THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 31, 1857. 443 
but now, from the want of all evergreens, even the most 
j common, it looks very dreary. The garden is small, and 
| the houses few in number, and, as is the case in all con¬ 
tinental botanic gardens, the plants are fearfully crowded. 
There are good collections of Palms, Cycadaceous plants, 
and Orchids ; but, from their being so huddled together, it 
is impossible to grow them as they deserve. There is a 
house devoted in summer to the growth of the Victoria 
regia, with a tank twenty-two feet in diameter. This house 
is now used to winter some Conifers and shrubs which re¬ 
quire. a slight protection. It is worthy of note that the 
young plants of Victoria which I saw in the propagating 
house were raised from two-year-old seed. I should have 
doubted the statement had not Mr. Otto, the director of the 
garden, assured me of its truth. The seed had been kept in 
bottles of cold water, and afterwards, when placed in a heat 
of about 85°, it germinated very well. The only plants in 
bloom here were a few common Acacias and some bulbs. 
In the stove was a nice plant of Hebeclinium ianthinum, 
producing its Ageratum-like flowers profusely. The same 
may be said of Thyrsacanthus rutilans, here called T. Schom- 
burghianus. There was nothing new to he seen in this 
garden, the finances of which appear to be somewhat 
cramped, so that it is necessary to eke them out by the sale 
, of duplicates. 
Mr. Booth’s nursery is a good walk from Hamburgh, through 
Altona and Blankenese; but it is easily found, as everybody 
knows “the English gardener.” This garden well deserves 
the high character it possesses; it is, undoubtedly, one of 
the best nurseries in North Germany. Several new houses 
have lately been erected here for the growth of Orchids and 
New Holland plants. The Orchids, of which there is a 
large collection, were in fine health. Among those in flower 
the rarest was Uropedium Lindeni, which had five flowers 
open, presenting, with its curious tail-like petals, a very 
interesting appearance. It is a native of Caraccas, and was 
| introduced by the person whose name it hears. There were 
good specimens of a dozen kinds of the Pitcher Plant, the 
best being Nepenthes lanata, N. ampullaceapicta, N. sanguinea, 
N. Hoolierii, and N. Rafflesiana. I noticed in this house a 
variety of Tradescantia discolor with striped leaves, and with 
it a good stock of the beautiful white-striped Maranta vittata. 
There was here a splendid specimen of the Rice Paper 
Plant ( Aralia papyrifera ); it had eight leaves, each of which 
was two feet in diameter. The pot in which it was growing 
was only fourteen inches across. The white variety of Lapa- 
geria rosea is, I am afraid, almost lost in England; I was glad, 
therefore, to see that there are plants of it here. The Oak 
is a favourite tree in this garden. Mr. B. has 120 species of 
this genus; the greater part are not, however, hardy. 
A long span-roofed house was devoted to a fine collection 
of young Conifers. It is a poor sign for the gardener when 
he finds it necessary to grow the Deodar, and nearly all the 
favourites of our English lawns, under glass. Among the 
few that have stood the last three winters unprotected are 
Picea Pinsapo, P. Nordmanniana, and Cephalotaxus Fortuni. 
In another span-roofed house were some tolerable specimens 
of h ard-wooded plants, most of them showing plenty of flower- 
buds, but only a few in bloom. Among them, however, was 
the pretty Hardenbergia longiracemosa. 
Mr. Booth has also a very extensive nursery for forest 
trees—“ tree school,” as the Germans call it. It is divided 
at frequent intervals by hedges of Hornbeam and Spruce Fir. 
The flower-shops, which are numerous in Hamburgh, are 
gay with Azaleas, Persian Lilacs, Hyacinths, Violets, Chinese 
Primroses, &c. The common Ivy is a great favourite here 
as an in-door ornament for dwelling rooms, and the effect 
produced by it is in many cases very pleasing. Trained 
round the window-frame its dark green leaves set off to 
advantage the flowers of the Hyacinths which usually accom¬ 
pany it. Nice plants of Ivy in pots can be bought for two¬ 
pence each.— Karl. 
MAKING SMALL QUANTITIES OF CHARCOAL. 
As charcoal is of great importance in the cultivation of 
many kinds of plants, and as cultivators of plants generally 
do not understand the manufacture of it, in answer to “ An 
Old Subscriber,” at page 560 of the present volume of 
The Cottage Gardener, I will give my method, which 
will he found to answer well for those persons who may 
be disposed to try it until a better be substituted. 
My practice is to commence by taking a sufficient quantity 
of split wood that will easily ignite on the application of 
fire, and with a sharp instrument cut it into lengths varying 
from about three to nine inches. I then place it in a dry 
shed until I have prepared the whole of the wood which is 
to be burnt into charcoal at one time, and to preserve it 
from being wet; for I would have it particularly understood 
that the drier it is kept the sooner it will take fire when the 
whole is piled for burning, which will save much trouble and 
probably partial failure in the operation. 
The quantity of dry wood to be prepared will depend upon 
the size of the heap when complete and ready for being set 
fire to. A heap that measures about four feet in diameter 
at the base, and from four and a half to five feet high in the 
centre, will require a quantity sufficient to form in the centre 
of it a circular heap about eighteen inches through at the 
base, and twelve high in the centre. 
Charcoal is generally made, “ on a large scale,” of the 
boughs of trees that have been cut down for sale, or of the 
underwood and prunings of trees that take place occasionally 
on the estates of land proprietors. The wood should be as 
firm as can be obtained, and as free from sap as possible; 
but if it cannot be had of this kind take the best at com¬ 
mand, and cut it also into lengths of about six, nine, twelve, 
and eighteen inches; and when it is cut be particular to make 
the lengths into three loose heaps, i.e., those lengths that 
measure the least in diameter into the first heap, those of 
the greatest diameter into the second, and those which range 
between the least and the greatest diameter into the third. 
Also prepare a smooth, circular piece of wood from four and 
a half to five feet in length, and six inches through. Atten¬ 
tion to these things at this stage of the process will greatly 
economise the amount of labour which will afterwards have 
to be bestowed upon the building of the pile. 
The wood being thus prepared, next proceed to select a 
convenient plot of ground upon which to burn it, and which, 
I would remark in passing, might he the comer of an adja¬ 
cent field, the Melon ground, the compost yard, or, for 
want of these, the centre of a spare quarter in the kitchen 
garden. 
The ground being fixed upon, level and make it firm by 
beating it with a beater or the back of the spade, and then, 
in the morning of a fine day, when the weather looks settled, 
wheel the wood to it, keeping the heaps, as already, separate 
from each other when placed round the ground where the 
principal heap is to be formed, and also have brought from 
the field or common a cart-load of sound turf, and placed at 
a proper distance from the material already on the ground. 
Into the centre of the ground, which has been made even 
with a mallet, strike one of the thick pieces of wood, which, 
I would observe, must have been pointed at one of its ends 
when the rest of the wood was being prepared. Allow it, 
when fixed in the ground, to stand about nine inches above 
the surface of the soil round it; begin to form the pile by 
placing a few of the shortest lengths of the dry wood equally 
round the bottom of it, and then against these others, with 
one end resting on the ground, so that the end which is the 
uppermost will incline towards the centre of the heap. They 
must be placed as closely to each other as possible in an im¬ 
bricated style. In this manner proceed until the heap 
reaches to the top of the stake. Afterwards mix with the 
wood a quantity of shavings which have been got from the 
carpenter’s shop, which will cause the wood to ignite sooner 
than it would do if they were not used. The form of the 
heap, when of the dimensions above stated, should be that 
of a cone, on the point of which must be mounted on end 
the long, smooth piece of wood which was made ready for 
the occasion as already stated. Be particular to make it 
firm by putting the end of three rods into the ground, so as 
to form the three points of a perfect triangle, and fastening 
the other ends of them to the top of the wood. Then take 
about one-fourth of the lengths which form the first heap of 
wood, and tile-form layer them - equally all over the central 
pile; also take the whole of the second and third heaps, 
and use them one after the other in the same way, finishing 
with a layer of the three-fourths which remain from being 
used of the first heap. 
