I cannot help thinking of my horticultural friends as I sit each morning at my window, and in the intervals of writing or reading look out upon the vineyard under it, watching the busy fingers of the Swiss women as they cut off the tops of the vines, or tie them neatly to stakes. The rich amber color of the berries, which are Golden Chasselas, and often as large as those of the Black Hamburg in our vineries, contrasts finely with the dark green of the leaves, and gives to the land culture here a charm scarcely known yet in our American culture. In truth, this Lausanne is a delightful place, situated as it is on a mountain side, and overlooking that beautiful sheet of water, Lake Leman. One of my windows opens upon the lake, and from it my eye can wander over sloping orchards, and vineyards, and pasture, down .to the placid lake, and then again up to the distant mountains, whose sides have that inimitable tint of mountain-grey which is seen only in Switzerland, while their tops are often painted and gilded by the setting sun through as clear an atmosphere as our own in October. The climate at this season very much reminds me of our own, excepting that it is more rarified, and one can take more exercise with ease.

A favorite walk of mine is on the Berne road, where lives an English clergyman with a charming lot of children. The chateau in which he lives belongs to a noble family, who are resident at Munich. It is a beautiful spot, laid out with winding walks through fine woods, with seats and temples, and subterranean galleries cut out of the solid rock, while from his window is a superb view of the lake and mountains. For this he pays the moderate sum of forty-six pounds sterling per annum, furniture included. There are hundreds of beautiful locations around it on which one can build, and a great source of amusement with me is to people every site.

As my hair grows grey I endeavor to discard some of the follies of youth, but there still stick by me some of my old castle-building propensities. I find myself taking possession thus of every charming spot, and building upon each a dwelling of ample dimensions - of Roman, Grecian, or Gothic architecture, whichever may be most in harmony. I have thus a home in the currant fields of Zante, among the pine groves of Cephalonia, on the picturesque hills of Corfu, among the lemon and orange groves of Palermo, upon the brow of Posilipo, all along Italy from Naples to the Lakes, and sundry others upon the heights and in the valleys of the Alps, where one can look upon snowy peaks, wander over glaciers, or eat September strawberries and mountain cream on the table land pastures. There is one great beauty about these homes of mine - I have no taxes or gardeners' wages to pay, no repairs to make, and no water-pipes continually out of order, but everything is perfect of its kind. These are all shadows, you say, but so it is with many things we value; as we grow older we discover that our realities were only shadows, and what we once deemed shadows are fast becoming realities.

But there is at all events something tangible about the fruits here, and I like to have an assortment of then upon my table when I write. My little market-basket sometimes makes a goodly show, and I have before me at the same time four or five sorts of pears, of which Beurre gris and Duchesse d'Angouleme are the best; nectarines, apricots, peaches, Green Gages, Alpine strawberries, figs, Cornelian cherries, mulberries of immense size and delicious flavor, several sorts of plums, Red and Golden Chasselas, with occasionally some Chasselas Musque. Now do not think that I eat all these; I have with me some little mouths to which nothing of this kind ever comes amiss. The price of Grapes here is very reasonable, - about ten cents per pound, - and the grape-cure is in high repute. The vicinity of Lake Geneva is celebrated for the excellence of its fruit, and thousands come here at this season to go through the cure. Hard, is n't it? Just think of it - to be compelled to eat five to ten pounds of ripe Golden Chasselas every day! But one of the oddest customs they have here is that of allowing persons to enter the vineyards and eat as much as they choose. The charge for this is each time one or two francs, according to the quality of the fruit and the apparent capability of the man.

I feel sorry 'for the proprietor who turns them out in such pasture. What would your neighbor Pratt McKean charge for entering one of his vineries in this way?

The vines here are all kept trimmed down to three or four feet, and they say the fruit is much finer than on a trellis where it must necessarily be more distant from the root. Being planted two and a half and three feet apart, a large number can be placed upon an acre, which is important where the soil is prepared at so great an expense as is requisite for grapes. They also say that the oidium attacks the fruit on trellises much more than on vines trained low to stakes. My own observations confirm the truth of this. On the other hand the finest grapes at Fontainebleau are trained upon trellises. The cost of the vineyards here is something enormous. There are some near Vevay and Clarens, on hill-sides so steep as to require terracing, which have sold as high as twenty-five and even thirty thousand francs per acre, and with such an interest to carry they are said to be profitable. The whole country is covered with vineyards, and I have abundant opportunity of getting acquainted with their mode of culture. But my sheet is nearly filled, although this subject cannot be readily exhausted.

With kind regards, believe me truly, S. B. Parsons.

Lausanne.