Retrospective Criticism. 211 



springs up as freely from the stool as an oak or an ash. This tree is too much 

 neglected, for it is one of the most hardy and rapid-growing that we have. 

 Corylus Colurna, at fifty years' growth, is 3 ft. 7 in. in girt at 1 ft. from the 

 ground; it is 25ft. high, and the diameter of its head is nearly 50 ft. My 

 father was the first to introduce Robinia hispida into Ireland ; he got the 

 cuttings from Mr. Wm. Alton, the elder, and brought them over, and grafted 

 them. I commenced business in 1790; but my father had introduced every 

 thing worth having up to that time, so that he left me little to do. — John 

 Robertson. 



Art. IV. Retrospective Criticism. 



The Churchyard at Arley Hall, the Seat of the Earl of Mountnorris, near 

 Kidderminster. — We stated, in IX. Q'i^'o., on the authority of the late Mr. 

 Mowbray, curator of the Manchester Botanic Garden, that the tombs and 

 fence of this churchyard were levelled down in the night-time, under his direc- 

 tions. We are just informed, on authority which cannot be doubted, that 

 this was not the case. " The wall was removed in the year 1791, before 

 Mowbray was born ; and the levelling of the churchyard took a month at 

 least. It was done with the consent of the clergyman and parish officers, and 

 that of every person whose family was buried there ; and all considered it 

 desirable to have a clear churchyard, rather than one covered with briars and 

 rubbish. Lord Mountnorris has done a great deal for the parish, which 

 belongs almost entirely to him ; he built a new chancel, and more than half 

 new-pewed the church." — W. C. London. Feb. 24. 1835. 



The Culture of Orchidece. (p. 1 13. 136, and 137., and Enc. ofGard. new edi) — 

 Mr. Scott would render a great service to the cultivators of the Orchideae, 

 if he were to detail in your Magazine the best mode of treating these highly 

 interesting plants, at greater length than he has done in the Encyclo'pcEdia of 

 Gardening. The plan I would suggest to him is, that, after some general 

 observations on the family (of which Dr. Lindley's work on these plants and 

 his paper in the Hort. Trans, might form the groundwork), he should take 

 each genus seriatim, and detail its particular culture, mode of propagation, 

 &c. ; and, if there be any species requiring a different treatment, he should 

 notice such. A description of a frame for those hardy species which require 

 one, and of a house or houses best suited for growing the tender sorts, should 

 also be given ; and particular attention should be paid to note, in degrees of 

 Fahrenheit's thermometer and some good hygrometer, the temperature and 

 moisture at the various seasons of the year most proper for preserving them 

 in health. The common mode of merely saying " rather cooler," or " rather 

 dryer," is very unsatisfactory. Many other matters will of conrse occur to 

 Mr. Scott ; and if the paper prove too long for the Magazine, it might appear 

 as a pamphlet at a remunerating price ; for I am convinced that no cultivator 

 of these plants would hesitate to give even an unreasonable sum for such a 

 work, by one so completely master of the subject. — N. W. G. London, 

 Feb. 1. 1835. 



The Flower of Ponteder'm crdssijjes. — In your description of Mr. Page's 

 nursery (p. 60.), I observe you mention his having flowered Ponteden'a 

 crassipes for the first time in this country, and that it bears flowers resembling 

 those of 7?hododendron arboreum. I beg to inform you that we flowered 

 here last autumn Ponteden« azurea, which is usually cultivated under the 

 name of P. crassipes, as is observed by Dr. Hooker, in his description of this 

 plant in the Botanical Magazine, p. 2932. ; but neither his figure, nor the 

 flowers of our plant, bore the slightest resemblance to any i^hododendron. 

 Ours (which were rather paler than his figure) were much more like the 

 flowers of 7'ris chinensis; we had grown it for years in a small cistern in the 

 stove, but it never flowered. Two strong healthy plants were removed into 

 a stoneware pot, without any earth ; this was plunged into a Macphail pit, 



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