158 Foreign Notices. — Atistralasia. 



As, according to Humboldt, the life of plants depends principally on the 

 mean temperature of the hottest month [we should think this must be a 

 mistake ; for many plants that will grow in the north of Russia and Lapland 

 during the summer, cannot exist there during winter; while no plant that 

 can stand the winter of any country, will fail to thrive there during the 

 summer of that country], there can be no longer a doubt of the successful 

 culture of the Arracacha, not only in this neighbourhood, but even as far 

 north as the latitude of London (51° 31'), where the mean temperature of 

 July is 62° 50', or -^-^^ of a degree above that of Bogota. Nay, in the mid- 

 land counties, where, from local causes, the mean temperature of July is 

 necessarily higher than the standard of the latitude, as calculated for the 

 Atlantic ocean by Kiruan, I should think it might be successfully cultivated 

 as far as the latitude of 54° or even 55°. — William Hamilton. Oxford Place^ 

 Plymouth Feb. 7. 1828. 



AUSTRALASIA. 



Sydney, Nov. 15. 1827. — I shall endeavour to get you a correspondent 

 here ; but as yet both agriculture and horticulture are in their infancy in 

 this country. There is, indeed, little prospect of agriculture ever being 

 much attended to here. The settled part of the country is and must de- 

 cidedly remain almost purely pastoral. Very iew settlers ever think of 

 raising more wheat or maize than is necessary for their own consumption ; 

 and this they raise without any trouble, growing the finest possible wheat 

 on the same land for the last thirty years without any manure. Only two 

 or three think of cultivating grasses, and yet, this year, hay made of clover 

 and English grasses could scarcely be procured at 1 8/. per ton.j 



If we could procure good gardeners, I think that horticulture would even 

 flourish with us, but all your good gardeners are so honest that none of 

 them are transported, and no free gardeners seem to think it worth their 

 while to come hither for employment. I wish you would give a hint in 

 your Magazine to good gardeners, and let them know that young men of 

 honest, industrious, and sober habits, cannot possibly do better than to 

 come hither, whether married or unmarried. A married inan, however, 

 would generally have the preference. We can grow all the European and 

 tropical fruits here, without the aid of walls or glass. Gooseberries and 

 currants are, I believe, the only exceptions. Strawberries thrive remark- 

 ably well, and we have generally two crops : the first in October, and the 

 second about Christmas. Yours, faithfully, — ■ A. M'L. 



Art. II. Domestic Notices. 

 ENGLAND. 



Camellias in the open Air. — Mr. Donald, of Goldworth nursery, sent 

 us, on the 20th of March, the flowers of ten varieties, which have stood 

 with him in the open garden, and flowered freely during two winters. 



La Glaciere de Saint Owen. — This utensil for preserving ice is much 

 used in Paris, and has been tried and approved of by some gentlemen 

 in the neighbourhood of London. One reader who purchased a glaciere, 

 in consequence of the notice in our First Volume (p. 444,), is desirous that 

 we should state, that he has used it for upwards of a year, and found it 

 answer every expectation. 



Neiv draining Tile. — At a quarterly meeting of the Boroughbridge Agri- 

 cultural Association, held on the 5th of January, one of the members exhi- 



