60 
size of a small ]5lum, of a fine claret colour; the pulp is soft, 
only a little firmer than that of a strawberry, and of a delight- 
ful subacid flavour. Mr. John Robison, Secretary of the Roy- 
al Society of Edinburgh, who had tasted the fruit in India, 
declared the Experimental Garden specimens to be nowise in- 
ferior in quality. These home-grown guavas were found to 
make most desirable preserves. During the same period, a still 
more rare kind of fruit has been produced, for the first time in 
Britain, in the stove of Mr. Bateman, of Knypersley near Con- 
gleton, — a gentleman distinguished for his zeal, liberality, and 
success, in introducing and cultivating the singular tropical 
epiphytes. This is the Carambola, or the fruit of the Averrhoa 
Carambola, a native of the East Indies. Mr. P. N. Don, the 
intelligent gardener there, mentions that “during last autumn 
(1834) the tree fruited in great abundance.” The fruit is of the 
size and shape of a duck-egg, but with angles on the sides. It 
“was used by the family for tarts, and also for preserves, and 
was allowed by excellent judges to be superior for pleasant fla- 
vour to any thing they had tasted.” 
98 Saxifraga, Culture of. This extensive, neat, and orna- 
mental genus, succeeds well under alpine pot culture, and with 
a greater degree of certainty in preserving the different species 
than when planted out into the open ground, even in a well pre- 
pared soil. They will bear dividing, and repotting, at almost 
any season; the month of August, however, is perhaps the best 
time; most of the species will then have flowered, and still suffici- 
ency of time will be remaining for their becoming established be- 
fore winter. Equal portions of loam, peat, and sand, will suit 
nearly all the species. Saxifraga rivularis, nivalis, caesia, and 
retusu require good peat, mixed with one-third part of sand; 
and the whole of the species require plenty of drainers in the 
bottoms of the pots. The stemless species require only to be 
repotted to the same depth as before dividing, when strong enough 
for that purpose. The stemmed species, whether they increase 
in size, by elongating their stems upward, or by spreading over 
the pots, require dividing and repotting deeper than previously, 
to enable them to emit young roots from the softer parts of their 
stems. When in good health the only species requiring frame 
protection, during winter, are ligulata and cuscutiformis; two 
species which are most frequently treated as greenhouse plants. 
98, D. Camerou. 
