April 2S, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



307 



<mlated to be 20,000, OOOf. annually, and Lilacs account for 

 about 300,000f. of lhat sum.— (rimes, April 16th.) 



PUZZLING THE CATS. 



Perhaps yon will allow me to reply to the article in yonr last with 

 the above heading, bnt as I am only a cat I most ask yon to excuse 

 my spelling. Sir, I can trnly say that " Penumbra's" letter was by 

 fur the most //MS.sylanimons I ever read, and I can hardly tabbylate 

 the sensations that crept over me as I purrnsed it : in fact, I was 

 obliged to paws several times for fear of catalepsy, and once I tlmousct 

 lost my scentces. If those wire nettings are ever used in the gardens 

 of north London, where I have had my run for so many ears, why, 

 there is an end to myfelisity, and I may as well go at once to my 

 catacomb. Snrely your contributors can use their talonts^ to better 

 purpose than designing catastrophes for members of my inoffensive 

 race. Where are tho writer's /dims? For my part I disbelieve the 

 whole tail, for I could fly the fence like a shot from a catapult, so yon 

 may put in a elates to that effect, if you think well. 



Gardeners are to some extent indebted to us, for we can strike, force, 

 or pot a choice flower, and understand clearing a lied and cutting as 

 well as anyone — in fact, we are always up to the scratch in a garden. 

 This is the reason, I suppose, why so many plants are named in our 

 honour ; for instance, the C«(s-ebfly, the Cafs-chweed, C'afmint, the 

 Catsta'd and Catstoot Grass, the Cafsear, &c, to say nothing of the 

 illustrious CW-kin family, to which I belong. 



Sir, in future do not allow your cont-ibutors to throw a stigma on 

 the cats, for however amassing it may be to them, it is very anfeline 

 to us.— W. G. S., his Cat. 



[We think the writer of this should be made acquainted with the 

 cat-o'-nine-tails. — Eds. ] 



NEW BOOK. 



Trees and Shrubs for English Plantations. Bij Augustus 



Mongredien. With Illustrations. Loudon : John Murray. 



We wish that the contents of this book had fully equalled 

 in merit tbe excellence of the printing and paper which place 

 it before the public, for then it would have been very supe- 

 rior. We do not say that tbe work bas no merit, but it might 

 have been far more useful than it will be unless additions be 

 made. It is said to have " illustrations, " but an illustration 

 to be worthy of the name should promote the objects, or help 

 to enforce the details, of a work. Now, there is scarcely one of 

 either tbe engravings or woodcuts in this book that does so pro- 

 mote or help — there never was, for instance, such an Araucaria 

 imbricataas the Conifer represented on the frontispiece; and the 

 stump supposed to be the wreck of Kerne's Oak can in no way 

 enable, to use the words of the preface, amateurs " to avail 

 themselves of all the resources at their command." Now, 

 among those resources (although the author speaks with reser- 

 vation), tbe Papaw should not have been included. With this, 

 and one or two less exceptionable instances, the descriptive 

 Jist of 621 species may be accepted. 



Chapters then follow, all very useful, classifying the 621 

 species according to thfir heights, leave? — evergreen, varie- 

 gated, coloured, and fragrant — flowering and times of flowering, 

 colour of flowers, fruit-bearing, useful piodnce, form, use for 

 coverts, and a list of fine collections. 



Now, we BUggest that in a future edition the chapter on 

 " Form " should be made much more useful. The divisions of 

 trees into horizontal, fastigiate, and pendulous are proper, but 

 very meagre, and would have been very much more useful if 

 aocompanied by illustrations and by examples of good taste in 

 grouping tbem together. We need only refer to Gilpin's 

 " Forest Scenery," and many other more modern works, for 

 examples of what would bo most useful, because guiding, to 

 the amateur. In the chapter on foliage, too, we think that 

 most useful suggestions might be given as to those which con- 

 trast and those which harmonise pleasingly owing to their 

 differences of colour and form. 



The book is useful as it is, bnt with the additions we have 

 suggested it would be much more useful. We quote two lists 

 as examples of the contents : — 



" Species t hrivin g in the Smoke o? Cities. — Of course, the 

 expression 'thriving' is to be understood as merely comparative. No 

 plant can either grow or flower so well in the impure atmosphere of 

 large towns as in the open country. But whereas most trees and 

 shrubs dwindle away and die under the rcephitie influence of air sur- 

 charged with carhon, &c, there are a few that will withstand it toler- 

 ably well. The list is not a long one, bnt it may be hoped that further 

 experiments will be made with a view to extend it : — .-Esculus Hippo- 

 castanum ; Ailantus glandulosa (a large tree with beautiful leaves, 

 much used for shade in continental towns, and amongst other places 



on the Boulevards in Paris) ; Ampelopsis hederaeea (the Virginian 

 Creeper) ; Amygdalus communis ; Artemisia Abrotanum ; Ausuba ja- 

 pouica ; Catalpa syringcefolia ; Cydonia japonica ; Cy tisus Labnrnnm ; 

 Ficus Carica (the Fig Tree, occasionally found in odd out-of-the-way 

 nooks, courtyards, and close areas, not fruiting, but freely producing 

 itj beautiful large leaves) ; Hedera Helix ; Jasmiuum officinale (the 

 Cape Jasmine, whose introduction dates earlier than our earliest garden- 

 ing records) ; Ligustrum vnlgare (and probably the lucidum) ; Pau- 

 lownia imperialis ; Phillyrea media : Platanus occidentalis (the Plane, 

 which of all large trees is probably the one which answers best for city 

 cultivation, owing, to its smooth leaves and ever-peeling bark) ; Quercus 

 Ilex; Rhamnus Alaternns ; Hhustypbiua; Ribes sanguineum; Kobinia 

 Pseud-Acacia ; Sophora japonica ; Viburnum Opulns. 



"Species thriving on the Seacoast. — Tho powerful sea breezes, 

 and the salt spray which they convey to some distance inland, are both 

 highly detrimental to most plants, and hence it is only in sheltered 

 valleys abutting on snug bays that general plantations can be made to 

 thrive near the sea. The following species, however, are found to 

 flourish bettor than others under exposnie to the sea breezes : — Acer 

 creticum, monspessulannm, platanoides ; Arbutus L'nedo (and probably 

 other species) ; Colutea arboreacens ; Elreagnus hortensis, argentea ; 

 Fagus sylvatica ; Ficus Carica ; Hippophac rhamnoides ; Hydrangea 

 hortensis ; Ilex Aqnifolium ; Laurus nobilis ; Lycium europium ; 

 Myricaria germanica ; Myrtus communis ; Pinns Pinaster ; Quercus 

 Hex, Suber ; Rhamnus Alaternus ; Tamarix Gallica ; Taxus baccata. 



11 It is very desirable that a systematic courseof experiments Bhould 

 be instituted, in order to discover other species that would stand sea- 

 exposure. The beauty and healthiness of marine residences would bo 

 wonderfully enhanced by the adornment of trees and shrub". The few 

 that are now cultivated in such positions are so cut up, distorted, and 

 stunted, that they are rather eyesores than decorations. It is not the 

 mechanical violence of the winds alone which causes the mischief, for 

 many trees withstand fiercer gales in their mountain abodes ; it is the 

 saline particles with which the sea breezes are impregnated which im- 

 pair and finally destroy the vitality of the plants. Judging by the 

 analogy of salt-loving plants indigenous to the steppes of Siberia, most 

 of which are distinguished by glaucous or silvery foliage, it might not 

 he amiss to experimentalise with species possessing the peculiarity of 

 hoary or downy leaves." 



BOILERS AND HOLLOW EARS. 



Not long siuce your Journal contained engravings and ac- 

 counts of two new boilers for heating by hot water, one of 

 which was the invention of Mr. Foster, aDd is liable to the 

 objection of being one of the most complicated that has yet 

 appeared, and, therefore.it must be correspondingly expensive. 

 Tbe other is a simple square-shaped saddle- boiler with wings, 

 called the pocket-boiler. This bears a very cloee resemblance 

 to, and is practically identical with Ireland's terminal saddle- 

 boiler, except in not having hollow fire-bars. It is to these 

 hollow fire-bars, however, that I wish to draw the attention of 

 your readers, considering them to be the most valuable in- 

 vention yet introduced in regard to the circulation of hot water. 



I have had some little experience of boilers, having com- 

 menced some years ago with one of Thomson's retorts. This, 

 there can be no doubt, is a most erroneous construction, as the 

 fire being beneath radiates its heat into the biicksvork at the 

 sides and end, oausing an enormous waste of power. My boiler, 

 which was to have warmed 1000 feet of pipe, I found would not 

 warm sufficiently 250. I next, tried a plain saddle boiler, 2 feet 

 long by 18 inches wide, made flat on tbe top, so that the smoke 

 could be turned over it before going into tbe flue. This did 

 its work much better, and sufficiently warmed the same extent 

 of pipe; but it was a long time in getting up the heat, and 

 the manner in which the coke ran together into clinkers when 

 the fire was strong and really effective, was quite a torment to 

 the stoker. 



I have since procured one of tbe terminal boilers, which, 

 though scarcely so large, and not consuming quite so much fuel 

 as the former, is so much more powerful that it has enabled 

 me to extend my glass structures and to adi! more than 100 feet 

 to my circulating apparatus, which is slill warmed aB thoroughly 

 as any gardener could wish. Tbis is all owing to the invalu- 

 able discovery of the hollow fire-bars. My terminal boiler, owing 

 to these, heats the water in much less time thau my old- 

 fashioned one did, and it has completely done away with tho 

 nuisance of clinkers, the ooke all burning-out gently and 

 leaving only a little ashes under the grate ; for the fuel on the 

 bars being practically in contaot with the water oan never 

 arrive at that intense white heat at which clinkering com- 

 mences, the water taking up and passing on the heat through 

 the house with great rapidity. So effective, indeed, is this im- 

 provement in heating, that when tbe surface of the fuel is 

 almost dead, and when there would be no radiating heat worth 



