.168 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ July, 
fine; a short distance from these is a breadth of British Queens very fine, I think I never had 
them finer, which is rather singular, after the frost we had last winter, and considering what 
a tender kind it is. With the exception of Keens’, most other kinds are good here, but I hear 
great complaints in many places about the lightness of the crop. On the whole, after the heavy 
crop of last year, we have reason to feel thankful and satisfied.—M. Saul, Stourton. 
- ©R. Scherzer, an Austrian official at Pekin, has sent to his Govern¬ 
ment some specimens of a Chinese Waterproof Composition called Schioicao, 
which has the property of making wood and other substances perfectly water¬ 
tight. He says that he has seen in Pekin wooden chests which had been to St. Petersburg, 
and had come back uninjured, and that the Chinese also use the composition for covering straw 
baskets, which are afterwards employed in carrying oil for long distances. Cardboard, when 
covered with the composition, becomes as hard as wood ; and most wooden buildings in Pekin 
have a coating of it. It consists—so says the Builder —of three parts of blood deprived of its 
fibrine, four of lime, and a little alum. 
- <$ne of the delights of a garden, is a comfortable Garden Chair , and 
though this may be used under the 
shadow of trees, it is a further luxury 
to have it furnished with a sun-shade, so as 
/ _ / 
to be useable in any desired spot. The 
accompanying figure, for which we have to 
thank Messrs. J. and G. Haywood, of Derby, 
represents a garden seat which meets both 
the above conditions. The seat itself is both 
luxurious and ornamental. The shade 
afforded by the awning is not only delicious, 
but most inviting and welcome on a sunny 
summer’s day. The two can be had com¬ 
bined as shown in the figure ; or the awning 
can be had independent of the seat, and 
provided with supports so as to stand firmly 
in the ground, when it can be used in con¬ 
junction with any portable seats, and forms 
an elegant tent of 6 ft. long. The awning 
is of strong striped linen, and may be wound 
up and down like a window-blind, or re¬ 
moved altogether in less than one minute. 
- ££he disease or premature decay of the Silver Fir — Picea pectinata , 
when planted for timber, has been the subject of discussion in the gardening 
journals. Mr. Michie, in Transactions of the Scottish Arhoricultural Society, 
states that he has seen the tree do well in Scotland on all soils, except those of a gravelly 
nature, on which it is apt to lose its leader; and that if much confined in its growth it is 
liable to contract disease at the top, which dies down several feet, death sometimes ensuing. 
After balancing the good and bad qualities of the Silver Fir, he recommends planters to adopt 
in its stead the Crimean Fir, Picea Nordmanniana , which although at present much dearer 
than the common Silver Fir will, he anticipates, become cheaper. 
lOtuluarn, 
-fttH. George Cameron, for 35 years gardener to tlie late and present 
Dukes of Richmond, died, at Goodwood, on May 14. He was one of several 
eminent Sussex gardeners who acquired the rudiments of their horticultural 
knowledge at Bothwell Castle. Mr. Cameron was well known as an excellent cultivator, and 
was an occasional contributor to the Metropolitan exhibitions. 
- fHn. William T. Cripps, of the firm of Cripps and Son, nurserymen, of 
Tunbridge Wells, died on June 11, at the early age of 31. 
