TORREYA TAXIFOLIA. 
133 
according to the quantity of water which it 
contains. 
" It is not to be expected that this manure 
will entirely supersede the use of others; be- 
cause, although there are many descriptions of 
land on which this manure alone would pro- 
duce a very advantageous result, there are 
others on which the existing manures, with 
an admixture of the new manure, would be 
more useful. As it could not be used in any 
one locality to the exclusion of all other 
manures, it became a necessary and important 
feature of the present plan, that the manure 
should be obtained in the most concentrated 
form, so as to allow of easy transmission, at a 
low price, to any part of the world — failing in I 
this, there would undoubtedly be great diffi- 
culty in obtaining a market for the quantity 
which will be produced." — Pp. 48 — 50. 
Upon the whole, this is the most rational 
plan we have seen of the many which have 
been propounded ; and it is no small recom- 
mendation, that it will remove millions of 
loads of filth which is constantly polluting the 
river, and destroying the fishery, as well as 
endangering, beyond all calculation, the health 
of the people who reside on its banks or drink 
its water. With regard to the nature of the 
manure, there are numerous persons, in some 
localities, who esteem it beyond praise. It is 
so strong in all the qualities of fertilizing 
dressings, that among practical men it is 
doubted whether guano is better ; and a dress- 
ing of night-soil, when well decomposed, has 
been long looked upon as the richest dressing 
that could be given ; indeed, if given strong 
enough, or in too large quantities, it is as 
destructive as guano itself. Nor do we think 
it should be used as a general manure, with- 
out the same caution, restriction, and prepara- 
tion, as is required by that potent article. Mr. 
Winksteed says : — 
" In conclusion, I beg leave to express my 
hope that I have shown that the proposed un- 
dertaking will be beneficial to the public, the 
landowners, the shipping interest, and the rail- 
way and canal carriers, as well as profitable 
to the promoters." — P. 51. 
And there can be no doubt of it, if the project 
In- carried out ; for being close to the river, 
thi' manure may be conveyed by the shipping 
and canal boats to the coast, and then inland, 
at a cheap rate, thus giving work to thousands 
after it is ready for use, as well as in the con- 
struction of the gigantic works ; while the 
facility which it will afford for manuring at a 
reasonable rate, will enable the owners of poor 
land to bring it into profitable cultivation, and 
by these means to increase the demand for 
agricultural labourers. 
TORREYA TAXIFOLIA. 
(Arnott.) 
THE YEW-LEAVED TORREYA. 
Torreya taxifolia is a plant allied to the 
common Yew, but forming an intermediate 
link between that and other allied plants, 
otherwise separated both botanieally and geo- 
graphically. It is a native of North America, 
occurring in considerable abundance about 
Aspalaga, and elsewhere, on calcareous hills, 
in Middle Florida, where it was first noticed 
by botanists in 1835. In that locality its 
wood is extensively used for most purposes 
to which small or middle-sized timber can 
be applied ; and where it is called " stink- 
ing cedar," from the strong odour of its 
wood, especially when burned. The tree 
attains a height of about forty feet, with 
an occasional diameter of eighteen inches, 
with numerous spreading branches, and a 
general outline something resembling the Hem- 
lock Spruce Fir. The wood is rather heavy, 
of a red colour in old trees, close grained, and, 
like nearly all of its relatives, not very liable, 
to the attack of insects, from the quantity of 
terebinthine matter with which it is charged. 
This renders the wood very durable] even 
when exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather. 
A pasty turpentine, of a blood-red colour, 
oozes sparingly from the bark ; the leaves are 
ranged in two ranks, one on each side of the 
brandies ; they are of rather a pale green 
colour, of nearly equal breadth, until near the 
end, when they fall off into a sharp terminal 
point. The under-side is of a glaucous hue, 
with two distinct bands of a light green colour, 
one on each side of the mid-rib, and running 
the length of the leaf, which, as well as the 
