JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 1, 1875. 



without exception the best button-hole Rose I know, 

 recommend it. — A. E. 



Pray 



CONOPHALLUS 



This is one of those 

 Aroids which throw up the 

 flower stalk before the ap- 

 pearance of the leaves. It 

 is clearly what Wight has 

 figured under the generic 

 name of Pythonium, and 

 as there is an unfortu- 

 nate misprint on the plate 

 it was supposed to be dis- 

 tinct from the well-known 

 Arum bulbiferum, which 

 is, however, not the case. 

 The plant is interesting 

 from its beauty when the 

 spathe first opens, but 

 unfortunately during the 

 emission of pollen, which 

 takes place under the form 

 of delicate cirrhi,the stench 

 is intolerable, and to some 

 constitutions causes un- 

 pleasant symptoms. Oat 

 of the same lot of tubers, 

 from which the specimen 

 we have figured was pro- 

 duced, appeared other 

 Aroids, and amongst them 

 the curious Amorphophal- 

 lus oampanulatus, which 

 was brought up to South 

 Kensington by Messrs. 

 Veitch on the ICth ; the 

 smell, however, hke that 

 of putrid cheese, was so in- 

 tolerable that in spite of its 

 curious appearance it was 

 soon sent home. One plant, 

 after the pollen was ejected 

 and removed to a cooler 

 temperature, became per- 

 fectly scentless. 



The young stems of va- 

 rious Aioids are sold in the 

 bazaars at Rangoon, tied 

 up in bundles like Aspara- 

 gus. They probably require 

 one or two changes of the 

 water in which they are 

 boiled before they can be 

 eaten with impunity. We 

 are indebted to Major E. S. 

 Berkeley for the oppor- 

 tunity of giving our pre- 

 sent figure. 



BULBIFEBUS, Schott. 



the case of those who may not wish to buy except now and 

 then, and hence hardly like to avail themselves of the boon. 

 I think this difficulty might be met by the issue of tickets of 

 admission at a suitable charge, which might be annual or 

 monthly, according to circumstances, and not transferable. 



This would relieve any from 

 feeling they were placed 

 under an obligation they 

 do not precisely know how 

 to meet when visiting a 

 nursery in their neighbour- 

 hood for the purpose oi 

 promenade ; while, having 

 the names of all visitors, 

 the proprietor has a gua- 

 rantee in the event of any 

 damage being done. In 

 certain instances known to 

 me nurserymen have made 

 it a rule "absolute" that 

 no young children be ad- 

 mitted ; perhaps this is 

 going rather too far, and it 

 may be sufficient to require 

 that they be accompanied, 

 not by an older child, but 

 by a parent or other adult. 

 One nurseryman near 

 Gravesend has launched 

 out in a new direction by 

 not only thus issuing sea- 

 sou tickets, but also arrang- 

 ing for " grand morning 

 concerts," three in the sea- 

 son ; while the orchestra is 

 to be BO constructed as to 

 be subsequently turned into 

 a reading pavilion. There 

 is also to be provided a 

 croquet lawn, with ladies' 

 and refreshment rooms. It 

 remains to be seen how far 

 this will answer expect- 

 ation, since we cannot sup- 

 pose that a proprietor of a 

 nursery-ground will run the 

 risk of damage for purely 

 philanthropic consider- 

 ations. Why should there 

 not be some popular botani- 

 cal lectures deUvered at 

 nurseries in the vicinity of 

 towns, where iUustrative 

 specimens could be partly 

 supplied from the garden 

 ground and partly from 

 rural districts that may be 

 adjacent ?— J. R. S. C. 



A HINT TO 

 NURSERYMEN. 

 In the present day, when 

 in or near large towns, 

 some place where persons 

 can enjoy a recreative stroll 

 without the annoyances of 

 the public road is often a 

 requisition, and a suitable 

 extent of land for a park 

 cannot always be obtained ; 

 some nurserymen have uti- 

 lised their grounds by al- 

 lowing respectable inhabi- 

 tants of the neighbourhood to have the privilege of walking 

 in them. This to some extent is advantageous to both 

 parties, since the visitors to the nursery garden are likely 

 enough to purchase some of the trees or plants exhibited from 

 time to time ; only a slight awkwardness arises occasionally in 



Hg. 1.— C0N0PHiLI.DB BDLDirEBDS. 



FLOWER MISSION. 



Amonost the appeals for 

 fruit and flowers for the 

 poor, none has been made 

 by the Wilberforce Mission 

 in south London, though 

 any gift of the kind in that 

 poor and densely populated 

 neighbourhood will be most 

 gratefully received. The 

 few flowers they have been 

 enabled to distribute have 

 been highly prized by the 

 recipients. The gift of a 

 few Primroses to their chil- 

 dren brought two women 

 to the church who had never been seen there before, that they 

 might express to the clergyman how much pleasure the sight 

 of the flowers in their rooms gave them. As there is no flower 

 mission, and all their funds are required for the necessities of 

 the poor, would those who feel a wish to brighten the dreary 



