463 



JODBMAL OP HORTICULTUIiE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Jane 26, VXi. 



The first of these is its capability of withstanding wind ; for the 

 trees in the most places seem to be little affected further than 

 being merely slightly bent in the direction towards which the 

 wind blows, and the plant being more sturdy, and usually 

 better furnished at bottom. Another good property is that 

 of quickly replacing the leading shoot, should any accident 

 damage or destroy the proper one. Several instances of the 

 tree having done this have occurred here. One fine tree, now 

 upwards of 20 feet high, lost its leader twice, it being cut off 

 some 8 or 10 inches each time, and it would bo impossible now 

 to discover where this occurred, although these accidents only 

 took place in 1863 and 18G4. Another point is the adaptability 

 of tlie plant to all kinds of soils, light and heavy appearing to 

 be alike suitable ; and whether hmestone or peat prevail, the 

 tree seems to be equally at home. In general, however, I be- 

 lieve it succeeds best in a deep rich soil, such as we all like for 

 a kitchen garden ; but a good healthy subsoil seems as much to 

 its liking as the character of the surface. I have never seen 

 the Wellingtonia tried in a situation where moisture is stag- 

 nant, and it can hardly be expected to do in such a place ; but 

 to all others it seems to accommodate itself. Its hardiness 

 has been sufficiently tested to place it second to no Conifer in 

 that respect, and many other merits might be enumerated. 



Although I have stated that the Wellingtonia transplants 

 badly after being too long in one place, it is but justice to add, 

 that it is by no means one of the worst plants to remove. Cu- 

 pressus macrocarpa is certainly worse, and Taxodium semper- 

 virens is not by any means good. In general, Thujas and 

 Thujopses transplant well ; but, perhaps, one of the most diffi- 

 cult plants to remove with success is the Evergreen Oak. 



Those having remarkable trees of the Wellingtonia would 

 confer a benefit on the readers of this Journal, by pubUshing 

 the dimensions of their specimens. This and other information 

 could not fail to be interesting. — J. Eobson. 



Bishop Grindall, writing to the same statesman in the August 

 of 15C6, expresses his regret that he has no other fruit than 

 Grapes to send him. 



We could make many more quotations similarly illustrative 

 of the general awakening of the love of horticulture at that 

 period, but we have pubUshed enough to sustain our opinion, 

 but if you desire more we shall be very ready to furnish you 

 with references.] 



HAEDY EUCALYPTUS. 



Any of your readers who may visit Kew Gardens will pro- 

 bably be as much surprised as I have been to see a large tree 

 of Eucalyptus polyanthemus growing freely in the open border, 

 and apparently as hardy as any Laiu-el. Judging from its size, 

 it must have seen the thermometer at zero several times 

 during its existence. In Don's work this species of Eucalyptus 

 is not enumerated. — G. S. 



BIRTH OF GAEDENING IN ENGLAND. 



I HAVE been asked and have agreed to deliver a lecture upon 

 the rise and progress of gardening in this country. There 

 is no deficiency of information on its advance since the first 

 Stuart ascended the throne of England, but I cannot resolve 

 where to begin. Will you advise me ? — P. T. 



[No art is encouraged until there is a popular taste for the 

 subjects within that art's province. Now, there was no taste 

 for either fruits, kitchen vegetables, or even flowers as objecte 

 of culttire at the commencement of the Tudor dynasty, nor was 

 that taste much developed until the reign of Elizabeth. It is 

 recorded in the reign of Henry YIII. that even salading was 

 imported for the Queen's table ; and in the first year of Ehza- 

 beth, 1559, a state paper enumerating certain " necessary and 

 unnecessary wares " imported into London from abroad records 

 that " Cabages and Tumops to the value of £157 16s. 8ii." were 

 so introduced. 



A taste for gardening, both for ornamental and useful 

 purposes, however, was generally aroused in the reign of 

 Elizabeth ; and in proof of that we wiU quote a few passages 

 from the recently pubUshed " Calendar of State Papers," edited 

 by Mr. Lemon. 



The Koyal Gardens seem to have been resorted to for stock 

 to furnish her courtiers' gardens. Thus Aimigill Ward, writ- 

 ing to Cecil in March, 1561, says that the gardener at the pa- 

 lace at Greenwich will furnish him with Lavendar, Spike, 

 Hifsop, Thyme, Eosemary, and Sage, and if more be requiied 

 Hampton Court and Eichmond can be sent to. 



In September of the same year Cecil wrote to Windebank to 

 help him to a man "apt for his garden;" and in the year 

 following to send him over a Lemon, Pomegranite, and a 

 Myrtle tree, -n-ith directions for their culture, adding that they 

 may be brought to London with Mr. Carew's trees. They were 

 sent, and Windebank states that the Lemon tree cost 15 crowns, 

 and the Myrtle trees 1 crown each, " which is very cheap." 



THE Hi'DRmiSATION OF FERNS. 



One of the most interesting of gardening occupations, if not 

 the most interesting of all, is, indisputably, the fertilisation of 

 plants with a view to change the character of species, or to 

 obtain new forms or hybrids. 



^^'hilst we watch with a lively interest the progress of plants 

 which have been fertilised one with the other — a process which 

 in Phcenogams is perfectly clear to ue, because their organs, 

 whether large or small, can always be distinctly seen, we are, 

 nevertheless, still in darkness as to the fecundation of Ferns 

 and the mode in which it is effected. 



The profound and interesting investigations of Miinter, 

 Lechinsky, Wigand, Schacht, and others have estabhshed the 

 existence in Ferns of reproductive organs of both sexes (anthe- 

 ridia and archegonia), which are borne upon the under side of 

 the pro-embryo (prothallium)— that is, the fohaceous body, 

 which results from the germination of the spore. In conformity 

 with these investigations, which would give to the pro-em- 

 bryos, so to speak, the character of flowers, most physiologists 

 are of opinion that the artificial fertilisation of Ferns would 

 only take place when the pro-embrj-os of two distinct species 

 were brought into close contact. The opinion that fertihsation 

 might be effected on the frond at the time of the spores being 

 formed (and this would be analogous to what takes place in 

 Phinogams, and would appear to me more in accordance with 

 the laws of nature), has up to the present time found scarcely 

 an adherent, although from what I have imderstood, Schacht 

 in his latter days declared himself in favour of this theory. 



The above opinion was expressed about ten years ago in 

 " Bonplandia," I beUeve, by my friend Mons. F. Stange, of 

 Hamburgh, but with the detaUs of the article in question I am 

 not acquainted. The experiments which I have made on the 

 hybridisation of Ferns link together, perhaps, the two theories, 

 without admitting either to its full extent. I am incUned to 

 beheve that a kind of fecundation takes place at the very 

 moment at which the spores commence to germinate, and 

 when the gelatinous mass of the different spores commingles, 

 and becomes mutually transformed long before a pro-embiyo 

 has been produced. 



My principal reason for doubting the fecundation of pro- 

 embryos is the fact that a large number of hybrids are fre- 

 quently found together side by side. Contact between the pro- 

 embrj'os, therefore, could not have taken place, and it also 

 appears to me that we likewise cannot admit that all these 

 hybrids could have been produced by the mutual opening of 

 the reproductive organs, which takes place as if at a hound. I 

 have my doubts as to fertilisation having taken place on the 

 fronds, because I have obtained hybrids from species which 

 have not been in contact with others of their kind, as I shall 

 now proceed to show. 



Some years ago I reported in " Wochcnschrift," published at 

 Berlin (1859, page 183), that I bad obtained a new and interest- 

 ing hybrid Gymnogramma between G. chrysophyUa and G. la- 

 nata. Professors Koch, of Berlin, and Eeichenbach, of Leipsic, 

 did me the honour of naming it G. Stelzneriana. AH the 

 plants of it which I have raised had this pecuharity— namely, 

 that nowhere did they produce spores, although they were in 

 the hands of the most experienced EngUsh and German cul- 

 tivators. I even grew some specimens myself with fronds 

 3 feet in length, but they did not produce spores, and I bsheve 

 that the plants which i raised at the above period have now 

 everywhere disappeared. Three years ago I again succeeded 

 in obtaining the same hybrid by sowing Gymnogramma chryso- 

 phyUa and G. lanata in the following manner :— I collected on 

 a piece of white paper the spores of the two, and after inixing 

 them as much as possible, sowed them together. In this way 

 I succeeded in obtaining a good proportion of Gyronogramma 

 Stelzneriana, which, nevertheless, exhibited two different 

 characters. Some individuals were in every respect like those 

 obtained in 1859, the under .side of the fronds being covered 

 with golden dust, and the young fronds sUghtly crested at 

 their extremities ; whilst the' others bad narrower, more hairy 



