ON THE EFFECTS OF FROST AT MELBOURNE. 



65 



mouldiness is wiped off them, until they are required for exporta- 

 tion. They are then tied into bundles of about fifty pods each. 

 The pods in each bundle should be as near as possible of an equal 

 size. The bundles are generally exported in boxes lined with tin, 

 soldered down and made air-tight, and of such a size as to fit the 

 length of the bundles when standing on their ends. Each box 

 contains about sixty bundles. 



In Ceylon, where the climate is damp at the season the fruit is 

 ripening, the pods are killed (as they are gathered off the plants) 

 by exposure to the sun on tin plates in a place where there is 

 no great current of air. After being scorched by a hot sun for a 

 few hours, the pods are allowed to dry gradually on tin plates 

 where there is a free current of air. During the scorching and 

 the drying, the pods are frequently turned. 



"When the pods are killed in this manner, they are not so liable 

 to mildew and mould as when they are killed by scalding. 



XVI. On the Effects of Frost on Vegetation at Melbourne. 

 By F. Von Mueller, M.D., F.R.S. 



Melbourne Botanical Gardens, 

 October 10, 1868. 



In submitting the following observations in reference to the 

 effect of occasional night-frosts on the plants in the vicinity of 

 Melbourne, I have a twofold object in view. It appeared to me 

 desirable to give to British horticulturists thus an additional 

 opportunity of considering in what manner, in the latitude of 

 Melbourne (almost identical with that of Auckland, and not very 

 different from that of Cape Town and Buenos Ayres), plants can 

 be readily associated for outdoor culture. Then, also, it appears 

 to me not without value to give a brief record of the effect of a 

 frost experienced here this season, more severe than any other 

 of which we have any record here. The thermometer sunk, on 

 the 12th of July 1868, to 27°*4 Fahr. in the air, and to 24° Fahr. 

 on grassy surfaces. 



Comparing in the following brief list the effect of this tem- 

 perature on various plants, I have given notes which might 

 appear to stand in contradiction to each other. But this is 

 easily explained when it is borne in mind that the botanic garden 

 extends from a river bank over gentle ridges, of which the cul- 

 minating point rises to 110 feet above the level of the river. 



