No. 12. A simple Green-house — Tulips — Parks of London. 



369 



same is true, when instead of removing these 

 filaments we girdle the end of the ear tightly 

 with a cord, though the dust is allowed to 

 come in contact with the pistils. So if be- 

 fore the dust from the stamens begins to fall, 

 one of these threads be destroyed, the par 

 ticular receptacle or germ to which it led, 

 is not impregnated, and no kernel will be 

 formed there. 



Of these facts it is believed many intelli- 

 gent and judicious farmers are ignorant. 

 When a boy, I used oflen in the flowering 

 season of corn to amuse myself by gather 

 ing the silk, sometimes in considerable quan- 

 tities from tlie newly formed ear, without the 

 least suspicion of the injury I was doing; 

 and I have since seen the farmers them- 

 selves, as they were passing through their 

 corn-field, pulling off these delicate fibres, 

 as carelessly as they would remove a fungus 

 or a moss from a tree. It is mainly to sug- 

 gest a word of caution to the farmer gene- 

 rally, and his more thoughtless children es- 

 pecially, that these facts, in themselves it 

 is hoped, not entirely destitute of interest, 

 are communicated. — Farmer and Mechanic. 



A Simple Green-house— Tulips— Parks 

 of Liondon< 



The editor of Hovey's Magazine of Hor- 

 ticulture, — a highly valuable periodical pub- 

 lished at Boston, and which should be in the 

 hands of every gardener and florist, — says 

 in his notes and recollections of a tour 

 through part of England, Scotland and 

 France, in the autumn of 1844, that he 

 " noticed at the nursery establishment of 

 Mr. Glendenning, at Chiswick, a mode of 

 making pits or frames, which answers a 

 good purpose. It is simply to cut and pare 

 sods of the width of six inches ; these are 

 carefully and firmly piled up, the grass side 

 downwards, to the proper height, making 

 allowance for settling, and when they be- 

 come dry the sashes are put on, and the 

 whole is completed; in our climate,' on the 

 approach of cold weather, they could be 

 banked up, and would be much better for 

 many things than ordinary wood frames, 

 which are expensive and more likely to 

 suffer from cold. We would recommend a 

 trial of this plan. In Philadelphia, among 

 the nurserymen, great quantities of plants 

 are wintered in ordinary frames, and valu- 

 able room is saved in the green-house ; be- 

 sides, plants kept in a low temperature, es- 

 pecially roses, azaleas, camellias, &c., start 

 with more vigor, and often make a stronger 

 growth, than those kept in the green-house. 

 To protect half hardy shrubs and plants, 

 which will not stand the open winter, pits, 



such as we have noticed, will be found use- 

 ful ;n the smallest collection of plants. Many 

 plants, which are now only seen in green- 

 houses, may be taken up in the autumn and 

 planted again in the spring; and by such 

 yearly removals, they soon acquire so large 

 a mass of fibrous roots that they do not suf^ 

 fer in the least, and flower as freely as if 

 they had not been taken up; in this way, 

 azaleas, kalmias, rhododendrons, magnolias, 

 ericas, &c., &c., may be managed with en- 

 tire success." 



He also says, " Mr. Groom, of Clapham, 

 has long been well known for his splendid 

 collections of tulips, ranunculuses, &c. He 

 was formerly located at Walworth ; but the 

 land becoming valuable, he removed to his 

 present place a few years since, and his 

 grounds here are yet but partially under 

 cultivation. The situation is on the Clap- 

 ham road, about four or five miles from St. 

 Paul's, and convenient from the omnibuses, 

 which run directly by, many times a day. 



" Mr. Groom's principal trade has been 

 in tulips and other florist's flowers, but 

 within a few years he has turned his atten- 

 tion to the production of the newer and 

 more choice green-house plants, and at the 

 present time he had a goon collection." 



" Preparations were making for planting 

 out the great collection of tulips in October. 

 For this flower Mr. Groom is famous; he 

 has raised several very splendid seedlings, 

 some of which are priced as high as five 

 hundred dollars, and a great number at one 

 hundred dollars each, — £21 sterling. It 

 would seem to those who know little of the 

 tulip that this was something of a tulip ma- 

 nia; but the tulip is a most gorgeous flower, 

 and when once a love for it takes possession 

 of the amateur, and he obtains a knowledge 

 of its properties, there is scarcely any thing 

 he would not sacrifice to obtain the choicest 

 kinds. In England, there are many collec- 

 tions valued at thousands of pounds. In this 

 country the tulip is but little valued, and a 

 bed of the most common kinds attracts 

 nearly as many admirers as one of the 

 choicest and high-priced flowers. It is 

 gratifying, however, to see the dawn of a 

 better taste, and within a few years, especi- 

 ally in the vicinity of Boston, some very 

 fine collections have been obtained, and the 

 present season we anticipate a better display 

 than has ever before been seen." 



" Many individuals are not aware of the 

 immense extent of the parks of London. 

 St. James's, Hyde Park, Green Park, Re- 

 gent's Park and Kensington Gardens, con- 

 tain upwards of 1200 acres. In each of 

 them are lakes or ponds of water, oftentimes 

 crossed by handsome bridges. Each of the 



