134 



THE FLORIST AND ROMOLOGIST. 



growing very compactly, and about the height of 8 feet ; and would, I think, 

 be worth trying in such a garden, as well as some of the other tall, close-growing 

 Arbor Vitses and Junipers. Of other Coniferous trees which ought to be tried, 

 the best would be Pinus cembra, Picea pinsapo, Abies Nordrnanniana, and 

 Araucaria excelsa. 



I think no public or private garden of any pretensions can be complete 

 without plenty of spring flowers massed for effect, commencing with the bulbs 

 in March, and keeping up a good display till the more glowing beds of Gera- 

 niums, Calceolarias, Tropseolums, Verbenas, and Lobelias take their place in 

 the summer months. Mixed borders, containing some of the finest of our 

 showy herbaceous plants, are likewise another great feature where display is 

 wanted early, and these seem to be wanted in the new garden. 



Another Country F.R.H.S. 



THE DOUGLAS FIR. 



The great value of this tree for commercial purposes is now fully estab- 

 lished, and we may pronounce it the most valuable timber tree, as a Conifer, 

 and probably in a general sense, we have. We wish to draw the attention of 

 planters to this fact, and also to our large seedsmen, for we cannot but suppose 

 that the forests of Vancouver's Island and British Columbia will soon be ran- 

 sacked for seed of the most valuable tree in the world, and we shall soon hope 

 to see young plants advertised by the thousand. We have abundant evidence 

 before us of the rate of growth in Britain, which fully exceeds by one-third 

 either the Spruce Fir or Larch. There are trees now growing 70 feet high, and 

 only thirty years planted, with a proportionate bulk of stem. Those who have 

 seen with what immense vigour the tree grows among the debris of the slate 

 rocks of North Wales, even up to their very summits, will at once perceive 

 how adapted it is to all elevated situations, where even the Spruce would not 

 grow, as there are thousands upon thousands of acres in Wales, the north of 

 England, and Scotland, which would suit the growth of this tree admirably, 

 and giving large profit in return for planting, besides clothing the now naked 

 rocks with plantations of the richest verdure. 



R. I. F. 



GOLDEN HAMBURGH GRAPE. 



A short time ago there was some correspondence in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle on new Grapes. Among others was an article signed, I believe, by 

 a Mr. Cramb, in which the Golden Hamburgh was recommended as the 

 best white Grape in cultivation, an assertion which, I should think, would 

 require to be well supported to be believed ; for generally those who planted 

 that Vine find th^y are obliged to replace it with other varieties, after losing 

 several seasons in proving a sort that is not worth planting. 



I have had an opportunity of seeing it every season since it came out, and 

 in every instance it has proved worthless. 



As a pot Vine I have grown it and treated it in every way the same as 

 Black Hamburgh. The latter produced a splendid crop, while the Golden 

 showed scarcely a bunch ; and the few that were on the Vines shanked, and 

 dropped before ripe. 



In a house of Black Hamburghs, which ripened this season the first week 



