FOREIGN NOTICES. 



521 



{grateful liquor distilling through his veins, is indeed 

 the " licor divino," which Mexicans assert is pre- 

 ferred by the angels in heaven to ruby wine." 



Great M>i:xiCAN Cypress Trf.es — Far more in- 

 teresting th: n the apocryphal tradition of the Indian 

 palace, or the viceroy's castle, is the magniticent 

 prove of cypress (deciduous cypress, Taxidium 

 distichum) which outlives all the puny structures 

 of man, and, still (1846) in the prime of strength 

 and beauty, looks with contempt on the ruined 

 structures of generation after generation which 

 have passed away. One of these noble trees is up- 

 wards of seventeen yards, or 50 odd feet, in girth, 

 and is the most picturesque, and at the same time, 

 nobly proportioned tree, it is possible to conceive. 

 It rises into the sky, a perfect pyramid of foliage, 

 and from its sweeping branches hang pendulous, 

 graceful festoons of a mossy parasite. There are 

 many others of equal height among the Chepulte- 

 pec grove, but this one, which I believe is called 

 Montezuma's cypress, stands more isolated, and is 

 therelore more conspicuously grand. From the 

 summit of the hill, to which a path winds through a 

 labyrinth of shrubs, a fine view of the valley and 

 city of Mexico is obtained, and of the surrounding 

 mountains and volcanic peaks. Buxton's Mexico. 



To Promote the Growth of Trees. — What- 

 ever mode of planting trees may have been adopted, 

 the following means will greatly promote their 

 growth. 



Scrub the bark of the trunk and principal branch- 

 es with a wet brush, (dipped in soap suds,) until 

 there remains neither moss nor dt-ail bark. Repeat 

 this operation several times in a season, but espe- 

 cially in the months of April and November. In 

 this way the perspiration of the tree is aided, and 

 the bark is everywhere put in the best condition to 

 absorb moisture, and the whole tree becomes more 

 susceptible to the beneficial influences of the atmos- 

 phere. 



It is especially fruit trees that this cleaning will 

 most benefit. 



As trees absorb the humidity of the air by all 

 parts of their surface, it is particularly in a hot and 

 dry season that this process is recommended, as it 

 then puts them in a state to profit by the least rain, 

 or even by the dew. Insects which are especially 

 fond of trees whose bark is rough and diseased, are 

 much less likely to attack those which have been 

 freed from all dead and useless parts. When there- 

 fore the brush is not sullicient to completely render 

 the bark smooth, it should first be carefully scraped 

 with a knife, and alterwards well washed and 

 scoured with the brush. 



To be convinced of the utility of this mode of 

 treatment, it is only necessary to compare the rapid 

 growth of a tree so treated, with its neighbors left 

 to nature. Pfaelzische {German) Garlenzeitung, 



To Restore Sickly or Jawndiced Azaleas 

 AND OTHER Planth. — The following further appli- 

 cation of M. Gius' important discovery in restoring 

 the health of plants with yellow and sickly foliage, 

 noticed at length in our last, is well worthy of at- 

 tention. Lemon and Capo Jasijiine plants^ 4» well 



VOL. II. 66 



as sickly fruit trees, may be restored in the same 

 manner. — Ed.] 



In the Revue Horticole of the ]5th of October, is 

 an excellent article on the culture of Azaleas, over 

 the well known signature of M. Van Houtte. Will 

 you allow me to submit to your readers some obser- 

 vations on this subject ? 



M. Van Houtte recommends, forAzaleas suffer- 

 ing from chlorosis, (yellow sickly state of foliage,) 

 and in a languid state, the same treatment employ- 

 ed by all practitioners, namely, repotting, sheltered 

 and shaded position, under a frame, &c., &c. 



During the vacation, I was at Chatillon-sur- 

 Seine : M. Leclerc, post-master and member of 

 the committee of agriculture, begged me to submit 

 to a regimen of iron, seven or eight Azaleas, which, 

 in spite of the treatment recommended above, had 

 been for two or three months, in a decidedly jaun- 

 diced and sutfering state. Two or three of them 

 were dying. On the first of September, at a tem- 

 perature of 20°, the plants in question were im- 

 mersed, leaves and branches, in a solution of sul- 

 phate of iron, (common copperas,) half a dram to 

 a quart of water, or loz. to fifteen gallons, and 

 withdrawn after several seconds, being entirely and 

 uniformly wet. Eight days after a decided ameli- 

 oration was perceptible. The operation was then 

 repeated, a small quantity of a stronger solution of 

 iron being spread on the earth in tlie pots. 



Under the influence of this double absorption, ex- 

 ternal and internal, the Azaleas, after fifteen or 

 twenty days, would not have been recognized for 

 the same plants ; not only had they regained their 

 green and healthy appearance, but at the extremi- 

 ties of several branches, young green leaves were 

 observed, with all the signs of a vigorous growth. 



The same experience occurred at the same timo 

 and place, with equal success, on some Calceola- 

 rias, which had been in an equally sickly, pale and 

 dying condition. 



I doubt if any other method would give as rapid, 

 and perceptible results, obtained with so litte trou- 

 ble and expense. This medical practice is so sim- 

 ple that the most humble gardener's apprentice 

 could easiiy become enough of a doctor, to apply 

 it. It is merely necessary to keep strictly to the 

 doses indicated ; to use the solution of iron immedi- 

 ately after the copperas has dissolved, that is to 

 say, before it is ati'ected by a deposit of rust, and to 

 operate witli the temperature sulficicntly hi<rh. 

 Below 12° or 14°, (60° or 65° Fahrenheit,) the°ef- 

 fects arc much less sensible, sometimes not-7p6stip- 

 tible. They would be still more rematkable and 

 immediate, if the temperature were still bigher. 

 If the sun, however, should be very hot, it would 

 be advisable to try the experiment a little in the 

 shade. 



Finally, these experiments with sulphate of iron, 

 which have occupied me since 1840, have been pur- 

 sued for three years at the Museum of Natural 

 History, in Paris, under the benevolent auspices of 

 the professors of botany and culture. This new 

 treatment has been applied to a number of indivi- 

 dual plants belonging to the most diflerent natural 

 families, some in the open air, some in the orangery, 

 some in the hot-house ; — and the results obtained 

 daily, leave no doubt of the specific action of talt 



