1 



1851.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



7 



burthen of maintaining them 



tending to emigrate to New South Wales. He gives an 

 account of what he saw while in the colony, expresses 

 his opinion prettv freely upon an emigrant's chances, 

 and takes a dispassionate but, upon the whole, a favour- 

 able view of the advantages to be found in a settler's 

 life, under particular circumstances. It is, however, to 

 be feared that even here we have not a perfectly fair 

 riew of the New South Wales question, even although 

 Mr. Townshend may, as he says, have finally quitted 

 the" colony, have no land to sell, and no interest in 

 puffing any particular locality ; for we find him admit- 

 ting that he has " contracted a perfect horror of colo- 

 nial government," and we do not see how, with such 

 feelings, he can take any other than a one-sided view of 



colonial affairs. 



Passing this by, we are glad to be able to say that 

 there is much good sense in Mr. Townshend's work, 

 and that to intending emigrants it cannot be otherwise 

 than useful. That they will be surprised at some of his 

 statements we entertain no doubt; for few think of paying 

 10?. an acre for land, or believe [that 20,000Z. is the 

 necessary capital for a squatter, which our author assures 

 us is the case. We must, however, leave the reader to 

 examine for himself in the book the grounds upon which 

 such opinions are founded, and confine ourselves to a 

 string of extracts. 



In speaking of the much-debated assignment system, 

 he remarks : 



" For my own part, I have arrived at the conclusion 

 that the assignment system had not a fair trial until 

 transportation to the colony was abolished. When con- 

 victs were annhally landed in Sydney, in large numbers, 

 as many as possible were thrust upon the public — but a 

 small community — to relieve the Government of the 



; but thousands were, 

 nevertheless, employed in gangs, in public works — a 

 certain method of effectually depraving them ; and bush- 

 rangers and highway robbers were generally those who 

 had escaped from such gangs. Hence, also, on some 

 large farms, two or thx*ee hundred convicts were 

 assembled together, instead of being dispersed as they 

 ought to have been ; and we can hardly hope that, when 

 they were a drug in the market, they were as well 

 treated as when it was announced that no more would 

 arrive in the colony ; indeed, we may be sure they 

 were not, and dreadful stories are current of cruelties 

 suffered by the convicts, principally by means of ex- 

 cess of corporal punishment. Some, on the other 

 hand, received no punishment at all, being assigned to 

 their wives, who would precede them, and, in some 

 cases, actually with the fruits of the crime for which 



the husband was transported ; whilst others were made 

 clerks in the offices of the Government, or attained some 

 other easy berths ; but it would be tedious to detail all 

 these abuses. If the men, however, were not properly 

 dealt with, what was once the fate of the women !" 



The following bits of advice to emigrants are, we 

 doubt not, much needed : 



6i The emigrant, however, should not lay out his 

 money in the extravagant outfits that are often pro- 

 cured. He* requires little else than bedding, three 

 dozen shirts, a shooting-jacket or two, and a great coat. 

 If he procure many other articles, he will find them only 

 an incumbrance. Bush clothes he can procure at a 

 reasonable price in the colony ; and the best tailor in 

 Sydney is Mr. Alderman Broughton. 



" The emigrant should always take a handful of 

 sovereigns with him, lest the ship may call at some 

 port ; but, beyond this, he should carry all his cash to 

 the office of the Union Bank of Australia, in Old Broad- 

 street, and exchange it for a letter of credit on Port 

 Phillip or Sydney." 



"On going on board some of the ships bound for 

 New South Wales, it would be easy to imagine that one 

 had boarded a pirate, all the passengers seeming to 

 think it necessary to be armed to the teeth. Double 

 guns, duck guns, rifles, pistols, swords, &c., adorn the 

 different berths, and the passengers themselves are often 

 in full piratical costume. But the expense of buying 

 these arms is useless ; and, if the owners of them could 

 be followed to their destination, such weapons would 

 probably be soon found rusting neglected in a corner. 

 A good gun, a few bags of large shot, and a few pounds 

 of powder will, however, be found useful in the bush ; 

 and in Sydney a good gun can sometimes be bought for 

 a few shillings, the piratical gentlemen aforesaid being 

 often anxious, in the course of time, to sell their 



weapons. 

 Sydney. 



Powder and shot are comparatively dear in 



" Some emigrants expend their money in buying the 

 most absurd luxuries, such as champagne, pots of pre- 

 serves (the latter lest they should be sea-sick), polished 

 boots, and musical boxes ; but these follies must be 

 avoided. Others take out bulls and stallions. I do not 

 tnuik that it is worth while to take out horned cattle ; 

 but any one taking out a good stallion, as much as pos- 

 sible the style of the English hunter, could, by letting 

 mm, or by taking in mares, make a good thing of it. 

 .Many, again, take with them the most friehtful 



?W Ii g ? ,° kl ?S dogs they can pick up, thinking 



ll lth t0 [ n 8 hten the bla <*s ; but this also is un* 

 necessary. A stallion should 

 against sea-risk." 

 "It 



t 



of course, be insured 



an PnV™ .!*?* T *? Say much on the subject of the books 

 toZT * h T M take with h ™> ** I think no one 

 BeVoi\ ^SSL«» 5*w standard works, and a 



-F^tainrjout a few standard works, and a 

 I EdinbttShji the -Quarterly,' or < Blackwood.' 



teer ; the n ^ % copy Qf 6 pi ^v -, 



The mo. r* r> ^terly,' 



friend ah-i g*£ Vl & % ? u,d be made t0 "7 

 beer: toalSL!?.- bush would be a cask of English 



" Nothing ought to be more firmly impressed on a 

 new hand in the colony, than that he must first under- 

 stand the colony before he can hope to commence 

 operations s in it. with success ; and I know no means 

 whereby he can obtain information so well as by tra- 

 velling ; and the expense of this is trifling." 



" A settler must never get into debt. Money is not 

 to be procured in New South Wales as readily as in 

 England, and a small debt may ruin a family, as many 

 unfortunate people who have been hi arrear for their 

 quit-rents have found to their cost. Hence, the settler 

 must avoid debt as he would the pestilence, and never 

 expend his whole capital, but keep a reserve fund as a 

 sheet anchor." 



u In buying land the emigrant must ascertain that it 

 does not form part of a grant on which arrears of quit- 

 rent are due, or the Government will quietly allow him 

 to take possession, and then levy on him for the amount 

 due on his purchase, and on all the remainder of the 

 original grant also. He must also be careful that his 

 title is not derived through a convict under sentence." 



We have only to add, that of matter of this quality 

 Mr. Townshend's book is full. 



Victoria Kegia, and hy 





Miscellaneous/ 



^Victoria regia. — For many years this plant has been 

 allowed to bear the name which was first given to it by 

 an authority which we at least shall not presume to 

 question. But some attempts have been lately made at 

 effecting an alteration, which he, to whom the high 

 honour was assigned of rendering the plant known, under 

 the name of Victoria regia, is bound to resist. In " The 

 Annals of Natural History " for August, 1850, Mr. John 

 Edward Gray asserts that its proper name is that im- 

 posed by himself, namely Victoria Regina ; because, in 

 a Report of the Proceedings of the Botanical Society, in 

 the Athenceum of the 9th of September, 1837, a descrip- 

 tion is printed of a " new genus of Water Lily named 

 Victoria Regina, by permission of Her Majesty f 9 be- 

 cause at a meeting of the British Association, on the 

 11th of September, 1837, he "remarked, that it would 

 form a new genus intermediate between Nymphtea and 

 Euryale, and proposed to name it Victoria Regina," &c. 

 &c. &c. He then goes on to say that in the index to 

 the A thenceum for 1837, under the head of Botanical 

 Society, there occurs, "Schomburgk on the Victoria 

 regia, p. 661," which is evidently an error of the press, 

 as the name in the page referred to is V. Regina. 

 He further states that, u Shortly after the appearance of 

 the description and figure in the ' Annals of Zoology,' the 

 Secretary of the Geographical Society borrowed from 



the Botanical Society the original description and 

 drawing of the plant ; that the papers found their way 

 into the hands of Dr. Lindley, who printed, for private 

 distribution, 25 copies of an essay on this plant ; that 

 he adopted the view which had been stated before the 

 Botanical Society and British Association, that it formed 

 a genus intermediate between Euryale and Nymphsea ; 

 but that he called the plant Victoria regia, thus con- 

 tinuing the error of the printer of the Athenceum," 



This is answered in the last number of " Paxton's 

 Flower Garden," by the production of the following 

 precis of the letters, &c, relative to this transaction, as 

 they appear in the records of the letter-book of the 

 Geographical Society : — 1837, July 18th. — Letter from 

 Schombnrgk, announcing the discovery of a Water 

 Lily, stating that he has sent two sets of drawings 

 home, with a request that, if a new genus, he might 

 be permitted to append to it the name of Victoria 

 July 21st. — A packet, containing these, arrives. The 

 president of the R.G.S. communicates with Sir Henry 

 Wheat-ley. July 26th —Sir H. W. signifies the Queen's 

 commands that the drawings be sent to the palace. 

 July 27th.— The president, to Sir H. W., sending draw- 

 ings, and adding request that the flower may bear the 

 name Victoria. July 29th. — Sir H. W. to president, 

 signifying Her Majesty's pleasure, that the name of Vic- 

 toria Regia should be affixed to the flower. Drawing 

 returned for the purpose of enabling this to be done. 

 July 30th.— The Sec. of the R. G. S. to the Botanical 

 Soc. forwarding one copy of the drawings, &c, and 

 adding, that as Mr. S. was travelling entirely under the 

 control, and at the cost, of the G. S , the Council were 

 of opinion that whatever drawing he may wish to pre- 

 sent to Her Majesty should pass directly to the Queen 

 through the hands of the R. G. S , and they therefore 

 relieve the Botanical Society from any further trouble 

 on that account. Aug. 1st. — Sec. of R. G. S. to Mr. 

 S., stating that his drawing had been presented to the 

 Queen, that Her Majesty had accepted the dedication 

 under the name of Victoria Regia, Aug. 3d. — Sec. of 

 R. G. S. to Dr. Lindley, transmitting the Queen's copy 

 of the drawings, and requesting him to superintend the 

 publication of the flower, and a correct description of 

 it. Also stating, that the Queen had been pleased to 

 accept the dedication of it, and to signify Her pleasure 

 that it should bear the name of Victoria Regia, if, as 

 believed, the flower should prove to be an undescribed 

 genus. 



Thus it is manifest that Mr. Gray's statement is a 

 tissue of mistakes ; as he has, indeed, been subsequently 

 obliged to admit in the " Annals of Natural History " 

 for December last. 1. The plant received the name it 

 bears, by Her Majesty's permission, before Mr. Schom- 

 burgk's drawings were even in the hands of the Bo- 

 tanical Society. We may add, that it was generally 

 known to the Council of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, and to the numerous visitors that called to see 

 the drawings within the first fortnight, by the name of 



no other ; and that, conse- 

 luently, Mr. Gray might have informed himself of that 

 circumstance had he made any inquiry, as we think he 

 was called upon to do, before he ventured to makfr 

 public a document which the Botanical Society had 

 been officially informed was forwarded by a traveller 

 " entirely under the control aud at the cost of the Geo- 

 graphical Society," — a tolerably intelligible, although 

 courteous hint, which most men would have known how 

 to receive. 2. That the Editor of the Atltcnajum, in 

 changing the words Victoria Regina to Victoria R *, 

 in the Index of the year 1837, did not commit "an 

 error of the press," but silently corrected one, by em- 

 ploying the name which he, as a well-informed man, 

 knew was that by which the plant would be in future 

 called. Possibly, too, as a scholar, he saw the absurdity 

 of the name Victoria Regina. 3. That Mr. Schom- 

 burgk's papers did not * find their way into the hands 

 of Dr. Lindley," as Mr. Gray pretends, but were offi- 

 cially communicated to him for the express purpose of 

 publication, and by the only Society which had any pro- 

 perty in them. 4. That the Geographical Society could 

 scarcely have afterwards borrowed drawings which they 

 already possessed, and nmst certainly did not do so, if 

 they borrowed them at all, for any such purpose as Mr. 

 Gray asserts. 



But Mr. Gray's inaccuracy does not terminate here. 

 He says, that Dr. Lindley adopted his view, that the 

 plant forms a genus intermediate between Euryale and 

 Nymplnea ; and in support of this assertion he quotes 

 the "Botanical Register" for 1838, p. 11. But if the 

 reader will consult that work, he will find nothing of 

 the sort. Dr. Lindley 's statement, before examining 

 the plant personally, and judging merely from Mr. 

 Schomburgk's drawings, was this : — " This noble plant 

 corresponds with the genus Euryale in the spiny cha- 

 racter of the leaves and stalks, and to a certain extent 

 in the great development of the former organs ; but it 

 is, in fact, most nearly related to Nymphaea itself." At 

 p. 12, where the result is given of an examination of 

 some decayed flowers, it is stated that a Victoria is quite 

 distinct from Euryale ;" and the whole of the succeeding 

 observations are made for the purpose of showing that 

 Victoria is very different from Euryale ; the last words 

 of the little dissertation referred to being these — " not- 

 withstanding a prima facie resemblance to Euryale, 

 Victoria is, in fact, more nearly allied to Nymphrea." 



So much for Mr. John Edward Gray. Another pro- 

 posal, made by Mr. Sowerby, to change the name of Vic- 

 toria regia to that of V. amazonica, because it now ap- 

 pears that the plant was originally called Euryale 

 amazonica, we do not think worth serious consideration. 

 Paxtoris Flower Ga n for January. [In order to 

 save room, we have condensed Mr. Gray's charges, 

 omitting what is irrelevant, and iu like manner* have 

 shortened the precis of the correspondence, j 



Exotic Nursery, King"s-road f Chelsea. — We understand 

 that Messrs. Knight and Perry gave the annual fes- 

 tival to all who are employed in their esta lishment, on 

 Tuesday last, when, after regaling them i lvea from a 

 bountiful supply provided for the occasion the evening 

 was spent in great sociality. 



Calendar of Operations. 



(For the ensuing week ) 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



From now until the end of February is the most 

 trying period to tender plants, placed throughout the 

 winter and spring in pits and frames, to be preserved 

 for the summer decoration of the flower garden, the 

 beauty of which so much depends upon their being 

 brought carefully through the trials that now await them, 

 that too much attention can scarcely be paid in guarding 

 them from excess of cold and damp. Tiiis is not the 

 time to discuss the best way of wintering tender plants, 

 as every one who has any to preserve, will have put his 

 favourite or most convenient plan into use long before 

 this. The great point to aim at now, is. to take care 

 that no injury comes to the stock ; and that whatever 

 plan has been adopted, it be made to answer by strict 

 attention and diligence in preventing the plants from 

 suffering by frost, or damping off for want of air. Every 

 opportunity should be seized to admit light and air to 

 the inmates of all pits and frames, and to pick off every 

 leaf that shows symptoms of decay, before the evil is 

 communicated to others. Should severe frost continue 

 for several days so that no light or air can be admitted 

 to cold pits containing such plants as Geraniums, Cal- 

 ceolarias, Petunias, &C, be cautious in uncovering after 

 the frost goes, lest the too sudden exposure to the action 

 of light should Move injurious to them. Remove the 

 greater part of the covering first, leaving a little to shade 

 the plants for a few hours, while air is admitted by tilting 

 the sashes an inch or two at the back, which will enable 

 them better to endure the sudden change from total 

 darkness to a bright light. In giving water, much 

 caution should be used not to cause more damp than is 

 unavoidable inside the frame or pit, as the drier both it 

 and the covering material is kept, the less will frost 

 be attracted, and the healthier will the plants continue. 

 The kitchen garden frames which are occupied with. 

 Salads, Cauliflowers, early Radishes, &c, should also 

 share our attention ; and eve ry means we can devise 

 should be put in practice to ensure the safety of 

 these useful plants from slugs, and from the mould 

 and damp, so apt to result from long confinement. 

 The ashes of garden refuse, primings of shrubs and 

 hedges, or any consumable matter, sifted fine and 



sprinkled among young Lettuces or Cauliflowers, will 



