AprUlS, 1800.) 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



257 



edges of the petals white. This is a delicately coloured flower 

 of great beauty. 



Queen of Beauties.— ^osy flesh ; of large size and good sub- 

 stance. Very beautiful. 



STRIPED. 



Contessa Lavinia Maggi. — Pure white, with carmine stripes 

 and spots. A no'ole iucurved flower, with the colours very 

 distinct. The plant is vigorous, and the foliage of a dark 

 shining green. 



Caryophylloides. — Flesh white, striped and spotted with 

 carmine. A fine incurved flower, with broad bold petals of good 

 substance. A free grower. 



Countess of Orkiu:;/. —I'are white, with broad splashes of 

 bright carmine; petals broad, and of good substance. Half 

 expanded, it is a magnificent flower ; fully expanded, it shows 

 a centre. 



Jenmi Litid.—Vfhite, lightly striped and spotted with rose ; 

 petals shell-like, admirably imbricated, slightly serrated. This 

 is a model flower, and first-rate. 



iJa/a.— Bright crimson with white stripes; regularly im- 

 bricated. 



Scipione VAfricaivo.—Deep crimson, striped with pure white ; 

 well imbricated, 



Princesse iJdcc/iioc/ii.— Bright cherry rcJ, striped with pure 

 white ; admirably imbricated. Free. 



Principe dc Ptujreiino.— White, delicately but distinctly striped 

 with red ; petals broad, incurved, of good substance. 



The above are a few of the best varieties. All are admirably 

 adapted for out-door cultivation, and are very distinct. I trust 

 many may be encouraged to give the Camellia a trial in tho 

 open ground, and report the results of their expevieuce through 

 the Journal. I much fear it does not receive the attention it 

 deserves from British horticulturists. Here, in France, and in 

 Belgium, this plant is a leading feature in all nursery estab- 

 lishments, whilst few English nurserymen think Camellias 

 worth a description in their catalogues. This has not a raison 

 d'etre, for no one denies the beauty of the plant, and it is 

 impossible to help admiring the flowers of any one of the 

 varieties above enumerated. Its supposed want of hardiness 

 must have been the bar to its more genenJ cultivation. I trust, 

 after the able papers and iuoonteslible proofs of its hardiness 

 from your correspondents above mentioned, that it will soon 

 be as generally cultivated as it deserves to be. 



Mr. Robson justly observes that the frost spoils a large pro- 

 portion of the blooms, and asks for the experience of others. 

 Mine is as follows : Frost invariably spoils all expanded blooms, 

 but does not injure the buds, and never affects the plants. 

 Besides ' frost,- bright sunshine on blooms wot with heavy 

 dew or rain, turns the petals brown. No amount of rain 

 seems to hurt them ; but should a shower be followed by bright 

 sunshine all the blooms on the sunny side of the tree are 

 spoiled, whilst those on the shady side seem if anything im- 

 proved by it. 



To ensure success in the cultivation of Camellias, the young 

 plants should be planted in a mixture of peat, well-rotted 

 manure (that of the cow if possible), leaf mould, and sand. 

 That there are growing in this island in the greatest luxuriance 

 hundreds of plants that have never had a particle of either is 

 true, yet hundreds have been lost from not taking this pre- 

 caution. Whilst young the Camellia is very impatient of 

 drought, and, unlike most plants, is slow in showing signs of 

 distress, often not until it is too late. I therefore recommend 

 a regular supply of water during the first season, say once 

 a-week. After the plants have attained a considerable size 

 they will bear any amount of cutting-back to bring them into 

 shape, provided they be not cu'. back to the naked wood. 



Where other shrubs canuot thrive, under trees in shady situ- 

 ations, there the Camellia luxuriates. It is grown in this island 

 in every conceivable way — trained against south walls, under 

 north walls, under trees, in the open air fully exposed, and it 

 succeeds well in each and all these situations ; but where 

 exposed to strong currents of air, and where tho soil is too dry, 

 or is wanting in fibrous vegetable matter, it has a lingering 

 existence. 



My experience of this season is that Camellias are blooming 

 much earlier than usual, those fully exposed to the sun having 

 commenced in November, and those under north walls are now 

 iu full bloom, whilbt in ordinary seasons from February to 

 April is the usual time for fully exposed plants, and April for 

 those under the north wall. 



The best time for planting out of doors is from the middle 

 ol February to the end oi March ; and if the plants are regu- 



larly supplied with water the first season there will be few 

 failures. — VEniiiS, Turf Bank, Jersey. 



NEW BOOK. 



llow to Grow Mushrooms. A Popular Explanation of the Best 

 Method of Culture. By William Eahley. London : Brad- 

 bury, Evans, & Co. 



This is a pamphlet of some thirty small pages. Tho author 

 " does not pretend to advance any new or original method," 

 " but to call attention to certain facts necessary to ensure 

 success, so that all who are possessed of a cellar, out-house, 

 or shed, mivy grow Mushrooms." There is no doubt that 

 Mr. Earley succeeds admirably by the system he adopts. There 

 are many good hints on flie subject, but on tho whole these 

 will be more useful to those who have had some experience 

 than to mere beginners, just because there is a vagueness as to 

 the " certain facts," and a want of explioitness in tho directions 

 to suit different circumstances. 



With the exception of recommending a centre of faggots for 

 a good-sized ridge out of doors, for which we thank Mr. Earley, 

 the details as to position refer almost entirely to a low house, 

 9 feet wide, 8 feet high, ceiled over like a living-room, and 

 having the beds made on the floor, which wo have no doubt 

 has many advantages. Under such circumstances, however, 

 where simplicity is an object, we would not much trouble about 

 drainage, or a concrete floor, or slates laid across the wall to 

 promote dryness, nor yet about having a hot-water pipe round 

 the walls, 4 feet above the floor, and thus fully 2 feet above the 

 bed, even though we thus should " imitate nature in supplying 

 heat," because provided we gain heat for our purpose, we have 

 less to contend with as respects moisture than dryness. We 

 heartily approve, however, of Mr. Barley's recommendation 

 of hollow walls for equalising temperature. 



As to the materials, horse droppings, &c., the directions are 

 excellent, only we would never think of passing them through 

 a sieve, as wo prefer them rougher, and we notice that Mr. 

 Earley prefers them rough and dry round the spawn. He re- 

 commends, what to us is a novelty, the dipping of the cake of 

 spawn iu tepid water for five minutes, and then laying it for a 

 short time on the bed to become heated, &c., before breaking 

 it into pieces to spawn the bed with. We have no doubt this 

 plan succeeds, and more especially because we are inclined to 

 think that Mr. Earley uses the material for his beds rather 

 drier than wo choose it to be, and, therefore, more frequent 

 waterings are necessary ; all well enough iu his hands, but 

 rather dangerous to practise much in the case of a beginner. 



We notice that Mr. Earley approves of plenty of light and 

 air for Mushrooms, but the latter cannot be admitted fully in a 

 close ceiled room or house without, to a certain extent, neu- 

 tralising the beneficial effect ol the hollow walls. We rather 

 incline to think, that less or more of light is of no great con- 

 sequence, as we never knew a Mushroom grow much in sun- 

 shine out of doors, and though air is desirable, we would prefer 

 a somewhat close atmosphere to a keen draught of wind in a 

 Mushroom house. True to the above principle, Mr. Earley 

 does not approve of covering Mushroom beds with hay, &c. 

 Certainly, iu heated houses the beds look better without covering, 

 and we avoid or adopt it according to circumstances; but in the 

 open air, or under open sheds, we use covering less or more, 

 as we find it to be the easiest mode of keeping ihe air close to 

 the bed and about the Mushrooms more humid than we other- 

 wise could have it, even with frequent watering. 



These thoughts, we feel sure, will cause the little book to be 

 more read than if we had uttered nothing but eulogy ; and the 

 only return we expect from the author is, that when he sends 

 out a second edition he will not be afraid to enter a little 

 more into details to suit different positions. 



MANAGEMENT OF FIRES. 

 Young men in gardens should pay far more attention than 

 they usually do to the management of fires. I believe head 

 gardeners generally have some trouble to instil into the minds 

 of their young men the importance of proper management, 

 both as regards temperature and the saving ol fuel. Many 

 head gardeners have more words with their young men about 

 fires, perhaps, than any other work about the garden. A man, 

 to be a good gardener, should learn thoroughly how to manage 

 fires. Too many young men, anxious to push plants on, are 

 apt to overdo what they aim at by overheating, and thereby 



