February 27, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENKit. 



183 



increaRiug correspondence, I have determined the names of 

 189 plants sent to me for that purpose. 



Tliere is one point which I wish in conclusion to take this 

 opportunity of more especially nrpinp. I am strongly impressed 

 with the inequality in value of the certificates awarded by the 

 Floral Committee. It appears to me that the enterprise and 

 expense of introducing an important new plant into the country 

 is ordinarily far f;reater than that involved in producing a new 

 florists' variety of an old-established species. I think, therefore, 

 that the two classes of cultivated plants should receive different 

 forms of certificate. The number of first-class varieties of the 

 Dahlia, for example, is endless. The result must be, I cannot 

 but think, to reduce the value of the flrst-class certificate. At 

 any rate it must make such a distinction appear inadequate 

 when a new plant of the importance of, say, Phaljcnopsis Schil- 

 leriana makes its appearance for the first time at the Society. 

 W. T. Thiselton Dyeb, Professor of Botany. 



LEUCADENDEON ARGENTEUM. 



Can you tell me the name of the tree of which tho enclosed 

 is a leaf ? It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and is 

 called there " a Pine." I should also like to know under what 

 treatment the seeds are most likely to germinate. The seeds 

 are hard, like the fruit of the Stone Pine, with very pretty 

 feathery awns attached, spirally twisted. — H. AV. 



fThe leaf enclosed is one from a Witteboom, as tho Dutch 

 Cape settlers call it, Lcucadendron ar0cnteum,OT Silver Tree. At 

 the Cape the wood was generally and mercilessly used for fuel, 

 so that there it is almost extinct. It was introduced here as an 

 ornamental shrub as long since asl{)03,its bright silvery leaves 

 being very beautiful. Its flowers are yellow. The seeds will 

 sometimes remain in the ground six or eight months, and at 

 other times the plants will appear in six weeks ; therefore the 

 best way is to sow the seeds in small pots filled with sandy 

 loam, and plunge them in a moderate hotbed ; and if the plants 

 should not come up so soon as expected, the pots should re- 

 main in shelter till the following spring, when, it the seeds 

 remain sound, the plants will come up. The pots in which the 

 seeds are sown should have but little water, for moisture fre- 

 quently causes them to rot. When the plants appear they 

 should not be too tenderly treated, nor should they have much 

 water ; but in warm weather they must be exposed to the open 

 air in a sheltered situation, and in winter protected from frost. 



The plant may be propagated by cuttings of the ripened 

 shoots in summer, in sand, under a glass, and kept cool until 

 the base of the cutting has callused, when extra heat may be 

 applied. The soil should be fibry loam and sandy peat, with 

 a few rough pieces of charcoal to keep the compost open. 

 Winter temperature, 38' to 45°.— Eds.] 



RATING NURSERYMEN'S GLAZED 

 STRUCTURES. 



I A5t a nurseryman and florist, and I took a piece of grass 

 land several years since, and now have placed a lot of green- 

 houses and pits on the same, which I have the right in my 

 lease at any time to remove, even to sell to anyone. I wish to 

 know if they are rateable to the poor ? I am told they are as 

 much my stock-in-trade as the pots and pans in a tinman's 

 shop, and are not subject to the poor rate ; indeed, how could 

 I carry on my business as a florist and nurseryman without 

 them ? — J. Williams. 



[We have repeatedly expressed our opinion that a nursery- 

 man's and florist's greenhouses and hothouses are not rate- 

 able. They are mere shelters for his stock-in-trade, and are 

 on a large scale what the copings on his walls, and the frames 

 on his hotbeds are. Under certain circumstances stock-in- 

 trade is rateable, but as a farmer is not liable to be rated for 

 his stock-in-trade needed for carrying on his business, so even 

 if a nurseryman's glass houses were considered stock-in-trade 

 they are needed for carrying on his business. Nevertheless, 

 as opinions have for long differed upon the point, it is useless 

 to discuss them in any journal, and we strongly recommend 

 nurserymen, florists, and others interested in the final de- 

 cision of the dispute to subscribe and have the caso decided 

 by one of the superior courts. — Eds.J 



Rose Marie BAnMANN.— I can fuUy endorse all that Mr. 

 Cant says in respect of Mario Baumann. From the beginning 

 it has been with me a great favourite, I have never failed on 

 going to that row to cut a perfect bloom, and as an amateur I 



have been proud to show it. Tho only disadvantage is that 

 with me the stalk is weak, otherwise the flower and foliage are 

 all that I could wish. — T. W. Johnson, Uxbridge. 



EVENING MUSINGS FOR PLAIN PEOPLE.— No. 2. 



That the idea is common — too common , that a separate house 

 for Vines is a necessity is proved by the perplexity of those 

 contemplating the erection of a glass structure, and who hesi- 

 tate lest they should not be able to produce Grapes and plants 

 under the same roof, and by the same treatment as to heating 

 and airing. The best answers to doubts of this nature aro 

 facts. Excellent crops of Grapes arc, in places innumerable, 

 each year produced in houses that are crowded with bedding 

 plants six or eight months out of tho twelve. Indeed, in the 

 treatment of the two — Vines and other plants — there is nothing 

 really antagonistic under certain conditions. The same tem- 

 perature, a minimum of 40°, is suitable alike for flowering 

 plants and Vines during the winter months, and the higher 

 temperature of spring, necessary to tho Vines, is suited also 

 to the plants until the time arrives for their removal into 

 frames or sheltered places out of doors. The prime condition 

 to attend to in the combination is to keep the house as cool as 

 possible, and for as long as possible, in the spring, that is 

 until the Vines are determined to grow, as it were, naturally. 

 Black Hamburgh, Bncklaud Sweetwater, and other early and 

 good Grapes, will then ripen well during the summer with no 

 fire heat, unless tho season is singularly unfavourable, the 

 house much exposed, or the latitude beyond .53° N. The fact 

 is, that thousands of bedding plants can be preserved, and 

 abundance of excellent table Grapes can be had from even a 

 moderate-sized house at scarcely any cost at all as regards 

 firing. I can give a case in point, for under my charge is a 

 house closely staged for plants, and always crammed from 

 November till May, yet the Vines above them produce abun- 

 dantly and ripen their fruit perfectly, yet the cost of firing 

 does not amount to a shilling a mouth taking the year round. 

 During the year just ended it did not cost half that sum, in- ■ 

 significant as it is. The secret lies in keeping tlie Vines back 

 in the spring, not forcing them to burst their buds until the 

 weather begins to be genial, and then economising and manag- 

 ing the sun heat. A fire, even at night, is then only very 

 seldom an absolute necessity. 



I speak from actual and extended experience when I assert 

 that no harm will happen to a house of Black Hamburgh 

 Grapes at any stage whatever — blooming, setting, stoning, or 

 colouring, if the minimum temperature do not fall below 

 50°, and the enclosed sun heat will generally provide this if 

 the Vines are not forced into growth by fire heat early in 

 spring. The way, therefore, to have bedding plants and 

 Grapes, and have them cheap, and no fear about either not 

 being good useful stuff, is to use as little fire as possible, and 

 take care of tho sun. The way to begin is to retard tho break- 

 ing of the Vines until as late as can be done in tho spring. 

 The palate, the eye, and the pocket, difficult as each is to 

 satisfy,- are all here considered. The hint is specially recom- 

 mended to all (and these are the greatest number) whose 

 pockets are not well filled, and who yet wish to have Grapes 

 and plants of their own growing from the same house. 



But there is a class, and a very large one withal, who have 

 room for a vinery adjoining their little villa and suburban 

 residences, but who have next to no flower garden to furnish. 

 Bedding plants here would be a superfluity — a misnomer. 

 What can they grow under the Vines ? An empty house — that 

 is, a house devoid of plants, would have, perhaps, no charms, 

 notwithstanding the Grapes. Can nothing attractive be grown 

 in the way of decorative plants ? Does Eclio answer "Nothing?" 

 Then Echo is at fault this time. What of bulbs, those 

 vernal gems, which burst their fetters, and in the liberty of 

 new-born beauty will diffuse their smiles and dispense their 

 fragrance, in spite of Vines or prejudice, wherever their simple 

 wants can be attended to ? What of many other spring-bloom- 

 ing plants, of Primulas and Cinerarias, for instance ? Can- 

 not they be reared in the spring, and nursed on in little pots 

 for awhile until transferred to cold frames to perfect their 

 growth, or, even lacking these, in shady places in the open air ? 

 Of course they can, and they will give a bright return in nine 

 months from the day of sowing. Cannot Chrysanthemums be 

 struck in the house to be grown out-doors, and bronght-ui in 

 autumn to give a feast of floral beauty ? Yes, these and many 

 other things are adapted for vinei-y occupation without really 

 doing any harm whatever to Vines or Grapes. Especially it is 



