April 12, IKV. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTDBE AW. fiOTXJiQE, GABPBJS?lt. 



269 



troublesome at times, are, as the above iccident proved, very 

 nseful on an estate. The proprietor of the chiltean, aftpr ho 

 had made the discovery, was obliged to stock bis place with a 

 fresh supply of moles, after which the lawns tlonrished as 

 formerly." 



A PLEASiXrt instance of the progress of hortionltnre at 



the antipodes is afforded by the opening of a new palm hodse 

 in the Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia. The opening 

 ceremony was performed by Lady Musgrave on .January 22nd 

 in the presence of the i'litf of the city. The building, the design 

 and materials for which Dr. Schombnrgk, the skilled director 

 of the Garden, obtained from Germany, is 102 feet in length — 

 including two half-octagons. So feet broad, Ifi feet 6 inches high 

 to the eaves, the centre dome being about 40 feet high. The 

 total cost being about £;U40. The arrangement of the house 

 consists of a large rotunda iu the centre nearly .50 feet in cir- 

 cumference at the base, and an avenue 6 or 7 feet wide from 

 one extremity of the house to the other, as well as from the 

 central rotunda to both entrances on either side. The avenue 

 is lined with Tree Ferns from Queensland, Africa, New Zea- 

 land, New Caledonia, and New South Wales, and amongst them 

 are represented Cyathea dealbata, C. Dregei, G. excelsa, and 

 C. medullaris, the central plant in the rotunda being a fine 

 epscimen of Latania borbonioa surrounded with ornamental- 

 foliaged plants and Ferns. Other fine specimens in the avenues 

 are — Cycas revoluta, Authurium coriaceum, Coeos Weddel- 

 liana, C. coronata, Martinezia erosa, Ebtis guineensis, Ceroxylou 

 niveum, Astrocaryum granatensis, Areca lutesoens, Sabal prin- 

 ceps, S. ccerulescens, Piitcbardia Martiana, P. macrocarpa, 

 P. pacifica, Latania anrea, Tritbtinax mauritiaeformie, Oreo- 

 doxa regia, Dremonorops tisfus, D. Lewsianns, D. palembani- 

 ons, Hyophorbe Verschaffeltii, Jubea speciosa, Livistona sub- 

 globoea, Kentia Forsteriana, K. Belmoriana, Ptychosperma 

 Alexandrfe, Thrinax elegans, and several Dickeonias and Also- 

 philas. There is also a grotto artistically formed and appro- 

 priately planted, also vases and statuary. — (S. A. Eegister.) 



Many inquiries reach us relative to the value of spent 



TAN AS MANURE. Prof. Storer states, in the last number of 

 " The Bulletin of the Biissey Institute," the results of analyses 

 made in his laboratory of three samples of this article. Ac- 

 cording to those results 1000 lbs. of the tan would contain less 

 than half a pound of phosphoric acid, somewhat less than a 

 pound of potash, and from 1 to 2 lbs. of nitrogen ; and since 

 the tan has been thoroughly exhausted with water so that its 

 soluble matters are mostly dissolved out, these substances 

 are all in the insoluble condition, and must therefore be taken 

 at their lowest values ; moreover, it is probable that the nitro- 

 gen would pass but slowly and incompletely into soluble and 

 assimilable forms in the soil. 



It is well known that the earliest crops of Potatoes 



nsually escape ihe disease, and according to the evidence of 

 Mr. Josiah Hoopes in the A'ihi York Tribune they similarly 

 escape the attacks of the Colorado beetle. With the object of 

 evading that destructive pest Mr. Hoopes has relied on the 

 early sorts for his main crop, and with excellent results. 



• Two specimens of deciduous Magnolias, M. conepioua 



and its variety M. Soulangeana, flowering in pots in Mr. 

 Williams's show house at Holloway, suggest how effective these 

 ehrnbs are for conservatory decoration. The large white 

 blossoms 3 or 4 inches across are conspicuous at any time, but 

 especially so when having a background of Palms and I'erus, 

 which " brings them out " to great advantage. The flowers 

 are much more pure also when expanded under glaes than in 

 the open air. Moderate-sized shrubs blossom very freely. 



PRIMULA INTERMEDIA. 



Tnis was discovered in Siberia by Gmelin, the Swedish 

 botanist, as long since as 1747, but has very undetervedly 

 been lost. It is a very pretty species with pink flowers, and is 

 thus described by Mr. Curtis in 1H09 : — 



" It was raised by Mr. Loddiges from seeds sent from Si- 

 beria, and appears to be intermediate between Primula fari- 

 nosa and uivaha. The scape is longer than that of farinoaa, 

 and more slender than in either of the other allied species ; 

 the leaves are green on both sides without any mealiness, 

 and lie flatter on the ground than in the others; the calyx 

 is very nearly as long as the tube of the corolla, and its seg- 

 ments are more acute than in farinosa; the bracts composing 

 the involucre are shorter by halt than the pedicels, and are 

 incurved. 



" Gmelin states that this sort is far more common in Si- 

 beria than the farinosa, of which however he considers it as a 

 variety ; but to us as well as to Mr. Loddiges, who was iu the 

 habit of cultivating all three, it appears to come aa near to 



Fig. 85.— Piimnlii iul 



nivalis. Perhaps all three may be considered as only varieties 

 of the same species, yet they seem to be permanent, and not at 

 all inclined to change from ono to another. 



" It flowers in May. Propagated by seeds or parting its 

 roots, but is much more difficult to be preeerved than either 



