92 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 30, 1868. 



Does the lack of vigour in the stock, as we may properly call 

 the Apple, favour the growth of this singular production, or is 

 it due to some climatic influence, as healthy free-growing fruit 

 trees and abundance of Mistletoe are not often met with close 

 together ? The scarcity of Mistletoe in some districts is also 

 due, in some measure, to the care taken to remove it, as many 

 Imit-growers have it destroyed, as far as possible, in winter; 

 and the purveyors for the London public, by legal or clandes- 

 tine means, for both are adopted, contribute "much to the same 

 result before Christmas. This destruction of Mistletoe, im- 

 proved cultivation, and other causes, tend to render it less 

 plentiful than it was in the past, and, perhaps, when western 

 France shall be as carefully and industriously cultivated as the 

 home counties in England, the Mistletoe may, like many other 

 things once plentiful, disappear by degrees, especially when 

 the old fruit trees are replaced by young ones, and encouraged 

 by manure and good cultivation to retain their vigour to a later 

 period than their predecessors. — J. Robson'. 



Peemit me to inform Mr. Robson, through your paper, that 

 the Mistletoe grows most luxuriantly in the orchards round Scu- 

 tari, many of which are within a mile of the sea. I have seen 

 pieces brought into the hospital there in the winter of 1854, 

 which were as much as two men could carry. — John E. Barnes, 

 Clare, Suffolk. 



Mb. Robson states in his letter that he believes that the 

 Mistletoe is more plentiful in England than in any other 

 country. I would most respectfully state that I have foimd 

 the Mistletoe more abundantly in some parts of America than 

 in any part of England in which I have been, although I have 

 seen it growing very fine in some districts in England, but not 

 equal to what I have found in the States. 



In the spring of 1862 I was travelling from St. Louis, Mis- 

 souri, to Vicksburg, Mississipi, down the Father of Waters, as 

 the Mississipi is called over there ; and after leaving St. Louis 

 some distance I noticed what appeared to me to be a continual 

 rookery, but could not see any rooks ; so at one of the nume- 

 rous wood yards where the steamer stopped for fuel I with 

 several others went on shore, and to my surprise and dehght 

 I found the supposed rooks' nests were masses of our dear old 

 iriend Mistletoe. Many a noble bough was there, which, had 

 it been in merry England, would have been greatly prized, but 

 it is thought httle or nothing of by onr fast and go-ahead 

 cousins. 



I find the Plane tree (Platanns occidentalis), its greatest 

 favourite, although it grows abundantly on the Eed-flowering 

 Maple (Acer rubrum), and Carya alba, the Hickory ; but I have 

 never found it on the Oak. It is found for several hundred 

 jniles down the Mississipi river, and in some parts of Arkansas, 

 on White River, and St. Francis ; also near the seacoast in 

 North Carolina, especially near Wilmington on the Cape and 

 North-East rivers, both of which are noted for swamps, and in 

 ihese the Mistletoe seems to dehght. 



I am of opinion that the sea breeze and saline atmosphere 

 are not detrimental to the growth of the Jlistletoe, as I have 

 seen it growing near the seashore a Uttle above Fort Fisher, 

 N.C., quite as luxuriantly as on the Mississipi, a thousand 

 miles from sea. — Alpha. 



[We think the species thus noticed in America was Yiscum 

 flavescens, or Yellowish Mistletoe. — Eds.] 



TO SET THE MUSCAT OF ALEXANDRIA LIKE 

 THE BLACK HAMBURGH, 

 Keep the day temperature at 75° by fire heat, and 85° with 

 sun heat. Keep the night temperature at 70°. Damp the 

 paths at 7.30 a.m. and at 4 p.m. Keep the whole of the atmo- 

 sphere of the house in perpetual motion, night and day. When 

 the blossoms are fully expanded give each bunch a shght shake 

 onoe a-day. This is all that is necessary to insure well-formed 

 banches. — R. Budd, Gardens, Cobham Hall. 



PROPAGATING DEAC^NAS. 



I WAS much pleased with Mr. Newlyn's notice on the genus 

 Dracsena, but he appears not to be aware with what great 

 facility the genus may be propagated. 



Any plant that has become too leggy may be cut down to 



the pot, the stem cut into 1 or 2-inch lengths, and planted the 

 same as Vine eyes. If placed in a good bottom heat they will 

 make nice httle plants in one season either for the decoration 

 of the stove or ilower garden. In the latter situation a few of 

 the species do tolerably well, and are highly ornamental. — 

 W. Robins, Oakley Park, Suffolk. 



REPORT ON THE PRESENT STATE OF 



HORTICULTURE IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY. 



The Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society 

 appointed a Committee to visit during last August various 

 parts of the island, and to report on the state of its horticul- 

 ture. That report is now before us, and is highly interesting 

 and satisfactory. 



The Committee visited many gardens — BeauUeu, the resi- 

 dence of F. Bertram, Esq. ; Clifton House, Misses Ainge's ; 

 Government House, Major-General Burke Cuppage's ; Spring 

 Grove, Capt. Howell's ; The Vineries, J. Pond, Esq's., where 

 four tons of Chaumontel Pears were grown last year ; Belle 

 Vue, Col. Le Couteur's ; Oak Walk, the Rev. P. A. Le Feuvre's ; 

 Trinity Manor, C. P. Le Comu, Esq.'s ; Rozel Manor, the Rev. 

 W. Lempriere's, and La Chaire, Mrs. Fothergill's. We cannot 

 spare space for a detaUed notice of more than one of these 

 well-cultivated gardens, and it shall be the last named. 



" La Chaire, the property of Mrs. Fothergill, formerly belonging to 

 her father, the l.ite Samuel Cnrtis, Esq., F.L.S., Editor of the 

 " Botanical Magazine," and a well-known botanist and horticulturist, 

 is perhaps the most extraordinary triumph of horticultural skill in the 

 world. Ml'. Curtis took jileasure in telling, with a well-remembered 

 smile, the small outlay originally required to purchase this now valu- 

 able property, and how his neighbours and friends congratulated him 

 with irony on his acquisition. But the eye of genius saw the capabili- 

 ties of this apparently useless and barren hillside. This unique 

 garden has been visited by some of the most eminent men of the day, 

 amongst others by the late Sir W. Hooker, Curator of the Royal Kew 

 Gardens, by Mr. "Babington, F.L.S.,' and by Mr. Bentley, F.L.S., 

 F.R.H.S., and Professor of botany at King's College, &c., all authors 

 of standard works on botany, and is with unnsual liberality always 

 open to visitors, thousands of whom, during the season, avail them- 

 selves of Mrs. Fothergill's kindness ; and your Committee learn with 

 pleasure that it is very rarely that any damage is done by them. 



" The trees and shrubs whieh now cover the whole surface of this 

 once unpromisint^ spot, are. from their rarity and luxuriance, the 

 admiration of all visitors. Many shrubs, which in England require 

 protection, grow here without it ; and are now so large, that it would 

 be impossible to house them. Many of the rarities were sent to Mr. 

 Cnrtis, by Sir W. Hooker, in exchange for specimens from here. Of 

 Acacias, "fifteen varieties are grown, some of them large trees, which 

 in early spring are masses of bloom, and perfume the whole air of 

 the valley : of Magnolias, four varieties ; of Rhododendrons, oyer 

 twenty varieties, including most of the mnch-pi-ized Himalayan varie- 

 ties and many hybrids ; of Eucalyptus, or Australian Gum Tree, 

 four varieties ; of Hydrangea, four ; besides, thirty-six other species of 

 forcif^n trees and shrubs, prominent among which are the well-known 

 Weilingtonia gigantea and the Cedar of Lebanon. 



"The gardener. Mr. Beckford, who, single-handed, keeps this romantic 

 spot in perfect order, deserves the highest praise for its cleanliness, 

 and for the vigorous health and symmetry of all under his care. 



" Your Committee were glad to see that all the shrubs and trees 

 were carefully labelled in bold characters, — except when the names of 

 the plants were unknown, even to the eminent botanists before men- 

 tioned, thereby proving their great rarity, — thus enabling visitors to 

 become acquainted with the ditferent subjects cultivated, without 

 trespassing on the time of the gardener. One specimen Dacrj-dium 

 cupressinum. New Zealand Cypress, your Committee greatly 

 admired. Nor are herbaceous plants neglected ; Mesembryanthe- 

 mums are here grown in large numbers, and stand the winter withoat 

 protection. 



"Mr. Beckford drew the attention of the Committee to a seedling 

 Zonal Pelargonium, called ' La Chaire,' raised by him, which gives 

 promise of being a valuable acquisition." 



We will conclude with an extract from the Committee's awu- 

 mary : — 



" Not only were the places visited remarkably well and carefully 

 kept, showing evidence, too, of habitual good management ; but through- 

 out the island there were signs of taste and care observable, altogether 

 wanting a few years back, which elicited the admiration of the strangers 

 who joined the Committee. 



" AVhere formerly, in front of many a farmhouse or cottage, was to 

 be seen a patch of grass, rough with molehills and full of weeds, the 

 pasture of a tethered cow or goat, was now found a weU-mown lawn, 

 ornamented with flower beds and shrubs. This betokens an improved 



* Mr. Babington is the Author of a Channel Island Flora, entitled 

 "Primltije Florie Samicffi." 



