Gardening in the Vicinity of Flushing, L. I. 21 



States. A walk of a very few minutes snfRced to bring us 

 to '' Carolina Hall." Stating the object of our visit, we were 

 very politely referred to Mr. Howard, the head gardener, who 

 took us through the houses. In the green-house, there is, 

 1 think, as fine a collection of the plants of that depart- 

 ment as can be found. Of the camellia, the varieties num- 

 ber 134 distinct kinds, all full of healthy buds, and of 

 rhododendron, I counted 21 superb specimens. The cacti 

 are very numerous, and many of them as rare as they are 

 singular. I noticed one, the " Crassula icellata," which 

 is I think the only plant in this country. I also noticed 

 very pretty specimens of Lisianthus Russelha/iifs, Pentste- 

 mon, Cobce^a, and Murrayd^z^^, and several of the pine 

 species from seeds brought over by the late Ex-Exp. In 

 the stove, the centre of which is used for propagation, the 

 plants are very choice and in beautiful order. Among 

 them, I particularly remarked the Ixoras, Poinsettia, 

 Melastomas, Rondeletia, ^schynanthus. &c., and the fol- 

 lowing in bloom : Ipomse^a floribimda, Ceropegia elegans, 

 Passiflora Londonii, Ipomse^a Horsfalli«, and Tecoma jas- 

 minoides; this last, a beautiful specimen, and all of them 

 trained up the rafters. In addition to the above, a fine 

 plant of Geissomeria longiflora was just expanding its su- 

 perb scarlet flowers, and a fine specimen of A'epenthes dis- 

 tiltatoria has been in flower, and is now covered with seed. 

 It also gave me great pleasure to notice some 15 or 20 

 varieties of Orchideoe, all in pots and in good condition. 

 These to my mind are, without exception, the m.ost re- 

 markable as well as the most superb class of plants that 

 can be grown, and richly merit all the care that can be 

 given them. Scarcely known in the United States, we 

 occasionally meet with a few miserable looking objects, in 

 a few of our nurseries, enduring a wretched existence for 

 want of proper attention. Requiring no more skill than is 

 sufficient to grow the generality of stove plants well, I 

 am surprised at the want of taste exhibited, in their not 

 being more generally introduced into all our first rate 

 estabhshments. It is in contemplation by the owner of 

 this collection, I learn, to introduce them in all their va- 

 rieties : and when this is done, I shall look upon it as a 

 new era in the plant culture of this country. 



The Vinery, now building, will be, I am confident, the 

 most magnificent structure ever put up. Just stating that 



