



i8:>i.J 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONI C LE . 



39 



the autumn, 



flowers. The i id tear It produ* d two spikes and 



four biooi Tii. third year three spikes and seven 



blossoms, each eight inches across, which remained in 

 beauty till wet I ; and next December I expect six 



spikes of Bowers, as it lias now two large bulbs ami two 



Small on . Many people only allow their Ainarylhds 

 to have one bulb, breaking off all additional ones as they 

 appear. This I onsider bad practice, a>t hey are much 

 more efi uve when grown in a mass like an Orchid. 

 The compost I use for them is loam, leaf-mould, peat, 

 and sand. Temperature in winter 45° to 60° ; summer 

 60° to ? \ L Rust, Pashky, Ti (hurst. 



Protecting Timber. — Three carpenters, who have been 

 brought up in the country, all affirm that Oak ought not 

 to be painted or tarred, tut that Deal fences last longer 

 if covered with Stockholm tar ; gas tar, on the contrary, 

 they say, burns the wood, J Cut/till, CamberwelL 



Oralis Bowti. — It has been stated that this Oxalis 



diate house, li grew awav nicely, made a firm bulb by was awarded it. Mr. Dobson, gardener to Mr. luck, of j the fruit garden to his pages, a great, >m\ v doubt not, 



and i roduc i one flower spike bearing two Isleworth, sent three yellow- flm red Oneida (O. Oaten- very acceptable extension of tn range of hissubj ts, 



dishii, ampliatum, and another kind), and a group of 

 seedling Cinerarias, which were exhibited to show that 



v sowing a little seed in May some very gaily blooming 



iants may be obtained about Christmas,when every stray 

 flower is valuable. It was stated that at Worton Cottage a 

 constant succession of such plants had been kept up since 

 November. — Mr. Davis, of Oak-hill, East Barnet, re- 

 ceived a Cert ihYate of Merit for samples of West's St. 

 Peter's Grape, black as Sloes, plump, and covered with 

 bloom. — A brace of Cucumbers was furnished by Mr. 

 Parr, gr. to J. Jarrett, Esq., of Camerton Court, near 

 Bath. — Examples of a new kind of garden label, called 

 " Rose girdle label," were produced by Captain 

 Armstrong, of Claremont Lodge, Cobham, Surrey. 

 They consisted of a strip or band of zinc, painted 

 where the name was written. They are intended 



I to be bent round the stem of the tree or what- tQ &e ^ Chiswick Houge has Wu much 



ever else they are to be attached to, the ends brought !„i._^ & J . . . , . . 



together and fastened by means of a screw and nut. 

 Whether they will be found altogether unobjectionable, 

 remains to be proved ; but they are very cheap, and looked 

 if they would answer well. — From the garden of the 

 Society came six nice plants of the better varieties of 



Ef>acris, the round-leaved Acacia, a suitable species for 



should be protected from frost. I have grown it, at 

 Nettlecombe, for these last 16 years, without any pro- 

 tection iiatever. The bed was prepared in the following 

 manner : — The earth was removed to the depth of 

 2 feet I then introduced 8 inches of drainage, laving on 

 the top of it a layer of fresh turf, with the view of 

 preventing the soil filling up the insterstic ->. I then 

 filled up the bed with equal parts of well-retted, turfy 

 loam and leaf-mould, intimately mixed together. In 

 May, I turned out the plants, and placed them, so that 

 the bulbs might be 3 inches below the surface. Thus i 

 circumstanced, I have never found them to receive any 

 injury, with the exception of the foliage being destroyed 

 by li- t. They flower beautifully every autumn. 

 Charles Eh rthy 9 Nettlecombe Gardens, Bomer* hire* 



Floating Inlands.— I am about to construct a floating 

 island on an exposed and rather extensive piece of water. 



Now will s<»me of your correspondents be so good as to 

 tell m» first, what is (he best sort of timber for this pur- 

 pose 1 Second, Should it be green or dry 1 Third, What 

 shape would look best ? Fourth, How long will it be 

 before it may be expected to sink or require removing. 

 And sixth, the water being at least 8 feet deep, if made 

 of any size, what would be the best method of mooring 

 it. A , briber. 



Collecting British Plants. — I learn from your Paper 

 that the Caledonian Horticultural Society awards prizes 

 for collections of dried British plants Now, the object 

 for which these prizes are given is a good one, and 

 would be of advantage to science if the thing were 

 rightly carried out ; but as yet the prizes have almost 

 always been won by men employed in the botanic or 

 experimental gardens, and the range of ground gone 

 over by them in quest of the plants, could not be more 

 than from six to eight miles around Edinburgh. Now, 

 that ground has already been so often examined that I 

 think it is high time for the Society to extend its in- 

 ttkience to every corner of Scotland. It might all be 

 worked upon the six or eight mile system, as around 

 Edinburgh ; for beyond that distance I believe that 

 there are many places seldom or never visited by 

 botanists ; so that it encouragement was given to gar- 

 deners at a distance to collect for the prize, many rare 

 plants might be contributed ; and if the collectors were 

 bound (if required) to send in plants for the Botanic 

 Gatfded at the same time, the collection there would 

 soon become much improved. I am anxious that some 

 such plan as the one I propose should be adopted. 

 Pseudo-Fal ,i. [Our correspondent will see the incon- 

 venience of taking the signature of a well known con- 

 tributor to our columns.] 



Silver Fir. — In the deer-park at Lord Farnham's, in 

 the county of Cavan, is a fine healthy tree, of some 60 

 or 80 years' growth, which has thrown out near th 

 bottom, a side branch which has turned upwards, and has 

 become a second perfect Silver Fir, of Rome 16 years' 

 growth It has a singular appearance, as if two trees 

 were grafted together. Cavanaisis. 



Garden Memoranda. 



Horticultural Society's C.ardbis Ti knuam-gueen. 



Since we last visited this establishment, various 

 alterations have been effected, and others are still in 

 prograBL A number of the less important trees have 

 been removed from the Arboretum, winch had become 

 too much encumbered with timber, and the result is an 

 evident improvement in its general aspect, as well as 



more uninterrupted room for visitors at the great ex- 

 hibitions to promenade in, while there are yet ample 

 trees left for the purposes of ornament, and to 

 afford an agreeable shade from the scorching rays 

 of a summer's sun. In addition to the extensive altera- 

 tions which took place last spring on the eastern side of 

 the Arboretum, the corner nearest the grand entrance 

 to the grounds at Chiswick House has been much 

 altered and improved, and a new American garden is at 

 present in course of formation on the west side of the 

 kitchen garden. 





■£>omurs« 



Horticultural, Jan. 14. 



the chair. 



E. 



Brande, Esq., in 

 A. Lawson and J. H. Good, Esqs., were 

 elected Fellows. Mrs. Lawrence showed a quantity of 

 cut flower spikes of Amherstia nobilis, some account of 

 which is given at p. 824 of our last volume. It was 

 stated that it has been flowering at Ealing Park in great 

 profusion for some weeks, and, though now rather past 

 its best, it is still in great beauty. This makes the 

 second year in which Mrs. Lawrence has flowered this 

 fine stove tree, which nobody else has yet been able 

 even to grow successfully. Much difficulty has been 

 experienced in keeping the foliage, which is exceed- 

 ing y graceful, from first decaying at the points, 

 and then dying back ; but naturally nothing of the 

 kind happen^ a nd it has only occurred with Mrs. 

 Lawrence in a very trifling degree. The brilliant 

 salmon-coloured and yellow inflorescens is very hand- 

 some, and when it is mentioned that 16 and 20 blossoms 

 such as that now represented are often arranged in a 

 mngie raceme, some idea of the beauty of the plant may 

 , At Ealing-park it is beginning to form 



t!!L P A krge Silver Medal was awarded it —Mr. 



Loddiges sent examples of Ansellia africana, an Orchid 

 named after Mr. Anseil, who when attached to the Niger 

 expedition discovered it in the Island of Fernando Po. 

 An addition to its stately aspect and good quality of 

 conmiuin- lon g in bloom, it is remarkable as being one 

 ot the very few of those Epiphytes which have been 

 found on the stems of Palm trees. 



be conceived. 



pot culture, the pretty winter blooming Selago distans, 

 Erica hiemalis, and six Orchids, among which were 

 Barker's variety of Lcelia anceps, a beautiful kind, 

 and a highly coloured and compact Uird's-head 

 Oncid (Oneidium ornithorhynchum). The same 

 establishment also furnished cut blooms of Chimo- 

 nanthus fragrans and its large-flowered variety ; speci- 

 mens of Easter Beurre and Beurre Ranee, Pears which 

 have ripened earlier this season than usual, owing to 

 the dry summer; Hubbard's Pearmain Apple, a very 

 hardy excellent kind, not so much cultivated as it de- 

 serves t? be ; and examples of Bassano Beet, a Turnip- 

 shaped sort, not sufficiently good, it is to be feared, to 

 suit our English taste, but which, according to the 

 rt Bon Jardinier," 1842, was found by M. Audot in all 

 the markets from Venice to Genoa, in June. It was 

 young, tender, very delicate, and preserved its rose- 

 coloured zones after cooking. It is said to be much 

 esteemed In the north of Italy. In this country, with 

 good cultivation, its produce may be estimated at 40 to 

 50 tons per acre ; and it may be grown on thinner land 

 than is required for the other kinds of Beet, as it grows 

 mostly above ground, like a Turnip. 



In order to accomplish this, the thicket 

 of miscellaneous trees and shrubs, which previously occu- 

 pied its site, has been removed, except such as were 

 considered of sufficient value to be retained ; various 

 excavations have bem made, and monads thrown up, 

 whose sides are planted with Evergreens, Yuccas, 

 ad other ornamental plants; and, to give variety as 

 well as afford at suitable places views of the general 

 arrangement, the embankments are traversed by paths 

 which are conveniently approached by flights of rustic 

 steps. As it was desirable that the van-road to the 

 exhibition ground should be continued from the carter's 

 yard through the kitchen garden, a bridge, whose sup- 

 ports are flanked by rock work decorated with I rns, 

 the lively green hue of whose fronds cannot fail to 

 yield interest at all seasons of the year, has been 

 thrown over the upper portion of the new ground, 

 which is to be entered at this end through masses 

 of Rhododendrons. It being intended that this garden 

 shall be gay the whole year round, or at least 

 nine months out of the 12, it will be furnished with 

 plants calculated to effect that end, and if well carried 

 out, as there is little doubt it will be, it will not only form 

 a pleasant retreat at all times of the year, but will also 

 be, for obvious reasons, very instructive. We had nearly 

 forgotten to mention, however, that some of the more 

 prominent and steep portions of the mounds have been 

 faced with burrs, which also appear as edgings* and on 

 the banks wherever it was thought their introduction 

 would heighten the general effect. But it is not in ground 

 work alone that the Society has ln^en making alterations. In 

 order that it might be more useful in distributing plants 

 among the Fellows, a new span-roofed propagating 

 house, 6*3 feet long, has been erected. This is in two 

 compartments, with a pathway up the middle and beds 

 on either side ; it is heated by means of hot water *n 

 iron pipes, and it is also conveniently furnished with a 

 potting-shed and boiler-house, all under one roof. It 

 may be mentioned, in regard to the striking glasses 

 employed here, that those having a true bell shape are 

 the best ; it lias been found that fiat headed ones, 

 with nearly perpendicular sides, permit condensed 

 moisture to fall on the cuttings, while in the other 

 form, it runs down the glass into the sand at the 

 side of the pot, and does little or no harm. The 

 lean-to house, beside the open ci stern in the experi- 

 mental ground, has been converted into a very useful 

 span-roofed house, as has also a long pit near the end of 

 the carpenter's shop ; and considerable additions have 

 been made to the other brick pits in this quarter. 

 When it is recollected, therefore, in connection with the 

 alterations that have just been glanced at, that the 

 orchard has been but recently almost entirely remo- 

 delled, it will be apparent that the condition and 

 appearance of the garden is steadily improving. 



Miscellaneous. 



The terrible 





ftottrrs of Books. 



The Florist and Garden Miscellany. Vol. III. 8vo. 



Chapman and Hall. 

 We have had occasion formerly to recommend this 

 beautiful book to the lovers of floriculture, not merely 

 because of the truth of its representations of florists' 

 flowers and the honesty of the opinions it expresses, but 

 because, in addition to mere disquisitions about the 

 points of a flower, it contains capital practical matter, by 

 men thoroughly acquainted with the subject on which 



What we said before we say again ; with 



On the Eatable Lily worts of Siberia. 

 ravages committed by the Potato disease have made it 

 very "important that some vegetable, easy of cultivation, 

 prolific, nutritious, agreeable ta the taste, and easy of 

 digestion, should be found which may replace the article 

 of food of which that disease has almost entirely deprived 

 us. Many plants have been proposed for this purpose, 

 but hitherto without success ; the Yam, Sweet Potato, 

 and Cassava require the heat of the tropics and cannot 

 be cultivated in northern climates. The tuberous Tro- 

 pmolums are too strong-tasting ; the Jerusalem Arti- 

 choke and Oxalis are too watery; the Apios, or Saa- 

 gn-ban, takes too much space for its cultivation, and 

 becomes hard and unpalatable ; the Psoratea eseulenta, 

 from which bo much was expected, has proved, to a 



the Car ssia eseulenta is more 

 likely to answer the purpose than the two last-named 

 plants, provided always it can be quickly and eusily propa- 

 gated. The Camassia is, of all the above-named vege- 



which can be compared with 

 which have been long used 



be better 



ureat extent, a failure 



they write. 

 A Banksian medal | the addition that the Editor now proposes to introduce 



tables, the only one 



the Siberian Lily worts, 



as an article of food, and deserve to 

 known than they are. Erythronmm Dens iwms, the 

 large flowered variety of which is very common in the 

 south of western Siberia, is there gathered, aud much 

 esteemed as an article of food, and used in former days 

 to be sent to the court at St. Petersburgh. it may De 

 raised from seed with certainty, and in * ; uanmy . 

 if the seeds are s>wn as soon as they are rq» rwy au 

 come up, bu- three years are required to enable tne 

 bub to attain its proper size ; its country name is 



