1876.] 



AND HORTIGULTURIST. 



29T 



city. A gas main leaked in a sewer, which com- 

 municated by a tile-drain with the greenhouse. 

 The presence of the escaping gas was detected 

 by the smell and by the drooping and withering 

 of the plants ; and the Gas Company were no- 

 tified to take immediate steps for preventing 

 further damage. They were unable to 

 find or to stop the leak until after extensive 

 damage had been done. Taplin & Davis then 

 sued the Gas Company for damages, and after 

 some litigation the matter was decided by arbi- 

 tration, and the plaintiffs were awarded $2,900. 

 The sum was not the full value of the plants de- 

 stroyed or damaged, as it was considered by 

 experts that many of them would recover from 

 the effects of the gas. 



[We are very glad to learn that T. & Co. recov- 

 ered something. They were more fortunate than 

 some Philadelphia florists who were awarded 

 nothing in similar suits. 



If one looks at men laying these pipes, it is 

 only a wonder more damage does not occur. 

 The pipes are covered before they are tested, and 

 if the gas leaks nobody cares. Philadelphia 

 loses largely in the item " leakage," as seen in 

 the annual reports of the gas companies ; and 

 when we see beautiful shade trees killed, as we 

 often do, we think it a pity she do^s not lose 

 more.— Ed. G. M.] 



ECHEVERIAS FOR BEDDING. 



BY B. GREY, GARDEXER TO E. S. RAND, JR., 

 DEDHAM, MASS. 



Probably few plants of late have attracted so 

 much attention for this purpose as those of the 

 genus Echeveria, and deservedly so ; as they may 

 be used in a variety of ways, either as carpeting, 

 where larger plants, such as Agaves, Aloes, 

 Cactuses, &c., are used in the bed; or for 

 mounds and pyramids ; or geometrical figures 

 on nearly flat surfaces. This being the case, 

 perhaps a few remarks on the mode of " getting 

 up a stock " of plants will not be amiss to begin- 

 ners. Although easily propagated, either from 

 seeds, suckers, or leaves, yet such a large num- 

 ber are required for effect in any of the above 

 mentioned modes of planting, that it is well 

 to begin as soon as possible. Echeveria metallica 

 and varieties are best grown from seed, as they 

 make few suckers. E. secunda and E. seciinda 

 glauca, the latter being the best, make offsets free- 

 ly from the old part of the stems, and these may 



be taken off and pricked into shallow boxes. 

 E. sanguinea, as trie plants get large, has a ten- 

 dency to drop its leaves ; these, if cut into pieces 

 and placed on a surface of damp moss, will 

 make plants quickly. This variety, however, 

 seeds as freely as most others. 



The above modes of propagation would be ap- 

 plicable only when the grower had already some 

 plants on hand. For a start, seeds would be the 

 easiest and cheapest. These should be sown in 

 pans as soon as ripe and dry enough to rub out 

 of the capsules, and under favorable circum- 

 stances would be up in about a month. The 

 seed should be sown on the surface of the earth, 

 covering with a piece of paper until the plants 

 begin to come up. In watering, care must be 

 used so that the surface shall not wash, which 

 causes the seedlings to come up in thick patches, 

 thereby increasing the risk of "damping off," 

 which they are liable to do if watered carelessly 

 before they gain considerable strength. As soon 

 as the young plants have made the second pair 

 of leaves proper, they are fit to transplant. If 

 this should be in spring, which would be prefer- 

 able, a frame or old hot-bed makes a capital 

 place to grow them in, as they can be protected 

 from the foil frosts, and they should be kept out 

 as late as possible, as they winter better when 

 grown cool, late on. The soil should be forked 

 up and left quite light. The plants need only to 

 be dropped on the surface at a distance of two or 

 three inches apart, according to the size of the 

 variety planted, watered with a light rose water- 

 ing-pot, and covered with a mat until they are 

 established, after which the mat may be grad- 

 ually removed. They will make fine strong 

 plants by December, and should then be taken 

 up and stored away in a light potting-shed, 

 around the path of 'the greenhouse, or any con- 

 venient place where they can get light without 

 much heat, thus preventing the plants being in a 

 great measure spoiled by having the centres 

 "drawn," which is apt to be the case if kept 

 dark. They should be ^e^i perfectly dry, if cool, 

 until spring, when they may be removed to the 

 frames again until wanted for bedding. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Seeding of Aracaurea excelsa. — By artificial 

 application of pollen, an Aracaurea excelsa at 

 Hauva, in Algiers, has been made to produce 

 seeds -a rare thing in the old world. 



