552 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



The ignorance displayed by eminent public men occasionally on the subjects 

 of which they speak is perfectly astonishiug. A certain noble lord, in a speech 

 delivered by him before an agricultural society in the south, gave it as his 

 opinion that the climate of Great Britain was deteriorating, or becoming 

 colder ; and, in support of this opinion, stated that neither the Bay nor the 

 Arbutus, among other things, would now stand our winters without protec- 

 tion ; and that the Camellia, which once used to be hardy with us, is now not 

 to be seen out of doors ! It need not be pointed out how much the noble lord is 

 in error about the two first; and if he had been a reader of these papers, where 

 he could have procured more accurate information on such subjects, he would 

 have known that there was never a time when the hardiness of the Camellia 

 was better recognised and acted upon, and that it has scarcely ever been 

 known to be killed by our winters. 



The ' Garden ' says : " Mr Peter Henderson recommends, in the 'American 

 Agriculturist, '.a flower-pot with holes low down in the side instead of in the 

 bottom. We have, he says, during the past six months tried about a thousand, 

 of sizes ranging from 3 inches to 6 inches in diameter, -and find they are all we 

 expected of them. All cultivators know the difficulty experienced when the 

 ordinary flower-pot is placed on a bench covered with sand or soil — the outlet 

 often becomes completely closed by the washing of the soil through the outlet, 

 aud being closed by the sand, the drainage becomes stopped as completely as 

 if there was no orifice at all in the bottom of the pot. Again, worms breed 

 quickly in the sand or soil, and seem to take a special pleasure in crawling 

 under and through the holes in the bottom of the pots, to get at the rich soil 

 which they contain. This improved pot is safe from the first difficulty, as the 

 holes, being on the sides of the pot, cannot be clogged by the sand ; while it 

 is far less tempting to the worm, as a special effort must be made before the 

 hole can be reached. Still another advantage — and we think a very important 

 one — is, that as these orifices are placed above the bottom, air is admitted more 

 freely to the roots, a matter which is very essential to the wellbeing of plants. 

 I have but little doubt that if this style of flower-pot can be as cheaply made, 

 it will quite throw the old style out of use." 



Flower-pots with holes at the side, close to the bottom, are not new ; and we 

 believe it was the Glasgow makers who first made them, at the suggestion of 

 the late Mr Charles M'Intosh of Dalkeith, but the plan was only adopted with 

 pots above the size of 6 inches or thereabout. Those pots had holes in the 

 bottom too, however, and it appears a good suggestion of Mr Henderson's to 

 dispense with these altogether, for the reasons he states. There would be less 

 danger then of worms getting into the pots, or of the drainage being choked 

 up; but how about those plants that are sometimes allowed to root through 

 the bottom of the pot ? 



The 'Journal of Horticulture ' says : " It is not perhaps generally known 

 how valuable the pretty variegated Ophioglossum spicatum is for table and 

 room decoration. When the plants are grown in a little heat the foliage 

 assumes a more upright character than is generally seen, and as it then grace- 

 fully arches the plants are extremely attractive. The narrow leaves are clearly 

 margined with white, and being smooth and persistent endure the dry air of 

 rooms for a considerable time without being injured. Well-grown plants are 

 equally useful for the margins of greenhouses and conservatories. When 

 flowering, the purple Grape Hyacinth-like spike contrasts effectively with the 

 white foliage ; but whether in or out of flower the plant is very useful for 

 decorative purposes. As testimony of the increasing popularity of this Ophio- 



