of its bloom, which makes its appearance towards the close of June. The readii-wt metliod 

 of propagating it is by grafting." 



fjoHsir. — Tlio s{X)res of some of the fungi are said to bo omnipresent, and so numerous 

 are they, that Fries calculated more than 10,000,000 to be present in a single individual of 

 the Lycoperdon of large size. Bauer estimated that 7,840,000, not of the sporules, but of the 

 individual plants themselves, belonging to the common smut — the I'vpfjo Segetum — would 

 be required to cover a square inch. Dr. Daubeny, of England, and Dr. Mitchell, of I'hila- 

 delphia, have written papers of much research, to prove that fungi are the cause of cholera 

 and numeroiis diseases. Some species of lichens are extensively collected, to make dye- 

 stuffs ; cudbear, a well-known article of commerce, is prepared from lichens collected by the 



peasantry in various parts of Europe. The horseradish-tree of the West Indies — Moringa 



— attains the height of twenty-four feet in nine months, and that in a stony, poor soil. The 

 power of vegetation within the tropics, is illustrated by the above as well as by the growth 

 of the bamboo, -n-hich sometimes shoots fourteen inches in the course of twenty-four hours. 

 Tlie extraordinary productiveness of the tropics, is by many considered an inestimable 

 advantage, but the counterbalancing evil is the astonishing growth of the weeds. The poet 



may sing 



"Of the redundant growth 

 Of vines and maize, and bower, and brake, 

 Which nature, kind to sloth, 

 And scarce solicited by human toil, 

 Pours from the riches of the teeming soil,"' 



but the planter finds that nowhere is more care and industry required than within the 

 tropics, to make agriculture profitable. The weeds exhaust and smother everything that 



is not frequently attended to. Why is it? Our government land costs one dollar an acre 



on an average, and champagne two dollars a bottle. How many a man dies landless, who, 



during his life, has swallowed a township— trees and all. Captain Pope, who was in 



command of the expedition to dig artesian wells in Texas, reports a novel source of fuel, in 

 the roots of the mesquit, which are found preserved beneath the soil — perfectly sound and 



hard — extending sometimes to the incredible depth of seventy feet ! The sales of the 



land on draining the Lake of Haarlem, produced sufficient money to repay all the expenses 

 incurred. Sixteen years of labor and care were exhausted before the work was completed. 

 As soon as the grounds were dry, they were covered spontaneously with a multitude of 

 plants, reeds, and willows ; these prevented walking, being soon higher than a man. A 

 heavyroller was passed over the brittle plants after the willows are pulled up, and the fallen 

 stems covered with the earth taken from the ditches, and rape-seed was immediately sown ; 

 the rape overpowers the next growth, and the land is then ready for grain. After harvest, 

 they work with large wooden shoes on the horses' feet, when the soil is yet too soft. If the 



horses sink, they leave them on the spot. Though the Berberries are commonly treated 



as shrubs, some of them may be formed into the most beautiful and durable small trees 

 that can be introduced into gardenesque scenery. The common berberry, when pruned up 

 to a single stem to the height of eight or ten feet, and all suckers from the root, and all side 

 buds from the stem removed at the moment they appear, will form a fine orbicular head, 

 with the extremity of the branches drooping ; and this pendulous appearance will increase 

 with the age of the tree. Such a tree, covered, as it will be, every year, with yellow blos- 

 soms and scarlet fruit, may rank, in beauty and value, with the handsomest. The low- 

 growing berberries — now mahonias — are very beautiful in masses. The common berberry, 

 trained as above, will reach the height of thirty feet, and endure for centuries. In a cata- 



for 1825, the now common Mahonia aquifolium is priced at twenty-five dollars ! 



plan to forward cut flowers to a distance without injury, is to prepare a cylinder 



