148 



JOUKNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Febrnary 15, 1872. 



call a garden, formed by the association of tropical plants with 

 the denizens of temperate chmes, sub-tropical. Complaints are 

 frefjuently made against gardeners and amateurs about theh' 

 management of the large-leaved sub-tropical plants, and 

 which can easily be explained. Jlost people who use these 

 plants treat them 



Ai'alias, some of the Solanums, &e., which I use in my 

 flower garden, but when winter comes I have no stove to 

 place them in, and it may be, under the ordinary circum- 

 stances, no greenhouse : I must either destroy them or pay 

 some one for taking care of them through the winter. If, how- 



I knew that 



to a somewhat 

 warm house dm'ing 

 winter, and then 

 gradually inure 

 them to the open 

 air by a process 

 of hardening-off. 

 This I look upon 

 as a wrong system. 

 I prefer keeping 

 such plants as cool 

 as possible during 

 winter, so as to 

 prevent them mak- 

 ing any growth 

 imtil after they 

 are placed out of 

 doors. By tbi.^ 

 means the foliage 

 which is made in 

 the open air will 

 be more hardy, and 

 always look supe- 

 rior to that which 

 exists only by suf- 

 ferance. I am con- 

 vinced that this ^gj 

 treatment will lead s? 

 the gardener or 

 amateur to success, 

 and I hope my 

 readers will give 

 the results of then' 

 efforts in this di- 

 rection. I do not 

 say that it is pos- 

 sible thus to pre- 

 vent the plants - 

 making some ~ 

 growth before they ~ 

 are put out of doors, — 

 nor to allow the 

 amateur to use any ^ 

 kind of plant, but 

 it will materially 

 assist in making 

 this subject more 

 attractive, and the 

 expense less in car- 

 rying it out. 



As an iUustratiou 

 of my meaning, I 

 will suppose that I 

 lave purchased some thi-ee or four dozen plants, such as Palms, | growth become visible.— Expeeto Ckedi 



Soianmu niacranthum. 



ever, 



the majority, or, 

 perhaps, all of 

 them, would make 

 beautiful objects 

 for the decoration 

 of my han, my 

 drawing-room, and 

 various other places 

 about my house 

 during winter, and. 

 then be in a better 

 condition than my 

 neighbours' plants 

 in spring, becau^e- 

 they had not betn 

 excited into growth, 

 prematurely , would 

 I not use them so-2 

 I think it is a great 

 inducement even to 

 those who have no. 

 glass stnictures, to 

 surround them- 

 sc-lves with some 

 bold and effective 

 plants, to mix with; 

 showy-flowered 

 neighbours m the 

 beds and borders. 



I must conclude 

 these remarks ,how- 

 ever, by once more 

 referring to S. ma- 

 eranthum, which 

 may be increased, 

 either by seeds or 

 cuttings, and 

 should be grown in. 

 light rich soil of 

 loam, peat, leaf 

 mould, and sand in 

 about equal pai'ts. 

 In potting, the 

 rainage should be- 

 good, and the water 

 plentiful when the 

 plants are in aii 

 active state. TVTieu 

 doi-mant, or dhect- 

 ly after pruning, 

 very little water 

 should be given un- 

 til indications of 



KEV 

 The Forest Trees of Britain. By the Eev. C. A. Johns, F.L.S. 

 Three circumstances are essential to the production of a 

 good book— namely, a good subject, a good writer, and a good 

 pubhsher. The volume before us benefited by those three 

 cucumstances. The forest trees of our country are intimately 

 connected with its history and its welfare. Mr. Johns is a most 

 suitable writer on such a subject — he has a general knowledge 

 of natural history, he is a fluent writer, and his family gi-ouped 

 around him are thoroughly congenial. We should lili'e to raise 

 the curtain and exhibit the wife pen in hand, and the daughter 

 with the pencil Ulustrating her friend's song, " Wait a Sttle, 

 laddie." Such family surroundings are needful to the man 

 who writes genially on such subjects. It is only on dr^ mathe- 

 matics that an old bachelor can write ; or a Socrates on abs- 

 tract philosophy, having a scolding wife. 



Then a few words relative to the Society, publishers of this 

 volume. During the year just closed it issued 178.S28 Bibles • 

 77,690 New Testaments ; 400,698 Common Prayers, and nearly 



JEW. 

 &c. Loudon : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 

 three millions of other bound books, of which that before us 

 was one. These were not all sold, but many thousands of 

 poimds worth were given away. In addition, the Society" 

 granted from its funds £5791 for building churches and schools 

 at home and in the Colonies. The Society's total outlay Tor 

 those and cognate pui-poses amounted to more than £2.5,000. 

 We mention these facts because we know that the Society has 

 been generous to an excess, and is fully entitled to increased 

 support. We therefore commend it earnestly to our readers 

 as deserving their aid. 



Let us now recur to the volume before us, and we will select 

 for extract the description of the Birch. We thought that we 

 were thoroughly acquainted with its uses, for the acquaintance 

 commenced painfully in early life, but Mr. Johns has gathered 

 together much that is new to us. 



"No tree is more generally or more deservedly admired on 

 the ground of its own intrinsic beauty than the Birch. As the 



