552 



JOUBNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 2:3, 1875. 



I confoss that these descriptions puzzle me, and that I have 

 not tho flighteat notiuii what they will be like. Besides these 

 there are Amnranthe, a lilac rose; Camille, tender lilae; Chris- 

 tophe Colomb, carmine rose ; Columbine, cream colour ; Esther, 

 white filmed with rose; Hecla, orange red; Miriam, white; 

 Niobe, tender rose ; and Roeita, carmine rose. 



I now come to the Langport seedlings. No one who has 

 seen Mr. Kelway's exhibits for the last few years can doubt 

 the success which has attended him as a raiser ; but one may 

 be permitted, with all that, to question such statements as that 

 those to be let out now are in advance of any in commerce. 

 They are certainly as far as price is concerned ; for while the 

 highest-priced one of Sonchet's is about lis. 6d., I find Agrius 

 marled at 30s., two more at a pound, and seven at 15s. Those 

 which I have seen, and indeed in some cases helped to describe, 

 are the following ; — 



J<7u»,i.— Salmon pink, flaked at the edges with vermilion, 

 with a creamy yellow eye. This flower obtained a first-class 

 cettilioate at the Metropolitan Floral Society's Show in August 

 last, and is unciuestionably a grand flower of great substance. 



Archelaus. — White flaked with rose, with purple stripe on 

 yellow ground. 



Gwendoline. — Flesh, with a rose stripe on lower petals. 

 This flower was exhibited at the Crystal Palace, and is cer- 

 tainly very remarkable for its colouring. 



Lord Howard. — Orange crimson ; lower petals white. 



Lord Petre. — Orange crimson ; lower petals carmine. This 

 is another of the Crystal Palace flowers, and is also a fine 

 variety. 



The others are flowers which have been exhibited at pro- 

 vincial shows, and I cannot speak of them from personal 

 acquaintance, although I have a faint recollection of Agnes 

 Mary at Taunton as a very curious flower, white marbled with 

 slate, with a violet stripe on the lower petal. 



Messrs. Robertson & Galloway of Glasgow gave us a taste of 

 their quality when they entered the lists at South Kensington 

 and plucked the crown from Mr. Kelway. I have a faint 

 recollection that some years ago, when our friend Mr. Dix 

 inaugurated a grand exhibition of Gladioli at South Kensing- 

 ton, the same firm sent up a very fine stand of flowers, but 

 that they were too late for entering. The flowers that they 

 exhibited at South Kensington were all, or nearly all, French 

 flowers. Although their list comprises, as I have said, many 

 valuable varieties of English growth they announce but one 

 new variety, and that not raised by themselves but by Mr. 

 Codling at Morpeth. It is described thus : " Marquis of 

 Lothian. — Rose colour flushed with mauve ; the lower seg- 

 ments creamy-coloured towards the base, with crimson flame. 

 Eesembling Lacepede in hue, but is superior to it in size, form, 

 and colour." 



There can be no doubt that, despite its most trying charac- 

 ter, the Gladiolus is a thoroughly popular flower, and it may 

 be that the very diflioulties connected with its culture make it 

 the more valued by those who are any way successful with 

 it — like the Auricula, which no one ever likes to abandon ; 

 but the Auricula is not subject to the same terrible malady 

 whieU so often disappoints the hope of the Gladiolug-grower. 

 —D.-Deal. 



PKOPAGATINa FICUS ELASTICA FROM BUDS 

 No plant has become more popular than this. It is useful 

 either for subtropical gardening or for indoor decorative pur- 

 poses, for which it is better adapted than any other plant that 

 I am acquniated with, as it will stand tho heat and gas of a 

 room for a lengthened period without being injured — in fact, 

 the finest plant I ever saw had been growing in a room for six 

 years. 



The present time is the best for propagating this plant, 

 either by shoots taken off with a heel or by eyes. When it is 

 propagated by eyes they should be taken with a leaf attached 

 to each, and be placed in silver sand to keep them from bleed- 

 ing. Insert them in small pots well drained, in a mixture 

 of peat and cocoa-nut fibre, and plunge in a strong bottom 

 heat of 90°, with a little sand under each cutting. If they are 

 not placed in a strong bottom heat the eyes will not break. 

 When the eyes have rooted and commenced growing they 

 should be repotted into 48-sized pots, in equal parts of turfy 

 loam and peat, with sufficient sand to keep the soil open. The 

 plants should be placed in a temperature of about 70°, and 

 be syringed frequently; occasionally sponging the foliage is 

 also highly beneficial. The plants should never be allowed to 



become potbonnd until they have grown to their allotted size, 



when they will bo greatly benefited by liberal supplies of 

 manure water. During their growing season they should never 

 be allowed to become dry at the roots, as dryness causes the 

 leaves to turn yellow and spoils the beauty of the plants. 



Shoots taken off with a heel will make plants much quicker 

 than raising them from eyes ; and it is the safest plan, for if 

 strong bottom heat is not afforded, the eyes, as before men- 

 tioned, will not break into growth. When only a few plants 

 of rapid growth are required I advise that they be raised from 

 cuttings, but when a great number of small plants are re- 

 quired, which is not unfrequently the case now Indiarubber 

 Plants are fashionable, the mode of raising them from eyes 

 must be resorted to. 



Ficus elastioa is a native of the East Indies, and was intro- 

 duced in 1815. It was formerly grown in stoves, and was 

 merely preserved as a curiosity ; it may, however, be kept safely 

 in a winter temperature of 45°. It is ono of the most appro- 

 priate and ornamental of window plants, and is invalaable for 

 many other purposes of decoration. Plants are now in great 

 demand, and are being rapidly increased by the above modes 

 in most nurseries, and th^y have a large sale in Covent 

 Garden Market.— A. Y. 



EFFECT OF SEASONS ON PEARS. 



The last two summers have been so totally different in cha- 

 racter that a good opportunity has been afforded of noting their 

 effects on the different varieties of Pears. The dry summer 

 fouEd us with fruit clean-skinned, beautifully coloured, and 

 high-flavoured ; but small fruit which ripened early rotted at 

 the core sooner than usual. Each season should furnish us 

 with a greater knowledge of fruit, and I think we generally 

 find that Nature offers ua a very excellent lesson in the way 

 she carries out her handiwork. There is in nature a compen- 

 sating method of procedure that we should not hesitate to 

 adopt. I believe we seldom find in one season all those neces- 

 sary ingredients to build up a really first-class fruit. We 

 obtain one quality at the expense of another ; so that this 

 season, being a wet one, has found us with larger fruit but not 

 so highly flavoured, skin rough and deficient in colour, most 

 kinds being later in ripening coming in very irregularly and 

 keeping indifferently. 



There are some exceptions to this rule, no doubt, and we 

 find some varieties do well in the one season and really worth- 

 less in the other. This I have found with two stewing Pears, 

 and I should be glad to hear from anyone who can give an 

 explanation why the Uvedale's St. Germain should give us 

 such fine clean fruit last summer (1871), and the Catillao so 

 small and worthless, and now, on the other hand, this summer 

 for the character of each to turn quite round. The Catillao 

 I never saw better, the St. Germain I never saw worse — quite 

 worthless indeed, being noteven sound, but cracked, rusted, and 

 very small. The difference is very remarkable, and it seems a 

 safe practice to have tho two varieties ; we are then provided 

 for either wet or dry seasons. I may say the trees are bo th 

 tandards and growing side by side. — J. Taylok, Hardwicke 

 Grange. 



HEATING A VINERY FROM THE KirOaEN 

 BOILER. 

 Many are the inquiries as to heating a glass fltructnre ad- 

 joining the residence by a pipe connection with the boiler of 

 the kitchen fire. To this end there have been many trials, 

 many failures, and some successes. A success was noted by 

 Mr. Taylor ou page 527 ; another, and a very complete one, we 

 now place on record. The accompanying ground plan and 

 section has been taken and forwarded to ua by Mr. J. F. 

 Pearson, of Branston, near Lincoln. The vinery is attach ed 

 to Branston Villa, the property and residence of Mr. T. Lovelee, 

 a practical builder. The mode of heating was devised by him- 

 self. In this vinery, and another of much larger dimensions, 

 Mr. Lovelee has, during the past few years, grown some of 

 the finest Grapes in Liucolnshire. He has, during a success- 

 ful career, invested in house property in town and country ; 

 but no buildings have proved so lucrative as his vineries. 

 These he manages himself as a source of recreation ; but he is 

 ever ready to acknowledge the value of the advice and aasis t- 

 anoe of our correspondent Mr. J. Wright, who was gardener 

 to the Hon. A. Leslie Melville when Mr. Lovelee commenced 

 his preparations for Grape-growing. 



