Domestic Notices. — England. 95 



of pears in one year. What is most singular is, that as the tree grows older, 

 the fruit grows finer, to the decreasing of above a hundred pears in the 

 peck. I suppose this is owing to the laying of manure and soil around the 

 roots. The fruit keeps till May I send you four of them. 



I remain, Sir, &c. E. M. Mather. 



Dec. 8. We tasted the pears, and found them of the breaking class, and 

 of a middling good flavour, rather under the middle size, regular in form, 

 with a rough russet-coloured skin. {Cond.) 



American Aloe. The fine specimen of this plant in the greenhouse of 

 the Hon. Newton Fellowes, at Eggesford, has now attained the height of 

 30 feet, being a growth of 26 feet since the first week in June; the stem is 

 17 inches in circumference at the base, and its appearance is that of a chan- 

 delier, 58 branches springing from the main stem, on which have been 

 counted 5000 flowers and flower buds; one branch alone has 261 buds. 

 The plant is healthy and vigorous, and is expected to continue in flower 

 till October. {Plymouth Herald, Sept. 9. 1826.) 



Meloncito de olor. Among a variety of seeds received by Dr. Hamilton, 

 of Fareham, near Plymouth, from his correspondent, Edward Watts, Esq., 

 British Consul at Carthagena (Colombia), last winter, were some of those 

 of the Meloncito de olor, or small sweet-scented melon, so universally cul- 

 tivated in the gardens of the inhabitants for the fragrance of its fruit. This 

 plant, cultivated under the auspices of Mr. Pontey (whose taste and skill 

 need no eulogium from us), has flowered and perfected its fruit, which we 

 have seen, and can bear testimony to the truth of the statements respecting 

 its exquisite fragrance, which, when heightened, as we presume is the case, 

 by the genial temperature of its native climate, must be perceptible to a 

 great distance around. This fruit, which appears capable of being culti- 

 vated with ease in a common hot-bed, or melon-frame, is of an oval or egg 

 shape, equal in size to a moderate-sized lime or large-sized hen's egg ; when 

 ripe, it is of a golden yellow, with a perfectly smooth rind, exhaling an 

 odour of an almost overpowering sweetness, peculiar to itself. The use to 

 which we believe it is put by the inhabitants of Colombia is, like the per- 

 fumed fruit of the Rose Apple {Eugenia Jambos), to place in drawers with 

 clothes, to which it communicates a considerable portion of its delicious 

 odour. We cannot too strongly recommend the culture of this fragrant 

 and curious plant, to such of our friends as are admirers of the rare and 

 exquisite productions of nature ; nor can we give too much praise to Mr. 

 Pontey, for the zeal and liberality with which, at his own private expense, he 

 encourages the introduction of rare and valuable plants into this neighbour- 

 hood. At the same time we sincerely congratulate Dr. Hamilton, in pos- 

 sessing in Mr. Pontey so valuable a coadjutor in his patriotic labours. Be- 

 sides the sweet-scented melon, Mr. Pontey possesses several thriving plants 

 of the Albacca del Monte, another rare and aromatic plant, raised from °ed 

 received from Colombia last winter ; together with a number of thriving 

 specimens of that elegant West Indian shrub, the Camel Bush (Cerbera 

 Thevetia), so remarkable for the elegance of its foliage, and the fragrance 

 of its fine golden blossoms. The camel bush is, we understand, known in 

 the vicinity of Carthagena by the name of Cavallonga Oriolla, and an oil 

 of much celebrity in those parts, called Cavallonga, is obtained from its 

 seeds. {Plymouth Herald, Sept. 9. 1826.) 



The Tallipot Tree {Corypha umbraculif era). A leaf of this extraordinary 

 palm has lately been brought over from the island of Ceylon, of which place 

 it is a native, and is now in the possession of the Rev. Richard Fletcher, of 

 Hampstead. The leaf is in a good state of preservation ; it measures fully 

 1 1 feet in height, 16 feet across its widest spread, and from 38 to 40 feet in 

 circumference. If expanded as a canopy, it is sufficient to defend a dinner 

 party of six from the rays of the sun, and in Cevlon is carried about by the 

 natives for that purpose. {N'eivsp.) 



