FOREIGN NOTICES. 



97 



pat os. wo come to a building which was closed at 

 our entrance, bnt is now filled or tilling with gar- 

 deners, who, presenting a ticket. si<jn their names 

 in a book, and then take their place at a long 

 tabic, where they are at once supplied with tea 

 or coffee and cold provisions, all of the very best 

 Quality, and in great abundance. The floor above 

 is provided with water, soap, towels, and all the 

 other requirements for exchanging a working face. 

 hands, and elothes for a holiday suit; and we be- 

 lieve we speak the sense of the whole body of the 

 exhibitors at Chiswick when we say, that this 

 part of the Society's arrangements is valued in no 

 common degree, as having very greatly conduced 

 to their comfort and enjoyment on these interest- 

 ing occasions. We have also much pleasure in 

 stating, that we understand the Council are en- 

 tirely satisfied with the results of this arrange- 

 ment. Let us not forget to record that many of 

 those enjoying this refreshment have been travel- 

 ling all night, after a previous hard days' work, 

 packing and preparing; indeed, some have come 

 as far as from Exeter, and before twelve hours 

 have passed will be returning there, again. — The 

 Florist and Garden Miscellany, for June. 



New Weeping Cypress. — The introduction of 

 a new hardy evergreen tree into this country is 

 an event that is seldom noticed at first in the man- 

 ner it deserves. This arises from our being in 

 general imperfectly acquainted with the history of 

 such plants; and the result is most unfortunate, 

 for till experiment has decided whether such a 

 plant is hardy or not, nobody knows what to think 

 or do — the seedlings are neglected, put aside, or 

 ruined by being cramped in pots, and at last, 

 when their value is discovered, the race has be- 

 come almost extinct, and the constitution of the 

 survivors is, for the most part, ruined beyond re- 

 covery. This has most especially been the his- 

 tory of Conifers; and Cryptomcna is a striking 

 example of the practice. Of this fine species, 

 thousands of seedlings were distributed by the 

 Horticultural Society, and where are they now? 

 The greater part have perished, because the pub- 

 lic was unacquainted With the value of so beauti- 

 ful an evergreen. There was no certainty that it 

 was hardy, and now that experience has shown 

 that our winters will no more touch it than they 

 will a Spruce Fir, the old stock is gone and fresh 

 supplies must be sought in China. It was the 

 same with the Araucaria of Chili, with the Deo- 

 dar, and with many others 



An acquisition of the highest interest, lately 

 received by Mr. Standish, of the Bagshot Nur- 

 sery, will undergo the same fate, unless the history 

 of it, and the certainty of its being still more 

 hardy than Cryptomeria, shall be pointed out, so 

 as to leave no room for misapprehension. We 

 allude to the Funebral Cypress. 



This plant was first mentioned in Lord Macart- 

 ney's Voyage, as growing in a place called " the 

 Vale of Tombs, near the tower of the thundering 



winds," in the province of Zhe-hol ; which is a 

 mountainous district, lying in latitude 41° 58' N., 

 in Chinese Tartary, and has a far more rigorous 

 climate than is ever known in England. The 

 plants found in this province consist of hardy 

 northern forms, Oaks, Elms, Ashes, Willows, 

 Pines, Elders, Sophora japonica, together with 

 herbs of northern habits, calculated to bear se- 

 vere frost, such as Asters. Peonies, Solomon's 

 Seal, Pinks, &c. In the foreground of the land- 

 scape, representing " the Vale of Tombs," is a 

 specimen of Funebral Cypress, much resembling 

 a Weeping Willow; and the weeping tree so 

 commonly represented in Chinese paper-hangings 

 and porcelain is evidently the same species. 



The seedlings in the Bagshot Nursery were 

 raised from cones lately procured bv Mr. For- 

 tune, while at Shanghae, from a place 200 miles 

 to the north of that port. We have also received 

 a dried specimen of it, which enables us to sav 

 that it must be a plant of the greatest beauty. It 

 may be best described as a tree like the Weeping 

 Willow in growth, with the foliage of the Savin, 

 but of a brighter green; it is, however, not a Ju- 

 niper, as the Savin is, but a genuine Cypress. It 

 has long been a snbject of regret that the Italian 

 Cypress cannot be made to endure our climate, 

 and to decorate our burial-places; but we have 

 now a finer tree, still better adapted for the pur- 

 pose. Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Potatoes in India. — The potatoes from Bom- 

 bay, Darjeeling and Cherra Poonjee seed, were 

 wonderfully fine and healthy, and to enable the 

 public to form some idea of the state of perfec- 

 tion this grand and staple vegetable has been 

 brought to in this district, it is here recorded that 

 40 potatoes out of one garden weighed 20 lbs. 

 The skin of all delicately white and fine, and 

 every potato free from knots. Journal of the 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, 

 May, 1848. 



To Prevent Potato Rot. — Here is also a 

 plan of management, proposed by Mr. H. L. 

 Meyer, which deserves to be made generally 

 known. In a paper read to the Royal Agricultu- 

 ral Society, he made the following recommenda- 

 tion: 



" I propose a method of protection which, I 

 think, may be equally effective against any one 

 of the above mentioned causes of the disease, 

 whether animal, vegetable, atmospheric, or elec- 

 tric. I propose to cover up the plant with the 

 readiest material at hand, — namely, the soil it 

 grows in. The manner in which this must be 

 done is, by laying down the haulm, and covering 

 it over with earth from the root to within a few 

 inches of the extremity, leaving only the tips of 

 the plant exposed to the benefits of light and air. 

 A field, when thus treated, presents to view a 

 succession of ridges of earth and valleys ; the 

 ridges contain the potatoes and the stems of the 

 plants earthed over, and in the valleys or furrows 



