ART. XIII. Floricultural and Botanical Notices on Kinds of Plants newly introduced into our Gardens, and that have originated in them, and on Kinds of Interest previously extant in them; supplementary to the latest Editions of the " Encyclopædia of Plants," and of the "Hortus Britannicus." Curtis's Botanical Magazine; in monthly numbers, each containing eight plates; 3s. 6d. coloured, 3s. plain. Edited by Sir William Jackson Hooker, LL.D., &c. Edwards's Botanical Register; in monthly numbers, each containing eight plates; 4s. coloured, 3s. plain. Edited by Dr. Lindley, Professor of Botany in the London University. Sweet's British Flower-Garden; in monthly numbers, each containing four plates; 3s. coloured, 2s. 3d. plain. Edited by David Don, Esq., Professor of Botany in King's College, and Librarian to the Linnæan Society. The Botanist; in monthly numbers, each containing four plates, with two pages of letterpress; 8vo, large paper, 2s. 6d.; small paper, 1s. 6d. Conducted by B. Maund, Esq., F.L.S., assisted by the Rev. J. S. Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., &c., Professor of Botany in the University of Cambridge. The Floral Cabinet; in monthly numbers, 4to; 2s. 6d. each. Conducted by G. B. Knowles, Esq., and Frederick Westcott, Esq., Honorary Secretaries of the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society. Maund's Botanic Garden, or Magazine of Hardy Flower Plants cultivated in Great Britain; in monthly numbers, each containing four coloured figures in one page; large paper 1s. 6d., small 1s. Edited by B. Maund, Esq., F.L.S. The Floricultural Magazine and Miscellany of Gardening, edited by Robert Marnock, Curator of the Botanical and Horticultural Gardens, Sheffield. In monthly numbers, 6d. each. "It grows 7 ft. high in rich ground, with a firm stem of a delicate glaucous green. Its leaves are thin, and destitute of the smallest trace of hairiness; while its long branched racemes of nodding sky-blue flowers give a most graceful appearance to the termination of the branches." (Bot. Reg., July.) Malvacea. 2004. MA'LVA #concinna Knowl. & Westm. neat p.r 5 ap.jn L S. America 1835 C s.p Flor. cab. 38. Raised from seeds received by Mrs. Charles Shaw of Birmingham, from South America. "A pleasing addition to that already numerous genus." (Flor. Cab., July.) Balsamineæ. 698. IMPATIENS *scapifiòra Heyne scape.flowered or au L East Indies 1835 S r.m Bot. mag. 3587. Synonymes: I. bulbosa Moon Cat.; I, acaúlis Arn. "It has seldom," says Sir W. J. Hooker, "been our good fortune to figure a more interesting plant than the one here given; or one that, at first sight, would appear less to belong to the very natural genus of which it is, in my opinion, undoubtedly a member, - Impatiens." Sent by William Nimmo, Esq., from Bombay, in 1835. Leguminosa § Papilionacea 2071. PSORA'LEA orbicularis Lindl. round-leaved 32 A or jn.jl P California 1835 R p. Bot. reg. 1971. "A hardy herbaceous plant, with long, tough, slender, creeping stems, from which the leaves spring upon stalks about 6 in. long. It is remarkable for the numerous dark glands, which are mingled with soft hairs, all over its surface, and which resemble the kind of nails which upholsterers call tacks." (Bot. Reg., July.) A hardy shrub, of moderately robust habit, forming a handsome bush, 3 ft. or upwards in height; first introduced by Messrs. Young of Epsom. (Flor. Mag., July.) 1962. SPARTIUM 17468 júnceum *odoratissimum D. Don or 4 jl.s Y Persia 1834 S Co Swt. Br. fl.-gard 390. A spreading branching shrub, with long, filiform, rush-like, green branches; the younger ones silky. This variety is distinguished by its more slender and spreading habit, more silky leaves and shoots, and smaller fragrant flowers. Raised by the Rev. Mr. Duke of Lake House, near Salisbury, from seeds stated to have come from Persia. (Swt. Br. Fl.-Gard., July.) 17468a acutifolium Lindl. sharp-leaved or 6 jls Y Turkey 1836 S co Bot. reg. Whether this is more than a variety of the Spanish broom, Dr. Lindley cannot say. It was raised in the garden of the Horticultural Society, from Turkish seeds. The leaves are not only longer and taper-pointed, instead of being rounded at the point, but the racemes are more lax, and the manner of growth far more graceful; otherwise it is like the Spanish broom. (Bot. Reg., July.) Rosacea Potentilleæ. 1528. POTENTILLA 13645a glanduldsa var. *2 incisa Lindl. cut-leaved A cu 2 jn Y California 1835 D co Bot. reg. 1973. "A hardy herbaceous plant, introduced by the Horticultural Society from California. It is not a horticultural plant, being too weedy to offer any reasonable probability of being improved by culture; but it is interesting to botanists, as an evidence of the extent to which species vary permanently in their wild state." (Bot. Reg., July.) Compósitæ. 2415. COREO PSIS 22016a longipes Hook. long-stalked O e.l 2 ma.au Y Texas ? 1835 S co Bot. mag. 3586. Sent by Mr. Drummond from Texas. In general habit, it comes nearest to C. tinctòria and C. Atkinsoniana; and is, perhaps, intermediate between them and C. verticillàta. It appears to be annual or triennial, and flowers in the open border in the autumn. (Bot. Mag., July.) Lobeliàceæ. SIPHOCA'MPYLOS D. Don. SIPHOCAMPYLOS. (From siphōn, a tube, and kampulos, curved; in allusion to the curved tube of the corolla.) *bicolor D. Don two-coloured pr 3 ap R and Y Georgia 1835 C s.p Swt. Br. fl.-gard. 389. Raised by Messrs. Lowe and Co., from seeds collected in Georgia, United States, by Mr. Alexander Gordon, a zealous botanical collector, to whom we are indebted for the elegant Gardoquia Hoókeri. The plant is hardy, of vigorous growth, and produces abundance of beautiful scarlet and yellow flowers. (Swt. Br. Fl.-Gard., July.) Campanulaceæ. 607. CAMPAʼNULA *murális Maund wallp.rs B S. Europe 1835 R co Maund Bot. gard. 603. Called Portenschlagiana by Römer and Schultes. When kept in pots, a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, with abundance of drainers, is very congenial to its growth. (Bot. Gard., July.) Gesneràceæ 1698. GE'SNERA *elongata Humb. elongated or 2 s S S. America 1835 C p.l The Botanist, 27. A plant of this species, 2 ft. high, flowered, in September last, in the stove of Messrs. Pope of Handsworth, Staffordshire. Several British cultivators imported this species from the Continent in 1835. (The Botanist, July.) Ericacea. 521. AZA LEA var. Seymoúri Herb. Raised from a plant of Rhododendron Rhodòra impregnated with the pollen of R. lùteum. (Bot. Reg., July.) The flowers are of a pale yellow or straw colour, slightly tinged with purple. (Bot. Reg., July.) Labiata. 1681. THY MUS *azureus Maund azure IL. or jn P S. Europe? 1830 C CO Maund Bot. gard. 604. This species spreads closely over the surface of the soil: it partakes of the perfumes of its congeners, and continues in flower several weeks. It merits a place in every collection of alpines, whether kept in pots, or cultivated in a compartment adapted to the peculiar wants of this class of plants. (Bot. Gard., July.) Orchidacea. BOLBOPHY'LLUM *saltatorium Lindl. dancing p.rd R Sierra Leone 1835 D p.r.w Bot. reg. 1970. "It is worthy of remark, that in all this genus Bolbophyllum the spiral vessels are particularly tough and numerous." (Bot. Reg., July.) 2568. EULO PHIA *macrostachya Lindl. long-spiked [Bot. reg. 1972. el 2 jn.d Y. spotted with R Ceylon 1836 R pl "A handsome species of this extensive genus, inabiting shady woods in Ceylon, whence it was sent to the Horticultural Society some years ago, by Mr. Watson, the superintendent of the Botanical Garden at Peradenia. It is one of the easiest of orchidaceous plants to cultivate, and produces its graceful racemes of green and yellow flowers abundantly towards the latter part of the year. They go on growing and producing fresh flowers till Christmas." (Bot. Reg., July.) Orchidacea Epidéndreæ. Hartwègia. A new genus of Mexican Orchidàceæ, received by the Horticultural Society from the neighbourhood of Vera Cruz, where it was found by Mr. Theodore Hartweg, after whom, as the original Hartwègia proves to be nothing but Chlorophyllum, Dr. Lindley has named it. REVIEWS. ART I. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. Second Series. Vol. I. Part V. 4to. London, 1833. (Continued from Vol. XII. p. 436.) 53. On the Culture of the Potato. By T. A. Knight, Esq., F.R.S., President. Read March 19. 1833. "I HAVE SO often addressed communications to this Society upon the culture of the potato, that many of its members may not improbably think that more than a sufficient extent of the pages of our transactions have been already devoted to that subject. It would certainly not be difficult to find one more entertaining; but, if the farmer can be made to derive such information from our transactions as will enable him to cause the same space of ground which now affords one bushel of potatoes to afford two, and the peasant to cause the half acre, which now supplies his table with potatoes, to afford him in addition a considerable weight of animal food, few subjects can be more important; and, therefore, conceiving myself to be prepared to communicate some further useful information, I venture to address another communication upon the same subject. "The fact that every variety of potato, when it has been long propagated from parts of its tuberous roots, becomes less productive, is, I believe, unquestionable. I have often witnessed the progressive decay of vigour and the different effects of the influence of age, upon many different varieties. The quality of some has remained perfectly good, after the produce in quantity has become highly defective; whilst in others that has disappeared with the vigour of the plant. I brought to this place a single tuber of Lankmann's potato soon after that was imported: the produce of that variety was then, and continued during some successive years, very great; but its vigour was gradually diminished; and in the last year its produce was at least one third (more than seven tons per acre) less than I obtained from the same soil, and under, in every respect, the same management, from other varieties of nearly similar habits, but which had recently sprung from seed. The propagation of expended varieties, therefore, appears to me to be one of the causes why the crops of potatoes generally have been found so much less than those which I have stated to have been produced here. I have received letters, within a few months, from persons in different parts of the kingdom, informing me that they have been unable to obtain by any mode of culture above 250 or 300 bushels of potatoes from an acre of good and well-manured ground. I have in answer desired to know the age of the varieties cultivated; but upon that point I have uniformly found my correspondents totally uninformed; communicating to me, however, the important intelligence that the same varieties bore more abundantly at a former period, and often that the quality of the former produce was superior. When I first stated, in a former communication, that I had obtained a produce equivalent to 670 bushels of 80 lb. per acre, I found some difficulty in obtaining credit for the accuracy of my statement, though I then felt perfectly confident that, by first obtaining varieties better adapted to my purpose, I should be able to raise much heavier crops; and the following statement, in support of which I am prepared to adduce the most unquestionable evidence, will prove that my confidence was perfectly well founded. “I planted in my garden, in the last season, some tubers of a variety of potato of very early habits, but possessing more vigour of growth than is usually seen in such varieties. The soil in which they were planted was in good condition, but not richer than the soils of gardens usually are, and the manure which it had received consisting chiefly of decayed oak leaves, which I prefer to other manures; because it never communicates a strong taste, or flavour, to any vegetable. No previous preparation was given to the soil; and the spot where the plantation was made was not fixed upon till the day of planting; and no manure of any kind was then given. Owing to the variety being of a very excitable habit, I planted the tubers at least 9 in. deep in the soil; and I subsequently raised the mould in ridges 3 in. high, to prevent the young plants sustaining injury from frost; but no subsequent moulding was given. I anticipated from the previous produce of the variety, which I had raised by cross breeding from two early varieties in 1830, a very extraordinary crop; and I therefore invited several gardeners and farmers to witness the amount of it; and I procured the attendance of the two most eminent agriculturists of the vicinity, who were tenants to other gentlemen. The external rows (two deep), and the external plants at the ends of all the remaining rows, were taken away, and the produce of the interior part of the plantation was alone selected; and that was pronounced to be fully equivalent to 964 bushels and 43 lb., or 34 tons, 8 cwt. 107 lb. per statute acre. Still larger crops may, I feel satisfied, be obtained; and my opinion is, that more than 1000 bushels of potatoes may, and will be, obtained from an acre of ground. “An opinion is, I believe, generally prevalent, that varieties of potatoes, of very high and luxuriant growth, are capable of affording per acre the greatest weight of produce; but this is certainly erroneous. Such will grow in poorer soil, and, requiring wider intervals between the rows, are better calculated for culture with the plough; and therefore, perhaps, their produce may be raised at as little, or less, cost per bushel; though that is, I think, very questionable. Much time and much labour of the plant must be expended in raising the nutriment absorbed from the soil into the leaves upon the top of a very tall stem, and down again to the roots and tubers. "The potatoes, in the extraordinary crop of which I have above spoken, were not washed, and, therefore, a deduction must be made for a portion of soil which adhered to them: but that was small, owing to the dryness and nature of the soil. Supposing a deduction of 164 bushels be made in the above-mentioned account, and to afford potatoes sufficient to plant the acre of ground again, 800 bushels would still remain; and these, if judiciously given to proper animals, would certainly give 1200 lb. of animal food. For this purpose early varieties of potatoes possess great advantages; because all our domesticated animals thrive most on potatoes after these have begun to germinate and if those of early, and, of course, of very excitable habits, be |