massachu setts frost has occurred every mon° t * l ' 3 J ear - Near Boston they have had fros* eve 'F month except July. PusirKiN pumpkin, take out the seeds, wash it clean an d cut it into small pieces. They are to stewed gently until sott, then drained, and seined through a seive. To one quart of the rulp, add three pints cream or milk, six beate* eggs, together with sugar, mace nutmeg, and dnger, to the taste. When the in gredients a* well mixed, pour them upon pie plates, having a bottom crust, and bake forty minutes ® a hot oven [For the Southern Field and Fireside.] RECENTLY INTRODUCED PLANTS-NO. 2. Mr. White: —Os the garden novelties which are, at the present moment, exciting the atten tion of Florists, and from being in but few hands, are sought for with the greatest avidity, Lilium giganteum, Tritoma uvaria, and cynerium ar genteum, are among the most prominent; and, as the latter has just passed through a course of flowering for the first time under my own eyes, and, so far as I can learn, for the first time in Georgia, perhaps it may gratify some of your readers if I report the result of ray observa tions. Not having at hand the books and au thorities for making out its complete history, I shall merely jot down such details as memory supplies, without any pretensions to minute ac curacy. The Pampas Grass is so called in consequence of its inhabiting those vast plains of South America which stretch from the waters of the Rio de la Plata to the foot of the Andes, where it was discovered or made known to the scientific world by Humboldt and Bonplaud, some fifty years ago, and named by the German botanist, Kunth, Gynerium, from Greek words expressive of the wooliness of the pistil, and argenteum, from the silvery lustre of its plumose stigma. It belongs to the class and order Dicecia diandria, aud Natural order graminece. The generic description reads thus: „ Spikelets— 2 flowered; one flower sessile, the i other stalked. Male. —Glumes lanceolate, membranous; keel unequal; Pale®; 2 membranous, 1 nerved,concave, beardless; upper one shortest, blcarinate; stam ens 2; scales 2; minute, collateral. Female. —Glumes 2, upper one longest; Pale® 2, upper one beset with long hairs; inner one small, bicarinate; keels pectinately cilicated; stamens 2, effete; ovaria 2, glabrous; styles 2, terminal; stigmas plumose; scales 2, membran ous, subcilicated. The species thus: Tall, tufted, leaves spiny serrulated. Panicle much branched, Spikelets pedicullate. I have not been able to learn when it was in troduced into England, but it does not seem to ha-e been appreciated as an ornamental plant, until about five years ago, whep it was “brought out” by a nurseryman, who professed to bold the entire stock, and advertised for sale, with the most astounding praises of its stateliness and surpassing grace and beauty. It made a great sensation —was noticed by Dr. Lindley with high commendations in the Gardeners' Chronicle, and sold at a round price. It soon found its way to this country. Mr. Raabe, I think, exhibited the first spike of flowers to the Horticultural Society in Philadelphia last summer. In the fall of 1857, Mr. Charles Downing most kindly sent me a tuft of it, to ascertain its adaptation to this climate. Unwilling to risk out at once so pre cious a plant, I potted and kept it from frost in a cold frame till the next spring, when I turned it into the open ground, where it has stood ever since—only slightly protected by some dry leaves about the crown of the roots, and an old mat thrown over the top in a few of the coldest nights. It retained its greenth admirably, the ends of the leaves for a foot or so, and some of the outer sheaths, only being killed back. I rank it as an evergreen, and it cortainly present ed a striking and agreeable object for the eye to rest upon in the winter garden, standing about 4 feet high, and covering a space of 12 or 15 feet in circumference, its long, narrow, ribbed and finely attenuated leaves of a peculiar bluish green, arching gracefully over a concealed hoop, till thoir t ! ps swept the ground. The last summer was somewhat cooler than the average, and with an unusual amount of rainy weather. I have never watered this plant since the day I turned it out; and no weeds have grown under the dense shade or sweep of its leaves. It grew slowly, but steadily, send ing off no stolones, nor apparent suckers, yet gradually increasing the diameter of the tuft, its habit of growth being more like that of the old Lemon grass (Andropogon schenanthus) than any other. It was not till the last of July that some of the central stems began to swell beyond their fellows. Until then, out of some twenty stalks, I could not have selected one which I thought more likely to prove a flower ing one than the rest. On the 10th of August, the panicle began to burst open its sheath, so as to show its tip. Six stems rising from the from the centre, or very near it, had then ac quired the height of my head, and the thickness of my little finger. They all continued to elon gate with equal steps. On the 15th, about a foot of the panicle had protruded, showing its silky character, and a few stamens, —small and inconspicuous, but discharging pollen. On the 20th the whole panicle, (which was from 20 to 24 inches long,) was about 2 inches clear above the last small leaf, and measured from the ground to the highest point, as it stood arching over, (as they all did most gracefully, 3 to the N. W., and 3to tho S. E.) just » feet. If held upright, it would reach 3 or 4 inches higher. They remained for ten days or more, after that, without any sensible change, although some small showers intervened, and drew forth excla mations of admiration from many visitors. I hap pened to overhear one lady say furtively to anoth er: “White horse tails!” The color, however, was not quite so silvery white as I had expected to sec it. I should call it a pale, greenish yellow, chang ing as it grew old to alight fawn color; nor was the lustre quite so splendent. It should be re membered that this was the stameniferous form: the pistil bearing is said to be much more beau tiful, and to remain so much longer ; I can ea sily comprehend why it should be so, but de«re greatly to see a specimen of it. Four of the stems I cut away for xpf friends to preserve for a winter bouquet. -*"h e two left standing, although bleached bv Jeavy rains, are still to-day, October Ist, deadly striking ob jects, and arrest the atte"* on °f passing near. The old leaves are and green, and stand more upright than e 7 dhl before flowering. The edges and' J<^er m 'drib are armed with mi nute Bilecioq ,- P* cu^e > and 01111 cut tlie fingers like a sickle. - had fancied that these sharp points might t'*‘ n out to be acuminated prisms of real quar*-! hut under a microscope of high power, I discover no faces of crystillization. Al mough as limpid and transparent as barley-su gar, they appear to be perfectly circular, elon gated cones, shaped like, and quite as sharp as a serpent’s tooth. Chemically, they may be sil icate of lime, or perhaps of potash. As a forage plant it must be regarded as a rather rough customer. A donkey who seems to enjoy the munching of furze and thistles might, at a pinch, make a meal irom it. And yet we can conceive that it is precisely this very grass which yields the elements which build up the elastic and wiry muscles of the wild horse of the Pampas. On the whole, though falling Rhort of the gigantic bamboo-like characters ascribed to it by the interested parties who had it for sale, it truly is, what Dr. Lindley said it was—“ a. magnifi cent grass,” capable of being used with great effect in landscape gardening, and well worthy of introduction into every pleasure ground. It would appear to great advantage occupying the 175