











I - 



~TT~ 1Bn rdnrt- T],A present case , tiun for two or three months, provided the uinpe- 



_„of legu^in i • . f i mture 5g not v warm . UKl th i^ ha ra dry. 



|ht . U,im,,, ; ,..! pen to out J; • , iih . But ta :uKlltion t( , the benefU| which ulioll der5v i 



di*i»<* 



in allowiBr children to amuse thenisel 



Mr MN»k gave the following report on 

 Z^ rf ve* tUtion in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden 

 ^.TJ!Lu *;n imh AnriL 1851. He remarked, 





•aeda 



I 



ta&e to the 

 be ackno* 





14th March till 10th April, 1851. 



I a doaen of the plants no d as in flower before 

 year, have not yet flowered : 



Date of 



Flowering. 



1851. 



j Bate of 

 Flowering. 



1850. 



■ * * 



■ • • 



• •• 



« • • 



■ • * 



* * • 



• - . 



• i . 



fLrfcHr 1 * iHlloides ... 

 1 Vm Taraxacum ... 



affiiiis 



oppodritolia 



eMola ». 



afr nivalis • •• 



gfelia rubra 



ii— dali* soli<* a ... 

 ffldeaha itouata 



cara 



aobilis 



Anemone aemoroaa 

 K«rtU**» moschatus 



fiJTU aflarica 



j- ijm p#eudo- narcissus 

 f^jrtanelia coogesta ... 



canapoa 



fffnu* 

 ■■r^rnirM* orientalis 

 ^^/ physaloides 



Bflrifraf* Tt.yinica 



ANSW&e nor ten sis 

 5ardMUi jonquilla 



Aljifam*axa liic ... 

 f icaria ranunculoides 



JTarcitiui bioolc»r ... 

 IiiliaiWirin officinalis 

 \ *U paunenftit 

 Dorooicum parnai'iancbas 



BaMbarda geoidaa 

 Primula ciliata purpurata 

 . ixula Fonteri 





• • • 



• • • 



• • • 



. . . 



• • • 



• » • 



• • • 





• • • 



• •• 



• . . 



• • • 



/ •• 



. . • 



• • • 



• • • 



• •• 



- > • 



• - 1 



• ■ • 



• * • 



i • f 





• •• 



• 



. ■ • 



- a . 



ft 



. • • 





• • » 



• ■ • 



t . . 



• • t 



. • • 



. • • 



■ a • 



• . i 



... 



... 



. • . 



• * * 



. •• 



... 



• ■ • 



• t i 



• • • 



• ■ ■ 





... 



March U 



15 

 16 



16 

 16 

 16 

 16 

 17 

 19 

 ?tf 



21 



22 

 24 

 .6 

 26 



27 

 27 



•11 



28 



28 



28 



28 



28 



29 



29 

 30 



31 

 1 



» 



99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 



m 

 »» 



99 

 99 



m 



n 



99 

 19 

 S3 

 99 

 99 



March 15 



19 



99 



99 



99 

 IJ 



99 



15 



1 



16 



16 



9 

 21 



24 



April 



••• 



. . . 



« • • 



• • • 



AneuiOM coronaria 

 Primula in adnata 

 g— 1 ana oogrulea ... 

 Karcuwis incoroparabilta 

 SoiUaUalica 

 Hierochloe boreal is 



Sphorbia BpWijmoideb 

 ■ptns arabiditolia 

 Alopecurus nigricans 

 Saxifraga adscendena 

 Corjdalis capnoides 

 baziiragm Sternberg.* 

 Aacmooa appeuina 

 Poknocana virginica 

 moil tana 



•» t 



... 



• • • 



... 



»• • 



• ■ . 





• . • 



. . » 



■ • • 



■ . • 



• •• 



• • * 





. . . 



• • ■ 



t » • 



t * * 



• • • 



• • • 



• »• 



• • • 



* t* 



... 



• • t 



9» 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 

 99 



99 



19 



n 



99 



99 



99 



99 



99 



l» 



99 



1 



2 

 3 

 4 

 4 

 5 

 5 

 5 



I 



5 

 6 



7 

 7 

 7 

 8 

 8 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 10 



»» 



24 



April 6 



99 



3 



2 



4 

 1 



Mar ok 30 



99 

 99 

 19 



March 21 



April 2 



8 



4 

 5 



„ 2 

 March 24 



»» 



9» 

 99 





Three new members were elected. 



!» 



April 



»9 

 #9 



21 



3 

 3 



9 



Maseas. 



Garden Memoranda. 



Lane and Son's Nursery, Great Berk- 



lit.; 



havpstbaDj Herts. — It will be remembered that at a 

 :ing of the Horticultural Society, held on the 1st of 

 April last, Messrs. Lane contributed an exhibition of 

 cut Roses, fresh and beautiful as in the month of June. 

 So fine a display of the Queen of flowers in such vivid 

 colours at so early a season necessarily attracted much 

 attention, and therefore we have thought it expedient to 

 furnish our readers with some information on the sub- 

 ject, beyond what is stated at page 215. Some time 

 last year Messrs. Lane put up a span-roofed Rose- 

 house, GO feet long, 20 feet wide, and 9 feet high, 

 and glazed it with good sheet glass in large panes, 

 in order that as much light might be admitted 

 a* possible. Having no stage in the centre, the 

 floor of this house was tilled last autumn with Roses 



rr 



standard, high in the middle, and gradually slopin^ 

 off to dwarfs at the outer edges, the surrounding shelves 

 Wng occupied with the smaller varieties. All were 

 lifted and potted in the spring, previous to their intro- 

 duction into the house, and when placed there, the only 

 care they required was ordinary treatment and a healthy 

 growing atmosphere. In order to supply the latter requisi- 

 tion, Mr. Lane, considering the principles of Polmaise a 

 jp in the right direction, decided on adopting a modi- 

 fication of that system of heating, and the result has 

 proved all that could possibly be desired ; for with a 

 very small consumption of fuel, any reasonable 

 degree of warmth may be obtained, and when 

 the apparatus is in full play, the circulation of the 

 air 'is so rapid as to visibly move the foliage, 

 Cnder such conditions it need hardly be mentioned that 

 the plants not only exhibit luxuriant health, but a 

 brilliancy of colouring is infused into the blooms 

 which iu a sluggish atmosphere they could hardly be ex- 

 pected to have possessed, and all this has been effected 

 by means of a peculiar arrangement of the common flue. 

 On the outside of the house, near one end, is a furnace 

 constructed of Welsh lumps ; the flue from this is led; 

 •taig the inside of the house to near the other end, 

 *here it terminates in one upright shaft. This flue, 

 during its whole length inside the house, is chambered 

 °r eneased in another flue, out of which there 

 openings for the escape of hot air, which,; 

 ater circulating across the house, is collected on 

 ** opposite side by cold air drains that restore 



iV he hot chambet > in whidt it is again heated,, 

 and dispersed over the atmosphere ; and thus the latter 

 ** kept in continual motion— a condition found to be not 

 only highly conducive to the health of the plants, 

 wit so agreeable to one's feelings, that, although the 

 Heat is 75^ it does not seem to be above 60 Q . Indeed 

 ^ rapid is the circulation, that no scorching can pos- 

 ably be experienced ; in proof of which, tender Rose 

 »oots overhanging the warmest opening above the 



from this plan of heatini:, it is also an advaa 

 proprietors* pocket. This we think will 1 



d<red when we mention that the whole cost of erectim: 

 Mr. Lane's Polmaise hou vhich, as we have stated, 

 is GO feet long, 20 feet wide, and 9 feet high, is 

 just 88/. Is. 9kd. This is exclusive of rollers and 

 shading, which would be about 51. more. Among 

 the many fine varieties of Roses which this house 

 contained, we saw few better than our old friends 

 Baronne Prevost, Duchess of Sutherland, Geant des 

 Batailles, Lady Alice Peel, Madame de Lamcricui < . 

 Madame Trudeaux, Marquise Boccella, Miss Pepm, 

 Polybe, Regulata, Sidonie, William Jesse, Souvenir de la 

 Malmaison, Adam, Devonienas, Goubault, Moire, Sou- 

 venir d'un Ami, and Vicomtesse de Cazes. Most of 

 these are budded on the Dog Rose, on which they are 

 stated to withstand sudden changes from heat to cold, 

 better than on their own roots. The other houses here 

 were extremely gay with Cinerarias, and other early 

 flowering plants, and the Camellias were beautifully in 

 blossom. Among the latter, we remarked many, not 

 more than 4 inches high, bearing large and well-shaped 

 flowers. These are obtained by taking off the blooming 

 points, and striking them in a little heat. 



Messrs. Low's Nursery, Clapton. — Few nurseries 

 contain a more extensive collection of plants than this 

 does. Fourteen houses are appropriated to their 

 accommodation, besides long ran^t s of pits, consisting 

 of many hundred lights. For convenience of reference, 

 the houses have been all numbered — a good plan, where 

 such structures are numerous. 1 is a show-house, filled 

 with large Australian plants, such as Banksias, Dry- 

 andras, and a few common things in flower. It is 34 

 feet long by 16 feet wide. 2 contained Australian 

 plants, and young Indian Azaleas. It is 84 feet long by 

 16 feet wide. 3 is a span-roofed house, 102 feet long 

 by 16 feet broad ; it is«furnished with a flat platform in 

 the centre, full of Indian Azaleas and Camellias. We 

 also noticed some fine plants here of the Norfolk Island 

 Pine (Araucaria excelsa), about 4 feet high. The slati 

 platforms round this house were occupied by Camellias 

 the back and ends with Araucarias, Cryptonierias, and 

 Telopea speciosissima. On two shelves under the eaves 

 of the roof were some thousands of young plants of 

 Thuja chilensis, or Libocedrus chilensis, in beautiful 

 health, along with JuHiperttS Bermudiana, and a large 

 stock of soft- wooded plants, fit for turning out bye-and- 

 bye into the flower garden. In front of this house an 

 32 lights of pits, mostly filled with small Coniferous 

 plants, seedling Arbutus, and delicate herbaceous plants. 

 4 consisted of Geraniums, all in small pots, in order to 

 fit them the better for enduring a long journey. It is 

 46 feet long by 14 feet wide. 5 contained Australian 

 and Cape plants, mostly from 6 to 18 inches in height. 

 In this house, which is 100 feet long, W#e many new 

 plants, collected in the Swan River settlement, by Mr. 

 Drummond. 6 is a Heath house, 73 feet by 10 feet, a 

 half span, and ventilated by means of moving shutter 

 in the back wall, as well as at the top ; the front lights 

 are likewise made to open. All the houses named above 

 are heated by smoke flues. 7, a Camellia house, is 1 00 

 feet long by 14 feet wide, and faces the North ; here 

 there was a magnificent plant of the old Nepal Rhodo- 

 dendron, covered with brilliant crimson flowers, also 

 many Cryptonierias, Araucarias, Taxodiums, and other 

 Conifers, some of them of considerable size, together 

 with two trees of the old Warratah Camellia, 10 feet high. 

 When grown to a large size, as this was, this neglected sort 

 is one of the finest of all the Anemone-flowered kinds. 8 



iition, and there is Utile doubt that Hi wm .imply 



repay it. At the east end of house, No. 5, is a range of 

 pits, 148 foot in length. The. first division is filled with 

 Kpacris, an ig v.Uich, the finest was a seedling, raised 

 by J. Wilmore, Esq., of Oldford, Birmingham, named 

 "Delicata." It has beautiful pink buds, opening to a 

 fine blush. The spikes are large, and tlio flowers equal 

 to those of Hyaciiithaeflora. The next livisjeo con- 

 tained Couifers, and the two following were tilled witk 

 Heaths in small pots. There were many other pill 

 filled with young stock, all in a very healthy condition* 

 In order to afford shade to the plants, we observed 

 that in some of the houses the glass was washed ove* 

 with a paint, made of whitening and water, which is 

 said to answer the purpose perfectly. This keeps the 

 house cool, and tends to prevent the appearance of red 

 spider. The potting shed is quite a model of its kind. 

 It is roomy, light, and means are afforded for warming 

 it in cold weather. 



Upton House, Dorset. — There is at 'present in the 

 gardens here a scarlet Rhododendron 1 04 feet high, and 

 33 feet in circumference, which has upwards of 400 

 expanded blooms on it, and betwixt 400 and 500 more 

 to open. 



Messrs. Sutton's Nursery, Reading. — An inte- 

 resting collection of fruit trees, consisting of Pears on 

 Quince stocks, Apples on Paradise stocks, and Cherries 

 on Mahaleb stocks, only from 4 to 6 feet high, are now 

 in full bloom in this nursery, and are singularly beauti- 

 ful. We are informed that these diminutive trees were 

 loaded with fruit last summer. In another part of the 

 nursery, called "the sample ground,' 1 may l>e stten 

 upwards of 50 different kinds o Grasses growing sepa- 

 rately, with the botanical names affixed to each. As but 

 few nursery grounds in the country contain thdBe inte- 

 resting collections of plants, we doubt not that the oppor- 

 tunities of inspecting them gratuitously afforded by the 

 proprietors will be duly appreciated. Ii ding Mercury. 



Miscellaneous. 



The follow 



Culture of the Dahlia for Echibition,.— UM loiiowing 

 concise rules, to be observed in the successful culture 

 of the Dahlia for exhibition, are not presented so much 

 for any novelty in the practice recommended, as to 

 paint out a few of the most essential thii s to be done 

 at the proper time. For economy in carriage, the 

 plants are grown and sent out in small pots : therefore, 

 on receiving them from the nursery, place them in a 

 close frame for a day and a night to recover them from 

 their confinement ; then repot them into 4-inch pots, 

 using rich soil : the pots should be i lined whh coarse 

 partfy decomposed leaf-mould, so that in planting out 

 there will be nothing to abstract from the ball of earth. 

 A good start is of great importance : therefore care 

 should be taken that the plant is grown to a fair size 

 without drawing during the time it is in the pot ; the 

 stouter it is the better, without being tall ; and it 

 should not be pot bound at the time of planting out : 

 both the roots and the point of the plant should be in a 



and free from aphides. It may 



that the plants must 



they are turned out 



proper state, the first 

 time for the general 



is a span-roofed stove, 72 feet long by 1 5 feet wide. It 

 has a footpath up the centre, and a pit on either side, 

 heated with hot water in brick and cement tanks. 

 In one part of this house were placed 8 lights, under 

 which stove and soft-wooded plants are rooted in large 

 numbers, and here there is no steam to injure them as 

 in a hotbed, while they may have the same moist 

 atmosphere. Associated with Pitcher plants, Hoy as, 

 Ixoras, Mandevillas, and other inhabitants of this class, 

 was a quantity of young Camellias, just taken from the 

 grafting pit. These had already made shoots from (> to 

 9 inches in length. At the end of the lights above 

 alluded to, there is a collection of new Chrysanthe- 

 mums, Verbenas, Fuchsias, &c, imported from the Con- 

 tinent this season, with a view of getting cuttings from 

 them. 9 is a propagating house with double lights, to 



This 



•vuuace were unscathed and flourishing. In 



t ™ kind " the hlnnm » Will nnntinn* in . 



a house of 

 will continue in good condi- 



prevent " drip " from falling on the cutting pots, 

 is filled with cuttings under bell-glasses, principally 

 Heaths, Epacris, and other hard-wooded plants, which 

 are struck on old-fashioned tan-beds, 

 glasses are employed here, while in a small pit iri join- 

 ing, there were nearly the same number of pots full of 

 cuttings, from which the glasses have been removed. 

 This house is heated by hot water, as is also pit No. 10, 

 which was filled with small Palms and soft-wooded 

 plants ; 1 1 contains a few Orchidaceous plants, and on 

 the platform in front were some hundreds of Pyrus 

 japonica struck from roots, after the manner in which 

 the market gardeners propagate Seakale. 12 was | 

 occupied by stove plants, mostly Brazilian, and various | 

 Begonias, a genus whose value for the winter decora- 

 tion of stoves can hardly be overrated. 13, a small 



filled with Ferns in considerable 



thriving condition, 

 perhaps be unnecessary to stat 

 be carefully hardened off before 

 If the soil and plants are in a 

 week in June will be a good 



planting, which, with ordinary care and attention, will 

 produce good blooms in time for the earliest exhibition. 

 A short period will suffice to have plants of a good 

 size ; but it should be borne in mind that hours lost in 

 repotting them when in a young state will make a 

 difference of days in the time of blooming, and it is 

 important that this should be clearly understood, that 

 no neglect in the matter may be permitted to take 

 place, Examine the plants often, to see if any require 

 water ; by no means let them become dry so long as 

 they are in pots. Secure them with proper and strong 

 fastenings at the time of planting ; water whenever they 

 require it, and sprinkle the foli; e slightly almost every 

 evening with soft water. Tie out tl branches, and, as 

 the plant increases in size, secure the sid< hoots firmVy 

 to extra stakes. Cut away all superfluous small shoots. 

 Some varieties have scarcely any to remove, while 

 others have a considerable number. Fearless is of 

 the class which has but few shoots requiring the use 

 of the knife ; but such kinds as Shy lock require it 

 freely. Indiscriminate pruningmust thereforeb- avoided. 

 Study the habit of the plant, and consider if the flower 

 will be improved by increased size ; all varieties need 

 some thinning and disbudding, which should be effected 



Small flowers require it as soon as 



v 



one-sided house, 



ariety, and against the roof was a raised platform, or 

 broad shelf, 2 feet wide, and running the length of 

 the house, on which were many thousands of the 



Rhododendrons frofi the Sikkim- Himalayas. 



at different periods. 



the young shoots and buds can be removed, while large 



b flowers, such as Thames Bank Hero, Princess Louisa, 



Upwards'of 600 and many others, would be rendered coarse and value- 

 less for the purposes of exhibition if a number of buds 

 were not permitted to remain till the pis t was coming 

 into bloom. Size in this case would be gained at the 

 expense of quality ; besides, there is the advantage of 

 having three blooms where two would be grown. On 

 the other hand, size, in moderation, must not be lost 

 sight of. It was not with small blooms that I have 

 t»ken first prizes for these last 15 years. I would 

 therefore advise the young grower to avoid the two 

 extremes. In shading blooms for exhibition, as a general 

 rule, they should be one-third blown before they are put 

 under the shade ; and take care to secure such as a rP^ 

 to be coming good, and at the time they are required, 

 from injury by friction. Slugs and earwigs are very 

 destructive, and must be pers eringly kept down from 



new 

 Upon 



the time the plants are put out till the end of the <?n. 

 If vou should be annoved by a small black insect (witicn 



these Mr. Low has bestowed much care and j is often the case in July), use every means to encourage 



