THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



HORTICULTURE. 



MAY, 1847. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. On the Cultivation of the Arrow Root in the United 

 States as an Article of Commerce. By Dr. A. J\Jitchell, of 

 Portland, Me. In a Letter to Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn. 

 Communicated by Gen. Dearborn. 



Dear Sir. — I enclose you a letter from Doct. Mitchell of 

 Portland, one of our most distinguished naturalists, with a 

 small package of seeds of the Arrow Root. 



I hope you will make an experiment in cultivating that 

 valuable plant, although it is of a southern clime. If it is 

 brought forward in a hotbed, it is possible you may mature 

 the plant. 



You can publish the letter in your Magazine, if you think 

 proper. With sincere esteem, your most obedient servant, 



H. A. S. Dearborn. 



Hawthorn Cottage^ Roxhury, April 5, 1847. 



My dear Sir, — I here enclose you a small specimen of the 

 Indian Arrow Root, sent to me by Dr. Henry Bacon, of St. 

 Mary's, (South Georgia). The article was cultivated by him 

 on his plantation in Florida. I will here call your attention 

 to the cultivation of this plant, and briefly state that the suc- 

 cess has met the most sanguine wishes of the cultivator, and 

 bids fair to form one of the articles, as an American product 

 of commerce, both for export and import. 



The specimen which I send was derived from the root of 

 the (Maranta arundinacea :) there are three species of this 

 genus, viz., the arundinacea, Galdnga^ com6sa ; they are 

 natives of the Indies, a herbaceous and perennial exotic, which 



VOL. XIII. — NO. V. 19 



