42 Foreign Notices : -— France. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE 



Art. I. Foreign Notices. 



FRANCE. 



The Foreign Trees of France. — I am going to write to my correspondeflts 

 respecting the foreign trees whicli you enquire about. I know sometliing 

 of them myself; but my notions are either too vague or too limited for your 

 purpose. What I can provisionally state is, that at Rambouillet a very hand- 

 some mass of Quercus rubra is extant. I saw it about twelve years ago; the 

 trees were, as far as I can recollect, nearly 50 ft. high ; but they were a great 

 deal too close, which made them quite disproportioned in thickness to their 

 hei"-ht. Their straight clean trunks and healthy appearance made them, 

 however, very remarkable, and even beautiful; and they must be much more 

 so now, especially if they have been thinned, as I have been told they were, 

 some years ago. There were likewise a number of Schubertz'a disticha, among 

 which were some very thriving ones, about 30 ft. high, and sending up excres- 

 cences from their roots [as at Syon, and other places where old schubertias 

 are found near water], some of which are already I ft. above the ground. 

 These were not the only foreign trees, at Rambouillet ; but you shall know 

 more of them in a short time. 



Very few trees must be remaining in what Was once the garden of Michaux's 

 friend Lemonier, near Versailles. The rare trees were sold or felled, fif- 

 teen or twenty years ago ; though I think there is a large Sophora japonica 

 I'emaining : but you shall soon know the present state of that place. 



As for the beautiful magnolia of Nantes, it was full of health and vigour 

 not long ago, and, I hope, is so still j but I will tell you more precisely ere 

 long. 



We have a great many more very valuable and beautiful foreign trees in 

 France, which it would require two or three years of a man's lil'e to examine 

 and describe ; sometimes even to determine, as their species, especially those 

 of the American oaks, are not unfrequently unknown by the possessors. 

 There is even a doubt to clear up about the Q. rubra of Rambouillet ; either 

 Bosc, or Michaux sen., or some other botanist having mentioned them as 

 being Q. coccinea. [Our opinion is, that these and several other reputed spe- 

 cies of American oaks are only varieties.] Among numerous other places, the 

 ancient possessions of Duhamel, near Pittriviers ; those of the Comte de 

 Dijon, near Nerac; Thury, belonging to the learned Vicomte Hericourt de 

 Thury (who has given a notice of the trees there); the estate of the Comte 

 de Montbron, near Chatellerault, are very important ones* — Vilmorin. Les 

 Barres, Nov. 28. 1834. 



The Exotic Plantations of Madame Aglae Adanson, at Boleine, near Mou- 

 lins, are very remarkable. I have sent that lady one Return Paper, and feel 

 confident that she will do it justice. 1 have also sent one to M. Jacques, 

 gardener to the king, at Neuilly. When you write to my excellent friend 

 Michaux, you should ask him to send you the particulars of the government 

 plantations of American trees in the Bois de Boulogne; — Ide7n. 



Benthdmm and Macliira. — The single seeds of these plants, which you 

 were so kind as to send me, have both come up, and the Benthamia is already 

 a small branchy bush, 7 in. or 8 in. high. I should be glad to know where I 

 could purchase seeds of the shrub. — Idem. Paris, Oct. 30; 1834. 



The Spanish Potato, or Batatas ; Patate Igname, Fr. ; Convolvulus Ba- 

 tatas L. — At the rneeting of the Horticultural Society of Paris, held Oct. 1., 

 M. Vilmorin exhibited a Spanish potato or yam (Convolvulus Batatas), 

 weighing upwards of 8 lbs., grown by him in the Department of the Loiret. 

 He has grown others weighing 2 lb., 3 lb., and 4 lb. each. These tubers belong 

 to a variety lately cultivated in Guadaloupe, whence it was sent to M. Vil- 

 morin by M. Bernard de Luchet. It is called, in that country, the potato 



