April ], 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTOBE AND COTTAGE (SABDENER. 



2^ 



Sow in sandy soil in April, priok-off ■when large enough 

 3 inches apart every way, and plant-out in spring. 



*AcANTHrs r,iiTiKoi,u!s. — Leaves bold and fine, dark shining 

 green, remaining fresh throughont the season. 2 feet. 



A. MOLLIS, closely resembling the above, is also line. 2 feet. 



These two kinds of Acanthus are ornamental in groups and 

 borders. Sow in loam and leaf mould, and placo in a gentle 

 heat. Pot-olT the young plants singly when largo enough to 

 handle, keep them in a frame until established, then harden 

 them off, winter in a cold pit, and plant out in spring, in good 

 rich soil. 



I have omitted in its proper place Takieoated Bohecolt:, 

 which certainly has beautifully variegated foliage of various 

 shades of colour. Sow the seeds early in April, prick-out the 

 young plants when largo enough, and plant them out in rich 

 soil, from 1 foot to 15 inches apart, in the reserve garden. In 

 autumn, after the beds and borders are cleared of their summer 

 occupants, plant them in the flower garden, for their beauty 

 is for autumn, winter, and early spring ; or they may be 

 planted where they are to remain in .June or .Tuly, and those so 

 treated certainly make the best plants. If planting is delayed 

 until autumn, the plants should be taken up with good balls of 

 earth, and if the weather is dry, watered at planting and after- 

 wards. Tbo proper place for these plants, in my opinion, is 

 the kitchen garden. — G. Aeeet. 



The Daimin. — Pale pink. Flowers very largo and double. 



Wizard. — A curious flower. Loose florets in the form of 

 tassels ; bright reddish maroon. 



These are all worth growing, and together with some of those 

 about to be sent out this spring, such as James Salter, Dr. Mas- 

 ters, and Hero of Magdala, will form a collection which will be 

 especially valuable for their late flowering, as they will prolong 

 the Chrysanthemum bloom to the end of January, and although 

 wanting regularity of form, compensate for that by their singu- 

 larity of character. — D., Deal. 



FLOWERS OF THE PAST SEASON.— No. .i. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



I PAID my annual visit to Messrs. Salter & Son's well-known 

 establishment in November, and I intended to have given some 

 notes of what I saw, but some one had anticipated me, and I 

 did not think it well to add a second account ; but as it is now 

 the best time for making selections of new kinds to add to 

 collections already in growth, I give here my opinion of the 

 novelties of last year as grown by myself or seen at Messrs. 

 Salter's. As now the Japanese have formed a class of them- 

 selves we must perforce call the older kinds Chhu'se -, and in 

 accordance with the old rule, si'niores xiriores,! will give the 

 latter the first place. 



CHINESE VAEIETIES. 



Baron Beust. — A fine incurved flower of chestnut colour, 

 with yellow tips on the under surface. 



Captiration. — A very beautiful flower ; delicate cream colour, 

 deeply bordered with carmine. It is not so much an exhibition 

 flower as a beautiful conservatory plant. 



Guernseij Nngrirt. — Clear primrose yellow; very full, large, 

 and fine habit. It is a variety of first-rate character. 



Lady Godh-a. — Light rosy, fawn, bronzed and double. 



Lord Derhi/. — Dark purple; florets very broad, and flower 

 incurved and globular. A splendid variety. 



Miss Marechaw:. — Pure white; well incurved, and very glo- 

 bnlar. 



Mrs. Iluflington. — A gem; medium-sized, in the style of 

 Aimee Feriire, but more deeply marked. Good habit. 



Frinciiss Bi-atrict: — Rosy lilac; double, and finely incurved. 

 A fine exhibition flower. 



Princess of Ti'ck. — Pure white ; very large, and finely in- 

 curved. Fine form, and dwarf habit. 



Staffa.^K very neat-looking flower ; golden yellow. 



Volunteer. — Purplish violet, closely incurved. 



These are all good ; but Captivation, Mrs. Huflington, Lord 

 Derby, Princess Beatrice, and Princess of Teck I consider the best. 



In Pompons, which seem now very much in the background, 

 there was nothing remarkable. 



JAPANESE VAEIETIES. 



Aurantium. — Clear golden yellow ; of large size and very 

 double. It is very bright and bold-looking. 



Leopard. — Indian red, with large yellow spots. A very 

 curious and Orchid-like flower. 



Naita.iali Violet. — Dark rosy violet, golden centre. Very 

 curious. 



Red Drarion. — Reddish chestnut, tipped with yellow, and 

 semetimes spotted with yellow. The flowers are very double, 

 and the florets tossed about in the most curious manner. 



liohert Fortune.— Oremge ; large and full. A beautiful nar- 

 row-petaled flower. 



Sulphiireum. — Sulphur white, sometimes spotted rose. Flow- 

 ers large and double. 



Tarantula. — A curious spidery-looking flower, with long, nar- 

 row, single florets. 



ALPINE KOSE— DIVERSE BLOOMING OF IMALE 

 AND FEMALE AUCUBAS. 



Torn correspondent " \'.," in his interesting article headed 

 " Alpine Poses," asks thetjuestion, "What, then, is the Alpine 

 Rose ?" and answers it by saying that it is what Latin-speaking 

 editors call Rhododendron ferrngineum or hirsutum. Now, 

 although these Rhododendrons are often called, both by guides 

 and by travellers. " Rose des Alpes," yet they are generally, 

 and ought always to be, accompanied by the prefix " Rhodo- 

 dendron " Rose des Alpes, to distinguish them from that very 

 pretty flower, the Rosa alpina or Alpine Rose, to which the 

 name properly belongs. The Alpine Rose is of a bushy habit, 

 and belongs to that subdivision of Roses called " Pimpinelli- 

 foliffi." The flower has five petals of a bright pink colour, and 

 measures rather more than au inch across; the leaves are ex- 

 ceedingly small, not half an inch long; wood very slender and 

 brown in colour. The plant is found in the Vor Alp, the 

 Vosges Alps, and the Jura. In German the three Alpine Eho- 

 dodendrons — hirsutum, ferrugineum, and ehamacistus — are 

 respectively called Gerfranxter, Rostfarbbliittriger, and Drusiger 

 Alpenbalsam, not Alpenrose. 



Does the same difference exist in England this winter that 

 we have had here in the time of blooming of the male and 

 the female Aucubas ? This winter the variety pygmiea viridis 

 mascula was in full bloom when the first hard frosts set in on 

 the 21st January, and no females of any kind are in bloom yet. 



The A. maculata mascula, one of the latest-blooming males, 

 has begun to blow, and would be in full bloom in a day or 

 two if the weather moderated a little. Some of the new 

 introductions of females nre far more forward than the old 

 variegated kind. In England, where all the new varieties 

 were introduced and cultivated long before they were here, has 

 it been found by experience that the time of blooming has in 

 any way altered since they first began to be cultivated in the 

 open air ? And is there any tendency towards an equalising 

 of blooming time between males and females '.' I do not allude 

 to any seedling hybrids or cross-breds, but to the original 

 bushes first put out. — F. Palmer, Versailles. 



ORCHARD HOUSES. 



In the preface to the fourth edition of my little work on the 

 " Orchard House," I remarked that orchard houses would be 

 built in at least an equal ratio with the spread of the know- 

 ledge necessary to insure their success. This was written two 

 years ago, and what is the result ? The demand for fruit trees 

 in pots was never so large as it has been this season. I hear 

 this on all hands. I have not a single Peach or Nectarine tree 

 fit for sale left in a pot, and have even sold some which had 

 been marked to be kept for my own fruiting. This does not 

 look as if orchard houses were not a success. The whole 

 tendency of modern fruit-growing is towards glass culture. In 

 this uncertain climate the comfort and pleasure of the gardener, 

 the certainty, quality, and weight of the crop, can only be in- 

 sured by glass ; and I believe if a man goes to a great expense 

 in trying to grow Peaches on open walls he will soon be thought 

 fit for an asylum,— J. R. Pearson, Chihccll, Notts. 



ARUNDO CONSPICUA, OR TOY-TOY GRASS. 



Allow me to call the attention of your readers and experi- 

 mentalists to the New Zealand " Toy- Toy Grass," Arvmdo 

 conspicua, believing it will prove a valuable plant to cultivate 

 extensively in this country for cordage and strong hempen 

 fabrics. lis fibre is nearly as strong as that of the New Zealand 

 Flax (Phormium tenax), while it is much more prolific, and 

 seems as if it would gruw anywhere in this country and yield 

 a heavy crop. The blades are very much stronger than our 



