Jaly 21, ISii. ) 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDBN'ER. 



03 



ingredients, developes the deadly properties, aud that all other 

 additions are not essential to the strength of the urari. The 

 boiling-down of the poison was finished in seven hours, while 

 it takes the Indians more than forty-eight hours, which 

 accounts for the slower effect the poison took which was pre- 

 pared by my brother ; the continued boiling, of course, eoncou- 

 trating the extract. The colour of my brother's extract was a 

 light-brown, while that of the Macusi Indians was almost pitch- 

 black, probably from the admixture of the other ingredients. 



This vegetable poison is known by several tribes of the 

 Indians between the Amazon River aud the Orinoco ; yet 

 almost every tribe differs not only in the preparation of the 

 same, but also in the ingredients used. This manifold pre- 

 paration is also the cause that with almost every tribe engaged 

 in the preparation of the uraii, the strength and time in which 

 the poisou operates are diiierent. I have already observed that 

 the existence of the most vigorous plants of the Strychnos 

 toxifera is limited to some localities within the ground which 

 is inhabited by the Macusi Indians, and that may also be the 

 caOEe why these are generally considered everywhere the pre- 

 parers of the strongest poisou. The arrow-poison of the tribes 

 on the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco, which came into our 

 possession through chance, only operates after the lapse of 

 three to seven hours ; that of the Maeusis j)roduced the death- 

 struggles in as many minutes. This renowned strength of the 

 urari of the Macusi Indians brings whole cai'avans of Indians 

 from the Rio Negro, Orinoco, and even from the Amazon 

 River to the Canuku Mountains, to exchange the urari with 

 the inhabitants for other articles. Von Martins gives us an 

 account of the preparation of poison of the tribes of .Juris, 

 Passes, Tecunas, and others on the Amazon and Yupura. The 

 traveller Poeppig gives a description of the vegetable poison in 

 Peru and Chili, and Humboldt of the same as prepared in 

 Esmeralda, on the Orinoco. Every one of these tribes use, 

 according to the accounts, quite different ingredients. My 

 brother, on a visit to the mission of Esmeralda — lat. 3° 11' N., 

 long. 66° 3' W. — which was so flourishing when Humboldt was 

 there — found only one family remaining. The old patriarch 

 told him that he had exchanged his arrow-poison with Indian 

 tribes inhabiting the territory near the Rivers Paramu and 

 Tentuari, especially from the Guinaus and Maiougkougs. 

 Both tribes which had been visited by my brother call the 

 arrow-poison "Cnmarawa" and "Makuri;" but even these 

 tribes prefer the urari prepared by the Maeusis to theii- own, 

 the latter effecting the quickest operation." 

 (To be continued.) 



THE SPUKIOUS MAT DUKE CHERRY. 



It is a wonder to me that this deformed worthless Cherry 

 bas not been the subject of a note from some of your leading 

 writers long since. It seems to me to be on the increase of 

 late, to such an extent indeed as to call for instant measures 

 being taken to put a stop to its further propagation. Just now 

 being the time for budding, I think it worth while to call 

 attention to it ; but I much deplore not being in a position to 

 offer a positive guide, to enable a person about to bud to be 

 oertain whether he is working the right or wrong without the 

 fruit being present. Whether it is a sport I know not, but 

 the fact that it is increasing is too apparent, and when planted 

 for a real May Duke it is disappointing indeed. On a person 

 going to a nursery to purchase a tree, should there be this 

 bastard amongst them it will sure to be the first to attract the 

 attention of the buyer as being a " healthy promising tree." 

 We planted two supposed May Dukes with other Cherries a 

 few years since ; one, the true variety, has produced crops for 

 the last three seasons, the other just a sprinkling, ripening, if 

 ■at all, about a fortnight later than the true variety. I say, if 

 at all, for it often occurs that but half of the fruit do so, the 

 other half remaining quite green or yellow ; and then to eat 

 them is simply impossible, so acid and bitter are they. Beai' 

 in mind, I am not making a mistake, it is not any of the later 

 Dukes. I have often found, especially in bush trees, a single 

 branch, or two or three, even half or more of a tree, bad, 

 while the other part has been good, and vice verm, but I always 

 fancied the good to be somewhat more acid than from trees 

 that were wholly good. 



Now, there is one thing I am confident of — viz., it being 



* Til ' ' ' ,;o which the MacTiMiK tak« are the coU:brated and 



danr' T '.i are ninJe out of a reraorkable (jiflut Uec-d (Arun- 



dioor; . <ich id found on the river Paramu: it rtowb to an 



enormou, nci-'cu, ana :iu: j"Uii« or knots appear at a distaoce of 16 to 18 feot 

 opait. 



much the stronger grower, the hudder will naturally take 

 its shoots before those of a weaker one for bis buds ; hence 

 this variety being now so prevalent. There is this again — the 

 buds are generally taken in nurseries from young trees, and, 

 fruit being absent, there is nothing to show whether one 

 is working good or bad stock. Selecting the strongest shoots 

 j-ear after year has been the means of substituting for the good, 

 moderate-growing May Duke, a worthless fruit no better than 

 the wild Cherry of our woods. The end will be, if not at once 

 looked to, that we shall not be able to purchase a good May 

 Duke. The only remedy seems to be that buds should only 

 bt) taken from old trees that are known to be good. I well 

 remember helping to plant a plantation of young trees of 

 May Dukes iu my father's garden, many of which turned out 

 to be quite worthless in this way ; but I believe, if I recollect 

 rightly, he was of opinion that they would eventually come 

 good, but I am not in a position to say if he realised his hope. 

 It would be interesting to know if any of your correspondents 

 are able to verify this expectation. — J. Tayloe, llaesgwi/ime, 

 Soutli Wales. 



[We have ourselves known nursery stock of Bigarreaus being 

 very much mixed through scions being taken from a strong- 

 growing wilding on which the bud had failed, and which had 

 been left to grow as if it had been a budded plant. Nursery- 

 men cannot be too careful in this respect. — Ens. J. of H.] 



GAZANIA SPLENDENS OR RIGENS. 



Whatever disadvantages may attend a du'l, cold, and late 

 spring, there are certain plants which are benefited by a mQd 

 winter. On all sides we hear of Calceolarias standing un- 

 injured, and a friend of mine iu the west of England informs 

 me that a Scarlet Geranium iu a rustic vase fully exposed has 

 stood the cold and is now in full flower. Such, however, was 

 not the case iu the majority of places, for the wet killed the 

 plants wheye the frost was not sufficiently severe to cause that 

 result; nevertheless, many plants passed through the last 

 winter with little injury. A number of New Zealand Veronicas 

 growing here against a low wall, and which we have slightly 

 protected in most winters, have survived without any such 

 covering and are flowering freely, while the plants are robust 

 and healthy. Other plants of the same kind fully exposed 

 were also uninjured, but later in blooming. 



My jjm'pose now, however, is to call attention to a plant 

 which with some has been a great favourite iu the parterre, 

 while it has been unduly condemned by others. Those who 

 want early bloom have, in general, just reason to complain of 

 it, but for a late display it is all that could be desired. In the 

 present season we had it in all its beauty early in June, and 

 there were flowers out in May, notwithstanding the lateness 

 of the season. The plant referred to is Gazania rigens or 

 splendeus, which is much more easily managed than many 

 suppose, as it is nearly as hardy as the Calceolaria, and not 

 subject to the' sudden and unexpected dying-off to which that 

 once-popular plant is liable in so many places. On a gravelled 

 terrace here we have a number of small beds raised about 

 10 inches by rustic woodwork, and to overhang this woodwork 

 we usually jilaut some suitable traUiug plant ; last year 

 Gazania rigens was employed on four of the beds, and suc- 

 ceeded as well as usual during the summer aud early autumn 

 months. As the latter were mild and wet, and the Gazania 

 did not show any signs of injury from the cold, it was allowed 

 to remain, and is now one of the gayest plants. The healthy 

 green foliage is studded with star-like blossoms of bright 

 orange, and only two or three plants in one of the beds have 

 failed. This, of course, is an exceptional case, and winters 

 which this plant will survive unscathed do not occur more 

 than once in five or six years ; still it is possible that near the 

 coast it may do so more frequently than inland, aud whore it 

 does so it is of great beauty, and well deserves all that has been 

 said in its favour. 



There are other places than the flower bed where it may ha 

 turned to account. The rockery would seem to bo a more 

 fitting place for it than the flower bed, because its failure on 

 the mixed rockwork would not be of so much consequence as 

 when a broken edging of a flower bed had to be repaired by 

 plants of a sjnaller kind. Moreover, I think the rockery is a 

 more likely place for it to escape injury, for it will probably 

 be drier than a flower bed. Iu the case of our plants that 

 safely passed through the long wet winter of 1H72, they were 

 growing on a rcised bed ou dry ground, and the bulk of the 

 tops hong over the sides ; and as the frost was at no time suffi- 



