and animal food. Flint is found on the exterior of the whole Graminaceous order, without exception it forms the polished surface of the Cane Palm, the grittiness of many kinds of timber; sulphur abounds in Cruciferous plants especially Mustard; copper in Coffee, Wheat, and many other plants (it is believed in a state of phosphate); iron, as peroxide, in Tobacco." Mr. B. Your extract "is confirmation strong" that one plant requires a given substance in larger quantity than another, and that the soil in which the former will grow, must contain more of this substance than need be present in a soil in which the latter will thrive. And thus it appears why certain plants abound on certain soils, and why the crops we cultivate grow better upon one soil than upon another. Our native fruits are few in number. Among these, the principal are the Strawberry, Raspberry, Red and Black Currant and Gooseberry, all of which are improved by cultivation. The latter fruit appears to arrive at greater perfection in the northern parts of the island, particularly in Aberdeenshire, where Gooseberries are said to be peculiarly delicious far surpassing those of the southern parts of the island. The Hazel is indigenous and grows wild in Scotland where in lat. 57° it ripens its nuts well at the elevation of five hundred feet above the sea. The Apple, Pear, Medlar, Plum and Cherry are also natives, but require cultivation to render their fruits of any value. All these, with the exception of the Medlar, succeed in favourable situations as far north as Inverness. The Chestnut is a doubtful native, and only succeeds in the southern parts of the island, to which the Vine, Fig, Mulberry, Quince and Walnut are chiefly confined, though they sometimes under auspicious circumstances, extend to the middle of the kingdom. The period of the introduction of some of the above species is involved in much obscurity, for history informs us that our Saxon ancestors cultivated Almonds, Figs and Grapes, but the two former appear to have been unknown at a later period, and to have been re-introduced towards the close of the sixteenth century. Gardener's Qualifications. Mr. B. The remarks of Mr. Wren Hoskyns in his "Chronicles of a clay farm" are so much to the purpose on the qualifications of farmers that the same with the transposition of a few words, may be justly applied to the qualifications of gardeners; I will, therefore, transcribe them as a fitting conclusion to our conversations for this season, on account of your other engagements during the summer evenings, and as an authorative confirmation of what I have been endeavouring, however feebly, to explain in the course of our lessons. "In Dr. Johnson's admirable little story of Rasselas, Imlac makes a long digression in order to recount to the Prince all the various things which a man ought to know who aspires to the name of a poet. Before he has half done the Prince interrupts him with an exclamation "Enough: thou hast persuaded me that no man can be a poet! Proceed with thy narration." The bare mention of the sciences with which the gardener is expected now-a-days to be familiar, often reminds me of the passage, and tempts one to exclaim with the impatient Rasselas Enough! no man can be a gardener: Let's change the subject." " So much for theory, how is it with practice? A gardener dies or leaves his situation, or is about to leave. No matter whether the garden be large or small, good or bad, within a short space of time, the Gentleman's residence is in a state of siege, his table groans under the weight of letters, he is deluged with a torrent of applications, old and young, single and married, some representing themselves as perfect in gardening in all its various departments, and others condescending to the generally useful. Pardon the extravagance of the idea, and imagine for a moment all the various applicants collected together, and the Gentleman after eyeing the multitude before him, all answering to the name of gardener, with a suppressed fit of inward laughter addressing them in the following words. "Now I will engage the Gardener who can tell me the meaning of the following words, chemistry, geology, vegetable physiology, botany, mechanics, hydraulics, hydrostatics, geometry, meteorology, natural philosophy, book-keeping, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, ammonia, soda, potash, phosphorus, sulphur, alumina, silica, calcareous, angle of 45°, diameter, circumference, pulverisation, percolation, filtration, capillary attraction, solution, precipitation. * * There! I am out of breath, I have only told you half but that will be enough for the present; You look amazed, and are laughing, but it is I who ought to laugh at you, for every one that stands before me and has made application for my gardener's situation actually undertakes to solve practically the most difficult and mysterious problems that the human mind can perform, and the man who gets it will do so, as every gardener does so every year of his life. Although he may not understand them by their proper names, they are employed in the routine of gardening operations. Of all the practical pursuits in which the mind of man can be engaged it is the one which requires the most extended knowledge of, and derives the most daily and hourly advantage from an acquaintance with what are called the physical sciences, that is, the knowledge of natural causes and effects in all matters pertaining to his profession. Explanation of characters used in this work at +(plus) signifies addition; or that the quantities between which it is placed are to be added together. Thus 5+7 denotes that 7 is to be added to 5. (equality) denotes that the respective quantities between which it is placed are equal. Thus 8+3=11, show that the sum of 8 and 3 is equal to 11. :: signifies proportion; thus 2: 4::8: 16 shows that 2 is to 4 as 8 to 16. x denotes multiplication; or that the quantities between which it is placed are to be multiplied. Thus 7 x 4 denotes that 7 is to be multiplied by 4. by 2. denotes division; thus 8÷2 signifies that 8 is to be divided A Glossary. Alkalies.- Mineral substances which serve as bases to form salts with acids; soda and potash are such alkalies. Alkaline Earths.-Earths which have the nature of alkalies, such as lime and magnesia. Alluvium.-Earth, sand, gravel, and other transported matter deposited by running water in valleys and estuaries. Alumina. The plastic principle of clay. Amorphous.-A term applied to shapeless minerals. Analysis. The chemical operation by which a compound substance is separated into its constituent parts. - Anthracite. A non-bituminous coal of metallic lustre, which occurs both metallic and slaty, called also culm. Arenaceous. Sandy, consisting of sand; from arena, sand. Asphalte. A compact bitumen. In the island of Trinidad is a lake of it, the thickness of which is unknown. It is of a brownish black colour, and shining resinous lustre. Axil. (Axilla, the arm-pit.)-The angle at which a leaf or branch unites with the stem. Bitumen. Mineral pitch, a blackish brown inflammable sub stance. Boulders.-Large, water-worn, and rounded blocks of stone. Carbon.-The solid inflammable substance of coal and wood. Charcoal and lamp-black are specimens of impure carbon; it exists in a state of the greatest purity in the diamond. Carbonate of Lime.-The earthy salt composed of carbonic acid and lime, of which statuary marble is nearly a pure specimen. Carbonic Acid Gas.-The gas formed by the combustion of carbon, by the fermentation of beer and the burning of lime. Carboniferous.-A term now generally applied to those rocks supporting the coal measures. Chalk. An extensive formation of carbonate of lime, the uppermost of the secondary rocks. It consists principally of carbonate of lime, containing numerous fossils. The upper beds are soft, and contain bands of flints; and the lowermost bed contains a considerable portion of clay, and assumes the character of a marle stone. Chlorides.-Compounds formed by the union of chlorine with metals and other substances. Common salt is a chloride of sodium. Clay. A compound earth, consisting chiefly of alumina and silica, in a state of intimate mixture, often containing carbonate of lime and magnesia. The common impure clays in which carbonate of lime much abounds, are called marles. Coal. Of this mineral there are many different kinds, which, however, they may vary in external properties, appear to be of vegetable origin. For some time this was a much disputed point, but recent investigations, by the microscope, having revealed its organic structure, leave no longer any doubt on the subject. Conglomerate or Pudding Stone.-Pebbles, or rounded fragments of rock, cemented together by stony matter, which sometimes forms immense masses. Crop out. A miner's term, signifying the appearance of the edge of an inclined stratum at the surface. Diamond. The hardest of all known substances. They are composed entirely of carbon, and are dissipated by burning, by which they are converted into carbonic acid. Diluvium.-A term commonly given to ancient beds of gravel or drift, which often extensively cover the regular strata in wide valleys and plains, and also are found on high ground and the summits of hills. Flint.-A silicious mineral, found in great abundance in the upper stratum of chalk, generally of a blackish colour, but sometimes yellow or greyish. Fluviatile. Belonging to rivers; from fluvius, a river. Fossils. The remains of plants or animals buried and petrified in the earth. Fullers' Earth.-A soft earthy mineral, formerly used for fulling cloth, but now superseded by soap. Fusion. The melting of mineral substances by heat. Gold. This precious metal occurs massive and crystalline, more or less alloyed with other metals, chiefly copper and silver. When pure it is soft, malleable and flexible, and of a pale yellow colour, and is very remarkable for resisting oxidation, or the very weak affinity it has for oxygen. Granite. An unstratified rock essentially consisting of quartz, felspar, and mica or hornblende, confusedly blended and unstratified. It is a hard igneous rock, and appears to underlie all others. Granite forms the central part of many ranges of lofty mountains, underlying all other rocks, and towering above them in sharp inaccessible peaks, a character which is strikingly exhibited in the Alps. Gravity, Specific.-The weight of a given volume of a solid fluid, or gas, as compared with some standard, 1000 parts by measure of water at 60° Farenheit, is the standard for fluids and solids; and 1000 parts of atmospheric air at the same temperature is the standard for gases and vapours. So that when the specific gravity of a solid is stated at 1500, it is 1 times the weight of water; or as 1.600, it is one and six-tenths heavier than water. Green Sand.-The stratum of sand between the chalk and the wealden formation. Gypsum.-Sulphate of lime. There are several varieties of this mineral. When compact it is called gypsum, or plaster of Paris, and when crystalized, selenite. Hornblende.-It is an abundant mineral in the so-called igneous rocks. It occurs in the green stone of Cornwall. Hydrates. Minerals chemically united with water. Many minerals contain water in a solid state. Iron Ore. It is the most abundant of all the metals, being almost universally diffused, as it constitutes the |