Botanic Garden of Madrid. 243 



bloom. The cerealia are sown generally in the months 

 of October and November, and it is certain, that the 

 plants sown at this season are more productive than those 

 which are sown at any other period of the year. We have, 

 however, observed that several kinds of wheat, barley, and 

 rye, which have hitherto been considered as suitable to 

 winter, have, when sown in February, and even at the begin- 

 ning of March, yielded enough to compensate handsomely 

 the labours of the husbandman. The millet (sorghum 

 vulgare) and maize cannot be sown until the frosts and 

 white frosts are over ; that is, till the month of April or 

 May; and to insure a crop of seed, they must absolutely be 

 irrigated. 



The pruning of umbrageous trees takes place in the 

 fine days of January and February, as also that of fruit- 

 trees, and of vines. The roots of many herbaceous, peren- 

 nial, and shrubby plants of the valley of Mexico endure, 

 in the open air, the severity of the winter at Madrid, where 

 it often freezes sharply, particularly in the months of Decem- 

 ber and January, and they yield fresh shoots in the spring; 

 these plants are the Dahlias, Steviae, Salvia mexicana, melis- 

 sodora, chamaedryoides, angustifolia, dolistachya (Lag. MS.), 

 canescens, Lag. polystachya, fulgens, Zaluzania triloba, Anthe- 

 mis globosa, different species of Solanum, Physalis, Helianthus, 

 Coreopsis, ar?|d the Oxybaphus cervantesi (Lag. MS.), Mirabi- 

 lis jalapa, dichotoma, and lohgiflora, Boerhaavia" arborescens, 

 Viola verticillata, Ort. Ceanothus caeruleus, Acacia acantho- 

 carpa, strombulifera, ceratonia, flexuosa, and others ; while the 

 Lavandula dentata, multifida, abrotanoides, and many other 

 spontaneous plants of the south of Spain, perish. The Cha- 

 mcerops humilis bears the open air, and the Ceratonia sili- 

 qua lives when it is sheltered from the north by a wall ; it 

 blooms, but it never bears fruit. 



The whole garden, except the hillock planted with vines, 

 is watered at the roots; but previous to the year 1802, 

 the beds of the divisions, which were differently laid out, 

 were watered with a garden engine, Avith the water of 

 the fountains. Water becomes very scarce in the hot 

 months, and even the draw-wells become dried up, which 

 occasions many plants to perish in the months of July 

 and August; while in winter there are many that die for 

 want of stoves, and on account of the bad condition of the 

 green-houses. Notwithstanding these serious inconveniences, 

 I succeeded, in 1822, in keeping there about 6000 plants, a 

 number very superior to that of the collection previously. 



