May 7, 1874. ] 



JOUKNAL OF EOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAliDENEE. 



361 



Now, it is very evident that when the entire growth of any 

 plant is stopped in this manner it Biistains a certain cheek or 

 shook, to avoid which not more than half the ehoots upon 

 each branch should bo pinched at the same time, and even this 

 is not done while the Vines are in flower, the entire growth 

 being then untouched till the swelling fruit is visible. — Edwaed 



LuCKHUItST. 



ON VARIOUS BEDDING PLANTS. 



I CAN sympathise with Mr. Hamilton with respect to Agera- 

 tum Tom Thumb. It is — at all events in our wet Irish climate 

 — a vile thing, as vile as Mr. Hamilton's vile blue bedding 

 tiles, which seem to me floricultural millinery of the worst 

 description. I was enchanted with Tom Thumb when I first 

 saw it, and thought we had got hold of a gem ; but I very soon 

 changed my opinion, as did everyone in my neighbourhood 

 whose opinion is worth registering. Not only has it all the 

 faults noticed by Mr. Hamilton, but its blossom soils in the 

 most odious way under the slightest showers, so that the plants 

 are always more than half-covered with dirty blotches. Im- 

 perial Blue is a much more satisfactory bedder. 



I should be glad to see the merits of various bedding plants 

 more ventilated in the Journal than has lately been the case. 

 In particular I should like to elicit opinions from various 

 quarters as to which of the new Bicolor and Tricolor Geraniums 

 are the most satisfactory. Many of the most beautiful of these 

 will not bed at all with us here ; for example, most of Laing's 

 beautiful varieties I have tried two or three years running — 

 Impfiratrice Eugenie, Princess Eoyal, W. P. Morris — and have 

 reluctantly to give them up. Beine Victoria is lovely, and does 

 somewhat better ; but unless one has such appUances as wOl 

 enable one to turn out these varieties of good size and in great 

 number they make but a miffy bed. After trying a great many 

 kinds of Bicolors I am inclined to give the palm to Dragon, 

 combining, as it does, hardiness, compactness, brilliancy of 

 colour, and very free growth. 



I take this opportunity of cautioning beginners against being 

 taken in by the seductive advertisements they see in every 

 gardening paper of Geraniums at fabulously low prices. They 

 do not get the woith of their money. The plants sent are so 

 microscopic that the season is over before they put in an 

 appearance at aU. There are hundreds who are attracted by 

 the tempting prices who are unable to give these little tender 

 infants the care, nursing, and nursery they require, and they 

 perish under the treatment that larger plants would survive. 



I should be glad to hear sentence pronounced on the new 

 Pansies and Violas. I have often written enthusiastically in 

 the Journal in praise of Imperial Blue Pansy, but most of my 

 friends declare they cannot grow it. With me it does beauti- 

 fully, and is a blue cloud from April till October. 



I am inclined to think very highly of Lobelia Mazarine Blue, 

 sent out last year by Messrs. E. G. Henderson. In a mass, 

 and at a distance, it has a more true-blue effect (and what com- 

 mendation can be higher than this ?j than any other summer- 

 bedding plant I am acquainted with. Myosotis Empress Eliza- 

 beth will, I think, prove an acquisition. It remained in bloom 

 with me last year the whole season. I have a small bed of it 

 this year, and will report on it later on. Tropaaolum Cooperi 

 still maintains the high character stamped upon it by Mr. D. 

 Thomson, and resists frost better than most other kinds. 

 Lastly, Celosia Huttoni bedded beautifully, and was so dis- 

 tinct in shape and growth that I sincerely trust Messrs. Veitch 

 will not have to tell me another year that they cannot sup- 

 ply me. 



I hope some other correspondents will kindly tell us about 

 any novelties of value they found out last year. — D. F. J. K. 



ultimately, of course, washed down into the soil ; for it is still 

 a moot point whether in the admixture of arsenic with soU 

 compounds are not sometimes formed with organic matter, 

 and drawn into the tissues of plants. — J. E. S. 0. 



THE AMERICAN POTATO BUG. 



This veritable bugbear is occasioning some alarm among 

 gardeners and agriculturists, and precautionary measures have 

 been suggested for adoption in the event of its attempting to 

 cross the .Atlantic. But really we are not justified in speaking 

 of this in the singular, as it now appears that under this vague 

 term are included about a dozen different beetles of the genera 

 Lytta and Epicanta. I think we are not likely to adopt hastily 

 in this country some of the remedies employed in America, 

 even were the pest to show itself, or otherwise it wouM be 

 needful to protest against the free use of Paris green mixed 

 with flour or lime, and arsenic also, in the proportion of 1 oz. 

 to a pound of flour, both being dusted over the leaves, and 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 31. 



MICKOSI'EEMA BAETONIOIDES.— BiltTONU-LlKE MicBOSPEEMA. 



The pretty annual now figured is closely alUed to the Bartonias, 

 from its resemblance to which it has derived its specific name. 

 It is a native of Mexico, and was introduced into this country 

 from Hamburg in 1819, under the name of Eucnide bar- 

 touioides. It is of succulent habit, growing about a foot high, 



MicroBperma bartouioides. 



with ovate, lobed, and serrated foliage. The flowers, which 

 are nearly 2 inches across, are terminal, and produced either 

 singly or in pairs, with five spreading, ovate, obscurely-toothed 

 petals, of a sulphur-yellow above, but much paler beneath. 

 The stamens are arranged in five fascicles or bundles, the fila- 

 ments of each fascicle being united at the base, and attached 

 to one of the petals ; the stamens arise in two distinct rows or 

 series from the point at which they are united. The filaments 

 are very long, bearing a roundish flattened anther, opening by 

 its margin. The style is about the same length as the stamens ; 

 stigma undivided, but with five longitudinal furrows at the 

 extremity. 



The seed-vessel is one-celled, many-seeded, opening at the 

 top by five valves. Seeds attached to the walls of the ovary, 

 in five longitudinal ridges or placentas. They are very nu- 

 merous and minute, of an oblong form, and with several spiral 

 furrows, which are visible, however, only under the micro- 

 scope. In the Bartonias the stamens, although fully as nu- 

 merous as in the Microsperma, are not divided into fascicles 

 as in that genus. 



The cultivation of the Microsperma involves a little care ; 

 for, although it is quite hardy enough to bear the open air, its 

 succulent nature renders it liable to injury in all stages of its 

 growth from any excess of moisture, whether in the seed-pan 

 or the borders. It may be raised in the spring on a gentle 

 heat, in pots of well-drained sandy loam. The seeds fchould 

 be thinly sprinkled on the surface of the soil, and then gently 

 pressed in ; they will germinate with greater readiness than if 

 covered more deeply. In raising these and other small seeds, 

 it is a good plan to cover the rim of the pot with a piece of 



