April  6,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
277 
“  Besides  Ihis  plant  Goethe  was  at  tract  ( d  by  the  sight  of  another 
one  formerly  known  as  Bisnonia  radican^,  but  in  fact,  considering 
Goet'ne  described  it  as*  a  blaze  of  fire,  whiih  with  its  large  brick- 
coloured  flowers  densely  covered  the  entire  wall,’  was  in  reality  a 
Tecoma  grandiflora  (fig.  67),  a  plant  which  he  had  never  before  seen 
growing  and  flowering  in  the  open  air. 
“But  the  plant  w^hich  in  this  garden  is  the  most  considcuous 
one  in  the  eyes  of  the  general  public,  is  assuredly  the  magnificent 
Araucaria  excelsa.  It  Avas  bought  in  Milan  ai 
the  age  of  ten  years;  it  is  now  seventy  years  ol<l 
and  measures  more  than  20  metres  in  height,  an  1 
1  m.  10  cm.  in  circumference.  The  building  ) 
which  protects  it  has  already  been  added  to  m 
height  for  the  third  time,  and  would  have  had 
to  be  elevated  again,  if,  some  years  ago,  its  top 
had  not  been  cut,  as  it  will  now  again  be  in  a 
few  years,  the  e.x:pense  needed  for  heightening 
the  house  not  having  been  voted,  because  the 
present  foundations  of  the  building  would  not 
have  borne  any  further  addition  to  its  height. 
This  Araucaria  is  in  perfect  condition,  as  might 
be  expected  when  such  a  plant  is  entirely  under 
glass  during  the  rougher  months  of  the  year  ;  it 
is  symmetrically  covered  with  its  feather-like 
branches,  and  nobody  who  has  not  seen  so  lierfect 
a  specimen  can  really  understand  the  wonderful 
beauty  of  such  a  tree.  The  cutting  of  its  tup 
a  few  years  ago  had  no  influence  on  its  cenerd 
structure,  only,  one  can  see  that  as  its  branches 
become  scarcer  below,  its  tendency  would  be  to  * 
grow  vigorously  in  height.  In  order  to  admi''e 
its  upper  part  perfectly,  a  stone  staircase  leads 
up  for  the  first  9  metres  of  its  height,  and  a 
balcony  has  been  built  all  round  the  house,  which 
is  octagonal  and  measures  23  m.  50  cm. 
“  Then  the  old  Platanus  orientalis,  though 
a  permanent  invalid,  is  still  every  spring  full  of 
leaves  and  later  on  of  flowers  and  fruit.  The 
base  of  its  trunk  measures  6  'm.  50  cm.,  whereas 
1  metre  higher  it  narrows  to  70  cm.  It  was 
planted  about  1680, and  is  18  m.  high.  Its  tiunk 
is  nerfectly  hollow,  and  is  large  enough  to  contain 
several  persons  inside  it  ;  its  bark  is  one  mass 
ot  humps,  knobs,  and  enormous  Avarts,  and  t!i“ 
necrosis,  from  which  it  sutTered  and  only  gut  r  d 
of  a  fcAV  years  ago,  left  a  longitudinal  dead  strip, 
forming  about  the  fourth  part  of  its  bark.  ’ 
There  are,  in  addition,  several  oihrr  remaik- 
able  trees  enumerated  in  the  issue  from  which 
this  extract  is  taken. 
“  For  the  students  a  lecture-room,  capabl '  of 
seating  200  persons,  was  constructed  in  1842 ; 
and  the  illustrations  for  tlie  lectures  are  containe.l 
in  the  numerous  herbaria. 
“Books  and  periodicals  are  also  well  provided, 
the  library  containing,  amongst  others,  164  xvork- 
on  botany,  mostly  used  for  the  ideniilicat’on  a' d 
nomenclature  of  plants  ;  8000  volumes  on  generd 
botanical  subjects,  forty  different  periodicals,  and 
other  works  like  ‘  Flora  Gimca,’  ‘Flora  Danica,' 
all  the  iconographical  works  of  Iieichenbach  and 
Jacquin,  ‘Flora  F'luminensis,’  Tenore’s  ‘Flora 
Feapolitana,’  English  botanical  works,  a  complete 
series  of  the  ‘  Botanical  IMagazine,’  Bulliard's 
‘Champignons,’  IMartius’  ‘  Palmm  et  Plantar 
Brasilienses,’  the  iconographical  works  of  Cuitaiii, 
Duhamel,  Host,  Hill,  Weinraann,  Gallesio,  Berlese, 
Blackwell,  Salm-Dyck,  Delessert,  Waldsteiu,  aiid 
Kitaibel,  tlie  majority  of  the  ‘  Botanici  Veteies,’ 
a  complete  series  of  Linnaeus’  editions,  .and,  above 
all,  the  very  rare  edition  of  the  ‘Herbarium 
Apuleji  Platonici’  (Pmme,  1479),  the  oldest  illus¬ 
trated  work  on  botany.  Pritzel  gives  the  date  as  1493,  and  the 
name  of  the  author  as  Pseudo  Apuleius.” 
It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Johnson  gave  the  date  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Padua  Garden  as  1533,  but  .according  to  the 
writer  of  the  above  article  it  was  only  “  suggested  ”  then,  and 
created  in  1545,  but  this  gave  it  a  start  of  two  vears  of  Bologna, 
and  thus  the  claim  of  the  former  ap]icars  to  be  substantiated  as  the 
“oldest  botanical  g.arden  in  the  world.’ 
We  are  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Editor  of  the  K  H.S. 
Journal  for  the  illustrations,  and  some  gardeners  may  like  to  know 
that  a  metre  (m.)  is  a  little  more  than  3  lect  3  inches,  and  .a  centimetre 
(c.m.)  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch. 
FAULTS,  FALLACIES,  FAILURES  IN  FRUIT 
CULTUKE. 
1  HERE  comes  a  time  in  life  to  most  of  us  when  we  begin  to  need 
the  aid  of  science,  in  the  shape  of  glasses,  to  assist  nature  in  the 
matter  of  eyesight;  and  I  will  at  once  confess  that  by  gaslight  I  have 
to  avail  myself  of  these  useful,  but  rather  dreaded,  aids  when  studying 
the  pages  of  “  Bradshaw.”  But  the  Journal — pierish  the  thought  !  the 
67.— Tecoma  graxdifloea  at  Padua,  Age  139  Years. 
Journal  is  cle.ar  of  print,  and  generally  clear  ot  expression.  Neverthe- 
les.o,  as  I  studied  its  pages  awhile  ago  I  rubbed  my  eyes  and  doubted 
if  [  saw  clearly,  or  whether  I  did  not  need  glasses  to  interpret  what 
lay  before  me  ;  then  I  followed  the  example  of  lady  readers,  and  looked 
for  the  signature  at  the  foot,  and  I  saw  it  was  that  of  my  neighbour 
— and  no  doubt  .able  cultivator — “  Professor  Luckhurst  ”  (as  the 
notices  posted  in  the  next  county  have  it). 
To  answer  the  Professor's  question,  I  never  heard  anyone  in  the- 
l\Iidlands  say  “  Do  not  procure  tree.=  from  the  South  ;  ”  nor  did  I  ever 
hear  of  anyone  saying  such  a  thing;  though,  on  the  other  hand,  I  am 
constantly  being  told  that  Professor  Luckhurst  rarely  fails  in  his 
j  lectures  to  point  out  that  trees  from  the  south  are  the  only  ones  worth 
