342 
GLEANINGS IN BOTANY. 
surements of heights of a tree of Eucalyptus amygdalina : —Length of stem from 
the base to the first branch, 295 feet; diameter of the stem at the first branch, 
4 feet; length of stem from first branch to where its top portion was broken off, 
70 feet ; diameter of the stem where broken off, 3 feet; total length of stem up 
to place of fracture, 365 feet; girth of stem three feet from the surface, 41 feet. 
A still thicker tree measured three feet from the base, 53 feet in circumference. 
Mr. George W. Robinson ascertained in the back-ranges of Berwick the cir¬ 
cumference of a tree of Eucalyptus amygdalina to be 81 feet at a distance of four 
feet from the ground, and supposes this eucalypt, towards the sources of the 
Yarra and Latrobe rivers, to attain a height of half a thousand feet. The same 
gentleman found Fagus Cunningliami to gain a height of 200 feet and a circum¬ 
ference of 23 feet. 
It is not at all likely that in these isolated inquiries chance has led to the 
really highest trees, which the most secluded and the least accessible spots may 
still conceal. It seems, however, almost beyond dispute, that the trees of Aus¬ 
tralia rival in length, though evidently not in thickness, even the renowned 
forest-giants of California, Sequoia Wellingtonia , the highest of which, as far as 
the writer is aware, rise in their favourite haunts at the Sierra Nevada to about 
450 feet. Still, one of the mammoth-trees measured, it is said, at an estimated 
height of 300 feet, to hawe shown yet 18 feet in diameter! Thus to Victorian 
trees for elevation the palm must apparently be conceded. A standard of com¬ 
parison we possess in the spire of the Minster of Strasburg, the highest of any 
cathedral of the globe, which sends its lofty spire to the height of 466 feet, or 
in the great pyramid of Cheops, 480 feet high, which if raised in our ranges 
would be overshadowed probably by Eucalyptus-trees.— Seemanns Journal of 
Botany. 
Transmission of Seeds. 
The following plan, suggested by Lieutenant Pogson to the Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society of India, for the transmission of Quinoa ( Chenopodium 
Quinoa ) from Peru to India, may be found useful in the transmission of other 
seeds to or from India :—“ The seed should be packed in a tin case, in the centre 
of which a perforated tin cylinder, 3 inches in diameter and 12 inches in height, 
should be firmly soldered. Three inches of the upper part of the cylinder should 
remain intact, the remaining nine inches being perforated. Each perforation 
to be T \thof an inch in diameter, and ^rd of an inch distant from its neighbour. 
The cylinder to be provided with a cap or cover. The cylinder, after being 
soldered in its place, is to be three-quarters filled with bits of very coarsely 
pounded charcoal, from the size of a pea and below the size of a marble. The 
cover is then to be put on. The box being now ready, the unhusked Quinoa 
seed is to be put into it gradually and gently pressed dowm—the operation being 
repeated till the box is filled, when it should be soldered down, packed in wood, 
and shipped without delay direct to India. 
“ The object of placing the tin cylinder charged with charcoal in the centre 
of the tin case has to be explained. Any moisture existing in the seed husks, 
or seed stalks, when given off, would at once pass through the perforations of 
the cylinder, and be absorbed by the charcoal. The upper portion of the cy¬ 
linder being empty and closed, would always contain in a condensed or com¬ 
pressed state any vapour produced by heat during the voyage, and the seeds, 
being kept cool and dry in the husk, would reach in a perfect state of preser¬ 
vation. Care should be taken that the box of wood within which the tin case 
is placed, is well and strongly made. For convenience of transit in India, each 
tin case should be of the following size, viz. length, 3 feet; width, 15 inches ; 
depth, 12| inches. This, when placed in the packing-case, would give a con¬ 
venient sized box or package, two of which could be easily carried by a mule. 1 ’ 
— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
