Morning journal and courier., 1885-11-09
A FLOWERY LAND.
The Lovely Blossoms and Large Fruit
 AnStraJia.

of Australia.
 South A ustralia is, indeed, not metaphori= cally, but literally, a fowery land, writes MT. G. A. Sala. To be aware of that fact one has but to pay visit to the Adelaide Botanic gardens in which the indefatigable curator is Dr. R. Schonburgk, a savant of European reputation, who is decorated with dozen orders of European knig ghthood. Of course, the preponderant features of the vegetation of the colony are in the two genera of the Australian fora-the eucalyptus and the acacia. Naturalists have noted remarkable fact in the vegetation of South Australia, the absence of native eatable fruits, of which there are none worthy of the | name, except few berry bearing shrubs, | the principal species of which are the so- called native currant and native peach of the colonists. But glance at the green grocer's 1 and fruiterers' shops in the streets of Adel- | aide will at once prove to demonstration that, | if South Australia has few indigenous fruits | or edible plants, she has wonderful capa- 1 city for growing the esculents of other re- | gions In addition to the colossal cauli- | flowers admire the immense cabbages, the | splendid carrots, turnips, spinach and Jeru- | salem artichokes; the abundant salad or | 'sgreed meat" and, in particular, the seem | ingly inexhaustible wealth of rainbow-hued
 
 l of the Australian colonies are, indeed, flow CT and fern paradise; but am told that if wish to see the floral beauties of South Aus | tralia in their most enchanting aspect, l must | come hither in the spring t1me-that :, ln | September, October and November. This | is only the first week in August, and we are | still in winter. But in the spring my south l Australian friends enthusiastically declare
 should behold trees, shrubs, perennials, an
 nuals, rivalling each other in their flowers, l which are of such size, richness and color
 add general perfection as to be almost un- l realizable by the imagination of 8 northern 1 gardener. As regards fruit, apples, pears
 and the strange looking and more strangely | tasting "passion" fruit are the most proml-
 nent of the gifts of Pomona that l have noticed in the Adelaide markets There are
 pineapples, too; but l am told that I they are grown under glass; but at the proper season should enjoy plums, cher
 ries, figs, aprieots, quinces, mulberries, cur
 rents, raspberries, walnuts, ,ilberts and chest | nuts in perfection. The quick, 1uxuriant t
 growth and early excessive bearing of the | stone fruit producing trees makes them short lived. Those that the sun-god loves best die l young The grandest ot the vegetables are | grown in the gullies of the hills behind Adel- | aide. Thence obtained the caulifiowers | the dimensions of which so excited my aston 1 ishment and which are not uncommonly two | feet in diameter. The cucumbers, the sweet
 
 to an extraordinary size. The South Austra-
 Han wheat is, am informed simply the very
 finest that is grown in the world, beating
 even that renowned cereal, the trige of Cas-
 tile in old Spain And all this wohdrous
 vegetation f1ourishes in most fckle climate,
 rendered more trying by hot winds and drought. One statement which I have met
 with concerning vegetation of South Austra'
 lia has slightly puzzled me. It is to the
 effect that "a very peculiar phenomenon is
 that in South Australia most kinds of trees
 and shrubs, when dying, die from the tops
 downward" But is this phenomenon pecul- jar to South Australias Surely there IS on
 record a grim anecdote of one Jonathan Swift, dean of St. Patrick's, reconnting how, | passing tree which was whitening down | ward, he pointed to it and said to friend:
 "I shall be like that tree; shall die at the
 top" On the other hand, I scarcely ever
 think that have every travelled in a country
 where have seen so many tall trees dying
 from the bottom upward as I have seen in
 Australia. That may be to great extent due to the universally of the practice of
 s'ring- barking trees-a practice which, ,accor- ding to some authorities in forestry, the Aus
 tralians will have cause ere long bitterly to | repent.