We would strongly recommend that the town of Southampton should imitate the city of Philadelphia, and have a committee of taste, composed of architects, engineers, and amateurs, with power to call in the assistance of professional men from London or elsewhere, to which all designs for buildings whatever should be submitted before any attempt was made to carry them into execution. We would by no means have all the designs corrected by one architect, as is the case in some cities on the Continent, however great the genius and abilities of that architect might be, lest we should introduce a sameness of manner; but, when a design was disapproved of, we would desire the parties to bring fresh ones, pointing out the faults of those that we rejected, by which means we should hope to unite a certain degree of originality with sound sense and good taste.

It seems that in Southampton there is a great objection to employing any other talent than that of persons located in the town, which is a most contracted idea, calculated to perpetuate things as they are, and impede every great improvement; in short, calculated to have the same effect as the doctrine of precedents, which is now held up as an infallible guide in Gothic architecture by the Camden Society, which may truly be called a society for impeding the progress of architecture in the Gothic style. Precedents, whether in architecture, agriculture, or any other art, we hold to be the greatest bane to all improvement.

Public Walks. These should be provided for in different parts of the town, and especially all along the shore from one end of the quay to the other. It is a delightful thing to see trees growing vigorously along the sea-shore; but in addition to the elms and limes, which are the only kinds growing there at present, we would add common, Neapolitan, Norway, and other maples, hoary poplars, Turkey oaks, and a number of others which stand the sea breeze. Some broad streets might be planted with rows of trees on each side; and something of the nature of a boulevard or of a zone, such as we have recommended for the extension of London (Vol. for 1829, p. 687. fig. 171.), with trees and broad expanses of turf, might be carried from the quays up to some open places in the New Town, so as to form very handsome drives and walks, and to insure breathingplaces of several acres of turf, and ventilation for all the inhabitants. The walks which now exist are very deficient in good seats and there ought also to be covered seats along the quays for protection from the sun during summer, or the rain during winter.

If a suitable situation could be found, an arboretum, or a complete collection of trees and shrubs, would be a very desirable addition. We hope, however, that no attempt will be

made to plant an arboretum on less ground than forty or fifty acres. That extent of ground might be purchased on a building speculation, the interior planted as an arboretum, and the circumference built on, either with detached villas, or with continuous rows of houses, as in the Regent's Park.

An additional supply of water to the town is now sought for by sinking an artesian well, the depth of which at present is 1170 ft., and the cost hitherto is 12,000l. The chalk is believed to be nearly gone through, so that it is hoped water will speedily be obtained, and we trust this will be the case. If this resource should fail, however, there are others which can be rendered available, so that there is no doubt of the town being in time abundantly supplied with excellent water.

The Vegetable and Fruit Market at Southampton is a century behind Covent Garden. We could not have believed it possible that such wretched cabbages, turnips, and even potatoes, could have been exposed for sale; and the fruit, more especially the apples and pears, is still worse than the vegetables. A spirited market-gardener from London, who might settle in the neighbourhood of Southampton, would be sure to do well, as fine fruit and vegetables generally only need to be seen to command a sale. As to flowers, we do not recollect ever seeing so large a town with so few, on the window-sills, in the shops, or in the little front gardens, of which, however, there are scarcely any. How different from Brighton! though the latter place is much more exposed to the sea breeze, and in a colder climate.

Evening Shelters for Working Men. Some years ago, in autumn, we stopped all night in the little town of Romsey, and we were struck with the number of workmen standing in groups in the market-place, and before the doors of publichouses, even after it was dark. It immediately occurred to us, that a plan which has been adopted by some of the tradesmen of London for their unmarried journeymen and apprentices, would be a very great source of comfort to the Romsey labourers, whom we presumed to be also single men, with no other home than perhaps a garret bed, and consequently without any place in which they could spend the evening, except the public-house. What we then proposed for Romsey, we now propose for Southampton, viz. that there should be rooms. opened here and there throughout the town, furnished with a table, forms, and seats; and, when the nights were dark and cold, with a fire and candles. On the table there should be a number of cheap publications, such as Chambers's Journal, the Penny Magazine, &c. One man should have the care of the room, and should be entitled to charge a halfpenny for every one who entered it. It should also be a part of his duty, if the company in the room requested it, to read aloud to them, or

in some way or other to amuse them, no smoking or drinking being allowed. It is obvious that this would add greatly to the comfort of that part of the labouring population who had no regular home, even if they did nothing but sit and sleep there; and the expense to the town would not be great. The moral character of the population would, in time, be very considerably improved. The rooms might be taken in some of the back streets, where houses are cheap. We have no doubt there are many young men in Southampton that would volunteer to deliver lectures, or to recite amusing or instructive passages from books, or otherwise to entertain the occupants of such rooms for an hour or two in the long winter evenings. The rooms ought to be closed at 9 o'clock at the very latest, for every labouring man ought to be in his bed at that hour.

Naming the Streets and numbering the Houses.—Great improvements have been made within the last few years in the raised letters used in naming streets, particularly in Paris and Edinburgh. The best mode, we believe, is that described by the late Sir John Robison, under the signature "Civis." (See p. 88.) The numbers of the houses ought, as in Paris and many of the new streets in London, to have the odd numbers on one side, and the even ones on the other: and the numbers ought always to commence at the same extremity of the street, at the end nearest say the south for streets in the direction of north and south, and at the east end of streets running east and west. By examining the map of Paris, many excellent hints will be obtained for street arrangements.

Regulating the Charges made by Cabs, Flies, &c.-The impositions of the cabinen, coachmen, and flymen, plying at the termini of the railroads, is notorious to every railroad traveller; and, indeed, the drivers of hackney vehicles, wherever they may be stationed, or by whom employed, seldom fail attempting to overreach their employers. The remedy for this, in the interior of towns, appears to us to consist in appointing a great number of places, where every quarrel with regard to charge may be adjusted; and, in regard to railroads, we think an officer ought to be appointed by the directors to determine all fares of cabs, flies, or coaches, and that the determination of this officer should be considered to be final by all those who ply for fares at the termini. This officer should be stationed as a sort of outpost, in such a situation as that all the carriages going in and out should pass before him; and the driver of each hackney vehicle as it passed in, of which the fare was not agreed on between the driver and the hirer, should apply to the officer, showing the luggage, &c., and stating whence he came, or whither he was going, so that the charge might be settled at once. Some arrangement of this kind appears to us absolutely necessary; and we think

the directors of railroads, who have already done so much for the comfort of the public, ought not to grudge the additional charge which such an officer as the one we contemplate would involve.

Perhaps, in the interior of towns, a number of the more respectable shopkeepers might be found willing to undertake the office of settling cab and hackney fares; and of course no cab, or other public vehicle plying for hire, ought to be licensed, whose proprietor would not assent to this arrangement.

The names of the shopkeepers who would undertake to settle fares, the fares themselves, and all other regulations concerning them, ought to be printed in a distinct type, and fixed up in a conspicuous place in every public vehicle, as in Paris. As a proof that this would be useful in Southampton, we may state that, when we were there, we were charged 2s. 6d. from the terminus to the pier on one occasion, though the fixed fare, as we learned afterwards, is only 1s.; and on another occasion we also paid 2s. 6d. where the fixed fare was 1s. The circumstance of the fares being fixed was of no use to us, because we had no opportunity of knowing them till after we had yielded to the imposition; whereas, had the fares been printed and fixed up in the vehicle, as in Paris, we or any other stranger would have been immediately aware of the right sum we ought to have paid.

The shops, owing to the warm moist air of Southampton, are infested with flies to an almost incredible degree; but, as most of these shops are without cross lights, the flies might be easily prevented from entering them by the very simple, economical, and efficient mode adopted in the butchers' shops in Italy, and first brought into notice in this country by William Spence, Esq., being published in the Trans. Ent. Soc., and also in our Vol. for 1836, p. 264., and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1834, p. 271. This mode consists in the application, against the open door or open door or open window, of a very wide-meshed black net; and we observed, in the summer of 1842, that the plan has been adopted by the butchers of Torquay, with perfect success. In Southampton it is much wanted, not only in the butchers' shops, but in grocers', confectioners', and fruit shops. The inhabitants, however, have not a sufficient repugnance to flies, beetles (which are singularly abundant, at least in Bernard Street), and other vermin, with the exception of the rat and the mouse, to care much about them.

The Vineyard, C. Hoare, Esq., at Shirley, about two miles from Southampton, is a very interesting place, from the experiments on vines now carrying on there by the proprietor. The house is a gem of beauty, by Mr. Elliott of Chichester. The principle of the concentration of the sap is carried by Mr. Hoare to an extreme degree; and it will not be surprising to us

if he effects a great revolution in grape-growing, both in the open air and under glass. The grounds of this villa occupy two banks almost entirely of gravel, and which, before the land was purchased by Mr. Hoare, grew little else but heath, dwarf furze, and brambles. The bank on which the house is placed, and the vineyard established, is a curve, the tangent to which would probably form an angle of from 35° to 45° with the horizon, and faces the south-east. The greater part of this bank is to be devoted to the culture of the vine, against low brick walls about the height of those at Thomery, in glazed pits, and larger glazed structures, and perhaps trained round hollow brick columns, provided some experiments now in progress succeed as well as they promise to do. On the upper part of this bank stands the house; and in the bottom, between the two banks, is a running stream. On the opposite bank Mr. Hoare has planted a pine wood, which has already an excellent effect, besides its utility in shutting out the rising village.

As something more may probably be expected from us respecting the mode of cultivating the vine at Shirley, we may observe that Mr. Hoare does not profess to have any thing new on that point. It is based, he says, on the principles laid down in his Treatise, without the slightest deviation whatever. Indeed, the result of every year's experience strengthens and confirms those principles, and proves to Mr. Hoare, beyond the possibility of doubt, that they cannot be transgressed with impunity. He further observes that some of the principles he has laid down may even be carried to a greater extent than he has stated, and with very considerable advantage. Two of these, he says, are, that which enforces the necessity of having a perfectly dry soil for vines to root in, and that of limiting the quantity of fruit that a vine ought to be permitted to bring to maturation. Mr. Hoare hopes shortly to establish the fact that vines will perfect their fruit, with far greater ease and certainty, when planted in a mass of dry materials to the exclusion of soil, than they have hitherto done when planted in the usual way. And he flatters himself that this will ultimately be one of the greatest improvements ever yet introduced into the horticultural practice of this country. With reference to the sorts Mr. Hoare cultivates, the two principal are the White Muscadine and the Black Hamburgh, which he considers are the very best that can be grown for general purposes.

Ön asking Mr. Hoare's opinion of Mr. Roberts's practice of thinning the buds while the leaves are yet on, his answer was, that he thought it a good one; and, in fact, another step taken in the right direction, viz., in concentrating the sap, which must be constantly attended to in this country on account of the deficiency of solar heat. The direct advantages of the practice