No. 133.] 401 



he was landed, and all expressed their pleasure and surprise that 

 the suppi">sed columns were trees, except one philosopher, who 

 still persisted in declaring them to be of basalt." 



Many years liaive passed away since Cook said this, and the 

 learned world knew nothing of their existence until recently. 

 Mr. Moore, the director of the Botanic Garden of Sydney, who 

 went to the island, (about fifteen degrees east of Sydney.) in com- 

 pany with Captain Erskine, had the happiness to find the 

 trees, and he sent young plants to the London Horticultural So- 

 ciety, and they are in the Royal Gardens at Kew. It has received 

 many different names — Dombeya, Columnaris, Fontis, Araucaria, 

 Cookii Brown, Araucaria Excelsa, Lambert. It seems to retain, 

 however, the mine of Araucaria Columnaris. The cones of the 

 male flowers are terminal, elongated, ovoid in figure, formed of 

 leathery scales, imbricated, (one over the other, like shingles,) 

 ending in a soft point. This tree is very good for ship timber, 

 Captain Cook says, excellent for masts, for it has very few knots, 

 the lateral branches being quite small, and the trunk is perfectly 

 straight. It requires a temperate climate to grow in. 



RHODODENDRON LOUIS PHILIPPE. 



From seed plants sent by J. Daltcn Hooker, from the Indo Hi- 

 malayan of Sikkim, have done well. This, whose flower we give, 

 is from seed plante<l ten years ago, by M. Bertin, horticulturist, 

 at Versailles. This i>lant is in the open air, gave the first flower 

 in 1846. 



[From the Journal d' Agriculture, Bas Canada, July, 1852.] 



EXPEDITIOUS GROWTH OF CUCUMBERS. 



The gardener of a gentleman, living near Burford, being in 

 want of some manure, obtained leave to cut some coarse grass 

 and weeds in the park, of which he made a bed ; he th^n covered 

 it with a small quantity of dung. On the 28th of February he 

 fixed iwo glasses over the hotbed, and transplanted two young 

 plants from the pots to this hotbed. 



[Assembly, No. 133.] 26 



