September 29, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



245 



plants of Ing6rmannland ; 300 from Sicily; 2C0 European 

 Fungi ; 200 Italian Cryptogams ; 3000 plants of Abyssinia, 

 collected by Dr. Schimper ; more than 3000 plants of South 

 Africa, from Mr. Ward's collection ; upwards of 500 from 

 Madeira, collected by Lemann and others ; nearly 1000 from 

 the mountains of Altai ; 1000 from India, collected by Dr. 

 Wright; 400 from Malacca, collected by Griffith; 100 from the 

 Feejee Islands, collected by Harvey; 1000 from North America; 

 400 Fungi of South Carolina; 300 plants from Nicaragua, col- 

 lected by Tate ; 700 from the Andes of Quito ; a fine set of 

 Pine cones from California ; numerous specimens of plants 

 and fruits, chiefly from Africa. The number of visits paid to 

 the herbarium during the year for purposes of scientific re- 

 search was 974.— (Nature.) 



PROLIFIC STANDARD APRICOT TREE. 



Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, has obliged us by the fol- 

 lowing for publication : — " Knowing you take an interest in all 

 kinds of trees, I write a few lines to give you an account of a 

 standard Apricot of the Breda kind that I believe I had 

 from you rather more than twenty years since, and which, if 

 you think it out of the ordinary way, you can make known to 

 the gardening world. I give you my word that I state no more 

 than facts ; anyone is welcome to see the tree with the crop 

 now on it. Last year it bore the worst crop I have ever known, 

 there being barely one dozen fruit. Three or four years since 

 it produced rather over two bushels ; this year I estimate the 

 crop to be at least three bushels. The quality is excellent for 

 preserving or culinary purposes. It is growing on a lawn not 

 protected by anything. The site was, in my recollection, an 

 Asparagus bed. The tree has a very handsome head, as large 

 as that of a good-sized Apple tree. It is still in a growing 

 state, and not nearly the size it probably will attain. — Anthoxy 

 Bubb, Whitcombe Court, Gloucester." 

 _ [The tree is about 6 feet high, its stem 2 feet 3 inches in 

 circumference, and the branches overshadow a circle rather 

 more than 31 feet in diameter. — Eds.] 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL VISIT TO 

 CALIFORNIA. 



(By Marshall P. Wilder, Charles Downing, George Ellwanger, and 

 P. Barry.) 



Quality of Californian Fruits. — As a general rule, the fruits 

 of California are superior to ours in size and beauty, but rather 

 inferior in flavour. To this there are some exceptions. We 

 think that the Cherries, Apricots, as well as early Pears and 

 Apples, are as fine as can be produced in any country. The 

 want of flavour is in many cases owing to the unripe con- 

 dition of the fruit, premature picking, and improper ripening. 

 The early fruits, not being of overgrown size, are generally of 

 better quality than those of autumn ; yet we are unable to say 

 how far the want of flavour in these may be owing to im- 

 proper treatment. 



When we arrived in San Francisco the Apricot was very 

 abundant and beautiful, a3 it was during nearly the whole 

 period of our visit, but we were told the fruit were insipid. 

 On taking some to our rooms and getting them fully ripe they 

 were delicious, equal to any we ever tasted. Fruits on the 

 market stalls are seldom fit to be eaten. 



In the case of Strawberries, the best varieties, it seems, 

 have not yet been adopted by the market growers. With the 

 exception of the Currant, none of the small fruits seem to be 

 3B good as ours. 



The Grapes grown are almost exclusively what we call 

 foreign varieties. The Mission Grape, so called, is a foreign 

 Grape, though improperly called California. Wild native Grapes 

 abound in all the wooded parts of the State, but they are very 

 different in character from the Mission. The practice is, 

 among growers, to speak of the Mission as not being a foreign 

 Grape. Amerioan Grapes have been tested in a few cases, but, 

 as far as we could ascertain, with unfavourable results. We 

 do not, however, regard the few experiments we heard of as 

 conclusive, and think it quite probable that our Clinton, or 

 some of its class, might be employed successfully to make a 

 lighter wine than any they now make, and which is so much 

 needed to take the place of imported claret now in general use. 



Garden Vegetables. — The supply of culinary vegetables, as 

 seen in the markets of San Francisoo and other cities, is very 

 abundant and of exoellent quality. What surprises visitors 



from the east is to find such articles as Celery in the market 

 all summer. Crop after crop can be obtained in varied suc- 

 cession, so that you may find anything you desire at any 

 season. Asparagus is cut from February to June. One grower 

 informed us he had Bix acres. The product was about 5 tons 

 to the acre, and contracted at 9 cents per lb. The size to 

 which vegetables attain is almost incredible. We were told of 

 Pumpkins weighing 250 lbs. ; Squashes, 150 lbs. ; Beets, 

 200 lbs. ; Carrots, 30 lbs., &c. It is easy to understand how 

 these results are obtained in a climate where growth never 

 ceases. The mean temperature of the coldest month, Decem- 

 ber, at San Francisco, is said to be 55°. In the interior it is 

 probably lower. 



Ornamental Trees and Plants.— On arriving in California 

 we were at once struck with the character of the trees and 

 plants which we saw in the gardens, public streets, &o. 



Instead of the Elms, Maples, &c. which prevail at the east, 

 we saw the Australian Acacias and Eucalyptus, and the Mexi- 

 can Pine, insignis, and Monterey Cypress, Cupressus maoro- 

 carpa. These are everywhere planted as the common trees. 

 Nurserymen informed us that the first trees asked for, and in 

 many cases the only ones asked for, by persons beginning to 

 improve their city or suburban lots, are the Eucalyptus, 

 Acacias, Pinus insignis, and Cupressus macrocarpa. The 

 reason for this is, that these trees grow rapidly, transplant 

 easily, and are adapted to the climate. We were told that the 

 Pinus insignis is so easily transplanted that if the roots but 

 touch the ground it will grow. The Eucalyptus and Aoacias 

 grow there as Willows do with us. In the grounds of Mr. 

 William Patterson, a nurseryman of San Francisco, we saw 

 Eucalyptus globulus, called the Blue Gum, six years old, 

 which was 50 feet in height, and 5 feet in circumference of 

 stem. A Pinus insignis of the same age was 40 feet high. 



The Cupressus macrocarpa is more prevalent than any other 

 tree that is planted for ornament either in city or country. 

 We have even seen it employed as a street tree, pruned-up 6 or 

 8 feet, and the heads shorn into sugar-loaf form. The Acacias 

 are frequently used in the same way, and although stiff and 

 formal they look very well. The Cypress retains all through 

 the long dry summer a charming verdure, when not stained by 

 dust, as it often is in the streets. The Eucalyptus grows so 

 rapidly that it is being planted for wood. We saw an account 

 of one plantation of fifty acres planted 8 feet by 8 feet, for 

 timber. There is ample scope for plantations of this kind. 



In Mr. Patterson's grounds, already referred to, we noted a 

 hedge of Acacia lophantha, 25 feet high and 4 feet through ; a 

 Fuchsia hedge, 10 feet high, the stems of the plants as thick 

 as a man's arm ; a hedge of Veronica Lindleyana, 10 feet 

 high ; beautiful specimens of Araucaria imbricata and Cookii, 

 10 feet high ; fine trees of the Guava in blossom — the fruit 

 ripens there in September ; also the Camphor tree, and many 

 other species we are not accustomed to see in the open ground. 



Here we saw a superb show of Roses ; the best we saw in 

 the State, we think. Elise Sauvage, Tea, was named as the 

 most valuable for a constant supply of cut flowers. — (Moore's 

 Rural Neto-Yorker.) 



THE AMATEUR GARDENER. 



(CHAPTERS NOT IN WALTON.) 

 No. 5. 



Sylvia. — I cannot tell you, Clericus, how much I am often 

 interested in watching the minute insects which fall upon tha 

 pages of my book as I sit beneath the shade of yonder spread- 

 ing Acacia on a bright summer's day. First, perhaps, the 

 merest speck of a spider spins its thin cobweb from an over- 

 hanging branch, till in graceful undulations it alights gently 

 upon the printed page, followed, probably, by a fly of such 

 diminutive organisation that it almost requires a microscope to 

 distinguish its gauzy wings which give it its motive power ; 

 anon a Bmall green caterpillar descends from its ambitious 

 position overhead, weaving its own coil of silken cord, by which 

 it descends with an occasional spurt, as though it summoned 

 up all its strength to effect its downward progress, and render 

 its eventual fall as gentle as possible. 



Clericus. — Yes, and each of those tiny insects must have 

 the physical organisation of a larger being to enable it to 

 effect its voluntary motion. Truly God's power may be seen 

 as much in the ant as in the elephant, in the mite as in the 

 whale. 



Hobtatob. — How wonderful is the'tinstinct which guides 

 such minute beings ! 



