belt should not be straight, but undulating and festooned, according to the form of the hills, and feathering down into the glens. I do not approve of planting merely the tops of hills any more than Sir Walter, who, in his fine picturesque language, calls it a lady's cap stuck on the crown of her head, leaving all below naked; but Sir Walter has erred on the opposite extreme, in dressing the lady's bosom, certainly very tastefully, while her head appears above, as bald as "the Marquis of Granby's on a signpost !" But this is not what I wished to talk about. What I wished to say was in vindication of Sir Walter Scott's rather paradoxical observation respecting the pine, where he says, "it will grow as well on bad or uncultivated land as on good or well cultivated, after the first few years." Now this, though strange, is not only true, but the fact is, that it grows the best timber on the very worst land! The reason why the Scotch pine is useless in England is because the soil and climate are too good for it! I saw beautiful thriving plantations in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, planted in what are called lazy beds; not that the soil was too wet, but because there was not soil sufficient to plant any thing in, without collecting it into heaps or ridges from among the rocks of which the hilly surface was composed. These trees reminded me of Sir Walter's beautiful song in the Lady of the Lake: "Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain, When the whirlwind has stripp'd every leaf on the mountain, Moor'd in the rifted rock, Proof 'gainst the tempest's shock, Firmer he roots him the fiercer it blows." What encouragement is here for gentlemen to plant their wastes and barren hills in England! and what a pity it is to plant good pastures or tillage land with the "villanous Scotch pines.' Howbeit, I know of no tree so useful for shelter and shade, either for fields or as a nurse for other or better trees. It is also very ornamental on mountain sides or tops of hills, feathering down among deciduous trees in exposed situations. The beauty of the pine is, that it will grow in almost any soil, or almost no soil. Its roots run on the surface almost like a peach tree against a wall, and are nourished by the shelter and shade of its own foliage; which dropping annually soon forms a strata of earth sufficient to cover its largest roots, and even to produce good pasturage for cattle. A double row of Scotch pines, planted in triangles, will become a formidable fence against cattle, far sooner than thorn, quick, or any tree that I know of, planted 2 ft. apart, and not pruned till the lower branches die. Such fence is surely more ornamental than thorns in the winter, and a better shelter and shade all the year round. Yours, &c. AGRONOME. ART. VIII. On the Culture of the Double Yellow Rose. By Mr. JOHN FRASER, Gardener to the Honourable William Fraser. Sir, As I have seen several methods of cultivating the Double Yellow Rose mentioned in your valuable Magazine, I am induced to send you an account of the manner in which I treated it in the north, in N. latitude 57° 37', and W. long. 3° 7'. It was planted about a foot from a south-east wall, and not trained to it, as is commonly done; the soil is a strong clayey loam. As the plant grew vigorously, I generally cut the shoots in to 8 or 12 in., and gave the roots a good dressing of leaf mould; and it never failed to produce a numerous show of perfectly blown roses, of a most splendid appearance, and uninjured by any insects. I am, Sir, &c. The Cottage, Battersea, Feb. 12. 1828. JOHN FRASer. ART. IX. On the Cultivation of Dahlias (now Georginas). Sir, By a FLORIST. A GOOD criterion for planting this root is about the time of planting early potatoes for a first crop, but no sooner. They grow well in a rich light soil of almost any kind. In dividing the root, it is advisable to leave, at least, two eyes to each plant, cutting through the neck or crown; the spring is the most preferable time for dividing them, although some do it on taking them up in the autumn. Those who possess a hot-house should put each part into a pot of 6 or 8 in. in diameter, with some good rich mould, so as the crown may just appear at the top of the pot; then place them in the green-house, where they will soon make good plants; and, when all danger from frost is over, they may be turned out into holes prepared for them. In this manner, after being so long confined, they will grow most luxuriantly. A common cucumber frame may be successfully used in this way. February 8. 1829. I am, Sir, &c. A FLORIST. ART. X. An effectual Mode of destroying Slugs among Cauliflowers and Cabbages. By Mr. HENRY PIKE, Gardener at Winkfield Park, Berkshire. Sir, HAVING had all the young cauliflowers and cabbages in my garden devoured by the slugs, after I had repeatedly planted them, and having tried every expedient recommended in your valuable Magazine, such as salt, lime, and dibbling holes round the borders, and all having failed, I at last spread some wellcut chaff round the young plants under hand-glasses, and some round the outside of the glasses. The success has been complete. The slugs in their attempt to reach the plant, find themselves immediately enveloped in the chaff, which prevents their moving, so that when I go in the morning to elevate the glasses to give the plants air, I find hundreds of disabled slugs round the outside of the glasses, which I take away, and destroy. This mode of proceeding being so simple and so effectual; I have thought it would be doing a public service to let it be known through the channel of your Magazine, particularly as (from the mildness of the winter) the damage done by the slugs has been so universal. I am Sir, &c. Winkfield Park, Berks, Feb. 9. HENRY PIKE. ART. XI. Abridged Communications. 1REATMENT of American Shrubs in the Goldworth Nursery, by Mr. Donald, F.H.S. - For some years past, I have endeavoured to inure American shrubs to the common garden soil, by transplanting them once a year; and, every time, putting a less quantity of peat earth around their roots. The result is, that I have all the commoner sorts thriving in sandy loam. Of those kinds that flower on the crowns or points of the shoots, such as Rhododendron, Azalea, Lèdum, &c., I cut down half the shoots to two or three buds, in order to produce young wood and flower-buds for next year; and those which produce their flowers from the sides of their shoots, such as Andrómeda, Kálmia, I'tea, Clèthra, &c., I deprive of all irregular shoots, and some shoots I cut down to a few eyes, in order to furnish the plants with young wood for the following year. About six or seven years ago, my plants of Rhododendron pónticum made shoots from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, when the idea occurred to me of making standards of them, which I have succeeded in doing, to the great ornament of some gardens in which they have been planted. Standard rose trees are ornamental in summer, but standard rhododendrons being evergreen, they are ornamental all the year. Improvement of a Fruit-border, &c.— In August, 1824, a very fine south wall at this place had only a few blighted peach and nectarine trees upon it. I suspected the border was unsuitable, and soon found this to be the case. It was too wet. I therefore had it all dug out to the depth of nearly 6 ft., covered the bottom with middle-sized rubble-stones, 6 in. thick; and this, intended as a drain, I covered with stone plank (paving-slabs ?) laid closely together, to prevent the roots from descending into the rubble. This bottom of stone I covered with reversed loamy sods of considerable thickness, and on these placed the roots of the young trees, filling up the border with fresh loam and sandy bog earth, well mixed together. The trees were duly watered, and, from time to time, watered and washed with soap-suds from the laundry; which I continue to do, as it frees the trees from insects, and greatly encourages their growth. They have already extended from 3 ft., when planted, to 14 ft. in extent; and are fruitful for their size. I cover with netting in the spring; train in the fan manner; and, in short, nothing can exceed the healthy beauty of the trees, and the great success of the improvement.-W. B. Rose, Gardener to Francis Canning, Esq., Foxcoate. April 11. 1828. 145 PART II. REVIEWS. ART. I. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London Vol. VII. Part II. (Continued from Vol. IV. p. 369.) 34. A simplified Method of marking Numbers on Tallies. By Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, Bart. F.H.S. THIS is an extended modification of Mr. Seton's scheme (Encyc. of Gard., § 1378.) of great simplicity and ingenuity. Sir George thinks it "more easily retained in the memory," and we have no doubt, that a person constantly occupied with marks of this sort would retain them and their significations with the greatest ease. But when the number of plants is considered that a gardener must retain the names of in his memory, we confess we would rather that numbers were always written or printed; and, for the benefit of every body, that, in as many cases as possible, the name itself was placed at the plant or other article. For instantaneous marking with a knife in the field or garden, the notching method, however, will always be valuable, and as far as 1000 we would recommend every gardener to make himself master of Sir George S. Mackenzie's method, which he may do in a few minutes, and which is as follows: "Only four signs are used in combination, to denote numbers up to 1000, when one more sign carries us on to 1,000,000; beyond which, I scarcely suppose it will ever be necessary to number. "On reference to the annexed sketch (fig. 24.), you will observe that, the first three signs, and that for 10, are all that I require. The number 4 is derroted by joining 3 and 1; 5, by joining 2 and 3; 6, by joining 5 and 1. To denote 7, instead of contriving an arbitrary figure, I use the sign of 3, prefixed to that of 10, to denote that 3 is subtracted from 10, and 7 remains. In like manner, 2 is subtracted from 10, for 8; and 1 is subtracted for 9. "I now take the notch standing for 10; and, by placing the signs already made after it, it is denoted that they are to be added to 10. Then we have two notches for 20. |