94 



JOUENAL OF HOETICTJLTTJBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ August 1, 1872 



agree, that Barley then grew where it grows no longer. In 

 Scotland many places show signs of the plough, and of having 

 been sown with cereals where arable farming is now unprac- 

 tised. It is notorious that not only in Scotland, but even in 

 England as far south as Lancashire, large districts that were 

 once covered with forests are now entirely bare of trees, and 

 not only so, but trees cannot be made to grow there. " The 

 Eornans planted vineyards and made wine in parts of England 

 where the Hop will now hardly grow." 



In Northern Bussia beyond the Dwina there is a vast area, 

 formerly known as Biarmia, studded with the graves and other 

 1 remains of a very prosperous people, whose wealth and civili- 

 sation are much descanted about by the Saga writers. Othere, 

 the navigator, whose story was translated by Alfred, tells us 

 that it was on arriving in their country after the dreary voyage 

 round the North Cape, that he first again met with tilled fields 

 and an agricultural race. This area is now deserted except by 

 a few hunters and fishermen ; the ancient inhabitants have 

 moved westward and southward into Finland, &c. The best 

 authenticated case of this desolation is the increased severity 

 of the climate, which makes agriculture almost unendurable 

 there. The Norse traders used to frequent Cholmogorod, the 

 port of Biarmia, in great numbers, both for traffic and for 

 fishing. This navigation continued until the early part of the 

 thirteenth century, when we are told it was gradually put an 

 end to by the increased difficulties with the ice in the White 

 Sea, which becomes practically choked with ice ; and when the 

 English found their way to Archangel in the sixteenth century, 

 so forgotten was this old trade that the journey was treated as 

 one of discovery. 



Farther east facts are less accessible. The following quota- 

 tions from Von Wrangel's voyage illustrate jury position : — 



"In 1810 Hedenstrom went across the tundra direct to 

 TJtsjansk. He says, ' On the tundra equally remote from .the 

 present line of trees among the steep sandy banks of the lakes 

 and rivers, are found large Birch trees complete with bark, 

 branches, and roots. At first sight they appear well preserved, 

 but on digging them up they are found to be in a thorough 

 state of decay. On being lighted they glow, but never burst 

 into flame. The inhabitants use them for fuel. They call 

 them Adamoushtshina — i.e., of Adam's time. The first living 

 Birch trees are not now found nearer than 3° to the south, 



and then only as shrubs.' ' Another cliff, 30 or 



35 feet high, beyond the Malaya Kurspatasehnaja river, con- 

 sists of ice, clay, and black earth. On drawing out some in- 

 terspersed roots we found them to be Birch, and as fresh as if 

 only just severed from the trees. The nearest woods are one 

 hundred versts off.' " These facts show how far to the south 

 the limit of trees has been pushed quite in recent times in 

 Siberia — that is, how much more severe the Siberian climate 

 has become — a fact, perhaps, connected with the persistent 

 south-westerly drifting of Ugrian tribes from this area which 

 has taken place during the historic period. The flora of our 

 own bogs must disclose evidences of some kind on this sub- 

 ject. I should be thankful to any of your correspondents for 

 facts which illustrate the question drawn from this or any 

 other source. — Henby H. Howohth.— ^Nature.) 



WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS.— No. 2. 



ETJPHOEBIA JACQTJIN133FLOP.A. 

 This is a slender-growing evergreen stove shrub, with bright 

 green leaves, white beneath. It is of long straggling habit, 

 the shoots attaining a length of several feet in a season, and 

 in winter they are studded to within a short distance of their 

 bases with bright orange scarlet flowers. For continuance and 

 abundance of bloom this Euphorbia is unrivalled amongst 

 plants. I have one which was planted last May twelvemonth 

 in a border at the back of a stove, and trained to a wire trellis ; 

 it last year made shoots 7 feet long, as thick as the little finger, 

 and they were clustered with flowers throughout then' length, 

 except for a foot at their base, from November until late in 

 April. Those having a back wall with plenty of light, and 

 who wish for a winter-flowering plant, will do well to clothe it 

 with this. Its shoots, covered for several feet in length with 

 small but very numerous bright orange-scarlet flowers, render 

 it the finest subject for wreaths that can be conceived ; its 

 only drawback is that the flowers are not of long duration 

 when cut. The plant above alluded to is planted in a border 

 which, owing to a boiler being at the other side of the wall, 

 is quite warm, and the wall is also warmed by the flue of the 

 boiler, sometimes unpleasantly so, yet the plant flourishes, and 



freely produces seeds, which drop, and the seedlings appear 

 plentifully. It is evidently at home. Cuttings also root freely 

 in the border. The plant is equally well adapted for pot cul- 

 ture, and its requirenients are satisfied by a moderate-sized 

 pot, a 6-inch pot being large enough for a cutting of the 

 current year. 



Cuttings should be taken off when the shoots are from 3 to- 

 6 inches in length. Slip or cut them off, pare the base smooth, 

 and insert them singly in the smallest size of pot, using a com- 

 post of equal parts of sandy loam, sandy peat, leaf soil, and 

 silver sand. Set the pots close together in a frame or under a 

 hand-glass in the stove. Keep the cuttings just moist and 

 close until they are growing freely, then admit air. Now we 

 have to decide whether we wish for a plant with one or more 

 than one shoot. If left unstopped the shoot will grow with- 

 out giving any sign of side shoots until it has reached a height 

 of several feet, whilst if we stop it to within 3 inches of the 

 pot it will produce several shoots. I allow some plants to- 

 grow unstopped, but others are stopped. By stopping we have- 

 more shoots — not so strong as if we had one — and they may 

 do well when a low plant is wanted. Such plants, then,, 

 from the lateness of their growth, do not flower so strongly 

 as those with one shoot, which I train up to a neat stick 

 painted green. The plants with but one shoot relieve the 

 flatness of the low-growing bushy class of winter-flowering 

 plants ; whilst those stopped to 3 or 6 inches may be stopped 

 again when they have made fresh shoots from 3 to 6 inches 

 long, and this stopping may be persisted in until the end of 

 August. Thus bushy plants may be obtained, but I do not con- 

 sider them so handsome as plants more naturally grown, with 

 merely their irregularities removed. With sticks the plants 

 may be formed into compact specimens, which should be 

 attended to in the various stages of growth, regulating the 

 shoots as they advance. I think them far the finest when the 

 shoots after a second stopping, say at the end of July, are- 

 allowed to assume their natural habit, turning the pots, so as 

 to make the growth even all round ; and the shoots, which 

 may be 2 feet in length, gently arching over and studded 

 with flowers, have a fine effect at midwinter. When we can 

 grow it so as not to exceed 18 inches in height, and with its 

 shoots semi-pendent, I know of no plant that will be finer for 

 table decoration ; its lightness and elegance, combined with 

 the colour of the flowers, contrasting well with the associates 

 of the dining-table. 



When the plants are well rooted they should be shifted into 

 4-inch pots, and placed in a house where there is a tempe- 

 rature of 70° at night — say a late vinery — and encouraged with 

 plenty of moisture, but avoid overwatering. The foliage must 

 not be allowed to flag, otherwise the growth will be checked 

 and the leaves may fall. Shift the plants into larger pots as 

 soon as those in which they are growing are filled with roots,, 

 giving the last shift by the second week in August. The plants 

 should be sorted into sizes ; the weakest may have 6-ineh 

 pots, the medium-growing 7-inch, and the strongest 8-inch 

 pots. The drainage should be good, and the compost used 

 rather rough. It may consist of turfy light loam two parts, 

 one part sandy peat — these chopped up rather roughly — one 

 part leaf soil or old cow dung (hotbed manure will do), half 

 a part each old lime rubbish, charcoal in lumps from the size 

 of a pea to that of a walnut, and silver sand, the whole mixed ; 

 and in potting press rather firmly, but not very hard. 



Water as required, and in September the plants cannot have 

 too much light and air ; but it is essential that a good heat 

 should be maintained, so as to secure the thorough ripening 

 of the wood. In a late vinery they will succeed well ; the dry 

 atmosphere required for the ripening of the Grapes will suit 

 the plants exactly. In October remove them to the stove, 

 assigning them a light dry position. Little water will be re- 

 quired in winter; the soil, however, should not be allowed to 

 become so dry as to cause the leaves to flag. 



After flowering the plants should be kept rather dry, and in 

 April each shoot ought to be cut back to within a few inches 

 of its base. Little water should be given until the fresh shoots 

 are an inch or two long, then turn the plants out of the pots, 

 remove the greater part of the old soil, trim in the roots, and 

 place in pots 1 or 2 inches less in diameter, or any size that 

 will hold the roots without cramping. Set the plants in a 

 moist and slightly shaded house, or keep them in the stove, 

 shaded from bright sun, moist as regards the atmosphere, but 

 rather dry at the root, until they start freely, then "keep them 

 moister. They will need stopping, and if this be begun early 

 and persisted in, fine bushy plants may be obtained in the 



