Foreign Notices : — Belgium, Germany. 199 



mens of trees and shrubs. Among the latter Is a Magnol/o; inacroph;y^lla, which 

 is said to be as large as, or larger than, that of the Duke of Devonshire at 

 Chiswick. — ConcL 



Cultivation of the Bamboo in France. — A piece of bamboo, about 12 in. in 

 height, was planted, on the 1st of April, 1833, in a garden at Hieres, in the 

 department of Var. It has already produced several shoots, from 20 ft. to 

 26 ft. long. The ground in which it was set was constantly irrigated during 

 the summer. One of the shoots, which only came out of the ground on the 

 3d of last September, had obtained 25 ft. of elevation on the 29th of October. 

 Its circumference at the base was 9 in., and at the height of a man about 7iin. 

 {AthencBuvi, Sept. 19. 1835.) 



Seeds. — Several tombs were discovered last year at Monzie, St. Martin 

 Dordogne, the most remarkable circumstance attending which is, that the head, 

 of the skeletons were placed on a heap of seeds, contained in a cavity left in 

 the cement, large enough to contain the occiput. These seeds have been sown, 

 and from them have been raised the iiZeliotropium europae^im, Medicago lu- 

 pulina, and Centaurea Cjanus. This circumstance confirms the opinion lately 

 advanced by several physiologists, that certain vegetables preserve their ger- 

 minating power for an indefinite period, if kept out of the reach of the agents 

 necessary to germination. Some of these vegetables are birch, aspen, ground- 

 sel, rushes, broom, digitalis, heaths, &c. {Athenceum, July 25. 1835, p. 572.) 



BELGIUM. 



Ghent, Oct. 19. 1835. — I enclose an engraving of a new building for the 

 Ghent Horticultural Society : it is intended partly as a cassino, or concert 

 room, and as an exhibition for plants, either of which names it has as much 

 right to as the one it bears : in fact it is a compound of all three. Hereafter a 

 garden is intended to be laid out. The building and ground have cost a great 

 sum of money, and there appears to be much room lost. The building appears 

 heavy, and out of proportion to its breadth ; but, till finished, it is unfair to give 

 an opinion. T certainly do not approve of the compound association, and 

 should have preferred seeing a smaller building, built expressly and solely for 

 our Society ; and, also, that part of the money expended on the present struc- 

 ture should have been set aside for the purpose of giving encouragement to 

 gardeners and to horticulture, by increasing the number, value, and utility of 

 the prizes; which, at present, consist solely of medals; whereas books and 

 small pieces of plate ought to be substituted; and any surplus funds might be 

 employed to enable the Society to send out to South America an able collector 

 of plants. In the mean time, the present building will do no harm; and, though 

 it might have been arranged much better for the purposes of horticulture than 

 it is at present, it is very likely to increase the number of members, and may, 

 in a few years, be the means of benefiting the Society. At present our Society 

 requires many reforms ; and, until such reforms take place, the rules of the So- 

 ciety cannot be called beneficial to horticulture. But, from the present state 

 of society, and from the opinions of some of our most influential members, I 

 am led to believe that the period of reform is not distant. 1 hope, also, to see 

 a botanical work established by the Society ; for, until the gardeners in this 

 country become perusers of botanical works, there will never be one who is 

 capable of taking care of, or superintending, a valuable collection of plants, in 

 the way they ought to be cultivated. I send you the first number of a new 

 work, called the he Cultivateur, Sfc., though it relates more to agriculture than 

 horticulture. — W. T. C. 



GERMANY. 



The Lnlce TArhmlz, in Carniola. — " This lake is about six miles in length by 

 three broad. Towards the middle of summer, if the season be dry, its surface 

 rapidly falls, and in a few weeks it is completely dry. The openings by which 

 the waters retire beneath the soil may then be distinctly perceived, sometimes 

 quite vertical, and in other places bearing a lateral direction towards the ca- 



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