THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
355 
j March 6.] 
collector, Mr. Hartweg, having named it, with descrip¬ 
tions, and his name having been published by the Society 
before they were aware that it was the same as the one 
they had from Mr. Lambert, the unpublished name, 
Lambertiana, must give precedence to that of macro¬ 
carp a, according to the law in such matters, which has 
been made for the convenience of the public. Thus the 
Horticultural Society were obliged, by their own act, to 
forego the pleasure of dedicating the name of so fine a 
tree to the memory of a great patron of natural history; 
and this account of the story will save our readers from 
buying one fine tree twice over under these two names, 
as very likely it is in the hands of some nurserymen 
who may not yet be aware of the change of name; and 
those who already possess one under the n&me..Lam¬ 
bertiana, need not ask for macrocarpa. Erom what I 
know of this Cypress, I should class it as a rival to the 
' Araucaria of Chili, the Deodar of India, and the Cedar 
of Lebanon; and being a very fast grower, and having 
a light green foliage, perhaps it is the very best tree to 
plant an avenue with that has yet been introduced, 
j The next Cypress on my list is called Ooveniana — 
‘ after J. R. Gowen, Esq., Treasurer to the Horticultural 
Society of London. This also was sent from California, 
by Hartweg ; and for very limited gardens it is the most 
| suitable of all the new ones, if not of the whole family. 
It does not come to a tree even in California; but only 
a stout bush, eight or ten feet high. Like macrocarpa, 
it is of the light green-leaved kind, and all the more 
lively-looking on that account. It will increase from 
cuttings as fast as any of them, and is a very desirable 
new hardy evergreen. 
Cuprcssus tliurifera of Mexico is quite hardy, a fast 
grower, and looks as if it would make a very handsome 
tree after a few years. It is one that comes to a very 
great size. In Mexico it rises to 100 feet in height; 
but we must not be guided altogether by the heights in 
their native country when planting any of this family. 
The Deodar grows to an enormous size, and so does the 
common Larch, but then as they shoot up with a clean 
centre column, they do not require so much room as 
some of the common maples do in our lanes and hedges. 
The whole race will bear heavy pruning, if necessary ; 
and that is another favourable circumstance for those 
who are pinched for room, as their side branches must 
not be allowed to spread far and wide. Indeed, it is 
the best plan with all of them, and with Junipers, 
Cedars, and Arbor vitas, to confine them to one single 
leader, and force them to assume the shape of a spruce 
or silver fir for the first twenty years after planting. 
There is plenty of room above for them, and if the 
1 strongest of the side-branches are stopped season after 
■ season, and then allowed to grow out freely in smaller 
j branches, there need be no sigus of a rigid discipline, 
and the trees still be kept to the bounds assigned them. 
A cedar of Lebanon mil grow as upright as a larch, 
and much after the same fashion, if properly attended 
to for the first twenty years of its age; how much more, 
i then, a Cypress ? But let me not be misunderstood. 
This is altogether a different style of pruning from that 
; which I have been long recommending for the upright 
evergreen Cypress, commonly called the Italian Cypress. 
Last summer I saw a great number of seedling plants 
of the Chilian Cypress, with Mr. Low, of the Clapton 
! Nursery. I think he told me the seeds were gathered by 
! Mr. Bridges, after whom Bridgesia spicata is called; 
; and that he sent a glowing account of the splendid 
appearance of the trees—in short, that they were the 
very finest of the Conifera tribe. But all that was 
known long ago, for Dombey, the French traveller, saw 
them; and so did Popping, the German traveller; but 
] the credit of their introduction here belongs to Messrs. 
I Veitch, of Exeter, and Mr. Low, of Clapton. Although 
; it has been called the Chilian Cypress and Chilian Arbor 
Vitae, it has turned out to be neither;—the late Pro¬ 
fessor Eudlicher named it Libocedar, Libocedrus, and 
as this name has been acknowledged by British bota¬ 
nists, and classified so in their books, we must give up 
the old names. Sir W. Hooker says of it—“It is a tree 
of great beauty; and there can be little doubt, from its 
native regions, that it will thrive well in the open 
ground.” Dr. Lindley, writing of another kind of it 
found in Patagonia, says—“ No doubt they are amoDg 
the finest Conifers in the world. Since they inhabit the 
same country as the Chilian Araucaria, it is not impro¬ 
bable that they may be as hardy as that tree, and if so 
they will be of very great value.” This other Libocedar 
I shall notice soon, because the spring is by far the best 
time to buy them, although they need not be planted out 
till the middle or end of May. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Potting. —Having last week adverted to the times for 
potting, I shall now hint at a few things that are neces¬ 
sary to be attended to in performing that operation; for 
simple as that operation appears, it will generally be 
found that here, as well as elsewhere, attention to the 
very minutiae constitutes the high way of success. And 
1st. As respects the State of the Soil .—It should neither 
be dry nor wet. If very dry, it will not pack so well in 
the pot; the water, if it passes freely at all, will find 
chinks and crannies for itself, and it will be long before 
the general mass becomes sufficiently moist to support 
a healthy vegetation. On the other hand, if wet soil is 
used, it is apt to pack too close; frequent waterings are 
apt to puddle it; the very closeness, even when the 
drainage is all right, prevents the air from penetrating ; 
the sun beats upon the side of a porous pot; part of 
the moisture next the side of the pot is thus parted 
with, the earth contracts, and fissures are made round 
the inside of the pot, admitting dry air to scorch up the 
best fibres, while the internal part of the ball of soil is 
even yet more than sufficiently moist. Equilibrium, as 
respects dryness, especially when associated with soil of 
a proper mechanical texture, will prevent all this. The 
soil may become dry; but unless, in extreme cases, it 
will not be cracked into fissures. Flow to know the pro¬ 
per dryness. Take a handful; if by tightly squeezing 
it just holds together slightly, it will do; if it forms a 
compact mass, so that it might be laid on the potting- 
board without any risk of tumbling to pieces, it is too 
wet. Hence the drying of soils is an important means of 
securing success; and when too dry, they must be 
watered and turned a time or two before using. It is 
not necessary, however, that the whole of the material 
put in the pot should be in a uniform state as respects 
moisture; quite the reverse. For instance; we want 
some rough stuff to place over the drainage, that may be 
drier. The soil is rather fine; and to improve its mecha¬ 
nical texture we propose inserting little nodules of fibry 
loam or peat; little or big, in fact, in proportion to the size 
of the pot, and the smallness and largeness of the shift 
given. These nodules, if not too numerous, may be 
drier; the fact of their being so will longer enable them 
to retain their distinctive mechanical character. So in 
the case of a mainulng principle, which we may wish to 
act hoth as a mechanical agent, and to give out its nourish¬ 
ment not at once, but for a long period. It should be 
old; but it should be hard and dried. From using it in 
the latter state, we have found it, after being in pots for 
a year or two, with its hulk not vastly lessened; while 
through it and around it were clustered masses of fibres. 
When rapid action from manure is required, it should 
be finely divided, and regularly mixed with the soil, or 
used largely as a mulching or top dressing. 
