Joi.y 14 



THE GA. >" CHRONICLE. 



39 



Daring hot dry seasons it is possible to assist 

 v, 'l:--! ttion by giving ample waterings, and thus pro- 

 duction is greatly accelerated. When heavy rains 

 prevail it seems possible to do little but sigh for sun- 

 shine. The season started very late indeed. Soil 

 was cold beneath, and the atmosphere above was 

 cold also, accompanied by considerable gloom. Later 

 abundant sunshine might have helped to catch up 

 time somewhat, but the weather has been throughout 

 deterring to productiveness, although coarse growth 

 has been plentiful. Such vegetables as Cabbages 

 and Lettuces have revelled in the abundant rains 

 and low temperature, although it is worthy of remark 

 that the winter stocks of Lettuces ran off to seed 

 this year with exceptional speed. 



Potatos have made very tall, lanky tops, and it is 

 to be feared no correspouding progress in the de- 

 velopment of tubers. Broad Beans have run up tall 

 where not stopped, and pods are swelling slowly, 

 whilst on Teas the pods by no means keep pace with 

 the haulm, which seems to be carrying off the chief 

 portion of production. Very much indeed do Peas 

 need sunshine to help the pods to fill, as also to give 

 to the contents some flavour. 



The lateness of the season, therefore, seems likely 

 to conflict with the summer shows, and cottagers' 

 products can hardly be up to the average. It 

 is doubtful whether, on the whole, were the season 

 studied, all such shows should not have been fixed a 

 fortnight later than usual. Seasons vary somewhat, 

 whilst shows apparently remain immovable in date. 

 To invite from cottagers such products as Potatos, 

 Onions, Carrots, Turnips, and many similar pro- 

 ducts, which will only be matured by warmth, so 

 early in the season, is hardly wise, as too often much 

 growing material is destroyed in the effort to find 

 for exhibition that which Nature has, so far, refused 

 to produce. A. D. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



PINUS CANARIENSIS, A LIME-LOVING 

 CONIFER. 



On the western Riviera, in my Grimaldi garden, 

 and in that of my neighbour, Mr. Haubury, at Mor- 

 tola, this beautiful Conifer (of which a full-page 

 illustration was given at p. 721, vol. iii., n. s.) 

 appears to thrive as well as in the Canary Islands, 

 its native home ; yet the soil is not volcanic, 

 as in the island of Teneriffe, but the mere 

 break-up of the limestone rocks which form the 

 coast-line of mountains in this region. With 

 me it is one of the Conifers that succeed the 

 best; it grows rapidly, forming a succession of beau- 

 tiful whorls, with clear interspaces, and is an 

 elegant, handsome tree in all stages of its develop- 

 ment, from a few feet, to twenty, thirty, or more. 

 As its introduction on the Riviera is comparatively 

 recent, we do not know yet what altitude it is 

 destined to attain with us, but it grows as if it meant 

 to be a very tall tree — boldly, vertically, compactly. 

 I am grieved not to have known of it as a 

 Conifer, suited to the soil and climate, twenty-five 

 years ago, when I first began gardening on the 

 Riviera. I now never pass one, large or small, with- 

 out looking at it with admiration, and a feeling of 

 satisfaction at having discovered a Conifer that 

 seems so much at home in my rugged, limestone 

 rocks, and which is such an ornament to the land- 

 scape wherever it appears. We propagate it from 

 seed, which sprout like Beans in the seed-pan, not 

 one in twenty failing. 



This Conifer seems to do best in ravines and gul- 

 lies, where, no doubt, there are crevices into which 

 it can extend its roots. In such positions it grows 

 rapidly, even when there is but little soil. 



Planted in open situations, on the rocks, in a small 

 amount of earth, it lives, but remains small — a mere 

 shrub, like the Araucaria excelsa; but then, in such 

 situations, there are no lateral crevices or fissures 

 into which it can send its roots. I have had to 

 remove all those so planted ; not one has done well. 



Mr Hanbury has some very line tall specimens, but 

 all, if I recollect ri^rh t. are on the side of a deep 

 ravine or gully. 



The Finns canadensis does so extremely well on 

 our calcareous rocks that I cannot help thinking 

 that in the Canary Isl m,is it must also be growing 

 on calcareous formations, that it is not confined to 

 volcanic soils. Indeed, I would ask, is volcanic soil 

 specially suited to Conifers? I do not recollect seeing 

 any on the flank of Mount Vesuvius or Mount Etna. 

 I have not, however, been higher than 5000 or 6000 

 feet up Mount Etna— to the Casa Inglese, so have no 

 personal knowledge of the vegetation of the higher 

 regions. 



Although Conifers are more especially suited to 

 granitic schistic soils, some species thrive admirably 

 on calcareous formations, as recently stated in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. The Pinus halepensis, or 

 Aleppo Pine, for instance, covers the limestone 

 rocks of the Mediterranean shores and islands every- 

 where. It is undoubtedly the commonest tree in 

 the Mediterranean. All or nearly all the Cypresses 

 thrive admirably in our calcareous rock soil. I have 

 recently seen m my small specimens of the Abies 

 Nordmanniana doing very well on the Riviera, east 

 and west of Genoa, but do not recollect meeting with 

 any large specimens. I think, therefore, it must be 

 a recent but successful introduction in these lime- 

 stone regions. 



Until recently I was afraid that the Pinus canad- 

 ensis might thrive for a time, and then die — as has 

 been the case with me with the Wellingtonias that I 

 have planted — or that it might be naturally a short- 

 lived tree, but these fears have been quite dispelled. 

 Mr. Ernest Hart, the editor of the British Medical 

 Journal, published last July in that journal a series 

 of very interesting articles on the Island of Teneriffe, 

 which he had recently visited. He therein states 

 that the oldest tree in the island is a Pinus canad- 

 ensis, which was already a grand old tree 400 years 

 ago, when the island was first discovered, and is 

 mentioned as such in the historical records of the 

 time. Thus, so far from being a short-lived tree, it 

 may be able to compete with its countryman the Dra- 

 e:ena Draco, or the American Sequoia gigantea. The 

 climate of the Genoese Riviera is a marine climate, 

 evidently akin to that of the Canary Islands. 



It is sad to think that the entire Genoese Riviera 

 might in all probability be clothed with the Norfolk 

 Island Pine (.the Araucaria excelsa) and the Pinus 

 canadensis, but that such will never be the case, 

 owing to the apathy of its southern inhabitants. 

 They are rapidly cutting down their beautiful old 

 Olive trees, and denuding the mountain sides of the 

 Aleppo Pine, for fuel and timber, never planting 

 trees but only Vines. The Mentone amphitheatre is 

 rapidly deteriorating in beauty from this source, and 

 ere long it will be as naked and barren-looking as the 

 Vine-clad hills or mountains which surround Malaga. 

 Henri/ Bcnnct, 31. D., June '20. 



Notes on Economic Plants in Havana. 



Some interesting notes on Tobacco culture, 

 as well as on the introduction and cultivation of 

 fibrous plants, in Havana, have recently been fur- 

 nished to the Foreign Office, from which we gather 

 the following facts. 



Regarding Tobacco culture, it seems that the 

 markets are affected by the general demand for 

 light-coloured Tobaccos. This demand is said to 

 cause injury to the plant, which, unless artificial 

 bleaching be had recourse to, must be gathered before 

 maturity, with loss of quality and aroma. There is 

 as much Tobacco grown, and there are as good markets 

 as ever, but the growers and manufacturers, in their 

 race after quick returns, force and spoil the plant in 

 the ground and the curing-house, and ship goods 

 that not only no longer command the market, but 

 are undersold by foreign and inferior, but probably 

 more carefully prepared kinds. There is, as a matter 

 of course, a large amount of exquisite and care- 

 fully handled Tobacco exported, but the price of this 

 has become so high that it is above the reach of the 

 middle-class consumer, this, however, ought not to 



and need not be. Climate, soil, and acreage, are all 

 in favour of a superior and large production that 

 could hold the field against all comers, but the 

 elements to make this a reality — namely, capital, 

 labour, and frugal and unfettered administration — 

 are wanting. The social and political state of the 

 island is not of a nature to attract these elements, 

 and prostration and uncertainty are seen everywhere. 

 Although Tobacco grows well all over the island, 

 the soil and climate of the south-west portion pro- 

 duces the finest. This is known as the Vuelta 

 Abajo, and lies along the foot-hills of the Sierra 

 stretching to Cape Antonio and the northern side of 

 the great plain which reaches from sea to sea across 

 the island. The very best land of the Vuelta Abajo 

 lies near to Consolacion and the lomas on the eastern 

 side of the Cayos which overlook the Palm-covered 

 plain. 



The planter's house-made cigars, called " veg- 

 neros,'' or " farmers," are celebrated at Consolacion, 

 and possess a delicious aroma, especially when 

 smoked immediately on being made. The leaf is of 

 a very rich, light, coffee-brown, with a slight hairy 

 down on it, which is soft and tender. To test the leaf, 

 the vegnero always tries the strength of the material 

 by passing it over his finger in the way one tries the 

 skin of the glove. The '" maduro," or the ripest, is 

 considered the very best ; but as of late years fashion 

 has ruled in favour of light colours, the Tobacco is 

 dried in such a manner as to get the required shade, 

 but in the opinion of the best judges, to the detri- 

 ment of the flavour. 



The Tobacco seed is sown early in October, after 

 the rains have well soaked the light sandy soil, and 

 cuttings are taken between October and March. 

 Some vegas lying along the arroyas, which are 

 always full of good and abundant water, never fail; 

 others produce only the " tripa," or kind used for 

 working up to form the core of the cigar, the outer 

 leaf being of a finer brand. In this consist most of 

 the frauds which prevail very extensively in the 

 trade. 



A company called the Cuban Fibre Company 

 (Limited) has been formed in London for culti- 

 vating and extracting the various fibres in Cuba, 

 principally the Sanseviera, or Leuga de Vaca plant, 

 which give the best fibres of their class. Preli- 

 minary arrangements have been made for plant- 

 ing about 1000 acres in different parts of the 

 island ; so that next year the export of the fibre 

 will commence, and will, it is expected, be equal to 

 the best Hemp and some kinds of Flax. The culti- 

 vation of these hitherto neglected plants is likely to 

 prove a success, for they take up little of the 

 planter's time, and grow readily on the poorest land, 

 leaving him free to attend to more important cul- 

 tures. In a single month, which may be in the early 

 spring or in the rainy season, hundreds of shoots or 

 cuttings may be planted, giving later a considerable 

 crop. Cuban labourers with families, who are nu- 

 merous in some districts, will find this new agri- 

 cultural industry a steady means of gaining a liveli- 

 hood. 



The Herbaceous Border. 



ANEMONE NARCISSIFLOKA. 

 This is a plant which, to grow well, only requires 

 patience, as it is not particular as to soil, and 

 likes a sheltered border better than an exposed 

 rockery. Several have grown in my garden without 

 any attention for several years. Those which have 

 been longest established, and which as yet show no 

 signs of deteriorating, are about 1.3 inches high, and 

 as many across. I counted on one plant twenty- 

 seven flower-stalks, nearly all of them five-flowered. 

 The flowers in general appearance and size resemble 

 Apple blossom, being pink in bud and white inside. 

 On some plants the flowers are nearly all five- 

 petalled and on others many petalled. Like Anemone 

 alpina, the growth from seed is slow, at least three 

 years being required to reach flowering. I have care- 

 fully compared my plants of A. narcissiflora with 



