JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Januar; 1, 1874. 



of 50° to 55° can be maintained, with a little air constantly. 

 This temperature ehould never be exceeded by artificial means 

 — it may rise higher by Bun heat — till the most forward flowers 

 are perfectly open, when the latest ones may be picked care- 

 fully off or cut with Grape-scissors, leaving not more than 

 eight or ten of the largest and most forward, and the tempe- 

 rature may be increased considerably. When the fruit has 

 fairly started swelling it will bear with impunity the heat of 

 a Melon or Pine house, but must be kept cooler at the first 

 sign of colouring ; and finally after it is coloured must be kept 

 quite cold and have abundance of air for a few days. 



If the treatment I have attempted to describe has been carried 

 out, and watering properly attended to, the fruit will be equal 

 in flavour to that ripened out of doors in June. 



The principal points to attend to are— To force very gently 

 till the flowers are perfectly formed ; to attend strictly to water- 

 ing — once let the plants get really dry, the fruit will never be 

 good for anything ; to keep the plants always in a light situ- 

 ation with continuous ventilation, not necessarily close to the 

 glass as many suppose — they may be CU feet from it provided 

 there is nothing to obstruct the light. Some people seem to 

 have an idea that there is something about glass for plants to 

 feed on. I'erhaps it is the condensed steam. We are con- 

 tinually being told to keep the plants close to the glass : it 

 may be necessary to do so in those old-fashioned houses, now 

 happily fast disappearing, where there is a greater breadth of 

 timber than glass used in the construction of the roof ; but in 

 the modern light-built houses it is preferable to keep the plants 

 at a little distance from the glass, where the atmospheric changes 

 are not so violent. Lastly, it is of the greatest importance to 

 finish the ripening process in a cool place with abundance 

 of air. 



The sorts I depend on for in-door work are Keens' Seedling 

 and British Queen. If Strawberries are wanted before the 

 end of March, Black Prince is the best for the purpose; but 

 they will only be Strawberries in appearance, not in flavour. 

 — Wm. Taylok. 



THE WEATHEE. 

 No one can remember a milder December; it seems, as 

 Shakspere describes a similar season, as if Time " had found 

 some months asleep and leapt them over." In Holland Park, 

 Kensington, the rooks are repairing their nests ; we hope they 

 will not marry, for an inclement season will soon be here, and 

 the description will apply — 



" Then into theix nests they patldJed, 



Themselves were chilled, their ey^'S were addled. 

 And they parted without the least regret 

 Except that they had ever met." 



From Malton in Torkshire we were informed on the 21st 

 that only on three days of the month any rain at all is re- 

 corded — 0.04, 0.03, 0.04, or a total of 0.11 inch in twenty-one 

 days. The thermometer twice reached 57°, varying 43° in three 

 days — i.e., from 14° on grass on the night of 13th, to 57° at 

 4 feet above ground on the morning of the ICth. The baro- 

 meter was never lower than 30.35 inches between the Ist and 

 15th, and a gale of unprecedented pressure occurred in Mid- 

 Yorkshire — i.e., Sheffield, Leeds, lie. Not one flake of snow has 

 been seen — a thing our informant never remembered in York- 

 shire, as generally they have snow before October is out. They 

 have had hard white frosts, but the Wheat is looking wonder- 

 fully well. They were fifteen days in succession without rain 

 in November, and sixteen in December. 



At Linton Park, near Maidstone, the report on December 

 22nd was — " We have remarkably mild weather in the country. 

 Some of the Geraniums in the vases are not yet killed by the 

 frost, and the roads are next to being dusty." 



At Torquay on Christmas-eve the thermometer was at 54* in 

 the shade. No wonder that the swallows still linger about 

 the southern shore, or that Roses, Carnations, and Stocks still 

 perfume the air. 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 23. 



BOCrVAEDIA AUEANTIACA. — OaANQK - Flowered Bodvahdu. 



The species of Bouvardia are not very numerous ; the oldest 

 and best known is the B. triphylla, which has been cultivated 

 in this country for nearly fifty years. The specific name of 

 this species would naturally lead the inexperienced botanist to 

 suppose that the triphyllous arrangement of its leaves was 

 peculiar to it ; but it is by no means distinctive, the majority 



of the other species, including that now figured, having foliage 

 of the same character. 



Of the species just referred to there are several varieties — 

 pubescens, glabra, and splendens ; though this last must not 

 be confounded with the true splendens, which is a distinct 

 species, and, in our opinion, preferable to either triphylla or 

 its varieties. Other very desirable species are angustifolia, 

 versicolor, Jacquinii, Cavanillesii, and leiantha, all with 

 scarlet or red blossoms ; fiava, with yellow ; and longiflora, 

 with white flowers. Leiantha and longiflora are natives of 

 Guatemala ; most of the other species have been received from 

 Mexico. They are all of comparatively dwarf habit ; in suit- 

 able soil, however, plants bedded-out in spring will, by the 

 end of the autumn, make shoots from 2 to 3 feet long, with 

 numerous lateral branches. Where it is thought desirable to 

 restrict the growth of the shoots they may be stopped, which 



Bouvardia aurantiaca. 



wiU induce a more compact habit ; but this will rarely be 

 necessary. They are readily increased by cutti ngs about 

 three joints long, which may be taken off at any period 

 during the summer, and inserted in light sandy soil. A little 

 bottom heat will materially shorten the time required for the 

 emission of rootlets ; but we have struck them even in August 

 without any such aid. They are rather liable to damp-off, 

 unless the interior of the glass be wiped regularly each day ; 

 and as soon as they appear rooted the glass should be removed 

 at night. 



Triphylla does not root so readily from cuttings as splendens 

 and some others ; that, as well as most of the species, are 

 sometimes increased by short pieces of the roots in spring, 

 which should be planted in pots of light soil, with the ends of 

 the cuttings exposed above the surface. If placed in a good 

 Cucumber frame they will soon make nice plants. As, how- 

 ever, most of the other species may be easily increased by 

 cuttings of the young shoots, we venture to recommend them 

 in preference to triphylla. Any of them may be purchased 

 for a shilling, or even less in some places. They will flourish 

 most in the same description of soil as that employed for 

 Verbenas and other bedding plants ; but with proper precau- 

 tions against drought iu summer, they will succeed in most 

 soils, except those of a stiff clayey kind. 



As wmdow plants they deserve especial attention. The 

 abundance of their flowers and their neat habit render them 

 in our opinion extremely desirable. During winter they require 



