256 



TO COEEESPONDENTS. 



Waltoxiax Case. — Amateur. — Yes, we still recommend it, if it can be got ; 

 but we know nothing of the maker's whereabouts witli certainty j the last we heard 

 of him he was at Bournemouth. 



Vine Leaves from Norfolk. — E. W. A. Gf.— The finely-divided leaves sent 

 from an old vine bearing white fruit is a vai'iety known in the old catalogues as 

 Ciotat, and under this name described by Speechly (No. 45). It is the Raisin 

 d^Autriche of Duhamel (No. 5 t. 2) and tlie Parsley-leaved Vine of Horticultural 

 Society's Catalogue, No. 39. The berries are round, white, medium-sized, thin skin ; 

 flesh juicy, sweet, but not highly flavoured. It is worth a place under glass to 

 train up a wall or pillar, as it then produces better fruit, and the finely-divided 

 leaves are highly ornamental. It is almost out of cultivation, and amongst any 

 hundred of our best grape growers we should scarcely find one who knows anything 

 of it. 



Elymus GLArcESCExs.— C W. B. — This beautiful grass shows to best advantage 

 on a ledge of a rockery four or five feet above the ground line. It will grow in any 

 soil, but sand is its native element. It makes a fine pot plant. We have some 

 specimens in ten-inch pots, which with potted deodars, etc., etc., make a fine figure 

 on the lawn. 



Garden- Walks. — I have the management of some garden walks which are 

 made of small pebble gravel about the size of cob-nuts, larger and smaller. They 

 have been made about five years, and I cannot get them to set, having tried putting 

 sand on and rolling, without success. The walks are round a grass plot, and in wet 

 weather the pebbles tread on to the grass, which in addition to making the garden 

 look very untidy, and being loose to walk on, it makes sad havoc with the mowing 

 machine, straining it all to pieces so badly, that one that has only been in use a 

 little mox-e than a year has now gone to Leeds for repairs. Finding myself in this 

 predicament, I ask for your valuable advice in the matter, as, since I have sub- 

 scribed to the Floral World, I have read it with profit, and venture for once to 

 ask a favour through its pages.- F. E. S. [We do not happen to know how our 

 correspondent, who dates from Chesterfield, is situated in regard to obtaining mate- 

 rials for the improvement of this walk, but we can give him directions for a certain 

 cure if he can obtain Portland or Roman cement at a reasonable price. The first 

 of these two materials is to be preferred because of the brightness of appearance 

 the walk will have when the work is done. When the weather is quite dry the 

 walk should be broken up to the depth of one foot, and the whole of the stufi' 

 should be screened, as builders screen lime core, unless it consists of the same kind of 

 pebbles to the depth of a foot, in which case screening is not needful. When 

 broken up, and as dry as it can be got in hot weather, lay down a bushel of 

 Portland cement to every square yard, quickly mix gravel and cement thoroughly, 

 and rake the walk to a neat and very gentle convex surface. Water it and roll it, 

 and it will very soon become a pavement. The work should be done a piece at a 

 time, so as to finish it off" quickly without exposing the cement to the air longer 

 than can be avoided. If expense is a serious matter, break the walk only six inches 

 deep, and use half a bushel of cement to the square yard.] 



Variegated Leaves. — S. B. — As a rule, poor soil should be used in the cul- 

 tivation of plants with variegated leaves. We have before us an interesting example 

 in the variegated willow-herb, the potted and half-starved plants of which are so 

 superior in variegation to plants of the same species growing in good soil, that no 

 non-professional critic would judge them to be the same. The common variegated 

 Aucuba will produce richly variegated leaves in a rich soil in the full sun, but with 

 poor soil and shade it makes leaves which are almost wholly green. With plants 

 that have wliite or creamy variegation, poor soil is almost always requisite. 



Viola cornuta. — Vindex. — Some of the wise people have confounded V. cor- 

 nuta with V. calcarata. If you have cornuta true you may well be content, for it is 

 charming. 



