176 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ November, 
stopping heat or of non-conducting, is much more 
considerable than the majority of persons suppose, 
and its extreme cheapness should make it a great 
aid to the multitude of persons who are not able to 
keep greenhouses, but yet are fond of flowers. 
— correspondent of the Journal of 
Horticulture , writing of the Leviathan 
Broad Bean, states that he is delighted with 
it. Its sturdy branched growth and long pods have 
an attractive appearance. The pods are borne in 
pairs, commencing at 12 to 15 inches from the 
ground, the pods being 10 to 14 inches in length, and 
containing six large beans of good colour, “ greener ” 
than those of the ordinary Longpod and Windsor 
section. The pods invariably fill well; not one that 
has been opened contained less than six beans. The 
number of pods on a stalk is six, and the beans are 
of the size of Windsor, though it is evidently of the 
Longpod section, and is very much in advance of 
Seville Longpod, or indeed any other. The total 
height of the haulm, 2 ft. 9 in., renders it admirably 
adapted for small gardens, not the least of its merits 
being its earliness. 
— &s regards Hybridising Roses, a writer 
in the Gardeners' Chronicle observes that 
whatever may be the modern practice amongst 
French Rose-growers, it certainly was not formerly 
the habit amongst them to artificially hybridise, 
and yet all the grandest Roses we have, date back 
to long periods. Thus, amongst the best twelve 
varieties occur Charles Lefebvre, raised in 1861 ; 
Alfred Colomb, in 1865 ; Marie Rady, 1865 ; 
Madame Victor Yerdier, 1868 ; Marie Baumann, 
1863 ; Baroness Rothschild, 1867 ; Louis van Houtte, 
1869 ; Marquise de Castellane, 1869 ; Francois 
Michelon, 1871. Coming next to them are Dr. 
Andry, 1864; Comtesse d’Oxford, 1869; Duke of 
Edinburgh, 1868 ; Senateur Vaisse, 1859, &c. Even 
now, there are but one or two roses of the last two 
years that are likely to displace these older varieties 
— A. K. Williams, and, it may be, Abel Carriere. 
— H new edition of the Wild Garden, 
with illustrations (Garden Office), has recently 
been issued. It is a book written with a good 
object, that of bringing into notice the many in¬ 
teresting and strikingly-bandsome, hardy plants, 
which are not exactly suited for the more dressy 
parts of the garden; and though perhaps the writer 
rides his hobby rather hard, there is much to be said 
on the side of the question which he adopts. Certain 
it is that in most garden establishments there are 
places—odd nooks and corners—where the wild 
plants which are here recommended may bo grown 
with complete abandon, and where the best pictures 
of a wild garden, each varied with its own peculiar 
features, may be realised. The illustrations are 
very pretty and effective, and altogether, the work 
may do good, by its protest against ultra-formality 
in the amount of ornamental plants in our outdoor 
garden. On the whole, it may fairly be welcomed 
for its definite and praiseworthy object. 
— ®Jnder the title of Companion to 
Practical Botany, Mr. Wills, of the West¬ 
minster College of Chemistry, has issued a 
little volume intended to aid him and his staff in 
teaching this necessary science to the students of 
medicine. One page is devoted to a tabulated de¬ 
scription of the principal official and other illustra¬ 
tive plants, and over against this a blank page is 
reserved for pasting in a figure of the plant, a series 
of cheap illustrations being in course of preparation. 
We are assured that it meets its object completely, 
and this is the best test of success. The subjects 
run up to 100 in number, and conclude with the 
necessary index. 
En ftTcwortaw, 
— ^Frederick Currey, Esq., who for many 
years acted as Secretary, and lately as Trea¬ 
surer, to the Linnsean Society, died on Septem¬ 
ber 8th, at the age of sixty-two years. As a botanist, 
Mr. Currey was best known by his publications on 
Fungi. 
— UfoiiN Russel, Esq., of Mayfield, Falkirk, 
died on October 17th, aged sixty-one years. 
The deceased gentleman was a most enthusiastic 
Orchidophilist, since for twenty years he owned, and 
his excellent gardener, Mr. Sorlev, maintained in good 
condition, a very valuable collection of Orchids. A 
slight break occurred in 1875, when the greater part 
of the collection was sold by auction ; but after the 
sale, Mr. Russel again started to form the excellent 
collection now existing. 
— $!Tr. James Craig Niven, Curator of the 
Hull Botanic Garden, died on October 16th, 
after a long and painful illness, at the age of 
53. He was born in 1828, of Scotch parents, at 
Dublin ; his father, Ninian Niven, for many years 
held the position of Curator of the Royal Dublin 
Societies’ Botanic Garden at Glasnevin. Mr. J. C. 
Niven was educated in Dublin with a view to enter¬ 
ing the medical profession, disliking which, he 
commenced his career in his father’s profession at 
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Belfast, in 1843, where 
he passed through the initiatory stages of liis train¬ 
ing, and after two years’ residence he went to the 
Duke of Buccleuch’s extensive establishment at 
Dalkeith Palace, under Mr. McIntosh. In the early 
part of 1847, he moved to the Royal Gardens, 
Kew, and scarcely had a year elapsed, before a 
vacancy occurred in one of the most important 
botanical departments of the establishment, and 
though then under 20 years of age and the 
youngest in the establishment, he received the 
appointment. Towards the close of 1852, the 
Curatorship of the Botanic Garden at Hull was 
vacant. Sir W. Hooker being applied to, recom¬ 
mended Mr. Niven, who was appointed to the 
post, in accepting which he undertook a task of 
no ordinary character, but by his industry and 
energy, he succeeded within twelve months in 
remodelling the Garden, and giving it so much 
of a scientific character as enabled it to pass 
muster amongst the savants of the British 
Association. The collection of plants also rapidly 
increased, till in 1866 the catalogue of hardy, her¬ 
baceous, and alpine plants then in cultivation num¬ 
bered upwards of 6,000 species. In 1853, Mr. Niven 
was appointed the botanical lecturer in connection 
with the Hull School of Medicine, and subsequently 
to the Chemists’ Association. Altogether, during his 
career in Hull, he delivered upwards of 38 courses 
of botanical lectures. Mr. Niven was a frequent 
contributor to the horticultural periodicals, including 
the Florist ; he also edited the reissue of Maund’s 
Botanic Garden. As a landscape gardener, he 
had a long and extensive practice. The Society for 
Promoting Window Gardening amongst the working 
classes of Hull is mainly indebted to him for its 
success; and his thoroughly practical Instructions 
for the Groivth of Plants and Bulbs in Windoivs have 
done good work, in creating a love foy window-plants. 
