The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-02-26 00:00:00

COLUMN

A correspondent has transmitted us a " Catalouge de
Plantes Nouvelles et Ex.otique," ' and another has
addressed a series of questions to us upon the same sub-
ject,—the object of both .being to ascertain whether.any
dependence can he placed, upon the horticultural and
floricultural miracles mentioned in the aforesaid catalogue.
Now, we cannot answer our. correspondents in the way
they evidently wish; but, as it is highly desirable that
they and others should have the best information we can
give on the subject, we will do our utmost to enlighten
them.

In the first place, if our, readers wish for foreign novel-
ties, and can afford to pay for them, let them write to
M. Louis Van Houtte, of Ghent, who will either furnish
them with all they require, or give such information as
will enable the amateur to obtain what he wants. From
the catalogues of the same respectable tradesman he will
also be able to learn whatnovelties are in the Continental
market ; but he mush: not. expect to find blue dahlias, blue
roses, or blue carnations :
.Mr. L. Van Houtte, having a
character worth keeping, does not offer impossibilities to
his customers.

We have thus pointed out a ready means-of attaining
those novelties of floriculture which are raised on the
neighbouring portion of the Continent: we will now say
a few words on the state of horticulture and floriculture
in France, Belgium, and Holland, in order that our
readers may know- how far it is advisable for them to turn
their attention away from their own country in search of
novelty. First, then, with respect to exotic plants, there
is no country that can compete with our own ; and if the
English traveller is struck with any beautiful plant in the
foreign nurseries,_ it is more than probable that it was
first introduced to Europe by English enterprise, and is
to be found in- the nurseries of his native country grown
to a degree of perfection unknown on the Continent.
The enterprising spirit of our native botanists and col-
lectors has ransacked every known portion of the globe,
while the commercial spirit of our-country has enabled us
to receive the exotics collected with a degree of facility
unknown in any other country :• it is perfectly plain,
therefore,. that we should be extravagantly foolish to look
to foreign, dealers, whether respectable nurserymen or
perambulatory fleuristes, for anything which we can
procure better in our own country of respectable men de-
serving encouragement. In most branches of floriculture
we are also immeasurably bupc..i,r—for instance, in
dahlias, auriculas, pansies,_ carnaiiclis, tulips, ranun-
culuses, geraniums (pelargoniums), fuchsias, verbenas,
peturias, calceolarias, cinerariat, &c : in these things we
have no equals. Formerl) 11.1cli excelled us in

tulips, but we are behind them no longer. In roses we
are rapidly taking the lead, formerly held by the French
florists, who still excel us in some particulars; but if the
Engiish rose-grower relies upon the catalogue before us—
which is the most heterogeneous mixture of bad French,
bad Latin, and vile English we ever beheld—and expects
to procure a rose, red with a yellow star ! fire coloured
with a white border brown and violet with red border !
yellow and violet ! ! velvet ground with yellow border !
red with violet ground ! one with four different colours
or a red rose with yellow stripes and a red border ! !—we
say, if any one expects to procure such impossibilities as
these, we strongly advise him to look out for some varie-
gated roses of the various Scotch plaid patterns and
colours. Camellias are sent from England to the Con-
tinent, and those raised here far surpass the best of Con-
tinental origin. Of mountain peonias we have a greater
number of species than our neighbours, and much finer
and more numerous varieties. In rhododendrons they
are half a century behind us. In raising fruit trees, we
give the palm to the French horticulturist for pears, whilst
we far surpass them in apples; in peaches, nectarines, &c.,
we are perhaps equal ; but there is not a good sort of any
fruit, especially the pear, which is known in France, that
is not readily procurable in most of our nurseries.

We must not omit, in noticing the above-mentioned
catalogue, to call attention to the following remarkable
plant—" Aurora, climbing plant, which forms a Pavilion,
with flowers and leaves ; it smells like jasmin, and is of
three colours." Verily, we believe it must be an off-set
from that wonderful bean which formed its stalk into a
ladder for the aspiring Jack of juvenile celebrity. As a
book, this "Catalogue des Plantes Nouvelles etExotiques"
is of much value; it is a proof that fools exist in such
plenty as to require little trouble to catch them ; and it
also completely exemplifies the Gallic appreciation of the
English character.

PAPERS ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

NO. XX

Lime, the article upon which we last treated, is in its
natural state and in its natural combinations a substance
of the utmost importance in agriculture, but it is even
more powerful as a regenerator of the soil when calcined
or burnt; it then possesses all the qualities of the com-
mon carbonate in a much stronger degree ; placed on clayey
soils, which resist all other means, it renders them porous,
and, to a certain extent, fertile, and also makes them ca-
pable of easy mixture with other soils. The extraordinary
affinity which quicklime has for carbonic acid and water
is one of its most valuable properties, for by its attraction
of these it is quickly reduced to an impalpable powder,
which can be more thoroughly disseminated than any
other fertilizer. The hardest rocks are thus made availa-
ble for the purposes of agriculture, and the very stones
are made to produce bread. Caustic lime exerts a benefi-
cial effect upon lands which, technically speaking, have
become effete or worn out, and the addition of lime in the
highly comminuted state which quicklime assumes on
exposure. completely removes the evil, and, in some
instances converts it into a positive benefit; thus sulphate
of iron frequently exists in some soils to such an extent as
to be highly detrimental to vegetation; if lime be applied
the metallic salt is quickly decomposed, the sulphuric acid
having greater affinity for lime than for iron, combines
with it and forms gypsum, or sulphate of lime, a substance
in the highest degree beneficial to most lands under culti-
vation ! the iron thus set at liberty and having no more
acids to combine with it, quickly attracts oxygen from the
atmosphere, and in the form of oxide of iron also possesses
beneficial properties.

. _
We must not omit another very peculiar property of
quicklime, one which is especially useful, but is not tho-
roughly appreciated ; it is the extraordinary power it pos-
sesses of decomposing both atiimal and vegetable sub-
stances, and rendering them more easy of assimilation by
the roots of vegetable. Thus we have in nature a provi-
sion for the supply of vegetable waste furnished to our
wants in unlimited profusion.

MISCELLANEA

"Encephalartus Altensteinii.—There are at Chats-
worth two splendid specimens of this species, which are
labelled as such. Some of their leaves are two metres
long [about six feet]. One of the two specimens has
thrown out bulbs, producing effects of considerable size.
On comparing the leaves of the offsets with those of the
parent plant, the former are observed to be much more
spinous and smaller than the latter, the number of the
leaflets also being much less. This individual, therefore,
affords a decided proof that such diversities in the leaves
may depend upon the age of the plant or upon other cir-
cumstances. Hence, it may be inferred that many indi-
viduals in our conservatories are distinguished by other
names, and especially many of those called Zamia pun-
gens or Encephalartus Altensteinii of Lehmann and Mi-
guel. Lehmann assigned this name and made his de-
scription of the species from the study of specimens di-
rectly imported from South Africa. But if the view here
taken be correct, the species was already common in Eu-
rope under other names. A plant called Zamia Pungens,
in the Botanic Garden at Birmingham, agrees exactly in
appearance with Lehmann's plate of E. Altensteinii in
his Pugillus Sextus' (Hamburgh, 1834). The history of
two of these plants called Zamia pungens is remarkable.
They are a male and a female of about equal size and
similar appearance, and formerly belonged to Lord Tan-
kerville's collection at Walton-on-Thames. When they
were sold, the male plant went to Kew, the female to
Chatsworth. Both have flowered, and the flower of each
has been represented. An engraving of the female with
its cone, produced in 1832, was published by A. B. Lam-
bert, Esq., (see Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, i. 494,
ii. plate 59), and Mr. R. Horsman Sony obtained a fine
drawing of the flower of the male in 1839 (Proceedings
of Linn. Society, p. 52). This male cone is preserved in
the collection of the Linmean Society, and a cone after-
wards produced by the same plant in the museum at Kew.
This plant is now putting up a new crown of leaves. Its
fellow, the female, at Chatsworth, has been in fruit many
months. Miguel observes that this species was formerly
cultivated in European conservatories under the name of
Yamia spinulosan or Z. spinosissima. Both he and Leh-
mann assign the name of Edcephalartus pungens to an
entirely different species."
Victoria Repia.—This interesting plant is still in a
flourishing condition at Chatsworth, and continues to ex-
pand in beautiful flowers, two of which have generally
opened every week during the winter ' • these, however,
are much smaller in size than those produced during the
earlier stages of the plant's growth, the largest now sel-
dom exceeding in measurement more than seven inches
in diameter, whilst the first flowers were nearly eleven..
Although the plant for some time past appears to have
been enjoying a partial rest, yet its growth has never been
suspended ; a gradual production of leaves as well as
flowers has constantly been taking place, but these leaves,
when fully matured, have in very few cases much exceeded
two feet in diameter—a small size, when compared with
those unfolded during the full vigour of the plant's growth,
ttie diameter then reaching nearly five feet, and the suc-
culent leaf stocks, which at that time, had they been
allowed room, would have reached to an immense length,
are now greatly diminished in size, and only extend to
three or four feet from the root. At the present time,
however, the plant exhibits no symptoms of decay, but is
evidently. in the most perfect health ; the growth also
appears on the increase ; the leaves develop themselves
with. more rapidity, and are becoming of a larger size,
and, if we may judge of future success by present ap-
• pearances, a most vigorous growth may be anticipated in
• spring. All these expectations, however, may prove delu-
sive, as our knowledge of the habits of the plant is at
present too limited to admit of our deciding whether the
pculannet
tios
tahneabnennuefal. biennial,,thaatitw w porrovaeplree nlantitaelr;. %ova% in.

be short-lived, weshave been fortunate enough to save a
quantity of fine-looking seeds, some of which are already
sown. The plant at present contains fifteen leaves, the
fifty-fifth is now developing itself, and the twenty-fifth
flower-bud has just appeared.—JOSEPH PAXTON, Chats-
worth, Jan. 30.; Sheffield Independent.—[We learn
from information received to-day, Feb. 13. that the plant
was still increasing in the size of the leaves, and still pro.
ducing flowers, and that some of the seeds alluded, to
above had vegetated.]