54 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 24. 
By Division. —In turning out the pots full of bulbs I 
many small ones may be seen united slightly at the ) 
base to the large ones; these almost divide them¬ 
selves; or, at least, a very little force of hand will 
separate them. In the course of a few years, any place ! 
possessing one plant and growing it well may have a J 
very good stock. 
Uloriosa Plantii requires treating exactly like G. 
superba ; and the rest, excepting G. Nepalensis, which is j 
a greenhouse species, nearly hardy. T. Appleby. 
WOODS AND FORESTS. 
THE SCOTCH PINE (Pinus sylvestris). 
(Continued from page 27.) 
Next to the Larch, among coniferous or resinous 
trees, this is the most useful in Great Britain as a 
timber tree. It has one advantage over the Larch, and 
that is, tlBjd its leaves are persistent or evergreen. It 
is a tree, that under favourable circumstances attains 
ninety feet in height. It grows in a conical form, the 
leaver are of a dark blue or grey, the bark rough, and 
of E dark brown colour. It flowers in May, and the 
corjes containing the seeds should be gathered in No¬ 
vember or December. It is remarkable as being the 
'only Pine that grows wild in Britain. Its seeds drop 
in the native woods and come up spontaneously, thus 
furnishing a succession of trees without any care by 
man. 
Varieties. —When I visited Enville Hall, I noticed in 
the woods there three distinct varieties, and in my descrip¬ 
tion of that fine place I described them in The Cottage 
Gardener. Mr. Sang, a good observer and an ex¬ 
cellent writer, is, or was, a nurseryman at Kirkcaldy, in 
Fifesliire. 1 saw him and his nursery about seven years 
ago, and found a plain, unassuming, and very intelligent 
man. He says (in a work that he edited, entitled the 
Planter's Kalendar, published in 1812 , at Edinburgh), 
“ The variety of the Scotch Pine most commonly culti¬ 
vated is the least worth the trouble. The variety he 
names as the P. sylvestris, var. montana, is the red 
wood of commerce ; even young trees of this sort show 
the colour in the wood, and become full of resin very 
soon.” The variety preferred by the celebrated botanist, 
Mr. George Don (of Forfar, in Scotland, who had a 
good sale botanic garden there), is distinguished by the 
disposition of branches, which are remarkable for their 
horizontal direction, and for a tendency to bend down¬ 
wards close to the trunk. The leaves are broader and 
shorter than in the common kind, and are distinguish¬ 
able at a distance by their much lighter and milky-green 
appearance; the bark of the trunk is also smoother than 
in the common kind ; the cones are thicker, and not so 
much pointed. The plant is more hardy than the 
common sort, grows freely in almost any soil, and 
sooner makes timber. Surely, if this be all true, 
the nurserymen in Scotland should see to it, and give 
strict orders to their seed-collectors to gather no other 
variety. I have not the least doubt but the same sort 
grows in England, though I never noticed it; but I 
strongly suspect it may be found in the Scotch Pine 
woods beyond the Virginia Water, on the road to 
Chobham. 
Uses. —Every carpenter can tell us that there is red 
deal and white deal; but very few, even respectable 
timber - merchants, could inform an enquirer what 
species of tree produces the different woods. This 
shows how ignorant we are of “ common things.” The 
red deal is the timber of the Scotch Pine, and every 
joiner or builder knows it is greatly superior to the 
white. It is excellent for all building purposes, re¬ 
sisting dry rot and wood-boriDg insects. The Highland 
Pine, Sang states not to be inferior to any imported, 
either in durability or cleanness. The common sort, 
or even the best, grown in the Lowlands is only fit for 
roofing sheds, lining carts, making laths for roofs, or 
packing-cases and fire-wood. The natural, or self-sown 
tree, in high situations where its growth has been slow, 
and, consequently, the wood solid and sound, is equal to 
any timber for almost any purpose. 
Planters make use of this tree to a great extent as a 
nurse-tree; that is, they plant it to shelter the Oak and 
other hard-wooded trees whilst they are young. For 
this purpose, on account of its being evergreen and 
growing quickly in almost any soil, it is invaluable. 
It bears the blast of strong winds better than any other 
tree I know, and grows very rapidly. The only fear is, 
that if the thinning them out is neglected, the nurse 
becomes a robber, and smothers the more valuable 
trees in soils where its timber is of the inferior quality. 
The thinning of forests in time is sadly neglected; it is 
the crying sin of most owners of woods. Many pro¬ 
prietors have planted largely; but they or their heirs are, 
I might almost say, stupidly indifferent to after manage¬ 
ment. It is very grievous to aright-thinking, observing 
man to pass through the country and see hundreds of 
acres of fine young trees, from twenty to forty feet high, 
killing each other for want of proper thinning in time. 
Soil and Situation. —To produce the best timber of 
this tree the soil is almost a matter of indifference. 
In many parts of the Highlands of Scotland, where the 
soils are of almost every kind, from sand to clay, with a 
rubble or rocky subsoil, this tree will grow and flourish; 
but the best timber is produced in mountainous regions. 
We may see fine trees growing in shallow peat or moor 
earth, where almost any other tree would not make 
more than a stunted bush. I noticed this particularly 
in the black, sandy hills about Enville Hall, and also 
on the large district of country within ten miles of 
Bagshot. There are thousands of acres of such soil in 
Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, now 
a barren wild, that would grow this excellent timber 
to the highest perfection. If these districts were 
all planted immediately, our grandchildren would have 
plenty of useful timber for their doors, window-frames, 
and boards for rooms. We should then not have to 
depend either so much upon the north of Europe, or any 
other part of the world ; and besides that, the appearance 
of the country would be greatly improved, and rendered 
warmer by the shelter these woods would give to the 
corn-growiDg valleys in their neighbourhood. When 
will our government, and the great landed proprietors, 
awake from their lethargy, and go to work in earnest 
upon the barren places of our beautiful country, and 
plant them with useful timber, according to the capability 
of the soils and situation? The expense would be con¬ 
siderable, but the cash would not be lost. It would be 
earned, and wisely used by nurserymen, planters, and 
labourers, and by them would be circulated throughout 
the country. We should have less poor-rates, and less 
necessity for so many of our able-bodied peasantry 
emigrating to a foreign land, in search of that bread 
which an over-abundant, work-wanting population 
cannot obtain, even in this flourishing country. 
T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
GARDENING FOR THE MANY.— May. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Although the Garden productions of the early part 
of the month are usually more meagre than at any other 
season, yet the general appearance of the garden, with 
the many objects of promise in it, combined with the 
