Marcli 28, 1872. 3 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



269 



the blight of last year. The frost, I am afraid, has ruined the 

 prospect of Gooseberries. — W. Lea. 



SPEING TREATMENT OF THE AURICULA. 



Believe me, that I am trying very hard to refrain from in- 

 dulging in pubhe my feeling about the Auricula, a flower so 

 gifted with delicate beauties aU its own. Perhaps it is more 

 than usually difficult to keep within bounds just now, when 

 these plants ai'e in the early prime of their marveUous spring 

 life. However, I write only for a practical purpose, and upon 

 a point that bears upon the spring treatment of the Auricula. 



Every grower knows what trjlng weather comes in March 

 and April, when the sun is bright and the wind is cold, and 

 perhaps rough too. It is a matter of anxiety to have lost, 

 even for a day, the inestimable advantages of fresh air and all 

 the light the plants wiU bear. 



Fu'st stating that I never let an east wind get at my Auriculas 

 at all, I give the simple plan by which in cold, bright, rough 

 weather I can favour the plants with a gentle circulation of 

 fresh air through the frames, together with that amount of 

 sun which seems very grateful to them, and something like 

 the chequered beams that play upon the Primroses in the 

 budding woods in spring. After early morning sun, shading is 

 readily enough managed by materials well known. Over my 

 lights I throw fine netting. Tempering of rough cold winds I 

 attempt as foUows. 



My ventilators in each frame, one in front and two behind, 

 are very large wide openings running nearly from one side to 

 the other ; in fact they are, as should be, quite conspicuous 

 features in the woodwork. They can be completely closed with 

 ■wooden shutters hanging over them on hinges. The shutters 

 are raised more or less in aU favourable weather ; but when 

 "the sun is bright and'the wind is cold I use slides of perforated 

 zinc, set in zinc frame or binding to stiffen them. These run 

 in a groove, and across the apertures left by the raised shutters, 

 and in this way the force of the cold, or of any boisterous 

 wind, is broken, and rough gusts become, so to say, riddled or 

 sifted au'. Aui-iculas do not Uke sharp draughts, and to have 

 such pass over the advanced foliage and buds in spring could 

 only have an iU effect. 



I beg to disclaim pretensions to anything so brilliant as a 

 stroke of genius in the matter of these perforated zinc slides, 

 and I have not heard of the smaU contrivance before. Those 

 •who are conversant with the culture of florists' flowers know 

 that great is the importance very often of very little things. 

 I do not wish my Auriculas to be blown roughly about, espe- 

 cially with their rising blooms, nor to be subjected to the evils of 

 a thin keen draught, like a knife of wind, through mere sUts 

 of ventilation, so this method for occasional protection sug- 

 gested itself. Fine rollicking winds from Yorkshire moors 

 above us have a way of sweeping through our village, and 

 sometimes take a turn round the airiest part of my garden 

 •where the Am'iculas are. 



In conclusion, I have read with true pleasure the recent 

 notes of my personally unkno'wn friend, " D.," of Deal, upon 

 A'uriculas. I hope with him that the prospects of the Am-ieula 

 -are brightening. I have had several inquiries lately about 

 some valuable old sorts. Mr. Lightbody has been asked for 

 more plants than he could supply. We have left Mr. Campbell 

 •with sohtary specimens of his two new crimson selfs. The 

 time-honoured Auricula show at Middleton, in Lancashire, has 

 been re'vived, and Auriculas last winter have crossed the 

 Atlantic for homes in the Far West. 



I trust, too, that among the present growers some ■will follow 

 the steps of such men as Lightbody, Headly, Campbell, and 

 Traill in the most interesting and useful work of raising seed- 

 lings. For my o^wn part I could not rest content not to do so, 

 and I ■will just say what Mr. Lightbody once told me concern- 

 ing raising seedling Auriculas, " I have raised more tine seed- 

 lings from Maria and Sophia than I did for thirty years before." 

 This hint is so valuable, coming from so trusty a source, that 

 I should be sorry, indeed, to tlihik that but few had had it 

 given theia. — F. D. Hoener. 



-• Royal HoRTicnLTrrR.AL Society. — Mr. W. T. Thistleon Dyer, 

 the Society's recently appointed Professor of Botany, wUl de- 

 liver a course of lectures in the CouncU-room, South Kensing- 

 ton, during the next three months, on the following subjects : — 

 April 11th, "Flowers: their common plan of construction." 

 April 2oth, "Flowers: the variety in their forms, and how 



brought about." May 9th, " Flowers ; then- colours and 

 odoui-s." May 23rd, " Fruits : then- structure." .June 6th, 

 "How seeds are sown in natm'e." June 20th, "Flowers and 

 Fruits under cultivation." The lectures are to oommerLoe 

 at 3 P.M. 



TOKENIA ASIATICA CULTURE. 



ToEENU ASIATICA has long been an established favomite 

 among stove plants, on account of its easy culture and charm- 

 ing appearance when in flower. As a subject for hanging 

 baskets it is very useful and effective ; but it is when gro'wn as 

 a specimen plant, ■with the branches trained to a trellis of a 

 form suitable to its trailing habit, that it appears in all its 

 beauty. From cuttings taken in March noble specimens 4 feet 

 in diameter may be brought to perfection in about five months, 

 and ■mil thus be most useful during autumn for decorative pur- 

 poses. 



The cuttings throw out roots freely in the moist brisk tem- 

 perature of a hotbed or forcing-pit, and the pots containing 

 the yomrg plants should be kept plunged in such a temperature 

 until after the first two or three shifts. Give them a free, 

 rich, weU-drained soil composed of loam, old manure, sand, 

 and charcoal. Syringe freely, and keep the points of the lead- 

 ing shoots pinched off, but attempt no training till the plant 

 receive its final shift into a 10 or 12-inch pot ; then the treUis 

 should at once be attached to the pot, and training commenced 

 forthwith. A suitable trellis of galvanised wu'e can very easily 

 be made. A number of lengths of No. 12 wire are cut and A 



bent as in the accompanying diagram : the straight part / 

 is thrust down close inside the pot, so that the curved / 

 part projects over the rim outwards and downwards ; / 

 then, by fastening a few rings of wii'e on these at regular / 

 distances from and parallel to the rim, a capital trelhs is 

 formed, over which the shoots ramble ■with the greatest free- 

 dom. The training is a very simple matter, for the form of 

 the trelhs is so admirably adapted to the habit of the plant 

 that a sUght regulation of the growth occasionally is all that 

 is uecessaiy. Syringe regularly with water at the same 

 temperature as the plants are growing in till the flowers begin 

 to appear, and give guano water as the plants requii'e it — that 

 is to say, use it ■with judgment, so as to maintain the plants in 

 full vigour without making them so grossly luxuriant as to 

 cause them to wander ■wildly beyond the bounds assigned them, 

 instead of flowering profusely, and thus spoil then- handsome 

 outhne. When well managed such plants become objects of 

 much beauty, worthy of a place in the choicest coUection. 

 The effect of the rich mass of purple flowers, so chai'mingly 

 interspersed with the pretty green foUage,is so fine as to cause 

 this method of culture to be more generally adopted. — 

 Edwaed Luckhuest. 



EXPLANATION NEEDED. 



We have received more letters about " Amateur," and one 



from him. He does not Uve anywhere near Kentish Town, 



but has letters sent to him. We are making further inquiries. 



Crystal Palace. — The aquarium continues to be as great 

 an attraction as ever. Pubhc curiosity is contiuuaUy on the 

 alert, as every week fresh arrivals of rare creatm-es are reported. 

 A few days ago a wondrous Ten-armed Cuttle was to be seen ; 

 now we have for the first time in any aquarium some curiously 

 beautiful Green Star Fishes, some httle comical creatures 

 called Lump Suckers, and real Corals from the shores of the 

 Mediterranean. 



BED BEET AS A FLOWER-GARDEN PLANT. 



I disagree so entirely with Mr. Luckhurst, and agree so 

 completely with Mr. Peach, in their estimates of Beet for the 

 decoration of the flower garden, that I cannot leave unnoticed 

 the former's letter in youi- number of March 11th. Mr. Abbey, 

 in the number of August 25th, 1870, ■writes as follows : — " The 

 foliage" (of Beet) " is DraofBua-like, and arches over from the 



centre Of.its value as a decorative plant there can 



be no question. It is much bolder, and has more of an oriental 

 aspect, than any of the Iresines, Amaranthuses, or Alternau- 

 theras. Unhke them, however, it is hardy, does not require to 

 be reared in pots, and takes up no time nor house room. It 

 will grow in cold locahties, where Iresine, Amarauthus, and 

 Coleus do not succeed ; and it is equally at home in a wet cold 

 summer, as in one like the present. It is just the plant for 



