squirrel; under that of birds, the parrot, the flying fox (a species of vespertilio, says Mr. Speede, though in what system of Zoology it ranks either as bird or vespertilio, he saith not), the sparrow, and the crow; among reptiles, the snake, the frog, and the lizard; and among insects, butterflies, moths, lice, bugs, weevils, beetles, crickets, locusts, flies, spiders, centipedes, ants, white-ants, worms and red beetles! Mr. Speede gives a particular account of the depredations of these intruders and pronounces upon all the unsparing sentence of extermination. Fortunately the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics bids defiance to their efforts, and to many among the least noxious we may well afford to say, “there is room enough in the world for thee and for me."

Next come some 150 pages devoted to the subject of the Kitchen Garden; and though prepared to make very large allowance for any deficiencies in this department of Mr. Speede's labours, we are disposed to regard the mode in which he has treated this subject as, upon the whole, very creditable to the author. Mr. Speede has long been a zealous and observant horticulturist, and is as capable as most men of generalising the results of his own practice and experience. That he has been able to add much to our stock of knowledge, we are not prepared to admit; the progress of improvement in practical and experimental arts is for the most part slow, and dependent, not on the efforts of a single individual, but upon the gradual and accumulated experience of many. Nor can the results of European practice assist us very greatly here, where the all-potent influence of climate is exerted in a manner so different from that under which vegetable physiology has been studied in colder latitudes. To advance the art therefore, is required in the first instance, a grand accumulation of correctly observed facts, which rightly interpreted, shall form the basis of a sound practice. No unusually successful result should be left unrecorded; and, if possible, no remarkable failure unaccounted for. These are appropriate subjects of communication and discussion in the pages of Horticultural Journals, and should occupy more of the attention of practical contributors than they appear to do. In this respect Mr. Speede has oftener than once set an example which we should be glad to see more frequently followed. But returning to his chapter on the Kitchen Garden, we subjoin as a specimen of his mode of treating the subject, the following observations on the cultivation of that valuable esculent, the potatoe.

'POTATOE, Solanum tuberosum, Ooulaeetee aloo; this is the most useful, and the most generally known of this class of vegetables; when mealy one thousand parts are found to contain two hundred of starch, forty of gluten, and twenty of sugar, the remaining seven hundred and forty being fibre. There are upwards of thirty varieties, few of which are known, or even thought of in India. They are generally procurable of sufficiently good quality in the bazar, at all times of the year, and hence in a small garden it is not generally thought worth while to attempt rearing them; unless, indeed, you desire small crops of very early new potatoes; or for the purpose of propagating any particular description. Very fine potatoes for

seed may be procured from Hobart town, and if loosely packed in barrels, shortly after they have been dug, without washing, will arrive in Calcutta in good order. A specimen of excellent white potatoes was some few years since sent to the Calcutta Horticultural Society, by Dr. J. T. Pearson, from Dorjeeling (vide Horticultural Society's proceedings for August 1840) and there is little doubt that Calcutta, and other parts of India, may soon be supplied with seed from that

source.

*

Much more attention should be bestowed on the selection of seed, than would be readily credited by the casual observer, for on this depends much of the future success of the crop; the late Mr. Knight, in an article of great interest, printed in the London Horticultural Society's Transactions, Vol. VII, says, "the fact that every variety of potatoe when it has been long propagated from parts of its tuberous roots, becomes less productive, is I believe unquestionable. The propagation of expended varieties, therefore, appears to be one of the causes why the crops of potatoes generally, have been found so much less than those which I have stated to have been produced here." The Futteghur potatoe is considered the best of the Upper Provinces; but they treat it exactly as at home, generally preferring the eyes, to every other mode of planting, although elsewhere the half, or the whole potatoe is found preferable.

Dr. Patrick Neill, in a recent work published in Edinburgh, brings to notice another circumstance with regard to the selection of sced that deserves to be generally made known, "an important fact in the cultivation of the potatoe, was observed about the year 1806 by the late Mr. Thomas Dickson, of Edinburgh, viz. that the most healthy and productive plants were to be obtained, by employing as sced stock, unripe tubers, or even by planting only the wet, or least ripened ends of long shaped potatoes; and he proposed this as a preventive of the well known disease called the curl." This view has been confirmed by Mr. Knight. Such considerations have hitherto been unthought of in this country, but they are of too great importance not to demand the attention of every cultivator, for without a regard to them productive crops cannot be expected, and the cry will still be, that such vegetables cannot be made to reach that perfection in India which they attain in Europe.

Propagation.-This may be done by sced, but it is a mode never resorted to, except with the view of obtaining new varieties; planting out sections of the tubers, containing each two or three eyes, is the most general method pursued, and was long considered the best, or only means of planting this root.

But with reference to the adoption of this system in India, Mr. J. W. Masters, in an article read at a meeting of the Horticultural Society in Calcutta, says, SO "far as my experience goes, a potatoc of a moderate size, having three or four "good eyes, is far better than a part of a large one, and generally produces a better crop." This is fully borne out, as a general rule, by experiments in England, where the late Mr. Knight suggested (London Horticultural Transactions, vol. vii), that planting whole tubers at greater distances than had usually been adopted, would afford a larger proportionate produce. On this subject, too, another authority gives the following results of experiment :-" We planted out sets of apparent excellence in some drills; and being hard run for seed, we used for some contiguous drills (of precisely similar soil, and with dung from the same heap) the refuse of our potatoes, not larger than walnuts. These have grown luxuriantly and without a single failure; while the cut secd failed altogether in numerous instances, and in no case pushed forth such vigorous stems as those which proceeded from the whole potatoes."--Practical Husbandry, by Mr. Martin Doyle.

It is worthy of observation that the eyes near the top end have been found to produce a crop that comes to maturity much carlier than those from the root end of the potatoc, and this is deserving particular attention by those having small gardens, and hence planting this esculent for carly production, rather than for quality; the proper time for planting is September and October. They should be put in drills about three fect distant, and from eight to twelve inches apart, being covered with earth from three to five inches in depth.

Soil, &c.-The best is a light, fresh, unmixed loam, in which they will thrive without any manure, and in such land unimproved though it be, they will always possess the finest flavor. In a wet soil the potatoe gets sickly and watery, as well

as infested with insects and worms, fresh unrotted manure gives a disagreeable flavor to the root, and those cultivated in soil tempered with old mellow dung, rotten leaves, or vegetable mould, are, on this account, most esteemed, although what is called littery soil will produce the earliest, and largest crop. After the plants have appeared, a deep hoeing with the pronged hoe, should be given, and when they reach about four inches in height, the earth around them should be brought up to strengthen their growth, and promote increase below, repeating the operation until the original set is at least fifteen inches below the top of the ridge, at the same time carefully eradicating all weeds; until the plants spread sufficiently to be able themselves to keep them down, and lastly, when they appear, pinching off the blossoms to increase the crop; an operation which, trifling as it may appear, Mr. Knight estimated would "add an ounce in weight to the tubers of each plant, or above a ton of produce per acre."-Vide London Horticultural Society's Transactions, Vol. I. The drying up of the stalks, or holm, as it is called, is a sign that the crop is fit to take up, and it should not be touched, save to dig a few new potatoes, before this sign appears; the digging is best done with the pronged digging hoe, which is less liable to injure the tubers than the flat kind. The holm makes a good manure.

Before quitting this subject, although perhaps not strictly speaking, a part of horticulture, a few remarks may not be considered misplaced on this root as an article of agricultural produce.

It is but a few years since this most useful esculent was only grown by a few for the supply of European residents alone; its good qualities have, however, now become known to most natives, and there arc, consequently, but few bazars in the country where the potatoe is not to be found; this is especially the case in Behar and the Western Provinces, where they may be met with as large, and as good flavoured as the ordinary run in Great Britain; and where they also form a common article of diet among the natives of all classes and castes. Nevertheless much remains to be done with respect to the culture of this article; no attention appears to have been yet paid to the character, or sort of what is cultivated, whether as regards quality or productiveness, nor do we find even that any enquiry has been made as to the most fitting soil to be found in India for its culture; we are told, it is true, and personal experience leads to the same conclusion, that Tirhoot, Arrah, and the neighbourhood of Hooglee yield, as is supposed, the largest proportion of potatoes, but as yet there does not appear to have been any attempt made at accounting for this greater production, nor do we find it any where accurately recorded, what the amount of produce has been from any given portion of land, and we are consequently ignorant of its value as a crop.”

There now only remains for us to notice the concluding part of Mr. Speede's work, consisting of a vocabulary, Hindí and English, occupying no fewer than 352 pages, or somewhat more than half the volume! Surely this waste of space is singularly ill-judged. A few names, such as are likely to occur in practice, are all that the case required; for any beyond these the botanist will refer to the proper sources. But we could even excuse the disproportionate length of this vocabulary had the words been selected with ordinary judgment. They seem, however, to have been taken at random, and by far the greater number are such as no malí in the country can be expected to understand. Thus we have for parsley, j for rice, and did äic for papaw; two of these being Arabic, and one a Persian word, instead of their appropriate vernacular and horticultural names alone,-peterselly, dhan, and papaya, or papita. This is mere pedantry, and likely to occasion extreme inconvenience to such as are not well enough versed in the language of the country to dispense with the aid of vocabularies. Mr. Speede's mode of spelling oriental words in Roman charaters is also in many cases greatly

objectionable, and should be reformed in future editions. Thus, who would recognize in ooulaeetee the familiar word bilati? Why not at once adopt the classical system of the Asiatic Society? We have pointed out these blemishes in no unfriendly or hypercritical spirit, but in the sincere hope that Mr. Speede may avoid the like in his forthcoming work upon Indian Floriculture; and we conclude by invoking all success to his praise-worthy labors.

Speech at the Annual Examination of the Elphinstone Institution, at Bombay, April 25, 1848. By Sir Erskine Perry, President of the Board of Education.

It is not with the view of discussing the "vexed question" of Government Education, in any of its departments or relationships, that we notice this address. It is characterized by all that manly straight-forward simplicity, alike of thought and language, which distinguishes every product that emanates from the author. Though purposely limited in the range of its objects, the speech contains. several excellent sentiments clearly and vigorously expressed. In these days of low grovelling materialistic utilitarianism, it is quite refreshing to meet with an explicit testimony like the following:

"I desire particularly to guard myself from the supposition that I put forward, or concur in, the sordid arguments which we so often hear as to the objects and end of education. The arguments I allude to for the sake of distinction may be termed the pounds, shillings, and pence, argument. When Sir John Malcolm was endeavouring to promote education in the Deccan, the principal inhabitants flocked round him, and asked him what it was all to lead to, and His Excellency at once opened up to them the largest prospects of Government employment and distinction. We flatter ourselves at the Board of Education that much higher, and nobler, and truer notions of the object and end of good education prevail amongst us. Without entertaining any visionary or Utopian views, we proclaim that the end and result of good education is to make each man fitter for and more contented with that lot of life into which it has pleased God to place him, than if he had remained in brute ignorance. We contemplate that a considerable portion of useful knowledge may be diffused through all ranks of Society, that prudent habits, and moral discipline may be generally inculcated, and that each succeeding generation may be taught to see more clearly than its predecessor that most of the misery which a man has to encounter in this life, is traceable to his own extravagance, or folly, or crime. We never for a moment contemplated that Government employment or high fortune were to be showered upon every successful pupil at a grammar school, or that when every large town contained a good English seminary with as many pupils as this institution now boasts of, they were all to be Judges and Collectors and Magistrates. We do therefore put most prominently forward, that moral improvement, not a greater share of physical enjoyments, and the general amelioration of the whole state of society, not the aggrandisement of a few sharp witted pushing individuals, are the objects aimed at by the Government scheme.

Nor is the argument that the end of education is to put more rupees in a man's pocket, and therefore that what is needful is to teach all the arts of Europe, more sound on views of political economy. A great many of the arts of Europe would be useless in India. The vocation of India is manifestly agricultural, not manufacturing. And who would desire to see factories spreading over the face of the country, and the labor of infants extorted for twelve hours a day, and crowded populations called into existence; and the fierce competition which is now harassing the whole population of Europe, made more gigantic by the new competitor springing up in Asia ?"

Note on the External Commerce of Bengal. Calcutta: 1848. W. Thacker and Co. St. Andrew's Library.

THIS is a valuable pamphlet, and contains, in little bulk, much useful information on a subject of no ordinary importance. It is one which we have long intended to discuss and hope in due time to be able to overtake. Meanwhile, we are glad to find that it occupies a portion of the time and attention of such accomplished men as the author of the little work now before us. A subject so wide and comprehensive cannot be grappled with in a brief supplementary notice. We cannot even enter on its very threshold.

There is no doubt a great deal of truth in what our author says as to the tendency of the constant drain in Bengal (to the extent of three millions per annum) to interrupt the regular course of commerce. But, on the other side, may it not be said that this is to a considerable extent already compensated for, by the way in which. the resources of the country are brought out by British energy and application? And is there not a fair prospect of still farther compensation in the time to come, by the constantly augmenting ratio in which British capital and energy may be brought to bear on the resources of this land-capital and energy which would be withdrawn were India separated from Britain? May not the tribute be regarded as an indispensable condition of our dependance on Great Britain— but one for which India may well conclude that she has, in an aggregate of advantages, a full equivalent?

Were this country left to itself in the present undeveloped state of the national intellect, would not the natural tendency be for the produce greatly to fall off? In such a probable event, the people would be less able to purchase imports, so that the external commerce would rapidly decline. The produce of a country, after supplying its own wants, and the proportionate command which that extra produce has over the productions of other countries, is what constitutes a principal part of the wealth of nations; if that fall off, by a natural consequence, its external commerce decays. May not India, then, in this view of the case, be said at present to pay 3 millions annually as the price of its increased and still increasing produce?

The author of the "Note" talks of 3 millions having been lost to Britain by the purchase of foreign food during the late famine, and compares the disastrous effects of that drain on the currency of England which is so much larger than that of India, with the annual drain to the same extent here. But we do not think the cases at all parallel. Independently of the amount, which we have seen estimated by the ablest financiers at home, to be 12 millions instead of 3, that was paid not to increase produce but to buy food for ourselves; whereas here, in India, as already stated, the sum annually sent to Britain may be regarded as the price of an increased production.

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