510 



JOUBNAIi OP HOSTIODLTUBB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Juno 25, 1874. 



rounding them may be vertical, or (as is better), may slope 

 outwards, and may have flowering plants of trailing habits, or 

 simple climbers, dangling irregularly over the sides in sum- 

 mer. — {Kemp's Hoto to Lay-out a Garden.) 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 3.-;. 



COLLINSIA MULTICOLOR.— Many-coloohed Collinsia. 

 EvEBY gardener knows how difficult it is to keep up a gay 

 appearance during the sort of interregnum which succeeds the 

 flowering of the spring bulbs, and before the majority of the 

 herbaceous perennials and bedding plants are in bloom. For 

 filling this void the autumn-sown Californian annuals are un- 

 rivalled; and, indeed, a succession of sowings would produce 

 throughout the season an effect but Uttle inferior to that ob- 

 tained by the employment of any other plants. 



Collinsia multicolor. 



One of these is CoUinsia multicolor. It is quite as robust 

 in its habit as the well-known C. bicolor, growing from 12 to 

 18 inches or more high ; and its flowers are among the 

 largest and handsomest of the genus, though their colour is 

 less intense than in one or two older species. The foliage is 

 larger and more coarsely toothed than in C. bicolor ; but it is 

 chiefly by the purplish tint of its floral leaves or bracts, which 

 add much to the beauty of the plant, that it is distinguished 

 from most, if not all, other species. The bracts beneath the 

 lowest whorl of blossoms are cordate, bluntly toothed, and 

 pointed ; the middle ones are much narrower, and without 

 teeth ; the upper ones quite abortive. The flowers are on 

 rather long pedicels, which, as well as the calyx, are almost 

 free from glands. The segments of the calyx are very narrow, 

 shorter than the corolla, and three-ribbed. The lower lip of 

 the coroUa is lilac, but the pouch-like cavity of the middle 

 lobe is crimson, though externally this tint is hardly visible. 

 The upper lip of the flower is also lilac, but with a large quad- 

 rangular white spot in the centre, speclded with bright rosy 

 purple. We retain the name under which this plant was first 

 published, but it is only right to observe that it is now regarded 

 as but a form of C. bicolor. 



The cultivation of Collinsia multicolor is of the easiest de- 

 scription. It is only necessary to sow the seed thinly, in 

 patches, in the open border where the plants are to bloom ; 



and this may be done any time between the beginning of 

 March and the end of April. As the seeds are comparatively 

 small they must not be too thickly covered with earth, especi- 

 ally if of a heavy adhesive nature. In soUs of this character 

 it is a good plan to cover the seed with a little pulverised samdy 

 loam. 



Besides C. bicolor already referred to, there are several very 

 pretty species well deserving cultivation, the most important 

 being C. verna, C. grandiflora and its recently introduced 

 variety violacea, C. heterophylla, C. corymbosa, C. bartsiajfolia 

 and its variety alba, and C. tinctoria. 



C. verna is a very attractive early-flowering species, with the 

 lower lip of the corolla of a sky blue, the upper lip being white. 

 It would doubtless be more extensively grown but for the short- 

 lived vitality of the seeds, which renders it necessary they 

 should be sown in autumn soon after being gathered. From 

 this defect C. grandiflora and its charming variety violacea 

 are free, though the strongest plants are to be obtained by 

 autumnal sowing, as well as the earliest blooms. The variety 

 violacea especially deserves recommendation, the colour of the- 

 lower lip being much deeper than in verna, and the resulting, 

 contrast with the white upper Up more effective. C. hetero- 

 phylla resembles C. bicolor, hut its flowers are of a darker and 

 perhaps less pleasing tint. C. corymbosa is very distinct as a 

 species, with flowers in a capitate cluster and having an abbre- 

 viated upper lip, but is less showy and effective than those 

 already named. Nor is C. bartsifefolia worthy of more than a 

 passing notice, its colours being somewhat dull ; but its white 

 variety is deserving of more attention than it receives, its colour 

 being pure, and its habit so dwarf that it would be found 

 useful as an edging to taller annuals, though it is, like the rest 

 of the species, comparatively short-lived. C. tinctoria, so 

 named from the numerous glandular haiTs which clothe the 

 calyx communicating a yellow stain to the fingers when touched,, 

 is not yet, we believe, in cultivation. — (TC. Thonqison's English 

 Flower Garden, Revised bij the Autlior.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 A VEKY useful Exhibition is to be held in Paris during Sep- 

 tember and October, under the auspices of the Societu Centrale 

 d'Agriculture et d'lusectologie. It will consist of all the use- 

 ful insects and their productions, and of the noxious insects, 

 and examples or evidences of their depredations. Each species 

 is to be shown, when possible, in its several stages of egg, 

 larva, chrysalis, and imago or perfect insect. With those 

 insects common to France or Europe this may be possible, 

 but as the Exhibition will include all known insects, there will 

 undoubtedly be some blanks in the collections. The example' 

 thus set, not for the first time, might be followed with ad- 

 vantage in this country. 



The soil of New Caledonia is said to be well suited for' 



the CULTIVATION' OF THE ScGAR-c.iNE, and WO learn from the 

 letter of a French colonist there that the sugar industry is 

 rapidly developing. A company was formed in 18G',) to esta- 

 blish a manufactory on the river Tamon. Considerable difii- 

 culty and delay have been experienced in the transport of 

 machinery, etc., to such a remote region; but in the end of 

 1873 the works were completed and commenced operations. 

 Seven other factories are already in course of construction. 



■ To make a simple and efficient mocse tk.\p, procure 



a tolerably tight barrel — a salt barrel with one head will 

 answer — bore a hole near the bottom for a place of entrance ;, 

 set it in the place where the mice " most do congregate," throw 

 into it an armful of ears of corn and a handful of rags or waste 

 paper to make a nest, cover it so that the mice may " keep 

 dark," and let it stand quietly a few days to give the mice 

 time to colonise, then plug up the entrance. As mice are 

 lively little animals dash in a few gallons of water to moderate 

 their friskiness, then take the game at your leisure ; set your 

 trap again, and go on your way rejoicing. 



A WRITER in a French horticultural journal relates his 



experience of desteoying insects : — After sunset I place in the 

 centre of my orchard an old barrel, the inside of which I have 

 previously tarred. At the bottom of the barrel I place a lighted 

 lamp. Insects of many kinds, attracted by the light, go for 

 the lamp, and while circulating around it strike against the 

 sides of the barrel, where, meeting with the tar, their wings' 

 and legs become so clogged that they fall helpless to the 

 bottom. In the morning I examine the barrel, and frequently 

 take out of it ten or twelve gallons of cockchafirs, which I at 



