192 



JOURNAL OF HORTICXJLTTJEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Beptcmber 8, 1863. 



ciaUy associated with the American Aloe (Agave americana), 

 a kind of not unfrequent occun'ence in collections in this 

 country. — (Oxford Journal.) 



TEEATME^fT OF COLEUS VERSCHAFFELTI 

 AS A BEDDIXG PL.^^T. 



As with other appai-ently tender plants when fii'st in- 

 troduced, vai-ious opinions have been entertained as to the 

 adaptability of Coleus Verschaffelti for bedding purposes. 

 No one will deny that, as regards the ornamental chai'acter 

 of its foKage, it is very desu-able for bedding ; but that it 

 wUl ever prove useful for out-door decoration if treated in 

 the same way as Geraniums, is a matter about which no 

 doubt can exist. 



To succeed with Coleus Verschaffelti, cuttings should 

 never be prejjared and put in later than the last week in 

 March. They ivill strike readily ; and when strack, pot them 

 off singly as soon as they are sufficiently rooted, taking care 

 not to let them get di-awn. When the pots (small (iO's are to be 

 prefen-ed), are tolerably well filled with roots top the plants 

 down to six eyes, keeping them moderately di-y until they 

 have foi-med fresh shoots. As soon as the young leaves 

 upon the fresh shoots ai-elai'ge enough to perform the offices 

 required of them, give the plants a slight shift, tiJiing cai-e 

 to pot them firmly. "When once started they wUl grow 

 rapidly. Keep them as before, short-jointed, and again 

 pinch back when the wood is sufficiently matured to break 

 well to four or six eyes, according to the stiffness of the 

 plants, taking cai-e not to make them lanky. Again treat 

 precisely as above, taking care not to give them too lai'ge 

 shifts, or make them too wet at the roots. If the cuttings 

 were put in rather eai'her than the latest date as given above, 

 it is possible the sp^me process may be repeated. By so 

 doing what would be, when tm-ned out, a month's gi-owth 

 or even more is gained. Bear in mind, however, that it is 

 most essential to have the growth after the last pinching- 

 back well forwarded, so as to be able to place the plants in a 

 light aii-y place in the greenhouse at least three weeks or, 

 better, a month before turning out. The later the date at 

 which they ai-e tm-ned out the better. It should be the 

 second week in June ii' possible. 



In planting out, if practicable, when single beds of the 

 Coleus alone ai'e required, mix with the soil a good pro- 

 portion of peat and sliingly gravel. Let the bed be more 

 or less conical in form, and tread every plant in as fii-mly as 

 possible. These precautions assist in keeping the plants 

 dry diuing a wet season, and, besides, they luxuriate in a 

 firm soil. If the summer shoidd prove dry they merely 

 requii-e the soil to be stirred with a hoe. 



For contrast, I have found the Coleus look exceedingly 

 well, esijecially when planted out singly amid a groundwork 

 of Gazania splendens. The effect when the flowers of the 

 latter are expanded is very good, and the bed has also a 

 more lively appearance when the Gazania flowers are closed. 

 It also looks well plant for plant with either of the Cen- 

 taiu-eas, argentea in pai-ticular, as also with the common 

 Cineraria maritima. 



Any one averse to this plant, may see two excellent beds of 

 it adjoining the Grosvenor Gate, Hyde Pai-k. They ai-e very 

 pleasing, and reflect credit upon the Superintendent of these 

 grounds. But I know two other plants in this class which 

 ought to be much greater favotuites, and to which I intend 

 to refer at an early date. — W. Eaklet, Dvjswell. 



CATASETTTM FIMBEIATUM. 



Syn., Myauthus fimbriatus (Mon-en). Nat. ord., Orchidacess. 

 Linn., Gynandi'ia Monandi-ia. 

 A ctTBious and very beautiful stove epiphyte. It has 

 ovate elongated pseudo-bulbs, producing lance-shaped 

 plaited leaves. The flowers grow in drooping racemes, on 

 scapes issuing from the base of the pseudo-bidbs ; the 

 sepals are narrow, lance-shaped ; the petals broader and 

 shorter ; the lip heart-shaped, fringed round the margin, 

 produced behind into a blunt spur ; the petals ai-e con- 

 nivent with the upper sepal. The petals and sepals are of 

 a pale rosy pru-pUsh hue, speckled with red spots ; the lip 



creamy white, suffused with rose, in the variety Heyn- 

 derycxii. In another variety — Legi-eUii — the colours are 

 green ;-«nd white. From Brazil: marshes neai' the Villa 



Franca, province ol St. Paul ; introduced to Belgium in 

 1847. Flowers towai'ds autumn. M. de Jonghe, of Brussels. 

 -^(Gardeners' Magaeine of Botany.) 



PACKING GEAPES FOE CONVEYANCE TO 

 AN EXHIBITION. 



To convey and exhibit a dish of Grapes in tlu-ce separate 

 bunches, there is no better way than that which is so success- 

 fully practised by the metropolitan exhibitors who use a piece 

 of hght, smoothly-planed deal of the necessary length and 

 width, having another piece of the same length and about 

 G inches wide fixed along one side of it, so tha,t when the 

 two pieces are joined together they present a section some- 

 thing like the letter T laid on its side thus th~ n. The whole 

 is covered over with strong white paper by means of glue 

 or paste, and it is then ready for the Grapes. The bunches 

 should then be cut, the best side — which should be uppermost 

 of coni'se — decided iipon, and then the bunch should be laid 

 at once on the sloping surface of the board a, and the stem 

 of the bunch fixed with a tack and piece of fine cord to the 

 top of the head-board at b. Next fix a strong tack between, 

 and on each side of every bunch about 2 inches from the 

 end of the bunches. Then draw a piece of soft tape across 

 each bunch, passing it through among the berries and firmly 

 resting it on the main stem of the bunch. This made secure- 

 to the tacks prevents oscillation at the extremity of the 

 bunches, while the fastening to the head-board preventer 

 them slipping down or moving at the top. When they are 

 fixed place them in a square box made sufficiently deep that 

 when the lid is fixed down it clears the Grapes by at least 

 an inch. The sloping position in which the bunches are 

 thus fixed prevents any of the berries from working upwards 

 towards the shoulders, by which means the bloom would be 

 rubbed-off. But though packed with this amount of care 

 the box must be conveyed to its destination with great 

 caution, and not be allowed to be thrown off the level 

 towards the side where the stems of the bvmches are fixed. 



