42 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ JuiaaiT 16, ISK. 



Another lot may be started in March, kept in a hotbed for a 

 time until tlioy have grown and are potted off, and then re- 

 moved to rinery or other honse until they flower. They will 

 do well in the greeulioiiso whilst in bloom, and oven grow- 

 there after .Inne if the house be closed early, and be converted 

 for the time into a stove by liusbnnding eun heat. Plants 

 Ftartcd in .Alarili will bloom in July aud August ; those started 

 in April will do so in .\ugust and September, ri.ints allowed 

 to start of their own accord iu vineries having a little fire heat 

 in Bpriu;,', will mostly bloom in September ; whilst those in a 

 late vinery will justbe coming into bloom in the end of Sep- 

 tember. Plants started nt the end of May or early in Juno 

 bloom finely in the stove iu Oi:tobcr and Kovcmber. 



Achimenes are stove plants, and require to be started in a 

 hotbed ill order to do at all well in a greenhouse, to which they 

 need not be removed until they are of a size fit for blooming. 



Sonic have a practice of taking the bulbs out of the pot in 

 winter and storing them away in paper ; they shrivel, however, 

 and though it i."; not well to keep them wet, they certainly are 

 best kept in the soil in which they grew, aud if the pots are 

 placed on a damp floor the bulbs will turn out in spring plump, 

 though the soil may ho like dust. Another common practice 

 is to thrr,?t the plants after blooming under the stages, which 

 is of all times that at which they require light and a dimin- 

 ished supjily of water to mature the bulbs. 



A dozeu of the best kinds of which I have experience are : — 



Carl Wolfarth. — Crimson piu-ple witli carmine spots, close 

 habit. Very free bloomer. 



Lonsiflora major. — Flowers large, blue. A profuse bloomer; 

 grows rather tall. 



Meteor. — Crimson scarlet, Bnd yellow-spotted eye. Fine. 



Sccptrum. — Vermilion, richlymarked; habit good, pyramidal. 



Sir Treherne Thomas. — Bright crimson, rather tall. Good. 



Mauve Perfection. — Of a mauve tint. Free-blooming and 

 good. 



Margaretla. — ^Whito. The best of its colour. 



Dazzle. — Flowers of medium size, scarlet ; dwarf habit. 



Ignoa. — Flowers small, of the brightest scarlet, produced iu 

 great profusion ; habit good. 



Ami.roise Verschaiielt. — Lilac white, violet lines, and car- 

 mine .s)>ots. Good in every respect. 



Carniiuata elegans. — Eosy carmine, of fine loi-m. A free 

 bloomer. 



Baur.iauui hii'suta. — Violet purple, cooj hiibit, free bloomer. 

 — G. Aebky. 



C0XSEQUENCE8 OF 

 COXSERVATORY 



LIGHTING 

 BY GAS. 



A 



I HAVE the care of a newly erected conservatorj-, 60 feet long, 

 20 wide, aud 18 feet high ; it has a table stage along the front 

 and one end, beds down the centre, aud along the back v.all. 

 It has been filled and planted about two months, and everj-- 

 thiug looked very well till last week, when, as my employer 

 was going to have a large party, he wished to have it lighted 

 with ga~. I told him I had heard that gas was ver>- injurious 

 to plants ; but he thought if it were placed nearly up to the 

 roof, and there was a chimney to carry off the fumes, it could 

 not do them much harm, as it would be nearly 1.5 feet above 

 them. He accoi'dingly had two sun-lights, consisting of fifteen 

 burners each, fixed. They were alight three nights, two while 

 the workmen were there, aud on the night of the party. On 

 entering the conservatory the following moraing I was perfectly 

 astonished — in fact, almost ready to shut the door and run 

 away. The plants looked miserable : everjthing seemed 

 parched, and looked as dry as if it had not been watered 

 for a month, (leranium leaves were yellow; Solannm capsi- 

 castrum. aud Acaci;» dealbata, pubescens, and giandis, with 

 scarcely a leaf on them ; the Camellias had dropped nearly 

 all their flower-buds ; and the foliago of other plants, though 

 still looking green, came off at the slightest touch. 



Is the gas, do yon think, to blame for all this mischief ? My 

 master does not seem at all satisfied about it. He thinks I 

 neglected to water the plants ; but that is not the case, as I 

 watered them the day before the gas was lighted, and 1 know 

 they were quite as wet as plants should be at this time of year. 

 In the event of gas being used again, do you think it would be 

 advisable for nio to well water and syringe the plants in the 

 afternoon, aud leave the ventilators in the roof wide open ? — 

 J. A. 



[We have little doubt that the gas did the mischief, owing 



to some defect in the chimney used to carry ofl the fumes. We 

 know of several houses that are lighted at night on festival 

 occasions ; but the gas-burners are ])luced near the apex of 

 the roof, aud there are small narrow vcutUattirs all the way, 

 which, even if opened a little, allow the fumes of the bnrued 

 gas and the heated air to escape. It would be well to have 

 the ]dants sufficiently watered, not overwatered, before using 

 gas again ; but our experieuce would not enable us to judge as 

 to the i)ropriety of syringing the plants all over before lighting 

 the g.rs. At first sight it would seem that the moisture on the 

 leaves woiUd keep the gas from injuring them ; but then we 

 know that even when tobacco smoke is applied to some plants 

 when the foliage is wet the plants wUl be more injured than 

 the insects, whilst to destroy the insects and not hurt the plants 

 the foliage can scarcely be too dry. We shall be obUged if any 

 of our readers will state their experience as to wet and dry 

 foliage when exposed to gas fumes. The true remedy we sus- 

 pect to be a free escape of heated air- and fumes to the open 

 air. ", 



THE PUBLIC GARDENS OF TARIS. 



Hor.TicuLTUUE, as undertaken by the civic authorities of 

 Paris, has become considerably extended since the public 

 department of " Promenades ct Plantations " was established 

 in 18j8 under M. Alphaud, the chief engineer of •• Roads and 

 Bridges." In fact, to this beginning is in a great measure to be 

 ascribed the recent spread of oniamental gardening in all parts 

 of France ; and the good example set by the gardeners of Paris 

 has given a fresh impulse to horticulture generally throughout 

 thn country. 



The Bois dc Boulogne was the first of the series of public 

 gardens formed by the city, and it was the Emperor who sug- 

 gested the gigantic undertaking of remodelling this flat, dusty 

 tract of ground, which was scantih' covered with a ban-en vege- 

 tation. The task was carried out with unexampled vigour and 

 rapidity, and the result has been the most delightful and ex- 

 tensive park known. Soon other gardens followed on the 

 boulevards, which radiate through the most populous quarters, 

 those suffering most from want of air and space. The crooked 

 streets aud foul gutters have given place to beautiful prome- 

 nades and smiling oases of verdure and flowers^-charming 

 retreats, to which infancy aud old age alike resort — resting- 

 places for the mother of the family, and the workman snatched 

 from the seductions of the tavern. These new gardens have 

 become great favourites with the people. There the workman 

 makes his meal on tlio same seat as that on which the old 

 soldiers of the empire relate their past exploits, while such of 

 them as are the birds' friends call them to snatch a morsel of 

 bread from their hands. 



All the quarters of Paris have now their public garden? ; their 

 principal localities, however, are La Tour St. Jacques, the 

 Marche du Temple, the Champs Elysees, the Conservatoire des 

 Arts et Metiers, the Park of Monecaux, the Marchi- des Inno- 

 cents, Place Montholon, St. Clotilde. Batignolles, Belleville, 

 Grenelle, Montrouge, Malesherbes, and Charonne. To these 

 must be added other heavy works now in course of execution, 

 as those at the Bois de Vincennes, which will soon be a rival to 

 the Bois de Boulogne, and the park of Buttes-Chaumont, which 

 will be one of the most curious transformations of the age. 



To keep up such an extent of gardens it will readily be con- 

 ceived how great must be the amount of labour and materials 

 required. Under the direction of the chief engineer, M. Alphand, 

 and the two engineei-s w ho divide Paris into two sections, the 

 gardening staff of the city is as follows: — 1 Superintendent, 

 ■1 Head Gardeners, 2 Foremeu, 2 Inspectors of Plantations, 

 20 Chefs d' Atelier, and an army of gardeners amounting to not 

 less than 300. without counting the office staff and others in- 

 directly connected with horticulture. 



To ifeed the whole of the pubUc g.ardens there are five esta- 

 blishments, distributed as follows :— Ist, The parent establish- 

 ment of La Muette (Passy), for the propagation of hothouse, 

 greenhouse, and bedding plants. 2nd, That for annuals and 

 hei-baceous plants at Vincennes. 3rd, A nursery for Conifers, 

 American plants, and evergieens at the Bois de Boulogne. 

 4th, A nurserv- for deciduous trees aud shrubs at the Bois de 

 Boulogne, oth. A nursei-y for large forest aud ornamental 

 trees at Petit Bry, near Xogenl-sur-Marne. 



I will not speak of the outdoor departments, as they resemble 

 those of large nurseries ; but the establishment of La Muette, 

 from its e.xteut aud the peculiar features which it presents, 

 desencs special notice. Situated near one of the entrances to 



