Hints for Ladies on the care of Flowers,

THE CAMELLIA JAPONICA.-The soil which we consider best for camellias, and in which they are grown by those who cultivate them extensively in the neighborhood of London, is a strong, rich, yellow loam. If it is supposed to be too retentive of mois. ture, a portion of peat or bog-earth, and sand, is generally mixed with it, and in this compost the plants grow vigorously.

Henderson puts in camellias at any season of the year, excepting when they are making young wood. He puts fifty cuttings in a pot of sand, eight inches in diameter, sets them in a cool place in the back of a vinery or pe ch-house, for a month or six weeks, then plunges them to the brim in a hot bed, where there is a little bottom heat.

The camellia may be considered as a hardy green house plant, requiring only a slight protection, like the myrtle, in very severe weather; but, although it will thrive with this kind of treatment, yet to grow the varieties in the very best manner, a great degree of care and attention is necessary. During the time the plants are in flower, then they ought, in addition, to be liberally supplied with water, and have a degree of heat somewhat more than is usually given to green house plants. If this heat is not given in November and December, the plants will not expand their blossoms freely, and if both water and heat are not regularly applied after the blossoming season, vigorous shoots will not be produced.

Where there are conveniences for giving the plants different degrees of temperature, a succession of flowers may be had during all the year; but their natural time of flow. ering is in the months of February, March, and April; they generally flower best when grown in small pots or tubs.

From the time they are potted until they have finished their growth, give them a plentiful supply of water.

Never allow camellias to be fully exposed to the rays of a mid-day sun. Either place them in a shady situation, or throw a net or mat over the glass, for they invariably flourish and look better under this than any other treatment.

The great reason why flower buds very often fall off, without properly coming into bloom, is the too sudden changes in the temperature to which they are exposed; for instance, when the buds are nearly ready to expand, a sudden heat causes them to push forth too rapidly; and, on the contrary, a decrease of warmth at that time checks their growth.

About the end of September or beginning of October, or as soon as the weather begins to be very cold or wet, the plants must be taken into the house or frame, or any other cool but sheltered situation.

When it is wished to bring any of them into flower, remove them into an increased temperature; this may be done successively, which will greatly prolong the flow. ering season. The heat required to expand the blossom-buds is about 66 degrees Fah renheit by day and 50 by night. If this be attended to, and the air never allowed to have a much greater or less heat, the plants will continue in flower for a great length of time. It should also be mentioned, that by this heat the plants are not excited to grow.

The camellia is so universally admired that most persons who have a taste for flowers are anxious to cultivate it; but many are deterred by a supposition that unless they have a green house or conservatory they cannot possess so desirable an object with any degree of satisfaction. Although this idea. is very prevalent, it is by no means correct as any person, having only a twolight frame, may grow it to perfection. Indeed, by attending to our directions it may be grown in a dwelling house.-Gardener and Practical Florist.

From the Albany Cultivator.
THE ARTICHOKE.

Several trials which we have known made with the root, indicate that it is one of the most valuable for stock, which can be cultivated. A few years ago, a gentleman of our acquaintance planted a small patch of ground with them. The produce was at the rate of 1,200 per bushel per acre. They were prin cipally harvested by hogs, which were turned in and allowed to root them just as their appetite prompted them. They gained well, with no other food while the artichokes lasted. A great advantage of this root is, that it will lie in the ground without injury all winter.

Mr. Thomas Noble, of Massillon, gave us a brief account of a trial with artichokes, made by him in the past season. In April, 1844, he planted two acres with this vegetable. The ground was of medium quality. The arti chokes, were planted in rows two and a half to three feet apart-using a little more seed than is commonly used in planting potatoes, As soon as the frost was out of the ground last spring [1845] the digging of them was begun and continued as the stock required. The produce of the two acres was 1,500 bushels. They were fed principally to sheep, though some were given to cattle, horses and hogs. All animals ate them well, seeming to prefer them to turnips. While the sheep

were being fed with them, they were pastured on growing wheat and clover. The shepherd thought the wheat and clover were sufficient for them, as there was a full "bite," and he accordingly discontinued the artichokes. The ewes fell off in their milk, and the lambs soon showed that they were not doing so well. The artichokes were again given, and they soon did as well as ever.

Mr. Noble also used the tops for fodder. He cut them in October, just before frost came, dried and housed them. They were fed to the stock in winter, and were evidently preferable to corn fodder.

Mr. N. is so well pleased with his artichokes, that he is raising them this year on a larger scale. They require but little cultivation; it being only necessary to keep the ground clear of the weeds till the artichokes get a good start.

Mr. T. M. Johnson, of Greensborough, Ala. lately informed us, that he is this year growing thirty acres of artichokes. He considers them the most profitable vegetable he can raise. In that climate they can be dug at any time in the winter.

There are several varieties of artichokes, but that called the Jerusalem artichoke-Helianthuus tubersus-is considered the best. Fom the fibres of the tops or stems, a cordage is sometimes manufactured in parts of Europe.

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WHISPERS TO HUSBANDS. The happiness of the wife is committed to the keeping of her husband. Prize the sacred trust, and never give her cause to repent the confidence she reposed in you. In contemplating her character, recollect the materials human nature is composed of, and expect not perfection.

Do justice to her merits and point out her faults; I do not ask you to treat her errors with indifference, but endeavor to amend them with wisdom, gentleness and love.

Do not jest about the bonds of a married state-Make it an established rule to consult your wife on all occasions. Your interest is hers; and undertake no plan contrary to her advice and approbation: then if the affair turns out ill, you are spared reproaches both from her, and your own feelings. There is a sagacity, a penetration and foresight into the probable consequences of an event, characteristic of her sex, that makes her peculiarly calculated to give her opinion and advice.

If you have any male acquaintances, whom, on reasohable grounds, your wife wishes you to resign, do so. Never witness a tear from your wife with apathy or indifference.Words, looks, actions-all may be artificial; but a tear is unequivocal, it comes direct from the heart, and speaks at once the lan<guage of truth, nature, and sincerity! Be assured, when you see a tear on her cheek, her heart is touched; and do not, I again repeat it, do not behold it with coldness or insensibility.

Let contradiction be avoided at all times. Never upbraid your wife with the meanness of her relations; invectives against herself are not half so wounding. Should suffering of any kind assail your wife, your tender. ness and attention are particularly called for. A look of love, a word of pity or sympathy, is sometimes better than medicine.

Never reproach your wife with any personal or mental defect; for a plain face conceals a heart of exquisite sensibility and merit; and consciousness of the defect makes her awake to the slightest attention.

When in the presence of others, let your wife's laudable pride be indulged by your showing that you think her an object of importance and preference. The most trivial word or act of attention and love from you gratifies her feelings; and a man never appears to more advantage than by proving to the world his affection and preference for his wife.

Never run on in enthusiastic encomiums on other women in presence of your wife; she does not love you better for it. Much to be condemned is a married man who is constantly rambling from home for the purpose of passing away time. Surely, if he wants employment, his house and gardens will furnish him with it; and if he wishes for society, he will find in his wife, children and books the best society in the world. There are some men who will sit an entire day with their lips closed. This is wrong, you should converse freely on all such occasions.

Be always cheerful, gay, and good-humored.

When abroad do not avoid speaking to your wife.

Few women are insensible of tender treatment. They are naturally frank and affectionate, and in general there is nothing but austerity of look, or distance of behaviour, that can prevent those amiable qualities from being evinced on all occasions.

When absent, let your letters to your wife be warm and affectionate. A woman's heart is peculiarly formed for tenderness; and every expression of endearment from the man she loves is pleasing to her.

A husband, whenever he goes from home should always endeavor to bring some little present to his wife.

In pecuniary matters, do not be penurious or too particular. Your wife has an equal right with yourself to all your worldly possessions. Besides, really a woman has innumerable trifling demands on her purse, many little wants which are not necessary for a man to be informed of, and which, even if he went to the trouble of investigating, he would not understand.

By giving the above an insertion, you will much oblige one, if not many of your (Selected.) LADY READERS.

A TRUE DOG STORY.

MR. EDITOR-I have lately seen in several newspapers, a number of instances of the sagacity of the dog.—I will relate an instance, which, if it is not as extraordinary, is certainly as true. Some years ago my father had a large dog that he had learned to send from the field to the house for anything he might want; It happened one day that he was at work about half a mile from home, and wanted an axe; he told Caro (the name of the dog) to go home and get the axe; the dog started off, and after being gone considerable time, came slinking back, but without the axe. My father bade him go back and get the axe. The dog went the second time, and after being gone about as long as before, returned bringing a heavy beetle. My father now became satisfied that the dog could not find the axe, and went himself, and found it sticking firmly in a large log, and the helve gnawed from one end to the other by the faithful animal, in trying to extricate it from the log, and being unable, had taken the beetle as a substitute.

Berlin, Oct. 13, 1845. -From the Times.

EDWIN BARNES.

For the American Penny Magazine. TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES. CAT-HOLES AND PRAIRIES.

I had now an opportunity to make observations on the form and some of the other peculiarities of the country, which no railroad or carriage could have so well afforded me. Travelling on foot, I went at a slow rate, and with my eyes near the ground; every irregularity of the surface was a matter of rather more moment to me than it would have been if it had to be passed over or surmounted by the power of a brute or a machine. Besides, I was alone, and therefore there was less to divert my attention from objects n ar me.

The surface over which I had to pass soon began to appear to me singularly uniform, although continually varying. There was not a perfectly level spot any where to be found, and yet there was neither mountain in sight, nor even any thing that deserved the name of a hill. Up and down, up and down, by gentle acclivities and descents, with nothing like a valley between of ever so small dimensions, and not a summit to any eminence that could be called flat. There was, at the same time, a scarcity of timber, which I afterwards learned had been cut away while the land was unsold and still in the possession of the gov. ernment. The land had thus been lamentably "robbed" in an extraordinary degree; and the effects of that robbery are likely to be long visible; for the simple idea of planting forest trees seems to be one that never enters the heads of the people.

Here and there I observed little ponds or swamps of a very regular and uniform appearance, which struck me as forming a pecular feature in the country. These occurred

very frequently at the bottoms of the deepest depressions in the surface, where the ground was sunken lower than elsewhere. They usually had water, but often only enough to render them wet without concealing the earth. These are known among the people as "Cat-Holes;" why, I was never informed; and when moist and more extensive, are called marshes. The immediate banks are steep, descending with great uniformity at about an angle of thirty or thirty-five degrees, and varying in height from five to twenty feet. I once remarked to an inhabitant that it appeared to me impossible ever to drain one of their cat-holes, because, being lower than any other spots, there was no place to draw off the water. He replied that nothing was easier; "for dig a hole five or six feet deep," said he, "at one side, and ditch into it, and all the water will soon flow down and sink into the earth." From this it may be inferred that the bottoms of the marshes are lined with a thin bed of matter, accumulated by time, from the washing of rain down the hills, or from the decay of vegetable, or from both, which retains the water.

As I proceeded across the isthmus of Michigan, the cat-holes gradually increased in size, but still retained all their characteristics. As it was winter I was unable to make any certain observations on their botany, and hardly any thing was to be discovered among the wrecks of the previous season, except the abundant remains of the coarse native, or prairie grass, of which I afterwards saw an abundance in Illinois. The cold was severe enough to freeze the ground, aud I once found I had crossed a pond on the ice, when I had supposed I was passing over a frozen marsh. So far all the cat-holes were perfectly waste spots; but, as I approached the borders of Illinois one day, I observed one of a large size, the appearance of which convinced me that it was susceptible of tillage, being quite dry, with the soil of a decidedly superior quality. After travelling a short distance farther my impressions were very agreeably confirmed by the sight of one of still larger dimensions, which had been cultivated with care, and evidently had yielded a good crop. I made inquiries concerning it of some of the neigh boring inhabitants, and, to my surprise, found they did not call it a cat-hole, swamp, or marsh-the only names I had heard applied to spots of the kind. They called it a prairie; and, as I proceeded, I found all the other prairies I saw, though some were of vast ex tent, corresponding with it in all their leading characteristics.

There are now 77 railways, completed or in progress, in England, with an authorised capital of $400,000,000. There are 196 oth ers projected, involving a capital of nearly $800,000,000. Should all these railroads he constructed according to the plans, there will have been $1,840,000,000 invested in railroads and railroad property in Great Britain alone.

On the Harlem railroad more than 1,000 men are now employed between the city hall and Somers. This road will soon be completed to the Housatonic road, so that the cars may run from the City hall to Albany.

A grand project has been introduced, and arrangements are in progress for the construction of a railroad from the Mississippi river to Oregon. A part of the route has been recently explored by the projector, Mr. A. Whiting, and there appears to be a strong probability that the enterprise will be eventually carried through.

The Silver Fir, or Abies Balsamca.

The genus comprehends many forest trees of much importance. It embraces the Larch, the Cedar, the Norway Spruce, the Balsam of Gilead, and the above, the Silver Fir, which grows in high, cold situations in our Northern States, and forms an elegant tree, forty or fifty feet in height. It is much used in ornamental or landscape gardening. All the species of the pine, fir, and larch family, with the exception of one or two, when required to be cultivated, are raised from seed. They may be propagated by inarching, but this is a tedious and unprofitable method.

The cones should be gathered in the winter season and exposed to the sun, or to a gentle heat on a kiln, in order to facilitate the separation of the seeds. The cones of the cedar should be kept for a year at least after they are taken from the tree, before the seed be attempted to be taken out. This is necssary on account of the soft nature of the seeds, and the great quantity of resinous matter which the cones contain when growing, and which is discharged by keeping. Cedar cones are generally imported from the Levant, and the secds retain their vegetative powers for many years. The cones of the South pine, spruce, and larch, are the principal kinds which are opened by kiln heat. The cones of the Weymouth pine, silver fir, and balm of Gilead fir, give out their seed with very little trouble. April is the best season for sowing all the species. The soil should be soft and rich, well mellowed by the preceding winter's frost and snow, carefully dug and raked with a longtoothed rake as finely as possible. The rarer sorts are generally sown in pots, but the more common ones in beds. The manner of sowing the seeds is, by first drawing off the surface of the bed to the depth of half an inch; then drawing a light roller along it to render the surface perfectly even; next depositing the seed, aud afterwards replacing the earth drawn off with a spade as

evenly as possible. This is what is technically called bedding in, and is one of the nicest operations of nursery culture. The seed of the Scotch pine and Pinastre require a covering of half an inch in depth; those of the Weymouth pine, three quarters of an inch; and those of the stone pine, an inch and a quarter. The cedar is generally sown in broad pots, or boxes of light, sandy loam, and covered half an inch. The seeds of the larch require a covering only a quarter of an inch; those of the spruce fir an inch, those of the silver fir, and balm of Gilead fir, from half to three quarters of an inchThe seeds of the American spruce fir are smaller than those of any of the preceding kinds, and therefore require a lighter covering than any of them; one-fifth of an inch is quite sufficient. The strictest attention is required, both in regard to quality of soil, and thickness of covering the seed; for though resinous trees are extremely hardy when grown up, yet they are all very tender in infancy. In sowing the seed, a considerable loss will be sustained by the suffocation of young plants if it is deposited too thick, and by the want of plants if too thin. The judicious gardener will be regulated by the goodness of the seed, and the size of the foliage of the different species. The raising regular crops of the pine family in England is reckoned a master piece of nursery culture in the open ground; and as it has been most extensively practiced in the Scotch nurseries, it is considered as best understood there.-The New York Farmer and Mechanic.

MYSTERIOUS.-In moving a large house, to make room for an extensive block of stores, on the Dr. Shattuck place, at the corner of Sudbury and Court streets in Boston, while digging for a new foundation in a corner of the cellar and below the surface of the ground, the workmen discovered a vault bricked up on each side with a 16 inch wall, and a space within 5 1-2 feet long, and 18 inches wide, the whole covered with bricks to the thickness of 3 feet, and so solid that when all but the last layer of bricks had been removed, several blows with a heavy crow-bar were necessary to break into the cavity. The workmen were much animated, expecting to find a hidden treasure, when, lo and behold, it contained human bones in a state of great preservation! When, by whom, or for what purpose, this vault was made and its tenant enclosed, are questions involved in profound mystery.-Worcester Transcript.

AN INDIAN HUNTER

Mr. Catlin, the well known collector of Indian curiosities, the author of an interesting book of travels in the West, and, more recently, the publisher of a volume of elegant prints from paintings of various scenes on the spot, tells several curious facts respecting the bow, the favorite weapon of most of the tribes.

In one of his lectures, during his stay in the city of New York five or six years ago, he mentioned that he had been informed that Indian hunters sometimes shot an arrow entirely through the body of a buffalo. This assertion was heard with surprise, and seriously questioned by some of his audience, and absolutely denied by one or more. It so happened, a short time after, that a party of Indians from beyond the Missouri were present at another lecture. He related to his audience what we have just stated, and then requested the interpreter to inquire of the strangers whether they could give any information on the subject. A tall young warrior instantly started upon his feet, and with great animation represented that he had performed that surprising feat himself, and in more than one instance; while others of the party successively rose and corroborated his account, in a like intelligible and energetic manner.

The truth is, the bow, in its most perfect form and in the most skilful hands, is indeed a more formidable weapon than is commonly imagined. Different tribes present it in very different degrees of strength and utility. For example, our early historians of the old colonies give us no very formida ble ideas of the instrument, at least compared with what we hear of it in the hands of the buffalo hunters of the West.

ROMAN REMAINS.-The Memorial de Rouen states that the Abbe Coche has lately discovered at Neuville the remains of a

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Roman cemetery. Understanding that M. Duval had found in his garden, near the church, some Roman vases, he applied to the perfect for some small grant to have the place examined, and having rsceived the 300f., he set men to work to excavate the ground, and his success has far exceeded his hopes. In a space of about 30 feet by 15, not less than 150 vases were taken, some of earth and others of glass, most of them containing bones. They vary in form exceedingly, scarce any two being shaped alike On several are the letters Fro or Froni, or Frunin Of, (Fronini Officina,) showing that the maker's name was Froninus. eral vases for perfumes, and flat pieces of naked earth, were also fonnd, as well as drinking cups; one of which, of fine crystal, was artistically wrought. One little vase for perfumes was covered with figures like masonic emblems, with the word Ace in the centre. The vases containing the bones were in almost all cases, enclosed in wooden boxes, of which the nails, hinges, locks, and even keys have been found. In the latter was also placed the piece of money to hand to Charon for ferrying over the Styx. These pieces were generally of the reigns of Adrian, Antoninus, and Marcus Aurelius. None came lower than the latter's time. The total number of tombs found amounts to from 20 to 25. In some there were only two vases, in several as many as 12 to 15. In one case only was a single urn found it was a large red vase containing the bones of a man of great stature.

EFFCTS OF UNEXPECTED FORTUNE.-Edward Riley, living with his family in Hadlow street, having been proved next of kin to Major General Riley, who recently died at Madras, leaving property to the amount of £50,000, to the whole of which he has become entitled, has, within the last few days, amused the neighborhood by his conduct. From having been but a workman in the dust yard in Maiden-lane, he has now become a man of independence. Yesterday he called in his cab on a tailor in Seymour-street, and, taking him to the dust yard, desired him to measure the whole of the men in the yard for a suit of clothes, which being accomplished, he ordered them. to go to a bootmaker, where they were all served. On Sunday he ordered a butcher to supply each of them with a joint of meat. Riley has taken a house in Argyle-square, and upon entering he purposes giving a dinner to the dust men in London, and illuminating the front of his house.-English Paper.