GLENNY S GARDEN ALMANAC. 
37 
texture, and deep rose-red colour, paler at the 
mouth : the whole flower, including calyx and 
corolla, all rose coloured, is rather over an inch 
in length. 
The plant under notice was obtained from 
the elevated mountains of Columbia, whence 
seeds were sent by Mr. Purdie to the Royal 
garden at Kew, and also to Syon, at which 
last place it first flowered in a greenhouse, in 
September 1847. Mr. Bentham's T.pinchin- 
chensis was gathered by Hartweg, on the west 
side of Pinchincha. 
It is a handsome greenhouse shrub, and 
should be grown in a compost of three parts 
turfy peat, and one part turfy loam, with an 
admixture of sharp silver sand, in sufficient 
quantity to render the whole mass porous. In 
regard to potting, they should be managed 
similarly to heaths ; and it is best to give 
them moderate shifts into pots a size or two 
larger than those they are taken out of, rather 
than to place them in very large pots : like 
heaths, too, they must be well drained, broken 
charcoal being laid beneath and amongst the 
compost ; and, moreover, they must be very 
attentively watered, so th&tthey never want, nor 
are ever saturated. Cuttings of the young 
shoots, when they have become a little firm, 
take root, if planted in sand, and placed under 
a bell glass, in a moderate degree of heat. 
GLENN y's GARDEN ALMANAC. 
The present pocket volume is such a mani- 
fest improvement on all its predecessors, that, 
except for the usual lists of the best fruit, 
flowers, plants, and vegetables, and the plain, 
straightforward, blunt and somewhat uncour- 
teous style, we should hardly recognise it. 
The calendar of the months, with the rising 
and setting of the sun and moon, and the 
aspects of the planets, are the most complete 
of all the almanacks of the year, and are per- 
fect specimens of elaborate calculation and 
neat typography. There are some novel and 
useful tables, got up in excellent style, and a 
large quantity of miscellaneous useful matter. 
The predictions of the weather are new, and 
the Editor pretends to no other merit than 
that of having met the taste of the public for 
this kind of speculation, by employing the best 
talent that could be had for that department. 
There is an article on " The influence of the 
Moon on vegetation," which is so inviting, that 
we take the liberty of borrowing largely from 
it. The author of this paper says : — 
" "We certainly believe in the influence of 
the Moon, not only on the earth's atmosphere, 
but on the earth itself; not, however, on ac- 
count of this ' opinion so universal and popu- 
lar,' but from observation and experience. It 
is well known that there are hundreds of in- 
telligent agriculturists who firmly believe in 
astral influence, and they are careful not to 
have their cattle castrated when the Moon is 
approaching, or on the meridian, or when she 
is in the zodiacal sign Scorpio, because they 
well know that the animal, in ten cases out of 
twelve, does not survive the c peration. We 
could name two or three first-rate surgeons 
who will never perform an operation when the 
Moon is on, or near the meridian, or when she 
is in the zodiacal sign that rules the member 
which is to be operated upon. Ramsay, an 
author who wrote about the year 1650, speak- 
ing of the influence of the Moon, says, ' More- 
over, there is no herb nor fruit, that is either 
set or sown in the wane of the Moon, but the 
taste thereof is neither so good as naturally the 
fruit is, nor so kindly ; so also that vines may 
not spread and grow too fast, and be too for- 
ward, they are pruned and cut in the wane ; 
and such timber or wood which we desire to 
keep long unwormeaten, we cut in the wane ; 
for that then the Moon's light being abated, so 
is the sap and humidity of the tree, which 
causeth corruption being once lopt ; thus 
much concerning what we would not have 
grow ; but as touching such vegetables as we 
would have increase, it is but observing the 
Moon contrai'iwise, and we shall accomplish 
our desires therein ; as if we be desired any 
thing should grow up in height, we take care 
she be at the time of setting or sowing thereof 
increasing in light and motion, and in an aiery 
sign ;* but contrariwise, if to take deep root 
and grow downwards, we place her in an 
earthy -f sign.' Thus far Ramsey : now let 
us hear what Mr. Montgomery Martin says 
concerning lunar influence in his History of 
the British Colonies : ' In considering,' says 
he, ' the climate of tropical countries, the in- 
fluence of the Moon seems to be entirely over- 
looked ; and, surely, if the tides of the vast 
ocean are raised from their fathomless bed by 
lunar power, it is not too much to assert that 
the tides of the atmosphere are liable to simi- 
lar influence ; this much is certain, that, in 
the low land of tropical countries, no attentive 
observer of nature will fail to witness the 
power exercised by the Moon over the seasons, 
and over animal and vegetable nature. As 
regards the latter, it may be stated that there 
are certainly thirteen Springs and thirteen 
Autumns in Demerara in the year ; for so 
many times does the sap of trees ascend to 
the branches and descend to the roots. For 
example, the wallaba, (a resinous tree, com- 
mon in the Demerara woods, somewhat re- 
sembling mahogany,) if cut down in the dark 
* The airy signs are n (Gemini), ^ (Libra), and w* 
(Aquarius). 
f The earthy signs are 8 (Taurus), ty (Virgo), and. 
Vf (Capricornus). 
