THE CHINESE MAGNOLIAS. 



507 



parterre, shrubberies, and lawn, are each 

 and all dependent upon soil, icater, and air, 

 these great agents must be alluded to; and 

 therefore the investigation of earth will in- 

 clude the operation of manures. To this 

 extent then, the staple of the garden will 

 be submitted to analysis ; for unless these 

 subjects be inquired into, no means of com- 

 parison of facts can be attained. 



Thus much in explanation ; it is hoped 

 that our future articles will neither appear 

 irrelevant nor prove uninteresting. The 



reader will bear in mind, that for his benefit 

 we place before him that which he would 

 perhaps never see but for our instrumental- 

 ity. Some of the excellent ideas on this 

 subject, with which English horticulture has 

 been enriched by Mr. Paxton — the mana- 

 ger of the Duke of Devonshire's immense 

 horticultural establishment, must be made 

 to penetrate our atmosphere, and illumine 

 our understandings upon the science of par- 

 dening. Wm. W. Valk, M. D. 



Flushing, L. I. Alpril 7, ]647. 



THE CHINESE MAGNOLIAS. 



Nature has bestowed that superb genus of 

 trees, the Mag?ioUa, on the eastern sides of 

 the two great continents — North America 

 and Asia. The United States gives us 

 eight of all the known species, and China 

 and Japan four or five. Neither Europe, 

 Africa nor South America afford a single 

 indigenous species of Magnolia. 



All the Chinese Magnolias, excepting 

 one, {M. Juscata,) are hardy in this lati- 

 tude, and are certainly among the most stri- 

 king and ornamental objects in our pleas- 

 ure grounds and shrubberies in the spring. 

 Indeed, during the month of April, and the 

 early part of May, two of them, the White, 

 or Co7ispicua, and Soulange's Purple, or 

 Soulaiigiana, eclipse every other floral ob- 

 ject, whether tree or shrub, that the garden 

 contains. Their numerous branches, thick- 

 ly studded with large flowers, most classi- 

 cally shaped, with thick kid-like petals, and 

 rich spicy odor, wear an aspect of great no- 

 velty and beauty among the smaller blos- 

 soms of the more common trees and shrubs 

 that blossom at that early time, and really 

 fill the beholder with delight. 



The Chinese White Magnolia (M Conspi- 



ciia,) is, in the effect of its blossoms, the most 

 charming of all Magnolias. The flowers, 

 in color a pure creamy white, are produced 

 in such abundance, that the tree, when 

 pretty large, may be seen a great distance. 

 The Chinese name, Gulan, literally lily- 

 tree, is an apt and expressive one, as the 

 blossoms are not much unlike those of the 

 white lily in size and shape, when fully ex- 

 panded. Among the Chinese poets, they 

 are considered the emblem of candor and 

 beauty. 



The engraving (fig. 114) is a very correct 

 portrait of a fine specimen of this tree, 

 standing on the lawn in front of our house, 

 as it appears now, April 25th. Its usual 

 period of blooming here is from the 5th to 

 the 15th of this month. Last )'ear there 

 were three thousand blossoms open upon it 

 at once. The tree has been planted about 

 14 years, and is now 20 feet high. The 

 branches spread over a space of fifteen feet 

 in diameter, and the stem, near the frround, 

 is 8 inches in diameter. Its growth is hio-h- 

 ly symmetrical. For tlie last ten years it 

 has never, in a single season, failed to pro- 

 duce a fine display of blossoms, which are 



