88 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
desired form and dimensions by the skilful use of the knife, avoiding at the 
same time anything like undue formality ; while single specimens of evergreen 
trees and shrubs of distinct and remarkable character, such as the Variegated 
Pinaster , Abies Douglasii, Picea Pinscipo and P. nobilis , Cedrns Deodar a , Hemlock 
Spruce , Libocedrus decurrens , &c., should be planted in suitable situations, and 
be there allowed to assume their natural form and size. Tall specimens of the 
Irish Yew , on which might be grafted the Taxus elegantissima , or other golden- 
striped sorts, might also be introduced. These, although somewhat formal in 
appearance, produce a very remarkable and pleasing effect. Groups of such orna¬ 
mental plants as have been mentioned, could also be margined with suitable hardy 
evergreens or variegated plants of lower growth, of which there are to be had a 
great variety, such as the various Petinosporcis , Variegated Savins, Mahonia 
Aquifolia, Euonymus japonicus , Hardy Winter-flowering Heaths, Cotoneasters , 
Daphnes , Bambusa Fortunei variegate c, Golden-variegated Thyme , with Santolina 
incana , Cineraria maritima , and Cerastium tomentosum , &c., for the sake of their 
silvery whiteness. The few flowering herbaceous plants which might be introduced 
would consist principally of patches of the Christmas Pose , Winter Aconite , &c. 
With such materials at command, a unique and beautiful garden might, no 
doubt, be formed, which in winter would be at the height of its beauty, when the 
leafage of the various plants employed would be in a fully matured condition, and 
would be enjoyable at all times when the state of the weather would permit. It 
would also form a desirable and interesting feature in any garden establishment 
at any season of the year.—P. Grieve, Culford , Bury St. Edmund's. 
FRUIT-CULTURE versus CREMATION. 
AM very much obliged to Mr. F. W. Burbidge for his criticism (p. 56). 
To use a modern phrase, this is literally a burning question ; it is also a 
grave one, but after all it is one with which Horticulture has very little to 
do, and it will require neat handling to keep the subject from dropping 
into undesirable strata. 
Let me ask Mr. F. W. B., if lie approves of bones for a vine border, liow bo can object to 
the entire animal—bones, thews, sinews, and flesh—chopped fine, and mixed and deodorised 
with burnt clay, or dry earth? The stale fish of London has long ago found its way into the 
country; and there, after being mixed with burnt clay in a shed and undergoing disintegra¬ 
tion and deoderisation, it has gone through the drill as native guano; but no one could 
honestly cry Stinking fish as farmer Dobson’s manure-drill went up and down the fallow. The 
properties that go to make a manure-heap in a farmer’s court-yard valuable. I had rather not 
discuss, but as “ muck is the mother of money,” let no one speak lightly of it, with all its 
failings. I have watched the progress of Horticulture from my youth, and was in at tho 
birth of bones as a manure; and at the present time who would cry down the bones and offal 
of an old horse or other beast as manure, when properly managed ? 
Cremation may be poetic enough for a certain class who would “ court the bubble reputa¬ 
tion, even at the cannon’s mouth.” Hence we find Campbell giving Hope the power to grin:— 
“ Hope o’er the ruins and the wreck shall smile, 
And light her torch at Nature’s funeral pile.” 
The Martyrs—with reverence, be it said—suffered first a martyrdom, and after that Crema¬ 
tion :— 
“ From thy majestic altars tho steadfast martyrs came, 
To die for their Redeemer, in torture and in flame.” 
