152 THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. [Jlly, 



everything, had been drowned in this sac of sugar in which we find the seeds 

 to be imbedded. 



After all, the history of the Fig may help us to know where we may expect 

 success with the Mulberry. There was a fine standard Fig tree, that fruited 

 freely, in the garden at Hedsor Lodge, on the banks of the Thames, near Maiden- 

 head. It certainly was well sheltered by high walls and trees, and the locality 

 had been at one time a richly manured kitchen garden. The Hop gardens, or 

 rather the extensive Hop fields, that so adom Kent and Hampshire, are quite 

 select portions of the best of our earth and the driest of our climate in England, 

 and it may be necessary in the same way to select the situation suitable to the 

 Mulberry. Even the Nettle, the type of the group, is not a plant to put up 

 with any soil or situation, for it has dogged the footsteps of man, and thrives in 

 the hedge-bank where all is well drained and sheltered, as well as in those spots 

 where the ruined homestead gives by its mouldering decay the best materials and 

 the shelter necessary for a crop. 



In the Nursery Catalogues Mulberry plants are quoted cheap enough for any 

 cottager to give them a trial ; and when the subject has been ventilated through 

 the pages of the Florist and Pomologist, we shall, I hope, get to know where 

 the tree succeeds, and where it fails. If ever any fruit-bearing tree wanted 

 orchard-house treatment, it is this ; for it does not bear fruit when young, and it 

 does not behave well under the pruning knife and the restraint of training, but 

 likes its own way, and then forms a mushroom-shaped standard tree. It requires 

 a sheltered situation, and such a pasture as would not disgrace the Vine will be 

 quite in the way of the Mulberry. You never gather the fruit of the Mulberry 

 as you would gather that of any other tree, but wait patiently till, by the 

 aid of a gentle shake, it falls to the ground. In this way there is no question 

 about ripeness, for the fruits ripen gradually, and yield a daily supply for a long 

 period. This, however, suggests that a clean grass-plat should be maintained 

 under the trees, for the fruit to fall upon. 



Salford. Alex. Forsyth. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM KRAMERI. 



; HIS is one of the recent Costa Eican introductions, which flowered last 

 season in several collections. In its growth and its pseudo-bulbs it is not 

 unlike Trichopilia suavis ; in truth, some plants sold bearing its name at 

 Stevens's have turned out to be that species. When under cultivation, it 

 is easily recognized by its roundish flat pseudo-bulbs, and oblong pale-green leaves, 

 having a smooth, shining surface. The Trichopilia, as it increases in strength, 

 is remarkable for its elliptic leaves, having a surface sensibly rough to the touch. 

 Constitutionally, the present plant is tender, being as impatient of cold draughts 

 as any one of the human species of physical debility. It must be wintered in 

 an intermediate temperature, else the younger growths pine away and die. In 



