and of Biiral Improvement generally, during 1837. 539 



of thirty ducats from the king. It is an annual of the order 

 Compositae, but we have not been informed of its name ; and, 

 though a native of South America, it is so hardy, that, even in 

 Wirtemburg, it may be sown in the autumn. 



The last subject which we shall mention is the cultivation of 

 the truffle ; an object, in our opinion, very much to be desired, 

 and to encourage attempts at which, it would be worth while for 

 Horticultural Societies to offer large premiums. An elaborate 

 article on the subject, translated from the German, will be found 

 p. 408. 



STATISTICS OF GARDENING. 



Botanical Collectors. — A gardener, sent to India by that 

 munificent patron of gardening, His Grace the Duke of Devon- 

 shire, returned in August last, bringing with him a living plant 

 of Amherstm nobilis, a number of new Orchideae, and various 

 seeds. A subscription society have sent Dr. L'ppold to Ma- 

 deira, whence he will proceed to the Canaries; and M. Hartweg, 

 sent to Mexico- by the Horticultural Society, has already for- 

 warded to them various seeds, including acorns of some of the 

 curious Mexican oaks, so remarkable for the form of their acorns 

 and cups, as may be seen by the figures of the American species 

 of Quercus in our Arboretum Britannicum. 



Gca'dening Tours. — Mr. Forbes, head gardener to the Duke 

 of Bedford, has, at His Grace's expense, made a tour on the 

 Continent, the particulars of which he has laid before the public 

 in a work which we have noticed in p. 316. ; and we direct at- 

 tention to the subject, partly because we consider the Duke of 

 Bedford as a model for an English nobleman, in all that respects 

 gardening and rural matters; and, partly, because we think it 

 would be much for the benefit of gardeners and the gardens 

 imder their care, if other wealthy noblemen and gentlemen were 

 to follow His Grace's example. It may not be practicable for all 

 head gardeners to be spared so long from their charge as to allow 

 of their travelling on the Continent ; but there is not one who 

 should not be allowed time and money sufficient to enable him 

 to make a tour to the principal gardens in our own country. 

 Seeing the gardens of his neighbours, and reading books on 

 gardening, are the only modes by which a master gardener can 

 be instructed as to what is going on beyond the walls of his 

 own garden ; and the employer who does not encourage these 

 two modes of acquiring information, is not duly alive to his 

 own interest. He does not even know the best mode of 

 keeping down his nurseryman's bills ; because a gardener who 

 does not visit his neighbours, cannot make any exchanges of 

 seeds, cuttings, or plants with them; and, without frequent ex- 

 changes, every garden, from the worst to the best, is liable to 

 deficiencies, only to bemade up by purchases from the nursery- 



