December IS, 1873.] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



483 



any individual I beg his pardon, although there is a little secret 

 feeling in my heart that says — 



" WTiy, let the stricken Jeer go weep, 

 The hart unpolled play ; 

 For Bome must watch while some mnst sleep. 

 So runs the world away." 



And now I should like to say just a few words on the " need- 

 less fasting," as " P." puts it, at the Palace and elsewhere. 

 I see " P." used to fast, although iu his latter days he got 

 eggs and bacon, <S:c. I wish once and for all to say I, nor any 

 one that I know, desires a breakfast on the free-ticket system, 

 and I am glad to find others bear me out in regard to the want 

 of so substantial and necessary a part of the day's pleasures. 

 Here is a suggestion : Cannot we exhibitors and friends gene- 

 rally have a jolly breakfast all together ? There's visions of a 

 glorious union for you ! See, we should by that means get to 

 know each other when the ordinary course of introduction 

 fails ! How I should have liked to have known Mr. E. N. G. 

 Baker — (I feel almost glad that he, too, could get no breakfast ; 

 it will help to realise my suggestion) — when he clean beat 

 everybody in the amateur classes last June at the Palace. I 

 had a sort of introduction by taking second rank to him for 

 the forty-eight. I am sure the management will gladly meet 

 our wishes if we but ask them to provide breakfast for a certain 

 number. The few times I have shown at the Palace I have 

 always received the very greatest courtesy from all and every- 

 one i have ever had occasion to ask a favour of, be it ever so 

 small. I know nothiug, except to take first for 48's, that I 

 should look forward to with so much pleasure as the rosarian 

 breakfast at the Palace once a-year. As for the Horticultural 

 at Kensington, why, you have to walk a mile there before you 

 can get water to wash with or bread to eat. At the Fioyal 

 Botanic it is better, although a little rough. 



In the all-absorbing cause (Tichborne be blowed) of Manetti 

 and Briar I say, Go it Manetti, even though you have so strong 

 and staunch a pleader on the other side as the Eev. S. Eey- 

 nolds Hole ; and right pleased am I to see so many good men 

 and true on our side, whoever wins. 



'* Dear Rose, thy joy "s tmdimmed ; 



Thy cap is ruby-rimmed, 



Thy cup's heart nectar-brimmed." 



— 'W. Fabren", Cambridge, 



P.S. — I and some Bose-Ioving friends are anxiously desirous 

 of getting-up an association of Eose-growers and showers in 

 this county or district — I care not whether it be " The Cam- 

 bridgeshire and Isle of Ely Eose Society," or " The Eastern 

 Counties Rose Association " — to embrace, say, Cambridge, Nor- 

 folk, and Suffolk. Names and suggestions to give it a start 

 will oblige. — ^W. Fabbex, Cambridge. 



THE PATENT GLASS-CUTTEB. 

 Meesbs. Dick Eadclvffe & Co. have sent us an implement 

 for cutting glass, of which the annexed woodcut is a repre- 

 sentation. It " consists of a stem or handle, in which is 

 mounted a small revolving steel cutter, especially prepared 

 and hardened, which cuts or fractures the glass as it rolls over 



its surface." 'We have used the patent glass-cutter, and have 

 found it to work well. It cuts the glass most thoroughly— 

 quite as well as a diamond, and the only question about it is 

 as to its durability. It appears it can be " made equal to new 

 for the email charge of 6(2." 



THE MANETTI STOCK. 

 I HAVE budded on the seedling Briar for seven years. I quite 

 agree with Mr. Baker that the best stock for Hybrid Per- 

 petual Roses is the Manetti. The Briar is a bad mover, and 

 ■very subject to mildew. Manettis are at home on any soil, 

 and if treated kindly after being well established they will then 

 do their duty. I find Roses on their own roots do well with 

 me. I put-in my cuttings in the open ground in September, 

 and a good average take root, and they make fine plants for 

 pot-culture in the following season. — J. Ma^o, Oxford. 



were very bad — in fact quite uneatable. This year I put them 

 into light sandy loam — they of course did not grow to so large 

 a size — but without any better result , for, no matter how they are 

 boiled, they remain the same. I think the word " flour " might 

 be omitted, and soap substituted. — J. Atkinson, Co. Connaught 



THE OXLIP. 



I uAVE read with great interest the papers upon Primroses, 

 and especially admire the figures of the Polyanthuses. As to 

 the Oxlip, there is a little misapprehension as to what is in- 

 tended under that name. Two very distinct sets of plants at 

 least are included under it ; the first set embracing the various 

 hybrids between the Cowslip and the Primrose, and also the 

 caulescent varieties of the last-named species ; and the second 

 containing the true Primula elatior of Jacquin, which used to 

 be known among botanists as the " Bardfleld OxUp." Many 

 of the so-called hybrids are simply Primroses, in which the 

 umbel is elevated upon a scape instead of being hidden among 

 the leaves, as is usually the case, for the Primrose is always 

 truly umbellate, though not obviously so. My object, how- 

 ever, in writing this note is not to enter upon a botanical dis- 

 quisition, but to draw the attention of horticultm'ists to the 

 true or Bardfleld Oxlip, which is scarcely ever seen in cul- 

 tivation. I have introduced it to one or two of my friends, 

 who speak very highly of its value. One of these has now 

 had it for four or five years in his garden in Cheshire, where 

 it forms large and handsome clumps, and flowers and seeds 

 freely. 



It is not easy to define the differences between the true and 

 the hybrid Oxlip, although no one who has seen the two grow- 

 ing would ever confuse them. My Cheshhe friend is firmly 

 convinced of the distinctness of the Bardfleld plant, although 

 before he had it in cultivation he was inclined to look on it aa 

 a hybrid. The more villous calyx, paler flowers, and the 

 absence of folds at the mouth of the coroUa are the technical 

 characters given in separating the true Oxlip from the hybrid, 

 and to these may be added many more obvious, if less de- 

 scribable, characteristics, such as the peculiar and rather dis- 

 agreeable odour, resembling that of the Starch Hyacinth, the 

 comparative uprightness of the leaves, the greater height of 

 the scapes (which I have seen nearly '2 feet high in cultivation) , 

 the more compact form of the umbel, and the more drooping 

 flowers. It remains in blossom for a much longer period than 

 other Oxlips, and begins to flower later. This species is found 

 in meadows and copses in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Essex, 

 especially in the north of the last-named county ; it takes its 

 English name from Bardfleld in this county. The botanical 

 interest of this Oxlip if very great, but need not be gone into 

 here, my desire being merely to draw attention to the plant, 

 and to advocate its cultivation. — J. B. Q. 



Bid-skin Floubdall Potato. — I tried it during 187'2 in 

 heavy soil, in which it grew tubers to a very large size, but they 



AEEANGING FLOWERS FOK BOUQUETS. 



It is an art requiring no small degree of taste and skill to 

 arrange cut flowers so as to form an attractive bouquet for the 

 vase or basket. It is something, too, which comes to one 

 intuitively, and it can hardly bo described in words. However, 

 it may be said in general that the more loosely and unconfused 

 flower.s are arranged the better. Crowding is especially to be 

 avoided, and to accomphsh this a good base of green of different 

 varieties is needed to keep the flowers apart. This flUing-up 

 is a very important part iu bouquet-making, and the neglect 

 of it is the greatest stumbling-block to the uninitiated. Spikes 

 and drooping flowers, with branches and sprays of delicate 

 green, are of absolute necessity in giving grace and beauty to 

 a vase bouquet. Flowers of similar size, form, and colour 

 ought never to be placed together. Small flowers should never 

 'De massed together. Largo flowers, with green leaves or 

 branches, may be used to advantage alone, but a judicious 

 contrast of forms is most effective. 



Avoid anything like formality or stiffness. A bright tendril 

 or spray of Vine can be used with good effect if allowed to 

 wander over and around the vase as it will. Certain flowers 

 assort well only in famihes, and are injured by mixing. Of 

 these are Balsams, Hollyhocks, Sweet Peas, &c. The former 

 produce a very pretty effect if placed upon a shallow oval 

 dish upon the centre table. No ornament is so appropriate 

 for the dinner-table or mautlepiece as a vase of flowers ; and if 

 you expect visitors, by all means cut the fluest bouquet your 

 garden will produce, and place it in the room they are to 

 occupy. It will tell of your regard and affectionate thought- 



