300 



THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



I have thus endeavored, hurriedly, and briefly as possible, to describe, for the benefit of 

 my amateur friends, the process of making bouquets and floral designs, and hope that I have 

 succeeded at least in affording them some assistance. 



The California Nutmeg Torreya myristica. 



THE annexed engraving represents the 

 tree which has of late years been often 

 alluded to as the California nutmeg. It 

 is a beautiful evergreen, growing to the 

 height of thirty or forty feet, and inha- 

 biting the elevated regions of the Sierra 

 Madre. The fruit and kernel strongly re- 

 semble the common nutmeg. The slight- 

 est glance, however, at the internal struc- 

 ture of the fruit, at once identifies this 

 tree with the Torreya of the Southern 

 United States, found only in the Ashalaga 

 and Apalachicola country of Middle Flo- 

 rida. The foliage has the form and deep 

 rich green of the Florida species, or T. 

 tazifolia, as well as of the yew ; but the 

 leaves are much larger, being from one 

 and a half to two and a quarter inches 

 long. They spread out on two sides, and 

 are tipped with a sharp, rigid point. The 

 fruit, as it may be popularly called, is 

 about the size and form of a greengage 

 plum, and in the dried state has a pale- 

 olive color ; but this may not be its natu- 

 ral tint. The outer covering is a thick, 

 fleshy, nearly-closed urceole, or dish, which 

 completely invests the seed, and closely adheres to it, except near the summit. It is smooth 

 and even, and soft to the touch. The seed is usually oblong, and greatly resembles a 

 large pecan-nut, but frequently it is more ovate. The shell is smooth, thin, and fragile. 

 The kernel is conformed to the shell, and has the external and internal appearance of the 

 nutmeg. When cut transversely, the resemblance is perfect. The seed, however, is wholly 

 destitute of the delicate aromatic odor of the Oriental spice, for it has the strong terebinthine 

 Character of the coniferae. Neither is the fleshy covering of any known use. It is more 

 probable that, like the fleshy cup-a-berry of the yew, it is of a poisonous nature. Still, the 

 discovery of this tree is interesting to the botanist and to the horticulturist. But two other 

 species are known besides. One of them (T. nucifera Sieb. and Zuce) is a native of Japan, 

 and the other has only been found hitherto in Middle Florida, in very confined stations. As 

 an ornamental tree, the California nutmeg deserves to be extensively cultivated. It must be 

 hardy, as it grows on the mountains, where the winter is very severe. The enterprising 

 Messrs. Parsons & Co., of Flushing, sent out a person to California for the express purpose 

 of collecting the ornamental and useful plants of that country ; and among other varieties, 

 he obtained, last year, some ripe and fresh seeds of the California nutmeg. These have since 

 germinated freely. 



New Plants. 



Rheum nobile. The annexed figure represents one of the most striking of the new plants 

 brought by Dr. Hooker from the Himalayas. This plant, which is a true rhubarb, and has 

 received the name Rheum nobile, is about three feet in height, and forms conical towers of 

 the most delicate straw-colored, shining, semi-transparent, concave, imbricating bracts, the 



