120 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ MAY, 
—- 
- ££he following receipt for Preserving Wooden Labels is from the 
Garden: —After the wooden labels are made, soak them in a strong solution of 
sulphate of iron. Let them dry, and place them in lime-water, giving time for 
the lime-water to permeate the wood thoroughly. Insoluble sulphate of lime will be formed 
throughout the pores of the wood, which will prevent the absorption of water, and conse¬ 
quently prevent rotting. Twine used for tying up plants may be similarly preserved. 
■- learn from the Comptes Rendus , that MM. Becquerel have ex¬ 
perimentally determined that the temperature below the soil, when the surface 
has been denuded, in frosty weather is much lower than when the soil is covered 
with turf. But it ought to be added that arable land is quickly warmed by the s\mshine of 
spring, wdiile land covered with turf absorbs heat more slowly. 
- HylR. J. E. Gray died at his residence at the British Museum, on March 
7, aged 75. At an early age he formed a strong liking for natural science, and 
prepared the systematic part of the Natural Arrangement of British Plants , 
published by his father, in two volumes, in 1821. Dr. Gray was President of the old Botanical 
Society of London ; and he held for many years the position of Keeper of Zoology in the British 
Museum, which he resigned only in December last. He was a generous friend to science and 
to those who had scientific tastes. 
- $&R. Robert Lancashire, of Middleton, Lancashire, died on March 12, 
in his 77th year. He was a sound cultivator of the Auricula, Carnation, Dahlia, and 
Rose; a thorough florist, and the raiser from seed of that fine Auricula, Lancashire 
Hero, a variety which has been regarded by leading fanciers as the most perfect hitherto 
produced, and which will be a leading flower in collections for years to come. 
- |He. j. D. Hextall, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, died on March 25, aged 
87. He was an enthusiastic cultivator of Tulips, Carnations, and other flowers, 
and his pleasant face, beaming with good-humour, was constantly looked for at the 
various Shows. At the National Tulip Exhibition held at Aston, Birmingham, in May last, 
he was as devoted as ever to his work, though suffering from failing sight. Time is rapidly 
thinning the ranks of the old school of florists. 
- Thomas Bewley, Esq., died at his residence, Rockville, Blackrock, near 
Dublin, on April 5. Mr. Bewley’s name has been long known in connection with 
horticultural affairs, and as cultivator of Orchids, Ferns, and other plants, he was 
remarkably successful; indeed, the collection now existing at Rockville is, perhaps, second to 
none in Ireland. In private life ho was greatly esteemed among a wide circle of friends, for 
his kindness, benevolence, and generosity, and in him horticultiire has lost one of its most 
liberal, genuine, and staunch supporters. 
- EOIaniel Hanbury, Esq., died on March 24, at his residence at Clapham 
Common. Amiable, accomplished, profoundly versed in his own special department 
of pharmacy, still in the prime of life, having done excellent work, capable and 
willing to do good service to science and to his fellow-creatures, he has been suddenly removod 
from us, leaving behind him an example to be followed, and a memory to be cherished. Mr. 
Hanbury was one of those who raise their business and themselves to a higher levol than 
that of more money-getting. His original investigations into the nature and history of drugs, 
and of the plants producing them, were minutely accurate, and his record of them was as 
judiciously terse. His magnum opus was the P/iannacographia, published quite lately in con¬ 
junction with Professor Fliickiger, of Strasburg. His brother’s garden at La Mortola—a 
veritable garden of acclimatisation—afforded him ample opportunity for indulging his garden¬ 
ing tastes, and in its formation, stocking, and management, Daniel Hanbury took the greatest 
interest. He was in his 50th year. 
