272 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 28, 1872. 



three gallons of water. The two are mixed, aud the whole 

 made up to five or six gallons. — J. R- S. C. 



AMONG THE CONIFERS.— No. 4. 

 CoiiMEECiALLY speaMug, of all the varieties of Couifers cul- 

 tivated in this country, the Larch stands first. The quick 

 growth of its close-grained and most durable timber, its hardy 

 uatui-e — thriving as it does in the poorest soil aud most bleak 

 aud exposed situations, and the turpentine which it }-ields, 

 render it a very valuable tree. The timber is even more dur- 

 able than Oak, especially urrder water ; as an instance of this, 

 we are told that the same Larch piles have supported the 

 houses of Venice for several hundred years, and they stiU 

 show uo sign of decay. Besides being so durable, the fine- 

 grained wood is capable of receiving a high poUsli, so that it 

 is admii-ably adapted for furniture and a variety of decorative 

 purposes. Its strength also compares favour-ably with the Oak 

 and other timber, as is shov;n by some interesting statements 

 of experiments, published some years ago under the auspices 

 of Government, as well as of private individuals. 



These valuable nuahties of the Larch have attracted much 

 attention, aud led to the formation of extensive plantations. 

 In Scotland there ai-e entue forests of them. Many a rocky 

 mountainous district, hitherto totally void of useful vegeta- 

 tion, is now clothed with flourishing Larch forests, the trees 



growmg most luxmiautly iu places where it can hardly be ^_^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ _^^ ^__^^ _ _^_^ _ 



aid that there is a soil at all. As these trees attam therr lull i-ectious for this new vegetable, I may state that the treatment 



iu the Kew Museum. C'edrus atlantica aud C. Deodara both 

 produce valuable timber, of which that of the latter is remark- 

 able for the high poUsh it is capable of receiving. Of the 

 timber of the Welhugtouia I can say nothing farther than 

 that it is said to be Hght, soft, and of a suuilar colour to 

 Cedar wood. The rapidity of its growth aud the huge size it 

 attains, rivalled only by that of the giant Eucalypti of Austra- 

 lia, cause one to hope that it wQl eventually be as much valued 

 for its timber as it now is for its ornamental appearance. 



The wood of the common Yew is justly held in high esteem 

 by the cabinetmaker. It has a beautiful grain, and is capable 

 of receiving a high poUsh. Owing to the fact of its being 

 planted in most village churchyar'ds, there are, perhaps, more 

 fiue old specimens of it to be met with than of any other tree 

 in this country. Many of these old trees are of an extraor- 

 dinary size. Phillips iu his " Sylva Florifera'' gives an inter- 

 esting account of several. He states that one immense tree 

 in the churchyard of Aldworth, iu Berkshire, measures 9 yards 

 in chcumference at -i feet from the ground ; another in Bra- 

 burne chmchyard, in Kent, measured 58 feet 11 inches iu ck- 

 cumferenee, or nearly 20 feet in diameter ; and another iu 

 Martley churchyard, 'Worcestershiie, about 12 yards in cir- 

 cumference. — Edwaed Luckbuksi. 



size they will not only be of great value to the owner of them 

 but wiU assume a national importimce from the vast quantity 

 of valuable timber they will afiord for a variety of useful pur- 

 poses. It is to be regretted that the extensive tracts of waste 

 laud in the south of England have not been turned to accoimt 

 for a sinular useful purpose, as there is ample evidence of the 

 possibility of its being reclaimed. It is remarkable iu this 

 age of progress and of much speculative political economy, 

 that our legislators have not sought to obtain some benefit for 

 the nation from these " barren acres." 



From the freedom of its growth the Douglas Fir- {.•Vbies 

 Douglasii) w-ill probably rank next in usefulness. In Califor- 

 nia it gr-ows to a height of 300 feet, and it has akeady nearly 

 reached 100 feet iu this country, the grand specimen at Drop- 

 more being 95 feet high. Its timber is very valuable, being 

 superior to the best red deal. Abies excelsa (the common 

 Norway Spruce) is also valuable for its timber — the white deal 

 of commerce, and for the pitch called Burgundy pitch, and 

 tm-pentine obtained from its resiu. The stately Araucaria 

 imbricata is found in vast numbers in ChUi, where it grows to 

 a height of 150 feet. It is highly valued iu that couuti-y for 

 its edible nuts, and for a juice obtained from it, which is valu- 

 able for medicinal and purposes of art. The timber is very 

 valuable, as it is hard, durable, beautifully veiued, aud sus- 

 ceptible of a hifh polish. 



Many of the Pinuses, besides beiug valuable on account of 

 theii- timber, yield turpentine, i^itch, aud tar-. Of these, 

 Piuus excelsa, a handsome variety from the Himalayas, pro- 

 duces turpentine of superior quiihty ; Finns Pinaster yields 

 what is known in commerce as Bordeaux turpentine ; the 

 ItiJian Stone Pine (Piuus Pinea) is much valued for its nuts, 

 and for a certain balsam obtained from it ; from Piuus sylves- 

 tris tmpeutiue and pitch arc obtained. In the museum at 

 Kew there are samples of Pine w-ool, made from the leaves of 

 this variety, and used for stuflrng cushions, felting, and other 

 pm-poses, and also of soap made with oil extracted from the 

 leaves. Among the kinds of this species most valued for 

 timber, Pinus Strobus ranks high, its white wood being 

 esteemed for its clean straight growth and freedom from knots. 

 Paper has been made from the sawdust of this variety. Pinus 

 Cembra produces very durable and fine-grained timber. It is 

 much used by the Swdss and Tyrolese for carving toys. Pinus 

 monticola aud P. pouderosa also produce fine timber. That 

 of pouderosa is very durable, and so heavj- that it sinks in 

 water. 



Cupressus sempervireus, a native of Greece, produces very 

 hard aud dm-able wood. That of the Calif orniau variety, 

 C. Lawsoniana, is not so hard, but it is \ ery valuable. The 

 wood of both these trees has a strong aromatic fragrance. Of 

 the Junipers, the weU-knowu variety Juniperus vnginiana (the 

 Red Cedar) produces the most valuable wood. It is very 

 fragrant, durable, aud is used for a variety of purposes, among 

 others for making lead pencils, as is also the wood of Juniperus 

 bermudiana. Specimens of both kinds of wood find a place 



THE SOOLY-QUA CUCUMBER. 

 In reply to several correspondents asking for cultm-al di- 

 ctions for this new vegetable, I may state that the treatment 

 which it requir-es is not in any way different from that afforded 

 to ordinary Cucumbers, except that it needs more space, owing 

 to the great length of the fruit. At Messrs. Veitch's it -n-as 

 grown very successfully last year hi a house with pot Viues ; 

 it has also succeeded perfectly in an ordinary moist stove. 

 One correspondent has so-wrr it in " great heat,'' but the seed 

 did uot vegetate. If the heat is too great the seeds will decay. 

 They wiU vegetate freely if the pot be plunged in a bottom heat 

 of 85° or 90°, with an atmospheric night temperature of from 

 60° to G5°. Sow the seeds iu moist loam, not wet, but suffi- 

 ciently so that it win keep moist until the young plants appear 

 above ground. The soil should not be watered until the plants 

 appear above the surface, otherwise they will probably die-off. I 

 do uot even water the plants, if it can he avoided, untU they ar-e 

 potted-off singly iu 5-inch pots. This should be done as soon 

 as the seed-leaves are fully developed, and when the pots are 

 well-filled with roots plant-out iu the border which has been 

 preriously prepared. I prefer to train the plants over a wire 

 trellis fixed to the roof, aud at a distance of a foot from the 

 glass. 



The Sooly-Qua Cucumber was introduced by the Messrs. 

 Veitch in the spr-jng of 1871, but they never recommended it 

 to be eaten raw as ordinary Cucumbers. All that they stated 

 was this — that it was boiled and eaten with rice by the 

 Chinese, and also that it had been used in the same way iu 

 this country. It wiU not, I think, come into extensive use as 

 a vegetable. Scarcely anything was known of it on its intro- 

 duction, except that it had been aud is extensively used iu 

 China, as it is now to a limited extent iu England. It will, no 

 doubt, be used by some as a novelty, but never to the extent of 

 displacing any of our ah-eady popular vegetables. — J. Douglas. 



MANURES FOR POTATOES. 

 By Cuthbeei ^Y. Johnson, F.R.S. 

 The very fact that in recent years enormous amounts of Po- 

 tatoes were imported into this country (in 1809, 1,660,189 cwts. ; 

 and in 1870, 771,903 cwts.), juoves how desirable it is to 

 enlarge our home produce. Lotus, then, examine the results 

 of certain recent trials upon the Potato plant with a variety of 

 artificial fertilisers. But before we consider the value of 

 different chemical applications, let us hear what the great 

 Potato growers of the Yorkshire warp soils and other northern 

 districts have to say on these important inquiries. It was at a 

 meeting of the Boroughbridge Agricultural Association that Mr. 

 AlJpleyard, of Easiugwold, observed {Fanners' J/n;/., vol. lix., 

 p. 218), as to the selection of soil : The_ Wiup of the Humber 

 aud Ouse and of the Trent is acknowledged to possess the 

 properties most requisite for their successful cultivation, as 

 during a series of years the quaUty and quantity are very little 

 deteriorated. Other kinds of soils will grow Potatoes quite as 

 well, but they requu-e changes oftener. A loamy soil, or as it 

 is sometimes called, hazel earth, is next best to warp, aud Las 



