1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



333 



plant I know of. It may be propagated by divi- 

 sion of the roots, oft-sets, or seed. From the 

 latter, by sowing in a pot any time between 

 March and June, so that the seedlings may ac- 

 quire sufficient strength to resist the changes in 

 Winter. Plunge the pot to the rim in gentle 

 bottom heat, and keep the soil constantlj^ moist, 

 both before and after the plants appear above 

 ground. Pot-off" as soon as the seedlings can be 

 conveniently handled, and attend afterwards to 

 watering, shading, «S:c., as is usually done with 

 such seedlings. Division of the roots and off"-sets 

 are a ready means of extending the stock. For 

 a compost, a light loamy mixture, with sand in- 

 corporated to extent of one-third of the bulk, 

 will do. 



In the general culture, little need be added to 

 the attention generally demanded by free-grow- 

 ing plants. They all delight in high living. A 

 rich heavy loam, with a third of well-reduced 

 cow manure and sharp river sand tlu'own together, 

 without riddling, will make them grow strongly 

 and well. Admit air abundantl}^ admmister 

 water copiously in the growing season, adding a 

 stimulant in the shape of a little guano to the 

 water, when the flowers are in the process of for- 

 mation ; and wherever situated, air plentifully 

 supplied ought never to be neglected when the 

 flowers are expanding, else the flowers will be 

 deficient of their bright blue, so much appreciated, 

 as well as in good substance. When the flowers 

 have dropped, cut down the stems half-way and 

 prevent seeding, unless particularly wanted, 

 when one crown will be enough to leave. The 

 plants should be allowed to stand in a good posi- 

 tion in a vinery or other glass structure in the 

 Autumn, in order to have the crown well matured 

 for the following season. They may then be al- 

 lowed to go quietly to rest, by withholding water 

 to a considerable extent, permitting the soil to 

 get almost dry in their i:)ots during Winter. The 

 plants will then be quite indifferent wherever 

 they are placed. If below the stage of a green- 

 house, they must be turned on their sides towards 

 the sun, in order that the water from other plants 

 may not saturate them." 



Spkc'imex Phloxes. — Sancho Panza asserts 

 that it is not easy to make a silk purse out of a 

 sow's ear, but we can often make something quite 

 as pretty out of some very unlikely materials, and 

 we expect the reader will agree with this after 

 perusing the following, from Mr. Robinson's 

 Garden : 



"At this moment in the Paris Exhibition cai» 

 be seen between the galleries reserved for the 

 vegetables and the cut flowers, and near the con- 

 servatory constructed by M. Cochu, a very happy 

 innovation as regards some remarkably fine Phlox: 

 decussata cultivated in pots. The innovation 

 may be thus described : In the centre of a pot 

 sufficiently large has been planted a Phlox, the 

 shoots of which have been laid radiating towards 

 the rim of the pot, where they form a circle and 

 rise vigorously, giving a strong inflorescence ► 

 The number of flowering stems, sometimes 

 reaching ten or twelve thus disposed as a sort of 

 crown, afford a graceful and elegant effect." 



We are often asked to go around and see how 

 pretty a variety of Phlox, some friend has raised; 

 but we would sooner take up our "beaver" and 

 draw on our neat black "kids" to go and look at. 

 an old kind grown like that. 



NBIV OR RARE PLANTS. 



A Double Mexican Lily. — As we noted iu 

 the Editor's English Notes, Mr. B. S. Williams, 

 of London, has made a specialty of bulbs and 

 bulb-like plants. We are told that he has been 

 rewarded for some of his devotion by the blue 

 Agapanthus, which has produced for him a kind 

 with double flowers. This revives our interest 

 in this old fashioned plant, but which one never 

 neglects without a feeling of ingratitude. 



Improved Abutilons. — most of us can 

 remember when Abutilon striatum was intro- 

 duced and how much it was welcomed to green- 

 house collections. Since then, other sjiecies- 

 have been introduced, and between them hybrids 

 and crosses have been raised, until we are no 

 longer merely thankful for what we can get, but 

 are fastidious in our choice as to what will please 

 us. Most of the older varieties like the original 

 favorite referred to, have a lank, straggling^ 

 growth, and improvers have kept a dense, 

 streaky habit in view when selecting seedlings^ 

 Of the most successful of these efforts is Mr. B. 

 S. Williams of Upper Ilolloway, London, who 

 sends out Aljutilon rosteflorum, and which is 

 thus described : 



"A garden hybrid raised in this establishment, 

 the result of a cross between A. Darwinii and 

 A. Boule de Neige ; it ha.*; the dwarf free branch- 



