568 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 20, 1888. 
artificials, and in August onward—ours is now (December) in full 
beauty—its numerous dense terminal heads of bright purple-red flowers 
make a display that cannot be readily surpassed. When fully grown it 
merely requires spurring in in early spring, young plants being short¬ 
ened to firm wood so as to insure the needful growths for furnishing 
the space. 
Apoxogetox distachyox. —During the mild weather of November 
and early December this very ornamental and free flowering aquatic 
was in fine flower in tanks outdoors, the flowers being remarkably strong 
and eight expanded ones on a plant, with a quantity of buds showing, 
but it cannot stand frost, a few degrees irreparably damaging the 
flowers. It is, however, perfectly hardy in 18 inches depth of water, 
seeding and increasing freely by that means and offsets. Indoors it 
flowers through the winter, and does not require a large area nor a great 
deal of soil; in fact, a vessel 2 feet across and a foot to 18 inches deep 
with 3 or 4 inches depth of soil, loam, and leaf soil or cow manure will 
accommodate a strong specimen, and it is the strong plants that give 
the large flowers from September through the winter. It 'requires 
plenty of light and air. Its white bracts and delicious Hawthorn-like 
perfume render it very desirable as a winter flowering plant for the 
greenhouse. Though it flowers under favourable conditions nearly all 
the year round, yet in warm situations it flowers most freely in autumn, 
whilst in the more breezy and colder situations the flowering is in 
early summer. 
Aquatics for Table Decoratiox. —What is so charming as an 
■oval glass bowl 2 feet in length, 18 inches in width, and 3 or 4 inches 
deep, filled with clear water and Nymphasa alba foliage and flowers as a 
centre ? Intersperse with these the rosy-pink variety N. alba rosea, and 
raise outside all round to the level of the dish or a little higher with 
green or fresh sphagnum in which are plants of Sundew (Drosera 
rotundifolia), or failing those any small bog plants foliage and flowers 
in green moss. Lesser bowls may be used for N. odorata and its 
charming variety rosea, pale pink. Smaller dishes may be used for the 
corners, and for a long table up the centre. If plants are used let them 
be such as Cyperus and Isolepis. Aponogeton distachyon in small dishes 
with its own foliage, floating leaves, is about the only available winter 
plant, but in summer there are more to choose from. Villarsia nym- 
phaeoides leaves and its flowering sprays are pretty. 
Rose Madame Falcot. —Mentioning table decorations reminds me 
of this Rose so charming in buds which are now produced freely by a 
specimen planted out in a conservatory band .trained at the end of a 
stove which adjoins. It is freely exposed to light, as there are no 
climbers overhead in that parti; in fact, the Rose reaches to the roof, and 
is suffered to grow rather informally, which adds to its appearance and 
to the freer production of its lovely buds.— Utilitariax. 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
The Practice of Forestry. By Christopher Y. Michie. William 
Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. 
Mr. Michie, the forester Of Cullen, the seat of the Earl of Seafield 
in Banffshire, has had great experience on the subject on which he 
writes, and this handy book will be serviceable to many who are 
interested in tree planting and management. The author, with the 
object of adding to the usefulness of the work, does not exclude from 
its pages the experience of others, duly crediting them with their 
productions. We are going to follow his example, for a citation will 
answer some questions that have reached us, and the information will 
be acceptable to many. 
Alter showing that land estimated at 15s. per acre as poor pasture 
when planted with trees will over a term of years yield a net annual 
income of £4 10s. an acre Mr. Robert E. Brown says :— 
“ Five years ago I received the management of about 400 acres of 
plantations on the estate of Wass in the north of England. The estate 
was owned by a thoroughly enlightened gentleman, who was anxious 
to have the woods put into good condition. During the last five years we 
have endeavoured to improve the woods properly, and the result is the 
improvement of the plantations to an amount fully twice the value 
they were at first, after taking from them a regular income, in the shape 
of thinnings, every year. These plantations have been giving an aveiage 
yearly income since 1861 of £2 10s. per acre net, and similar land on 
the estate is let with difficulty at 10s. per acre. 
“ One instance, in particular, will show the increase of value of 
woods when under a regular course of thinning. A wood, consisting of 
a crop of Oak and Ash, extending to 100 acres, was valued in 1864 by 
several foresters and timber merchants at £4000 ; since then thinnings 
have been taken from it to the amount of nearly £2000, and in the 
present year (1866) I am offered £5000 for the standing crop. 
“I consider thinnings of very little value before the plantation 
reaches the age of fifteen years—all that is required up to this time is a 
careful going over, cutting out any dead wood, and relieving any healthy 
tree that requires it. I believe that most of our woods at the present 
day are ruined by overthinning—the result, first of the want of trained 
men ; or second, where experienced men are employed on an estate, the 
term of their management is so uncertain that they aim more at having 
a good balance in their favour at the end of the year than securing the 
ultimate success of the plantation. I strongly recommend that no 
healthy tree be cut until it has attained a marketable value. The great 
aim of forestry should be to secure the highest possible return from the 
ground, and nothing adds more to this than length of scantling. Length 
is the principal object, and can only be attained by preserving a close¬ 
ness of trees on the acre. When I say a closeness of trees, I do not 
mean that one tree should interfere with another, knowing that the two 
things most essential to the growth of trees are root and branches. 
Quality, nowadays, is subordinate to quantity, and there is a danger of 
placing too high an estimate on the value of thinnings and too little on 
the crop remaining for the final cutting. The final cutting should never 
be less than eighty trees per acre if Larch, and nearly two-thirds more if 
Scots Fir.” 
“ Supposing that 2500 Larches and 1500 Scots Firs have been 
planted per acre, the thinnings might realise as follows : — 
First thinning, at fifteen years— 
0 
0 
Larches, 600, at 2d. 
£5 
Scots, 300, at Id. .. .. 
1 
5 
3 
900 
£6 
5 
0 
Cost of cutting, 3s. 6d. per 100 
1 
11 
6 
£4 
13 
6 
Second thinning, at eighteen years— 
Larches. 300, at 3d. 
£3 
15 
0 
Scots, 200, at 2d. 
1 
13 
4 
500 
£5 
8 
4 
Cost of cutting, 4s. per 100 
1 
0 
0 
£4 
8 
4 
Third thinning at twenty-two years — 
Larches. 500, at 6d. 
£12 
10 
0 
Scots, 300, at 3d. 
3 
15 
0 
800 
£16 
5 
0 
Cost of cutting, 6s. 6d. per 100 
2 
12 
0 
£13 
13 
0 
Fourth thinning, at twenty-six years— 
Larches, 500, at Is. 
£25 
0 
0 
Scots, 200, at 6d. 
5 
0 
0 
700 
£30 
0 
0 
Cost of cutting, 8s. per 100.. .. .. 
2 
16 
0 
£27 
4 
0 
Which gives for the four thinnings an expenditure of £7 19s. 6d.. and 
an income of £57 18s. 4d. There will remain 600 Larches and 500 Scots 
Firs, or 1100 trees ; but allowing for 300 failures and removals during 
the first fifteen years, there are still 800 per acre. This is the number 
of trees I begin with as the real crop to operate upon, which I consider 
very near the right quantity.” 
Our experience in the cultivation of Larch is corroborative ; some 
plantations proved so satisfactory that much sandy land devoted to 
farming was planted a few years ago, and from the present time onwards 
the annual sales will realise sums fully justifying the change of culture. 
What was known as “ bad ” land on the estate has proved more profitable 
occupied with Larch over a term of thirty years than has the best land 
under tillage let at rents varying from 30s. to £2 an acre. There can 
be scarcely any doubt that there are thousands of acres of almost 
worthless, because neglected, plantations in this country which might be 
rendered profitable by judicious planting and management. This is an 
important subject, and not the less so since purchasers of English 
timber tell us it is almost certain to become dearer in the future than 
it has been in the past. 
Intending planters may consult Mr. Michie’s works with advantage, 
as he gives information founded on long practice on almost every point 
connected with the subject. 
PRUNING EVERGREENS. 
A FEW notes on the subject of cutting-in evergreens of various 
kinds may be useful to those about to operate on these ornamental 
features of a garden or landscape, and especially on large full-grown 
specimens which have not previously been subjected to much 
cutting-in. As this is the class most difficult to manage well it will 
be necessary to consider the condition and nature of the plant 
before we commence too rashly to use the knife, axe, and saw. 
Very little consideration will convince us that an evergreen of 
