THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUID.E. 



207 



in quantities now, as they make much better 

 bedding stock than from cuttings in 

 spring. 



Bulbs to be planted at once, in order to 

 be well rooted before winter, and the first 

 batch of hyacinths for blooming under 

 glass to be got into pots without a mo- 

 ment's delay. See our papers on bulbs in 



the numbers for September and October 

 of former years. 



Roses may be budded on briars till the 

 middle of October, but the earlier the 

 better. Those entered in July have made 

 good shoots, and should be looked over 

 occasionally for the removal of wild buds 

 below the work. 



TO CORRESPONDEXTS. 



Roses and Balsams Diseased.— J'. B., Torquay, I 

 M. E. C ,and others. — Ba'sains havebeen gei e- 

 rally poor this season through the continued ] 

 cold and wet, and seed will be scarce, dear, and 

 not too good. Several packets of diseased 

 leaves arid stems have been st nt to us, and in 

 each case it was evident that their condition 

 was owing to deficiency of bottom-heat, want 

 of sunshine, and an excess of sap in the vessels. 

 There is no help for it ; but it is well for 

 growers to remember, that it is only the mois- 

 ture that a plant can appropriate that benefits 

 it. Hence, when a languid state is induced by 

 continuance of cold weuher, they stioul'l have 

 no more moisture than will just keep them 

 alive until there is such an increase of tempera- 

 ture as to warrant more liberal supplies. Sou.e 

 of the examples of rose leaves sent are really 

 jnost beautilul as microscopic objects, though, 

 in a horticultural sense, they are quit i leprous. 

 M. E. C. sends leaves densely covered with fungi 

 belonging to the family of TJredine3, of which 

 there are also plenty just now in the harvest- 

 fields. J. P. lias sent one leaf most beautifully 

 covered with Phraginidium bnlbosum, which in 

 some seasons you might not find one example of 

 in a whole acre of roses; others of his leaves 

 show that he has a good crop of thrips, as well as 

 the most beautiful of microscopic fungi. Thrips' 

 larvEe are little yellowish-white rascals, and 

 the perfect insect is a lively creature, with dirty 

 white wings. Flowers of j-ulphur usually puts a 

 stop <o ihe fungi, and Scotch snuff or Gishurst 

 compound will generally act as a process of 

 ejectment to the thrips; but with a forty days' 

 rain one knows not what to do, and the best 

 course seems to be to let things take care of 

 themselves, in the hope that all will come right 

 at last. Thorough good drainage will do as 

 much and more to keep away fungoid growths 

 from roses as all the sulphurings and Gishurst- 

 ings in the world. Perhaps among the many 

 who make inquiries on the subject want of 

 drainage may be the secret of the mischief, and 

 the remedy for that is proper eaiti.woik and 

 drain-pipes. 

 Fuchsu fui.gens.— T. H. S. — This fine old 

 fuchsia, the parent of some highly-valued va- 

 rieties, is not half so much grown as it ought 

 to !)•■. Iu these clays of foiinge decoration it 

 ought to co ne into a good place, for the sake 

 of its fine leaves. It is one of the easiest of 

 things to grow. There can be no better way 

 of managing it than to plant out young well- 

 rooted plants in a moist bed, enriched with a 

 good deal of leaf-mould and well-rotted cow- 

 dung. There let them grow and bloom as they 

 like, and in a dry season give plenty of water ; 

 it can ha r dly have too mu-h if the drain ige is 

 gond. At the end of Oct >ber take them up, 

 cut tl'em c ose over to the crown, and stow their 

 r > >ts in bjx -s with some poor sandy soil shook 

 well amongst them, and keep just moist enough 

 to prevent shrivelling. Put the box on tue 



top of a flue as soon after Christmas as you 

 like, and keep it there till the roots throw up 

 new growths, from which take as many cuttings 

 as you want, and strike with a pretty good 

 bottom-heat. These will make fine pot.pl mts, 

 which are to have good shifts as they require 

 it, and a saucer to each for water after the 

 middle of May. The roots from which the 

 cuttings have been taken mav be potted, and 

 got hard by May to be p anted out again. 

 Clumps of four or five plants together in the 

 front of a mixed border lo k fine. For all 

 other purposes it may be grown the same as 

 any other fuchsia. 

 Herbaceous Border Flowers. — A. B. — Ranun- 

 culus aconitifolia is a fibrous-rooted hardy her- 

 baceous plant, with white flowers; R. m Uelolia 

 is tuberous rooted, and the bloseom yellow. 

 The white Alyssum is really an Arabis, and it 

 is a pity that the two names are so much con- 

 founded, seeing that the differences are so dis- 

 tinct. We, however, are as guilty of the sub- 

 stitution as all the rest of gardeners aud 

 writers. We never knew Iberis to ne called 

 Alyssum, which would be horrible ; but what 

 you have had with it from Morse, of Dursley, 

 is really an Arabis. There is but one real good 

 yellow Alyssum, and th it is saxatile, known 

 everywhere a~ common yellow Alyssum. The 

 most obvious distinctions between Arabis 

 and Alyssum are in the upright, branchy 

 growth of the latter and the procumbent growth 

 of the former. Thus Alyssum saxatile is a 

 miniature shrub, with semi-arboreous branches ; 

 and so also is the variegated Alyssum, used 

 in bedding. But the white Arabis spreads 

 laterally in strictly herbaceous tults, and the 

 variegated form of it has the same habit, and 

 not an atom of timber in its structure. The 

 perennial Iberis is also a small shrub, which 

 carries its leaves all winter, and produces white 

 flowers so truly candytuft in; character that it 

 needs no knowledge of botany to determine it. 

 Glad to hear your potted Tomatoes are fruiting; 

 in the open ground they are a failure every- 

 where. 

 Heating a Conservatory. — JL. C. W. — Youwil 

 see that we do not often recommend gas, be- 

 cause of the expense ; but lor your little con- 

 servatory outside the drawing-room, gas is the 

 best source of heat you can have, especially as 

 you can have the boiler in another apartment. 

 Have Trotman's stove, and a hot-water pipe 

 from it round the house. Mr. Trotman's ad- 

 dress is New Road, Hammersmith. Glad to 

 hear of the successful conversion of the gravel- 

 pit to a garden. It has been a good seas n for 

 all newly-planted trees. 

 Tropceoicm eli.gans. — P. M. K. — We have 

 proved this season ibat only about 10 per cent, 

 of Tropoeolum seedlings are worth keeping. 

 Mr. Hodgkinson, of Svdenhnm, has raised a 

 beauty, which is called Hodgkinsonii, and all 

 have a chance of similar success; but it is 



