THE GARDENERS 5 CHRONICLE. 



[Aug. 3, 



yast quantities of the shells of the fresh-water mussel, 

 covering the little sandy hills by the river's edge ; they 

 had been collected by the musk rats, with which the 

 banks everywhere abound. At this place the rapidity of 

 the stream, which had hitherto prevented the growth of 

 aquatic plants, became much diminished, and they now 

 observed large portions of its surface covered with Nuphar 

 Kalmiana and advena, together with Nymphsea rosea, all 

 beautifully in flower, and growing from a depth of eight 

 feet. Overhanging the banks on both sides of the 

 river, Salix petiolaris was in. fine condition, its broad, 

 lunate stipules adding much to the beauty and singu- 

 larity of its appearance ; here also, some fine specimens 

 of the Virginian Poplar, Populus moni'ifera, were seen : 

 the largest stems measured were nine feet in circumfer- 

 ence, and about 70 feet in height. Leaving Stillwater 

 the party proceeded by canal to Whitehall ; on the banks 

 of the canal, and extending over the neglected fields, such 

 quantities of the Great Mullein, Vrrbascum Thapsus, 

 were observed as to give the idea of its having been sown 

 for a crop ; the fact of its growing on the soil which had 

 recently been thrown out of the canal, as well as on the 

 sloping banks, convinced them that the seed must have 

 lain buried in the earth, probably for a long series of 

 years, and that, therefore, it is not likely, as has been 

 generally supposed, that this plant has been introduced 

 by the emigrants, but rather that it is indigenous to the 

 country. The common St. John's Wort, Hypericum 

 perforatum, was also extremely abundant in this district, 

 although sparingly seen before, and is described by Mr. 

 M'Nab as one of the greatest evils the American farmer 

 has to contend with, being supposed to be highly injurious 

 to cattle, especially horses, causing blindness, which prt- 

 vailed in many parts to a fearful extent. On reaching 

 "Whitehall, situated at the southern extremity of Lake 

 Charoplain, two remarkable species of Ferns were ob- 

 served for the first time ; namely, At plenium rhizo- 

 phyllum, and Aspidium bulbiferum, the former growing 

 on the surfaces of moist rocks, where it throws out its 

 fronds, which take root at their extremities; while the 

 latter bears a number of small bulb3 along the rachis 

 which, when mature, fall off and vegetate in the crevices 

 of the rocks. Many other interesting plants were ob- 

 served, but few of them in flower, with the exception of 

 Rubus spectabilis, De*modium acuminatum and cana- 

 dense, and a few others. Mr. M'Nab afterwards ex- 

 hibited several specimens of Gooseberries and Currants, 

 which had been kept for the last two years in glasses, 

 containing water only, in whjch they had now matured 

 tbtir fruit for the second time; and it was remarkable 

 that the Gooseberries (Yellow Amber), and the Red and 

 White Currants, were as highly flavoured as the same sorts 

 Under ordinary treatment. — Mr. Trev»-iv»» »*..UritAd 



specimens of some remarkable varieties of Taraxacum 

 officinale, found on the sandy beach near Arbroath, and 

 a curious variety of Aspidium fiJix fcemina from Braemar, 

 having the frond branched at the extremity; the speci- 

 mens were afterwards presented to the Society. 



ROYAL CALEDONIAN HORTICULTURAL 



SOCIETY. 

 July 20. — This Exhibition of plants and promenade 

 took place at the Society's Garden, Inverleith. The day 

 proved remarkably favourable, and the assemblage of 

 company was brilliant. The plants were confined to the 

 new Hall, the centre and side-tables of which were com- 

 pletely filled with choice exotics in flower. The large 

 marquee which used to occupy the principal lawn having 

 been removed, the whole of that beautiful piece of Grass 

 was left free to the promenaiers. This was not a com- 

 petition meeting, and no medals were, therefore, voted ; 

 bat honorary rewards were made to the chief exhibitors. 

 The nurserymen contributed largely. Messrs. Dickson 

 and Son sent a magnificent collection, including many of 

 the new Pelargoniums and Fuchsias ; among the latter, 

 Edina and Exoniensis, the former a seedling raised at 

 Inverleith, and remarkable for the large size of its 



blooms Messrs. Lawson and Sons exhibited a tray of 



novelties, including Quercus Mirbeckii, Daubentonia 

 tripetiana, and Clerodendron brevifolium. — Messrs. 

 Purdie and Merrilees showed some well-grown Heaths, 

 and an admirable Lilium lancifulium cruentum, having 

 17 flowers and buds on one stalk. — Messrs. Carstairs, 

 Kelly, and Co., sent a collection of greenhouse plants, 

 including Hydrangea japonica and an admirably-flowered 

 specimen of Roella ciliata, rarely seen in such perfection. 

 Prom the same establishment was a plant of Myatt's 

 Prince Albert Strawberry, remarkable for combining the 

 qualities of high flavour with fruitfulness. — Among the 

 productions of Amateurs, was a collection of Seedling 

 Calceolarias, raised by Mr. 1. Anderson. Several ot 

 these were fine, and in particular Prince Albert, King of 

 Saxony, Duke of Buccleuch, Mary Queen of Scots, 

 Orion, and Cupid, now exhibited, for the first time, be- 

 sides Queen Victoria, General Robertson, Countess of 

 Rosslyn, Hon. Mrs. P. Rimsay, and Lord Justice- 

 General, which had been shown at a former meeting. 

 — Mrs. R. Haig sent tastefully arranged trays of Heaths, 

 Geraniums, and Crassulas, with handsome flowering 

 specimens of Cattleya Forbesii, Oncidium papilio, 

 Erythrina lanrifolia, and Calathea zebrina. — From 

 Melville Castle were well-grown Heaths ; also trays 

 containing British and exotic Alpines, besides well- 

 managed plants of Stanhopea insignia and Miltonia 

 spectabilis. — Some admirably grown Heaths were sent 



a new sweet- 

 two speci- 

 measuring 



6 feet in circumference round the branches, and marked as 

 a cutting of last year ; together with two very large and 

 high-coloured Cockscombs, and a noble Statice arborea. 



Dr. Neill showed a remarkably fine Oncidium pulvina- 



tum, having a flower-spike 7 feet long, superbly clothed 

 with orange and yellow blossoms; besides well-grown 

 plants of Zygopetalon maxillare and Calanthe veratrifolia. 

 — Mr. Oliver exhibited some capital greenhouse plants, 

 among which Phoenocoma prolifera, Erica princeps, and 

 E. inflata, were truly striking. — Mr. Keith sent 

 seedling Pelargoniums, and a tray of lovely greenhouse 

 plants.— Captain Falconar exhibited 80 varieties of 

 French, Hybrid China, and Moss Roses.— From General 

 Robertson was Viscaria oculata, a new hardy annual. — 

 From Mr. Henderson were double Marigolds, Dahlias, 

 and a well-grown specimen of Gesnera faucialis. — Mr. 

 Symington showed Pansies. — Mr. R. Girdwood, a fine 

 flowering plant of Phlox bicolor, newly imported from 

 the United States.— Mr. Edmond showed Pinks; and 

 Mr. Cushnie, two fine specimens of Statice puberula, 

 covered with flowers. — An Oleander-plant from the 

 Society's garden excited much attention, being 5 feet 

 high, and in full flower, although it had been hanging in 

 the air for the last three years, and supported wholly by 

 moisture supplied by a syphon of worsted threads, com- 

 municating with a small suspended jar containing water 



Among other choice plants from the same collection were 

 Nepenthes distillatoria, 7 feet high, and displaying its 

 curious pitchers ; large flowering specimens of Lilium japo- 

 nicum and Cereus speciosissimus; with Campanula stricta 

 and Drymonia punctata. — Mr. Montgomerie sent speci- 

 mens of the Precoce de Tours Plum, from an open wall 

 without artificial heat ; the fruit had already made con- 

 siderable approach to ripeness, and is found to be earlier, 

 on the west coast of Scotland, than the White Primor- 

 dian or than Wilmot's Early Orleans. — Specimens of 

 ornamental flower-pots, and vases for containing flower- 

 pots, constructed of zinc, were exhibited by Mr. Macin- 

 tosh, of Edinburgh. 



XUttcto. 



Essays on Natural History, chiefly Ornithology. 

 liy C. Waterton, Esq. 12mo. Longmans. 



Who is there that loves the woods and the fields, and 

 the living things which fill them, who does not admire 

 the honest, straight-forward zeal of Mr. Waterton ? 

 which, whether directed towards the maintenance of his 

 religious and political opinions, or the description of 

 his adventures, or the elucidation of the habits of his 

 winged favourites, is always full of entertainment and 

 instruction. We are neither Catholic nor Jacobite ; but 

 the best Protestant, b»«J Staunchest Hanoverian. c^ n 



-carcely read Mr. Waterton's autobiography, without 

 having his misgivings as to the possibility of either 

 Reformation or Revolution having been effected, had all 

 the friends of the fallen causes possessed his energy and 

 honesty of purpose. 



What renders Mr. Waterton so particularly agreeable 

 is, his sterling English feeling ; his unconcealed con- 

 tempt for namby pamby, in thought, word, or deed ; and 

 the skill with which he brings his great powers of 

 observation to bear upon the subjects of his pen. With 

 him there is no trusting to other people, no borrowing 

 from books, no repetition of the hackneyed tales of 

 credulous naturalists, but all is as pure as the air that 

 blows over the lake of Walton Hall. The reader feels 

 that he is a man to be implicitly trusted ; and no one 

 rises from the perusal of his writings, with a doubt 

 about the perfect truth of his narrative. 



The present volume is an instance of his benevolent 

 character. It is published for the benefit of Mrs. 

 Loudon and her little girl, and we have no doubt that it 

 will prove a very effectual assistance to them. We can 

 confidently say, that it will amply repay the reader for 

 its perusal. It treats too little of botany and garden- 

 ing, and too much of owls and rollers, squirrels, 

 wrens, robins, swans, Canada geese, and caymans, to 

 furnish us with much that can be advantageously ex- 

 tracted. The following extracts will, however, as we 

 hope, tempt the lovers of natural history to become 

 acquainted with the remainder of the book : — 



" The Wren, the IT edge- Sparrow, and the Robin. — 

 The song of these three well-known warblers may be 

 termed perennial. Formerly it was very rare for me to 

 hear the notes of the second whilst the storms of winter 

 raged through this little valley. But now it is other- 

 wise ; for the yew shrubs, which have grown up into a 

 spacious cover, seem to be more congenial to the habits 

 of the hedge-sparrow than any other evergreen ; and it 

 may be seen perched near the top of these, and warbling 

 there, from time to time, in every month of the year. 

 There is a problem to be solved in the economy of these 

 three soft-billed little birds, before we can safely come to 

 the conclusion that severity of climate, and want of food, 

 are the real causes why our summer birds of passage 

 leave us shortly after the sun has gone down into the 

 southern hemisphere. Like them the wren, the hedge- 

 sparrow, and the robin, are insectivorous, and they 

 differ not in the texture of their plumage ; still they do 

 not accompany their departing cmgeners, but prefer to 

 remain in this cold and stormy quarter of the world, 

 throughout the whole of the year. They may certainly 

 suffer more or less during the chilling period of frost and 

 snow ; nevertheless, their breed is always kept up ; and 

 we find, on the return of spring, that they have not 



suited to brave the rigour of an English winter than theV 

 are. There is yet another point which wants settling ij 

 the habits of these birds. I allude to their song. When 

 we are informed that incubation is the main inducement 

 to melody in the feathered tribe, we have only to sten 

 out after sunrise into the surrounding evergreens, and 

 there we are sure to hear either the wren, the hedge- 

 sparrow, or the robin, in fine song, although not a single 

 twig has been laid, or a piece of Moss produced in fo% 

 therance of a nest, wherein to raise their future youne. 

 Certainly, in this case, neither love nor warmth could 

 have had any hand in tuning the winter lyre of these little 

 sons of Orpheus. The wren is at once distinguished in ap- 

 pearance from our smaller British songsters by the erect 

 position of i ts tail. Its restlessness, too, renders it particu- 

 larly conspicuous ; for, when we look at it, we find it so 

 perpetually on the move, that I cannot recollect to have 

 observed this diminutive rover at rest on a branch for 

 three minutes in continuation. Its habits are solitary to 

 the fullest extent of the word ; and it seems to bear hard 

 weather better than either the hedge-sparrow or the 

 robin ; for whilst these two birds approach our habita- 

 tions in quest of food and shelter, with their plumage 

 raised as indicative of cold, the wren may be seen in 

 ordinary pursuit, amid icicles which hang from the bare 

 roots of shrubs and trees, on the banks of the neighbour- 

 ing rivulets ; and amongst these roots it is particularly 

 fond of building its oval nest. The habits of the hedge- 

 sparrow are not quite so solitary as those of the wren. 

 It will approach the window in cold weather, and there 

 pick up a scanty meal with the robin, the chaffinch, and 

 the house-sparrow. Still, we very rarely see three hedge- 

 sparrows in company. As these birds inhabit low shrubs 

 and the bottoms of Hawthorn fences, and are ever on 

 the stir amid old pieces of wood and lumber, put apart for 

 the use of the farm-yard, we cannot be surprised that 

 they, as well as the robin and the wren, which are fond 

 of such localities, should fall an easy prey to the cat, the 

 weasel, the foumart, and Hanoverian rat, which last 

 all the world knows to be uncommonly ravenous. The 

 last of this sweetly-warbling trio, whose habits I am 

 attempting to describe, is pretty cock-robin, the delight 

 of our childhood, and an object of protection in our 

 riper years. Wherever there is plenty of shelter for him 

 his song may be heard throughout the entire year, even 

 in the midst of frost and snow. In the whole catalogue 

 of British birds, cock-robin is the only one which in his 

 wild state can be really considered familiar with man. 

 Others are rendered tame by famine and cold weather, 

 and will cautiously approach the spot where food is 

 thrown for them ; but the robin will actually alight upon 

 your table, and pick up crumbs on your own plate. 

 When I have been digging in the pleasure-ground he ha* 

 come and sat upon my spade ; and by every gesture 

 proved his confidence. You cannot halt for any mode- 

 rate time i» lA- *~vj *** CCCJwsb!" I* *2*e tC SpjSSJ&i 

 and cheer you with an inward note or two ; and on snea 

 occasions he has more than once alighted on my foot. 

 This familiarity is inherent in him, and not acquired. I 

 am not acquainted with any other wild bird that possesses 

 it. In Italy this social disposition of his does not gua- 

 rantee him from destruction by the hand of man. At 

 the bird-market near the Rotunda in Rome, I nave 

 counted more than 50 robin-redbreasts lying dead on 

 one stall. « Is it possible,' said I to the vender, that 

 you can kill and eat these pretty songsters? '»»' 

 said he, with a grin ; ' and if you will take a dozen or 

 them home for your dinner to-day, you will come Dae* 

 for two dozen to-morrow.' 



" The Yew-tree.— I never cast my eyes on the mould- 

 ering fabrics which once adorned this land, without re- 



mory of the holy and 



mmmm • 



useful monks who have gone befo 



enng raoncs wuicn ouct iuuii«» .«..—---, 

 newing my veneration for the memory of the holy ana 

 useful monks who have gone before us. Inere is sin 

 enough left of the falling walls to show how much these 

 faithful friends of the poor and needy must have been 

 esteemed through the whole extent of the nation .and 

 when I sit me° down nnder the dark foliage of son* 

 ancient Yew-tree, which has escaped the f u y of tbe 

 destroying Vaudals, and think of the miserable state to 

 which the sons of poverty are now reduced, I cannot kg 

 heaving a sigh, whilst my very heart itself seem ton* 



'am extremely parUa to be Yew.ree .^ 



neighbouring Hollies, I feel not the , wintry blast ; u ^ 

 Yew-trees, which are close at hand, are to 

 shield ogainst its fury ; and, in fact they offer m e ^ 

 tection little inferior to that of the ^"^J V e*- 

 not been sparing in the arrangement of «»■£»£, the 

 trees. Just 60 yards from the bridge, which joins 

 Lland to the mam, there is a Yew-tree , crewnt, 300 I 

 in extent; and not far from this there ™"1** 

 clumps of the same plant, producmg M«7^ , ,„, 

 effect Should he who will succeed to them « he ^ 

 low in dust have the philosophy to set at naug 

 modern disapprobation of ornamen tal ptont og , 



and circles, he will always command the swe etw ^ 



» -a. f-^m P t-1 .Lg 



rro* 



unnumbered songsters, ^om earliest spring 

 summer: for the *—-•— « a kind friend 



Yew-tree is a 



to 



summer; ior we *ci»-*.»~ - i»pdffe-sP arrv 



feathered race ; and the wren and * be ^^out tie 

 will sing sweetly amidst its foliage througn ^ 



autumn, and even after the «»*'"»£ .tap e. » 



from Rosepark, particularly Erica ventricosa prsegnans, 



and E. tricolor dumosa ; and a beautifully-flowered, i suffered more than others which are apparently better 



will thrive in any soil that le clear o. .-.-r ^ . 



richer the soil, the richer is the appearance oM ^ J 



d if the planter will trench ta S^l w0 ,,t 



ree feet deep, throwing beck » to the . bott fo( tW 



an 



three 



i 



of what has been removed, and reserving 





