"Cosi all' egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi Succhi amari, ingannato, intanto ei beve; TASSO. So we (if children young diseased we find) It seems strange that any thing but the most imperative necessity should induce a mother to use any means which can render her an object of disgust to her child. The most remarkable of the Aloe tribe is the great American Aloe, named by botanists Agave, which name is derived from the Greek, and signifies admirable, or glorious: called by the French aloe en arbre [tree aloe], and also pitte. The natural order in which it should be arranged is uncertain. Bernard Jussieu placed it with the Narcissi, and Anthony Jussieu with the Bromeliacea. It is a native of all the southern parts of America. "The stem generally rises upwards of twenty feet high, and branches out on every side towards the top, so as to form a kind of pyramid. The slender shoots are garnished with greenish yellow flowers, which come out in thick clusters at every joint, and continue long in beauty; a succession of new flowers being produced for near three months in favourable seasons, if the plant is protected from the autumnal cold. The elegance of the flower, and the rarity of its appearance in our cold climate, render it an object of such general curiosity, that the gardener who possesses the plant announces it in the public papers, and builds a platform round it for the accommodation of the spectators. The popular opinions, that the aloe flowers but once in a century, and that its blooming is attended with a noise like the report of a cannon, are equally without foundation. The fact is, that the time which this plant takes to come to perfection varies with the climate. In hot countries, where they grow fast, and expand many leaves every season, they will flower in a few years; but in colder climates, where their growth is slow, they will be much longer in arriving at perfection. The leaves of the American Aloe are five or six feet long, from six to nine inches broad, and three or four thick*. Millar mentions one of these plants in the garden of the King of Prussia, that was forty feet high; another in the royal garden at Friedricksberg in Denmark, two-andtwenty feet high, which had nineteen branches, bearing four thousand flowers; and a third in the botanic garden at Cambridge, which, at sixty years of age, had never borne flowers. He specifies some others, remarkable for the number of their flowers, but does not mention the age of any one at the time of flowering. "With us," says Rousseau, "the term of its life is uncertain; and after having flowered, it produces a number of offsets, and dies." A kind of soap is prepared from the leaves of this Aloe, and the leaves themselves are used for scouring floors, pewter, &c.; and their epidermis is serviceable to literature as a material for writing upon. The following extract from Wood's Zoography will give some idea of the general utility of this extraordinary plant: "The Mahometans respect the Aloe as a plant of a superior nature. In Egypt it may be said to bear some share in their religious ceremonies; since whoever returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca hangs it over his street-door as a proof of his having performed that holy journey. The * Wood's Zoography, vol. iii. superstitious Egyptians believe that this plant hinders evil spirits and apparitions from entering the house; and on this account, whoever walks the streets in Cairo, will find it over the doors of both Christians and Jews. "The leaves of the different specimens of Aloe, as well as the Agave, are highly serviceable to the natives of the countries where they grow. The negroes in Senegal make excellent ropes of them, which are not liable to rot in water; and of two kinds mentioned by Sir Hans Sloane, one is manufactured into fishing-lines, bow-strings, stockings, and hammocks; while the other has leaves, which, like those of the wild pine and the banana, hold rainwater, and thus afford a valuable refreshment to travellers in hot climates. The poor in Mexico derive almost every necessary of life from a species of Aloe. Besides making excellent hedges for their fields, its trunk serves instead of beams for the roofs of their houses, and its leaves supply the place of tiles. From these they obtain paper, thread, needles, clothing, shoes, stockings, and cordage; from the juice they make wine, honey, sugar, and vinegar." Such of the Aloes as do not require a stove will bear the open air, in our climate, from the end of March to the end of September. During the winter they should be watered about once in a month; in the summer, when the weather is dry, once in a week or ten days; but when there is much rain, they should be sheltered from it, or they will be apt to rot. If the weather be mild, they may be placed where they may receive the fresh air in the day-time for a month after they are housed; after that the windows should be closed, They should not be put into large pots, but should be removed into fresh earth every year, which should be done in July. As much of the earth should be shaken away as possible, the roots opened with the fingers, and such as are decayed taken off; but great care must be taken not to break or wound those which are young and fresh. Water them gently when newly planted, place them in the shade for three weeks, and if the weather is hot and dry, water them in a similar manner once or twice a week. Most of the species may at this time be increased by offsets, which should be planted in very small pots; and if, in taking off the suckers, you find them very moist where they are broken from the mother-root, they should lie in a dry shady place for a week before they are planted. When planted, treat them like the old plants. Such kinds as do not afford plenty of offsets may generally be propagated by taking off some of the under leaves, laying them to dry for ten days or a fortnight, and planting them, putting that part of the leaf which adhered to the old plant about an inch or an inch and a half into the earth. This should be done in June. There are few things, I believe, more venerable, more eloquently impressive in their antiquity, than an old tree. The ruins of an old and noble edifice, of which every shattered fragment, every gaping cranny, complains of the destructive hand of time, is young and modern in our eyes, compared with that which still survives its touch,—the old ivy, that still, with every succeeding year, moves slowly on, knitting its creeping stalks into every crevice, and carrying its broad leaves up to the very summit. What can be more venerable than the far-spreading roots of an old elm or oak tree, veining the earth with wood! Cross but that little piece of wood, called the wilderness, leading from Hampstead towards North End, where the intermingled roots are visible at every step, casing the earth in impenetrable armour, and forming a natural pavement, apparently as old as time itself—can all the antiquities of Egypt command a greater reverence? The larger species of Aloe, from the immensity of its superstitious Egyptians believe that this plant hinders evil spirits and apparitions from entering the house; and on this account, whoever walks the streets in Cairo, will find it over the doors of both Christians and Jews. "The leaves of the different specimens of Aloe, as well as the Agave, are highly serviceable to the natives of the countries where they grow. The negroes in Senegal make excellent ropes of them, which are not liable to rot in water; and of two kinds mentioned by Sir Hans Sloane, one is manufactured into fishing-lines, bow-strings, stockings, and hammocks; while the other has leaves, which, like those of the wild pine and the banana, hold rainwater, and thus afford a valuable refreshment to travellers in hot climates. The poor in Mexico derive almost every necessary of life from a species of Aloe. Besides making excellent hedges for their fields, its trunk serves instead of beams for the roofs of their houses, and its leaves supply the place of tiles. From these they obtain paper, thread, needles, clothing, shoes, stockings, and cordage; from the juice they make wine, honey, sugar, and vinegar.” Such of the Aloes as do not require a stove will bear the open air, in our climate, from the end of March to the end of September. During the winter they should be watered about once in a month; in the summer, when the weather is dry, once in a week or ten days; but when there is much rain, they should be sheltered from it, or they will be apt to rot. If the weather be mild, they may be placed where they may receive the fresh air in the day-time for a month after they are housed; after that the windows should be closed, They should not be put into large pots, but should be removed into fresh earth every year, which should be done in July. As much of the earth should be shaken away as possible, the roots opened with the fingers, and such as are decayed taken off; but great care must be taken not to |