This was the first indigenous fruit that I saw in Canada; it attracted my attention on my first journey through the woods. I noticed, growing by the side of the road at the edge of the forest, a plant with two large palmate leaves, between the axils of which hung a yellow oblong fruit, about the size of a Magnum, Bonum plum. The man who drove the horses told me it was good to eat, and alighted and plucked it for me, advising me to throw away the thick outer skin. The fruit was over ripe, and there was a rank flavor that I did'nt quite relish. I have since become better acquainted with the plant, and as there are many things about it deserving of notice, I will give a description of it for the information of those persons who have had less time to study it.

When the May Apple, (for in Canada that is its most common name,) first breaks the ground early in the month of May, the leaves are folded round the stem like a closed parasol, and are of a bronzed green, almost copper color, and expand, displaying two palmate leaves, i. e., spread like a hand; it is peltate - the peduncle, like a pillar, supporting the leaf from the center underneath, as in the Nasturtium and Water Lily, (Nymphona). In the fruit-bearing plants the petioles form a fork, in the axil of which one large green bud (rarely, but sometimes, two), is inserted; the blossom is large rosaceous form, white, with a yellowish tint At a little distance it gives out a pleasant fragrance, but when held too near is rank and overpowering. The flower is very handsome, belonging to the class and order of Polyandria monogynia. It is not easily preserved, as it is brittle and fleshy, and loses-much of its beauty in its dried state. It is better to dry and press the flower separate from the leaves; it can be restored to its place (the axil of the leaves) and pasted down alter the whole is prepared.

This plan I have often pursued very advantageously.

The fruit of the May Apple, when the plant is found growing in moist partially shaded spots, will attain to the full size of a Magnum Bonum plum. The latter end of August is the usual time for its ripening. To have it in perfection, the fruit should be gathered before it turns quite yellow and laid in a sunny window. The outer rind, which is thick and fleshy and of a rank flavor, must be cast aside. The inner pulp, on which the seeds are imbedded, is of a delightful rich acid; but when intended for preserving, the fruit may be used quartered or entire, and thrown into boiling syrup, in which ginger or cloves have been boiled. Thus treated, after having remained in the jar some weeks, this is a most delicious preserve, scarcely inferior to some of West's Indian manufacture. Let the skillful and curious in such matters try it is curious to see a bed of them laid open, and to observe the way in which they interlace each other like an extensive net-work. They ore white, about the thicknest of a finger, spreading horizontally beneath the surface of the soil. From every articulation a bud sprouts up, forming the leaf stem. The single leaves produce no fruit - most probably they are the first year's growth; possibly it is from the second year's shoot that the fruit-bearing stem rises.

I have often wondered if the May Apple has attracted the attention of the horticulturists. Could the fruit be improved by artificial culture!