570 Summary Vieiso of the Progress of Gardenings 



tecting oak trees. We refer the reader to the table of con- 

 tents, for the titles of the numerous remaining papers included 

 under this head ; remarking only, that the notices of the prin- 

 cipal pinetums in Britain (p. 29.) and in France (p. 28. )> which 

 have been pi'epared with great care and labour, show the in- 

 creasing taste, both in Britain and on the Continent, for the 

 culture of the ^bietinas. 



With respect to the influence of the last winter on the ^bie- 

 tinae, it appears to have injured many species, but killed only 

 a few. Cedrus Deoddra, though a native of Nepal, is proved 

 beyond all doubt to be as hardy as the cedar of Lebanon ; and 

 Araucaria imbricata appears, at all events, to be sufficiently 

 hardy to stand through the winter without the slightest protec- 

 tion, both in the climate of London and that of Edinburgh. The 

 ^^bies cephalonica, that interesting species described p. 81., is, 

 according to the experience of Mr. Long, to whom the seeds 

 were first sent by Major-General Sir Charles Joseph Napier, 

 fully as hardy as the silver fir. 



Floriculture. — There are a variety of interesting papers on this 

 subject, for the titles of which we must again refer the reader to 

 the table of contents. The article on the culture of the miffno- 

 nette by Mr. Cuthill, though it may seem to treat only on a well 

 known topic, is yet of considerable importance, since every one 

 must have observed the bad state of mignonette plants during 

 winter, in country gardens generally. The article on exotic ferns 

 (p. 252.), it is hoped, may lead to an extended culture of this 

 tribe of plants, which are rendered doubly interesting from the 

 facility with which they can be cultivated in boxes under glass 

 cases; or in larger houses in caves, or among rockwork, with 

 less trouble than any other kind of plant whatever. By far the 

 greatest extent of floricultural information will be found under 

 our article Floricultural Notices ; wherein, not only all the new 

 plants are popularly described, but their culture is given from the 

 different periodicals in which they have been figured. There 

 are, in particular, among these notices, many excellent directions 

 for the culture of Orchidaceae, taken principally from Paxton's 

 Magazine of Botany^ and the Floral Cabinet. 



HorticultiLre. — The most interesting circumstance which comes 

 under this department, in our opinion, is, the spread of the culture 

 of Musa Cavendish/z, M. Dacca, and other dwarf species or va- 

 rieties of banana. We refer to p. 58. and 105. for an account of 

 the success with which the Musa Dacca has been cultivated in 

 the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh, and to Mr. Paxton's com- 

 munication (p. 104.) respecting his success with the M. Caven- 

 dishfz at Chatsworth. We have ourselves seen the Miiso; Ca- 

 vendish// thriving with great luxuriance in the stove of Mr. 

 Harris at Kingsbury, in that of Mr. Harrison at Cheshunt, and 



