70 Foreign Notices : — North America. 



that the present state of that art or science should be previously ascer- 

 tained, in order to make known the most effectual means of improvement. 

 Nor would it be deemed probable, for instance, that the marshes of Colico, 

 the Lakes of Canzo, of Pusiano, and of Oggiorno, all in Lombardy, could 

 be rendered healthy and useful, besides being embellished by the intro- 

 duction of the Schubertz'a disticha, the Cupressus fhyoides, the Nyssa 

 aquatica, and of the different kinds of nelumbiums, unless an authentic 

 account should first be given of what they are; of the nature and proper- 

 ties of the deciduous cypress, the white cedar, the tupelo, the yellow nelum- 

 bium, and the N. speciosum. Nor could it be hoped that the cultivation 

 of the pine-apple in the open air (l'ananasso all' aria aperta), on the sides 

 of the Lario Hills, would be attempted, without a previous knowledge of 

 the nature of the soil, the degree of temperature, and the methods which 

 are required for the growth of this plant. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — Luigi 

 Manetti. In the Office of the Imperial and Royal Gardens of Monza, Lom- 

 bardy, Sept. 8. 1830. 



Olive Trees from Seeds or from Cuttings essentially the same (extracted from 

 the Conductor's answer to Signor Manetti, dated Jan. 12. 1832). — With 

 respect to the propagation of the olive, I allow that what you state is per- 

 fectly natural and correct ; but I still consider a plant, whether raised from 

 a seed or a cutting, as essentially the same, on the following theory : — If 

 you were to plant one of your olive trees, raised from cuttings, on a tolerably 

 rich soil when young, and a few years afterwards, when the tree had firmly 

 established itself, were to cut it down to the ground; and when it grew the 

 following spring, were to leave only one of the numerous shoots which it 

 would send out from the stool, you would find that this shoot would pro- 

 duce as upright and handsome a tree as a seedling ; and that, if the soil 

 and subsoil permitted, it would send down a tap root as strong as that of 

 a seedling, unless it had already a sufficiency of horizontal roots. This 

 theory is perfectly consistent with the fact that a cutting or a layer will, 

 under ordinary treatment, and especially in poor soils, assume the habit of 

 a branch, rather than that of a young tree. I apprehend that you would 

 find, if you were to plant seedling olive trees on the sides of the hill of 

 Lario, that they would assume the same forms as those raised from cut- 

 tings. The reason why the trunks of the olive trees on the declivities of 

 Lario are perpendicular to the plane of that declivity, and not to the plane 

 of the horizon, is to be found, in my opinion, in the nature or mode of 

 growth of the tree itself, rather than in the manner in which it is propa- 

 gated. I recollect seeing very few olive trees in either France or Italy, of 

 any size, that stood perpendicularly, or had heads which could be called 

 well balanced. . . . 



NORTH AMERICA. 



Parmentier' s Garden, near Brooklyn. — Sir, At the request of some of your 

 readers in this country, I have compiled from different authorities, but 

 chiefly from the American Farmer, an account of one of the first botanic 

 gardens which has ever been established in this country, viz. that of Par- 

 mentier, about two miles from Brooklyn, Long Island. The following map 

 (j%. 29.) will serve to convey some idea of the general disposition of the 

 v/hole ; but I am confident that neither plan nor description can furnish 

 any adequate idea of the particular beauties of the place. Its establish- 

 ment may, indeed, be looked upon as an epoch in the history- of American 

 horticulture ; as, though the various branches of that science were before 

 understood and practised by most of our gardeners, it had not attained its 

 full perfection until the arrival of M. Parmentier. The elegant villas and 

 country residences of many of our citizens, together with our well-supplied 

 markets and fruit-shops, afford abundant evidence that both the orna- 

 mental and useful branches of the art were successfully pursued among 

 us ; but the garden of M. Parmentier is, perhaps, the most striking in- 



