]88 MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



ing of using two parts loam and one of leaf mould, and the other old rotten 

 dung. Pray what is meant when the word rich is applied to loam ? (We refer 

 our correspondent to the article on soils inserted in our last number of the 

 Cabinet. — CONDUCTOR. 



On the Cultivation of Alstrcemerias. — 1 should be much obliged if some 

 correspondent who cultivates the Alstrcemeria successfully, would furnish me with 

 a few particulars of management ; I cannot get them to bloom well either in 

 pots or the open border. An early attention will much oblige, Maria. 



Hyacinths. — 1 have tried to grow hjacinths in the open ground for several 

 years, but cannot get any flowers at all equal to what 1 have seen in the London 

 seed shops. I should be glad if some cultivator near London would give me 

 the particulars of management required during the year. 



July \2th, 1836. James Armitage. 



List of showy Border Flowers, &c. — I and several friends, having small 

 gardens entirely devoted to flowers, are much in want of a list of showy herbaceous 

 plants; there are annually, numbers of these plants for sale at the various seeds- 

 men in town, but we have no knowledge of their character whether showy or 

 not ; and if any of your correspondents would favour us with a list of the names, 

 height, colour, and month for blooming, it would be rendering us a great service. 



A Collector of Herbaceous Plants. 



REMARKS. 

 Fuchsia discolor possesses one strong claim to our attention inasmuch as 

 it is a native of the most southern portion of the world, which has yet been 

 visited by any Botanist, Port Famine, in the strait of Magelhaens, whence seeds 

 were procured into this country. The country and hills, from the height of 

 2000 feet above the sea to the very verge of the high water mark, are covered 

 with a perpetual verdure, which is remarkably striking, particularly in those 

 places where the glaciers descend into the sea. The sudden contrast in such 

 cases presenting to the view a scene as agreeable as it seems to be anomalous. 

 1 have seen vegetation thriving most luxuriantly, and large woody-stemmed 

 trees of Fuchsia and Veronica, in England considered and treated as tender 

 plants, in full flower within a very short distance of the base of a mountain 

 covered for two-thirds down with snow, and with the temperature at 36 degrees. 

 The Fuchsias certainly was rarely found but in sheltered spots, but not so the 

 Veronica (V. decussata) for the breaches of the Bays on the west side of St. 

 John's Island, at Port Antonla, are lined with trees of the Veronica growing 

 even in the very wash of the sea. There is no part of the strait more exposed 

 to the wind than this, for it faces the reach to the west of Cape Forward, down 

 which the wind constantly blows, and brings with it a succession of rain, sleet, 

 or snow; and in the winter months from April to August, the ground is covered 

 with a laver of snow from six inches to two or three feet in depth. There must 

 be some "peculiar quality in the atmosphere of this otherwise rigorous climate, 

 which favours vegetation ; for if not, those comparatively delicate plants cou'.d 

 not live and flourish through the long and severe winters of this region. 



Captain King. 



On the Tree Mignonette. — Last year 1 treated some plants of Mignonette, 

 in order to make them shrubby, as follows : — The plants were two feet high, and 

 produced a large head of blossoms. I am sure it is well worth the attention it 

 requires. In a 48-sized pot I potted one good plant, in a very rich loamy soil. 

 In five weeks afterwards I removed the plant, ball entire, into a 36-sized pot, using 

 the same kind of soil. As the plant pushed forth I pinched off all side shoots, 

 allowing the leaf to remain from which the shoot pushed. The plant showed 

 bloom when about ten inches high ; 1 pinched it off, and it caused the top late- 

 ral shoot to push upwards for a leader, which I trained for the purpose. On 

 reaching two feet high, I cut off the blossom, and encouraged about eight of the 

 best shoots for blooming. They flowered profusely last autumn, and now are 

 real pictures of beauty and fragrance, aud I expect will continue so through the 





