308 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
named from the Araucanos, a nation inhabiting that 
part of Chili, where Araucaria imbricata grows wild. 
A. Bidwillii (Mr. Bidwill’s Araucaria).—Native of i 
New Caledonia, an island in the Great Pacific ocean, 
and Moreton Bay, in Australia. This is a beautiful 
tree, rivalling in symmetry of growth its better-known 
congener, the A. imbricata. Messrs. Henderson, of : 
Pine-Apple-place, imported a large case of this fine I 
plant lately. One of them measures nearly four feet j 
high, and is growing rapidly in a pot in the open air. 
We much fear it will prove too tender to bear the 
rigours of our moist winters. In its native country it 
is said to reach the height of 150 feet. As a con¬ 
servatory plant it is very handsome. 
A. Braziliuna (Brazil Araucaria or Pine).—Average 
height, 70 to 100 feet. The wood of this Pine is heavy, 
and close grained, and is very useful to the Brazilians 
for making various articles of furniture. In this country 
it will only live in the most favoured parts of the island. 
No doubt in the South of Europe it would thrive aud 
form an useful and ornamental tree. There are two or 
three specimens at Dropmore that have attained the 
height of thirty feet, but they do not. look happy, and 
require protection in severe winters. A. Iiidoljiana is a 
variety that when young very much resembles the 
species, but is said to put on a different appearance 
when old. There is also another variety named A. 
elegans, with the foliage very densely set upon the 
branches. It has a graceful, drooping habit, but very 
little is known of these two varieties. We possess a 
good plant of the latter, about two feet high, well 
branched, and with an elegant drooping habit. Whether 
these varieties will prove more hardy than the species 
remains to be proved. 
A. Cunninghamia (Mr. Cunningham’s A., or the More- 
ton Bay Pine).—This is a very handsome tree in its 
native locality, frequently rising to 100 feet high. It 
bears a considerable resemblance to the A. excelsa, but 
the foliage is more prickly, aud of a darker hue. The 
timber is said to be excellent. Near the south coasts of 
England it grows and thrives well, but in the more 
inland parts it requires protection through winter. In 
the lofty conservatory it forms a handsome ornamental 
tree. 
A. excelsa (The Lofty Araucaria or Norfolk Island 
Pine).—Native of Norfolk Island, aud New Caledonia. 
It reaches in its native islands to 120 feet high. It is 
of an upright habit, the branches surrounding the stem 
at regular intervals, in a systematic manner. Whilst 
young they are horizontal, but as they advance in 
growth become drooping at the extremities. Being so 
very ornamental, it is much to be regretted that it is too 
tender to bear the open air in this country, even in the 
warmest parts of the island. In Italy, or the South of 
France, perhaps, it might live and thrive. Here we can 
only make use of it as a cool conservatory plant, for which 
it is admirably adapted. In such a building as the Crystal 
Palace, at Sydenham, it would have room to expand and 
show forth its almost regal dignity. And this is one 
amongst the many objects for which such a building is 
the proper arena. 
A. imbricata (The Imbrioated-leaved Araucaria or 
Chili Pine).—Average height, 120 feet. We have already 
written much in praise of this truly valuable tree— 
valuable both for stateliness of growth, and for its 
utility. It is decidedly the most remarkable of all 
Conifers, aud its well-proved power to bear our most 
severe winters is one of its qualities that strongly 
recommend it to the British planter. Seeds are im¬ 
ported in large quantities, and they readily grow with 
very moderate care. Hence it will soon become cheap 
enough to plant it as a matter of profitable outlay, 
especially when its useful qualities are more fully 
understood. The wood is strong and good, and it is 
August 12. 
i 
full of beautiful streaks of rich colours, and is capable 
and worthy of being worked upon by the cabinet¬ 
maker. The seed, too, is useful as an article of food, j 
The natives roast it as we do chestnuts, to which its | 
taste bears a strong resemblance. Every way, it is a 
most desirable tree. So far, however, we have only 
made use of it as an object of ornament, and there is no 
tree or shrub that commands more admiration. Whether 
the seeds will ripen in our climate we have not yet 
ascertained; but we have seen several cones on the one 
in the Royal Gardens at Kew, and we hope, when the 
trees attain the proper age and size, that desirable 
object—the ripening of the seed—will be attained. The 
grand use, at present, to which this fine tree may be 
applied, is to form avenues to the various mansions 
of the nobility and gentry of this country. This has 
been done already, as we mentioned previously, at 
Elvaston, and at Chatsworth, and when these have 
attained a certain size and character, no doubt they will 
excite others to employ them for the same purpose. 
Also, as single trees on the lawn, or in the park, they 
form fine objects ; but in such situations they should be 
planted young, and guarded from injury by cattle or 
game for several years, aud should not be shaded by 
other trees. T. Appleby. 
(7'o be continued.) 
ROSE CULTURE. 
(Continued from page 241.) 
Raising new Varieties from Seed. —Due attention 
having been paid to hybridising, protecting those flowers 
that have been operated upon from bees and birds, and the 
season having duly ripened them, our next head is—To 
gather the seed as soon as it is ripe, cleanse it from the 
pulp, and keep it perfectly dry, but cool, till the sowing 
season arrives. This rule scarcely needs any further 
explanation ; but in order to render our instructions 
practical and complete, we shall dilate upon it a little. 
The seeds are generally ripe enough when the hips 
become red, or rather scarlet, though many kinds never 
attain the highest colour, but rather a kind of brownish 
yellow—indeed, the colours almost vary as much as the 
fruit of the apple The ripening, then, must be judged 
of by the outside beginning to shrivel; soften it never 
will, like the peaeli or the plum ; but it will soften to a 
certain degree, so much so as even to be moveable if 
squeezed hard. Whenever it is adjudged to be ripe, 
gather it immediately, and put the hips into a vessel 
filled with milk-warm water. Take hold of each hip, 
and crush it into pieces, separating as much as possible 
the hard lump of seeds. When all are crushed, agitate 
the water considerably, and pour off gently all the skins 
and pulp. You will find each seed imbedded in a kind 
of hair; this must be got rid of by frequent rubbings, 
adding fresh water to carry it off. Continue theso 
washings till the seeds are quite freed of the skins, pulp, 
and hair; then pour them into a fine sieve or cullender, 
the mesh or holes of which are too fine to allow the 
seeds to pass through, but will allow any remaining 
pulp to wash away. Then set the sieve in the open air | 
for a few hours till the seeds are perfectly dry, give ■ 
them a rubbing between the hands, and wrap them up 
in paper, or put them in a fine canvass bag. If in 
paper, put them away in a drawer, in a cool room, till 
spring; but if in a canvass bag, which we think is the 
best, hang them up in a room where there is no fire, 
but well dried by a draught of air every day. In this 
place keep them till the end of February, examining 
them occasionally to see that no mould nor vermin has 
attacked them. 
When that time arrives, fill some wide pans with a 
mixture of loam and leaf-mould — two parts of the 
