Thofollowing postacripttoDr. Macgowan's article on plants acclimatizable in the United States reached us lately 'Why not experiment with Chinese water plants? 'Those of the sub-tropical Jatitude would take kindly to rice regions and to marshy lands generally,—where waters do not freeze, or freeze but lightly. Among those valuable' esculents is the water eal-(Lrapas bicornis, ling chiao—buffalo-horn) sometimes called water chestnut, becatise of its flavour; it does not furnish much in the way of food, like the Trapa hispinosa of Cashmere, but it is valuable as afeuit, enduring the severe climate of Chihli and requiring no culture. The next in value is a tuber, (ZUlocharis tuberosus) water chestnut, although the water lily (Nelumbium speciosum) perhaps is more used for food (in some places peuple are veritable lothophagi); it appears to be the Egyptian bean of Pythazoras. It is rich in starch; its root-stock and seeds are alike edible; its arrowroot is much used by invalids; its leares are used for wrappil paper, while its flowers are strikingly gorgeous and not without fragrance, Another of the numerous water plants of the Chinese is the celery-like shouts of the chiao-pai (extending far north), and yet other la the chin-tsui, water celery, which is planted on bamboo rafts covered with mud, forming floating-gardens like those of ancient Mexico, and modern Kashgar. Let the plants be securely placed in Ward's eases, and an account of the mode of culture sent with the specimens. If any ornamental plants are sent, let mo com: mend for the sunny south, or for conserva tories, the stich-shw, ire tree, the most Denutiful of the cycudacie, Ita name comes from its property of absorbing nul assimilate ing iron; when it shows signs of decadence, nails are driven into ita trank, which gives ita now lease of life. The tiao-lan hanging epidendrum would be much prized; i flowers only when taken from the geet and suspended from a coiling, I omitted to state respecting the nut-oil tree, that it would prove ensily cultivable in nny port _of our continent,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.