FOREIGN NOTICES. 



569 



has a longer and more slender stalk. This 

 is the case, almost invariably, with the fruit 

 here grown on the pear stock, and we have 

 so represented it in our work on Fruits. Col. 

 Wilder, of Boston, has stated (see page 21 

 of this journal) this to be true in his grounds, 

 except when grown on quince stocks. Mr. 

 Thompson, the fruit authority in England, 

 tock pains in the Gardeners^ Chronicle, for 

 1846, p. 16, to give outlines, side by side, 

 of these two pears, in which the Glout Mor- 

 ceau is distinguished by its straight and 

 rather slender stem. Poiteau, in his Po- 

 mologie Francaise, and Noisette, in his 

 Jardin Fruitier, both represent it, (that is 

 the pear which is the true Glout Morceau,) in 



the same manner. So that we say, either 

 Mr. HovEY has been singularly unfortunate 

 in his specimens of this fruit, after his atten- 

 tion has been repeatedly drawn to it, or all 

 the most careful pomologists of the dav, are 

 wrong, and he alone is an accurate observer. 

 Mr. HovEY has not, perhaps, observed the 

 usual courtesy of authors, in adopting the 

 title of an established contemporary work 

 on the same subject. He has however, 

 doubtless, good reasons for so doing, and we 

 trust his sagacity may be verified by the 

 same large sale for his work, which has at- 

 tended the publication of the original volume 

 bearing the title in question, which has now 

 reached the seventh edition. 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



Rhubarb buds unwholesome. — In " the calen- 

 der of operations," our correspondent some time 

 since recommended that " Rhubarb buds now emerg- 

 ing, should be thinned out for tarts, where too thick." 

 Following that advice, a clergyman and his family 

 of eight, partook of some tart containing the cooked 

 buds. Seven of the number were made very sick 

 at the time ; three remained ill three days, and two 

 young gentlemen have been ill with occasional vom- 

 iting, ever since. This information, we derive from 

 Dr. CoLToN, of Lynn. 



Another correspondent also gives a suspicious 

 ease, arising from the use of Rhubarb. — '■' A woman 

 at Chelsea, purchased some Rhubarb, and when 

 about to prepare it, the greenness and freshness of 

 the leaves induced her to try them as a substitute for 

 spinach. The leaves were boiled, tasted, approved 

 and dished up in the ,5ame way as spinach. Three 

 partook of them; the father, mother and son (a 

 school-boy.) Symptoms of sickness first appeared 

 in the mother, who was obliged to leave the table; 

 the boy was affected soon after leaving his school, 

 from which he returned sick, with swellings about 

 the mouth; the father who had left home on business, 

 was obliged shortly to return, symptoms of sickness 

 having attacked him also." 



Wo are not aware of any similar instances of se- 

 rious consequences, following the use of Rhubarb; 

 but it is by no means surprising, that a plant which 

 forms so much oxalic acid, should be unsafe, and 

 we recommend the subject to serious chemical in- 

 quiry. It is quite conceivable that the leaves should 

 contain some principle in which they are deficient, 

 as indeed is proved by the different manner in which 

 the juice of the leaf-stalks and leaves are effected 



72 



by the same re-agents; but until there shall have 

 been time for a careful inquiry into the organic pro- 

 ducts of those two parts, we can only warn the pub- 

 lic against employing for food, any part of the Rhu- 

 barb except that which experience shows to be 

 harmless." — \^Gard. Chron. 



[An instance occurred lately, in this neighbor- 

 hood, of slight indisposition in a family, the mem- 

 bers of which had partaken of the leaves, boiled and 

 served up as spinach. — Ed.] 



Culture of the Almond in France. — The al- 

 mond will vegetate in any soil, provided it is not wet 

 and marshy, and if its tap roots, penetrating to a 

 great depth, do not encounter soil impregnated with 

 stagnant water. I have seen almond trees which 

 were quite old, making vigorous shoots and bearing 

 fruit in abundance, in a very compact, clayey, ar- 

 gillaceous soil. In light sandy soils they bear abun- 

 dantly, but are short-lived. The situations where I 

 have frequently seen these trees most flourishing and 

 fertile, are in courtyards, by the side of streets and 

 roads, in villaf^es, indeed in places constantly trod- 

 den upon, and even paved. Indeed, they possess 

 this singular preference in common with se%-eral 

 other kinds of fruit trees, (perhaps all.) as I shall re- 

 mark later. 



The most reliable authors advise that the almond 

 should be planted in a warm and sheltered position.* 

 it is possible that in the climate of Paris, and in the 

 north of France, this precaution may i)e necessary, 



• It is not to insure the maturity of the fruits, but to pro- 

 tect the blossoms from the north and northwest winds, which 

 in a tew days de.Mroy the embryo fruit, especially wnen the 

 blossoming is premature. — [Poiteav. 



