Foreign Notices. — Italy, Spain, North America. 209 



ITALY. 



Pkormium bulbiferum, the Lachenalia pendula of Hort. Kew., nat. ord. 

 ylsphodeleae, is cultivated in Sicily as the common hyacinth is in this coun- 

 try. It is planted in November, and the flowers, which are of a fine coral 

 red, appear in the middle of December, and last till the end of January. 

 {Bui. Agr., Juil. p. 119.) 



SPAIN. 



Amdliaaerisincola {aer,2\r,incola, an inhabitant) has hung out of the win- 

 dow of a house in the botanic garden at Barcelona, for fifteen or twenty 

 years ; and, when seen by G. A. W. Arnott, Esq., in 1825, still bore its blue 

 flowers every summer. Mr. Arnott thinks the plant a Tillandsia from 

 South America, and probably a described species. He advised the director, 

 Dr. Baki, to put it in earth for a season, as by that means it would become 

 much stronger, and suffer dividing at the root ; but the Doctor was deter- 

 mined it should support the specific name he had conferred on it. {Arnott 

 in Jam. Jour., September, 1827.) 



The Agave americana, which is planted in Catalonia along the road-sides 

 as hedges, flowers at the ninth or tenth year, whereas, at Perpignan, in 

 France, it flowers very seldom. When the scapes are young, or about 

 twelve or fifteen feet high, and the pedicles not yet developed, they present 

 the appearance of gigantic shoots of asparagus. When full grown, they 

 attain the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, and all this in the course of 

 eight or ten days. {Arnott in Jam. Jour., September, 1827.) 



NORTH AMERICA. 



New York Horticultural Society, February 8. — The Inspecting Com- 

 mittee have printed their report (8 pages 8vo) for the by-past year. They 

 state that " they have met weekly during the year, to receive and examine 

 all such productions as were presented for examination ;" and they give a 

 list of the persons to whom, and the articles for which, premiums were 

 awarded. Among the latter we observe early Lima beans, which we be- 

 lieve may now be purchased in the London seed-shops. Mr. William Fair- 

 bairn, gardener to Joseph Foulke, Esq., presented a large club calabash 

 (figured Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 93.), " said to be very fine for the table or for 

 preserves." 



" Some potatoes were presented to the Society by Commodore Chaun- 

 cey, found in a native state, on the Island of St. Lorenzo, Bay of Callao, in 

 the Pacific Ocean, by Commodore Hull. They were distributed to the prac- 

 tical gardeners, and have blossomed, but have not yet increased. They 

 prove, however, to be a new species, and seem to possess the valuable pro- 

 perty of keeping good a long time, perhaps for two years ; and, as Commo- 

 dore Hull, in his letter to the Society, says they are very fine eating, may 

 perhaps, at a future period, turn out to be a valuable acquisition to our tables, 

 and reflect great honour upon the worthy Commodore for his attention. 

 A basket of Malabar spinach, Basella alba was presented by A. Parmentier, 

 of Long Island ; it was served up at the anniversary dinner, and proved 

 excellent; and is a valuable vegetable, as it is fit for use when spinach cannot 

 be obtained. 



" The exhibitions of vegetables and fruit throughout the season were in 

 general very fine. The Visiting Committee, with a view of enabling themselves 

 to lay before the Society some account of the general state of our horticul- 

 tural improvements, have inspected a considerable number of gardens in 

 the vicinity, and they feel much pleasure in being enabled to state, that 

 the progress of this delightful science is now extending in a very promising 



Vol.111. — No. 10. p 



