1SS9.] MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 143 



colouriug and improvement. At Manchester Mr. Baines'a group of fifty miscellaneous 

 flowering and foliage plants, including his wonderful Sarracenias, occupied the place of 

 honour ; and in Dublin, according to the report, the pot roses were the greatest triumphs. 

 The Great International Horticultural Exhibition of St. Petersburg opened on the 17th ti.lt., 

 and was continued till the 2Sth ult. This exhibition was rather limited in the floral department, 

 but was otherwise fairly supported, though the arrangement, from the too profuse introduction 

 of rock-work in imitation of Alpine scenery, is said to have been oxtremoly artificial. 



JTok the Winter Decoration of Conservatories few plants are more use- 



ful than the Solanum Pseudo-Capsicum, which is thus grown at Bicton : — The 

 old plants are kept over from year to year, and about May are cut back, stripped 

 of the old leaves and berries, and planted out of doors in very rich soil. They are allowed to 

 grow freely till the autumn, when they are again taken up and potted, and placed in the differ- 

 ent houses to exhibit their bright, lively berries. They undergo the same treatment in suc- 

 ceding years, and thus managed, the plants become huge bushes, from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, and 

 a3 much through, bearing a peck or more of berries. They are really magnificent decorative 

 plants when grown to this high state of perfection. 



2£he Cold and Silver Ferns seem liable to a great amount of variation, 



and intermediate forms, whether hybrids or sports, are often very distinct and 

 beautiful. Such is the case with some that M. Stelzner, of Ghent, has sent us. 

 The most striking is G. Laucheana gigantea, a richly-powdered form of tho chrysophylla 

 group, growing to a large size, and having remarkably broad leafy pinnules ; this will be 

 found an extremely decorative plant. G. aurea pendula cristata has the same free-growing 

 habit as the former, but with a multifid apex to the somewhat narrower fronds, and is of 

 freer growth than most of the crested varieties of Gold Ferns. G. SteJzneri superba cristata is 

 another Golden Fern more sparsely powdered, but very distinct and elegant ; it has a multi- 

 fidly-forked apex, the tips of the pinnae broadly fingered, and the pinnules also broad. 



En the beautiful Spring Garden at Belvoir, Mr. Ingram adopts a plan 



of growing Hyacinths, Tulips, &c, by which they may be transferred to the 

 beds without injury, at any stage of growth. They are potted in small 60- 

 pots in November, and are placed in some sheltered position, and covered with light soil ; they 

 remain thus covered until they begin to grow — probably until January. They are then 

 removed to cold pits, and treated according to the season, so as to ensure the bulbs blooming 

 in March. Some time in that month they ai - e plunged, without being removed from the pots, 

 into the beds arranged for them. At the end of April or early in May the bulbs are removed 

 from the flower beds, and turned out of pots, and planted in beds of rich soil reserved for them. 

 Treated in this way the bulbs receive no injury, and are fit for use the following year. 



®he new Eose, Madame la Baronne de Bothschild, which was last 



season considered as "the" Eose of the year, has this season confirmed the 



opinion previously formed of it, and may be considered the best flower of its 



colour in cultivation ; for, beautiful as are such roses as Marguerite de St. Amand, Monsieur 

 Noman, &c, they must all yield the palm to Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, with its 

 large deep globular flowers, and its clear Bilvery-pink delicate colour, with perfectly smooth, 

 immensely large, thick petals. The habit is remarkably robust, the foliage ample, and 

 altogether it is one of the most noble and beautiful of all pale porpetual Roses. 



^The best Permanent Shade for plant houses is linseed-oil and sugar- 



of-lead, in the proportion of about a tea-spoonful of the lead to a quart of oil. 

 The exact tint must be governed by the amount of shade required ; therefore 

 it is best to apply the lead gradually, and prove it upon waste glass. The modus operandi is 

 this : — First wash the glass thoroughly clean, and then on a dry clear morning put on the oil 

 and paint as thinly as possible over the glass with an ordinary paint brush ; then follow with 

 ■what the painters call a dusting-brush, loose and quite dry, and by dabbing it gently on the 

 oiled portion, a frosted or ground-glass appearance will bo given to it. An ordinary garden 

 labourer, with a little practice, will do this very nicely. 



