70 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I Janaat; 27, 187S. 



the Tea. The Tufted Vetch (Vioia ciacca) is called in Gaelic 

 Peasair-Inoh ua coille. 



We regret to have to armonnce the death of M. Jean'- 



Lacrekt Jamin, formerly the eminent nurBeryman of Bourg- 

 la-Eeine, whose name is " familiar as a household word " to all 

 horticulturists. M. Jamin was in his eighty-third year, and 

 will be greatly regretted by a wide circle of friends. As a 

 pomologist M. Jamin took high rank. 



THE SYCAMORE. 



The name is literally " The Fig-Mulberry Tree," sylie being 

 the Greek for a Fig tree, and moron for the Black Mulberry. 

 The name was applied to the true Sycamore (Ficus Sycamorus), 

 the fruit of which is a Fig, and the leaves are like those of the 

 Mulberry. Tlie botanical name, Acer pseudo-platanus. Mock 

 Plane Maple, shows that our Sycamore belongs to the Maple 

 genus, and much resembles the Plane tree. 



It is a native of mountainous districts of Germany, Italy, 

 and other parts of Europe. The date of its introduction into 

 England is not known, but we have the negative evidence that 

 it was between the years 1596 and 1633, that Gerard does not 



but flowers several years sooner, sometimes even perfecting its 

 seeds sooner also. The longevity of the tree is from a hundred 

 and forty to two hundred years, though it has been known of 

 a much greater age. The wood weighs per cubic foot, newly 

 cut, 61 lbs. ; half-dry, 56 lbs. ; dry, -18 lbs. It loses in drying 

 about a twelfth part of its bulk. When the tree is young it is 

 white, but as the tree gets older the wood becomes a little 

 yellow, and often brown, especially towards the heart. It is 

 compact and firm without being very hard, of a fine grain, 

 sometimes veined, susceptible of a high polish, and easily 

 worked either on the bench or in ihe turning-lathe. It docs 

 not warp, and is not likely to be attacked by worms. It is 

 used in joinery, and turnery, and cabinet-making, by musical 

 instrument makers, for cider presses, and sometimes for gun 

 stocks. Formerly, when wooden dishes and spoons were more 

 need than they are at present, it was much in demand, espe- 

 cially in Scotland, by the manufacturers of these articles. As 

 underwood the Sycamore shoots freely from the stool to the 

 age of eighty or a hundred years. As a timber tree it is most 

 advantageously cut down at the age of eighty years, or from 

 that age to a hundred. As an ornamental tree it produces the 

 best effect either singly or in groups of two or three, placed 





Fig. 19.— The sycamobe. 



mention it in his " Herbal " in the year first named, but it is 

 mentioned in the edition of the year last named. 



It is a very ornamental tree, and is also useful as a shelter, 

 for prevailing winds, however strong, do not bend it from a 

 perpendicular growth, nor is it injured by the sea spray. An 

 objection is that its leaves at all periods of their growth are 

 especially liable to exude a portion of their saccharine sap, 

 which io known as " honeydew." 



The colours of the foliage and seed vessels vary so much 

 according to the time of their growth and decay as to attract 

 a poet's notice. Cowper wrote — 



"The Sycamore, capricious in attire; 

 Now green, now tawny, anii era antnmn yet 

 Has changed the woods, in scarlet honours hrighfc." 



The sap is so saccharine that sugar has been extracted from 

 it, but not in (juantity suflicient to render the extraction pro- 

 fitable ; 116 lbs. of sap would yield only 1 lb. of sugar. That 

 obtained was like common brown sugar, but having a different 

 flavour. 



It rarely attains a height of 80 feet. Loudon says of it : — 

 " The growth is very rapid compared with that of most other 

 species of Acer, particularly when it is in a deep, free, rich 

 soil, and in a mild climate. It arrives at its full growth in 

 fifty or sixty years, but it requires to be eighty or a hundred 

 years old before its wood arrives at perfection. In marshy 

 soil or in dry sand, and even on chalk, the tree never attains 

 any size. It produces fertile seeds at the age of twenty years, 



) sufficiently near to form a whole, but not so as to teach each 

 other, and in rows or avenues." 



We have observed that rabbits seldom eat the bark of yonag 

 Sycamores, and have succeeded in establishing a plantation of 

 them when most other trees were destroyed by the " vermin " 



; within a week of being planted. 



APHELANDEA AUEANTIACA EOEZLII FEOM 



SEED. 



I AM informed by a gardener that the most easy and certain 

 way of raising a stock of this stove plant is by sowing the seed 

 in heat in the spring and growing the plants similarly to 

 Cockscombs ; but the Aphelandras do not require to be fre- 

 quently shifted, and the soil best suited to them is peat, leaf 

 mould, and silver sand, with a slight addition of loam. 



I have hitherto grown these plants from cuttings, and while 

 I have been frequently dissatisfied with their slow growth, 

 their brilliant flowers have generally afforded me ample re- 

 compense. 



My informant has stated that not only do these plants grow 

 with the greatest freedom when raised from seed, but that the 

 plants will flower the same season if not stopped, and will be 

 found in their small state most useful as autumnal decorative 

 plants both for the conservatory and for ornamental receptacles 

 in the drawing-room. He assures me of their certainty of 



