HORSE CHESTNUT. CATALPA. MAGNOLIA. 21 



limited dimensions) of not growing so large as the com- 

 mon sort). Whitley's scarlet is a beautiful variety. For 

 the bloom to be full coloured, shade is required. The 

 yellow-flowered kind bears the chestnut in a smooth husk 

 There are of the same kind red and white flowering sorts, 

 and some of them are shrubs. 



The Catalpa syringcefolia is hardy, and deserves a place 

 in our shrubberies, from its splendid foliage and hand- 

 some flowers. Ifc must have a dry situation, and it re- 

 quires plenty of air: it is propagated by seed or by 

 cuttings of the root. 



The Magnolia grandiflora Exoniensis deserves a place 

 in every garden where there is a sufficiently warm situa- 

 tion for it, from its handsome foliage and magnificent 

 and deliciously scented flowers. It thrives in a rich 

 loam, but prefers peat. It will flower freely only in a 

 favourable situation, so it is frequently grown against a 

 wall. It flowers from August to October. There is a 

 rarer variety, Magnolia grandiflora prcecox, with broader 

 leaves and larger flowers, which flowers in July and 

 sometimes in June. In buying young magnolia plants 

 care must be taken that they are plants which have been 

 raised from layers, as the seedlings are many years before 

 they bloom. The Magnolia conspicua flowers in the 

 spring, before the leaves are out, and the flowers are not 

 nearly so large as those of the grandiflora. There are 

 also several other beautiful varieties. The bark and 

 wood of all are fragrant. 



Those elegant-growing, graceful- foli aged trees, with 

 white sweet flowers, which we have always been in the 

 habit of calling Acacias, but which are in fact Robinias, 

 are beautiful for a screen, or to mingle with other trees 

 in a walk near the house. The rose acacia, Eolinia 

 liispida, with beautiful racemes of rose-coloured flowers, 

 is a great ornament to the screen of a flower garden or of 

 a shrubbery. The wood of these trees is very liable to 

 break. They do well in a rich soil, and are easily pro- 

 pagated by layers, cuttings, or suckers, and also by seed, 

 but the seed should be soaked in warm water, and left 

 in it for twenty-four hours, 



