■Tax uATtv 20. 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 
205 
No. 2 is an offspring from an implement T saw in the 
garden of J. Vaux, Esq., at Hyde, in the Isle of "Wight, which, 
were I to write a hook on its capabilities, I should not 
consider my time misspent as regards my own personal 
conviction ; though what that may be, or others might weary 
themselves to read, are quite different affairs. 1 will, on 
this consideration, concisely recommend it as a very useful 
little instrument as a garden measure; a drill for small 
seeds; for soil stirring amongst tiny crops; insinuating 
amongst flowers; assisting to gather fruits; and by no 
means least, as a light handy implement for a lady’s use. 
UrwAiiDs and Onwards. 
GAEDENING GOSSIP. 
and it is curious that, in Mexico, the coldest situation 
yields the best tubers. “ Our resting-place,” says “ x\ 
Barrister,” 
“ a dull, little town, called Perote, was reached about four 
o’clock in the afternoon, after a trifling descent into the high 
table-land plain in which it stands. This little place has. 
the reputation of being the dullest, coldest, and most miser¬ 
able residence of any in Mexico, and I am not inclined to \ 
disagree with those who abuse it. "We had miserable quar- j 
ters there. I must, however, hear witness to one thing, in | 
which Perote surpasses all the rest of Mexico that I saw, | 
viz., the goodness of its potatoes. These are here capital, i 
equal to the best in England, whilst, in general, throughout j 
Mexico, they are wretched, seldom bigger than walnuts.” 
One of the most readable books of travels that has 
recently fallen in our way is A Trip to Mexico, “By a 
Barrister.” The author does not, like a judge we could 
name, gloat over the good dinners lie consumed, nor 
record them as some of the most interesting events of 
his journeying. Yet “A Barrister” lias a keen eye to 
observe, and a sketchy pen to describe, all that came 
within notice; nor aro the plants and gardening of 
Mexico exceptions. We think that every one will view 
with more interest the American Aloe (Agave Americana) 
after reading the following:— 
“ We passed through the ceutre of a district in which 
the Maguey, or large American Aloe, is extensively culti¬ 
vated for the manufacture of Pulque. Pulque is the 
common drink of all Mexicans, and answers to our beer, 
though more intoxicating. All who once get accustomed to 
the smell and taste like it much, and it is even said to 
become necessary to people after they have used it for 
many years. When the llepublic was first established, many 
old Spaniards, threatened with expulsion, petitioned the 
National Assembly to allow them to remain in Mexico, the 
groundwork of the petition being that they had been so 
long accustomed to drink Pulque (not procurable in Spain), 
that their lives would be endangered if they left, it off. The 
manner of making this drink is as follows. When the aloe I 
is just on the point of throwing up its huge stem from its 
coronet of leaves, deep amidst which its broad basis had 
been for some time forming, the farmer, or gardener, scoops 
out the whole pith, leaving the outer rind, and thus making, j 
inside the circle of leaves, a bowl-like cavity about two feet 
deep and eighteen inches wide, according to the size of the 
plant. This cavity is soon filled with the sap which should ! 
have gone to nourish the stalk, and, as it Hows, is removed 
several times daily for some months, or as long as the tap 
yields. A portion of this juice (called honey-water, aouu- . 
mid) is set apart to ferment, and act as a sort of leaven or 
yeast for the rest. This is called Madre-Pulque, the mother : 
of Pulque, and when completely prepared which it is in 
about a fortnight), a small portion of it is added to the 
skins or tubs containing the fresh aguamiel, and sets it 
fermeutiug in a day or so. A large plant is said to yield 
from ten to fifteen pints daily, and this for months. Others 
vary the process by putting a small quantity of mescal into 
the cavity in the plant, to mix with the sap as it flows in ; 
and this seems to answer very well. This process of milking 
the Aloe is, as might be expected, a fatal one to the plant, 
but before it dies it always throws out shoots which keep up 
the stock. The fermentation is usually conducted in skins, 
and as soon as this is over the Pulque is fit for drinking. 
To strangers both the taste and smell are horrible, some¬ 
thing of the style of rotten eggs; but one soon gets accus¬ 
tomed to the flavour. The fresh sap, or aguamiel, is often 
drunk unprepared, hut it is too humble a tipple to be gene¬ 
rally patronised. These Aloes are often of immense size. 
The common leaves are eight or ten feet in length, more 
than a foot in width, and thick in proportion. The stern 
often shoots up to tweirty or thirty feet, or more, and is as 
thick as a man’s body.” 
We noticed at page 237 that the diseaso which lias so 
afflicted our Potatoes is unknown in the Arctic regions; 
It is an error we too often fall into of merely saying 
that a plant is a native of Mexico—a statement far too 
vague to he of use to the gardener, as will appear from 
the following extract, testifying that there are really three 
regions in Mexico, each having a distinct climate :— 
“ They are three: the ‘ Tierra Caliente,’ or hot country, 
which, as its name imports, is low and hot, its elevation 
above the sea never extending above 2000 l'eet; ‘ Tierra 
Templada,’ or temperate country, embracing an elevation of 
from 2000 to 5000 feet above the sea; and the ‘ Tierra Fria,’ 
which includes all the high land above 5000 feet. The 
sudden transition one meets with in passing from the tierra 
templada to the tierra caliente is often very striking ; a 
thousand feet, more or less, of elevation, shows this very 
sensibly, as in the present case. At the bottom of the 
barranca I was descending, I found a totally different climate 
and productions, the trees being filled with parrots, rarely 
seen in the tierra templada. Fruits of all kinds flourish 
better in these hot lands than elsewhere, and the city of 
Mexico is almost entirely supplied with these productions 
from the nearest tierra caliente, which lies in the neighbour¬ 
hood Cuernavaca, eighteen leagues from Mexico. Through¬ 
out the republic, however, the true tierra caliente is only 
found, to any extent, along the coast. On both its sides, by 
the Gulf and the Pacific, there is a strip of this true hot 
land adjoining the sea, though it is often wanting on the 
Pacific side, owing to the mountains which in many parts 
of the coast come completely down to the shore.” 
The following is the description of a garden formed 
by an English family at Tepic, on the western coast of 
Mexico:— 
“ In proceeding from the town, at about a quarter of a 
mile or so from the mill, you get upon a good road—the 
best, I take it, in the republic—and no wonder, seeing it 
was made and is owned by Englishmen. The maquina 
itself occupies an angle formed by the river, which is here 
very pretty, and turbulent like a Scotch trout-stream. 
“ One half of the angle is filled up by the maquina and 
its buildings, the other by a splendid garden extending 
down to the river, from which it is separated by a low wall. 
This I shall describe somewhat at length, as I wish to show 
to what perfection a garden can he brought even in Mexico, 
when owned and managed by Englishmen. I do not 
believe that there is one equal to it in all the republic. 
The grounds are, perhaps, four acres in extent, and full of 
all the fruits, vegetables, and flowers that can lie obtained. 
One main walk runs from the gate to the river-wall, and is 
lined with bananas on both sides; and under them is a 
hedge of coffee bushes, with their beautiful white flowers. 
The coflee grown in this garden is in constant use, and much 
approved. 
“ On the left of the central walk is a branch avenue of 
orange-trees, almost always covered with flowers, and green 
and ripe fruit. These oranges are delicious—some of the 
best I ever met with. Seats are disposed along this avenue, 
which is the pleasantest lounge in the neighbourhood. The 
trees are so thick that no sun can penetrate, and they are 
always filled with an infinity of birds. A walk extends along 
the river-wall, and also goes round the garden, and is lined 
by some noble trees. One path is edged by pomegranates, 
which are mos-t beautiful when m full flower. 
