Aolcs and Glcan/no-s. 



179 



ber last I finished an experimental plantation of five hundred, at six feet apart, 

 but anticipate taking every second one up after a year or two. When the cor- 

 dons overtake each other, it is common to graft them one to another — a very 

 simple operation. If, when all are united, they should grow too stron"^ in rich 

 ground, the stem of every second plant may be cut off just beneath the wire, and 

 the trees will be nourished by the others. When the hne is well trained and 

 established, the wire may be taken away altogether ; but it is so very inexpensive 



A CORDON ORIGINALLY PLANTED TOO THICKLY. AFTER ALL HAD BEEN SECURELY GRAFTED TCGETH- 

 EK, EVERY ALTERNATE STEM WAS REMOVED. 



that it is scarcely worth while removing it. If the plantation be made on a slope, 

 all the trees should be .planted so as to grow up the incline. 



" ' Finall)-, in winter the trees will be the better for being looked over with a 

 view to a little pruning here and there, taking care to thin and regulate the 

 spurs when the plantation is thoroughly established, to cut in objectionable 

 stumps, and to firmly tie the shoots along the wire. These should never be 

 tied tightly, so as to prevent their free expansion ; but they may be tied firmly 

 without incurring any such danger. As the system is chiefly valuable for the 

 production of superb dessert fruit, only the finest kinds should be selected.' " 



The Ever-bearing Andine Strawberry, from the highlands of Mexico, is 

 doubtless, observes Dr. Spruce, one of those varieties of Fragaria vcsca com- 

 monly cultivated throughout the Andes, within the tropics, where the perpetual 

 spring of that favored region has had the eflect of rendering the strawberry 

 perennially fruitful, and many of the deciduous-leaved trees of Europe evergreen. 

 In the equatorial Andes the province of Ambato is famed for its strawberries, 

 which equal in size and flavor some of our best varieties, and are to be seen 

 exposed for sale in the market-place of Ambato every day in the year. They 

 are cultivated at an altitude of from seven thousand to nine thousand five hun- 

 dred feet above the sea, where the mean temperature of the year ranges between 

 59° and 67° ; but the best are grown a little way out of Ambato, as you go towards 

 Guayaquil, on the slopes of Guachi (lat. i^° S.), at near nine thousand feet, and 

 in a mean temperature of 60° ; where, however, the thermometer does sometimes 

 descend, perhaps half a dozen times in the year, to the freezing point, in the early 

 morning, scarcely ever on two successive days. Florist and Poniologist. 



Fruit of the Yew. — The pulpy portion of the fruit of the yew tree is gen- 

 erally believed to be harmless, while the kernel or seed is regarded as poison- 

 ous. M. Clos, of Toulouse, who has recently investigated the subject, has come 

 to the conclusion that the yew berries, including the kernels, are perfectly harm- 

 less. Idem. 



