^ ■ 



% 



i\ 





V 



i 









2844J 



"^irbuTweresomewhat inferior to the first three. Other 



three 7 8 and 9 » one of whicQ received an ounce of cow- 



d»V mixed in the soil, another a quarter of an ounce 



of wbospnate of ammonia mixed in half a pint of 



water the third half an ounce of superphosphate 



of lime mixed in the soil, were still inferior to the 



second three ; and No. 10, to which one teaspoonful 



of Hallett's concentrated liquid manure was given in 



half a pint of water, was the least luxuriant of the group. 



Each of these substances was repeated en the 6th of 



July and in order to give them a fair chance the plants 



were never repotted after they were taken from the 



cutting-pan. All these plants were larger and better 



than No. 11, to ^hich nothing was applied, and with 



which the others were contrasted in order to ascertain 



the compaJ" a ti ve merits of the different substances applied. 



Garden Memoranda. 



&John Gray, Esq., Greenock. — The glass structures 

 here, although in the town, are of a description which 

 one would little expect to find in such a locality. They 

 consist of a conservatory, a Coniferous house, a Camellia 

 house, a large stove fifty feet long, twenty feet broad, 

 and the same in height, a pit for Heaths, &c. fifty feet 

 long, and an Orchidaceous house of the same size. The 

 collection of plants is large, and includes many rare 

 specimens. Mr. Clark, who is gardener there, pointed 

 ont in particular, an Acrostichum Alcicorne, 5i) inches 

 in diameter, being considerably larger than one lately 

 noticed in a previous Number of the Chronicle. — D.B. 

 Bury-hill, near Dorking, Surrey.— A quarter of an 

 hour's walk from Dorking, on the Guildford Road, 

 through a pleasant neighbourhood, brings the tourist to 

 the delightful residence of Mr. Barclay, at Bury-hill. 

 The approach is through the park, with a wooded 

 eminence on the one hand, and a fine open glade on the 

 other ; beyond this the eye ranges over a most beautiful 

 prospect, in which Box-hill, with its white chalky sur- 

 face studded with numberless — here crowded, there scat- 

 tered — specimens of wild English Box, stands conspicuous. 

 In front of the mansion, a broad lake spreads over a 

 considerable surface, with several weeping Willows 

 hanging gracefully over its indented margins, and near 

 the centre, a small island crowned with a clump of 

 closely planted Pines. The flower garden is beyond the 

 house, not far removed from the border of the lake, and 

 is neatly laid out with beds, gay with Verbenas, Helio- 

 tropes, and similar showy summer garden plants. Pleasant 

 walks have been formed to wind up the wooded hill be- 

 hind the house, and spaces have been cleared at intervals 

 and devoted to Pines. Many of the Mexican and Hima- 

 layan Pines of recent introduction have stood the winter 

 without protection, and without sustaining any harm, 

 with the exception of P. Devoniana, and are now grow- 

 ing as freely as many of the more hardy kinds, several 

 having made excellent shoots. The hill is covered with 

 an exceedingly sandy soil ; indeed in many parts near the 

 summit it is almost entirely sand, and as the situation is 

 likewise airy without being exposed to severe storms, it 

 affords one of the best situations for growing plants that 

 are scarcely sufficiently hardy to stand our climate 

 generally. Pi nus Llaveana, Teocote, oocarpa, leio- 

 pnylla, pseudo-strobus, insignis, and many of the more 

 rare species appear to succeed well. The grounds con- 

 tain a considerable number of species, several of which 



™ * g ! and fine s P ecimens - Abies Douglasii is above 

 ou feet high, and produced cones of perfect seeds last 

 year.— Q. r 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



607 



NOTICES of NEW PLANTS WHICH are EITHER 



USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL. 



haut, \ R .°™ AM - N : us *elegans. Elegant Habrotharan us. (Green. 

 of HahrnM ° Cestraceaj - Pentandria Mono-ynia.— The beauty 

 stron-lvdr mn . US t fascic ulatus is so striking that attention is 

 the Hpi,u„ i" , dlsc <>very of other species in Mexico: and 

 HntedS, V nu alread y succeeded in adding that now repre- 

 evicWw i "' alt r h ? u Sh not comparable with H.fasciculatus, is 



*peSL a fr g om C Mr v nd E ay -}° ^ ns plant - We received fresh 

 last, andlK an Houtte . Nurseryman, Ghent, in January 



Wemanri tw ?^ a coloured fi g ure by Mr. Van Damme. We 

 **n this nhm • , c ? rolla is of a bri 6* nt carmine. We have not 

 wft-wooded mvp? cul . tlvation to '"is country; but it is evidently a 

 nhims. it differ ?' be treated in the same manner as Pelargo- 

 conspicuous flow m H " fasciculatus in its small bracts, and less 

 H - tomentosus frT^ 111011 moreov 'er are smooth, not downy; from 

 broadness of the 1 sh °rtness of the lobes of the corolla, the 



mina '. not l-irpr m n es ' the smo °thness of the calyx, and the ter- 

 d estitute of ),'-,;; l? vvers ; from H - corymbosus in not being 



Epiphvte) nil J MTUMt Ray-flowered Epidendrum. (Stove 

 both E cochlMt Ce8e * G y n *'>dria Monandria. Allied to 

 t'nctly known h IL an<l lancif °bum, this pretty species is dis- 

 *hich morenvp/ ■ , round form and cris P margin of its lip, 

 delicately streak *h almost notched out in the middle, and very 

 and broader th • Wlth P ,lr P le - Its petals too are both shorter 

 Precisely the r- ,n either of those two species. Its habit is 

 fl o*ering and V &nd the three » considering their constant 

 lection* Besiri ? eat a PP e arance, deserve a place in all col- 

 A Plant of th?« eS ' s Pecies smells deliciously of Cinnamon. 

 flo *ered in thi 1* " ce,ved from Mexico from Mr. Hartweg, 

 Possess snenVr, of thc Horticultural Societv. We also 



Hacienda de la r S gathered »n that country on rocks, at the 



tUrfw V... .. id ^agUlia. bv llr SnhJoHo Ih ehsiuM Kn nnttPti in 



— —•-iciiaa de la I mat uuuiiii)' uii iu'.rs, mi. mc 



turf y heath mn ^ Una * hy Dr - Schiede. It should be potted in 

 DariD & the bto»- mixed wi th small pieces of potsherds, 

 given. »r^ J 5 row,n g season an amnlp annttiv nfwatpr should be 



In summer 



r * en .andthea7m™ i °? an am I ,le sa W*y of wa 

 when the sun Jf?° s P her « k ept as moist as possible. 



0T(, er to keen 7 h scron °' tn e house should be slightly shaded, in 

 ^koat admittint tem P era ture as near 80° by day as possible, 

 or no water slmnM T Uch . air " For a few weeks in winter little 

 Wlt « steam onrp I h g,ven » Providing the house can be filled 

 ^""tbrSS, 1 ,; **7--Botanical Register. 

 i?^nhr, U se Shrii\ B ? At:T1SATA ' Rosy-armed Corethrostylis. 

 i!" 8 W one o( thl 1 ^ asu 'P e talcse. Pentandria Monogynia.— 

 S* 1 "* to some riiffi ° S , stri king of the Swan River shrubs, but 

 S!! °een prom** - y - culti ™ting it, the specimens that 

 2?"- 'othelanpA, "? Ear <>pe are very inferior to the wild 

 ro8 e-colour thn, VJ „ acts arc lar e e . and of the most vivid 

 — _L__"l render,n g the bush indescribably gay; for 



»tt«uion to the^^,^i f '. gay ' and &»f*»«> a shoot or branch, in 



aui / ox the species. 



tc Ions loose clusters, adorned by these bracts, are produced 

 m multitudes all over the plant. We entertain no doubt that 

 when the habits of the plant shall have been more correctlv stu- 

 died it will become a general favourite. In the meanwhile it is 

 as well to know that the foliage is very sweet-scented. A plant 

 of it flowered last spring belonging to Mr. Groom of the Clap- 

 ham Nursery. It succeeds best when potted in rou-h peat, 

 well mixed with one-fonrth silver sand. During the summer 

 season a liberal supply of water should be given, and as much 

 air as possible. In winter it should be treated in the same 

 manner as Cape Heaths-never applying fire heat except to 

 ke.'p off frost. It may be propagated by cuttings in thc usual 

 way.— Botanical Register. 



Avdromrda ph VLHREJBFOMA. Phvllirea leaved Andro- 

 meda. (Greenhouse Shruh). Ericaceae. Decandria Monogynia. 

 —A very neat shrub, introduced lately by Messrs. Loddiges, 

 with whom it flowered for the first time in January last. It 

 was originally discovered in West Florida, at a place called 

 Apalachicola, by the late Mr. Drummond, from whom we have 

 a specimen. We place the plant, with Sir W. Hooker, in An- 

 dromeda, for these reasons. In the first place there seems no 

 sufficient ground for separating from Andromeda the genera 

 proposed by the Dons, which, to our apprehension, are neither 

 limited by solid characters, nor so contrived as to form useful 

 divisions. Secondly, the plant before us will not suit any of 

 them exactly ; so that M. Decandolle, who admitted the pro- 

 posed divisions, although he thrust it into Pieris, a name in 

 which he admits there is no common sense, does so with 

 doubt, and questions whether it may not form a new genus of 

 itself. For ourselves we cannot separate it from Andromeda 

 polifolia. One of the most striking characters in this very 

 distinct species is the peculiar darkness of its leaves, which 

 thus are abie to set off the snow-white flowers to great advan- 

 tage. They look like pearls on a negro'3 neck. It is a pity 

 that the plant should not be hardy, but of that we fear there is 

 no probability. It is, however, probably about as hardy as a 

 Pernettya, and capable of enduring the mildest winters in the 

 open border. It requires peat-soil, and the same kind of treat- 

 ment as Andromeda floribunda, like which it may be increa 

 by layering, which should be done when the plant has finished 

 its growth early in the autumn. It only requires the youi 

 shoots to be pegged down, and lightly covered with light sandy 

 peat, and afterwards kept moist. The layers require two years 

 before they are fit for removing from the mo'.her plant.— 

 Botanical Register. 



Miscellaneous. 



SophoraJaponica. — The first tree which was introduced 

 into France is still alive, in the Garden of Plants at 

 Paris, in the ancient School of Trees of Tournefort. It 

 is a single plant, produced from a seed sown in 1747 by 

 Bernard de Jussieu, who received some seeds at that 

 time from Japan. Five seeds of it were put under the 

 care of the head gardener, the father of Andre Thouin ; 

 three of them gre<v, two of which were given away. 

 This plant was called Arbor incognita sinarum until 

 1779, when it flowered for the first time. ThisSophora 

 is now about 72 feet high. The trunk, measured at 

 3 feet from the ground, is 2 feet 7 inches in circum- 

 ference ; the height below the branches is nearly 11 feet. 

 — Revue Horticole. 



Guano. — The island from whence the guano is taken, 

 is about three miles from the shore, on the south-west 

 coast of Africa. It is a barren rock, about a mile in cir- 

 cumference ; has no soil, nor the least sign of vegetation. 

 The guano lies to the depth of about 20 feet, and without 

 any variation in quality. The continent is very sandy, 

 and in high winds (hurricanes, for instance), will cover a 

 ship's deck nearly 100 miles from the land. The bird 

 on the island are a kind of penguin, and cannot fly to 

 any distance, if at all, their wings being a kind of fin. 

 It is believed that the captain of the vessel who brought 

 the guano was the first human being who set foot on the 

 island, which is very difficult to approach, there being no 

 harbour, and a heavy surf. On walking on it, he could 

 scarcely set his foot without treading on the birds, and they 

 took no notice whatever of him, except pecking at his feet, 

 he being barefoot ; and on a gun being fired, they merely 

 fluttered a good deal and made much noise. There is no 

 fresh water, it is believed, for some hundreds of miles along 

 the coast, and no rain. The importer, Mr. Rae, informs 

 me, in a letter with which he has just favoured me, that 

 his son is the discoverer of the guano islet or islets, for 

 it would appear that there are several of them so re- 

 markably situated. That he was led to go in search of 

 them in the beginning of last year, from remembering 

 having, when a boy at school, looked into the sea-journal 

 of an American whaler, in which mention was made of 

 such spots. And that his first attempt was unsuccessful, 

 and nearly proved fatal to himself and all concerned — he 

 and his boat's crew, in exploring the islets, having almost 

 perished from want of water, before they could rejoin 

 t ;eir little " surveying vessel;" and then (she, too, being 

 in want of water), having had to sail 1500 miles before 

 they could obtain a fresh supply. — Dr. Davy, in the 

 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 



The Kestrel f or }Yindhover. — Of course the whole of 

 the hawk tribe fall under the ban of the keeper. The 

 species mentioned above is that which chiefly prevails in 

 this locality, and whenever the gun can reach him, he is 

 a certain victim. In addition, the nest is eagerly sought 

 for, the young taken, and too frequently with a piece of 

 wood chained to the foot, may be seen in misery hopping, 

 as well as they can, to scare smaller birds from the pro- 

 duce of the garden. The utility this bird confers by the 

 number of mice he destroys, is, of course, never taken 

 into consideration; he is "varmint," as the keeper 

 phrases it, and that is enough. His utility to the agri- 

 culturist, from his mice-destroying propensities, has been 

 well described by Mr. Waterton. He is a feeder, also, 

 on the cockchaffer, but all is of no avail, death awaits 

 him whenever he comes within range. Those who have 



true habits of the stork, nor roam through Germany to 

 ijoy the soaring of the kite, — a bird once very common 

 in this part of Yorkshire, but now a total stranger to it." 

 A few evenings past the writer met a cottager, with an 

 unfledged hawk and six goldfinches in a basket alive, 

 which he was evidently bringing up for sale. In the other 

 hand were six miserable sparrows fresh from the nest 

 dead. "Ay, won't I kill all I can get near !" was the 

 rustic's answer to a remonstrance on his cruelty. — J. M. 



The Magpie. — This singularly beautiful bird is, un- 

 happily, in the keeper's doomed list. But for its habitg 

 of extreme caution and sagacity, very few would survive 

 the keeper's enmity. With perhaps a little truth in its 

 reputation for depredation amongst a few partridges' 

 eggs, and in all probability resorted to in absence of other 

 od, this aberration is more than compensated for from 

 the incredible number of grubs and slugs, lodged under 

 manure in the pastures, which it destroys. In France 

 and Sweden it is never molested ; with the Norwegians 

 they are especial favourites, and with a delightful feeling, 

 at Christmas, that they should be partakers of the fes- 

 tivities of that season, a sheaf of corn is placed at the 

 end of their houses for their use. How pleasant would 

 it be if our rich farmers would thus distribute some of 

 their grain for these beautiful birds, in imitation of this 

 simple-minded peasantry. — ./. M. 



Thc Thrush. — First in our list is, we grieve to say, 

 this early harbinger of spring ; and, insensible to the 

 benefits derived from thc number of snails he destroys, 

 wo betide him if he ventures to help himself to a soli- 

 tary Chtrry. During the prevalence of the unusual dry 

 season (June 1844), the thrush was driven for food to 

 the Holly-bush for its berries ; and we grieve to record 

 tint 60 of this cheerful songster fell a sacrifice to the 

 gun on a Suf day ! In the next summer when wasps 

 and other insects have full possession of the garden, 

 this proceeding — the mixture of ignorance and cruelty- 

 will bring its own punishment. — ./. M. 



CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS 



For the ensuing Week. 



I.— HOTHOUSE. CONSERVATORIES, Ac. 



Maw useful pi s in that section which flowers in winter 

 ami eurljr spring in the stoves may be hrought sooner into 

 flower hy checking their growth ab.mt thisti;ne; this fs done 

 b v diminishing the usual quantity of water, and by keeping 

 the house drier; others of the same sort may be encou- 

 raged to grow as late as they will, in order to succeed 

 these. Every pot plant should be looked over one by 

 tne at any time when the weather is bad, during this or the 

 next month. It is not enough, however, that the outside 

 of the pots aud the surface of the soil are cleaned over— the 

 days for such gardening is gone by; the balls must also be 

 turned out of the pots, worms looked after, the drainage re- 

 lieved from the sediments which the summer watering has 

 washed down among the crocks, and if the pot is at all covered 

 with green slime, do not use it, but take a dry clean pot of the 

 same size, then add a little fresh soil to the surface, of the same 

 nature as that already in the pot. When a worm escapes from 

 you in the operation of picking them, or when you suspect one 

 to be in the ball, but cannot find it, mark the pot by putting a 

 stick in it, and by turning out the balls occasionally, you will 

 be sure to come at them some time. 



Conservatory.— From this time to the end of October, there 

 will be a good deal of potting for furnishing gaieties tor Mi is 

 house. Tropaeolum tricolorumand others should now be potted 

 to come In in April. Lilium Iongifiorum ao'i eximium — the 

 latter only a slight variety of the otner-to flower ear.y in June, 

 should now be potted ; and aiso the beautiful varieties of Li- 

 lium lancifolium, to flower next July, should now be in pots; 

 but October is time enough to pot ail thee, it they are not 

 wanted before their usual time. By way of experiment, roots 

 of all these and others should be kept back as lone as possible, 

 in order to have late flower.-* of them. The spring-flowering Cy- 

 clamens are very desirable plants ; they should now be potted, 

 and the summer ones gradually allowed to get dry, in order to be 

 itored away for the winter; plants of this genus should always 

 be marked with their names, as they are apt to be confused ; 

 and as some of them are at rest, while the others are in full 

 growth, it may happen that they might receive wrorg treat- 

 ment. S«'e Mr. Gordon's excellent papers on this family, vol. 

 i i. •i60 660. The earliest crop of Hyacinths, Narcissus, Tulips, 

 &c., should now le making roots freely in the new pots, and 

 very soon the whole host of Iridaccae must be looked over and 

 arranged for potting. There are few in this order that will do for 

 forcing, but by potting some of them early in September, and 



thers late in the autumn, their flowering season may be pro- 

 longed, and so with Oxalises. Oxalis versicolor and cernua 

 are two that will stand any degree of forcing, and if potted now 

 and kept near the glass in a stove or forcing-; it, they would be 

 in bloom by the middle of March. The Oxahs cernua hs 8 

 flowers of as fine a yellow as those of the A!amauda catha ties. 

 Violets mu-.tsoon be pitted and framed for forcing— look to 

 what has been said about them in former volumes. 



Pits. Frames, &c.—l have often heard it said that one cannot 

 err in the treatment of plants if he follows the nurserymen's 

 system with the different families, but this is an error. For 

 instance, in the nurseries they are now busy housing many of 

 their finest plants, but it is not too much to say that no plant 

 which has been out of doors for the summer in gardens, should 

 be housed till after the early frosts of October are over. Of 

 course they must be temporarily guarded against frost and 

 beating rains; this is, therefore, the time when waterproof 

 transparent coverings are most useful. There is a new descrip- 

 tion of pits altogether, wanted for this time of the year— say 

 from the middle of this month until Christmas, according to 

 the seas n. Brick or turf pits are wholly inapplicable for this 

 season, comparatively speaking. We want skeleton frames for 

 the purpose, that will let in the wiud from every point of the 

 compass, aud that will exclude rains and dews at pleasure. 

 They should be also so contrived that the sides and ends may 

 be shut up quickly, and be close enough to exclude 8° or 10° o( 

 frost. There is nothing now in general use that will suit nine- 

 tenths of our greenhouse and half-hardy plants so well as s 

 skeleton frame or pit, at the beginning of winter. — D. B. 

 II. -FLOWER GARDEN AND SHRUBBERIES. 



Out-door Department. , 



Few plants make finer beds, or are more to be depended 

 upon in all seasons, whether wet or dry, hot or cold, than tne 



witnessed his beautiful action, when hovering over a field old species, and some of the varieties ol j''^ b f h ^ h ° Dy no 



, x- i • «. . j„„„i„ voffr*t a rnursp C. viscosissima, with its flowers of deep orange, rnougu ujr«« 



in search of his prey, cannot too deeply regret a course ^^ ^ plentiful as it ought to be. is undoui ly the most 



which, if persisted in, will ere long deprive them of this 

 pleasure, at least in the neigbourhood of large^game pre- 

 serves. " Would but our country gentlemen," says the 

 same entertaining writer, M put a stop to the indiscrimi- 

 nate slaughter of birds by their ruthless game-keepers, 

 we should not have to visit Holland in order to see the 



.. plentiful as it ought — 

 beautiful of the class. It is rather difficult to strike ^cuttings, 



unless when caught in a proper state, and that £ 7* cn ™* 

 young w od is a little more than hr If ripe, at which time ^they 

 strike freely, if plunged in a gentle f bottom heat A hjbnd 

 variety, raited from the above by a '^nd ?f mine , » » ot J» 8 

 interesting, being equal in colour, and destitute °J ""£ ^SnV 

 m ness of fohage from which C. viscosissima derives its name 



