TO COEEESPONDENTS. 



*»* Tliis Number of the Floral World lias to be printed before Christmas, 

 and is got up witli some haste. It is therefore requested that those correspondents 

 ■whose letters are not answered will kindly wait till next month, when the Editor 

 hopes to be enabled to give them every needful attention. 



KosES. — 17. £. — You need not ask what sort of wood to use in propagating new 

 roses by budding, for you will not get any stout wood until you have had them 

 some time. But in any and every case the best buds are those from plump 

 wood of the season, the iDuds not at all started, the bark still green and parting 

 readily from the wood. It matters not when or how the shoots begun to grow from 

 which the buds are to be taken; the only rule of any consequence is that the shield 

 should peel well, and that the bud should not have begun to grow. It is quite time 

 you began to propagate roses on their own roots. Every amateur rosariun should 

 practise the art, and secure thereby better roses than can be had for love or money 

 by any other process. 



Variegated Plants. — S. B. — It is quite certain that liberal cultivation will 

 drive the variegation out of soine plants, but not out of all. At the meeting of the 

 Central Horticultural Society, on the occasion of the reading of the paper on Berry 

 Bearing Shrubs, we exhibited samples of gold-leaved hollies, from which the varie- 

 gation had been completely removed by the simple process of planting them in rich 

 loam which had been liberally manured. In proof of the transformation having 

 been accomplished in one season, there were on the samples shown leaves of 1864 

 richly coloured with golden variegation, and leaves of 1865 as green as grass. We 

 have many trees in this state, and they belong to a series of subjects that for a long 

 time past we have been amusing ourselves by experimenting upon. Good mellow 

 loam of a hazel colour, and with plenty of fibre from rotted turf in it, will grow 

 most variegated plants to a fine vigorous condition, without detriment to the varie- 

 gation; but animal manures tend to destroy the variegation. 



Fmonies.—S. Simson. — The herbaceous kinds are magnificent when in bloom, 

 but they do not last long enough to be suitable for groups in prominent positions in 

 the flower garden. A collection in a large bed or border presents a magnificent 

 spectacle when in bloom, the flowers of the best kinds b(3ing of prodigious size and 

 exquisitely coloured. Mr. Saltei''s display of pasonies annually attracts many 

 amateurs who take an interest in plants of this kind. 



Fernery. — P. B. — Your plan will do very well, and you need not fear having 

 too much light, because it is so easily shaded out in summer, and in winter ferns are 

 as glad of all the light they can get as other plants aae. If the trees were on the 

 south side it would be an advantage to the house to afford shade, but thej- will in 

 no way aff"ect the well-doing of the plants where they are. You do not say what is 

 to be the arrangement inside; we would suggest a rockery in the centre, and 

 narrow borders faced with burrs all round. You may stock this house with as many 

 evergreen ferns as it will hold, all of choice kinds, and all capable of doing well 

 without the aid of artificial heat. You shall have a list of suitable ferns next month. 

 You ask "if a conservatory forming the main entrance to a house is capable of 

 being managed successfully?" It all depends on the nature of the structure. Some 

 " conservatories" are sepulchres for plants. The chief requisites are plenty of light 

 and conveniences for ventilation; if yours possesses these, it may be "managed 

 successfully." 



Fruiting Jasmine. — Will you kindly tell me whether it is usual for the common 

 white jasmine to bear fruit? An old tree belonging to a friend of mine has this year 

 done so for the first time, and we cannot hear that any other jasmine in this neigh- 

 bourhood has ever borne fruit. The berries are in shape, size, and colour, like black 

 currants, and are quite hard. Would it be any use to sow them? Julia Colson. 

 Swanage, Dorsetshire, Dec. 16. [It is a most unusual thins, but not more extra- 

 ordinary than many occurrences in Enghsh gardens in 1865. The great heat and 

 long continuance of the summer brought to maturity many plants which rarely 

 attain such a condition in this climate. No doubt the berries are fertilized, and may 

 be sown with a prospect of germinating. Sow them now on a sheltered border, 

 and cover with two inches of fine earth. Probably in May next a few plants may 

 appear, and others from time to time during the summer. Some may remain 

 dormant till 1867, so the bed must not be dug, but be merely kept free from weeds, 

 and the plants removed from it as they become large enough.] 



