1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



283 



^ve should feel proud of heaving secured such a 

 man as Professor Kiley as entomologist to the 

 Government Department of Agriculture. As 

 Englishmen we congratulate our cousins on their 

 judgment, and we look forward Avith confidence 

 to the benefit that will accrue to tillers of the 

 soil, of whatever countr}^ and to the advance of 

 science, that will accrue from this excellent ap- 

 pointment." 



It might be well to observe for the informa- 

 tion of our European friends, that Mr. Riley 

 has all along been a State Entomologist, and 

 that his position is now that of the National Ento- 

 mologist, which is thirty-eight times higher than 

 a, State position. 



T. B. MiNEK. — In a recent number we pub- 

 lished a paper from the pen of this distinguished 

 writer for the agricultural and horticultural press. 

 "We have had no notice of his death from his 

 ii-iends, all the knowledge of which we find in 

 the enclosed newspaper paragraph : 



" Mr. T. B. Miner, for many years publisher 

 of The Rural American, with varying success at 

 Clinton, Oneida Co.,N. Y., and of late an oc- 

 casional contributor for agricultural journals, 

 died at his residence at Linden, N. J., .June 5th, 

 in the 70th )'ear of his age. Mr. Miner was 

 the author of works on bees and poultry, which 

 enjoyed considerable popularity in their da3^" 



Bible Plaxts, their History. — Under this 

 title we note, by advertisements in English pub- 

 lications, Mr. .John Smith, the ex-curator of Kew 

 gardens, has issued a little book, which is highly 

 commended by the London newspaper press. 

 "There are few men better able to prepare a work 

 of this kind, as familiarity with living plants in 

 the Royal Gardens has given him an excellent 

 opportunity to compare what have been thought 

 to represent these ancient plants, with what has 

 been reported about them. 



Vegetatiox Round Coxstaxtixople. — A 

 long drive through the suburbs of Pera, and over 

 the bare undulating downs separating the Golden 

 Horn and Bosphorus, brought me, on the after- 

 noon of my arrival, to the sweet waters of 

 JEurope, a pleasant valley at the head of the 

 Xjt olden Horn, with long reaches of quiet waters 

 and pi-etty groves of trees, interspersed with a 

 few handsome buildings, including one of the 

 Sultan's numerous palaces, and environed by 

 steep bare hills on all sides. Leucojum a;stivum 

 formed large tufts in the bottom of the valley, j 

 and the hill slopes wei'e covered with Poterium 

 spinosum, one or two species of Erica, and seve- ^ 



ral Ornithogalums, and other bulbous plants. 

 On the evening of the following day I availed 

 myself of an invitation from my friend Mr. Millen- 

 gen, of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, to visit Buy- 

 ukdere, on the Bosphorus. The Judas tree, Cercis 

 Siliquastrum,was infull Spring glory, its brilliant 

 rosy-crimson flowers contrasting with the dull 

 masses of Cypresses rising out of the almost 

 continuous bordering of white marble palaces, 

 barracks, and villages which line the Bosphorus 

 on both shores. The hills between Buyukdere 

 and the Black Sea, attaining a height of 500 

 or 600 feet, are, for the most part, covered with 

 scrub of Erica arborea, Cisti,Arbutus Andrachne 

 and several small evergreen and deciduous Oaks, 

 with occasional patches of trees, including the 

 Velonia Oak, Chestnut, Beech, Horse Chestnut, 

 Plane, Poplars, Elm and Stone Pine ; but there 

 is no extent of wood till the Belgrad Eorest is 

 reached, a few miles inland on the European 

 side. Crocus pulchellus is most abundant among 

 the underwood, varying occasionally with white 

 flowers ; and Mr. Millengen informs me that a 

 variety with double flowers is sometimes met 

 with. The shady dingles running down to the 

 Bosphorus abound with herbaceous and bulbous 

 plants, including Lilium martagon, which here 

 occurs within 100 feet of the sea level. Fritil- 

 laria pontica, several Ornithogalums, a Gera- 

 nium, Epimedium pubigerum, Helleborus oi'ien- 

 talis, Hypericum calycinum, Colchicum byzant- 

 ninum, and several species of Muscari and Bel- 

 levalias also occur about Buyukdere. 



On the slopes and summit ofChamlijahl found 

 a second annulate Crocus out of flower, with 

 narrow^Jeaves, probably C. biflorus. This was 

 accompanied by Colchicum variegatum and a 

 very small Iris, with the habit of Iris pumila, 

 but with much narrower leaves; also many 

 leguminous plants, one or two Ericas, Poterium 

 spinosum, Muscari, Ornithogalums, and other 

 bulbous plants. The public garden of Pera is 

 of very limited extent and poor in arrangement 

 and detail, but the standard Roses were excep- 

 tionally fine. Small Plane trees planted in 

 winding avenues are extensively used, and 

 yellow Banksian Rose intermixed with Wistaria 

 had a remarkably good effect. Ligustrum 

 •Japonicum is planted in masses bordered with 

 Yuccas. The Loquat, Wellingtonia gigantea, 

 and Cedrus Deodara also thrive, but the attempt 

 at flower gardening everywhere is poor in the 

 extreme.— G. Maw, in '■'■Transactions of the Bo- 

 tanical Society of Edinburgh.''^ 



