FOREIGN NOTICES. 



343 



minutes 30 seconds, in the province of Kiang-nan, 

 the northern winds begin to prevail, the Chinese 

 say, in September. In October, persons in easy 

 circumstances begin to clothe themselves in their 

 fur dresses ; and in November the winter (or 

 rather, perhaps, the N, E. monsoon) regularly 

 sets in ; when the young Tea shrubs are said to 

 be bound round with wisps of straws, to prevent 

 them from being broken or injured by the wind 

 and snow which falls in the winter season. The 

 severity of winter, however, is not felt before De- 

 cember. From this time until March, the wea- 

 ther continues cold: frost frequently prevails, and 

 snow occasionally ; water freezes in the house; 

 but the Chinese houses are badly put together; 

 windows and doors are roughly titled; in fact, 

 tliey are built for hot weather, not for cold. The 

 Chinese defend themselves against cold by an ad- 

 ditional quantity and ditferent qualify of clothing; 

 their houses being thus much exposed to every 

 change of temperature, a little tea accidentally 

 left in a tea-cup over night ia any of the rooms, 

 will occa.sionally be found frozen in the morning." 



" The Bohea countiy, in Fokien, differs little 

 from the Hyson district in point of temperature. 

 The tea men describe the cold a.s less severe ; 

 and the fall of snow as well as the thickness of 

 the ice, as somewhat less. Indeed, it is a moun- 

 tainous district, with sheltered valleys, fenced 

 in and protected from cold north-easterly and 

 north-westerly winds by the lofty and continuous 

 range of mountains which forms the barrier be- 

 tw^cen this province and those of Chekiang and 

 Kiangsee. December and January are considered 

 the coldest m_onths. It is said that the Kieu-kio- 

 kee, a shallow stream which wmds about the Bo- 

 hea mountains, is annually frozen over. Here 

 vagrants are seen ranging themselves along the 

 most frequented parts, begging alms, and excit- 

 ing the compassion of passengers by strewing 

 paddy-husk on the ice, to prevent slipping." 



In the east of Fokien, Father Carpina. lonjx 

 resident there, assured Mr. BAt-i, that '• the Tea 

 shrubs were neither injured nor the harvest re- . 

 tardcd by the cold of 1815, notwithstanding there 

 fell in the month of February four spans, (about 

 33 inches English,) of snow in Fo-gan, lat. 27 

 degrees, 4 minutes, 48 seconds, and six spans in 

 Ning-te; so that the covers to the Indigo plants, 

 strongly fixed to protect them from the frost, sun, 

 and M'ind, gave way under the weight of the 

 snow. At the clo.se of the same year, about the 

 middle o!" December, some days of severe cold 

 and frost occurred. Upon one occasion, about 

 3 o'clock in the afternoon, on a beautiful sunshiny 

 day," he observes, " I saw two boys, each with 

 a piece of ice the size of a coach window, and an 

 inch in thickness, which they had taken out of 

 the fields in the neighborhood. I also observed, 

 on the 24th January, of the present year, (1816,) 

 the surface of the water in the Mo-yang was fro- 

 zen, breaking and flying about like glass to the 



stroke of the oar. The volume of water in this 

 river is equal to that of the Guadalquiver, at the 

 passage of Cordova. It freezes in these parts 

 very often." 



Many other statements to the same effect might 

 be quoted, but these suffice. They show conclu- 

 sively that the Camellia is found wild in a coun- 

 try with rigorous winters, and is cultivated in 

 another in which the severity of the season is 

 greater, rather than less. 



If w^e look at the plants which we have in our 

 gardens from the country of the Camellia, they 

 will be found to be among the most hardy exotics 

 which we possess. Cvdonia {alias Pyrus) Ja- 

 ponica. Wistaria {alias Glycine)) sinensis, Cryp- 

 tomeria, the Moutan, Weigela, Forsythia, Chi- 

 monanthus — who has seen them hurt by English 

 frosts? Thus it appears that the companions of 

 the Camellia, in its own woods, have no such 

 tenderness of constitution as to demand a green- 

 house. 



Is the Camellia, then, a green-house plant? We 

 .shall endeavor to find an answer to the question 

 in our next week's publication. — Gard. Chron. 



[The Camellia has been kept through the win- 

 ter in a cold pit, here, and perhaps will prove 

 hardy at Baltimore. Near Charleston, S. C, 

 there are specimens growing in the open garden, 

 20 feet high — Ed. Hort.] 



Lime vs. Insects. — I beg to assure your cor- 

 respondent that lime may be applied with the most 

 perfect safety to his trees, shrubs, &c.; and will 

 also prove certain destruction to the slug tribe. 

 With respect to the quantity, that must depend 

 on the nature of the soil. In April last, having 

 then recently obtained possession of a garden, &c., 

 that had been greatly neglected, and was overrun 

 with slugs, I spread quick lime over the whole, 

 (vegetables, shrubs, grass, and orchard,) at the 

 rate of about 80 bushels to the acre, so that all 

 through that month we appeared to be in the 

 midst of winter, with the ground covered with 

 snow, even the evergreens being white. The re- 

 sult was, that not a slug was seen till the rains 

 of October, and but very few then. The vegeta- 

 bles have been pretty good, and the growth and 

 vigour of the evergreens have been quite remarka- 

 ble. The soil is clay. February would be a very 

 good time to lay on the lime. E. S. Gard. 

 Chron. .... 



Sale of Deodars. — About 4000 plants, from 

 seed, of this fine Conifer, were sold by Mr. Ste- 

 vens yesterday. They fetched, on an average, 

 £7 per 100 plants, of from H to 2 feet in height. 

 — Gard. Chron., Nov. 18. 



Russian Method of Training Apple, Cher- 

 ry, and ir'LUM Trees, by Mr. Joseph Busch. — 

 'I he severity of the winter at St. Petersburg is so 

 great that few fruit trees will survive it, even with 

 careful matting ; to prevent the loss which is thus 

 usually sustained, I have for more than twenty 



