22—18.'. I.J 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



341 



creeper 



marked attention ; fornightinsralea 



lilac flowers before it puts forth its leaves, grow sulky, and refuse their regular food. Thi he v will 

 itiimaH finmtt" What could it be I was do for very many hours. In such cases, you must tm 



gad it is delki.»usl_ 



' w uM it predate perfect seeds 





But it was 



and had 



_. procured 

 suggested themselves. It is only the enthusi- 



botanical collector who can form an idea of the 

 amount of excitement and pleasure there is when one 



he is on the eve of finding a new and beautiful 

 flower. Captain Hall led the way, and we soon reached 

 the spot where the plant grew.* There had been no 

 txMgeration in his description ; there it was, covering 

 old wall, and scrambling up the branches of the 

 adjoining trees ; it bore long racemes of Pea-shaped 

 flowers, and scented the surrounding air with its odours 

 Jfeed I My it was the beautiful 

 not found in a wild state even at Amoy, 

 i-ndently been brought from more northern latitudes. 

 When I reached Chusan, in latitude 30° north, I 

 remarkable change in the appearance of the 

 rotation. Tropical forms had entirely disappeared, 

 or were rarely met with. Although the summers were 

 as warm, or even warmer, than they were in the south, 

 vet the winters were nearly as cold as those we have in 

 England. On this ground, and all over the provinces 

 of CWuang and Kiangnan, the Glycine seemed to be at 

 home. It grew wild on every hill-side, scrambling 

 about in the hedges by the footpaths, and hanging over 

 and dipping its leaves and flowers into the canals and 

 tain streams. 



way 



theii ._. 



return to their food. 



by presentin 

 This will cai 









But by far the most beautiful effect is produced when 

 it attaches itself to the stems and branches of other 



This is not unfreqnent in nature, and is often 

 copied by the Chinese and introduced into their gardens. 

 You can scarcely imagine anything more gorgeous or 

 beautiful than a large plant of this kind in full bloom. 

 Its main and larger branches' are entwined round every 

 branch and branchlet of the tree ; and from them 

 hundreds of small ones hang down until they nearly 

 touch the groun/L The whole of the branches are 

 covered with flower- buds, which a day or two of warm 

 weather brings rapidly forward into bloom. To form 

 an idea of the effect produced by these thousands of 

 long lilac racemes, you must imagine, if you can, a 

 floral cascade, or a Weeping Willow covered with the 

 flowers of the Glycine. There are some large speci- 

 mens of this kind on the island of Chusan. One, in 

 particular, was most striking. Not content with mono- 

 polising one tree, it had scrambled over a whole clump, 

 And formed a pretty arbour underneath. When I saw 

 it last it was in full flower, and had a most charming 

 appearance. h 



The Chinese are fond of growing the Glycine on trellis- 

 work, and forming long covered walks in the garden, or 

 arbours and porticos in front of their doors. In a former 

 letter 1 noticed a large specimen of this description in 

 the garden of the British consulate at Shanghae. There 

 is another remarkable one in the garden of a mandarin 

 * *«gpo ; growing in company with it is the fine new 

 variety introduced lately by the Horticultural Society 

 of London, and published in the Journal of the Society, 

 in .foliage and general habit the two kinds are nearly 

 flower, Th n f* one , *>ears long racemes of pure white 

 ui™ j I • kind 0,d S entle nian to whom the garden 

 belonged (he is dead now) allowed me to make layers of 



Sfc °u th r t0 P of his house > and durin S the su ro™r 

 months, when I was travelling in other districts, attended 



to them and watered them with his own hands When 



mT7 o m aboUt a >' ear a S° he told *ie he was then 

 nearly 80 years old. One of the gentlemen who accom- 

 panied me (Dr. Kirk, of Shanghae), being introduced to 

 ■^un as a medical man. was aa1?«w1 if ho **^.^a i: — r„ 



I have seen many a bird exhibit 

 these signs of obstinacy. Indeed I believe Bome 

 would literally die, before being the iirst to give 

 in. These lovely little fellows know their powers, 

 and will be treated with becoming respect. But if 

 you treat them with affection— what a reward will be 

 your's ! Their motto to a « friend " is,—«Jc ne change 

 qu'en mouranV Faithful are they to their last dying 

 gasp. I have proved it, again and again. 



Apropos of the affection of the nightingale, where he 

 observes a corresponding feeling on the part of his ad- 

 mirer. By remarkably good fortune, one of the most 

 extraordinary of these songsters has recently taken full 

 possession of my garden. I call the gay, joyous fellow 

 • extraordinary/ 9 for I never yet heard such seraphic 

 strains, such perfect freedom of song, from any of the 

 tribe,— much as I have had to do with them. And what 

 makes roe value this merry little rogue the more, *i 

 his almost incredible tameness. He sings, the night I 

 through, just under my chamber window, and seldom [ 

 leaves the garden, by day or by night, for more than a 

 few minutes at a time. I usually rise to greet him at 

 £ a.m. ; and on venturing a humble imitation of his 

 swelling note, he flies tome at once 

 on a shady bough, and bending slightly forward, there 

 he remains — holding converse with me, so long as my 

 time permits me to tarry ; and he improvises such 

 music the while, that I can hardly tear myself away 

 from him. He knows my voice, and I know his. Thus 



* \ — w ~- familiarities; 



and greatly do I love to return, after the fatigues of a 



day of toil, to renew our intimacy. I believe the 



pleasure is quite mutual. I cannot but imagine that this 



bird possesses an unusual charm ; for he has drawn into 



one focus a host of blackbirds, thrushes, robins, black- 



and other vocalists, whose orchestral a^^m. 



dlea Lmdleyana (blossoming profusely against a wall), 

 Forsythia viridissima. I have Mvrtle? on an east 

 wall ; the broad-leaved one 10 feet high, the narrow 

 and other varieties from 3 to 6 or 7 feet, which bloom 

 profusely, and are never protected in the winter 

 Fuchsia gracilis 6 feet high, the ends of the shoots only 

 being injured ; and globosa, Eppsii, Epps' Monarch, 

 &c, succeed almost equally well, though, of course 

 their size is not as great. The Hydrangea hortensis is* 

 perfectly hardy ; at Sandgate you may see plants 5 feet 

 m diameter in the summer, covered with blossom, not 

 having been protected in the severest frosts. Plum- 

 bago Larpents© is now coming up in the borders. I have 

 gathered a fair crop of ripe Black Hamburgh Grapes 

 from the roof of a stable, with an east aspect, without any 

 glass or other means having been applied to forward 

 them. I therefore conceive that the climate of Hvthe 

 and Sandgate, from their peculiarly favourable position, 



m 1 *^ 53 ?? ? xce P tion to the general climate of Kent. 

 1. JJ., If fine. May 28. 



Ranuncuhtses. 



Seating himself 





caps, m 



paniments, blending with his own heavenly voice, almost 

 lead us to suppose we are in fairy land. They rehearse 

 early in the evening ; and the concert, once commenced, 

 lasts until long after sunrise. I hardly need say, that I 

 now retire to rest with my chamber window open. 



Yesterday evening brought with it a new moon. 

 For the next fortnight therefore, this melody, in a 

 modified form, will continue. It will then gradually 

 subside. The waning moon, and the jubilee of the 

 birds, will disappear together I Three short months of 



almost uninterrupted harmony will have been our's, a 



treat, as times go, of no common order. Perhaps, this 

 has been one of the finest nightingale seasons ever 

 known. Nor do I remember ever before to have 

 observed so much " interest w shown towards this bird 

 of Paradise. It cannot be his beauty that has worked 

 this charm \ Most assuredly not. It may be, that our 

 good word has had something to do in the matter. Let 

 us hope so. 



The nightingale, so far from being handsome, is of a 



._ _ I ■ ■ * V _ A m hi a 





jear more. The old man said he knew he must die 

 »on, but he was most anxious to live for another year, 

 ius presentiment was but too correct, for the next time 

 irisited rsingpo, about six months after, I found the 

 aoor of the mansion bricked up, and the garden neglected 

 «nd overrun with weeds. H. F. 





XXXII 



BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 



(Cage Buds, No. 16.) 



—All the nightingales that have arrived this 

 tjuhs, anu that are worth caging, have, 'ere this, been 

 *uely secured. All you have to do, therefore, is,— to 



™ e j i. r" cunnin g" ear > to their vocal powers when 

 ^ontrned, before making a purchase. As I have before 

 muted, much tact is requisite in this matter. Now, if 



Af£. *T rds , Wil1 °P en U P' and sin S loud an <* merrily. 

 a»» this month, their song will cease until next seizor, 



Lose 



v .!• ' "**" *•""""<• »" maKing your eiectic 



Nestlings " will be obtamable at the end of June 



they 



Perhaps a week or so earlier, n you are desir 

 "*urmg a nest of young birds, make your wishes 1 



22L u S ° me 0f the dealera - In thia mat ter _ 

 wnnot cheat you. Out of a nest, you are likely to rear 



JTwoi* M,° e male birds - The hens > **en proved to 

 Jf^ch, wfll of course be liberated,-but not in the 



"^ranchers " will be on sale in July, and should be 



Srt^ 80 ? tT^ T ou wiU fi nd them, for the 



iber £? l , ch f erful nnd soc,able 5 and so imitative, that 



J quickly learn to unite a number of other voices with 



tuti™!^" . y P ossess however, the charm of exe- 

 nriei * ha ferthey attempt, to perfection ; so that this 

 ■"«y will be pleasingly agreeable. 



^ranchers and nestlings-the latter in particular— 



r sing their own natural song only ; unless indeed 



^J oe brought up immediately under an old steady song 



£™^«d allowed to hear the voice of none other. Here 



^ % ■ can firm ,-.-.., — A - f. , . 



remarkably common presence ; yet has he, « within, that 

 which passeth show/' No person, to look at him, would 

 set any value upon him. This bears out my old 

 favourite saying, — that Nature seldom gives rare excel- 

 lences and a handsome person united. Look at the 

 beautiful plumage of many of the American and other 

 foreign birds— yet have they no voice. Exquisite in 

 form, of faultless symmetrical proportions — yet not one 

 particle of music, or of vocal melody, is there among 

 the entire tribe ! Here, again, we find practical 

 instruction ; and learn how vain is beauty without mind. 

 I never see any of these gaudy automata without a 

 feeling of pity. They were never intended by Nature 

 to visit our country ; nor were they ever intended to be 

 immured in cages. They cannot be said to " live " 

 here ; their's is an " existence " only ; for they are never 

 well, never happy. They suffer a martyrdom in their 

 confinement, and die in the very prime of life. I throw 

 out these remarks advisedly, and in the kindest spirit of 

 humanity, trusting they will not fall far short of their 

 intended aim. William Kiddy New Road. Hammersmith. 





Home Correspondence. 



Remarks on Climate. — I send the names of some 

 plants usually cultivated in the greenhouse, which have 

 endured the late winter in this place (Hythe), and also 

 the names of some which survived the winter of 1849 

 (rather a severe one), and which usually bear the 

 winter here. I do this in consequence of having read 

 the remarks on the climate of Britain in your leading 

 article at p. 323. This last winter Primula sinensis 

 (several plants) has been perpetually in blossom, unpro- 

 tected in the open border ; a cut-leaved sweet Geranium 

 allied to the oak-leaved, is now in bloom, and the scarlet 

 Geranium « Lord Melbourne," is coming into flower, 

 both having lived through the winter without the slightest 

 protection, even of straw or coal-ashes, about the roots ; 

 two purple hybrid Cinerarias are in blossom (good 

 heads), having been under similar circumstances in a 

 very cold border ; Salvia cardinalis (fulgens) is also in 

 flower, the points only of the shoots being injured ; 

 Maurandya Barclayana, against a wall, is uninjured. 

 Amongst the plants which lived through the win- 

 ter of 1849, and usually survive our winters, are 

 Salvia cardinalis, which in severe frosts is killed to 

 the ground, but springs from the crown ; S. patens, 

 sometimes lives ; Veronica Lindleyana, hardy as a 

 standard; Eucalyptus perfoliate*? (I believe), Bud- 



I 



~i send a specimen of Ranunculus, in 

 proof of the wonderfully mild winter we have had. 

 My roots were planted in November, promiscuously in 

 the borders, and are all in flower, some of them being 

 much better filled m the'eentre than the one sent. Mine 

 is a very exposed garden, much elevated, and with very 

 little or no shelter, and sloping almost due east, slightly 

 south. It consists of good Ranunculus soil, very deep 

 and very rich, without being too strong, though if it has 

 a fault, it is on the side of excess of tenacity. The 

 Anemones grown here are many of them 44 inches, +~ A 

 some of them 5± in diameter when laid open, and t 

 fully 4, as they hold themselves before they are full 

 blown Lincolnicnsis, May 15. [Your specimen of 

 Ranunculus was early and good. We have, however, 

 seen (May 20th) several small beds of autumn or very 

 early spring planted Ranunculuses in bloom, and in fair 

 condition, The seasons rarely justify planting Ra- 

 nunculuses, excepting Turbans, in November, and the 

 past winter must be regarded as an exception, rather 

 than a rule.] 



Forcing Asparagus.— As « J. P." does not seem to 

 fully comprehend my plan of forcing this vegetable, 

 I have ventured to add the following information to what 

 was given at p. 277. My forcing beds are 54 feet long, 

 and produce a'constant succession from Christmas to the 

 time of cutting in the open ground. I force the same bed 

 every alternate season. As to the number of heads and 

 their weight per hundred, I can give no correct account, 

 having never weighed them. I may state that they have 

 been finer and better flavoured than any that I ever 

 saw produced by transplanted roots in pits. There 

 can be no question as to the merits of this system over 

 the other method as regards the superiority of the 

 crop, both in size, flavour, and earliness, as well as in 

 the durability of the beds. J. W., Davyhuhnt Hall, 

 Lancashire* 



The Calceolaria.— "Does « J. R." really imagine that 

 I f meant the flowers of a cutting differed from those of 

 its parent ! Deeming it probable that he did not wilfully 

 pervert the sense of my argument, when I said, that 

 * M. P." like others, might discover the impossibility, or 

 nearly so, of raising plants of chosen form and colour 

 from cuttings ; I will proceed to explain my meaning. 

 There are to be found in England large tracts of hilly 

 land, called Downs, the geological formation of which 

 differs materially from most other hilly tracts. They 

 are composed of chalk, the surface soil partakes largely 

 of chalky matter, and it is to this I attribute the 

 hopeless task of raising a stock from cuttings. In such 

 localities the Calceolaria will not flourish as it does in 

 other situations where the chalky matter is absent, 

 unless the cultivator goes to a great expense in pro- 

 curing soils better adapted to its growth. I would add 

 that the north of England, and Scotch cultivators 

 especially, rarely encounter obstacles of this nature, and 

 to those who are permanent residents in such localities, 

 the fact I have just mentioned is almost wholly 



unknown. O. JL, Tatton. For some years past 



I have raised my plants from seeds as well as 

 from cuttings ; but I prefer seeds, except in the 

 case of shrubby kinds, or such choice sorts as I 

 intend for exhibition. I have found the one-shift system 

 to answer my seedling plants admirably. But there is 

 one requisite, above every other, indispensable to the 

 perfect culture of this plant, whether from seeds or 

 cuttings, viz., you must provide for the free access of 

 air to the roots at every stage of growth ; and this I 

 should think could not easily be accomplished under 

 Mr. Rumley's plan of placing saucers of liquid manure 

 under the pots. As soon as I find my plants well 

 established, and in a vigorous state of growth, I give 

 them liquid manure in a highly clarified state, about 

 twice a week, till the flowers begin to expand. The 

 green fly is the only formidable enemy to this plant we 

 have to contend with. I find tobacco-smoke to be the 



most effectual means of destroying it C.I., Yorkshire. 



Ah,"G.H. F I involuntarily exclaimed, after reading his 

 remarks at page 310; the soil of your locality, like that 

 of mine, partakes of some deleterious quality/of which it 

 would be well if we could getrid. " G. H."speaks of * the 

 impossibility, or nearly so," of raising a stock of Calceo- 

 larias from cuttings, in certain localities, and ray expe- 

 rience in this, in a great measure, corroborates his 

 assertion. How many gardeners on the chalky soils of 

 England have I met with, who entertain similar ideas. 

 Ask them why it is their Calceolarias look so yellow I 

 Their only response is an ominous shake of the head, or 

 a shrug of the shoulder. When I was in Derbyshire, I 

 could grow Calceolarias to any size, with very little 



lilt 



