February 25, 1575. 1 



joubnaij of hobticultube and cottage gabdeneb. 



159 



stance, yet occasionaUy a toach of pink breaks ont of the 

 petals : this is a variety of sterling merit, habit, foliage, and 

 blooms being alike good. Jubilee (there is also a continental 

 red one of this name) is attractive, its flowers being a blush 

 white, and foliage very superior. Teutonia — white, delicately 

 touched with pink — is a very excellent variety, while Countess 

 of Orkney of the same type should be in every collection, as 

 also should Cap of Beauty. Of more decided colouring on a 

 white ground is Princess Frederick William of Prussia, which 

 is carnation-striped and mottled, is of excellent habit, with the 

 fine twisted foliage of Imbricita. Of even more decided mark- 

 ings is Comtesse Lavinia Maggi, a flower of stout buUd and 

 very attractive, yet lacking the refinement of some other 

 varieties. 



The best of the darker-coloured kinds are Imbricata ; Matho- 

 tiana ; Leopold I., good colour, with shell-like petals and vigorous 

 growth ; Beine des Fleurs, compact, free, and of fine substance 

 of petal; Jeffersonii, a high-coloured variety, and attractive 

 by the white bar down the centre of each petal. CUo vera is a 

 nice flower, of a bright pleasing colour. Beticulata plena is 

 perhaps the richest of all, carrying blooms of great substance 

 and good form. It is distinct in foliage from every other 

 variety, and is of vigorous growth. This is suitable for a large 

 specimen or for c Dvering a wall. 



The pink and rose-coloured varieties in bloom were not 

 numerous. The best of these was Augustine superba : this 

 appears identical with Saccoi nova, which has a host of 

 aliases, and is perhaps the best proof of its worth. Henri 

 Faure is a good deep-coloured variety in this section, and the 

 plant possesses a free growth. General Lafayette is a free- 

 flowering kind, but its crimpled petals add nothing to its beauty. 

 Last, but not least, is Comte Kesselrode : this is a com- 

 paratively new variety, and is undoubtedly good. These are 

 the best of the collection seen in bloom, and all are worthy of 

 general cultivation. Besides these large plants other houses 

 are filled with CameUias, ranging from half-specimens down 

 to handy plants in 4 and 5-inch pots. The entire collection 

 is healthy and well grown. The next most striking feature in 

 the establishment is the collection of 



Nepenthes, or Pitcher Plants. These quaint flowers hang 

 from the roofs of the houses like a cloud of gigantic spiders. 

 They are grown in home-made baskets, such as are used for 

 Orchids, a ad the pitchers are suspended over the sides in great 

 profusion. The cleanliness and health of these plants are re- 

 markable, and their interest to visitors is always very great. 

 One of the most free and attractive kinds raised, we beUeve, in 

 this establishment is N. intermedia. This is clearly a variety 

 of great merit, and the stock is both large and good. We 

 also noticed N. hybrida and hybrida maculata as distinct and 

 fine ; N. lauata of remarkable texture of foliage and pitchers ; 

 the well-known X. Bafilesiana, and the pretty X. Sedeni. A 

 number of seedlings with miniature pitchers were very interest- 

 ing, and gave promise of developing into new varieties of dis- 

 tinct and sterling merit. We would now briefly glance at the 



Orchids, noting a few in bloom at the time of our visit. Of 

 these were the varieties of Phalfenopsis^grandiSora, amabilis, 

 and the ever-charming Sjhilleriaua. The young stock of 

 these is very large, and as an instance of their free-blooming 

 character we noted some throwing-up spikes while only in 

 thumb pots. The carious Angrascum eesquipedale was in 

 flower, also good plants of the useful Cojlogyne cristata were 

 covered with blooms. Attractive spikes of tha free winter- 

 blooming cool-house Orchid Odontoglossum Alexandrse were 

 plentiful, and by way of contrast the richly-coloured 0. tri- 

 nmphans showed to advantage, while 0. pulchellum, so charm- 

 ing for cut blooms, had a profusion of spikes. Oncidiums 

 were represented by cheirophorum, the richly-scented spe- 

 ciosum, and a newer one, splendidum, which was rightly named. 

 This is really splendid, the sepals being yellow and brown, and 

 the labellum of the richest, yet soft, orange. It is unques- 

 tionably one of the finest of the entire group, and may well 

 close our notes on this interesting tribe of plants. 



We observed in the Orchid house a blooming plant of the 

 beautiful Bromeliad Tillandsia Lindeni. The flowers of this 

 variety are of the richest and purest blue imaginable ; they are 

 of large size, borne on a spike about IS inches in height. To 

 just one other plant we would draw attention, altogether 

 diflterent in character to the preceding — viz., Boronia mega- 

 stigma. This is a greenhouse plant, with foliage as small as 

 that of the most delicate Heath, and from the axil of every 

 leaf is a rouad bead-Uke flower, brown outside and yellow in- 

 side. The plant is literally studded with these globular minia- 



ture blooms, but these are not half its attraction, the chief 

 interest of the plant being its remarkable perfume. We pause 

 to examine the powerful yet familiar odour. Imagine a huge 

 bunch of Cowslips freshly gathered from the pasture, and the 

 breath of these much intensifled, and we give a fair representa- 

 tion of the perfume of this curious and interesting plant. By 

 just one specimen in a greenhouse or sitting room the vernal 

 scent of the old meadow flower is provided in the depth of 

 winter. On this account it is a plant which ought to become 

 popular. 



We can only say in conclusion that the stove plants. Ferns, 

 Palms, ic, were extensive and good, the hardwooded coUec 

 tions healthy, the Cyclamens in quantity and quality not easy 

 to be forgotten, and the whole establishment in good order and 

 systematic keeping. 



EKANTHIS HTEMALIS, OB WINTEK ACONITE. 

 Me. Eoesos has (page 93) seasonably drawn attention to this 

 worthy spring gem, which studs the ground with its golden 

 blossoms at the most dreary period of the year. This plant 

 is almost akin to air and water— so common as to be almost 

 overlooked, yet indispensable. Added to its innate beauty the 

 Winter Aconite has a most accommodating nature, and, when 

 once established, the best bit of advice in Mr. Bobson's paper 

 is that summed-up in the three words, " let it alone." It will 

 flourish anywhere, and spread and cover almost any portion of 

 any garden in town or country. It never looks so bright, how- 

 ever, as in the dark places of the earth, and if anyone has a 

 spot whereon nothing else will grow, let him try the Winter 

 Aconite. The best way to get a stock is to sow the seed as 

 soon as it has ripened. It is best sown in drUls in light soil in 

 a shaded part of the garden, to be transplanted in showery 

 weather where it is required to become established, and then — 

 let it alone. As a shrubbery or woodland plant of diminutive 

 growth it has no equal, and when seen covering the ground by 

 the acre it is a perfect sea of gold. At Coleby Hall, near Lin- 

 coln, the plantations are one dense mass of this lowly plant, 

 and are more cheerful and enlivening than can be imagined by 

 those who have not seen it in quantity. It is worthy in all 

 such places of being grown by the acre all over the land. — 

 Ex-YisrroB. 



GKOWING CAKEOTS FREE FROM THE 

 MAGGOT. 



To produce an abundance of this essential culinary root is 

 an easy matter, but to produce such roots clean and free from 

 the grub is a question which has baiHed many of the best gar- 

 deners of the day. Being a great believer in the old adage 

 that " nothing succeeds like success," I would, for the benefit 

 of all whom it may concern, place on record a mode I have 

 found to be highly satisfactory. 



On the principle of beginning fair, I first make the frank ' 

 acknowledgment that I am indebted to my cottager friends 

 for the first inkling of my success in Carrot-growing. I have 

 always taken great pleasure in examining the cottage gardens 

 in my neighbuurhood, and candidly admit that I have thereby 

 gained not a little information iii useful vegetable-culture. 

 I have also on many occasions had the pleasure of judging 

 their produce at local shows, and in doing so have been struck 

 with the particularly fine Carrots their garden plots have pro- 

 duced. 



On investigation I found these Carrots were invariably grown 

 on the Onion beds of the preceding year. I determined to try 

 the same plan, and immediately the Onions were cleared off 

 trenched the ground deeply, giving it no manure whatever. 

 But as soon as the trenching was done I gave the ground a 

 good drenching of sheep dip, at the strength of 2 ozs. of dip 

 to three gallons of water. This dose I repeated a fortnight 

 before sowing the seed. The result is an excellent crop of 

 Carrots, many of them (Altriucham) 2 feet in length, while 

 those of my neighbours were a total faUnre. All the Carrots 

 are quite bright and free from speck. 



I communicate this, knowing the diiEculty many gardeners 

 experience in raising good crops of high-class Carrots. I may 

 add that before adopting the plan I could scarcely raise a per- 

 fect root, one season the crop being an absolute failure, while 

 now I have an abundance of fine Carrots, and that is my 

 authority for recommending the mode. 



But some may ask, " What is sheep dip ?" I cannot say of 

 what the liquid is composed, but it is used largely by farmers 



