flecembor i;:,, 1860. ] 



JOUUNAL OF HOimCULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



48a 



bill. Early? Sir J. Paxton, Marguerite, Alice Maude, lliil- 

 seaion Empress Eugenie, Late : Wondetful, Cockscomb, Dr. 

 ll igg, o : .. [more Late Pine, Itfaiiguerite is very trouble- 

 some under crop with its runners. The same may he said of 

 Sahspareil. 



With regard to the double-cropper referred to by Mr. 

 BrSnaut, 1 know nothing of it. Except the Alpines, I do not 

 think tltat a double-crupper would answer in this climate 

 without the aid of ridge-vinery glass to ripen the second crop. 

 It migb.1 succeed in France, or in tire soutj^ of the Channel 

 Island.-. I still retain my high opinion of ihvers's Eliza and 

 Eclipse, but have no objection to replace them for market 

 purposes with Marguerite and Alice Maude, the latter a very 

 gpod Strawberry for every garden, and a capital forcer. — 

 W. F. 1'iuhi.m ■: ■;■:, Okeford F.itzpuinfi. 



Duraaresq, however, will not long be my best production, as I 

 Intent} to exhrbit a seedling early in the spring far superior to 

 any in that class in colour, substance, and size of leaves. — 

 John Aldhkd, 22, Bridge Street, Kilburn. 



PREMIER POTATO. 



I have been aslccd to offer a few remark'? on, and to give the 

 history and origin of the above-named Potato, a seedling of 

 great met it. 



I ought first to state that this valuable early prolific Potato 

 has been, since it was raised, kept almost in obscurity, being in 

 the hands of only a few cottagers in this neighbourhood. 

 Quite as a favour a few were given to me ; I planted them, 

 and, having succeeded well during the season. I was delighted 

 to lind not only that they were very superior in appearance, 

 but the earliest I possess, and I grow must of the earliest kinds 

 in cultivation. 



After having grown Premier three years I became aware of 

 its sterling worth, and thought what a pity it was that such 

 a valuable Potato should be lost to the country. I then began 

 to make inquiries respecting its origin, but could not procure 

 any definite information for some months. However, even- 

 tually I was told that a certain person was the raiser; I waited 

 upon him, when I learnt that he was not so, but could tell me 

 who was. Having then obtained the proper name and address, 

 I wrote to the gentleman, asking to be furnished with any in- 

 formation he thought tit to afford. I received an answer, not 

 written, but verbally through a friend, stating that I had his 

 full permission to do what I thought proper with the Potato, 

 at the same time to give it a name. Hence the present one, 

 Premier. 



I now give the raiser or propagator's name. In 1858, the 

 Bev. Samuel Charles Laxton, then incumbent of Mayorpool, 

 Sutton Coldtield, received some seed of a Potato from I' ranee. 

 It does not appear from what kind of Potato the seed was saved. 

 However, some seed was handed to Mr. Charles Fttlford, then 

 gardener to Mrs. Saddler, Sutton Coldtield. Mr. Fulford's own 

 words are — " i sowed the seed in a common flower-pot. "\\ Hen 

 the seedlings were large enough, I planted them out in the usual 

 way, the result heiDg a first-class early Potato." 



I wish it to be distinctly understood that although I have 

 interested myself, or, in other words, have been instrumental 

 in bringing this Potato before the public. I have no interest 

 whatever in it. At the same time I have no hesitation in say- 

 ing, that when this Potato is more widely distributed and better 

 known it will be highly appreciated. 



I am sure all who saw the Premier Potato, as exhibited by 

 Mr. Fenn at the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens (see 

 page 380, November 20), must have been pleased with its 

 symmetrical shape and quality. In August last I saw the 

 Potatoes, as they grew side by side, of which Mr, Fenn's beau- 

 tiful collection was composed. His mode of culture is worthy 

 of notice by those who have strong heavy land to deal with. 

 As it is well known to the readers of The .Torr.Nvr. of Horti- 

 culture, I will not refer to it further than merely to state that 

 it is the ridge-and-trench system — a system by which Mr. 

 Fenn has earned for himself a lasting reputation. — J. Gakonf.::, 

 AStOn Hall Gardens, Sutton Coldfi,' '. 



TRICOLOR PELARGONIUM SOPHIA DUMARESQ. 



In justification of myself, I beg leave to state that the seed- 

 ling which I sold to Messrs. Henderson was raised by me, and 

 the plants that I grew were exhibited at the International 

 Show as Sophia Dumaresq, and Messrs. Henderson have told 

 me that they have sold it as the same. 



As to the origin of my seedling, I raised it by fertilising 

 Sunset with the pollen of Zonale Excellent, and I think I have 

 a right to divide the honours with Messrs. Henderson. Sophia 



Till-: TREE FERNS OF NEW ZEALAND. 



Tin: most interesting section of the Otago Ferns is thu family 

 of arborescent specifie -the treo Ferns, or " Fern trees of lie 

 colonists.'' Six out of eighty-eight species, or 6.81 per cent., of 

 Otago Kerns arearboreous. Those tree Fernsrank, undoubtedly, 

 as to beauty, and frequently also as to height, girth, aud use- 

 fulness, with the exogenous forest trees, with which they are 

 generally more or less intermixed. In addition to the species 

 observed bv myself, Cvathea Smithii, Hook. ; Dicksonia squar- 

 rosa, Swar'tz ; Dicksonia antarctica, Br., are common Otago 

 Fern trees, the Cyathea Smithii being, indeed, according to 

 Buchanan, the commonest species of that genus in Otago. ' 



Cyathea Smithii is green and smooth-frouded, sometimes 

 forked into two stems J trunks 20 feet high ; wood hard, close- 

 grained, and heavy i liuchanan). 



liirksonia squarrosa is a very dark Fern, with blackish stipes 

 and rachis ; frequently gregarious, and the most southern tree 

 Fern in the world. The " wheki ochiakura," or its abbrevia- 

 tion, "hikaura" >aik dial;, of the North Island Maoris. 



Dicksona antarctica is dark green, sometimes forking in the 

 stem, "the handsomest of all tree Ferns'' (Hooker). This 

 seems to be the principal tree Fern formerly used in house- 

 building by the Maoris, preferred to the wood of exogenous 

 trees, probably from its being more easily cut by their rude 

 stone adzes aiid knives. Specimens of Maori domestic archi- 

 tecture are now mainly to be met with in old pahs in the North 

 Island and the Chatham Islands. The posts of the huts are of 

 tree Fern trunks, which are frequently locked together with 

 various "bush ropes," or "Supple-jacks," climbers, creepers, 

 or forest trees, species of Parsonsia, Metrosideros, Plagianthus, 

 llubus, Clematis, etc., thatched with " Toi" Grass, (Arnndo 

 conspicua), while the interior is sometimes lined with tree 

 Fern fronds interwoven with the leaves of Phormium tenax. 



There are several points connected with the climatological 

 relations and geographical distribution of tree Ferns in the 

 middle island of New Zealand (provinces of Otago, Canterbury, 

 and Nelson), which possess special interest. Of these the most 

 prominent is the association of tree Ferns with glaciers, snows, 

 and other evidences of an alpine and rigorous climate. Writers 

 on l.otany and geology, descanting on the beauties of tropical 

 S vegetation or the peculiarities of southern insular floras, or on 

 I the characteristics of the carboniferous flora lists nearest 

 I analogous of the present day, have hitherto been in the habit 

 I of associating the beautiful tree Fern vegetation of New Zea- 

 I land with equability of climate, tropical heat, and stagnant 

 j moisture ; but it is no longer possible to hug this pictorial de- 

 lusion, for there are abundant proofs that in the provinces just 

 named tree Ferns flourish in a climate in some respects as 

 fickle and as rigorous as that of Scotland or the Swiss Alps. 

 Nor are tree Ferns the only hitherto supposed sub-tropical 

 ' tree forms which are there found bordering glaciers : Fuchsia 

 trees. Cabbage Palms, and I lordylihes are associated with Ara- 

 liaceous, Myrtaceous, and other trees hitherto regarded as ex- 

 ! clusively the denizens of comparatively warm climates, grow- 

 ing in the neighbourhood of glaciers as the Firs fringe those of 

 the, S.'.iss Alps. My friend Dr. Hoist states that the largest 

 glacier of Mount Cook, which gives rise to the Waihan river, 

 descends as low as 500 feet above the sea level on the west coast 

 of Canterbury, within only eight miles of the sea, on both sides 

 of which glacier luxuriant forests of Fern trees, Cordylmes, 

 MvitueiF, and other temperate and sub-tropical types are 

 found. The same distinguished explorer further refers to the 

 occurrence on the west coast of Nelson, at no great distance from 

 the glaciers in question, of groves of true Palm, Areca sapida, 

 with other trees of an equally sub-tropical character. 



Comparable to the occurrence of tree Ferns beside New 

 Zealand glaciers, is the fact recently recorded by Mr. S. cll S° r r< L 

 of Tasmauian tree F'erns covered with snow about Mount \\ el- 

 lington, near Hobart Town, at elevations of 150O to 2000 feet 

 above the sea, the Ferns growing 18 to 20 feet high close to- 

 gether in damp shady gullies, associated with the stately Aus- 

 tralian Sassafras tree, Atherosperma moschata. 



The altitudinal range of tree Ferns in New Zealand is also, 

 perhaps, somewhat greater than we have hitherto believed. 

 Mr. Vincent Pike, in his expedition to the west coast of Otago, 



