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now be kept at home (their proper place), but it has been proved, over and over again, that flowers without any merit or public character do sell as well, and, in some instances, even better than notorious seedlings that have received perhaps three prizes, and no end of first-class certificates. As well might the public be cautioned against buying the numerous patent quack medicines," unless each was proved by a jury of twelve or twenty physicians, as to say do not buy any new advertised flowers, unless they "went through the ordeal at the National;" but, at the same time, while making these remarks, it must not be understood that public exhibitions are included in these censures, it is the absurdity of the prize system which works so badly, as instanced in the Great Exhibition awards particularly, though such unusual care was taken to form impartial juries. What is wanted are well supported public shows, where the public may SEE and JUDGE for themselves. It often happens that those flowers which are not rewarded at all prove the most useful and best selling plants, and there are very many persons who have made a good resolution never to buy anything until they actually see it; indeed it is too common to hear, "I was so taken in with such and such a flower, though it had so many prizes, and backed by high recommendation, that I will see all before I buy for the future." That there are many good things sent out without any high recommendation no one can deny, and it may be as fearlessy asserted that many plants have been condemned, and even put under the tables to be afterwards highly extolled, and even to distance everything else as favourites with the public. To take a recent instance, ask a candid fair dealing florist what Fuchsias have been mostly inquired for the last year or two, and, in nine cases out of ten, the reply will be Mayle's, yes, the very ones which were actually placed under the tables at one of the Metropolitan Exhibitions. Diadem of Flora is at present unrivalled, the calyx might be more reflexed, and the corolla darker. Hebe, or Alba reflexa, as Mr. Glenny named it, has a splendid reflexing calyx, but a very bad corolla. Lady Dartmouth, on the contrary, has a good corolla, and a calyx which does not even expand at all. Bride is after the style of Diadem, but only a bad imitation of it, and certainly ought not to have been sent out in the same set. The dark varieties, Champion of England, Standard of Perfection, and Prince of Wales, stand before everything else, except Unique and Ignea, but beating them for habit and freedom of bloom; and it may be safely asserted that it will be a long time before a better batch appears, though everything and everybody, but the parties interested, conspired together to prevent their becoming the popular varieties they now are. Nicholls' Prince Arthur is another fine variety sent out without any strong recommendations. Sir John Falstaff is chiefly celebrated from its being so unlike any other, its great substance makes it popular, like the merry originator of the name. Clapton Hero has a splendid corolla, perhaps the darkest yet of any out. The good effect of a light calyx, and a very dark corolla, may be seen by placing the petals of this variety inside the already hollowed out calyx of Hebe or Prince Arthur; a flower producing this contrast would indeed be "the summit of perfection," however by perseverance it may yet be obtained.

Banks's Expansion is pretty but not grand. Conspicua seems to differ little from Prince Arthur (is there any distinction ?). Voltigeur is fine as regards colour, but are not the sepals curved to too great an angle for true elegance, of which the Fuchsia seems a type. Smith's Sidonia is a novelty, and on that account popular, but the colours are not very desirable. Stanwelliana, though old, is still worthy of notice. Splendida and Ne plus ultra are good, if small. Kossuth large and coarse, and Orion as bad. A few of Henderson's are passable, as Madame Sontag, but no more need be mentioned, the above are sufficient. Verbenas in your next Number.

A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE MOST ORNAMENTAL SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF THE CRATEGUS, OR HAWTHORN.

AWARE that many of our readers are unacquainted with a vast number of beautiful new, "" or rare," trees and shrubs, which are admirably suited to ornament the shrubbery, pleasure ground, or lawn, we purpose inserting a descriptive list of some of them in successive Numbers of our Magazine, with a view to assist our readers in making a selection to improve their collections.

It now being the proper time to plant the charming tribe of Hawthorns, we therefore give a list of such as are most beautiful, either for flowers, fruit, or foliage, and which merit a place wherever it is practicable to give them one.

The Garland of Flora does not possess a more charming blossomed race than the Hawthorns, nor that yield a more grateful perfume, and whose beauty too is extended, in many instances, from an early period of the year up to its close; the flowers enlivening and refreshing the spring and summer, and the varied beautiful coloured fruits adorning the autumn and winter. On these and other accounts they are estimable. The ancients so considered what they possessed even some thousands of years ago. The Hawthorn was then made the EMBLEM OF HOPE, and the young and beautiful Athenian girls brought branches, in bloom, to decorate their companions and friends on their wedding-day, whilst they carried large boughs of it to the altar. The altar too was lighted with torches made of the wood of this tree, and it formed the flambeau which lighted up the future home.

CRATEGUS APIIFOLIA, Parsley-leaved.-A low spreading tree from Virginia and Carolina, introduced in 1812; flowers white, May and June; fruit scarlet; ripe in October, small; height fifteen to twenty feet. The leaves turn a rich yellow when decaying.

C. ARONIA.-An erect branched tree, introduced in 1810 from Greece and the Levant; flowers white, in May and June; fruit the size of a marble, yellow, agreeable to eat, produced numerously; ripe in August and September; it hangs upon the tree till the leaves drop, often till December; grows fifteen to twenty feet high. A very ornamental species.

C. AZÁROLUS.-A low tree, introduced from the south of France in

1656; flowers white, from May to June; fruit, size of the last named species, red; ripe in September; height fifteen to twenty feet. Very ornamental.

C. COCCINEA.-A low tree from North America, introduced in 1683; flowers white, in May and June; fruit rather large, scarlet; ripe in September; height fifteen to twenty feet. The leaves die off yellow and scarlet.

C. CORDATA.-A close-headed tree, introduced from Virginia in 1738; flowers white, in terminal corymbs, numerous in May and June; fruit scarlet, small; ripe in October; twenty to thirty feet high. Leaves a deep glossy green.

C. CRUS-GALLI.-A low tree from the banks of rivers in North America, introduced in 1691; flowers white, in May and June; fruit rather small, when ripe a bright scarlet; ripe in September, and retains its fruit through the winter. In the South of England it is nearly evergreen, retaining its glossy dark-green leaves much longer than any other species. Spines long, and bent towards the end like the spur of a cock; height fifteen to twenty feet.

C. DOUGLASII.A shrub, or low tree, introduced from the Northwest of America in 1827; flowers white, in May; fruit middle sized, dark purple, numerous; ripe till August; leaves in the autumn are of a leathery shining texture, and die off early to a purplish hue; ten to fifteen feet in height; a very distinct and ornamental sort.

C. FLAVA-A spreading tree of about fifteen to twenty feet high, introduced from North America in 1724; flowers white, in May and June; fruit yellow, long, pear-shaped; ripe in October. Leaves decay a deep yellow.

C. HETEROPHYLLA. -A desirable species, probably an hybrid raised between the Hawthorn and C. azarole. Its flowers are white, produced early, and in great profusion; it retains its fruit and foliage till the autumn frosts; fruit rich deep crimson, oval; height fifteen to twenty feet.

C. LOBATA.-Introduced in 1819, supposed from America; flowers white, produced in loose corymbs, from May to June; fruit green, medium size; ripe in October. It forms a low spreading tree.

C. MACRANTHA. -An open, vigorous, growing tree, very common in the Northern States of America, introduced in 1819; flowers white, from May to June; fruit scarlet, shining.

C. MAROCCANA.-A handsome pyramidal tree, from twenty to thirty feet high, introduced in 1822, a native of Palestine; flowers snowy white, very fragrant, in May and June; fruit scarlet; ripe in October. The leaves in mild seasons are produced very early, sometimes in the month of January, they are also shed very late. It is one of the handsomest species in cultivation.

C. MEXICANA. A very handsome species, ten to twenty feet high, and when planted against a wall it retains its leaves through winter; as a standard it is only sub-evergreen; introduced from Mexico in 1824; flowers large, white, in June; fruit rather larger than a marble, when ripe pale yellow (not eatable).

C. NIGRA.-A low tree, a native of Hungary, from whence it was

introduced in 1819; it produces numerous suckers, and soon covers the surrounding ground with a thicket of bushes, but when grafted it forms a very handsome tree; flowers white, in April and May; fruit black, medium size; ripe in July and August; leaves produced in mild seasons in February or March; height twenty to thirty feet. A very distinct species.

C. ORIENTALIS.-Introduced in 1810 from the Levant, a low spreading tree; flowers white, in May and June; fruit bright coral-red, as large as a marble, produced very numerously, agreeable to eat; ripe in September, and remain upon the tree until after the leaves. A very handsome species.

PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS MADE, AND THE END SOUGHT FOR OBTAINED.

BY MR. H. STILWELL, OF PINE APPLE NURSERY, EDGEWARE ROAD, LONDON.

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IT has been my lot of late to have to do with, and manage, a great number of gardens in and near London; and in so doing I have often been requested to look at the Standard Roses, the cry having been, "Do you, Sir, know, three or four, or more, of the Roses planted last year died." I have inquired as to the time they were planted, and have discovered that in nineteen cases out of twenty, they were planted in spring, and some as late as April." And why has this been done? because the parties wished to have the Roses to look at through the summer, as they could not bear to see the garden without flowers, and by having only in spring determined to have a supply, the late period of planting had operated injuriously on the Roses then put in, and failures have followed, and from this circumstance the nurseryman is blamed for (it is said) supplying bad plants; and, in many cases, has to make good the failures by gratuitous substitutes the following season. do not say following YEAR, for my opinion is, we should be careful about the time of planting the Rose, as well as many other plants which I shall hereafter notice.

I

The Rose, like many other plants, I find push their new roots into the earth" directly after the formation of the buds on the branches," which most clearly demonstrates that we should attend to the planting business as near to the middle of November as circumstances will admit of; this period is most certainly the best for a successful growth. If we let the sap begin to move, and the formation of new roots to have commenced, it operates most injuriously against the plant's establishment, how much more so when planting is deferred till, say February or March, when the new roots will by that time have pushed some length, they then receive a check, which in multitudes of cases prove past recovery. Some writers upon, and growers of, Roses have stated, "Roses will do well if planted in March;" I say they will succeed very far better when planted in autumn, and the new shoots will be vigorous, so as to produce a display of full blown flowers the first succeeding summer or autumn, and this is rarely the case when spring planting is resorted to. I have remarked when late planting

takes place, succeeded by dry weather, in order to get the plant to push at all, or if pushed to keep it alive, that a liberal supply of water at the roots is generally given, and this undue supply very often hastens the death of the plant, glutting the roots with wet, which hastens its destruction.

There are four things which must be observed: 1st. Make the hole in which the plant is to be placed large enough to extend the roots fully. 2nd. Do not plant deep, but have the roots tolerably near the surface-soil, so that food may readily be supplied from above. 3rd. Let each standard plant have immediately a stake, to which secure it, and prevent its being loosened at the roots by wind, or they will be prevented pushing afresh into the soil; first fix your stake, and then place the Rose thereto, and fill up with soil, and you will avoid damaging the roots. 4th. Have a liberal supply of well decomposed manure, that from the cow-yard is preferable, being of a cooler nature.

THE LAURUSTINUS.

"Now blooms, all amid the rigours of the year,
In the wild depth of winter, while without

The ceaseless winds blow ire."

FLORA garnishes the cymes of the Laurustinus with hardy and modest flowers, which seem to say, "I'll tarry with you till your friends return, and cheer the scene with my pale pink buds and pure white petals," with which it ornaments the shrubbery from November's dreary month to the time that Boreas lends to March his strongest breath. We know not how this pretty winter flower stands in the floral language of the Turks; but we find it emblematical of those British fair who desert the brighter scenes of society to cheer the sorrowing day of the lone widow, or cause the bereft parent to mourn his lost hope with less anguish. We will welcome thee, therefore, little Laurus, in the shrubbery, even when the queen of flowers displays her blushing and odorous petals to the sun, because we know thou wilt come with all thy charms to make our winter walks more gay: and much it must be regretted that thy mild charms could not detain the great Napoleon to thy native Elba; then many a widowhood would have been prevented, and the name of Waterloo happily never known to the fatherless child of many a sorrowing mother.

The Laurustine grows naturally also in many parts of the south of Europe, Spain, Portugal, and it is likewise found wild in Barbary. Old authors give it the name of Laurustinus, from a supposition that it was a smaller species of the bay, laurus; they, therefore, added the word tine, or tiny, small.

We are not able to state the exact time when it was first introduced to this country; but Gerard says, in 1596, that it then grew and prospered very well in his garden at Holborn. He calls it the " Wilde Baie-tree," and "Laurus tinus."