338 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



pod of seed, and when the latter appeared to be 

 ripe, I sowed it in three ways: some on a log, 

 with natural moee growing on it, suspended in a 

 shady part of the Orchid- house j some was sown 



on an inverted flower-pot, the inside of which was 

 stuffed with sphagnum, and placed in a pan of 

 water, Which answered well, as far as keeping 

 the pot moist was concerned, but neither of these 

 two sowings vegetated. For the third sowing I 

 procured a pan similar to the double flower-pot. 

 but without a hole at the bottom. It was 12 

 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep. A cavity 

 about an inch wide run all round between the outer 

 and inner rim of the pan ; this was tilled with sand, 



The inside of the pan w r as about 10 inches wide 

 and 2\ inches deep; it was filled with water, in 

 which was placed a piece of cork about 8 inches 

 Wide and I inch thick. I sowed the remaining 

 portion of seed on the cork, which was then gen- 

 tly pressed under the water, and after being held 

 there a short time, it was allowed to float; this 

 caused the seed to adhere the better to it. A few 

 pins were placed round the outer rim of the cork, 

 in the lower edge, a little bent downwards, so as 

 to be under the water; these pins prevented the 

 cork from coming to the side, and caused it to 

 form a floating island, on which no slug, centipede, 

 or woodlouse could establish itself, and by which 

 means the tender seedlings were preserved from 

 the ravages of these destructive pests in an Orchid 

 house. The whole was covered with a bell glass, 

 Which rested on the sand between the two rims of 

 the pan, and placed in a shady part of the Orchid 

 house. In about three weeks, two seeds had ve- 

 getated, and ultimately five plants appeared; they 

 continued to grow, and seemed to be going on 

 very well, the roots had fast hold of the cork; 

 they were then about four months old. 



At that time I began to take the glass off them 

 at night, covering them again in the morning; 

 after doing this for about three weeks, I took the 

 cork out of the water and suspended it to the roof 

 of the house, in which place it remained about 

 three weeks: at that time the plants looked 

 healthy, but the roots had ceased to grow, and 

 their points turned brown. I then placed the 

 cork in water and covered it over with the glass, 

 in hope that the plants would recover; but they 

 never made any progress; on the contrary, every 

 time I looked at them they appeared to be getting 

 less: the leaves withered and hung down, and in 

 about three weeks the plants were all dead. I be 

 leive that I did wrong in taking them out of the 

 water when they were in active growth. Cork 

 appears to be suitable for sowing Orchid seed on, 

 for two reasons— first, it imbibes just sufficient 

 moisture to cause the seed to germinate, and the 

 roots to adhere to it; and secondly, when the 

 plants require to be separated the operation can 

 be done without breaking or injuring them, as 

 the cork can be divided with a sharp knife, and 

 the plants placed on ja log or in a pot or basket 

 without harm. Gardeners' 1 Chronicle. 



Dutch Bulbs. — About the end or August the 

 nurserymen tell us by their advertisements that 

 they " have just received their Dutch bulbs," and, 

 as a matter of course, they are ready to execute 

 our orders. For many years I have been endea« 

 voting to procure a few early hyacinths about the 

 beginning of September, so that I might prepare 

 them to flower early in December, but to no pur- 

 pose. Whether the Dutch growers or the English 

 sellers are *.o blame for this I cannot say, but one 

 thing is certain, and that is, if you want hyacinths 

 to pot by the first of September, you must either 

 take your own old bulbs or go to Holland for a set 

 of fresh ones. The Dutch, who understand these 

 roots much better than we do, pot all the hya- 

 cinths, which they bloom before Christmas, during 

 the month of August, beginning about the second 

 week of the month. A full account of their prac- 

 tice was given by one of themselves some years 

 since in Loudon's Gardeners' Magazine, so that 

 there can be no question at all on the subject. 

 But in England we may whistle for them till after 

 the middle of September. It is true we are set 

 down as rich people, who can well afford to de- 

 stroy a few paltry roots annually, but that is not 

 the worst of the story. Many gardeners, and 

 their employers too, would not care a fig for the 

 destruction of a few hyacinths, provided they 

 could get them into a good early bloom the first 

 season, say by the first of December. However, 

 as agitation is now at a discount — -and long be it 

 so— I suppose it is of little use to grumble ; we 

 shall be all right some day or other. Last year I 

 put some hyacinths in fresh moss, rather late in 

 November, to try how much earlier they would 

 flower than others put into soil at the same time 

 and under exactly the same treatment. Those in 

 the moss were in flower ten days before the oth- 

 ers, but this might be owing to the sorts, for they 

 were from a mixed sample without names; but, 

 after allowing the benefit of this doubt in their 

 favor, I still think that any of the sorts will come 

 sooner in fresh green moss, and I know they are 

 much easier managed in moss than any other way; 

 and I ought to know something about them, for, 

 not to go farther back than last season, I flowered 

 GOO hyacinths in pots, and nearly as many without 

 pots, but as they were all in the flower-garden, I 

 must not anticipate my own removal hence by 

 saying more about them till I am fairly ousted 

 from my present snug berth, from which, as the 

 truth must soon be known, I am about to be turn- 

 ed out, to write about flower-gardening in the 

 next volume, when all the flowers are nearly gone! 

 However, I am now writing in my old depart- 

 ment, and it is high time to pot all the forcing 

 bulbs for the earliest crop, but any time between 

 this and the middle of November will suffice to 

 get in those for late sping use. I think I could 

 give fair lists of the earliest and best kinds, yet I 

 prefer trusting to the nurserymen for them, as 

 they buy them from different growers, and every 

 grower knows his own sorts best. They can al- 



