198 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[July, 



all the difterence. between the two was in the 

 labels, and that I had no D. scabra. I then or- 

 dered from some half a dozen different nurseries, 

 plants of D. scabra ; they came into bloom this 

 Spring, and every one is D. crenata. It is very 

 doubtful if D. scabra is in any of our nurseries ; 

 at any rate, if the real thing is to be had, I 

 should like to know it. According to the en- 

 gravings in Siebold and Zuccarini's Flora, of Ja- 

 pan, D. scabra has narrower and much rougher 

 leaves than D. crenata, but the marked distinc- 

 tion is in the stamens ; in the former (scabra) 

 the filament, or stalk portion of the stamen, is 

 broadest below, and tapers upwards, while in 

 the other the filament is broadest above, with 

 two blunt lobes just below the anther. This is 

 by no means the only case which a plant has 

 been sent out year after year under a wrong 

 name, and cultivators abroad frequently com- 

 plain that it is impossible to find certain plants 

 in the trade, as some other has been, no doubt 

 accidentally, substituted, and the error propa- 

 gated not only from nursery to nursery, but from 



one country to another. 'Sow that DeutziaS are 

 the topic, let me remind you that too much 

 cannot be said in favor of the slender one, 

 Deutzia gracilis, as it is far from being gener- 

 ally known. It is seldom higher than two feet, 

 forms a handsome clump with gracefully re- 

 curved branches, and in June is covered with 

 flowers as white as snow-flakes. I sometimes 

 think if this, and many other choice shrubs, were 

 fitted with some easy-going English name, it 

 would do much to popularize them. It is a 

 choice shrub for any garden, and is admirably 

 suited for cemetery planting. Our florists know 

 its value for forcing, and it is one of the hardy- 

 things that may be forced without a greenhouse. 

 When frost has checked the growth, the plants 

 may be taken up and potted : keep them in a 

 cool cellar or frame until February, then bring 

 them to a sunny window, and they will come 

 forward, if not so rapidly as in a greenhouse, 

 quite satisfactorily. It is easily propagated 

 from cuttings, or from the suckers which it pro- 

 duces in abundance." 



Green House and House Gardening, 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



BOTTOM HEAT. 



BY F. W. POPPEY, ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. 



This term in common practice is only made 

 use of in those cases, where the temperature of 

 the soil in which the plants grow, is artificially 

 raised above that which we find naturally in it, 

 and there seems to prevail a general idea, that 

 such an artificial elevation of temperature is 

 only necessary in a few special instances. How 

 erroneous this idea however is, may be seen in 

 the fact that the mean temperature of that part 

 of the soil in which plants grow, is univei'sally 

 somewhat higher than the air surrounding them. 

 It is however not the special degree of bottom 

 heat, which plants require so much at certain 

 periods, but a correct and corresponding propor- 

 tion of the temperature of the soil, to that of 

 the atmosphere and the intensity of light. It is 

 therefore to be presumed, that we might and 



perhaps ought, to give more heat to the roots of 

 plants, we cultivate here in America, than is ne- 

 cessary to the same in Europe, as we have more 

 light and sunshine, than they have there. Both 

 forcing, and the cultivation of tropical plants 

 and fruit are therefore greatly facilitated, and it 

 is the more to be wondered at, that our people, 

 even the rich, buy and eat that poor stuff sold in 

 our markets, as pineapples, bananas, guavas,, 

 &c., and that forced strawberries are yet too 

 expensive for both producer and consumer^ 

 since we have not learned to grow them except 

 in pots, and therefore figure on some tables as a 

 mere show. Graperies and fruit houses might 

 be got up cheaper and be managed at less ex- 

 pense then they are, and made to produce better 

 peaches, apricots, plums, and above all cherries,, 

 out of their season, of a quality and at prices,^ 

 both unknown even to the wealthy in this 

 countr3^ 



We still read in the, perhaps too numerous 

 and expensive books on horticultural and agri- 



