144 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



motive for misstatement. The Ifnlian poets, in 

 their corseous pictures of the gardens of Alcina 

 and Morgana, came nearer to the truth than they 

 imagined. — Prescott's Hist, of the Conquest of Peru. 



The Tea-Plant in India. — We learn from the 

 Calcutta Gazette, that the edbrtsof Dr. W. Jame- 

 son, superintendent of the botanic gardens in the 

 northwest provinces of India, to introduce and ex- 

 tend the cultivation of the tea-plant have been high- 

 ly successful. The lea brokers in England have, 

 moreover, pronounced the Indian tea equal to China 

 tea of a superior class, possessing the flavor of the 

 orange-pekoe, but more than its usual strength, 

 and in other respects resembling that imported un- 

 der the name of ning-yong. The tea tree in Kema- 

 oon is not only identical with the China plant, and 

 as capable of being made into as fine a description 

 of tea, but the climate and soil in Kemaoon are as 

 suited to the favorable growth of the shrub as the 

 finest of the Chinese localities; and, moreover, the 

 tea is as highly prized in the districts in which it has 

 been raised as it is in England. One hundred and 

 seventy-three seers of it were recently sold at Al- 

 morah, and produced from four to five rupees the 

 seer, a price equal to tlie best foreign tea sold in 

 Calcutta. According to the calculation of Dr. Ja- 

 meson, the price for which it can be raised is so low 

 as to aflford the greatest encouragement for the 

 application of capital: he estimates that if cul- 

 tivated on a sufficiently large scale, the prime cost 

 in Calcutta, including every expense, would be lit- 

 tle more than eight annas a seer, or one-eighth of 

 the present price. Supposing the cost of cultiva- 

 tion to be double what is here estimated, a suffi- 

 cient amount of profit would still be left. The ca- 

 pacity of the provinces of Kemaoon and Gurhwall 

 for the enlarged production of the article, does not 

 moreover appear to be limited to particular locali- 

 ties. Accoi'ding to the latest report that has been 

 furnished, 176 acres were under cultivation, con- 

 taining not fewer then '322.579 plants. The crop 

 is thriving in different places over four degrees of 

 latitude, and three degrees of longitude; and 100,- 

 000 acres are available in the Dhoon alone for the 

 purposes of tea cultivation. At a maund an acre, 

 they would yield 7,600,000 lbs., which is equal to 

 one-sixth the entire consumption of England. — Lon- 

 don Hort. Mag- 



Exposing Greenhouse Plants in Summer. — 

 Many green-house plants, and especially the more 

 delicate kinds, often suflTer much injury from expo- 

 sure to the sun's rays in summer. When so exposed 

 without the benefit of shelter of any kind, the soil is 

 apt to become so thoroughly dried, that it is with 

 difficulty again wetted, and hence the scorched and 

 stunted looking growth which may sometimes be 

 seen on such plants in the summer season. The 

 injury in most cases arises not from exposing the 

 stem and branches of the plants, but from exposing 

 the pot in which it is growing; the sun's rays act- 

 ing on the sides of the pots, in conjunction with the 

 evaporation constantly going on, soon deprive.* the 

 soil of its moisture; and as all the tender roots are 

 usually more or less in contact with the inner sur- 



face of the pot, their injury is inevitable. It is no 

 uncommon thing to see the soil so much dried as to 

 shrink (piite away from the pot, and in this case 

 the roots cannot avoid being more or less injured. 

 Under such<;irc;umstances, too, the water which is 

 supplied sinks down as fast as it is poured on, and 

 fails, for a long time at least, to moisten the inte- 

 rior of the soil. Then again, the necessity for con- 

 stant watering caused by this exposure, is an evi- 

 dent wrste of time. When plants are turned out- 

 doors (and also when kept in-doors) their roots 

 ought to be sheltered by some means from the in- 

 fluences alluded to; plunging the pots in some open 

 porous material will answer the end as well as any- 

 thing; and of the substances that maybe employed, 

 moss, coal ashes, rough peat, saw-dust, or fine 

 charcoal are among the best that can be employed. 

 It is desirable, also, to afibrd the entire plants a 

 very thin shade during the intense sun heat of sum- 

 mer, but the lighter the material employed the bet- 

 ter. — Ibid. 



Bulbous Plants. — To check the growth of the 

 foliage of bulbous plants is very decidedly injurious 

 to them. After they have done flowering, it should 

 be an object to stimulate the leaves to make strong 

 and vigorous growth; and this should be done un- 

 der the influence of strong bright light, and continu- 

 ed till they show s3^mptoms of having passed their 

 maturity; this is generally indicated by their turn- 

 ing yellowish, and decaying at the tips- Moisture 

 — both at the root, and in the atmosphere — is then 

 to be reduci d gradually until they are brought to a 

 state of rest. It is, therefore, an erroneous though 

 a common practice to cut off the foliage of hardy 

 bulbs as soon as their bloom is faded, or even at 

 any subsequent period, w-hile that foliage is in a 

 growing state; and it is also hurtful, though some- 

 times necessary, to take them up and remove them 

 to another place, unless this can be done without 

 greatly disturbing their roots. — Ibid. 



Hothouse Fires. — Great waste of fuel is often 

 the result of the ordinary mode of managing hot- 

 house fires. Much of the smoke, for instance, 

 which is in itself a nuisance, is also a waste, for 

 the gases which thus pass away are capable of 

 combustion, and thus of increasing the amount of 

 heat which is developed. Whenever pure coals '^r 

 coals blended with cinders are employed in furnaces, 

 it will be found to be a palliative of this nuisance to 

 push forward towards the neck of the flue the bulk 

 of the red-hot fuel, previous to mending the fire, 

 and to deposit the fresh fuel in front of the glowing 

 mass. The gas, which is liberated and forms smoke, 

 is thus made to pass directly over the hottest part 

 of the fire, and to a great extent becomes ignited. 

 The bulk of red-hot cinders should be considerable 

 before the ash pit doors or dampers are resorted to, 

 and then, particularly at " damping up " for the 

 night, small cinders and moist ashes should alone 

 be employed; on no account pure coals. A writei- 

 in the Pharmaceutical Times states, that a scien- 

 tific chemical remedy for the smoke nuisance offers 

 itself, by introducing a cast iron tube from a boiler, 

 to convey a column of steam to be dispersed by a 



