ENGLISH GARDENS.

217

stream may be seen flowing rapidly, now and then stickling, to use a Devonshire phrase, over a pavement of either pebbles or ragstone. A little rill descends by the side of the lane, and close to the hedge of the cottage, which is approached by a broad steppingstone over the rill, and beyond it is a gate made of rough sticks, which leads to the cottage. At a short distance, an excavation has been cut out of the bank, and paved round with rough stones, into which the water finds its way, clear and sparkling. This is the cottager's well. His Garden is gay with flowers. His Bees are placed on each side of a window surrounded with Honeysuckles, Jessamine, or a flourishing Vine, and the rustic porch is covered with these or other creepers. Here, also, the gorgeous Hollyhock may be seen in perfection, for it delights in the rich red soil of Devonshire. Giant-stocks, Carnations, and China-asters flourish from the same cause; and make the Garden appear as though it belonged to Flora herself.

Nor must the little Orchard be forgotten. The Apple-trees slope with the hill, and in the Spring are covered with a profusion of the most beautiful blossom, and in the Autumn are generally weighed down with their load of red fruit. Under them may be seen a crop of Potatoes, and in another part of the Garden those fine Paington Cabbages, one of the best vegetables of the County. In a sheltered nook is the thatched pig-sty, partly concealed by the round yellow

faced Sunflower, which serves both as a screen and as an ornament. The mud or cob walls of the cottage, add to its picturesque appearance, when partly covered with creepers, and surrounded with flowers.

I have, on more than one occasion, expressed my admiration of the agricultural population of England; and I trust that the time is not far distant, when each individual amongst them will have an allotment of land, at a fair rent, for the better maintenance of himself and his family, not in common fields, but attached to each house.

The taste for Gardens, however, is not confined to the rural districts. Round the town of Birmingham, for instance, there are some hundreds of small Gardens, which are diligently cultivated by the working classes. Each Garden has a little covered seat, where the owner has his glass of ale, and smokes his pipe, at the close of the evening; and here the finest Auriculas, Polyanthuses, Carnations, &c. are to be met with. They are cultivated with the utmost skill and care, and may vie with any produced in this country. I have also been informed that our Spitalfield weavers have the same fondness for Flowers, and are also amongst our best collectors of insects. In some other districts, Tulips are successfully cultivated, and in others the Ranunculus and Anemone. One man is celebrated for his fine Stocks, another for his Pansies, while a third will produce Gooseberries unrivalled for size, or Wall-flowers of the darkest hue,

LOVE OF FLOWERS.

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I am assured, that great and deplorable as the distress often was at Birmingham, a man would sell his clothes, his furniture, indeed all that he possessed, sooner than part with his beloved Garden.

Flowers are cultivated to a considerable extent, and with great success, in the neighbourhood of London, and especially in some parts of Surrey, in which County there are many Exhibitions of Flowers every year. Here the rich and poor may be seen assembled together, each either admiring or criticising particular blooms, and the poor man appearing perfectly competent to appreciate their peculiar merits. It always affords me pleasure to witness these meetings, and to watch the gleam of satisfaction in the countenance of some cottager, when his flowers have been praised, or his well-cultivated shew of Potatoes or Apples has obtained for him some trifling prize.

Persons of influence, residing in the country, should do their utmost to encourage the cultivation not only of Flowers, but of Vegetables and Bees, amongst their poorer neighbours. It not only tends to keep them out of beer-houses, those curses of the labouring man in this country, but improves their minds, their habits, and health. An amiable florist has observed, that the love of Flowers is one of the earliest impressions, which the dawning of reason implants in the human mind; and that happy are the parents of children in whose imaginations this desirable predilection is early evinced. It inculcates a salutary habit of rea

soning and thinking on subjects worthy of exercising the thoughts, and is calculated to improve them. It gradually trains the mind to the study and observance of that most instructive volume, the Book of Nature. The passion for Flowers is, indeed, one of the most enduring and permanent of all enjoyments. At the coming of each revolving Spring, we anxiously return to our loved and favourite pursuit. With joy and delight we perceive that

Ethereal mildness is come,

and that the glory of reviving nature is returned.

A few years ago, the only eminent landscapegardener at that time in France brought me a letter of introduction. His chief object was to see the Gardens of private individuals, of which he said he had heard so much. I took him to several; and his astonishment at seeing the well-kept gardens, the rare plants in them, and the verdant lawns, was unbounded. He was constantly exclaiming, "Votre gazon! nous n'avons pas de gazon en France." He wondered at the expense the English went to in having their lawns so constantly mown, and at the appearance of comfort and luxury which he witnessed at the residence of a country gentleman. Nor were our cottage gardens overlooked by him. He had evidently seen nothing like them; and confessed that the fondness of the English of all classes for Flowers must be unbounded: and so it is. It is

one of the characteristics of our country, aud long may it remain so.

An English labourer may make his Garden a source of profit as well as of pleasure, if he is encouraged to keep Bees. I have had much experience in these insects, and I am persuaded that almost any Cottager may with a little management pay at least the rent of his Cottage by the produce of his hives. These insects will work earlier and later than himself, and store up their honey while he is at work. He has therefore little to do, but to hive them when they

swarm.

In order, however, to make them profitable, they should never be destroyed. In doing so, at least 36,000 industrious insects are immolated at each time. The following instructions, if attended to, will prevent this cruel and unnecessary slaughter. Before, however, I proceed to give them, I may mention that, independent of the profit to be derived from his Bees, they afford the Cottager an instructive example, by which he may, in many instances, govern his own conduct. He may perceive their cleanliness, their indefatigable industry, their saving habits, their early. rising, their cheerfulness and loyalty. Indeed in the vast creation of insects (for vast it is) there is not one whose history presents to us such a prodigious number of wonders as the Bee. This insect, so weak, so small in appearance, is seen working without relaxation in collecting the materials for its habitation, in using