166 Remarks on the Culture of Exotic Vegetables. 



lated force, as it must do when obstructed by walls, or solid 

 fences. 



The myrtle is a native of Asia, Africa, and the southern 

 parts of Europe. In Italy it grows as an underwood ; though 

 Pliny, who mentions eleven varieties of this plant, did not con- 

 sider it as a native of any part of Europe, and was farther 

 strengthened in his 'opinion of its being a stranger to Italy, by 

 its retaining its Greek name, which has been followed in all the 

 Em-opean languages. 



Where this shrub grows naturally, it has been observed 

 principally in hot sandy soil ; it is sufficiently hardy to resist 

 severe degrees of frost, so that there is no part of this Colony 

 where it would not become useful as well as ornamental. 

 When formed into hedges, it should be regularly clipped twice 

 or thrice a year, and only be allowed to attain the height 

 most suitable to the purposes for which it is planted. 



Before the use of pepper was known to the Romans, the 

 berries were used by them in seasoning their dishes in cookery, 

 and also in flavouring their wines. 



" Leaves odoriferous, cephalic, astringent, bark and leaves 

 used in tanning ; berries used in dying, and to form an 

 astringent extract ; flowers-and leaves yield an astringent oil 

 by distillation, and the berries a fixed oil, myrteum, which is 

 astringent." 



To propagate this shrub, cuttings, may be planted in the 

 months of July and August. 



LAURUS nobilis. Sweet bay. Laurierboom. Enneandria 

 Monogynia of Linnaeus. Nat. Order. Laurinae. 



This shrub grows well in loamy soil; but a dry sandy, or 

 gravelly one, is recommended. Its evergreen foliage and close 

 growth, and its thriving under the shade of large trees, where 

 scarcely any other shrub would grow, renders it peculiarly 

 adapted for fences : it bears clipping extremely well ; and 

 although it may be occasionally disfigured by strong gales of 

 wind, they do not effect its destruction. 



This was the Laurus of the ancients, and was regarded 

 by them with more superstitious reverence than perhaps any 

 other tree. Linnaeus gave it the trivial name of Nobilis, from 

 the exalted uses to which it had been applied. 



"From the berries a green oil, or rather butter is extracted 

 by decoction in water: and by the press they yield an insipid 

 fluid oil." 



Propagated by sowing the berries as soon as ripe, or by 

 preserving them in sand till a favorable season, guided by 

 localities, will ensure a quick vegetation ; or by cuttings or 

 layers. The last method is preferable, as in two years they 

 become strongly rooted, and may then be seperated from the 



