MAUCH. 
61 
be cut down. There are twenty-six or twenty- 
eight of them, half of which are growing on 
a trellis over a walk, the remainder are on 
walls. The largest two were originally 
trained against a wall, but bad for many 
years been allowed to grow at freedom, and 
almost without pruning. The stem of the 
larger of the two, before dividing, measures 
4| feet in circumference; and its three branches 
2 feet 2 inches, 1 foot 9 inches, and 2 feet round. 
The other tree has three stems, respectively 
2 feet 6 inches, 3 feet, and 3 feet 4 inches in 
circumference. They always produced abun¬ 
dant crops. 
Kew Gardens. —According to the annual 
report, the total number of visitors to these 
gardens during the past year has been 529,241; 
260,040 on Sundays, and 269,201 on week 
days. Among alterations and improvements 
are the conversion of the old Victoria-house 
into a house to be devoted to the display of a 
selection of economic plants; and the whole of 
the collection of Palms in the Palm-house, 
as well as the succulents, have been repotted. 
The acquisition to the herbarium of Dr. 
Lindley’s collection of Orchids consisting of 
3000 specimens, and of Dr. Burchell’s South 
African and South American herbarium is 
also announced. 
Propagating Geraniums. —According to a 
French horticultural serial, M. Lierval prac¬ 
tises the following mode of propagation : On 
a shelf immediately over the hot-water pipes, 
and which can be maintained at from 50° to 
55°, is placed a bed of moss about 2 inches in 
thickness, and over this about a third of an 
inch of very light soil. About the beginning 
of February the store plants are started to fur¬ 
nish cuttings, and as soon as the buds have 
pushed a little they are taken off with a small 
piece of the shoot, and placed on the bed on 
the shelf, just putting them a little way into 
the soil to give them a hold. The soil is then 
kept constantly moist, and in five or six days 
roots are emitted. The cuttings are then 
potted in small pots, placed close to the glass 
on a hotbed, repotted as soon as they have 
filled their pots with roots, and replaced on 
the hotbed. 
Obituary. 
Dr. Peter Lenne, Director of the Poyal 
Gardens, Potsdam, one of the best of the 
German landscape gardeners, died there on 
the 23rd of January, aged 76. The Royal 
gardens, and the public walks and gardens of 
Berlin, were indebted to his skill for much of 
their beauty. 
Mr. Joshua Major. —We find in the 
“ Journal of Horticulture” the following 
tribute to Mr. Joshua Major, the well-known 
landscape gardener, of Knowsthorpe, near 
Leeds. The deceased gentleman held a pro¬ 
minent position in his profession, and was the 
author of several valuable works. In 1829 
he published a work entitled, “ A Treatise on 
Insects Most Prevalent on Fruit Trees;” in 
1852, “The Theory and Practice of Landscape 
Gardening,” an important work, which met 
with high and deserved encomiums from the 
public press ; and in 1861, with the assistance 
of bis son, who succeeds him, “ The Ladies’ 
Assistant in the Formation of their Flower 
Gardens,” a work designed expressly to meet 
the prevailing taste for the bedding-out or 
grouping style. He was also a frequent con¬ 
tributor to the “Gardener’sMagazine,” under 
the conductorship of that eminent man, Mr. 
J. C. Loudon, who highly appreciated his 
plans and papers on landscape gardening and 
other subjects. He delighted in works of 
philanthropy. He assisted in the formation of 
the first Sunday school in Leeds, of which he 
was superintendent for many years; and all 
religious and charitable institutions he took 
great interest in and actively promoted. His 
personal qualities were of a high order. He 
was of a cheerful disposition, simple in his 
tastes and habits, and impressed all who had 
the good fortune to know him as being a 
thoroughly kind-hearted and estimable man. 
He was highly appreciated by his workmen ; 
and as an evidence of this, six of them served 
him fifty, forty-two, forty, thirty-two, twenty- 
nine, and twenty years respectively. After 
upwards of half a century devoted to his pro¬ 
fession with an ardour and perseverance rarely 
equalled, he died on the 26th of January, at 
the advanced age of 79 years. 
Mr. Robert Osborn. —It is with much 
regret that we have to record the decease of 
this gentleman, so long the senior partner of 
the well-known firm of Osborn & Sons, of the 
Fulham Nurseries, which took place on Fri¬ 
day, the 23rd of February. He was in his 
84th year, and was highly respected by all 
with whom he came in contact during his 
long career. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 
stove and orchid-houses. 
Stove .—Allow the heat to increase gradu¬ 
ally ; admit air freely in favourable weather. 
Plants which have bloomed should be allowed 
to become dry, and be removed to a cooler 
house. Plants which begin to show signs of 
growth should be repotted if necessary. At 
tend to previous directions respecting insects. 
Orchids .—As the principal part of these will 
now be growing, and as light and solar heat 
are daily increasing, the temperature may 
safely be raised a few degrees on bright days. 
