187 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 21, 1858. 
DISEASE IN THE WELLINGTON!! GIGANTEA. 
In answer to your correspondent, who, in The Cottage 
Gardener, of the 7th inst., complains that the terminals of the 
lower branches of some Wellingtonias in his possession appear to be 
dying, I beg to say, that this appearance is by no means peculiar 
to his specimens of this noble tree. This dying of the terminals 
of the branches of the Wellingtonia is of too common occurrence 
in plants growing in England: it is the one thing that utterly 
destroys the beauty of the plant. Certainly, dampness cannot be 
the cause of this decay; for I have known plants in the driest 
chalky situation, and in sandy situations, affected in the same 
way. I should rather be disposed to think that it arose from too 
little, than too much moisture. I have a Wellingtonia which I 
planted in the spring of 1857 : it stands in a clayey loam, and is 
sheltered from the north and east by belts of trees. When first 
planted in its present situation, it was seven inches high; in 
about six months time, it reached the height of fifteen inches and 
a half; and was on the 30th of last month, when I measured it, 
three feet six inches and a half. The soil and position evidently 
suit this young plant, for it thrives apace, and is beautifully green 
at every point, and well covered with branches from the very 
ground upwards. I rather pride myself on this plant, and, from 
all that I hear, I may well do so. 
I have another specimen of the Wellingtonia, which was 
planted in the autumn of last year : it is in a more exposed situa¬ 
tion, and in a soil similar, though somewhat inferior, to that in 
which the first-named is planted. This latter plant has scarcely 
grown at all since put in, and certainly is not looking healthy ; 
but I must tell you that it was rather pot-bound when I first had 
it. I hope that by next year it will recover this, and will be 
doing something better. 
I am disposed to think that, soil and situation being favourable, 
the Wellingtonia will thrive well in our country : the situation 
must be sheltered, and the soil rich, and not too dry. I believe 
this, from my own little experience, and from what I know by 
report of the climate and soil of that part of California in which 
the Wellingtonia grows. “ G. T. F.” will find an admirable 
account of the botany, climate, and soil, &c., of California, in the 
“ English Cyclopaedia,” by Charles Knight. 
I believe the dying of the terminals of the branches o 
“ G. T. F.’s ” Wellingtonia is, without doubt, a disease. But this 
question has just suggested itself to me,—Can it be that the 
Wellingtonia of “ G. T. F.,” and others, are merely beginning to 
put away their seedling habit, and are thus early assuming the 
appearance and garb of the full-grown tree ? We know that the 
Wellingtonia, in its native country, reaches the height of 300 feet 
or more, and that the whole of the stem is bare of branches, 
except towards the top. When do these trees, in their own 
country, first begin to cast off their lower branches ? I should 
like much to hear, whether any of the readers of The Cottage 
Gardener can bear me out in what I have said respecting the 
situation and soil which is necessary for the well-being of the 
Wellingtonia gigantea. —C. P. C. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Pruning our Pages (A Journeyman Gardener ).—Much obliged by 
your suggestions, but they cannot be acted upon, for many reasons, too 
lengthy to publish. 
Pascall’s Patent Cutting Pots (A Constant Subscriber ).—We do not 
know anything about them. If of any merit, they should be advertised. 
Seed prom Australia {J. J. Pickard ).—Your plants—from the small 
piece of foliage sent—we consider to be either Acacia Lophantha, or 
A. decurrens, or A. affinis; most probably, the first. In that case, it will 
do for an ordinary-sized greenhouse. If decurrens, it will want much 
room, unless frequently cut down. All of these are pvetty ornaments 
when young. All except the first, and that, too, in a small greenhouse, if 
kept in pots, will require to be cut down freely every two or three years. 
All will flourishin common soil, and just require to bekept from severe frost. 
If you are south of London, you might try some of your plants against a 
wall, or even out of doors, in a sheltered spot. You may grow them in 
the tree or the bush form, just as your taste directs. 
Sport prom Rigby's Queen Geranium {Amateur ).—You have obtained 
this sport by the best practical means known to gardeners, and suggested 
by themselves alone. The only means by which the value of the plant in cash, 
or public utility, can be known, is to grow a few plants of it to the present 
standard of excellence, and to exhibit them in the neighbourhood of 
London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, from whence the merits of the kind,—as 
compared with the merits of others in the same class,—would circulate 
and extend to the ends of the earth. No good sport or seedling is done 
full justice to without going through this ordeal; but the arragements for 
these trials are practically defective. Every new plant ought to be ex¬ 
hibited in that style of growth for which it is best suited by naturea I 
tree, a bush, a round or a pyramidal bush, a free open conservatory style | 
of habit, a vase plant, a rustic basket, a hanging basket, or a bedder or 
ribbon plant,-—all these styles, and others, ought to be insisted on at shows, 
and will be when shows are an expression of the taste, tendency, and 
what is called for by the public voice. 
Name op Apple {It. II. II .).—It Is the Cellini. 
THE POULTS?? CH80HICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
December 29th and 30th. Burnley and East Lancashire. Sec., Angus 
Sutherland. Entries close December 10th. 
January 3rd, 1859. Kirkcaldy Poultry and Fancy Bird SHOW. 
January 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1859. Crystal Palace (Winter 
Show). Sec., W. Houghton. Entries close December 11th. 
January 18th, 19th, and 20th. Chesterfield and Scarsdale. Secs.) 
W. M. Hewitt, and J. Charlesworth. Entries close January 4th. 
January 20th and 21st,' 1859. Liverpool. 
February 3rd and 4th, 1859. Preston and North Lancashire. 
Sees. R. Teebay, and 11. Oakey. 
February 9th and 10th, 1859. Ulverstone. Sec., Thos. Robinson. 
February' 16th and 17th, 1859. Poulton-i.e-Fyi.df.. Nee., J. Butler. 
June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1859. Batii and West of England. At Barnstaple, 
DeY’On. Director, S. Pitman, Esq. 
N.B .—Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
LIVEEPOOL POULTEY SHOW. 
Oub task at this season of the year —in re poultry shows—• 
always reminds us of Penelope’s web ; as that celebrated piece 
of crotchet -work was endless, so our task seems to be. We have 
hardly ceased our encomiums of the Birmingham, before we are 
called upon to speak of Liverpool. We always do so with 
pleasure. There is a comfortable straightforwardness about the 
paragraph at the head of the regulations : “ The Committee hold 
themselves personally liable for the payment of the prizes offered.” 
But we have to speak of the list as a common-sense one. We 
need not say, all the prizes are liberal,—that quality belongs to 
Liverpool. Poultry amateurs arj aware of two facts : first, that 
certain classes have entailed a loss for years ; and next, that ex¬ 
hibitors in them have complained that due encouragemen t was not 
given, nor good prizes offered for them. We have for a long time 
contended, and written, that the remedy was in their own hands. 
The Liverpool Committee has adopted our views, and Malays, 
Andalusians, White Dorkings, Brahma Pootras, Polands, Sultans, 
and Black Hamburghs, are included in this clause : “ These 
varieties not having been exhibited at previous Liverpool Shows 
in sufficient numbers to induce the Committee to offer them large 
special prizes, must be entered in the classes specified. The whole 
of the money, after deducting five per cent, from the entrance 
fees in each class, will be repaid, and if more than four pens be 
entered, two prizes will be given instead of one.” The same 
terms are offered to the competitors in Single Cocks. 
Itemains, the grand Game Cock Sweepstake, one hundred birds 
at £1 each. Prizes of £40, £20, £15, £10, and £5. When the 
prize-list was issued, seventy-nine were already entered. 
We do not hesitate to say, nothing can be more liberal, or more 
deserving of support, than this programme; and we trust that 
visitors and exhibitors will feci, that where a Committee has taken 
as much pains as the gentlemen acting at Liverpool have done, 
to meet the views and requirements of amateurs, it is their duty 
to show they are not unmindful of it, and to prove, by cordial and 
hearty co-operation, they recognise the great fact, that in any such 
pursuit the interests of all engaged in it are identical. 
CONDITION OF PEIZE SPANISH FOWLS. 
As you know me to be one of the largest, and one, too, of the 
most successful .exhibitors of Spanish fowls, perhaps you will 
permit me to make a few remarks in reply to what you said in 
your account of the Birmingham Show, of the condition in which 
these birds are at present shown. 
You seem to imagine, that if more care and attention were paid 
to making the face quite clean, and washing the legs and feet, 
that the birds would present more fully that contrast which is 
so striking and so beautiful between the white face, coral-comb, 
and jet-black feathers, so remarkable in a Spanish fowl, when 
shown in all its glory. Take my word for it, that we exhibitors 
spare neither time, trouble, nor cost, in our endeavour to attain 
perfection. Many owners, in common with myself, even go to the 
; heavy expense of sending a servant in charge of the birds, that 
| every attention may he paid to them before and during the exhibi- 
