42 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



like stagnant water, the pot should be 

 well crocked, and should be so placed 

 that superfluous water can flow away 

 easily. Selaginellas growing in the pot 

 will do no harm.] 



TROP-BOLtTMS AND StACHTS LANATA. 



A. P. S. — Spring cuttings of tropaso- 

 lums make the best plants for summer 

 bloom, and it is well not to take the cut- 

 tings too early. All the Lobbianum 

 sections, to which yours belong, are 

 easy to manage ; the soil should be 

 rather poor and sandy, but quite sweet. 

 The plants like plenty of sun, and only 

 moderate supplies of water. They make 

 very good window plants. Stachys lanata 

 is best increased by parting tbe roots. 

 Christmas Gifts — The January number 

 of the Floral World was printed before 

 Christmas-day, and we Vere therefore 

 unable to acknowledge till now the 

 kindness of those friends who sent proofs 

 of their regard in gifts of fruits and 

 flowers. Some of these forbid the men- 

 tion of their names and offerings, and we 

 must, though reluctantly, comply with 

 the old rule of acting only on permis- 

 sion in what we publish of the communi- 

 cations of our friends. A. B. S., of 

 Torquay, took us completely by sur- 

 prise, for on Christmas morning we re- 

 ceived from him two large boxes of 

 flowers, gathered the day previous from 

 his well kept garden. Such a collection 

 of flowers gathered from the open 

 ground at Christmas we never saw be- 

 fore, many of them subjects that we 

 Londoners are compelled to nurse with 

 the greatest care; would that we could 

 find space to name them, but we know 

 not how to squeeze in all the papers that 

 have been put in type for this number. 

 From H. E. Montgomerie, Esq., of Syden- 

 ham, we received a fine basket of 

 Canadian apples, remarkable for beauty 

 and fragrance. The varieties were — 

 Fameuse, a medium sized apple with 

 large eye in a shallow basin, and the 

 colour intensely deep crimson, shading 

 into streaks of delicate mauvy pink ; 

 this apple has the flavour of a nectarine. 

 Golden lieinette, less distinctive in cha- 

 racter ; Bourassa, a medium sized russet- 

 red fruit, with small closed eye, flavour 

 peculiar and refreshing. Gloria mundi, 

 in the best style of a picked sample of 

 white Calville, a large, handsome, and 

 superb table fruit. The best proof of our 

 thankfulness shall be set forth in re- 

 newed efforts to help our readers 

 through their horticultural difficulties, 

 and provide for them new horticultural 

 pleasures. 



Red-hot Poker Plant. — G. Simmons. — 

 The plant so described to you is Tritoma 

 uvaria, and your friend's name for it is 

 descriptive and appropriate. It is one 

 of the grandest promenade plants we 

 possess, and anybody can grow it. At 

 Kew they display this plant in large 

 beds in company with Canna Wars- 

 cewiczi, and nothing can be more 

 superb. Prepare for your plants a bed 

 of sandy loam, liberally enriched with 

 leaf-mould and rotten dung. If the 

 soil for a depth of three feet down con- 

 sisted of one-third part dung, it would 

 not be too rich. Keep the plants in pots 

 till April, then turn them out, give as 

 much water as you like all summer, and 

 you will have a marvellous bloom. 



Various. — Beginner will find all the infor- 

 mation he needs in the Floral "World, 

 and it will be cheaper to procure the 

 set, which may be had in Nos. for 24$.. 

 than to look about for books on special 

 subjects, for there does not happen to be 

 one in existence which gives just the in- 

 formation you want. — Frizella. — Since 

 the arrival of your second letter we sent 

 the frond to Mr. Sim, and his name for 

 it is Pteris scaberula. It is certainly 

 more smooth than ordinary, but fern- 

 growers do not think much of that. As 

 the finding of this fern on the Eildon 

 hills is not substantiated, we must still 

 maintain the position taken at first, and 

 believe that if found there, it was first 

 planted there in order to be found. We 

 are greatly obliged for your communica- 

 tions on this subject, and we trust you 

 will forgive us for publishing the name, 

 on the ground that such a peculiar cir- 

 cumstance required to be set forth with 

 all the evidence properly belonging to 

 it. Your Polystichum is one of the 

 forms of lobatum of which there are 

 many, which differ considerably in 

 minor details. We had fine specimens 

 of Veronica Andersoni out in the late 

 frost, and they are literally cut to 

 pieces ; the minimum was 16\ We 

 have known them bear a minimum of 

 23" without harm when on a wall. — 

 A. B. S. — Your fern is Todea pellucida. 

 — R. Sanders. — The book to suit you is 

 "Profitable Gardening," published at 

 3s. 6d. You need not send us a fee for 

 a design for a rosarium, for if you wait 

 a week or two you will find one to suit 

 you in our rose book, which you can 

 buy for a few shillings. If you buy 

 seeds of hucksters and cornchandlers 

 you must expect failures ; go to a seed- 

 man who knows what he sells. 



