THE TOMATO. 
401 
which clothe the hills and mountains to the 
height of 1,200 feet or more. It forms a tree 
attaining an altitude of 100 feet, the trunk 
from four to five feet in diameter, with a dense 
pyramidal head, and branches growing rather 
erect or nearly horizontal. The flowers are 
moncecious, the male spikes being produced 
on the extremities of the shoots, whilst the 
females are placed on the lower twigs of the 
same shoots ; the last are of a globular shape, 
and attain about the size of a walnut. 
The botanical history of this plant is rather 
curious, showing that the descriptions of even 
the oldest travellers, especially of such as at 
all devoted their attention to plants, should 
not be slighted by those who may follow in 
the same track. In 1784, Thunberg described 
this plant under the name of Cupressus 
japonica. In 1834, Professor Don described 
it under its present name, from a specimen of 
Thunberg's. Yet Loudon in his Arboretum 
Britannlcum, merely mentions it under Thun- 
berg's old name, and in the JSncyclopadla of 
Trees andShrubs, excludes it altogether,taking 
no notice of Don's description and excellent 
figure in the eighteenth volume of the Linnaan 
Transactions. In 1844, Dr. Siebold published 
a figure and description of it in his Flora 
Japonica, and in the same year seeds of it 
were received by the Horticultural Society 
from their collector at Shanghae in the north 
of China, where it appears to have been intro- 
duced from Japan, being used for avenues, 
and other decorative purposes in gardening, 
but not apparently occurring in a wild state. 
Since that period the Society have received 
both living plants, and considerable supplies 
of seed, and the plant is now common in col- 
lections. 
The great value of the tree in this country 
arises from the great probability of its prov- 
ing perfectly hardy, which, coupled with its 
evergreen habit, and stately growth, will 
make it eagerly sought after for ornamental 
planting when once its merits are known. 
In Japan, its wood, which is soft and easily 
worked, is much used for cabinet work. In 
this country, of course, it is not likely to be 
applied in such a way, at least, for the present. 
In cultivation, the Cryptorneria is of easy 
management ; while confined to a pot it grows 
freely in a sandy loam, and no doubt it will do 
out of doors in any spot not too damp. Of 
course some care will be taken of plants re- 
cently turned out, to shelter them from 
bad weather, but we must wait a few years 
yet ere we can decidedly say whether it will 
do well in exposed situations. Potted in a 
soil like that recommended above, and placed 
in a cold pit, it grows rapidly, requiring a consi- 
derable supply of water during the growing 
season, any deficiency in that article being 
immediately felt. It should be shifted as 
often as the roots reach the sides of the pots, 
and before they begin to mat. By this means 
a fine plant may be produced in a couple of 
years, fit for turning out in the following 
spring, for which purpose it should be gra- 
dually hardened off after completing the pre- 
vious year's growth. 
Mr. Fortune, the collector of the Horticul- 
tural Society, refers to the Cryptorneria, as 
forming one of the most beautiful and stately 
trees on the hill sides, in the northern districts 
of China, growing there about as tall as the 
common pine, with stems perfectly straight, 
and the branches hanging most gracefully on 
all sides, in the way of the Araucaries of Nor- 
folk Island. The wood is also strong, durable, 
and highly prized. 
THE TOMATO. 
The Tomato (Lycopcrsicum esculentum) 
was originally introduced to Europe from 
America, where, in Mexico and Peru, it ap- 
pears to have been cultivated from time imme- 
morial. It was grown as a curiosity by Gerard, 
in England, in 1596, although it had been 
cultivated on the continent for its fruit for a 
number of years previous. The ripe fruit is 
used in various ways in soups and sauces, some 
persons becoming extravagantly fond of it. 
There are several varieties to be met with 
in gardens ; but the one generally grown for 
the abundance and quality of its fruit, is the 
large red Tomato, with leaves deeply divided, 
rough with hairs, and producing bunches of 
conspicuous yellow flowers, succeeded by large 
curiously lobed fruit, which acquire a brilliant 
orange red, or scarlet colour, as they ripen. 
The small red Tomato has globular fruit, 
rather flattened at the stalk and apex, about 
an inch and a half in diameter. 
The pear-shaped Tomato has egg-shaped 
fruit, with the smallest end next the stalk, 
about two inches long. This seems a more 
tender variety than the others, and its fruit 
does not ripen so soon. 
The Red-cherry Tomato has round fruit, 
about the size of a large cherry, and is, per- 
haps, the best variety for pickling whole, being 
of a sharper acid flavour than the others. It. 
is also, most probably, the parent species of 
all the other varieties, however widely they 
differ in size, form, and colour. 
The large YeUon) Tomato differs in nothing 
from the first-mentioned variety, except in 
colour, which is a bright pale yellow, and in its 
flavour being inferior, 
The small, or 1'elloir-rlicrri/ Tomato, also 
differs in the same way as the last from the 
Red-cherry variety, and neither of the two lost 
are worth cultivation, except as curiosities. 
