228 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[October, 
diameter of the branches 15 ft. On subtracting the difference between these 
measurements, we may be apt to conclude that the limestone is the most favour¬ 
able of the two soils, an opinion which requires to be qualified. In the latter case., 
the ground was preoccupied to a very great extent by the roots of aged oaks and 
Spanish chestnuts ; and these, having been so long in possession, had unques¬ 
tionably carried off a large portion of the nutritive properties, and reduced the 
soil almost to beggary. 
A third place was chosen, the soil of which cannot, strictly speaking, be called 
swampy, but more of a close unctuous texture than otherwise—a mixture of stiff 
loam and decayed vegetation, somewhat akin to peat-soil. This has proved the 
most unsatisfactory position we have tried for the Wellingtonia. The growth 
is slow, and thin of branches, and the points of the shoots and leaves are every 
winter more or less damaged. There is a large number of Wellingtonias dis¬ 
persed over the park, in dissimilar places, but I shall only notice a fourth, planted 
by the side of a brook, high and dry above the bed of the stream, on a deep 
alluvial deposit. Although only planted about eight years, this will eventually far 
surpass our most promising plants, the rate of growth being little short of three 
feet annually. This, I suspect, is just the quality of soil for coniferous plants, as 
within a short distance there is a tree of Pinus Strobus , planted nearly a hundred 
years ago, now about 80 ft. high, having a stem as straight as a measuring-rod* 
There is possibly no coniferous tree so impatient of removal as the Wellingtonia. 
We transplanted a good-sized plant nine years ago, and although it remains 
healthy, the height has not increased more than a few feet; and this is not the 
only instance, as it has happened so with me invariably.— Alexander Cramb,. 
Tortworth. 
ZINNIA HAAGEANA FLORE-PLENO. 
S HIS promises to be one of the best new annuals for next spring. The 
original or radiate form of the plant is of low tufted habit, unlike most of 
¥ the other species in cultivation, and in this respect the “ double-flowered n 
variety resembles it. Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, of Erfurt, to whom 
we are indebted for the use of the annexed figure, communicate the following 
particulars respecting it:— 
“ The single-flo wered species, which is also known by the names of Zinnia 
mexicana , Hort., and Zinnia Ghiesbreghtii , Verl., has long since become a general 
favourite, from its usefulness for dried or winter bouquets. We are now happy 
to be able to offer for the first time, a double-flowered variety, in which the form 
and donbleness of the flower-heads are perfect, and which is constant from seeds. 
The habit of the double sort is the same as that of the single-flowered, forming 
densely-branched tufts of about a foot in height, and a foot and a half in diameter, 
abundantly furnished with the terminal flower-heads, which are of much longer 
duration than the single ones. The flower-heads are as densely imbricated, and 
