132 Literary Notices. 



A species of secale is common, and so is that remarkable phalaris bulbo- 

 sa, whicli has always bulb-like excrescenses in whatever soil it may grow. 

 Triticum villosura, monococcum, and cristatum are all very beautiful spe- 

 cies. The composites are very pretty ; one, an everlasting, has so much 

 flower and so little leaf that it ought to be a very desirable plant to cul- 

 tivate. I inclose a flower. W. J/., before Sehastopol, Aug. 3. (The 

 flower referred to is xeranthemum radiatum.] 



Tomato Figs are made in the following manner: "Pour boiling water 

 over the tomatoes to remove the skins ; then weigh them and put into 

 stone jars, with as much sugar as tomatoes ; let them stand two days ; 

 then pour oft' the syrup and boil and skim till no scum rises ; then pour 

 it over the tomatoes, and let them stand two days, as before ; then boil 

 and skim again. After a third boiling and skimming, let them stand in 

 their syrup until drying weather; then place them on earthen plates or 

 dishes, and put them in the sun to dry^that takes about a week; then 

 pack them in small wooden boxes, with fine white sugar between every 

 layer. They will keep for years." These figs, made by this recipe, 

 were exhibited at the Massachusetts Agricultural Show, and pronounced 

 superior to two-thirds of the figs imported. It is a matter worth the 

 attention of all farmers. 



The editors of a California paper — the Calaveras Chronicle — were 

 recently shown a branch taken from a tree of the nutmeg species, 

 containing a cluster of fruit to the number of seven. The tree from 

 which these nuts were taken was discovered a short time since by a man 

 engaged in working on the Mokelumne Hill flume, about fifteen miles dis- 

 tant. There are two trees standing near each other, the same size, being 

 about thirty feet in height, and the trunks two in diameter. In appear- 

 ance, they cloisely resemble trees found in the torrid zone, shooting up in 

 a single stem, a distance of twenty feet before giving off any branches. 

 The leaves are of the most beautiful deep green on the upper side, lighter 

 on the under, are narrow, about two or three inches in length, and arrang- 

 ed alternately upon foot stalks from a foot to a foot and a half in length. 

 It is a difiicult matter to determine by what chance these trees should, in 

 the first place, have found their way so far from their native clime ; and 

 most strange it is, how they survive the frost of this ; for it has ever been 

 supposed that they were indigenous to the torrid zones. The nutmegs 

 of commerce are procured from the East India Islands, principally from 

 the 3Iolucca group. When mature, they are sulgected to a process of cura- 

 tion, whereby they are deprived of the power of germinating. As they 

 are easily propagated from the seed, persons having gardens or grounds 

 would be well rewarded by procuring the fruit as soon as it is matured, 

 and treating in the same manner as the peach or any other of the nur- 

 sery seeds. 



