FOREIGN NOTICES. 



Cantia DrrJiNPEXS asd Bicoi.on. — ^Those olegnnt grocnhouee plants Cantuadepftidensand bieolor, 

 the former of neent introduction to our greenhouses, flowered here last May, and fully reolizod all 

 tlint had l>een previously stated in their fuvor. They ore of easy eulture, nnd well deserve a jilaee 

 jn everv collection. Their sniull but elegant foliii'^e forms a pleasing contrast to the eoral-like 

 tubo-.-ihapcd pendulous blossoms. Cantua d'jinnhmt, or hui'ifoUa^ as it is also named, produces its 

 flowers iu corvmbs fi-om the extreme points of the principle shoots of the previous year's growth, 

 and are of a beautiful orancre color, difi'used with scarlet. The flowers of birolor are of a similar 

 color, but not eo long in the tube; solitary, and not confined to the points of the shoots, but are 

 equally distributed over their twiggy side branches, which have rather a rigid appearance. They 

 must not be stopped after they have completed their growtli, as they both flower on the matured 

 growth of the previous year, and not on the young shoots like Fuschiaa. They grow well in a pit 

 that has been previously tailed with prepared oak or other leaves. The plants shoidd be kept near 

 to the glass, but not plunged. They will req\iire attention in stopping, tying out, and standing 

 clear of each other — the former must be especially attended to ; for if gross shoots are allowed to 

 ramble, not onlv will they destroy the uniformity of the plant a.s regards its growth, but will also 

 monopolize a very undue proportion of ihe flowere. It jnay not be desirable to take up the whole 

 of a pit for the Cantuas; ehould that be the case, they grow well with Fuschias, and might be 

 introduced with the firet succession the beginning of March. They will require shifting as soon as 

 the pots are filled with roots, and if desirable, might be shifted twice during the season, supposing 

 they were started in three-inch pots. Abundance of air must be given at all favorable opportu- 

 nities; and as the season advances, the lights may be drawn off altogether. They will require a 

 moderate supply of water during their growth, but when that is nearly completed, watering may 

 be ci-adually decreased, and the plants placed out in the open air in a cool place till they begin to 

 drop their leaves, for although they are only part deciduous, they will require but very little water 

 during the winter. The middle of Fel)ruary, or beginning of March, the plants should be examined 

 •with regard to the drainage, returned carefully into the same pot , top dressed and introduced to 

 some gentle forcing-house, and by the middle of April to the beginning of May the plants will 

 bloom and continue in flower a month or five weeks. A succession might be had by introducing 

 more plants a fortnight later. Soil, equal parts of light turfy loam and leaf mold, with enough 

 sand to keep the compost open, will suit them very well. — M. Btisb)/, in Gardener^ and Farmers 

 Journal. 



New 'Weeping "Willow. — When a new plant is brought forward, it is proper that some history 

 of it should be given, for the satisfaction of the public. The Salix caprea pendnla, or Kilmarnock 

 Weeping Willow, was procured by me about .six years ago, from Mr. James Sm.ith, an old and 

 enthusiastic botanist, who resided at Monkwood Grove, near Ayr. lie was an ardent collector 

 and cultivator of all varieties of British plants. lie did not inform me where he procured this 

 varietv of Salix caprea ; but as the species is common in hedges and ditches all over Scotland, it 

 is likely he picked it up on some of his rambling botanical expeditions. It docs not seem to 

 take well grafted on other willows; I have therefore cultivated it principally from layers, which 

 I trained up to polo-s. The plant is a most inveterate weeper, as pendulous as the weeping ash, 

 though not so rigid in its habit ■ Its twigs are stouter than those of the Salix hahylonica, and it 

 has large, broad, glossy leaves of a deep green color. It flowers very freely on the young twigs 

 in spring, and is quite hardy, as a matter of course, seeing the Salix caprea is as hardy a plant 

 as we have in this country. The name Kilmarnock Weeping W^illow has been given to the 

 plant to distinguish it from other w^eeping willows, such as the American Weeping Willow, sent 

 out by Mr. Riveiw some years ago. All who have seen the original specimen plant in the nur- 

 seiy here are very much delighted with it, and I trust it will be approved of by the 

 generally. — Tlios. Lang, Kilmarnock, in London Gardener's Chronicle. 



