THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



201 



cutting is now pressed gently into a 

 pot filled with a sandy compost and 

 the V is inverted over it, and the 

 ends of the V thrust into the soil, 

 the mite is fixed in its place by a 

 slight grip, and the resemblance of 

 the thing is to the letter A, where 

 the cross mark may be the only leaf 

 of the cutting prevented by the legs 

 of the wedge from rocking either 

 way. But in this propagating busi- 

 ness do not forget the boxes described 

 in the Floral Woeld of 1862, p. 34. 

 They may be made in any quantity 

 of boxes used for packing, and in fact 

 of the waste of the household ; and 

 they are so much superior to pots 

 that those who once take to them 

 never retrace their steps. 



Having flowered all the new ver- 

 benas of 18(32 and 1803, I will add 

 here that Lord Leicjh beats FoX' 



hunter, is the grandest scarlet out, 

 and has a fine constitution. Bright 

 Eye is one of the liveliest and 

 pi'ettiest and most profuse blooming 

 verbenas known for bedding pur- 

 poses, the colour clear lake with a 

 sparkling white eye. Rijlenian is a 

 superb scarlety crimson, with bold 

 lemon eye, small flowers, plenty of 

 them, compact dwarf habit. The 

 Colonel is another fine scarlet, with 

 distinct lemon eye, the pip not well 

 formed but the trusses compact, the 

 habit of the plant dwarf, and re- 

 quiring no pegs, and the most profuse 

 bloomer of all the scarlets. I am 

 now making up my notes on these 

 and all such things for the next 

 " Garden Oracle," and hope to have 

 something to say about them also 

 hereafter in these pages. 



SiiiELEY Hi6bebd, 



MANETTIA COEDATA AND M. BICOLOR. 



Most gardeners are acquainted with 

 the lovely crimson nodding flowers 

 of Manettia cordata or grandiflora, 

 sufiiciently beautiful, when well ma- 

 naged, to make it as fine an orna- 

 ment to the stove; as Thunbergia 

 aurantiaca is to the greenhouse. The 

 plant is produced from singular articu- 

 lated tubers ; each joint, on being 

 separated, will form an independent 

 plant ; if these are divided early in 

 February, and the pieces, after being 

 potted, are plunged into a gentle bot- 

 tom-heat, they will almost imme- 

 diately commence growing. One of 

 the strongest, or two or three of the 

 smaller ones, may be selected to form 

 specimens. A large shift suits them 

 best, as from- the fleshy nature of the 

 roots they are liable to damage from 

 frequent repotting. A No. 8-sized 

 pot will be required if a large plant is 

 desired. The wire frame on which it 

 is to be trained should be formed of 

 rather close work, and attention must 

 be paid in the outset to the training, 

 that the plant may be made to fill the 

 bottom WfU before it is allowed to 

 reach the top of the frame. A sunny 

 situation in the stove, or intermediate 

 house, is indispensable ; not that the 



plant requires a high temperature, but 

 if placed in the shade it grows too 

 luxuriantly to allow of its flowering 

 well, producing a great quantity of 

 stems and leaves, and but few blos- 

 soms. At the close of the season, say 

 the middle or end of September, when 

 the beauty of the plant is leaving it, 

 let it be gradually dried ofi", and the 

 roots may be stowed away for the 

 winter on any dry shelf. Manettia 

 bicolor is of still more robust habit, 

 and it is necessary to begin early in 

 the season with it, as the plant must 

 be well grown before it will flower ; 

 and by this reason it usually attains a 

 greater size than cordata. Its chief 

 superiority consists in the very rich 

 colour of its flowers, the bright yellow 

 and crimson afi"ording a beautiful 

 contrast. Like the latter, mature 

 plants should be dried, or allowed to 

 sink into a state of i-est for the win- 

 ter ; but those who did not obtain 

 their plants till the commencement of 

 summer wiU most likely have them 

 now in full vigour. Such plants will 

 be the better for all the encourage- 

 ment they can have through the win- 

 ter. They should be kept constantly 

 growing, and will thus flower well 



