574 
HoltTieULTUltAL NOTES. 
TropsBolan comes pretty nearly to b proof of 
the contrary, [f it be allowed thai the Tro- 
pteolum aaureum (so called) be indeed a 
Tropteolum, then wehavethe brightesl yeltow 
thai can be found in many species and 
varieties; the scarlel in several — for instance, 
iricdli.r, Lobbii, and some others; and the 
bine in aznrcnm ; it may be said the blue is 
not a true blue, hut we think it blue enough 
to upsel the theory. Again, we have the 
colours, imperfectly, tobesure, but still pretty 
nearly, in the Hyacinth. There we have red, 
blue. "and yellow; but certainly the yellow is 
doI so bright as the Crocus, the scarlet not so 
good as the Geranium. Again, once more, 
and that shall he the last we mention, the 
Auricula: there we distinctly have yellow 
self's very bright and pretty, red sell's, and 
blue selfs, and so completely the same genus, 
that we have seen all come from the same 
hatch of seedlings. The least brilliant of the 
colours is the red, but still the approach is 
near enough to shake the theory. If it is 
meant that the three colours shall be pure, 
why there are very few genera that can boast 
one primitive colour; for there is not a red 
among all the Roses, if the brilliant scarlet of 
the Geranium is to be the test ; nor is there 
among the whole tribe of Camellias ; and how 
rare is it to find the pure blue ! The Nemo- 
phila and the Convolvulus, and some few 
others, may be considered pure, but some of 
the most brilliant of our (so called) blue 
flowers, have a tinge of red in them, to make 
them purple ; and if the theory that there are 
not three primitive colours in one genus, 
means that they are not all three to be found 
in their purity, we must give'up ; but we have 
shown that there are red, blue, and yellow in 
the Tropoeolum, the Auricula, and the Hya- 
cinth ; there may be in more. 
Education of Gardeners. — It has been 
agreed " on all hands," that education is a 
blessing. The power of reading is essential 
to man's happiness and improvement ; and it 
was a wish worthy of a king, when George 
the Third " hoped to see the day when every 
one in his dominions could read the Bible." 
There are no means of profitable study so 
generally necessary to all classes, whether they 
be humble or exalted, as reading. Every 
member of a class is, more or less, instructed 
in the knowledge of what is passing ; and it is 
to be regretted that any portion of the working 
classes should be so meanly paid as to prevent 
them from reaping the full advantage of a 
class periodical devoted to their welfare. The 
gardener wants information of all that has 
taken place concerning his profession; en- 
couragement to persevere under disadvantages; 
and advice as to his proceedings : he wants his 
interest promoted, his rights advocated, his 
duty pointed out : he wants the useful con- 
tents oi'every work on the subject of gardening 
judiciously abridged and faithfully recorded: 
lie wants to see the whole gardening world in 
miniature, and all its finished portraits taken' 
in spirited outline — to see it shown that the 
employer is not benefited by paying low 
wages, and that gardeners have their rights as 
well as duties. How few venture to do this ! 
MOWING Machine. — A new mowing ma- 
chine, on nearly the same principle as that 
patented by Budding, has been in operation 
during this summer, at the Duke of New- 
castle's mansion, at Clumber Park, in Notting- 
hamshire. It has been found very much to 
facilitate the keeping in order of the lawns, 
the mowing of which, by the ordinary physical 
process, is both tedious and laborious ; and 
the consequence of this facilitation is, that the 
lawns have been very much improved. The 
editor of the " Gardener's Journal" thus speaks 
of it from personal inspection : — "The machine 
has been in constant use in the garden at 
Clumber for upAvards of three months. It is 
constructed on the principle of Budding's pa- 
tent mowing machine, but altogether stronger, 
and, of course, less liable to go out of repair : 
the cutters are forty-two inches in length ; it 
is drawn by one horse, requiring a boy to 
lead the horse, and a man to direct the 
machine. Though it has been in almost daily 
use for nearly four months, it has not required 
any repairs. The saving of labour has been 
found to amount to seventy per cent." 
Striking Cuttings. — A speculation with 
regard to one of the most conlmon operations 
in a nursery would seem odd if it went to 
the reversal of everything hitherto done. 
Old and experienced gardeners would hardly 
hesitate to say, that unless you cut up a slip 
intended for striking, to close under a joint, 
it will not strike unless the joint be put under 
ground, when, in some cases, it strikes from 
the joint itself, and the wood below it emits 
no roots whatever. Now, Mr. Fairbairn, of the 
Wandsworth Road, strikes his Camellia stocks 
by cutting only one joint to each. This joint 
is attached to an inch of the shoot which is 
under the joint, and is put in the ground to 
strike, while the single joint is left above, to 
form the plant. His account of the operation 
is, that they strike much more freely, and throw 
better roots equally all round the stem. The 
consequence is, too, that when he pots out his 
stocks, they are not two inches high, and yet 
have plenty of root to establish them, and set 
them growing directly. Since this practice 
has been made known, others have introduced it 
with the Fuchsia and with hard wooded plants, 
report says, with great success ; this, however, 
has not reached us upon such authority as to 
enable us to announce it as a fact. 
