DIVISION OF GARDENS AND GROUNDS. 689 
Desiring to plant a shade tree in front of my house, I desire to ascertain whether 
the Eucalyptus is likely to thrive well in this climate. 
Answer.—The Eucalyptus globulus has not been planted in the public grounds at 
Washington. 
The tree is altogether too tender for this climate. It will not withstand more 
than 5 or 6 degrees of frost, and has been killed by cold at Galveston, Tex., and in 
Florida as far south as latitude 29°. 
PERUVIAN TEA. 
E. H., NorRTH CAROLINA. . 
Can you furnish me with any plants of the Peruvian tea or mate for experiment 
here? 
Answer.—The plant which yields the leaves used as teain Brazil and Peru is Ilex 
paraguayensis, a large-sized tree which would not grow in North Carolina. 
It seems unnecessary to ignore the Chinese tea-plant, Camellia thea, which will 
grow well in most parts of North Carolina, and contains more theine than the Peru- 
vian plant. 
BLACK PEPPER. 
- A. C. P., PORTLAND, OREGON. 
If possible, I should like to be supplied with seeds of the Black pepper tree or 
vine from the most northern latitude where it flourishes. I would try the experi- 
ment of raising it in the warm valleys of southern Oregon. 
Answer.—The Black pepper vine, Piper nigrum, is a tropical plant, and therefore 
it would be futile to expect it to grow in any part of Oregon; it requires even a 
warmer climate than either the Pine-apple or the Banana, neither of which can be 
cultivated profitably in Oregon. 
RAMIE. 
B., NEw YORK. 
Can Ramie be successfully grown in this State? 
Answer.—Ramie can be grown in New York State by lifting the roots during the 
fall, and preserving them all winter, like potatoes. But for commercial purposes 
this process would not be profitable, unless the profits on the crop were greater 
than they are at present. South of Maryland the plant occupies the ground like 
clover, and once planted no renewal is needed for many years. 
MAHWAH TREE. 
A. P., SoUTH CAROLINA. 
I send you a slip from a newspaper which strongly advocates the introduction of 
the Mahwah tree from Africa, as a sugar-producing plant of more value than any 
other sugar-plant now in cultivation. Please send me some seeds or plants for 
trial here, or inform me where they can be procured. 
Answer.—The Mahwah tree, Bassia latifolia, is a native of Bengal and other 
highly-tropical districts in the East Indies, and it is far from probable that it would 
fiourish anywhere in the United States, but certainly it could not stand the climate 
of South Carolina. The flowers of this tree are sweet to the taste, and are eaten 
raw by the natives of Guzerat and in other places where the trees abound. A 
fiery kind of spirit is distilled from the fiowers. 
The sugar of these flowers is mainly uncrystallizable. Analysis of sun-dried 
flowers yield 56 per cent. of sugar and 15 per cent. of water: further analysis 
showed that sucrose (cane sugar) was only present in the proportion of 3 per 
cent., while glucose (levulose and dextrine) yielded 52 per cent. Hence it can not 
possibly be substituted for cane or beet sugars. Of nitrogenous matters the flowers 
contained 2 per cent. The usual proportion of useful nitrogenous food should 
have one part of flesh formers to five saccharine; but in the Mahwah flowers it 
was only two to fifty-five, hence these have but little of nutritious value. 
AG 87 44 
