268 Foreign Notices : — Italy. 



tiful and useful plants ; and, among others, for a tuber of Canna Achtras, or 

 C. edulis. From what you say in your Magazine, and the testimony of Signor 

 Conte Compton, I wrote a paper, suggesting to the Georgofili Academy at 

 Florence to try to cultivate it in the marshes which are occasionally over- 

 flowed by the sea. The secretary of that establishment informed me that, 

 according to my proposal, they had planted and cultivated the achira in the 

 open air ; and that the result was very successful, as he thus writes : — " The 

 four tubers which I planted have produced more than twenty of a large size. 

 I have tasted them, and they are excellent ; the juice being sweet and agree- 

 able. I have also extracted the fecula, and find it resembles that of the 

 potato, and of the Marantc! arundinacea; and I have calculated that it pro- 

 duces at the rate of eight to a hundred." This year I have also grown a 

 considerable number of tubers. When the extreme cold was over, I planted 

 them in the open air early in the spring, in a rich soil exposed to the sun, not 

 failing to water them abundantly every day; and by these means the stems grew 

 to the height of about 9 ft., flowered freely, and produced abundance of seed. 

 When the cold set in, which this year was a month earlier than usual, because 

 on the 13th of this month the thermometer was at 3° of Reaumur, and on the 

 14th and 13th there was a heavy fall of snow, I dug up the ground, and found 

 that the tubers of the achira had produced abundantly, and that those of a 

 moderate size weighed 4 oz. I had some boiled, and some baked : I found by 

 both the methods that they were agreeable to the palate. I had also a little 

 of the fecula prepared for the table, and found that it tasted like a mixture of 

 the potato and the beet root. I had, also, some tubers fried, and found them 

 excellent. This year it will become better known in the country, and I hope 

 its usefulness will be proved. The stems and leaves might, probably, serve as 

 food for cattle, if prepared by steam. 



O'xalis crendta and O. Arracacha. The former has been introduced here by 

 Signor Compton, and succeeds very well with me ; having produced tubers 

 weighing more than 16 oz. I have not yet tried them for the table, but shall 

 do so when I get a sufficient quantity, and will send you the result. Our august 

 viceroy received O. Arracacha from Vienna. It appears to me to be a variety 

 of O. tetraphylla, only differing in having flowers flesh-coloured, instead of 

 violet. The tubers resemble the root of the carrot which is called in Italy 

 carota corta ; but they contain too much water to be pleasant to the taste. 

 They weigh about 2 oz. each. I have never seen tubers of O. tetraphylla 

 of so large a size, although it is cultivated in this neighbourhood. 



I here add a list of the professors to whom you may address your Return 

 Papers : — Sr. Burberi, at Montovo ; Sr. Bomato, at Padua ; Sr. Jean, at 

 Parma; Sr. Bertohni, at Bologna ; Sr. Merati, at Bergamo; Sr. Moretti, at 

 Pavia ; Sr. Balsami, at Milan ; Sr. Comolli, at Como ; Sr. Linneo Tagliabue, 

 at Lairate, near Milan; Sr. Biasoletto, at Trieste; and Sr. Brambilla, at Cre- 

 mona. All my spare time is devoted to translating Dr. Lindley's excellent 

 Ladies' Botany. 



My brother Antonio, who is director of the plantations on the military road 

 on the banks of the Lake of Como, writes to me that he will soon send me 

 a list of the exotic plants that stand the open air on the Lake of Como, from 

 Leno to Collico; and as soon as I receive it I will forward it to you. — Giuseppe 

 M.anetti. 



Monza, December, 1835. — The Acorns ofQ. ^obur. When I mentioned the 

 oaks in the Return Paper, I forgot to state that the acorns of Quercus i?6bur 

 and pedunculata are used here as coffee, after being subjected to the action of 

 heat ; and that such coffee is chiefly drunk by those who suffer from weakness 

 of the stomach. 



The O'xalis Arracacha, which I mentioned to you in my last letter, appears to 

 be the O. floribunda which you speak of in Vol. VIII. p. 691. 



Plants ivhich will stand in the open Air at Como. — I subjoin the list I pro- 

 mised in my last of the plants which stand the open air on the shores of the 

 Lake of Como ; from which you will be able to form an idea of the mildness 



