THE GARDENERS' CHRONIC 



[July 21, 1 



tops 



mve them a good watering, and place them in beds 



5 feet wide, where they are allowed to stand for two 

 or three days, until the surface begins to dry, when 

 old tan is thrown over them to the depth of 5 or 



6 inches ; and this is allowed to remain until 

 the pots are quite full of roots, and the 

 have made a growth of one or two inches, 

 then carefully look over them, and any that are 

 not sufficiently rooted are replunged. Great care 

 should be taken that they are not left in the tan too 

 long ; if they remain there till the leaves begin to 

 open, the flower is very likely to be injured. Such 

 as are well rooted we place in a cold trame, taking 

 care to protect them well from frost, but giving them 

 plenty of air every opportunity. 



" If we want any in flower early in the season 

 we prepare a hot-bed, taking great care to have the 

 dung well worked previous to making up the bed. 

 When the bed is sufficiently sweetened we place 

 a few in it every week, to keep up a succession 

 from Christmas till March, when the others will 

 come on quite fast enough in the cold frame. 



* Although most Hvacinths will succeed very 

 well without artificial heat, many are greatly im- 

 proved by it. Indeed, all that do not throw up their 

 blooms kindly in the cold frame will be benefited by 

 applying dung heat. 



* The bulbs that are kept in the cold frame all 

 the winter from the time they were taken out of the 

 tan are generally in finest bloom from the middle 

 of March till the second week in April. After that 

 time they begin to fade. 



" The following list includes 60 of the very best ; 

 and to have a grand display, and all the different 

 shades of colours, no grower ought to have a smaller 

 selection. 



Single red and pink. 

 Herstelde Vreede 

 La Dame du Lac 

 L' Unique 

 Lord Grey 

 M ars 



Mrs. Beecher Stowe 

 Sultan's Favourite 





Double red and 



Bouquet Royale 



Comtesse de la Coste 



Grootvoorst 



L' Eclipse 



Lord Wellington 



Panorama 



Waterloo 



Double white 



Anna Maria 

 Hermann Lange 



BLUSH. 





Van Speyk 



La D& 



Minerva 

 Miss Kate 

 Prince of Waterloo 

 Triumph Blandina 



and 



DoiiPLE BLUE PURPLE 



PORCELAIN. 



A-la-mode 



Alfred the Great 



Comte de St. Priest 



King of the Netherlands 



Laurens Koster 



Lord Wellington 



Pas qui n 



Prince Frederick 



Othello 



Double yellow. 

 Due de Bern d'Or 

 Jaune Supreme 



Single yellow. 

 Alida Jacoba 

 Heroine 

 Roi des Pays Bas 



m 



Single red and pink. 

 Diebitsch Sabalskansky 

 Fireball 





Single white and blush. 

 Grande Vidette 

 Grand Vainqueur 

 Grandeur a Merveillo 

 Heine Blanche 



Heiene 



Richardson 



Tubiflora 



Victoria Regina 



Virgo 



Voltaire 



Single blue purple and 



porcelain. 

 Asterias 



Baron Von Thuyli 



Charles Dickens 



Cceur Blanc 



Emicans 



Grand Lilac 



Grande Vidette 



Guraal 



Nimrod 



Orondates 



Prince Albert 



Prince of Saxe Weimar 



Robinson 



Schiller 



Tubal Cain 



William the First." 



We will not to-day divert attention from these 

 excellent precepts by attempting to show how the 

 cultivation on a large scale thus employed by Messrs. 

 Henderson is susceptible of being imitated by 

 amateurs. We would rather for the moment leave 

 those interested in the management of this charmin" 

 flower to reflect for themselves upon the principles 

 which are involved in the successful practice now 

 detailed. On an early occasion we shall endeavour 

 to show how the practice may be varied on a small 



scale without neglecting in any degree the principles 

 themselves. 



In laying out a botanical garden the first ques- 

 tions which arise are how shall it be divided, what 



d v S fi ripti0ns of P lants > what different collections 

 shall be admitted into it ? In the common desire 



to have everything, even in gardens of the most 

 limited means, there is also a tendency to exemplify 

 every arrangement, scientific or practical, botanical, 

 technical agricultural, economical, or ornamental. 

 Even in the larger establishments, where, owing to 

 the liberality of governments the funds are, at first 

 at least, ample the ambition of the managers appears 

 to grow with their means, and there is the universal 

 attempt to multiply the collections, to do too much : 

 in this, as in other respects, the smaller ones always 

 striving to imitate the larger as far as they can Let 



us consider separately the different arrangements 



thus attempted, in order to judge how far they may 

 be really necessary or conducive to instruction, and 

 which of them may be best suited for the smaller 



gardens. __ 



In large establishments the following separate 



collections are frequently more or less aimed at :— 



1. An Arboretum. 2. A general botanical collec- 

 tion of herbaceous plants, and this is sometimes in 

 duplicate, being arranged firstly according to the 

 Linnean classes ; secondly, according to a natural 

 system. 3. A special Flora of the district or country 

 in which the garden lies. 4. A biennial collection. 

 5. An annual collection. 6. (Economico-technical 

 collections, arranged botanically, but collected into 

 groups having reference to practical application, such 

 as medicinal, alimentary, textile, tinctorial, &c, 

 plants. 7. Agricultural and horticultural collections 

 in which the botanical species are more or less lost 

 sight of in the greater comparative importance of 

 cultivated varieties. Such are collections of Cerealia, 

 of fodder plants, of garden vegetables, of Vines, of 

 fruits, &c. 8. A purely ornamental garden shrub- 

 bery and promenade, sometimes quite distinct from 

 any of the above, more generally combined with the 

 arboretum, sometimes blended also with the general 

 herbaceous collection. 9. Plant-houses for stove and 

 greenhouse plants. 10. Reserve and propagation 

 gardens, including work sheds, etc. 



In all botanical gardens where arborescent plants 

 are admitted, it seems in every way desirable that 

 they should be kept separate from the herbaceous 

 collections. Trees cover a large space of ground 

 which in a botanical border it would be necessary to 

 keep bare, as few of th* herbaceous plants to be 

 associated with them would prosper under^ their 

 shade. But wherever a portion of the garden is laid 

 out as pleasure ground, the collection of trees can be 

 scattered amongst the shrubberies and on the lawns 

 without interfering with either, and can there be 

 allowed to attain their natural size. It is a great 

 mistake, however, including amongst these arboreta 

 as part of the collection low shrubs and undershrubs, 

 w T hich can be inserted in their places amongst herba- 

 ceous plants without the slightest inconvenience, 

 and are lost as specimens amongst the trees and 

 large shrubs. 



The general herbaceous collection is the important 

 portion of the out-door department in a scientific 

 botanic garden. It ought, generally speaking, to 

 include in one botanical arrangement the several sets 

 of plants we have enumerated, separate collections of 

 which will be entirely superseded by a judicious 

 selection of species for the main one. The method 

 adopted for their arrangement should be that which 

 may be recognised as the best and most instructive. 

 The exemplification of artificial systems or obsolete 

 classifications, matters of history or of mere curiosity, 

 is useless in a botanical garden, as they can be 



illustrated and explained quite as well and at 

 much less cost on paper or by means of dried 

 specimens. 



A separate collection of indigenous plants is not 

 unfrequent in botanical gardens, but we never could 

 see any advantage derived from it. It is never a 

 fair representation of the local Flora, for, in the first 

 place, it never is complete, or if it appears to contain 

 nearly all the species supposed to be indigenous to 

 the district represented, it will be found that a large 

 proportion of the specimens have not been really 

 brought from their wild stations, but raised from 

 other sources ; and, in the next place, from the 

 altered circumstances in which they are grown, 

 many of them lose their natural wild appearance. 

 From these and other imperfections these living 

 collections are far less useful for the identification 

 of rare or anomalous wild plants than a good local 

 herbarium or drawings taken from wild specimens, 

 and are more costly, nor do they supply any data 

 for the phytogeography of the district. Indigenous 

 species should at the same time form a considerable 

 proportion of the general collection, as they are 

 mostly of easy cultivation, and degenerate less from 

 their natural types than tender exotics. It may 

 also be frequently desirable to cultivate for a time 

 indigenous specimens for such purposes as testing 

 the permanency of their characters, investigating 

 special points in their structure, &c, but for such 

 experimental culture the re 



subservient to medicine, medicaments l^iT^T 

 almost wholly derived from plants, the medial 

 species were considered as the most important 

 and often constituted the whole of the cult **** 





proper place. 



ground is the 



H was sun uiougiu useiui to keep the mediri l 

 herbs distinct for the benefit of the medical stndart 

 Upon the same principle we often find added* 

 them separate sets of alimentary and tincto " > 

 plants, and occasionally of textile and some otta 

 descriptions, which it has been considered mights 

 practically useful in the different arts. But tb 

 separation never appears to lead to any uirfj 

 results. There is no general habit by which pS, 

 of any of these descriptions may be distinguiihrf 

 from others. The medical, alimentary, tinctorial 

 &c, properties are found here in the leaf or flowr 

 there in the stem or in the root, without everbeun 

 ing their existence by external characters. Eacl 

 medicinal or oeconomico-technical plant must bt 

 learnt individually, by comparison rather with its 

 botanical allies in the general collection than w 

 the stronger with which it may be associated, merelt 

 because the latter has also some perhaps totally 

 different medicinal or technical property. 



Agricultural and horticultural collections have no 

 place in a purely botanical garden ; they require t 

 large space and a special culture ; and if united 

 with it in one large establishment, under the same 

 general direction, still they require entire separa- 

 tion in detail, having nothing in common either in 

 the end or in the means. 



An ornamental promenade garden is, however, a 

 really useful adjunct to a scientific botanic garden. 

 It is attractive to the public, and keeps up an inte- 

 rest in the establishment. It is a place of rest to- 

 the student, and, as already observed, it combine* 

 well with the arboretum. It is also a convenie: 

 place for the summer grouping of the greenhowe 

 collections, and for the permanent location of plants 

 requiring such special cultivation as precludes the 

 mixing them off in the herbaceous collection, such, 

 for instance, as rock plants, aquatics, Alpine plant*, 

 peat-earth (or so-called American) shrubs, &c. 



Plant-houses, pits, frames, propagation and re- 

 serve grounds, with work sheds and other appurte- 

 nances, are more or less necessary, according to th 

 extent of the establishment. We sometimes f. 

 them scattered over the garden, sometimes wholly 

 or partially separated. The hot and green lorn 

 for show or scientific use are, of course, best lntbe 

 garden itself, where they can be, like the garde: 

 freely open to the public ; the propagation and re- 

 serve grounds, with their pits and frames, beaj 

 necessarily private, should be quite distinct, aw 

 when out of sight are all the better, as not excitap 

 needlessly the public curiosity. G. B. 



It 



has been suggested, with reference to the Omon 

 disease lately described in this Journal, that it wow 

 be well, if possible, for the gentleman who forwimj 

 the case to secure seed from some of the <nse»£ 

 Onions, and distribute it to such persons as may * 

 willing to try whether the crop will (ail equauy 

 other districts. We, at least, should he gla^ 

 make the proper experiments, but i «■* 

 worthy of attention is to arise, care must be u ^ 

 save seed from none but the most marked ca j tf 

 the bulbs should be committed to the grou fe 

 early as possible in the spring, as tJ^V^fr 

 increased risk of decav : if, indeed, it oe p ^ 

 secure bulbs from such unpromising seeaiu^. 

 case is certainly worth attention, and wear b 

 find that it has excited some interest, m. ** 



Separate beds for biennials or annuals are gene- 

 rally introduced more for the sake of saving garden 

 labour than for any scientific object. Such as are 

 wanted for science are best mixed in with the her- 

 baceous collection, and the reserve ground is again 

 the proper place for raising seedlings and annuals 

 for the purpose of testing new importations, or 

 other temporary objects. 



Medicinal and some other special collections 

 belong to some of the oldest of the botanical 

 gardens, and are still fondly cherished in many of 

 them. As botany was formerly taught chiefly as I 



New Plants. } ^ 



137. Taxis Lindleyana. A. Uurrah * m 



- Phil. Journal, i.,f*- , ef rfze srf 



« Leaves two-ranked, linear, flat, ot sm Ja ^, 



narrower than in the common Bntisn i \ . fl ^ 



L.), and the prickle at the end oi tue fa ^ 



developed. Berries exactly like those of the J£ ^ 



growing on the under-side of ^ ^^i^ « 

 globose, putty-coloured. Branches « ^^ 

 and pendulous. Wood almost as ^* ^ fu i *£ 

 -a property which has been turned to us ^ j ^ 

 by the Indians, who make their ■ bo« of J ^ ^ 

 only an imperfect specimen of the or ftb0 f» *J 



am eorry that I cannot give more th^n t0 s0 £ 

 meagre description. The tree is &°m 50 *» 

 high 8 One which my brother *"«** u i. ***** 



in circumference at 5 feet f » m * f 2t lOin^/ft 

 at the same height measured I 5 fej ^ fiid es o 



cumference. It was found B™***^ #** Jg 

 glen under the shade of larger tre es fi ner*p W JJ; 

 up. It would consequently mak e a g I* 



ordinary underwood does ^J^^^^S 

 named it after Dr. Lindley, ^hojec J. ^ j* 

 both now and formerly, in "J^^U * «* 

 porting upon specimens sent lro - ^ 



Opportunity of gratefully "gojto^ rf Ye* V 

 Tf him lnntr been known that two 



