Published by John B. Russei.l, at JV». 62 .Yorth Market Street, (at the Agricultural Warehouse). — Thomas G. Fessewbin, Editor. 



VOL. VIII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1830. 



No. 26. 



H O R T I C U I< T U RE. ' 'ions ))liciiomcna I have observed in tlie course 



"f my travels, there are few which have made a 



lOR THE NEW KSCLA3D rAUMEK. iiiiiigcr iiiipressioii OH iny iiiiiid than the cow 



— i tree. All that has any connexion with milk, all 



MILK OF THE COW TKEF. j that relates to cercah<, iusjiires us witli an interest 



Mx Fessenoe-n — In your painu- of Docembe^j which is not simply that of the knowledge of 



til, is a sliort notice of the Cow tree of Colom- ' causes, but which is connected with another se- 

 llaving, through the politeness of Fuanklis ries of ideas and feelings. We cannot, without 



■rcuFiKi.D, Esq. American Consul at Puerto ! dilliculty, believe that the human species can exist 



ibello, received a quantity of the juice of (lii^j ivith'out farinaceous substances, nor without the 

 , together with a piece of the bark, to he de- nutritious milk contained in the bosom of a mother, 



sited in the cabiuet of the University, I have which is intended for the long weakness of infancy. 



Ijniittedil to a chemical examination. From the! The starchy nature of grains, — an object of reli- 



uation where the specimen I received was taken, j ^ious veneration among so many ancient and mo- 



d other circumstances, it is probable that ihff 



e might be readily cultivated in some parts of 



e United States, and Mr Litchi-ield has been 

 |, quested to procure small ])lants or seeds for cul- 



ation in the Botanic Garden in Cambridge. 



't'lie following is an extract from Mr Litch- 



eld's letter: — "I have the pleasiire to scud you 



bottle of the milk of the Jlrhol de la Vaca, or 



)W tree, which belongs to the family of the Ga- 



iodtndrons, as well as a piece of the bark which 



ut from the tree, out of which I assisted to col- 



;t the milk contained in said botllc. The tree 



jm which I took the milk, grew upon a moun^ 



n in Patanemo, about 5 leagues from this port, 



d at a height of from 3 to 4000 feet above the 



iiaX of the sea. Its circumference was about 2i 



rds, and its elevation, I should judge, nearly 



f;et. At tills altitude the iemi)craturo is quitt 



ol, and for five or sL^c months of the year, the 



SI aiosphere is quite damp, and frequent rains (all 



the mountains. I also send a small piece of 



3 wax which has been formed by merely expo- 



)g the milk to the air." 



The specimen of the juice received, is white, 



d in general bears a very close resemblance to 



ws' milk, or rather cream ; it is, however, some- 

 bat thicker and has a viscid feel. By exposure 



the air, its color is changed to a light brown, 



id the viscidity is increased by drying till it he- 

 mes of the consistency of wax ; in this state it 



IS the color of Rosin. 



The odor of this specimen is nearly the sa.Tio 



that of sour cream, and its taste is similar. 



When heated, it presents the same appearances 



cows' milk. By continuing the a])plication of 



at, a substance rosembling wax is obtained, 



hich is soluble in alcohol, and may perhaps he- 

 me of use in some of the art.'. This substance 

 jXs some resemblance to Caouthouc. It can be 

 'm ade to answer the purposes of wax in forming 



udles, as it burns with the emission of a pure 



d strong light. 



A fibrous matter is separable from the milk, 



ry analogous to the fibrin of animals. 



There are some circumstances in which this 



dern nations, is disseminated in the seeds, and de 

 posited in the roots of vegetables ; milk apjjcars 

 exclusively to be the production of animal organi- 

 zation. Such are the impressions we have i-eceived 

 in childhood, and such is the cause of the asto- 

 nishment we feel at the sight of the tree we are 

 going to describe. Here our emotion is not caused 

 by the dark, thick solitude of woods, nor by the 

 majestic courses of rivers, nor by those mountains 

 covered with eternal snow, but a few drops of a ve- 

 i,'etable juice, make us sensible of the power and 

 iocundiiy of nature. On the barren declivities of 

 a rock grows a tree, whose leaves arc dry and co- 

 riaceous. Its thick, ligneous roots scarcely enter 

 the rock ; for several months in the year, xean 

 scarcely waters its fan shaped leaves. The, bran- 

 ches appear dry and dead. But when an incision 

 U mady in the trunk, a sweet and !iutritiou.s milk 

 flows from it. It is at the rising of the sun that 

 the vegetable liquid runs most abundantly. Then 

 the natives and negroes are seen to come from all 

 parts, provided with vessels, to receive the milk, 

 which becomes yellow, and thickens at the sur- 

 face. Some empty their vessels under the same 

 tree ; others carry them to their children. It is 

 like a shepherd distributing to his family the milk 

 of his flock." — Humboldt, Voyage aux Regions 

 Ejuiiioxiales du J^ouveau contintnt, lib. v. chapter 

 xvi. 



The following is from the account of Messrs Ki- 

 VERO and Boussingoult : — " If those who i)ossess 

 these precious trees near their habitations, drink 

 with so much pleasure their heueficent juice, with 

 what delight will the traveller, who penetrates 

 into these high mountains, appease with it his 

 hunger and thirst ? Thus we have seen, on the 

 road from Patito to Puerto C'abello, all these trees 

 full of incisions, made by the travellers, who suck 

 them v.'ith anxiety. It would be sufiicient, it ap- 

 pears to us, that this milk could he used as an ali- 

 ment, to value it, and invite to the cultivation of 

 the trees which furnish it, but nature has been 

 pleased to make it still more jirecious and u.se- 

 ful ; for besides containing so nutritious a sub- 

 stance as fibrin, it also contains, in abundance, an 

 ;hly curious and interesting liquid difters from exquisite kind of wax, which may be extracted 



West Newbury, a very extraordinary growth of 

 Potatoes, I requested him to furnish me with a 

 statement of the culture and produce ; and the 

 following are tjie facts.us communicated hv hini • 

 of the correctness of which I have no "doubt. 

 " In the sjiring," says he, " I cut one Long Red 

 potato intb abw't sixty pieces, and planted these 

 pieces in fiftytwo hills ; one of which did not come 

 up. The hills were about three feet distant, one 

 way, and two feet the 'other. The land was of 

 good quality, and the manure was put in the hills. 

 The potatoes were carefully hoed, and kept clear 

 from weeds. I dug them the first of October, and 

 I obtaineil from these hills, the produce of one 

 potato oidy, pie bushels and a half by measure. 

 Twenty of the potatoes weighed thirtynine and 

 one quarter pounds." These potatoes were plant- 

 ed about the middle of Mr Tuuklow's field, oti 

 land cultivated like the rest of the field, until the 

 present year. The soil of his farm is probably as 

 good as that of any other farm in tho couuty. The 

 experiment is a good illustration of how much 

 our crops mav be increased hy ca.rejiil cullivation. 

 Yours, truly, 



J. W. PROCTOR. 

 •P-anvert, Mass. Jan. 14, 1830. 



ws' milk, viz. the absence of what is commonl 

 lied curd, and albumen. Wax, Fibrin, Sugar, 

 id coloring matter are the principal substances 

 tained from the juice by analysis. 

 The tree which affords this milk, has been de- 

 •ibed by Hdmboldt, and the Spanish naturalists 

 VERO and BonssiSGouLT. " I confess," says 

 J 7MB0LDT, " that, among the great number of cu- 



with great facility.' 



Harvard Univcrsiti/, ^ 

 January 2, 1330. ^ 



Yours, &c. 



J. W. W. 



KOK THE NEW ENGLAND FAEMEE. 



GREAT YIELD OF POTATOES. 



Mr Russeel — Having witnessed the past sea- 

 son, on the farm of Mr Wileiam TntiKEow in 



CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC PLANTS, &c. 



(Continued from page 194.) 



Convolvulus canariensis. d. 20. May, Sept. purple. Cana- 

 ries. 1695. 

 Dolichos lionosu-' <■. 12. July, Aug. p-.!vp!e. E. InJ. 177S 

 Jasminum e[-=^j"- «• '■ 'an- Dec. white Norfolk Island'. 



revotoum. e. IS. ift,y,Oct. yellow. E. Indies. 



azoiicum.e.5. Ap. Nov. yeli«,,. Madeh-a 1724 

 gi andiflomm. e. 15. June, Oct. wb*., t- i 

 dies. 1629. •• *•• "■ 



Passifloia coeiulea. d. June, Oct. white. Brazil. 1799. 



V. carulea-racemosa. e. 30. June, Oct. puroi^ 

 1820. ^ '^ 



The variety carulea-racemosa was raised bv Mr 

 Milne of Fulhani, Eug. from seed of P. racemo- 

 sa impregnated by P. cojrulea. It is figured in the 

 Transactions of the Loudon Horticultural Society, 

 vol. iii. tab. 3. and is remarkable for its beautv, 

 and for having acquired the hardihood of its pa- 

 rent. 



SUCCULENT GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 



Aloe fcrox. 6. Ap. May. yellow. 1759. 



glauea. -I. Jan. Sept. crimson. 1731. 



reticulata, i. May, Aug. green. 1794. 



lingua. 3. March, Nov. crimson. 



raargaiitifera. 1. May, Sept. green, 1739. 



penlacona. 15. June, July. ' 1731, 



mitrilbrmis. G. Aug. crimson. 1732. 



maculala. 3. July, Aug. crimson. 1739. 



rigida. 1. May, Sept. green. 1790. 



visi-osa. li. June, July, green. 1727. 



albicans. 1. July, green. 1795. 



cymbifoiniis. j. May, Aug. green. 1795. 



puipiirascens. 12. July, Oct. purple. 1787. 



arborescens. 12. March, Nov. crimson. 1731. 



spiralis. 1. Aug. Sept. green. 1790. 



dichotoraa. S. crimson. 1780. 



picta. 4. Aug. Oct. crimson. 1727. 

 These plants are odd looking succulents, from tlio 

 Cape of Good Hope ; some of them may be classed 

 as trees ; others asshrubs, but the greater number 

 have more the habit and appearance af evergreen 

 herbaceous plants. One or two are used in medi- 

 cine. In the West Indies, the Cape, and most 



