portant
family are comparatively diminutive in size. In our climate, for
instance, the grasses are somewhat remarkable among vegetables for their
humble stature, and their inconspicuous appearance; while in the warmer
regions of the earth, the bamboos and canes, which are species of the
same family, emulate trees in height and beauty. But what our species
want in individual magnitude, is far more than compensated by the
comparative vastness of the number of individuals. In tropical climates,
one plant may be seen here, and another there, which, in their size,
astonish an European, when he is told that they belong to the family of
the grasses; but there he would search in vain for those swards of
grass, and green meadows, with which almost the whole aspect of his own
climate is verdant. He might find one plant stately enough to shade him
from the torrid sun, and to harbour among its boughs many a tropical
bird with its bright metallic plumage; but he could not find a lea
covered with lowing herds, or with bleating flocks, on the soft sward of
which he could lie down, and listen to the lark that sings to him from
heaven, sending down its clear notes on the first sunbeams of spring.
It is in temperate climates--in those regions where man has made the
greatest advances in civilization--where the comforts and conveniences
of this life are most numerous around him--and the realities of that
which is to come are most brightly seen above him--that this family
of plants exists in greatest economic value. It is one of the most
important in every climate; for it is from one species of grass or other
that the present numbers of men, as well as the domestic animals that
serve him, derive their sustenance. The maize or Indian corn of the
west; the rice of the east; the wheat and other grains of the north;
equally belong to this tribe of plants.--_Quar. Jour. of Agriculture_

_Blight in Fruit Trees._

Whenever you see the branch of a tree blighted, or eaten by insects,
procure a shoemaker's awl, and pierce the lower extremity of the branch
into the wood; then pour in two or three drops of crude mercury, (which
is the quicksilver in common use) and stop up the hole with a small
stick. In about forty-eight hours, the insects, not only upon that
branch, but upon all the rest of the tree, will be destroyed, and the
blights _will immediately_ cease.

G.W.N.

_On the Live Stock of Britain, France, &c._

Dupin, in a work lately pub