18t6.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



211 



Vanilla culture at Greytown Nicaragua, and now 

 Bend us a sample of their fruits in the shape of 

 some Beans six inches long. They undertook 

 the culture with some misgivings, but the quality 

 of production is excellent, and the enterprise 

 will doubtless prove a success. What a luxury 

 it must be to walk around among an orchid 

 orchard, and enjoy the sweet perfumes and de- 

 licious profits ! — well, we suppose there is some 

 drawback to all this happiness. 



Peach Yellows. — Col. Wilkins, of Maryland, 

 is sure that an aphis causes the yellows in the 

 peach. The peculiar process by which this 



cause was traced to this effect, we have not had 

 described to us. 



Polygonum amphibium for Tannees,— Para- 

 graphs have been going the rounds that this 

 plant is found to make first-class leather. We 

 should be favored if any of our readers can tell 

 us what sort of leather it will make ? We have 

 heard that the Illinois factory where it was 

 worked up is being offered as a woolen mill, 

 " because the Polygonum cannot be had in 

 quantity," but that is a poor reason, when the 

 plant could be so easily cultivated. What is its 

 value? 



ATURAL miSTORY AND ffeCIENCE. 



^iio^-^j^ 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLORA OF 

 HOKKAIDO. 



BY M. LOUIS BOHMER, 



Horticulturist to the Kaitakuska, Yedo, Japan. 



[Continued from page 183.] 



The forest trees principally consist of large 

 Elms, which have much the appearance of the 

 Ulmus campestris, so very common in the north 

 of Europe. This tree attains a large size, aver- 

 aging about 4 feet in diameter, and is most 

 valuable for building purposes. A large area is 

 covered with deciduous oak, consisting of Quercus 

 serrata, a narrow serrated-leaved species; the 

 beautifully leaved Quercus dentata, whose leaves 

 generally are 5 to 6 inches long and 3 inches 

 wide; the acorn, which is always single, is en- 

 closed in a scaly cup, much resembling some of 

 the North American species; and another species 

 which has a much smaller and sharper dentated 

 leaf. The third kind bears leaves of middle size 

 and more deeply dentated than those of the former 

 ones. The proportion in Hze and the number 

 of trees seen growing seems to be equal in all 

 three. A large Ash, growing about 100 feet high, 

 is a striking feature. I further remarked num- 

 bers of a large Walnut, which, cut up into boards, 

 is used for the inside of houses, where it pro- 

 duces a good effect. On the foot of the moun- 

 tains the large M:ignolias and Cercidiphyllum, 

 already mentioned, grow abundantly and in 

 good sized specimens. A curious tree, of a 



smooth white bark, bearing racemes of flowers 

 almost the size of the Elderflower, is a gigantic 

 representative in this country of the Snow-ball 

 family, Viburnum phlebotrichium. Sophora 

 Japonica, in company with another tree resem- 

 bling very much a Syringa, were in flower at the 

 time of my visit, and I was fortunate enough to 

 secure both living and dried specimens of them, 

 which in some cases were difficult to obtain 

 from other trees. 



At a distance of about twenty miles from the 

 capital, having ascended the mountain range, I 

 found an Elm with smooth bark and tripinnate 

 leaves, very remarkable on account of the use to 

 which the Ainos (the natives of the island) put 

 the bark, and it is calle'd by them Ohiyo. After 

 being stripped frorn the tree, the bark is thrown 

 into water, and the strong fiber, which separates 

 after some time from the bark, is made into 

 strings, and woven into a kind of cloth, which is 

 in general use with them. For the purpose of 

 dyeing this cloth they have been ingenious 

 enough to discover materials in other plants. A 

 yellow dye is furnished by the cork-like bark of 

 a tree resembling an Ash (Aino name : Chikere- 

 peni). The bark of an Alder (Aino name: Ke 

 Ni), furnishes them another dye, which is of a 

 reil color. There are three kinds of Birch, the 

 bark of two of which is employed for domestic 

 purposes, one used as torches (Aino name : 

 Chitiichi ni), the other (Aino name : Kariba ni), 

 for fastening together boards of boats. Two kinds 

 of Linden are very conspicuous among forest 

 trees. One a large heart-shaped leaved one is 



