132 



THE ELOEAL WORLD AKD GAEDEN GUIDE. 



Beauforiia lalifolia. — -A fine myrta- 

 ceous shrub, requiring the same treatment 

 as a Cape heath. It is a fine object in 

 bloom and worth a place in a general col- 

 lection. 



Casta vittata is a tuberous-rooted lilia- 

 ceous perennial, sometimes found difficult 

 to manage through the mistake of keeping 

 it too dry and cold all winter. Grow it 

 the same as an Agiipaiitbus, with a trifle 

 more warmth, and it will be suie to flower 

 well. 



ClemaUsodorata. — This sweet -smelling 

 species is one of the best for a greenhouse, 

 and will bloom best if grown in a raised 

 border consisting of equal parts light turfy 

 loam, peat, and leaf-mould. It is a 

 species for pot-culture. 



Diosma long/folia and 

 Two of the best. 



JSrica Hibberiiana . — A 

 flowered species, of small growth, which 

 makes a nice change of colour in a collec- 

 tion. It prefers rather more turfy loam 

 and less grit than ericas generally. 



Hardenbergia Comptoniana. — A fine 

 greenhouse climber, which will run twelve 

 feet in a warm house on a trellis. The 



tetragona. — 

 fine oransre- 



pnrple fabaceous flowers are plentifully 

 produced, and the treatment necessary is 

 the same as that fur Kenned) as. Shade 

 while in bloom. 



Kviincdya prostraia is one of the few 

 free-growing climbers that flower well in 

 pots, and if starved almost to death it still 

 blooms, though it may have otherwise a 

 wretched appearance. This is one of the 

 leust robust of the tribe, and must be 

 treated as a twiner of very moderate 

 growth to train over a balloon trellis in a 

 pot. The scarlet blossoms are showy, and 

 the habit of the plant easily controlled by 

 ordinary good management. 



Leplodactglon CaUfornicum. — A pretty 

 low-growing herbaceous plant, with rosy- 

 lilac bio soms ; sometimes used as abedder, 

 but has never been f .mous. 



Passiflora cemilea. — When well done, 

 what is there among climbers to beat this 

 old favourite ? Though in many places 

 it thrives on an open south wall, it is not 

 generally available for that purpose, but 

 may always be depended on for the rafters 

 or back wall of a cool house, if planted iu 

 a good border and cut back every year in 

 Match. 



OH! THE YEEMI2s T . 



There they go by dozens, hundreds, 

 thousands, up the vines, down the 

 pelargoniums, in and out of the cine- 

 rarias, all over the primulas, as if all 

 the forms of vegetable life were 

 changing to animal life before the 

 eyes of Mr. Slowcoach, who refuses 

 to believe the Darwinian hypothesis. 

 He thinks it enough to read about 

 the plagues of Egypt without having 

 half of them to assail him, and those 

 the most obnoxious of them all. Is 

 he to give it up, or go on battling as 

 he has done with tobacco smoke, 

 JNeal's pastiles, sulphur, and soot, all 

 of which fail to procure relief from 

 the locusts that have begun their 

 march, and threaten not to leave him 

 a leaf alive. He wants to know if, 

 when these plagues have had their 

 way, and there is nothing left for 

 them to destroy, if he himself is to 

 be drowned in the Hed Sea with his 

 implements and wheelbarrow, as Pha- 

 raoh was with his arms and chariots. 

 He is prepared at last to believe any- 

 thing. He not only thinks Mr. Dar- 

 win right in proclaiming the capacity 



of a vegetable to change into an ani- 

 mal, but he believes peat, and soil, 

 flower-pots, water, and air, are all 

 producers of insects, and he has be- 

 come fearful of touching or doing 

 anything lest it should give rise to a 

 fresh outbreak of fly, scaie, and spider. 

 He says the poet tells only hai.' the 

 truth in the line, " The dust we tread 

 upon was once alive;" the dust now 

 is alive; the vermin come in clouds, 

 they settle upon everything like a 

 living slime ; they consume every 

 green leaf; they will soon make an 

 end of every plant committed to his 

 intelligent course of management. He 

 knows one thing, that he is exposed 

 to the east wind, and that is a wiud 

 that is always loaded with blight. So 

 he gives as little air as possible, for, 

 says he, " If 1 can kill all I've got, I'll 

 take care no more get in to annoy me ; 

 and if 1 can't lull tliem I shall go mad, 

 and there will be an end of it." Sure 

 enough the case is a bad one. There 

 are some tea roses struck for pot cul- 

 ture ; their young stems are crowded 

 with Aphis as lat as butter, and here 



