1877.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



237 



shake off any excegs of liquid, dry between blot- 

 ting paper, and press in the usual manner. A 

 frequent renewal of dry blotting pads, particu- 

 larly at first, is desirable. Thus treated, plants 

 are said to dry rapidly, furnishing beautiful 

 specimens, which retain their natural colors in 

 greater perfection than by any other process. 



Bouquet Flowers. — Amongst other blooms at 

 present obtainable for bouquet making may be 

 enumerated the following, viz.: Azaleas, Bouvar- 

 dias, Camellias, Carnations, Cinerarias, Cycla- 

 mens, Deutzias, Ericas, Eucharis, Euphorbias, 

 Fuchsias, Gardenias, Heliotrope, Hyacinths, 

 Heaths, Lily of the Valley, Mignonette, Narcis- 

 sus, Pelargoniums, Primulas, Roses, Snowdrops, 

 Spiraeas, Stephanotis, Violets, and white Lilac. 

 Button-hole bouquets consist generally of a Rose- 

 bud, a half-blown Camellia or Gardenia, and 

 some other smaller flowers. A pretty flower for 

 these miniature bouquets is the blue Forget-me- 

 not, obtained by lifting a few clumps of it from 

 the open ground, potting them, and placing them 

 in a warm house, where they speedily open their 

 blooms and afford a stock to cut from. If placed 

 with a Gardenia, the blue Forget-me-not forms 

 an effective contrast; but, with such a selection 

 as I have enumerated above, both hand and but- 

 ton-hole bouquets may be made to suit all tastes. 

 — A. Hassard, Upper Nonvood. 



Best Tea Rose. — Probably no plants are more 

 attractive at this period of the year than Tea- 

 scented Roses. Amongst a large collection now 

 flowering in Mr. Merryweather's nurseries at 

 Southwell the following varieties are particularly 

 beautiful : Aline Sisley, Catherine Mermet, Climb- 

 ing Devoniensis, Devoniensis, Gloire de Dijon, lia 

 Boule d'Or, Madame Bravy, Madame Willermoz, 

 Letty Coles, Louise de Savoie, Marie Van Houtte 

 (very beautiful), Marie Guillot, Niphetos, Presi- 

 dent, Souvenir d'Elise, Souvenir d'un Ami, Sou- 

 venir de Paul Neron, and Marechal Niel. The 

 new Hybrid Perpetuals Comtesse de Serenye and 

 Duchess de Vallombrosa are proving valuable 

 for forcing. — Journal of Horticulture. 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



Improved'Petunias. — The latest novelty in Pe- 

 tunias is "fimbriated," or, in plain English, 

 fringed double ones. We have not yet seen 



living representatives, but by pictures they seem 

 a decided advance in beauty. 



New Fuchsia — Earl of Beaconsfield. — As a use- 

 ful, early, free flowering and handsome Fuchsia, 

 we can strongly recommend Mr. John Laing's 

 valuable hybrid, the Earl of Beaconsfield. We 

 saw in the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens 

 at Chiswick, the other day, some plants which, 

 after being cut back, broke into flower almost at 

 once, while other varieties were, comparatively 

 speaking, at a standstill. This is a valuable 

 character, and should increase its popularity. — 

 Gardener's Chronicle. 



Lygodium scandens [Japanese Climbing Fern). 

 — A most graceful climbing plant, growing from 

 one to fifty feet as desired. It is quite as easy of 

 culture as the Smilax, and will no doubt be 

 largely used for similar purposes in decorating. 

 Although a climbing plant when supported by 

 strings or wire, it can be used with equal advan- 

 tage as a drooping plant for baskets or vases. — 

 P. Henderson. 



The Brisbane Lily. — The beautiful amaryllid 

 Eurycles australasica, which has recently been 

 exhibited by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, is of un- 

 questionable value for furnishing cut flowers at 

 this season of the year, and as it becomes better 

 known it will doubtless be highly appreciated. 

 It is not, strictly speaking, new, for it was known 

 to science in 1821, but it has for a very longtime 

 been so rare that very few cultivators of the pres- 

 ent day are acquainted with it. The flowers, 

 which are of the purest white, may, when neatly 

 mounted, be employed to wonderful advantage 

 in the formation of hand bouquets. As in the 

 case of many other bulbous plants, a succession 

 of bloom extending over a considerable period 

 may be had by starting the bulbs at intervals of 

 a fortnight or so. This species, as indicated by 

 its name, is a native of Australia, and is some- 

 times known as the Brisbane Lily. — Gardener's 

 Magazine. 



Improved Begonias. — In the early history of 

 improved flowers, the best are selected and 

 named. This was once the case with Pansies, 

 Cinerarias, and other things, long lists of the 

 names of which appear in the gardening publi- 

 cations of thirty years ago. After awhile, they 

 become so numerous that any one can raise 

 good kinds from seed, without the trouble of 



