S06 



JOUMAL OF SOKTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE OAHDENEK. 



[ December 19, 1365^ 



collection should be witLont it, its fine variegated foliage and 

 its gi-aceful habit make it a special favourite. It will flourish 

 in any greenhouse during winter, and in spring it can be 

 divided if necessary. 



I had, two yeai-s ago, two very large plants ; thf i-oots or stools 

 were 18 inches through, but, not then knowing better, in the 

 autumn, when I took them up, I was foolish enough to divide 

 them into as many as twelve or more plants, and put them 

 into a cold greenhouse. To my grief I lost them aU but one. 

 Had I left them undivided until spring I might have saved 

 every one, if, after dividing, I had placed them in gentle heat 

 for a few weeks to have started them, and graduaUy hardened 

 them off before planting-out time. 



My one plant has made a good stool ag.iin this summer j^and 

 I hope to make two or three of it in the spring. 



The soU that I find suits it best is a mixture of loam, leaf 

 mould, and a little rotten cowdung. When established in the 

 bed plenty of mpoiure water benefits the plant, and it should 

 he kept well soaked with water ; in fact, it will almost grow in 

 water. 



If well managed it will send up canes 5 or 6 feet high, and 

 then nothing can be more beautiful than it is. 



In autumn, before it is touched by frost, it should be very 

 carefully taken up, and then the canes will last all winter, or 

 nearly so, making a very beautiful object for the gi-eenhouse or 

 conservatory. In the spring the old canes can be cut ofi when 

 ihe young offsets begin to come up from the bottom. 



I should be obliged by your telling me what country it comes 

 Ii'om, and by any information you can give upon it. — Ckaeles 

 Edwa^s, BrMol. 



[It is called by botanists Arnndo donax versicolor, and popu- 

 larly Striped Keed Grass. It is only a variety of the Arundo 

 donax, or cultivated Eeed, a native of the south of Europe and 

 elsewhere.] 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLO^^^ERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



Palumbina CANDIDA (Whitc-flowered Palumbina). — A'of. onh, 

 Orchidaceff. Linn.. Gynandria Wonandria. — Native of Mexico. 

 Flowers about an inch across, all but piure white. — {Bot. Map., 

 t. 5546.) 



Thibaudia Jessic.i: (Hon. Mrs. John Bateman's Thibaudia). 

 — Nat. ord., Vaeciniacesp. Linn., Decandria Monogynia. — 

 Supposed to be a native of Caraccas. Flowers in racemes of 

 ten or twelve, fleshy, pale red. as well as the calyx tube and 

 flower-stalks. Leaves large and handsome. — (Ibid., t. 5547.) 



Calceol.aria HTSsoriFOLiA (Hyssop -leaved Calceolaria).— 

 l^at. ord.. Scrophularinere. Linn., Diandria Monogynia. — Na- 

 tive of the Quitenian Andes, at an elevation of from 10 to 

 11,000 feet, whence seeds of it were sent by Professor Jameson 

 to J. Anderson-Hem7, Esq., Edinburgh. A shrub from 2 to 

 4 feet high. Flowers pale sulphur yeUow. — (Ibid., t. 5548.) 



Palafoxia Hookebiana (Sir AV. Hooker's Palafoxia). — Nat. 

 ord., Compositfp. Linn., Syngenesia superflua. — Native of 

 Texas and Arkansas. Flowers an inch or more across, pale or 

 bright rosy red.— (Ibid., t. 5549.) 



Trichopilia Tuei.alv.e (Trurialva Trichopilia). — Nat. ord., 

 Orehidaceae. Linn., Gynandria Monandi'ia. — Native of Central 

 America, and named after the mountain on which it was found. 

 Flowers yellowish white, with a deeper yellow Up. — (Ibid., 

 t. 5550.) 



DuNELLA tasmauica (Tasmanian DianeDa). — Nat. ord., LUi- 

 acea>. Linn., Hexandria Monogynia. — Flowers drooping, pale 

 blue, from half to three quarteis of an inch in diameter, suc- 

 ceeded by an abundance of oblong berries of the above length, 

 which hang for many weeks, and constitute the great beauty of 

 the plant.— (l(<irf., (.'5551.) 



Cattleva exoniensis. — A hybrid raised by Mr. Dominy, 

 from Cattleya Mossise impregnated with LaUa purpurata. 

 Plowers blush, the terminal half of the lip varying from rosy 

 purple to crimson maroon, the lateral part white, sometimes 

 margined with pm-ple, the base yellow streaked with pui-ple. — 

 {Floral Mar,., pi. 269.) 



Fuchsias. — Day Dream, lavender with crimson base, tube 

 and sepals bright crimson. Li::y He.rhain, very dark purple, 

 feathered with crimson at the base, tube and sepals crimson. 

 Catherine Parr, tube and sepals white, corolla crimson. Lady 

 Dumbello, \erj large, bright mauve; tube and sepals crimson. 

 All four were raised by E. Banks, Esq., of Deal. — (Ibid., pi. 

 270, 271.) 



Staurantheea grandiflora. — Native of Moulmein. Flowers 

 light blue, with a bright yellow throat. — (Ibid., pi. 271.) 



Phal.enopsis LuiiDEMANxiANA. — Very much like Phala;- 

 nopsis rosea or equestris in habit, but far more beautiful. The 

 flowers are of considerable size, and very beautifully coloured, 

 "the oblong spreading sepals and petals having a pale, almost 

 white, ground colour, and being marked all over with crowded 

 transverse bars, which in one variety are of a deep cinnamon 

 brown, and in another are of a delicate purple. These coloured 

 bars show also on the outer surface of the flower. The lip is 

 thrce-lobed, the larger and prominent middle lobe of an intense 

 violet, the lateral ones whitish with yellow markings." A na- 

 tive of the Philippine Islands, introduced by Messrs. Low & Co., 

 and named in compliment to M. Liiddemann, of Paris, who 

 first flowered the plant. — (Florist and Ponwloyist, iii., 257.) 



WALL-TOP VINERIES. 



I HAVE a wall with a due south aspect on which I am de- 

 su-ons of growing a few Grapes. The waU is a new one, and. 

 has been planted wiih wall fruit, but as the trees are quite 

 young, and not more than 4 feet in extreme width of branch. 

 I want to obtain all I can from the wall while they are grow- 

 ing. I send a sketch of the waU as now planted, only adding 

 that the border under the wall is 12 feet wide. 



ft a. Portion of Wall, showing Vine proposed to be planted against but- 

 tress fc, iind mode of training. 



My proposal is to plant a hardy Vine against the buttresses, 

 one of which is marked b, and train two rods to the top of the 

 wall, then run them in opposite directions close under the 



Section of Wall, showing proposed covering of glass over the bearing 

 rods of the Vine, a. Wall, 8 feet 6 inches high. h. Buttress, c. Border, 

 12 feet wide, d. Walk, c. Glass-covering. /, Vine. 



coping, fixing to the coping a run of glass about 18 inches in 

 depth, and supported at the lower edge 12 inches from the 

 waU. 'Will this improve the quality or quantity of the bunches ? 

 — Speinofield. 



[We think your plan will do very well, only we would make 

 tlie base of the triangle 18 inches, or even more, instead of 

 12 inches. We presume you mean that to be open space, and 

 if so, a strip of open musUn or hexagon netting fixed there 

 would keep heat in at the ripening time, admit plenty of air, 

 and keep flies and wasps out. We would plant two Vines in- 

 stead of one at each buttress.] 



