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"In its native wilds, the Maclura is conspicuous by showy fruit, in size and external appearance resembling the largest oranges. The leaves are of an oval form, with an undivided margin, and the upper surface of a smooth shining green; they are five or six inches long, and from two to three wide. The wood is of a yellowish colour, uncommonly fine and elastic, affording the material most used for bows by all the savages from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. How far towards the north its use extends we have not been informed, but we have often seen it among the lower tribes of the Missouri, who procure it in trade from the Osages, and the Pawnees of Red River. The bark, fruit, &c. when wounded, discharges a copious milky juice, which soon dries on exposure, and is insoluble in water, containing, probably, like the milky juices of many of the urticeæ, a large intermixture of caoutchouc or gum elastic.

The fruit consists of radiating, somewhat woody fibres, terminating in a tuberculated and slightly papillose surface. In this fibrous mass are disseminated the seeds, which are nearly as large as those of a quince. The tree rises to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, dividing near the ground into a number of long, slender, and flexuose branches. It inhabits deep and fertile soils in vallies. The Arkansa appears to be the northern limit of the range of the Maclura, and neither on that river, nor on the Canadian, does the tree, or the fruit, attain so considerable a size as in warmer latitudes. On many specimens of the fruit examined by Major Long, at the time of his visit to Red River, in 1817, several were found measuring five and a half inches in diameter." (James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.) The following letter from Mr. Nuttall to A. B. Lambert, Esq., dated Liverpool, April 12, 1824, gives additional information respecting this tree. "I have herewith sent you the drawings of the Maclura, and have but little to add concerning it besides what is already before the public. I have, how. ever, since that publication seen the male flowers with which I had been unacquainted. They are produced in partly sessile clusters, probaby twelve or more together in a very short raceme, and consist each of a four-parted greenish calyx, including three, but more commonly four stamens, about the length of, or a little exceeding, the calyx.

The trees often attain the height of sixty feet or upwards, having spreading branches, thickly clothed with a foliage of the most vivid and shining green. The flowers are very inconspicuous and nearly green, or with a slight tinge of yellow. The bark and fruit, on incision, gives out a milky sap; that of the fruit is aromatic, but not agreeable to the taste. Although found spontaneous and abundant on the immediate borders of Red River, I cannot learn that any individual has ever seen or tasted its ripe fruit. These, according to the report of Major Long, (See his Narrative, vol.ii.p.158.) are quite as large as those of the Shaddock tree, yellow, and very beautiful to the eye; but in his opinion always unpleasant to the taste. As to their being juiceless (an assertion made by this narrator), the very appellation of Osage, i. e. orange, independent of my own testimony, ought to have qualified the contradiction. From two or three of the fruit which I described as seen growing in Mr. Choteau's garden at St. Louis, in 1810, I expressed about half a pint of a milky sweetish fluid, which, unlike most lactescent saps, quickly separated into a clear liquid, and a subsiding feculent matter, almost appearing like the action of coagulation in milk. Ï mention this fact, merely to show that the fruit is not hard and dry, as stated by Mr. James. Indeed, from all I can yet learn, the state of the ripe fruit is entirely unknown.

The wood is so completely like that of the Fustick (Morus tinctoria) that it would be difficult to tell them apart; it is equally useful as a yellow dye, and its strength recommends it to the natives for bows."

W. Swrites, "I should be glad to be informed, through the medium of the Gardener's Magazine, the price and description of a botanical microscope

sufficiently strong to examine the grasses, for I have always found them very difficult to examine by a small magnifying-glass; and I believe that there are a great many young gardeners, like myself, who have been prevented from enquiring into that valuable family of plants for want of proper instruments, and likewise deterred from getting them for want of being able to give a proper direction to some of their fellow-servants to get them in London, as they are seldom to be met with in the country."

One of the most complete botanical microscopes is that recommended by Dr. Hooker, of Glasgow, and sold by Jones, 30, Lower Holborn, London, at 57. ; and with dissecting knives, 5l. An improved botanical, or universal pocket microscope, sold by Jones, and by Bancks, 441, Strand, and others, costs 17. 88. A triple botanical magnifier, such as is used by practical botanists about London, and which we should think well adapted for our correspondent, is sold by Bancks for 9s. 6d., and a double magnifier for 6s. 6d.

Hely Dutton, Esq., landscape gardener in Ireland, and author of some clever county surveys of that kingdom, writes, "I dare say you have seen Pontey's late work Pray, is his frontispiece a specimen of English taste in water-works? If so, we are all groping in the dark.” — Mount Bellew, Castle Blakeney, May 15, 1829.

Mr. Dan. Stock observes, "The bee orchis (Ophrys apifera) and the fly orchis (O. muscifera) are favourite plants of mine, and although I have frequently met with them, brought them home, and planted them both in pots and in the open ground, they have never again made their appearance, which, notwithstanding the opinion of many gardeners, must have been because they were not treated properly. I shall therefore be much obliged to you, or some of your correspondents, to inform me, through your Magazine, the mode of treatment most proper for preserving the above plants, and others of the same tribe; and particularly, whether in taking them from their native habitations, the mould ought or not to be cleared from the roots.”– Bungay, Suffolk, 29th April, 1826.

G. S. writes, "It will be obliging if you, or any of your readers, give some information regarding a root called cara, in Brazil. In the first volume of the Edinburgh Gazette, (a work of six volumes) p. 597., there is the following observation.

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"Esculent plants grow in Brazil in great profusion and variety. bulbous root called the cara, which grows to the size of about 5 inches diameter, is in great request; it is equal to the best potatoes, and even more farinaceous.'

"In your Number for January, p. 87., you mention the prangos, hay-plant, which is cultivated in Thibet, but the introduction of which into this country had failed, in consequence of the seeds having lost their vegetative power. I have seen it stated somewhere, that seeds put up in different parcels, and packed in raw sugar, retained their freshness for a great length of time, and were not subject to mould or insects, (No! see p. 335.) As we procure raw sugar from the East, rare seeds, put up in casks of sugar, would retain moisture and freshness for a year, and come to this country fit for depositing in the soil. It is much to be lamented, that naturalists and botanists do not attend to the rule of Horace, regarding the utile cum dulce, for they seem anxious, when they go to distant countries, to collect as many varieties and species as possible, and to extend or fill up the classes, genera, &c. &c., but we receive little or no information as to the uses and application of plants to the arts and sciences, or to domestic economy.

"Various grasses, I am convinced, might be introduced into cultivation in this country from distant climates. When on this subject, I may observe, that in Botany Bay, and Van Dieman's Land, the pastures are described to be remarkably open, and the grases do not there form a compact sward. As a remedy for this open state, white clover and the natural grasses should

be sown, and rolled immediately, before moist and rainy weather. The pastures would then maintain three or four, or more sheep, per acre, instead of one, as is stated in the accounts from that quarter."

W. B. B. writes, "I beg to know, through the medium of your highly useful Magazine, if there is any remedy for a disease, which first made its appearance on a mayduke cherry, against a south wall, in the Spring of the last year, when every leaf on the tree fell off, though every remedy I could think of was used; such as smoking, brushing, and dusting the leaves with wood-ashes. Nearly every leaf had thousands of small black insects on it, and the wall was likewise quite black with them; they hurt the tree so much, that a part of it died, though it threw out a second crop of leaves after midsummer. The same tree is now covered with them, and the fruit is all blighted, falling off, and the leaves turning yellow. From every observation I can make, I am of opinion that watering increases the number of insects. Last year they were confined to one wall, but every Morella cherry against a north wall, and some standard trees, are infected; as are all the espalier and standard trees, in a new garden lately planted. I have regularly examined one young tree, which was cut back this Spring, and which is watered every day, and every insect picked off, or killed on the leaves, and yet every day there is a young brood to kill. I have likewise remarked, that where the insects are killed on a leaf, it turns yellow, and falls off after a short time. I have searched Forsyth, and other authors, but I cannot find that they mention it, nor is there any account of it in the first edition of your Encyclopedia. I beg to mention, that the walls in my gardens are of cob (earth), which do not bear washing as brick will.”— Sanctuary, Devonshire, June 7th, 1826.

Has our correspondent tried lime-water (not lime and water), or weak tobacco-water?

Mrs. G." would be glad to know the best way of destroying the spawn of frogs, and a great number of water-newts (Lacerta aquatica, Linn.) which abound in a small pond" in her orchard? We would suggest dissolving lime, at the rate of a pint to three gallons, and pouring the water into the pond till it took effect; or, salt applied in the same way, which will certainly kill every living thing in the pond. But it must be recollected, that if either salt or the powder of lime be thrown in undissolved, a much larger quantity will be required, as a considerable portion will fall to the bottom, sink in the mud, and not be dissolved and taken up by the water. To discover which is most effectual, take a glass of salt-water and a glass of lime-water, and put a newt and some frog spawn in each.

A. C. would be glad of information respecting the best mode of treating elm-trees, in cases where their bark is continually peeling off, and the cause; and whether Gas, or gas-pipes, conducted up their trunks, would be likely to affect them? —April.

W. B. writes, " having a great predilection for flowers, so abundant at this season, I should be happy if you could inform me, through the medium of your Magazine, if there be any better method for their preservation than the usual one of immersing the stalks in fresh water; for though this succeeds tolerably well in most cases, yet I find my moss-roses, and some other of my flowers, though I change the water daily, very soon fade. Perhaps the insertion of the above query in your next number, might afford an opportunity to some one of your numerous readers, of disclosing some peculiar method, by which the preservation of these much admired, but too fleeting beauties of Flora, may be prolonged. Probably enough has not yet been done in the way of experiment for the attainment of this object. - Paddington, June 17th. The duration of gathered flowers with their stalks in water, or wet sand, depends on the coolness and shade of the atmosphere in which they are placed. When they have begun to fade, they may be revived for an hour or two by substituting warm water for cold.

ART. XV. Obituary.

DIED on the 20th April, Mr. William Gibson, many years head gardener to Henry Peters, Esq, of Betchworth Castle, near Dorking, Surrey. This worthy man fell by his own hands, while labouring under temporary mental derangement, brought on by a cause which deserves to be mentioned, as affording a lesson to gardeners, and all of us, not to be over ambitious of money, nor too eager to step out of our regular path in pursuit of it. Mr. Gibson had saved some property, and embarked it in the coaltrade, and recently not only lost it all, but involved some of his friends; or he supposed that this was the case, for we have since heard that it was not so. This idea preyed upon his mind to such a degree that he was unable to bear it. He sent word to his master that he could no longer remain in his service; and the messenger, on his return, found him prostrate on the floor of his cottage, with a pistol in his hand. "The feelings of the coroner's jury were strongly excited by the production of Mr. Peters's letter, which contained expressions not only in every way calculated to soothe the mind of the deceased under his calamity, but to assure him, in terms of marked feeling, of his master's future kindness and protection." — (County Chron.)

JOHN FORBES, A.L.S.

On the Tablet erected to the Memory of Mr. FORBES, in Chiswick Church-yard, is the following inscription:

To the Memory of Mr. JOHN FORBES, A. L.S., a botanical collector in the service of the Horticultural Society of London, who died at Senna, on the Zambazee river, in Eastern Africa, in the month of August, 1823, in the 23d year of his age. This tablet is erected by the Council of the Society, in testimony of their entire approbation of his conduct while in their service, and of their deep regret at the untimely fate of a naturalist of so much enterprise and promise.

361

PART IV.

ADVERTISEMENTS CONNECTED WITH GARDENING AND

RURAL AFFAIRS.

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THE

WORKS.

ENTOMOLOGIST'S USEFUL COMPENDIUM; or an Introduction to the Knowledge of British Insects: comprising the best means of obtaining and preserving them, and a description of the Apparatus generally used; together with the Genera of Linne, and the modern method of arranging the classes Crustacea, Myriapoda, Mites, and Insects, from their Affinities and Structure, according to the views of Dr. Leach; also an explanation of Terms used in Entomology; a Calendar of the times of appearance and usual situations of near 3000 species of British Insects; with Instructions for collecting and fitting up objects for the Microscope. By GEORGE SAMOUELLE, Associate of the Linnæan Society of London.

This work is beautifully printed in one volume, Svo. and illustrated with 12 very ac curate Plates, containing nearly 200 figures of Insects, &c., from drawings made by the Author. Price 17. in extra boards; a few copies finely coloured after nature, Price 14. 18s. in extra boards.

"An indispensable text book, to every student in this delightful and highly popular branch of Natural History."-Time's Telescope, 1826.

This work has been strongly recommended and frequently referred to by Mr. Kirby in the third and fourth volumes of his Introduction to Entomology.

A NOMENCLATURE OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY; alphabetically arranged, and intended as Labels for Cabinets of British Insects, &c. Crown 8vo. Price 4s. 6d. in extra boards.

Will be published in a few Days, by the same

Author,

DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING and PRESERVING EXOTIC INSECTS and CRUSTACEA; for the Use of Residents in Foreign Countries, Travellers, and Gentlemen going abroad. Illustrated with plates.

Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green

NEW WORKS,

Published by LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, and GREEN.

AN INTRODUCTION to ENTOMOLOGY; or Elements of the Natural History of Insects. By WILLIAM KIRBY, M.A. F.R.S. and L. S. and WILLIAM SPENCE,

Esq. F. L. S In Two thick closely printed Volumes, 8vo. of 740 and 68 pages, illustrated by 25 Plates, and Portraits of the Authors. Vols. III. & IV. which complete the Work, 11. 1s, each.

This work, intended both as a general and popular History of Insects, and to embrace every branch of the Scientific Student's Researches concerning them, comprises an account of the injuries they occasion to the human frame, the farmer, horticulturist, &c; the benefits derived from them; their affection for their young; their food, and stratagems in procuring it; their societies; their habitations; their various metamorphoses; their anatomy, external and internal; the technical terms of the science, &c. &c.

The First Two Volumes may be had, Price 18s. each.

CONVERSATIONS on BOTANY. With Twenty-one Engravings. The Fifth Edition, enlarged, in 1 Vol. 12mo. Price 7s. 6d. plain, or 12s. coloured.

The object of this Work is to enable young persons to acquire a knowledge of the vegetable productions of their native country; for this purpose the arrangement of Linnæus is briefly explained, and a native plant of each class (with a few exceptions) is examined, and illustrated by an Engraving; and a short Account is added of some of the principal foreign Species.

HALF A DOZEN HINTS on PICTURESQUE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, in a Series of Designs; for Gate Lodges, Gamekeepers' Cottages, and other Rural Residences. By T. F. HUNT. The Second Edi tion, in 4to. Price 15s. boards, or 21s. India Proofs, boards.

"Entertaining the highest opinion of their merits in every point of view, we strenuously recommend Mr. Hunt's Hints to attention, especially of country gentlemen and of archi tects employed by them."- Literary Gazette.

Nearly ready, by the same Author, DESIGNS for PARSONAGEHOUSES, ALMS-HOUSES, &c. arranged to accord with Village Scenery.

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