1880.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



231 



cottage in the land. He sold the first 1,000 by 

 subscription only, at £1 each. It has had an 

 immense sale in Europe, and we believe that 

 when fully known, it will be widely diffused 

 through our own country. 



CULTURE OF PIMELIA HENDERSONI AND 

 OTHER PLANTS. 



BY J. FYFK. 



The excellent hints on this topic by the editor 

 of the Gardener's Monthly, from time to time, 

 has induced me to note a few of the beautiful 

 genera which compose the fiora of New South 

 Wales, and which might be grown in this 

 climate, were the structures for them shaded 

 during the hot summer months, and plenty of 

 air admitted to all parts of the house. Or still 

 better, remove them to frames exposed to a 

 northern aspect, with the sashes ready to be 

 drawn on when heavy rains are expected, and 

 where they could be plunged up to the rims of 

 the pots in clean sand ; this would keep the 

 roots nice and cold, and save the fine fibre of 

 the balls of the plants from suffering from 

 extreme heat, as they would were the pots ex- 

 posed to the scorching rays of the sun. All the 

 genera from this region are interesting. What 

 can be finer than the acacias in their numerous 

 species, Eucalyptus pulverulenta for the beauty 

 of its foliage, and Leptospermum baccatum for 

 the profusion of its beautiful star-like blossoms. 

 The Pimelia tribe, of which the varietj' Hen- 

 dersonii stands first, I feel interested in, as I had 

 the management of the propagation from (he 

 original stock of this plant, having at that time 

 charge of the house department of Messrs. 

 Eagle & Henderon, nurserymen, Edinburgh. 

 This variety of Pimelia has obtained great fame 

 in Britain, and it is to be seen in most cases 

 included in flie collections of greenhouse plants 

 for competition at the various horticultural soci- 

 eties' meetings throughout England and Scot- 

 land. In regard to its propagation, it will strike 

 pretty freely if the wood is taken at a proper 

 stage of growth, that is neither too soft nor too 

 hard, and inserted in a compost of three parts 

 sand and one of peat, in pots half filled with drain- 

 age, the drainage to be covered with spongy peat, 

 with compost firnily pressed together. Cuttings 

 must be covered with bell glasses, which must 

 be taken off and wiped dry every day. The 

 most success I ever had in extending this beau- 

 tiful plant was by bark grafting on the old 



variety decussata. I need not detail what bark- 

 grafting is, as it is known to all gardeners. The 

 stocks of the variety decwisata can be readily 

 obtained from seeds, as this variety of Pimelia 

 seeds freely, and in America, where all plants 

 seed abundantly, I have no doubt it would pro- 

 duce seeds freely, as it does pretty well in Britain. 

 Both it and Hendersonii if taken care of, and not 

 exposed to drenching rains and very low tem- 

 perature; indeed all the genera from New South 

 Wales, may be successfully cultivated in this 

 climate, if some degree of care and attention be 

 paid to them, and no gardener need fail in culti- 

 vating them if inspired by the love of his pro- 

 fession and determined to excel. 



CUT FLOWER TRADE. 



BY W. E. MEEHAN, PHILADELPHIA. 



The cut flower trade for some years has been 

 growing with wonderful rapidity, till now in 

 New York city alone the business has reached 

 several million dollars annually. Growers of 

 cut flowers realizing that the day has gone by 

 for the raising of general mixture or " trash," as 

 it is termed, now confine themselves principally 

 to forcing two or three articles and growing them 

 well. Thus we find on Union Hill, near Jersey 

 City, one man who confines himself to growing 

 tea roses, Jacqueminot roses and violets another 

 to forcing Lily of the Valley, hyacinths and 

 lilies; while still another puts all his energies 

 in the cheaper but just as important carnation, 

 bouvardia and smilax. 



Fashion wields her iron sceptre and dictates 

 to her votaries the kinds and colors of flowers to 

 be used, as she does in everything else. Last 

 winter she decreed yellow, and Neil roses and 

 sunflowers and yellow pansies were in demand. 



The forcing of roses is perhaps the greatest 

 branch of this great industry, and the quantity 

 consumed is enormous. It is impossible to even 

 estimate the quantity. It is known that in Phila- 

 delphia, at one of the Assembly balls, that not 

 less than twenty thousand tea roses were used, 

 beside Jacqueminot and other kinds. At one 

 affair, in New York, over five thousand tea 

 roses were recently used in the decorations. The 

 five or six principal commission dealers in 

 Boston, New York and Philadelphia probably 

 pass twelve or fifteen thousand tea roses through 

 their hands daily. When it is considered that 

 the roses that tliese gentlemen sell are the sur- 

 plus required, it may give some faint idea of the 



