The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-05-07 00:00:00

NOVELTIES OF THE NURSERIES.

avton-hill Nursery, Cheshire.—Messrs. Henderson
and Brown.—This is one of the neatest and prettiest nur-
series near Liverpool. The glass is extensive, but the
grounds are rather limited. Under the management of
Mr. Thompson, the foreman, some very beautiful and
unique specimens have been raised—for instance, many
of our readers will remember the gigantic Calceolaria,
which was afterwards shown at the Corn Exchange, last
year, and afterwards was purchased for the decoration of
the Merchants' Dining-rooms. The extreme lightness
and cleanliness of the houses contribute much to the
successful cultivation we see here ; and a judicious selec-
tion, which admits only of really choice objects, is one of
the secrets by which the Oxton-hill Nursery is rendered
so very attractive. The most conspicuous and rare plants
we noticed in the stove were—Cetradenia floribunda,
which, though newer certainly, does not equal the
C : rosea; Clerodendron odoratum, JEschynanthus pul-
cher, Hypocyrta glabra, a very beautiful thing ; Browallia
speciosa, Ardisia panniculata ; the old favourites Stepha-
notis florabunda, Allamanda cathartica, and Combretum
purpureum, are in fine condition ; Manettia bicolor,
Physianthus auricomis, Clitor a ternata, Statice macro-
phylla, and Epidendruru macrochilum, were also very
fine. At one end of the stoves is an excellent collection
of Ferns and Sycopods. Amongst the latter, L : apodurn,
L : circinatum, and a good stock of L : helveticum, were
most conspicuous ; the latter is exceedingly beautiful, and
well adapted for greenhouse culture. The intermediate
house was filled with an extensive well-grown stock of
Pelargoniums, amongst which the new one called Tom
Thumb's General (what a n. me!) was conspicuous from
its large trusses, rather richer in colour than General
Tom Thumb, and a better formed truss ; Bouvardia
triphylla, Heliotropium voltaireanum, Plumbago Lar-
pentte, Lantana Sellowii, &c. In this house we also saw
a beautiful specimen of the Moutan Fumitory Dielytra
spectabilis, and some very striking seedling azaleas, with
rich red flowers of fine form and substance, and a habit
closely resembling the variety called Lateritii.
Nothing could exceed the gay appearance of the green-
house, it was a mass of bloom from one end to the other,
but amongst all, two specimens of azalia var Gledstanesii
were most conspicuous, one was a standard, the other a
dwarf, both of such perfect form that not a leaf or flower
could have been better placed : the flowers were so nu.
merous they appeared closely packed together all over the
almost globular heads of these beautiful specimens. Fine
plants of Escalonia organensis, rhododendron Gibsonii,
Weigela rosea, Boronia servulata, Crowea saligna, physo-
lobium gracile, Pultentea sttbumbellata, Daviesia latifolia,
dillwynia floribunda, chironia glutinosa, hypocalyptus ob-
cordatus, pimelia sylvestris, coleor.ema tenella, and lasi-
anthus splendeus ware also in flower, with an abundance
of the ordinary greenhouse plants, amongst which were
several calceolarias, each bidding fair to be as large and
fine as those exhibited last year. In the out-door depart.
meet, a large collection of Alpines for a long time en-
grossed our attention.

MISCELLANEA.
The Clove Bark which is sometimes, but rarely, im-
ported into this country, is the produce of a species of
wild Cinnamon growing in Borneo. It is supposed to be
the Cinnamoneum Kulitlawang.
Vegetation of Borneo.—Perhaps the most gorgeous of
the native plants are the various species of Rhododendron,
which here assume a peculiar form, being epiphytal upon
the trunks of trees, as in the genera of the tribe Orchida-
cem. This habit, induced probably by the moisture of the
climate, is not however confined to the Ericaceous plants,
but also prevails with the genera Fagrzea, Combretum,
and many others usually terrestrial.
The following excellent article on the agricultural value
of lime is from the Farmers' Journal:—
" The agricultural value of lime is not always found to
depend on the precise quantity of carbonate of lime found
in its composition. A pure lime-stone may be on some
soils less productive of general fertility than one con-
taining magnesia, silica, or salts of iron. It is not difficult
to comprehend nor to account for this ; for if a soil be
destitute, or nearly destitute, of any of these materials,
an impure lime-stone will do much to supply them ; and
if they happen to have a sufficiency of carbonate of lime,
it will produce less effects. Twenty tons of turnips, for
instance, if removed from an acre, would remove some
281bs. of magnesia; and though it is possible lime and
magnesia may in many cases replace each other, still it
will be readily conceived that, to have as full a crop as
possible, it is necessary to supply to the soil a full quan-
tity of the materials naturally intended to build up the
structure of the plant. In twenty years, assuming five
crops of turnips, and ten crops of corn to be removed, and
taking the former at 281bs. per acre, and the latter at an
average of /01bs., there will be abstracted from the soil
2401b5. of magnesia, or as much as is contained in six
tons and one-third of the Monk Fryston lime mentioned
in our last.

" The recent researches of Professor Johnstone have,
however, shown that there are other materials conveyed
to the soil, and the presence of which seems hardly ever
to have been suspected, or even sought for and even in
some of the limestones they form an element not inconsi.
derable, at any rate, in the quantity usually applied.
Some of the lime on the borders of Cheshire was found
by the professor to contain 0.37 and 0.41 parts of sulphate
of lime, and in the following proportions at the following
places

Cockermouth .. Cumberland .. 0'23
Brampton .. do. .. 0.32
Kinhead .. Scotland .. 0'32
"This agrees in a very remarkable degree with the
analyses of Mr. Spence, made for the Yorkshire Agricul-
tural Society; and though he does not distinguish be-
tween sulphuric acid and common salt in the analyses,
yet of the two he gave the following per centages, select-
ing some of the highest :
Kettlewell dale, .. .. .. o'2o
Knottingley, • • • . .. o'4o
Brotherton, .. .. ..
.. o'so
Pairburn, .. .. .. .. 0.40
Hessle cliff (chalk), .. .. 0.30
"These proportions come so near the Professor's that
it is evident that sulphuric acid is seldom observed in the
limes, and often present in the limestones ; and when
these are applied on soils where there is a deficiency of
sulphuric acid, the value is to be measured by the items
of these small materials, rather than by the extent of
those of greater bulk.
___

" We have heard, for instance, of a dressing of the
Wensleydale, or blue mountain limestone, producing
alone an excellent crop of turnips. Now that the Pro-
fessor has shown an appreciable quantity of phosphate of
lime to exist in many of the limestones, this problem is
solved ; for the farmer who is applying his lime, is really
applying the equivalent of dissolved bones. Thus, in the
Brampton limestone, as much as 0'33 per cent. of phos-
phate of iime was detected. The Denbigh limestones
contained, in two cases, o'l4 and 0.12 per cent. of phos-
phate of lime respectively, so that four tons of the lime
would contain as much as 201bs. of phosphate of lime—a
quantity by no means inconsiderable in a manure brought
to the soil, and especially as aiding any other application
which may be deemed necessary to the soil.
" There is no doubt that the suggestion of the Profes-
sor may be right, that the kind of coal with which they
are burnt has something to do with the quantity of sul-
phuric acid in the lime ; but the analyses we have given
above of the Yorkshire beds purport to be of the lime-
stones, and not of the caustic lime."