HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
285 
greater part of the length of the branches, 
sufficiently numerous to make a tolerable show. 
Mr. Hartweg found this species in Mexico,, 
near the Haciluda del Espiritu Santo, on the 
road from Zacatecas to San Luis de Potosi, 
an immense plain, chiefly occupied by Opun- 
tias, stunted plants of Prosopis dulcis, and 
Yuccas. There the Berberis extended over 
large tracts of country; but Mr. Hartweg did 
not see it in flower. The people there call 
it Acrito, and the fruit is much eaten by 
children. 
This Berberis cannot be considered to be 
sufficiently hardy to stand in the open air 
without protection. Like some of the pin- 
nated or ash-leaved Berberries, by some called 
Mahonias, it will only succeed out of doors 
when planted against a wall, in which situation 
the southern or western aspects are preferable. 
Under these circumstances, however, they grow 
freely, and, with their very handsome foliage, 
their numerous yellow flowers, for the most 
part produced in the spring, and the rich purple 
fruit which in most of the species succeeds 
them, are really good plants, and among the 
most appropriate that can be selected for such 
situations. They prefer a sandy, loamy soil, 
and a situation rather dry than otherwise. It 
is of some importance, too, that their branches 
should be regulated, so as not to become 
crowded in one place, and scanty in another, 
but so disposed as to cover the space, not too 
thickly, or they will not show their foliage to 
advantage. 
The Berberries of -this nature, referred to 
above, are, Berberis fasciculatus, B. tenuifolia, 
and B. pallida, to which the smaller growing 
B. dulcis and B. empetrifolia might be added, 
as showing themselves to the best advantage, 
when trained against a wall, although not 
requiring it as a means of protection. 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
Hot-water Pipes. — Economy has in some 
cases suggested the use of pipes of earthen- 
ware, for the circulation of the heated fluid, 
in the interior of structures requiring to be 
artificially warmed; but experience has proved 
that it is not a good material for that purpose. 
It is a bad conductor of heat, since pipes of 
metal have proved satisfactory, where the 
same area of pipes of earthenware, attached 
to the same boiler, have failed to keep up the 
temperature. They are liable to another ob- 
jection, that of bursting a little beyond the 
joints when in action. The joints, though 
sometimes said to be difficult to form, are 
quite water tight, when made with good com- 
mon cement. 
Mushrooms. — With reference to the general 
practice of growing Mushrooms in dark houses, 
Mr. Ilankin says, " I feel confident that light 
and air, where an equal temperature can be 
preserved, are essential to the growth of the 
Mushroom, and that they do not blanch hy the 
exclusion of either ; if they did this, the gills 
would also turn white proportionally: a dark, 
confined atmosphere will never produce a 
healthy, full-grown Mushroom." Mr. Ilankin 
is a very successful cultivator. [We give 
this upon the authority of the Gardeners' 
Chronicle.] 
Pentstemon gentianoides, var. diapha- 
num. (The transparent Gentian -like Pentste? 
mon.) — This plant differs from the old and well 
known kind in having rather larger flowers, 
and the under half being almost colourless, 
and so thin as to be nearly transparent. It 
was raised from seed received from the Tierra 
Fria of Mexico, in the garden of the Horti- 
cultural Society, and is a very handsome 
perennial plant, nearly, or in many places 
quite, hardy, growing two or three feet high, 
and bearing its crimson tube flowers abun- 
dantly from July till September. 
Monster Cactus. — The Royal Botanic 
Garden at Kew has lately received a remark- 
able Cactus of immense size, and of a new 
species. It is called Echinocactus Visuaga, 
(the latter being the native name); and some 
idea of its immense size may be gathered from 
the following statistics: — The weight of the 
Visuaga is 713 lbs. Height, from the surface 
of the earth, 4| feet. Measure over the 
top, from the ground, on each side, 10 feet 
9 inches. Circumference, at one foot from 
the ground, 8 feet 7 inches. Number of deep 
angles, or costce, 44. The removal of such an 
immense specimen, and its safe transmission 
from Mexico to this country, has been an 
arduous task, especially as the Mexican roads 
and means of conveyance are ill adapted for 
such an object. 
Petunias. — We have few finer tribes of plants 
for bedding out in the summer season than the 
Petunia, and few genera in which a greater 
improvement has been effected as to the quality 
of the flower. One of the finest varieties of 
the purple class for forming groups is undoubt- 
edly Violacea superba, a variety sent out some 
years back by the Horticultural Society, and 
which has the property of holding its colours 
until the flowers are quite withered. Prince 
Albert is another variety possessing nearly the 
same properties, with a little improvement in 
form ; and Duncan's seedling Elegans with a 
white throat, Beauty, Gem, Nevvmanii, and 
Newmanii superba, are flowers of nearly the 
same colour (purple) ; the last four are of 
unusually large size. The great disadvantage 
of the last four is the looseness of the flowers, 
and their tendency to burn or lose their colour 
under bright sunlight. Lady Peel has the 
