as well as the exceeding beauty, of the works of the Creator.  The highest understanding does not stoop when occupied in observing the brilliant colour of a blossom, or the graceful form of a leaf.  Hogarth, the great moral painter, a man in all respects of real and original genius, writes thus to his friend Ellis, a distinguished traveller and naturalist:—­’As for your pretty little seed-cups, or vases, they are a sweet confirmation of the pleasure Nature seems to take in superadding an elegance of form to most of her works, wherever you find them.  How poor and bungling are all the imitations of Art!  When I have the pleasure of seeing you next, we will sit down, nay, kneel down if you will, and admire these things.’

* * * * *

“It is one of the proudest attributes of man, and one which is most important for him to know, that he can improve every production of nature, if he will but once make it his own by possession and attachment.  A conviction of this truth has rendered the cultivation of fruits, in the more polished countries of Europe, as successful as we now behold it.”

The work then divides into Fruits of the Temperate Climates, and of Tropical Climates; the first are subdivided into Fleshy, Pulpy, and Stone Fruits and Nuts, in preference to a strict geographical arrangement.  Under “the Apple” occur some very judicious observations on

CIDER.

“The cider counties of England have always been considered as highly interesting.  They lie something in the form of a horse-shoe round the Bristol Channel; and the best are, Worcester and Hereford, on the north of the channel, and Somerset and Devon on the south.  In appearance, they have a considerable advantage over those counties in which grain alone is cultivated.  The blossoms cover an extensive district with a profusion of flowers in the spring, and the fruit is beautiful in autumn.  Some of the orchards occupy a space of forty or fifty acres; and the trees being at considerable intervals, the land is also kept in tillage.  A great deal of practical acquaintance with the qualities of soil is required in the culture of apple and pear trees; and his skill in the adaptation of trees to their situation principally determines the success of the manufacturer of cider and perry.  The produce of the orchards is very fluctuating; and the growers seldom expect an abundant crop more than once in three years.  The quantity of apples required to make a hogshead of cider is from twenty-four to thirty bushels; and in a good year an acre of orchard will produce somewhere about six hundred bushels, or from twenty to twenty-five hogsheads.  The cider harvest is in September.  When the season is favourable, the heaps of apples collected at the presses are immense—­consisting of hundreds of tons.  If any of the vessels used in the manufacture of cider are of lead, the beverage is not wholesome.  The price of a hogshead of cider generally varies from 2l. to 5l., according to the season and quality; but cider of the finest growth has sometimes been sold as high as 20l. by the hogshead, direct from the press—­a price equal to that of many of the fine wines of the Rhine or the Garonne.”