362 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



■exhibitions there are often large numbers for 

 competition, and much more interest is shown 

 in learning who has the largest cockscombs, 

 than we show in discovering who has the largest 

 pumpkin. The past season Messrs*. Vcitch, the 

 nurserymen of Chelsea, are credited with the 

 largest grown in England. It was 2 feet 9 inches 

 from tip to tip, and 18;^ inches in it.s greatest 

 breadth. 



CELOSIA "PKKSIDENT THIERS." 



Usually the flowers of the cockscomb are of a 

 crimson, velvety color, but of late years some 

 have been introduced of a yellow and orange, 

 mottled with the purple. 



Annexed is a cut of a new one introduced by 

 the celebrated seed firm of Haage & Schmidt, 

 of Erfurt, and which may, no doubt, be had of 

 any of our leading seedsmen the coming spring. 

 It is known in the lists as " Celosia President 

 Thiers." 



Arranging Out Flov\-err.— Tasteful combina- 

 tions of flowers and foliage that harmonize not 

 only in color, but in form, are our chief aim in 

 this work. Avoid mixtures of gaudy colors: if 

 scarlet is the chief color, use no yellow shades, 

 but rather choose white fur contrast. For ex- 

 ample, just now the bold scarlet flowers of Val- 

 lota are plentiful, so also are the lovely white 

 flowers of Anemone Honorine Jobert; try them 

 together, using the Vallota blooms singly for 

 a groundwork, out of which springs the white 

 Anemone, also single, yet with the flowers grace- 

 fully clustering This is a charming mixture for 

 a dinner-table, and serves to illustrate my mean- 

 ing both in its application to form and color. 

 Tn so treating a Marsh stand lately the Vallota 

 flowers in the bottom saucer had a bold fringe 

 of Fern fronds, a few small sprays of Maiden- 

 hair Fern rose among the mingled white and 

 scarlet flowers, and around the glass stem was 



twined a spray of Selaginella csesia with the 

 lovely bluish metallic hue, well developed, partly 

 hidden by tufts of half-opened Anemones, dried 

 Quaking Grass, and a couple of leaves of Gera- 

 nium pratense which clustered around the base. 

 The same flowers were repeated in the tops with 

 the addition of bold clusters of scarlet-flowered 

 Begonia fuchsioides. Had this stand l)een for a 

 daylight decoration some spikes of single blue 

 branching Larkspur might have been used with 

 excellent eff"ect. But blue never answers for 

 lamp light, and is never used because it looks 

 black, just as yellow becomes an unsightly shade 

 of white under artificial light, and is. therefore, 

 always avoided for dinner table work — Journal 

 of Horticulture. 



Destroying Insects Under Glass —The fol- 

 lowing method, says the Revue Horticole, has 

 given most satisfactory results, and the inventor, 

 M. Boizard, gardener to Baron Rothschild at 

 Paris, assures us that success is infallible— at 

 least for three years, during which he has been 

 experimenting with it it has been so with him. 

 He says, " Having procured 2 quarts of tobacco 

 juice, I boil it over a slow fire on a furnace in 

 the house. An hour and a half or two hours 

 afterwards, the liquid being reduced to about 

 one-third its bulk, becomes viscid and almost 

 solid, when, after having diluted it into 1 quart 

 or 1\ quarts of water, I boil it more quickly 

 until all get converted into vapor and fixed in 

 the form of dew on every portion of the plants. 

 r remarked no damage done, not even amongst 

 the most tender plants, such as Adiantums, 

 young plants of Blechnum Braziliense, Coleus, 

 (fee. Some young fronds of Adiantum alone 

 .suflered, but it should be added that they were 

 on the stages." If danger were apprehended in 

 the case of certain plants, they might be taken 

 out, or their safety assured by means of paper 

 caps; and if it was a question of flowers or 

 fruits, similar precautions might be taken to 

 preserve them. M. Boizard assures us that no 

 insects can resist this treatment and that the 

 greater portion of them do not appear again for 

 six months. In the case of such as reappear 

 quickly, it is easy to renew the operation, but 

 then 1 quart of tobacco juice and 1 quart water 

 will suffice. This method is as economical as 

 any other, and M. Boizard says that it is possible 

 to remain in the house during the operation 

 without being inconvenienced thereby. — J. Corn- 

 hill in Gnrrlpv. 



