36 Report on rare or select Aj'ticles 



The Orchidaceous House contains an ample collection, including fine speci- 

 mens of vandas, cattleyas, saccolabiums, aerides, dendrobiums, peristerias, 

 &c. One fine plant of Peristeria elata, in flower, has twelve spikes 6 ft. high ; 

 and a specimen of Zygopetalon MackaM, coming into bloom, has thirty spikes. 

 The Heath-house is a spacious span-roofed structure, and it contains large 

 specimens of all the rare kinds, Messrs. Lucombe and Co. having long been 

 celebrated at the London Horticultural Society's shows for the beauty of 

 their specimens. 



There are two houses appropriated to New Holland plants, one for gera- 

 niums, and several others, besides numerous pits and frames. All the houses, 

 as far as we recollect, are span-roofed, which gives more light, and is particu- 

 larly well adapted for growing small plants which require to be near the glass ; 

 but they do not all stand north and south. They are all most substantially 

 executed, and the health and vigour of the plants speak volumes both for their 

 design and management. 



The S2:>ecimens of rare Hardy Trees and Shrubs are chiefly contained in an 

 enclosure at the end of the Camellia Temple, as it may well be called. It is 

 surrounded by a hedge of laurel 10 or 12 feet high, within which is a parallel 

 line of posts of the same height, formed of larch trees with the bark on, and 

 connected by festoons of chains, for climbers. The interior of the area is 

 planted with rare specimens, access to which is had by small winding gravel 

 walks, communicating with broader walks ; the whole forming an exceedingly 

 interesting assemblage. Among the plants we noticed are, Araucaria imbricata, 

 planted in 1832, 15 ft. high, in vigorous health; Cedrus Deoddra lift, high; 

 Pinus australis 12 ft. ; Pinus insignis 14 ft. 6 in. high, with branches covering 

 a space 14 ft. in diameter, transplanted two years ago without receiving any 

 check ; J^bies DouglaszV 18 ft. 6 in. high, producing cones; ./uniperus excelsa 

 9ft. 6.i n. high; J. recurva 9ft. high; cT. sinensis lift, high; Cupr^ssus 

 thurifera 7 ft. 6 in. high, quite hardy; Cunninghamz'a lanceolata 10 ft. high; 

 Quercus Flex Fordw 18 ft. high: this is a distinct and very beautiful variety 

 which assumes a conical shape, and is a free grower ; it will form a fit asso- 

 ciate for cypresses, Irish yews, and other cypress-like or churchyard ever- 

 greens. Besides these the following plants are fine specimens: — Collet?a 

 spinosa, Fiburnum japonicum, ZJaphne indica rubra, OHea excelsa, Berberis 

 Coriaria, B. rotundifolia, and B. Wa\\ic\iidmmi, Jrctostaphylos nitida ; Mimosa 

 prostrata, quite hardy; Rhododendron nobile 8ft. high, P. barbatum (^r^. 

 Brit. vol. ii. p. 1148., half-hardy), i2. arboreum, iZ. a. ?'6seum, R. a. album, 

 J?, zeylanicum (Arb. Brit. vol. ii. p. 1148.), P. campanulatum, .S. cinnamo- 

 meum, and various other rare species and hybrids, mostly, however, only half- 

 hardy ; Andromeda Drummondi, .Elaeagnus sp., Quercus sideroxyla {Encyc, 

 of Trees and Shrubs, p. 900. fig. 1674.), &c. 



The Arboretum is being planted along both sides of a walk 1400 ft. in length ; 

 but, as night came upon us before we could get half through it, we must pass 

 it over, not doubting that it will be rendered as complete as that of any 

 nursery in the kingdom, and particularly so in the Jbietinae and Cupressinse, 

 of which Messrs. Lucombe and Pince have a collection as complete, we 

 should think, as exists. (See the notice of their Catalogue ofConiferce in our 

 Volume for 1841, p. 86.) 



The general Nursery Stock of Messrs. Lucombe and Pince afforded us, if 

 possible, more satisfaction than the fine specimens. We do not know that 

 we ever saw such immense numbers of rare species finely grown, the 

 greater part of them in pots, in order to insure their growth, to whatever 

 distance they may be sent: hundreds of araucarias, from 18 in. to 2 ft. high ; 

 the same of Pinus insignis, from 1 ft. to 6 ft. high ; Deodar cedars by thou- 

 sands, of various sizes ; great numbei's of J'uniperus excelsa, /. recurva, Cu- 

 pressus thurifera with its elegant tortuous branches, and many other species 

 of junipers and cypresses, all in pots, ./uniperus communis var. hibernica, 

 very distinct from the Swedish juniper, in quantities, from 2 ft. to ^. ft. high ; 



