pain distracted her so much that she desired death; observing a bottle with poison written on it, she took it and swallowed its contents. The wine, for such it had become, overpowered the lady, who fell into a sound sleep, and awoke much refreshed. Delighted with the remedy, she repeated the doses so often that the king's poison was all drunk. He soon discovered this, and forced the lady to confess what she had done. A quantity of wine was made, and Jemsheed and all his court drank of this new beverage, which, from the manner of its discovery, is to this day known in Persia by the name of zeher-e-khoosh, or the delightful poison. PEAT EARTH.-To an inexperienced eye, peat earth, so much used for growing American plants, &c., would appear, from its dark colour, to be as rich as the best vegetable mould; but it is not so in fact; for we often find tracks of peat land as barren as the desert. The excess of vegetable matter, indeed, appears to be injurious rather than useful, and requires to be less in quantity, and to have its fibrous texture destroyed. Unless it is connected by a mixture of the firmer earths, it is too porous and loose; too easily saturated with moisture, and too easily freed from it. GERMAN METHOD OF PROCURING FLOWERS IN WINter. -According to the Recueil Industrielle, the following method of expediting vegetation at will is practised in Germany. A branch, proportioned to the size of the object required, is sawn off the tree, the flowers of which are to be produced, and is plunged into a spring, if one can be found, where it is left for an hour or two, to give time for such ice as may adhere to the bark to melt, and to soften the buds; it is then carried into a chamber heated by a stove, and placed in a wooden vessel, containing water; quick-lime is to be added to the water, and left for twelve hours. The branch is then to be removed into another vessel containing fresh water, with a small quantity of vitriol, to prevent its becoming putrid. In a few hours the flowers will begin to appear, and afterwards the leaves. If more quick lime be used, the flowers will appear quicker; if, on the contrary, none be used, the branch will vegetate more slowly, and the leaves will precede the flowers. BRITISH GRASSES.-The late Mr. Curtis had squares of live-turf sent him from all parts of the empire-particularly from pastures famous for their richness: and these he cultivated with care, for the purpose of comparison, and discovering the sorts of grasses, upon which the rich quality of the pastures, whence they were taken, depended. A comparative view of our British grasses of a similar kind may be seen, we are informed, at the nursery of Messrs. Cormack and Sinclair, New-cross, near Deptford,-a field being appropriated for the purpose of growing patches of all the agricultural grasses. From the high character of one of the partners, Mr. Sinclair, author of 'the Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis,' in this particular line, this grassfield must be a very interesting sight to agriculturists and graziers, as well as to botanists. These PRUSSIAN WINter Gardens.-Winter gardens, as far as I know, exist no where else but in Prussia. In Potsdam we have only one-that of M. Voight, very good and very highly kept; but at Berlin there are four-M. Teichmann's, in the Thiergarten; Faust's and George's, both within the town walls; and Moeve's, on the Potsdam road. The original of these gardens was established by M. Bouché soon after the time of the general peace; but his garden is now quite neglected; and the leading establishment, ever since 1818, has been M. Teichmann's. gardens are simply large green-houses, or what would be called in England orangeries, with paved floors, a lofty ceiling plastered like that of a room, and upright windows in front. The air is heated by stoves, which are supplied with fuel from behind. On the floor are placed here and there large orange-trees, myrtles, and various New Holland plants in boxes. The plants are mostly such as have a single stem of at least three or four feet in height, and round the stem and over the boxes a table is formed by properly contrived boards, so that the tree appears to be growing out of the centre of the table. These tables, which are sometimes round and sometimes square, are for the use of guests, either to take refreshments, or for pamphlets and newspapers. Sometimes on each table there is a circle of handsome odoriferous plants, such as hyacinths, narcissuses, mignonette, &c., in pots, round the stem of the plant; in other cases, there is no table, but the box is covered with handsome flowering plants; and in some parts of the floor, one handsome tree in the middle is surrounded by several smaller trees and plants, so as to form a mass, or clumps of verdure and flowers, such as we see in the pleasure-grounds. The flowers which are generally found in these winter gardens throughout the season are hyacinths, narcissuses, ranunculuses, tulips, crocuses, roses, heaths, camellias, acacias, epacrises, correas, &c. There are also various climbers, curious or showy stove-plants, pine-apples in fruit, cactuses, &c., and sometimes even fruit-trees, the latter both in flower and in fruit. The proprietors of these gardens have generally small forcing-stoves, for the purpose of bringing forward and keeping up their supplies. It is almost needless to say, that in these gardens or orangeries there are plenty of seats, and small moveable tables, and generally music, a reciter of poetry, a reader, a lecturer, or some other person or party to supply vocal or intellectual entertainment; short plays have been acted on the Sundays. In the evening the whole is illuminated, and on certain days of the week the music and illuminations are on a grander scale. In some of these orangeries also there are separate saloons with billiards, for ladies who object to the smoke of tobacco, for card-playing, and for select parties. If you enter these gardens in the morning part of the day during the winter season, you will find old gentlemen with spectacles reading the newspapers, taking chocolate, and talking politics; after three o'clock you see ladies and gentlemen, and people of every description, sitting among the trees, talking or reading, and smoking, and with punch, grog, coffee, beer, and wine before them. In the saloon you will see those gentlemen and ladies who cannot bear tobacco; and I ought to mention that in some orangeries smoking is not allowed, and in others it is only permitted till a certain time in the day. When the audience leaves the theatre in the evening, you will find in M. Faust's garden a great number of well-dressed people of both sexes, who look in there before they go home, to see the beauty of vegetation when brilliantly illuminated by artificial light, and to talk of the play and players. I saw no garden in England, Scotland, or Ireland that I could compare to these winter gardens; they appear to me very suitable to a capital town, though I do not think they would be much frequented by the people of London, who have not the same taste, nor the same leisure, for this kind of amusements that the Berlin people have. BONE MANURE.-Experiments have lately been made with bones reduced to dust, or broken into pieces of the size of a walnut, for manuring land; and it has been found to be very beneficial in silicious, sandy soil, in the quantity of thirty-six bushels per acre; but in calcareous, stony land, the bones seemed to have no effect whatever, though laid on in still greater quantity. CULTURE OF SILK.-Silk is mentioned by Virgil in his Georgics, and by Pliny. It was imported into Rome and Constantinople from China, partly overland, and partly by Ceylon and the Red Sea. In the time of Justinian, about the year 552, the eggs and the mode of rearing the silkworm were first introduced at Constantinople from China, by two Persian monks who had resided in China. The cultivation and manufacture of silk was afterwards diffused in Greece. The Arabs learnt it from the Greeks, and introduced it into Lisbon and Almeira. The Normans, when they possessed Sicily, and made an inroad into Greece, carried off silk growers, and manufacturers from Peloponnesus, and established the manufacture of silk in Sicily. From Sicily it spread into Italy; and in the 13th century the Republic of Lucca possessed a monopoly of silk exclusively among the other Republics of Italy. White mulberry-trees are planted in the country between Berlin and Dresden; but the culture of the silkworm has not succeeded to any extent in that climate, where the cold is so considerable. The climate was also found contrary to the culture of silk in England, where it was attempted in the reign of James I. THE BALM OF MECCA.-Szafra and Beder are the only places in the Hedjaz where the balsam of Mecca, or balesan, can be procured in a pure state. The tree from which it is collected grows in the neighbouring mountains, but principally upon Dejebel Sobh, and is called by the Arabs "beshem." It is from ten to fifteen feet high, with a smooth trunk, and thin bark. In the middle of summer small incisions are made in the bark; and the juice, which immediately issues, is taken off with the thumb-nail, and put into a vessel; it has a strong turpentine smell, and its taste is bitter. The people of Szafra usually adulterate it with sesasum oil and tar. THE BLACK TARTARIAN CHERRY.-This cherry is generally considered to have been brought into this country by the late Mr. John Frazer, from Russia. In the account given of it in the Pomona Londonensis, it is stated to have been introduced from Circassia, by Mr. Hugh Ronalds, of Brentford, in 1794. We have also heard it said that it origiginated in Spain, whence it was transmitted to Russian gardens, and through them into England. It is a cherry of great excellence, bearing well as a standard, but doing best on an east or west wall, on which its branches are usually loaded with a profusion of rich and handsome fruit. It has received in our garden a variety of names. COTTON. This plant grows in the forests of the torrid regions of Africa and America on tall thorny trees, in India on a lofty shrub, and in Malta and the islands of the Archipelago on an herbaceous plant. "In Guzerat," as is related in Forbes's Oriental Memoirs, "the rice and cotton U fields are planted at the commencement of the rainy season in June. The former is sown in furrows, and reaped in about three months; the cotton shrub, which grows to the height of three or four feet, and in verdure resembles the currant bush, requires a longer time to bring its delicate produce to perfection. These shrubs, planted between the rows of rice, neither impede its growth nor prevent its being reaped. Soon after the rice harvest is over, they put forth a beautiful yellow flower, with a crimson eye in each petal; this is succeeded by a green pod filled with a white stringy pulp; the pod turns brown and hard as it ripens, and then separates into two or three divisions, containing the cotton. A luxuriant field, exhibiting at the same time the expanding blossom, the bursting capsule, and the snowy flakes of ripe cotton, is one of the most beautiful objects in the agriculture of Hindostan. Herodotus says the Indians, in his time, possessed a kind of plant which, instead of fruit, produced wool of a finer and better quality than that of sheep, of which the natives made their clothes; this plant was, no doubt, the same as the modern cotton of India." EVENING TIME. "At evening time let there be light:" At evening time let there be light: Stormy and dark hath been my day; Yet rose the morn divinely bright, Dews, birds, and blossoms cheered the way: At evening time let there be light. At evening time there shall be light: For God hath spoken; it must be: Fear, doubt, and anguish, take their flight, His glory now is risen on me; Mine eyes shall his salvation see. -'Tis evening time, and there is light. JAMES MONTGOMERY. THE MAHOGANY TREE-Dr. Hooker, in his Botanical Miscellany, speaking of this tree, says, "The uses of mahogany wood are too well known to render it necessary for me to mention them in this place, further than to say that almost all our valuable furniture is formed of it, and that it |