I 
Arim, l. 
COUNTRY GENTLE MAN’S COMPANION. 
21 
laid on the wall, ceiling, or wainscot, and over tliat a 
coat of chloride of zinc applied, being prepared in the 
same way as the first wash. The oxyd and chloride 
effect an immediate combination, and form a kind of 
cement, smooth and polished as glass, and possessing 
the advantages of oil paint, without its disadvantages 
of smell, &c.” The inventor further suggests the em¬ 
ployment of oxychloride of zinc as a paint for iron, 
and also to stop hollow teeth, for which its plasticity 
and subsequent hardness and impenetrability to the 
moisture of the mouth renders it particularly applicable. 
GARDEN HEDGES. 
Although it is not always in the power of the cottager 
to select his own garden hedge, yet, a little perseverance, 
well-timed, will frequently enable him to accomplish 
that object; and there is nothing of more importance to 
j the general appearance of his garden than a regular, 
i well-kept hedge ; and however well the interior may be 
kept, its beauty is much diminished if it be surrounded 
by a sort of nondescript fence of live and dead stuff of 
[ various kinds, intermixed with rank and troublesome 
weeds. Now, as this latter description of fence prevails 
very often to a great extent, we would advise the cottager, 
whose prospects of remaining are tolerably good, to see 
about altering it for a nice Quickset-hedge, and he will 
often find the difficulties in his way fewer than he 
I expected. 
Let it be observed, that when an old hedge is taken 
down with a view to make a new one, the ground ought 
to remain, at least, one year vacant, in order to freshen, 
and be in a fit condition to plant the new hedge in. A 
Quickset-hedge may then be planted in its proper place, 
and, being properly protected, kept clean, and judiciously 
pruned, it will speedily become a good fence, provided 
the ground be tolerably fertile and other circumstances 
favourable. 
In some cases, a Holly-hedge is preferable to a Quick- 
set one; but not every soil and situation are suitable 
to this beautiful evergreen. Privet, which is, perhaps, 
the most rapid-growing of any thing, is not sufficiently 
strong to resist cattle and other intruders, but it bears 
cutting well, and, when mixed with Quick, soon forms a 
useful hedge. 
After all, there is nothing like a good Quickset for 
general purposes; and I would also advise its being 
planted on the level ground, and not on a raised mound, 
or ridge. Neither ought there to be a ditch by the side 
of it, except in some particular cases; for where the 
ground is damp it may be rendered equally dry with 
proper draining in the usual way, and a ditch is so much J 
lost ground, besides being an untidy object, and likely j 
to produce more weeds than any thing really useful. 
In some cases there is an anxiety on the part of, 
the occupant to make the hedge a source of profit as 1 
well as useful and ornamental, by planting some pro¬ 
ductive, hardy fruit-trees in it; the most useful and i 
most common being the Damson and some other hardy 
Plums; but these must not be allowed on the south side j 
of the garden; neither is it advisable to have them on ' 
the side next a public road, as they are temptations 
not in every case resisted by the juvenile members of 
the neighbourhood. If a few Damson-trees be planted, 
let them be kept from hanging too much on one side, 
and let the stem show itself clear above the top of the 
hedge. In this case they may do no great harm. 
Where a cottage garden adjoins a wood, or coppice, 
it is not unusual to find the hedge composed of the 
mixed trees which form the coppice, as Hornbeam, 
Maple, Hazle, Willow, and other things of a miscella¬ 
neous character, entangled in such a way as to form a 
useful fence in its way, but untidy for a garden, as there 
is generally a ditch necessary to assist in making this 
heterogeneous mixture a sufficient fence; therefore, where 
practicable, I would advise this fence to be abolished, 
and a nice Quickset planted instead, at the same time 
taking care that the trees and bushes behind it are not 
allowed to encroach upon it to weaken or injure it too 
much ; and most landlords will, on being applied to, 
remove over-hanging trees that injure the well-cultivated 
garden of an industrious cottager, except in particular 
cases, where the tree cannot be taken away without 
injury to other things. 
When, from accident or other causes, a Quickset-hedge 
becomes thin, or a gap appears at a certain place, do 
not cram in a bundle of dead bushes, or thorns, into j 
that place, but secure it with as few pieces of stakes as 
can be done, at the same time drawing the live wood ! 
together in such a way as to form a perfect hedge again 
when it has grown a little. Stuffing in a bundle of dead 
wood increases the gap by preventing the young shoots 
occupying it. When plants actually die off they must 
be replaced by new ones, only exchange the soil for 
some equally good, which has not supported deciduous 
timber or shrubs. In fact, soil of the garden will be 
i best, and the result will be satisfactory. J. Robson. 
Death of John Reeves, Esq. —It is with deep regret 
that we have to announce the death of that ardent hor¬ 
ticulturist and estimable man, John Reeves, Esq., ol 
Clapham. This event took place on the 22nd inst., in 
the eighty-second year of his age. Mr. Reeves was for a 
long series of years tea-taster to the East India Company 
in China, and it is to him that this country is indebted 
for very many of the most beautiful and interesting ot 
the Chinese plants. He first drew attention to the 
Chinese Primrose, a circumstance of itself sufficient to 
entitle him to the gratitude of all who are interested in 
Horticulture. It is also in honour of him that Spiraea 
Reevesiana, and many other plants with the same specific 
name, are called. Mr. Reeves was a Eellow of the Royal, 
the Linnaean, the Horticultural, and the Zoological So¬ 
cieties, and his loss will be much felt by those whose 
privilege it was to know or come in contact with him. 
Upon referring to our notes, we find that Mr. Reeves 
first commenced importing plants from China as long 
since as 1810. In 1820, he sent to England twelve 
now varieties of Chrysanthemum, and brought' others 
hither in 1824. In 1821, the Chinese Primrose, in con¬ 
sequence of his sending a drawing of it, was intro¬ 
duced by Captain R. Rowes, and presented by him to 
his relative T. Carey Palmer, Esq., of Bromley, in 
Kent. In 1822, Mr. Reeves sent to the Horticultural 
Society the Double Chinese Cherry, Primus serrulata, 
and the Chinese Plum, Primus salicina. 
PLANTS THAT MAY BE IN BLOOM IN 
MARCH. 
(Continued from T'ol. XV., page 400.) 
Rof.llta Formosa. —This beautiful Acanthad, from i 
Brazil, next door neighbour to aJustitia, is not grown 
in proportion to its merits. The winter and spring 
months are the periods when it shows to most advantage. 1 
In summer it is liable to the Red Spider, unless kept in 
a moistcr atmosphere than would suit its flowering, 
though just the thing it wants for growing. It produces, 
for long periods, its scarlet blooms when not more than 
from nine to fifteen inches in height. It is easily pro¬ 
pagated by cuttings in sandy earth, under a glass in a 
hotbed, and grows freely in loam and peat. Cuttings 
taken off by Midsummer make nice, bushy plants before 
winter; and, therefore, unless where large specimens are 
