CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 499 increase of our population, to diminish the of life which increase public and private happiness. width of our streets and the dimensions of our building lots, and sell grounds for the purpose of being covered with buildings which were intended originally to be kept open for the ornament of the city, and the public benefit of its inhabitants. So many modes of destruction to human life have been opened to us through the progress of modern inventions by the aid of railways, steam boats, etc., that although it may seem inconsistent with the "manifest destiny" of Young America to attend to old modes of doing anything, yet, as we have Scripture warrant for the belief that it is better to save life than to kill, we hope that one of the old modes of preserving life and health by the aids of pure air and cleanliness, and room for freedom of movement, may be tolerated; and if we must sacrifice so many of those who travel, that we may be permitted to pay a little more attention to the preservation of those who stay at home, and to guard them as far as practicable from the diseases generated in large cities, through the neglect of those hygienic aids which may and ought to be offered to all the citizens. Where so much ground is covered with brick and mortar, and so much with that filth in which is sowed the seeds of disease, as is the case in this and other large cities, strict attention to all matters affecting the public health is an imperative duty imposed upon the guardians of the public weal. And although they can not prevent those deaths. which are caused by the carlessness of those who consider nothing so important as to go ahead, yet they can lessen the number of those slow and lingering deaths caused by unwholesome alleys and streets, and the want of a healthy atmosphere, for those who devote their lives to toil, for the production of those comforts and conveniences The Cincinnati Horticultural Society, an institution established for the promotion of the public welfare, and which refers to the history of its proceedings for proof of its zeal and fidelity to that object, offers the aid of the taste and judgment of its members in the improvement of the public grounds of the city; and their services, whenever considered desirable, will be cheerfully given in aid of all such public works as may be benefitted by their knowledge and experience. All of which is respectfully submitted, JOHN LEA, GEORGE HILL, JAS. W. WARD, Com. of Cin. Hort. Society. List of tracts of land which the above committee have ascertained can be procured on suitable terms: both sides of the northern boundary of the 150 acres belonging to G. W. Burnet, on city. 15 acres belonging to G. K. Shoenberger, on Vine street hill. Also, on Vine street hill, the following lots may be obtained, which could be united in one park; 7 acres belonging to G. Graham; J. Hall, 2 acres ; Mrs. Thompson, 3acres; A. Shawk, 3 acres; N. T. Horton, 10 acres. Climate and Productions. HAVING shown the variety of causes. which affect the temperature and climate, in previous numbers, we now add a concise view of the productions which belong to each. These facts may be presented in various forms. The shortest and most comprehensive is the following: The equatorial zone is the region of palms and bananas. The tropical, of tree ferns and figs. The sub-artic, of rhododendrons. The following statement of the vegetation of different latitudes has been given by good authority: The northern limit of fine spices, do. do. do, do. do. sugar-cane and coffee, cotton and olives, wine grape, wheat, cultivation, grows in the valleys. Bamboos reach a large size. Similar to the last are the regions of the Indian archipelago, tropical India and Ceylon. Pines, oaks, rhododendrons, magnolias, valerians, honeysuckles, oleanders, gentians, etc., are indigenous. Palm trees are abundant, Jungle and dense pestilential woods abound on the smaller islands and on the coasts of the larger. Mangrove, bamboos, gutta percha and the teak are also found. On the plains of Hindostan we find 450 arborescent and tree-like ferns and orchi520 deous plants. The orange tribe is a native of India, as also the ginger tribes, banana, guava, mango, date, cocoa-nut, plantain, etc., with cotton, figs and camphor. Rice is supposed to be indigenous to south-eastern Asia. 250 300 400 590 A more detailed statement is given thus in one of the manuals : The range of the indigenous or natural growth of maize, Indian corn and tobacco, 400 S. to 500 N. Sugar-cane and coffee, 300 S. to 300 N. Rice, cotton, olive, fig, almond, Pepper, spices and fine gums, Wine grape, 370 S. to 400 N 200 S. to 200 N. 230 S. to 230 N, 230 S. to 240 N. 240 S. to 250 N. 230 S. to 230 N. 15° to 40° S. 250 to Barley, apples, pine, etc. Important differences, however, exist in different localities of the same latitude and having the same climate. Thus, in the temperate zones of the Eastern continent, and especially of middle Europe, the soil is composed of volcanic rocks, which furnish abundance of alkali, and is covered with oaks, elms, beech, ash, larch, maple, lime, alder and sycamore trees-all of which are deciduous, that is, drop their leaves in autumn-mixed occasionally also with fir or pine. The undergrowth consists of wild apples, cherry, yew, holly, hawthorn, broom, furze, wild rose, honeysuckle, clematis, etc. Further south, evergreen trees and shrubs become more frequent, while their Flora consists of ilex, oak, cypress, hornbeam, sweet chestnut, laurel, laurestinus, the apple tribe, manna, jujube, juniper, terebinths and other plants which yield resin and mastic, the arbutus, myrtle, jessamine, etc. The Malayan peninsular, beyond the Ganges, is the land of dye-woods of vivid hues, of spices and medicinal drugs. Teak is plentiful. Seven species of native oak are found there, as also tamias, cycadeæ, orchideæ, tree ferns, etc. The Palmyra palm The vegetation of western Asia resembles that of India at one extremity, and Europe at the other. Syria and Asia Minor, like other countries on the Mediterranean, form a sort of transition region, where the plants of the temperate and tropical regions are united. In Asia Minor, are the cherry, almond, cleander, syringa, locust, etc. In Persia, the walnut, peach, melon, cucumber, hyacinth, ranunculus, etc. In Syria, the date, palm, fig, olive, mulberry, damask rose, etc. In Armenia, the vine and apricot; while the last is found everywhere in middle and Northern Asia. In the more sheltered regions are the sugar-cane, date, palmetto, palms, mimosas, acacias, asclepias gigantea; and on the mountains south of the Black Sea are American types in the rhododendron and azalea pontica. The vegetation of eastern Asia, where the soil and climate are less promising, includes thorny bushes, acacias, tamarisks, mimosas, jujube, asafoetida, etc. The Lusanian Mountains are covered with forests of oak. The date palm forms the growth of the parched shores of the Arabian Gulf, and the oases of the Persian table-land. Plane trees, hawthorns, tree roses, etc., are found in the valleys. Afghanistan produces the seedless pomegranates, acacias, date palms, tamarisks, etc. Teas grow in the Himalayan Mountains: sweet orange in Japan. In Africa, south of the Atlas, we find the date palm, which is cultivated also in North Africa. In Egypt are acacias, mimoses. cassia, tamarisks, the lotus, the papyrus, etc. there. DEVELOPMENT AND RELATIONS OF PLANTS. 501 In the islands of Polynesia, are the land hibiscus, hydrangea, etc. In Canada are of the cocoa-nut tree and of bananas. Fifty vast forests of pines, oaks, ash, hickory, varieties of the bread-fruit tree are found birch, the lofty Canadian poplar, sugarmaple, etc., with kalmias, azaleas, asters and solidagos. South of the arctic region are forests of black and white spruce, with an undergrowth of reindeer moss, gooseberries, strawberries, currants, etc. The Flora of Greenland is more arctic than that of Iceland. All the finer gums and spices are confined to tropical regions. Cloves and nutmegs are confined to the Moluccas, and that species of laurel which produces the true cinnamon is found only in Ceylon. Cocoanuts flourish on the sea-coasts of most tropical countries. The tree is a palm, of which there are a thousand species. Dates are another species of palm. The palms produces flour, sugar, milk, oil, flax, salt, thread, utensils, weapons and habitations. Of all tropical regions, South America supplies the greatest variety of species. It produces twice as many species as Europe, nearly three times as many as Asia, and more than four times as many as Africa. The grandeur of the Brazilian Flora is nowhere equalled. Rice grows spontaneously, and maize is raised on the plains even under the equator. The sugar-cane grows luxuriantly only within the tropics, though it is indigenous both in south-eastern Asia, and in tropical America. The most extensive plantations are in the West Indies and Brazil. The chocolate nut grows chiefly in South America. The arrowroot is a native of South America, but is cultivated in the West Indies and Ceylon. Peruvian bark is found on the sides of the Andes; more than twenty species are found there. Pineapples grow in Mexico, Guatimala and the West Indies, as they do also in southern China, and in India. Plantains, guavas and bananas grow in the West Indies, Central America and South America. Also, the tamarind and cassava or manioc root. Tamarinds are also indigenous to India. Vanilla is produced in Mexico and South America. The strychnus toxicaria, which yields the deadly worali poison, is found in Guiana. The catalpa, (which grows spontaneously as far as about latitude 37°,) hibiscus, magnolias, cypress, etc., represents the Flora of of Virginia. Cotton comes to maturity as far north as Newcastle county, Deleware. The evergreen pine, maple, red beech, scarlet oak and purple nissa, represent the Middle States. On the Atlantic coast are found the American chestnut and kalmias. West of the Alleghanies are the locust trees, The most northern Flora is the Palmetta nivalis, or snow plant, of the polar regions, birches and willows of a few inches in hight. Trees are not found beyond 70°, which is also the last trace of antarctic vegetation. Barley grows in the Faroe Islands, near North Cape, latitude 710. Rye not beyond 67°. Oats are limited to 65°. Potatoes grow under the 69th degree. Norway and Sweeden are the only lands within the polar circle susceptible of tillage. At 60° we find the elm, maple, ash and beech, and wheat in favorable situations. In Siberia, grain will not grow beyond 59°. The remotest tillage in North America, hitherto, is in latitude 54°.—The Plough, Loom and Anvil. Development and Relations of Plants. HERE every law seems double, or to have a counterpart. The vital power is subject to the law of gravity; but while the plant tends downward, it raises upward too. The same power includes the mechanical forces producing motion; but it has the two-fold force of attracting and repelling at the same point. It is also chemical, changing the nature of the substance on which it acts; but it also supports itself by the change. It exhibits affinity, but to affinity it adds assimilation. Not only has it forms of symmetry, and forms, some of which do not appear possible to crystals, (as the pentagonal;) but while there is reason to believe that in the crystal the form depends on the matter, in the crganic symmetry the matter appears to be subordinate to form. It has activity, but beyond this it supports its activity by its action, increases its strength by exercise. Owing to its superiority over all the pre-existing powers of nature, it is that, during its presence in the organized structure, it holds them all in subjection. And hence, the vital principle no sooner secedes, than these ordinary laws return, former originate fortuitously, enlarge externally and are terminated by mechanical or chemical force, the latter originate by propagation, grow by an internal power of assimilation and terminate by death. dissolve the structure, and causes the seperate parts to enter into new combinations, distinct from those under which they had existed as a living body. And what is still more remarkable, different plant-cells possess different powers in this respect. With little more than the four elementary bodies-carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen-they are found to elaborate an almost endless series of what are called "proximate organic principles," of the most diverse properties; one cell secreting one principle, and another, another principle, by simply combining these elements in slightly different proportions. Here, again, is the binary principle of organic union; but here is also a form of union entirely unknown in that division of science. Instead of combinations by pairs, here are three or four substances bound up together into a single group-a set of temary, and quaternary compounds-constituting one indivisible whole, and exhibiting properties before unknown. Relations.-Relations are traceable between the various species of the subterraneous Flora and the co-existing conditions of inorganic nature. Not, indeed, that there is any evidence that a change of inorganic conditions necessitates the production of new forms of organic life, (as if these conditions were independent causes,) but that the production of such new forms of life presupposes a corresponding change of inorganic conditions. Internal relations are also traceable, or correspondences, between the various parts of the vegetable creation. Type is the very term which naturalists have chosen to express this resemblance. When speaking of crystals we remark that their forms suggested the idea of likeness or resemblance. We may expect, then, that in organic bodies also we shall find this analogy, and something else in addition. And we do so; we find resemblance of nature and habits. Now this is the difference in natural history between analogy and affinity: analogy is superficial resemblance; affinity is resemblance of internal structure, properties and habits. But in order to ascertain the affinity of organic bodies, the relative importance of the different parts compared must be determined; as, for example, whether resemblance between the organs of nutrition in two species, is to reckon for more than resemblance between the organs of reproduction, or for less. The number of affinities present, which may be regarded as an equivalent for the absence of other affinities, must be settled. Now when these laws of But this superiority of organic nature involves other points of distinction, with which there is nothing in inorganic nature to compare. The vital principle includes excitability. We are aware that certain phenomena exhibited by plants have by some been regarded as proofs of the presence of irrita bility also; and even of sensibility. But as they appear to have nothing analogous to a nervous system, these phenomena seem to be only instances of the extreme action of excitability, by which we mean, generally that property of the cellular tissue-the chief organ of nutrition-which "takes cognizance of the action of external influences upon it, and by which it resists those mechanical and chemical efforts which would otherwise soon succeed in decomposing its sub-classification are ascertained, a type or stance." And even when the mystery of life closes in the mystery of death, it is only the death of the individual structure we are called to witness. The living plant includes the mystery of propagation, the power of self-multiplication during life, and of continued reproduction after death. Were it an object, then, to distinguish between the inorganic and organic parts of nature, briefly and broadly, we might say, that while the " Hinslow's Botany, page 161. specimen is to be taken, and the question asked, "Which approaches the nearest to it in all the affinities which characterize the class; and which the nearest to this," and so on. The result will be the formation of a natural group around the characteristic type. This will not be found to form a direct or linear series, answering to the figure of a chain, or of a cone of being to a circular quinary, or dichotomous system, or to an precise artificial arrangement. It may form a figure very irregular at its cir ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. cumference, for it seeks no boundary line without; it enlarges from the central type, and as it ramifies in various directions its continuity may be that of a branching tree. But so evident is its continuity, that the attempt at natural classification can hardly be begun before the mind becomes impressed with the firm persuation that analogy and affinity reign throughout-that the whole botanical kingdom is constructed on a plan. From the all-related nature of organic forms it follows, also, that a modification of any one part of a plant supposes the modification of every other part. And, accordingly, it is found that a change of one organic function involves a corresponding change of the whole body.-Pre-Adamite Earth. Ornamental Gardening. MESSES. EDITORS:-As your valuable Soil of the South appears to be open to experimentalists as well as practicable men, I trust you will find the following desultory communication relating to rural and ornamental gardening worth your notice. As an axiom, the love of rural scenery and the capacity to enjoy it, are universal and common to man. Indeed there seems to have existed in him from early times, a general desire to control the operations of nature when in the vicinity of his dwelling. In the Southern States the go-ahead steamboat policy of "all cotton and California dross," and nothing else, induces the millionaire, the wealthy planter, merchant and tradesman, to pay but little attention to the study of rural improvement, or any thing which would ennoble home in the shape of an improved homestead, out-buildings, fruits, cottage, farm, and ornamental gardening; consequently they have to run the " Indian muck," and pass through many experimental stages on their way to eminence The style of building, and the form and features of a country residence, have been greatly improved by the scientific contributions of the lamented Downing, who, adopting nature for his model, selected the favorable, the beautiful and striking features of rural scenery, and studiously congregating them about the gentleman's re idence, and the farmer's home, formed thence a landscape scenery that seemed to be the work of nature herself, although to a certain extent 503 created by the hand cf man. Throughout the Northern States, the style of disposing of the farm and materials of a country residence, as also the suburban cottages and grounds of the laboring classes, and particularly the home of the farmer and the mansions of the wealthy, have been greatly improved within a few years past; the most rugged and undulating surface of ground having the preference, and improved to such natural slopes as are best calculated to pro duce variety and grace. On the most commanding is usually placed the home, supporting it by shrubberies on the sides and in the rear, through which walks are conducted so as to be immersed in shades, and occasionally opening to the farm or landscape in favorable points: the road of approach traversing a considerable portion of the farm in its sinuous progress to the building, so as favorably to display the leading features of the surrounding scenery, until nearly approaching the residence, when it at once opens with a bold and striking magnificence. On this important subject, "Downing's works" can not be consulted without benefit; they are also invaluable as a means of teaching how to look at nature and comprehend its beauties, for there are many persons who, never having directed their attention to such observances, their beauties convey no kind of intellectual gratification to them. When, however, the mind becomes familiar with the sources that produce these delights, and makes the observer no longer indifferent to the perfection of natural and ornamental scenery, every truth that tends to establish principles in the art, is received by him with interest, and if he be about to congregate round him a portion of the excellencies he has feelingly admired, he becomes anxious to do so with correctness and with taste; in doing this he has to avoid the errors of others, and also, those of his own prejudice, which perhaps present more ef fectual obstacles to his success. Had I the ability, it is far from my intention to attempt a learned disquisition relative to the principles and theory of ornamental gardening and rural improvement, yet I would urge upon planters and others who have as yet thought but little on the subject, that a well laid out plantation, judiciously subdivided, (and the division and |