BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



173 



To the Conductors of the Floral Cabinet. 



Gentlemen, 



As a proof of the extraordinary size which the grape is capable of attaining 

 under judicious management, I may mention that I lately cut a bunch of Black 

 Hambro' grapes, one of the berries upon which measured four inches in circum- 

 ference. My grapes generally have been unusually fine this year, which I attribute 

 partly to the continued rains which we have had during the greater part of the 

 summer, but chiefly to the free and unsparing manner in which they were thinned 

 soon after the berries began to form, and again once or twice subsequently, and 

 by which at least two-thirds of the grapes were removed. The house in which 

 they were grown is a metallic one, similar in construction to those erected in the 

 Botanic Gardens both of this town and of Manchester ; it is thirty feet long by 

 fourteen feet wide, and it has, during the last seven years, produced at least from 

 two to three hundred-weight of grapes per annum. The grapes have not been 

 forced ; the house being kept only at greenhouse temperature. 



I am, Gentlemen, yours very respectfully, 



Thomas Clark, Jun. 



Reservoir Road, Edgbaston, 

 December 7th, 1839. 



P.S. — Should any one doubt the accuracy of my statement, I have preserved 

 the grape in question, and shall be happy to show it to any person who will take 

 the trouble to call at my residence. 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DICOT YLEDONES. 



CACTEjE. 



Cereus Martianus. Zuec. Von Martius' Cereus. Bot. Mag. t. 3768. This 

 is a handsome species of Cactus, resembling both in habit and inflorescence the 

 favourite Cereus fagelliformis, a plant well-known as an inmate of cottage resi- 

 dences. From this however it may readily be known by its different mode of 

 growth, which is erect, not drooping ; by its deeply furrowed stem, and by its much 

 slenderer hair-like aculei. It is a native of Mexico, and was figured from a spe- 

 cimen in the collection at Woburn Abbey. It flowers readily and copiously in 

 the spring, with the common treatment. Bot. Mag. 



MELASTOMACEjE. 



Lasiandra petiolata. Grah. Petiolated Lasiandra. Bot. Mag. t. 3766. 

 This is certainly a most beautiful species, bearing numerous large lilac flowers, 

 which are in diameter about an inch and a half. 



