Janmry 2, lrtC8. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE OARDENEE. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



JANUARY 2—8, 1868. 



Day breaks 6.3 a.m. 



Hoyal Horticultural Society. Promouade. 



'2 SONDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 



KPlrilANV. Twelfth Day. 



Twiliaht enils G.ll P.M. 



Meeting of the Geological Society. 



Averajje Temperature 

 near London. 



Rain In 



last 

 40 years. 



Dav. 



42.5 

 43.4 

 42.7 

 41.9 

 41.1 

 41.0 

 40.9 



Nii^ht. 

 •29.7 



ao8 



31.6 

 •27.5 



as.o 



'2S.0 

 30.0 



MeaU' 

 3G.1 

 37.2 

 37.1 

 34.7 

 84.5 

 34.5 

 35.4 



Days. 



17 

 19 

 17 

 15 

 14 

 16 

 18 



San 



Rises. 



m. h. 



9af 8 



8 8 



8 8 



8 8 



8 8 



7 8 



7 8 



8aa 



Sots. 



m. h. 

 0a(4 

 1 4 



Moon 



Rises. 



TO. h. 

 S7'ifU 

 after. 



28 



55 n 



81 1 

 14 2 



7 3 



Mood 



Sets. 



m. h. 

 midn 



morn. 



7 at 1 

 20 '2 

 8^2 3 

 47 4 

 58 5 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 « 

 T> 

 10 

 11 

 12 

 IS 

 14 



Cloelt 



before 



Sun. 



^7 



Tear 



From observations taken near London durincf the last forty-ono years, the avoraj^e day teroppratnro of the week ia 41.ft''; and its night 

 temperature '2'.).4-. The greatest heat was 57 , oa the 3rd, 18tJ0 ; and tho lowest cold 11^ ijelow zero, on the 4tb, 1867. The greatest 

 fall of rain was O.S(> inch. 



LIBRARY 



NEW YORi 



BOTANICAI 



GARDEN. 



D.'Ui.ECHAMPIA ROEZIJANA ROSEA. 



HIS most beautiful anil useful Mexican Dalc- 

 champia is certainly one of tlie most elegant 

 plants (hat have appeared for many a year, 

 and will be foimd a most welcome addition 

 to our stocli of those suitabli! for table decora- 

 tion. It is also invaluable for the conserva- 

 tory. Tlie plant grows very freely, and is at 

 all seasons csvered with its pretty pink bracts, 

 embracing in the centre tlie yellow flowers. 

 The flower and bracts are very much like 

 those of the Bougainvillea, but are produced singly instead 

 of in clusters. Tlio Hower is also mucli brigliter in colour, 

 and the habit of tho plant is very graceful. No plant that 

 I have seen can compare with this in respect both to leafage 

 and richness of floral colouring. It has bright, glossy, 

 green, sub-cordate leaves, about S inches long. The plant 

 is very easily managed, and may be grown into a large 

 specimen for conservatory decoration ; when grown in 

 3 or 5 -inch pots it is also most useful for decorating vases 

 or flower baskets in the drawing-room. 



One gi-eat advantage whieli tliis Dalechampia possesses 

 over many other flowers is, tliat its flowers continue in 

 great beauty for a long time ; in a moderately dry tempe- 

 rature of 0.5^ the flowers retain tlieir freshness and beauty 

 for three or four weeks. It will be a valuable addition 

 to collections of stove and greenhouse plants, and will, 

 doubtless, be made the most of for this purpose by the 

 successful exliibitors of this class of plants ; for graceful 

 specimens may be easily grown witliout the aid of so many 

 sticks and distortions as one usually sees at exhibitions. 

 It will, therefore, present a very different appearance from 

 many plants exhibited in stove and greenliouse collections. 

 Its bright leaves, beautiful bracts, and yellow flowers will 

 add much grace and beauty to future exliibitions. 



Where the objectt is to form the plant into a large speci- 

 men, either for exliibitiou or other purposes, it should be 

 placed in a rather high and moist temperature of 70" or 80°. 

 Every flower bud must be picked out as soon as it appears 

 on the stem. 



The soil most suitable is a mixture of rich, fibry, yellow 

 loam, peat, leaf soil, and cocoa-nut refuse in equal portions, 

 with a little small cliai'coal. and just enough silver sand 

 mixed with it to keep it suflioiently porous. The drainage 

 must also be perfect. 



As soon as the roots have reached the sides of the pot 

 the plant may be shifted into one a size larger. It must at 

 no time be allowed to suffer from want of water, and if 

 supplied wnth weak guano water once or twice every week 

 after the pots are full of roots, rapid gi-owtli will be encou- 

 raged, the brilliancy and size of tlie flower and bracts will 

 be increased, and the foliage wall acquire a deeper colour 

 and more glossy appearance. 



No insect appears to trouble the plant much, excepting 

 scale and white mealy bug ; but these, however, may be 

 kept under by constant vigilance and attention on the 

 part of the person in charge of the stove or other house in 

 which the plant may be cultivated. 



No. SSS.-Von. xrv., New Series. 



The best way to propagate this beautiful plant is by 

 cuttings. Having taken a shoot, it sliovild bo cut up in pieces 

 about lialf an inch long. Tliis will give two eyes ; one 

 at the base of the cutting, the other at the top. 'I'he leaf 

 stalk at the former should be trimmed-ofl close to the 

 stem of the cutting : but that near the top eye should be 

 left entire, with about three-parts of the blade of tlie leaf 

 attached to it. Tho cuttings are best pricked into small 

 thumb-pots. The soil most suitabli; for tlieni is a mixture 

 similar to that recommended for growmg the plants in. It 

 will, however, require to be rubbed through a fine sieve, and 

 a lai-ger proportion of sand will be necessary. Great care 

 must also be exorcised to put plenty of drainage in every 

 pot. If the pots are .'! inches high, at least 1 inch of drain- 

 age should be placed at the bottom, and this should be 

 broken in pieces of a regular size ; first put in about 

 half an inch of larger pieces, then a lialf-inch layer of 

 smaller pieces. This will cause the water to find its way 

 through the soil in tho pot regularly, rendering the soil 

 equally moist throughout. 



It often happens when the drainage is placed in a cut- 

 ting pot in a careless way — large pieces and tine sittings all 

 in one indiscriminate mass — that on turning tlie soil out 

 to see what is the cause of one half of the cuttings in the 

 jiot striking properly and the other half being dried up, one 

 lialf of the soil is found to be as dry as dust, whUst the other 

 part will be quite wet. The cause of this is not placing 

 the drainage properly in the pot. This is a point I am very 

 particular about, whetlier the pots arc for cuttings or grown- 

 up plants. 



The soil should be pressed into the cutting pots so as to 

 bo moderately firm : then a. quarter of an inch of clean, 

 silver sand should be put on the top. and wlien tliis is 

 pressed down there should be a space of not less than half 

 an inch between tlie surface of the sand and the rim of the 

 pot. This is another point that should never be lost sight 

 of in making-up cutting pots or pans for any liind of plant : 

 for if the pot is filled up level with the rim, and the sand 

 is pressed down very closely and firmly, in a short time a 

 solid crust will be f(n-med by the sand, and when it is 

 found necessary to water the cuttings, the water runs ofl" 

 the sand instead of passing through it ; but when there is 

 a space left between the rim of the pot and the sand, tliat 

 space will generally hold suttlcient water to wet the wliole 

 of the soil in the pots ; if not. more can be added as soon as 

 that previously applied lias soaked away. Want of atten- 

 tion to minor details such as those I have liere mentioned 

 is often the cause of many being unsuccessful in wiiatever 

 they ma_y undertake, whether it be the propagation and 

 management of plants or anytliing in connection with 

 business of other kinds. 



Having properly prep.ared the cuttin.g pots, the cuttings 

 may be inserted in them, one in the centre of each pot. 

 They should be put in to a sullieieut depth to be made firm 

 in the soil. If the hole made by the diliber is an inch 

 deep it will be sufficient for all purposes. Tlic soil should 

 be pressed close to tho cutting. 



After the cuttings have all been put in they may be 

 j watered, and allowed to stand on the potting bench, or on 



No. 100.T -Vnr . XV -Ti.. Ot.r Sf.mf''. 



