24 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOQIST. 
[ January, 
sent out grafted on the Mountain, or Wych Elm. So long as the tree is planted in the rich 
loamy soil so prevalent in nurseries, the advantage is undeniable,—a larger tree is grown in a 
shorter time, and equally good; but remove it to the ordinary stiff clay loam of Herefordshire, 
and the Wych Elm will not thrive. The conclusion is evident: plant English Elms on their 
own hardy roots.” 
- ®HE Everhearing Andim Strawberry^ from the highlands of Mexico, is 
doubtless, observes Dr. Spruce, one of those varieties of Fragaria vesca commonly 
cultivated throughout the Andes within the tropics, where the perpetual spring 
of that favoured region has had the effect of rendering the Strawberry perennially fruitful, 
and many of the deciduous-leaved trees of Europe evergreen. In the Equatorial Andes the 
province of Ambato is famed for its Strawberries, which equal in size and flavour some of our 
best varieties, and are to bo seen exposed for sale in the market-place of Ambato every day in 
the year. They are cultivated at an altitude of from 7,000 ft. to 9,500 ft. above the sea, where 
the mean temperature of the year ranges between 59° and G7°; but the best are grown a 
little way out of Ambato, as you go towards Guayaquil, on the slopes of Guachi (lat. 1^° S.), 
at near 9,000 feet, and in a mean temperature of 60°; where, however, the thermometer does 
sometimes descend, perhaps half-a-dozen times in the year, to the freezing point in the early 
morning, scarcely ever on two successive days. 
- IIt is not usual to grow Shallots from seed, but the practice is very suc¬ 
cessfully followed by Mr. Trigg, of Hayling. His plan is to plant out the offsets 
in the usual manner, and allow them to seed, which they do the second year. The 
seed is sown in good rich soil, at the same time as Onion seed, and the crop is such that 
five fair average specimens weigh 1 lb. 7 oz. They at first look like Onions, but when they 
begin to divide into offsets the peculiar difference between the two is readily distinguished. 
- S^hen at Nagarote, in his Nicaraguan travels, Dr. Seemann measured 
a famous Genisaro tree, Pithecolohium Sajnan, of which the villagers are justly 
proud, since they had the public spirit—the rarest of virtues in a Spanish 
American—to refuse an offer made for it of 200 dollars. The tree is but 90 ft. high, but some 
of the lower branches, which are quite horizontal, are 92 ft. long and 5 ft. in diameter. The 
stem, 4 ft. above the base, is 21ft. in circumference, and the crown of the tree describes a 
circle of 348 ft., A whole regiment of soldiers might seek repose in its shade. 
-- ®HE pulpy portion of the Fruit of the Yew tree is generally believed 
to be harmless, while the kernel or seed is regarded as poisonous. M. Clos, of 
Toulouse, who has recently investigated the subject, has come to the conclusion 
that the Yew berries, including the kernels, are perfectly harmless. 
-fKR. W. H; Perry, who has been for nearly fifty years the faithful 
assistant of the Messrs. Eivers, of the Sawbridgeworth Nurseries, died on the 20th 
of November, at the age of 59. Mr. Perry, who has for many years acted as a 
judge at the Metropolitan Rose Shows, was generally esteemed for his sound judgment, 
intuigrity, and unobtrusiveness. 
-IHr. W. Barnes, of the Camden Nursery, Camberwell, died on the 
22nd of December last, from an attack of bronchitis, in the 61st year of his age. 
His name is famous in the annals of gardening, as being that of one of the 
foremost of exhibition plant-growers ; while as one of the famous Kentish gardeners of a 
quarter of a century ago, Barnes of Bromley bore an important share in making our Metro¬ 
politan Exhibitions what they now are as displays of horticultural skill. Some years since, 
Mr. Barnes commenced business as a nurseryman at Camberwell, where he made Azaleas 
one of his specialities. Both as a censor, and as a member of the Floral Committee, he was 
highly respected for the manly and straightforward expression of his opinions, and his 
colleagues will all sincerely regret to lose his companionship, and the benefit of his excellent 
and well-matured judgment. 
