i86 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 18, 1874. 



appear to offer the best substitutes for Maiden-hair in the 

 arranpenieut of bonquets. T. coUinumhas light green, nicely- 

 cnt foliage, and is perhaps thq nearest approach respecting the 

 shade of colour. T. mucronatnm, of darker hue, is also good. 

 T. adiantoides is recommended as one of the best ; it is per- 

 haps a form of T. minus. 



POBTBAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 



FRUITS. 



Saxifeaga flokdlemta. Nat. ord., Saxifragacea;. Linn., 

 Decandria Digynia. — Flowers lilac. " This striking and ex- 

 tremely local species was first discovered about the year 1820 

 (in the Alps of Fenestre) by an English tourist, who forwarded 

 specimens to Professor Moretti of Pavia. It was rediscovered 

 in the same locality in the year 185G, since which time it has 

 been found in numerous distinct habitats. It apjiears to be 

 tolerably abundant at an altitude of from 7000 to 9000 feet 

 within a limited area of about eight miles square, in the higher 

 regions of the watershed of the Maritime Alps, between the 

 Col du Tenda and the valley of the Tinea north of Nice, on 

 cliff faces and precipitous ravines facing the north. Mr. G. 

 Maw, to whom we are indebted for the specimen figured, in- 

 forms me that it mostly grows in single rosettes, some of which 

 are or 7 inches across ; they are generally found under an 

 overhanging ledge protected from the drip and direct rainfall, 

 the rosette turning downwards, and never exposed to the sun. 

 The plant was first introduced alive to this country by Mr. 

 Moggridge. Its cultivation is extremely difficult, from the all- 

 but-impossibility of obtaining well-rooted plants. It is an 

 extremely shy bloomer ; it probably lives to a great age before 

 flowering, after which it dies. It seems entirely to fail under 

 pot culture, but Mr. Maw informs me that M. Eoissier has 

 succeeded in growing it by wedging the rosettes firmly into the 

 crevices of a brick wall with a northern exposure. Mr. Ella- 

 combe has found it intolerant of frost at Eitton, near Bristol.'' 

 —{Bot. Mag., t. 6102.) 



Crocus cANCELLATUs. A^aJ. or(i,Iridace£B. Z.inn.,Triandria 

 Monogynia. — Flowers white. " It is frequent in the Ionian 

 Islands, Greece, Asia Minor, and reaches, it is said, eastward 

 to Armenia. In Greece it ascends to 4000 feet, and in Taurus 

 to the Alpine region. The curious reticulated coats, with a 

 texture which recalls cocoa-nut fibre, especially in the prolonged 

 bristle-;ike fibres surrounding the neck (similar to tbose met 

 with in .4.1buca setosa or Chlorogalum pomeridianum) distin- 

 guish this species from all the autumn-flowering Crocuses. 

 Amongst the spring-flowering species coats of this kind are only 

 found in C. reticulatua and C. susianue. The specimens figured 

 ■were received from G. Wood, Esq., of Eochford, Essex, early 

 in November, 1873."— (/iitZ., t. 610.3.) 



C.iT,ANTHE CUBCTILIGOIEES. Nat. ord., Orchidacea!. Linn., 

 Gynandria Monogynia. — Flowers orange. " A native of Ma- 

 lacca, Penang, and Singapore, accordiug to Lindley, who de- 

 scribed it originally from specimens collected in the two latter 

 countries by W.allich, and who afterwards figured it in the 

 ' Botanical Register ' from a plaut flowered by the Messrs. 

 Loddiges, of Hackney. Lindley also gives Java as a habitat." 

 —{Ibid., t. 6104.) 



Geevillea fascici'lata. Nat. ord., Proteacete. Linn., Te- 

 trandria Monogynia. — Flowers scarlet and yellow. " A native 

 of Western Australia, from King George's Sound to the Swan 

 River. It was discovered on the south-west shore of the former 

 plnce in 1829 by D. Baxter. The specimen figured was from 

 a Swan River plant, flowered by Mr. Wilson Saunders at Eei- 

 gate in May, 1873."— (Ziid., t. 610.5.) 



Lesrebtu pekennaxs. Nat. ord., LeguminoE.T3. Linn., Di- 

 adelphia Decandria. — Flowers pale purple. " All the species 

 of the genus are natives of Southern Africa. The present one 

 occurs in grassy places on the eastern side, from Albany to the 

 Transvaal. The specimen figured was from a plant which 

 flowered in the Royal Gardens, Kew, in July, 1873."- — (Ibid., 

 t. 6106.) 



Cherries. — Frogmnrc Early Bigarrcan, a variety Which will 

 be found well deserving of cultivation wherever Cherries are 

 cared for. It is really a tempting-looking fruit, the sample 

 represented from the Royal Gardens, Frogmore, being, in fact, 

 rather below the actual size, in consequence of the tree having 

 been recently root-pruned. " It has also the merit of high 

 quality, being a delicious fruit, and it is both early and an 

 abundant bearer. We add Dr. Hogg's description : — Fruit 

 large, obtuse heart-shaped, compressed on the side, and with 

 a faint suture. Skin pale waxen-yellow in the shade, suffused 



with deep red next the sun. Stalk 2 inches long, with a very 

 small receptacle. Flesh remarkably tender and melting, as 

 much so as in a Gean ; very juicy, and with an excellent 

 flavour. The Bigarreau Noir de Schmidt was obligingly sent 

 to us by Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, being one of the kinds 

 whitih were so finely cultivated by him last year. It, too, is 

 a very handsome Cherry of the very highest quality. Fruit 

 large, bluntly heart-shaped, the stalk set in a moderate cavity. 

 Skin dark shining blood-red. Flesh red, tender, juicy, and of 

 excellent flavour." — {Florist and Pomologist, 3 s., vii. 121) 



L.ELiA FLAMMEA. Nat. ord., Orchidaceae. Linn., Gynan- 

 dria Monandi'ia. — " Imagine a flower of Lfelia cinnabarina in- 

 creased three times, with its brightest vermilion ; give it a 

 splendid yellow lip, with an amethyst-purplish wavy anterior 

 lacinia, and a small white column washed under the stigma 

 with purple : thus you have the first-rank beauty, raised by 

 Mr. Sedeu at the Royal Exotic Nursery of Messrs. Veitch. 

 Such is Professor Reichenbach's word-painting of this strik- 

 ingly beautiful hybrid Orchid, which, on account of its un- 

 common and effective colouring, is one of the most welcome 

 among the new acquisitions. It was raised between Lfelia 

 cinnabarina and L. Pilcheri,the former being in all probability 

 the seed-parent ; and it was awarded a botanical certificate 

 equivalent to one of the first-class, at the Royal Botanic 

 Society's Spring Show on the ^.'ith of March last. The plant 

 is of moderate stature, and has slender cylindrical stems, 

 each terminating in a solitary, ligulate, oblong, fleshy leaf. 

 The peduncles are terminal, somewhat elongated, and bear 

 one or two flowers, possibly more ; the individual flowers are 

 some 4 inches across, with ligulate acute sepals and petals of 

 a brilliant cinnabar-orange colour ; whUe the lip, which is 

 oblong and trifid in front, has the yellow side-lobes folded over 

 the column, and the intermediate one rounded, denticulate, 

 somewhat crisped, and of a rich crimson hue, passing into 

 crimson veins on the disk." — [Ibid., 133.) 



THE SEASON. 



Kent. — On the 13th inst. we had a frost between 4 and 5 a.h. 

 of sufficient intensity to cover some glass lights in a cold pit 

 with " rime " enough to make a snowball, a most unusual 

 thing so late in June. A thermometer a short distance off had 

 not, however, fallen so low as the freezing point. — J. Roesom, 

 Linton Park. 



LiN-coLNSHiKE. — The weather is very trying alike to farmer 

 and gardener. From May 14th to June 13tb, the day of writ- 

 ing, rain has only fallen at this station on four days, amount- 

 ing to the exceedingly slight total of 26 inch. Daring this 

 time there have only been four really dull days, and six half- 

 dull ones, the rest being bright, with, mostly, brisk drying 

 winds from N.X.E. and N.W. On the 11th inst. it blew a gale, 

 and on the limestone roads the dust formed a thick white cloud, 

 while in the fens the loose vegetable mould filled the air, 

 forming a dense black cloud. Forest trees drooped under the 

 exhaustive strain, flowers lowered, and vegetables and crops 

 generally assumed a shrivelled and unwelcome appearance. 

 On the night following the open fields were white with frost, 

 but in sheltered gardens the thermometer hardly dropped to 

 the freezing point. The day temperature has often been over 

 80" in the shade, twice reaching 84\ 



Bedded-out plants will not grow, and those that are not out 

 cannot be planted with confidence or comfort. Early Potatoes 

 are ripening prematurely and small ; Cauliflowers it is diflncult 

 to prevent buttoning ; Peas wiry, and of a hard steel blue 

 colour ; Beans ditto. Fortunately I sowed some in trenches, 

 and now feel the advantage. In hollows it is easy to get water 

 to the roots ; on the level, or above it, next to impossible in 

 a period of drought. Much damage was done to Apples and 

 other fruits by a slight frost on the 18th ult., but only in low 

 and damp places. In places high and dry fruit is plentiful : 

 Strawberries small, although soaked and mulched ; Raspberries, 

 although cool and moist at the roots by mulching, are many 

 of them malformed and "hide-bound" by frost and heat. In 

 the fields Wheat holds on bravely, and looks well ; Barley is 

 beginning to fail ; meadows rather light. Turnips, the few up 

 have been devoured by the fly; the bulk cannot be sown, being 

 too dry and dusty. Watercourses shallow : springs low ; farmers 

 frightened ; gardeners uneasy — wearied with watering and 

 waiting. .A.phides are an immense crop. These are my worst 

 enemies ; the best friend being an hydraulic ram, keeping the 

 garden trough filled. Wherever there is a few feet fall of 

 water there a ram should be. They are iovaluable — constant 



