Carse of Gowrie, Irish codling, Blinkbonny seedling, Juneating, and several other kinds. In my father's garden are the Smith's and Esopus Spitzemberg, and the Rhode Island greening, and Newton pippin, all excellent apples. Of pears the following kinds : Summer and Winter bonchrétien. Doyenne blanche, Cuisse madame, Vargalien, Beurré, and Seckle. Of plums, the Bulmer Washington; purple, white, and yellow egg plums; white and green gages, large Orleans, Bingham plum, and Prince's white gage. The only kinds of cherry which succeed here are, the Kentish, Cluster, and Early mayduke. The grapes most commonly cultivated are, the White sweetwater, and Blue cluster, or Black Hamburgh; but in almost all the above gardens are the White chasselas and the Wellington, a very large and fine grape; also the Portugal grape we have also the Isabella grape cultivated, which is an indigenous grape; and I saw in the market, exhibited as a show by Mr. Leprohon from his garden, two or three bunches of the Isabella, each from 14 to 16 in. long, and about 4 or 5 in. broad at the broadest. I will obtain from Leprohon the weight of the largest bunch, and let you know it. The strawberries cultivated in the gardens of the most wealthy inhabitants, and in those of amateurs, are, the Alpines, Devonshire, Chili, Pine-apple, and by one or two (being just introduced) Wilmot's superb. The gooseberries cultivated are generally the Top sawyer, Whitesmith, Rockwood, Crown Bob, General de Rottenberg (a seedling named after a governor of the province). These are the fruits most generally introduced by the above gentlemen. With regard to floriculture, we have very fine beds of tulips, ranunculuses, anemones, auriculas, polyanthuses; in fact, of all florists' flowers; a great variety of herbaceous plants. Dahlias (or georginas, as they are more correctly_termed) have been but lately introduced; and my father (Benjamin Hart, Esq.) can boast of the best collection of them, more than twenty of the finest double dwarf and tall kinds having flowered in most splendid style at his garden (Beaulieu, near Blinkbonny), and among them Coccínea máxima, King of the Whites, King David, Purpùrea, Countess of Liverpool, Beauté d'Angleterre, Golden yellow, and Spectábilis (anemoneflowered). The whole collection was a present from Briscoe, Esq., of Firtree Grove, near Dudley. The exotics cultivated are generally pelargoniums, of about 40 kinds; camellias, 10 or 12 kinds, including the Chándleri, only one of which is in Montreal, one which I imported from Messrs. Chandler's having died; afoes, ericas, cactuses (particularly the speciosíssima), Crassulæ, Hóya, Heliotro pium, Justícia. Lobèlia fúlgens and spléndens, Jasmìnum, Nerium Oleander, Pittosporum, Prímula præ ́nitens, and many others, all of which we bloom in the windows of our houses, as the heat requisite to be kept up in winter is quite sufficient for the cultivation of the above exotics. Very few persons have green-houses here; the neatest is one which Mrs. Bingham, the lady of William Bingham, Esq., has this year caused to be attached to her house. It contains a very well selected collection of plants, and does credit to Mrs. Bingham's taste and knowledge of floriculture. I must now return to Henry Corse, Esq., whose garden, in St. Anne's suburbs, is a perfect curiosity. It is not above 80 ft. deep by about 100 ft. broad, and contains as much as many well cultivated gardens of four or five acres. Mr. Corse, who is a practical gardener, is fond of budding and grafting a number of species on the same tree, and from grafts received by him from Messrs. Landreth of Philadelphia; from the late M. Parmentier of Long Island; and from the London Horticultural Society, through one of its members; he has grafted at least twenty new kinds of pears, and fifty of apples, all on about two dozen of trees, and all his grafts are doing well. He has raised three seedling plums, one of which, Corse's seedling (I think it is so called), is as fine a plum as any I have ever tasted, and is of a very large size; it is of the magnum bonum kind. Mr. Corse is a great fancier of florists' flowers, in the raising of which he excels. We have no horticultural society in operation in Montreal. Some years ago there was one in existence, which had been carried on for a number of years, and awarded medals and silver cups as prizes for florists' flowers and for fruit; but by degrees it sunk into a kind of torpid state, in which it has remained for (now) more than eight or nine years. I consider it defunct; but whenever a proposition is made to establish a new society, up starts a member of this (cataleptic) society, and says, "Oh no! I cannot join any such society, as the Montreal Horticultural Society is still in existence:" in other words "It is not dead, only in a trance!" However, a number of amateurs are determined to throw off the shackles of this half dead and alive association, and form a horticultural society, the prospectus of which I hope ere long to send you. Before I close my letter, I beg to make a few remarks on the prospects of gardeners coming out to Canada. In Canada we have no employment for forcing-gardeners, unless it be forcing raised in hot-beds in the open air. We only wish for and would employ men who understand their trade, are something of botanists, and well-educated men. By well educated men, I mean men possessing a good English education, and who can read and write well. None but those who are industrious, honest, and sober men can hope to find employment. Once drunk, and a gardener loses the confidence of his employer; once discharged without a certificate of good conduct, and he will never obtain employment again. A gardener's wages vary from 27. to 31. 10s. and 47. per month; an assistant gardener from 17. 10s. to 27. per month. Farm labourers get here from 127. to 187. per annum; farmers from 20l. to 401., or generally on shares. Although I find that my natural love of scribbling and talking (for which faults blame my profession) has lengthened this communication to such a degree, I still must extend it a few lines, to say that we have a very capital society in existence in Montreal, "The Montreal Natural History Society," of which I am a fellow. I will hereafter send you a description of this association, and of its museum; and I will by the first favourable opportunity send the Transactions of the Quebec Literary and Historical Society, of which two volumes are published. I remain, dear Sir, yours, &c. St. Vincent Street, Montreal, Oct. 25. 1832. WE are extremely obliged to Mr. Hart for the above communication, and others which we have received from him; and we have also to thank our old and much esteemed friend, Mr. Cleghorn, for a packet and a letter. We wish we could hear from both parties frequently. — Cond. ART. III. On the Disabilities experienced by young Gardeners, in acquiring professional and general Knowledge. By SCIENTIE ET JUSTITIE AMATOR. Sir, AFTER the interesting remarks you made upon my last communication (Vol. VIII. p. 644.), it is almost unnecessary to trouble with another of a similar nature. It is indeed too you true that the evils of which we complain are undoubtedly great, and although it is rather unpleasant to reflect that the effectual removal of them can only be accomplished "in a succeeding generation," yet surely the consideration that our efforts may in the least be instrumental for bettering the condition of our brethren will more than induce us to use every means in our power" for impressing upon the minds of all" the great im portance of disseminating knowledge as one of the means by which this great end is to be gained. In proportion as advantages for mental cultivation are enjoyed and made use of by the different classes of society, we may expect to see an honourable noble-minded population. It was long the boast of gardeners to be looked up to as a class of men rather superior in their mental attainments. For, independently of many of the operations of our art being the most delightful in which man can be engaged, the beholding of the beauties of nature instinctively leads to an investigation of the properties of the objects with which we are daily conversant; and thus a principle of enquiry being produced, and the pursuit of knowledge appearing in a form more alluring to the gardener than it generally did to the mechanic, the supposed superiority of the former was the consequence. I say was, for I am not prepared to show that now it is the case. The long-slumbering spirit of research being at length aroused, a wonderful alteration has been produced in the intellectual capacities of our countrymen. But while other classes of operatives have their libraries and reading rooms, their debating clubs, and mutual instruction societies, their prize essays, and institutions for the dissemination of science; all operating as so many breezes for wafting them with full-extended sails along the tide of improvement; not only are young gardeners in general deprived of these advantages, but often additional obstacles are put in their way, so that many of those who have been able to keep pace with the age, may be said to have done so, more in spite of opposing circumstances, than from the fostering care they experienced. As the exposing of an evil is generally the first step towards its extermination, I shall, in addition to low wages, and want of proper encouragement, advert to several of the disadvantages to which we are frequently exposed, in our pursuit of general and professional knowledge. The first impediment to many a young man begins to act as soon as he commences the profession. If he serves his time in a small establishment, he is likely to acquire a pretty good practical knowledge of his profession, as his master will converse freely with him, and give him all the information in his power. But, as the minds of youth are very susceptible of being struck with admiration of external splendour, he becomes anxious to receive his first instructions in some celebrated establishment, and willingly agrees to pay a high apprentice fee, in the expectation that he will be more initiated in the principles of the art, and finally be better qualified for, and more likely to receive, a respectable situation. Often is this hope disappointed. The master, instead of encouraging the inquisitive disposition so common to youth, seldom deigns to speak to him at all, and, from his keeping such a distance, the young man cannot summon the assurance to ask him to explain any thing that may appear a difficulty. In circumstances such as these, there is generally a foreman who exercises a sufficiently hectoring authority over the men, but who often possesses neither the ability nor the willingness to impart much useful information; and his conduct towards the journeymen (along with whom the apprentice is employed) being any thing but calculated to insure respect, they will take every opportunity of exposing his faults to each other, and holding up his operations to ridicule, so that the young man, although anxious for information, can come to no certainty in forming his ideas; but, soon seeing through some inconsistencies, both of journeymen and foreman, and acquiring the art of using his tools as dexterously as any of them, he builds himself up in his own self-sufficiency, the greatest barrier to every improvement, and seldom perceives his error until, when placed in different circumstances, he finds, to his sorrow, that, instead of being a proficient, he has his business still to learn. These things ought not to be. The occupation of a gardener is different from most others. Many of the operations of our art are so simple that they may be performed by any one. The laws and principles upon which these operations are founded are not so easily attainable, and the master-gardener who gives not instruction on these points to his apprentice, or does not cause them to be given, is guilty of little less than unjustly defrauding the young man of his money, and robbing him of his time, that most precious of all treasures. In former days, when a man had served his apprenticeship, the means of acquiring a farther knowledge of his profession were laid open to him, his good conduct and strict attention to his duty being sufficient recommendations for enabling him to gain admittance into the most respectable establishments. Very different is the case now. From the superabundance of hands, not only is there a difficulty in procuring a journeyman's situation, but the practice is becoming common of shutting the gates of extensive establishments upon those who are either unable or unwilling to pay a premium to the master. I know of no other class of operatives that are exposed to this humiliating necessity. There are certain cases where the practice may be justifiable. When a man, after great attention and trouble, succeeds in cultivating, to a great degree of perfection, any department of the vegetable world, he cannot be found fault with for taking a compensation from those who M + |