4G6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 4, 1885. 
six flowers. Mitraria coccinea is a handsome pot plant ; the intense 
scarlet urn-shaped flowers distinguish it from all the others. It does well 
on a warm wall in the open air, and on a south wall even in the northern 
regions, and would be a valuable addition to the list. 
Callistemon rigidum, with about a hundred bushes, is unmistakeably a 
grand sight. The colour seems to be bursting from every part of the 
plant. Vaccinium rugosum, a very curious plant, with small funnel- 
shaped waxy flowers netted with dark brown, and produced from the old 
bare branches, is very interesting, as is also V. serratum, a small yellow- 
flowered one. Corokia Cotoneaster, a plant with Cotoneaster-like leaves 
and shining yellow star-like flowers, is very pretty. Andromeda formosa, 
with its large clusters of Lily of the Valley-like flowers, is very fragrant 
and graceful.—M. 
THE TREES IN EPPING FOREST. 
In these 5928 acres of ancient waste and woodland we have trees of 
■comparatively few varieties. Noble Willows grow on its western boun¬ 
dary, rising from a stiff clay soil, and attaining handsome proportions. 
In the northern and more picturesque parts between Queen Elizabeth’s 
Lodge and Epping are Oak, Hornbeam, Blackthorn, Beech, and Hawthorn, 
with, in much fewer numbers, Crab, Elm, Ash, an occasional Maple, a 
steadily increasing number of Birch trees, and some few others, with a 
luxuriant uudergrowth of Hollies, Brambles, Ferns, and struggling, strag¬ 
gling shoots and seedlings. 
Tbe vigorous policy of clearing out the close Forest undergrowth 
adopted by the authorities, especially noticeable last autumn and winter 
in the thousands of bundles of cut bough and bramble lying over the forest 
stacked for carting, is probably regarded with something like horror by 
the butterfly, insect, and wild-flower hunters of Epping. 
Mr. Buxton, one of the verderers, with a lifelong acquaintance of the 
Forest, anticipates objections to the thinning of the pollard trees—some 
thousands of which have been cut down—in his recent valuable and 
sympathetic book. He does not refer to the wholesale clearing and trim¬ 
ming of the undergrowth, which in the course of time, objectors to the 
system are never tired of declaring, will convert the Forest into a park. 
There is, however, something explanatory to be said. 
So much good has gone hand in hand with this “clearing ” in the way 
of opening up the once bog-like bottoms by ditch and draining, and of 
making the pedestrian’s paths straight by the cool cleared green “ Rides,” 
that the average visitor would be churlish indeed who demurred at the 
general “ excellent way ” of the Forest authorities. But one may hope 
that for every pollard cut down in the thickets a sapling will be planted 
in the open Forest tracts. 
OAK3. —The Oaks are of the species which the botanist calls Quercus 
sessiliflora. Its fruit is produced close to the stalk, and the leaves are 
smaller than most other varieties. Generations of amateur woodcutters 
have pollarded them out of all semblance to the grandeur and majesty 
with which ancient Oaks are usually associated ; but some fine ones have 
been preserved. Of these the largest stands by Fairmead Lodge, with a 
bole 22 feet in circumference. Another fine tree is that known as Bed¬ 
ford’s Oak. In April its amber-and-golden buds stud the branches with 
jewel-like beauty, and with leisurely slowness blossom just as the young 
leaflets are beginning to expand. In October its acorns appear in richly 
embossed cups, to be carried away, and planted where some will have a 
chance to grow, by strong winds and active squirrels. On some of the 
old Oaks tufts of Fern prettily spangled with gold will be seen growing. 
It is said that the ordinary duration of the Oak is 900 years, and many in 
the Forest are at least as old. Insects abound in the Oak. “ Those lovely 
creatures, the butterflies of various kinds, beetles, and a multitude of little 
creeping things,” of which only the botanist knows how many, flock to it, 
abide in, or lodge upon it. 
Beech. —The finest specimen of this stately tree must be sought on 
the highest ground where the soil is lightest and driest. There are some 
noble groves near High Beach, in the Monk Woods, and in the Green 
Ride of Epping Thicks. Under the Beech boughs the walks are dry, and 
in summer time pleasantly cool. Its branches, sweeping upward to great 
heights, form stately arches, and the smooth grey bark and divisions of its 
bole often make it look very like a cluster of stone pillars such as we see 
in Gothic architecture. In autumn its foliage assumes the rich hues of 
amber, gold, and copper, and is strikingly beautiful, especially at sunset; 
and then, too, begins the formation of those spike-like buds which the 
spring merely develops into more visible forms, and so death and vitality 
go hand in hand. The Beech is not in favour with the insects, nor will 
the grass spring up in its shade ; but mosses and fungi love to overspread 
its roots and climb its mighty boles. One of the most beautiful aspects 
of the tree is seen when the sun shines through its leaves just after a 
shower. 
Hornbeams, which are sufficiently like Beeches to be mistaken for 
them, abound in Epping. No matter wbat the soil, wet or dry, light or 
heavy, these hardy members of the sylvan fraternity flourish under the 
most unpromising circumstances, and defy the roughest ill-treatment to 
weaken their vigour or check their obstinately persevering growth. The 
deer are particularly fond of their early springing leaves, and this may 
account for such an abundance of these trees in a royal forest wherein ail 
things once played a subordinate and ministering part to the lordly beasts. 
The branches of Hornbeams have a singular tendency to rejoin and blend 
with the parent stem, and this will be often noticed in the course of one’s 
Forest rambles. 
Birch. —The graceful sway and delicate curvo3 of the Lady Birch 
(Betula alba) aff ud striking contrasts of form and character, and the 
rich abundance of its wioged and wind-borne seeds give promise that in 
the future this pretty tree, with its silvery moss-ringed stem, will, where- 
ever the soil is dry enough and open for their reception, make many a 
pleasant grove, with flickering sun and shade. It is here a comparatively 
new-comer, but has propagated of late years with singular rapidity. 
The Hawthorn, which delights the eye in the “ merry month of May,” 
with its rich luxuriance of white blossoms, has many an ancient and 
rugged-looking specimen in all pares of the Forest. Blackthorns, which 
blossom earlier, are also plentiful, and make the dense thickets impene¬ 
trable with their picturesque stems. 
The Alder and the Wild Cherry are also amongst the Forest’s 
denizens. 
In the future we shall doubtless have trees in much richer and more 
varied abundance ; for great spaces of stolen land newly recovered (thanks 
and many thanks to the Corporation of the City) are to be planted with 
all possible speed. These young woods will, of course, give fresh variety 
to the scenery; but it is worth the consideration of those who have the 
planting and management whether they would not do well to introduce 
trees of foreign origin which are known to take root and flourish in such 
soil as the Forest possesses. As to the merely sentimental and fanciful 
objection urged against them because they are not now English—as many 
grand old trees now common in England once were not—is it worth the 
serious attention of either artistic or practical men ? Imagine what a 
charm there would be in contrasting Oak and Beech with the neighbour¬ 
ing and more richly ornamental forms and colours of a wild American 
forest, with their rich undergrowth of flowers and blossoming plants. Mr. 
Alfred Wallace once pointed out that, “Nearly all these American trees 
(such as Sugar-Maple, Hickory, Tulip, Red-wood, and the Locust) could 
be raised from seed almost as cheaply as the very commonest kinds 
adding, as to the time of growth in such trees, “ The Wellingtonia will 
reach 20 feet in ten years; the Douglas Fir grows even more rapidly 
when young and pointing out how, at Dropmore, “ the beautiful grass- 
green Pinu3 insignia reached the height of 68 feet in thirty-four years. 
The Coniferous trees of Western America might elsewhere be “ planted 
in masses, groups, or belts, and with winding paths, broad glades, and 
occasional shrub-planted openings admitting free access to every part of 
it, would probably be even more attractive than a forest of Eastern 
America,” which also, according to Mr. Wallace, should have its place 
in the new portions of Epping woodland. Eastern Europe and Western 
Asia also contain a large variety of trees, which might be naturalised here 
in Epping, and there is no reason why we should not have a Japanese 
forest side by side with the ancient woods of Essex. As an artist and a 
lover of forest rambles at home and abroad, the writer heartily commends 
the idea to those who are set in authority over London’s Romance, the 
wilds of ancient Epoing.—( Lindley's “ Wallis in Epping Forest.'") 
ALPINE AURICULAS—TRENCHING. 
I WAS very pleased to see the remarks of Mr. A. Pettigrew respecting 
the Auricula seed that was sold for the benefit of the late “ Single-handed’s ” 
family. I had a packet of the same, and they have turned out very well 
indeed ; and I can fully endorse all that Mr. Pettigrew has said about 
them. 
There has been much discussion lately about trenching, which I think 
has been very useful. I have had to suffer from injudicious trenching, the 
garden in my charge having a very bad subsoil, and when the grounds 
were laid out before I came here the subsoil had been brought to the top. I 
am personally convinced that frequent trenching is not necessary. I 
remember a large Strawberry bed being the same as Mr. Gilbert mentioned. 
The Strawberries were hoed off, and the iron bar used for making boles. 
These were then filled with water, Brussels Sprouts planted, and I never 
saw a finer crop before or since.— A. J. Brown. 
ROYAL NATIONAL TULIP SOCIETY. 
May 30th. 
Exit Orchids!—enter Tulips! Yesterday, Friday the 29th, the large 
show house in the Botanical Gardens, Old Trafford, Manchester, was full of 
brilliant Orchids, showy stove and greenhouse plants, stately Palms and 
spreading Tree Ferns ; to-day, the most gorgeous of our hardy flowers takes 
the place of the exotics, and so continues one day longer Mr. Findlay’s great 
flower carnival, which proved highly successful from a financial point of 
view. It ha3 been a long week of varied and lovely flowers. To-day the 
change is striking in the extreme. The huge show house, though to some 
extent furnished by the reintroduction of the plants Mr. Findlay had to 
remove to make room for those brought from a distance for competitive 
purposes, appears singularly empty. In the place of Orchids appear lines, of 
tables, on which are placed flaunting Tulips, correct in the eye of the florist, 
and enshrining the most fascinating beauty in the eyes of not a few. There 
are men here who would turn away from Vanda teres and Cattleya Mendelli 
and say they are far inferior in their opinion to a perfect Sir J. Paxton or a 
correct Mrs. Cooper, for their hearts are in their Tulip3, and they look upon 
them as worthy their highest admiration. 
It is said the Tulip was first introduced into England in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. Previous to this the Tulip was sent, in the year 1554, by 
Auger Gisten Rusbec from Constantinople to Vienna, with the remark that 
the Turks charged a high price for them. Conrad Gesner says that he saw 
the plant in the year 1559, in the garden of John Henry Hawart, of Augs¬ 
burg. Later on came, towards the middle of the seventeenth century, the 
Tulip mania, which was carried to a very great excess in Holland and in 
Franee; but it never reached England, probably owing to the then un¬ 
settled state of the country. Here it may be remarked that it i3 a mistaken 
idea that the Dutch were the raisers of the various celebrated varieties 
