236 



JOURNAL. OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( September 14, 1876. 



shortened, or shortened bat very slightly, will be covered next 

 summer with " golden flowers," such as no other Rose nor 

 other plant can produce. A little assistance in the way of 

 pruning given to Marfiehal Niel now will be more effectual 

 than will any amount of cutting performed in the winter. 



We have received from the Rev. H. H. Dombrain a 



remarkable example of fasciation of growth in the Cucum- 

 ber. On the portion of Vines sent to us there were twelve 

 fruits showing in a length of stem of 3 inches, six of the fruits 

 being from 6 to 9 inches in length, the others smaller. The 

 stem was quite flat and 1J inch in diameter. The cluster 

 presented a very singular appearance. 



Euphorbia jacquinleflora is well known as one of the 



most brilliant and effective of winter-flowering plants. Especi- 

 ally as affording elegant sprays for cutting for room-decoration 

 is this plant valuable. In order to produce these sprays in the 

 greatest abundance and in the finest condition the plants 

 should be planted out. The best place for planting them and the 

 mode of growing and training them is that which has been this 

 year adopted by Mr. Ollerhead at Wimbledon House. At the 

 back of the Pine pits about a foot of the plunging material was 

 removed and replaced with soil. In this a row of Euphorbias 

 was planted close to the back wall of the pit, and three rows 

 of wires were stretched, supported by sticks, to train the plantB 

 to. These plants now form a hedge about 4 feet high, and in 

 due time will produce thousands of brilliant sprays which can- 

 not fail to be of great value. The heat of the Pine stove and 

 full exposure to light have been exactly suitable for the robust 

 growth of the Euphorbias, and they do not in the slightest 

 degree interfere with the Pines. The Euphorbias in fact form 

 an agreeable hedge, and ocoupy space which is invariably un- 

 occupied. We have never seen this plant so perfectly " at 

 home " as in the place and by the mode of culture now 

 referred to, and we have seldom seen any practice more 

 worthy of note and imitation. 



Amongst the numerous decorative plants employed in 



the ornamentation of Battersea Park may be seen plunged 

 in the grass standard plants or miniature trees of the Pome- 

 granate — Punica granatum. These arrest the notice of visitors 

 by their bright scarlet blossoms, which are freely produced. 

 The stems of these plants are about 2 feet in height, and their 

 heads are 2 feet in diameter ; the foliage is healthy. These 

 specimens are thoroughly distinct in character from the sur- 

 rounding subjeots, and are both novel and effeotive. 



The splendid dish of Crawford's Early Peaches 



recently exhibited before the Fruit Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society denote that this fine American Peach is 

 worthy the attention of those proposing to add to their col- 

 lections. The fruits were exceedingly large, nearly round, and 

 of an orange colour mottled with red. This is a most distinct 

 and imposing variety, and is found by Mr. Miles to be of excel- 

 lent quality, and the tree is hardy and a free bearer. Dr. Hogg, 

 in the " Fruit Manual," describes this as a " very large and 

 most delicious Peach, with a yellow flesh like an Apricot, aDd 

 is deserving of very extensive cultivation." At the fine exhi- 

 bition of Peaches at the Alexandra Palace last year Mr. Cole- 

 man easily secured the first prize with Crawford's Early, and 

 we are informed by others who have grown it that it is a 

 Tariety of the first order of merit. 



M. Nadault de Buffon, a French savant, has sent to 



the Society of Acclimatisation, through M. Drouyn de Lhuys, 

 the herbarium collected by Daubenton, the great friend of his 

 illustrious ancestor. The herbarium was collected at Mont- 

 bard when Daubenton was busy in the erection of a sheep- 

 house, which led to the introduction into France of the first 

 merinos. — {Nature.) 



At the usual monthly meeting of the Horticultural 



Club held at the Club House, 3, Adelphi Terrace, on Wednesday 

 last, the following gentlemen were admitted members : — John 

 C. Quennell.M.D., Brentwood, Essex; A. B. Cater, Bath; and 

 Joseph F. Mestin, 20, Spring Gardens, S.W., and Haverstock 

 Hill. 



Propagating Santhoceras sorbifolia. — M. Riviere 



states that this beautiful new shrub is rather difficult to raise 

 from cuttings in the ordinary way, but that it may be propagated 

 with the greatest freedom by means of root-cuttings formed 

 from small portions of the root. 



We omitted to note that Mr. George of Putney Heath 



exhibited blooms of his new seedling Ivy-leaved Geraniums 

 at South Kensington last week. The new varieties, both in ( 



colour and the form of their flowers, far surpass the older 

 sorts. The flowers exhibited were of a rosy salmon colour, and 

 of a shape resembling the zonals. The new seedlings are also 

 very compact in habit and floriferous. 



The Journal of the Society of Arts states that chief 



among the timber trees of New Zealand is the Kauri Pine. 

 These trees in some instances have been found 15 feet in 

 diameter and 150 feet in height. On an average they may be 

 estimated as yielding, when sawn into conveniently-sized 

 boards, between 6000 and 7000 feet of timber, the market price 

 of which at the mills is from 9s. 6d. to lis. dd. per 100 feet. 

 The wood is in great demand for cabinet-making, which gives 

 it a special value. An illustration of this occurred some time 

 ago, when a tree was cut by a settler residing about eighteen 

 miles north of Auckland. The trunk of this tree was 40 feet 

 high and 37 feet in circumference, and it yielded when sawn 

 22,000 feet of rich mottled Kauri, whioh was sold for £500, 

 leaving, after deducting £200 for expenses connected with the 

 cutting of the tree and getting it to market, a clear profit 

 of £300. The gum which exudes from the tree is especially 

 an Auokland product, being found in no other part of the 

 world. Over a large area of land whioh has been exhausted 

 by Kauri forest in past ages, and is now barren and almost 

 unfit for cultivation, the gum that has exuded from the dead 

 trees is found at a depth of 2 to 3 feet. This gum is an im- 

 portant article of commerce, being found valuable for the 

 manufacture of varnish ; and its importance may be estimated 

 from the fact that in the last three years for whioh the 

 statistics are complete— namely, 1870, 1871, and 1872 — no less 

 than 14,276 tons of the gum were exported, the value of which 

 amounted to £497,179. The production of this artiole is 

 entirely due to the aboriginal natives, and to this they ara 

 stimulated by the presence of European purchasers. The 

 buying price of first-class Kauri gum at Auokland in March, 

 1874, was £30 to £33 per ton. At that price the gum-diggers 

 would earn from 30s. to £4 a- week, according to the nature of 

 the field they were working on. The average earnings would, 

 however, be about £2 a-week. 



Preserving the Colour of Dried Flowbbs. — M. 



Boulade reoommends the following plan for preserving the 

 colours of flowers of the herbarium :— Lay out the flowers 

 between several sheets of unsized paper — filtering paper; 

 place these sheets between two fire-bricks, and put the whole 

 in a stove or oven heated to 60° to 70° Cent. Change the 

 papers after an hour. After two or three hours the flowers 

 will be sufficiently dried, and their colours preserved. 



Lycopersicum cerasiforme. — A friend writing from 



Leyden last week, after alluding to some of the more interesting 

 objects with which he was impressed on visiting the Botanic 

 Gardens, specially alludes to this plant, and he seems to have 

 been greatly impressed with its beauty. He says, " There is 

 now a little plant, Lycopersicum cerasiforme, in the open 

 border, which is indeed very beautiful. It iB literally covered 

 with a profusion of large scarlet flowers, the effeot of which 

 is splendid." — {Irish Farmers' Gazette.) 



NEW EDITION. 



Choice Stove and Greenhouse Ornamental-leaved Plants. By 



Benjamin S. Williams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, 



Upper Holloway, London. 



From the great success of the author as a cultivator of plants 

 his works have met with a large share of acceptance by horti- 

 cultural readers. A second edition of the work relating to 

 ornamental-foliaged plants having been called for, an exoellent 

 volume is produced containing notices of plants whioh have 

 been introduced since the issue of the first edition, and muoh 

 fresh practical matter is also incorporated. The work contains 

 reliable information on all matters relating to the cultivation 

 of plants. It is full, yet concise; is intelligibly written, and 

 is worthy of a place in every gardener's library. As better 

 showing the nature of the work we extract from the prefaoe :— 



" The cultivation of ornamental-leaved plants is muoh easier 

 than that of plants grown entirely for the beauty of their flowers. 

 This will be readily understood on a moment's reflection. To 

 produce plants profusely adorned with flowers close attention is 

 required in resting, in shifting, and starting into growth at the 

 proper season, and other matterB of importance, all which is 

 fully explained in the volume devoted entirely to the ornamental- 

 floweriug plants ; but the plants now under consideration have 

 to be treated upon quite a different principle, for as their beauty 

 is to be sought in their foliage, the objeot should be to make 



