No. 199.] 479 



ITie garden of Mi, Davis, five miJes from Adelaide, was commenced 

 in 1840, it contains (he largest ©rchard in the colony, viz : 15 acres, 

 entirely planted with fruit trees. Here are the peach, nectarine, apricot, 

 cherry, all kinds of prunes, figs, apples, pears ; all the trees are growing 

 with remarkable vigour. The vineyard of 3^ acres is divided into 3 

 parts I one to furnish grapes for the table, one raisins, the other wine. 

 Davis' garden supplies the greater part of the markets of Adelaide. 

 Besides these gardens there are a great many other smaller. The 

 fruits are very superior in* size and quality to any gathered in England. 

 The peaches 8 to 10 inches in circumference, weighing 6 to 8 ounces, 

 and the flesh exquisite. The apricots and prunes, above all the green 

 Queen Cla-ude^ are remarkable for their excellence and beauty. 

 Melons grow large and fine in quality ; the mulbeTry tree does well ; 

 mushrooms, highly esteemed for their quality, are found by hundreds of 

 bushels around A^delaide, orange, lemons and limes. 



Uevue Horticole, Paris, December 1849. 



Tke gigantic water IMy at Chatsworth^ England. — The first public 

 anoTincement of the discovery of this extraordinary aquatic lily of 

 South America, was made in 1832 by Doctor Poeppig, who in his re- 

 lation of his journies in Chili and Peru, mentions it as growing in tfae 

 Agaripes, large branches of the river Amazon. Before this time, other 

 botanists had discovered it ; Hcenke, Bonpland and Mr. Ale d'Or- 

 bigny. The latter sent to the musuem of Natural History of Paris, 

 in 1828, dried specimens of its leaves and flowers. 



In 1837, Sir Robert Schomburgck discovered the same plant in the 

 river Barbice, in English Guiana, where he (under the patronage of 

 the government of Great Britain) for the London Geographical society. 

 He gathered specimens and made drawings of it, and it was from 

 these that the first complete description and figure of this wonderful 

 plant were made. 



In 1846, Mr. Bridges raised it from seed in the royal garden of 

 Kero. The plant now at Chatsworth, arrived there on the 3d of 

 August, 1847. After great care of it, the first flower bud showed 

 itself on the 1st of November and opened on the 8th. These buds 

 were about one foot above the surface of the water, and they began 



