Foreign Notices. — North America. 97 



NORTH AMERICA. 



Linnean Botanic Garden near New York, April 20. 1827. — Among 

 other novelties which I have lately introduced here is a large-flowered 

 . variety of Paeonia moutan, of the colour of the common cabbage rose, 

 direct from China. CsmiWia japonica var. coccinea, which in 1826 pro- 

 duced scarlet flowers, has this year produced striped ones. I have rris 

 purpurea and lutea blooming from the same root, which last year produced 

 only purple flowers. I am cultivating extensively the Rhus coriaria, with 

 a view to its being planted on a large scale, to supersede the necessity of 

 importing the ground sumach from Sicily. One of the greatest ornaments 

 of my garden is the Birberis ^quifolium, with its fine large pennate leaves, 

 and large clusters of bright yellow flowers. My plants, which are from the 

 original seeds collected by Lewis and Clarke, are about 2-k feet high, and I 

 think they have nearly attained their full height. — The fruit department was 

 the particular study of my late father, who died in 1802, and it has been 

 my study for nearly 80 years. I have all the best fruits of Europe in my 

 collection, and have originated a number here, which are distinguished in 

 my catalogue by my praenomen. — William Prince. 



Emigration to the Canadas. — Unquestionably, no man who is willing to 

 make the slightest exertion can starve in America. If he will undertake 

 to clear a farm, the means of subsistence are at once secured ; should his 

 habits unfit him for such an undertaking, the price of labour is so hfgh, he 

 is sure of lucrative employment in whatever capacity he chooses to enter 

 the service of a master. So far the prospects of the emigrants are en- 

 couraging and agreeable. 



But let us turn for a moment to the other side of the picture. Let us 

 contemplate the exile seeking the portion allotted to him in the wilds of 

 the forest, with the compass for his guide, doomed to endure, in his wretched 

 log-hut, the rigours of a Canadian winter, without a human being for many 

 miles round to break his solitude, or assist his labours. No village, no 

 shop of any description, no medical advice within his reach, and worse than 

 all, the lonely tenant of the woods is generally remote from any market, 

 where he may dispose of the hard-earned fruits of his labours. {Personal 

 Narrative of M. de Roos.) 



Native Country of the Potato. — There has been considerable discussion, 

 you know, concerning the origin and derivation of this esculent vegetable. 

 It has been enquired with some solicitude, what is really the country of the 

 (Sblanum tuberosum ? and where does it exist without cultivation at the 

 present day? I consider the articles I have received from Chile as afford- 

 ing answers of a satisfactory kind to both questions. The potato, whence 

 our domestic stock is derived, is an inhabitant of South America, and is, at 

 this time, thriving without human care or protection in Chile. The speci- 

 mens are small, some of them being not so large as nutmegs. (S. L. Mit- 

 chill, in a letter to N. F. Carter, of the New York Horticultural Society.) 



Jamaica Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, and other Arts ana 

 Sciences. — Several members were elected, and the thanks of the Society 

 were voted to Messrs. R. Smith, W. King, Dr. Adolphus, and Dr. Miller, 

 for books ; to Mr. Atkinson, for a rain-gauge ; and to Dr. Adolphus, for a 

 collection of minerals. 



It was voted that the medical officers of the navy and army should be 

 permitted to visit the Society's apartments, examine the specimens, &c, of 

 natural history, and consult the books in the library. 



The following prizes were awarded : — 



Mr. Thompson of Happy Grove, for yams, 1/.; Mr. C. Satchell, for 

 Indian yams, 1.3s. 4d. ; Mr. J. Blake, for hallelujahs (?), \3s. Ad.; Mr. C. 

 Vol. III. — No. 9. h 



