1R73. ] DOLICHOS BICONTOETUS. 207 



The plants intended for pot-culture should cither be wintered in small pots, 

 in a cold frame ; or planted out on a warm border, in a light free soil, and 

 sheltered during rough weather. As soon as the young growth appears in the 

 early spring, the plants should be at once placed in the blooming pots, say in 8-in. 

 or i)-in. pots, according to the size of the plants. A good loam, with not too 

 much manure, but an abundance of leaf soil, is the compost that should be used. 

 The plants should be potted firmly, and then placed in a cold frame till well 

 established. Early in April the pots should be plunged in coal ashes up to their 

 rims in any convenient airy spot, and on no account must they be suffered to 

 want for water. There should be ample drainage beneath the pots, so as to 

 prevent the soil about the roots from becoming soddened with heavy rains. As 

 the plants throw up their flowering stems, they should be tied to stakes, and as 

 the flowers expand, the plants can be removed to a cool, airy conservatory or 

 greenhouse, but plenty of air is essential to their well-being. 



In the autumn, the plants should be turned out of pots, the roots shaken out 

 and divided, and then planted out in a nursery bed, or potted for wintering. The 

 cultivator should select such plants for pot-culture as would be likely to yield five, 

 or six, or more spikes of flowers, according to the variety. 



The Delphiniums may be divided into two groups suitable for pot-culture — 

 dwarf, compact, free-blooming varieties, represented by D. Ilendersoni and D. 

 Belladonna ; and a Ranunculus-flowered set, consisting of double varieties, a good 

 representative of which is D. alopecuroides. A tall-growing set, of which D. 

 elatiim is the type, make splendid border flowers, but are much too tall for growth 

 in pots. The first set has large bold flowers of great beauty ; of these the follow- 

 ing beautiful varieties should be selected : — Belladonna, Formosum^ Gloire de 

 St. Maude, Ilendersoni.^ Heiinann Stenger, Louis Figuier, Madame Henri Jacotot., 

 Madame Chate^ Paul et Virginie., Madame Lelandais., Mans. C. Gli/m, Nudicaide^ 

 Triomphe de Pontoise, Van Siebold, and William PJitzer. The second section 

 has smaller, but very double, blossoms, produced in symmetrical spikes ; of 

 these, Alopecuroides .1 Amadce Hans, Delight., Homere, L'Oli/mpe, 3farc Auriel, 

 Mans. Lelandais, Noemi., Triomphe de Poissj/, and Victor Lemuine should be 

 chosen. — E. Dean. 



DOLICHOS BICONTOETUS. 



fins curious plant, which is known in gardens as the Eam's-horn Bean, and 

 ' which is of Japanese origin, was raised in 1867 by M. Durieu de Mai- 

 \l^ sonneuve, in the Botanic Garden at Bordeaux, from seeds brought over by 

 i<f two Japanese botanists who came to visit the Paris Universal Exhibition. 

 M. Durieu described and figured it under the above name, in 1870, in the catalogue 

 of seeds gathered in the Bordeaux garden. Our figure and the accompanying 

 particulars are derived from the Revue Horttcole. 



The plant is a rapid-growing climber, attaining a height of G ft. or 7 ft. 

 The long-stalked leaves have ovate-lanoeolate stipules, and consist of large 



