Kirghis Desert
Garlic has been cultivated in this country since 1548. At one time, it held a place in most of the early pharmacopoeias; but, like many other of our vegetable medicines, has fallen into disuse. In Britain, it is employed as a culinary ingredient; but, on account of its extremely penetrating and diffusive odour, it is seldom served up in a solid state. Garlic is easily propagated by seeds, which should be sown in the open ground, in March; or by dividing the cloves of the bulbs into as many parts as they admit, to form separate plants. A light soil, and rather dry position in the kitchen garden, suit them best, planting the cloves early in March, about 9in. asunder, in drills 1ft. apart, and covering with 2in. of soil. An occasional hoeing, to destroy weeds, will be all that is necessary for the after treatment, until the tops die, when the roots should be lifted and dried in the sun. A few may be planted in autumn for an early supply, only a small quantity being usually required at one time in private gardens. GARRYA (named in honour of Michael Garry, of the Hudson's Bay Company). Including Fadyenia. TRIBE garryaceae of ORD. Cornaceae. A genus consisting of about eight species of ornamental hardy evergreen shrubs, of which seven are found in California and Mexico, and one in Cuba and Jamaica. Flowers male and female on different plants, arranged in elegant pendulous catkins, proceeding from near the apex of the shoots, and often from 4in. to 9in. long. Leaves opposite, petiolate, entire or denticulate, penninerved. G. elliptica is the only species in general cultivation. It forms an elegant bush plant for the shrubbery border in the South of England, but is, perhaps, seen to the greatest advantage when grown against a wall or trellis. Propagated by seeds; or by cuttings of half-ripened wood, inserted in sandy loam, in August, and shaded from strong light until rooted.
G. elliptica (elliptical).* fl. greenish-white or yellowish. Spring. Berries black. l. elliptical, dark green and shining above, hoary beneath. h. 8ft. to 10ft. California, 1818.
G. Fadyenii (M'Fadyen's). male flowers, spikes branched, pendulous; sepals cohering at apex. female flowers, spikes simple, erect; style short, thick. Spring. l. elliptic, shortly apiculate. Jamaica.
G. Fremonti (Fremont's). fl. resembling those of G. elliptica, but catkins shorter and less decidedly pendulous. l. oblong or obovate, acute, slightly wavy at the margins. North-west America. (G. C. 1881, xv. 431.) G. macrophylla (large-leaved). fl. green; racemes short, disposed in terminal, dense, few-flowered panicles. Spring. l. ovate-elliptic, 4in. long, 2 1/2in. broad. h. 6ft. Mexico, 1846.
G. Thureti (Thuret's). A garden hybrid, intermediate in general characters between its two parents, G. Fadyenii and G. elliptica, the first being the seed-bearer. It was raised in the Paris Botanic Garden about 1862. (R. H. 1879, 154.)