flavour, it must be admitted with caution, as it is sometimes
injurious. Too much light renders the skin of fruits tough, and will
make cucumbers bitter. Bérard of Montpelier found that the ripening of
fruits is merely the turning the acid which they contain into sugar,
by exposure to the light; and that too much light and heat, before
they have attained their proper size, will bring on premature
ripening, and make them insipid.

_Lindley's Lectures, reported in the Gardeners' Magazine._

* * * * *


PLANTS IN ROOMS.


It is very difficult to make plants grow in rooms. They must
necessarily be deficient in the three important auxiliaries to
vegetable life, light, air, and moisture; the latter of which cannot
be maintained in apartments that are daily occupied. In large towns,
plants cannot thrive even in the open air, as the minute particles of
soot, which are constantly floating about, settle upon their leaves,
and choke up their pores. The gases produced by the combustion of
coal, &c., are also injurious to plants. Sulphurous acid, which
abounds in the atmosphere of London, turns the leaves yellow; and the
want of evaporation and absorption by the leaves prevents the proper
elaboration of the sap, and makes the trees stunted and unproductive.

_Ibid._