General JVotices. 347 



na asters in pots, profusely covered with bloom; we were struck with 

 the beauty of these, and it occurred to us how ornamental green-houses 

 mljiht be made during the summer season by a little care, and not the dirty 

 and unsightly places we so frequently see. If you visit an amateur or 

 nurseryman in the summer, and inquire for a glance at his green-house, he 

 tells you there is nothing in it at this season — that the plants are mostly 

 placed in the open air, as it is much better for their health; and true 

 enough, you find it as he says, — a few pots here and a few pots there, 

 some plants perishing for want of water, and some running and over- 

 topping several others — all confusion. Might it not be made a place of 

 interest by filling it with pots of asters, balsams, globe amaranthuses, 

 petunias, jilliflowers, coxcombs, and similar showy plants? — reinoving 

 all unsightly ones, and taking proper care of those requiring it.'' With 

 the nurseryman this cannot always be expected; but with the amateur 

 it should never be forgotten. Mr. Sweetser has a fine collection of the 

 Cacti tribe, including some new sorts, among others the Echinocactus 

 Eyriesi. The method of propagating plants by cuttings, as recom- 

 mended at page 'i65, wc here saw under experiment, and it succeeds 

 very well. A pot of camellia cuttings put in by the old method, and 

 one by the former, standing side by side, showed the excellence of the 

 mode. Mr. Sweetser's collection of camellias is quite large, and the 

 plants promise a good bloom the coming winter. 



At our Garden the dahlias are now showing abundant bloom : several 

 new and fine varieties have expanded. Among the parti-colored ones, 

 Widnall's Venus, in our opinion, stands pre-eminent. Brewer's Scarlet 

 Perfection is a superb flower; but there are so many of the new ones 

 that are fine, that it would be superfluous to enumerate them. The 

 asters are also showing fine flowers; Gilia tricolor, several patches of 

 it, is charmingly beautiful. Eschscholtzza crocea has been in bloom 

 all summer. Petunia ])hoenicea and intermedia are brilliant with their 

 fine purple blossoms. We have elsewhere noticed Nemopila insignis. 

 Madia elegans is handsome in the morning, before the sun curls up its 

 petals. Jtfalope grandiflora and many other fine annuals are also bril^- 

 liant with their elegant blossoms. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



On the Origin of Weeping Trees. — Fasicles, orbundlesof shoots, are 

 often observed on trees, which resemble a bird's nest at a distance, but 

 when examined they prove to be a cluster of small twigs. Such bundles 

 are observed on different trees, but more frequently on the white or 

 common birch tree, (B. etula alba, L.) In the year 1808, I observed 

 such a bundle on a Crataegus, mespilus, and oxyacantha, and grafted 

 young thorns with them, which, in two or three years, produced beauti- 

 ful branches. About the same time I observed such a bundle on fj'hnus 

 campestris, the eyes of which were budded on healthy young trees, and 

 every one produced a long hanging shoot. According to this observa- 

 tion, it would be very easy to procure a large collection of drooping 



