14
THE BATTALION.
HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
During the previous year the horti
cultural course has been greatly strength
ened, and is now undoubtedly one of the
best in the South. As a result, the num
ber of students taking up the course has
increased 100 per cent over that of last
year.
The department has sustained quite a
loss in the resignation of A. M. Ferguson,
assistant professor, who now occupies the
position of assistant professor of botany
in the University. However, we expect
to secure the services of a man from Cor
nell. For the present, Mr. F. Kamp
McGinnis, a graduate of last session, has
the place of student assistant and is ac
tively at work.
Last July the campus department was
turned over to the horticultural depart
ment by the board. A skilled gardener
and graduate of the famous Shaw Botan
ical Garden, of St. Louis, Mo., has been
appointed foremap, and under the direc
tion of the horticulturist will devote
especial attention to the work of beauti
fying the campus grounds.
Near the close of last session a cannery
was established, the work in it being
done to a great extent by cadets. The
fruit canned will furnish the delicacies
on the bill of fare at the Hotel d'e Sbisa
for the coming year. Quite a consider
able amount of fruit was put up by the
cadets—but not all in cans!
AN IRISHMAN’S LETTER.
City of Cork, Sept. 29, 1868.
Dear Nephew: I haven’t sent ye a
lether since the last time I wrote ye, for
we hev moved from our former place
of living, and I could not, for the soul
of me, tell where a lether would find ye.
I now with pleasure take me pin in hand
to inform ye of the death of yer only liv
ing unkle Kilpatrick, who died very sud
denly afther a lingering sickness of seven
weeks. The poor man wasn’t well tin
days during the whole time of his con
finement. He lay perfectly spacheless
and quiet, entirely, talking incoherently
all the time, and crying for wather. I
am at a loss to know the disease he died
of, but 1 fear that it was his last sick
ness; but be that as it may, as soon as
he breathed his last the doctors gave up
all hope of his recovery.
His property, which was considerable,
ye know, devolves upon his next of kin;
and now, Barney, ye know, ye haven’t a
living relation in the wide world except
it’s meself and yer two cousins, and they
were kilt in the late war; and I expect
it will be equally divided between us;
and now, Barney, ye know, ye will get
two-thirds of the whole, and he left a
fine estate, which was sold to pay his
debts, and the balance he lost upon a
horse race; but it was the candid opinion
of all the ladies present that he would
hev won the race if the horse he ran
against had not been too fast for him.
Poor man; he’ll never wield the sprig
of shilaly again, an amusement in
which he took such great delight.
I will now buckle on your unkle’s coat
of arms, and beg of ye not to break the
sale of this lether for four or five days
afther ye recave it; for by that time ye’ll
be bother prepared for the mournful tid
ings.
All the relatives hev for many years
enjoyed good health, and I hope ye may
do the same. From your unkle,
Pateick O’Habbagan.