124 REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS IN CHARCOAL. 



of them are perfectly useless here for competition, as they want stuff. 

 In fact, some of them come with only two rows of petals, and were 

 little larger than a waistcoat button; but flowers of that size will not 

 satisfy the Northumbrian amateurs, who want rose-leaved flowers, of 

 large size, and well crowned, with central petals. In fact, our taste 

 in this respect is precisely the same as that of the London growers, 

 and this makes us buy up the southern celebrated kinds of pinks in 

 preference to going to the Lancashire markets." Should any person 

 doubt the genuineness of the above observations, I will refer him to 

 Mr. William Harrison, Felton Bridge-end, Northumberland, who, I 

 have no doubt, will give any information on the subject alluded to in 

 this article. I would beg to call attention to the acknowledgment of 

 Mr. Dent, that the Lancashire Pinks are not grown by any of the 

 London florists, but he has not given any reason for their not doing 

 so ; on that point I will most cheerfully assist him — that is, because 

 they are good for nothing. Mr. D. has named a number of sorts of 

 Pinks, Avhich he styles the " London Pets;" should he bloom them 

 as they are bloomed about London, I am quite certain he will do as 

 they did at Felton, throw out their Lancashire productions, and culti- 

 vate in future the standard of excellence so universally acknowledged 

 to be attained by the metropolitan growers. 



In concluding these remarks, I should be very sorry to hurt the 

 feelings of any of the Lancashire gentlemen, but truth will stand the 

 test of time, and bear me out in the above observations. 



ARTICLE IV. 



REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS IN CHARCOAL. 



BY MR. J. E. TESCHEMACHEU. 



(Inserted in Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture, a work published in New York, 



monthly.) 



The first view I took of the value of charcoal in horticulture arose 



from the arguments on the different powers of well-rotted and of fresh 



manure ; my prejudice, from constant practice, being rather in favour 



of the former. And one of my imaginary reasons for this prejudice 



(for proof was not to be expected) was that the carbon of the vegetable 



part of the old manure was reduced by fermentation and complete 



decomposition (combustion, Liebig) to the finest possible state of 



comminution, such as it is totally impossible to imitate by the most 



