19—1845.] 
THE GARDENERS' 
CHRONICLE. 
303 
novelty came from the gardens of the Duke of North- 
umberland, at Syon, in the shape of Platycerium grande, 
one of those remarkable Ferns which grow on trunks 
d 
the book that we have here to do ; that will be noticed 
in the other half of our Paper on a future occasion. It 
isfor some highly i ing inf i i 
h t of the forest lands in the Odenwald | cent, of the whole. 
consumed as fuel, which in Baden is 70 per cent. of the 
wood annually felled, but which in Hesse, that is less 
£ 
of trees, deriving their from the p 5 
and multiplying themselves by means of little patches 
of cinnamon-brown bodies, attached to the under sides 
of the leaves, looking something like diseased spots. A 
number of seedling plants raised from these bodies was 
produced, exhibiting a curious peculiarity of growth. 
The young plant increases in a horizontal direction for 
a time, then strengthening, throws up from the centre 
numerous large fronds, having the appearance of antlers, 
-a form of growth observed by all the Platyceriums. 
Knightian Medal wasawarded for this noble Fern, of which 
not more than two or three plants are as yet in Eng- 
land, To ensure success in raising seedlings, it was 
mentioned that the seed must be sown immediately when 
ripe. Messrs. Hend , of Pi pple-place, seni 
Hypocyrta strigillosa, a Solanum with lilae blossoms, 
misnamed Salvia azurea, said to be suitable for bedding 
out, and Tremandra verticillata, a pretty little Heath- 
like Swan River plant, with beautiful violet flowers, 
having reddish purple centres, the two colours strikingly 
contrasting with each other; a Banksian Medal was 
awarded it. From the nursery of Messrs. Rollisson, of 
Tooting, eame Bifrenaria inodora, a rather pretty 
Orchid, having much resemblance to Maxillaria Har- 
risonie. Mr. Beck, of Isleworth, again sent a hand- 
Some green slate basket—an improvement on that pro- 
duced at last meeting—containing two Orchids: Tricho- 
pilia tortilis, remarkable for its twisted petals, and 
Oncidium triquetrum, a rare East Indian species, with 
small pink spotted flowers. Sir T. D. Acland, Bart., 
sent blooms of a purple seedling Rhododendron from 
the open ground, and a bundle of Asparagus, for which 
a certificate was awarded. This was an exceedingly 
fine sample, 106 heads weighing 10 lbs. 15 oz., each 
head being thicker than the thumb. From Messrs. 
Keeling and Hunt, of Monument-yard, were two Yams, 
weighing respectively 10} lbs. and 73 lbs., and samples 
of unprepared Ginger ina fit state for planting. Speci- 
Mens in spirits received by Mr. Low, of Clapton, 
from his son, who is now in Borneo, were exhibited. 
One of the plants was stated to be a beautiful species of 
Hoya, with large white flowers with purple centres. All 
colour had, however, been extracted by the fluid in 
which they were preserved, and therefore little can be 
Said about them in their present state. The other was 
an Epiphyte, and was mentioned to be an object of ex- 
treme beauty. It was found by Mr. Low, growing on old 
trunks of trees, producing long chains or racemes of in- 
florescence, 9 or 10 feet in length. Living plants of 
these were stated to be in England, and if we should 
succeed in flowering them in perfection, they cannot 
fail to be striking objects in cultivation.—Of Miscella- 
neous Articles, Messrs. Edwards and Pell, of South- 
ampton-street, Strand, sent two glass milk pans.—From 
Garden of the Society were Corethrostylis 
bracteata, a Swan River Shrub, of which much 
was expected, but which has proved a partial 
i flowers although produced 
in abundance, wanting brillianey of colour to render 
them sufficiently attractive ; Eriostemum buxifolium 
- 
covered with delicate pink stars ; three Indian Azaleas, 
a Cape Heath, Gloxinia caulescens, a Cineraria, a 
variety of Gesnera Douglasii, a rambling Oncidium from 
Guatemala, something in the way of O. Wentworthia- 
num; a variety of Gongora maculata, Cyrtochilum 
hastatum, and a plant named Mina lobata raised from 
seeds collected in Mexico by Mr. Hartweg, in his new 
p From the appearance of the 
foliage of this pretty little plant, nobody could 
expedition to California. 
the 
and the Black Forest that we recommend it to the 
notice of our class of readers. 
coal are scarce or unattainable, the practice of foresting 
reaches its highest degree of skill, in consequence of | Wirtemberg 
In Germany, as in all countries where supplies of 
the immense importance of firewood. And it is to such 
countries that the young student of arboriculture, whe- 
ther youthful in age or in experience, should turn his 
eyes. Mr. Banfield points out in a striking manner how 
much he might be so improved. We have no room 
just now for discussion of the principles observed by 1790 
the German foresters, nor, indeed, does the subject call 
bly situated for exportation, amounts to 94 per 
« The rise in the price of wood is the more remarkable 
that itstands alone amongst the products of agriculture, 
as is shown by the following comparison of the values 
of timber and 
n for long periods in Baden and 
PRICE OF WOOD. Price or Corn. 
Years A z 
between, |Average. Beech. Wheat. | Barley.| Wine. 
1640-1680 1 | Tm 1 1 
1690-1730. 1.49 1.46 38 
1740-1780 1.54 J 1.6 
T 30 2 | 4 
* This highly interesting table, which we borrow from 
gniy g d 
for it, We prefer giving the following extracts from | a recent publication, shows that a moderate price of 
the volume, in the hope that it may be read and corn in no way reduces the value of other agricultural 
studied as extensively as its merits deserve :— | 
* Qur table (page 103) shows the quantity of timber | 
butes to raise the demand for other things. 
products. As we have already said, cheap food contri- 
This is 
that can be produced upon a given area of land in | evinced as well by the price of wine, in the last column, 
120 years. ‘The table is calculated fora measure which 
as by that of fire-wood ; and it is further proved, if not 
is about one-third less than the morgen of Prussia or | by increasing prices, at least by the increasing consump- 
Baden, so that the reader is here made to feel one | tion of all articles of clothing.” 
difficulty that accompanies all these investigations in 
* The system of foresting practised at Siegen is 
Germany, viz., the endless changes in the weights and | founded upon the principle of obtaining the greatest pos- 
measures that the various states adhere to. 
calculation of the forester is the ground or area that 
his trees cover with their branches. This area, when 
ascertained, shows the number of trees that he can 
allow to stand upon any given measure. The ground 
covered by all kinds of trees at the various periods of 
felling has been carefully ascertained, and a picture of 
an Oak wood divided into five portions, each portion, 
except the first or seedling period, being covered with 
an equal extent of shadow, may be presented by a table 
The number of trees to be felled at 
ees: — |motalin Sq. Feet. 
“30 | 60 
90 4120 |-—— — 
rs. |yrs. |yrs. |yrs. | Trunks. | Crown. 
iod (Seedlings) 
Second Period . . . .|991|.. . 391 7820 
Third Period . . . 295) 3 3 7820 
Fifth Period. . . .] 90130 
“ Tt is, however, not usual to cover ithe whole sur- 
face, and at the felling period seldom more than one- 
halfis covered by Beech and Oaks, in order to leave 
light and air for the succession that is to replace what 
is taken away. Firs are differently managed, and are 
kept as much as possible at the same age. When a 
portion of a Fir-forest is felled, the ground is therefore 
left perfectly clear for the seedlings. 
«The description of Oak that most abounds in 
Germany is a very beautiful tree that grows straighter 
than the Elm or the Beech, and when judiciously 
pruned, runs up to the height of 65 or 70 feet from the 
ground to the erown or top branches. The table we 
have given above supposes an Oak of 150 years’ stand- 
ing and 70 feet in height to cover with its branches an 
area of 346 square feet. A tree of 120 years’ growth 
65 feet in height covers 226 square feet; one 90 years 
old spreads over 132 square feet. The beauty of a 
tree of this kind consists in its perfect soundness and 
vigour, and the finest specimens are found in forests in 
Germany, where the trees afford each other protection 
against the cold winds. Hardy as the Oak and Fir 
appear when their growth is flourishing, yet the dangers 
they encounter are various. A severe winter often 
destroys whole acres of seedlings or of young plants. 
doubt its being a Convolvulus, which it certainly is, but | The wind in an exposed situation may tear off a branch, 
the flowers are very unlike those of that tribe ; instead | whose stump remaining jagged catches the rain, and 
of growing singly and spreading, they are contracted at | beginning to rot, the decay penetrates into the core. 
the points, and produced in lon; 
sided racemes, of | Lastly, an orifice made in the bark by a small punc- 
a bright Orange in an early stage, but becoming pale | ture when the tree is young, lets in moisture at an 
Yellow when full blown. 
From the same collection was | advanced age, and when the thaw sets in after the 
also a bloom of the curious stove climber Aristolochia | winter frost the splitting of trees that have suffered i 
Bigas, whose large concave helmet-like blossoms have this manner causes a report like that of a musket. 
attracted the attention of everybody who has visited the 
Various specimens of | Germany has long prevailed in England. 
Sardens for some time back. 
* An undefined notion of the cheapness of timber in 
We shall see 
Wood exhibiting curious expansions of different forms, | that the Rhenish districts do not participate in this 
looking as if they had been carved, were produced. 
advantage. A rapid rise has everywhere been expe- 
ny 
hese were, however, not carved except by the hand of | rienced in the price of wood, that is acknowledged to 
mee ; they were the work of a parasite nearly related | operate unfavourably on the general prosperity of the 
Our Misletoe, which, insinuating itself among the | Rhenish states. 
ends of branches, and increasing slowly, stops all growth | only been pub 
The tree, however, makes an at-| but these will suffice to show the relative increase in 
Jn that direction. 
Details that can be relied upon have 
shed for the Grand Duehy of Baden; 
tempt to grow laterally, and in time almost encases the | the price of timber and fire-wood when compared with 
Parasite in its woody embrace ; at last the latter shrinks | other agricultural products. 
and tumbles out, leaving the beautiful anomalous expan- | the price, according to recent statements, has advanced 
Sions in question. ‘These specimens were brought over | from 30 to 40 per cent. 
The average price for 1 cubic 
ge p 
from Guatemala by Mr. Skinner, and show what is | foot in the forests of Baden was in 
Boing on in these respects in the woods of the tropics. 
Indusiry of the Rhine. Series 1. Agriculture. 
By T. C. Banfield. 12mo. Knight. 
i Here we have another of Mr. Knight’s capital shil 
ng volumes, containing more sterling information than 
Used to be found in the fashionable two-guinea quartoes 
of but a quarter of a century ago. The object of the 
author is to describe the peculiar agriculture of the 
Peasant population of the Rhine, to point out its merits, 
and to expose its defects, all which he has done well ; 
and the picture which he draws may be looked upon 
me great advantage by our small farmers and their 
mdlords. It is not, however, with the agriculture of 
| 1883 | 1838 | 1843 
uis Er 
RE E r IT 
E Wien re db 
> Dak 1. poss (ate 
Firewood Beech? . «| 906 
Bib rs v xe EMI 
"Three kreutzers make exaetly one English penny the 
present price of choice Oak timber, in stems of 65 to 70 
feet in length, with 3 to 4 feet circumference at 30 feet 
from the root, is now 73d. per eubie foot in the forest, 
or 9d. to 10d. delivered at any spot on the Rhine. 
Within the last 10 years | joc June in a sr 
Another | sible yield of wood suited for charcoal-burning, com- 
bined with the best crop of bark, an article that lat- 
terly has very much improved in price. It is well 
known that of years the greatest production both 
of charcoal and of bark for tanning has been ascertained 
to be derived from young trees and branches, and the 
forest system of Siegen turns both to the best account.” 
* The manner in which charcoal is burat in the woods 
of Siegen is the following:—A plot of ground of a cireular 
form is prepared by removing all stones from the sur- 
face, and making it perfectly level. The bottom is 
stamped hard, and if not raised by the accumulation of 
charcoal dust from former burnings, must have a ditch 
drawn round it to carry off water. In the centre is 
fixed an upright stake, round which the wood, split into 
pieces of 3 inches or little more in diameter, is piled on 
end. The wood is chosen as equal in sizes as possible, 
and is placed piece by piece in the round, the longer 
pieces 10 to 12 feet high in the centre, and the shorter 
gradually diminishing towards the outside until the 
mass assumes the shape of a flat cone. An inner cover- 
ing of Moss and turf is laid over the heap, and is again 
covered with clay sifted to free it from stones. In this 
outer covering 12 to 14 holes are made after it has been 
stamped tillit hardens. ‘The stake in the centre is then 
drawn out and fire laid upon the top, the gradual pro- 
are to be used.” 
A further notice will be found hereafter in the agri- 
cultural division of our Journal. 
New Garden Plants. 
26. TRICHOSANTHES COLUBRINA. The Serpent Cucum- 
ber,or Hairblosso Stove Perennial. (Cucurbits). 
Spanish Main. 
e believe that the sole possessor of this curious plant 
jis Sir John Hay Williams, Bart., of Bodelwyddan, near 
| St. Asaph. The seeds had been received from Puerto 
aballo, and under the eare of Mr. Sparrow, the gar- 
dener at Bodelwyddan, soon produced young plants. In 
growth, the species res mibles a Cucumber, with leaves 
10 or 12 inches across, and varying in form from heart- 
shaped to 3 or 5 lobed The flowers are white, and 
beautifully eut into delicate threads, whence the botani- 
eal name Trichosanthes, which Sir James Smith trans- 
lated Hairblos: uits, which hang down from 
the rafter to which the Vines of the plant are trained, 
resemble sérpents, are six feet long, and when unripe, 
are singularly striped with green and white, whieh 
changes to brilliant orange. We already possess in 
our gardens an allied speeies, from the East Indies, 
called the Snake Cucumber, which differs in having 
smaller flowers, hispid coarsely toothed leaves and fruit, 
which is scarcely balf the length of this, and is therefore 
much less remarkable in appearance. From Mr. 
Sparrow we have received the following account of his 
mode of cultivating this plant: “I sowed the seeds 
all pot, and placed them in the Pine- 
stove, where they vegetated in about a week ; and after 
the plant had attained the height of 18 inches, I planted 
one in the pit of the plant-stove, in a compost consist- 
ing of two-thirds bog and loam in equal portions, to 
one-third leaf-mould and sand, where it grew finely, and 
ripened the first fruit about the middle of November. I 
may mention, that the pitin which I planted it is heated 
underneath with hot water pipes.” Botanical Register. 
[s 
Garden Memoranda. ' 
nypersley Gardens, May 1.— Among the rarer 
species floweriug in the Orchid-houses here may be men- 
tioned I bium Dalhousi notless kabl 
for its beauteous flowers than for the bright red mark- 
Firewood (Beech) has risen from 31d. to 41d. per cubic | ing of its stems ; D. sulcatum, bearing numerous large 
do Á 
wered clusters of viol d orange blossoms ; 
foot, an advance that renders the whole fuel 
30 per cent. dearer than in 1833. That this is oppres-| D. Heyneanum; D. pulchellum, a sheet of flower 
sively felt is evident from the large proportion of wood | Phaius Wallichii, of statelier growth, 
and in every re- 
