Vol.VII.— No.20. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



157 



seventy species, all in fine preservation, and class- Bihliolh. Phys. Econom.,p. 13, and in Jam. Phil. 

 ed, named and labelled according to the most L/owr. 1827 ;?. 191.J 



modern improvements. Among the articles re- , ■ 



.-eived, are a number from the shores of Denmark, i POISONOUS VEGETABLES. 



Norway and Finland ; but a large part of the col- j Persons of all descriptions have frequent ocoa- 

 lection is marked as belonging to this magnificent ' sion to make some use of plants, when they are 

 gentleman's own estate of Hoffman's Grove. It is not in a situation minutely to investigate their na- 

 curious to observe with what laborious skill and | turo and qualities. As many plants are narcotic 

 phytological industry, Mr Lyngbye has classified ; and injurious to the human constitution, it is very 

 these miimte and difficult objects. Among them j convenient to have at hand, or in the memory, a 

 is the genus Bangia, named after the illustrious i few concise rules on this subject. The following 

 donor, and the Oscislatoria which attaches the i have been selected with great care : — 

 loose particles of submarine soil together, and j Plants not Poisonotis. 



forms a coherent body underneath. The able j i_ Plants with a glume calyx, never poisonous ; 

 author has written a particular dissertation upon , as wheat, Indian corn, foxtail grass, sedge grass 

 an important species of this vegetable, eminently 

 operative in fastening a sandy bottom in such ai 

 manner as to render it adhesive and firm. 



The mineralogical articles consist of about thir- 

 ty species, chiefly from the memorable region of 

 Arendal, which bear a remarkable resemblanco iu 

 their exhibition of original rocks, to the primitive 

 formation of New-York city and its vicinity. — 

 These, like the other specimens, are accompanied 

 by a scientific catalogue, allowing comparative ex- 

 amination. 



2. Plants whose stamens stand on the calyx, ne- 

 ver poisonous ; as currants, apples, peach, straw- 

 berry, thorn. 



I 3. Plants with cruciform flowers, rarely if ever 

 poisonous ; as mustard, cabbage, water-cress, tur- 

 nips. 



4. Plants with papilionaceous flowers, rarely if 

 ever poisonous ; as pea, bean, locust tree, wild in- 

 digo, clover. 



5. Plants with labiate corols bearing seeds with- 

 out pericarps, never poisonous ; as catmint, hys- 

 sop, mint, motherwort, marjorum. 



6. Plants with comjmund flowers, rarely poison- 

 ous ; as sunflowers, dandelion, lettuce, burdock. 



Poisonous Plants. 

 1. Plants with five stamens and one pistil, with 

 a dull-colored lurid corol, and of a nauseous, sick- 



liUALITIES OF TIMBER, AND VIGOR, MA- 

 TURITY AND DECAY OF TREES. 

 The qualities of wood depend much on the 

 state of the tree when cut down. It appears, 

 .from the experiments of M. Hartig upon wood ap- 

 ,plied as fuel, that trees wliicli have attained ma- 

 turity, without passing into decay are the best for Iv smell, always poisonous ; as tobacco, tliorn ap- 

 the production of heat. Thus, the value of an l''e, henbane, nightshade. The degree of poison 

 elm of 100 years is to that of one of 30 years as 

 12 is to 9 ; that of an ash of 100 years to one of 

 30 years as 15 to II. When the trees begin So 

 decay, their value rapidly diminishes. Thus, if 

 an oak of 200 years yields wood worth 15 francs 



IS diminished where the flower is brighter colored 

 and the smell is less nauseous. As potatos are 

 less poisonous, though of the same genus with 

 nightshade. 



INDIAN CORN IN ENGLAND. 



Mr Cobbett has now at Barn-Elms Farm, (near 

 London) a piece of 11 acres of Indian Corn which 

 he assures us will yield him 1,200 bushels of 

 ears ; and that it will surely get ripe notwith- 

 standing the badness of the soason. He is sure 

 that England will now become an Indian Corn 

 countiy, and that in ten years, a man that should 

 fatten a hog on barley would be deemed, and just 

 ly deemed, a lit subject for a mad-house. 



[The humidity of the air in England, and tho 

 want of that intsnse heat which is so favorable to 

 the growth of corn in this country, incline us to 

 think Mr Cobbett is rather too sanguine in his ex- 

 pectations. He may, however, by obtaining his 

 seed from>thi3 countrv for a few years, succeed in 

 acclimating this wholesome and important grain. 1 



JV. Y. Farmer. 



There is at present in flower, in the gardens of 

 the Marquis of Londonderry, at Mount Stewart, 

 an American aloe, a native of South America, and 

 was introduced into Britain about 1781. It is up- 

 wards of twenty one feet in height : circumfer- 

 ence at the base five feet : the leaves average 

 about five feet in length and one foot in breadth. 



Considerable sugar has been made the past 

 year in North Carolina. The ribband cane is said 

 to flourish in that State, and sugar will very prob- 

 ably, at no distant day, be a staple article there. 



' There v.-as manufactured last year, in the town 

 of Sahna, N. Y. 1,200,000 bushels of Salt, which 

 was sold for 12J cents per bushel, (exclusive of 

 the state duty,) making the comfortable sura of 

 $150,000. 



There are now in use in Great Britain, 15,000 

 steam engi^ies, some of them of COO horse power. 

 It is calcu.<&ted that they save the labor of more 

 than two millions of men ! 



2. Umbelliferous plants of the aquatic kind and 

 per cord, a tree of the same kind passing to decay | a nauseous scent are always poisonous ; as water- 

 yields wood only worth 12 francs. When the I hemlock, cow-parsley. But if the smell is pleas- 

 wood is used for other purposes, the advantages ant, and they grow in dry land, they are not pois- xhe avdfage length of human life in the 16fh 

 .•onferred by a mature and healthy state are still ! onous ; as fennel, dill, coriander, sweet cicely. I century r'as only 18 years and 5 months ; but 

 more considerable. The common elm growing in 1 3. Plants witii labiate corols, and Seeds iiv cap- ' o^i^ig to the improvements which have from time 

 a forest, and in good earth, accpiires its fiill in- i snles, frequently poisonous ; as snap-dragon, fox- ^^ ,i,„e been made in the healing art, the average 



crease in 150 years; but it will live many years, 

 even 600 or 600 years. Large forest elms are 

 cut down with advantage when of an age between 

 100 and 130 years, and then furnish a large quan- 

 tity of building wood. The duration of the life of 



?love. 



now ascertained to ba 33 years and 10 months. 



4. Plants from which issues a mi%>!ce on be- ijaving mofc than doubled iu the last 300 years, 

 ing broken are poisonous, unless they boar cotii- ; .. .— 



pound flowers ; as milk-weed, dog-bans. j ^ WARREN BRIDGE. 



5. Plants having any appendage to the calyx or | The rapid advances towards t!ie completion of 



the elm depends much on the soil ; ia a dry soil ' corol, and eight or more stamens, generally pois- 

 it becomes aged, as it were, in 40, 50 or 60 years. I onous ; as columbine, nasturtion. 

 Elms which have been lojijied live for a shorter Most general rule. 



period than the others. Those that grow by the Plants with few stamens, not frequently poison- 

 road side, or in thin plantations, may be cut when ' ous, except the number be five ; but if the num- 

 70 or 80 years of age. In general, the increase her be twelve or more, and the smell nauseous, 

 of hard woods, as the oak and elm, is slow at first; heavy and sickly, the plants are generally poison- 

 it successively augments until the 20th or 25th ous. 



year ; is then uniform until the age of GO or 80 . Note. Many [;!ants possess some degree of 

 years; after which it sensibly diminishes. For i the narcotic principle, which are still by no means 

 these and other reasons, it is important that trees { hurtful. But the use of such plants is to be de- 

 should be cut down when they are in their uititure ; ferred, till fully investigate.d. — Eaton's Botany, 

 state, and not simply when they undergo no fur 



ther increase. When the period has arrived atler 

 which the increase of the tree w.^uld be lejs and 

 less from year to year, then the tree should be 

 felled, for no advantage accrues from its remain- 

 ing longer in the ground. The indications of the 

 mature state of a tree are by no means so evident 

 as those of decay ; but still certain signs of this 

 state, as well as of the vigorous condition of the 

 tree, may also be observed. (M. Bandrillac in 



this importuiit avenue are very gratifying. The 

 whole lias been macadamized with a good depth 

 ofstoue, anda five horse team, with very broad 

 wheels, is engaged in wearing it down to a solid 

 and even road. Tiie foot walks are completed, 

 and are wide and commodious. The plank walk 

 extends some distance over the abutment on the 

 Boston side, and the whole is to be lighted with 

 elegant lamfis at very reasonable distances. This 

 Bridge is no doubt one of the best built bridges in 

 the country, and reflects great credit upon those 

 who are engaged in the business. — It draws forth 

 the praises of all, and even those who most vio- 

 lently opposed the grant of a charter for its erec- 

 tion, BOW speak of it with complacency and admi- 

 ration, and have come to the belief that the peo- 

 ple have a right to build a bridge for their own 



and to get into 



BLACK PEPPER. 



An elementary principle has been recently dis- ! 

 covered in black pepper, which has been denomi- 

 nated piperine, and found to be a successful reme- 

 dy in intermittent fevers. It has been employed j accommodation and convenienc 

 in doses of one grain every hour, with as much the city by the cheapest and shortest route, 

 success as quinine; and when combined with an j On the Boston side, the city authorities have 

 eiiual portion of quinine, with even more eflect > jaid out a wide and commodious street from the 

 than when quinine alone has been used. I termination of the Bridge extending almost directly 



