272 



JOtJRN'AIi OF HOKTICULTTTKE A^TD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 6, 1863. 



indeed does, take to his heels at the sight of a hand-big- 

 cloud — what are cloud and storm to him, seated in the 

 crevice of a I'ock, mentally engrossed with some beautiful 

 and rare mountain flower ? Notliing ! — only there is the 

 small matter of the body, which is friiil. Walking ankle- 

 deep in wet bog, or scrambling over slippeiy rocks, one slip 

 from which would bring you to " where adieus and farewells 

 ai-e a sound unknown," may be pleasant for ten hours 

 running, but for ten days — hardly. 



Our neophytes did not retm'u fi'oni the Scottish alps with- 

 out bringing with them that loveliest of aU jiurely alpine 

 British jjlants, and which is as rare as it is lovely, occm-ring 

 only in one locality in Britain, the Breadalbane mountains, 

 the Myosotis alpestris. It is described as grooving in greatest 

 abundance on almost inaccessible cliifs from 300 to 400 feet 

 in pei-pendicular height on the western side of Ben Lawers, 

 and here it was that our young botanists gathered it, though 

 under circiuustanoes of extreme difficulty and peril, the 

 natural difficulties being heightened by the inclement 

 weather. Ben Lawers yielded them also the rare Ceras- 

 tium latifolium, C. alpinum, Saxifi'aga nivalis, S. stellaris, 

 S. hypnoides, S. 023positifolia, S. aizoides, Arenaria rubella, 

 Salix reticulata, S. herbacea, Gnaphalium hyperboreum, 

 Thalictrum alpinum. Arbutus Uva-ursi, Sedum angliciun, 

 S. telephium, Sibbaldia procumbens, Helianthemum canum. 

 Campanula rotuudifoUa flore albo, Epilobinm alpinum, 

 E. alsinefolium, Polystichiun lonohitis, Polji^odium alpestre, 

 Lastrea alpina, L. cristata spinulosa, Cystopteris iragilis 

 fm-cans, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum angustatum, A. adi- 

 antiim-nigiiim variegatum, Lycopodium selago (nearly a 

 foot high ), L. selaginoides, L. alpinum, and a host of others. 



The Irish excursionists, with not more enthusiasm animat- 

 ing them than the Scotch, were more favoured in the im- 

 portant matter of weather. As a consequence, they returned 

 from Erin with vasciilums filled to overiiowing — overflowing, 

 too, with botanical treasiu'es of the rarest kmd, such as would 

 repay the young enthusiast a jom-ney round the globe. 

 Among the discoveries of the party were not wanting, as we 

 before intimated, plants of that exquisite and rare British 

 Tern, Asplenium trichomanes ineisum, the fortunate finders 

 being the President and Vice-Pi'esident. "We can imagine 

 the loud and jiibilant shouts that arose on these occasions. 



Oru- excursionists trod over acres of the rare Dryas octo- 

 petala, beautifully in bloom ; found in quantity the rare 

 Gentiana verna (than which, what British plant, occiuTing 

 at a moderate elevation, is more beautifid ?) ; saw tlie ex- 

 quisite Maidenhair Fern in all its gloi-y and pride, its 

 ineffably delicate fronds being measured by the foot ; saw 

 the crenate Scale Fern 1 to lA not inch, but foot; the 

 beautifvrl Marine Spleenwort weU nigh 3 feet, &c. 



Ajnong plants found in plenty, in addition to the above, 

 we may mention PotentUla iiiiticosa, whose myriad golden- 

 yellow blossoms coloured the landscape, Ai-butus Uva-ursi, 

 Kubia peregrina, and Asperula cynanchica. Rarer pha?no- 

 gams, too, were found, such as Trifolium medium album, 

 Saxifraga decipiens. Prunella vulgaris alba, Cochlearia an- 

 glica, Ifeottia autumnalis, Epipactis rubra, and Euonymus 

 europajus foliis variegatis. In regard to eiyptogams, "no 

 end of good things" were the rich reward of the searchers. 

 We enumerate a few : Polypodium vidgare semilacerum, 

 Lastrea Filix-mas stenophyUa, Polystichum aculeatum new 

 and beautifiil crested variety not yet named, Lastrea «mula 

 in quantity, Scolopendrium v. Malcomsoui, S. v. fissUe (?) 

 S. V. sagittato-projectum, S. v. Martiniana (new), with a score 

 of other varieties of Scolojiendrium, scalpturate, multifid, 

 crenate, sublineate, supralineate, mm-icate, lobate and un- 

 dulate, too numerous to give in detail : they comprise many 

 wholly new to the British pteridologist. Mr. Nowell, algp, 

 had fiilly average success in his sp^cialite, bringing away 

 with him lai'ge numbers of rare Musci and Hepaticae. 



The Irish excursion was not wanting, either, in amusing 

 incident and adventure, as the Vice-president's account of it, 

 given in his usual naive manner, attested. In the wilds of 

 Clai-e, be it known, every botanist is taken for — a doctor ! 

 Great is the gathering of the ailing of both sexes on the 

 appearance of the mystical spud and vaseulum. 



GEOuirD ViNBRrES. — These very useful and interesting 

 Etiiictures are coming largely into use. This season Black 



Hamburgh Grapes have ripened in them as far north'as 

 Manchester. An amateur at Stretford, near- Manchester, 

 has within the last fortnight cut from two canes only, each 

 7 feet long, fifteen liunches of weU-ripened Black Hamburghe 

 weighing about three-quarters of a pound each. — Vitis. 



LAPAGERIA EOSEA OUT OF BOOKS. 



About three years ago a friend kdncUy presented me with 

 a very strong and fine plant of Lapageria rosea, because, as 

 he said, he had not heat enough to grow it well. I treated 

 it to plenty of heat, and it veiy shortly died, probably ft'om 

 very Ijad management on my part. Not liking to be beaten 

 I purchased another plant of Messrs. Veitch in the spring 

 of 1862. It was very small, and I placed it in a wai-m green- 

 house till about the middle of June, when I stood it out of 

 doors in a sheltered jDosition all througli that summer, during 

 which time it made two long and strong shoots from the 

 base. About this time last year it was put back in the 

 same greenhouse ; and this year, in June, it was again set 

 out. About a fortnight since I found several bloom -buds 

 on it, and one just expanding, and I can now show what 

 few have seen — viz., a plant of Lapageria rosea in bloom out 

 of doors. 



I trouble you with this to convince those who, like myself, 

 may not have all the conveniences they might wish for tc 

 enable them to follow their favourite pm-suit, that it is 

 possible to have this beautiful plant in perfection when very 

 small, and with no more trouble than is requisite to grow 

 an Azalea or a Camellia.' — An Ajiateuk, GmUlford. 



SMALL BIEDS. 



We extract the following interesting letter from the Times. 



" In a retired corner of the French department of the Inter- 

 national E.xhibition there lay a long row of mysterious and 

 rather dingy specimens, which in spite of their unattractive 

 appearance, well deserved a study, even in the midst of the bright 

 and beautiful objects by which they were surrounded. 



" They consisted of a very numerous collection of the stomachs 

 of birds with their contents spread out on sheets of paper, with a 

 written description of their contents, the time of the year in 

 which the bird was taken, Kni other particulars. They were 

 the work of M, Florent-Prevost, the celebrated French naturaUst, 

 who for thirty years has been prosecuting his inquiries of this 

 Icind, and endeavouiing to convince his countrymen of the 

 suicidal folly of which they are guilty in the persistent and in- 

 discriminate slaughter of these beautiful little creatures. 



" In taking steps to impress particularly iipon our younger 

 people in Australia the mistake they commit in destroj-ing these 

 birds which we arc taking such frouble to introduce among them, 

 I have put myself in communication with this kind-hearted and 

 enlightened philosopher, and by his aid I have prepared a tole- 

 rably complete list of what is eaten during each month of the 

 year by the more common of our birds. And I think, that this 

 list is worth study at home ; when the destruction of small birds 

 by poison and other means is attracting Parliamentary notice, 

 and the uudenied facts are brought before the public of whole 

 tracts of forest land laid waste, and whole eoimtries reduced to 

 famine, by the thoughtless removal of the only effective check 

 upon the ravages of the insect tribe, we really ought to dwell 

 upon that point. The little bird is our only safeguard against a 

 pest, which but for it would soon become overwhelming. As 

 Michelet very well says, — ' The bird can live without the man, 

 but the man cannot live without the bird.' Were we all to 

 resolve ovu'sclvcs into one great span'ow club we shoidd all in 

 a few years perish from famine. 



" I trust, then, that this list will be found useful ; and I woidd 

 suggest to parents, and teachers particukarly, that it might 

 advantageously be cut out and preserved for future use, that 

 the minds of young people might be properly impressed with 

 ideas of the usefulness as well as beauty of the pretty little 

 things that enliven our hedgerows and hop across our paths. 



" Lontj-eared Old. — Januarj", February, and March, mice. 

 April, cockchafers. May, rats, squirrels, and cockchafers. June, 

 mealworms, beetles, and shrew mice. July, mice, ground and 

 other beetles. August, shrew and other mice. September, 

 October, and November, mice. 



" Short-eared Owl. — January, mice. Febniary, harvest mice. 

 March, mice. April, crickets and harvest mice. May, shrew 

 mice and cockchafers. June, beetles. July, field mice and 



