THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



77 



made about them by the gardeners 

 of the neighbourhood, and last spring 

 brought several inquiries as to the 

 vitality of Perilla seed, many of the 

 Stoke Newington gardeners alleging 

 that the seed was bad and it was im- 

 possible to grow it. Not then want- 

 ing any for myself, I had not sown, 

 but the complaints were so numerous 

 that I thought a little experiment 

 would be better than any amount of 

 cross questioning and collecting of 

 questionable evidence. So I sent to 

 Barr and Sugden for an ounce of 

 seed, and paid for it eighteen pence. 

 I took two old frames, nine feet by 

 three and a half feet, placed them on 

 a bed of loam, and then filled them 

 to within a foot of the glass with mix- 

 ture out of the bin used for ordinary 

 potting. This mixture consists of 

 loam, leaf mould, and rotten dung iu 

 about equal proportions. Over the 

 bed of mixture I spread about two 

 inches of cocoa-nut fibre refuse ; on 

 that the seed was thinly scattered, 

 and the ounce sufficed to cover the 

 soil in both frames. The seed was 

 covered with another fine sprinkling 



of the cocoa-nut dust, the lights were 

 put on and the seed had neither 

 water, air, nor attention of any kind 

 until the whole bed was bristling 

 with the dark green seed-leaves of 

 the plants. Then air was given occa- 

 sionally on bright mornings, but no 

 water till the plants nearly touched 

 the glass ; they were then lifted out 

 with a trowel, and came away with 

 such balls of roots as astonished the 

 gardeners among whom the plants 

 were distributed. I potted fifty for 

 use, and very serviceable they were 

 for my plunging system to make a 

 circle round a clump of plunged 

 Gauntlet Pelargoniums. I imagine 

 the seed was good in all cases, but 

 the gardeners used too much heat 

 and so killed it. Those who sow in 

 the first week of April, and in the 

 same way as I do, will have nice 

 plants by the middle of May, and as 

 they grow fast after they are put out 

 they soon become effective. Of 

 course when wanted for a back row, 

 they ought to be sown on the 15th 

 of March at latest. 



Shirley Hibbebd. 



PEENETTYA MIJCEONATA AND OTHEE BEEEY- 

 BEAEING SHEUBS. 



This beautiful evergreen berry-bear- 

 ing shrub has been hitherto regarded 

 as comparatively tender, and there- 

 fore unsuited for the decoration of 

 the shrubbery, and, in fact, requiring 

 either to be grown under glass or 

 have some sort of protection during 

 winter when planted out. Thus, in 

 the " Cottage Gardener's Dictionary," 

 it is stated that the species of Per- 

 nettya " require similar treatment 

 to the tenderer Azaleas and Rhodo- 

 dendrons," by which it might be in- 

 ferred that at least a cool greenhouse 

 is needed for their culture. For many 

 years past we have grown all the 

 species of Pernettya iu a very ex- 

 posed situation on the north side of 

 London, and have proved them to be 

 thoroughly hardy, so hardy indeed 

 that they survived unhurt the winter 



of 1880, in positions equally exposed 

 with such subjects as Pinus insignis, 

 Pampas grass, Arbutus Croomi, etc. 

 which were then killed to the ground. 

 We have selected P. mucronata as 

 especially worthy the attention of 

 those who collect and cultivate inte- 

 resting shrubs, from having found it 

 the most free in growth and the most 

 fruitful of all the species near Lon- 

 don, and therefore the best for gene- 

 ral purposes. When grown in good 

 peat it has a most luxuriant and 

 elegant habit, throwing out long 

 whip-like shoots covered with ovate, 

 serrated, dark green glossy leaves, and 

 soon forming a diffuse and spread- 

 ing bush. In May it produces an 

 abundance of epacris-like flowers, 

 white, drooping, globose flowers, 

 which are succeeded by bunches of 



