and of Rural Improvement ge?ierally, during 1838. 551 



any facts which bear on the subject are worthy of record. 

 Thus, it has been found that the severe frost of last winter pro- 

 duced a much more injurious effect on the narrow-leaved varie- 

 ties of ^Rhododendron ponticum, such as R. p. salicifolium, than on 

 the varieties with broad leaves. The same remark applies to 

 the narrow-leaved varieties of Magnol/a grandiflora, M. g. lan- 

 ceolata having had the foliage more injured than any other 

 variety. 



It is worthy of remark, that all deciduous trees and shrubs 

 of the colder parts of North America, that had ripened their 

 wood, have escaped wholly unhurt ; while some natives of Sibe- 

 ria, such as Lonicera tatarica, though, when in a dormant state, 

 they are capable of resisting the most severe cold of the British 

 winter, were, from being in a growing state when the severe 

 frost suddenly took place, severely injured. Even the evergreen 

 magnolia of North America, M. grandiflora, in places where it 

 was exposed as a standard tree, in the free air of the climate of 

 London, only had its leaves injured, and that, in most places, 

 but partially; the buds having broken out in the course of the 

 summer, in every case that we have seen or heard of. On dry 

 gravelly soil, in Hertfordshire, such as at Totteridge and Ches- 

 hunt, even the leaves of standard evergreen magnolias have 

 escaped without the slightest injury; thus placing the hardiness 

 of this fine tree beyond all doubt. Most of the beautiful species 

 of Mahon/a (evergreen berberries), from California, have also 

 stood the winter, without their beautiful foliage having sustained 

 the least injury. Garrya elliptica, an evergreen from California, 

 proves to be of the same degree of hardiness as the common 

 laurustinus. Aucuha japonica, like many other Japan plants, 

 ligneous and herbaceous, proves to be quite hardy. Wistar/^x 

 sinensis, Magn6l/« conspicua, and Illicium anisatum, from 

 China, and Chimonanthus fragrans from Japan, are also as hardy 

 as any of our natives, and will, in consequence, in all future time, 

 prove conspicuous ornaments in British gardens. The lesson which 

 the young gardener has to learn from these facts is, that it is not 

 enough for him to knov/ the general principles of plant culture, 

 as taught in books, and practised in British gardens; but that 

 it is nearly equally necessary for him to have a knowledge of the 

 geographical range, and of the soil, and the elevation above the 

 sea, as far as these can be obtained, of every foreign plant which 

 is committed to his care. We acknowledge that it is not easy 

 for him to procure this information, unless he has access to local 

 Floras, or to the botanical periodicals, as published; but he will 

 find a help of some importance in our Floricultural Notices, and 

 everything that he could wish for on the subject, as far as hardy 

 and half-hardy ligneous plants are concerned, in our Arboretum 

 Britannicum. Many New Holland plants endure our winters 



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