THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



26a 



Cataloguks a:>d Books Heceitfi). — " JI. Vers- 

 chaflelt's Catalogue and Price Current for the 

 Autumn of 1859 and Sprin? of ISGO." Aweil- 

 arrauged index to the principal stock in the 

 celebrated nursery at G-hent, iucludinij plants 

 of the st.)ve and ereenhouse, azaleas, rhodo- 

 dendrons, ornamental shrubs, hardy fruits, new 

 I'oses, ferns, and lycopods ; and select bulbous 

 and herbaceous plants lor the borders. Col- 

 lectors of palms, orchids, epacris, ericas, and 

 gloxinias wdl find this a most u^'elul list, and to 

 cami'Uia growers, the list of the best varieties 

 sent out during the past ten years, and fli^ured 

 in Verschaft'eil's " Iconographie," will prove I 

 ■vaUiable. — " Descriptive Catalogue of Koses 

 cultivated for sale by John Cranston, King's 

 Acre, Hereford, 1859 — 60. Our readers have | 

 heard of Mr. Cranston's marvellous roses, by 

 means of our reports of the rose sho.vs. This 

 catalogue is, we are inclined to tiiink, the best 

 work of tbe kind yet published, eerlainly 

 better than Messrs. Lane's ; the silectious 

 are made with the sa i.e care as in Messrs. 

 Paul's, hut the printing is ten times better, and 

 what we want ws can find easier. The list 

 cmtains all the best of the new roses, — " Cata- 

 logue of Plants, Trees, Slirubs, e'c. offered by 

 Hugh Low and Co., Clapton, Lo idon, N.E." 

 A beautilul.y printed catalogue of seventy-six 

 pa.'es, we'll airangeil, and comprising every 

 variety of garden stock, from tbe rarest stove 

 pi lUts to the most useful fruits and border 

 flowers. Messrs. Low announce that they can 

 supply seedling pla ts of numerous choice 

 con fers, such as Picea amab lis, P. grandis, i 

 etc., at very lov prices. — " Catalo^rne of Prin- 

 cipal Plants sold by John standish, Royal 

 Nursery, Bag!>hoi," contains many ver}' choice 

 shrubi, io-es, and comfers, but is especi.illy 

 valuable tor its lists of rhododendrons, gladioli, 

 and grape vines, of each of which Mr. St indi>h 

 is an extensive grower, and of rhododendrons the 

 first breeder in the country. Among the border 

 shrubs we see entered Grislinia litoralis, one of 

 the most 'eautiiul shrubs ever introduoed. — "Ca- 

 talogue, No. 66, of thf Horticultural Establish- 

 ment of Ambroise V'oi schaHelt, Gheut." Very 

 useful to growers of s ove plants, orchids, ferns 

 and canieliias, of which there are good Usts, as 

 also of miscellaneous plants for cool houses. 

 Too Late. — Received on ihe 25th: — " G. H.," 



" W. P.," " Subseril)er," " C. H." 

 WALTOjJiAif Cases. — Devoniensis.—T'he size of 

 the tray gives the inside dimensions, which are 

 only jiist sufficient to allow of the tray being 

 lowered easilv. the height at back is one foot 

 four inc les, front one foot, inside measure. Wc 

 cannot give a section of the internal construction 

 of the boiler, I a^■ing never opened it ; cor should 

 we feel justified in probing to secrets which cost 

 the maker (Mr. West) a vast amount of dilii- 

 culty and manj' experiments to accomplish. 

 The boiler, casing, and tray are all in one, and 

 life out together. The flame enters between 

 the bottom of the boiler and the outer zinc 

 casing, anil we believe the heat winds in a zig- 

 zag under the bottom of the boiler before it 

 escapes to the flue. The boiler, that is, its outer 

 caiitjg, mci surcs one foot seven inches by one 

 foot. The tray rests on the plain wooden bottom 

 of the case, ^nichis perforated vi here the hole in 

 the boiler tits over the lamp. The fliime enters 

 directly ;nto the space hplw^cn the outer zinc 

 ca ing and (Le bottom of the real boiler. The 

 lamp rests in a tin Ijox, a-; represented in the 

 engraving.—^. B. — lour diHgr m A u c is cor- 

 rect. We apprehend the flue is but a termina- 

 tion of the spai'e between A and b ; bnt we have 

 nc-\er seen insnle, and s'aoukl fed it unjust to 

 the inven'or to dissect a thing not protected by 

 patent. Certainly the flue comes through the 

 sand-tray about an inch, and a moveable piece 



of pipe fits ou it, as shown in the original 

 drawing. The inside measure of the wick tube 

 is three-quarters of an inch across, and not 

 quite a quarter of an inch wide, which takes a 

 flat three-quarter inch cotton to burn Colza oil._ 

 — J. S. Peii-r-r. — All your trouble arises out of 

 using the Waltoniancase at this s ason of the 

 year, when bedding plants are not in a sta'e to 

 hear propagating m such a way. You might 

 have gtrueli cuttings by thousands witliout any_ 

 artificial he.it whatever from July to the end of 

 Seutember, and it was an injustice to the case, 

 and, the plants too, to put them into artificial 

 heat'. Even now ripe shoots of geraniums put 

 in roimd the sides of jiots will make roots belore 

 spring. One thinir i-i certain, that the little ex- 

 perience you have had will be all to the good, 

 sad as the story is, when the turn of the year 

 comes. Calmly make light of your losses as 

 the result of want of judgmen', and set the 

 case to work again in Eebi uary with as much 

 confidence as if nothing had happened. Then 

 you shall see what you shall see.- G. F. — The 

 candli'S answer admirably, and cost double the 

 price of oil for the limp. Mr. Hibbcrd will 

 shortly take up the whole question ; meanwhile, 

 if youwant candles for use, write to Mr. ColscU, 

 of' Bishopsgate Street, for a supply of Palmer's 

 single-wick night-lights, and 1 imp to burn them 

 in. The 1 imp Will cost 3s. 6d., and the candles 

 about 9J. per pound. 

 Fuchsias. — Alice. — Fuchsias will come from cut- 

 tings at almost any season of the year, and from 

 green shoots and ripe wood alike. But the best 

 way to propagate is to cut them in and start 

 them into growth in I 'eceraber ; then, as soon 

 as the new shoots are three inches loi g, to lake 

 them off with a heel, and strike in a mixture of 

 sand nnd leaf-mould, with an inch of pure sand 

 on the surface. "We do not see th.it you need 

 check the fuchsia that blooms so abund utly. 

 'Ihe best season to divide fern roots is in 

 spring, when they are just about to break for 

 the season. 

 CoMitELiffAS.— P. H. ©. — The common and very 

 beautiful C. caslestis may be kept over muter, 

 in sand, in any part of Britain in the same way 

 as dahlia roots, but in the south it may be left 

 in the open ground all the winter, if protected 

 with a little heap of leaves. If taken up it is 

 best not to separate the fleshy spindle-shaped 

 tubers, but to plant them entire in spring, when 

 they make fine plants. If increase be an object 

 they may be started in a gentle heat in March, 

 then separated and potted sepaiaiely, to he 

 planted out m May. We recommend Cochlios- 

 tcma odoratissimum, a beautiful stove spider- 

 wort, recently introduced by Messrs. Veitch. 

 Composts.— .i. 5.— It is very rarely that any 

 grower measures the ingredients of a compost 

 with minute accuracy ; and as to pressing down 

 (he measure, such nicety is out of the question. 

 Of course :;n inexperienced hand pan do no 

 harm in using a measure when the instruction 

 is "one part loam, two peat," etc., etc. ; but if 

 there appears to be a spoonful more than the 

 measure of any one material, the plant will never 

 find it out. The measures given, therefore, 

 are r/encfal guides, except in very particular 

 c.ises, wlien it is the duty of the writer to warn 

 the grower to measure out the materials 

 exactly. 

 FuxGi IN Feun Case.— iff. H. C— We cannot 

 advise you to disturb the roots of the ferns at 

 this setison, unless you can remember whether, 

 in any part of the case, there is any half-rotten 

 wood" that yuti could get at easily. Probably 

 the mycelium is ramifying through tlic case 

 fi om one point, the removal of which would put 

 a stop to the nuisance. One thing is certain, if 

 you remove them daily, as fast as they appear, 

 the supply will soon be exhausted, and you will 



