January 25, ISi'i. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTDRB AND COTTaOE QARDENJia. 



•iS 



fscape of beat as well as moisture from tbo soil. If an 

 aDim^l is ever frozen, it ia because of the eEcaps of beat from 

 its body. The human body we cover with warm woollen cloth- 

 ing in winter to rrevent the too free ere ipo of beat. Nature 

 clothes the brute with hair, far, or feathers, which grow longer 

 and tbioker in winter than in summer, thus securing bis com- 

 fort. When we fee bow much nature has done to prevent the 

 too great reduction of the auiuial temperature, may we not 

 tnke the hint and do sometbiog to prevent the escape of beat 

 from the soil in which is embedded the roots of trees and 

 plants:'— (/ihto; llonb.) 



■ JI. MoLiLi.EtEBT, a professor at the School of Agricul- 

 ture at Crrigoon, has been makirg experiments for the purpose 

 of determining what agent was the most practically applicable 

 to the destruction of the I'iivli.oveka. After trying many 

 EuLstauces it was only with some of the sulphur compounds 

 that really satisfactory results were obtained, and it is to 

 JI. l)iimap, the permanent secretary of the French Academy 

 of Soienct<3, that the credit is due for fuggesting the employ- 

 ment of the alkaline Eulpbocarbonates of potassium and sodinm 

 and those cf barium and calcium. All the other remedies tried 

 were either without effect on the Phylloxera, or, in destroying 

 it, also destroyed or damaged the ^ me. But the task of eradi- 

 cating the I'hyllosera has by no means been accomplished by 

 the mere discovery of the value for the purpose of these sub- 

 stances ; there is the further ilMtijulty of applying thrm to 

 the Vine in cultivation. One thing stems very certain, that in 

 order to render the 8ulpho-carbonate.s practically ellioacioua 

 in killing the insect, it is necessary to u=o water as the vehicle 

 by which they may ha brought to all the underground parts 

 of the plant, and that the best time of year for their appli- 

 cation is the winter or early spring, when the earth is still 

 moijt and the quantity of water necessary to be brought on 

 to the ground by artilicial means is consequently less. The 

 conclusion at which JI. Mouillefert arrives is that the efticacy 

 of the sulphocarbonates is proved, and all that is nccassary is 

 to brio;-' to psrfcc'tion their employment in agriculture, which 

 can only be aceumplisbed by the intelligence and practical 

 knowledge of the Vine-grower, who ia well able to difc&ver the 

 economic proceffes of culture which ere conducive to their 

 successful applicatiou. Ho ends by saying that " .Science has i 

 accomplished its mission, and it remains for Agriculture to ' 

 fulfil its part " in the eradication of the I'hylloxera from the | 

 vineyards of France. — (Xalurr.) I 



THE ROYAL HOllTICULTOllAL SOCIF.T'V S 



GARDENS. 

 We copy the following from the Tinhs : — ■ 



Tbo Royal Horticaltoial Society has recomly aullered sj 

 much itom unlme statements damaging to its reputation, that 

 I trust yuu will permit me to Btate in your universally-read 

 columns what its actual position is. 



1. It is a chartered corporation, of which lh'_ membeio — ; ■ ., 

 the I allows, cannot as such incur any pei's.aal liability beyond 

 that of paying their subscriptions while they continue Fellows, 



•J. Its debentures are :' charge on ita surplus income after 

 payment of its expenses only, do not attach upon any of its 

 property, and do nf.t conslitni- a debt. Of debts for which its 

 property ia li:ible it has uone, and it hr.% long since met all its 

 engagements in respect ct prizes and medals, 



•J. It has nev- T cea.sed to do, and i:^ now doing, good prac- 

 tical work for the advancement of horticn'lure at il3 ('biswiik 

 Gardens, as its published reports testify. 



1. The Council have determined to continue the Si uth Ken- 

 sington Gardens on their former footing, and to mske them ns 

 attractive to the residents in their neighbourhood and of Lon- 

 don generally as the means and nature of the Society will 

 permit They havu extended thu pri\ilege^ of thi ir Fellows, 

 and, subject to the flj'proval of a gee ral meeting, have de- 

 termined to remit for the present entrance lees on election or 

 re election of Fellows. 



■J. If the subscription income of the S<^( iety for next year be 

 raised to IIO.UOJ, the South Kensington Gardens will be fecured 

 to it certainly until Iwy. to I lie great ad\^ntage of the residents 

 and owoera rf property in their neigbbourhocd. If such income 

 be not raised, those gardens will pass into th' posbession of the 

 lessors, and probably be built over. 



»j. To place the Society in a more prosperous and secure 

 position than it has ever occupied, nothing more is wanting 

 than, for the present year, a renewal of a part only of the sub- 

 scriptions which have recently been discontinued, and for the 

 coming ye.ir an effort which wealthy South Kensington would 

 scarcely feel, and which will raise the i;iO,000 above referred to. 



I would therefore ask all v.bo wish to preserve the gardens, 

 and all who leva horticulture, to lay aside tLeir unfounded dis- 

 trust of the future of the Society, and, forgetting eld quarrels, 

 to join in making it stronger than ever. The Council are trying, 

 so far as their funds will all.jw thorn, to luett i he wishes of their 

 London Fellows. The principal western (utrance has been te- 

 opened : the gardens, which have sufierel nothing that a few 

 d.H>.i' labour will not repair, are being put in order; and the 

 bands and promenades in the conserVJtOTy wiU be resumed on 

 an early date. — Yourobedieut servant, Robert Hooo, Secrrlnrn. 



Iloml no,lin,li,ir„l Qar^leiu. Soiilh Kcnsbiiil'in, W.,.J-tn. It'll,. 



THE ORIGINAL WELLINGTON! AS IN ENGLAND. 



In company with that tirst-elnss rosarian and well-known 

 horticulturist, Mr. -James Walters of Exeter, I have to-day 

 been to see the Wellingtonia mentioned by your correrpoudf nt 

 J. W. Moorman, in your paper of January Ilth. As Mr. 

 Walters was with old Mr. \ oitch when the first seed was ger- 

 minated, and recollected the fact well, be bad no dilBculty iu 

 pointing out the tree to me, though he could not recollect the 

 date (probably from It<-jo to 1^58). The tree is not in first- 

 rate condition, ncr can it be called a first-class specimen. As 

 the snn was not thining at the time I had a boy to climb the 

 tree with a cord, which be drew tight when be was within 

 t feet from the top, and I have thus afcertained the height to 

 be 14) feet, the girth of the trunk immediately above the bole 

 was 10.^ feet. The tree grows in a somewhat conticel plac», 

 consequently the cireumferenc3 of tbo branches is not large. 

 I have observed in many other specimens that when the tree 

 is planted amongst oth;r trees it runs up with not much 

 greater breadth than a Lombardy Poplar. 



In the same grounds (Mr. Loyd's, Mount Radford, Exeter) 

 Mr. Walters pointed out to me another tree of the saiae Kind, 

 and even more interesting than the last. It ia tbo original 

 plant brought over by Mr. Lobb from California For many 

 years it was grown in a tub, and consequently, I suppose, has 

 not attained the size which might have bteu expected. 1 look 

 its dimensions also. Favoured by a bright gleam of Eunsbiue 

 I measured the lecgth of its shadow and that of my stick 

 fexactly I yard long), and the result of my calculation was 

 that its height was HI.^. feet, but its circumferecca was ><t feel, 

 and a more perfect cone and a more magnificently furnished 

 tree I never saw. Its verdure and perfectly healthy appear- 

 ance were equally remarkable. 



In respect to height there are in this ueifjhbouihood many 

 higher Wellingtoniaa, notably some in Eggesford I'ark and 

 some in Greedy Park iSandfordj. but I have seen not one wliicli 

 can compire in beauty with the original p'ant imported by 

 Mr. Lobb, — Sksex Gokycius. 



ECHEAERIA RETDSA, 



A>io-\Gbr all the species of Ethevtrias there are very few can 

 equal this as an exceedingly us<!ful greenhouse plant, and if 

 ealti\al6d in ■[uantity so as to come in bloom at the present 

 season it is doubly valuable. 



It is of easy culture, being within the power of anyone who 

 has a small grecnhouir. It is best propagated by cuttings in 

 tbo sprirg, and then grcwp-on in the summer, so that tbo 

 plants may ha well ettiblished bcfoie autumn, and tbey will 

 soon show flower when introduced into the L'reenbousp, I use 

 a mixture of loam, leaf soil. 8ai:d. lime rnbbi;lj,and snuo char- 

 coal dust —a compost which the plants luxuriate in. I have 

 goin') plants now in bloom iu sioeh pots with twenty piincipal 

 flower stems, and numbers of smaller plants in o and Ij-inch 

 pots with from four to eight stems on each. It is extremely 

 useful for cut flowers, and will last fresh and good for weeks, 



I find au easy way of growing dwarf plants is to propagate 

 early in the spring, and plant them out at the end of May 

 on a place well exposed to the snn, and the plants will take 

 care of themselves until autumn, when they must be taken up 

 with balls and potted before the frost iniures them, — J. A , 

 Hill Gruv. . 



PS.— I enclose a flower of the Euchaiis ama/.onica. Tbo 

 tubes of the two flowers are attached to each other, yet each 

 flower is fully famished with oil the organs of fructification. 

 There were nine spikes of bloom on the plant growing in an 

 S-inch pot, .and there is from four to five flowers on each spike, 

 making an aggregate of about forty flowers. It is a magnificent 

 white flower for the dull winter months, and if the blooms are 

 cut when fully developed tbey last a considerable time iu water. 



