^2 TUE FLORIST. 



these would be too costly for our purpose, but a selected assortment 

 of good forms and striking colours, which can be obtained from any 

 of the leading growers for a moderate sum. This plant possesses 

 the estimable properties of blossoming early and for a long period ; 

 and it has besides such an inherent tendency to sport into varieties 

 when raised from seed, that some novelty might always safely be 

 calculated upon. 



In addition to the double-blossomed Primroses before mentioned, 

 numerous varieties of the native single species are to be met with. 

 I once served a lady who possessed fourteen or fifteen different 

 coloured Primroses, — not a plant or two of a kind, but many hun- 

 dreds, with which the ground in a small wood was literally carpeted ; 

 and few objects could be imagined surpassing this in beauty when the 

 plants were in full bloom. From a small portion of seed from such 

 a collection an extensive stock of plants could be obtained in a year 

 or two, as no plant bears dividing better than the Primrose ; or, want- 

 ing this, seed of the common wild kind might be sown, and some of 

 the offspring will be almost certain to give coloured fiowers, from 

 which again other varieties could be obtained by sowing seed. So 

 also of the common Cowslip, from which, by successive sowings for 

 three or four generations, a Polyanthus might be raised. These and 

 similar inxepensive experiments may afford recreation to many who 

 have not under their control the costly apparatus of a regular flower- 

 garden. Early- flowering bulbs are a great acquisition to a garden, 

 but these ought to have been planted in autumn ; there are, how- 

 ever, some kinds which bloom later in the summer, and these may 

 be planted now. Among them the single Anemone is one of the most 

 desirable, either for forming a whole bed of mixed colours, or for 

 mixing with other plants in herbaceous borders, as it produces its 

 showy flowers in succession for a long period ; and by varying the 

 time of putting in the roots, it can be had in blossom nearly through- 

 out the flowering season. By marking the best flowers from which 

 to save seed, and sowing a bed every spring, a great variety of 

 colours may be obtained. All the varieties of Gladiolus are hand- 

 some, and some are surpassingly beautiful. For a list of the best, 

 with directions for their culture, see p. 295 of the Volume for 1849. 



J. B. Whiting. 



TRICHOMANES SPECIOSUM. 



I AM much pleased with Mr. Houlston's illustration of " The Irish 

 Fern" in your last Number. I am afraid, however, that ere long 

 it will have to be classed as an extinct British species. I was in 

 Ireland this autumn, and visited the Tore Cascade, Killarney ; but 

 I did not find it there. It is reported to grow at Youghal, and pro- 

 bably may still be found in one or two other localities ; but I believe 

 it is daily becoming more difficult to be met with. This fact, there- 

 fore, should induce people to take the greater care of those they may 

 have under artificial cultivation. J. W. J. 



