to dissections. The experience of cultivators seems now to prove this noble aquatic to be at most 
biennial in its duration ; and as it so rapidly reaches the flowering stage, the simplest mode of culture, 
will no doubt be found to be that of raising young plants in spring, and thus avoiding the trouble and 
anxiety of nursing them through the winter. Me learn with satisfaction, from the pages before us, 
that " the Chief Commissioner of "Woods and Forests has it in contemplation to erect a new house in 
the Royal Gardens, containing two tanks, upon a scale suited to the cultivation and full developernent 
of this truly regal plant." 
Domestic Pigs (Orr & Co.) — Although not a botanical subject, we may stop to notice this 
useful work, which is the last edition of Richardson's Handbook upon the subject. It forms a neat 
and very cheap volume, and contains a history of the various breeds of porkers from their origin to the 
present time, pointing - out the peculiarities of each, their diseases and remedies, down to fattening, 
slaughtering, and final curing of the same for pork or bacon. To those of our inexperienced Mends 
who, after taking a wife, find it convenient to stock the family pot by keeping a pig, and to those 
ladies who are not an fait in the art and mystery of salting pork or curing bacon, the Little brochure 
before us, as containing the experience of a person of large practice in various parts of the country, will 
be found exceedingly useful ; and having profited by it ourselves, we can confidently recommend it to 
our readers. 
I 
REMINISCENCES OF RHODODENDRON CULTURE. 
By an AMATEUR, op Leicester. 
T is with much pleasure that I see the beautiful figure of Mr. Cunningham's fine Hybrid Rhododen- 
dron at p. 121 I am particularly fond of the beautiful Rose-bay tribe, and as the way I deal with 
them may, perhaps, interest some of your readers who reside in localities where the soil, as here, is 
unfavourable for their cultivation, I will give a short account of my mode of proceeding. 
Convinced that a very general cause of disappointment to amateurs is the attempting more than 
they have suitable convenience for, I have restricted my collection, with a few exceptions, to the 
Camellia, Rhododendron, and Indian Azalea. These three genera possess the strong recommendations 
of being more than usually showy both in flower and foliage, of blooming early, and of being free from 
insects. They begin to flower with me about Christmas, and continue to increase in beauty till the 
month of May, when the garden out of doors presents another succession. There is no soil in this 
neighbourhood suitable for the cultivation of American plants. It has to be brought at a considerable 
expense from a considerable distance, consequently I am obliged to be economical in the use of it. I 
grow none but the finest varieties, and mix one-half sandy loam with the peat which I procure. I 
speak now of the Rhododendron and Azalea ; the Camellia I do not use any peat for. As the young 
Rhododendrons grow, they are shifted from pots to tubs, the largest requiring four men to move them, 
till being too large to be retained longer within doors, they are planted out in the open ground, where 
the}" soon become larger still. 
The greenhouse is of the most ordinary materials and construction, being in great part made up from 
old houses removed from a former situation. It is not quite 200 feet long, and little more than L0 feel 
wide, forming a long and narrow slip. It is heated when necessary by a common smoke flue, which 
is continued from one end to the other, and the top of which forms the walk. On one side of the walk, 
a lattice work, about two feet broad, and raised about two feet from the ground, runs along the whole 
front ; on the other there is a space, level with the walk, of five or six feet, on which the larger plants 
are placed. I do not mention the form of the house as having anything particularly to recommend il. 
beyond the effect produced by the long vista which it oilers ; it was adopted as being Its! suited to the 
position which it occupies. When filled at Christinas, the e fleet of the dense and shining foliage, so 
clean-looking, bright and healthy, of the Camellias and Rhododendrons, is as cheering as anything at 
that dull season well can be, and though no fire is used except to keep down damp, or to keep out 
severe frost, the Camellias soon begin to open their blossoms, followed by the Rhododendrons, which 
require all the severity of an external exposure to keep back their vigorous vegetation. Next come 
the Indian Azaleas, presenting an endless gradation of the richest and most varied colours, of every 
hue but blue and yellow; the latter being confined to A. sinensis. The Belgic and other hardv 
Azaleas, I grow only in the open ground, and they are now (May), with the Rhododendrons, coining 
out in great beaut \ . 
It will be obvious to every one, that in order thoroughly to enjoy a conservatory or greenhouse, a 
reserve or succession is necessary. None but flowering or attractive plants should appear there, and 
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