Mareh 11, 1S75. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENfiK. 



i99 



Pince. Now, if Grapes are required in March and April, as 

 far as my experience has yet gone Lady Downes' is by far the 

 boBt. Mrs. Pince will not keep so long in good condition ; 

 moreover, it is a Grape that is not esteemed in Covent Garden 

 Market because of its bad colour. Lady Downes' brings a 

 much higher price even when Mrs. Pince can be obtained. I 

 know of one extensive grower who is cutting out his Mrs. Pince 

 in favour of Alicante and Lady Downes'. — J. Douglas. 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 48. 



SW.UNSONA OREYAN.i.— Captain Gbev's Swainsona. 



The Swainsona Greyana is a half-shrubby plant, 2 feet or 

 more high. The genus is allied to the Coluteas, which are, 

 however, very readily distinguished by their curious, inSated, 

 bladder-like seed-vessels, as well as by the two callosities on 

 the standard. 



The Swainsonas are numerous, but only four or five species 

 are generally cultivated. Of these the best known is the old 



Fig. 49. — Swaiusoua Greyana. 



S. galegifolia, with sweet-scented flowers of a bright red colour 

 and of a similar habit to our plant ; there is also a white 

 variety of this species. The S. ooronUliefolia has rosy-purple 

 blossoms, and is well worth cultivation, but is less generally 

 seen. The S. pallida is an exceedingly pretty variety or species, 

 we are not quite certain which, with pale rose-coloured flowers. 

 All of them are natives of New Holland, the S. Greyana of the 

 neighbourhood of Port Adelaide, and are therefore too tender 

 to bear full exposure ; but they succeed well in the open border 

 during the summer months, where they will flower for a con- 

 siderable period. The whole are very desirable plants, but the 

 present species is certainly the handsomest of the genus, its 

 long spikes of purple flowers producing an extremely showy 

 effect. They will need to be removed from the ground in 

 winter, but a good dry cold frame or pit will be a sufficient 

 protection ; in the south of Ireland, and other favoured corners 

 of the kingdom, we have no doubt that they would bear ex- 

 posure if planted against a wall and matted-up ; we believe 

 galegifolia has been thus grown. As, however, their protection 

 in a frame or cold pit entails no gi-eater amount of trouble 

 than in the case of the Verbena and other plants of that class, 

 we would advise their removal from the ground in autumn. 



They may be increased by seeds, which are readily procur- 

 able, and should be sown in a strong heat ; cuttings of the 

 young shoots will also root under a glass with the assistance 

 of a slight bottom heat, and If struck early in the spring will 

 form flowering plants the same season. The soil best suited 

 to all the species is a light sandy loam with a small propor- 



tion of heath mould ; if grown in pots they should be well 

 drained, and be frequently syringed to keep down red spider. 

 — [W. Thompson's English Flower Garden, Revised by the 

 Author.) 



CffiLOGYNE CRISTATA. 



Many of your correspondents have at different times sung 

 the praises of Ccelogyue cristata, and yet I venture to add 

 another testimonial in its favour. I have a plant now in my 

 drawing-room with eight spikes and twenty-live flowers all 

 open at once, the majority of which have opened since it came 

 into the room where it has been about a fortnight. It seems 

 a most accommodating plant, and may to treated amongst 

 other flowers in an intermediate stove. 



Without any of the capriciousness of most Orchids, it never 

 fails to flower every year, and, while it will stand a compara- 

 tively cool treatment, does not seem to mind the heat of a stovo 

 in the growing season. It may easily be made to bloom in 

 December and January, and as the flowers are pure white with 

 the exception of the yellow-crested labellum, and are very 

 graceful, it is a beautiful ornament for the hair or for a bridal 

 bouquet, and has the merit of lasting a long time when cut. 



Mine is only a medium-sized plant in a 7-inch pot, but, as 

 the individual flowers are large and the trusses evenly dis- 

 tributed, it is very effective. It has another merit too, that 

 for an Orchid it is by no means an expensive one. 



If I could induce others who, like myself, have no Orchid 

 house and cannot take up the mania, still to grow a few of 

 those that will bear an ordinary intermediate stove treatment 

 I should name the Ccclogyne cristata as one of the very first 

 to be procured, and next to chat the Dendrobiums densiflorum 

 and nobile, and Odontoglossum Alexandrse. — P. 



PEARS NE PLUS MEURIS AND BERGAMOTTE 

 D'ESPEREN. 



Mb. Cunningha.m, on page 140, has made some practical 

 remarks on Pears. He names amongst others two kinds which 

 are worthy of extended cultivation, and at the same time sug- 

 gests that experience is necessary to prove the merits of new 

 varieties ; he is also sensible of the efl'ects which different soils 

 have on the quality of the fruit. I have had experience with 

 the above-named sorts, both of which Mr. Cunningham men- 

 tions as useful, hardy, free-bearing varieties, and have proved 

 the extreme variation of one of them under different soil, con- 

 ditions, and mode of culture. 



For several years I leathered fruit from a standard tree of 

 Ne Plus Meuris. This was grafted on a Crab stock, and was 

 growing in a rather strong and cold loam. The tree invariably 

 produced a great abundance of fruit, but which was as invari- 

 ably of a third-rate quality for dessert purposes, and was, in 

 fact, only " very good for stewing." Now, had judgment been 

 given on the experience with this tree alone it would most 

 decidedly have ruled against the variety as a dessert Pear. I 

 have, however, had further experience with the same variety 

 grafted on the Quince and grown in soil of a lighter and warmer 

 nature, and trained on a west wall. The fruit from this tree 

 has always been of the very first order of merit ; indeed, no 

 Pear in the garden could surpass it, and very few equal it in 

 quality. The tree was, moreover, a great and certain bearer, 

 and was every year most serviceable to the gardener and its 

 fruit greatly esteemed by the owner. This is a striking instance 

 of the changeableness of a fruit under varying cultural con- 

 ditions — the quality from one tree being always indifferent, 

 while that from the other was not easy to surpass ; indeed it 

 was, and is, considered to be the best Pear in its season (De- 

 cember and January) which the garden produces. Ne Plus 

 Meuris is also adapted as a bush or pyramid tree grafted on 

 the Quince, and if the soil and situation are favourable it will 

 produce heavy crops of good quality, but for a wall it is un- 

 hesitatingly recommended. 



Mr. Cunningham also mentions another Pear of great value 

 — viz., Bergamotte d'Esperen. If I were driven to name the 

 one best late Pear for general dessert use I would pin my faith 

 on this variety. I have had experience of its good qualities as 

 a standard on the Pear stock and as espaliers and wall trees 

 grafted on the Quince, and in all these forms it invariably 

 gave the greatest satisfaction. This Pear has a very hardy 

 constitution, and its blossoms often escape injury by the frosts 

 of spring when some other varieties fail under their effects. 



I am acquainted with a gardener whose standard tree of 



