THE NURSERY.

How do they first get fruit-trees to plant? Pips of apples, pears, and crabs; and the kernels of plums, sown early in the spring of the year, become young plants, and are called stocks, which in two or three years are graft'ed; so that it is no uncommon thing to find a May'duke cherry growing on the stock of the crab: or an a'pri-cot or plum on the stock of a cherry! This is strange indeed; but how is it done? An o'pen-ing is made with a knife in the bark, near the top of the stock, wherein' is put a health'y shoot, or bud, from a wellknown bearing fruit'tree: being bound up with a bass of a mat or small thread, and enclosed with clay, in a few months it shoots into buds, leaves, and branches. In time it blossoms, and will bear the same kind of fruit as the tree from which it was taken.

Some persons, by these means, have two or three kinds of fruit upon one tree; and in our garden is a gooseberry-bush, which bears red, black, and yellow. But I observe the fruit of such trees is not so fine in size or flavour as those that bear but one sort.

There are persons who keep large gardens, called nur'ser-ies, for raising of trees and plants, which they sell. When a tree decays, or is broken off by the wind, another is often planted to supply its

place. Some trees are a long time in coming to perfection; but when they bear fruit they repay us for the labour in planting and pruning.

What do they do with old fruit trees? A great many are burned; others are very useful for many pur pos-es. The pear-tree being a solid wood, is made into chairs and toys; the cherry and plum-tree are used for several pur'pos-es; the large walnut-tree makes good chairs, drawers, and tables; though not esteemed so much as ma-hog'a-ny, which comes from the West In'dies and America, and in which, I am told, worms do not breed to con-sume' it, as is the case with other sorts of wood.

Be care

I have seen black birds flying over walnut-trees. Perhaps they were crows. Crows love walnuts, and carry great quantities away. The smaller birds eat many grapes, cherries and currants. Wasps are fond of pears and other sweet fruits. ful to look at ripe pears, peaches, or plums, before you bite them, as I have found wasps in them, which had eaten most of the inside away; though the outside appeared pretty fair, except one small hole, at which they had entered. The wasp's sting is ven'om-ous, and in the mouth or throat may be dan'ger-ous. They construct a comb just like that of a bee, and it is often found in the hole of a rotten tree, or in the bank of a hedge in the fields. Some times school-boys, who go to destroy it, are so vio lent-ly stung, as to be quite unwell; if, therefore, you should ever see a wasp's nest, carefully avoid it.

THE SNAIL.

Το grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,
The snail sticks fast, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all-together.

Within that house se-cure' he hides,
When danger im'mi-nent betides,

Of storm, or other harm besides,-of weather.

Give but his horns the slight'est touch,

His self-collecting power is such,

He shrinks into his house with much-displeasure.

Where'er he dwells, he dwells alone,

Except himself has chat'tels none,

Well sat'is-fied to be his own-whole treasure.

Thus, Hermit-like, his life he leads

Alone, on simple vi'ands feeds,

Nor at his humble banquet needs-attendant.

And, though without society,

He finds 'tis pleasant to be free,

And that he's blest who need not be-dependent.

LEAD AND TIN.

Lead is a metal very heavy, soft, and easily melted. It is very malleable, but scarcely at all

ductile. It is in more general use than any other metal except iron; being employed for pipes, roofs of houses, cis'terns, musket-balls, fowler's shot, &c. It is also very much used by painters. Lead paints however are unwholesome so long as they con-tin'ue to smell, and so are also the fumes of lead when melted. Hence painters and plumbers are frequently subject to vi'o-lent chol'ics and palsies; and the workmen at places where white lead is made, are very li'a-ble, in a short time, to lose the use of their limbs. Lead, when dissolved in any ac'id, is very poisonous.

There is a great deal of lead found in this island, both in England and in the south of Scotland.

Tin is soft, flexible, and easily melted. It makes a crackling noise when bent. It is the lightest of all the metals; their order, in this respect, being first, gold, then lead, silver, copper, iron, tin. It is malleable, but not ductile.

This metal is not often used by itself. All the ar'ti-cles which you see at the tinman's, are thin plates of iron coated over with tin. It is frequently employed as a li'ning for kitchen vessels made of copper or iron, not being liable to rust, or to be corroded by common liquors. It is used also for what is commonly, but improperly, called the silvering of pins. Pewter is a mixture of tin with a small quantity of other metals. Some years ago all the plates and dishes for the table were made of pewter, and a handsome range of these on shelves

was considered a great or'na-ment to the kitchen. But, since the general introduction of earthen and Chi'na ware, pewter is seldom employed, except in making that part of a still which is called the worm; for porter pots, and for spoons, la'dles, &c. for those who cannot afford to have them of silver. Tin is also used in the making of looking-glasses. But by far the most no'ble use in which it is em ployed, is by mixing it with copper and brass, for the formation of what is called the re-flec'tor of astro-nom'i-cal tel'e-scopes, by which as-tron'o-mers have been enabled to discover stars that the eye, had never before seen. The richest tin mines in the world are in England.

QUESTIONS.

What is the character of lead? For what is it chiefly used? How long are lead paints unwholesome? What is white lead? When is lead poisonous ? What sort of metal is tin? Which is the lightest of all the metals? What are all the articles you see at the tinman's? What is pewter? What is now chiefly used in place of pewter dishes? What is the noblest use of tin? Where are the richest tin mines?

THE HEDGE-HOG.

I am told the hedgehog, which is covered with long sharp prickles, or thor'ny quills, will roll himself among the crabs that lie under the tree, and by these means many stick to his prickly sides, which he carries to his den for a store. When attacked by an enemy, it is found rolled up in a lump or