great part of the sum expended in the case of such gardens as Liverpool and Manchester was employed in building boundary walls and constructing hothouses. Where economy is an object, I would recommend a double hedge instead of a wall; an outer hedge of thorn, and an inner one of holly, the ground being thoroughly trenched and manured to the depth of 6 ft. If this were done, and thorn plants employed with stems as thick as a man's thumb, cut down to the ground the second year (not the first, as is usually done), a fence would be produced in 4 or 5 years, and which in 7 years would be altogether impenetrable to man, or to any description of animal. In the mean time, while the hedge was advancing, the interior of the garden could be drained, laid out, thoroughly trenched, and manured, and all the trees and shrubs required, planted. If this were properly done, you would have a most interesting, ornamental, and useful garden, even without hot-houses; but it should be laid out in such a manner as to provide a place for hot-houses, which might be erected at any time that the state of the funds may render it convenient. As both coal and glass are cheap at Newcastle, you might, at some future time, cover an acre of ground with a glass roof, raised on pillars of such a height as to admit of growing under it the trees of tropical climates, to such a size as would give some idea of the dimensions and appearance they attain in their native countries. This, I think, would be much better than growing thousands of plants in small pots, which you could have nurserymen to do. It would, besides, give your hot-houses a character of originality. I would not recommend uniting a Zoological with a Botanical and Horticultural Garden; and I would rather confine the latter, in the first instance, to such plants and trees, useful and ornamental, as are quite hardy, leaving the curious and the tender plants for future introduction. You should have a complete collection of hardy fruit trees; another of hardy ornamental trees and shrubs; and one of hardy herbaceous plants; besides which, you should grow specimens of all the plants used in British agriculture, and the hardy plants used in the arts and manufactures, medicine, &c. All this you might do, to a very great extent, without any hothouses whatever; and at an expense which, I should think, would not amount to 10007. a year. The first cost of draining, laying out, trenching, enclosing, &c., you could ascertain to a certainty from any local gardener or nurseryman.

"If you can lay your hands on the Gardener's Magazine, Vol. VIII, for 1832, and turn to p. 410., you will there find a plan for the Birmingham Botanic Garden; and, if you have leisure to peruse the article, it will give you some idea of what may be accomplished both with and without hot-houses.

"I am sorry that, at the distance I live, I can be of no manner of use in suggesting ideas for laying out the garden, except in a general way; because, wherever the surface is uneven, it is absolutely necessary that the person who is to make the design should see the ground. — L.”

Pisum sp. (See p. 379.) Referring to the paragraph, p. 379. of your correspondent Thomas Brown, I beg to inform you that, in the spring of 1835, some horsebeans were purchased in the adjoining market town, and amongst them were a few peas, of which notice was not taken; but, somehow or other, they got planted with the beans. In the following summer, the peas attracted my notice, and, upon examining them and tasting them, I thought they were essentially different from the ordinary field pea. They were much larger, differently shaped, and much sweeter; and I therefore myself gathered a few of them with the intention of sowing them with the next crop of beans to furnish binders for the sheaves; a practice in general use in Yorkshire. The stalk, or haul, of the pea is from 6 ft. to 8 ft. long, very strong, and therefore well calculated for a binder.

Last February, the beans were dibbled in the usual manner; and, just as they showed themselves above ground, some peas were dibbled between the rows for the purpose above stated. When the beans were in cutting, a woman was employed to draw out the pea-stalks, strip the pods off, and lay the haulm in order for binders. The peas were very fine, excellent to eat as scalded peas, which you probably have tasted and relished; though the labourers here would

not touch them. The haulm was very long and strong, and all the sheaves were bound with it. The practice here is either to bind with straw, or to take three stalks of beans. In the latter case, the beans growing on those stalks are lost and wasted. Now, Sir, I am ready to furnish you or Mr. Brown with a specimen of the peas; and if, on inspection, they appear to be what he enquires after, I should with pleasure send you all I have; keeping only a sufficient quantity for sowing next year.

I am no farmer now, but I think the pea would not answer to cultivate as a crop; as, on account of the length of the haulm, I should think it would rot, and the peas also, if it had not some support to raise it above the ground, which, when planted with the beans, my peas had; for they laid hold of the bean-stalks, and passed from one stalk to another, and thereby were kept from the ground. A Gentleman residing in Berkshire. August 21. 1837.

[We have since received about a quart of the peas referred to by our correspondent, and those who wish to try them may apply by letter, post paid, to Mr. Charlwood, seedsman, London; Mr. Lawson, Edinburgh; or M. Vilmorin, Paris; to whom we have sent equal portions of the seeds. - Cond.]

Cowania plicata. This beautiful new shrub, mentioned p. 452. is, we understand from Mr. Blair, extremely difficult to propagate, and by no means likely to become common for many years.

Agave americana. — We understand that the fine specimen of this magnificent exotic in the ladies' flower-garden at Clowance, the seat of Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart., is now in a state of blossoming, and upwards of 200 of the flowers are expanded ; and so richly are these blossoms supplied with honey, that it actually drops from them. From the vast number of flower buds, there is no doubt but this most curious and interesting flower will continue in bloom for the space of five or six weeks. No fewer than 1360 persons have already seen and admired this most beautiful plant, and we have every reason to believe many hundreds more will be added to the number. (West Briton, October 6. 1837.)

SCOTLAND.

A Gardener's Lodge, in a first-rate place, in Scotland, when I was a young man, was more like a school than a lodge. In the evening, the young gardeners would study (principally from books), by their own exertions, grammar, arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, land-surveying, mapping, mensuration, horticulture, botany, garden architecture, and geography. It was customary for the head or principal gardener to attend in the lodge for an hour or two in the evening, to teach the apprentices and junior men. Thus, their time in the evenings was spent in study, until they obtained good situations. (Shepherd's Lectures on Landscape-Gardening in Australia; 8vo. Sydney, 1836.)

Heating by Hot Water at Altyre, near Forres, in Elginshire. -The Shots Iron Company are at present fitting up four hot-houses, each between 40 ft. and 50 ft. long, with hot-water apparatus, for me; and all my neighbours are following my example. The steady heat, and the cleanliness and comfort, of the hot-water apparatus will induce many here to erect hot-houses who never thought of doing so before; and will thus give a great stimulus to the forcing and exotic departments of gardening in this part of the island. — C. L. C. B. Forres, Nov. 12. 1836.

New Seedling Potato. - Owing to the partial failure of the potato crop for several years past, it became an object of importance to try experiments with the view of restoring the constitutional vigour of that valuable esculent. Last year, Mr. Arthur, gardener at North Berwick Lodge, noticing a field of thriving potatoes, of sorts, in his neighbourhood, bestowed considerable pains in crossing the strongest and most approved varieties in the field, and afterwards carefully collected the seed. The seed thus collected was sown early this season; and the plants produced were in due season transferred to new ground, on which potatoes had never before been grown. The crop, which covers more than a quarter of an acre, has the most promising appearance, the stems being

nearly as strong as the best fields in the neighbourhood, grown from sets. From the pretty extensive scale on which the experiment has been made, and the scientific manner in which it has been conducted, it seems well deserving the attention of the agriculturist, as a great number of new and important varieties may be obtained, no two stems exhibiting the same characteristics. (Edinburgh Evening Courant, Aug, 17. 1837.) [We trust our correspondent, Mr. Arthur, will not forget the readers of the Gardener's Magazine, when he has matured his experiments, and fixed on some varieties that he thinks deserving of general cultivation. - Cond.]

sume,

ART. IV. Retrospective Criticism.

SWEET'S British Flower-Garden. -You have recorded, at p. 431., Lupinus versicolor Lindl., Bot. Reg., 1979., from Califórnia, ?1831, as a new species. There was a Lupinus versicolor Swt. figured in the British FlowerGarden for August, 1829, n. s., 12., said to be introduced from Mexico in 1828; which is also in your Hortus Britannicus, p. 486., and also recorded in the Gardener's Magazine, Vol. V. p. 524. and 614. Sweet's plant, I prehas proved to be identical with some previously described species, and his name, consequently, abandoned. What species is it? If not so, it must have been an oversight to apply the same twice to two different species. Although not, perhaps, admissible, I may mention having seen, in another work lately, under the head of Floricultural Notices, Desmòdium canadénse Dec., stated to be a newly introduced shrub. Upon referring to your Hortus Britannicus, I find it is perennial, and was introduced in 1640. The plant has long been cultivated in gardens as Hedysarum canadénse L. In another work of this month, I see that Messrs. Rollison of Tooting have Cephalanthus occidentale flowering in the stove. In your Hortus Britannicus, it is marked as a hardy shrub, and I believe you are correct; at least, I have never seen it treated otherwise. In the work first alluded to, there is a notice of a new orchideous plant having flowered, which is called Miltònia spectábilis; but it does not state that the same plant had been previously figured and described for Macrochilus Fryànus. These are errors which do not affect you, not being in any of your works; but they certainly lead to confusion, and ought to be corrected. E. B. Sept. 5. 1837.

Thuja articulata. The following has been sent us by a correspondent:"Amongst the extracts we have made at various times from the work of Captain Cook in Spain, we have omitted to mention the interesting facts brought to light by him respecting the woodwork of the celebrated mosque, now the cathedral of Cordova. This edifice, the most considerable ever erected by the Mahommedans, was built in the ninth century; and, being intended to represent Mecca in the western portion of their dominions, no pains or expense were spared to render it worthy the rank it was designed to hold. On examining the roof, it was found that the parts of the original woodwork to which the water had not penetrated (a casualty to which the mode of construction made it too liable) were perfectly preserved, the carving with which they had been ornamented remaining uninjured. It was naturally an object of interest to ascertain, if possible, the species of tree which produced timber with such remarkable properties of durability. The only information to be obtained on the spot was the common report, which has been copied from book to book, that it was the produce of the larch, and that forests of this tree formerly existed in the neighbourhood. The only foundation for this idle story is the resemblance of the Spanish word alerce to the Latin larix, from which we derive the English larch. Not a shadow of proof, or even a rational ground for conjecture, can be adduced, that this tree ever existed in any part of Spain, much less in the vicinity of Cordova, the locality of which is in every respect singularly unsuited to it. After carefully examining the wood in question, and comparing it with that of the alhambra, the alcaza, or royal palace of Seville, and other remains of the

Moors in Andalusia, the roofs of which are of the Pìnus Pínea, or stone pine, once extensively grown in Andalusia, the author came to the conclusion that the origin of the timber of the mosque must be sought elsewhere, and that it was not of any Spanish, or even European, tree.

"By a singular coincidence, the subject had been undergoing investigation about the same time in Africa itself. Mr. Drummond Hay, the British Consul at Tangiers, had, by tracing the Arabic etymology of the word alerce, by availing himself, we believe, of the extensive botanical researches of the late M. Schawboe, the Danish consul in Morocco, and by collating the accounts of the resident Moors, made out that the alerce, was the Thùja articulata, a tree which grows on the Atlas in the vicinity Tangiers. În corroboration of his views, a plant of the timber in question was transmitted to London. This plant, which is still at the rooms of the Horticultural Society in Regent Street, is 20 in. in diameter; and we are authorised by Captain Cook to say, that it not only agrees with the parts of the timber of the mosque at Cordova, which he examined, but that he is perfectly satisfied of the identity. It is highly balsamic and odoriferous; the resin, no doubt, preventing the ravages of insects, as well as the influence of the air. There is reason to believe that it was the sandarac of the Orientals, and that this species was employed, where it could be procured, in the construction of their religious edifices.

Our chief reason for giving a notice of this interesting and remarkable tree is the hope that, by the assistance of our friends or correspondents, we may be enabled, by seeds or by plants, to see its addition to the British arboretum. We know no reason to apprehend that the species, which belongs to the Coníferæ, and is nearly allied to the Italian cypress, and the juniper of the south of Europe, should not be as hardy as its congeners, which are natives of similar latitudes, and which grow as well in the warmer parts of England as in the south of Europe. We are ardently desirous of its introduction, not only from its historical interest, but from its value in an economical point of view."

Jasminum odoratissimum Arb. Brit., p. 1252. The gelsomino di Goa, called in your Arboretum Britannicum by the scientific name of Jasminum odoratíssimum, is the J. Sámbac var. trifoliàtum of your Encyclopædia of Plants. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo III., in 1689, sent for ten or twelve boxes of this plant from Goa; and amongst them were found the two varieties of mugherino, one of which has a semi-double flower, and the other a double flower. The mugherino with a simple flower, called the gelsomina del Gimè, and, by the Genoese, gemetta, was the first known. Both the first and the second varieties are described by Tilli in the Orto Pisano; the first (in p. 87. t. 31.), "Jasminium sive Sambac Arabum, folio accuminato, flore stellato, majore, albo, odoratissimo, vulgo mugherino;" the second (p. 87. t. 30.), Jasminium Indicum Mali aurantiæ foliis, flore albo pleno, amplissimo." The second variety is called, by Zuccagni, Mogorium goaense, and vulgarly mugherino di Goa, mugherino di Castello, mugherino doppio. The latter is the variety of Sambac, which Cosmo III. wished to retain solely in the garden of the royal villa Castello; and, in fact, this plant of royal privacy was kept in custody with great care for more than a century; but the great Duke Leopold, superior to the prejudices of his predecessor, not only ordered that it should be propagated in all the royal villas, but that it should be distributed amongst amateurs in this as well as in other countries; and, thanks to such provident liberality, the species is preserved in Europe. Had not this been the case, we should have been deprived of a shrub which is the ornament of the green-house, and which, during the time of its flowering, is celebrated for its exquisite fragrance; as, in 1791, from some unfortunate effect of malaria, all the plants of it in Tuscany died, and that which was brought from Haarlem also; and the former is now known by the name of Nyctanthes pulcherrima, or the fameux jasmin du Grand Duc de Toscane. (Vide Zucc. Cent., i.)

From this you will see, that the anecdote you have taken from the Sentiment of Flowers is an ingenious invention to account for the custom of ornamenting the head of the bride on the day of her marriage. But much earlier than 1689 (the period of the introduction of the mugherino di Goa), the people in the south of Italy had a custom of ornamenting the head of the affianced bride, when she approached the altar to have the marriage ceremony performed, with the jasmin, to show her husband that she was as pure and fragrant as this flower. I suspect that this custom has been transmitted from the East; and Moore, whom you quote, I see is of my opinion.

Catálpa syringaefolia. Speaking of this tree, you have not mentioned, among its uses, that the Japanese, according to Kampfer and Thunberg, give a decoction of the pods to asthmatic persons, and apply the leaves to allay pains in the limbs. With us, particularly among female doctors, a decoction of the pods is ordered as the only remedy for curing the humid asthma (asma umida), and also for catarrhal coughs.

As I wish to try the cultivation of Cònium Arracàcha, I shall feel much obliged if you will have the goodness (if it is not very inconvenient to you) to try to get me ten or twelve of the seeds.-G. Manetti. Monza, Sept., 1837.

[We are not aware of there being any seeds of this plant in Britain; though we understand there are living plants in the Glasgow Botanic Garden. If we had either seeds or plants, there is no correspondent that we would be more happy to send some to than our friend Signor Manetti. — Cond.]

INSECTS injurious to Pear Trees. - Many of the pear and apple trees here yearly sustain great injury from a cause which, until lately, I was unable to penetrate; but, on looking over a lately published part of the Horticultural Transactions (part ii. vol. ii.), I found the injury and its cause accurately described by Mr. Knight, who also states what he found to be an effectual remedy. I refer you to that work for an account of the insect, and the manner in which it damages the leaves; and, in case it is not known in your vicinity, I have enclosed in the box a few of the damaged leaves for your inspection; but I believe all the larvæ have escaped.

I found the moth upon the trees exactly as described by Mr. Knight; and, by way of experiment, I procured an engineful of soapsuds from the washhouse, with which I well sprinkled one pear tree (a York bergamot); and I now find that tree very nearly free from the disease, while its neighbours on both sides (of different sorts) have more than half the surface of many of their leaves totally destroyed. Whether my application drove away the insects, or whether they prefer other sorts of pears to the York bergamot, I am unable to determine; but I believe the former to be the case, soapsuds being destructive to some other kinds of insects. I have cleared badly infested plum trees from aphides by two washings with that liquid.—J. B. Whiting. Kiplin, Catterick, Aug. 13. 1837.

It does not appear quite clear, from the above communication, at what period the application of the soapsuds was made. I should think, as the larvæ are within the leaf, no application whilst in that state could affect them. The perfect moths may, perhaps, be deterred from laying their eggs upon trees having had such an application; but I should think tobacco-water, or gas-tarwater would be more disagreeable to the moth than soapsuds.-J. O. W.

The moth, which is the Tinea Clerckella of Linnæus, appears in the end of May and the beginning of June; and it is readily distinguished by the silvery whiteness of its wings, which are tipt lightly with brown, and by its small size, its length scarcely exceeding a single line. It is an extremely pretty little insect, and possesses so much activity, that it is difficult to obtain a living specimen of it. It probably deposits its eggs, or, perhaps more properly, its spawn, upon the under surfaces of the leaves; and the larvæ, having there penetrated through the epidermis, feed upon the internal parenchymatous