JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
60 
[ July 21, 1881. 
will be entitled'to one banquet ticket and four admission tickets 
for the opening day ; subscribers of £5 will be entitled to four 
admission tickets for] the opening day.” Mr. Findlay will send 
forms of subscription to those who are desirous of contributing to 
the Exhibition fund. 
-- Mr. Raitt writes to us as follows under date July 12th 
on Strawberries in Scotland: —“This is a disastrous year 
in our small fruit line. Half the acreage here in Strawberries is 
destroyed by frostfand caterpillars, the other half only a third 
to half a crop—a loss ofj£G000 to £8000 to this parish alone. 
The caterpillar on Strawberries has not (except last year) been 
noticed before. I am sending full-grown specimens to an ento¬ 
mologist to have them identified. Many acres of plants are 
totally destroyed. Thedowest temperature registered on the 8th 
of June was 10° below freezing, on July 1st 6° below, the mercury 
being at freezing point half the nights between those dates. 
Beech hedges are quite browned and the injury great.” 
- “J. G.’’'sends the following upon POLYGONUM CUSPI- 
datum —“ I observed this species growing most luxuriantly in a 
small nursery at”Wailey a^few days ago, and was induced to 
measure the height and size of the branches or flowering stems, 
the tallest of which was]ll feet in height and 4 inches in circum¬ 
ference. How very little this fine-growing plant is known ! It is 
admirable for filling up blanks for the summer, and its beauty as 
a flowering plant is not to be despised in the autumn.” 
- Messrs." Nanz & Neuner, 192, Fourth Avenue, near 
Walnut Street, Louisville, Kentucky, write to us as follows 
relative to the New Double White Bouvardia Alfred 
Neuner “As some doubt appears to exist with regard to the 
agency in Great Britain for our new double white Bouvardia 
Alf. Neuner, we; beg you will be good enough to announce that 
we have appointed Messrs. Jas. Carter & Co., of 237 and 238, 
High Holborn, to be]agents for this plant in Great Britain.” 
- Eelative to Cucumbers in Africa a daily paper pub¬ 
lishes the following—“ The town of Sfax, which has lately been 
bombarded by the French, is, or was until recently, an exceed¬ 
ingly favourable specimen of a town in North Africa. It seems 
to have derived its name from one of the vegetable products for 
which it is most celebrated—that is to say, the Cucumber, which 
in the Arab language is called Sfakou. In the culture of this 
plant and of the Melon the Sfaxians take great delight, and the 
soil of the place is evidently most favourable for their growth. 
Besides these, fruits and vegetables of almost all kinds are grown 
in immense abundance in the great gardens which surround the 
town on every side. It is here in these gardens, amidst groves 
of Olives, Palm trees, and Orange trees, that the townsfolk retire 
in the heat of the summer, taking refuge in the borcljs or square 
villas built in the middle of each garden plot, and surrounded by 
a luxuriant growth of Jasmine, possessing a peculiarly sweet and 
powerful fragrance.” 
- A correspondent sends us a note on the use of salt 
IN gardens, to the effect that near an Asparagus bed, which 
has been salted for a number of years, and some of the soil from 
which has occasionally been spread on the land adjoining, the 
few rows of Onions on one side and Cauliflowers on the other 
have withstood the drought much better than the rows further 
from the bed where the ground has not been salted. There is no 
doubt that the judicious use of common salt in gardens where 
the soil is of a dry nature and the rainfall slight, is of con¬ 
siderable advantage in seasons like the present. We have used 
salt for a number of years, and it has proved of great value 
when the summers have been hot and dry. 
- Vick’s Illustrated Magazine contains the following note 
upon a plant that is scarcely known in English gardens—“Any 
of our young friends who have not tried a plant of the Honey 
Bell, or Maiiernia odoratA, may find it a charming little 
pet. The foliage is delicate and finely cut, the plant becomes a 
foot or two in height, branches freely, and bears a great profusion 
of little nodding yellow flowers of the sweetest perfume. It is 
almost continually in bloom, and is an excellent plant for the 
window in winter. It is of the easiest culture, either in the 
greenhouse or wdndow garden, in a light and moderately rich soil. 
The name of this plant is an evidence of the difficulty botanists 
sometimes meet with in naming a newly discovered plant. A 
genus of plants to which this one is very closely related had 
been named Hermannia, after a noted German botanist, and for 
this later-found genus the name Hermannia was transposed into 
Mahernia, thus still honouring Herr Hermann while indicating 
botanical relationship.” 
MESSES. C. LEE & SONS’ ARBORETUM. 
A FEW minutes’ walk from Isleworth station, on the Hounslow 
branch of the South-Western Railway, are situated three of Messrs. 
C. Lee & Sons’ nurseries—namely, one where softwooded plants 
are chiefly grown, one where ornamental Coniferm, such as Reti- 
nosporas, Biotas, &c., are largely propagated, and one known as 
the arboretum, which contains an extensive collection of trees and 
shrubs. All are well worth a visit, but it is concerning the last- 
named that we submit the following brief notes, which, how¬ 
ever, can convey but a very imperfect idea of the diverse and 
beautiful forms represented. The variations from well-known 
types of trees and shrubs may be considered as ranking under 
three heads — the variegated, the weeping, and the cut-leaved 
forms. There is scarcely one of the common trees or shrubs that 
has not varieties showing some of these characters, in many 
instances so developed as to render them attractive in the highest 
degree ; others being extremely graceful in habit, while some are 
so grotesque or peculiar as to merit remark only as curiosities. It 
is amongst the deciduous section of tree life that these variations 
are most striking, and it is surprising what a number of forms 
have been obtained by some men who have specially devoted 
themselves to the work. This is particularly notable respecting 
the gold and silver variegated forms, one successful raiser of 
which was accustomed to jokingly inform inquirers that he 
painted the seeds white or yellow according to the kind cf varie¬ 
gation he required. Some strange, but not improbable, accounts 
have also been related about “sympathy” amongst plants—that 
is, inducing variegation in a plant by placing it near or in con¬ 
tact with one already marked by the desired character. How¬ 
ever, it is unnecessary now to enter into a discussion of the 
causes. In the Isleworth arboretum we find some of the best 
results, which will be referred to in the course of the following 
notes. 
Oaks. —These are very strongly represented, and though the 
period of our visit was somewhat too early in the season to 
observe them all in their best condition, yet many beautiful forms 
had their foliage well developed. One that especially deserves 
notice is the Golden Oak, Quercus concordia, in its way one of 
the finest in the genus. Among other trees it is most effective, 
the clear bright yellow hue of the leaves contrasting beautifully 
with dark evergreens. Few large specimens are seen ; indeed it 
is in comparatively few gardens the tree is represented at ail—a 
fact that is greatly to be regretted. Another distinct and effec¬ 
tive Oak is Q. rubicunda, which has handsome reddish-purple 
leaves, very dark. It is a fine companion for the preceding or 
other light-coloured forms, Q. purpurascens is also a purple¬ 
leaved variety, not quite so bright as the former, but still pleasing 
and useful. Among the variegated forms Q. albo-marmorata, 
Q. argentea, and Q. fastigiata variegata are especially noteworthy, 
and to these may be added the variegated Turkey Oak, which is 
perhaps unsurpassed in the clearness of the variegation and the 
distinctness of the contrast between the bright green centre and 
white margin of the leaves. Of the cut-leaved forms Q. filicifolia, 
Q. heterophylla dissecta, and Q. pectinata are remarkable, while 
as a variety with uncommonly large leaves Q. americana rnacro- 
phylla is worthy of notice. Pendulous or wmeping forms are 
also represented, but they are comparatively unattractive. Dozens 
of other more or less distinct and pretty varieties are grown, but 
cannot be now referred to. 
Maples. —One of the finest of these at the time of our visit 
was a form w 7 hich had been raised in the nursery, and is named 
Acer Webbianum, after the manager of this department, Mr. Webb. 
