781 LETTER FROM MR. WEIR- 



and good quality of most of tlie Coniferous seeds sold by Stevens 

 this year at his sales early in the spring. With me, Wellingtonia 

 ^t^rwH^eavegetatedplentifully in boxes in the frames; and the same 

 may he said of Lawsons and M'NaVs Cypress, Abies Donr/lasii, 

 MenziesU and Williariisonii, Pimis Benthamiana, Jeffreyiiy and 

 Monticola, and Picea amabalis and grandis. Two large lots 

 of Wellingtonia gigantea and Gupressiis Laxvsoniana were sown 

 in the open borders in May, as I could not find any more room 

 in the frames for such a quantity. This border is about 30 feet 

 Wng and 1^ feet broad, and the seed, although so late in sowing, 

 has vegetated so thickly that it would almost seem fabulous were 

 I to try and state the number of young plants of the two kinds 

 growing at present on it. On purpose to save them from a severe 

 winter, as they are too numerous to pot, I have had temporary 

 frames erected over them. 



CIL— LETTER FEOM Mr. WEIR, COLLECTOR 



IN SOUTH BRAZIL. 



Sir, 



Santos, Aug. 28tli, 1862. 



Along with this letter I will forward to Mr. Fry, for transtaission 

 to England, a small box coutaining a few dried specimens and all the seeds 

 I have been able to collect. 



These are some of most of the things I have met with that are at all likely 

 to be worthy of cultivation. Among the best of them are several species of 

 Melaatomads, different from those I have already sent. These plants are 

 among the showiest I have seen in Brazil, and of some of them there are 

 considerable quantities of seeds. 



It la very difficult and often impossible to collect large quantities of the 

 seeds of many species, as many do not produce seeds in great quantities, 

 and of others that would naturally do so, a great proportion are destroyed 

 by insects, birds, and sometimes the weather. Another difficulty is to be 

 on the spot exactly at the right time, for there are not enough of things 

 worth collecting to make it woiih while to stay in one place to watch and 

 gather them as they ripen. 



I have now made up my mind to go on to the province of Parana by land 

 as soon as the next mail from England reaches St. Paul's. The port of this 

 province is Paranagua; and from that place, if my map is to be trusted, I 

 will have access to different parts of the Serra, which my experience tells me 

 is far richer in species than the flat country beyond it. However, a person 



