4.59

PART III.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ART. I. Foreign Notices.

FRANCE.

METROSIDE ROS Lophánta grows well in the open air at Oro, near Dax, in the department of Landes. It produces abundance of flowers, ripens seeds, and, as there are plenty of birds in the neighbourhood, there is no reason why it should not be naturalised as well as the fig, the olive, and the mulberry, which spring up in the woods of the South of France. (Bul. Un.)

GERMANY.

Brugmansia cándida, Pers. Datúra arbórea, Lin. (Vol. II. fig.44.p.146). This plant, though a native of New Granada, is very hardy, and will flower remarkably well in the open air, if treated in the same manner as geraniums, fuchsias, dáhlias, or Erythrina crísta gálli. It is easily injured by moisture, but it will bear a cold of 25° Fahrenheit; it requires an exceedingly rich soil, and, as the flowers and leaves are large, a sheltered situation. In the Botanic Garden of Pappelsdorf are two plants, four years from cuttings, which have been every year plunged in the soil of the open garden in May, and taken up again in November. They bloom twice a year, in July and in the beginning of October, and one of them has produced 155 blossoms at the first flowering, and 79 at the second. (Sinning, in Prus. Hort. Trans. & M. R. Ap. 2.) There can be no doubt a great many deciduous exotics might be treated in this manner with advantage; and, as we have before observed (p. 358.), wherever there are any spare house-plants, they should be tried out of doors. In large establishments, a plot of ground laid out as a parterre might be annually devoted to this purpose. The effect would be splendid and interesting for a great portion of the belle season, and the object in view most useful.

ITALY.

The imperial Villa at Monza was built by the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, in 1777. It is situated on a gentle declivity, between the town of Monza and the Briaura hills, and the river Lambro runs through the park.

The Gardens of Monza surround three sides of the palace. On the east side they are laid out as pleasure-ground, after the manner of English landscape-gardening; in this part is a small piece of water, with several cascades. Among the exotic trees are some cedars of Lebanon, and a shrubbery composed of the Magnólia grandiflóra, some specimens of which have attained a great height. On the south side is the botanic garden, which is filled with exotic plants from all parts of the world, arranged in systematic order. The hot-houses, which are very numerous, are placed in this division of the garden. The north side is occupied by fruit trees, chiefly oranges and lemons, and by the pine stoves.

The Park of Monza extends two miles beyond the palace; it is divided into different enclosures of pasture, arable land, vineyards, and wood. A great quantity of game is preserved here, and there is a numerous herd of deer.

The present Viceroy of Lombardy has made many improvements at Monza. He has built several ornamental cottages in the park, which he allots to the neighbouring peasantry; he has erected a tower in the garden, for the purpose of placing there a collection of cryptogamous plants, and other objects of natural history, modelled in wax; and he causes to be introduced every year new plants, from foreign countries, with a view to naturalise such as will live through the winter in Italy. (J. Clare.)

HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.

Early Spring Salad.-Great quantities of the blanched leaves of chiccory (Cichorium intybus) are sold in the markets at the Netherlands very early in the spring, and supply a grateful salad long before lettuces are to be had. The roots (which are of the shape and size of a carrot, and are extensively employed, when dried, as a substitute for coffee) are taken up in autumn and placed in a bed, almost as closely as they can stand together, with merely a little earth to fill up the vacuities; experience having seemingly taught the Belgian gardener the important fact theoretically pointed out by Mr. Knight, that the new annual supply of leaves of plants of this description is derived from the stock of sap elaborated in the preceding year, and requires nothing from the soil but moisture. Upon the bed of roots, thus closely packed together and defended from frost in winter, a slight hotbed of manure is laid in spring, with six or eight inches of earth interposed. Into this earth the leaves shoot, struggling for light and air, and become perfectly blanched and crimp, and lose most of their natural bitterness. The adoption of this plan of cultivating chiccory, the large perennial root of which so peculiarly fits it for this purpose, might be recommended to many great towns in the north of England, where any thing in the shape of a salad is rarely seen until the end of April, and then only tough green lettuces, far more bitter than this invitingly white chiccory. In the Netherlands, it is in profusion from the latter end of March. An acre of chiccory might be grown on cheap land, five or ten miles distant from the place of consumption, the roots brought by waggons in autumn, and planted in a few hundred square feet of the market-gardener's more valuable ground, which they would occupy only from October to April, at which time it is not otherwise wanted; and it might thus be profitably cultivated so as to be sold, as in the Netherlands, at twopence for a bundle sufficient to fill a salad bowl, and be within the reach of the poorest individual. (Note of a Friend.)

If, with me, you think the plan of raising chiccory salad of some importance, I wish you would call the attention of the London gardeners to it, if it be not already known to them. Being myself ignorant how far they are able to supply decent salads of Endívia or lettuce early in the spring, I have only referred to the north of England, but if, as I suspect, no blanched salading is to be had in London at a moderate price before May, the plan would be of still greater value there, as, to my taste, chiccory thus treated is little if at all inferior to the C. Endívia, and the roots might literally be grown at Ipswich or Chelmsford, and there at so cheap a rate as to allow every mechanic to have his bowl of salad for twopence, as here; an object, it seems to me, of much greater importance, than half of those for which our Horticultural Societies offer their premiums. (Ibid.)

We cordially agree with our correspondent, and hope some spirited market gardener will make the attempt suggested. The gold medal of the

Horticultural Society would be at least as well bestowed upon such a market-gardener, as upon the Solicitor who prepared their charter, or the Earl of Powis for ripening the Mango. (Cond.)

Hop Shoots.-These are seen in spring throughout the month of April in the Belgian markets in great abundance on every vegetable-stall, being cultivated as a regular garden product. From their whiteness, without any tinge of green, they would seem to be procured, as in the case of chiccory, by removing the earth into which they shoot, and breaking them off before they have appeared above ground; and the same plan is probably adopted with the asparagus, which is usually perfectly white. (Ibid.)

Trees in Public Walks.-In planting public walks, the Belgians do not, as is but too often done in England, think it enough to squeeze the trees into holes barely large enough to contain the roots, and cut out of hard and sterile soil, and then leave them to their fate. During much of last winter (1826-7), many workmen were employed in digging out the sandy soil round scores of the trees on the Boulevards, Brussels, which, though fifteen or twenty feet high, and three or four inches in diameter, were not quite so luxuriant as the rest, and replacing it with rich black surface mould, of which, as the holes were ten feet square and above two feet deep, each tree had subsequently (allowing for the mass of earth left round the roots) at least one hundred and fifty cubic feet to strike its roots into. Equal attention is paid in pruning these trees, the rows of which consist of a broad-leaved elm and lime alternately. The limes are trained and clipped flat and fan-like, and kept low so as to fill up the space between the elms, which are allowed to assume their natural form, but also receive a careful annual pruning. All the branches too crowded, or crossing each other, are cut off close to the stem, as well as several of the lateral twigs from each branch; the whole head of the tree, both branches and spray, being kept thin and well balanced, and particular attention being given to preserve one central leading shoot, by cutting off that one least upright when the tree has parted into two. (Ibid.)

Transplanted Peas and Beans.-A considerable proportion of the first crops of peas and beans about Brussels is transplanted, after being raised on slight hot-beds, or warm quarters sheltered by reed or straw fences. The rows of beans are about thirty inches apart, and the beans (that is every two beans, two being planted in each hole) about ten inches apart in the rows. The peas (planted but one in each hole) are also about ten inches distant from each other in the rows, but the rows are only ten inches apart, a pathway being left between every five or six rows. Rods are not put to each row, as with us, but a line of rods is stuck in obliquely on each side of every bed of five or six rows, so as to meet archwise in the middle. (Ibid.)

ASIA.

The Zunjeed, Salix Egyptíaca, is a species of willow. The leaves are of a silvery hue, and the flowers, which are of a deep scarlet, send forth a most delicious perfume. When in blossom, the Zunjeed is viewed with a jealous eye by the Persians, from the belief that it has a strong tendency to excite the passions of the females. The Persian who was describing the curious properties of this tree told me, that twelve fursungs north of Teheraun, the men lock up their women while the flower is in blow. (Keppel's Journ. from India.)

The Culture of Coffee has been introduced, within these few years, to several countries in the Peninsula of Malacca, and particularly at Tringanow. The country there is said to be very favourable to its culture, and the produce is said to be superior to that of Java or Sumatra. Coffee is

also cultivated in the island of Penang, but only by the European settlers. The Chinese, who occupy the greater part of the island, confine themselves to the culture of pepper. (Asiatic Journ.)

AFRICA.

Spártium nubigénum, the White Retama, or White Broom, of the Canary Islands.-The honey made by the bees upon the Peak of Teneriffe has long been celebrated. Every village in the neighbourhood in the month of May carries its bee-hives, which are hollow stems of the dragon tree (Encyc. of Gard. § 1738.), and places them in the crevices of the rocks. Millions of bees then swarm around the large and fragrant white bushes of the white retama, and very soon fill their hive. The honey is taken from them twice every summer, always in great abundance, and neither Hymettus nor Chamouny have ever produced any thing equal to it, it is so pure and transparent, and the taste so aromatic and delicious. Whoever, indeed, would import this bush to the bees of Europe, would deserve as well of his countrymen as he who introduced the vine and fruit trees [?], and this would be by no means difficult, for spártium grows perfectly well here, where snow lies almost continually from December till the middle of April, and even where the lowness of the temperature checks the vegetation of every kind of tree. It might thrive extremely well in the interior of Norway, in Austria, and Poland. But no one has been hitherto successful in rearing it in Europe; and every thing that has been said of its flourishing in botanical gardens is erroneous. (Prof. Jamieson's Phil. Jour. Dec. 1826, p. 78.)

THE Purple-coned Fir of Nepal, Pínus spectábilis, has been raised by Mr. Lambert from seeds received from Dr. Wallick. “This tree, which may be regarded as the Silver Fir of Nepal, surpasses all others of the fir tribe in beauty. Its lofty and pyramidal form, its numerous long, erect, cylindrical, purple cones, studded with drops of pellucid resin, and its flat leaves, silvery underneath, and of a bright shining green above, which thickly adorn its ash-coloured branches, render it a truly admirable object. The trunk is from seventy to eighty feet high, perfectly straight, covered with a smoothish grey bark, and having a circumference of seven or eight cubits. The wood is light, compact, and of a rose colour, resembling, in grain and colour, the pencil cedar, Junipérus Bermudiána. Its cones afford, by expression, a purple dye. The resin, especially that of the seeds, is highly pungent to the taste, and its scent is very powerful, not inferior to that of the Deodára. The elevation at which it is found, namely, of from 8000 to 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, induces us to hope that it will be found capable of enduring our severest winters. A magnificent plate of this species, accompanied by a complete description, will be found in the second volume of Mr. Lambert's monograph of the genus, under the name of Pínus spectábilis.” (Prof. Jamieson's Phil. Jour. March, 1827, p. 306.) — We understand plants of this most interesting tree have been raised in the Fulham nursery.

New French Pears. 66 I have planted out a number of the sorts mentioned in your list (p. 255.) as stock plants, as well to prove the sorts as to

supply me with scions for grafting. I have a friend at New York who sends me all the best American fruits, which I am planting out also for the same purposes. I have sent a number of things to New York lately; among others, the common primrose, which is a rare plant there. Walter Lee.

66

Upper Bath Road, Bristol, March 24. 1827."

Transplanting Turnips. -"For many years I have sown turnip seed on any little vacant spot, and, when the plants had two or three leaves, planted them out by a line in regular rows; and nothing can succeed better, or produce finer roots. Hardly one in twenty dies.” (Rusticus in Urbe.)—That they should not die, is not to be wondered at; but do they bulb freely? If the plants are not placed so deep as before, and only the tip of the tap root made firm by pressure, the upper part of the root may swell. Swedish turnips are allowed to succeed very well when transplanted, but they do not swell so freely when inserted in the ground as deep as cabbages, as when only the lower part of the root is made fast. If Rusticus in Urbe's practice was with Swedish turnips, there is nothing in it either new or remarkable. (Cond.)

Bird-catching. "If you will make birds drunk, that you may catch them with your hands, take such meat as they love, as wheat or beans, or such like, and lay them to steep in the lees of wine or in the juice of hemlock, and sprinkle the same in the place where the birds use to haunt; and if they do eat thereof, straightways they will be so giddy that you may take them with your hands." (Notable Things, 12mo. 1814, p. 70.)

A certain Preventive against Birds taking Seeds out of the Ground in Gardens, &c. Mix together 1 lb. of gas tar, lb. of brown spirits of tar, and 4 lb. of grease; into this dip some shoemaker's thread or twine, and draw it several times over the newly sown beds, supported a few inches from the earth on the tops of sticks." (Robert Gorton, Chemist and Druggist, Wolverhampton, April 11. 1827.)-The effect is produced by the smell of the sulphurated hydrogen of the tar; the grease merely keeps a body of it together, to supply evaporation for a greater length of time. Common tar, with a little gunpowder bruised in it, has the same effect. We make these remarks with a view to neutralising that sort of indiscriminate faith which many persons are apt to have in recipes, owing to the natural laziness and love of mystery which belongs to human nature. When a young gardener . reads a long recipe for effecting any thing, a safe course for him will be, first, to doubt whether some of the ingredients might not have been introduced to prevent the thing from appearing too simple; and, secondly, to reflect whether he cannot trace the efficacy of the composition to some single ingredient, which would probably have had the same effect alone. There is not a greater bar to the progress of the human mind, than that veil of mystery which it seems, till lately, to have been a part of the business of the learned professions to throw over every kind of knowledge. Let every individual for himself, and in his own profession, doubt in every thing that wears the appearance of mystery, or that he cannot account for on simple principles; on every subject let him seek for the naked truth, in which alone there is solid satisfaction to the mind, and safety to the conduct.

An Apple tree, of the Caldwell variety, now stands at Ratclif, near Nottingham, worth noticing for its rapid growth, large size, and abundant crops, considering its early age. The stock was produced from the seed of a crab sown by Mr. Parr, whose property it is. It was grafted by him 22 years since, and is now 30 feet high and 46 yards in circumference. The produce this year was 120 pecks, of 81 apples each. The Caldwell is a good baking apple, and keeps remarkably well. (E. M. Mather, Old Baseford, Dec. 8. 1826.)