474 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



neat liabit, render the plant pleasing and pretty in any position, 

 either in rooms, or in the front of groups in the conservatory or green- 

 house. It lasts a considerable time also in fresh condition, and stands 

 the dry atmosphere of rooms well. 



Euphorhia Esula. — This is a neat hardy herbaceous plant, always 

 pleasant to look upon. It grows in rounded graceful masses, with 

 numerous stems, clothed with narrow linear leaves of brightest 

 green ; this green eventually changes into red and then yellow in 

 autumn, and in all these mutations it is a softly charming plant in 

 pots. It grows about 9 inches high, each stem terminating in an 

 umbel of small greenish-yellow flowers, accompanied, as is the fashion 

 of the order to which it belongs, with conspicuous bracts broadly egg- 

 shaped, which are persistent, and add much to the beauty of the plant 

 in autumn by the depth of soft red colour they assume. The plant is 

 easily grown in pots out of doors, in any ordinarily good loam, and 

 should be divided every spring, and the soil renewed in the pots. In 

 autumn, before frost comes on, it should be lifted into a cold frame, so 

 as to preserve it as long as can be, whence it may be taken to the 

 rooms or houses which it is designed to assist in ornamenting. 



W. S. 



NOTES OIT GARDEITS IN THE SOUTH OF FIFE. 



Arrivixg at Dysart House, we entered the kitchen-garden, which is 

 near the highroad, and soon found Mr Pirie, the intelligent gardener. 

 Proceeding towards the centre of the garden, Ave made our first visit 

 to the large vinery. For height it has few equals north of the Forth ; 

 and were it not for a belt of trees in front of this glass structure, 

 it would be a land-mark observable from the Firth. These trees in 

 front shut out not only the Forth from view, but also the sun for a 

 great part of the year. Notwithstanding this evil, enormous crops of 

 Grapes have been produced for a number of years, and the crop this 

 season is as heavy as ever. The foliage is remarkably healthy, and no 

 shanking or red-spider is to be seen. The borders (I think) are about 

 4J feet deep, concreted to prevent the roots getting into the bottom, 

 which is of a sandy nature, and one of the worst for shanking and red- 

 spider, into which vine-roots would run wild and hasten their ruin. 

 The ground about this vinery is flat and apparently rather damp ; 

 little of the border is to be seen outside, grass plats being all round the 

 house. Its depth is an argument against shallow borders (which, 

 however, are getting rapidly out of favour), the Vines showing that 

 they are receiving the necessary requirements to secure health and 



