f^tl I «.£>(> LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Wc 1672) SUPPLEMENT TO THE GARDEN, AUG. 2, 16:3. SUPPLEMENT TO IMt uakuch, f^wu T / SUPPLEMENT TO THE GARDEN, AUa 2 IBT3. THE T$ m^^m^..^ ^^==^C^~^ 4li ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY JOURNAL GARDENING IN ALL ITS BRANCHES. THIS IS AN ART WinCH DOES MEND NATURE: CEUVNGB IT RATHER: BUT THE ART ITSELF IS NATURE.— Shakespeare. :FO"criNrx)EX) .a^itx) con^rnDTJCTiax) WILLIAM ROBINSON, iUTHOK OF "ALPINE FLOWERS FOR ENGLISH GARDENS,'' "THE WILD GARDEN," ETC. VOL. III. LONDON: OPFICE: 37, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W. C. IkllDSTJMIMEXt, 1«T3. (5 ■ It 1873 SUPPLEMENT TO THE GARDEN, AUQ. 2, 1873. TO THOMAS RIYERS, OP SAWBRIDGEWORTH. HERTS., AUTHOB OP 'THE ROSE AMATEUR'S GUIDE," "THE ORCHARD HOUSE," "THE MINIATURE FRUIT GARDEN," ETC., ETC., THIS VOLUME OF " THE GARDEN " IS EESPECTFULLT DEDICATED, IN RECOGNITION OF HIS MANY AND GREAT SERVICES RENDERED TO HORTICULTURE. VI THE GARDEN INDEX. [Aug. 2, 1873. ILLUSTRATIONS, pagt:. Acacia, a spreading 47 ,, Riccana 315 Acer acuminatum .'171 „ creticum * ... I4:i ,, (lisscctum 241 „ g^ranatense '.i ,, ibericum 179 „ lobatum 69 „ oblonfTum 205 ,, spicatum 57 „ striatum 351 ,, villosum 93 Acineta Humboldti 11 A^aricus personatus 136 ,, strobiiiformis 98 Alexandra Palace and Gardens ... 386 Allouvillc, Chapel Oak at 161 Anemone Pulsatilla 295 A New and Useful Hoe 502 Aponogeton distachyou 157 Ai-alia Veitchi ... ' 4S3 Araucaria in the Gardens at Wood- stock *: 399 Architectui-e, stately, and terraced garden 423 Asparagus culture ... 404 „ plantation, French, mode : of forming 3fi4' Avenue Garden in Regent's Park ... 475 : PAGE, Cocoa Wodilellinna 139 Columbia Mock Orange 233 Conservatory, a natural Ill Cork Ferneries, mode of moistening 357 Cortusa Matthioli 49 Cowan's lime-kiln heating apparatus 347 Croton Hookeri 45 ,, undulatum IIS Cycas circinalis 283 Cypripedium caudatum 313 ,, Fairieanum 431 ,, spectabile 177 „ Veitchii 239 ,, villosum 415 Barked tninks, mode of curing ... 337 Bath, Plan of Show-ground at ... 485 Beetle-eaten Lily-leaf 345 Bogonia Sedeni 383 Belvoir 379 Bignonia radicans 261 *' Big trees" in California 227 Blenheim, View in the Gi'DUnds at... 479 Blinds, lath, as shading 461 Boiler, Lime-kiln 4il Bois de Boulogne, plan of the ... 359 ,, ,, lake in the ... 3H3 Eombyx (Orgyia) antiijua 375 Bottle-tree of tropical Australia ... 317 Boulton's ground Vinery 231 Bou(iuct-holder, half opened ... 223 ,, closed 223 Bread- Fruit, the 495 British Columbia, forest scene in ... 31 Bromeliad, a new 373 Cabbage bug 9 California, " Birj Trees " in 227 Campanula turilinata elegans ... 333 Canal, atrnpical ;.. 185 Canal, garden, and road, section of 395 Canal gardeu, plan of 397 ,, ,, longitudinal section of 397 Cascade at Virginia Water 459 Cascade, natm-al 243 Castle Kennedy, Vine borders at ,. 107 Central Africa, vegetation in ... 71 Cephalotus follicularis 307 Chamjebatia foliolosa 27 Chapel Oak at Allouville 161 Cheimatobiabrumata 85 Churchyard Garden 443 Clipped Yew at Mereworth 451 Clumber— garden front 263 Coat Flower, a 333,343 Cocoa-nut Palms, group of 463 Dasylirion glaucum Datisca caniiabina Davallia Monreana- Deciduous Cypress in the pleasure grounds at Syon Dendrobes, seedling Diapensia Lapponica Dieffenbachia Baraquiniana ,, picta Dinner-table Decoration Dinner -tables, illumination of Dodder, Trefoil Dominy's Lady's Slipper : Dracaena Deniiisonii I ,, Mooreana ; Echiuops validn , Epiphytes on a prostrate tree Espaher trellis ,, ,, in the Gardens at Elvedon Fem-case, rustic Ferneries, Cork, mode of moistening Fern, Walking Fernery, Hardy Fertilisation of the Yucca Fig tree, sitreading, in Ceylon Filbert tree, pyramidal Flowervases, multiple Forest scene ill British Columbia ... ,, vegetation in Siam Fountain m the Luxembourg Gardens Fremontia califnrnica Fruit or Keys of Acer striatum Fruit trellis" at Elvedon , ,, wall fitted with galvanised i wire 265 , 355 : 357 , 125 477 499 115 437 403 31 419 PAGE. HoUy-lenvcd Cherry 131 Honeysuckle, the perfoliate 191 ,, evergreen or trumpet 191 Horley's Garden Frames 58 Horticultural Gardens, South Ken- sington, plan of 91 Hothouses at Milncr Field 35 Hot-water pipes, badly arranged ... 457 ,, ,, good aiTangement of 457 Humea elegans 141 Plane trees in Mecklenburgh Square 439 Plant preserver, Boulton's 231 Platyceriura grando 275 i Pond-weed, the sweet-scented ... 157 1 Potato disease, the 500 I Pot-cover, ornamental 149 j Pot Vines, growing house for ,,, 435 ! ,, fruiting house for ... 435 ! Promenade, the Alexandra ... 465 Ipecacuanha Plant 445 Interior view of Peach-house ... 169 Iris iberica 393 Japanese Garden, scene in a ... 147 Jean de laQuintinie 247 *' Knees " of the Deciduous Cypress 338 Quercus lobata ' ... 279 Garden and church in Paris 443 Gardens of Saus Souci, View in the 497 Gathering Ling (Trapa bicornis) ... 214 Goat moth and caterpillar 203 Gooseberries, American 305 Grafting 133 „ art of 229 ,, Vine 2S9 Great Reed, the 493 Gunnera scabra, flower-spike of ... 307 Hardy Fernery 477 Heating apparatus, lime-kiln ... 347 Hibiscus esculentus 250 Hoe, a new and useful 502 Holme Gardens, plan of the ... 15 Lace-wing or Golden-eye Insect Lady's Slipper, the Showy ... ,, ,. Dominy's Lath Blinds forshading Log splitting by blasting Lime-kiln boiler ,, heating apparatus Lime-looper, the Lime tree in winter Mangrove, the Maple, the round-leaved Meadow Bittercress Melastoma malabathrica Milner Field, hothouses at ... Mock Orange, the Columbia... Moth, the Vapoui-er Mountain Fir Mouse-trap, garden Mushi'oom, lilac-stemmed ... New Holland Pitcher-plant)... Oak-leaf roller, the Oak Lodge, Kensington, plan of Gardens at Orchid house at Ferniehurst ,, in the natural style ... ,, section of a lean-to ... Orchids, hybx-idising Parham's Wall Coping Parkinson, John Palms, Cocoa-nut, group of Pasque-tlower, the Paullinia thalictrifolia Peach-houses, improved curvilinear Pear tree at Ashridge ,, young standard ,, pyramid ,, columnar ,, single-stemmed palmettte „ doable-stemmed do. ,, palmette Verrier horizontal cordon Phala^nopsis Schilleriana Phajus grandifolins 183, Philadelphus Gordoniauus Philippine islands, vegetation in ... Phcenix reclinata ... . 217 . 177 491 461 , 413 , 441 , 347 , 319; , 255, . 434 , 301' 35 2331 375 ' 75 453 , 136 401 : 1U3 I 237 151 463 295 87 1691 225' 426 I 420 421 421 431 421 422 183 221 234 321 489 Ramondia pyrenaica ... 277,471 ; Regent's Park, Avenue Garden in ... 475 j Rhapis flabellifomiis 199 I Rocky knoll in Osmaston gardens ... 331 I ,, Mountains, vegetation of ... 129 ; Rockwork in Battersea Park ... 207 Rose Garden, plan of a small ... 2S7 „ leaf, wu'cd 343 „ Sawfly 145 Roses, basket of 455 Rustic Fern case 355 Saccolabium guttatum ... ... 43 Screw Pine, variegated 18 Shade for frames 461 ' Sonchuslaciniatusas a table plant ... 29n Span-roofed cool Orchid house ... 65 Square, a well laid out 267 ] Steel screw-plug 413 I St. John's Nursery, Worcester, bird's-eye view of 303 ' Stumps, American method of bum- ' ing 413 ' ,, mode of blasting 413 Sub-tropical Garden, view in a ... 95 Suburban Garden, plan of a ... 165 Temperature indicator 309 Tillandsia revoluta 373 Todea Wilkesiana 181 Tomicus typographicus 63 Trapa natans 209 ,, fruit of 211 Trellis, espalier 236 ,, ,, in the gardens at Elvedon 266 Vanda suavis 103 Vegetation in Central Africa ... 71 ,, of the Rocky Mountains 129 ,, in the Philippine Islands 321 Veitch's Nursery, King's Road, Chelsea ..' 189 View in the Gardens of Sans Souci 497 Vine borders at Castle Kennedy ... 107 Vine-grafting 289 Vinery, Boulton's 231 ,, cur\nlinear -465 Vines and Orclhds, section of house adapted for 67 Virginia Water, cascade at 459 Walking Fern 125 Wall Coping, new 2S5 ,, Parham's 237 Weeping Beech at Worcester ... 299 Welwitschia mii-abilis 201 Yew, clipped, at Mereworth ... 451 Yucca, Fertilisation of the 499 Aug. 2. 1873.] THE GARDEN INDEX. \ni i:n^dex to a^o]lxj]sj:e hi. A. Ahics Donglasii as a forest tree, 69 Absinthe, 9S Abutilon Boule fie Xeige, 373 Acacias, old false, 144 Acacias, 12; RiceanM. ijG, 315; the Indian Thorny or Spreading, 47 ; lophantha, 223 ; for the conservatory, 431 Acer acuminatum, 371 ; circinnatnm, 255 ; creticum, 143 ; dissectum, 241 ; ^auatense, 3; ibericum, 179; loba- tom, ti9; oblongum, 205; spicatum, 57, 351 ; villosum, 93 Acers, graftiuLC, 10 Acineta Humboldli. 10, 2i Acrostic, garden, 41 i Adelaide Botanic Garden, 330 -Echmea Reginas 22 Aerides crassifolium, "fil African plants, collections of, 410 Agapanthns umbellatus, 222 Agariciis (Amanita) strobiliformis, 9S; gambosus, 4i2 ; (Tricholoma) perso- natus. 13ti Atrave Jacquiniana, 390 Agaves, half-hardy, 415 Ailantus as a street tree, 116; as a timber tree. 9i ; odour of, 144 Alexandra Palace Giu-dens, the opening of, 386, 39() Alexandra Palace, destruction of plants at, 449; Rhododeadron exhibition at, ■16.S ; flower show at, 427 ; Inter- national horticultural exhibition at, 251 Alexandra promenade, the, 465 Almond, the dwarf, 352 Aloysia citriodora. 41S Alpine plants, 277; book on, by M. Verlot, 156 ; new, i-are. or neijlccted, 241, 256, 296, 315, 332, 360 Amai-antns salicifolius, 125 -Vmelanchier canadensis, -KXt America. Easter BeuiTi- Peai's in, 237 ; EngUsh Peas in, 2 American Black Walnut, 56; Goose- berries, 305 ; Potatoes in England, 23y Amorphophallus Rivieri, 191 Ampton Pai'k, 454 Anemone, double-blossomed, 312 Angehca, 502 Anthurium Scherzerianum, 330 Ants, 345 ; Osier-bark steep, a cure for, 64 Aponogeton distachyon, 157, 203, 212, 323 Apple and the Pear, culture of the, 28 Apple " cure," the, 3o ; Gnwenstein, the, 2S9 ; seedless, 226 ; the Sweet- and-Sour, 237; the Mexico, 237 ; two varieties in one, 108 ; blussonis, 496 Apple tree, the home of the, 28 Apple trees, changing the tops of, to Pear, 2S9 ; our fii-st, 76 Apples, American, 42, 62 ; how to bake, 98, 442; French, in Covent Garden market, 294 ; in barrels, 89 ; keeping. 150; Xewtown Pippin, 350; "sweet," 128. 422 Appleby, testimonial to Mr., 470 Aiiuarium, Brighton, 42 Aquile^^ia aurea at Kensington, 390; cseruiea, 464 ; leptocera lutea, 198 ; glandulosa gigantea, 492 Arabis, CEirly white, 222 Aralia Veitchii, •i'^'i Araucaria Bidwilh, 194; at Kew, 232; imbricata, 39S Arboretum at Walsall, 370 Arboriculture, lectures on, 330 Architecture, stately, near water, 423 Aretia Vitaliana, 331 Arpophyllum giganteum, 201, 294 Artichokes, 4-S6 yVrtificial flowers, a greenhouse of, 484 Artocarpus tucisa, 495 Amndo Donax, 316. 364, 493 Ash plants barked by mice, 262 Ashridge Park, herbaceous plants at, 418 Ash, weeping, 241 Asparagus, 251. 36-t; Connover's colossal, 114; culture, 311. 404. 425; in France, 384 ; flowers, :i7 ; French. in Covent Garden market, 294 ; weight of, 503 Aspen, the American, 185 Aster scorzonerifolius, 381 Asters, 343 Astilbe (SpirEea) japonica, 178 Aubrietias. 393 Auricula Society at Birmingham. 450 Azalens, deciduous, as indoor plants, 258 Azalea indica, 343 Balsam, the, 131. 276, 373 Bamboo-like plants, new genus of, 390 Bamboo poisoning, 16 Bamboos, 160, 453 Bambusa aruudinacca, 171 Bananas, 14 Bank Hall, 505 Banks r. tlat gsound for flowers, 96 Banyan tree, the, 115 Barnstaple, park for, 450 Barton Hall. 432 Baskets of Roses. 455 Bath, Royal Horticultural Society's show at, 4:J0 ; report of the, 505 Baths, new Thames, 60 Battersea park, new rockwork in, 206; ride in, 274 Battles, bark-boring, 63 Bay tree, medicinal properties of the, 131 Beaucarnea recurvata as a house plant, 258 Bedding plants, new, 312 ; moss balls for. 418 Beech, the purple, 369 Bees in flower gardens, 345 Beet, cooking. 308 Begonia Seieni, 383 Belvoir Castle, spring gardening at, 378 Berberis asiatica as a hedge plant, 434 Betel nut, 151 Beurre Dubuisson Pear, 483 Bidens atrosan guinea. 125 Bignonia capreolata, 278 Bignonias, 260 " Big trees " in California, 226 Birch, the, as a pleasure-ground tree, 352 Birmingham Auricula Society, 450 Bitton long ago, -464 ; spring flowers at, 311 Blackberries. American, 29, 82 Blenheim, 478 Blinds, lath, as a shading, 461 Bine Hydrangeas, 125 Boehmeria nivea, 194 Boiler, Weeks's upright tubular, 137 Bois de Boulogne, 358 Borage, 502 Border ihe mixed shnbbei*y. 1 1 Bossifpa linophylla, 474 Botanical Locality Record Club, 312 ; studies, prize for, 155 Botany, a general system of, rev., 307 Bottom heat, materials for, 114 Bougainvillea rosea, 42 ; at Greenlands, 274 Boughs, lopping overhanging, 100 Bouquet making, 101, 222; holder, bas- ket, 223 Bouquets, button hole, 250 Bous'ardias, 141; flava, 82 ; sporting of, 27 Boxtetl Hall. 474 Branches, the beauty of bare, 73 Bread-fruit, the, 495 Briar-root pipes, 57, 131 Briar stocks from seed, 312 British Columbia, forest scenery in, 30 British plants, distribution of, 198 Broccoli, 251 ; Cooling's Matchless Win- ter, 274 ; culture 77 ; from Cornwtill, 62 ; growers, a fact for, 148 ; North- ampton Hero, 350; Snow's Winter White, 114, 171 Bromeliads, catalogues of, 242 ; a singu- lar, 373 Browneas, 182 Bulb nomenclature, 49 Bullfinch, the, 315. 394, 395 Bullfiuches V. Gooseberry bushes, 303 Button-hole bouquets and coat flowers, 273 Buxus vulgaris pyramidata, 281 Cabbage bug. a. 9 Cabbage Soup, 288 Cabbages, 79; from buds, 14S ; method of preserving in winter, 171, 238 ; red, to keep in winter, 174 Caladium esculentura, 431 Calandrinia umbellata, 382 Calendula oflScinalis, 142 ■ California, fruit culture in, 8S ' Cnliforian flowering plants and shrubs, 231 ; Lilies. 1 Calycanthus, whice, 241 : Camarotis purpurea, 330 I Camassia esculenta. 434 Camellias, as wall-plants, 162 ; forcing, I 121 : in Japan, 194 ; in windows, 52 : I propagation of, 229; planted out, 200 I Campanula garganica, 201 ; turbinata elegans, 333 Canada Victor Tomato, 365 Canarina campanula. 220 Canal, a tropical, 185 ' Cantua dependens, 84, 461 Cape bulbs, a bouquet of flowers from, 4S3 ' Carnations as border flowers, 66; tree, 373 ; propagation of ditto, 10 Carrots, wintering. 17 Cascades, artificial, 242; at Virginia Water, 459 Castle Kennedy, Conifers at, 54 I Castle Kenned}' Fig, 338 Castor-oil plant in California, 156 ' Catalpa svringfefolia, 94 Catchfly,*Bolander*s, 430 , Caterpillars on Cabbages, 25 I Catkins, 255 ' Cauliflower, the Imperial, 2 ■ ' Cedars, 255 Celery, 33 ; and Peas. 405 ~ : Cemeteries, flowers for, 286, 455 ! Cephalotus follicularis, 401 Cerastium edgings, 212 Cerasus ilicifolius. 180 Cerinthe aspera, 316 Ceropegias, 140 Chadacre Hall. 474 Chalk mixed with coal as fuel, 505 Chamrebatia foliolosa, 26, 68 Chama^cj-parisLawsonianacairulescens, 255 Chamajdoreas as house plants, 306 ChamaTOps Fortunei, 450, 453 Champignons farcos, 79 Chapel-Oak of Allouville, 161 Cheimatobia brumata, 85 CheiTy, new ornamental, 5, 69 ; the ' Holly-leaved. 131 Chestnut timber, 400 ; dni-ability of, 322 ; I trees at Chiswick, 390 i Chicory, adulteration of, 82 . Chinese Primula, culture of the, 199 Chiswick Gardens, Potatoes in, 390; late frost at, 390 Chiswick House, bedding plants at, 390 Chlorococcum vulgare, 410, 430 ' Christmas flowers in New York, 149 ; Roses, 208 ; tree, political, in Paris, 22 Chrysanthemums for the conservatory, 275; in bloom in June. 430; Royal Horticultural Society's show of, 294 Chr^^sopa perla, 217 Churchyards, 443 ; evergreen trees for, 434 Chysis bractescens, 260 Cinchona cultivation in India, 33 ; Neil- gherry. Ill ; variations in, 350 Cinerarias with '* blind " trusses, 221 CLssus discolor, 174 Cistuses for the wild garden, 371 Clematises, 251 ; spring-flowering. 335, 331 Chanthus magnificus, 334; puniceus, 291, 464 Climate and vegetation, 117, 131 Climbers, coiLservatory, 334 Clumber, the seat of the Duke of New- ca^itle, 263 Coal, plant origin of, 231 Coat flowers, 34:j Coba-a scandens variegata. 373 Coccocypselum discolor, 239 Cocoa-iiut Palm, 462 ; pudding, 79 Cocos uucifera, 462 ; WeddeUiana, 130 Ccelogj-no cristata, 82 Coflee, discovery of, 46 Colas jugosus, 330 Coldham Hall, 474 Coloured glass, experiments with, 36 Columbia Mock Orange, 233 Conifera\ illustrated works on, 131 ; our newer, 451 Conifer avenues and old Yews, 206 Conifers and rabbits, 5; for general planting, 32 ; as hedge plants. 33, 69 ; at Cattle Kennedy, 54; cuttings of, 281 ; Japan, 400 ; priming, 69 ; zones of, 340 Conservatory, a natural. 111 ; climbers, 334 ; new, "in Central Park, New York, 137 Cool greenhouse exhibition plants, 240 Copings, living, 306 Corchr)rus (Kerria) japonica, 100 Cork Ferneries, moistening, 357 Cortusa Matthioli, 49, 96 Corydalis nobilis and bracteata, 313 Cossus ligniperda, 203 Cottage gardens, Devonshire, 8 ; window gardening, 258 County court costs, 216 Cowan's heating apparatus, 373 CranbeiTy crop, 150 Cranberries in New Jersey, 174 Crassula lactea, 42 Creeping Fig, 331 Crickets. 395 Crioceris inerdigera, 345 Crocus enemies, 217, 245, 308, 453 ; roots, destruction of , 278 ; veluchensis, 212 Crocuses, 257 ; autumn -blooming, 464 Cross-breeding, 23J Croton Hookeri,45 ; undulatum, 118 Ci'yptomeria pungeus rubiginosa, 322 Crystal Palace, 252; a Turkish, 72; commemoration fete, 450 ; flower- show at the, 407 Cuckoo-flower, singular, 433 Culford Hall, 412 Cultivation, deep, 465 Cupressiuea;, colours of, 281 Currants, standard, 30 Cycads, 282 Cyclamen Peakeanum, 2 ; porsicum, 42 ; vernum. 330 Cyclamens, double, 2; fertiUzation of, *133 ; hardy, 361 ; spring -floweiing, 102 Cypress, the deciduous, 338, 352; the 'yellow, 143 Cypresses, names of, 116 Cypripedium barbatum graniliflorum, 474 ; caudatum, 313 ; Fairieanum, 431 ; Veitchii, 239 ; villosum, 415 ; Dominianum, 400 Cytisus purpurascens, 410 vni THE GARDEN INDEX. [Aug. 2, 1873. ■Oaffodils, collection of, 291 Diiisies for edgings, -478 Diiisy, new pink variegated, 222 Dnudelion, improved, 37 Daphne indica, rubra, 201 Darnel Grass, the. not poisonous, 22S Darwin, Mr., on Primrosee, ; vegetation in Siam, 418 Forget-me-Not, the creeping, o82 Fornhara Park. 432 Forsythia viridissima, 371 Foxglove, monstrosity in, 470 Frames, ]>ortabIe, 350 French Lettuces in English markets, 22 Fritillaria delphinensis, 394 ; Meleagrie, 363 Frost, late at Chiswick, 390 Fruit and kitchen garden, renovating, 374 ; and vegetable measures, Loudon. 176; crops, appearance of, 274; in Nottinghamshire, 422 ; in Somerset, 436; culture in California, 83; farms, small, rev., 7 ; food value of, 126 ; houses, arrangement of, 457 ; double glazing, 422 ; glass back walls for, 319 ; keeping, 29 ; new process of preser- ving, 79; prizes for, 54; prospects, 374; prospects on walls, 354; stains, removing, 283 ; the finest in the worid, 179 ; tree borders, cropping. 422 ; culture in England, 410 ; cuttings, vitality of, 108 ; protectors, 58 ; trel- lises, 236 ; barren old, 166 ; cui'e for barked, 337 ; training of, 432 ; form of, 54; low r. high, 76 ; manure for, 226; Moss on, 12^8.167; rag--i.anure for. 89 ; spur-pruning of. 226 ; the Jardin des Piantes collection of, 128 ; trellises, wire, 265 ; Trees as fences, -196 Fruiterers' Company, 153 Fruits, adopted. 345 ; hardy, 126 ; com- parative popularity of different kinds, 53 ; mouhi on preserved, 308 ; variation among, 166; without flowers, 453 Fuchsias, the best classified, 356 Fuel, chalk mixed with coal as, 505 Fuugi, dried specimens of, 440; how to preserve, 196 G. Gale of December, 20 Galvanised wire and woodlice, 425 Garden Architecture. 325 ; a surburban, 164; Catalogue of a.d. 1, 133; clerk at Kew, 19 ; destroyers in India, 9 ; enter a, exit a nuisance, 395 ; estab- lished in six months, 178 ; frames, Horley's patent, 58 Gahdbn Guide : — Ampton Park, 454 Barton Hall, 433 Boxted Hall, 474 Broome Hall, 491 Chadacre Hall, 474 Coldham Hall. 474 Culford Hall. 412 Drinkstone Park, 454 East Sutton. 357 Elvedon Hall, 490 Euston Hall. 490 Finborough Hall. 491 Fornham Park, 4:J2 Hardwicke House, 412 Hengrave Hall. 432 Hunton Court, 357 Ickworth Park, 412 Kentwell Hall. 475 Leybourne Grange, 358 Linton Park, 357 Livermere Park, 454 Loose Churchyard, 357 Maidstone Cemetery, 358 Melford Hall. 475 !Mereworth, 358 Nowton Court, 4^J2 Oakley Park, 491 Orchards near Maidstone, 353 Preston Hall, 358 Rougham Hall, 454 Rushbrooke Hall, -1.13 Shrubland Park. 412 St. Leonard's. 358 Stowlangtoft Hall. 154 Gardenia Fortunei, 12 Gardening as a recreation, 185; for women, 403; idiotic, 382 Garden land, a, 306 ; the. in May, 339 Gardeners' institution, Messrs. Veitch's, 216 ; Royal Benevolent Institution, 2, 350; Recoz-J, the. 22; Song, the, 344; United Order of Free, 430 Gardens, churchyard, 443 ; in Suffolk, 412 ; of the ancient Romans, 5 ; varietv in small, 26 Garlic, 4U Gentlana acanlis, 364. 39t Getjgraphical distribution, Asa Grav on, 93 Gesnera elongata. 261 Gesneras, management of. 471 Ghent horticultural exhibition, 191 Gladioli, Souchet's new, llo Glass back walls for early fruit-houses, 319 Glastonbury Thorn at Bedfont, 22 Goat-moth, the, 203 Good King Henry, 300 Gooseberry trees, 333 Gooseberries, American. 1C7, 305 Grafting Acers, 10 ; and budding, 72 ; experiments in, 72 ; Pelargoniums, 240 ; the art of, 132, 229; new Roses ob- tained by, 229 ; wax or mastic, 230 ; L'Homme Lefort's, 237 Grape colouring, 422 ; growing at Castle Kennedv. 105; Seacliffe Black, 225 ; Waltham Cross, 430 Grapes at South Kensington, 350 ; early forced, 458; imported, 128; keeping in bottles of water, 273 ; keeping Lady Downe's, 338 ; keeping late in bottles, 319; keeping late upon the Vines, 266, 305. 320 Grasses and cereals, fertilisation of, 218 ; new British variegated. 6S Greenhouse plants, exposing insummer. 474 ; what constitutes a removable, 270 Greenhouses, Dennis's small, 137 Grotesque Animals, rev., 90 Ground surface, the beautiful in, 299 ; work, 21 Guano, nature of, 503 H. Htemanthus, the, 44 Halifax Floral and Horticultural Society, 193 Hampshire. Flora of, 470 Hami)ton Court, gardener at, 22, 194 Handbook of Chemical Technology, rev., 242; of Hardy Trees, .tc., rev., 190; of Fruit Culture under Glass, rev., 89 Hardwicke House, 412 Hard^- Lady's Slippers. 177 Hardy trees and shrubs. 3, 57, 69, 93, 143. 179, 205. 233, 255, 351, 371 Harebell, Wanner's, 47S Hart's-tongue, common. 18 Health, influence of different occupa- tions on, 386 Heaths, transportation of, 334 Huating horticultural buildings without cost, 347 ; by paraflin lamps, 137 ; lime- kiln, 441, 469 ; the future of hothouse, 136 Hedges, exposed, 503 Hedychium Gardnerianum, 478 Helianthemum vulgare, 96 Helichrysum bud?, 18 Heliotrope, the winter, 50 Hellebores from seed, 431 Helleborus argutifolius, 316 ; caucasicos, 312 ; purpurascens, 2 Hemlock Spruce iu New York. 156 Hengrave Hall, 432 Hepaticas, 297 Herbarium, our national, 2i8 Herb garden, the, 424 Hesiod and Theognis. rev., 171 HibiscTis esculentus, 250 Hoe. new kind of, 5o2 Hollies, planting, 340 Holme, the. Regent's Park, 14 Horley's patent garden frames, 58 Horse Chestnut, eai'ly development of, 62 Horse Chestnut tree, destruction of, 155 Horseradish, 77 ; culture, 425 Horticulture at the International Exhi- bition at Vienna, 176 Horticultural Defence Committee. 174; exhibition at Florence, 174; exhibi- tion at Ghent, 194; Gardens, South Kensington, 90 ; Register, 194 Hospitals, flowers for, 58, 429 Hotbeds. German, 37 Hoteia (Spiraea) japonica. 276 Hothouse, heating, the futui-e of, 136 Hot- water pipes, jointing, 302, 315, 348, 474 Huckleberries, 436 Humea elegans for out-door decoration, 141 Hunton Court Gardens. 357 Hvacinths in Hyde park, 274 ; outdoor, 331 Hybridisation, 350 Hyde park, improvements in, 2 Hydiangea, the, 295 ; paniculata grandi- flora, 125, 322 I. Icehouses, 93 Ickworth Park. 412 Ilex latifolia, 453 Illicium rcligiosum, 413 Im.inCopbyUum miuiatum, 302 Impatiens, 401 Incombu^-tible wood, 193 India, Cinchona cultivation in, 33 ; garden destroyers in, 9: i)arcel8 by post to, 120; rubber and gutta-percha, plants producing, 1.55 Insect agency in fertilizing flowers, 462 Insects that infest Orciddt*, 204 International Horticultural exhibition at Manchester, 274 Ipecacuanha plants, 2 ; plant, propaga- tion of the, 445 Iris pumila, 364; iberica2, 393; stylosa and Anemone blanda, 174 Irises near London. 470 Isle of Man, Flora of, 42 Ivies, 221 Japan Conifers, 400 : Japanese gardens, 146 ] Jasminum nudiflorum, 50 j Jessamines, 492 ! John Stuart Mill as a plant lover, 402 Juglans nigra, 167 K. Kaki, or Chinese Date Plum, 19J ; Japanese, imported fruit of, 330 Kales grown at Chiswick, 76 ; varie- gated, 42 Kentwell Hall, 475 Kerria, the single, 453 Kew, garden clerk at, 19 Kew gardens, 22, 449 bulbous plants in flower at, 470; on Good Friday, 294 plants in flower at, 450; memorial respecting, 22 Kibble art palace and conservatory, 350 ; conservatory the, 156 Kitchen garden, renovating, 119, 233 ; at Drumlaniig, 145 Kitchen-gardening for January, 39 L. Lables, orchard, 76 Lace-wing, or golden-eye insect, 217 Lady's Slipper, long tailed, 313 Lake of Geneva, blue colour of, 57 Lamps, heating hy, 137 ; pai-atlin, for I greenhouses. 103 Land formed by marine vegetation 423 I Laportea pustulata, 349 LariUzaitala bitermata, 413 Larkspur, lai-ge- flowered single, 297, 334 Ijaurel, the Califomian, 255 ; leaves, bruised, a cure for aphis, 204 Laurustinus as a cottage wall plant, 371 Law notes. 156 Lawns and trees, 33 ; weeping trees for, 434 Leaves, fallen. 326; value of, 284 Leek, the Welsh, 216 Leicester Square, 22 Leptospermuni lanigerum, 353 Leptosyne maritima, 316 Les Piantes Bulbeuses, rev., 355 Leucophyta Brownei, 68 Lewisia rediviva, 430 Leybourne Grange Gardens, 358 Library: — A General System of Botany, 307 A Literal Translation of the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil. 34*3 Field and Forest Rambles, 414 Grotesque Animals, 90 Handbook of Chemical Technology, 242 Handbook of Hardy Ti'ees. Shrubs, and Herbaceous Plants, 190 Handy Book of Fruit Culture under Glass, 89 Hesiod and Theognis, 171 Les Piantes Bulbeuses, 355 Pheasants for the Covert and the Aviary, 317 Small Fruit Farms, 7 The Orchardist, 440 The Popular Recreator, 355 The Tropical World, 317 Life, its duration in plants, 5 Lilacs, forced, 194 Lihes, 297, 434 ; Cahfomian, 1 ; past and present, 492 Lilium auratum a specific against house flies, ::74 ; Bloomerianum, 353 Lily of the Valley, 208; the blue African, 222 Aug. 2, 1873.] THE GARDEN INDEX. IX Lima, horticultural exhibition at, 27-1! Lime-kiln heating, 366, -iil, 469 Lime-looper, the, 24 Linton Park Gardens, 357 Linum narbonnensCj 470 ; trig-ynum, 23 Liquorice, 114 Lisianthus Russellianiie. 104, 301, 431 Lithospermum prostratum, 42, 312 Livermere Park, 45 i Lobelia, double, 430 ; pumila grandi- flora, 476 Logs and stumps, blasting and burning of, 413 Lomatia filicifolia, 149 Loose Churchyard, 357 Lorauthus Europa^us at Glasnevin, 81 Loudon, J. C, recollections of, 47 Lowestoft park, design for, 251 Luculia gratissima, 65 Lycasie Skinneri, 19S M. Ma,''gots in Oranges, 3t5 Magnolia eonspicua. 294, 400 Magnolias, hardy, 312 Mahemia vestita, 461 Maidstone Cemetery, 35S Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Society, 102 ; Horticultural Society, 4i3; International Horticultural Show, 174, 274; Literary dociety, 196 Manetti Rose stocks, 230 Manley Hall Orchids. 294, 312 Mantisia saltatoria, 220 Manure, application of mineral, 152 Manures, value and application of, 186 Manuring, 144, 171 Maple, the acute-lobed, 371 ; the sugar, 369 J the Cretan, 143; the cat-leaved, 241 ; the entire-leaved Nepaul, 205; the Iberian, 179; the Mountain, 57; the round-leaved, 255 ; the Siberian, 69 ; the Spanish, 3 ; the striped- barked, 351 ; the Woolly-leaved Nepaul, 93 Maranta Veitchii. 104 Marechal Niel Rose under glass, 260, 461 Marigold, the common garden, 142 Marine vegetation, land formed by, 423 Market, a French vegetable, 23S ; flowers for, 333 ; gardening, Paris, 16, H7 Marmalade, 9S May bugs, 308 Melastoma malabathrica, 301 Melford Hall. 475 Melon culture in cool pits, 224 Mereworth Gardens, 35s Mesembrvanthemuni aurcum in Hyde Park, 370 Meaembi-yanthemums at Penge, 350 Messenger's horticultural works, fire at, 20 Metrosideros florida as a hardy shrub, 322 Meum athamanticum, 450 Mice, 303 Microscopical soiree, 430 Mildness of the season at Haverford- west, 41 ; in Anglesey, OS ; caution, 89 Milner Field, new hothouses at, 31 Mimulus, the, 313 Mistletoe, 72 ; culture of the, 270 ; estab- lishment of the, in Ireland, IW; mysterj", 69; plants, large, lltf Moles, to destroy, 375 Morchella esculenta, 4*2 Morel, cultivation of the, 442 Mossy rocks in America, 410 Moth, the Vapourer, 375 Mother of Thousands, 4^4 Mountain White Pine, 14i Multiple flower vases, 402 Musa Lnsete, 450 Mushroom cultivation of the 486 ; Fir- cone, 9':j ; lilac -stemmed, 136; spawn, 77; St. George's, 442 Myosotis dissitiflora, oO, 110 Myrtus tenuifolia, 357 N. ^'a;gelia Margarita, 357 Narcissi in pots, 302 Karcissus minor, 62 ; papyraceus, 62 ; triandi-us, 394; Wallflowers, &c., in Hyde Park, 390 New plants, prizes for, 22 New Zealand Flax, 316 Northumberland House, 120 North Wales, new pleasure grounds in, 133 Novelties in coat flowers, 411 Nowton Court, 432 O. Oak and Ash, leafing of, 499 Oak and Yew trees, old, ISO; collection of, 251 ; large, 253 ; the Douglas, 340 ; the 340; trees, old, 322 Oak-leaf roller, the, 108 Oak Lodge, Kensington, plan of the gardens at, 50 Obituart : — Donald, Mr. James. 40 "The Strawberry King," 40 Odontoglossum Halhi, 291; vexillarium, 330 Odour of flowers, 178 ; preserved, 222 tEnothera marginata, 125 Ol£ra, 25 J Oinphalodes verna, 3S2 ; Lucilite, 391 Oncidium tigrinum, 201 Onions, 171 Orange culture, 13 ; in Japan, 155 ; groves of Spain, 217; the, as a con- servatory plant, 66 Oranges, 14, 153; collection of, 42 ; from Valencia, 390 ; in Sicily, 76 ; ripe, at Sawbndgeworth, 102 Orchard pruning, 76 Orchardist, the, rev., 440 Orchards, pigs in, 326 ; in the Maidstone district, 358 Orchid houses, cool, 64; in the natural style, 83 Orchids at Manley Hall, high prices realised for,294; British, 433 ; from New Granada, saleof.312; hybridising. 163; at Tottenliam, 62 ; in bloom, at Chel- sea. 82 ; in dwelling-rooms, 149 ; im- porting, 103; insects that infest, 2ii4 ; propagation of, 182 ; sale of, 194, 198 ; specific variation among, 23 ; the Faii'- field, 350 Orris root, 120 Osiers, 255 ■ Osmaston gardens, rocky knoll in, 331 Oxalis comiculata rubra, 382 Palm house and garden at Frankfort, 418 ; seeds, 12 ; Phcenix reclinata, 489 Pampas Grass as game covert, 284; treatment of, in winter, 82 ; when to transplant, 493 Panicimi variegatum, 46 Pansies in pots, 434 Pansy, blue bedding, 370 ; new, 174 ; the, as a pot plant, iG>J Paper from saw-dast, 218 Paradise stock, the, 289 Parafiin oil, 191 ; and Peas, US Parasites, culture of, 270; rout, 135 Parham's wall coping. 237 Paris market vegetables, 16, 97 Parkinson, John, 151 Park rules, 251 ; Preservation Society, 42 Parks, co-operative, .112 ; London, dimensions of, 304 Parochetus communis, 125, 178 Pasiiue-rtower, the, 295 PauUinia thalictrifolia, 83 Pea, Cutbushs Magnum Bonum, 233; Japan, 174; the crimson desert, 464; varieties of the garden, 168, 187 Peach, a new late, 432 ; crop in Dela- ware, 174 ; early Beatrice, 289 ; houses, improved carvihnear, 168 ; product of Delaware, 22; shoots, ill-ripened, 108; the Beatrice, 430 ; the blood-leaved, 458 ; tree, a profitable, 41 ; tree in- sects, 9 ; tree protectors, 76 ; trees, double white, 312 ; trees, from seed, 266 ; frost, and 266; trees, potash for ^2; tree, singular variety of, 410; trees, syringing while in bloom, 167 Peaches, shedding their blossom, 264 ; and nectarines in pots, 396 Pear culture, 318, 336 ; requisites for, 88 ; grafts, new plan for double work- ing. 230; growing for prortt, 390; slug caterpillar of the, 64; tree, a fine, 225 Pears, 420 ; a remarkable batch of seed- ling, 128 ; and plums for a north wall, 30; and the frost, 458 ; Easter Beurre, in America, 237 ; for espaliers, 237 ; from Trieste, 22 ; large, 15 » ; no profit on dwarf, 167; on the Quince, 226, 261, 420 ; standard orchard, 458 ; variations in regard to, 167; grafted on apple stock, 174 ; that succeed on the Quince, 352 Peas and paraffin, 148 ; English in Ame- rica, 2 ; sowmg late, 385 ; to protect from mice and birds, 171 ; early, 503 Peat, 284 Pelargoniums, raising, 10; the best bed- ding, 376 ; grafting, 240 Pencils, indelible garden, 218 Pentstemons, 392, 476 People's Garden at Willesden, 330 Pcn-y, Mr. C, death of 291 Peraian Eden, a, 92 Petunias, beddmg, 393 Phajus grandifohus, 221 ; Phalsenopsis grandiflora, 459 ; Luddemanniana, 221 Pheasants for the covert and the aviary, rev., 317 Philadelphus Gordonianus, 233 Philippine Islands, vegetation iu the, 320 Phloxes, herbaceous, 277 ; the best, 491 Phceuix j)usilla, 410 ; reclinata, 4Sy Phylloxera vastatrix, remedy for, 155, 251,375; origin of, 273; Quercus, 61 Phytolacca decandra. 405 Piccanobilis, 218 Pine-apples, 153; at South Kensington, 42 ; culture for January, 20 ; early fruiting of, 14 ; inducing to show fruit, 167 Pink, "Flower of Eden," 1 Pinus Slnclairii, 322 Piptanthus uepalensis, 353 Pitcher-plant, New Holland, 276, 401 Plane, large Oriental, 116 ; large Western, UO Planes in Mecklenburgh Square, 438 ; on the Thames Embankment, 459 Plant contrivances for rooms, 172 ; growing for exhibition, 449 ; for market, 372, 460; tubs, 357; labels, useful, 120 ; new fibre, 135; poisoning by a, 1211 ; sales, 47 Planters, encouragement to, 278 Planting, 149; churchyard, 255; Coni- ; fers for general, 32 ; for ornamental I covert, 21J; Holhes, 340; in spring, I 180 ; trees, 32 I Plants, alpine, new, rare, or neglected, i 241, 256, 277, 296, 315, 332. 360; as weather guides, 218 ; basket, 182 ; battle of life among, 142 ; blue- flowered border, 461 ; British, for the garden, 157; cool greenhouse exhibi- bition, 240; culture of, in rooms, 52 ; destruction of, at Alexandra Palace, ■149; distribution of British, 198; droop- ing, for rockwork, 3l6 ; drying, 142 ; duration of life in, 5 ; for a stcsp bank, 212; flowering of 456 ; herbaceous, at Ashridge Park, 418 ; for smoky dis- tricts, 159 ; in bloom at Tooting, 62 ; in Hertfordshire, 96; in Warwickshire, 96 ; in the open air in February, 155 ; on New Year's day, 50 ; ditto in Sussex, 50 ; at Kew Gardens, 450 ; at Tottenham in January, 22 ; on Christ- mas daj', 2 ; Manley Hall coUection of, 194 ; rockwork, in bloom at, Kew, 410 ; seaside, 26 ; struggle for life among, 70 ; spring -flowering, 218, 257 ; thi-ow- ing off carbonic acid gas, ll4 ; two desirable outdoor, llO ; wall, 293; watering, 313 ; wild, a guide to soUs, 3 ; ripening the wood of, 489 Platycerium gi-ande, 275 Poiusettia pulcherrima, 356 Poinsettias, 104 Poison, another, 21 Pollen, influence of foreign, on fruit, 86 ; i)rotection of, 475 Polyanthus, the, 256 ; from seed, 297 ; seedling, 39J Polyimthuses at Bedfont, 363 Pond weed, the sweet-scented, 157, 208, 212 Poplar, venerable, at Dijon, 410 Poplars, planting, 322 Poppy, oriental, 478 Popular Recreator, the, 355 Portsmouth people's park, 370 Potato climax, 3!J5 ; culture in Jersey, 441 ; disease, 425; disease and Oidium of the Vine, 156 ; prize essa^' on cause of, 2; Sutton's Redskinned Flourball. 77; floury, 42; the best, 300; Snow- flake, 300 ; disease, Mr. Carruthers on the, 5iX) ; hardiness of the, 503; im- ports, 5j2 Potatoes, 238 ; American, in England, 238, 269 ; early, 148 ; Fluke, 230 ; home- raised, 269, 300; how to cook, 283 ; imported, 174 ; in C his wick Gardens, 390; late and eai'ly Rose, 148; machine fur peeling, 198 ; " Rose," history of ttie, 23 ) ; statistics respecting, 42 ; arresting decay in, 503 Pot-covers, ornamental, 149 ; plants, soils for, 312 Preston Hall Gardens, 358 Primrose, what is a, 360, 391 Primroses, 27, 68, 96, 333 ; Chinese, 161 ; coloured, 382; &.C., Mr. Darwin ou, 416; garden, 95 Primula altaica, 178 ; culture of the Chinese, 199; nivalis, 278; and P. helvetica alba, 331 ; cortusoides amcena, 464; purpui'ea, 251 Primulas and Androsaces at Kew, 312 Privet berries, poisoning b^', 131;, the dwarf Chinese, 281 Protectors, Peach tree, 76 Pnining Roses, 210 ; time for, 496 Pruuus obovaUfolia, 310; triloba, 322 Psilotum triquetrum, 66 Puschkinia scilloides, 312 Pyrus (Cydonia) japonica, 310; Malus spectabtlis, 4X> Quercus lobata, 279 Quintinie, Jean de la, 21S R. Rabbits and Conifers, 5 Rabbits v. fruit trees, 150 Rags, woollen, as a mannre, 422 Raidisseurs superseded, 366 Rain and forests, 32 ; and vegetation, 304 Rainfall of 1372 at Cheltenham. 73 Raisins from Australia, 288 Ramie plant, or Chinese Grass, 62 Ramondia pyrenaica, 277, 3S2 ; and French culture of, 331 ; hue specimen of, 471 Ranunculus cortussefohus, 245 Rats and mice, 9 Rat trap, an etflcient, 9 Red spider, cure for, 395 Regent's Park, avenue gardens iu the, 474 Remarkable Oaks, 400 Rhapis flabelliformis, 199 Rhea fibre, 191 Rhotlanthe Mangleaii, 390 Rhododendi'on blooms from Devon, 312 ; Early Gem, 198 ; Prmcess Royal, 46 ; shows, 468 ; Falconeri, 499 Rhododendrons at Alexandra Palace, 330 ; in baskets, 439 Rhubarb, 300 Rivina humilis, 357 Roadside trees and telegraph wires, 56 Robinia Pseud-Acacia, the first in Europe. 322 Robinias, evergreen, 33 Rock-work, drooping plants for, 316; new, iu Ba'^tersea Park, 205 Rocky knoll in Osmaston Gardens, 331 j knolls, 382 ; Mountains, trees of the, 128 Roman horticulture, 202; marshlands, 119 Romans, gardens of the ancient, 5 Rome, the fruits of ancient, 105 Rooms, culture of plants in, 52 ; plant contrivances for, 172 Root and other parasites, 135 Rose Acacia, the, 33 ; and Clematis covered screen, 331; buds, dormant, injured l)y frost, 331 ; culture on the pegging-iiowu system, 222 ; garden, a small, 287 ; insect, mining, 204 ; Potato, history of the, 230 ; late and early, MS ; show, Mr. W. Paul's, at South Kensington, 368; stocks, 431; Sawfiy, 145 ; the York and Lancaster, 110 Roses, among the, 329 ; at South Ken- sington, 330 ; Christmas, 208 ; for button-holes, 297 ; from cuttings, 230 ; garden hedges of, 41 ; in Lincolnshire in January, 22 ; monthly, 27 ; new, 381; new, "obtained by grafting, 229; Persian, 78 ; varieties produced by budding, 133 ; propagating, 257 ; pruning, 210 ; suitable for a small garden, 110 ; Tea, the best twelve, 16 ; top-dressing for, 461 ; variegation in, 125 ; wall. 494 Rougham Hail, 434 Royal Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, 3*12; Society's Gardens, Rhododen- drons at, 463; Garden, Edinburgh, 232; Gardens, Edinburgh, Guide B-Jok to, 370; Society, 252, 387, 467 Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. 196 Royal Horticultural Society, 175, 195, 251, 274, 312, 367, 370, 4;J7, 417, -438; Society's anniversary, 101 ; Garden, Rhododendrons at, 463 ; provincial show 2 ; show at Bath, 435 Royal National Tulip society, 193 Rush, the spiral, 294 Rushbrooke Hall, 432 Russellia juncea as a liasket plant. 139 Russian forests, destruction of, 325 Rustic architecture, 58 Saccolabiums, 43, 66, 104 Salad culture, 77 ; new winter, 79 Salix violacea, 2 Sambucus racemosa spectabilis, 69 Sandringham, garden at, 22 Sans Souci at Potsdam, 496 Sap, movement of the, 115, 142, 160, 205, 232, 273, 322 Saxifraga peltata, 312 Saxifrage, large-leaved, 62 THE GAEDEN INDEX. [Aug. 2, 1873. Saxifrug^Cfl, Xc, as indoor plants, 239 Scale insects. 2(H Schizostepria iiennata, 1 Schizostylis coccinca, 16 Scott as a landBcapo gardener, 50 Scottish Ai'ljoricultiual Society, 102 ; prizes by, 120 Screen, Rose and f'lematis covered, 33Ip Screw Pine, vnrie^'atcd, 18 Season, the, »\ ; and shelter, 112 Sea-weed, mammoth, 203 Sedums and Saxifrages, 210 Seed sowing, 113 Seeds, drill for small, 223 ; germination of, 437 Sequoia, 144 Sermon, the flower, 430 Shading, lath blinds as a, 4r61 Shakspeare Oak, the, 3W Shallot, the, 424 Shamrock, the. 318, 251 Shrubbery border, the mixed, 14 Shrubland Park, 412 Shrubs and trees, early flowering, 197 Shi'ubs, exotic, 241 Sida retusa, 312 Slug caterpillar of the Pear, 64 Small Birds' Protection Act, 313, 251 Smithfield, garden at, 450 Snails in tan, 345 Soils for pot plants, 343; new method of enriching sterile, 441 ; wild plants a guide to, 3 Solanum Capsicastrum, 364 Solomon's Seal, 383 Sonchus laciniatus as a table plant, 290 Song of the Flowers, 454 Sorrel, 484 Souchet's new Gladioli, 110 South of France, drought in, 33 Sparaxis pulcherrima and S. Thuu- bergii, 143 Sparmannia Africana, 13, 46 Spinach, to protect from frost, 2 Spring, 29S, 324 ; the voice of, 226, 384 Spring-flowering Clematises, 335 Spring-flowers, 253; at Battersea Park, 350; for next year, 364; list of, 292; the best hardy, 394 Squares, planting of the London, 438 ; the London, 124 Stamford Horticultural Society, 213 Statuary, garden, 286 St. Johii's Nursery, Worcester, 302 St. Leonard's Gardens, 358 Stock, influence of the,' on the scion, 133, 167 Stocks, 433 Storm in the midland counties, 430 Stoves, patent terra cotta, 137, 163 Stowlangtoft Hall, 454 Strawberry, Colonel Cheney, 320 ; cul- ture, remarkable, 293 Strawberries, flavouring forced, 266 ; in pots, 353 ; iu Home, 42 ; mulching, 483 ; novel mode of dishing. 383 ; out of doors, 337; preparing for forcing,494 Sub-tropical gardening, 95 Sulmrban gardens, trees and shrubs for, 134 Succulents, now, 12 Suffolk, gardens in, 412 Summer Ijorder plants, 221 Sunflowers as fuel, lilS Sutton's, Messrs., new seed warehouses, 100 Taberna^montana coronaria, double- flowered. 43 Table decoration, sizes of vases for, lis Tacsonia Van Volxemi as a winter bloomer, 357 Tarragon, 434 Tasmannia aromatica, 333 Taxodium distichum, 33s Tea Rose culture in winter, 314 Telegraph wires and roadside trees, 4, 56, 69 Temperature beneath the snow, 156 ; for vines, 409 ; indicator, 3(i9 Tenthredo (Emphytus) cincta, 115 Terra cotta stoves', 137, 16s Thames embankment gardens, IS ; scenery, 18 Thuja gigautea and Libocednis decu- nens, 116.131 Thyme, the golden, 376, 418 ; for walls, 494 Thymns Scrpyllum. 110 Tithe Commissioners and newly-culti- vated land, Ifi-l Tillandsia revoluta, 373 Tobacco powder as an insecticide. 425 Todea superba, 370 ; Wilkesiana, 181 Tomatoes, 425 ; new, 269, 300 ; from Algiers, 370 Tomicus (IJostrichus) typographus, 63 Tortrix viridana, 108 Touch-me-not, 401 Town squares and planting, 266 Trapanatans, 208 I Tree, epiphytes on a prostrate, 7 ; heights of, 144; Mignonette, how to form, 123 ; Pceony indoors, 140 ; planter, octogenarian, the, 144; planting by the sides of railways, 2Sl Trees, 46; and rain, ISO; and shrubs for suburban gardens, 434 ; grouping early flowering, 253 ; hardy, 3, 57, 69, 93, 143, 179, 205, 233, 255, 351, 371 ; comiiarntive longevity of, 413 ; and shrubs in Devon, 232"; effect of rain- fall on, 94; evergreen for a church- yard, 434; for broad thorougfares of London, 130 ; in spring, effective grouping of, 351; in tropical regions, rapid growth of , 350 ; measuring, 94 ; measuring the heights of. 130, 18t); need of timljer, 33 ; neglecting young, 56, 94 ; old, at Fulhani Palace, 131 ; or- namental, at Barton Hall, 453 ; plant- ing, 32; planting for posterity, 144; roadside, and telegraph wires, 4, 09 ; transplanting, Isu ; various sizes of, 371 ; weeping, for lawns, 431 Trellises, fruit tree, 236 Trichomanos, 430 Ti-iteleia uniflora in Moss, 78 Tropa^olums, climbing, 159 Tropical World, the, rev., 317 Tuberoses. 140 Tulip show, Royal National, 410 Tulip tree. 3W) ; large, 91, 371 Tulipa Gesneriana, 434 Talips, early flowering, 418 Turnips, spring, 390 Tweedsido, vineyard, 235 Tying material, new, 338 Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club, 102 u. upas tree, the, 125 V. Vandac^rulescens, 330 Vandas, 103 Vanilla, 201 Vatican gardens, deplorable state of the, 156 Vegetable culture, hints on, lt8; mar- vel, a, 50 Vegetarianism, an Indian chief on, 299 Vegetation in Bethlehem, 5S ; in Central Africa, 70; in Siam, 418; iu the Philippine Islands, 330 ; winter as- pects of, in Madeira, 158 Veitch's memorial prize, 198, 274 Veitch's (Messrs.) nui-sery, Chelsea, IBS Ventilation, 261 Veronica Devoniensis, 364 ; Hulkeana at South Kensington, 350 Veronicas as decorative plants, 473 Vei-sailles, kitchen gardens of, 2 Viburnum plicatum, 484 ; macroce- phalum, 499 Victoria Embankment, bulbs for, 62; Park, lake in, 330. Vienna Universal Exhibition, 62 Vine failures, 61 ; grafting, 288 ; leaf excrescences, 354 ; pests, 263, 388, 394 ; the great Finchley, 369 Vineries, ground, and plant preservers, 331 Vines. 225 ; from eyes, 74 ; on open walls, 7.'i, 167 ; how to make their lower buds break, 54 ; in France, [ iajm-y to. 330 ; in pots, 64, 226 ; in rock borders, 482 ; keeping late I Grapes upon the, 305 ; low night tem- I perature for, 409 ; Muscat of Alexan- i di'ia, 4^4 ; on planting, 288 ; pot, for j early crops, 435 ; renovating old, 224 ; ! and fermenting material, 495 i Vineyard, the Tweedside. 235 Viola odorata cau'ulea, 297; umbrosa, 478; palustris, 450 Violet culture, 245 ; Victoria Regina, 218; Sensation, 370; the Dog's-tooth, 245 Violets, 125 Virgil, Kclogues and Georgics of, rev., 340 Virginia Water, the cascade at, -459 Virginian Poke or Pigeou-berry, 406 W. Wall-coping, a new, 285 Wall-copings, floral, 433, 478; Parham's, 237 Wallflowers, 110, 141 ; old-fashioned, 392 Wall-fruit prospects, 225 Wall-gaidening,314 Wall plants, two new, 293 Walnut, 56 ; American black, 199 Water Chestnut, the, 208 Weather iu Northamptonshire, 347 Weeks's upright tubular boiler, 137 Wellingtonias, diseased. 353 Welwitschia mirabilis, 201 West Ham, juoposed park for, 23 Western Australia, vegetation in, 25 Wettest spot in Europe, the, 135 Wheelbarrows, garden, 235 Wild gardens, 323 Willows. 241 ; bitter c. rabbits, 241 ; on Hampstead Heath, 313 Window flowers, 411 ; garden, a par- lour, 38 ; plants, watering, 434 Winter flowers, 37; gai'den at Edin- burgh, 274 ; motli, the, H5 Wistaria (Glycine) sinensis, 352 ; at Salt Hill, 41i>; how to increase the white, 10 Wood, preservation of, 279 Woodlice, lU9 Woollen rags as a manui*e, 423 Wych Elms, 4uu Xanthoceras sorbifolia, 470 Yam, the Chinese, 385 Yew, a fine chpped, 451 ; varieties of the, 49S Yew trees, poisonous effects of, 83 Yew tree, old, 180 Young Gardeners' Institution, 196 Yucca baccata, 461 ; stems as supports forchinbers, 364; fertilisation of the 499 Yuccas, striking, 240 z. Zoological Society, 198 Aug. 2, 1873.] THE GARDEN. XI THOiyC^S RIVERS. Ix carrying out for The Garden' a Portrait Gallery of those Horticulturists who have given special proofs of their lovo and skill, -whether in their worlc at home, in their exquisite specimens of superior culture shown at our exhibitions, or in the instructive results of their experience, communicated through the public press — who have most distinguished themselves in the great object of our brotherhood, namely in their endeavours to amplify all things pleasant to the eye and good for food, to reclaim and restore, to make the desert smile, we shall not find much delay or difficulty in resolving the question of precedence. We want to know who has given, so far as horticulture is concerned, the greatest happiness to the greatest number, and there is no need to appoint committees, or to send abroad com- missioners, before we can attain our wish. We have not to seek our hero in " scientific " schools, we shall not find him poring over elongated Latin, over the herbarium, or the ''hortus siccus;" our wreath of Laurel, with which we propose to crown him, is not mixed with Botany Bays; we shall not discover him even amid those distinguished men who have made one branch of our gentle art their peculiar study and success ; wo cannot give the Golden Apple to Yenus, because we want something more than beauty; but we must bestow the Palm upon one who has achieved greatness, both in flowers and in fruits, who some forty years ago, found Love asleep among the Roses, roused him, trained him, made a pleasant, popular, man of him — who wrote the first descriptive catalogue of Roses ever published, and the first relial)lc guide for amateur Rosariau.=i, an excellent manual, now in its tenth edition — who introduced the use of the Italian " Manetti " Rose as a stock on which to bud and graft the more lovely varieties from France, and an admirable nursing-mother it has proved, in many cases, where rough old Briareus has failed to rear a family — who subsequently invented Orchard Houses, and who has originated, and still originates, new varieties of our most luscious fruits. Yes ; to Thomas Rivers we must give in our gallery the third welcome, the most conspicuous position, the most favourable light. That light falls on just such a head as one would expect to see above the shoulders of a man who had lived long and laboured heartily among the most beautiful works of the Creator; it falls upon a handsome, thoughtful, kindl\- countenance. When he who writes was only an entered apprentice in one of the most distinguished lodges (" Rose Croix ") of Free and Accepted Gardeners, he would sometimes amuse himself with imaginary speculations as to the personal appearance of his worshipful master at Sawbridgeworth. There must be, he thought, a freshness, a frankness, a ruddiness, a benevolence, a gentle generous goodness, beaming in the face of one who has such a sympathy with sweetness and beauty. And when we met, pupil and master, this picturesque vision, instead of misconducting itself, as bright dreams will, was realised in broadcloth, and flesh and blood. As Stanley walked up to the gi'cat explorer, and said " Dr. Lfvlngstone, I believe ; " so could the student in Roses have .addressed the professoi', without an introduction, "Mr. Rivers, I've known you for years." With the place of honour, let us give him also the assurance of our affectionate respect. And, surely, there must be brightness for such a man, in the solemn nightfall of old age. to think how much pure innocent happiness he has diffused amid his fellows, bj- inducing them to love, and helping them to improve, their flowers and fruit- trees ; surelj' it will sustain and cheer him in feeble or lonely hours to remember how many grateful friends he has, in whose enthusiastic spirit his own, rekindled, lives and glows again. For generations, when the bloom shall be upon the Peach, and the blush shall be \ipon the Rose, his memory shall live. The poet says : — '' You may break, you may ruin the vase, if you will, But the scent of tlie Koses will cling round it still." And we gardeners will say of our patriarch, tlu>ugh our " ma-ster be taken from our head to-day," he shall survive in his books and in his works among us ; and a likeness, truthful as that which we have before us in The Garden to-day, shall be hung up in faithful hearts. Mr. Rivers"s history is that of most men who have achieved success in their undertakings by constant and unremitting attention to their work. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and to this fact much of his success is probably due. He inherited a small property, and a business in which his enthusiastic love of plants enabled him to foresee a great development. When he began to turn his attention to his profession, Rose Xll THE GARDEN. [Auo. 2, 1873. cultivation was in a very different position to what it is at present. Standard Roses being principally imported from France, aud iu small quantities, he determined to visit France and examine the French mode of Rose culture for himself. The success of his earliest literary eflort, " The Rose Amateur's Guide," established him at once as an English cultivator fully equal to the French in love of the flower and in skill in its cultivation. The book, iu manuscript, was submitted by him to one of his earliest Rose friends, Professor Jonks, of Haileybury College, then one of the most profound scholars of the day. Dr. Jones's approval was at once accorded, and " The Rose Amateur's Guide" was received by the public as it was received by Dr. Jones. While pursuing his Rose researches, the pyramidal mode of fruit-tree training, as universally practised in French aud Belgian gardens, attracted his attention — always keen on matters likely to prove of general utility — aud the " Miniature Fruit Garden," modest and small in its infancy, inaugurated a new era of fruit cultivation in English gardens. Although for years practised in France and Belgium, pyramidal fruit tree training does not appear to have been much employed in England until Mil. Rivehs drew public attention to the extraordinary facilities given by this mode of culture. The frequent failure of the fruit crops led him to devise some simple and effective means of protecting fruit, and he hit upon the system of growing trees in pots. By very small degrees, and with constant experiments, extending over some years before finally giving the culture a name, he perfected the •"' Orchard House. " Like the " Rose Amateur's Guide, " and the " Miniature Fruit Garden, " the " Orchard House" began at the beginning. During the time occupied in developing his ideas on these heads he was constantly occupied in studying and forming large collections of fruits, and nearly every continental new fruit found its w.ay to Sawbridgeworth, and most of them eventually to the fire heap. Mr. Rivers was at one time a most ardent cultivator of what are called ornamental trees and herbaceous plants ; his collections of botli were at one time very large, and he was quite as enthusiastic a lover of these as of Roses. Loudon gave him the benefit of his vast know- ledge, and took great interest in his various collections ; in one tribe, that of the Oaks, his collection was unusually extensive. He has made good use of the "Orchard House " to endeavour to improve the varieties of Peaches. The few sorts selected as worthy of naming have been taken from more than 1,500 seedlings, and it may give some idea of the work done when it stated that these were all grown under glass. Mr. Rivers has been, a large employer of labour ; a small agricviltural village has by the continued employment of the capital required in carrying out his ideas — all of which necessitate labour — been benefited by the large sums annually spent. Mr. Rivers, through failing health, has retired from active life, yet his mind is still active. Seventy-six years is a long measure of life for a man, but few men can look back with greater satisfaction than he can on a life worthily spent and deserving in every way of the commendation that, as far as lay in his power, he has been a good citizen of a great country. ^/> JAjf. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. THE GARDEN. " This is an art Which does mend nature : change it rather : but The Akt itself is Nature." — Shakespeare. CALIFOENIAN LILIES. We have just received, along witli a parcel of Califoruian bulbs, the followmg observations ou their culture and habits, from Dr. Kellogg, the well-known botanist of San Francisco, who has studied Californian plants thoroughly, not only in his cabinet, as many botanists do, but on the mountains and plains for months at a time. The siibject is important to us at the present moment, when we are receiving fine Lilies in such quantities from California, not to speak of the many other beautiful bulbs that come from that favoured region. Let us, in the first place, says Dr. Kellogg, " consider the Lilies how they grow." In a climate like that of California, distinguished by a wet and long dry season, we find these bulbs located say about 6 to 10 inches deep, and the fibres or I'oots shooting downwards 10 inches to a foot below that point, in search of food and moisture. Is it not evident, tiien, that such bulbs require a flower-pot at least 18 inches deep ? Hence, ordinary pots must be utterly useless, or worse — cramping or inadequate to meet even primary natiiral condi- tions. Let any one take an improvised 5-gallon tin can, or the like, which is good enough, not to say the best ; paint it rudely inside and out to preserve it ; punch say at least three large holes in the bottom of it ; plant, as in nature, in any good compost, and set your can, keg, or crock, as the case may be, in a shallow pan of water. You will soon have the pleasure of seeing a stout stem, of the thickness of your thumb, rising up and flowering gorgeously. If a plant spends its vital force in vain, searching for food or moisture, little or nothing else can be accomplished. Abronia arenaria, as the specific name indicates, grows in sand. If found on deep sand-drifts of the bay shore of San Francisco, or inland, it shoots down a stout fusiform root of indefinite length, but often poor and puny is the top, that creeps not far from the crown, with perhaps few flowers and little fruit. But mulch a moist, brackish, cracky soil, with only 6 or 8 inches of sand, and it will go down to, or a little into it, spread abroad its forked subdivisions and fibres, almost or quite horizontally ; the crown-sprouts now run riotously, mantling the sand with vines, full of pink flowers in fruitful umbels unnumbered. Cultivators are apt to complain that many of their bulbs ere they bloom lose one essential beauty of plants, viz., their radicle leaves, which, they say, " dry up, and leave the stems looking naked and bare." Bulbs are frequently found upon exposed hills and slopes, rocks, &c., descending down dry and very hot valleys into debris and alluvial bottoms, where sand or loam with underground moisture abounds. The very same plants are seen to rejoice best where they find some shade and shelter, otherwise they bespeak a struggle for existence, i.i'., their leaves prematurely or naturally dry up early to save exhaustion. In half shade, along high banks and slopes, contiguous to creeks, with adequate subsoil mois- ture, we see Cyclobothra alba, with long and beautiful glaucous leaves, say an inch and a half wide, 18 inches to 2 feet in length, accompanying the flowers, ten to twenty in number; the golden C. pulchella and most others tolerate more sun and drought, with their companions the manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) Oaks, &c., near whose shades it is wont to linger ; but its best forms love rich, rocky, half shady drains, leaf and flower being companions to the close. Witness Seubertia laxa, 2 to 4 feet high, and the Dichelostemas and Broditeas, with from ten to fifty flowers, and green leaves in similar grace and completeness and beauty. The list might be extended ; but what we desire to say and impress on our readers is, that the same plants exposed are barely one-quarter as large as these, and have no green leaves at all, or at best, a poor apology for them, and so of numberless others. What lesson do such facts teach ? Surely that the culti- vator should imitate Nature in her best aspects, and it is by no means difficult to exceed even her highest standard. Bulbous plants form no exceptions. It would, indeed, be folly to fold one's hands at the very first failure ; and with what dehght do we behold one joyously filling up the full measure of its glory ! In the loose soils in which we usually place our bulbs are they as well situated as in their native matrix .'' The soil then must needs be packed firmly and imiformly. It is the life- struggles with difliculties that bring out the best qualities of the man — the fruits and flowers, roots and bulbs, born of the great mother. Resistance above reacts below, gives spread, depth and vigour in the direction of least resistance. The root — the strong foundation — is of first consideration in all structural building, and should be well laid, cherished, and preserved. We do not say it should be founded upon some suitable rock, but we sometimes think so ; radiated heat and graduated temperature, sweetness of drainage, and it would seem reasonable that in due time some resistance from below, also, are all requisites of high culture. May not the culti- vator in his undue solicitude, be also to blame, and by some shortcoming fail, or from excess uudo by overdoing? Sup- pose he flood too continuously between loose scales, adding excessive heat withal, ought not he to expect just the result urged ? Now, we seldom see in nature bulbs sheltered by shrubs, rocks, logs, bark, leaves, &c., or in very compact soils rotten at the tips of the scales, and hence a lure to maggots and grubs ; nor often in such sandy and gravelly soils as readily absorb, drain, and disperse any excess of top moisture. We appeal to the observations of careful collectors. Let us then copy the best conditions, and we feel assured the result will confirm our rather hasty hints. In conclusion, we dare not presume that even a tithe of what we ought to say has been noted ; in short, we have confined ourselves only to what may be considered peculiar to climatic conditions. Erudite and complex recipes relative to proper mixtures of soils, and common management may well be left to the knowledge and judgment of those who believe in them. With such a wealth of sunlight and heat above as falls to the lot of California, and no lack of the necessary medium moisture below, I see no reason why we may not allow Nature, under human hands, to grow her fragrant white Lady Washington Lily 6 or 7 feet high, with ten to thirty or more flowers, just as we see it wild. L. Bloomerianum, too, is a perfect giant among Lilies, when at its best making a right super-royal display. Even our little orange L. parvum, I found at the Sierra summit over 5 feet high, and bearing fifty flowers — carefully counted, but the plant was sheltered and shaded by an old emigrant water-tank stilted up, now dry and long ago abandoned, but its roots found a fair supply of water from beneath. NOTES OP THE WEEK. The double white Pink Flower of Eden now coming into flower in warm greenhouses is a remarkably valuable plant. It opens at first somewhat greenish, but soon unfolds into a large and beautiful double flower. Mr. Andrew Henderson considers it more valuable for cutting than any of the Carnations, and it flowers profusely. We are glad to learn that Messrs. Stansfield, of Todmorden, have at last succeeded in so cultivating that marvellously attractive Moss, Schistostegia pennata, that they are now enabled to supply it in miniature grottoes made of cork bark, so that it may be grown in any greenhouse, or even in the drawing-room. If the plant suc- ceed thus, we shall have to thank Messrs. Stansfield for one of che most charming features ever added to the indoor garden or the garden in the house. Hitherto in cultivation we have only seen the plant at Messrs. Stansfield's and at Messrs. Backhouse's ; the object has long been to so increase and transport the plant that it may be established in other gardens. We understand that the nursery and seed business of Messrs. Lawson & Son, both in Edinburgh and in London, is henceforth to be carried on as a joint. stock company, under the name of "The Lawson Seed and Nurseiy Company (Limited)." This old and universally.known business has now been carried on for over a century, the originator of it, Mr. Peter Lawson, having died in 1820 at a hale old age ; since then Mr. Charles Lawson, of Borthwick Hall, has carried on the business as the respected head of the firm. We believe that nearly all the available shares were taken up within a few days of the intimation of the proposed change being sent out to the firm's customers, and that tho company is likely to be a THE GARDEN. [Jas. 4, 1873. strong one, both in regard to supporters in trade and capital. A feature worth noticing is that a few of the most valued empJoyt's of the old firm, who will hold shares to a considerable amount in tho DOW one, will be associated with tho general manager in the carrying on of the company's business, thereby giving a certain guarantee that nothing will be wanting in the management to main- tain the prestige of the name, as well as tho good opinion of customers and the interests of the shareholders. Mr. Syme is to be general manager, and Mr. Mitchell (late gardener at Hamilton Palace) is to have the charge of the Nursery department. We learn that a sale of Easter Beurre Pears sent from Cali- fornia has recently taken place in Glasgow. ■ The new and remarkable Iris iberica seems to be hardy about London, at least there is now a bed of it in the open air in the WelUngton Nurseries in perfect health. The first flower of the new year that we notice opening about London is the modest-looking Helleborus purpurascena, not a showy species by any means, but worthy of a place where full collections of hardy plants are grown. We are glad to include Buckingham among the towns which are awaking to the importance of tree-embellishment. Eecently a number of trees have been planted there at the expense of Mr. Egerton Hubbard. ■ At the suggestion of Mr. Carruthers, the time of competition for Lord Cathcart's prize for the best essay on the cause of, and mode of preventing, the Potato disease, has been extended to November 1st, to give candidates an opportunity for practical research on the subject. Mr. Lynch White, so well known to gardeners as a horti- cultural engineer, has, as will be seen by an advertisement in another page, retired from business, which henceforth is to be carried on by Mr. Ljmch White, jun., Mr. Baker, and Mr. Dunbar, under the name of the Thames Bank Iron Company. Peaches were very freely discussed at the December meeting of the Potomac fruit growers, and great importance was placed on earliness. John Saul read extracts from English papers showing that the early Beatrice is taking a decided lead. A gentleman from North CaroUna said he had a quantity of this variety fully ripe on the 15th of June of the present year (this date being two weeks ahead of Hale's early). Le Cidtivateiir, a French journal, says it has been discovered that on a tree trained as an espalier, the Pears which rested on a branch grew more rapidly and much larger than those wholly self- supporting. The explanation, which was confirmed by direct experi- ments, is that when the stems were relieved from the compression caused by the weight of the Pears, the sap found uninterrupted flow, and was furnished in correspondingly greater supply. Improvesients continue here and there to be made in Hyde Park. On Wednesday, that portion of the ride in Rotten Row, extending from Hyde Park comer to Albert Gate, which has for the last two months been closed for repairs, was opened to equestrians. The foundation of the track has been examined, repaired, and the entire length covered with bright red sand and gravel. The length from Albert Gate to Kensington Gardens is now also, by order of the Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings, being subjected to a similar process. The following American ways of preserving Spinach against very severe frost may not be without interest to our readers : — The first and least expensive practice is to cover the bed at once with a coating of an inch in thickuess of salt, hay, or straw. This will protect the leaves from frost, and by removing the mulch the Spinach will be found in good condition. The second method is, to cut off the Spinach before the ground becomes frozen, leaving, if possible, a little earth attached to the roots. This cut Spinach is then placed in a cold frame in a layer eight or ten thick, vrith some leaves from the woods spread on top. The sashes are kept on the frame, and the Spinach will keep green until wanted. The Royal Horticultural Society has, as we have already announced, decided to hold its provincial show for 1873 at Bath, and a very charming site has been selected. An influential meeting of local residents was recently held at the Guildhall of that cit£ which had been convened by the Mayor, who also took the chair, and briefly reviewed the history of the recent provincial meetings of the society. Mr. S. Butler, of Combe Hay, then read a report, ■which, inter alia, stated that a guarantee fund of £965 (a sum con- siderably in excess of the amount required by the Royal Horticul- tural Society) had been raised ; that satisfactory arrangements had been made as to the use of the site selected for the exhibition ; that £349 15s. had been raised towards the special prize fund— further contributions to which were urgently solicited ; and that an influ- ential local committee had been selected, with tho Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset as president. The committee consists of 100 members; and Mr. J. Ostler, of It, Bladud Buildings, Bath, was appointed secretary. The pretty little Cyclamen Peakeanum is now, and has been for some time in flower in a warm greenhouse, of which it is one of tbo neatest ornaments. It differs from other kinds in being deliciously fragrant, in being evergreen, and in flowering continuously. We noticed a nice batch of double Cyclamens coming into bloom in the Wellington Nurseries the other day, and doubtless we shall soon have quite a race of them. Double or semi-double Cyclamens are, however, anything but improvements on tho single forms. ■ We understand that the large supplies of Ipecacuanha plants which have been so successfully sent to India of late were propagated and safely transmitted there by Messrs. Peter Lawson, of Edinburgh. It grows in their nurseries at Edinburgh quite freely, and may be seen there now by the hundred ready for shipment. What is to become of the kitchen gardens of Versailles? Gardeners are actively at work in them, making hot-beds, planta- tions, and sowing, &c., of course with the intention of reaping produce of different kinds. For what reason, and above all, for whom ? Some varieties of Peas, though excellent in England, do not necessarily do well in America. " But last season," writes Mr. Meehan, editor of " The Gardener's Monthly," " we had an oppor. tunity of examining a few of the new varieties raised by Mr. Laxton growing in this country, and we are now able to say that they proved excellent in every respect." The next election of the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution will take place at the annual meeting, Jan. 21. There are nine candidates, in addition to Mary Young, whom the committee will recommend to be placed on the pension list without the trouble of an election. We have just received from Mr. Scaling, the celebrated Willow grower of Basford, Notts, and author of " The Salix," some twigs of the interesting Salix violacea, gathered on the first day of the year, and furnished with numerous silvery and silky buds, which contrast prettily with the deep violet-brown coloured slender branches on which they grow. The Imperial Cauliflower, according to the French Revue Horticole, is a new variety of much merit. Its excellence, however, consists in its earliness, the heads having been fit for use one season eighteen days, and the succeeding one thirty. two days before the Lenormand, cultivated under the same conditions. It is a variety of French origin. Some valuable plants and seeds received by Messrs. Back- house, from their collectors in North West America and California, are, we understand, to be sold on the 9th iust., at Stevens'. Among them are the newDogstooth Violet (Erythronium giganteum) ; a Cali- fornian Lily, said to grow from 6 to 10 feet high, and to bear nume- rous large, fragrant flowers; Lilium Washingtonianum, Cyclobothra pulchella, various species of Calochortus, the " Vegetable Fire Cracker or Scarlet Wand" (Brodisea coccinea) , and other bulbs ; also seeds of a new hardy Silver Fir, from the Rocky Mountains, thought by Dr. Englemann to be his " Abies (Picea) concolor," and of other choice ConifersE. The sugar planters of Louisiana have been in very ill Inck ever since the war. Despite brave struggles to reinstate this great industry in its former position, unpropitious seasons have kept down the yield. It is very doubtful whether such a series of bad crop years as those since 186-1 has ever been experienced, and now we hear that a recent killing freeze will cause a loss estimated by some authorities at 50,000 hogsheads. Many planters, says the New Orleans Picayime, are wholly disheartened already, and if the worst reports now coming to hand prove correct, it is not improbable that many may abandon the culture of this staple and turn their attention to some more certain product. Few can recollect such a " green yule " as we have had this year. In the garden at Bitton Vicarage, Gloucestershire, Mr. Ellacombe noted the following plants in flower on Christmas-day ; many of them quite abnormal in their time of flowering, having mistaken Christmas for May : — Rhododendron atrovirens, Tussilago fragrans, Sisyrinchium californicum. Daphne Fioniana, red Primrose, Garrya elliptica. Ivy, Groundsel, Strawberry, Chrysanthemum, Czar Violet, Iberis semperflorens, Teucrium fruticans. Clematis cirrhosa, Arabis rosea. Rose Aimee Vibert, R. Souvenir de Malmaison, R. Gloire de Dijon, R. Jules Margottin, Arbutus Croomii, Helleborus niger, H. n. maximus, H. olympicus, H. orientalis, H. atrorubens. Cyclamen coum, Schizostylis coccinea, Maurandia Barclayana, Cheiranthus pulchellus, Jasminum nudiflorum, and Potentilla alba. Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. THE ARBORETUM. HAfiDY TREES AND SHRUBS. BY GEORGE GORDON, A.L.S. THE SPANISH MAPLE (ACER GRANATENSE). This species forms a dense, round-headed deciduous tree, from 20 to 30 feet high, with spreading branches thickly furnished ■with slender, glossy chestnut-brown twigs, in alternate oppo- site pairs, and which, when leafless, are covered with small, pointed, downy buds. It is a native of Spain, in the valleys of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Granada, at an elevation of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, and was first introduced in 1838. The leaves are three and five lobed, leathery in texture, deep glossy green above, pale beneath, slightly heart-shaped at the base, on long, slender footstalks, and, with the exception of a little tomentum at the base of the palmate veins, on the under A. granatense. side, quite smooth on both surfaces. Thelobes are acute pointed, with the three outer ones large, equal in size, and furnished with a few blunt serratures on the edges. The flowers are in nodding, many-flowered corymbs, greenish yellow, and pro- duced in May. The fruit or keys are small and quite smooth, with thick carpels and parallel wings, somewhat distant apart. The Spanish Maple frequently produces fresh shoots after Midsummer, at the ends of the principal branches, furnished with small leaves, seldom exceeding an inch in length or breadth, and on very short footstalks, and in consequence of which it is sometimes named Acer parvifolium, or the small- leaved Maple. The only full-sized trees of this scarce Maple near London, or, perhaps, iu England, are in the Victoria Park ; but it is to be regretted that they are there placed in the interior of the plantations, and completely hidden. The length of a full-sized leaf is .5 inches, including the footstalk, which is 2 a inches long, and the breadth is SJ inches. "WILD PLANTS A GUIDE TO SOILS. The common Heath (Calluna vulgaris) grows naturally on most of the barren land that is suitable for tree planting. When it is rank and strong-growing, it indicates deep, black, mossy soil — poor and naturally unfertile, but which, if dry, and the altitude not too great, will grow Scotch Fir and Birch ; if wet, Scotch Fir, Spruce, and Alder ; but even for the last, it must be drained previous to planting. If the Heath is close and healthy, and mixed with Club Moss (Lyco- podium elavatum), Tormentil (Potentilla Tormentilla), and some of the common Grasses, the soil is more fertile and suitable for Scotch Fir, Larch, and Birch. Some very healthy and thriving Larch and Scotch Fir plantations are growing on soil where these plants luxu- riate. Ash, Beech, Elm, Oak, and Plane will grow there for orna- ment, but not for proiit. The Cowberry or Cranberry of the Highlands (Vaccinium vitis idaja) is generally associated with the common Heath and Soft Grass (Holcus lanatus). It indicates a light sandy or gravelly soil, generally very hard and retentive ; grows Larch and Scotch Fir, but they sometimes become affected with ground rot when from fifty to sixty years old. Birch and Mountain Ash thrive admirably upon it, but are not profitable. The Bilberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus) is generally found growing with the common Heath, and the Hard Fern (Blechnum boreale), Tormentil, &c. It indicates a superior class of soil for Scotch Fir, Larch, and Silver Fir, but especially the first — a heavy crop of which is almost invariably found on soils where the Bilberry is plentiful. If the situation is on a sloping hill or side of a ravine, the Norway Spruce, Ash, Beech, and Elm will succeed admirably on the level ground, or iu the bottom of tlie ravine. The common Juniper (Juniperus com- munis) , accompanied by the Bracken (Pteris aquilina) , is very common in the districts where the Scotch Fir may be said to have its native habitat : indeed, in some Scotch Fir woods it grows as rank and pro- fuse as the Furze, and makes excellent undercover. The soil is gene, rally good for growing Piues where the Jnuiper grows, but occasionally varies in depth. The trees named as suitable for growing on the Bilberry land will grow with the Jumper ; but we would pi'efer, for a profitable crop, to keep to tho Scotch Fir, Larch, and Birch, giving the preference to the first, which almost invariably produces a heavy crop, and good quality of timber, on Juniper ground . The common Whin or Furze (Ulex europasus) is very abundant on waste land, and seems to be such a selfish plant (if I may use the term), that other plants are rarely growing with it; but in close proximity, on good soils, are to be found Ragwort (Senecio Jacobeea), Thistles (Cardnus), wild Clover (Trifolium), &c.; and on the poorer soils, Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), Sorrel (Rumex acetosella), Carices, &c. The Ragwort and Thistles must be understood as applying to uncultivated ground ; for if the ground has been culti- vated, these are only a criterion as to fertility, and not to depth or quality of soil. The Furze, at a casual glance, is not a safe criterion as to the quality and kind of soil, as it will grow almost anywhere. Before fixing the quality of the soil, it is necessary that the quality and size of the Furze should be considered ; as it is only on good loamy soil that it developes strong stems and branches. When it is found growing thus, the ordinary hard woods may be planted, along with Spi'uce and Silver Fir. If the situation is sloping or the sides of a glen. Larches will succeed ; but they seldom attain a large size among Whins on flat ground. When the Whin is dwarf in habit, and the stems slender, it indicates thin gravelly soil, with a hard bottom, unfavourable for gi'owing any kind of forest trees — Birch, Scotch Fir, and even Larch will grow if they can get a start ; but the Whins are so aggressive that it is only by careful treatment that the trees are enabled to overtop them. However, when they do so, success is gained, as the Whins offer no further opposition. Although we have said that slender and dwarfish Whins indicate poor soils, there are exceptions, as in the case of Whins that have been burned or cut over ; or, again, on ground that has been reclaimed, and afterwards allowed to return to its natural state. Under any of these circum- stanees, the Whin is slender and dwarfish for a short time. Taking the Whin alone, it is not a plant on which much dependence can be placed as a critenon of the quality of the soil ; but when viewed with the plants growing in its immediate proximity, I consider it affords a sufficient indication of the soil above mentioned. The common Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is invariably found on dry situa- tions, and always indicates a fair soil. If it is strong and healthy, and growing along with the Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium), Bird's- foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), wild Clover, Tormentil, Ac, the soil and subsoil are invariably good for planting trees. The kinds most suitable, if the situation is moderately sheltered, are Beech, Oak, Norway Maple, Plane, Larch, Silver and Scotch Firs ; but if the situation is exposed, the Larch and Scotch Fir produce the most valuable crops. The Bramble (Rnbus fruticosus) and Dog Rose (Rosa canina) indicate a good loamy soil, generally inclining to THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873. clay, very suitable for growing ordinary hard wooda, as also tho Austrian Pino and Silver Fir. Although tho Bramble and Dog Koso aro always found growing on dry portions of soil, still ground in close proximity and tho subsoil aro often wet, and require to be drained before planting. The Easpborry (Rubus Idteue) is often found on soils similar to the last, and denotes similar results ; but it is also found on higher, more exposed, and poorer soils than suits either of the two last. Wbcn found thus, its stems are slender and short, and the leaves small, indicating a light soil suitable for Scotch Fir, Larch, Beech, Birch, and Mountain Ash. Tho bog Myrtle or sweet Willow (Myrica Gale) is common in some districts, often accompanied by the cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix), but invariably grows on a poor, wet, sandy soil, unsuited for trees ; but, if thoroughly dried, will grow some of tho hardy species, as Birch, Alder, Mountain Ash, and Scotch Firs. The foregoing are some of our most common native shrubs ; but there are some other species of flowering plants that aro as much to be depended upon, as indicators of soils, as these are, and some- times the flowei-less plants aro more reliable than others. The Male Fern (Lastrtea Filix.mas) and tho Bracken are not safe criterions as to the depth of the soil, but they can always be depended upon as to quality, for neither of them grow on bad soil. It is invariably good soil when they are accompanied by the common Bugle (Ajuga rep- tans) and the Primrose (Primula vulgaris), which are generally found in low-lying situations, or hollows, where an amount of soil has accu- mulated; and it may be asserted, that in this variety of soil almost any forest trees will succeed. But we particularly recommend, for the sheltered portions, the Silver Fir, Douglas Fir, Larch, Pinus Laricio, Elm, Ash, Plane, and Chestnut; and, for the more exposed parts. Larch, Scotch Fir, Beech, Norway Maple, Plane, Oak, and Birch. The appearance of the Foxglove (Digitalis purpur-ea) among common Ferns indicates a medium soil, inclined to be dry, but on which a great variety of trees will grow, and which I consider parti- cularly suited for Beech and Scotch Fir. If the common Ferns are mixed with the Polypody (Polypodium vulgare), St. John's wort (Hypericum), &c., along wiith a sprinkling of Heath, the soil is gene- rally more shallow, and contains large stones or boulders. Still, although shallow, it is always kindly, and will grow forest trees better than its appearance would indicate; but the Larch, Scotch Fir, Birch, Mountain Ash, and Hazel, are the varieties that thrive best on this soil. The Inland Bent (Juncus squarrosus) and the small Sedges (Carex) are generally found growing along with short Heath, and indicate a poor soil, with a retentive aud impervious subsoil, in. variably inclining to be wet, and in its natui'al state only suited for growing some of the common Willows, dwarf Birch, aud Alder ; but if drained, it will grow Spruce, and even Scotch Fir. In recom- mending Spruce, I am supposing that the situation is moderately sheltered, as these plants aro often found at altitudes and in expo- sures quite unsuited for the growth of Spruce. Even the Alder, Birch, and Scotch Fir are seldom profitable trees on soils where the aforesaid plants are abundant. The Sheep Fescue (Festuca ovina) and the Wire Grass (Nardus stricta) are often found growing to- gether, and, to the casual observer, may be taken for the same plant. They form the principal vegetation of some upland disti'icts, and denote a dry, thin soil, comparatively rich in vegetable matter, but not very suitable for the growth of trees. The kinds most suitable are the Birch and Mountain Ash. Tho diflicnlty in growing trees on soils where these grasses predominate is more owing to the situation and the herbage than to the soil, as to all appearance the latter is generally good ; but the situation, being so much exposed, is dried up in the summer season, and, during the winter, the herbage is so close that the moisture does not penetrate it readily. But when trees can be got to cover the ground where this herbage grows, their success is secured. The Tufted-hair Grass (Aira caispitosa) is gene- rally found on light or sandy loam (usually poor), resting upon bluish clay, or sometimes running sand. The soil naturally is too wet for growing trees, but when drained is suitable for Ash, Elm, Poplars, Willows, and Spruce. The soil on wliich this grass grows varies, but still admits of the profitable cultivation of any of the trees before recommended. The Broad-leaved Flag (Iris Pseud-acorus) is invariably found in hollows or flat ground, and indicates a brown, loamy soil, chiefly com- posed of vegetable matter. The situation is generally wet, bnt when drained is very suitable for growing tree Willows, grey, white, and black Poplars, Lime, Horse-chestnut, Ash, Elm, Spruce, &c. Where the Iris is close growing and abundant, it is sometimes diflicult to get young trees to start, without deep trenching or pitting of the ground before planting, the former being preferable. The common Rush (Juncus effusns) is not particular as to soil, if the situation is sheltered and damp. The variety of soil is indicated by its habit. If robust, the soil is similar to that of the Iris, and will grow the same kind of trees ; but if slender, the soil is poor, and princii^ally com- posed of sand or a light loam, most suitable for growing Alder and Spruce. Rushes afford an unmistakeable proof of dampness, and the ground where they are found growing must bo thoroughly drained before planting. It is sometimes necessary to trench it, bnt not always, as there are often spots where the trees can bo planted. If the ground bo well drained and the trees succeed, the rushes will soon disappear. Tho Reed (Phragmitcs communis) indicates a strong soil, .sometimes inclining to clay, and sometimes to moss, but always full of vegetable matter, and surcharged with water, so much so that no trees will grow on it until the ground is drained. The situation is always in flat or hollow ground and sheltered. The trees most suited to this soil are Spruce, Alder, white and grey Poplars, Hunt. ingdon, Bedford, and white Willows. Some of tho best specimens of Willows are to be seen growing on soils where Reeds were onoe abundant. The treatment required before planting is much the same as that recommended for the Iris. The Queen of the Meadow (Spiraea Ulmaria) and the wood Hyacinth (Endymion nutans) are plants indicating a deep loam or alluvial soil, sometimes with a sandy bottom inclining to clay ; generally damp, but not so much as to hinder the growth of trees j of course, where too damp, it must be drained before planting. On this class of soil all the varieties of forest trees grow well. Some of the largest Poplars and Willows and best matured Oaks and Larches that we have ever seen were grown on this description of soil. Some of the Mosses are also sure indicators of soils. Conspicuous among these is the grey Moss (Triohostomum lanuginosum), so common on some hillsides. The presence of this plant is a beacon to the forester, warning him of " rocks a-head," in other words, not to expect great returns from any trees that may bo grown in proximity to it. It is found growing on hill tops and mountains, where few other plants grow. It is also often found growing along with the common Heath, and the ine.xperienced may be led into a mistake as to the fertility of the soil, as some allow that trees can be grown wherever Heath will grow. No doubt, where the Heath is growing along with the Moss, it indicates an improvement on the situation where tho Moss is found growing almost alone ; still, where- ever the Moss is abundant, a profitable crop of trees cannot be grown ; but where (for the purposes of ornament, &c.), it is necessary to plant the ground, the trees most suitable are Scotch Fir, Pinus montana. Birch, Alder, Goat Willow, and Mountain Ash. Spruce can also be grown on the damp portions if the altitude is not too great. These will grow and have a fair appearance, but, as I have said, they will not be a profitable crop. The wood Mosses (Hypnum) are most common on ground where a crop of trees has been previously grown. They generally indicate a light, open soil, resting on whin or trap I'ock, suitable for growing Larch, Scotch Fir, Norway Maple, and Birch. In planting ground where these Mosses are abundant, it is necessary to pare them off before inserting the plant, as, if they are left, they absorb the moisture that should go to the nourish- ment of the plant. This does well when small plants are used, but when a successful crop is wanted on ground where a crop of trees has been previously grown, it is safest to have the ground pitted previous to planting. The white or Bog Moss (Sphag- num) is characteristic of wet, stagnant situations, with a considerable portion of porous peat in the soil. If thoroughly dried and solidified, it will grow fair specimens of Alder aud Spruce, but to attain this, the drainage must be carefully attended to. The Hair Moss (Poly- trichum commune) is also invariably found in damp situations, but indicates a firmer and better class of soil than the last. The cross- leaved Heath (Erica tetralix) is generally in close proximity. The ground is always wet, but when thoroughly drained it will grow Spruce, Alder, and Scotch Fir, grey and Balsam Poplar. The soil is generally brown peat, naturally poor, and the subsoil gravelly, and sometimes soft bluish clay. I have purposely omitted the nutritious natural Grasses so common in meadows and cultivated ground, as it is well known that these only grow upon a quality of soil that is seldom appropriated to the cultivation of forest trees ; but on which all the varieties of trees seem to luxuriate. My aim has been, not to multiply indicators, but rather to select a few well-known plants that form positively an index to the kind of soils on which they grow, and, at the same time, so common as to be found in every district. — W. Gilchrist, in Scottislt ArhoricuUural Transactions. EOAD-SIDE TREES ANT) TELEGRAPH WIRES. I AM glad that Mr. NcNab has directed attention to this subject ; for really the disfigurement is awful, and the loss of beauty irrepar. able. But it is more than a mere matter of beauty ; it is also an interference with the rights of property. Let me state a case, and there are many such : — A small proprietor in a district of the south of Scotland much frequented by tourists for its picturesque beauty, Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. has a house with groHnds and a small plantation at the roadside ; also hedgerow trees along the sides of the road, of ninety or one hundred years' growth, bowering together overhead as they reach the gate, and carefully pruned to form a short arched approach. Some years ago, a series of peeled trees or long poles were t^uietly laid down along one side of the road, and by-and-by they were set up one fine morning before people were up ; no leave was asked or obtained, and no money paid ; the poles liave iron wire guys fixed through the hedges into tho fields, all complete. Last year cut branches were noticed thrown down behind one of the hedges, and it was seen that some pruners had been at work, in a small way, clearing the telegraph wires. This year, even during the rainy weather, it was found that a much more serious gang of destroyers had been at work — no leave being asked or obtained ; large limbs were cut off the trees, and ornamental hedgerow trees have been converted into a series of hideous scarecrows. What remedy is there for these surely lawless proceedings ? How indeed can a remedy be found for the destruction of trees 'i Man's life is not long enough to see them repaired, and no money can pay the value of such damage. The fields referred to might be let for building pur- poses, but what a loss to their value from this point of view, is the destruction of the trees ! This is a free country, but who would expect that a freedom of this kind would be taken without some permission being asked or obtained. — A Lover of Trees. LIFE : ITS DURATION IN PLANTS. Plant-life may be considered under three general denominations. Some species are annual, or rather semi. annual, living from spring only to the close of the autumn of the same year ; others are biennial, living to the close of the second autumn, but never beyond it ; the greater part are|perennial, or competent to live for along series of years. Annuals include many of the commoner garden. flowers and culinary vegetables, which require to be freshly raised from seed every season ; biennials are likewise common in gardens : perennials comprise all those herbaceous plants which form the staple vegetation of a country, withering, to a certain extent, during winter, and even dying down to the roots, but sprouting afresh with the return of spring ; also all trees and shrubs, whether deciduous or evergreen. The perennials exhibit as great diversity in lease of life as the different species of animals. Some decay in as few as four or five years ; others, often remarkable for their odoriferous and balsamic qualities, as Sage, Balm, and Lavender, endure for ten or more : next come the larger and robuster kind of shrubs, as Rhodendrons and Azaleas; then such trees as are of rapid growth, and the substance of which is soft, as the Poplar and Willow ; and lastly, those mighty, slow. growing, solid- wooded pillars of the forest, as the Cedar and Oak, at whose feet whole nations rise and fall. How vast are the periods of life allotted to longceval trees may be judged from the following list of ages known to have been reached by patriarchs of the respective kinds named: — years, j years. : years. years- Cercis SOOJLarch S7Bi Walnut 900 i Oak 1,500 Elm 335jOrauge 630 1 Oriental Plane 1,000 I Cedar 2,000 Ivy 4S) Cypress 800 Litae 1,100 ; Schubertia 3,ooo Maple 518l01ive 80O' Spruce 1,200 ; Yew 3,2ixi Four and five thousand years are assigned to Taxodium and Adan- aonia, and Von Martins describes Locust-trees in the South American forests which he believes to have begun their quasi. immortality in the days of Homer. Whether or no, it may safely be asserted that the world possesses at this moment living memorials of antiquity at least as old as the most ancient monuments of human art. How grand and solemn is even tho thought of a tree coeval with the pyramids of Egypt and the sculptures of Nineveh, yet still putting forth leaves, and inviting the birds to come and " sing among the branches!" NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON TREES AND SHRUBS. New Ornamental Cherry.— -t remarkable sport of the May Duke Cherry has been ]iruduceil iu the gi-ounds of M. Feruinand Messan<,'e,'of Baillonville. The leaves become narrow at the end, so as to resemble those of the Peach, or even the Willow. Some are » inches in length and an inch in width : others are 4 inches in length, and about the third o£ an inch in htenith.—Belijique Jlartt- cole. Rabbits and Conifers.— It is difficult to get two people to agree as to the trees with which rabbits and hares meddle. One of your correspondents says, " Habbits and hares cut Pinus Laricio very much if planted small, but do iiut touch Pinus austriaca." Now, .as for the latter, I can confidently assert that they cat it more than any other of the Pine tribe. With me they have attacked and thoroughly destroyed fine plants of it 4 and 5 feet high. A' neighbour who ha.s planted P. Laricio largely (I have none except guarded) says that it is rabbit proof, and, on his assertion, I am planting some hundreds of it this season. The fact is, I believe, in a really severe season rabbits will attack any- thing—in a deep snow I have had Yews eaten down— but in the generality of years certain things escape, — A Soluikk. THE GARDENS OP THE ANCIENT ROJIANS. (Continued from p. 550, Vol. II.) The hint given by Virgil was taken up by Columella, a poet who seems to have flourished during the reign of Claudius, or some time during tho first fifty years of the Christian era, and who wrote a long poem upon the same subject as that of the Georgics, closely copying the style, the language, and the imagery of his gre.at master ; chastely and elegantly without doubt, but still only copying. In the tenth book of this poem, he devotes a considerable space to what Virgil had proposed, but when at the end we are very little better informed than before liegiuuing. As for the other Roman poets, they make no more than passing allusions to gardens ; and were it not for the minute and extended description given by the youno-er Pliny of his summer villa in Tuscany and its surroundings, we should positively have no exact written account whatever. This beautiful retreat was situated in an amphitheatre of the Apennines ; its owner was a philosophic patrician of literary tastes, and there can be no doubt that the garden itself was laid out according to the very best ideas in vogue at the time. The date of the description would be about A.D. 95, or in the reign of Trajan. In one part you have a little meadow; in another a walk is bordered with Acanthus ; beyond is a knot of dwarf Planes. The Box trees, which thrive upon every side, are cut and clipped into the artificial shapes called " topiary work." Fruit trees are used in plenty, alternating with obelisks or statues ; presently we reach an alcove shady with the green of Vine leaves. Water is introduced freely, many little fountains, each with its marble basin, refreshing the atmosphere. Besides these, there are spaces for simple games, with plenty of marble seats, where the friends of the noble proprietor can rest themselves and enjoy the scene. So far the illustrious Pliny; and so far, no doubt, the scene described was very charming in its way. But how little about flowers ! The delight of the garden seems to have consisted in its plentiful shade, its alleys and plots of green, the con- summate order and neatness, the rich infusion of works of art, sculptures iu marble that would put the verdant ones to shame, the sense of moving water, always agreeable and soothing, the feeling of seclusion, and that incomparable one, leisure to enjoy. At the same time it was essentially stiff, rigorous, and formal; in some respects, it would seem, geometrically precise. Many, perhaps all, of the highest class Roman nobles possessed gardens of similar character, either at their country seats or close to the city, allusions to them occurring in Claudian, Seneca, and other writers, but still the intimations as to their contents are meagre in the extreme, and what we read of least is the flnirer portiou. Fortunately for our curiosity, there is another source of information, limited, but quite as trustworthy — that which is supplied in the aiicient paintings uncovered at Herculaneum and Pompeii. Like their antetypes in the Egyptian tombs, iu the midst of their inexpressible mournfulness of association, these, at all events, speak the truth. Take, for example, the pictorial representation of a garden in Sir "W. Gell's Pompeiana, part 2. Here is pourtrayed much of what Pliny indicates, but on a smaller scale, and omitting many of the best elements ; here are the hedges of Box or Rosemary, the larger evergreens, such as the Bay and the Cypress, the pots and boxes along the edges of the pathways and upon the window-ledges, and the general geometrical idea which furnished, from another source, the models for the Dutch gardening of the seventeenth century, and from which, though it struggled hard for life, we may be thankful our present age has been nearly liberated. The practice iu the Roman method of gardening which would now be most generally dis.approved, would probably be the clipping of the evei-greens into likenesses of animals, columns, statues, &c., though the practice survived for so long a roll of centuries as to obtain almost a freehold right, and in special corners is still extant. Among tho Romans themselves were men keen enough to detect the error of so maltreating shrubs, the proper outlines of which we may presume are best known to nature, who first traced them, since, in another of the epigrams of Martial, not only is ridicule cast on the ranks of Laurel and Cypress, but more vigorously yet on the tortured Box trees. Martial was right. To mutilate a tree or shrub un- necessarily, to pervert and obliterate its natural outlines, is THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873, every bit as indefousiblo as " craelty to animals," and a deed that ou,n;ht to be included in a horticnltnral penal code. It has been said that there is no cruelty which a bad-hearted man will not inflict upon a brute creature, so long as the unfortu- nate beast does not cry out : perhaps if the trees and shrubs possessed voices, the " topiarian art " would have been practised somewhat less. It began with the admirers of gladiatorial combats, and of the sanguinary sports of the Coliseum — with Pagans, in the dictionary of whose language the word " tender-heartedness " does not occur ; with these it should have been loft ; to their memory it should now be consigned. There is only one thing worse horti- culturally than the ancient Roman mode of shrub-torment, and that is wilful and reckless arboricide, especially when the tree destroyed stands where the like of it can never grow again. Many and great were the services rendered to taste by Alexander Pope, but never was there a sounder one than in the satire where he addresses himself to this topiarian art. His gardens next your admiration call ; On every side you look, Behold tlie wall ! No pleasing intricacies intervene, No artful wilduess may perplex the scene ; Grove nods to grove ; each alley lias a brother, And half the platform just reflects the other. The suffering eye inverted nature sees. Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees ; With here a fountain never to be played. And there a summer-house that knows no shade. Use the pruning-kuife and the shears by all means. The un- shapely, the untidy, the incompatible, are 'always to be cor- rected, and kept in check. Let nature be as rfcf/ar/w as you like, but never unkempt and in dcshahiUe. Shakspere has given us sweet and sound enough lesson as to that, in the beauti- ful passage wherein he calls our little island our " sea-walled garden," for garden it truly is ; and when a man wants a pattern for his private lioiins he cannot do better than men- tally survey an average English county, with all its varied charms of nature and art, bringing together in harmonious order the spontaneous and the polished, and leaving no element untouched that has been the pride and property of old England siuce it " arose from out the azure main." Even formality and straight lines are not at variance with the perfection of gar- dening. The right course is to employ them in the right places. Broad terraces near the mansion ; noble avenues of aspiring trees ; green corridors that take form almost of their own accord, like the aisles in a cathedral ; these rank with the proprieties of all truly artistic gardening, aud are always springs of delight to a hospitable and polished mind. What is odious is neither precision, nor geometry, nor the use of cold steel, but the malversation of nature's grace into the semblance of a casting from a foundry, or of a corps of trim militiamen on parade. The redeeming feature in the topiarian art, as practised in the Roman gardens, was that the workman was allowed at times to cover the walls aud terraces of his employer's villa with Ivy, leading the same elegant climber, when convenient, into the trees. How beautiful is this gracious plant, balanced upon some ancient bough, overhanging a ravine or a stream ! or if it do but play the centipede, and keep to the mam trunk, with those matchless and sinuous creepers, aud leaf-angles in every attitude that is possible to joyous freedom. Either way, any way, still how perfect ! We must forgive the Roman noble for his Box-tree clipping, since he loved old Hedera Helix. An act of kindly grace should always be the first to think of, and this leads us to inquire wliat were the merits of the Roman gardening. Anything that takes a deep hold upon a people's fancy must needs be founded upon something better than mere caprice, and certainly not wholly upon iguorance. Because landscape gardening, in our modern sense of the term, found no favour with the Romans, and because a display of floral beauty seems never to have been imagined, we are not, by any means, to look with contempt upon the Roman gardening. No man will do so who is just and consistent, seeing that it aspired to realise a kind of beauty totally dif- fei-ent from that which engages the cultivated taste of our own period ; under special circumstances, perhaps, it possesses recommendations which entitle it to a certain degree of prac- tical observance even now. The Roman style of gardening, though greatly advanced in comparison with that of the Egyptians, was a thing of the childhood of horticulture; yea, of the childhood, in many respects, of human progress ; for, let us consider a moment, and we cannot but allow that the times commonly called the " old" ones were, in reality, the ymciui ones. When geometrical gardening was invented, and regarded as perfection, science and floriculture were only finding their feet. The times we live in are the genuine "old" ones, and, as Lord Bacon said long ago, we who inherit the gathered wealth and the traditions of fifty ages, are the real " old" people of the world. Geometrical gardening is a purely inventive art, in a certain sense resembling architecture, and is governed bysimilarprinciples,the art being everywhere avowed. Landscape gardening, on the other hand, is like painting and the drama, which directly imitate nature, but studiously conceal the art by which the end is attained. The hand of man should be as visible, nevertheless, in gardens laid out in the natural stylo as it is in the geometric, only after another fashion ; since for the consummate feeling of the beautiful, it is essential that we should recognise in it some expression of human intelligence. An extended prospect of mountain, valley, woods, plains, and a shining river, let the components be wild, grand, or romantic as possible, is never so delightful in its untouched condition as when it presents traces of thought and science. Look down from the slopes of the glorious moun- tains of the lake district, or of North Wales, or of Conuemara; then from the sweet green thymy hills of Surrey or Somer- setshire, and note the contrast with the wilderness of the peculiar charm conferred by the spectacle of orchards and farmsteads, the arches of the dimly-seen railway viaduct, the pearly clouds that tell of the passing locomotive. If this be true of the " sea-walled garden," none the less true is it of the miniature one, which even in its least cultured parts becomes animating exactly in the degree that it breathes consciousness of the touch and genius of a nature greater than itself. To a certain extent, geometric gardening also imitates nature, but the imitation is conventional, or after the fashion of that displayed in carpets and parlour-wall papers. It follows that the more that either of these two styles is improved, the more widely will it differ from the perfection of the other. Also that while landscape gardening possesses qualities peculiar to itself, so likewise does geometric gardening, each style being the outbirth of the times in which it flourishes, and bearing a certain relation to the general temper of the country. The gardening of the Romans was perfectly natural to them, regarding the circumstances in which they were placed ; and as it satisfied their wants, aud supplied aspects which they deemed beautiful, the idea of a garden was, so far, perfectly realised. Gardening, in a word, as an art of design, must be judged of in reference to the climate of the country, and to the habits and manners of the people, quite as much as by the light of the first principles of natural symmetry and beauty. Divested of certain adjuncts proper enough to climates warmer than our own, and purified of its decorative extravagances, the idea of the Roman style of gardening cannot be regarded as abso- lutely devoid of merit. A sorrowful day for England and for horticulture would it be, should public fancy ever relapse towards it upon a large scale ; — that, however, is a danger there is no occasion to forbode; — all we contend for is that regarded from a Roman's point of view, it bad abundant justi- fication, and that should Romanising ever become proper in England, the models left by the Romans are unimpeachable. The truest idea, the essential aud fundamental one of the whole matter, consists, after all, not so much in the fact of landscape-gardening being the antithesis of the geometrical, as in its abiding by the principle laid down by Quatremere do Quincey, that " to imitate in the fine arts is to produce the I'esemblance of a thing through the medium of some other thing, which becomes an image of it." Just this and no other is it which distinguishes between the artist and the mechanic ; the former gives an ideal copy, the latter only a fac-simile. Applied to horticulture, of course understood as practised on a large scale, De Quincey's axiom would imply the extensive and tasteful incorporation of exotic trees and flowers ; the ex- clusion of nothing but what is weedy and coarse, and the encouragement of ever3rthing that is graceful and pretty, and Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. that shall seem to be the original sowing of nature's own hand. The greater the variety of forms, and hues, and boun- dary lines, the more classic the physiognomies, and the more liberal use, at the same time, of what is often quite as foreign, pi-actically, as a plant from the antipodes — the flora of the English woodland — so much the more picturesque will the garden become ; so much the more perfectly will nature and art be harmonised, and the privilege of humanity be vindicated. Rarely are single and solitary ideas fruitful. All beauty and perfection come of duality ; a genuine garden infallibly reminds one of that ancient and innocent union which received the first blessing of God, both illustrating at the same time that most lovely line of the Laureate's — *' Like perfect music set to noble words." Not that the beauty of a garden calls for the indiscriminate crowding together of all sorts of trees and plants. This is to induce failure in one principal source of beauty, wherever we may seek it, namely, a complexion of warm and rosy health. The beauty comes of the choice and the adjustment. Good THE LIBRARY. SilALL FRUIT FARMS.* HOW THEY C.\N BE MADE TO ANSWEK. This is an excellent little book, the object of which is suffici- ently clearly indicated in the title. Tlie author rightly thinks it a pity that the class intermediate between the labourer and large farmer should have disappeared, and he clearly shows how it is possible to make small holdings in England pay well as fruit farms. The following on Plum culture will show how capable the author is of treating the question from the above-mentioned point of view : — PLUMS. We will now pass on to the larger kinds of fruits, from bushes to trees, such as Plums, Apples, Pears, and Cherries ; and I pnt Plums first of all in my list, because they produce a rnuoh earlier return than the others : indeed, so much so that it would pay a tenant to plant them on a fourteen years' lease, whereas the others, if planted Epiphytes on ii I'rostrate Tree. gardening, in a word, depends less upon quantity of plants, and expenditure of bodily strength, than upon well-educated labour of the brain. Industry is good, but a thinking head is better. The mistake too frequently committed is that of confounding plethora with wealth, and mere ornament and tinsel with pure and original beauty ; and one of the weakest forms it assiimes is that which gives leave only to a certain set of legalised things to come in, nine-tenths of nature's loveliness being con- signed to a sort of Ijidc.v E,vpaiyatoriits. Leo Grindox. EPIPHYTES ON A PROSTRATE TREE. Ouil illustration of a prostrate tree in a Brazilian forest, covered with Arads and other epiphytal plants, shows a frequent and interesting aspect of vegetation in the hot and moist regions of South America. Many of the great creeping Arums, and other easily grown stove plants now in cultivation, might be used with good effect in forming miniature pictures of the same tj^e in our hothouses, allowed to grow on rough branches, or arranged on rockwork. on the usual orchard stocks, are a landlord's improvement, and in most cases are planted for the benefit of the next generation. The Apple, Pear, and Cherry, on the usual orchard permanent stocks, do not become sensibly profitable till they are twelve or fifteen years old ; whereas the Plum will produce a good return after six or seven years, and some sorts even earlier than this. The most profitable way of planting Plums will be to put them in together with Currants or Gooseberries at intervals of 24 feet, which will take seventy-five trees to the acre, or even at intervals of 12 feet, which will take 300 trees to the acre. When the Gooseberries or Currants are wearing out, which will be in fifteen or twenty years, the Plums will have covered the ground, and will bring an ample profit. I find that trees of the Pershore Egg Plum, which I planted in 1865, have this year produced on the average 30 lbs. weight of fruit each, which, at the rate of 5s. per pot of 90 lbs., is a return of la. 8d. each tree. The mention of this pot reminds me that in the Midland counties all fruits and vegetables arc sold wholesale by the "pot," as it is called. A pot is an oblong basket with a handle at each end, and without a lid. All the pots have these points in * "Small Farms: How they can be made to Answer." Ry the Rev. W. Lea, M.A. London : 171, Fleet Street. 8 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4., 1873. common, and being in such universal use, one wonld have supposed that they wonld have a still moi'o important point in common — -I moan a fixed and definite capacity ; but this is not the case, there are pots and pots. This was one of the first lessons I learnt in farming : on going to buy some pots I was asked by the maker whether I wanted buyer's pots or seller's pots ; and on inquiring the difference, I was informed that buyer's ))ot3 were larger pots, and seller's pots smaller pots, and tliat there was a difference of nearly a peck, or one-fifth, between them ; and the different capaoitioa of pots are so well known, that a remedy has been invented which ia almost as bad as the disease. A certain conventional weight is required for a pot of every variety of fruit or vegetable ; and if these weights were the same in different districts, there would only bo the trouble of keeping the different weights in one's head. But this is not the case — the weights vary in different parts just as much as pots do ; a pot of Potatoes is 95 lbs. in one place, while twenty miles away it is only 80 lbs. A pot of Plums varies even more than this — in one part it is 90 lbs., in another 72 lbs. The trae remedy would be to buy and sell everything by weight, irrespective of these fictitious measures, which vary in every district. So much for pots. The question we have to consider is, what varieties of Plum will fill them soonest, and bring the best return to the planter ? PROFITABLE MAKKET PLUMS. Now, this question will be answered differently in different disti-icts. In some it will be the Prune Damson, in others some other variety which has proved itself most congenial to the soil ; but wherever the soil is strong and retentive the Pershore ^gg Plum should form a considerable portion of every plantation. It is the hardiest of all Plums, the surest cropper, and the wood is tough, and the branches will bear an enormous weight of fruit without breaking. It is said to be a short-lived tree ; but I know trees in full vigour which have been planted at least a quarter of a century. It brings a lower price than other Plums, but I think, in the long rnn, it will pay better than any other on the average. In fact. Plums for market purposes may be divided into two classes — yellow or Egg Plums, and coloured Plums ; the latter in most years are worth nearly double the price of the former. Among coloured Plums the best are the Victoria, the Prince Englebert, Pond's Seedling, the Black Diamond, Belgian Purple, Kirke's Plum, Cos's Emperor, commonly called Jemmy Moor, Prince of Wales, Cluster Damson, Mitchelsou's Damson, and the Belle de Louvain. The Victoria is a bright, large, pink Plum, an enormous cropper, always in demand, good for eating or cooking, Btill better, I am told, for bottling for use in spring ; but it has one most serious drawback — the wood is extremely brittle, and my trees break every year under the weight of fruit. This, perhaps, may be in part owing to their being what is technically termed " standai'ds for orchards " ; and if I were to begin again, I would have nothing but "half-standards" grafted about 31 feet from the ground, and then I should prune back till the lower branches were strong enough to bear the fruit. But notwithstanding this disadvantage, the Victoria should have a place in every plantation for its beauty and productiveness. I onee saw long lines of this Plum alternating with Pond's Seedling ; they were both ripe, and as the sun shone on their large pink fruit, which hung the size of eggs from the boughs, I thought I never saw a more beautiful sight. The old Greek sailors never imagined anything finer in the gardens of the Hesperides. Pond's Seedling has the reputation of being an uncertain cropper, but with me it always bears freely, and produces finer fruit than any of the thirty sorts I have in my plantation ; its wood, too, is tough, and will bear a large crop without breaking. Prince Engle- bert is an excellent black Plum, and an abundant cropper. The Black Diamond possesses the last of these qualifications, but after all it is a monstrous abomination. Rivers' Early Prolific is in some places a profitable variety, and, being the first in the market, usually realises a high pi-ice to the grower, but I cannot speak much of it mj'self, as I have been unfortunate in my trees. The mrrseryraan from whom I bought them sent them on what I believe to be Almond stocks, and the result is that they have not made any growth in the six years, and I am now about to root them up and burn them. This and other like experiences in buying trees lead me to offer a word of advice to intending planters on this head. I know nothing more disappointing, when a plantation has been made, than to find, when your trees come into bearing at the end of three or four years, that the nurseryman has sent them on bad stocks, or sorts untrue to name. It has been my misfortune to find this to be the case on several occasions. When I began, I ordered trees from several nurserymen, and after waiting some years I found, to my disgust, that what ought to have been choice Pears are in some cases nothing better than perry fruit, and Plums in like manner untrue to name. I should therefore recommend purchasers to visit the niu-series when the trees are in fruit and select for themselves. PLUM TKEE ENEMIES. The blackbird is mischievous, and in August and September (lie wasps .and hornets are troublesome ; but the most destructive of all enemies is the grub of the Cheimatobia brumata, or Winter Moth. This moth makes its appearance about the end of October, and continues on the trees till the end of the 3"ear. The male is a small-winged moth, the female a wingless abomination, not unlike a bug, but longer in the log and lighter in colo\ir. She Lays about two hundred eggs, either round the buds of the Plum or Pear, or in the cracks of the bark. These eggs are hatched in April, and a small caterpillar appears, which eats its way into the centre of the opening bud, and destroys all prospect of fruit. By the end of May it is full grown, and then lets itself down by a thread to the ground and buries itself in the soil, where it becomes a chrysalis. In this state it remains till the end of October, when it emerges again in its winged state. This grub is the Plum-grower's greatest enemy, and many plans have been attempted for its destruction, the most successful being the encouragement of small birds, and if they were sufficiently abundant I question if anything further would be required. In 1865 I bought some trees from the neighbourhood of the Vale of Evesham, which is the head-quarters of this Winter Moth, and on examining them in December I discovered that I had bought some moths with them, for I caught ten female Cheimatobias one morning; but since that year I have never seen a specimen of them, and I conclude that the small birds, which are plentiful, have completely extirpated them; but where they are not so abundant, artificial means must be adopted. The fruit-farmers and their men turn out at night in November, with lanthorns, and kill the moths by hundreds on the stems of the trees. Hundreds more of the females are caught, as they climb the trees, in a mixture of tar and grease, with which the stems are smeared, and in some instances it is found necessary to pick the trees and destroy the caterpillars by hand ; but all these means are troublesome and expensive, and I think would be unnecessary if a sufiieient number of small birds could be induced to settle in the jjlantation. DEVONSHIRE COTTAGE GARDENS. Nothing can be prettier than the gardens attached to the thatched cottages in Devonshire. They are frequently to be seen on the side and oftener at the bottom of a hill, down which a narrow road leads to a rude single-arched stone bridge. Here a shallow stream may be seen flowing rapidly, and which now and then *' stickles," to use a Devonshire phrase, over a pavement of either pebbles or rag-stone. A little rill descends by the side of the lane, and close to the hedge of the cottage, which is approached by a broad stepping-stone over the rill, and beyond it is a gate made of rough sticks, which leads to the cottage. At a short distance, an excavation has been cut out of the bank, and paved round with rough stones, into which the water finds and then again makes its way, clear and sparkling. This is the cottager's well. His garden is gay with flowers. His bees are placed on each side of a window, surrounded mth Honeysuckles, Jessa- mine, or a flourishing Vine, and the rustic porch is covered with these or other creepers. Here, also, the gorgeous Hollyhock may be seen in perfection, for it delights in the rich red soil of Devonshire. Giant Stocks, Carnations, and China Asters flourish from the same cause, and make the garden appear as though it belonged to Flora herself. Nor must the little orchard be forgotten. The Apple trees slope with the hill, and in the spring are covered with a profusion of the most beautiful blossom, and in the autumn are generally weighed down with their load of red fruit. Under them may be seen a crop of Potatoes, and in another part of the garden those fine Paington Cabbages, one of the best vegetables of the county. In a sheltered nook is the thatched pigstye, partly concealed by the round yellow- faced Sunflower, which serves both as a screen and as an oraament. The mud or coli walls of the cottage add to its picturesque appear- ance, when partly covered with creepers and surrounded with flowers. Such is an accurate description of one of the many cottages I have seen in the beautiful and hospitable county of Devon. Those wlio, like mj'self, have wandered amongst its delightful lanes will not think my pictui'e overcharged. — E. Jesse. Protection Against Worthless Fertilizers.— New Hampshh'e has adopted :i law to rej^ulate tlie qu.ility and t^alc of commercial fertilizers;. The manu- f.ictiirer must tile a bond with the State Treasurer in 10,0110 dollars, payable to the State, but with jl condition that it Bhall be void upon comphance with the law, whichi requires that all fertilizers offered for sale shall be accompanied by a statement naming the date of manufacture, and the per rentage of ammonia and other constituent parts. If these shall prove to be false (which is to lie tested by the State Assnyer on due application) a fine of 500 dollars is imposed on the seller, to bo prosecuted for by the Attorney-General or any county solicitor. A fine of -00 dollars is imposed for oiTering fertilizers for sale without a license. Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 9 GARDEN DESTROYERS. A CABBAGE BUG. (STRACHIA OEXATa). That portion of the bug tribe known to entomologists as the Heteroptera supplies few recruits to the great army of insects that prey upon the food of man, and compete with him for its possession. There are, however, some which do mischief, and the species which is figured (of the size of life) on the Cabbage- leaf in the woodcut is one of these. Not that we can say that it does harm in Britain, for there it is fortunately rare. But on the continent, and more particularly in some parts of France and the south of Europe and Algiers, the injury it does is sometimes considerable, and this is not confined to the actual injury done to the leaves by sucking their juices, but extends to the unpunctured leaves which it may have fre- quented, or on which it may have been crushed or squeezed. The reader may not be aware that every individual of the bug tribe, from the large metallic and gaily-adorned species of tropical countries down to the smallest species in the most northern countries, are all distinguished by a peculiar odour — that of the common bed bug. This species has it abominably strong, and where it rests it makes the vegetable uneatable. We well remember the youthful surprise with which we first learned this fact by experience. We had received a bottle full A Cabbage Bug. of insects in spirits from the East Indies, among which were a number of beautiful large bugs, and the odour which remained on our fingers after handling and pinning these was such an intensified essence of bed-bug, and so difficult to get rid of, that wo have never forgotten it. What the nature of this odour is is still a problem, but notwithstanding its abundance in some quarters, we doubt if it would be possible to procure a sufficient quantity of material to analyse or experiment upon for the chemist. There is indeed a popular tradition that the bed bug is one of the ingredients of " Soy," and if that be true, the material must be procurable in com- mercial fjuantities ; but we have always regarded this as an unfounded aspersion upon an excellent sauce. Various species of scutate Heteroptera (that is, bugs with a large shield, covering, to a greater or less degree, their wings) feed upon the Cabbage ; and the present species, and one or two allied species, are specially devoted to it. The eggs are laid on the under-side of the leaves in close little bands. Individually they share the beauty of the parent msect.and have it in some- thing of the same character, well-defined black spots on a lighter ground. They look like little barrels, of which the top and the bottom are encircled with brown bands, while the middle is grey, marked with small, very round black points. When the egg is hatched, the insect inside pushes up the upper part of the shell, like a little lid, and, coming out, at once begins its work of feeding on the leaves. The bugs, as tlie reader of course knows, have no mandibles or jaws, or rather these are converted into a sucking apparatus. Consequently the form their ravages take is not that of gnawed or skeletonised leaves, but of leaves riddled by little wounds, which render the leaf rugose, and covered by dried spots. The insect plunges its sucker into the parenchyma of the leaf, and sucks up the juice, as the bed bug does the blood of its victim. The larva is very similar in appearance to the perfect insect, with the exception that it has no wings. The insect is suffi- ciently accurately represented in the woodcut to render a description unnecessary. The paler parts are vermilion red, sometimes shaded with yellow, and the dark parts black. They are thus very visible, and may be easily caught and destroyed, but the under-side of the leaves must be looked at for the eggs. A. M. An Efficient Rat Trap. — May I suggest to your corre- spondent " E. D. T." a very effectnal way of disposing of the rats and mice in his garden. I have known it to destroy between fifty and one hundred of these pests in a single night. Take a large plant pot, say 3 feet in diameter at top and 3 feet deep; sink it into the ground till even with the surface, and place about 1 foot of water in it. Then take a deal board 3 feet long, 6 inches wide, and half an inch thick ; saw off 1 foot of it, which must be smoothly planed and refastened in its place with two eauj -working brass hinges ; then fasten a weak steel spring on to the longer part of the board and reaching over the saw. cut on to the shorter part, so that by holding the board out horizontally, the spring will just hold this shorter part of the board on a level with the rest. The spring must, however, be only strong enough to do this and a very little more. This trap fall is then placed half-way over the pot of water, and a large stone is placed on the other end to hold it firm. The " drop " is then well greased on the planed side, and some strong -scented bait is nailed on to the extreme end. The rat will walk on to the " drop," which will not yield till he is fairly on ; one step more, and down he goes into the water, the " drop " returning into position for another customer. If watched, it is amusing to see the efforts of the rats to retrace their steps, which, if properly managed, the trap never allows them to do. It is better to put something in the water, as quick-lime for instance, which will suffocate the rats speedily. " E. D. T." should put several of these traps into the ground in his garden. — Prestox Poweks, Florence. Garden Destroyers in India. — A communication from Agra, dated the 12th ult., says: — " The crops in the Agra district were in snch splendid condition, that cultivators were looking forward to a good harvest and a profitable out-turn. In a few short hours their hopes were blighted. A dense crowd of locusts came up from the south, and, after hovering in the air for some time over the city, they suddenly descended, and, covering the surface of the earth, of the trees, and of every particle of vegetation, they commenced their work of destruction, choosing more especially, as their most choice morsels, the youngest and most delicate leaves of trees, the choicest and most valuable of plants, and, what is more sad than all, devouring the green ears of grain just beginning to ripen. So thick was the crowd of locusts that the sun was completely hidden, and a partial dai'k. ness prevailed. The natives used all endeavours to dislodge the unwelcome visitors, but failed. They remained for some time, and then started in a northerly direction. A magnificent grove of trees has been utterly denuded of leaves, the grass has been cropped short, and whole gardens have been completely destroyed. Near a village called Uchennarra, on the Bhurtpore road, eighteen miles from Agra, the crops have been completely ruined, and such has been the damage done in other parts of the Agra district, that it is estimated that the out-turn will be 50 per cent, less than was expected before the locusts arrived. In this sublunary sphere it often happens that evils which are the causes of unmitigated sufferings to some creatures, cause joy and delight to others. The crows, kites, sparrows, and hawks, banqueted and feasted in a princely manner during the stay of the locusts, and many of the natives in the city captured them in basketsful, and afterwards feasted on them. I am informed that they make capital curry, and that they are very similar in flavour to prawns." Peach Tree Insects. — Often a mass of gum is found at the base of young Peach trees, and small white worms are found in the bark beneath, wbich are the cause of the gummy exudation. They do not penetrate deep, and are not very injurious to the tree. The Washiufxton Department of Agriculture report says they are the larva of the Mycetophila persica. Rats and Mice- — Having had whole crops of Melons destroyed by rats, and having tried traps and poison with but bad results, this year I got two young cats e;irly in the spring and kept them in the garden, and I have had no annoyance from rats or mice since. I would, therefore, advise yom* correspondent, " E. D. T." to try them. If he gets them young they will not seek to go away, at least ours don't.— D. M. 10 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4-, 1873. THE PROPAGATOR. RAISING PELARGONIUMS. Mr. Sisley, well-known aa the originator of sevei'al choice varieties of double zonal Pelargoniums, describes his practice thus : — My friend Carriere, speaking of my double white zonal in the Revne Hortic(jlo of October Ist, says that it is the result of scientific combinations. I must decline to accept this encomium, and am willing to make the horticultural world acquainted with my very simple practice, which T have never kept a secret. When, si.Y years ago, I began the arti- ficial fertilisation of zonal Pelargoniums, I procured about fift}^ of the best varieties of single-flowered zonal Pelargoniums of different colours, and about 200 plants of the then existing double-flowered varieties. And until 1870 I continued to buy all the new double varieties that were brought out, and all the single-flowered sorts which were of different shades from those in my collection. Without any preconceived theory I fertilised all the single flowered with the pollen of the double ones which had stamens. For three years I did not obtain a seedling worth mentioning, and I was on the eve of giving up artificial fecundation, when in 1869 I obtained Victoire de Lyon and Clemence Royer, which, although not perfect in form, were very different in colour from any double zonal Pelargonium then pro- duced. This led me to continue my efforts. I have not learned by my practice anything that can be called a theory, because among my seedlings coming from the same mother and the same father I have found them all differing from one another. My double white is the produce of a single white (one of my seedlings second or third generation) by a double red ; but four other seedlings from the same fecundation are either white, pink, or red, and all single flowers. And in this there is nothing astonishing. Why should the laws of nature vary and act differently in the vegetable world from what they do in the animal world ? Nature and science have not yet taught ns why the offsprings of the same father and the same mother are always different from one another, notwithstanding their family like- ness. And it is very likely that man will always be ignorant of this. The only thing I know, and every horticulturist knows, is that to obtain double flowers, single flowers must be fertilised by double ones. PROPAGATION OF TREE CARNATIONS. My plan of doing this differs entirely from that of " Quo." I pro- pagate tree Carnations by means of cuttings to the extent of many thousands every season, and as I can depend on every cutting making a good saleable plant, I beg to recommend this method, ■which I find so successful. I have a box or pan well drained, and filled ■with compost as reconmnended by " Quo," taking care that the mould used is free from wire-worm. I place the box in a bottom heat of 75^ I trim the cuttings carefully ; but do not cut off the ends of the leaves as many do, and I place them firmly in the mould, an inch or more apart, as suits my requirements. The glass with which they are covered must fit so as to be perfectly air. tight. Before putting it on give the cuttings a thorough drenching with rain-water with the chill off, till the mould is like mud; then put the glass on at once. Leave all undisturbed for three weeks, but water all round, if need be, to prevent the cuttings from getting dry. By the end of the three weeks, all will bo found to be growing ; give another week's grace, then remove the glass, and pot them off in small GO-sized pots. Eeplace them in a gentle heat, in order to start them, and give them plenty of water. I have frames that each hold three hundred plants, and it is rare, indeed, to find one without good roots. With "Quo's" remarks on the evils of per- mitting them to get pot-bound, I decidedly differ, as I can get as good blooms from plants in small 60-sized pots as from those in larger pots; and from experience I am quite satisfied that manure or manure water is poison to a tree Carnation. The compost mentioned and an abundant supply of water during every stage of growth are all that Carnations want. " Quo's" selection of varieties is good; but it should have included "La Belle," a pure white kind, very free, and a perpetual bloomer. Biz. Grafting Acers.— In the Wochcnscirift Professor Karl Koch relates some "i'lrf?'?^ observations respecting grafting noticed by himself in the ntu'series of MM. SimonLouis, at Metz. Acer ginnala, which has been recently discovered in Amooria, does not succeed wlien grafted on A. tataricum, which is, neverthe- less, BO closely allied to it that some botanists consider the two as forms of one species, while it succeeds perfectly when worked on the A, Pseudo-Platanus. How to Increase the White Wistaria.— How is it that this plant is so scarce? True, there is a little difficulty in multipl.ying it, but if the following method IB employed, the results will be most satisfactory. It consists in making cuttings from the roots, precisely in the same manner as is done with many other plants, such as Aralias, Tecoma, ic. It may also be remarked that plants thus multiplied are far more vigorous than such as are grafted, which is generally the means used for the proiiagation of the white Wistaria This mode of propagation may be also used with equal advantage in the case of the common Wistaria.— M. Millaud. THE INDOOR GARDEN. AGIN ETA HUMBOLDT!. Noble Orchids are the Acinotas, all the species of which are beautiful and worthy of cultivation. They are all epiphytal and natives of tropical America. There are several .species, but A. Humboldti is tlie one best known, and is perhaps the finest of the family. It is strong-growing, producing large angular pseudo-bulbs, and amjile ribbed leaves. It was found in Venezuela, from whence it was introduced into England in 18-tl. It requires a tolerably high temperature to have it in perfection, and is consequently grown in the East Indian house or in the warmest part of some intermediate house ; but in places where there is only one Orchid house it may bo successfully cultivated in the warmest end of it. Acinctas should be grown in baskets suspended from the rafters or in baskets shaped somewhat Kkc a wine glass, the stem of which should be an inch or two in diameter and two feet high, with the basket fixed vase-like at the summit, and resting on a base sufficiently wide to prevent the whole from being readily upset. It is absolutely necessary to employ baskets for Acinetas, as they produce their flowers on pendulous racemes from the base of the pseudo-bulbs, and push downwards like Stanhopeas through the compost until they reach the light, when they lengthen themselves sulSoiently to develope all their flower buds. The flowers of A. Humboldti are of a deep chocolate colour minutely spotted with crimson ; they are thick and wax-like in substance, and commonly produced in May and June. Although in the annexed illustration only one raceme is visible, I have seen four much finer spikes all in perfection at one time on one plant. This specimen was in Mr. McLeod's collection at Dalvey, in Morayshire, and was grown in a wine glass-shaped basket or vase, made of erect, light, wooden bars 6 inches apart, and held together by copper wire. When in flower water should be carefully applied, for should it get spilt over the blooms, their beauty becomes much impaired. A compost consisting of good turfy peat and roughly - chopped Sphagnum is well adapted for all the species of Acincta. They make their growth in spring and summer, and during that period should be liberally watered and syringed twice a-day ; atmospheric humidity is likewise necessary. Throughout the winter months they should be kept pretty dry, but not too much so. A light sprinkling overhead once a week, on fine days, during their resting season, is also beneficial. They may be shifted, if necessary, in February ; but generally the looser portions of the old compost are merely removed and replaced with fresh material. If it be necessary to increase the root room, a shift is given ; or if increase of stock be aimed at, the plants are shaken out and divided, and the individual portions put in separate and smaller Ijaskets. Should the wires be too far apart to retain the compost, it may be secured by means of pegs made of the common Brake. Beech pegs are frequently employed for this purpose, but I know of nothing superior to those of the Bracken, wooden pegs being productive of fungi. The elegant sprayey drapery that clusters abotit the basket in the accompanying illustration consists of Selaginellas, Maideu-hair and other light graceful Ferns, and a few other stove plants that will grow anywhere. It is seldom necessary to plant these, for if the Orchids are placed in the vicinity of such plants, the exposed soil in which they are grown soon becomes furnished "with self-sown seedlings. If- it be requisite to accelerate the growth of such drapery, and to enhance its beauty by greater variety, the following may be inserted between the wires, ■viz. : — Selaginellas of the Kraus- siana and Mertensi sections, and other graceful kinds not of a too robust nor of too dwarf a habit, Coccocypselum repens, Panicum variegatum, Torenia asiatica, Achimenes picta, Tradesoantias — the creeping ones, and Streptocarpus Eexii, which, although not a creeper, is admirably adapted for sus- pended baskets. Many other little plants might be likewise advantageously utilised in this way. Amongst Ferns, the airy Adiantums, little Gymnogrammas, which, notwithstanding their farinose leaves, thrive excellently ; Doodias, little Pterises, Davallias, Polypodiums, a few Aspleuiums, and others. Wii. Falconer. Jajj. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 11 ACINETA HUMBOLDTI. 12 THE GARDEN. [JAN. 4, 1873. ACACIAS. Why have the numci'ous species of this extremely showy family almost completely ,E;onc out of cultivation ? During the early spring months their flower-laden branches used to enliven our greenhouses and conservatories, and what, lot me ask, have we got in their places ? Absolutely nothing. They maintained their ground longest at Kew, but even there most of the grand old specimens have disappeared, and their gay flowers no longer serve to make lively the dull days during winter and early spring. Acacia Riceaua, a species recently brought forward as a new plant, was amongst the last of the Kew collection that disappeared. I do heartily trust that at least all the more beautiful species of this family will soon again occupy the position which they once held iu our greenhouses. The Australian members of this genus may be easily raised either from seeds or cuttings ; they should be potted in a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, in the proportion of two parts each of the two first, and one of the last. Iu summer, after their growth is made, they may be set iu the open air, fully exposed to the sun, but at the same time they must be well supplied with water, and never allowed to suffer from drought. Some of the species have a tendency to make long straight shoots ; these, therefore, should be selected for train- ing upon rafters or pillars, on which they thrive well and form splendid ornaments in spring, whilst the more shrubby kinds will be eqtially at home in pots in the form of bushes. When in flower they may be used to decorate corridors or halls, but I cannot recommend their introduction into the drawing- room, except as cut-flowers, ou account of a disagreeable odour which their roots emit, and which is very perceptible when confined indoors. As to colour, they are with few exceptions yellow, of some shade or other ; I shall, therefore, merely give the name of a few species, which will amply repay anyone for bestowing on them a little attention, noting at the same time the periods at which they bloom. A. Drummondii, April to June. A. Riceana, March to June. A. pulchella, May and Juno. A. hispidissima, April and May. A. asparagoides, May and June. A. armata, April to June. A. cochlearis, January to March. A. viscidula, March to May. A. longifolia, April and May. A. oletEfolia, May. A. grandis, April and May. A. vestita, April and May. A. taxtfolia, April and May. A. diffusa, March and April. A. argyrophylla, March and April. A. verticillata, April and May. A. pubcscens, April and May. A. floribunda, May. A. Sophorce, April and May. Latrobei, May. suaveolens, April and May. linifolia, April and May. undulfcfolia, May. A A, A, A, A. paradoxa, May. G, GARDENIA FORTUNEI. Or the many fine plants for which we are indebted to Mr. Fortune, we think that, tested by a jury of ladies, this would be pronounced the finest ; for to the purity and doublenesa of the white Camellia this plant adds the delicious aroma for which the whole tribe of Gar- denias is so much prized. The market growers who cultivate the Gardenia by the thousand for the supply of the bouquet makers of Coveut Garden grow them principally by means of the heat of fer- menting materials. The general plan is to have a pit filled with spent Hops from the brewer's, or tan, for bottom heat, and then lin. ings of stable manure around the sides of the pit. The plants in the growing season delight in a brisk, moist temperature, and that of a good hot-bed or pit is very congenial to them ; but to mature the'wood and set the flower buds it is necessary that they be exposed to a drier atmosphere and a free circulation of air. Cuttings of the Gardenia strike with the utmost freedom in a close, moist temperature, with some bottom heat. Though heat from fermenting material is the most suitable for the cultivation of this tribe of plants, it must not be supposed that they will not grow in an ordinary plant stove. Plants so treated we now have of G. Fortunei, G. florida, and G. florida inter- media finely set with bloom buds. During the growing season thej^ were placed iu the closest part of the stove, and were well supplied with manure water. When the growth was complete and the flower buds forming, they were exposed to full air, and for some months past they have been in a cool house with the Camellias. When we want bloom they will be removed to a forcing house, and there remain to make their growth. As a forcing plant, to come into bloom in March and afterwards, we know nothing so valuable as the Gardenia. It is a universal favourite with all who know it, and will ever remain so. The only drawback is that insect pests of every kind have a great affec- tion for it. Mealy bug, white and brown scale, thrips, and red spider each grow fat and multiply upon it. The bo8t ramedy for these pests is to lay the plants upon their sides, and then syringe them when in a dorTnant state with water heated to 120''; then follow with a dressing of Abyssinian mixture of full strength, and the visitation will bo sub- dued, if not eradicated. The kind mostly grown for flower. market purposes is G. radicans. It is a dwarf, free blooming species, and, care- fully managed, flowers most profusely. A. NEW SUCCULENTS. The following are in Mr. Peacock's collection at Hammersmith, and to all of them first-class certificates were awarded the other day by the Royal Horticultural Society : — Maminillaria Peacockii. — This curious plant looks not unlike a ball of grey worsted, its spines entirely hiding the stem. It comes from Mexico. Pilocereus Peacockii. — So named in honour of Mr. Peacock by M. RoezI, who introduced it. It is quite a distinct species, clothed with cream-coloured hairs, and spines of the same colour 1 inch long. P. Hoppenstedta. — This is another new species, introduced by M. lloezl. It has sharp angles, and is furnished with brown and white spines, 2 inches long, forming at the apex a dense mass. Yucca Eylesii. — A noble plant of Palra-like appearance, having a stem 8 feet high, crowned with a mass of foliage 2 feet 3 inches long, without spines or filaments. It comes from Mexico. Agave CoTderoyi — This is one of Mr. Besserer's introduc. tions. Its leaves are strap-shaped, a pale green in colour, and from IJfoot to 2 feet long, and IJ- inch broad. Its spines are black, small, terminal, and an inch in length. The plant itself is compact, semicaulescent at the base ; the leaves are flat, but those on the upper part are canaliculate. In short, this Agave seems to be quite distinct from any other belonging to that genus, and it does not appear to grow to a very large size. It has been named Corderoyi, in honour of Justus Corderoy, of Bleubury, Berks, by M. L. de Smit, of Ghent. Sparmannia atricana. — This is one of the many good old plants we seldom meet with now, though it is a plant of the easiest possible culture, and produces an abundance of showy white flowers during the winter and spring months, a period when flowers are most valued for bouquets and dinner-table decoration. Introduced from the Cape of Good Hope in 1790, it has remained in our gardens here and there, but it is not so well known and appreciated as it deserves, if its floriferous habit and general usef nines j are considered. After its flowering season is over, it may be pruned back quite close, and grown on during the summer months for blooming again the following winter. It will grow in an ordinary greenhouse, or may be introduced with advantage into an intermediate house or plant stove. If grown on during the summer in a warm tempera- ture it will bloom earlier in the winter months, while plants grown in a cooler temperature will come in to succeed the stove-grown ones. It is very easily propagated by cuttings, which may now bo inserted, four or five in a 32-sized pot, and, it allowed to remain in the cutting pots and grown on, will make nice little plants for con. servatory decoration the following winter. This plant is by some discarded as a shy bloomer, but I have invariably found that, if pruned close back and grown on freely during the summer, as recom. mended, an abundance of bloom has been the result. From a botanical point of view the plaut is remarkable as having irritable stamens ; more especially is this peculiarity shown during bright sunshine, the stamens gradually diverging with great regularity on their being touched with the finger or any other body. — A. P. Eucharis ainazonica. — Nothmg can exceed this in beauty as a winter- flowering plant. SVe have now in the gardens at Rendlesham Hall fine plants of it in 10-inch pots, with seventy-two flower spikes on them. — J. Mill. Palm Seeds- — How am I to treat seeds of Seaforthia elegans gathered in 1871 ? — Beta. [Seeds of Seaforthia elegans may be sown at any time. If as old as you say, they should be tested ; if the embryo is plump all is right : plunge the pots containing them in a bottom heat of 80°. — J. C. J SOLUTION TO GAE-DEN ACROSTIC, No. 1. A Azoff F L Liverpool L P Petruchio O I interview AV N none E E error R Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GAEDEN. 13 THE FRUIT GARDEN. DESSERT ORANGE CULTURE. BY THOMAS RITEES, SAWBRIDCiEWORTH. Ik tlie diary of that " fiue old English gentleman," John Evelyn, may be found an intimation to the effect that he had eaten as good " China Oranges" plucked from his own trees as he ever wished to eat. In those days dessert Oranges were, it seems, called " China Oranges." Although Oranges were cultivated in France long before Evelyn's time, yet they were considered merely ornamental appendages to palaces and mansions ; no thought seems to have been turned to them, so as to consider them fruit trees ; and even Evelyn, with his remarkable horticultural sagacity, does not mention that he had ranked Orange trees among fruit ti'ees ; for in his " Kalendarium Hortense," when he mentions for every month "fruits in prime and yet lasting," no mention is made of Oranges ; it would seem, therefore, that his gathering of Oranges fit to eat was an accidental occurrence, and we are led to suppose from the silence of gardeners for nearly two hundred years as to their culture, that the Orange-eating world has felt perfectly satisfied with imported Oranges, brought quickly by fast-sailing vessels ; still, the difference between Oranges freshly gathered from the trees, and the very finest imported, is most remarkable ; there is a crispuess and fine aroma in Oranges freshly gathered difficult to realise, unless they are promptly compared with imported fruit ; they are indeed a luxury, and, as such, will be cultivated ere long in every good garden. The houses best adapted for their cultivation are the large span-roofed, i-lfeet wide, 6 feet hish at each side, and 1.5 f&et high in the centre. A house of this size will require eight four-inch hot-water pipes, four on each side ; artificial heat is required all the year to ripen Oranges in one season perfectly. A smaller span-roofed house, 6j feet high at each side, and 12 feet high in the centre, heated by four four-inch hot-water pipes, two on each side, is almost as eligible for Orange culture as one even of the larger size. A house of these dimensions, with a central path, and a border on each side planted with Orange trees, would form a pleasant and pro- ductive Orange garden ; but to form an Orange grove, so as to have trees of fine growth, and to give abundant crops, the larger house must be resorted to. From the experience I have gained, I firmly believe that no conservatory, no Orchid house, no greenhouse, is half so beautiful or interesting as an Orange-house constructed on the principles I now advocate, and provided with fixed roofs, rafters 21 inches apart, glazed with a large piece of glass, and admitting abundance of light ; so that in December, when the trees are covered with their golden fruit, and many of them showing their snowy-white perfumed flowers, the scene is, indeed, enchanting, and is enhanced by the agreeable temperature, which need not be higher than from 50'^ to 60° (10° to 1-5° Cent.) in cloudy weather. It is not fierce heat in winter that ripening Oranges require, but an even, agreeable temperature, such as is expe- rienced in the Azores during that season of the year. The houses above mentioned should have side ventilation, as in orchard-houses, viz., an opening in each side of the large house 2 feet wide, for the smaller houses 1 foot wide ; these open- ings should be in the centre of each side, and shutters of wood or sashes employed to close them, the latter, of course, being the most agreeable. In houses thus treated. Orange trees may be cultivated in pots or tubs, or planted in the borders. There is no doubt that more rapid growth would take place if such borders were heated by having hot-water pipes placed 2 feet under the surface ; but from recent experience I am inclined to think this is not absolutely necessary, for if the borders are raised 18 inches above the surface, they would have suffi- cient heat from the atmosphere of the house, and their tempe- rature would be quite equal to sustain the trees in health. The cultivation : of dessert Orange trees in pots or tubs is very simple ; the compost they require consists of equal parts of peat, loam, and manure thoroughly decomposed ; the two former should not be sifted, but chopped up with the pieces of turf and roots, so as to form a rough compost. The trees will grow in this freely, and bear abundantly ; but they should have gentle, constant, root heat ; this is best given by enclosing hot-water pipes in a shallow chamber of bricks, and placing the pots on a flooring of slates or tiles forming the roof of the chamber. The compost for the borders in which Orange trees are to be planted should consist of turfy loam two parts, and equal parts of thoroughly decom- posed manure and leaf -mould. After planting, .the borders should be trodden down firmly, as Orange trees seem to flourish best in firm loamy soils. In the Orange gardens of Ncrvi, where Orange trees are, or used to be, so largely grown for exportation, and imported by the London dealers in oil, &c., the soil is a tenacious yellow loam. The best form of tree for an Orange garden under glass is the round-headed, a form which it seems to take naturally ; for if it is endeavoured to be cultivated as a pyramid, which would seem desirable, its lower branches soon become weakly and unhealthy. If trees with stems 2 or .3 feet in height are planted, the lower branches may be gradually removed till a clear stem of 5 feet in height is formed, and this height will be found sufficient. They may be planted from .5 or 6 to 7 feet apart, according to the size of the house, and the room which can be afforded for each tree. It must not be forgotten that in small houses the heads of the trees may be kept in a compact state by summer pinching, and in large houses be allowed a greater freedom of growth, so that the owner of an Orange garden in England may sit under the shade of his Orange trees. No one but an amateur of gardening can imaghie the pure, quiet pleasure of taking a morning walk in the Orange house, during the above-men- tioned dreary months, and plucking from the trees Oranges fully ripe. I have had much experience in the culture, and I may add, in the eating of fruit ; but I can say with a firm conviction that I have never enjoyed any kind of fruit so much, as I have Oranges of my own plucking in winter. SOKTS. There are but few kinds yet known of really fine dessert Oranges ; the amateur who wishes to plant an Orange garden to supply his dessert, must not think of planting the most numerous varieties of the genus Citrus grown by Italian and French cultivators ; the}- are mostly what are called fancy sorts, and are more prized for their foliage and flowers than for their fruit. One of the most charming and prolific of dessert Oranges is the Tangierine; the tree has small leaves, and seldom attains a height of more than 7 feet, even in North Africa. Its most valuable qu.ality is its early ripening, so that in October, just as the late Peaches and other soft fruits are over, this luscious little fruit is ready for the dessert ; and when freshly gathered no fruit can be more gratifying or delightful, as its aroma is so delicious, and its juice so abun- dant ; in this respect offering a pleasing contrast to those imported from Lisbon in November and December, the flesh of which is generally shrunk from the rind, instead of being ready to burst, as is the case with those plucked from the tree. They should, in common with all home-grown Oranges, be placed on the table with some leaves adhering to their stalks, thus showing that they have not made a voyage. Among full-sized Oranges the Maltese Blood takes the first rank ; when quite fresh from the tree it differs much from those imported, although the voyage as now made by steamers is of short duration. I was not so fully aware of this till early in January, 1866, when I was able to compare some fine imported fruit with some gathered from my trees. I found the former, although rich and juicy, yet flat in flavour compared with those freshly gathered ; they lacked the crispness and aroma which were most agreeable in the latter. The great advantage in planting this sort is its tendency to bear fine fruit while the trees are young ; they are indeed so prolific that trees of only 2 feet in height have here borne nice crops of fruit. Some varieties, quite equal to the foregoing in quality, but without the red flesh, so peculiar to these " blood Oranges," have been imported from the Azores, the paradise of Orange trees. One of the most desirable sorts is called simply the St. Michael's Orange. This kind has a thin rind, is very juicy, and bears abundantly, even while the trees are young. In the Orange house, these will ripen towards the end of December, and throughout January and February, in common with the Maltese blood Oranges. In addition to the three leading varieties I have mentioned, there are several kinds which will, doubtless, prove interesting and valuable. It is not to be ex- 14 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873. pected that so much variation in flavour, as in the Pear, for instance, can be met with in Oranges. I believe, however, that when our Oi'ango palates are educated we shall find many delicate distinctions in the flavour of Oranges. As far as I have gone I have found the Mandarin Orange larger and more flat in shape than the Tangierine, and not so good as that sort. The Embiguo, the Egg, the Silver Orange, the Botelha, the White Orange, and some others, all varieties from the Azores, arc of various degrees of excellence, and are all worthy of a place in an English Orange garden. It may be added that the Lemon, more particularly the Imperial Lemon, is well worthy of a place in the Orange garden, as is also the small Lime, which is a concentration of acidity. The Oranges this season (1872) at Sawbridgeworth arc particularly fine and rich; there is also an abundant crop, the sight of which is most gratifying. EARLY ERUITING OF PINES. I AGREE in the main with the remarks of your correspondent Mr. J. Groom (page 524, vol. ii.), but I must state that the fruiting of Pines, yes, and the ripening of them too, within twelvemonths of their being taken from the parent plant, is not an isolated circumstance, but an established fact repeatedly accomplished. Special means must, however, be used to attain this end. The suckers, before being taken from the parent plant, must be in every respect strong and well matured. They must be potted in 7 or 8-inch pots containing sound friable turf, and subjected to a bottom heat of from 85' to 90°, with a proportionally cool atmosphere ; they must also be slightly shaded for a few days from bright sunshine. They quickly become established and should be immediately transferred to their fruiting pots and encouraged by a genial atmosphere, as it is important they should have as little check'as possible. If they do not " show " at the expected time, both temperatures just given may be lowered and water withheld for a week or two, care being taken not to carry out these restrictive measures so as to materially affect the health of the plant, and by again resorting to a suitable temperature fruitinc is almost certain to be induced. Much the same measures as these used to be carried out in the Hamiltonian system of Pine growing, except that the old plants were planted out and two suckers generally left upon each, instead of being detached, and they were encouraged by earthing up after the fruit was cut ; thus they fruited and ripened, as a rule, within twelve months from the time the first fruit was cut. Such extreme precocity with regard to the fruiting of the Pine-apple is not, however, to be attained by anj' other means than by extra strength and maturity of the suckers. And if the latter can be nursed for a couple of months upon the old stools after the fruit is cut, there is a decided gain. In the case of vigorous younr^ plants, when the suckers have been confined to one or two upon each plant, it is astonishing the progress made in a genial atmosphere. I had a bed of Pines that fruited in summer and ripened fruit of excellent quality, the whole being ripened and cut within sixteen months of the time when the suckers were put in ; and I have had ahso smooth Cayennes and Queens which ripened their fruit within the twelve months ; several of the Cayennes weighing over nine pounds. An important point in this matter is that young Pines invariably produce the finest and most perfect fruit. I look upon it as a general rule, that Pines should be induced to start into fruit from twelve to eighteen months from the time the suckers are put in. If this is accomplished there need be no cause for complaint. When they exceed that period without showing, however strong in appearance the plants may appear, they rarely produce fine fruit, and it is better to adopt measures to induce truitf ulness by repotting into fresh soil than to leave them longer under the same conditions. Witley Court, Worcestershire. Geo. Westland. NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON THE FRUIT GARDEN. Oranges. — The Orange trade of London is assuming vast proportions. The following are the estimated quantities imported into London last season from the several places of growth : Valencia, Isi.ooo boxes ; St. Michael's, 120,noo ; Lisbon, 65,000 ; Sicily, 27.000 ; Tercetra, 28,000 ; Simla, 27,000 ; and other districts, 12,0»H)— in all 463,000 boxes. The contents of a box average 600 Oranges : consequently the total supply of the metropolis was 226 millions. Imported Bananas.— Bananas are about the costliest green fruit now im- ported. They are brought from the West Indies in vessels specially fitted for their transport. Bunches of from .50 lbs. to 100 ll)s., a,s taken from the tree, are suspended on hooks in the hold or in cabins allotted to their convevance. The.y arrive quite fresh-looking at Covent Garden, and will keep for weeks if guarded against pressure. Ten years ago, when first introduced, they cost the dealers about ten shillings a bunch, but the same quantity now costs twenty shillings. They are retailed by the dozen at from three to five shillings. THE HOLME, REGENT'S PARK. We give this week a plan of one of the prettiest small gardens with which we are acquainted. It lies between the orna- mental water in the Regent's Park and the Inner Circle. The views from the lawn and the house are so managed that the water and park scenery seem part of the place, and the views are charming. The place illustrates some good points in garden design. The kitchen garden frames, houses, etc., are, for example, well concealed. The small flower garden, the effect of which is very simple and pretty in spring or summer, is also tastefully cut off, and the lawn on the lake side of the house is free and open, permitting of easy move- ment, affording pretty views to many parts of the park, while it is gracefully adorned with trees and shrubs. The mansion is situated in about the centre of the grounds, on a slight eminence, and commands a very pretty view of the Park, the hills of Hampstead and Highgate, and the surround- ing country. Adjoining the south wing of the house there is a neat metal conservatory. Leaving the flower garden, the next feature of interest is the rock garden, which, though very small, is so admirably intersected by walks and high banks covered with various rock plants (among which arc some very choice Ferns), as to lead a stranger to imagine it is of consider.able extent. The rock-work is the most natural of any we know in the neighbourhood of London, and with its Brambles in wild luxuriance, aud various wild plants, one might almost consider it as in the Peak of Derbyshire, or among natural rock sceneiy. From the rock -work, we proceed through a stalactite cavern, with its coloured light and water- fall, until we come to a door glazed with pale lemon-coloured glass, through which we perceive the Orchid-house, which is also a rock-work .arrangement, and which one might almost fancy to be a natural cavern, the top of which had been taken off, and a glass roof substituted. Some of the Orchids are grow- ing beautifully on the rock-work, and the Ferns are quite at home in such a situation. This garden is at all times well kept, and in very neat condition, under the management of Mr. Stone, the rocky fernery being particularly chaste and natural. THE FLOWER GARDEN. THE MIXED SHRUBBERY BORDER. No practice is more general, or more in accordance with ancient custom, than that of digging shrubbery borders, and there is none in the whole course of gardening more profitless or worse. When winter is once come, almost every gardener, although animated with the best intentions, simply prepares to make w.ar upon the roots of everything in his shrubbery border. The generally accepted practice is to trim, and often to mutilate, the shrubs, and to dig all over the surface that must be full of feeding roots. Delicate half-rooted shrubs are often disturbed ; herbaceous plants, if at all delicate and not easily recognised, are destroyed ; bulbs are often displaced and injured; and a sparse depopulated aspect is given to the margins, while the only " improvement " that is effected by the process is the annual darkening of the surface by the upturned earth. Walk through gardens in winter and spring, and observe the borders round masses of shrubs, choice and otherwise. Instead of finding the earth covered, or nearly covered, with vegetation close to the margin, and each indi- vidual developed into something like a respectable specimen of its kind, we find a spread of recently dug ground, and the plants upon it with an air of having recently suffered from a whirlwind, or something or other that necessitated the removal of mutilated branches. Rough-pruners precede the diggers, aud bravely trim in the shrubs for them, so that nothing may be in the way ; and then come the delvers, who sweep along from margin to margin, plunging deeply round and about plants, shrubs, or trees. The first shower that occurs after this digging exposes a whole network of torn-up roots. There is no relief to the spectacle ; the same thing occurs every- where— in a Loudon botanic garden as well as in our large West-end parks ; and year after year the jirocess is repeated. While such is the case, it will be impossible to have an agreeable or interesting margin to a shrubbery ; albeit the Jax. i, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 15 '"^^^ C -^ -% n '•i,. ^^ f ^' > ;> 1W? ^V: ■i^' A -1- Ky-'s X 4- } ^. 'v "'>^_^/ K- 1^/'^^ 4»=. « ,\ t^3' c >^"^» * ^-. ^ "m^^ 'iUk' <' 16 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873. importance of the edge, as compared to the hidden parts, is pretty much as that of the face to the back of a miri'or. Of course all the labour required to produce this unhappy result is worse than thrown away, aa the shrubberies would do better if left alone, and merely surface-cleaned now and thou. By utilising the power thus wasted, we might highly beautify the positions now so very objectionable. If we resolve that no annual manuring or digging is to be permitted, nobody will grudge a thorough preparation at first. The planting should be so arranged as to defeat the digger. To gr.aduate the vegetation from the taller subjects behind to the very margin of the grass is of much importance, and this can only be done by the greater use of permanent evergreen and very dwarf subjects. Happily, there are quite enough of these to be had suitable for every soil. On light, moist, peaty, or sandy soils, where such things as the sweet- scented Daphne Cneorum would spread forth their dwarf cushions, a better resuk would ensue than, say on a stiff clay ; but for every position suitable plants might be found. Look, for example, at what we could do with the dwarf green Iberises, Holianthemums, Aubrietias, Arabises, Alyssums, dwarf shrubs, and little conifers like the creeping Cedar (Juniperns squamata), and the tamarix-leaved Juniper ! All these are green, and would spread out into dense wide cushions, covering the margin, rising but little above the grass, and helping to cut off the formal line which usually divides margin and border. Behind them we might use very dwarf shrubs, deciduous or evergreen, in endless variety ; and of course the margin should be varied also. In one spot we might have a wide-spreading tuft of the prostrate Savin pushing its graceful evergreen branchlets out over the grass ; in another the dwarf little Cotoueasters might be allowed to form the front rank, relieved in their turn by pegged-dowu Roses ; and so on without end. Her- baceous plants, that die down in winter and leave the ground bare afterwards, should not be assigned any important position near the front. Evergreen Alpine plants and shrubs are perfectly suitable. But the true herbaceous type, and the larger bulbs, like Lilies, should be " stolen in " between spreading shrubs rather than allowed to monopolise the ground. By so placing them, we should not only secure a far more satisfactory general effect, but highly improve the aspect of the herbaceous plants themselves. The head of a white Lily, seen peeping up between shrubs of fresh and glistening green, is infinitely more attractive than when forming one of a large batch of its own or allied kinds, or associated with a mass of herbaceous plants. Of course, to carry out such planting properly, a little more time at first and a great deal more taste than are now employed would be required ; but what a difference in the result ! In the kind of borders I advocate, nearly all the trouble would be over with the first planting, and labour and skill could be successively devoted to other parts of the place. All the covered borders would require would be an occasional weeding or thinning, &o., and perhaps, in the case of the more select spots, a little top-dressing] with fine soil. Here and there, between and amongst the plants, such things as Forget-me-nots and Violets, Snowdrops and Primroses, might be scattered about, so as to lend the borders a floral interest, even at the dullest seasons ; and thus we should be delivered from digging and dreariness, and see our ugly borders alive with exquisite plants. Assuming that one did not sufficiently esteem hardy flowers to go even to the trouble of adapting the margin of a shrub- bery to them, it may not be amiss to point out that the beds of Rhododendrons and American plants generally offer the finest positions that can be desired for the making of the most charming and satisfactory kind of mixed borders. The culture of Rhododendrons has for many years been so popular in this country that there are few places that do not possess beds or masses of them, or in which fertile masses of peaty soil have not been gathered for their reception. The Rhododendron bush, however fine in flower, has at all times a flattish, formal outline, and this is often disagreeably apparent where lai'ge masses are planted, as is now the custom in many places. The soil suited to the Rhododendron is also perfectly suited to the most beautiful and fastidious of all fine perennials. The bold and tall heads of Lilies standing above the flat green of the Rhododendrons in summer, sometimes, as in L. tigrinum Fortunci and L. supcrbum, in magnificent candelabra-like heads, are the very things to relieve these masses in the most effective way. Then again, the Lilies themselves will be seen to much greater advantage ; the bases of their stems, being hidden by their surroundings when withering, will not be an eyesore, as they often are when in a border, so that an impatient gardener might want to cut them down before their time, or have somethiug else in their place. The vevy open spaces which long remain between Rhodo- dendrons, &c., in consequence of their somewhat compact and slow-growing habit, encourage the kind of arrangement suggested. It would bo desirable to treat various classes of plants in this way, as, for instance, the Lilies, the Gladioli, Sparaxis pulcherrima, Tritomas, Ci'ocosmia aurea, &o., none of which need be disturbed after being planted, though tall and graceful subjects are undoubtedly best suited for it. But even round the edge such comparatively dwarf subjects as the Solomon's Seal and the beautiful Lilium longiflorum might be placed with the happiest results. In the case of some of the American Lilies, like L. superbum, this plan is not merely a good one for growing the plants, but it is better than any hitherto pursued with them, the peat soil and the partial shelter enabling them to attain their true dimensions and highest beauty, whereas as commonly grown they are starved, and rarely bloom. Another advantage of this mode is the succession of bloom from the same surface. As a rule, once the blush of early summer bloom has passed from the American plants, they present an uninviting surface for the season afterwards ; whereas varied iu the way described the beds would be most attractive at other seasons. R. NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON THE FLOWER GARDEN. The Best Twelve Tea Roses.— I shall be grontly obliiced if you or any of your readers will name for me tlic best dozeu kinds of Tea Roses. — R. [The following are the best, we think :— Devnniensis. Marecbal Niel, Gloiro de Dijon, Souvenir d'nn Ami, Souvenir d'Elise, Madame Willerraoi:, Triomphe de Rennes, Niphc'tos, CV-line Forestier, Madame Margottin, Belie Lyonnaise, AdamJ Schizostylis COCCinea- — I can fully endorse all that has been said as to th® value of this plant. I have cut flowers from it for more than a month, and shaP still cut more. It is an excellent plant for cut flowers, as they come out so weU and last so long in winter. With the addition of Christmas Roses, .lasminum nudiflorum, and Garrya elUptica.wecan still get a good nosegay from the outside garden. But with all this in its favour, the Schizostylis is a very capricious plant. 1 have had it for many years, but. as a general rule, it is a very shy bloomer. Probably the wet summer has suited it well, — H. N. Ellacombe, i?(7/o'n Vicarage. THE KITCHEN GARDEN. PARIS MARKET VEGETABLES AND THEIR CULTURE. BY A PARIS MARKET GARDENER. {Contimted from p. 555.) LETTUCE. Rabelais, cure of Meudon, is said to have sent to the Cardinal d'Estrees in 1540 seeds of the first Lettuces grown in France. The plant was at that time extensively grown and used as salad in Italy. The two principal kinds in cultivation are the Cabbage Lettuce and the Cos or Roman. Of the former the following varieties are grown : — The black, the Gotte, the George's, the Palatine, the red, the gi'ey, the tl: hi Pcmsion, and the laituc d couper. Of the Cos there are three popular varieties, the green, the white, and the grey. CABBAGE LETTUCES. The black Lettuce or Laitue Noir, which is the earliest of the spring crops, and which derives its name from the colour of its seed, is sown about the end of September under cloches, from which the air is excluded. Successive sowings ai-e made up to the 12th of October or later. The seedlings are trans- planted under cloches, twenty or thirty plants to each cloche, on sloping beds facing the south and covered with a good layer of fine rotten manure. Three rows of cloches are placed on each bed, and the plants are pricked in with the finger. No air is given unless the weather is very mild, and the plants appear likely to run to seed. Air is admitted by raising one side of the cloche and resting it upon one of the notches in Jan. 4, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 17 the side of a prop similar to that used for the frames, except that the lower part is cut to a poiut and is driven into the ground. The seedlings are planted out in moderately warm beds which have been prepared in the beginning of November. Torty-five or forty-six plants are placed iu each bed, and no other seed is sown amongst them. At the same time some good hot-beds for Carrots are prepared, in each of which from thirty to thirty-six Lettuces are planted quiucunx- fashiou. These plantings are continued from mouth to month up to the 1st of February, always in hot-beds under frames, with sowings of Carrots, Spinach, or Radishes. Iu January and Februarj' also three plants of Cabbage Lettuce and one of Eomau Lettuce are planted under each cloche among sowings of Carrots. The varieties George's and Gotte are bowii from the 4th to the 10th of October under cloches like the black Lettuce ; they are transplanted in the same way, but they must have plenty of air. Lettuces grown in cool beds are planted out in December, thirty plants under each light, among sowings of Parsley, Sorrel, Parsnips, or dwarf Celery. Four Cauliflowers may be interplanted under each light iu February. AVheu there is no frost air should be given to Lettuces in cool beds. They need not be covered except during unusually severe frost, and those which which have been planted out iu January need not be covered at all. Before planting out, the sowings should be covered with a good layer of rotten manure, and manure should also be placed on the walks, so that the soil may not be too much trampled. If planted out under cloches, three or four plants to each cloche will be sufficient ; there might be three CabVjage Lettuces and one Roman iu the middle. There should be three rows of cloches thus furnished on each bed. The red, grey, and Palatine Lettuces are sown under cloches from the 16th to the 20th of October, and are transplanted like the others. They are planted out under cloches, or on sloping beds or open squares in March, among sowings of any kind. The plants are set quincunx fashion, at intervals of 10 or 12 inches from each other. In the open ground they are sown from the month of March till September. The variety called De Passion is not grown by market gardeners ; it occupies the ground for too long a time. It may be sown in nursery beds from the loth of August to the 1.5th of September, and planted out in November in a warm position. It is hardy and does not suffer from the frost ; nevertheless, it is as well to cover it with mats or litter when the weather is very severe. The variety named a couper is sown broadcast, and rather thin among the rows of Cabbages, or in spaces in which Melons are to be grown in May. Later on, it is sown instead of Corn Salad among the white Onions. In the same way, about the end of August, may be sown black Lettuces, George's, and Gotte, which in the end of September are to be planted out under cloches, six plants to each cloche ; or under frames, thirty-five or forty plants to each light. They may be gathered in November and December. They should be sheltered from the frost by covering the frames or cloches with mats. EOilAX LETTUCES. Sowings of green Cos Lettuces commence from the 1st to the 10th of October, under cloches, and the seedlings are transplanted like those of other Lettuces, with this difference, that Cos Lettuces sown on hotbeds are transplanted at the rate of from seven to fourteen seedlings to each cloche. Cos Lettuces may also be sown under frames, but the cloches are more generally used. The operations commence in December. The dung-beds should be made rather warm, and beds of warm manure should form the walks. Only one plant should be placed under each cloche, and great care should be taken to guard against frost. In January and February this mode may be omploj'ed with greater safety. Three rows of cloches are placed on each bed, with a distance from each other of 2 or 3 inches. One green Cos Lettuce and throe black-seeded ones may be placed under each cloche, with a sowing of Carrots ; or one Cos Lettuce and a sowing of Radishes. No air should be given to Cos Lettuces thus planted. Cos Lettuces are planted in cold beds in the same way as George's Lettuces, and transplanted under cloches to the number of nineteen to twenty-four under each cloche. Sowings are made from the 4th to the 10th of October. The seedlings are transplanted under frames, twenty to each light, in quincunx fashion, associated with sowings of any kind, and under each light four Cauliflowers may be interplanted. If cloches are used, three plants are placed under each cloche. The light-yellow {hlomlea) and grey Lettuces are sown under cloches from the 15th of October to the 1st of November, and are transplanted iu the proportion of thirty to each cloche. In March they are planted out in the open squares. They may also be placed in the sloping beds, but the green Cos is preferable there, because it is earlier. Other sowings of hlond and grey Roman Let- tuces are made from the mouth of March up to August. Crops of black-seeded Lettuce are gathered in January, February, and March, and then come in successively the George's, the Gotte, and the De Passion, the red-seeded, the grey, and finally, in November and December, the black- seeded or the George's. The small au coiitean Lettuces may be gathered all the year round, being protected, of course, in winter by a covering of some kind. The earliest Cos Lettuces are gathered in .January, February, and March ; these are the green variety raised in hot-beds. After this time and through- out the whole summer successive crops may be gathered from cold beds. We may have them even in October and November by planting them under frames or cloches. TREAT3IKNT FOR ALL KINDS OF LETTUCES BUEING WINTEE. We have said that all kinds of Lettuces are sown and trans- planted on sloping trenched beds, and under cloches. The black-seeded variety and the Cos, when grown in hotbeds, should get no air ; but all the other kmds should have air given them, except in case of frost. The green Cos should be taken up in November, and planted deeply, to protect it from the frost. Before it is taken up, aud after it is planted again, air should be given, otherwise it will contract the disease called the meauler, aud perish. Twenty-four plants are set under each cloche ; but if a second transplanting is made, with nineteen plants under each cloche, the plants will be much finer. In December a ridge of manure should be placed behind the sloping beds, which will shelter the upper row of cloches when the frost comes. When the cold is severe, the air must be excluded, and mats spread over them. Should the cold continue, and the temperature descend very low, diy manure should be placed between the cloches, and if the temperature sinks still lower, they should be entirely covered with it. As long as the sun is up, the top is left exposed, in order to admit light to the plant, but as soon as his rays cease to fall on the cloches, mats should be spread over them. This pro- tecting manure is removed when the frosts disappear, but it is kept in heaps in the walks {seutier.-i) within reach for some time, to be reapplied in case of a return of frost. Sloping beds of 7 feet to 7^ feet wide will be found the most conve- nient iu this kind of culture. (To be continued.) NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON THE KITCHEN GARDEN. Wintering" Carrots-— We take up and store Carrots in winter as a matter of course ; buD it should also be known that (in dry situations particularly) they may be left in the ground all winter, if protected in severe weather with dry leaves or Fern. Kept in this way Carrots are much better flavoured than when housed. In storing Carrots it is not an uncommon, though an ignorant practice, to stack them in large heaps, and the cousetiuence is quick fermentation and destruction. They should be stored in thin ridges among dry soil or sand. A shed is the best place, and in this they should be kept as dry and as cool as possible. — J. S. The Egg Plant.— This is a favourite vegetable in America, where it grows to a good size, and is cultivated much as the Vegetable Marrow is here, that is, it is raised in heat and grown in the open air. It might be worth trying here, even though a Cucumber frame should be needed to make it grow. The^purple sort is the best for kitchen use. In cooking it, take a middle-sized fruit (about -i or 5 inches across) and cut it in slices about a \ inch thick ; lay them on a plate and sprinkle salt between each layer, then turn a plate above them and place a weight on the top, to draw out the juice. Then wipe each piece with a cloth, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them in boiling lard or good dripping, on both sides a light brown. A little Parsley may be fried along with them for garnishing. Serve hot.— M. W. On one occasion the Bishop of B — , iu Scotland, was entertaining his choir at his private residence. After dinner, cheese, and amongst other things, Lettuces followed, and the Bishop handed a dish of the latter to one of his young guests, who after looking at it some time said, ' ' Na, na, my Lord, thauk you ; I like my Kail (Cabbage) boiled." 18 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873. THE GARDEN IN THE HOUSE. THE VARIEGATED JAVANESE SCREW PINE. (PANDAXUS JAVANICUS VARIEGATUS). AVhere room can be afforded this is well worth cultivation. A finely grown specimen of it well furnished with its prettily yariegated pendant leaves is highly attractive ; but it should never be too much crowded, for if it cannot stand quite clear of other plants, half its beauty is lost, a remark which also holds good in reference to all plants of similar habit. Their greatest charm lies in their finely-arched drooping leaves, which, to be seen to advantage, must stand clear of everything near them. This Pandanus is very attractive, even in a small state, but it is only when it acquires a size of some 4 feet through, and as much high, that it is seen in proper character. It is of easy culture ; a small healthy plant of it in, say a 6-inch pot, if potted in February or ]\Iarch, into a 10 or 1'2-inch pot, well drained, using good turfy loam, with the addition of one-sixth of clean sand, making the soil quite firm in potting, will make a nice half-specimen in a year. It recjuires ordinary stove treatment, with a night temperature of from 70° to 75° during the growing season, and a rise of 10° in the daytime. Keep the soil moderately moist, syringe Variegated Screw Pine. the plant in the afternoons, and keep it well elevated near the glass, in order to induce a short compact growth ; shading very little, as when much shaded it does not come so finely variegated. It is not very liable to the attacks of insects, except scale or mealy bug, both of which must be kept down by a diligent use of the sponge and camel's-hair brush. In the winter keep the soil a little drier than in summer, and maintain a night temperature not lower than 60°. Small plants may be used for table decoration, or in a larger state for vases, but they must not be kept long out of heat, or they will suffer. Suckers taken off and inserted in small pots, using half sand and loam, and keeping them moderately close, soon root, after which they should be treated as recommended for larger plants. T. Sadies. Helichrysum Buds. — "Wishing tMs year not to lose even the unespanded huds of these "everlastings," some of them were brought into the dining- room. On removing them. I thought I perceived a partial separation of the petals, and it occurred to me that this must be due to the artificial tempera- ture of the room. I immediately tested the matter by placing a number of buds before the iire, and as a result obtained as many full-blown flowers. Knowing, however, the tendency of the Helichi-ysum to close after it has been in bloom, I was not satisfied with the experiment until I had ascertained that a night's exposure in the coldest room of the house failed to cause them to close. Common Hart's-tongne.— Of this Fern, which may be found on shady hanks almost everywhere, I gathered some specimens the other day in the Isle of Wight. I potted them, watered them, and placed them in the window of my sitting-room, and now they are so interesting and beautiful that I would advise all who wish to have something green in their windows at this dull time of year, to uproot a plant or two of this Fern from the nearest hedgerow, and treat it as I have done. — R. PUBLIC GARDENS. THAMES SCENERY. It is probable that when every place of any natural boauty in the neighbourhood of London has been made irretrievably ugly Londoners will wake to a sense of the advantages they have lost, and of their own folly iu letting them slip so lightly. Every year sees the city grow larger. Even young men can remember when a good deal which could fairly be called country was within reach of an after, noon's walk. Now, nothing of the kind can be reached except by railway, and there is no saying how far it will soon be necessary to travel, even by railway, before feeling that London has been left behind. Still, here and there accident or care has defended some special spots against the irrepressible advance of biick and mortar. They, too, may any day share the fate of the rest, but as 3'et they are unharmed. It is for Londoners to see that they remain so. They had need to be active now if they would save Hampton Court from the ruin which has overtaken so much else along the river bank. The Chelsea Waterworks Company intend, it appears, to ask Parliament for powers to build reservoirs along the right bank of the Thames which will extend from the mouth of the river Mole to the Swan Inn. To discover what these reservoirs will be like, we need only go a mile lower down the stream and see how Kingston has been spoiled by a similar process. In the case of Hampton Court the destruction will be much more complete. At Kingston the spectator is on the same side of the river as the Waterworks, and though the foreground has been made hideous by their agency, the view of the woods on the other bank remains. But at Hampton Court, the spectator, standing at the river end of the teixace, looks across to a line of Willows and trees, and if this is displaced by a long embankment of earth or granite, one of the chief beauties of the Palace gardens will disappear, and an element of positive and obtrusive ugliness take its place. Fortunately the Chelsea Water, works Company has to get fresh powers before anything can he done, but we know how bills of this sort are smuggled through Parliament when it is nobody's because it is everybody's business to oppose them. At this part of its course the Thames is not rich in land, scape. After Twickenham is past there is scarcely anything that tempts the oarsman to linger until he comes to Thames Ditton, and above Hampton Court he must go nearly to Windsor before he meets with any second temptation. Above the tidal stream, therefore, the mile or so between Thames Ditton and Hampton Court is the one really beautiful reach within an easy distance of London — the solitary representative of the glories which come so thickly when Maidenhead Bridge is once past. If this is destroyed — and to em- bank one side of the river between these two points is to destroy it — the Thames above Teddington Lock will virtually he closed to Londoners who are not prepared to journey five-and-twenty miles in search of it. THE THAMES EMBAISIKMENT GARDENS. The following is part of a leading article in the Building Nejvs. We by no means agree with all the conclusions of the writer, but think it desirable, in the interest of public gardening, that intelligent criticism should have free play : — •' The humours of a retired mer. chant who, at Peckham Rye, Camberwell, or Deimiark Hill, plants his Cabbages, and sets up for a man of taste, do not. concern the pubhc. His house, land, and everything that is his, are his ovm to use at his pleasure. The Thames Embankment does not stand in a similar case. The Metropolitan Board of Works are trustees of the public, who pay the piper, and have a right to the full value of the money they pay. Can any one wlio has seen the so-called ornamental grounds call them worthy of the metropolis, or worth the money they cost ? The great mistake in the treatment of the reclaimed ground lay in ignoring its surroundings. Manifestly on made ground, with the Hues of buildings never to be entirely shut out, and the water-level at hand to tell the tale like a philosophical instrument, the devisers have proceeded as though they had to deal with a suburban plot on a hill-side. Artificial mounds have been put up, sinuosities of path have been affected, borders of flowers skirt shrubberies, difficulties have been created but not overcome ; in short, it would not be easy to point to another work of public importance where the first principles of landscape garden, iug have been more persistently violated (always excepting the improvecuents in Hyde Park, in the neighbourhood of Albert Gate) than the ornamental ground between Villiers Street and Waterloo Bridge. The proper treatment of the ground is manifest. The boundary line separating the Embankment grounds from the slums of the Strand, including the arches of the Adelphi and ignoble outhouses of all kinds, should have a screen wall some- what similar to that which screens the buildings in Whitehall Place. J.^^l. 4, 187.3.] THE GARDEN. 19 All attempts at rural-landscape gardening should have been avoided > and the whole attention of the designer directed to urban embellish- ment. Rural landscape-gardening and urban embellishment are very different things. A central avenue of Plane trees, the only trees which thoroughly withstand the Loudon smoke, terminated at the Charing Cross end by a handsome artichectural entrance — the York Stairs' Gate, for example, now ignobly buried at the foot of Buckingham Street — would be infinitely preferable to the meaning- less paths, leading from nowhere to no whither, which at present puzzle the public. A central basin of sufficient dimensions, or an architectural mound of masonry or terra-cotta to contain flowers, would be quite enough in the way of floriculture. The ground should be, in fact, treated as an arboretum, not as a parterre. In the neighbourhood of the Strand, few evergreens thrive. The Holly, almost the hardiest tree we have, exists but does not thrive. Neither Laurel, Bay, nor Aucuba flourishes ; Ivy, if of the right sort (Nvhich that on" the ground alluded to is not), does fairly; Bo.^ never comes to much, and the Coniferaj are out of the question." [There is certainly nothing now seen on the Embankment more objectionable than an " architectural mound of masonry" would be.] Garden Clerk at Kew, — Your correspondent (Mr. Handy) appears to think that a man under thirty might be found competent to fill this situation ; but, possessing as I do an extensive knowledge of the sort of men to be found in the gardening world, and of the duties of the place in question, I still hold to the opinion I at first expressed, more especially as I know that he will have to under- take the supervision of men who have had time to get, and have got, " proper experience and knowledge of their business." A bota- tanical garden is a place quite different from a gentleman's garden, and a man, though thoroughly acquainted with the latter, is lost as soon as he gets into a botanical garden. As to Napoleon's generals, what he wanted in them was chiefly what is termed " dash," and for that young men were the best ; but a man to be a good bota- nical gardener must study long and diligently before he can be considered to be master of his work. — J. Ckouchek. WORK FOR THE WEEK. PRIVATE GARDENS. Flower Garden. — The unusual mildness of the past month, and more especially of the past week, has caused the buds of many shrubs to swell in a very unseasonable way, thus rendering them liable to injury from succeeding hard frosts, should such occur. Grass lawns are as green as they commonly are in jVIarch. In the case of flower beds, the surface soil should be slightly loosened whenever the weather is dry, but not so deeply as to injure bulbs planted therein. Spring-flowering plants are growing wonderfully ; and Pansiea and Daisies (Henderson's new double white one) are affording a few flowers, whilst different kinds of Christmas Roses are quite gay in the borders, and on walls the naked-flowered Jasmine is covered with its pretty Primrose-like blossoms. Altera- tions of all kinds should now be pushed forward with vigour whilst the weather is favourable for outdoor work. Trees of all sorts may be transplanted, taking care to lift them with as good balls as possible. After planting they should be firmly staked, and a mulching of litter or leaves placed over their roots. Bedding Plants. — If Pelargoniums are to be wintered success- fully in frames, keep them dry ; give just sufficient water to moisten the whole of the soil in the pot when the plants begin to flag, but not a drop sooner. Remove all decaying leaves and everything else likely to generate damp ; keep the sashes drip-proof, and admit fresh air freely by tilting them up throughout, the day in favourable weather, but let them be shut up at night. Pelargoniums wintered on the top or other shelves of little conservatories or greenhouses should also be kept nearly dry. Calceolarias in frames should not be exposed beyond tilting up the sashes a little in fine weather ; and they should also be kept clear of decaying leaves. Stir the surface soil amongst plants of Golden Feverfew planted in frames. Helio- tropes, Ageratums, and Verbenas are best wintered near the glass in a minimum temperature of about 40^ ; and Iresines, Alternantheras, and Coleuses should have positions where the temperature does not fall below 45'. Salvias, Lantanas, Gazanias, &c., may be safely subjected to less heat. All these, however, must be kept moderately dry, though not too much so. Echeverias, Kleinias, Scdums, Sem- pervivums, Mesembryanthemums, and other all but hardy succu- lents, may safely be stored in double lines along the passages or on the shelves of greenhouses, or in frames — indeed, in any situation where they can be kept pretty dry, and have plenty of light and air. Roots of Dahlias, Cannas, Fuchsia fulgens, Erythrinas, &c., may be stored thickly together in dry cellars, and have a little mode- rately dry sand scattered over them. Conservatories. — This is the best time for destroying mealy bug, red spider, green-fly, thrips, &c. ; for if allowed to remain untouched until warm weather sets in their extirpation is effected with much more difliculty. Plants done flowering and whose foliage is not attractive enough to make them worth a place in the conser- vatory should be removed, and their places supplied from the forcing pit, or by a re-arrangement of the plants already in the house. Rhododendrons, Camellias, Acacias, Eugenias, Araucarias, and other evergreen plants, greenhouse Palais, and tree Ferns should be sup- plied with water as they require it, for at no period of the year will they submit with impunity to absolute drought. Nothing is so effective at present as the Rhododendron arboreum, plants of which are complete masses of brilliant scarlet ; bright yellow is furnished by Coronillas, white by Camellias and Azaleas, and rosy-purple by Veronica imperialis. Use just sufficient fire-heat to keep out frost, and no more, and keep the atmosphere on the side of dryness, though paths and similar surfaces must be sprinkled now and then so as to maintain healthy action. Forcing House. — Introduce in succession plants of Azaleas and Camellias, and syringe them slightly every day about noon. Place Callas in some warm corner, and if possible plunge them in a gentle bottom heat, giving them plenty of water and a little liquid manure occasionally. Keep them in 6-inch pots, which are large enough for them, and heed not the roots traversing the surface of the soil and down the sides of the pot until the flowers are formed, when all stray roots should be removed, the pots washed, and the plants gradually inured to less heat, finally consigning them to the conservatory. Lift Lilacs from the open ground with good roots, pot them, place them in heat, and syringe them twice a-day. If the purple kind is required to produce white flowers the plants must be forced in darkness. Ghent Azaleas, Woigelas, Jasminums, Kalmias, &c., are also now being forced. Place bulbs in heat as soon as they begin to push, and keep them there until they open their flowers. Spiraeas, Lily of the Valley, &c., should be kept in cold frames and introduced into heat as required. Stoves. — Keep all evergreen plants growing gently. If they are kept dry for a time, and then more freely watered, they are sure to start prematurely into growth ; but if kept uniformly moist, and at the same time drier than during their growing season, they go to rest, and start strongly when placed under the influence of increased temperatui-e, light, and moisture. On open, dry days, ventilate a little, but not to such an extent as to cause draughts, or to lower the temperature, and shut up early. Start some of the earliest rested Gloxinias, also a few Caladiums. Start likewise a few early rested Begonias, young plants of Pentas carnea, Justicias, Gesneras, &c. With, hold water from the roots of Xanthosomas, Remusatias, Curcumas, Caladiums, herbaceous Begonias, Achimenes, Gloxinias, &c., so as to induce the foliage to die down, then place the pots on their sides until the roots are quite at rest. After a week or two turn the soil out of the pots, gather the roots together according to their kind, and store them thickly in pots of silver sand, being careful not to mix the different sorts. Roots of Remusatias and Curcumas winter very well without being turned out of their pots. Orchids may be placed on new blocks if necessary, or top-dressed, or repotted ; be careful not to give them too much \vater, though to such as are growing and flowering, some must be applied. NURSERIES. The busy season is at hand ; consequently everything is being got ready for its approach. Peat is being got under cover or stacked out-of-doors, as are also loam, turf, leaf-mould, and sand. Pots are being washed, packing cases mended and new ones made. Willows cut and bundled, stakes renovated, and everything likely to be wanted in spring is being provided. The bulb trade is all but over for the season, and all hands are busy in the seed department. Cuttings of soft-wooded Heaths may yet be struck, as may also the young points of Boronias, Polygalas, and other hai-d-wooded green, house plants. Cut over a few Epacrises and place them in a moderate heat, to yield young shoots for cuttings. Separate and pot singly autumn-struck cuttings of Azaleas and Camellias. Place last autumn's struck Camellias, or those now sixteen months old, on a shelf near the glass, for grafting on in February and March. Repot some of the Heaths, in order that too much work may not occur at a time when it cannot be overcome. Introduce Pelar. goniums. Verbenas, Lobelias, Tropawlums, Lantanas, Coleuses, Iresines, Alternantheras, Mesembryanthemnm cordifolium, and similar plants into a brisk moist temperature, to start them into growth for cuttings. Keep roots of Cannas in pots dry by building the pots one above another in some dry cool place. Gradually dry off roots of Dahlia imperialis. Have a few 20 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 4, 1873. good strong roots of Yellow Queen, Qneen of Primroses, or other strong growing sort ready to graft D. imperialis on in spring. Sow Palm seeds as soon as imported in pans or boxes of loamy soil ; the boxes may be kept in any odd comer until the seeds have germinated, when they must bo placed in a more prominent position. Hooted cuttings of Stephanotis, Gardenias, Bouvardias, Aralias, Ixoras, Draca)nas, Dieffenbachias, Pavottas, &c., must be potted singly, plunged in bottom heat, and kept nnder hand-lights or bell-glasses. Sow some Anthurinm and Aglaonema seeds in some damp, spongy material, in heat. Gather the seeds of Aroids, Anthuriums, Aglao. nemas, Ardisias, Solanums, Ac, as soon as ripe. Sow some Cycla- mens in an intermediate tempei'atnre, and keep the pans containing the seeds near the glass. Protect young flower-spikes of Orchids from cockroaches, by placing a little cotton around each, near its base ; also poison these pests with phosphorus paste as you would rats, or trap them in little basins containing treacle and water. Good earthenware traps shaped like inverted basins are obtained at the potteries, so that when these depredators go to feed they drop in and get drowned. Sow Fern spores in rough peat, or in pans or pots, under bell-glasses, &c. Pot off the seedlings as they become lit for that operation, and also give older seedlings a shift. MARKET GARDENS. The dry, sunny days of the past week have had a beneficial influence on market gardens. All hands have been set to work ; those who can. not dig, trench, or shake up litter are placed with the women and boys to loosen the soil amongst Cabbages, Coleworts, Lettuces, Par- sley, transplanted Onions, and similar crops. Get August-sown Onion-beds thoroughly cleaned ; women with half-sieve baskets, to put the weeds in as picked, soon go over a large space on a dry day. When finished, slightly dig or loosen the alleys, and transplant Let- tuces or Cabbages therein. Get all empty quarters manured and trenched, throwing the soil into ridges 2 feet apart. Vacant ground under fruit trees manure and dig for Radishes, and be sure to have the trees thinned or pruned before the ground is interfered with. Radish beds sown early in December should be uncovered every morning, replacing the litter at night. Keep a boy for each series of beds to frighten off birds. Warm borders which contained Tomatoes in summer are best adapted for winter-sown Radishes. Under fruit trees the beds receive a little shelter, whilst the little shade caused by the naked branches does no harm. Remove handlights and sashes from Cauliflowers, Lettuces, and Onions during the daytime, but replace them at night. The smallest amount of rain must be excluded from the Lettuces, as they are so apt to damp off if they become wet ; therefore rather tilt up the sashes than altogether remove them. Thin and weed the plants, and stir the soil a little amongst them. Scatter some lime over all kinds of crops, more especially over those transplanted permanently, such as Cauli- flowers under hand-lights. If ground is required, lift the Jerusalem Artichokes and store them ; if land is not wanted, merely cnt over the stalks and spread a layer of litter along the top of each drill. Dig the gronnd between lines of Rhubarb, and place a forkful of litter ever each crown. Any Endive plants to spare plant in front of palings or walls. If the ground is required in which the general crop is growing lift the plants, tie a piece of matting around each, and lay them in thickly in a bed for a time. Protect them from severe weather by shaking some rough litter over them. Look over Mush- room beds twice a week if bearing well, if not, once will sufiice. Examine Seakale beds producing Kale, and by means of the litter in the alleys and that covering the beds maintain an equable temperature. If necessary start two other beds by filling the alleys with fermenting manure, placing a covering of the same on the surface ; over that put hoops and mats, to be covered with litter if wanted. Succession beds leave exposed. Treat Rhubarb in a similar way, but give the roots more room. Take the litter oil sashes put over Mint frames, but replace it at night. Make another hotbed, lift another lot of roots, and start them to succeed those already in bearing. into fruit in February and March. If hurriedly forced, they will push up weak, long stalks, productive of small fruit, weak and irre- gular blo.ssom, causing some pips to swell imperfectly, also causing uneven and abortive fruits, light in weight, and black inside, bearing overgrown crowns. From G5" to 70' should be maintained in the pits, with a kindly humidity during night, according to the light and sun by day, and the day interior atmosphere and humidity must be in proportion to the sun and light. For the withholding of water and humidity from fruit already finished swelling, and the placing of those almost coloured into a light dry situation, follow last month's instructions. For all growing succession plants maintain a kindly bottom and inside atmospheric heat, advancing it as the days lengthen, and light increases. Pot on plants in every stage that require it, never allowing their progress to be checked for want of pot-room at any season of the year. James Baexes. THE GALE OF DECEMBEE. This is said to have been the most severe since 170.3 ; but be that as it may, it is admitted to have been the strongest that has occurred within these last eight years, the pressure being at one time 33i pounds to the square foot. Around London, glass houses were in some instances stripped. Many have foretold that my patent clip system of glazing without vertical sash-bars would not bear the wind power of a severe gale. I confess that as the sudden thuds of the gale shook the house in which I live, and the roof-tiles chattered, I slept nervously, but, in the case of 6,000 feet of glass fixed here, and upwards of 40,000 in different parts of the country, the only breakage has been one square here, and two at Brompton ; thus, I think, very satisfactorily settling the matter of strength. Of course a house fully glazed is much safer than one partly so, but to show the immense resistance of Hartley's rolled plate glass, when properly fixed, I may relate the following fact. For some weeks past my men have been roofing a conservatory at Kidbroke Lodge, Blaekheath, the grotmds being parallel with those of Morden College. The house is 54 feet long, 35 feet wide, IS feet high at the sides, and 30 feet high to the top of the roof, the latter being a centre span with short lean-to sides. One side is fixed to the dwelling house, but the ends of the conserva- tory and the front are in masonry, so as to correspond with the residence. My centre roof is carried by columns 12 feet apart, con- nected by means of light, ornamental wrought-iron girders, but, in. stead of the usual heavy cast-iron columns, I have introduced the light and elegant " Ribbon Posts" of the Manchester Ribbon Tele- graph Post Company. These, before they were fixed, I had tested to the necessary strength, bnt of course I had no idea that they would have been so soon subjected to the wind trial through which they have passed so triumphantly. Owing to defective brickwork, carried out locally, the wall was found, when my men wanted to attach their roof, to be in a falling condition, and had to be taken down. In this predicament the ribbon posts had to do double duty by carrying the iron work of the side roof as well as the centre. Add to this the fact that at the time of the gale the centre roof and the inner side roof were glazed with Hartley's rolled plate glass, make the further addition of wind pressure of 331 pounds to the foot, and it will be seen that this roof, without ends or sides, and unsupported by any side wall, had to support the enormous pressure of nearly three tons to the square of 100 feet. I have much pleasure in being able to thus bear testimony to the strength of the Ribbon Post, for it is not only cheaper than cast-iron, but, being of light, trellis-like pattern, is for all conservatory and garden purposes immeasurably superior to it. Any one who may walk to the Morden College corner of Blaekheath may see the conservatory roof alluded to, and test the accuracy of my statement. Trees close by were torn up by their roots, but from the partly glazed and wholly unprotected roof not a single square of glass was removed. I may add that in different places I have considerable stretches of wall-fruit preservers fixed. The squares in these are each 3 feet long, but in no case has one been broken. W. P. Ayres. PINE-APPLE CULTUEE FOE JANUAET. The season has arrived when many plants have started, some starting, and others showing fruit. Great care and attention will be required in every stage of Pine-apple culture for the next six weeks, to be successful with the plants when in blossom, and with frnit that is up, to prevent any kind of abortion to a single pip, or the tmeven swelling so easily produced at this season. There must be no check or hurry, either by attempting to drive or hurry on those fruits that are in any stage of swelling. Nothing but time, patience, and persevering attention will succeed in kindly starting, blooming, and swelling fruit to perfection while we have short and dark days. Patience must allow from fourteen to twenty-eight days longer for winter fruit, according to variety, to swell than those that will start Fire at Mr. Messenger's Horticultural Works. — We regret to learn that the works and machinery of Mr. Messenger, Horticultural Builder, Loughborough, have been destroyed by fire. Distressing as the effects of the fire have been, it is some consolation to learn that the workmen, whose chests of tools have been sacrificed, will not suffer much through loss of time, as temjiorary premises have already been taken to carry on the business, and the workshops will be immediately rebuilt. The principal loss is in the very large stock of prepared woodwork ready for erection, all being painted ready for sending off. Fortunately the bulk of Mr. Messenger's dry timber was stowed in other parts of the town, and thus saved from the general wreck. Jan. 11, 1873.] THE GAEDBN. 21 THE GARDEN. " This is an art Whicli does mend nature : change it rather : but The Akt itself is Natuke." — Shakespeare. GROUND WORK. The importance of properly forming ground is very rarely sufficiently recognised. The other day we saw a croquet ground in the course of formation. To get the proper level, nearly 2 feet deep of soil had to be taken from the top part of the ground, to be filled in at the bottom. A person who understood the work would have filled in the loose soil in layers, 4 or 6 inches thick, and then rammed and consolidated it as the work proceeded. But as our learned amateur knew better than that, he wheeled the soil into its place to the full thick- ness, and having levelled it roughly, passed the garden roller over it several times, and having given the surface a smoothing with the rake proceeded to lay the turf. What will be the consequence ? Just this. When the rain comes the turf in the soil will decay, and the whole will subside into a series of miniature pitfalls, rendering it useless as a croquet ground and necessitatuig the renewal of the work. Now, in the formation of a croquet, cricket, or bowling ground, or even the forma- tion of a lawn or flower garden, it is necessary that the ground should be removed to a uniform depth, and if it is not it is in- dispensable that the soil in every hole should be properly rammed until it is brought to the proper surface level. In this manner the turf may have a smooth and proper founda- tion, and without that it is a waste of time to lay the turf at all. Soils differ much in the amount of compression which they require. Laud, free from vegetable matter, will, after a good soaking rain, go together so closely as to need but little further compression, but fresh soil full of fibre will rot and settle for years if it is not thoroughly con- solida,ted at the commencement of the work. Loamy soils can easily be properly handled when they are di-y. If you attempt to ram them when they are wet you will form a plastic mass through which the rain will pass with difficulty, and hence the surface will always be damp and mossy, but if you ram such a soil when it is in a comparatively dry state, you may make it solid, and yet the interstices between the particles of soil will be sufficient to allow the surface water to escape with facility. In relation to new ground work a gentleman remarked the other day : " If that work had been done by the day I should have considered I was being most shamefully robbed, but now I see that the care you insist upon is necessary, and that the work is being executed in the best possible manner." VINE FAILURES. Nearly all gardeners of any extent of experience must have ob. served that certain vineries become suddenly famous for their crops o£ Grapes, and as suddenly lose the reputation thus obtained. That there is some sufficient cause or causes for thiajsudden wax and wane of fruitfulness, no sane man will deny, any more than he will the importance of a discovery of a remedy for the latter ; and in order to arrive at some safe conclusions on the subject, I will proceed to make a diagnosis of a set of " wom-out-Vines," and of the border they are planted in — I cannot say growing in, for the active roots have left it years ago. What, then, do I find ? small, thin, flaccid foliage, the lateral growths getting annually smaller in wood and larger in pith ; the foot-stalks of the bunches long and slender ; the bunches composed one of half-matured, the other of shanked berries; the Vines very subject to attacks of red spider, or any other living pest that afflicts the Vine. It the atmosphere is kept moist, they throw out a great many air-roots. Altogether they are in a most unsatisfactory condition. Then what of the border ? Dig down a foot deep in it and you find no young, active roots. The soil is more of the consistency of putty than anything else. It was rich when compounded, and is so much the worse now. In the process of its removal you come upon a fine large bare root, running as direct across it to the gravel walk beyond as the cable does across the Atlantic, and you are provoked to find that though there is not a living rootlet in the border that has been pre- pared with such care, there are abundance branching iu all directions among the broken bricks, stones, ashes, or gravel, as the case may be, that form the walk. My readers will probably remark. Then why not make the whole border of brickbats, stones, or gravel ? I reply, better it were so than as matters but too frequently are found ; at the same time I hold that a border properly made of good loam, with the addition of a few bones, a little horse.manure, and, if the soil is heavy, some brick rubbish or burnt clay, or both, is far more likely to give good results than bricks, stones, or ashes. The reasons why the roots branch in all directions in the walk are that undoubted law of nature which provides many roots for a plant on poor soil as compared with those on rich, and the sweeter state — to use a technical term — of the material of which the walk is framed, as compared with the border, kept so by the air in the interstices amongst the stones. Others of the roots, as I have often found, have gone down into the miserably poor sand or gravel of the subsoil. They are anywhere, in fact, but where they were intended to be. Your neighbour plants a vinery, and he means to prevent the evil complained of. He bricks up the arches of his front wall to compel the roots to live at homo till they occupy the inside border well, when he means to let them out ; but they have their revenge, for they go first to the bricks, then trace them down to feel if they can get out underneath them. They fail, but they are away a yard from the surface, and when let out commence their march across the border at such a depth as deprives them of the genial influences of heat and air. So much for what we learn from an examination of the old Vines and their border. I will now, founding on much experience, suggest what the Vines may have been like when planted. They were probably what are styled in the advertisements of the present day, " fine strong planting canes," and to the comparatively inexperienced they appeared all they were represented, but a critical examination proved that they were as pithy as a rush. They had no well- plumped firm eyes, and when turned out of their pots it was discovered that they were grown in rich soil, half dung in fact, that they had been grown iu bottom heat, and that many of the roots formed under such circumstances had decayed when exposed to a degree of cold that would do no injury to a properly grown Vine. They have been raised from eyes in small pots, where they remained till their tap-roots had made several journeys round the inside of the pot, when they were transferred to a 9 or 10-inch pot, to fimsh their growth and make several more coils round it. Another aspect of their treatment in early youth was that they were grown as near each other in a close moist atmosphere as beans in a field, their foliage never getting properly exposed to light and air. I by no means blame nurserymen for growing them thus, while the Vine- buying public expect to get " fine strong planting canes for 3s. fad., and fine fruiting ditto at Ss." The thing is simply impossible at the present rate of labour and other appliances, including the space the Vines would require to grow them properly. This is a real case of sinking the ship to save a pennyworth of tar. I may here remark that I observe another delusion springing up at the present day about Vines for planting. I refer to advertisements setting forth that the subscribers can supply young Vines grown witlwiit the aid of artificial /leai— as if this were likely to add to then- value, when the reverse is the case. No Vine should be planted that is more than a year old from an eye, and to get such well crown and ripened in the climate of Britain requires more or less fire-heat. Such being the Vines, let us turn them out of their pots and proceed to plant them. The roots that have survived are twisted and entangled in aU directions, and by the time leading roots are disentraged from the ball, there are no small laterals left on tbem ; but they are a good length, and when spread out reach a long way across the border. While the stored-up sap in the Vine and roots lasts, progress in growth is made for a short time ; and after a hait^ youno- roots start from the points of the old extended roots, and, it the border has all been made up at once, get rapidly on with their •i Gardener. journey across it. u/uvuii Another Poison.— There has lately been discovered a pojso" called Ina;a, which is said to be more subtle than digitalme. The poison is obtained by pressure from the seeds of Strophanthus hispidus an Apocynaceous plant, found in Gaboon ; and from ex- penments made with samples of it, obtained from arrows, upon which the natives place it, as recorded in the Lancet, it appears that it acts more powerfully than digitaUne or antiarine, and qmckly paralyzes the heart. Three millegrammes kill a frog, a sparrow, or a dog, though the resistance of certain animals varies. A snail, tor instance, requires five millegrammes ; a mouse has withstood three millegrammes of the extract (obtained by macerating the seeds m alcohol), whilst this latter dose kiUs a dog 955 times heavier than the mouse. The heart comes to a complete standstiU after a tew irregular efforts. 22 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11,1873. NOTES OF THE WEEK. Mr. Penny, formerly of St. Dunstan's, Regent's Park, hag been appointed superintendent of the gardens of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales at Sandringham. We also hear that Mr. Car- miohael, who has, hitherto, been gardenor there, has been appointed to succeed the late Mr. Donald at Hampton Court. As we go to press the few old Thorns that for many years have been the only vegetable adornments of Leicester Square are I)eing cut down, and a very high hoarding erected, so that this too famous space will now be concealed by something scarcely less hideous than the surface of the square for the past year. While in the west, the interior, and north of France the rain has been incessant, as in England, there is a perfect drought in that part on the coast of the Mediterranean. Thus at Mont- pellier, at the present time, they are likely to offer public prayers for rain, it being more than two months since they have had any. Wk have just tasted some Easter Beurre Pears that have come all the way from California. Thoy have travelled well, and may now bo seen in some of the shop windows in Covent Garden. As regards their quality, it is decidedly superior to that of either English or French fruit of the same kind, the flavour being very fine and the flesh of a more even and tender texture than that of European -grown Pears. A YOUNG tree of the true Glastonbury Thorn, growing in Mr. Dean's seed grounds at Bedfont, in an exposed situation, has already pushed shoots an inch in length from the extremities of the old wood, and bunches of flower-buds are visible. In a warm place, and during a mild winter, therefore, it would be no great wonder to gee this Thorn in bloom on Old Christmas Day. — A. — — Mr. Perry informs us that various kinds of Narcissi are coming into flower in the open ground at Tottenham, where Schizo- stylis coccinea, and Tritoma Uvaria are still in considerable beauty. Snowdrops, too, are in flower in the same locality, as are also Prim, roses, including many double kinds, and the charming little yellow- eyed crimson Primula altaica. To these must also be added Cycla- men vemum and Atkinsi, Potentillas, Geums, Tassilago fragrans, Lithospermum prostratum, Erauthis hyemalis, and the pretty deep sky-blue flowered Anemone blanda. We have just received the first number of the weekly issue of the Gardeners' Record, an Irish horticultural journal, which hitherto has only been published fortnightly. Its size has been increased, while its price has been reduced and a page or two devoted to agricultural matters has been added to it. An undertaking begun with so much spirit deserves hearty support, which we hope it will receive. The tender little Cabbage Lettuces grown around Paris under the cloche, and also on gentle hot-beds, are now abundant in Covent Garden and in other English markets ; they have been procurable since the beginning of December, and are now rapidly improving in quaUty. The scarcity of fruit has led to the importation of Pears in the way of the Colmar type from the neighbourhood of Trieste. A POLITICAL Christmas tree was exhibited in Paris lately. It was a good-sized Fir from the Vosges mountains, torn up by the roots, with a quantity of the native soil of Alsace still clinging to it. Around this tree, richly laden with toys and bonbons, were congregated 2,000 children of Alsace and Lorraine exiles. M. Gambetta and several other deputies were present. ■ The owner of one of the most interesting bulb gardens in the neighbourhood of London writes to us concerning it as follows : " If there are ' sermons in stones and books in the running brooks,' what must there be in flowers to a pent-up denizen of this great metropolis ! Suppose the Thames Embankment, the borders in Hyde Park, and in Battersea Park were radiant now with something attractive, how tempting would it be to stroll out and inspect them on such a day as last Sunday — a day of sunshine and shower, when at one period we had April and at another December. During the April phase of the day I wandered to my bulb garden to see what sweet faces had unveiled themselves since my last visit. First on the list was Crocus Imperati, with its beautiful fawn-coloured black striped outer petals and inner purple petals, flaunting gaily in the sun with as much importance as the fair damsels who now display themselves in parti-coloured dresses ; for verily, if this last develop- ment of dress was taken from nature, it must have been from Crocus Imperati, of which I send you a few flowers. My next attendant was Crocus Sieberi, a lovely purple. Having examined these, I turned to see what else there was to welcome me; and among other things there was a stray flower of the beautiful bright yellow Stembergia lutea. Further on the pretty winter Aconites, with their rich green foliage, were in full bloom. I next turned to my Cyclamen bed ; there, notwithstanding the wetness of the season, C. hederajfolium graecum was covering the ground with rich and massive foliage ; not a yellow leaf or the slightest symptom of ill health was visible. Close by was C. repandura, producing a pro- fusion of rich red flowers. Further on Hepaticas were unfolding their lovely blossoms, and Narcissus maximus was just raising its head from amidst the foliage, evidently requiring a week or two more of mild weather ere it will unfold its ample golden blossoms." Ei'iDENDRU.M erubescens is now in flower at Ferniehurat. Masdevallia tovarensis is also in bloom at the same place, the plant bearing about a dozen of its snow-white flowers. — F. W. B. " I HAVE this day (January 3rd)," says Mr. Richard Nisbet, gardener at Aswarby Park, " gathered twelve fine half-blown Roses from a plant of Devoniensis, growing against a south wall. With us this old and favourite variety is always the first to open its buds and the last to go out of flower ; it is, therefore, more esteemed than any other Rose grown in this part of Lincolnshire." The Gurney family have made a most munificent offer to the inhabitants of West Ham and Stratford. It appears that those who are moving in the purchase of West Ham Park for a public recreation ground having put themselve3 in communication with the owners, have received an offer, in which the whole of the estate is offered to the parish for .-625,000, and of this amount the Gurney family agree to contribute £10,000, allowing a large portion of the balance to remain on mortgage. Mr. Samuel Morlev, M.P., has fonvarded a second donation of £50 to the Forest Fund, to assist the work of preservation of Epping Forest as an open space for the people of London. Prosecu. tions have also been instituted against people who have felled trees in, or otherwise damaged, the forest, which is hereafter to be kept intact. — ■ — In reference to the dispute between Mr. Ayrton and Dr. Hooker, we understand that a memorial to Mr. Gladstone has been prepared, which has already received the signature of almost every leading botanist in England unconnected with either Kew or the British Museum, setting forth the enormous gain which has accrued to science by the scientific work done at the gardens and herbarium at Kew under the management of the two Hookers. Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, intends to offer £.300 in silver cups for new plants during the next three years, as follows, viz., £100 each j'ear ; the value of £.50 at the principal show to be held at Ken. sington in June (this season on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of that month), and the value of £50 at the society's provincial show, which takes place this year at Bath, on June the 24th to the 28th. The £50 will in each case be divided thus : — For private growers, first prize, silver cup value £12 ; second ditto, £8; third ditto, £5; for nui'serymen, firat prize, silver cup value .£12 ; second ditto, £8 ; third ditto, £5. The competition to take place with twelve new plants of Mr. Bull's introduction, and sent out since the commence- ment of 1870 (this date being altered in the subsequent years to 1871 and 1872 respectively) as announced in his annual catalogues, which are to be the standard of reference as to the eligibility of par- ticular plants. The Wihninriton Commercial prints some figures, claimed to be " substantially exact," regarding the Peach product of the Delaware Peninsula during the present year. The columns foot up to the grand total of 3,491,050 baskets, these representing only the actual shipments by rail and water, the 73,282 baskets used by canners, and the 10,000 baskets consumed in Wilmington. To these are to be added three important items, namely, the Peaches eaten on the farms, those distilled into brandy, and those sold for con. sumption in the several towns on the peninsula outside of Wil. mington, all of which, it is calculated, will bring the total up to 3,600,000 baskets. The success of the Peach in this peninsula, girt by the Atlantic, Delaware, and Chesapeake Bay seems to point out that a marine climate is favourable to the Peach. We have noticed like evidence in England and Ireland. The beautiful jEchmea Regin«, which we noticed a few weeks back as being so fine in the Upper UoUoway Nurseries, may still be seen there in superb condition. The continuity of beanty in the Bower-spikes of this new BromeUad greatly enhances its value ; for although six weeks have elapsed since it expanded its flowers, it promises to continue in beauty for as long a period yet to come. The coloured leaves attached to the flower-spike constitute its greatest beauty, their colour being a brilliant magenta tinged with violet. The flowers themselves, which are produced in great conical heads, are tipped with violet bine. The foliage is robust and ornamental, and the plant is apparently a free grower. Jan. 11, 1S73.] THE GARDEN. 23 THE INDOOR GARDEN. DASYLIRION GLAUCUM. This is usually met tvith, in nurseries, under the name of Bonapartea glauea. It is, however, not a Bonapartea, but apparently a Dasylirion. It has a solid stem, like that of a Dracaena, thick and very short, the leaves, which are thick and glaucous, spreading out gracefully at the base in all direc- tions, so as to form a round tuft. The leaves, whose edges are beset with short teeth, are hard and dry, especially at the extremities, and fi-om their midst issues a stout flower-stem, which grows to a considerable height. At its base are little leaves, which gradually diminish, so that the higher ones are almost reduced to the size of scales, and soon dry up, as also happens to Yuccas. The flower-stem for at least two-thirds Dasylirion glaucum, of its length is covered with clusters of flowers, which, though not very showy, are extremely interesting. Of the general appearance of the plant when in bloom, the accom- panying woodcut will furnish a good idea. LINUM TRIGYlSrUM. A LITTLE more than twelve months ago, in dark November, when the rain was falling in torrents, and the fog hung over the hills at midday almost as thick as at midnight, business called me into Derbyshire ; and, as I make it a rule never to visit that county with, out calling at the " Palace," I made my way to Chatsworth, feeling convinced that, however much the storm might pelt without, I should, once under cover of the large conservatory and other glass houses, find that I had a taste of perpetual summer. I passed through the Orchid houses, glanced at the Chrysanthemums, admired the Palms and other foliage plants, and also the Camellias, and, arrived at the portal of the huge conservatory, the large folding doors were thrown open, and I stood amazed. On each side of the central carriage drive which divides this house stood magnificent bushes of glowing gold, so much larger and finer than I had ever seen the plant before that I could not for the moment call to mind what it was. It was Linum trigynum. Now, if the reader will imao'ine trusses of from ten to thirty flowers, each as large as a half-crown piece, quite as flat and circular, and of brighter orange than the brightest Calceolaria, he will have some conception of what dense bushes, 4 to 6 feet high, and as much in diameter, must appear on such a day. These plants were growing in the open border of the house, and were bushes such as must give one an idea of what the plant must be in its native habitat. But it is not everyone who can grow this Linum in a conservatory border, as to bloom it thoroughly requires something more than the heat of a conservatory, and that cannot always be given. The mistake in its cultivation, especially in the nurseries, has been greenhouse treatment. The plant is a native of the East Indies and requires a warm tempera, ture. The right treatment to follow is to take cuttings of either the young or ripened wood in February, and to strike them in gentle bottom heat. They strike with great freedom, so that from a singlo plant a large stock may soon be obtained. When rooted, pot them off singly, using a compost of turfy loam and leaf.mould, to which sand and charcoal broken small, to make it porous, may be added. Keep the plants in a moist atmosphere until they are established in the fresh pots, and then gradually inure them to more air. Once established, they will grow with great rapidity ; but it is not worth while to stop them until tlio pots are well filled with roots ; then dry them for a few days, and cut them boldly back to within 3 or 4 inches of the pot. This will cause them to break a number of shoots from the base, and from these sufli- cient may be selected to form the foundation of a plant. When the young shoots are about an inch long, repot the plants into pots two sizes larger than thoso they have been in, using the same compost, and adding a sprinkling of bone-dust to it. After this shift, if kept in a temperature of from 60° to 70', freely syringed twice or thrice a day, and assisted, after the pots are full of roots, with weak liquid manure, they will grow with great rapidity, so as to form handsome specimens from 18 inches to 2 feet in diameter and the same in height. To this end they will require to be stopped a time or two during the season, but the last stopping should not be later than the end of July, or the yoiing wood will not get suffi. ciently ripe to bloom. The greenhouse will be the best place duriug the autumn, and care must be taken to bring the plants gradually into a state of rest. If desired, they may receive a second shift, but this is not necessary unless very large plants are required. By the end of September some of them may be placed in a higher tempera, ture, and they will begin to bloom in November, and continue to do so until the spring. The greatest drawback to this plant is its liability to the attacks of red spider. This pest grows fat upon it with singular rapidity, and therefore a sharp watch must be kept. The best plan to keep the spider in check is to lay the plants upon their sides, if they are in pots, at least once a week, and to syringe them thoroughly on the under-sides of the leaves. This will dislodge the insects, and also their eggs. Should the plants by any mischance become infested, then syringe them immediately and dnst with sul- phur. In the second season, when they have done blooming, they may be dried off a little and then pruned close back. After they break, thin out the superfluous shoots, shake the soil from the roots without injuring them, and repot into fresh soil. Tho treatment as to temperature, potting, and watering will be the same as during the first season. In this manner handsome plants of this Linum may be grown with little trouble, and the display of bloom will be very striking. A. SPECIFIC VARIATION AMONG ORCHIDS. We may search through the entire vegetable kingdom and find but few classes of plants that vary more than Orchids do, so far as depth and richness of colouring and the relative size and shape of the flowers themselves arc concerned. They also vary greatly in regard to constitutional vigour, as may be proved by growing a batch of newly imported plants of the .same species under precisely tho same conditions, when it will invariably be found that some grow much more vigorously than others, although there were no external signs of superiority to be detected amongst them, even by the most experienced grower, when they were first potted. As a striking illustration of their variability, I may cite the lovely winter-flowering Lycaste Skinneri, which varies in colour from the purest white to a very deep rosy variety, having a deep crimson lip ; and this variability is ecpially apparent in other species belonging to difl'crent genera, which run from the typical form into the most distinct and beautiful 24 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. of varieties imaginable. Cattleyas are notorious for their protean variability, wbile tbc chaste Odontoglossum (crispum) Alexandra3 — that queen of Odontoglots — is extremely variable in the size and colouring of its blossoms. Phalasnopsis grandiflora exists in many different forms in our collections, several of which are well marked and distinct, not only in the breadth of their sepals, the depth and diffusion of tbc yellow colour on the lips, but also in the length and broadtb of their leaves, as well as in constitutional vigour. The same remarks apply td several other species, as P. Luddemanniana, P. amabilis, and P. Schilleriana ; the latter has the most robust constitution of any species in this truly superb genus, and it is the only species that will subject itself to cool ti'eat- ment. I would here remark that the more mention of the breadth of a flower gives no substantial proof of its being a first-class variety, since many loug-petalled flimsy flowers measure a good deal across, but are comparatively worthless, since they lack breadth and substance iu their sepals and petals. Iu one of the finest collections of Phatonopsids in this country there are some twenty or thirty imported plants, which vary greatly in breadth of petal and substance. Hence it becomes apparent that when we purchase Orchids, we should be careful to select as good varieties of them as possible. There are some Orchids, too, which vary greatly, not only as has just been related, but also in the length and thickness of their pseudo-bulbs, and in their flowering propensities. For an example of this, take Laslia majalis — the Plor de Maio of the Mexican Spaniards — of which there are two distinct varieties differing in the length of their pseudo-bulbs. The short- bulbed variety blooms with tolerable regularity, while the other may be grown on for years without its ever producing a single flower. Mr. James Anderson, gardener to F. Daw- son, Esq., of Meadowbank, has succeeded in flowering this species regularly during these last few years. It will thus be seen that " good varieties " are those which bloom freely, and that produce large, richly coloured flowers of good substance. What, it may be asked, causes this striking divergence from the normal types in different species ? We can only account for diversity in colour, size, form, and con- stitution by the fact that in their native habitats, where several species bloom in close proximity simultaneously, they are ex- posed to the fertilising agency of insects, and being reproduced from seed it follows that some proportion, if not all the seedlings, vary as has just been stated. Everyone who has raised seedlings of any class of plants will understand that they are apt to differ from the parent plant ; more especially is this the case when these varieties are again cross-fertilised, producing other plants even more diverse than themselves. I willingly allow that local circumstances and conditions affect plants, and cause variety in individuals to a certain extent, when they exist under different surrounding iufluences, but the great bulk of our best varieties owe their beauty to cross- breeding, as effected by insect agency. We are well aware that nearly all the seedling Orchids raised in this country, with the exception of Disa grandiflora and Cypripedium Schlimmii, have proved on flowering to be more or less distinct from their parents, and this is a pretty conclusive proof that cross- fertilisation in their native habitats is the origination of all the beautiful varieties introduced from the tropics. This extreme variability in Orchidaceous plants adds an additional charm to their cultivation, for with what unfeigned anxiety does the amateur or professional cultivator watch an imported plant showing its flower-spike for the first time ! How carefully he compares its pseudo bulbs or foliage with those of its relatives, and if its external habit of growth does not betray him, if it really is a new species, or an extraordinary variety, with what genuine pleasure does he watch the delicate stranger unfold its floral treasures. Seeing, therefore, that Orchids vary so much in a wild state, and even under cultivation, need it be wondered at that portraits of such plants vary ? The difference that exists between representations of the same plant in dif- ferent books has often been a matter of complaint ; but the disparity in question is not by any means greater than may be found to exist in the different varieties of the plants them- selves from which the drawings were originally made. F. W. BURBIBGE. Acineta Humboldti. — Last Bnmmer I saw a pair of magni- ficent plants of this spocios, flowering in the gardens at Crow Nest, uoar Halifax, the scat of Sir Titus Salt, Bart. Thoy were growing in wire baskets suspended from the roof, and bore twenty. six splendid spikes, thirteen on each epecimen. (.)n one spike alone I counted tliirtccn fine blossoms. Mr. Nieol, who is gardener there, grows a groat variety of really good Orchids, though not favoured with the most approved structures for the purpose. Acineta dcnsa and A. Barkerii are two of the best species of this genus, and bear golden yellow flowers, the former being spotted with crimson. A. Hum. boldti unfortunately does not last well when in flower, and in this respect is surpassed by its congeners. In addition to the above, Mr. Nicol has been very successful with Dendrobium densiflomm ; some of his plants of it have bulbs 2 feet long, and in 1870 one fine specimen of this Dendrobe bore fifty-two spikes, which collectively had considerably over one thousand flowers, all fully expanded at the same time ! In this collection Chysis bractescens, a beautiful but scarce Orchid, has also one large plump pseudo bulb, nearly 2 feet long, and several smaller ones. This plant produces three or four spikes annually, and has borne twenty. six flowers fully expanded at the same time. — P. W. Bubbidge. GARDEN DESTROYERS. THE LIME-LOOPER OB MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. GEOMETBA (hYBERNIA) BEPOLLUIIA. Tins is one of the Geometer moths or Loopers, in which the male is provided with wings, and the female with none. The larva, the male, and the female, are all represented of the size of nature in the accompanying woodcut. The colour of the larva is fei'rugiuous red above, witb a yellow band along the sides, and a ferruginous spot, having a white centre, around each tracheal, or breathing opening of the perfect insect. The male is very variable in colour and design ; its normal pattern is that figured. The pale parts of the upper wings are yellowish or rusty yellow, the darker parts are ferruginous edged with black. The under wings are pale grey with a yellowish margin, and a small blackish spot in the middle. It sometimes, however, has no pattern on the wings at all, being entirely of a reddish freckled brown. The female is more or less yellowish, with no black spots on the back of each segment. The chrysalis is reddish brown. This, if it were an Apple or a Pear, would be called a winter fruit, the perfect insect not appearing until the end of October and beginning of November. As soon as the female comes out she climbs up the stem of the nearest tree, where the male seeks her, and she lays her eggs at the base of the buds. These remain exposed to the weather all winter, and are developed by the return of warmth in spring, and the young larvae are hatched simultaneously with the bursting of the buds. The coincidence of the appearance of the leaves with that of the larvas is, of course, due to the same degree of warmth being necessary for the development of both ; but it is not the less remarkable as an instance of the perfection of the adaptation of relations between plants and the animals that feed on them. As soon as hatched, they spread over the leaves, each on its own account ; not associating in company, as many other larvaj do in their young stage. They are very voracious, so much so that they often entirely strip the trees of their leaves ; whence their specific name " defoliaria." In the fine mornings of May or June the caterpillars of this moth may be often seen hanguig from their twig or leaf by a tiny thread a foot or two in length, and swinging for hours in the gentle breezes of that genial season. Mr. Newman says : " This suspension seems to be sometimes a voluntary and recreational performance, for in passing through the woods I have seen thousands upon thousands of these beautiful caterpillars thus dangling iu mid-air, and not unfrequently swinging themselves into my mouth and eyes." It is, how- ever, also a means of protection, for when disturbed they let themselves suddenly drop from their perch, of course falling no farther than the length of their thread, which being very elastic lets them down easily. By the middle of June they are full fed, and, descending to the ground, bury themselves in the earth very near the surface, and there undergo their metamorphoses. As already men- Jan. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 25 tioned they remain in the chrysalis until the end of October. They are no ways particular as to ^the kind of trees on which they feed. The Lime tree is au especial favourite, also all kinds of fruit trees and Thorns ; the Oak and other deciduous forest trees are also subject to their attacks. This is one of the few insects for whose ravages the ento- mologist can propose a remedy drawn from the special structure and habits of the insect itself. The metamorphoses taking place in the ground, and the female being apterous, and requiring to lay her eggs beside the buds high up iu the trees, are a concurrence of special circumstances which suggest an easy means of prevention. As she begins her course on the ground and has to ascend the trees before she can do any harm, and having no wings by which to fly iip to the branches, must creep or walk up Uke any other walking or creeping thing, it is plain that if means be taken to prevent her getting up, the buds above are safe. The first mechanical meaus which were taken for this purpose, was enclosing the stem of each tree in a close fitting wooden boot, which was smeared with tar. It does not appear, however, that such a wooden boot is necessary. It is sufficient to smear the stem itself for a broad space near the bottom with coal tar or any gluey substance at the proper time, i.e., in the end of October and in November. Iu attempting to ascend the female gets entangled in this and perishes, without ever having the opportunity of laying her eggs, and as they usually amount to The Lime-looper. 300 or 400 in number, it is obvious that the gain is considerable for every female so destroyed. It has been objected to smearing the stem of the tree itself with tar that this may injure the timber by the tar soaking through the bark and interfering with the ascent of the natural sap. We believe this fear to be imaginary ; but to remove all doubts on the subject, some less penetrating glue may be substituted, or the part of the stem which is to be covered might be previously protected by some hard varnish, or what is called distemper. A mixture of tar and cart grease has been found to answer without injuring the trees, unless applied in the spring months when the sap is rising. Beating down the caterpillars into a sheet spread below the trees has also been had recourse to ; but that is not nearly so efficacious a plan as the preceding, although it has the advantage of being more immediate, for the preventive cure of course only applies to the following season. A. M. Caterpillars on Cabbages.— One of my friends, a landed proprietor in the Ardennes, informs me that, one day, having observed in the garden of a peasant that the Cabbages were covered with fronds of the common Bracken (Pteris aquilina) , he inquired the reason, and was told by the owner that it was a certain and easy way to get rid of caterpillars. My friend made a trial of the remedy himself, and he assures mo that in one hour after the Bracken- fronds were laid on not a caterpillar was to be seen. Elder-leaves are said to be equally efficacious. — E. M., in Belgiqtie Rorticole. VEGETATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. King George's Sound, as most of your readers will be aware, is the coaling station of the Peninsular and Oriental mail steamers, the chief town of the district being Albany. The place, like so many Australian towns, consists of a main street with here and there an effort on the part of cross streets. These efforts, however, do not appear to have been long sus- tained— appear, in fact, to have been checked by the prospect of people being led recklessly to dwell in the bush. The streets are, therefore, cut off short, but the eye is able to detect the projected line from the appearance at intervals of a stray cottage, where some spirit more courageous than the rest has struck out and established a home for itself, Arriving recently at the Sound, about midnight, on a home- ward trip, I obtained permission to go ashore iu the mail boat. The time was early morumg (two a.m.). A long and weary pull, with a Lascar crew, against a rapidly declining tide, and in the teeth of a squall, brought us within sight of the still sleeping township, and a vigorous spurt by the oarsmen laid us alongside the steps of the pier. After depositing the mails in the post-office — a substantial structure, which appears to do duty as custom-house and generally useful depot for the settlement's departmental affairs, I managed to get a shake- down till daylight. Starting then I ascended Mount Melville, which rises to the left of the town, .^t its foot passes the turnpike road to Perth, a town lying inland some '2.j6 miles. The low-lying grounds at the foot of this mountain were clothed with plants in most gorgeous blossom, many of them being new varieties of plants familiar to me in the Victorian bush. In less than an hour I gathered more specimens than my arms could encircle ; and filled my pockets to overflowing with cones and seeds of new and charming plants, suitable for garden decoration. Leaving these at the hotel I proceeded to explore a promising tract of country lying to the right of the town, from which abruptly rises Mount Clarence to the height of about 700 feet. Here and there the granite crops out on the sides of this mountain, in places many roods of the stirface presenting a bare, unbroken face of stone, from which solid blocks as large as churches might be quarried. At the foot of this mountain, and covering the lower grounds to the contour-line of the coast, a vast niunber of flowering shrubs is to be found, and I very much regret that the short stay of the steamer prevented me from doing even scant justice to the floral gems which bedecked valley and mountain. At this, the late winter season of the year, numerous springs trickle slowly from the sides of the mountain ; their course being marked by narrow lines of a pure white silver sand, the lighter and peaty portions of the soil and other soluble matters being washed to the lower levels. This sand, and even the soil, is destined some day to attract the attention of nurserymen in the other Australian Colonies, who still import Reigate sand for purposes of pro- pagation, and who are often put to great inconvenience through the difficulty of procuring suitable soil for potting purposes. I can only notice here a few of the beautiful things so abun- dant on this mountain and in the rich valley at its foot, but these will serve to show the floral wealth of the district. A shrubby variety of Solanum, with large cream-coloured flowers and broad handsome foliage, is very highly perfumed, a drawback to its culture, however, being that its petals are poisonous, several accidents to children in the district being recorded. Two varieties of Chorozema, with orange and carmine flowers, grow very generally here ; one of climbing habit, and bearing flowers twice the size of C. cordatum. Two pink Boronias are found m the higher grounds, and hereabouts Boronia megastigma has its home, the air for many hundreds of yards being laden with its ravishing perfume of lemon and rose. Two varieties of Hovea — elliptica and ilici- folia — are covered with their rich cobalt racemes of blossom, the flowers resembling in shape those of the Kennedyas, though the colour is an intense blue instead of purple, and each bloom is much larger than that of the Kcnnedya. These two Hoveas are exceedingly valuable, their dwarf habit, unusual colour, and their season of blooming rendering them great acquisitions, not only for English greenhouses but also for the borders of the Australian flower gardens. A fine Dillwynia, much brighter in colour and larger than D. cine- 26 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. rasceiis of the Victorian bush, is hero truly beautiful, its rich and abundant orange-yellow blossoms being very conspicuous. The district is also rich in Banksias, fully twelve kinds being procurable within a mile of the town. Banksia coccinea is perhaps the most showy as regards blossom, the whole bush being scarlet from the prevalence of this variety. Seedling plants of not more than a few months' growth are in bloom, while trees of all stages beyond this are covered with scores of flower heads. Unlike many of the Banksias, this showy variety blooms early when young, ;ind the tree has not to attain timber proportions before it can be seen in perfection. The plant is not found in the gardens of Melbourne and Sydney, where it would be perfectly at home and would prove unusually attractive in shrubberies. Banksia Brownii, B. littoralis, and B. grandis, the finest of the genus, are all met with here, as are also many varieties as yet unnamed. There are many kinds of Acacia here new to me, but these are not very noteworthy ; the Acacia Drummondii grows further inland, and is perhaps the most striking member of this extensive family. Two very compact-growing Andersonias — one with blue and white, the other with purple and pink blossoms — would be a great acquisition to the flower gardens of other parts of temperate Australia and to the conser- vatories of Europe. Among othtr interesting plants were to be seen several kinds of Kenuedya, Pimelea decussata, P. nana, P. macrocephala, and P. Hendersonii ; Boronia elatior and other species, a Gompholobium, a fine large purple and white flowered Lobelia, Gastrolobiums, a rich golden flowered shrubby Grevillea, Swainsonas, two kinds, fully fifty Epacrises, and other plants, several with very showy Papilionaceous fiowers. In the immediate vicinity of King George's Sound there is scarcely a tree of any size ; even the Eucalypts are, by reason of their full exposure to southerly winds, reduced to mere shrubby growth, the largest tree near the coast being the weeping Melaleuca, which fringes the shore near Albany. Growing along the streets is that pest of the Melbourne pastures the " Cape weed " (Cryptostemma calendulaoeum), and on the cultivated patches the common Sorrel is very prevalent and troublesome. I was fortunate, just before leaving, in meeting with an old companion of Drummond, a man who also accompanied Muller on his short botanical trips in the district some four years ago. This elderly gentleman is a diligent collector of seeds in Western Australia, a close and tolerably systematic observer, and I was able to get seeds from him of most of the plants I had collected for my " Hortus Siccus." The richness of the district in plants adapted for garden decoration greatly surprised me, and I was still more sur- prised to find plants of which so little is known by cultivators in the other colonies. Doubtless most of them have been observed by botanists, but, strange to say, these have done but little towards diffusmg a knowledge of valuable plants among the general community. If, instead of contenting themselves with the mere addition of a plant to their herbariums, botanical collectors would call the attention of nurserymen to the value of a new plant from a decorative point of view, they would secure such being sooner known by gardeners. As matters are managed now, in Australia at least, half a century may elapse before the good qualities of the indigenous plants, and their value in ornamental gardening, become generally known by the public. Fully fifty plants of rare qualities, not one of which is to be met with in the gardens of Melbourne or Sydney, are to be found in the greatest abundance at Albany. It is just possible that a better knowledge of their value may prevail in Europe, and that there expensive appliances may be used to bring to per- fection plants which in all the Australian colonies might be grown without the least trouble. It certainly is not creditable to the gardeners of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queens- land that they should be almost totally unacquainted with them. W. C. C. Seaside Plants. — Two valuable plants that will flourish even under the jnflueuce of the sea breeze and in the teeth of tho wind are Veronicas Andersoui and decussata. These grow and flower where a Nettle would hardly live. I have seen plants of them at Southport, where there is very little but salt breezes and sand,— J. Williams. THE FLOWER GARDEN. VARIETY IN SMALL GARDENS. Amatkub cultivators, who are not bound to the delasiona of the bed. ding system, find exhaustless amnsement in collecting representatives of various families of plants adapted to the means at their command for keeping and cultivating them. Where the bedding system reigns supreme, this is impossible, for greenhouses, frames, and nursery bods are all filled to overflowing with the monotonous round of subjects that aro to be planted in May, that are to bloom in July, that are to be ragged in September, and that are to be housed in October, leaving the places they occupied empty and cold till May returns. Collecting allies horticultui al recreations with botanical science, affords scope for the exercise of thought, and occasionally quickens inquiry and research ; it instils into the mind a larger know- ledge, and into the heart a >yarmer love of plants than is possible where the garden is kept as a place for a mere display of colour during three or four mouths of the year. It is ne.xt to impossible to avoid collecting when an interest has been created for certain forms of vegetation. The lover of Ferns is always in want of certain species and varieties ; the cultivator of succulents, of bulbs, of hardy herbaceous plants, of choice trees and shrubs, finds that his posses, sions are so many keys to the vegetable kingdom, and at every advance of knowledge accompUshed by their aid, he learns how many more interesting and beautiful plants there are in the world which he has not yet obtained, and which he would rejoice to possess. Col- lecting is, in fact, an exciting pursuit, and we sooner forgive a man for wasting his substance in riotous gardening, when this passion has seized him, than if he were under a Geranium or Verbena spell, revolving amid only half a dozen species of plants, and deriving no higher pleasure from his gaj'den than repeating upon its surface the designs he is already tired of in carpets, chintzes, and wall-papers. For the public promenade, as for the great garden, where there is room for everything, and ample means to boot, good bedding is one of the necessities of the decorative part of horticulture; but in the small garden, which is like an extension of the drawing room, or a sort of outdoor parlour, something more is wanted than daubs of yellow and red, which — Like the horealis race, Fht ere you can point their place. We want entertainment the whole year round, beauty for the eye, and with it fragrance, agreeable associations, variety, and something to engage and interest the mental faculty. In place of the scrubby evergreens that are tolerated, because the bedding, like the Dragon of Wantley, swallows up everything but itself, we ought to see in private gardens a considerable variety of the most beautiful shrubs and trees, deciduous and evergreen ; the first so various in form and leafage, and many of them so magnificent when in flower ; the second warm and rich in the depth of winter, making the place look like home, so that a glance from the windows neither chills nor repels, as must be the case when a person of any taste looks out upon a dreary parterre that is known to be of use only in the height of summer, when mere colour is least wanted, and when, in many cases, the family are away, and see nothing of it. And for summer and autumn, and even for winter, the hardy plants comprise myriads of fine subjects, some showy enough even for a vulgar taste, but many more beautiful in the true sense of the word, with grace of form and delicate harmonies of tintings, and characters so individual that one deserves to have a history, and to have that history told to all ad. mirers. And when winter comes again, the variegated leaved and berry. bearing shrubs that are within the reach of English cultiva. tors would suffice to eifect an apparent change of climate. It ia enough for us to be frozen to-day and roasted to-morrow in this wayward, changeable, ungenial, unfriendly clime ; we need not make our gardens lugubrious to increase the horror. Yet this we do, and only at rare intervals do we meet with examples of what English gardens might be in warmth, cheerfulness, richness, and variety even in the very depth of winter. F. CHAM^BATIA FOLIOLOSA. This unique little shrub, so remarkable for the Fern-like beauty of its leaves, belongs to the Rose order, and in a wild state occurs naturally in the hill country of California, where it quite covers the ground, and is named Tarweed by the settlers. This name is given in consequence of the powerful and somewhat disagreeable odour given off by the plant when touched or walked upon, and which is very apparent in the aiv where the plant is common. It is seldom seen above Jan. 11, lb73.] THE GAEDEN. 27 a foot high, forming, however, a dense shrubby turf, spreading everywhere under the great trees. This, however, does not prove it to be a shade-loving plant, as the tops of the high Pines are so compact that the sun frequently plays freely on the dwarfs? vegetation. lu further explanation of this, it may be mentioned that very frequently on the Sierras the pines are dotted about in an open manner quite different from what is the rule in the Pine woods of Europe and the eastern side of America. The Tarweed is sometimes, though not often, seen in English stoves and greenhouses. My object in dii-ecting attention to it now is to point out the probability of its succeeding out of doors in the rock-garden or in favoured positions on well -drained banks. I have seen it growing abundantly in places where there were sharp frost and snow early m November, and where it must have endured Chama?batia folioloaa. much cold in wiuter. In trying it cut of doors, as sunny a position as possible should be given to it, and it should be planted in well-drained sandy loam. E. PRIMROSES. SoJiE twelve or fourteen years ago, when residing in a distant county upon the table land of England, I had a beautiful collection of varieties of the common Primrose, and when I speak of varieties it will be seen I mean something more than did the person described by one of our popular poets, who to denote his want of feeling said : — " A Primrose by the river's brim A yellow Primrose was to hira. And it was nothing more." But mine were " something more," for though but a simple Primrose the scale of colour ran from pure white to bright crimson, with all the varied shades of purple, rose colour, lilac, mauve, and some of the neutral tints. However, they were all beautiful. Leaving the locality at the time when the Primroses had died down I had no means of securing them, and since then the mansion has been burned down, and the gardens have fallen into decay. Writing, however, a short time back to an old friend in the neighbourhood, I mentioned incidentally these Primroses, and, giving him " a clue to their secret hiding place " in one of the woods, he has rewarded me by sending a collection of the flowers. It is surprising out of what simple materials really gay and beautiful bouquets may be formed. These flowers now standing before me in a glass dish would grace the boudoir of an empress. At present the plants are a mere omniuui gathrriim, a mixed mass of colours, but when ]mi under proper training, and another season they are massed either in straight lines or consecutive circles of well-contrasted colours, they will create quite a new feature in the flower garden, and become the admired of all admirers. By what wild freak of nature the " Primrose pale " was lured from the path of colour-constancy I cannot imagine, but it is quite certain that she has been coquetting with some ruddy complexioned gentleman, and whether that may have been a bit of stray pollen from the double red, crimson, or lilac Primrose I cannot tell, or whether with the aid of the bees she has borrowed a blush or two from the Chinese Primula, Auricula, or Polyanthus, matters not; we have got the colour and now we must intensify and vary it as much as possible. The varieties now before me, picked up at random, are suf- ficiently defined : — crimson, deep rose, rose, lilac, mauve, dove colour, white, and yellow. Many intermediate colours might be named by those who are inclined to hair-splitting in the manufacture of varieties, but I am content with a few well defined colours, and those I have enumerated might be very effectively grouped, especially if liberally intermixed with the white or yellow varieties. Primroses cannot be classed amongst the ephemera of spring, for though, under favourable circum- stances, early in the development of their flowers, they continue for a long time to give a succession of blossoms. Plants of the common kind which with me were blooming in November are blooming still, and no doubt the coloured varieties will do the same. These varieties alone would make a spring garden quite gaj-, but when we come to look to the varieties of Polyanthus, Uxlip, Auricula, especially the lovely Alpine ones, and the in- numerable species and varieties from temperate as well as from the coldest parts of the world — from the inhospitable wilds of Siberia to Egypt and the Himalaya mountains, we find a variety of colours and elegance of form peculiarly suited to the purposes of the decorative gardener. Most of them are of simple culture, and by division of the root and by seed they may be increased almost indefinitely. What a wide field this family opens to the hybridist. With comparatively limited means the Cyclamen, under the persevering intelligence of Mr. Atkins and the Messrs. Henderson and Son, has yielded a rich harvest of beautiful forms and colours, and no doubt the Primula would repay similar attention. I can conceive no more agreeable employment for an amateur, either lady or gentleman, than that of raismg varieties of these beautiful plants. A collection of the kinds, a small frame and a camel's hair pencil is all that is required. Watch the flowers daily and when in a fit state, that is full grown, impregnate them by transferring with the hair pencil the pollen of one species or variety to the stigma of another ; watch narrowly for the seed, and when it is ripe sow it immediately, and every year you may have hundi'eds of young plants to bloom ; and with this certainty that all will be beautiful if not distinct and new. W. P. NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON THE FLOWER GAEDEN. Monthly Roses. — A few days ago I saw ten or twelve lovely peach- col oui'ed buds on a plant of the old monthly Rose, and a much larger number of buds not so far advanced. The plant in ([uestion was growing in a sunny comer, and almost made one forget that we are so near mid-winter. This now somewhat neglected old plant will well repay any one who may give it a sheltered nook and a few minutes' cultural attention once or twice during the season.^ F. W. B. Sporting of Bouvardias. — Bouvardias are among the most valuable and pretty of our winter-blooming plants, as their small, delicate flowers seem never to be out of place in any style of basket, wreath, or bouquet. Scarlet varieties and species were formerly the most common ; but within the past few years several new white varieties have been introduced, the two most valuable sorts having originated in America, and being known as Bouvardia Davisonii and B. Vreelandii. Neither of these were raised from seed, but are what are called "sports " of the B. Hogarth, a well-known scarlet variety or species. Winter Flowers- — Cyclamen coum opened its blooms with me on New Year's Day, as did also the Christmas Rose. The Cyclamen ba.s bloomed four years with me, twice opening on New Year's Day, once on the sth of the month, and once on the 12th. Some assert that (.'yclamens when at rest requii-e to be kept dry, but as this plant grows above the roots of a Clematis Jackmanii, which receives large doses of liipiid manure when the Cyclamen is at rest, the dry theory must be wrong, as also must the system of planting the corms upon the surface. I must also add Eranthis hyemalis U^ my list of New Year's Day flowers. —G. 28 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. THE FRUIT GARDEN. THE HOME OF THE APPLE TREE. The uuchanging character of the Orab, the reputed parent of the fruit which we call the Apple, and the constancy with which it produces its excessively sour and unpalatable fruit in this country, perhaps justifies the following inquiry put forward by Mr. Pearson, as to the origin of our cultivated varieties of Pyrus Malus, and gives some show of reason for the doubt which he expresses as to the general accuracy of the received opinion that the Crab is the immediate parent of the Apple. "Where did our eating Apples come from?" says Mr. Pearson. " I am not Darwinite enough to believe our Rib- ston Pippin ever came from the Crab of our hedges, any more than I believe that our editors had monkeys for their ancestors. George Chaworth Musters mentions in ' Travels in Patagonia,' large woods of Apple trees which the Indians visited every year to gather the fruit. These are spoken of as far distant from any settlements of the Europeans. Then, again, Adams, in his ' Wanderings of a Naturalist in India,' writes of the Apples, Apricots, Walnuts, &c., of Cashmere, as if he had found them at home. In spite of the antiquity of cultivated Apples, one often sees writers take it for granted that the hedge Crab improved is the source of all our varieties of this useful fruit. Why do they not talk of the time when our cats were tigers ? What is the history, as far as known, of our cultivated Apples ? " Alph. de Candolle, in " Geographic Botanique raisonnee," says that Pyrus Malus, the source apparently of all the varieties of our Apples — sour and sweet, grows in temperate Europe and in the region of the Caucasus. The Romans and Greeks cultivated several varieties under the name of Malum. The word Pomum was applied in Latin to all fruits, round or fleshy. The name Pomme d'Api comes probably from the variety Appiana introduced by Appius, according to Pliny. The names of the Apple differ less from one another in the ancient languages of Europe than those of the Pear. This makes us suspect a primitive country, less extensive than that occupied by the Pear, varieties less numerous, and a culture transmitted from people to people by imitation, rather than the finding of wild Apples in different countries. The root of almost all the names is ab, ap, al, ar, af. The Tartars, Hungarians, and Turks call the Apple alma ; the Bretons call it aval, avalen ; the Gauls, afalen ; the Germans, apfel ; the Russians, jablon ; the Poles, gabion ; the Latins, malum ; the inhabitants of Biscay, sagara. The Apple is cultivated in the north of China, in the north of India, and more commonly in the Vale of Cashmere, and the neighbouring countiy. The Sanscrit name of the Apple is Seba, which is not very far from European names, amongst others the Basque. The Arab name Tufa, and above all, the Chinese name Pim Po, are very different. Thuuberg does not indicate the Apple as being in .Japan, and this makes me presume it is not ancient in China. Prom researches thus pursued through the records of the various civilised races of Europe and Asia it seems that an edible fruit identical with our Apple was in existence at remotely historical periods. Fruits, such as the Apple and Pear, Plum and Cherry, ameliorated and improved by the cultural skill and care of races of whose civilisation we know nothing, but that they had achieved a certain amount of success m the cultivation of fruits, and that some of these fruits developed into the form and quality that even now belongs to them, were obtained Ijy the Greeks and Romans, from people who were to them ancient and mysterious, and were cultivated, improved, and finally distributed throughout the continent of Europe by the great colonisers and conquerors who flourished 2,000 years ago. The Romans were doubtless the first to distribute the hardy fruit trees familiar to them throughout their western dependencies. The strong botanical affinity existing between the wild and cultivated form of Pyrus Mains may justify the assumption of consanguinity generally entertained; but the obdurate and persistent acerbity of the wild Crab of Britain not unnaturally provokes the question of ancestry, and many find it hard to admit the close relationship of the sweet rosy Apple with the small green sour Crab. The explanation, however, may be found in the fact of the variable constitution and production of a fruit tree exposed to different climatic influences. We know in our cultural experiments with any fruit how much the development of its best qualities depends on conditions of climate, and a Crab on the sunny slopes of the Caucasus or other favoured situations may have yielded more readily to the cultural cares of man than the same tree would have done in England. It seems not impro- bable that a form of Pyrus Malus, modified by the influence of a climate favouring the development of the saccharine element in the fruit, was the parent of the gi'eat family of Apples now spread throughout the temperate regions of the earth. JJulooir. William Ingram. CULTURE OF THE APPLE AND THE PEAR. When grown as standards on the natural stock, both the Apple and Pear delight in a deep, strong foam. Three feet of such a soil, thoroughly well drained, is not too much, and at least 2 feet should be secured before planting, if permanent and satisfactory results are expected ; therefore, where the soil is naturally shallow and the subsoil bad, the ground should be broken up and trenched to that depth, either removing the subsoil altogether to the necessary depth, and making up with fresh loam or good soil, or incorporating it well with the top soil in trenching, it it is not actually of a dele- terious character. Manure may be applied after planting in the form of mulchings, with great advantage ; but it is not advisable to trench it into the ground unless the soil is poor and light, in which case cow-dung is the best and most lasting manure that can be used. On the other hand, when the soil is stiii and tenacious, it should be meliorated with plenty of leaf soil or decayed vegetable refuse of any kind, and sand ; but good loamy soil — not necessarily turfy — is, as a rule, the best restorative that can be applied. In wet situations draining is of the highest importance, but in dry localities it is sometimes not needful at all ; circumstances must be the guide in such cases. Standards are generally planted from 20 to 35 or 40 feet apart each way, according as they are likely to make a luxuriant growth or otherwise, but 30 feet will be found a suitable distance for permanent trees ; and it is not a bad plan to plant between with supernumeraries, which allows a greater variety to be planted, and those which are found to suit the locality best can be retained, and the others removed when the trees get crowded after a few years, lu orchards of small extent, Apples on the English Paradise stock should be chosen, and the trees may be planted half the above dis- tance apart. Trees with clean, straight stems, and such as show a disposition to grow freely, should be selected ; and, though it is better to plant as early in autumn as possible, they may be planted any time between the fall of the leaf and the breaking of the buds in spring, when the weather is open and moist. With the exception of thinning out the shoots when too crowded, and shortening back such as are getting too much ahead of the others, so as to secure a round and well-shaped head, the less standards are pruned the better. The oftener the knife is used the oftener it will be required, while less fruit will bo the result, and root-pruning will bo a periodical necessity. PYRAMIDS. As it is in every way better for those who contemplate planting these to buy established trees, rather than attempt to originate them from the beginning, I will say nothing about training from the maiden tree. Nice trees, already trained into rudimentary shape, can be had from any respectable nurseryman cheaper and better than they can be got up by the amateur himself. When the Apple and Pear are grown as pyramids on the Crab or Pear stock, they require a considerable amount of attention in the way of summer pinching and root-pruning to restrain their vigour and to secure a fruitful habit. The most fruitful trees of this kind I ever saw were trained as pendulous pyramids — perhaps the best form of training ; but it shonld not be attempted unless it can be carried out system- atically and well, for trees once trained in this way, and afterwards neglected, are unsightly objects. ■\There the pendulous form is adopted, the following directions must be attended to : — Assuming that wo have a fairly pyramidal-shaped young tree — that is, with a, straight central stem, furnished regularly with shoots from within one foot of the ground to the top — to begin with, it should be encircled at about 6 or 8 inches from the ground with a hoop of iron wire, fastened with staples to the tops of short oak posts driven into the ground for that purpose, at equal distances apart round the tree. The lower shoots of the tree should then be tied down regularly by their points to the wire ; the second tier of shoota Jan. 11, 1873.] THE GAEDBN. 29 should be tied in the same way to the first ; the tiiird to the second ; and so on to the top of the tree. The advantages of this form of training are that it checks the vigour of the tree, and induces the formation of fruit buds along the pendulous shoots, instead of a luxuriant grovrth of wood, such as upright-trained trees are dis- posed to make. A fruitful disposition must also be encouraged by not tjdng in too many shoots, allowing such as are retained to extend in length till the tree has attained the desired circumference, and by pinching assiduously during the summer, to two or three leaves, all laterals that push from the pendulous shoots; in fact, each shoot, if properly cared for, should be like a little cordon growing out from the stem of the tree. If pinching and thinning have been regularly attended to during the sammer, little pruning will be required in winter ; but the trees should be gone over, and such spurs as have been left too long should be shortened back, and the branches regulated and tied down. Such trees also as seem to be growing too luxuriantly should be root.pruned. About the end of October is the best time for this, and the operation is performed by cutting a trench round the tree about 3 or 4 feet from the stem, according to the age and vigour of the tree, and cutting off all roots that extend beyond that distance, and such as are going down into the subsoil. Indeed, the soil should be removed sufficiently to allow the spade to be pushed right under the ball of the tree from all sides. My own practice is to lift about one-third of all our pyramids every autumn ; in this way they are all lifted over in three years. Mulching summer and winter should also be practised regularly. These remarks, it will be seen, refer to trees grafted on the natural stock, and so far as relates to pruning, pinching, and root-pruning, they apply also to upright-trained or natural pyramids. In these the object is also to secure and retain a straight central stem, to have it well furnished with branches from the base, and by systematic pinching and pruning to keep the tree as nearly in the form of a cone as possible. With upright pyramids, however, it is not the practice to allow the leading shoots to extend at the same rate as when they are trained in the pendulous form, but to pinch them the first time during the summer to 8 or 9 inches, the next time to 3 or 4 inches, less the third time, and so on. The side shoots or laterals may be pinched the first time to 3 or 4 inches, and pro- portionally shorter afterwards. PYRAJMIDS ON THE (JUIXOE AND PAKADISE STOCKS. The object of grafting the Apple upon the Paradise Stock and the Pear upon the Quince is to secure a dwarf habit, early maturity, and quick returns. Both stocks being shallow rooters, they are also adapted for planting on thiu soils, where, if the Pear stock was used, the roots would be sure to penetrate the subsoil, and failure, partial or altogether, would be the result. The Pear is disposed also to make a too vigorous growth in wet and late situations, particularly in deep, retentive soils ; hence the value of the Quince or Paradise stocks under such circumstances. Otherwise, in moderately deep and healthy soils, the Pear is the most natural and best stock for the Pear in every respect, if attention in the way of root-pruning, pinching, &c., is given. The treatment of pyramids on the dwarf stock differs from what I have already recommended for those on the natural stock in the matter of root treatment only ; for, while tho roots of the Pear and the Crab need to be kept within bounds by constant cutting and lifting, those of the Quince and Paradise require to be as constantly encoui'aged to grow by surface dressings and mulchiug. The ground should not on any account be dug about the roots of the trees, but annually top-dressed with rich soil, taking caro always that the graft is not buried in so doing. ESPALIERS. This is a very excellent way of training the Apple and Pear, and is perhaps the best plan that can be adopted when fruit trees are grown round the kitchen garden quarters. Espaliers bear better than standards, occupy less space, and interfere but little with the cropping of the ground with vegetables. Referring your readers to your advertising pages for information regarding the erection and construction of espalier fences, only premising that the wires are stretched about 8 inches apart, I will at once speak of the mode of training, which is perfectly simple. For espalier training it is best to begin with maiden trees, that is, young trees with only one shoot to them. These should be planted against the wires 20 feet apart, and be cut down to about 2 inches below the bottom wire. In spring tliree or four shoots will spring from below the cut ; the highest should be trained straight up, and two of the remaining strongest and most conveniently placed should be trained horizontally along the bottom wire, on each side of the stem, and the other shoots, if any, may be cut clean away. The central shoot, which will be inclined to grow the strongest, should be stopped at the height of 18 inches or so, in order to throw the sap into the two horizontal shoots, which cannot be encouraged to grow too much. At the winter pruning they should be left entire if they ripened to their extremities, and the central shoot must be cut down, this time to the second wire, which vrill leave the tree at the end of the first year with two well grown side shoots only, and a central shoot about S inches high. This will break the second year again below the cut, and furnish limbs on each side, which must be trained right and left, the same way as before, to the second wires, and the leader taken up and stopped again; and this process must be repeated until the top wire is reached, which, supposing the fence to be 5 feet high, will take about seven years. Bnt by that time the trees will have extended horizontally to at least double their height, and borne several crops of fruit. The only other attention the trees will require is pinching back the lateral shoots that grow from the horizontal limbs to two or three joints, in order to induce the formation of fruit buds, and to keep the same within proper bounds by shortening the spurs judiciously at the winter pruning, taking care always to cut back to a bud, and to secure generally au even and well furnished limb. The different varieties of the Apple and Pear vary so much in different localities — sometimes one sort suc- ceeding as a standard and espalier at one place, and perhaps requiring a wall at another not far distant ; here doing best on the Quince and Paradise, and there on tho Poar and Crab — that I do not think it advisable to append a list of kinds for general cultivation, but would advise those who contemplate planting to ascertain at some good garden in their own neighbourhood what sorts are found to do best. A little pains taken in this way at the outset will repay the trouble. J- S. AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES IN ENGLAND. At last these remarkable fruits have had a little attention from one of our best gardeners. " For the last two years," writes Mr. Tillery, in the Florist and Pomologist, "I have grown great crops of Lawton American Blackberry, and find it to make a capital preserve when mixed with a few Apples to take off the sweetness. Wet seasons like the present seem to suit it best, for the bushes are loaded with fruit of a far larger and firmer consistence in flesh, and of a better flavour than the common English Blackberry. I believe there are many varieties of the American Blackberries, but the Lavrton is the only one I have yet cultivated. I grow the plants of it in rows, like Raspberries, selecting two or three of the strongest shoots made in the summer, and after cutting away the fruiting canes when they have done bearing in the autumn, the young shoots are tied up to stakes placed in a slanting position, like Raspberry stakes. The stakes, however, must be longer than for Raspberries, for this Blackberry is a very strong, rampant grower, like many of the English sorts, and the more room it has the larger will be the' growth. The soil it does well on here is very strong, with a clay snbsoil, but I should think any soil woidd suit the plants, if they were well watered in dry summers during the flowering time. There being a great paucity of fruit this year for the black- birds and thrushes, I expected they would have commenced their raids upon this Blackbeny as soon as it was ripe, but they seem to let it alone, and confine their attention to the rows of the autumn- fruiting Raspberries growing in tho same quarter of the garden. The first year I fruited this Blackberry I saved some of tho fruit for seed ; and having raised some young plants, I have dis- tributed and planted them in some of the hedge-rows and planta- tions about, so that they will very likely multiply and replenish the Blackberry-pickers' baskets with their fruit. The Lawton Blackberry is very distinct in its foliage from oui-s, its leaves being more laciniated, and of a deeper green colour, and keep nearly so all through the winter." KEEPING FRUIT. A FEW principles are important in keping fruit, particularly Apples. The first is coolness of temperature. If too warm, they (the Apples) wiU mature — so that temperature is the important thing. Keep as cool as possible for long keeping. A little frost, gradually let out, does not seem to hurt. A low, uniform temperature, say at 40^ or a little below, just avoiding the frost, is all that is wanted in tho line of temperature, so far as Apples are concerned, and other fruit comes uuder the same general head. It is no difficulty to keep this point in the winter, only be sure and have your cellar or fruit-room warm enough to withstand the heaviest cold. If in the warm days there is a tendency to too much warmth open the windows or doors, do not neglect them. The next great consideration — and it is almost equally great with the first — is, the hygi-ometric condition. If too moist, you may be stu'e your fruit will rot — will mould. If too dry, it will shrink — that is, lose its moisture — and this is almost as bad as rotting. Much can be done by regulation here, even if tho 30 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. apartment is inclined to one or the otlier extreme. Where there is much moisture, open bins will keep your fruit either from rotting or shrinking. So will open barrels where there is less moisture ; they require a drier atmosphere, as they are more confined. Closed tight in a damp room, they are suro to spoil : wo have known them to bo a sunken mass of rot and mould. If tho air is quite dry, the barrel is the thing, cither shut tight or merely covered over. We have kno\vn Spitzenbergs to come out in April, headed close, almost in the same condition as they went in. Thoy wore more matured, and were highly coloured. These were headed up in the autumn and put into tho cell.ir, a dry one, and left there till April untouched. Growing rank and watery (in a wet season) fruit will not keep so well, and the winters are sometimes more moist. Where there is a condition neither too wet nor too dry — that is, not known for its extreme — this is what is wanted, and most cellars are of this kind. It is therefore in general safe to trust Apples to barrels, covered up, whether absolutely tight or with a little air circulating. Wo prefer the latter as a general thing. We usually let our fruit sweat in outbuildings before we store it for winter. This is at least a safe plan, and therefore we prac- tise it. There would be more uniformity of temperature and moisture were it immediately taken to tho cellar, but the sweating which would follow would be long and profuse. Never touch fruit after it is put in its winter quarters. If it is " bound to rot," as seems to be the case with some people's fruit, why it will rot — and it will rot the faster, and much faster, if yon try to save it by sorting, but particu. larly by wiping also. This removes the coat (an oily covering), which is a protection, and a decided one — one nature seems to have provided for that purpose. In the spring sound fruit treated in this way is siu'e to last but a littlo while. When once rot has set in, the fruit should be used at once, what is good of it, but handle no faster than you use it. — Cultivator. The "Apple Cure."— It appears, from the New Torh Tribune that the best food for animals is Apples. Two cows in an advanced stage of illness have, it is stated, been entirely cured by Apples. A horse, given over by veterinary surgeons, and turned out in a field to die, got access to an Apple tree, ate what he wanted, and imme. diately showed signs of improved health. His owner, acting on the hint, fed the beast daily on a peck of Apples, and in a week " you couldn't have bought that horse for 100 dollars." Three cows were seen tied up in a barn " mourning for something." They were given half a bushel of Apples, which they eagerly consumed, and, ceasing their lamentations, took peaceably to their hay. Some interestino- experiments to test the value of Apples for milch cows have also been made, and been entirely successful. The C'oiiraiit, an American paper, says that " q large cow, something along in years," feeding exclu- sively on summer pasture, and producing four wine quarts daily, was, on the 1st of August, put on a diet of four quarts of Apples night and morning. The quantity was increased until, at the end ef a week, she was eating a bushel of the hardest, sourest mndfall Apples each day. Such was the effect of the Apples as to bring her pro- duce of milk from four quarts to rather more than six quarts per diem. Another cow, by means of half a bushel of Apples night and morn- ing, was induced to give a daily yield of twelve to fourteen quarts of milk. Similar experiments with other cows produced like happy results, and although in this country we have not Apples enough to make dumplings for ourselves, yet this plan of feeding cattle with Apples, and curing them of disease with that diet, is well worth tho attention of rich owners of stock, to whom a heavy greengrocer's bill is a trifle ; and young veterinary surgeons, who are at a loss for novelties, might make fortunes by starting the " Apple cure." NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON THE FRUIT GARDEN. standard Currants.— lu tlic fino old kitclien garden at Wollaton Hall, Notts, there are some fine specimens of standard Curriints. The stocks are some 3 or 4 feet higli, and I have seen them heavily laden with fruit of fine quality. They are very ornamental in appearance, aild do not take up the space required by dvrarf bushes of equal productiveness. When grown in this manner the borders below them can be planted with Lettuce, Endive, or other small salading. This method of growing bush fruit is peculiarly adapted to villa gardens, where space has to be made the most of.— P. W. B. Pears and Plums for a North Wall.— Will you be so good as to give me the name of two or three Pears that would succeed on a north wall.— Ttro, 0.rford. [As regards Pears succeeding on a north wall, a great deal depends on the season. In warm summers I have grown Beurro d'Amanlis for an early variety, Louise Bonne for mid season, and Winter Nelis tor a late sort, with success, and their flavour has been good. Beurre Diel has succeeded with me and borae good crops even in bad seasons, which, if not fit for dessert, did very well for stewing. I should, however, advise " Tyi-o " to plant a tree or two of Coe's Golden-drop Plum ou his north wall, for I find it higher flavoured when grown on that aspect than on any other. — William Tilleey, Tf'clheck.^ THE A RBQR E T U M . FOREST SCENERY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. Most people know that British Columbia is the country of the Douglas Fir, where that giant of the forest reaches it.s highest stage of (iovelopment, rushing up to the amazing height of 2.50 or 300 feet. AVith us it sends out vast arms from the trunk, stretching far out on every side ; there the branches are so short and closely packed in by surrounding trees that nothing but a clo.sc stifled congregation of stems is seen, with the foliage high up in the heavens, excluding the light and casting a deep gloom over the sunless vegetable mould in which the trees grow. In fact the common saying " one cannot see wood for trees " is literally true of such a scene so hemmed iu is one by them on every side. But there is another aspect of these forests which is equally frequent and equally characteristic. One of the qualities of the Douglas Fir is that its timber forms excellent firewood even when green, and in dead trees the bark and wood are often so full of resin as to burn like a torch. Owing to this combustibility extensive forests of this tree get burned every year, taking tire from various causes. No doubt they often take fire from mere friction of the dead branches caused by the wind. Still oftener the carelessness of the Indians or white men originate them by leaving their camp fires unextinguished, not to speak of occasions on which for the most trifling causes the Indians originate them purposely and recklessly ; lightning too adds to the number, and the volcanoes in some parts of the couuti-y (Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier), when iu action devastate whole tracts in their vicinity by the burning ashes which they eject. When the Pacific Raih-oad exploratory party made its ascent of the Cascade range they passed for days through dead forests, which they supposed might have been burnt by ignition from this cause several years before; but large tracts were on fire at the same time, filling the air with smoke, so that they could not see the surrounding country for several days. Similar scenes occur, from one cause or other, in all the great forests of Oregon, Washington County, and British Columbia. One who has seen them thus describes one of these fires:— "It is one of the grandest sights by night to watch the progress of the fearful element through the close- grown trees ; the hissing of the flames enveloping the green limbs, the crashing of falling logs, and the clouds of belching smoke that darken the star-lit sky, the lurid glare and fitful light, in which the outlines of the hills and woods are seen starting from obscurity into view to sink again iuto thicker darkness. These, with all the minor concomitants of such a scene, make an impression on the mind which can never be efl^aced." The forest, long after the fires have been extin- guished, wears a burnt aspect; but by -and-by nature reasserts her power. The dead trees fall, and they are succeeded by a growth of young trees, which rapidly rise to replace the old. It might be thought that, however great the fertility of nature, and how unbounded soever her resources in that exceptionally favoured region, she could never keep pace with such constantly recurring destruction — where the growth of centuries is consumed in a few days or weeks — and it is undoubted, now, when the white man is one of the factors, that the end of these magnificent forests must come, and that these fires will bear their share in hastening on the event — but it is yet distant. The vast extent of these forests will yet bear a great deal of burning without its making any perceptible effect upon them. There is this important differ- ence between the fires which take place in the forests in British Columbia and Oregon and those which occur in the prairies, and which run on for hundreds of miles in a straight line, that they are located iu districts which are much intersected by mountains and streams ; and though terrible in appearance, they are always circumscribed in extent, as the mountain spurs and jutting rocks, with the windings of the streams, form impassable checks to the most furious fire. The scene shown in the accompanying cut occurs towards the higher portion of a mountain, where the trees suffer more from fierce winds and cold than they do on the foot-hills or low grounds. A.M. J-.0-. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 31 a m Z SJ W o o 32 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. CONIFERS FOR GENERAL PLANTING. Is there any valid reason why such a goodly number of the Conifers introduced of lato years should be regarded aa subjects only for tho patch of dressed ground, and tho iramodiato vicinity of the house, and be altogether ignored in tho calcalations of the general planter ? We trow not. On the contrary, wo are of opinion that many of them now sheltered and coddled, and fed with dainty pabulum, would find themselves much more at home if, instead of as domestic pets, they were treated as ferm ■natitrn-, and allowed to take their place with the ordinary forest trees and their kindred Larch and Sprnce, Scotch and Silver Firs, on moorland and mountain, hill and brae-side, glen and valley. In fact, it is only when they cease to be toys with the suburban amateur, who plants the giant Wellingtoniaor the equally gigantic Sequoia, &c., in the e.^panse of turf some 10 or 12 feet square before his hall door, and when they aro no longer looked upon by our country re.sidents as merely ornamental evergreens, expensive to buy, troublesome to care, only to be sparsely dotted here and there in dainty spots about their dwellings, and form a per- centage of all general plantings, that we shall get a true notion of their likes and dislikes, their marvellous development and economic value. Such of our readers as take an interest in planting, or know anything of tree lore, need not be told that but few of our ordinary forest trees are racy of the soil, or that the majority are aliens, and that, therefore, it may fairly be expected that at no distant day many of the recently introduced Conifers will, too, form no incon- siderable percentage of our woods and plantations. The rapidity of growth and timber-producing powers of many of the species recom- mend them strongly to the notice of any one about to plant, either with a view to effect, shelter, or i^rofit. The impression above alluded to, as well as that of fancied scarcity and high prices, act as deterrents and prevent many from even thinking of them who would set seriously about planting them if these impressions and fancies were once removed. — Farmers' Gazette. FORESTS AND RAIN. A LATE number of Nature contained some clear and sensible observa- tions on this subject, on which ao much doubtful matter has been written. To what extent the climate of any portion of the surface of the earth can be changed by human labour is still an open question. Certain districts of the globe we are accustomed to look upon as condemned by Nature to perpetual sterility. The arid deserts of Africa and Central Asia, the frozen realms of Siberia, appear aa if predestined to a gloomy lifeless solitude. To reclaim them to human control and human habitation may be one of the problems of the future. That climates have changed materially within recent times, we know as a historic fact. Macaulay has made us familiar with the damp fogs and perpetual rain-clouds with which our island was invested during the period preceding the arrival of the Danes and the Saxons. Much of the amelioration of climate which has since taken place is doubtless due to the increased cultivation of the land, and the extent to which the fen districts have been drained ; but the main agent has probably been the destruction of the forests which then clothed a lai"ge portion of the island. The mode in which forests act in increasing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere is much misunderstood. Even in an article which recently appeared in the pages of so well-informed a journal as the PallMall Gazette, it is affirmed that this effect is due to the attraction exercised by trees on the rain-clouds. The principle by which trees act in effecting this is, however, at least mainly, by acting as pumps in drawing up the superfluous moisture from the soil. The most trustworthy experiments show that, under normal circum- stances, plants have no power of absorbing through their leaves water, either in the fluid or gaseous state ; their supplies are obtained entirely through their roots ; and the superfluous moisture is evaporated from the leaves. The amount of aqueous vapour thus delivered into the at- mosphere by vegetation is enormous, and has been the subject of careful investigations by French and German botanists. Von Petteu- kof er recently detailed some experiments on the amount of evaporation from an Oak tree, made during the whole period of its summer growth. He found the amount to increase from May to July, and then decrease till October. The number of leaves on the tree he estimates at 751,592, and the total amount of evaporation in the year at 539-16 centi- metres of water. The average depth of rainfall for the same period on the area covered by the Oak tree would be only 65 centimetres ; the amount of evaporation is thus 8.'- times more than that of the rainfall. The excess must be drawn up by the roots from a great depth ; and thus trees prevent the gradual di-ying of a climate, by restoring to the air the moisture which would otherwise be carried to the sea by streams and rivers. The immediate result, therefore, of the diminution of forests in a thickly-wooded country will be to increase the proportion of the annual rainfall that is carried to the sea by the natural drainage of the country, and proportionately to decrease the amo>mt returned insensibly to the atmosphere, which then condenses into rain and cloud. Within certain limits it is obvious that this must be an unmixed good ; but as the country becomes more and more thickly populated, and tho land more valuable for habitation or culture, the danger rather lies in the other extreme, that the country will become so denuded of forests as to render the climate too dry for the profitable pursuit of agriculture. This has, in fact, taken place of late years to so great an extent as to demand the most serious at- tention. PLANTING TREES. The inducements to create property by tree-planting are so many and so powerful, that, to the greater part of those who possess the means, little, I hope, need be said to urge them to the employing of those means. Occasions enough will offer for showing how quickly the profits come. But, still there are some persons, who possess such means, who are well assured of the ultimate gain, but who are, nevertheless, discouraged by the thought that they shall not live to see tho actual pecuniary product of their undertaking, and who, according to the idea of that dismal moralist. Dr. Johnson, begin to think of dying when they are exhorted to plant a tree. Let all such attend to the lesson given them in La Fontaine's beautiful Fable of the " Old Man and the Three Young Men," the wise, the generous, the noble sentiments of which ought to be implanted in every human breast. Un octogenaii-e plantoit. Passe eucor de hatir; mais 'planter h cet age. Disoient trois jouvenceaux, enfants da voiainage Assurement il radotoit. Car, au nom des dieux, je vons prie. Quel fruit de ce labeur pouvez-vous recueillir ? Autant qu'nn patriarche il vous faudroit vieillir. A quoi bon charger votre vie Des soins d'un avenir qui n'est pas fait pour vous ? Ne songez desormais qu'a vos erreurs passees. Quittez le long espoir et les vastes pensees; Tout cela ne oonvient qu'a nous. II ne oonvient pas a vous-memes, Repartit le vicillard. Tout etablissement Vient tard et dure pen. La main des Parques blemes De vos jours et des miens se joue egalement. Nos termes sent pareUs par leur courte duree. Qui de nous des claries de la voute azuree Doit jouir le dernier ? Est-il aucuu moment Qui vous puisse assm-er d'un second seulement ? Mes arriere-neveux me devront cet ombrage : He hien ! defendez-vous au sage De se donner des soins pour le plaisir d'autrui ? Cela meme est un fruit que je goute aujourd'hui : J'en puis jouir demain, et quelqnes jours encore ; Je puis enfiu compter I'aurore Plus d'une fois sm* vos tombeaux. Le vieillard eut raison : I'uu des trois jouvenceaux Se noya d^s le port, allant a I'Amerique ; L'autre, afiu de monter aux grandes dignites, Dans les emplois de Mars servant la repubhque, Par un coup imprevu vit ses jours emportes ; Le troisieme tomba d'un arbre ' Que lui-meme il voulut enter ; Et pleures du vieiUard, il grava sur leur marbre Ce que je viens de raconter. To translate this is like an attempt to make a thing to resemble the rainbow ; and, therefore, I beg those who may happen not to understand French, to be pleased to receive, from my pen, the follow- ing statements of the mere prosaic meaning of these words of this absolutely inimitable writer, who, in marks of simplicity the most pleasing that ever followed the movements of a pen, has, on numerous subjects, left, to ages unborn, philosophy the most profound and sentiments the most ] ust and exalted. A man of fourscore w!is planting trees. "To 6i(i!t!might pass; but, to plant at such an age !" exclamed throe young men of the neighbour- hood. " Surely," said they, *' you are doating ; for, in God's name, what ■retnard can you receive for this, unless you were to Uve as long as one of the Patriarchs ? What fjood can there be in loading your life with cares about a time which you are destined never to see ? Pray devote the rest of your life to thoughts on your past errors ; give up distant and grand expectations : these become only us yomig men." — '' They become not even you," answered the old man. " All we do comes late, and is quickly gone. The pale hand of fate sports equally with your days and with mine. 'I'he shortness of our lives puts us all on a level. Who can say which of us shall last behold the light of heaven ? Can any moment of your lives secure you even a second moment ? My great grand-children will owe shady groves to me. And, do you blame me for providing delight for others ? Why, the thought of this is, of itself, a reward which I already enjoy ? I may enjoy it to-moiTOw, and for some days after that; nay, I Jak. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 33 may more tliau once even see tlie sun rise on your graves." The old man •was right ; one of the three, ambitious to see the new world, was drowned in the port ; another, pursuing fame in the service of Mars, was suddenly stopped by an unexpected shot ; the third fell from a tree, on which he himself was putting a graff j and the old man, lamenting their sad end, engraved on their tomb the story here related. — -W. Cobbett. The Rose Acacia. — Mr. Gordon could not have introduced to our notice (see p. 531, vol. ii.) a more beautiful plant in the form of a shrub than the Rose Acacia. Mongredien speaks of it as a " small tree," but I have never seen it anything like what could be called a tree. In the grafted form (in which I have only seen it), it never seems to " take " well on the stock, and I have seen many plants of it blown off at the graft. A short time ago I had to deplore the loss of a fine bush of it by the wind blowing it off the stock in that way. I have always taken it for granted that this shrub would not thrive on its own roots, and if any one has it growing on its own roots it would be interesting to know how it thrives in that way. This Acacia has a pretty effect on a wall, but it is in the bush form in which its grandeur is seen to most advantage, and I know of nothing that so well repays high culture as this plant. — Ga\s. M'DoN.iLD, PhcEnix Park, Dublin. CinclLona Cultivation in India. — There are now 2,636,580 Cinchona plants in the Government plantationsou the Neilgherry Hills, without counting those of private planters. The largest trees are 30 feet high, and 3 feet in girth round the trunk. The area covered by the plantations amounts to upwards of 950 acres. Daring last year 7,295 lbs. of excellent bark were sold in the London market, realising prices from 2s. 3d. to 23. lOd. the pound ; and 35,072 lbs. were supplied to the local manufactory, making a total value of £1,600. While the original outlay for introducing this important cultivation in India will soon be repaid to the state with interest, hundreds of natives of India are annnally cured by the quinine febrifuge manufactured from bark grown on the Neilgherry Hills. The grand object of this beneficent measure has thus been attained, by the provision of an abundant supply of the febrifuge at so cheap a rate as to be within the means of the population at large. — Ocean Higlnoays. The New Drug, the Eucalyptus globulus. — Fever of a malarious character continues to prevail in the Mauritius, the extent of its prevalence as well as its severity varying much with the season — that is to say, increasing in the hot, and diminishing during the cold weather. We understand that the employment of quinine has been in a large measure discontinued in favour of the Euca- lyptus globulus, which is considered by many who have watched its administration to have proved of real service, and a good substitute for the former very expensive alkaloid. The Mauritius offers, unhappily, a large field for testing the properties of this drug, and we shall await the results of further experience in that island with interest. At present there is only one tree in existence in the Royal Botanical Gardens, but the soil and climate of the Mauritius are very favourable to the growth of the Eucalyptus, and a large number of seedlings are thriving. The leaves are sold at sixpence an ounce, and an infusion of these is the popular method of adminis- tering the drug. — Lancet. [This tree grows rapidly over a vast area in temperate climes, as in southern Europe and California.] NOTES AND QUESTIONS ON TREES AND SHRUBS. Need of Timber Trees.— People forget that while the supply of timber is limited the demand increa^rcs and accelerates the day of scarcity. At no very distant period, material for implements, ships, and buildin;? will be com- paratively unavailable, and children may have very tangible reason for appreciating their father's wise forethought in planting trees. Evergreen Robinias.— At the Lyons Horticultural Exhibition there were shown two Robinias, one by the firm of MM. Durousset, and the other by that of M. Morel, They are both said to be evergreen, and if this be true, will prove valuable acquisitions for purposes of ornamentation. Conifers as Hedge Plants-— I have read with much interest your account of Abies Canadensis as an evergreen hedge plant, and should be very glad if any of yoiu" readers would give their opinion of Conifers generally used for this purpose. I am trying Thuja Lobbi, Cupressus macrocarpa, common Yew, and American Arbor-vitse, but it is too soon to report on their respective merits. The two last are, of course, too well known ; but some correspondent may, perhaps, be able to say which of all the Conifers would in five years make the best hedge as regards graceful habit, colour, and denseness. — J. H. W. T. Lawns and Trees. — Where shrubs and trees are so freely introduced as to balance in extent the breadth of turf, the lawn at once loses all character, and Bimply degenerates into mere bits of grass, dividing clumps of shrubs or isolating fine trees. The amplitude of turf should so ])redominate as to com- mand and absorb attention independent of all other embellishment; and the finest of shrubs, and choicest and rarest of trees, should never intrude them- selves, but appear in a secondary light whenever we come to tho^e reaches and expanses of turf which are the glory of English gardens. Let these expansions of turf be held inviolate from shrubs or trees. Listen not to those who would talk about a fine tree In the middle or an Araucaria or weeping Ash " just to break the breadth of turf." — W. J. THE H OUSE HOLD. CELERY. In the cold and dreary winter season in this country the choice of vegetables is somewhat limited, and would seem to call more than ever for the skill of the cook to make the best of it ; yet such is the crudoness, so to speak, of British cookery, that it will not condescend to cook even the finest winter vegetable produced in these islands. Celery is generally served raw as an adjunct to choose; and when they attempt to cook it, English cooks, for want of a bit of thread, send up a dish second only in unseemliness to the orthodox British greens. I do not wish for a moment to disparage the eating of raw Celery, which has considerable merits of its own ; but I may be allowed to remark en jrassaiii that the practice of eating raw Celery is no better than that of eating raw green Artichokes or Tomatoes, and that I feel entitled to the sympathy of those who know how to eat for the sneers and the gibes I evoke when I point out the excel- lence of a salad of raw Tomatoes, or of a raw green Artichoke, young and tender, with that simplest of all sauces — oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt — good as it is simple. Raw Celery, cnt up in convenient pieces, makes a very good salad, and can also be used with great ad- vantage along with Olives, Beetroot, hard-boiled eggs, anchovies, preserved tunny fish, and sundry other things of the kind, to com- pose compound salads. Some of these have been, with questionable taste, dubbed with very grand names, as, for example, that of a celebrated adventurer of the last century, given by some professors to a salad of hard-boiled eggs and Celery, dressed with a mayonnaise and just a sovpron of Shallot ; or the name of an equally celebrated actress, given to the same salad when Truflles and German sausage are added to it. In using Celery for these salads, or simply d I'An. glaLfe with the cheese, a considerable quantity of waste occurs; and it is the utilisation of this waste (the outside stalks, not the green leaves) of which I shall first treat. The flavour of Celery, if judiciously employed, is a great improve, ment to many kinds of sauces and clear soups, down to the original stock pot itself, the fon>: et orhjo of all cooking operations. Now, the outer stalk of a head of Celery, if it is only duly washed, will impart the flavour just as well as the inner ones, or the heart of the said head ; and if a sufficient supply of these outer leaves be at band, Celery soup, olear,or thick, white or brown, can be made with them, while the hearts may be served with cheese il VAmjlaise, or made into a salad, or constitute an entreniH de legumes in the manner that I shall describe further on. The common form of making clear Celery soup consists simply in boiling in some consoinmi' a good allowance of Celery trimmings a sufficient length of time to give the consommt' a strong flavour of Celery. It is then duly clarified with white of egg or raw meat, and served with a small quantity of the inner leaf of Celery, cut in small pieces of uniform size, and boiled in water with s6me salt and a little sugar. To make thick Celery soup I would take a quantity of the outer stalks of Celery, cut in small pieces, and boil them in salted water till quite done ; then I would cut up an Onion and a Carrot in small dice, and fry them to a brown colour in butter, and, adding to them the Celery, I would stir the whole on the fire for a few minutes, moistening the mixture with stock ; and, having duly seasoned it with pepper and salt, I would pass the whole through a hair sieve ; then I would dilute the result with stock, and lastly, stir in oil the fire a couple of yolks of egg, beaten up with a small quantity of cold stock and strained, serving the soup with small dice of bread fried in butter. To make thick white soup, the Celery should be boiled till tender in salted water, with a blade of mace, an Onion, and whole pepper; when quite done (the water being drained off), it should be passed through a hair sieve, and the pulp thus obtained diluted with white stock free from fat, the soup being finished by stirring into it, off the fire, the yolks of two eggs, strained and beaten up with a gill of cream. The following are two other formulas foi making thick white Celery aoup : — 1. Blanch the Celery in water, then set it to boil, cut up in small pieces with some milk and a handful of Rice, previously boiled in water. When both Rice and Celery are boiled down to a mash, flavour with pepper, salt, and nutmeg ; then pass the whole through a hair sieve, dilute to the proper consistency with white stock free from fat, and finish by either of these three methods, (a) Add a pat of fresh butter, (h) Stir in the yolks of two eggs, beaten up with a little milk or cream, and strained, (c) Stir in the yolks of two eggs, beaten up with a little cold stock, and strained. 2. Boil the Celery in stock. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add to it half its weight of flour ; mix the two well together ; add the Celery and stock, with pepper, salt, and spices to taste ; stir the w^hole well, and let it boil, then pass it through a hair sieve; add either stock or milk if necessary, and finish as explained above. Small dice of bread fried in butter are usually served with these soups. Celery sauce is made exactly on the same principle as the above 34 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. soaps, but it should be moro highly flavoured and of thicker con. sistcacy, which latter result is easily attained by using a greater quantity of flour, that form being the best when a sauce, and not a soup, is to bo made. That a well-made Celery sauce is one of tho best adjuncts to braised and boiled poultry, and most white meats, hardly needs to be mentioned. A Celery sauce made still thicker merges into what is termed a puree proper, or in English might be called mashed Celery; and this also is a very good adjunct to cutlets or fillets of white meat, or may be served alone with fried sippets of bread round it, and eke a garnish of hard.boiled or of poached eggs. To so prepare Celery, less moisture as well as less flour should be used ; and as for the flavouring, that remains the same, to be regulated only by the taste and skill of the cook — qualities which no directions of mine could possibly give that individual if she have them not. The common form for making a puree of Celery to bo served as a vegetable would be as follows : — Boil the Celery in water with a bundle of sweet herbs, an Onion, whole pepper, a blade of mace, and salt to taste. When thoroughly done, drain all the water off, and pass tho Celery through a hair-sieve. Melt a large piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour, stir well ; then add the Celery pulp, stir the whole till quite hot, and serve. A little grated nutmeg may be added ; and I may mention that a pinch of powdered sugar is not amiss in any of the foregoing pre- parations, all of which can be carried out with the outer st.ilks of the Celery. There is no reason, of course, but that of economy, why the inner part of the Celery should not be used ; but if due attention is given to the proper washing of the stalks, and to the proportions of the flavouring, and, in fact, to the whole manipula- tion, no perceptible improvement will be gained by using the inner part. Coming now to the cooking of this, I should first observe that the main reason why stewed Celery a I'Anglaise is so uninviting is, that each particular head is not properly trimmed and tied up as it should be. All the heads of Celery should be cut to the same length, and the roots trimmed all alike ; then each head should be tied with a piece of thread (to be removed at the time of serving). Let no one cry out that this is unnecessary advice. I hope there are cooks iu this country who know their business ; it is not for them I write. I write for those who do not, and they are unhappily the majority. The simplest form of cooking Celery, when duly prepared as above, is to boil it in salted water with an Onion, a blade of mace, and some whole pepper ; when done it should be carefully strained, freed from the threads, arranged neatly on a dish (not on a piece of toast— to my mind an abominable practice), and served with a plain sauce blanche, i. e., melted butter into which have been stirred the yolk of an egg and the juice of a Lemon. Instead of this sauce may be used, sundry others, c. 3., Tomato, Bechamel, Souhise, ravigotte, poiirade,' piquante, &c. The next mode is this. The Celery is first parboiled, then laid in a saucepan on a bed of slices of bacon, with sliced Carrots and Onions, a bundle of sweet herbs, white pepper and salt to taste, a few cloves, and a blade of mace ; enough stock is added to just cover the Celery, which is set to stew very gently till done ; it is then dished up with a well-made Spanish sauce, or with some of the liciuor it has stewed in, duly reduced, freed from fat, and thick- ened with butter and flour in the manner so often before explained. Another form of dressing Celery is to cut it in inch lengths, boil it in plain water till half-done, then to set it in a saucepan with any sauce you may fancy— white or brown— to simmer till done. Like the purees, this dish should be finished by the addition of yolks of eggs and Lemon juice, if the same be a white one, or it may be finished by the addition of a little cream, with or without the yolk of egg. Celery makes very good savoury fritters ; but for this purpose It should be either boiled or stewed in the first instance, and, being cut into convenient pieces and well dried, dipped in batter and frie(f. Sweet fritters can also be made with Celery, which, for this purpose, should be parboiled first, then cut up and placed for some hours in a marinade of brandy and sugar, after which dip the pieces iu batter and fry. I have hardly left myself space to enumerate many varieties of which the preparations I have described are susceptible, but I will conclude with a recipe for dressing Celery with bread, which may commend itself to the lovers of the piece of toast that I so much deprecate. The proceeding is simple enough. Having parboiled the Celery, cut each head in half lengthwise, and stew it as directed above. When done, have some thin pieces of bread, cut in the shape of cutlets, and fried in butter to a light brown colour on both sides ; dispose each piece of Celery on its crouton, arrange these in a crown on the dish, and serve with a well-made sauce Espcfjuoh. The Celery served whole with a similar sauce, within a crown of these croutons, each bearing a piece of beef marrow duly parboiled, makes a dish, if not ([uite fit for a king, yet sufficiently good-for The Q. C, in the Queen. THE GARDENS OF ENGLAND. MILNBR FIELD. MiLNER FiiiLD, Yorkshire, the scat of Mr. Titus Salt, is situated near the little town of Saltaire ; and Saltaire, by the way, even from a horticultural point of view, deserves sonic notice at our hands, for, compared with the filthy manufacturing towns, familiar to us all, it is a fair garden. This wonderful creation of Sir Titus Salt's is well known to many, but we may nevertheless record that Sir T. Salt's determination to remove from the crowded town of Bradford, and to cstablisli his vast works in an open, airy spot, has led him to form a town which could hardly fail to please even Mr. Ruskin himself, so free is it from the usual disagreeable marks of our manufacturing " civilisation" and " prosperity." Here it is shown clearly enough that manu- facturing on a great scale may be carried on without neces- sarily disfiguring the face of the land, or being accompanied by conditions destructive to human life or health. The town, although a small one, is in possession of a pleasant little park, the gift of Sir Titus Salt, in which the shrubs and flowers seem to thrive as well as if 50 miles from a factory, as indeed they do everywhere in the town. The admirable club-house, presented to the workmen by Sir Titus Salt, and which cost him £25,000, and the other objects of interest in the place, we must pass by, and come at once to the subject of our present notice, which is seen pleasantly situated on the hills about two miles from the town. Milner Field is a new garden — indeed it is yet in process of being laid out by Mr. Marnock, but enough progress has been made in the forcing department to permit of us speaking of it, assisted by the accompanying plans and details. The principal houses are ranged side by side, lying due north and south ; they are 34 feet long and 18 feet wide, inside measure, and are ten in number, and with lean-to houses at either end. All these houses open into a covered corridor, so that every house can be entered without exposing it to cold winds. The walks in the corridors are laid with 3-inch thick Yorkshire flags, and the paths of the houses are laid with cast-iron plates, |- of an inch thick, and three feet wide, diamond pattern, supported on angle iron rails and cast-iron pillars every six feet ; this arrangement leaves the border free for the roots of the vines, &c., to run under the paths. Out of each corridor opens a pottiug-shed, thus enabling plants to be carried into it without exposing them to the cold. The corri- dors are fitted up with tabling between the doors of the houses, for plants, and a high shelf runs the whole length, for Straw- berries, &c. ; the back walls are wired and ornamented with flowering creepers ; one corridor with stove and the other with cool climbers. The houses Nos. 6 and 7 are fitted up with ])its iu the centre, and slate tables round, supported on angle iron rails and cast-iron pillars ; the tables are covered with small cannel coal, which furnishes drainage for the pots, and has the advantage of not becoming green, as do spar and stone. As to ventilation, the whole is worked from the two corridors by handles fixed on each side of the doors entering the houses, working by means of a pair of bevel wheels a perpendicular shaft with a double thread, which works into a nut attached to the levers for raising the top lights. These threads have all been cut in the lathe, are i inch (double) pitch, and work very quickly and easily. The side ventilation is worked by means of a similar screw placed under the tabling, which opens and shuts sheet-iron doors into a ventilating flue in the brick wall between the houses, running to the outside ; this arrangement is found to give ample ventilation. Nos. 2, 6, 7, and 11 have side light ventilation ; the south lights in all the houses open if required ; there is a rain-water cistern in every house, and a hot- water cistern (wood) in the boiler house, with a pipe through the wall and a tap in the corridor. This is of large size and supplies all the warm water for watering purposes. It is heated by a coil of hot-water copper pipes, so there is no fear of rust or other damage to the water. As regards the heating, the whole of the houses are warmed by means of three of Weeks's patent duplex upright tubular boilers ; one being only for use in an emergency. They are so connected that either one, two, or .ill three can be worked together, or any one will work the whole ; and any one of them Jan. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. - - - - 1 1 r r ,1 " 1 36 THE GARDEN. [Jan-. 11, 1873. can be used separately, either for the front or back range, as may be desired. The boilers .iro about 7 feet high, and are doing their work admirably. The main pipes are 6-inch ones, and run the length of each corridor, branching out into each house under the doorways. Each house has valves on both flow and return pipes, as have also the main pipes. The valves used throughout are 2-inch, 4-iuch, and 6-inch Feet's patent valves, and although costly in the first instance, they are certainly most complete. The Pine and stove pits are made with malt-kiln tiles, about a foot square, supported on T iron bearers, an arrangement which necessitates a very small amount of bottom heat, and works most satisfactorily. As these tiles seemed to us admir- ably suited for the purpose, we have had engravings made of them, showing a section and a view of each face. The warm air flows through the small holes, so that it is finely divided in the mass of soil to be heated. The Pines grown are princi- pally Smooth-leaved Cayenne, Queens, and Charlotte Roths- child ; and the fruiting house is now full of fruit promising to be of very large size, many being eight and nine pips deep. The Vines planted are as follows :— No. 8, all Black Ham- burghs ; 10, all Muscats ; 1 and V2, late Vines ; 9, various. _ The following references apply to that part of the plan which lies behind the corridor, viz. . Cart shed. b. Pot store. e. Potting shed. d. Boiler house. -- Tool and ditto. /. Potting shed. t/. Vegetable shed. h. Bed-room. (. Bed-room. L Living room. k. Lavatory. . Coal house. n. Larder. r. Ashes. «. Cold frames. q. Stable. Mr. Salt has been his own architect and builder as far as these houses are concerned. The Mushroom house is fitted up entirely with stone and iron, and the work has been executed throughout in the very best manner. Everything is most substantial and complete, and seems thoroughly adapted for the purpose intended. The adoption of a plan by which all the largest houses open on to a roomy corridor much facilitates the labours of the gardeners, and permits the houses to be visited in an agreeable manner in any weather. This, or some similar plan, deserves general adoption. We hope to allude to some more interesting features of the gardens here at another time. A TKANSATLANTic contemporary describes a simple method of covering fresh flowers with alum crystallization. It is as follows :— Make baskets of pliable copper wire, and wrap them with gauze. Into these tie to the bottom Violets, Ferns, Geranium leaves. Chrysan- themums—in fact, any flowers except full-blown Roses, and sink them m a solution of alnm of one pound to the gallon of water, after the solution has cooled, as their colours will then be preserved in their original beauty, and the crystallized alum will hold faster than when from a hot solution. When you have a light covering distinct crystals that cover completely the articles, remove carefully, and allow them to drain for twelve hours. EXPERIMENTS WITH COLOURED GLASS. Some interesting and instrnctivo experiments have recently been made on this subject by M. Bert, and detailed in the Behjique Horti. cole, as follows ; — I placed in large garden-frames filled with different colonred glasses tvventy.five species of plants belonging to as many different families, including sun.plants (as Mullein, Milfoil, &c.), those gi'owing in the shade (aa the Violet, &c-), Grasses (Leeks, Cacti), green Cryptogams (Moss, Club-Moss, Maiden. hair), highly coloured red-foliage plants (Perilla), and Firs. The plants of each species were all of uniform size, and reared from the same seed. One of the garden frames was fitted up with ordinary glass, a second with white unpolished ditto, a third with well-biackened glass, a fourth with red, a fifth with yellow, a sixth with green, and a seventh with blue glass. Under the spectroscope, with a feeble jet of gas, the red glass was sensibly monochromatic ; the yellow allowed of the passage of the entire spectrum, with a greater relative brilliancy in the yellow portion ; with the green glass, the portions of the spectrum other than the green were extremely weak, particularly the blue and violet ; the blue glass stopped all the rays except the blue and violet, the red being almost imperceptible. The frames were so placed as never to receive the sun's light direct, in which position they were the yellow excepted — very nearly monochromatic. The operation of planting having been performed in advance, the frames were set on on June 20th. On June 24th I sowed in each of them several species of quick sprouting seeds, which appeared to spring up almost instan. taneously. On July 15, the sun plants were dead in the black and green frames, very sickly in the other coloured frames, particularly in that with the red glass ; all the other plants in the coloured frames were in bad condition. The mortality continued to increase. On August 2nd all the plants were dead in the darkened frame except the Cactus, the Lemna, the Firs, the Club-Moss, and Maiden-Hair, which were all very sickly. In the green frame all the plants were dead except the Geranium, the Leeks, the Celery, and the plants of the species still alone in the dark frame, but all of them doing very badly. The mortality was less in the red frame, and still less in the blue and yellow frames. The Perilla was dead in the black and green frames, and had lost all its red colour in the other coloured frames. An ex- amination of the roots of the plants in pots showed that these organs were very slender in those in the black and green frames, less so in the red, fairly developed in those grown in blue and yellow frames, and very abundant in those in the frames fitted with white glass. On August 20th the situation had gained the mastery. In the black and green frames there remained alive the Acotyledons alone, and in a very sickly condition ; in the red frames thes"e plants were also sickly, less so in the blue and the yellow frames ; as to the other plants, it seemed that the red had proved more detrimental than either the blue or the yellow. A close examination showed that the plants placed in the red light were much more elongated than those in the yellow, and in the blue more especially, but their stems were stronger. The grasses were more blanched in the yellow than in the blue ; under the blue light the plants retained for some time their natural green tint, of a deeper shade than in those under the yellow frames, and a certain appearance of health withal. The seedling plants disappeared very quickly in the black and the green frames, and next in the red ; in the blue frames they did better than in the yellow. I may add that in the frames with the uncoloured glasses all the plants continued to live and grow a trifle less vigorously under the unpolished than under the ordinary glass. Taking into account that the yellow glass was only two-thirds of the thickness of the blue, and that it allowed of the passage of rays of other colours than yellow, while the blue was monochromatic, we are led to the conclu- sion that — 1. Green is as fatal to vegetable life as the total absence of light. This is the conclusion I arrived at in the course of my experi. ments on sensitive films (see Comptes Rendiix, vol. Ixx., p. 388, 1870). The fact had been anticipated and explained before by M. Cailletet (Comptes Rendus, vol. Ixv., p. 322, 1867). It is hardly correct to say that green light has no effect upon plants. I have found that the most strongly. heliotropic plants incline away from the green towards the red rays in their efforts to escape obscurity. 2. Red is a very injurious light, though less so than green. It produces a remarkable elongation of the plants. 3. Yellow is far less dangerous than the preceding colours, but more so than blue. If the plants lasted as long in the yellow as in the blue frames, it was due to the peculiarity above referred to. 4. Lastly, all colours, taken alone, are detrimental to plant.life ; their union in the proportions constituting onUnanj or white light is requisite to healthy vegetation, and it there fore behoves horticulturists to renounce the idea of employing coloured glasses or other coloured materials for glass houses and garden frames. Now, if we examine light which has passed through a leaf with the spectroscope, we shall find that it is rich in red and green rays, Jax. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. 37 showing that these rays have not been absorbed by the plant. It is not surprising, therefore, that plants are unable to live when the only light we give them is that they cannot turn to account in the ordinary course of nature. To employ a forcible simile, it is like attempting to nourish an animal on the residua of its own digestive processes. But the chlorophyl in the leaves of different species does not allow of the passage of precisely the same coloured rays. Hence it is, doubtless, that, under the shade of a large Oak young Oak trees can only be reared with great difficulty, whilst Mosses and Ferns flourish : and under the shadiest bushes, Violets, certain kinds of Neottia, and other like plants, grow freely. In a word, I believe the associations of green plants living in each other's shade are chiefly determined by the coloured rays utilized by their leaves. This point will form the subject of a series of experiments, which I hope to be able to undertake in my immediate neighbourhood. GERMAJT HOTBEDS. Ox these are placed frames covered with prepared cotton cloth instead of glazed sashes. Take white cotton cloth, of a close texture, stretch it, and nail it on frames any size you wish ; mix two ounces of lime-water, four ounces of linseed oil, one ounce white of eggs separately, two ounces of yolk of eggs ; mix the lime and oil with a very gentle heat, beat the eggs separately', and mix with the former. Spread this mixture, with a paint-brush, over the cloth, allowing each coat to dry before applying another, until the cloth becomes water-proof. The following are some of the advantages which these lights possess over glazed sashes : — 1. The cost is hardly one-fourth of that of glass. 2. Repairs can be easily and cheaply made. 3. They are light and afford shade. 4. The heat arising from below is equable and temperate, and the vapour arising from the manure and soil is condensed by the cool air passing over the surface, and hangs in drops upon the inside, therefore the plants do not require so frequent watering. If the frames or stretchers are made lai'ge, they should bo intersected with cross-bars about a foot square, to support the cloth. These cloth, covered lights are just the things for bringing forward flower seeds in season for transplanting ; and for forcing early Melons, Tomatoes, &c., prepared cloth is especially adapted, as it can be tacked to boxes of any size required, and cut to fit them. Little, rough, square boxes of the proper size and height, covered with the pre- pared cloth, can be placed over the hills in which Tomato, Melon, or other seeds are sown, and the plants allowed to stand, without transplanting, until all danger of frost is over, when the boxes may be taken off and packed away carefully for another season. — Owi- Home Journal. [Some ten or twenty years ago transparent calico frames were much used in this country. They were made by stretching the calico on frames of any size, and giving them several coats of linseed oil, applied boiling hot. They were remarkably useful for a variety of purposes, such as sheltering bedding plants in the spring, winter- ing Lettuces, Endive, and Walcheren Broccoli ; protecting shrubs for forcing, &c. They were also used for growing early Radishes and Potatoes, and Cucumbers and Melons, when the summer got further advanced. As glass became cheaper, however, they gradually fell into disuse. The cloth seldom lasted more than two or three seasons. A general opinion seemed to prevail that the oil helped to rot it, and a thin coating of glue or inferior isinglass was occasionally appUed to form a sort of glazed surface over the oilcloth. Lime added would merely give greater whiteness, the eggs, of course, would form a glaze ; but surely they would be better without the yolks, audit would be difficult to make the lime water and the oil amalgamate. Still translucent or semi-transparent cloth is useful for many purposes, and possibly that prepared on the German method may be as good or better than any other ; but the advan. tages stated can hardly have been proved by experience. 1. The cost, instead of being set down as only one-fourth, should have been written one.fourth first cost ; and even that is hardly true now, for it needs good calico, from fourpence to sixpence a yard, for making translucent cloth with any stay in it. Besides glass does not wear out, and calico does. 2. It is said that repairs are easily and cheaply made, which is, however, not the fact. Every patch lets the wet in, and the only efficient repair is a fresh cover. 3. To this I have nothing to say ; bnt in regard to the fourth list of advantages, the last sentence is correct, viz., that these frames are capital for raising seeds. In fact, there are many purposes for which they are useful. During hot weather, however, the plants require as much care in regard to ventilation and watering as under glass ; and the great danger of the so-called transparent cloths is the drawing of the plants under them. No textile fabric can be made as translucent as glass, and every degree of opacity left is a loss of strength and stordiness to all such plants as Melons and Tomatoes. — D. T. Fish.] THE KITCHEN GARDEN. THE EGG PLANT. I LEARN from a contemporary that fruit of this plant has been offered for sale in English markets, but from the description given of it, the variety must either have been a poor one or its cultivation could not have been well understood. I sea no reason why this fruit should not make a useful item in mixed pickles, although I have not seen it used in that way ; the size and shape mentioned, viz., 6 inches long by li inch in diameter, would be a convenient size to cut up for that purpose, and would be of no use for cooking. This fruit, like its near relative, the Tomato, may be improved by selecting the best for seed, a fact of which I have taken advan. tage by saving the best each year, until I have obtained a very fine " strain." I consider the fruit of this plant to bo one of the most delicate additions to our very extensive list of summer vegetables; when nicely cooked it tastes more like Apple fritters than anything else with which I can compare it. Owing to the plant itself being much more tender than the Tomato, it is useless to plant it in the open ground in England ; but it would succeed on hot-beds under frames, or, better still, planted in pits heated with hot water, so as to furnish a bottom heat of about 80^. It is a compact grower, and if cramped in pots or planted in close comers it would be smothered with red spider, and of course prove a failure. In America we sow the seed about the 1st of April, in a hothouse, prick off the young plants as soon as they are up, and pot them into small pots before the roots become much entangled, shifting once or twice, the last time into 6 or 7 inch pots. We keep them in a night temperature of 65° until the middle of May, and then harden them off by degrees until about the 7th of June, when they are planted outside. The ground being by that time well heated by the sun, they make rapid growth, and would astonish those who had only seen the starved specimens grown in pots as cui'iosities in English greenhouses. A dozen plants 3'ield abundance of fruit for the supply of a large familj'. The only attention required after planting is to keep down weeds, and if the weather is very dry to give one or two good soakiugs of water. The hotter the weather the faster the plants grow. Here the soil is frequently over 100°, yet we think it necessary to plant our Egg plants in a sheltered spot exposed to full sunshine. The plants when young are very tender, so that if fumigation is necessary, they should be removed from the house, and if checked in any way red spider mil attack them and soon spoil them. J. Tapmn. South Amltoy, Neio Jersey. Improved Dandelion. — In the beginning of May, 1870, we sowed some seed of this Dandelion in a well prepared bed, in which the roots could easily develope themselves without meeting with any obstacle. The young plants soon appeared above ground, and in autumn we were able to cut from them great quantities of long and large leaves, which made an excellent salad. Others were cooked the same as Chicory (Endive) , and were found to be very good. During the siege, ordinary Dandelions were sold retail in Paris at from three to four francs per pound. The improved variety is, however, so unlike the common kind, that each head of it might easily be mistaken for a large Batavian Endive, were it not for the colour, which is not the same. In winter we blanch wild Chicory in cellars, and in the bed in which it grows is also put the improved Dandelion, which produces leaves in equal abundance, and thus during the entire winter we are provided with blanched leaves of both plants, which are both wholesome and palatable. — M. Bossin. [This improved Dandelion was, we believe, sent out by MM. Vilmorin, of Paris.] Asparagus Flowers. — Mr. Thomas Meehan, of Philadelphia, remarks, respecting the common Asparagus, that in consequence of observing last year so many plants that had evidently flowered pro. dncing no seeds, he had this year examined them in a flowering condition and found them perfectly dioecious. Imperfect stamens existed in the female flowers, but they were never polleniferous. An occasional gynoecium in the male flower would make a weak attempt to pi'oduce a pistil, but no polleniferous flower ever produces a fruit. There was a great difference in the form of the male and female flowers. The former were double the length of the latter, and nearly cylindrical, while the female flower was rather campannlate. Mr. Meehan added that this had a more than nsual practical import, ance. Many attempts had been made to improve the Asparagus, as garden vegetables and the farm Cereals had been improved ; but it had often been questioned whether these improved forms would reproduce themselves from seed as other garden varieties did. The 38 THE GARDEN. [Jav. 11, 1873. tendenoy of thought the few past years had been in the direction of the belief that permanent varieties conld be raised, and several improved kinds had been sent out by seedsmen, and were popular to a considerable extent, llo said ho had himself inclined to this opinion ; but this discovery of complete dioecism in Asparagus, whereby two distinct individual forms ;vero required to produce seed, rendered a true repi'odnction of one original parent impossible, as the progeny must necessarily partake of both forms. THE GARDEN IN THE HOUSE. DIEPFBNBACHIA BARAQUINIANA. This is tbe best species of au easily grown, bandsome genus of stove plants. It is of moderate stature, and associates well with larger fine-leaved plants, or it may be intermixed with flowering plants in the stove ; it is, however, a plant that does not stand well if kept long out of a warm, somewhat humid atmosphere. Consequently if it is' taken out of the Dieffeubachia Baraquiuiana. house or pit in which it is grown, it ought to be returned to its usual abode at the expiration of a few days. It is a free grower, and is not over nice as to the material in which it is grown. Either peat or loam, or a mixture of both, will suit it, to which add a liberal admixture of clean sand, with a little thoroughly rotten dung. Use plenty of drainage. The plant will stand a liberal shift, say from a 6-inch pot to a 10 or 12- inch one. It will grow well in the temperature of an ordinary stove, and it must never, even when comparatively at rest in winter, be subjected to a low temperature. At that season it will require .5-5° or 60° at iright. It is a gross feeder, and will grow all the better if supplied occasionally with manure water ; it is, however, best as a rule not to apply liquid manure to quick growing, succulent, variegated plants, as most of them do not come so finely coloured if grown too vigorously. This Dieffeubachia is not much troubled with the attacks of insects, but should they appear they are easily kept in check by an occasional application of the syringe. It strikes freely from cuttings made of short pieces of the stem, inserted in sand, and kept a little close until they have struck root. It likes a little shade during the growing season, as its leaves are too soft to withstand the sun's rays when at all powerful. The beauty of it.s leaves makes it a desirable plant for room decoration, but it must not be kept too long indoors at a time, or it will fall into ill-health. T. Baines. CUT FLOWERS. Assuming it as a principle that in a properly appointed green- house or garden no more flowers for the internal decoration of a dwelling house should be cut than can be well spared, it is, I think, import mt to know how to employ them in the most efficient manner, and so as to produce the best result with the least waste of material. Take as many flowers as you can hold in the palm of your hand and give them to one of the bouquet makers in Covent Garden Market, and she will in a few minutes produce you an exquisite bouquet ; give the same flowers to persons of little or no taste and they would be thrown away as useless. And how will the bouquet-maker proceed ? Well, there must be a foundation, and having selected her flowers, Violets, single bits of Geraniums, Heaths, Bpacrises, and other things, she will fix them neatly upon small twigs of sufficient length, and having done that, so as to have two or three pieces of each colour, she will proceed to make a foundation. Now foundations are formed in various ways and of widely different materials. In the winter season, box or a few sprays of any other small leaved tree are taken and tied together so as to form a foundation of sufficient size, and then taking a Rose or Camellia for a centre she will proceed to arr.ange the other flowers around it in a light and elegant manner, and this the foundation, by keeping the flowers well apart, enables her to do. She will then edge with Mignonette or Sweet Briar, or perhaps with Lily of the Valley, and drawing in a small frond here and there of the Maidenhair or some other Fern, you will have a bouquet in which colour does not predominate over the greenery which ought to surround it. In like manner give the same floral artist a vase of any size to fill with flowers. She will most likely throw in as a foundation a handful of Sweet Briar, and then taking Pern fronds or any other remarkable foliage, she will arrange it thinly but artistically. If she has any trailing plants they will hang carelessly from the vase, and the same with Fuchsias or any other ])endent flowers ; and then the colour will be lightly, but sufliciontly used. Nature everywhere provides a sufficiency of green for her colours to be placed upon, and if we would do so hi our artificial arrangements they would be much more effective. AVhy is it that the spring months are so much more enjoyable than summer and autumn ? Not because of the change from winter, but in consequence of the coolness of the various tints of green ; whereas, in autumn, we get the glowing colour of our corn fields and the matured leafage of the trees. Artistically considered, autumn is the most beautiful part of the year ; but for coolness and quiet beauty commend me to a fine May morning. Tliese general hints will be sufficient to show the difference between an artistic appreciation of the beautiful, and the want of it in the arrangement of flowers. Some years back I had some very elegant coloured glass vases, and in them flowers were not used at all — a drooping spray or two of Passion-flower, or some other elegant climbing plant, depended from the sides ; and two or three branches of the Vine, with the foliage and tendrils complete, was all that was used ; and these in the early part of the season were something really worth looking at. Bundles of flowers without foliage are very unsatisfactory ; but elegant foliage with a few flowers, gracefully arranged in a vase or bouquet, forms an ornament not to be surpassed by all the art of the lapidary and goldsmith put together. P. A. A Parlour Window Garden. — In our parlour window I have at present a delightful garden, consisting of a nice green-leaved Myrtle in the centre, on each side of which is placed a plant of India-rubber tree, and between these and the sides of the window two pretty plants of Veronica imperialis, bearing lespectively eight and twelve expanded spikes of beautiful purple flowers. In front, next the glass, I have two elegant little plants of Acacia lophantha, and on either side a potful of Roman Hyacinths ; then two nicely variegated-leaved silver tricolor Pelargoniums, and two pots, each containing four Duo Van Thol Tulips, for both of which I paid a Ja-V. 11, 1873.] THE GARDEN. SO shilling, similarly placed. In each corner is a potful of Ferns ; I say a potful, for Pteris serrulata and Adiantum cnneatum are associated together. The whole is set in a framework of Jasminum nudiflorum, trained up both sides of the interior of the window, two branches being introduced from a plant grown outside through apertures made purposely for them. They are now laden with bloom in even greater profusion than the shoots outside, and they came into flower a fortnight earlier. The surface soil of the Myrtle, India-rubber tree, Veronica, and Acacia pots is covered with Club Moss (Selaginella Kraussiana) intermingled with some seedling Ferns. I flatter myself that I possess the finest winter garden I have yet seen, and one which passers-by enjoy quite as much as ourselves. — Maky S. Wallace. WORK FOR THE WEEK. PRIVATE GARDENS. Flower Garden. — The chief attractions belonging to outdoor gardens at present are winter Aconites, Jasmines, and Christmas Roses, together with a few miscellaneous flowers that have been tempted to expand, owing to the mildness of the season. Both evergreens and grass have also an unusually fresh look for this season of the year. Unless, however, cleanliness and tidiness are maintained, the most charming arrangement cannot be in itself satisfactory ; therefore, in order to have a garden enjoyable, the roller, broom, and rake must be frequently at work. Use the hoe amongst growing plants, for a loose and open surface is congenial to their health. Prune deciduous shrubs, but the pruning of evergreens should be deferred until spring. All kinds of trees may still be trans- planted, especially such as are deciduous. Proceed with any alterations that may have been previously determined upon. Any ground yet unturned should be dug over as soon as practicable ; if for Dahlias, Foxgloves, Hollyhocks, or other strong. growing gross- feeding plants, add plenty of manure ; but if for Pelargoniums or other plants that are required to produce abundance of flowers and to keep dwarf in growth, a dressing of leaf-mould will be more beneficial. Lay up the ground quite roughly, in order that the frost, wind, and sun may ameliorate and sweeten it ; well pulverised soil is greatly superior to that newly dug. Break up the surface of gravel walks, but not so deeply as to disturb the rubble in the bottom ; and, if necessary, apply a coating of fresh gravel. Roll grass verges so that they may not appear too high above the gi'avel when cut. Conservatories. — Use only fire-heat enough to expel damp and frost, and no more ; and when for the former have some air on the house at the same time. Maintain a temperature of 40° at night, with the usual daily rise. Water all evergreen plants moderately, and keep deciduous ones nearly dry. Plants in borders require watering very seldom at this season, there being but little demand upon the roots at this time of year ; but pot plants, especially such as are near hot-water pipes, require unremitting attention as regards water, for although apparently moist on the top the soil in the bottom of the pots may be dry. Such a condition would be ex- tremely detrimental, as the greatest amount of roots is amongst and over the drainage. Rather than keep the conservatory too warm, ia order to forward the plants therein, supply any deficiency there may be in the way of flowers by means of Camellias, Azaleas, Jasminums, Weigelas, Kalmias, Prunuses, Acacias, Dielytras, Lily of the Valley, Dutch and Roman Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissi, Crocuses, and other plants from the forcing pit. Decaying leaves are unusually plentiful on greenhouse plants this season, therefore they must be regularly removed. A rather dry and healthy atmo- sphere is the only remedy for such an evil, and to effect this supply artificial heat aud plenty of air ; indeed, no good opportunity should be missed to ventilate freely, fire-heat being used at the same time, but avoid draughts. Keep Heaths, Epacrises, Chorozemas, Boronias, Tremandras, &c., in the coolest and freest ventilated portion ; and forced shrubs and other flowers. Orchids, &c., in the warmest parts. Chrysanthemums done flowering cut over, and keep a pot of each kind in a frame, if sufficient cuttings have not already been obtained. Plant the others in the open border, or, if not wanted out-of-doors, throw them away. Shift herbaceous Calceolarias and Cinerarias as they require it, and keep them cool and well watered ; never permit a damped or decayed portion of a leaf to remain. Fumigate to destroy aphis, and keep in mind the old maxim, "prevention is better than cure." Keep Mignonette near the glass, and stake and tie it as may be necessary. Have a good succession of it in pits. Stoves. — Maintain a temperature of 55° at night, and permit it to rise to 65^ or 70^ during the day with sun-heat. Plants of Poinsettia pulcherrima, whose beauty is past, should be removed to a dry corner and kept dry, but still in the stove. Plants of Hexacentris done flowering, cut well back and induce them to go to rest. Give some weak manure water to Eranthemum pulchellum. Lay plants of Lagerstroemia indica on their sides in a cool house. Plants of Steph. anotis, AUamandas, Passifloras, Clerodendrons, Ciasuses, Echites, and other climbers, if required to bloom early, should be pruned, and syringed daily to encourage growth. The general stock of these, however, should yet remain at rest. Start a few roots of Achimenes, Gloxinias, Caladiums, and herbaceous Gesneras for early flowering ; keep the majority, however, for later work and see that no damp comes in contact with them. Guard Nymphaja roots from theattacks of rata and mice ; cats are the best and safest preventive against damage done by these vermin ; and in order to encourage their presence a mouse or two should be given them in the place which they are desired to frequent ; if that is done they will not fail to come again to look for more. Weasels are good friends to gardeners, and ferrets are useful for rat catching; with traps and poison and the other agents of destruction most of us are familiar. Indoor Fruit and Forcing Department. — For fruiting Pines maintain a bottom heat of 80", and a top temperature of 70'"' at night, and five or ten degrees loss for succession plants. Pot suckers whenever obtainable, and keep the roots of all, except those swelling fruit, pretty dry. Begin forcing Figs with a night tempera- ture of 50', and thoroughly moisten the soil, for, if too dry, the young fruit is sure to drop. Peaches and Nectarines set their fruit much better if fire-heat and ventilation arc given night and day during the time in which they are in flower, than they otherwise would do. Syringe the trees after the fruit has fairly set, and before the bloom has expanded, but not whilst they are in flower. Begin the forcing of Cherries with a night temperature of 45', and give fresh air freely. Strip off the loose bark from late Vine i-ods, and apply a coating of some insect-destroying paint. Keep the nnstarted houses as cool .and airy as possible, and prune any Vines not already operated on. Syringe daily until the flowers begin to open, but not after that, for plenty of atmospheric moisture may be maintained by damping the floors and walls. Introduce into heat some Str.awberry plants ; 45° is suflicient at first, but if a bottom heat of fifteen degrees higher than that can be given, it would be an improvement. Continue to intro- duce successional roots of Rhubarb, Seakale, Asparagus, Mint, Dan- delions, and Endive into the Mushroom house or hot-beds, where a temperature of 60" is maintained. NURSERIES. Continue to pot off singly good rooted autumn-struck Azalea cuttings, but if neither time nor space can bo spared for shitting them at present, leave them for a time in their cutting pots set on a side shelf of a close pit or intermediate house. Decapitate all long naked-stemmed Dracaenas ; use the tops as cuttings, and place the pots containing the stumps on the floor along the passage in close proximity to the pipes, so that the heat therefrom may more hastily promote the production of fresh shoots. The shoots can be taken off as they attain the length of an inch or two and used as cuttings. This method economises room in the heated plunging material, which should be saved for more delicate subjects. Any Statices becoming too long-stalked should have an incision made on each branch just at the base of the foliaged crowns, after which some moss should be tied around it. The moss should always be kept damp, and if a little silver sand is mixed with it so much the better, as it helps to encourage root production. Keep old and young Statices moderately moist and in a minimum temperature of 45°. Decapitate tall plants of Echeverias and insert the crowns, no matter how large, in pots filled with good loam and a little silver sand, so that their base may rest therein without fear of being easily displaced. They soon emit roots and begin growing. Succulents of most kinds increase readily by means of leaves pulled off the plants, but iu the case of those that produce side shoots abundantly, it is best to propagate by means of them, for in that case plants are sooner obtained. Pot off cuttings of Libonias and keep them for a short time in a warm pit, and when root action again begins, transfer them to an intermediate house. Divide the rhizomes of the variegated-leaved Acorus javanicus and keep the divided portions for a time in gentle heat. From male Aucubas in flower gather the pollen and keep it dry between bits of glass for future use. Start into growth in a warm pit tropical Ci-inums. Repot and start some Ha)manthuses ; they may be placed upon the floor in a warm house or pit, or on a back shelf. Repot specimen Dipladenias, climbing Clerodendrons, Bougainvilleas, &o., and keep them dry for some time yet. KITCHEN GARDENING FOR JANUARY. Should frost set in, all kinds of vegetables will doubtless now be found securely protected , as previously recommended for December, and the various kinds of protecting materials convenient and come- atable will be found at hand and in readiness for any future 40 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 11, 1873. emergency. Forethought, good system, and methodical application are the mainsprings of success in horticultural progress. We may naturally expect, after so much rain, severe frost, snow, hailstorms and cutting winds for many weeks, when the application of pro' tecting materials, more particularly abundance of dry dust will be found invahiable. Examine all memorandums made of good and improved kinds of vegetables, and investigate all new seed lists at hand, selecting therefrom the most improved varieties and valuable kinds, which have been proved to be good. Look over the copies of your own seed lists for several years back, and select from them such old and good kinds of seeds as you have proved serviceable and true, never discarding a proved good thin-^ till vou are fully satisfied that you have found a decidedly better. Set about making out and sending in at an early season your seed Usts in order to give the seedsmen time to get the goods put np in proper order before the busy season arrives. Previous to this season's arrival of goods place any seeds left over from last year into drawers by themselves. Clean out thoroughly the drawers and cupboards, to be in readiness for the arrival of the new seed, and see that there is no chance for the encroachment of mice or beetles, and that all is dry and healthy, m order to prevent damp and mildew. Look over all the tools, which should always be found methodically arranged and always put away clean in their places, and see to any repairs that may be required. The toothing of wooden rakes should be performed in wet weather by the garden boy or old man with tools consisting of a strong knife and iron punch made from a large nail with its point cut off or blunted, and a bundle of well seasoned tough teeth made from sound ground Ash or other tough wood Worn out tools replace with new ones possessing the last and most useful improvements. Select and wheel from the old hot-beds a good ridge of the cleanest decayed leaves for rotting into soil ■ also of the best rotten stable manure. Secure cow, horse, and sheep dun.^ for the same purpose, and for converting into liquid manure. Collect a,nd carry every kind of refuse to the manure or compost heap Apply to It a good dredging of salt, and in turning it, freshly-slaked hot lime. If there be any weeds about, add them to the mixture. Manure and deeply trench up every bit of spare ground ; cast it up into steep ridges 2 feet or 2 feet 6 inches apart, as roughly as possible, in order that the sun, wind, and frost can penetrate into the chinks and openings amongst the clods, to pulverise and sweeten them. This IS the best means in practice of eradicating obno.xious insects, their eggs, and larva;. Deep trenching and forking and tumbling over the ridges with strong forks or pickaxes, when well frozen, is a famous way for keeping vermin in check; besides it is as valuable hereafter as a good coat of manure to the land. Deep trenching should not be performed on new ground in the first instance, for in the rank subsoil that has never before been exposed to the atmo. sphere, now cast up on the surface, nothing during the first season of e-xposure could he expected to thrive. Oh, no ! Break up deeply and loosen well the bottom of every trench, to allow the tree circulation of air and water to prepare its gradual admixture m advancing the depth of the soil in future trenchings. Thus, by such a process, well carried into practice for some years, any desirable depth of soil may be obtained and fully maintained. Forced roots of Asparagus, Seakale, Rhubarb, and Chicory are now tully in bearing. Continue introducing in due time into moderate heat a succession of roots, and commence to cover Seakale outdoors where it grows with leaves, stable manure, or such fermenting materials as will produce a gentle heat, and are convenient and comeatable. Cauliflowers, Cabbages, and Lettuces of good kinds should be sown now in boxes or pans, in a little heat, such as the back ot a frame, where Asparagus, new Potatoes, or Carrots are growing, or any place where a little warmth is at command, and prick them off an inch apart as fast as the plants can be handled, into other shallow boxes, pans, or pots. Place them under shelter until they are strong enough, and the weather favourable enough to prick them off, on some comer of a warm, sheltered border, or in a turf pit. bow a small quantity of Celery on heat, and prick off as above. JNever allow a check, but as soon as the plants are large enough plant them out on a gentle hotbed, covered with frames and lights, to grow on and be bleached for early nse. Common wooden trames are always best for early Celery, because they can be so easily raised as fast as the Celery progresses, and owing to the Celery readily rooting down into the warm, decaying dung, and the applications at times of good tepid, clear manure-water, I have produced most beautiful blanched, crisp Celery in averyfew weeks. Have under shelter dryish, sandy soil, or sea sand, and apply it on fine days for bleaching. The outsides of an early Celery bed should always be protected by mulching, otherwise the outside plants will make but little progress, while the middle plants will grow rankly. There IS another evil or two to guard against in the production of fine, strongly.grown early forced Celery-first, if it gets checked, it will start, or become pipey ; second, if water is not methodically applied, it will get the canker, rot, and mildew, and red spider into its foliage. To grow it strong, crisp, and well blanched, it requires a kindly bottom heat and 6 or 8 inches of good, rich, well.pulverised, sweet soil placed on the dung-bed. The plants should then bo placed on it by taking the seed boxes to the frames, and lifting them with their tufts of roots and earth adhering thereto, and planting them in rows crossways, • from front to back. Keep all side suckers pinched or rubbed out as they appear. Surface stir between the plants, previous to the commencing of earthing up. Admit fresh air freely, water and earth up as required, and raise tho frames previously to the foliage reaching the glass, to prevent crippling the foliage. If room enough is not given for the air to circulate freely between the glass and the foliage, the canker, or that most destructive of all pests, the aphis, will ajipear. By these means a supply of wholesome Celery may be had throughout March, April, and May, and every day in the year besides. In the three months named good Celery seems always scarcest and dearest. Place in a little heat in succession Tarragon, Lamb Mint, and last year's roots of Sweet Marjoram. Sow Sweet Basil and Sweet Marjoram in a gentle heat, and prick off as soon as np. Sow Carrots and Radishes on a gentle heat in succession. Sow Peas and Beans on warm, well- prepared borders. Plant out in frames, pits, or beds, covered with hoops and mats. Potatoes previously induced to shoot in a gentle heat. Prepare more for succession also, and after the borders work kindly, and there is no fear of sharp frosts, commence planting out of doors. Peas, Beans, Lettuces, and Cauliflower plants, under shelter, or out of doors, on warm borders, or sheltered nooks and comers, may be kept sound and sheltered by the application of dry dust. Prepare, dig, screen, and cart to convenient spots, gravel in a fit condition for casing old walks, ahd making new ones, which should be performed when groundwork and cropping cannot well be done ; and previous to the busy cropping season see that all garden edgings are evenly made np, the water-conrses, drains, and gratings are all clear, and in clean working condition. Select new Pea-sticks, point and sort the old ones. Turn into tidy ridges manure and compost. J.4.MES Baknes. OBITUARY. "THE STRAWBERRY KING." We regret to have to announce the death of the Rev. J. Knox, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Knox initiated a new era in Strawberry culture, overcame the many difficulties that barred his way, and thereby deserved well of all lovers of fruit. Twenty years ago, about which time he engaged in this business. Strawberry culture was conducted in a rude and careless manner ; no one thought of the possibility and the profits of raising berries of which nine or ten would fill a pint basket. Following his example, thousands of growers were benefited by his industry, perse- verance, and firm belief in thorough culture. Perhaps no one thing made Mr. Knox's name so celebrated as the " Jncanda" Strawberry, also called " Knox's 700." This was not altogether new to horti. culturists ; but, under Mr. Knox's system of cultivation, it improved so much that, for some time, it was not recognised as the old variety. Through his agency it became widely distributed, and with it the renown of the Strawberry King. The annual Strawberry exhibitions at the Knox Farm will be remembered by thousands of horticulturists and professional men from every State. It is safe to assert that nowhere more exquisite fruit has ever been seen than at these social gatherings. Every one present was not only gladdened by the generosity and liberality of the host, but took home with him a vivid picture of success in fruit culture. Mr. Knox was a true gentleman in the fullest sense of the word, and was one of the leading spirits of the pomological meetings for the last two decades. By his achieve- ments in fruit culture, he has left a permanent inheritance to American pomology, and the thousands who knew him personally, or by his works, will keep him in grateful remembrance. — New York TrUmne. We also regret to have to announce the death of Mr. James Donald, for many years gardener at Hampton Court, a situation to which he was appointed by Lord Llanover, then Sir Benjamin Hall, and which he has filled with so much credit to himself. Mr. Donald was fond of natural history and had a good herbarium, as well as a tolerable collection of geological specimens. His knowledge of British plants was extensive, so much so that when foreman in the plant depart- ment at Chiswick, some thirty years ago, he offered 6d. to any of the young men in the garden who would bring him a native flower, ing plant which he could not name. He had long been ailing, but at last died somewhat suddenly from heart and lung disease. Jan. 18, 1873.] THE GARDBi^. 41 THE GARDEN. " This is an art Which does mend nature : change it rather : but The Akt itself is Natuke." — Shakespeare. A PKOFITABLE PEACH TREE. On the 3rd inst., I visited the gardens at Manersa House, Eoehampton Park, for the purpose of seeing a Peach tree there, of the productiveness of which I had heard good accounts. I saw it, and did not regret my journey, for I never beheld a more promising crop than it was bringing forward, even thus early in the season. We all know the uncertainty which attends the very early forcing of Peaches ; but this tree has as fine a " set" of fruit on it as I ever remember having seen in March or April. Two trees are growing in the same house, which is 38 feet long and 16 feet wide ; and both are equally productive, but the one referred to is the largest and consequently the most profitable. It covers a length of 20 feet, and was planted where it now stands eighteen years ago, having then been carefully removed from an outside wall, against which it grew and fruited for several years previously to shifting it indoors. It is a Royal George — a kind alike suitable for forcing and for general indoor and outdoor cul- ture. Mr. Davis, the gardener, informed me that he has forced this tree every season for eleven years, during which period it only failed once to mature an excellent crop, which was in 1870, and that he attributed to over-cropping. For several years the fruit of this Royal George came first amongst Peaches into Covent Garden Market. On one occasion Mr. Davis sold the first dozen fruits to a fruiterer in his neigh- bourhood, who, not happenmg to find a customer for them, resold themtoone of the principal salesmen in Covent Garden for the sum of £5. A few days afterwards another dozen was sent into the same market for sale, but this time only £3 could be obtained for them, the salesman adding, however, that he had sold the first dozen for £9. Mr. Davis began forcing this season by shutting up the house on the 1st of November, an operation which might have been done if he had wished in October, so firm and ripe was the wood. The trees are planted inside the house in a border, the greater portion of which was removed and replaced with fresh turf about ten years ago, and whilst the fruit is swelling and the young wood growing it is deluged with sewage. The flow pipes run along between the trees and the glass and return along the centre of the house. Until the fruit has fairly set the night temperature is not allowed to be higher than 55° to 60*^. The syringe is used freely from the time the house is shut up until the blossoms expand, when its use is entirely discontinued until the fruit has set. During the time the trees are in bloom air is admitted day and night, and fire-heat is given at the same time. Some gently syringe whilst the trees are in flower, but Mr. Davis does not do so, and success has attended his practice. Gently syringing expanded flowers may perhaps be practised with impunity in the case of trees that come naturally into bloom without forcing, but he has found it to be injurious to Peaches forced very early. When the fruit has set the venti- lators are kept close at night, a damp moist atmosphere is maintained, and a good syringing is given every day by means of the engine with tepid water, and twice a day in fine weather. On my visit I found the house as follows, viz., fruit extremely well set, syringing again renewed, and disbudding of the young wood commenced. Disbudding and fruit thinning are energetically practised until the stoning period, when air is again left on night and day, and an equable temperature main- tained. As soon as the fruits have stoned they may be forced as briskly as is desired and the final thinning performed. When ripe more air and a somewhat cooler temperature are again requisite for producing well flavoured fruit. As soon as the fruit is gathered, instead of gradually lower- ing the temperature to correspond with that outside, forcing is continued. This matui'es and perfects the young wood sooner than it otherwise would be. When properly ripened, the house is gradually reduced in temperature until it is at last laid open to all weathers, and the result is hard, well matured, properly developed wood, suitable for early forcing. The tree in question has suffered near the base from a disease that is yearly eating away its existence. Mr. Davis thinks it must ultimately succumb to this ailment. In order, however, to sustain life to the uttermost, he annually pares away all the dead portion and fills up the hole with a mixture of cow-dung and loam, held in its place by means of a piece of canvas and rope-yarn. The following is a tabular statement of the dates of ripening, the amount of produce, and the sum realised for it during the past eleven years. Date. Fruit ripe. Prduce. Sum realisd. 1363. 1863. , 186-1.. 1866. , 1866. , 1867. 1868. June 15. May 38. May 1. April31. May 10. May 3. April21. . i-lkAoz.Sm 10 384 39i 37i 48 10 67 0 65 0 60 0 49 17 60 0 Date. Fruit ripe. Prduce. Sum realisd. 1869. 187(1. , 1871. . 1872. . April29. ... May 3. June 3. May 1 61 doz. £60 0 S 74 64 0 6 3 0 37 0 0 63 11 6 Total 4734 £629 11 W. FAiCOKEE. GARDEN HEDGES OP ROSES. On visiting the gardens of the Right Hon. Lord Middleton, of Apple - cross, about the first week in August, I was much astonished to find a hedge of the Gloire de Dijon Rose over 200 feet long, and nearly 5 feet in height, and in the finest possible health, and one sheet of flowers — and such flowers ! I was told by Mr. Whitelaw, the intelli- gent gardener there, that the idea of such a hedge originated with Lady Middleton, and that the idea was no sooner entertained than it was carried out ; hence the result. Lady Middleton has also had a hedge of Senateur Vaissc planted to the same extent as Gloire de Dijon, but more recently ; consequently the plants have not the same fine appearance as the others. Those hedges are planted as screens to the kitchen garden, and nothing could be more appropriate ; and, as Mr. Whitelaw remarked, there was no end of cutting Roses from them, which is another matter worthy of consideration where quan- tities of flowers are required. I may mention that before those hedges were planted a neat wire fence was put up, with five strands, and after the plants were put in they were fastened to the wires. As they grew, the shoots were intertwined in and out until they reached the top. By this means they are quite compact, and independent of any other fastening to the wires. The soil and situation here seem very suitable to the growth of the Rose, as the numerous dwarfs and standards were equally in fine health, and blooming in the greatest profusion. Applecross being situated on the west coast of Ross-shire, and nearly close to the sea beach, the influence of the Gnlf Stream is sensibly felt ; consequently there is but little frost in winter. Tea Roses, Fuchsias, &c., are seldom injured ; in fact, Fuchsia Riocartoni is quite a shrab here. J. Downie, in The Gardener. The French papers describe the results of the present high temperature as something very unusual. Even in Paris the leaves are beginning to show themselves, and several spring flowers have appeared. Raspberries have ripened in some of the Southern depart- ments, and a field of Asparagus is in full bearing at Larcjay, in Indre. et-Loire ; while at Orleans those who are fond of the cruel sport may, if they please, spin the early village cockchafer. At Perigord, near Toulouse, Almond trees have been in fall blossom out of doors for these last eight days. If the season of the year has been chai-acterized by an unparal- leled rainfall, it has also been remarkable for its extreme mildness. A handful of Violets may be gathered in a few minutes in the hedgerows in the neighbourhood of Haverfordwest, and in sheltered situations fruit trees are almost bursting their buds. We have seen this week, in a niche in the wall of Foley House, in a most exposed situation but partially screened from the wet, a quantity of zonal Geraniums with scarcely a ragged leaf or blighted limb. They seem to be enjoy- ing their summer quarters now as well as they did in August. At Wierton House, Maidstone, the following flowers and shrubs have been in bloom during last month and this, viz., Tea, China, and Perpetual Roses, Veronicas, Fuchsias, Chrysanthemums, Picotees, Calceolarias, Violets, scarlet Geraniums, Antirrhinums, Gladiolus, Hollyhocks, Pyrethrums, Lavender, Schizostylis coccinea, Christmas Roses, Arbutus, Jasminnm nndiflorum, Leycesteria, Escallonia macrantha, Gentianella, Primulas, Polyanthuses, Hepaticas, Snowdrops, Wall- flowers, Phlox verua, Ceanothus azureus, Cydonia japonica, Myosotis dissitiflora, and various Anemones. Camellia blooms have also been cut from the open air, in the neighbourhood of Maidstone. Hazel catkins, in a very forward state, have likewise been received by us from Mrs. Harrison, The Avenue, Beckenham, Kent. 42 THE GARDEN. [Jax. 18, 187:i. NOTES OF THE WEEK. We have just seen evidence that the brilliant Gentian. blue Lithospermum prostratum, so valuable in our rock gardens and borders, is a very good subject for forcing. It is easily brought into bloom, and being distinct in habit and colour from anything used in early forcing, will prove a great boon for winter and early spring decoration. The largest flowered forms of Cyclamen persicura which we have ever seeo were shown by Mr. Clark, of Twickenham, at the last meeting of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, at South Kensington. Messrs. Rivers showed a good collection of Oranges the other day at South Kensington from trees growing in cool honses. The flavour of the fruit is usually so much finer than is that of the ordinary imported fruit that the Orange is well worth growing in our cool houses for the sake of its fruit alone. It of course merits this also for the sake of its flowers. Mr. W. Savile Kent, of the British Museum, favourably known for his biological and zoological researches, has been appointed curator of the Brighton Marine Aquarium, in succession to the late Mr. Lord. Not only are fine dessert Apples, like the Newtown Pippin, now coming to us from America, but also kinds used in cookery. Mr. G. F. Wilson showed specimens at the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society of a dozen varieties or so of American cooking Apples in fine condition ; they were purchased in Liverpool. Such supplies have greatly helped to mitigate the dearth of fruit that has existed this year at home. Ever since variegated Kales have been used for decorative purposes at Wardie Lodge they have been planted for ornament more or less not only in Scotland, but also in England, and very effective they are where good kinds are employed. A correspon- dent signing himself " Argus " writes thus respecting his ornamental Kales : — ■" Never," he says, " have I seen them so lovely as they are this year. The snow whites, rich crimsons, and other hues contrast and light up the quarter in which they are planted with as much beauty, even at this dull season, as is to be met with in our summer gardens. But I must add that there are few of the stocks of variegated Kales that are worth growing, and I hope that the attention of some of our seed growers may be directed to this matter. I have grown Kales for years, and have had supplies from many sources, but have always been disappointed until this year, when their beauty is undisputable." The loveliest sight which we have seen for months in the vegetable kingdom was that presented by a mass of the roseate Bougainvillea, sent from Ashridge Park to Kensington on Wednesday last. The branches of gloriously. coloured bracts were as fine as ever we remember to have seen them, and at this dull season the house in which they grow must be well worth a visit. The specimens were grown by Mr. Gray, the flower gardener at Ashridge. Baroness Burdett Coutts, having observed that a meeting was to be held at Hackney, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor, for the purpose of securing the conservation of land, not only in the east of London, but throughout the metropolis, for recreation and enjoyment, has spontaneously forwarded to Mr. F. G. Heath, the Hon. Secretary to the Victoria Park Preservation Society, a cheque for £25 towards defraying the expenses of the movement. In order to guard public property everywhere about London from builder's and other encroachments it was resolved at the meeting in question that an association be formed under the name of the " Park Preser- vation Society," and that a committee be selected to carry out the necessary details. Epping Forest, it w.as stated, not many years ago contained some 7,000 acres ; now there were but 3,500. It was, therefore, considered to be high time to band together in a legitimate manner for the assertion of the people's rights. Some curious statistics respecting the importation of Potatoes are given in an official document just issued. In the month of December, 1870, the value of such importation was only £ 146 ; in the same month of the succeeding year the amount was £33,770 ; and iu the month of December last it reached £343,367. In the year ended the 31st of December last the amount was £1,654,240 against £225,732 in the preceding year. In memory of Professor E. Forbes, the learned Manx natnra- list, will shortly be published, a " Flora of the Isle of Man," illustrated with engravings of the principal island scenery (waterfalls, itc.) and accompanied with an actual specimen of the Manx Fern (Adiantum Capillus Veneris) mounted as a vignette. Besides a list of the flower- ing plants known up to the present time, with localities and interest- ing notes of the species, a detailed description of all the indigenous Ferns and trees will be given, together with an introduction of botani- cal rambles through the island, the folk lore of wild flowers, and Lite of Professor Forbes. An appendix will accompany the volume, describing a new method of nature printing, the art of preparing skeleton leaves, making screens with leaves, &c., especially adapted for ladies, thus providing intellecmal amusement and occupation for the winter months, and as far as possible making a thoroughly readable and interesting volume. It is to be hoped that all lovers of British botany, especially friends of Professor Forbes, will cheer, fully come forward and aid the author, Mr. James F. Robinson, Frodsham, Cheshire, in bringing out the first edition, the price of which to subscribers is not expected to exceed two shillings and sixpence. Strawberries were sold in the streets of Rome on New Tear's Day, and gardeners have picked Peas grown in the open air. A VERY strong proof of the mildness of the season may be found in the fact that the Bristol and Exeter Railway now carries daily from Cornwall about 200 tons of Broccoli. Mr. Peacock, we learn, has just received a new Opuntia from Texas. It is in the way of O. Rafinesquiana, but the spines are very dense, and 1 and 2 inches long, dark brown at top, and pale below. It is said to be perfectly hardy, to grow prostrate, and to be a very pretty species. We understand that, on the occasion of the Emperor's funeral , on Wednesday last, Holly, Yew, and other trees growing in and about the little churchyard at Chislehurst, in which his remains are placed, got sadly mutilated, such was the eagerness of the crowd to carry oS some memento of the sad event. Even Snowdrops in bloom on neighbouring graves were not spared. PiNE-APPLEs at all presentable at this season used to be rare, but now, thanks to our leading growers, they are becoming quite common. The fruit exhibited at South Kensington on Wednesday last by Mr. Miles, gardener to Lord Carrington, were simply mag- nificent. At Midsummer such fruit would be a credit to any grower, but in niicJ-winter — and such a winter ! — -they were beyond all praise. A BEAUTIFULLY bloomcd plant of Crassula lactea has just been shown to us by Mr. Thomson, of Penge, who finds it to be a favourite with people who are fond of winter flowers, and yet have nothing better than a window or cool greenhouse in which to grow them. It is a fleshy leaved plant, which, though not more than 9 inches in height, bears a profusion of branching spikes of pretty white star-like flowers that last long iu perfection. Belonging as it does to a family whose head quarters are at the Cape of Good Hope, it is, of course, not absolutely hardy ; but it will nevertheless stand a good deal of hard treatment, and . as a winter. flowering window plant has few equals at this season of the year. Groningen, in the north of Holland, is a province almost entirely devoted to the culture of Potatoes. It appears that the district possesses thirteen mills which are said to be constantly at work converting nearly the whole of the Potatoes grown there into flour, of which 250,000 kilogrammes (about 246 tons) is produced per day. Thus far no one in this country has any right to object, but the journal proceeds to remark that the greater portion of this Potato flour is exported to England to be used in the manufacture of bread. Now we admit that Potato flour is a verj- good thing, but wheaten flour is a much better thing for food, inasmuch as the latter produces nearly five times the quantity of nitrogenous, or flesh- forming material, and nearly three and a half times the carbonaceous or heat. yielding matter as the former. It seems evident, therefore, that used in the manufacture of pure wheaten bread. Potato flour becomes a flagrant adulteration ; and, if all the Dutch journal states be true, the sooner this monstrous fraud is looked into by our authorities the better. — Food Journal. Our old friend Punch is quite delighted at the sight of his own shadow, cast during the recent sunshine, and we must confess that there is more common sense in his ecstacy than in the wretched twaddle lately bestowed upon gardening matters in " Happy Thoughts," by our facetious contemporary. The following is one of the least silly of the passages to which we allude : — " The new Currant bushes are tied on to the tops of the highest trees, looking very like those Dutch brooms which a landsman often notices with wonder at the mast-heads of fishing smacks. The Celery beds are completely dug up, looking like a troubled sea in idirty weather, with the exception of one small patch in the centre, where we observe a stone jar standing, labelled legibly ' Mixed Pickles.' Garden tools, all brand new, which he has bought on his own account, are, we see. planted out in a row, like young trees, and carefully propped up. An empty milk.pail is by the Strawberry beds." Jan. 18, 1873.] THE GAEDBN. 43 THE INDOOR GARDEN. SACCOLABIUMS. Thbse most charming of all Orchids come from the hottest tropical regions of the world, and when well grown form fine specimen plants of the most attractive description. To cultivate them successfully, however, they require a hot and humid atmosphere, together with many other tropical Orchids from the old world, which revel in heat that would soon be fatal to the pseudo-bulbous plants from the higher ranges of the new world. They are mostly natives of the continent of India or the Malayan Archipelago, where they luxuriate, bathed in tropical showers and warmed by the invigorating power of a tropical sun. In cultivation they grow best in fresh fibrous peat, charcoal, and crocks, the whole being sur- faced with clean fresh living sphagnum. When making their growth they must be liberally supplied with moisture, and a frequent use of the syringe must be resorted to, which will keep them in a healthy condition and less liable to the attacks of that bane of Orchid growers — yellow thrips — than they otherwise would be. The syringe, when properly used, is a valuable aid to the successful culture of all Orchidaceous plants. A skilful Orchid grower may syringe his plants with advantage summer and winter, while many a less able culti- t^acculabiimi guuutuiii. vator might inflict a permanent injury by being entrusted with this useful implement. In dull weather, when there is but little light, and when growth is nearly, if not quite, at a standstill, the .syringe should be used as a vaporiser, letting the water descend on the plants like fine dew, so as not to run into the crovras or trickle down the channelled leaves into their axils. This is easily done by placing the forefinger care- fully over the nozzle or jet when syringing. By this simple precaution the water can be distributed far better than with the finest rose. If kept free from insects — thrips and brown scale — and grown in a warm temperature, which should not fall below 60° in winter, Saccolabiums may be grown well and flowered freely. The following species, which are considered to be the best belonging to the genus, are in general cultivation : — S. AMPULLACEUM. — Thi»isan Indian species, which is rather dwarf in habit, bearing dark green leaves, which are sub-erect and distichous. The flower-spikes are produced very freely during the summer months, three or four erect spikes being borne on a plant 0 or 8 inches in height. The flowers are of a bright rosy purple colour, and last in beauty a fortnight or three weeks. This plant grows remarkably well in living sphagnum and crocks, in a shallow basket or pan, suspended from the roof, near the light. There are some fine plants of this species in Mr. Dawson's dollection at Meadowbank. S. Blumei. — This is a distinct and well-known species, from Java, having rather narrow leaves of a pale green colour, with darker lines below. It sports into one or two finely coloured varieties, and bears pearly flowers, spotted and blotched with rosy lilac or violet. It generally blooms in autumn, and lasts a fortnight or three weeks in perfection, if the flowers are kept from drip or superfluous moisture. 8. Blumei majus, S. Blumei Dayi, and S. B. Russellianum are all considered by cultivators as superior varieties. S. CURVIFOLIUM. — This is a very distinct species, found in Nepaul and Ceylon, and easily recognized when not in flower by its light green, gracefully arched foliage, which is some- times spotted with purple or brown. Its blossoms are orange scarlet, varying to pure yellow in dlHerent varieties. It is a desirable little plant, and does well in a basket or pot. S. GiGANTEUii. — This species, which comes from Burmah, is one of the finest of the whole group, having very stout broad foliage marked with parallel dark lines, as in S. violaceum (Vanda violacea). Its flowers are large and of great substance, and arranged very thickly on stout tapering spikes. Some varieties are remarkable for the dense violet colour of the lip. It is very fragrant and lasts from three weeks to a month in beauty. It blooms in the spring and grows well in a cork basket or pan suspended from the roof. S. GUTTATUM. — This species, which has been found in Nepaul, Java, Sylhet, and Malabar, is a lovely and very profuse flowering kind when well grown. The habit is some- thing like that of S. Blumei, but the leaves are darker and not so definitely marked with dark lines. The flowers are pure white spotted with rosy-purple or lilac, and are borne on gracefully pendant spikes, as shown in the accompanying illustration, which gives a fair idea of the superlative beauty of this plant when well flowered. The blossoms are of a wax-like consistence and most deliciously perfumed. It makes a fine exhibition plant when well established, and was exhibited some years ago with between twenty and thirty spikes on a plant. There are several varieties of this species, which differ from each other and the normal tj'pe either in the colour of the flowers or in the width of the foliage. They last from three weeks to a month in beauty. S. VIOLACEUM. — This old Manilla species is well worth culture on account of its flowering during the winter months. It bears numerous short dense spikes of white and violet flowers, and lasts a month in perfection. There is a white variety of Saccolabium called Holfordianum by growers, which is well worth having in the most select list. There are about half a dozen more species in cultivation, but all the above are select kinds well worth growing in all good general collections. F. W. B. DOUBLE-FLOWERED TABERN^MONTANA CORONARIA. This is a native of the West Indies, and, though an old inhabitant of our gardens, it is now rarely seen in anything like good condition. A quarter of a century ago it formed a leading exhibition plant. Its flowers, though smaller, are not unlike those of a Gardenia. They are pure white, are produced in bunches of from two to five, and are sweet and admirable for bouquets. The plant is a very free-growing one — when it gets suitable soil and plenty of heat — but still it is not an easy matter to produce a dwarf, compact, well furnished specimen. It is readily propagated by cuttings of the half -ripe or mature wood, though the first is preferable ; and the best plan is not to trim the cuttings to a joint in the usual manner, but to cut them at 2 inches long, so that the growing buds may be brought as near to the surface of the soil as possible. Put them in either singly in thumb pots, and, after plunging in a brisk bottom heat, cover with a boll glass ; or put them ten or twelve in a 4-inch pot, and then cover them. A mixture of peat and loam with some sand, surrounding the cuttings with sand, will be the best medium in which to strike them. When properly rooted, which will be in about six weeks, inure them gradually to the air, and then begin to grow them on. The best compost to grow them in will be found to be two pecks of rich fibrous loam from which the tine soil has been removed, 44 THE GARDEN. [Jan. 18, 1873. half a peek flaky leaf-soil, peat the same quantity, with a quart each of crushed charcoal and sand all thoroughly incorporated together. If the newly struck plants are vigorous and well rooted, they may Ijo removed at once to well-drained 4-inch pots, sinking them so as to bring the br.anchcs close to the soil. Pot firmlj', and if afterwards the plants can have the benefit of a bottom beat of 80'^ to '.KP, they will be all the better for it. Thiswill start them into vigorous growth, and the side shoots will make rapid progress. The atmospheric temperature necessary to the best results will be a mean of 70°, rising to 80° or even 90°, with sun heat on bright days, and with plenty of atmo- spheric moisture. When the pot is full of roots, reduce the supply of water for a week or so, and place the plants close to the glass, so as to ripen them a little, then cut the shoots back to within two joints of the base, and, instead of two, you will soon have four, six, or more shoots. In this way you get what may be called a foundation for your specimen, and then the plants may be allowed to grow on for the re- mainder of the season. After they have been stopped, and begin to grow again, the plants may be moved to an 8-inch pot, using the same compost, and continuing the treatment as to heat and moisture. If you want the young plants to bloom, that object must be efi'ected by attending to the ripen- ing process early iu the autumn. The growth must be brought gradually to a standstill, and then, by free exposure to full sun- shine, the wood must be thoroughly matui'ed. This effected, the temperature of an intermediate house, 5i")° to 60°, will be sufficient through the winter, and the season of blooming may be governed by the time at which you introduce the plants to a brisk growing temperature. If, however, the object is to make a handsome specimen, blooming the second season must not be thought of. Instead of that, cut your plants boldly back in February, and as soon as the young shoots make their appearance take the plants out of the pots, remove such of the old, inert soil as you can without destroying the roots, and then pot them on into pots of suitable size. The same summer treatment as to bottom heat, and a brisk growing tempeiuture may be continued, but at the same time the plants must have all the light possible, so as to induce a short, stubby growth, and hence rampant shoots may be stopped with the object of getting side sjdui-s ; but this stopping must not take place later than the end of July, or the growth will not be matured. If these directions are attended to, the end of the second season of growth should show a plant that will furnish handsomely a 12-iuch pot ; and once formed, the plants will continue to grow steadily for many years. With established plants the only care necessary is to stop rampant growth and encourage the formation of spurs ; for, as the plants bloom from these small shoots, one cannot have too many of them. I have omitted to mention that weak manure- water maybe given when the pots are full of roots and the plants in free growth, and also at the time when the blossom buds are swelUng. The plants are subject to the attacks of insects, which must be sub- dued in the usual manner. A. THE HiEMANTHUS. This is a genns of African bulbous plants belonging to the order Amaryllidacefe. They are easily managed, and many of them pro- duce large and highly-coloured iimbels of bloom ; and yet there are now but few people who either know or grow them. Twenty years ago these plants were highly prized, especially in one situation in which I was employed, where we used them extensively, and found them extremely serviceable at two particular seasons — viz., in earl}' spring and end of summer. Those flowering in spring were of course forced, and in this way they were easily managed ; whilst the late summer flowers came naturally, and were most useful, for all gardeners and amateurs know that just at the end of summer there is usually a great paucity of bloom in the conservatory, and these then become doubly valuable. I have frequently heard the objection raised that they are ugly because they flower without leaves, and there is something in this objection ; yet it should not deter lovers of plants from their cultivation ; and, moreover, all the species are not leafless at the blooming time. AVhen I used these plants extensively, my remedy for this want of leaves was a very simple one, but nevertheless so eiiectivc that it could be adopted by any .and every one. When the bulbs were brought out from their resting. places and induced to send up their scapes, some seedling Ferns were pricked into the soil tolerably thick, and as these grew up they always produced suSioient leafage to back up the gay-coloured blooms, so that the absence of their own foliage was not missed. A proper selection of Ferns should be made for this purpose, by which I mean good, free-growing, robust-constitutioned kinds, such as Uoodia caudata, Adiantum cuneatum and A. hispidulum, Asplenium bulbiferum, Blechnnm occidentale, Lastrea decomposita, Nephrodium molle, Phegopteris trichodcs, Polystichum coriaceum,Pteris seiTulata, and its varieties, and similar pl.ants, most of which can be provided by sowing spores, and keeping tliem in the seedling box for the occasion. Hasmanthuses are nearly all natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and if allowed to flower at their natural season may be treated as greenhouse or conservatory plants. After growth is completed and the leaves have decayed, the pots should be laid on their sides in some dry and cool place. I am not, however, an advocate for too severe a system of resting. Those kinds which come from tropical Africa must receive the temperature of the stove, and must not be so thoroughly dried oif as the Cape kinds. The soil should be good sandy loam, to which may be added a little peat and leaf -mould, and when the scapes begin to push an occasional application of weak liquid manure will be highly beneficial. The genus comprises a vast quantity of species, some of which are not conspicuous for their beauty, and which would only be tolerated in botanical collections, where they should be grown for the instruction of the many. The following kinds, briefly described, all deserve attention from those who love a variety of flowers rather than masses of two or three kinds only. I may add that a plant of H. coccineus, or many others, with, say, six or seven umbels of brilliant flowers, surrounded with small and elegant Fern fronds, is no mean object in a vase in the drawing, room ; and iu such a situation they survive a considerable time, and the plant itself is sure to take no harm. H. puniceus.- — Loaves oblong, waved at tlio margins, and pale green ; the flowers are erect, produced in large umbels, and are pale red ; the scape and involucre are green, both being streaked and spotted with blood-red . It blooms naturally in April and May, and with a little forcing may be had in flower before the snow has disappeared. H. quadrivalvis. — This is a very beautiful species ; leaves usually iu i^airs. lanceolate and acute, less than a foot in length, and dark green, furnished at the margins and on the whole upper surface with long hail's. The scape is erect, green, and dotted with crimson, and supporting a large four-leaved brilliant scarlet involucre. The flowers are also scarlet, whilst the stamens are bright yellow. It blooms in September and October, and no more beautiful plant could be desired at that season. H. rotundifolius. — A fine plant, producing its leaves in pairs, one of which is, however, invariably larger than the others. They are some 5 inches long and 1 inches broad ; dark green on the upper side, and have a rosy pink margin of hairs. The scape and involucre are both of a rich deep crimson colour ; the tube of the corolla white, and the remaining portion red, with large golden yellow stamens. It flowers iu July and August. H. tigrinus. — This is a noble species, and one which I have found extremely useful for early forcing. The leaves are large, depressed, dark green, and slightly spotted with a marginal fringe of hairs. The scape supports a large-spreading, fiery -red involucre and umbel of red flowers, whilst the stamens are bright yellow. It blossoms naturally in April. TT pubescens. — Although not so ornamental as some species, this is a great favourite of mine for the sake of agreeable contrast. Three or four leaves are produced together, somewhat tongue-shaped, dark green in colour, prettily fringed with white hairs. The scape is green, furnished with numerous soft hairs ; involucre yellowish green, streaked with a dark shade of the same colour ; flowers erect, white, with the numerous large anthers brownish yellow. It flowers in June and July. Known also by the name of H. albiflos. H. natalensis. — This beautiful species is of somewhat recent introduction. The leaves are large, of a dark green colour, and have their base clothed with beautifully-coloured sheaths. The scape is erect, and bears a large, even involucre, which is of a rich crimson purple colour ; the umbel of flowers is pale green, and the anthers of a bright orange colour. Its charming flowers are displayed in the dreary mouth of February. H. coccineus. — This grand species is, as far as I know, the finest of all the South African kinds. The leaves are somewhat tongue, shaped, au