319 
Though some of these shrubs ripen their seeds in this climate, it never 
has been, I believe, the custom of gardeners to sow them ; some are 
propagated by suckers and cuttings , and others by imported seeds ; conse¬ 
quently the very identical laurel introduced by Master Cole, and some others 
of the plants enumerated by Parkinson, are now actually growing in our 
gardens; no wonder then, that these original shrubs have not become hardier, 
though probably they would have done so had they passed through several 
generations by being raised from British seeds* 
Is it not then worthy a trial, as we find that plants raised from suckers 
or cuttings do not grow hardier by time, and as the experiment on zizania 
points out the road, to sow the seeds of these and such like tender shrubs as 
occasionally ripen them in this climate? Fourteen generations, in the case 
of the %i%ania, produced a complete habit of succeeding in this climate, but 
a considerable improvement in hardiness was evident much earlier. 
In plants that require some years to arrive at puberty, fourteen 
generations is more than any man can hope to survive: but a much less 
number will in many cases be sufficient, and in all, though a complete habit 
of hardihood is not attained, a great progress may be made towards it in a 
much less time; even one generation may work a change of no small 
importance: if we could make the Myrtle bear the climate of Middlesex, as 
well as it does that of Devonshire, or exempt our laurel hedges from the 
danger of being cut down by severe frosts, it would be an acquisition of no 
small consequence to the pleasure of the gentleman, as well as the profit of 
the gardener. 
The settlement made at Mew Holland gives a large scope to these 
experiments; many plants have been brought from thence which endure 
our climate with little protection; and some of these arrive at puberty at an 
early period; we have already three from the south point of Van Dieman’s 
Island, where the climate cannot be wholly without frost; Mimosa verticillata , 
Eucalyptus hirsuta , and Obliqua. The first of these appears to have produced 
flowers within eight years of its first introduction; but as a settlement is now 
made very near the spot where the seeds of these shrubs will be collected, 
we may reasonably hope to receive further supplies, and extend our 
knowledge on this curious and interesting subject.* 
* Vide Transactions of the Horticultural Society, Vol. I. 
