Aagnst 21, 1873. ] 



JOUKNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDKNER. 



137 



tbinly and evenly on the floor of a cool room, on a blanket 

 previously spread, and then covered with a second blanket. 

 In a short time the effect of the treatment will be apparent in 

 the most golden-coloured Bartletts, and rich, ruddy-looking 

 Seckels imaginable. Pears perfected in this manner rarely 

 have the mealiness of their naturally ripened companions ; nor 

 do they prematmrely decay at the core as when left on the tree. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



GoDwratA oioAS. Nat. ord.,AxoiieiB. iiim., MonoeoiaPoly- 

 andria. — Native of Chontales mountains of Nicaragua, where 

 it was discovered by Dr. Seemann. " In its native state the 

 tuberous root of Godwinia attains a circumference of 2 feet 

 •2 inches, and a weight of 90-92 oz. The petiole reaches 10 feet 

 in height, and has a metallic lustre and mottled surface re- 

 sembling a snake standing erect, and bears a blade 3 feet 

 8 inches long. The peduncle is shorter than the petiole, 

 about 5.J feet, and the spathe alone is 2 feet long. The plant 

 grows with great rapidity, and emits a peculiar odour." — {Bot. 

 M<i!j., t. G018.) 



SoNERii-A Bessosi. A'«(. ord., Melastomaceie. Linn., Tri- 

 andria Monogynia. — Native of Madras Peninsula. Flowers an 

 inch in diameter, bright purple, borne on long red peduncles. 

 "The Sonerilas are beautiful plants, inhabitants of humid, 

 cool, shady mountain regions of India and the Malayan Islands, 

 often growing on mossy rocks and tree trunks. Though easily 

 raised and flowered, they have hitherto proved to be very diffi- 

 cult of continued cultivation, partly no doubt from being kept 

 in too hot and damp a condition, but no less to their soft and 

 succulent stems, which rapidly decay in the winter months, 

 when their vitaUtyis checked by cold or other causes." — {Ibid., 

 t. 6049.) 



Desdbobicji lituifloecm. Nat. ord., Orchidacese. Linn., 

 Gynandria Monandria. — "Dr. Lindley, the author of this 

 species, observes that it belongs to the D. nobile group, but 

 that besides its different habit, it is a much handsomer plant, 

 with a longer lip and very acute petals and sepals. Its native 

 country was unknown at the d,ate of its publication, and it is 

 not now certain ; but judging from the number of forms allied 

 to D. nobile that have lately been received from Rangoon, 

 Moulmaine, and the Tenasserim provinces, it is most probable 

 that it was imported from thence. Very shortly after Dr. 

 Lindley had published it, it was described as D. Hanburyanum 

 by Prof. Keichcnbach." Flowers about 2 inches in diameter ; 

 sepals and petals bright purple, reticulated, the latter nearly 

 white at the base ; lip l.J inch long, curved like a trumpet with 

 the month upwards; claw white, barred with deep purple; 

 disk deep violet purple bordered with a broad faint yellow band, 

 which is edged with purple. — {Ibid., t. C0.30.) 



SrLEXE HooKEiii. Nat. ord., Caryophyllacejc. Linn., Dec- 

 andria Trigynia. — Native of California, where it was first dis- 

 covered some forty years ago. Flowers 2 to 21 inches in 

 diameter, pale rose. " Silene Hookeri is well adapted for rock- 

 work cultivation ; it was introduced by Professor Bolander, 

 who sent seeds to Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, who forwarded 

 living specimens to Kew, which flowered in May of the present 

 year. The flowers are very fugacious." — {Ibid., t. (JO.^l.) 



Cinchona Calisaya, nor. .JosErHiANA. Nat. ord., Rubiaceie. 

 Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — Native of Bolivia and Peru. 

 A very distinct-looking form of Cinchona Calieaya, probably 

 identical with the Itzhu CasoarUla of the Peruvians, which 

 grows abundantly in the same regions as C. Calisaya, but in 

 open meadow.^, not woods, but the bark is of interior quality. 

 Flowers white, very fragrant.— (//liiJ., t. 0032.) 



Masdevallia Veitchiaka, ioxea, Lindesi, Hakrvana, and 

 TovAnEssis. — " The habit of all these species is very similar. 

 From the root springs up a tuft of oblong, spathulate, leathery 

 leaves, generally obtuse, and tapered into a stalk of moderate 

 length. Among these rise up the taller scapes, each terminated 

 by one or more of the remarkable flowers. In Masdevallia 

 Vcitchiana the sepals, which form the conspicuous part of the 

 flowers, are of a brilliant orange-scarlet, with a spot, or in 

 some varieties a stripe, of rich crimson-purple, produced by 

 the presence of multitudinous hairs, and yielding a most re- 

 markable contrast; the upper sepal is erect and comparatively 

 broad. In M. ignea the sepals are of a fiery-orange, marked 

 with lines of deeper red or crimson, while the upper sepal is 

 projected forwards. In M. Lindeni the sepals are of a lovely 

 pucy-pnrplo, with a whitish throat, the upper one being nar- 



rower and turned backward. In M. Harryana the sepals are 

 of a brilliant rosy-magenta, varying in hue, and sometimes, 

 as in the form called M. Denisoni, passing into crimson of in- 

 tense and glowing briUianey. This species appears to be the 

 most prolific of flowers, and the most charming in colour of 

 any yet introduced. In M. tovarensis the flowers are white, 

 the white being of very remarkable purity, and the flowers 

 grow from three to five on a scape. Masdevallias should be 

 potted in shallow pots in a compost of fibrous peat, mixed with 

 crocks, charcoal, and coarse sand. The drainage should be 

 very perfect, as they require an abundance of water at the 

 root, and also in the atmosphere. They should be kept near 

 the glass, but out of the sun during summer, and should have 

 as much sun as possible during the rest of the year. The 

 winter temperature should not fall below 40°, nor exceed 60' ; 

 while during the summer mouths they must be kept as cool 

 as possible, consistent with the other requisite conditions. 

 The surface of the soil in which they are grown may with ad- 

 vantage be covered with living sphagnum moss, which not 

 only assists in keeping an equable degree of moisture about 

 the roots, but it is very effective as a set-off to the plants." 

 — [Florist and Pomolorjist, S s., vi., 169.) 



BARON HILL. 



The Seat of Sir Eichakd Buleeley Willums Bulkeley,Baet. 



In journeying from Bangor to Beaumaris you arrive at the 

 cemetery of the latter town, and on inquiry find that the land 

 was given by Sir Richard Bulkeley ; also that most of the 

 houses of the town belong to him. On the hillside above you 

 see a mansion and tar-extending noble woods, and these also 

 are his ; next you reach Beaumaris Castle, and learn that he 

 is its Constable; further on you pass Fryars, another of his 

 mansions ; then you come to the deer park, a walled enclosure, 

 which, with its herd of fallow deer, also belong to the same 

 gentleman ; beyond that you reach Penmon Abbey, also having 

 the same proprietor; he is patron of its church, as he is of 

 that of Beaumaris and two others close by ; next you arrive 

 at the rabbit warren, also his ; crossing that you reach rocks, 

 also his, on which the lighthouse has been raised, and near 

 which the miserable wreck of the liotliesay Castle occurred; 

 crossing a narrow strait you reach Pufliu Island, also belong- 

 ing to Sir Richard Bulkeley. In that direction you can trave 

 no further, but if you make a circuit to the westward and 

 inquire who is the proprietor of each farm you pass even to a 

 distance of fifteen miles from Beaumaris, you will find for the 

 most part they belong to him ; moreover, he is Mayor of the 

 place. Well, therefore, may he be called " King of Beaumaris," 

 and glad are we in being justified for adding that he and Lady 

 Bulkeley act as good sovereigns should act ; and we have great 

 pleasure in aiding to fulfil the Welsh proverb, " The liberal 

 shall not lack praise." 



Englishmen of the north, east, and south may be excused 

 for asking for information relative to Sir Richard Bulkeley, 

 and we reply that be quite comes up to the Welsh definition 

 of a gentleman, " a man having a pedigree." The family is 

 of Anglo-Saxon origin, and its name signifies a resident in the 

 bull's meadow (Bul-key-legh), and this is recognised in the 

 family crest, a bull's head. Mr. Nicholas states that they 

 trace their descent from Robert de Bulkylegh, Lord of the 

 Manor of Bulkylegh in the county of Chester during King 

 John's reign, and that the first who came to Auglesea was 

 Wylliam Bulkeley, Esq., appointed Constable of Beaumaris 

 Castle in 1440. Prom that time to the present they have 

 occupied at various periods the appointments of High Sheriff, 

 Members of Parliament, and in all other ways being leaders 

 of the county. Down to the close of the sixteenth century 

 the family residence was within 100 yards of the church of 

 Beaumaris, and of that residence, known as Hen-])las (the Old 

 Hall), there were until very recently some remains, but now a 

 Presbyterian chapel has taken its place. In 1618 Sir Richard 

 Bulkeley, Knight and first Mayor of Beaumaris, erected a 

 mansion on Baron Hill, and it was not materially altered until 

 1770, when it was enlarged by the then Viscount Bulkeley, but 

 far greater additions and alterations have been effected by its 

 present possessor. The name. Baron Hill, is a modern form 

 of Bar-on-Hyll, the Bushy Hill. 



The woods of noble trees, Beech, Elm, Asli, and Oak crown 

 the hill, and extend along it for miles. Those woods are 

 fronted, and deep passages into them are planted with Wcl- 

 lingtonia gigantea and other Conifers and evergi-eons, so that 

 at no season of the year are they dreary from the absence of 



