440 



JODBNAL OF HOBTICUIiTUBE AKD COTTAGE GABDENEB. [ Doeembor lo, 1868. 



more than two pairs of flowers expanded at one time on each 

 flowerstali. As the first-expanded flowers fade, the stalk 

 lengthens, and a great many pairs are produced. 



This plant is easily cultivated, and the bulbs may be pur- 

 chased at a cheap rate. The largest bulbs must be selected, 

 as small ones sometimes do not flower, and if they do, will not 

 give satisfaction. 



I pot three roots in a 6-inch pet, using for soil a mixture of 

 two parts turfy loam and one part well-rotted cow manure, 

 with a small portion of silver sand to make the compost porous. 

 The best situation for the pots is a Cucumber frame, where 

 they may be plunged to the rims in the material in which the 

 Cucumbers are planted. A bottom heat of 85' or 90° suits 

 the Tuberoses very weU. They ought to be kept in the frame 

 until the flowerstalks appear, when they may be removed to the 

 greenhouse, and allowed to flower there. 



They succeed very well in a vinery, but I do not recommend 

 them to be grown there, as they are very liable to be attacked 

 by red spider, and will undoubtedly introduce that unwelcome 

 visitor. In the greenhouse they may be set so that the fiower- 

 stallss show above the foliage of other plants. They are also 

 suitable to place in the entrance hall of the house, where scented 

 flowers are appreciated.— J. Dodglas. 



THE HYBRID COLEUSES. 



DoBiKG my visit to the great June Show of this year at 

 ''South Kensington I first saw the collection of new hybrid 

 Coleuses. Beautiful indeed they looked ; I was charmed 

 with the lovely foliage there displayed. No doubt eventually, 

 when their value shall have been known and proved, they will 

 prove invaluable both for in-door decoration and for bedders. 

 For dinner-table decoration they are exquisite. To see them 

 to perfection is by the aid of the chandelier ; the contrast be- 

 tween the tablecloth and the lovely dark folir ge is charming 

 They are so easily propagated that they are within the reach 

 of every one, and no doubt as they become better known they 

 will be more popular than they are at present. 



Colcus Saunckrsi is of a deep chocolate purple in the centre, 

 somewhat mottled, and of a pale brouzy tint towards the edge, 

 which has a broadish band of green broken through with pur- 

 plish bronzy reticulations ; under surface blotched with purple 

 in the centre. Stems green, blotched with purple. I have had 

 some of the leaves as broad as the palm of my hand. It is a 

 plane-leaved variety. 



Coh'us MarslialH —One of the best of the set. Rich chocolate 

 purple ; the base of the midrib and the crenatures green, so as 

 jnst to form a narrow green margin. Stems green, stained with 

 purple at the nodes. 



Culeus DUii. — Leaves dark chocolate purple in the centre. 

 feathering out through the broadish bright green margin, which 

 is nearly an inch wide ; the crenatures narrowly purple-edged. 



Coh'us Bcrketeyi. — Leaves, both above and beneath, of a rich 

 velvety chocolate purple, the tips of the crenatures only being 

 green. Stems green, slightly speckled and clothed with pur- 

 plish down. This is a beautiful and richly-coloured plant, in 

 which nearly the whole surface is of a velvety purple hue, 

 which is well displayed, from the flatness of the foliage. 



Coleus Murrayi. — Leaves green, piunately marked along the 

 principal veins with bars of dark purple, which sometimes 

 'Coalesce, the rest of the surface showing through from beneath 

 the purple reticulations, which are evenly and strongly marked 

 on the under surface. Stems purple. This is a more regularly 

 and more fully coloured form of C. Gibsoni, and, therefore, an 

 improvement. 



Coleus raickeici. — Deep purple throughout on both surfaces. 

 Stems purple. A fine, sturdy-growing, dark-leaved sort, having 

 very much the colour of the Perilla nankinensis. 



Coleus Batemani. — This is a frilled-leaved variety, deep 

 purple, here and there very slightly mottled with green. Stem 

 purple. 



Coleus Bauscl. — This charming variety is one of the best. 

 I have had leaves that would cover my hand, of a rich velvety 

 chocolate purple, green towards the base, and at the extreme 

 margin ; under surface slightly blotched with purple. Stems 

 green, purplish at the nodes. Very richly coloured, the dark 

 colour nicely relieved by the sUght green margin which lightens 

 np the whole plant. 



Colem Clarkci. — Leaves' centre green, with the fringe purple. 

 One of the darker-tinted sorts, having .the markings of the 

 reticulated character. 



Coleus Wikoni. — Leaves of a rich velvety chocolate, shaded 

 with purple ; the base of the leaf and the fringe slightly tipped 

 with the same colour. A very elegant mottled variety, quite 

 distinct. 



Coleus Scotti. — Leaves bright green, everywhere traversed 

 by deep purple veins, here and there coalescing into blotches ; 

 the under surface similarly marked, but of a brighter colour! 

 Stem purple. A very elegant variety, having the markings of 

 a deep tint of purple, but well relieved by the green spaces 

 between the dark-coloured reticulations. 



Colons ii't'd'esi.— Frilled with coarse wavy teeth, green, 

 mottled witii bronze and purple, sparingly dotted at the base, 

 and laid on in close reticulations and patches towards the edge, 

 the centre being deeply tinted and entirely of a dark colour,' 

 and the teeth green, with narrow purple edges. Stem green, 

 blotched with purple. 



Coleus Tclfordi aurea. — Leaves of a yellow colour, with a 

 blotch in the centre of each leaf. This variety does not do well 

 with me. I do not consider it worth growing. It is very much 

 after the style of Plectranthus concolor, but not nearly so good. 

 All the others are doing exceedingly well, and are everything 

 that I could wish. 



I read the announcement of another set, shortly to be sold, 

 said to be superior to any of the previous varieties. If they 

 are, they must be good indeed. — F. P. L. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



I HAVE hesitated about writing respecting Mushroom culture, 

 so much has been written already ; but my plan is so simple 

 and successful that I must state it and the results. 



The place in which the Mushrooms are grown was originally 

 the stokehole for two of Weeks' tubular boilers, which are now 

 remoMd some distance from the houses, and the sides of the 

 underground stokehole have been converted into beds for Mush- 

 rooms ; the end boarded-up for Sea-kale. There are two 

 6-inch flow and return pipes from the boilers, 40 yards off, to 

 heat a block of seven houses, and these two pipes pass through 

 the old stokehole under the arched roof. 



The first bed was made October 5th, from droppings collected 

 from the stable, which had been placed in an open shed and 

 kept turned until there was a sufficient quantity. They were 

 then put in the bed, well beaten down, spawned when the heat 

 ■vas on the decline, at 85°, and soiled with 2 inches of stiff 

 yellow loam. The first dish was gathered November 10th, and 

 since that time I have had thirty-one dozen from a bed 9 feet 

 long, 3 feet wide, and 10 inches deep. I have just gathered five 

 dozen more. There are 110, averagings inches across the top, 

 fit to be taken, and the bed is completely white with smaU 

 Mushrooms the size of peas and upwards. 



The second bed, spawned November 5th, is showing the little 

 globules all over. I have made two more beds for successions, 

 with room for eight more of the same-sized beds, so there will 

 be no lack of Mushrooms throughout the winter. Of the 110 I 

 have cut six which weighed 9 ozs. — J. C. Mundell, Tlie Gar- 

 dens, Hooley Hall. 



BARBAREA VULGARIS VARIEGATA AS A 



WINTER DECORATIVE PLANT. 

 As one much interested in hardy plants presenting a showy 

 appearance in winter, I beg to thank " Ateshire Gardener " 

 (page 117), who mentions one to which I confess being a 

 stranger, but from the description given of it, I would be glad 

 to have a closer acquaintance with it, as it is evidently one of 

 those plants of easy culture which commend themselves more 

 especially to those who want a great number of suitable plants 

 with as little trouble in cultivation as possible. Presuming 

 this plant to be a Winter Cress, as the generic name implies, 

 its foliage I take to be a nearly pinnated leaf, of considerable 

 beauty in the green form, but of much greater beauty in the 

 variegated one, and being thickly set on the crown of the 

 plant must, as the writer says, be very attractive in winter, 

 excepting when enveloped in snow. The latter, of course, over- 

 whelms everything, and we must not be deterred from growing 

 the plant in consequence of that ; and as ornamental plants 

 for winter use are not at all numerous, especially such as are 

 really attractive from, say, the middle of November to the 

 middle of March, a period of four months, I, for one, will be 

 glad of anything that can be worked in to advantage during 

 that time. After the latter period comes spring, when we 



