April 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
47 
butchers will be selected as judges. It will be interesting 
to the breeders of sheep to be also informed that the three 
Shropshire sheep with which the Earl of Aylesford carried 
off the first prize and medal, in class 26, at the last Bir¬ 
mingham and Midland Counties Cattle Show, were consider¬ 
ably heavier than those of his Lordship’s feeding above- 
mentioned. We are informed by Mr. Ballard, of Snow Hill, 
Birmingham, the purchaser of the prize sheep, that their 
respective weights were—23 st., 21 st. 6 lbs., and 19 st. 4 lbs., 
the total weight of the three being 04 st. 2 lbs., thus exceed¬ 
ing the weight of the three slaughtered in London by 4st. 
0 lbs .—Midland Counties Herald, April 1, 1852. 
THE PATAGONIAN FITZROYA. 
( Fitz-roya Palagonica.) 
This is a splendid new Conifer (Pinacese), lately 
named by Dr. J. D. Hooker, in compliment to Capt. 
Robert Fitzroy, who commanded the latter part of the 
expedition, begun under Capt. King, in exploring both 
sides of the southern extremity of South America, in 
the Adventure and Beagle, and whose interesting “ Na- 
rative” of this expedition was published a few years ago 
(Botanical Magazine, 4616). This, as well as many 
other very interesting and most valuable evergreen trees, 
was discovered by Mr. Lobb, in those little-known and 
inhospitable regions along the western declivities of the 
Patagonian Andes, a little below the line of perpetual 
snow, and sent home by him to bis enterprising patrons, 
the Messrs. Veitch, of Exeter, who have succeeded in 
raising plants of it, but which, we believe, have not yet 
been offered for sale. Respecting it, Mr. Lobb writes— 
“It inhabits the rocky precipices, growing to an enor¬ 
mous size, particularly about the winter snow line, where 
I have seen trees upwards of 100 feet high, and more 
than eight feet in diameter. It may be traced to this ele¬ 
vation to the perpetual snows, where it is not more than 
four inches in height.” He also states that it “ affords 
excellent timber.” In the natural disposition of the 
Conifers, as arranged by Endlicber, this remarkable 
tree comes in between the tree Arborvitses and the 
Cypress, and probably is the new section called Thuiop- 
sis (Arborvitae-like) by Dr. Siebold and Professor Zuc- 
carini, in their enumeration of the Conifers of Japan, in 
the Flora Japonica. —B. J. 
Propagation and Culture. —Before I offer my sugges¬ 
tions under these heads, allow me to remark, briefly, that 
one day, at the beginning of last October, when I was 
whistling an old tune called “ Bundle and go,” in comes the 
Journal of the Horticultural Society for that month, and in 
running down'my eye on the table of “ Contents” I made a 
dead stop at “ Notices of certain Ornamental Plants lately 
introduced into England. By Professor Lindley,” and I 
cmdd get no farther. Ornamental new plants always carry 
the day. Before I could turn to the page, I could almost see 
flower-beds, ladies, and The Cottage Gardener dancing to a 
merry tune, myself playing the first fiddle. But on reading 
these “ Notices ” I was startled to learn, at the eleventh 
hour, that there were so many new conifers, Taxads, or 
yews, and other fine trees, on the hills of Patagonia, after 
so many naturalists had visited these parts within my own 
memory, beginning with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Cumming, 
who first made their acquaintance on these very rocks, down 
to Mr. Darwin and the officers of the Beagle, and yet left 
such a harvest for Mr. Lobb to gather in, although he 
missed many of the fine things described by Ruiz and 
I’avon, in the Flora Peruviana, from places much nearer the 
equator. 
The affinity of this Fitz-roya to the eastern or Chinese 
Arborvita; on the one hand, and to the Cypress on the 
other, will suggest to every gardener that it may easily be 
had from cuttings in the usual way, while they know that 
plants so obtained from this section of the order will soon 
make plants equally handsome with those reared from 
seeds; and as for its cultivation, any one who can grow a 
Highland pine will have no difficulty in bringing up the 
smallest root-morsel they can procure of it. They may 
still have their doubts about the hardihood of the “ Prince’s 
tree” (Libocedrus chilensis), but no one can have any mis¬ 
giving about the hardiness of this new-comer after reading 
the following from the pen of Mr. Lobb 
“ During my absence I visited a great part of Cliiloe, 
most of the islands in the Archipelago, and the coast of 
Tatagonia for about 140 miles. I went up the Corcobado, 
Caylin, Alman, Comau, Reloncavi, and other places on the 
coast, frequently making excursions from the level of the 
sea to the line of perpetual snow. These bays generally 
run to the base of the central ridge of the Andes, and the 
rivers take their rise much further back in the interior. 
The whole country, from the Andes to the sea, is formed of 
a succession of ridges of mountains, gradually rising from 
the sea to the central ridge. The whole is thickly wooded 
from the base to the snow line. Ascending the Andes of 
Comau, I observed from the water to a considerable eleva¬ 
tion, the forest is composed of a variety of trees, and a sort 
of cane, so thickly matted together that it formed almost an 
impenetrable jungle. Further up, amongst the melting 
snows, vegetation becomes so much stunted in growth, that 
the trees seen below 100 feet high, and 8 feet in diameter, 
only attain the height of 0 inches. 
“ On reaching the summit no vegetation exists—nothing 
but scattered barren rocks, which appear to rise amongst 
the snow, which is 30 feet in depth, and frozen so hard that 
on walking over it the foot makes but a slight impression. 
“ To the east, as far as the eye can command, it appears 
perfectly level. To the south, one sees the central ridge of 
the Andes stretching along for an immense distance, and 
covered with perpetual snow. To the west, the whole of the 
islands, from Guaytecas to the extent of the Archipelago, is 
evenly and distinctly to be seen. 
“ A little below this elevation the scenery is also singular 
