94 Busby's Journal of a recent Visit 



others pursued a plan recommended in Dr. Ure's Dictionary of 

 ' Chemistry. The sugar cane has been cultivated by a few indivi- 

 duals in the neighbourhood of Malaga for upvi^ards of a century, 

 and is now rather on the increase. The soil is in general of a 

 loose sandy quality ; but it is richly manured, and regularly 

 watered. The Otaheite cane is the variety principally planted. 

 This cane grows as thick as a man's arm, and is from 18 ft. to 

 20 ft. high. From Malaga, Mr. Busby sent to England a box 

 containing 500 cuttings of vines of different kinds, and also 

 dates, Jordan almonds, and onion, melon, and other seeds, 

 which he afterwards shipped for Sydney. 



In the beginning of November, Mr. Busby took shipping for 

 Catalonia, landed at Roxas, and proceeded over land to Perpig- 

 nan, in France. ' Here he was shown the extensive agricultural 

 establishment of Messrs. Durand, bankers, even though he had 

 no letter of introduction to them. The culture both of the vine- 

 yard and the corn field in this part of France appears to be of a 

 very inferior description. In planting a vineyard, the ground is 

 merely once ploughed, and the cuttings thrust in with an iron 

 bar, and left to take their chance. They are pruned every year, 

 but never manured. On one of M. Durand's estates there is a 

 handsome mansion, with extensive gardens and a green-house ; 

 and Mr. Busby was happy to promise to assist in stocking the 

 latter with Botany Bay seeds. From the director of the Botanic 

 Garden of Montpelier, M. Delille, M. Busby received the 

 greatest attention, and cuttings of nearly 500 varieties of grape, 

 with a packet of seeds for the Sydney Botanic Garden. Pro- 

 fessor Delille showed him the cow tree (Galactodendron) and 

 the St. John's bread (Ceratonia), and informed him that both of 

 these useful trees would in all probability thrive in New South 

 Wales. At Tarascon the Messrs. Audibert conducted Mr. 

 Busby through their extensive nurseries, which he found very 

 well kept; entertained him at their house for a day and a night: 

 and gave him numerous seeds and cuttings, and even rooted 

 plants, of some varieties of grapes ; for none of which articles 

 would they receive any payment whatever, though he called on 

 them without any introduction. They even taught him an 

 improved manner of packing plants, which we have given else- 

 where. (X. 451.) In the neighbourhood of Marseilles the manner 

 of cultivating the caper was pointed out. Offsets are planted 

 4;ft» apart every way, and cut down to within 1 ft. of the ground 

 every year. A plantation will not last forty years; every bush 

 producing, on an average, l^lb. of capers annually. There can 

 be no doubt that the caper bush would succeed perfectly in 

 New South Wales. We recollect that, when Mr. MacLeay, the 

 colonial secretary, left London, he took with him seeds of K\x~ 

 phorbm jLathyris, which is used as a substitute for capers in 



