-102 
THE CONSERVATORY. 
cases of living plants, the duplicates of which 
and many others I intended to bring home 
under my own care. I now went up to 
Canton, and took my passage for England ; 
and with eighteen glazed cases filled with the 
most beautiful plants of Northern China, 
sailed on the 22d of December. We arrived 
in the Thames on the 6th of May, 1846, 
having been three years and three months ab- 
sent from home. 
" The plants arrived in excellent order, and 
the following kinds, amongst many others, 
may be noticed as having been imported this 
year for the first time : — 
Glycine sinensis, wilh white 
flowers 
Azalea obtusa, from Japan 
,, sp from Japan 
,, four species from 
the north of China 
Primus sinensis (florepleno 
albo) 
Dielytra spectabilis 
Berberis(Mahonia)Fortuni 
Scutellaria sp., a fine her- 
baceous plant witii blue 
flowers 
Itose, the fine double climb- 
ing yellow 
,, double white climb- 
ing variety 
,, dark red do. 
,, purple garden kind 
Pinus sp., from Japan, two 
..varieties 
" The number of plant-cases altogether 
amounted to sixty-nine, besides packages of 
seeds, some of which arrived in better con- 
dition than could have been expected, and 
others in worse. As all my fine plants, how- 
ever, were sent several times, 1 find, upon 
looking over my lists, that there are only two 
of value which have really been lost to the 
Oak from Chusan 
Camellia hexangularis 
(true) 
Camellia ' star,' ? a variety 
of hexangularis 
Spirsea sp. 
Lycopodium sp. ( ' Man 
neen chung' of the 
Chinese) 
Kum-quat, a curious small 
orange 
130 plants of Tree Paeonies, 
consisting of twelve or 
fourteen varieties, having 
flowers of various shades 
of purple, lilac, dark red, 
and white 
Seeds of the true Shantung 
cabbage — a very valuable 
northern kind. 
country : the one is a Rosaceous shrub found 
on the hills of Chekiang, and the other is a 
curious Rununeulaceous herbaceous plant ob- 
tained in a garden near Shanghae ; there are 
dried specimens of both amongst my specimens 
in the Garden of the Horticultural Society, 
which may one day lead to their being again 
introduced." 
At the present day whatever relates to 
China and the Chinese has a degree of interest 
peculiar to itself; and this is quite as much the 
case with relation to gardening and horticul- 
tural matters as with matters of more general 
importance. Indeed China has always been 
looked upon as a land of flowers. Many of 
our more beautiful plants have been thence 
received ; and from what knowledge was pos- 
sessed of the products of a country so little 
known as China, it was rightly expected that 
many more might be obtained. 
The Council of the Horticultural Society in 
their Report, observe, that " the occupation of 
Hong Kong and Chusan, and the opening of 
new ports in the Chinese empire, appeared to 
present so favourable an opportunity of ac- 
quiring valuable plants, that the Council 
deemed it advisable to send a collector to that 
country, which has for so many years been 
the richest of all fields in a horticultural point 
of view. In the spring of 1843, Mr. Robert 
Fortune, the superintendent of the hot- house 
department in the Society's Garden, having 
offered himself for the service, he was engaged 
to spend two or three years in exploring such 
districts as were accessible to Europeans. He 
sailed on the 26th of February, 1843, arrived 
at Hong Kong on the 6th of July, 1 843, left 
it on his return to Europe on the 22d of 
December, 1845, and arrived in England early 
in June." 
GARDENING CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 
THE CONSERVATORY. 
The nights will now probably be getting 
cooler ; and as the plants in the conservatory 
must not be checked by being subjected to 
conditions of this kind, care should be taken 
to have the house properly closed at night, 
and brought under a regular system of venti- 
lation during the day-time. Artificial heat 
will not be needed yet, and in some seasons 
when the weather is fine it will not be till 
quite the latter end of the month that there 
will be any necessity for closing the house ; 
so that this must be entirely regulated by the 
nature of the season. Syringe the plants and 
damp the house only in the morning. Give 
some air every day, and as much as possible 
on fine days, but close early ; some air will be 
beneficial at night, if the nights are warm, 
even after the practice of closing lias com- 
menced. Shading may be entirely dispensed 
with. 
Watering. — Except in the case of plants 
in bloom, all others must have their supply of 
water gradually limited, as the season de- 
clines. From this time forward, water is best 
applied to all the plants in the morning. Be 
more than ever cautious not to allow water to 
stand in the feeders in which the pots are 
placed. 
Autumn floroering plants. — The various 
kinds of autumn flowering plants which have 
