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could not be devoid of knowledge, nor could his mind want food for constant contemplation. The sense of beauty has hitherto been little cultivated in Great Britain; but it certainly exists, and shows itself principally in laying out gardens and pleasure-grounds with unrivalled skill. (Ed. Rev., Sept. 1828.)

ART. IX. Garden Libraries.

THE East Lothian Itinerating Juvenile and Village Libraries.-The fifth report of this Institution, for 1826 and 1827, affords a most gratifying instance of the good which it continues to do. The mass of society in England is not yet prepared for the establishment of such libraries, but we hope it soon will be; and we hope, also, that we shall soon hear of their establishment in other countries: to North America they appear particularly suitable. It appears, from this report, that similar libraries are already established there, as well as in different counties in Scotland. The following extracts will be read with interest:

"The object of this institution is to furnish all the towns and villages of the county with libraries of useful books. The books are arranged into divisions of fifty volumes, which are stationed in one place for two years, where they are issued gratuitously to all persons above twelve years of age, who agree to take care of them: after this period they are removed, or exchanged with other divisions.

"The institution is supported by the subscriptions and donations of benevolent individuals, societies, and annual reading subscribers of 3s. and upwards.

"In order to induce the readers at the different stations to promote the reading of the books amongst their neighbours, the manager will in future remove the library where there has been the fewest issues of books during the preceding two years, for at least one year.

"As it is always found that the books which have been in stationary libraries for eight or ten years are very little read, the manager of this institution [Mr. Samuel Brown, ironmonger, Haddington] is willing to send one or more divisions to the managers of such, on condition that they allow him to send an equal number of their books to another station; and if this arrangement does not give general satisfaction to their subscribers or readers, he will return their books at the general exchange, on receiving timeous notice. The great advantage of such an arrangement will appear from an experiment made in 1821 with a library at North Berwick, consisting of about 185 volumes, where the issues had fallen off to about 20 per annum. Four divisions of the itinerating libraries were exchanged for them, and sent to North Berwick, Kingston, and Fenton; the annual issues from which are now 928. On an average of six years, the annual issues

from them have been 863.

"As the county of East Lothian is an agricultural district, an agricultural branch, consisting chiefly of books on rural affairs and implements of husbandry, has been added to this institution; and the books will be kept in Haddington until they cease to be called for there, after which they will be gradually incorporated with the itinerating divisions.

"Annual subscribers of five shillings to this branch, shall be entitled to the use of the new books for the first two years, after which they shall be issued gratuitously to farm servants, grooms, foresters, and smiths and wrights engaged in the construction of implements of husbandry, and others interested in agriculture. Donations from agricultural societies and individuals to this branch shall be wholly employed in the purchase, binding,

and repairs of books on rural affairs, and the expenses incidental to them. And a statement of the intromissions of the manager on account of this branch, shall be regularly laid before the committee of the United Agricultural Society of East Lothian.

"The prison at Haddington, and two Sabbath schools in the neighbourhood, have been supplied, as in former years, from the Haddington divisions:- the sloops Christian and Margaret, the Commerce, the Expedition, .and the Countess of Haddington, have been supplied twice; the Nancy four times, and the Dispatch five times, with books for the use of their crews when at sea, from the library at North Berwick.

"The issues of the books on agriculture and rural affairs have been considerable. At the general change, in October 1827, a part of this branch was combined with the itinerating divisions; this will bring them more into contact with those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits. The manager regrets, that, in consequence of the smallness of the funds which have been subscribed for this branch, by those more immediately interested in its success, he has not been able to add so many new volumes on these subjects as he could have wished. The Glasgow Farmer's Register, and the London British Farmer's Magazine, are regularly received and circulated amongst the subscribers; and the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, which is to contain the Prize Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society, will be ordered as soon as published.

"As botany and gardening are intimately connected with agriculture, at the desire of a subscriber to that branch, Loudon's Gardener's Magazine has also been procured from its commencement, and will be continued. This publication, besides being circulated amongst the subscribers, will also be lent to the gardeners of any of the ladies and gentlemen who are donors to the institution.

"As a considerable part of the county is still unsupplied with libraries, and, as the issues at some of the present stations have not been so numerous as might have been expected, the manager, at every future exchange, will remove the division at least for one year, from the station where there have been fewest issues during the preceding two years. It is expected that this arrangement will induce the present readers, to endeavour to interest their neighbours in the perusal of the books brought within their reach, by this institution.

"There is no part of the success of the measures pursued in the management of these libraries which has afforded the manager more pleasure, than the great increase of subscribers since he adopted the plan of reserving to them, for some time, the use of the new books.

"The greatest number of annual subscribers before that arrangement was 8. The number of subscribers after that arrangement, in 1822, 64; 1823, 61; 1824, 54; 1825, 99; 1826, 110; 1827, 135.

"It has proved the possibility of rapidly supplying a county with gratuitous libraries at a very small expense to the subscribers; and at the same time giving them and their families access to a great variety of new publications, which appear, from the number of issues, to have been as gratifying to them as they will prove extensively useful to others. In consequence of there being a station for new books at North Berwick, as well as at Haddington, the manager has been enabled to furnish the subscribers with the use of a much greater number of recent publications, by mutual exchange, than could have been procured by any other arrangement.

"The success of the plan of keeping the new books for the use of subscribers, and of having different divisions of them in neighbouring towns, or in different parts of our larger cities, it is hoped, will induce other individuals and societies to adopt it; by such a measure they would promote the improvement of all classes of the community. The books belonging to the East Lothian libraries are read in the families of the first respectability in

the county, and by all classes down to the poorest and most distressed of its inhabitants.

Every year's experience convinces the manager of the East Lothian libraries of the necessity of combining gratuitous circulation with the plan of supplying the whole population with libraries, and that confining the use of the books wholly to subscribers, however small the sum required should be, will greatly impede the usefulness of such an institution. Many of the readers are young persons, whose tastes and habits are just forming, and who have no means of paying a subscription without applying to their parents, who may be either unable or unwilling to pay for them. It is, at the same time, to those young persons, and the younger branches of the families of subscribers, we are to look as the future and the best supporters of such institutions. Indeed, they have already proved to be so, to the East Lothian libraries. The Haddington Juvenile Society for the support of Missions, Schools, &c. have, from 1822 to 1827, given five donations, amounting to 197. 128., and there is reason to hope they will continue to take the same deep interest in an institution which was originally formed for their benefit.

"The manager of the East Lothian libraries returns his warmest thanks to the ladies and gentlemen, and societies, that have supported him in carrying forward an experiment, which, it is not improbable, will ultimately have considerable influence on the state of the world. The principle has already been adopted by various Seamen's Societies; it is a part of the plans of the Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for improving the Highlands, and also of the Inverness Association for promoting Education in the Highlands. A Society was formed in 1826, in Edinburgh, for supplying Mid-Lothian with such libraries. It has been introduced into Ireland, British America, and the United States, and its supporters may reasonably hope that its economy and efficiency will recommend its adoption wherever it is known.” (The Fifth Report, &c., p. 11.)

Agricultural Libraries. You have said a great deal in favour of garden libraries, for which the gardener is more indebted to you than for any thing else that you have done. Could you not add a word in favour of similar establishments for the agricultural class? We have tried it in this neighbourhood, but unsuccessfully, because they were not allowed any share in the management of it, and paid nothing for it. — A. G. Near Barnsley.

ART. X. Retrospective Criticism.

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MR. SWEET and a Blooming Bulb. Sir, Although I am fully aware that every line of the Gardener's Magazine is most valuable when treating on subjects of general interest, yet I trust you will allow the insertion of the following comments on Mr. Sweet's remarks, in your last Number, on the article signed a blooming bulb." (Vol. IV. p. 341.) Hippeastrum vittàtum feels this but an act of self-justification after Mr. Sweet's ungracious tirade, and, therefore, speaks for himself as follows:

Mr. Sweet, it appears, has taxed a Blooming Bulb with pilfering from Mr. S., the manner in which he has arrived at perfection. He assures Mr. Sweet, however, that he had already filled the offices of parent and grandsire before the appearance of the Gardener's Magazine, through which his patron first became acquainted with the Botanical Cultivator. He could call his compeers to witness, fellow-inhabitants of the frames, who, like himself, have been twisted and twisted from one pot to another, that this ordeal

has been one of long standing; a discipline, 'tis true, under which he groaned at the time, but, like a quondam riotous school-boy, now feels the full advantages of, in his maturity. He remonstrates also against the implication swallowing raw of horse-dung, or of revelling on a stew-hole in a reeking tan-pit. Hippeástrum vittàtum is far too nice, and has much more spirit, he is proud to say, than to suffer such treatment, which he candidly says would soon put him to death; but surely Mr. Sweet will allow others to know thus much of his temper as well as himself. The Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert is the personage to whom he is most indebted in this country, who has placed him in his proper rank in society with a knight's star upon his breast. All his family and kindred owe every thing to that gentleman, of whom he has heard so much in his present domicile, that possibly, from gratitude alone, he may have seconded the efforts of his guardian, who, if a pilferer according to Mr. Sweet, has to answer for the penalty to Mr. Herbert alone.”

You see, my dear sir, that H. vittàtum is sorely wroth. I cannot but commend his honest zeal, while I am sorry to say that the tone of Mr. Sweet's observations appears altogether beneath him, who, being occupied so usefully for the botanical and floricultural world, might have treated more philosophically the efforts of others, even if they seemed to trench on his own peculiar province. I might appeal to any Amaryllis man of two years' standing, whether all that is expressed in Mr. Sweet's two articles on the subject would not, per force, have developed itself to his observation in that time; nay, a great deal more must have pressed upon him, as to the treatment and soil for many of the original bulbs, which perhaps is unavoidably omitted in these communications My article was solely on H. vittatum; and designed to second the effort of M. Faldermann for the non-initiated in its culture.

As to the flippant notice with respect to the amount of the hybrids, Colville's Catalogue for 1827, which enumerates about 150, was the latest published when I addressed you on the subject. Mr. Sweet's 10,000, while they strengthen my own observations, only prove what a delightful treat is always in store for those who have an opportunity of viewing them; while the lovers of the genus who are further removed, have this additional corroboration in proof of what they can do for themselves. I remain, my dear Sir, your constant reader. — T. S. Alcock. Mount Hill, near Carmarthen.

Verbena Melíndris. Mr. Harrison, jun., in reply to the statement of Mr. Perry (Vol. IV. p. 1C6.), writes that early in March, 1828, he received seeds of this plant from Mr. Perry, but at no time plants or cuttings. He adds, " on my going up to the horticultural fete, in June following, I took a specimen of it in bloom to show some of my friends, and having the favour granted of exhibiting it to some members of the Council of the Horticultural Society, they very much admired it, and as it was presented to them, they had an undoubted right to dispose of it as they pleased, without asking either myself or any other person for leave to do so. This circumstance led to its introduction into the Botanical Register; shortly afterwards application was made to my father from the Horticul tural Society, for information relative to his knowledge of the history of the Verbèna, and how it was received into Petworth Gardens. The substance of his reply was, that it came into his possession the preceding spring, by a cutting presented by Mr. Perry, gardener to T. Hawkins, Esq., Bignor Park, Sussex; and that Mr. Perry had told me he had been successful in raising it from seeds sent from Buenos Ayres in 1826."

* Hippeastrum. Knight's Star. In allusion to the supposed resemblance in the corolla to the star worn by knights. Hence originally Amaryllis equéstris.

The Stone Pine, Pinus Pinea, and not Pinus Cémbra (as erroneously stated in an extract from the Foreign Review, and copied into the Gardener's Magazine).-Sir, In Vol. IV. p. 391., under the title of Switzerland, you speak of " the Stone Pine (Pinus Cémbra)." I respectfully conceive that you use an inaccurate expression in calling the Pinus Cembra the "Stone Pine," without more addition. The Stone Pine is the Pinus Pinea, a native of the south of Europe, and which also has an eatable fruit; but I doubt whether you will find that to be a native of the Alpine regions of Switzerland, at the elevation at which the Pinus Cembra flourishes, and I also much doubt whether you can lay claim to the like praises for the quality of its timber, as for that of the Pinus Cémbra. The Pinus Cémbra is the Aphernousli Pine, or Siberian Cedar, and its timber is undoubtedly entitled to all the praises you give it. The finest of the Riga deals are produced from this tree: the timber is peculiarly tough, and can be separated by the plane into very tenacious and flexible ribands of the whole length of the plank, for filling up fire places in summer, or similar purposes. Causidicus. November 24. 1828.

The Stone Pine is Pinus Pinea and not the Pinus Cémbra (as erroneously stated in the Gardener's Magazine. - Sir, In the last Number of your instructive Magazine (Vol. IV. p. 391.), art. Switzerland, in an extract from the Foreign Review and Continental Miscellany, for January, 1828, you speak of the Stone Pine and Pinus Cémbra as one and the same plant. An error of such magnitude is a reflection upon your so generally correct pages; and, as a contributor and well-wisher to your popular work, I hasten to correct it. Referring your readers to that article, I beg permission to inform such of them as have not made the genus Pinus their study, that the Stone Pine (Pinus Pinea) is not a native of the Alps, nor will it ripen its fruits or prosper in so cold a climate as Switzerland. It is called (I think erroneously, but that, however, in the present case, matters not) a native of Italy, where it is much cultivated in the gardens, not only for the sake of its fruit, which is considered a great delicacy, and which the natives eat both in a crude state, and mixed greatly with their dishes, puddings, for instance, &c.; but for the great beauty of its form and manner of growth, and the lovely green of its foliage in winter, so admirably

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described in Mad. de Stael's popular novel of Corinne de P'Italie.

The Pinus Cembra, or Cembran Pine, is a native of Switzerland, but rarely found now in a wild state. The inhabitants of that country have from time immemorial rooted up all they have been able to discover when young, for the purpose of planting then in their gardens, or near their houses, where they place them as emblems of good fortune, and regard them with the same sort of veneration that the Germans pay to the stork. The origin of their supersti

tious feeling for this tree I have never been able to discover.

The form and character of the two trees, are as much dissimilar as is possible for plants of the same genus. The Pinus Pínea throws up a lofty naked stem, and carries thereon a large and extended broomhead (fig. 47.), as

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