England. 59 



-which rotted them. The experiment has been repeated on more than sixty 

 species of ferns, and with uniform success. The bottom of a box being pre- 

 viously covered with broken pieces of brick, tile, &c, the ferns are planted in 

 a compound of vegetable mould, sand, and Sphagnum palustre L. ; they are 

 then watered most copiously, and the superfluous water allowed to drain off, 

 for several hours, by means of a hole in the bottom of the box. A plug is 

 then put in tight, the box covered with a glazed lid, and no farther care is 

 required than that of placing the box in the light. In this state, ferns will 

 grow for years without any fresh water. A box placed on one of the Society's 

 tables, and which attracted great attention, contained, among others, the fol- 

 lowing species : — Jsplenium lanceolatum, ylsplenium Jdiantum nigrum, Jdian- 

 tum pedatum, Jdiantum pendulinum, .Blechnum boreale, Cyathea fragilis, 

 &c. ; with four or five species of mosses growing in the same box, planted in the 

 beginning of last May. Mr. Ward adds, that many other plants which delight 

 in humid situations, and which he had previously attempted, in vain, to grow 

 in town, succeed equally well under this plan of treatment ; such as the 

 double-flowered Anemone nemorosa, Listera nidus avis ? &c. ; and he feels 

 well convinced that the deteriorating influence of town air depends more upon 

 mechanical than upon chemical causes. {Lit. Gaz. p. 793., Dec. 14. 1833.) We 

 saw some of the above-mentioned glasses and plants at the November Meet- 

 ing of the Linnasan Society. — Cond. 



The Establishment of a Botanical and Horticultural Garden at Sheffield (IX. 

 464. 700., X. 93.) will, we are informed on good authority, be shortly effected. 

 The time for choosing a curator will, we believe, when determined on, be 

 advertised. As the performance of the objects of any public body is depend- 

 ent on its officers, and as, in the case of a botanic garden, a curator is the 

 most important of all the officers employed, we trust we may be excused 

 submitting a word in relation to the choice of one. We conceive that the 

 candidates should be rigidly examined as to their professional qualifications ; 

 and that but little attention should be paid to any testimonials, farther than 

 they relate to moral character. This last quality is of great consequence in 

 a public servant; and, as its validity is dependent on length of practice, 

 attestations of its fixedness may be well : but as, in the case of professional 

 qualification, no evidences, no testimonials, would be equal to those which 

 a competent examiner would elicit from the candidates themselves, we think 

 it would be the duty of every committee, engaged in the choice of a profes- 

 sional officer, to institute, either in one or more of their own body, or in the 

 person of a professor of established reputation, hired for the occasion, the 

 examination suggested. This would completely set aside the chance of all 

 undue advantage, which local candidates must, we think, have over the more 

 distant ones. A curator of the present day should, we need not remark, be 

 a proficient in every department of practical botany; and familiar with the 

 principles of those sciences which are more immediately connected with the 

 art of gardening. — J. D. 



Brugmansmsuaveolens. — Sir, A magnificent plant of Brugmansza suaveolens 

 flowered this year in the gardens of Roger Taylor, Esq., of Firsthwaite, near 

 the Lake of Windermere. It was, when I saw it (Oct. 20.), 9 ft. in height, 

 and presented 43 fully expanded flowers ; the milky-white trumpets of which 

 were each 1 ft. long (including the peduncle) and 6 in. in diameter at the 

 upper part ; emitting, at " dewy eve," a delicious fragrance. The diameter of 

 the stem, at the ground, was l^in. ; and its height to the first branch, 4 ft. 

 The leaves upon this part were 2 ft. long, inclusive of the petiole, and 12 in. 

 broad : but what is remarkable is, that all the leaves above the fork were 

 decurrent on one side. The plant was raised from a cutting this spring ; and, 

 on the 4th of May, was 18 in. high. About the latter end of July, the flower- 

 buds appeared, the plant being then about 7 ft. in height. Early in October, 

 the flowers began to expand : the plant was now in full beauty, and continued 

 so for nearly a month. — T. A, B. Easthivaite Lodge, Lancashire, Dec. 24. 

 1833. 



