same time and on an adjoining piece to the carrots, as they require similar treatment; the drills for these should be about one and a half inch deep, and one foot apart. They are an extremely nutritious and profitable crop, and should therefore be grown largely by every cottager. Boiled and eaten with salt fish or meat in the spring, they are delicious, and cows fed with them yield an abundance of milk. In sowing them, three or four seeds may be dropt in the drills, six or eight inches apart. The hollow crown parsnep is the best. Peas.-A succession may be sown of dwarf blue imperial or blue Prussianthey both grow about three feet high, and no better or more prolific peas can be sown at this season. Earth up and stick the early kinds as soon as they are high enough. They cannot be sticked too soon at this season, as they act as protection. In drawing drills, either make one wide at the bottom, or draw double drills, and sow thinly. The rows should range north and south if possible. Potatoes. This is by far the most important plant we have to speak of: and although the season for the main crops has not arrived, there needs no excuse for introducing the subject, that some of the features in its successful culture may be impressed on the mind. Various interesting experiments have been made upon the manner of growing this root, which we might detail, but we will content ourselves in this instance with giving the modes of treatment which have proved the best. The time of planting depends a good deal upon the locality and nature of the soil; and although they have succeeded well from the end of February to the same time in June, yet either very early or late planting ought to be avoided: we shall, however, detail a method which in light soil and warm situations will amply repay the trouble either for home comsumption, or with a view to profit-this plan is practised in Lancashire, Devonshire, and many parts of Ireland, and is termed the "lazy bed" planting; it is performed as follows: Mark out the ground, four feet and a half for the beds and two feet for the alleys: then remove about four inches off the surface of the beds into the alleys, afterwards digging the beds; and if the soil is not in good heart, manure must be added under the potatoes if at all heavy, but if very light place it above them. By putting manure under early potatoes on strong soil, it acts as drainage. The sets, which should be good-sized potatoes of the ashleaved kidney, early frame, fox's seedling, or any other dwarf-growing early kind, must then be planted about eight inches apart all over the surface, placing them carefully with their crown-eyes upwards; they will then rise stronger than if laid on their sides, as the crown-eyes of a potato bear the same reference to those at the sides, as the terminal buds of trees do to the lower ones. Should the potatoes be so large as to make two good sets, keep the crown separate and plant each by themselves, and they will form a succession. Small potatoes should not be used for planting at this or indeed any season. As the plants appear upon the surface, a little soil must be added to keep off frost. In very small gardens this plan may be adopted with good success at a later period with dwarf growing kinds. Radish. Some seed of the scarlet shorttop and turnip-rooted kinds may be scattered with the main crops of carrots, &c.; they will be fit for use before the crops can be damaged by them; but if room is no object, sow them by themselves, and cover as before. Rhubarb.-This valuable plant should occupy a corner in every garden, however limited; and the cottager will find it useful and wholesome for himself and children, from its cooling properties. Independent of the cheap pies and tarts which are made of the stalks, they may be boiled and eaten with bread; by blanching the stalks, which is readily done, they are not only improved in flavour and come to perfection earlier, but one-half the quantity only of sugar is required. To accomplish this, it is but necessary to exclude the light; a large flower-pot or old butter-firkin will do this, or a few hazel-rods or rails covered with fern or straw, or any similar means as circumstances may dictate. If the crowns have been mulched during winter, they will be forwarded. Spinach may be sown between peas or beans, or by itself, but is not a crop to be recommended at this season in a cottagegarden, being neither nourishing as food, nor durable as a crop. Turnips.-In warm situations a few of the six weeks turnips may be sown upon a south border with a view to profit, as they are usually very scarce; the border should be dug in a sloping form, and the plants attended to regularly with water. Reviews. The Art of Letter-Writing Simplified. To instruct a tolerably well educated person how to write a letter will doubtless, at first sight, appear a work of supererogation. "You may as well pretend to teach me the alphabet," will perhaps be the exclamation of many. Yet few will read the little work before us without being informed or reminded of something worth knowing in relation to epistolary correspondence. To us it appears the subject has been well considered, and the result is, some plain rules are laid down, so plain that they cannot be misunderstood, so obviously fit that they can hardly be called in question, and yet not deficient in ingenuity or happy arrangement. The writer submits the following plan: "When you sit down to write a letter, think of your subject,-of the circumstances you wish to state. On a spare piece of paper put down your loose ideas, your various points, promiscuously as they occur. For instance, I will suppose that you have a dozen different heads, more or less, on which you desire to expatiate. Put them all down (leaving a little margin on the left-hand side of your paper), no matter in what order, one after another, as they occur. A single word will in most cases suffice to lead your memory. Having proceeded so far, consider in what manner, in what order, the different heads of your letter may be arranged, so as to produce a harmonious and effective whole, and number them in the margin accordingly, 1, 2, 3, &c. There are three modes by which your task may be successfully accomplished; the mode to be determined by circumstances, and by your own taste and judgment. "First. I will suppose you have numbered your subjects according to their intrinsic importance, 1, 2, 3, &c., and that you wish to treat of them in that order, commencing with No. 1. By this means you will first state your most important point, and then gradually descend, numerically, and close with No. 12, the least significant in the series. To this mode, unless for short letters, there is an objection: your letter incurs the risk of becoming tame, feeble, and unimpressive at the close. "Second.-Number your subjects inversely; that is, let your first head, No. 1, be of the slightest consideration in the series; No. 2 will possess an interest somewhat higher; No. 3 will become still more interesting; your letter will thus grow upon the attention of the reader as he proceeds; and, by reserving the most important point till the last, it will terminate with a strong and impressive climax. "Third.-For long letters, or for letters embracing a great variety of subjects, this will generally be found the most preferable; but still, as I have said, the mode must be determined by circumstances, and by the taste and judgment of the writer. Adopt, first the descending, and then the ascending scale; from superior to inferior, and then from inferior to superior; something like this: If "In our epistolary correspondence, there are perhaps no letters so difficult to indite with due effect as those of condolence on the death of relations or near and dear friends. Yet, no difficulty, no experience of painful sensations, must be allowed to deter the writer from the performance of one of the most sacred duties entailed on our sublunary state. Letters of condolence from the sympathising pen of friendship, fall upon the heart of man like the gentle dews of evening on the parched earth. In the composition of such, there must be no high-flown words or expressions-no straining after effect. heart speak not to heart, in the simplest, most soothing language of nature, words pressive-worse than useless. will, to the sufferer, prove cold and unimBe it ever borne in mind, that, to the afflicted-to the mourner in spirit-'there is only one true source of consolation;-that we shall meet those we love in another and a better world, where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest. This is the hope our blessed religion holds out to us, and its realization will amply repay our sorrows here, whilst the anticipated joy blunts the edge of present grief.' "The subjoined epistle is from a lady-a young lady, but high in literary fame-to a father, after the loss of an only and much beloved daughter. It has not before been submitted to the public eye. To mention the writer's name would shed lustre upon a work of infinitely more importance than this. "My dear Mr * "I should have immediately replied to your melancholy note of the 11th inst., had I not been considerably indisposed since the period of its receipt. I pray you to believe how very sincerely I sympathise with you on the loss which you have sustained; although I am perfectly aware that all verbal condolence is vain, under the circumstances. Nevertheless, even at my age, I have become so much worn and harassed by the trials of the world, that I cannot refrain from looking upon that early rest, which is at times granted to the young, as a blessing which the survivors are totally unable to appreciate. There is a purity and a holiness in the apotheosis of those who leave us in their brightness and their beauty, which instinctively lead us to a persuasion of their beatitude. How many temptations have they not escaped! How many faults and errors have they not avoided! How many sorrows have they not been spared!-We dare not, then, mourn for them-we can only weep for ourselves. And these very considerations should rob our tears of all their bitterness. "May these and still more efficient consolations be yours, my dear sir; and may you find comfort in the conviction, that those whom you have loved on earth will be prepared to welcome you in heaven. "Ever, my dear Mr * PRESENT STATE OF THE ISLAND SOME particulars of this island appeared Hong Kong, China, Sept. 1843. Hong Kong is one of the larger islands of that group near the mouth of the river Tigris. In size it is about eight miles from east to west, and the widest part is not more than six miles; but it is very irregular, the land jutting boldly out here and there, forming a succession of headlands and bays. Imagine, then, an island considerably longer than broad, perfectly mountainous, and sloping in a rugged manner to the sea; having here and there, almost at equal distances along the coast, deep ravines, which extend from the tops of the mountains and gradually become deeper and wider as they approach the Immense blocks of stone (granite) are in these valleys, or ravines, which have either been bared by the rapid currents of water, or which have tumbled into them from the mountain sides at some former period. In each of these ravines there is abundance of excellent water, flowing at all seasons of the year: and hence the poetical name which the Chinese choose to give this island-Hong Kong, the island of fragrant streams. During the wet season (for it rains in torrents then) these little streams become very soon swollen, and then rush down from the mountains with a velocity which sweeps everything before it. sea. You will readily imagine there is very little flat ground capable of cultivation on the island. Indeed the only place of any size is a small valley of a few acres in extent, lying to the eastward of the town of Victoria, called "Wang-nai-chung" by the Chinese, and sometimes the "Happy Valley" by the English; and here we have numerous small gardens and paddy fields, very well managed by the inhabitants. The principal Chinese towns on the island are Little Hong Kong and Chick chow, both of which are on the south side: at the latter there is now an extensive military station for English troops. The town of Victoria is built, and building, on the north side, all along the shores of the bay. The houses are planned in the most irregular manner; but you will be astonished when I tell you that, in almost all instances, the Chinamen build their bricks all one way, without a single tie crossways, so that they of course frequently tumble down even before the building is finished. Architects, however, are now out here, who will see that the houses are built in a more substantial manner. Already there are hundreds of excellent Chinese shops opened in the town, containing many but generally higher in price. There is articles as good as one can find in Canton, also a good market-place, abundantly supplied with its various commodities, particularly fowls, fruit, and vegetables. A firm broad road has been made all along the shore, forming the principal street of the town; and various other roads of lesser note have been made in different parts of the island, by the government, for the recreation of the inhabitants. There are various public buildings worthy of notice; for example, the Medical Missionary Hospital, the Morrisonian Education Society's House, the Roman Catholic Church, Government House, &c. It is worthy of remark, perhaps, that while the Roman Catholics have a splendid chapel, the English Episcopal church is a mat shed. The bay is a fine one, completely sheltered by the mountains of Hong Kong on the south, and those of Cowloon on the opposite shores; the anchorage is excellent, and ships can ride here in safety during the strongest gales. I cannot add to all these things that the place is healthy, for most certainly it is very much the reverse. Fever prevails to a great extent during the hot season, and it is extremely fatal. Those who are seized generally fly to Macao, which is considered much more healthy. The inhabitants of Macao, who generally look with a jealous eye upon Hong Kong, say they are astonished if they see any one coming from that place without his head being shaved. The south side of the island is comparatively healthy, and there are certain parts of the north much more so than others; but that part near the west end of the bay called West Point, and the valley of Wang-nai-chung, before mentioned, seem to be most unhealthy. It may be possible to improve such places, to a certain extent, by draining and by removing the rice fields, but I fear the principal cause can never be got rid of, which I believe to be the situation of the town. Throughout all my wanderings in the island I found the inhabitants not only perfectly harmless, but particularly civil and kind. I have visited their glens and their mountains-have stumbled on their villages and towns-and, from all the intercourse which I have had with them, I am bound to give them this character. But I always make it a rule to put no temptation in their way; and at the same time, while I showed by my deportment that I wished to be friendly, I always had the means of defending myself should I be attacked. I believe that the Chinese, in the Canton province particularly, where they have had much intercourse with foreigners, are generally deceitful, and not to be depended upon; at least, they bear this character here. Hong Kong swarms with thieves, and the more wealthy of the inhabitants find it absolutely necessary to keep a private watchman walking all night round their premises, to prevent them from being broken into, and this in dependent of the regular police. Pirates swarm all about the islands near the mouth of the Canton river; and lorchas which leave Hong Kong or Macao with passengers and cargo are frequently cut off. A most melancholy case of this kind happened lately, when a doctor belonging to one of the regiments here was murdered. I can assure you, from experience, that one does not sleep very soundly on board of a vessel of this kind, in a dark night, amongst the islands between Macao and Hong Kong. The Chinese in this part of the country are particularly independent, and are rendered more so by the English who reside here. A boatman, who would not make a dollar in a fortnight amongst his country men, thinks nothing of demanding this sum for rowing you with your luggage from the ship to the shore. The Chinese, in their dealings with the English, seem to think as little of dollars as we do of shillings at home.-Athenæum. Miscellaneous. DIFFERENT METHODS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF TIMBER -Burnett's Antiseptic Solution is the chloride of zinc, patented by Sir William Burnett in 1838, and which has been very successfully tried at the Woolwich Dockyards, and is now becoming adopted in the navy. It has been found superior to Kyan's Patent Solution, the chloride of mercury. The solution of the chloride of zinc contains one pound of the chloride to five gallons of water. Another simple process for preserving wood and other substances appears to be that of Mr John Bethell. This consists in the application of creosote, along with coal-tar, or other bituminous matter. The wood is thoroughly saturated to the centre of the log with great rapidity. A load of fir timber will absorb as much as forty gallons, the close-grained woods less. A cubic foot of beech usually weighs 8lbs. heavier after it has been prepared by this plan than before. The price of the creosote is 3d. per gallon. In some places-Liverpool, for instance-it may be had for 24d. Pre served timber, by Bethell's process, is supplied to the railways at 15s. a load beyond the price of common timber. The use of creosote is strongly recommended by Sir John Barrow, in his 'Life of Lord Anson.' He states that Kyan's Patent (corrosive sublimate) does not prevent decay, neither does it prevent the teredo navalis from penetrating the timber, as has been proved at the dockyards. Wood treated with creosote becomes nearly waterproof, and is not touched by the teredo navalis; it requires no painting, but after exposure of some days it loses every unpleasant smell. SUGAR ; WITH A METHOD TO DETECT THE ADULTERATION WITH GRAPE SUGAR. The sugar cane itself, originally a native of India or China, was introduced into Sicily, by the way of Egypt and Syria, at a period antecedent to the crusades. It was carried, in 1420, by the Portuguese to Madeira, and subsequently, by the same people and the Spaniards, to Brazil, and to the West India Islands. The process of sugar making in the British West India colonies has probably undergone but little change for two centuries or more, except in the improvement of the machinery for crushing the ripe canes and extracting the juice. The tempering with lime, clarifying by heat, and quick evaporation in a series of open pans, still remain. Under the most favourable circumstances a large quantity of molasses is always produced; and as we know from the experiments of M. Peligot that nothing but crystallizable sugar exists in the juice of the cane, this production of treacle must be ascribed to an alteration of the sugar from the high temperature of the liquid in the open pans towards the termination of the boiling. The excellent plan now adopted by the refiners of the raw or Muscovado sugar, for concentrating their purified and bleached syrup by evaporation in vessels from which the air is exhausted, was invented and patented in 1813 by the Hon. C. E. Howard. this system the product of sugar is greatly increased, and its quality much improved, while little uncrystallizable syrup would be produced. This is, however, but a part, although an essential one, of the improvement of which the sugar cultivation and manufacture are susceptible. The East India sugars are made in part from the juice of a palm; the crude product, or jaggery, is subjected to a kind of refining process before exportation. These sugars are Under esence of the grape had to a beautiful r, described in the nd Pharmacie,' for r to be examined is ed with solution of then a large excess . The blue preciown is re dissolved blue colour by the ar, both cane and ke; but on heating ng point, the cane s but little change, the grape sugar ate of brilliant red This experiment to a form applicaars, in which the çar, that is, worthinferred from the f copper produced the sample. The sugar, chiefly consometimes cruelly ional admixture of ed on a large scale cato starch. erer Language in Engest down to the d at all seminaries d to construe the ch. In 'Caxton's Polychronicon by ve read that in the red. He writesmayster of gramer, gramer scole and in to englysshe, use the same way re lord M iij Clxv ychard the secund scoles, and use al 1. Wher in they that is that they gramer. And in or now they lerne Whiche is hurte e the see." Water. The water led that flounders ay, when they get out in the wells of ch the water flows, with a small compass at the top of it, is in the Soanean Museum. Encouragement to Sculptors.-A gentleman of the name of Hobart, who died suddenly in May last, has left a testamentary paper, in the form of a letter, written, shortly before his death, to a Mr Blake, of Norwich, in which he directs that the liberal sum of 4,4251. shall be applied to the execution of an equestrian statue of himself! This laudable provision against the country's being put to any expense in the care of his immortality, has been met by the narrow and unartistic spirit of self-interest; and the paper propounded as a will, has been opposed in the Ecclesiastical Court. Sir Herbert Jenner Fust was of opinion, that, "though the bequest might be an evidence of the egregious vanity of the deceased, it was not sufficient to justify the court in holding that he was insane:" and he admitted the paper to probate. Male and Female Education.-When a young man leaves school he is said to be prepared for college. When a girl leaves school her education is said to be finished; and in that phrase one of the evil influences which pervade the education of girls may be seen. Mrs Reed. Words not in Dictionaries.-A calculation has been made by a late accurate philologist that there are 13,000 words in common use in England which do not appear in any dictionary of the language. A Patriarch.-The Prussian traveller, Dr Leipsius, writing from Egypt, says, "Yesterday we had a visit from the old, blind, but stately and rich Hassan Keschef, of Derr, the neighbouring capital of Nubia. This chief has 42 wives living out of 64, by whom he has 29 sons and 17 daughters still living: he probably has not counted the number of the dead, but, according to the usual proportion in this country, he has had about 198 children born to him." Pelargonium or Geranium Leaves a Cure for Wounds.-The leaves of the pelargonium are, as everybody knows, strongly scented; some smell of rose, others of lemons, apples, &c.; there are also other sorts, which, when bruised, have a disagreeable odour. All the varieties of this genus contain a large quantity of essential oil, which is usually fatty; there are several sorts which are cultivated in the open air in the south of France, and particularly at Nice, for the purpose of extracting the oil which is sold to the |