May 2, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



SU.j 



Mauetti, on Gloire do Dijou, fiud ou the Brhir. 1 thauk JI. 

 I'lMilel from my lie.xrt. — W. F. R.^dclyi'fe. 



NEW BOOKS. 



Til ■ luilrli'ld OnhitU : A Dc.wrlptivr Ca/itlojiir nf tie Spccli's 

 mil I'liririi'--: drown hij Jame:; Buooke it Co., Fairfield 

 Xiirjeries, Manclnitcr. Lomlou : Bradbury tt Evaiis. 

 This is not merely what it professes to be — a descriptive 

 catalogue of Orchids, but a very complete treatise ou that 

 popular family of plants. Although his name does not appear 

 ou the title-page, we believe that any mej'it the work possesses 

 is due to Mr. Leo Grindon, who has in this instance produced 

 a work on Orchids so popularly aud so practically written that 

 it canuot fail to be a great boon to amateurs and cultivators. 

 Tlie descriptive catalogue is a very full one, and is so. detailed 

 that one has no difficulty in identifying the different species 

 from one another. The only regret we have is that the generic 

 characters are not given. With these supplied the book would 

 have been still more useful, and we hope that Mr. Grmdon 

 will not omit those in the next edition of the work. If these 

 be added we shall then have what is a great desideratum to 

 Orchid amateurs — a manual by which the genera aud species 

 may he identified. 



SiiiiiU Farms : How they imiy be Sliule to Answer by Meana of 



Frnit-Grewinii. By the Rev. ■Wilh.\5I Le.v, M.A., Vicar of St. 



I'eter'-i, Droitwich, and Hon. Canon of Worcester. London: 



Journal of Horticulture Office. 



The papers which appeared in the pages of this Joui'ual a 

 short time ago have been reprinted. and formed into a volume, 

 of which the above is the title. The mere fact of the existence 

 of this volume is evidence of the high appreciation we have 

 formed of Mr. Lea's papers ; and as we have reason to know 

 that they have created in all quarters an interest in the uu- 

 portanco of small holdings, we feel assured that the repubU- 

 cation of them wUl be attended with a highly beneficial effect. 



CASKET PLANTS FOR THE STOVE. -No. 3. 



COLUMNEA. 



TuE plants I here bring before the notice of your readers 

 are too frequently condemned by both gardeners and amateurs 

 as uglj' and useless ; but I am fully convinced that in the 

 majority of cases this arises from theu' having been badl}' grown 

 and not from any fault of the plants themselves. As pot 

 plants Columneas are not showy, and, moreover, under such 

 treatment are apt to become infested with a rusty cankerous 

 disease which disfigures them very much. The usual method 

 adopted for their culture is keeping them in pots, but it fails 

 to afford any pleasurable return. To remedy this, and to in- 

 duce these plants to display their beauties to the greatest 

 advantage, I say grow them in baskets, potting, or basketing 

 them rather, in a similar mixture of soil to that previously 

 recommended for Hoyas, and hanging them up in the company 

 of the iEschyuanthus ; tliey will soon produce good shoots and 

 blooms. The treatment may be the same as for the last-named 

 genus, but with one exception, and that is the syringing; for 

 as these plants have woolly stems and leaves, I have foimd 

 from experience they are better without itj or at any rate they 

 should be only occasionally sprinkled overhead, and that very 

 lightly. 



Columuea is a genus of Gesneracew, but the species belong- 

 ing to it are not furnished with tubers of any kind. As far 

 as I am aware they are confined to South America. The 

 flowers, which are produced on slender axillary peduncles, 

 have a five-parted calyx, with a long tubular coroUaand a two- 

 lijjped limb. These are freely produced, and not only are the 

 individual blooms long-lived, but the jjlanta flower in long 

 succession. 



^Vhen Columneas are grown as above recommended, the 

 following kinds will be found to possess great beauty and will 

 well repay a little extra attention. 



C. aaruntiaca. — A somewhat strong-growing species, produc- 

 ing large flowers of a rich deep orange red. Native of New 

 Grenada. 



C. erythrophtea. — This plant is magnificent when grown so 

 as to form a good specimen. The leaves are lanceolate, oblique 

 at the base, but with an acuminate apex. The flowers are 

 large, with a broad spreadhig limb, and rich hrilUant red in 

 colom'. In addition to the corolla, the calyx, which is very 



large, is also blotched with deep red witliin. It is a native of 

 Mexico. 



C. scandens. — A smaller-growing plant than the last-named. 

 The foliage is somewhat ovate, but inclining to' taper to a 

 point, clothed with soft hairs, aiid of a uniform deep green'. 

 The flowers aie of a rich red and slightly hairy. It requires 

 rather more shade than the other kinds. 



■ C. Schiediana. — This is at once singular, distinct, and ex- 

 tjjemely beautiful. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, and furnished 

 ■with close soft hairs. Flowers upwards of 2 inches long ; the 

 ground colour is yellow, over which are an immense quantity of 

 streaks and spots of chocolate brown. Native of Mexico. — Ex- 



PElilO CUEDE. 



THE PROPORTIONS OF PIPES. 



I GAVE your Journal of the 18th ult. to my second boy, who 

 professes to be fond of Euclid and mathematical problems, to 

 puzzle over the ai'ticle on the proportions of pipes; and after a 

 few minutes he said he did not see that you want the scale at 

 all, for if you square the diameter of one pipe, and add that to 

 the square of the diameter of the other pipe, then the scptare 

 root of the sum is the diameter of the pipe that will convey 

 the water of the two. Thus the square of 5 = 25 being added 

 to the square of 4^ = 20.25, together equal 45.25, the square 

 root of which is G.72. " Just the same," he said, " as the 

 47th problem of the first book of Eu- 

 clid, the square of the base and per- 

 pendicular are equal to the square of 

 the hypothenuse ; or," he said, " you 

 may show it this way : Draw a square 

 equal to the base, and another equal 

 to the perpendicular of a right-angled 

 triangle, and another equal to the hy- 

 pothenuse, and strike a circle in each, 

 when the largest will be the equiva- 

 lent of the two smallest, or rice vcrsd.^' , 

 — Melajipus. 



[The scale is intended not only to save time, but for those 

 who know nothing about squaring diameters, square roots, 

 or hypothenuscs. — Eds.] 



VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GROWING. 

 [Concluded from page 343.) 



■WiiE.x these grounds change hands, which they seldom do, 

 except those on the smaller scale, valuers are employed by tlio 

 outgoing aud incoming tenants, who are specially acquainted 

 with the business, and are generally market gardeners them- 

 selves, and in some cases the payment from the one to the other 

 has been as high as ilOO an acre. I have not thought it neces- 

 sary to enumerate the products which are natm-ally in season at 

 different periods of the season, because there are so many arti- 

 ficial appliances in use, and supplies come from so many distant 

 places, that our markets are seldom devoid of anything througii- 

 out the year. 



Horse-and-cart distance at one time embraced the area from 

 which we drew our supplies, and this has still some advantage 

 in connection with the supply of manirre. But if sewage is 

 carried into more distant districts, less highly rented and 

 burdened with expensive labour, this advantage will be lessened. 

 Sanitary precautious will not allow occupiers -nithin proximity 

 of towns and populous districts to availthemselves of it, but last, 

 year I valued the owner into a farm of 100 acres, eight miles 

 from the Bank, which he has sewaged, and let at i'lO an acre to 

 two native tenants — the former rent having been 62s. Ijd. ; but 

 as the experiment is not yet well begun, I cannot quote or even 

 predict results. Steam-ploughing may also come into play, 

 which it has not as yet done, as a large stud of horses must be 

 kept in proportion to the acreage, for alternate cartage aud 

 working on the land. I have not gone into the management of 

 orchards in the cider and perry counties, nor into the numerous 

 and productive fruit gardens of Kent, because they have aheady 

 been fuUy described in the county and in local reports, and except 

 that there are innumerable inferior kinds of trees aud plants 

 occupying space and soil entitled to better sorts, I canuot 

 suggest any improvements in their management. 



i -was asked to bring this subject forward, because for the last 

 ten years I have had a great deal to do in letting market-garden 

 gi-ouud, and I consented to do so, more with the view of ehciting 

 information from, than conveying suggestions or directions to, 

 the occupiers of these lauds, who, though not much heard of in 

 public, are entitled to the highest consideration, for they pay 

 handsome rents, expend innneuse sums in labour, have unceas- 

 ing labours and anxieties— indeed they must have eyes that 



