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GARDENING.-NO. 5 -ITALIAN MODES OF COOKING MAIZE. 
GARDENING.—No. 5. 
Civil Causes affecting the Distribution of Plants .— 
By the art of man, plants may be inured to circum¬ 
stances foreign to their usual habits. The means 
used for this purpose are acclimatization and cul¬ 
ture. The former of these is most easily effected, 
in goiRg from a hot to a cold climate, in herbaceous 
plants; because it often happens that the frosts of 
winter are accompanied with snow, which shelters 
the plant from the inclemency of the atmosphere, 
till the return of spring. Trees and shrubs, on the 
contrary, are acclimated with more difficulty, be¬ 
cause they cannot so easily be protected from the 
cold, owing to the greater length of their stems and 
branches. This is also effected in some degree by 
sowing the seeds of successive generations, and by 
the difference of temperature obtained by different 
aspects or situations. An individual plant may be 
rendered more hardy, or more delicate, by local or 
other causes; but the power of the species to re¬ 
sist cold or heat, drought or moisture, remains the 
same. 
“ Some plants which constitute the objects of 
gardening and of agriculture, have, time out of 
snind, accompanied man from one end of the globe 
to the other. Ill Europe, the vine followed the 
Greeks; the wheat, the Romans; and the cotton, 
the Arabs. In America, the Tultiques carried with 
them the maize. The potato and the quinoa are ] 
found wherever have emigrated the ancient Condi- 
namarea. The migration of these plants is evident; 
but their first country is as little known as that of 
the different races of men, which have been found 
In all parts of the globe from the earliest traditions.” 
(Humboldt.) 
The general effect of culture on plants is that of 
enlarging all their parts and altering their qualities, 
forms, and colors, though it seldom, if ever, alters 
their original or primitive structure. The effect of 
culture upon our garden vegetables may be noticed 
in the Brassica tribe, in the increase of size, and in 
celery and the carrot, in improvement of quality. 
The peach in its wild state is poisonous; but 
when cultivated, it becomes one of the most deli¬ 
cious of fruits. The influence of civilisation, in 
increasing the number of plants in a country, is 
great, directly, by introducing new species, and in¬ 
directly, by acclimatizing and final naturalization, by 
the influence of winds and birds in disseminating 
seeds. The Romans introduced into Italy the fig 
and almond from Syria; the citron, from Media ; 
the peach, from Persia; the pomegranate, from 
Africa; the apricot, from Epirus; apples, pears, 
and plums, from Armenia; and cherries, from Pon- 
tus. The vine and fig are said to have been carried 
to France by birds; and in like manner the orange 
is thought to ha^e been naturalized in the south of 
Italy. The greatest refinement in culture consists 
in the successful formation of artificial climates for 
the production of flowers and fruits belonging to a 
totally different climate from that in which the 
work is carried on. Thus by the means of hot¬ 
houses the delicious fruits of the torrid zone are 
brought to perfection almost within the arctic circles. 
“ Casting our eyes on man, and the effects of his 
industry, we see him spread on the plains and sides 
of mountains, from the frozen ocean to the equator . 
and everywhere assembling around him whatever 
is useful, and agreeable of his own or of other 
countries. The more difficulties he has to sur¬ 
mount, the more rapidly his moral faculties are de¬ 
veloped; and thus the civilisation of a people is 
almost always in an inverse ratio with the fertility 
of the soil which they inhabit.” (Loudon.) 
Characteristic Distribution of Vegetables. —Plants, 
like animals, live in two classes—social and anti¬ 
social. Associated plants are more common in the 
temperate zones than in the tropics, where vegeta¬ 
tion is less uniform and more picturesque. In the 
temperate zones, the frequency of social plants, and 
the culture of man, has rendered the aspect of the 
country, in a measure, monotonous. Under the 
tropics, on the contrary, all sorts of forms are 
united ; thus cypresses and pines are found in the 
forests of the Andes of Quindiu, and of Mexico; 
and bananas, palms, and bamboos, in the valleys. 
But green meadowy and the season of spring are 
wanting in the south, for nature has reserved gifts 
for every region. The languishing plants, which, 
from a love of science, or from luxury, are culti¬ 
vated in our hot-houses, present only a shadow of 
the majesty of equatorial vegetation ; but by the 
richness of our language, we paint those countries 
to the imagination, and individual man feels a hap¬ 
piness peculiar to civilisation. The features of 
many plants are so obvious and characteristic, as to 
determine at once their native countries. Asiatic 
plants are remarkable for their superior beauty; 
African plants for their thick and succulent leaves ; 
and American plants for the length and smoothness 
of their leaves, and for a sort of singularity in the 
shape of the flower and fruit. 
“ A tissue of fibres more or less loose—vegetable 
colors more or less vivid, according to the chemical 
mixture of their elements, and the force of the solar 
rays—are some of the causes which impress on the 
vegetables of each zone their characteristic fea¬ 
tures.” (Humboldt.) L. T Talbot. 
ITALIAN MODES OF COOKING MAIZE. 
While journeying in Italy some years ago, I 
was delighted with the admirable modes in which 
the polenta or Indian meal is prepared in that coun¬ 
try. I think, writh a recent correspondent to the 
London Gardener’s Chronicle, that the only fault of 
the Italian method is, that one is apt to eat too 
much, as he says,—“ lam ashamed to say it has 
been my case at the Hotel de la Couronne, at 
Brides, near Moutiers. The landlord is renowned 
for his culinary skill; but, could he only make, or 
had he never made any other dish than Timballe de 
Polenta a la Savoyardc, that alone should render 
him immortal.” 
“ Take Polenta (Indian meal) perfectly dry and 
fresh, moistened with boiling water, and perfectly 
mixed by stirring with a wooden spoon until the 
mass is reduced to a thoroughly smooth paste, of 
consistence to admit boiling. Keep it just below a 
boiling temperature until, by tasting, you find it to be 
perfectly homogeneous: about 10 minutes suffice; 
stir the whole time. Remove it from the fire, and add 
as much fresh butter, strong brown gravy, grated 
Parmesan cheese, and as much garlic as suits your 
palate; grated ham is an excellent adjunct. Simmer 
