rebrnary 24, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



147 



require to have the Boil always moist and to be freely watered 

 dtring growth and flowering, evidently relishing a syringing 

 tvice daily, morning and evening. 



The plants will continue to grow and flower for a number of 

 Tears, requiring only to be potted in the spring of each year, 

 i have plants now of nearly seven years' growth which are 

 kept in a free-flowering state in 7-inoh pots, the old soil being 

 removed at each potting, so that the plants may be returned to 

 the same size of pot. Weak liquid manure twice aweek invi- 

 gorates the foliage and flowers. 



If the flowers be removed after they fade (the capsules fall 

 BO as to be hid amid the foliage), and the plants be kept from 

 seeding, their flowering will be much enhanced. The rosy pink 

 bracts of this plant make neat bntton-hol.e flowers. — O. A. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



A NOTE on Mr. Okmson's establishment at Stanley Bridge, 

 Chelsea, will not be inappropriate. The place is historical 

 as well as horticultural and commercial. Mr. Ormson's resi- 

 dence was once in part the mansion of King Charles. The 

 bole of the tree is preserved which that Monarch is said to 

 have planted. The front of the "Koyal" residence which was 

 once the garden is in some sort a garden still, being occupied 

 by glass structures of various designs, such as the roof con- 

 servatory, curvilinear (straight glass) portable vinery, span- 

 roof and lean-to houses. The garden " decorations " consist 

 of boilers in every conceivable shape and size — saddles, simple, 

 divisional, corrugated, convoluted, perforated, and arterial ; 

 there are also conicals, pyramids, Trenthams, and tubulars. 

 Mr. Ormson has been " getting-up heat " for more than a 

 quarter of a century, and has instituted many improvements 

 in hot-water engineering, the latest being the patent tubular 

 Cornish boiler, the patent divisional hot-water apparatus, 

 and the patent arctic hot-water stove, designed for ships and 

 schools. 



An excellent specimen of Odontoglossum Alexande/E is 



now flowering in the stove at 'Wimbledon House. The plant 

 has thirty-three expanded blooms on three spikes and is very 

 beautiful. There is also an unusual form of Anthurinm 

 Scherzerianum, the flower having a double or twin spathe, 

 the spadix being single. We have observed before that healthy 

 specimens of the "Flamingo" Plant have occasionally per- 

 fected a " pair " of " wings." 



Mr. PonLis, gardener to G. H. Henderson, Esq., For- 



dell, Fifeshire, has been awarded the Neil tkize, value £54, 

 for his abilities as a gardener and geologist. The prize is 

 the triennial interest of £500 left by the late Patrick Neil, 

 Esq., to be awarded by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 

 Society to some distinguished botanist or horticulturist. Mr. 

 Fonlis is to be congratulated on the honour which he has won. 



We hear a rumour — which we think not unlikely to 



strengthen into a more certain sound — that the scheme for 

 EEMoviNQ THE OxFORD BoTANic Gakden from its present 

 historical and picturesque site to the bleak and arid " parks " 

 has fallen through, and that immediate steps are to be taken 

 to put the existing establishment on an eSicient footing. — 

 (Nature.) 



We are informed that Lapaoeria rosea is hardy in 



Cornwall, and that it has been seen covering a wall having a 

 north-west aspect. It would be interesting to hear if experi- 

 ments have been made testing the hardiness of this fine 

 climber. 



— - The King of the Belgians is erecting at a coat of 

 £80,000 a GRAND WINTER GARDEN at Laekeu. The structure is 

 of imposing dimensions, the roof being 120 feet in height in 

 order that tall trees may have room for development. 



For EXTERMINATING MEALT BUG, Writes a correspondent 



in the Rural New Yorker, I have never found anything so good 

 as alcohol, or even common high-proof whisky will do. With 

 a small soft brush one can soon clean the bugs from a hundred 

 plants, no matter how badly infested. Dip the brush into 

 the alcohol, and then let a drop or two fall upon a cluster of 

 mealy bugs, and they will disappear. There are some very 

 deUcate kinds of plants which the alcohol will injure if used 

 too freely ; but there is not much danger in its application to 

 the ordinary kinds cultivated in greenhouses. 



Tamarix PLU3I0SA. — Nothing can be finer or more 



graceful than this species, which is still so rare in spite of the 

 readiness with which it can bs propagated. Its numerous 



slender branchlets of a glaucescent green hue bear a certain 

 resemblance to the curled plumes of the ostrich (or the white 

 stork), whence its popular name of "Marabout." It flowers 

 in August about the same time as T. indica. The flowers, 

 which are disposed in dense erect panicles, have an airy light- 

 ness, which adds much to the elegance of the foliage. Isolated 

 on a lawn or in a large park T. plumosa forms a compact mass 

 of the most pleasing appearance. It is quite as hardy as 

 T. indica, and propagated and treated in precisely the same 

 manner. — [Revue Horticole.) 



A CORRESPONDENT In the English ilechanic recom- 

 mends the following mode for making tarred walks : — First 

 gravel the walk in the ordinary way, but do not give it so 

 thick a coat as usual ; beat well down to make a perfectly 

 smooth and even surface, which coat well with tar. When 

 this is done put the final layer of gravel on the top— three- 

 quarters of an inch to 1 inch will be quite sufficient, and again 

 beat down, using the back of a spade for the purpose. The 

 walk so prepared must not be trodden upon for two or three 

 days, at the end of which time it will have become perfectly 

 hard, and will not be affected by the heaviest fall of rain. 

 The work must be done in fine weather, and the plan will be 

 found better than using cement mixed with the gravel. 



Mr. Ddnstan, Coroner, at the Parkside Asylum, Mac- 

 clesfield, has been investigating a case of poisoning of an un- 

 usual nature. A patient, Emma Linnell, died apparently in an 

 epileptic fit. A post-morlem examination was held, resulting 

 in finding in the stomach of deceased some green fluid, also 

 Holly seed and fragments of Holly, Laurel, and Yew leaves in 

 quantities sufiicient to cause death, and a verdict was returned 

 in accordance with the evidence. 



The Hobticultoral Hall, at the approaching Cen- 

 tennial Exhibition to be held at Philadelphia, is an imposing 

 structure, with a length of 383 feet, and width of main build- 

 ing 193 feet. Its height is 72 feet to the skyUght. The Cen- 

 tennial Conservatory, 230 by 80 feet and 55 feet high, occupies 

 the main floor, and in this the exhibition will be made. On 

 the north and south sides of the principal room will be the 

 forcing and propagating houses, each 100 by 30 feet, covered 

 with a curved roof of glass and iron. Similar vestibules 

 occupy the east and west ends, and by the side of these are 

 rooms for ofiices, <S:o. Ornamented stairways lead to the inte- 

 rior and exterior galleries of the conservatories. These latter 

 are 10 feet wide. The entrances at the east and west ends will 

 be approached by flights of blue marble steps. The basement 

 is fire-proof and used for storehouses, cool room, kitchen, and 

 heating apartments. The entire building will be mainly of 

 iron and glass, and is intended to remain after the Exposition 

 as an ornament to Fairmount Park and a patriotic memorial 

 of the first Centennial Celebration of Horticultural Progress. 



A correspondent in the American " Gardener's 



Monthly " says, " You will be doing many a poor fellow a great 

 kindness if you will again warn and keep warning against the 

 fatal mistake of painting hot-water pipes in greenhouses with 

 GAS TAR." We have lately had brought to our notice an 

 instance of a nurseryman near London, who tarred the stage 

 of a large plant house to the great and probably irreparable 

 injury of many valuable plants which were afterwards wintered 

 in the house. 



Hardening Paper. — The French papers speak of a 



method of rendering paper extremely hard and tenacious, by 

 subjecting the pulp to the action of chloride of zinc. After it 

 has been treated with the chloride it is submitted to a strong 

 pressure, thereafter becoming as hard as wood and as tough 

 as leather. The material may be employed in covering floors 

 with advantage, and an excellent use for it is large sheets of 

 roofing. Paper already manufactured acquires the same con- 

 sistency when plunged unsized in a solution of the chloride, 

 and is useful for many protective purposes. 



THE ARRANGEMENTS OF COLOURS 



IN THE BEDS OF THE LONDON PAEK3 AND GARDENS.— No. 7. 

 Examples having been given of suitable modes of eiiec- 

 tively planting circular beds, a few designs suitable for beds of 

 an oval form may appropriately follow. Round beds are the 

 most common of all forms ; they are also adaptable to an 

 almost endless variety of modes of planting them, and if the 

 plants are judiciously selected, and their colours correctly 

 arranged, few, if any, forms of bed show to better advantage. 



