A

stock became almost as populous as the other. gift of five pounds of coarse honey, on their first settlement, made them work with such activity, that the hive weighed upwards of 20 pounds in September. It now stands in one of my narrow windows, in a bedroom about 15 feet from the ground, whither I had it transferred, for convenience of feeding and watching. To this hive I added, in September (before transferring them to my cottage, at which time I gave them half a gallon of prepared food), the population of two other hives, that had been doomed to premature destruction. The advantage of this was manifest in October, when, during the ivy season, they were nearly three times as active as the other hives; but I expect greater things of them in the spring.

Having a spare set of collateral boxes fixed in the same window as a hive, I occupied them on the 10th August with a powerful colony (C), which I had also saved from a sulphurous death, composed of two swarms united. These afforded me very great amusement for a long time after my other bees had ceased from their summer labours. As there was little or nothing to be collected out of doors, I fed them liberally for five weeks on prepared food (a mixture of honey, sugar, beer, wine, and salt, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of salt, a glass of sherry, half a pound of honey, and three pounds of Barbadoes sugar, to a quart of beer): of this food they consumed about three gallons; three-parts filling the box with comb of the purest white, and storing the liquid besides. At the end of the five weeks, they weighed 25 lbs., which had diminished by only half a pound on the 13th November, two months later, when I weighed them again. They are still very numerous, and in good health.

Besides the above three colonies, I purchased two very rich hives in October, each weighing over 30lbs., with a view to carrying out several interesting experiments in the spring. Of these I have nothing to say at present.

I had purposed to give here an account of the method I have adopted in uniting these swarms, without the assistance of fumigation. It is, I believe, quite a novel plan, and was accidentally discovered by myself; but I must reserve it for some future occasion, as I have already extended my paper to a sufficient length.-A COUNTRY CURATE.

EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENTS. ANTIRRHINUMS FOR WALL CULTURE.-Many of your readers may not be aware of the advantages which this tribe of flowers offer for the above purpose. I have a stone wall, four feet high, stretching from my parlour window down one side of my garden. It is about one foot thick, and surmounted by a coping of bricks, set edgeways; which, covering only nine inches, leaves a ledge three inches wide near the top. Along this ledge I, some years since, sowed mixed antirrhinum seed, and the result is, a mass of bloom, of all colours, throughout the summer and autumn; indeed, so gay and attractive is the effect, that it excites the admiration of all visitors. They require no soil; no labour beyond cutting them down in the winter, and will freely sow themselves, and produce every year some new and beautiful varieties-many unsightly objects might be thus covered.-S. P., Rushmere.

FLOWERS FOR BEDDING.-Your Mr. Beaton does good service, by the description and management he gives us of his border flowers; but there is one

flower, which, as a bedder, may possibly have escaped his notice it is the Cali rosa, or Rose of heaven, a species of dwarf Lychnis; it comes early, blooms profusely, continues long, and requires no trouble in the cultivation. My plan is, to take up, during the present month (December), the self-sown seedlings from the summer plants, and set them in knots, three or four together, each knot about 18 inches apart. A bed of any size may be thus formed, and in May, June, and July, it will be one mass of brilliant pink flowers. They will bloom longer than July, if allowed to remain in the ground; but I usually replace them with geraniums, or some other favourite.-(Ibid.)

THE HYDRANGEA.-This plant is not so generally cultivated as it might be; it is admirably adapted for lawns, and will amply repay any little extra attention. I have had one about twelve years, and the summer before last it measured 36 feet round, and had on it upwards of 1,100 head of flowers, many of them of immense size. It grew too large for the place in which it stood, and in the autumn of that year I cut the earth round its roots into a ball, and, with the aid of two horses, drew it out, and placed it in another situation. This summer it increased in size, but had not so many blossoms. Next year it bids fair to resume its pristine 'glory. straw during winter —(Ibid.)

It is covered with

GREENHOUSE HEATED BY KITCHEN.-I have one of two small rooms over my kitchen, fitted up as a greenhouse. It has a western aspect; size, about twelve feet by ten feet. The warmth of the kitchen underneath is sufficient to keep out slight frost. In case of severe frost, I have steam from the kitchen boiler, conducted by an inch pipe into two tins, each about eighteen inches long, ten inches wide, and a foot deep. Without any trouble or mess, by simply turning a stop-cock, I can get any heat I require. The waste steam, and the condensed steam, each escape by small tubes through the wall. The above hints may be useful to some of your readers. And now I solicit a word of advice. My plants, quite a miscellaneous collection, throve amazingly well during the summer and early autumn months; but now (December) I find several things-geraniums, calceolarias, and cinerarias, for instance, looking most wretchedly.-C. B., Barton.

[If a room, or greenhouse, by the side, and not over the kitchen, can be heated as described by our correspondent, it is a very available mode; but if over a kitchen, the difficulty in the way of keeping the plants duly at rest, &c., is almost insurmountable.-ED. C. G.

OHIO SQUASH.-Its treatment is, in every respect, similar to the vegetable marrow; and is available for cooking, when cut; for hoarding, for winter use, if cut when about half grown; and also for your excellent soup, if cut when ripe. The crop is a more certain one, and more prolific than the vegetable-marrow; and the fruit weighs, when ripe, from seven to eleven pounds. Are you acquainted with the Mammoth Brocoli, ordinarily weighing 27lbs., in one year's growth? My reason for mentioning one year is this, a brocoli is grown at Wilcove, a small village near here, called the Wilcove Brocoli, which grows even to 20lbs.; but the plan pursued is as follows:-Those plants which do not head in the spring, are pricked out again the following season, when they grow to the size above-mentioned. I have also a cucumber, well adapted for a cottager, and, I believe, a new variety: it generally bears three at a joint, and of a moderate size, in the open ground. Being most anxious to advance the cause of your journal, I should be happy to send you a few of each.-THOS. MOULD, Devonport.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of THE COTTAGE GARDENER. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and expense; and we also request our coadjutors under no circumstances to reply to such private communications.

IVY BERRIES (An Old Gardener).--In an old Family Herbal, written by Sir John Hill, expressly for the help of the charitable, where medical aid was distant, is the following passage, under the head of "Ivy":"The berries are purging; an infusion of them will often work by vomit; but there is no harm in this. They are an excellent remedy for rheumatism, and, it is said, have cured dropsies; but this is, perhaps, going too far." An infusion is made by pouring boiling water upon the leaves or berries; a decoction is made by boiling them in water. The infusion, or tea, must be made according to taste, and it is better to make it rather weak at first, than too strong. No exact rules can be given; but ivy berries may be infused in the same proportions as ground-ivy leaves, or any other herb used for making tea. The ivy leaves must be boiled, and the decoction made strong when used as a wash for the heads of children, if affected by uncleanliness. Herb teas should be taken warm, and about half a pint is a dose; but habit will soon accustom you to the proper proportion and quantity. We shall be glad to hear that benefit has been derived.-(From a Correspondent.)

PRUNING ROSES (Rev. E. C. H.)-Generally, roses may be pruned any time, from the fall of the leaf until the end of February, whenever the weather is open; but in particular cases and situations, it is found more desirable to prune them very early or very late, the reasons for which you will see explained in another column to-day. We do not know "Jessop's Tureens."

ROSE CUTTINGS (Ibid).-Those put in lately would have been better without artificial heat, until the end of January; and if "having put out buds," means that some of the buds have grown into leaves or shoots in ten days, and this in December, the place was far too hot, and you will probably lose them all. Tom Tits as enemies to bees, have been noticed by Mr. Payne.

PLAN FOR GREENHOUSE (J. S. L.).-You want a "drawing from which a plain man may work, accompanied by a pretty intelligible specification.' You might as reasonably request our excellent contemporary, The Builder, to furnish a list of plants to fill a greenhouse, and their cultivation. Gardeners learn no more of the builders' art and mystery, than enables them to furnish ground-plans, sections, and elevations, otherwise we would cheerfully comply with your request. Water tanks are constructed with bricks or stones, and lined with cement; and the "drip" water is conveyed to it by zine, lead, or iron pipes, from the gutters.

DISEASED AZALEAS (R. Denison).-Your plants have been greatly injured by thrip, which gives the leaves the rusty appearance. Smoking them with tobacco, and then bathing them frequently with the syringe, with clear soot-water, at a temperature of 120°, will prevent their getting worse, and do something to improve them. The chief remedy for restoring a healthy growth, however, will be, by these means to get rid of the enemy, and then place the plants, when done flowering, in a nice moist heat, using the syringe freely.

In syringing now, place the pot on its side, with the head of the plant inclining downwards, so that the water used in syringing does not enter the soil. After allowing the plant to lie for several hours after being syringed with soot-water, syringe it with clear water.

PLANTS FROM SEED (Tyro).-The request has been attended to, as you would see from an article from Mr. Fish. In addition, we remark, that few half-hardy shrubs can be grown, so as to flower from seeds the same season, except what have been already indicated. The herbaceous plants that would do so are chiefly annuals, if compactness of growth must be the chief consideration. The matter will be considered further.

CAMELLIA SEEDS (J. M.).—Of the five camellia seeds you were so kind as to send us, four were destroyed by the post-office stamp. We will do as you request with the fifth.

GREENHOUSE (F. G. W.).—It is quite possible, with some modification, to convert a "Fortune's pit" into a greenhouse. See what Mr. Beaton said about erecting a greenhouse, at page 119 of our first volume. One 16 feet long and 8 feet wide, might be heated by a chunk-stove. If your peach-tree is not very old, move it before you begin to erect your greenhouse, and replant it elsewhere.

COCHIN CHINA FOWLS (E. B.)-These are as hardy as other fowls. Can any of our readers inform our correspondent where a pair can be purchased?

BOOKS ADVERTISED (H. Sandford).-We never take upon ourselves to recommend books merely advertised in our columns. Your other question shall be answered next week.

RASPBERRIES (Ridgway Harrison). · Your raspberries were planted too late (March) for them to establish themselves, and produce fresh canes. They will, probably yield very strong ones this year, but they will not bear, unless they do so unnaturally late in the

autumn.

PLANTING QUICKSET (Ibid).-If your soil is light, plant your quickset (hawthorn) fence on the level ground; but if the soil be clayey or wet, throw up a bank. Many persons plant upon the side of the bank as you mention, but we never could understand what advantage could be expected by so doing. We think planting on the top of the bank, taking care there to have the best soil, enables the hawthorns to be planted in the most natural position, with their roots at the just depth, and to be more easily weeded and hoed.

INDEX AND TITLE-PAGE (T. Griffin).-These for the first and second volume, together or separate, for binding in one volume or in two, may be had at our publishers for one penny, or twopence, respectively. We could not print them on the same sheet with our concluding number of each volume. The tables of temperature you refer to, are for the orchid-house, and must be the same for orchids,

whether in a stove or greenhouse. Such lists as you refer to, you will find in the Gardeners' Almanack for 1850.

LOAM (J. B. C.).-You wish to form this artificially, having clay but no sand, and then ask us whether silt, coal-ashes, or saw-dust will do for mixing with the clay, to effect your purpose. Neither of the two last-mentioned will convert clay into loam, though the ashes would render it much more porous; and we do not know what you mean by silt. This want of information prevents our answering your other question.

LARGER PERIWINKLE (Tooting).-Move them now as soon as mild weather occurs. Plant them six inches apart, and they will cover your border the first year.

CLERICUS.-We are much obliged by your friendly advice; but our own opinion, and that entertained by the almost entire of our correspondents, differ totally from yours. You would think differently, we believe, if you could but know the writer.

HEATING PEACH-HOUSE (Stafford).-Heating a peach-house in two divisions from one fire-place.-We have little faith in Polmaise, for such an object, more especially as you mean to commence in December. Some succeed, but its greatest advocates have failed. We do not see that you would gain any advantage by the open gutter system, with moveable covers, when a dry heat was required; and, as you say, the expense would be greater than from using common pipes. By using stop-cocks you may heat your two houses, or as many more, from one boiler, provided it is large enough; and, to obtain a moist atmosphere at pleasure, you may have zinc, or galvanized iron, troughs or pans, to fix on the pipes, to be supplied with moisture when necessary. Such troughs are expensive when cast upon the pipes.

TURNING A GREENHOUSE INTO A FORCING-HOUSE (W. Bird).— You will, no doubt, succeed in obtaining forced grapes, flowers, strawberries, and even cucumbers, from your house; but you must not attempt to cram more into it than you can find light for. As your vines are small, it would be advisable not to force them much this season; commence, say in February, and this will give you an opportunity of keeping your plants longer in it for this season; and, thus, you will gain experience gradually. Your acacias, fuchsias, myrtles, and pimelias, should be first removed to the cold pits, whenever you commence to force. The geraniums, cinerarias, &c., will stand a temperature of from 40° to 50°, and that would just do for starting the strawberries, &c. Before you have your pits dug out of the ground, for preserving your plants during the winter, think over some articles by Mr. Fish lately. If the wall should be exposed, a layer of straw tied close to it will exclude the frost. The pit, made by inserting a flag-stone, 4 feet by 24 feet, over the flue, close to the fireplace, and shutting it in with a wall 18 inches high, will do very well for propagating purposes; but we would advise bedding a thickness of bricks on the stone, placing over that a layer of pebbles, and then as much sand as would be necessary for your cutting-pots being plunged in. A tube might be left for pouring down water, so as to command a moist bottom heat Your cucumbers had better be grown in pots; they would do little good until your house was raised to a temperature of from 65° to 70°; and, therefore, before that time you would require to raise your plants in a dung-bed, or in the pit over the flue, increasing the heat by covering with a handlight. GUERNSEY LILIES (Eliza).-Your bulbs have grown too much before they have been sent to you. The great thing with all bulbs is, to allow the roots to grow before the top, which they generally do, when moved and planted early enough and deep enough. You may either keep your plants in the pots, or, what would be as well, turn then out into a warm place, and encourage them during the winter We would not, however, be too sanguine in expecting flowers the next year, more especially if the bulbs are small. ARBUTUS FROM SEED (Ibid).-This is easily raised from seed, which should be sown as soon as cleaned from the berries, in pots, in peaty soil, protected from sun in summer, and from frost in winter.

season.

TAYLOR'S AMATEUR HIVE (A recent Subscriber).--The reply given to" Barnaby Screw" last week, must also serve for you. Mr. Taylor sent Mr. Payne a set of his improved boxes a few weeks ago, and, as soon as they reached Mr. P., he received from him a draw. ing of a still further improvement, and which, he understood, had been submitted to one or two of our most experienced apiarians, who highly approve of it, and it will doubtless be adopted; so that at present the thing can hardly be said to be completed.

NAMES OF PLANTS (E. B.).-Your plant is the Glory Pea, Clianthus puniceus; it is of the Diadelphia tetragynia class and order, in the Linnæan system, and of the natural order Leguminosa. Its flowers are crimson, appearing in May and June. It is an evergreen shrub, native of New Zealand. It does best planted in a conservatory border of peat, loam, and sand. It will grow, however, against a south wall, if protected in winter. The culture of Eschynanthus maculatus will be noticed by Mr. Appleby in due time. (B. B. B.). -Your plant is Cuphea plutycentra.

DIGGING (Verax).-We believe that, in freely digging light garden soil, a good workman could dig 300 square yards in twelve hours; but if the soil is stiff or stony, he would not get through more than one-third the quantity in a workmanlike manner.

PUMPKIN (An Old Friend).-All the varieties are of equal hardihood. The Himalayah is the best we know, but we cannot yet get any seed. The vegetable-marrow is not more tender than others of this genus. The best mode of growing them is to raise seedlings in a gentle heat, ready for ridging out at the beginning of June.

LONDON: Printed by HARRY WOOLDRIDGE, 147, Strand, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-Strand; and Winchester, High-street, in the Parish of St. Mary Kalendar; and Published by WILLIAM SOMERVILLE ORR, at the Office, 147, Strand, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-Strand, London.-January 10th, 1850.

PRISCA became a convert to Christianity at an early age, and was martyred, for adhering to her faith while yet a youthful maiden, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, A.D. 47.

FABIAN, the nineteenth Bishop of Rome, according to some, succeeded to the papal chair, A.D. 236; but others place him in an earlier part of the century. He was a strenuous promulgator of the Christian doctrines, and, after retaining the papacy about fifteen years, was put to death for his proselyting zeal, in the persecution which occurred during the reign of the Emperor Decius. So stern and cruel was the persecution, that no one dared to accept the papal crown; and it remained vacant from the death of Fabian-on this day, A.D. 250-till Cornelius accepted the dangerous office, on the 4th of June, 251.

AGNES, like Prisca, was a Roman virgin, martyred for her adherence to the Christian faith; but her death occurred much latter, in the reign of Diocletian, A.D. 306. On the eve of this day, our rural maidens very generally performed, and still perform, various mystic rites, to obtain a revelation of their future husbands from the visions of the night. Another charm, betraying more ignorance, because believed in, whilst the above is more jocular than credited, is the following. In some parts of England, if one of the family is suffering from ague, the eldest female of that family puts her head up the chimney, on St. Agnes' Eve, and says

VINCENT was a native of Saragossa, in Spain, and was ordained deacon by Valerius, bishop of that city, but never was enabled to preach, owing to the increase in an impediment to his utterance; yet he was indefatigable in his private ministrations, and soon was singled out for punishment, during the same persecution in which Agnes was put to death. Vincent was burned on this day, A.D. 304. Valerius was banished, and died broken-hearted, We presume that it was considered fortunate if this day was fine, for an old Latin line is preserved, and thus Englished :—

Remember on St. Vincent's day, Whether the sun his beams display. METEOROLOGY OF THE WEEK.-The average highest and lowest temperature of these seven days, during the last 23 years, is 42.19 and 31-7°. The highest temperature observed during the same years; was 58° on the 23rd, in 1844; and the lowest temperature was 44° on the night of the 19th, in 1838. There were 93 fine days during the same period, and on 68 days rain fell.

NATURAL PHENOMENA INDICATIVE OF WEATHER.-Headaches, says Dr. Forster, often foretell a change of weather in persons subject to this complaint. There is also some obscure changes of weather near to the periods of New and Full Moon, which cause an ephemeral headache, beginning usually in the morning, getting worse about two o'clock and subsiding in the evening. It is attended by an irritated stomach, and much resembles the ordinary bilious headaches arising from repletion. Indeed, most periodical disorders seem to be connected with some atmospheric changes; and it is very remarkable, that they should so often have their worst paroxysms, and the crisis of their terms, about the time of the conjunction and opposition of the moon.-(Dict. Nat. Phen.)

Third day never return.

19

JAN.

1841.

1842.

1843.

17

B.

R.

29.729 30.207 29.605 30.042 0.02 29.725

30.198

30.182

29.945 29.712

30.399

19

B.

29.932

INSECTS.-One of the most curious, and often most destructive to our kitchen-garden crops, of all the subterranean vermin, is the Molecricket, known, in different parts of England, by the various names of Earth-crab, Churr-worm, Jarr-worm, It is the and Eve-churr. Gryllotalpa vulgaris and europea of some naturalists, and the Gryllus gryllotalpa of others. It rarely appears upon the surface of the soil, but makes burrows, like the mole, and destroys all roots which interrupt it in forming these passages. When full-grown, it is nearly two inches long, and four lines broad; colour, dark brown; antennæ, bristle-shaped, and in front of its black eyes; thorax, hairy; wings, broad, large, and triangular when fully opened; abdomen, nine or ten-jointed, furnished at the end with two hairy, awlshaped tilaments. The two fore-feet are broad, like those of the mole, and similarly intended for digging. The female hollows out a place, about half a foot from the surface, in the month of June, and lays her eggs in a heap from two to three hundred. They are shining

yellowish-brown, and like grains of millet. The young, which are hatched in July or August, greatly resemble black ants, and feed, like the old ones, on the tender roots of grass, corn, and various culinary vegetables. They betray their presence under the earth,

by the withered decay of culinary vegetables in the garden. In October and November they bury themselves deeper in the earth, as a protection from cold, and come again to the surface in the warmer days in March. Their presence is discovered by their throwing up the earth like moles. The surest of remedies is, destroying the brood in June or July. Gardeners know from experience, where the nest of the Mole-cricket is situated; they dig it out with their spades, and destroy hundreds, in the egg state, with little trouble.-Kollar.

RESUMING our observations from page 163, on the science of gardening, we may next remark, that we have never been able to discover that light has any injurious influence over the germination seeds; and

No. LXVIII., VOL. III.

in those experiments apparently proving the contrary, due care was not taken to prevent the seed being exposed to a greater degree of dryness as well as to light. If seed be placed on the surface of a

soil, and other seeds just below that surface, and care be taken to keep the former constantly moist, it will germinate just as speedily as the buried seed, and if exposed to the blue rays only of the spectrum, by being kept under a glass of that colour, even more rapidly.

Therefore, the object of sowing the seed below the surface, seems to be for the purpose of keeping it in a state of equable and salutary moisture, as well as to place the radicle in the medium necessary for its growth into a root, immediately it emerges from the skin of the seed. M. Saussure, also, found that when the direct rays of the sun were intercepted, though light was admitted, seeds germinated as fast as when kept in the dark.

Mr. Beaton, in a letter now before us, says, "It has been said, theoretically, that seeds would not germinate freely unless kept in the dark; but, in practice, we find it otherwise. I have tried experiments on all the common seeds of the garden, and found they would germinate in the light-that is, when laid on the surface of the ground. The conditions necessary to bring this about, are heat and moisture. In dry weather I found it expedient to place a hand-glass over seeds under this experiment. There are, besides, some instances where seeds refused to vegetate in the dark. The seeds of Araucaria imbricata will not succeed if covered with earth. The small end of the seed is first fixed in pure sand, previously moistened, and the body of the seed is in the full light. So it is also with the seeds of the Deodar cedar, thousands of which have been lost when they were first introduced by the seeds being covered with earth when sown. I have also found the seeds of Pinus Gerardiana, P. Webbiana, &c., and, indeed, all the large seeded pinuses do better by merely fixing the point of the seed in sand. Foreign acorns-particularly the Mexican and North American kinds -succeed better if treated like those of the pinus and araucaria."

All small garden seeds-such as mustard and cress, cucumber, &c., &c.-may be made to germinate in a minute or two, in steam from a tea-kettle. The cotyledons, radicle and plumule, will develope, and instantly perish.

A seed placed in a situation where it is supplied with the desirable degrees of heat, moisture, and air, begins immediately to enlarge in size. This is occasioned by its absorbing moisture, which, passing into the cotyledons, causes their immediate increase. The rapidity of this process is remarkable, and warns the gardener from disturbing the seed after it is once committed to the ground. A few choice peas, from which to raise stock, being sown accidentally in ground devoted to another crop, were removed after twenty-four hours, and were not again committed to the ground for some days. Not one

of them produced a fruitful plant, and only two or three vegetated.

This is in no degree surprising, because in the majority of healthy seeds cultivated in our open ground departments, the embryo will be found swollen within three hours; within six hours the radicle will be perceptible; in from one to six days the radicle will have burst the integuments of the seed; within from two to seven days the plantlets will have similarly escaped; and in from four to twenty-four days perfect roots will have been developed, and the leaves appear above the surface.

Moisture, as already stated, is absorbed, and causes the immediate enlargement of the parts of the seed ; and this moisture, though it will, and does, penetrate through the surface of the skin, yet is chiefly imbibed through the hilum or scar. It passes to the cotyledons, causing their enlargment, and sets in motion their elaborating powers for the nutriment of the radicle and plantlet; for if they are removed, or if they have been injured by insects, the seed does not germinate; and if they are removed even after the radicle is developed into a root, the plant's vegetation ceases.

No sooner has the radicle escaped from the seed, than it immediately elongates in the direction of the matters most promotive of the future plant's growth. If the seeds of carrots, parsnips, beets, and other tap-rooted plants are sown in a soil with its surface richly manured, and its subsoil deficient in such decomposing organic matters, the plants will have forked and abundant lateral roots, keeping within the fertile surface-soil. On the other hand, if the surface-stratum is only moderately rich—but some manure is trenched in with the bottom spit, so as to be about sixteen inches below the seed-the roots will strike down straight to this superior source of nutriment.

On the other hand, it has been said, that the roots of orchidaceous plants, grown upon wood only partially charred, will be found to have their roots clamber up, and around, and along the wood, but always directing their course most numerously towards the charred portion. This, however, seems to be an error, for Mr. Appleby says that he finds orchids unbenefitted by being grown on charred logs. Again the seeds of the misletoe, placed upon the under surface of a bough, always have their radicles grow upwards to penetrate the bark, and thus secure to themselves the moisture, without which they could not exist. Lastly, if seeds of plants, loving a fertile soil, be sown along the partition, dividing a vessel into two portions, of which one portion is filled with rich earth, and the other with sand, though both portions are equally moist, equally loose, and equally warm, all the radicles will direct their course into the fertile soil.

These facts, with many others, all demonstrating

that roots travel in the direction where the most acceptable food is presented, overturn, beyond all controversy, Mr. Knight's hypothesis, that the descent of the root is a consequence of the laws of gravitation; for these laws will not explain why roots grow sideways, and even upwards, if their best source of nourishment is so placed as to require it. Gravitation could only influence them to a downward direction in a fluid medium. To maintain that the laws of gravitation will make the tender radicle of a seed pierce the hardest soil, appears to be a selfevident absurdity.

THE death of the last of the members of the original firm of "Conrad Loddiges and Sons" deserves more than the brief notice, that WILLIAM LODDIGES died at Hackney, on the 28th of December, aged 73. The event deserves a larger notice, because the firm has been associated with the progress of gardening, both in its practice and its literature, for nearly the last eighty years. Conrad Loddiges, the father of the deceased, entered into possession of the Hackney nurseries as long ago as the year 1771, when old John Busch gave them up, in consequence of being appointed gardener to the Empress Catharine of Russia. Both Busch and Loddiges were Germans. Conrad Loddiges lived to the age of 88, not dying until the March of 1826, and was succeeded by his two sons, George and William.

Than the proprietors of the Hackney Botanic Nursery, no men of our time have more promoted the onward progress of horticulture. They diffused a taste for it by the publication of the "Botanical Cabinet," one thousand seven hundred of the figures in which were drawn by Mr. G. Loddiges, who died during 1846, in his 60th year. They laboured assiduously to gratify the taste thus increased, by sending collectors of plants to various parts of the world; and the plants thus discovered, and all others worthy of cultivation, were gathered together and vended to the public, at their Hackney nursery. If cleared off at the retail prices, the stock would realise little short of £200,000. Here is assembled an unrivalled collection of tender exotics, and hardy trees, &c. Thus, of Orchids there are nearly 2,000 species, and of Palms 180; Erica nearly 400, and of Roses, including varieties, about 2,000. This garden is so arranged, that every species and its congeners may be easily examined; and the greenhouses, stoves, &c., are most extensive and complete; one-being for the special cultivation of palms-is 80 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 40 feet high.

The memory of the Loddiges will be well retained by that beautiful evergreen, native of the Cape of Good Hope, the Loddigesia oxalidifolia.

The business, we believe, will be continued by Mr. Conrad Loddiges, son of the late Mr. George Loddiges.

IF any one, having a taste for the highest departments of horticulture, can spare sixpence a week for its indulgence, let him expend it on The Gardeners' Magazine of Botany, the first number of which appeared on the 5th of this month. We e say, without any reservation, that it is excellent in its literary merit, excellent in its typography, and excellent in its illustrations. Beautiful as is its coloured plate of Passiflora Belotti and Maurandya Barclayana (var. rosea), yet the woodcuts are most in accordance with our judgment of what the illustrations of such a work should be, to be most useful, as well as ornamental. The portrait-for it deserves this name of Colocasia odorata, is just what the cultivator of plants requires ; it shows him the habit of the plant, and gives him a model of good growth to imitate, as well as enables him to judge, before purchasing, whether it is suited to his purpose. There are five other woodcuts, and the number is, altogether, the cheapest sixpennyworth of high art we ever have examined.

THE FRUIT-GARDEN.

FRUIT-FORCING: THE PEACH.-We are now arrived in the middle of January, and although much remains to be said, to the cottager and others, about out-door fruits, yet, as the earlier portion of the new year is always the signal for a renewed campaign in the forcing way, we must beg to say a few words about the peach.

Those peaches intended for early forcing have been at rest for, at least, two months; if three, all the better. By "rest" is meant a period, dated from the casting of the foliage; and, of course, extending up to the period of germination. During the rest period, and, indeed, for several weeks prior to it, all good cultivators encourage an amount of dryness at the root, which at other times would, if not productive of injury, starve the trees. Indeed, from the period of the fruit changing colour, water is gradually withheld; it being understood that too great an amount of succulency in the shoots, or general habit of the tree, tends to imperfect elaborations in its sap, and very true the impression, doubtless, is. It so happens, at least in our opinion, with the flavour of fruits, as with the scent of flowers; the sweetest mignonette we ever knew, grew out of an old brick wall; whilst its congener, which grew in a deep bed of moist peat-earth, at the foot of the walls, was comparatively scentless; proving, beyond all doubt, that in the one case, elaboration was "well up to the mark," as some of our wits say; and, that in the other, it was just the converse.

Such, then, being premised, we will suppose the soil in which the peach-roots are situate, to be rather dry; or, as some gardeners will have it, "husky." Water of some kind must, therefore, be administered, to get the root in action, if possible, before the shoots; or, at least perfectly ready to reciprocate the benefits derived from them.

The first proceeding is to go over the surface, and scrape, sweep, or collect, by any means, all the powdery, loose, and exhausted-looking soil, which, after water has been absent for a long while, is sure to collect. This material would not cause any injury, if suffered to remain; but it may be considered somewhat exhausted as to the peach, which, like most of our stone fruits, prefers a loamy material: that is to