Ceoember 23, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE QAEDENER.. 



561 



thing, is that the undoubted scarcity of wasps may have 

 encouraged the bees in their inroads where in ordinary years 

 they have to compete with the wasps. Bat is it really true 

 that wasps do frequently chase bees off from fruit they would 

 otherwise attack ? Possibly they are as contentious as the 

 familiar " cat and dog," though I would not mind backing as 

 a combatant a sturdy bee against its more agile relative the 

 wasp. It would be curious to know whether the Ligurian bee 

 demeans itself differently to the older denizen of our hives in 

 respect to fruit. Some persons have gone so far as to propose 

 that in these days of bee-keeping there should be a legislative 

 enactment limiting the number of hives to be kept in a certain 

 space !— C. 



MISTLETOE PKOPAGATION. 



As this popular parasitic plant is now in great demand, and 

 as many attempts will doubtless be made to establish it by 

 sowing the berries, it will not be inopportune to note its 

 increase at Cole Orton, where it appears to grow as freely on 

 the branches of the Apple trees as the trees themselves grow 

 in the soil, and Mr. Henderson seems to have the same facility 

 of raising Mistletoe from seed as of raising Radishes. 



For a time he could not succeed. That was when he fol- 

 lowed the prescribed plans of inserting the seeds in cracks of 

 the old bark, or just within the bark in V-cut cavities, tying 

 with matting and plastering. He then reflected, and this led 

 him to follow Nature's plan. The seeds, he concluded, must 

 be placed on the bark and not under it; and if on it, surely the 

 radicle of the germinating seed will more readOy penetrate 

 thin, clean, tender bark than the dirty moss-covered, harder 

 cuticle of the old branches. None can deny the correctness of 

 that logic. That it is sound is evident by the freedom with 

 which the berries germinate when Eimply rubbed on the 

 smooth clean bark, and no further care is given to them. 

 They are safer from birds when placed on the lower side of the 

 branches. They are stuck on at any time when the berries are 

 ripe, simply crushing the viscid flesh, which glues them closely 

 to the bark. Some of the seeds which had been applied were 

 swelling, being of the size of large peas, while others had 

 formed young plants in various stages of growth. 



In districts where the Mistletoe is not found, a common plan 

 of sowing the seeds is after^they have done duty for six weeks, 

 near the ceiUug of a dry heated room. Let those who desire 

 to establish this hardy parasite affix the seeds in the manner 

 mentioned, but before they have undergone the drying process, 

 and the probability is that a portion of them will germinate.— 

 W. J. B. 



ROSES ON THE ROOTED BRIAR. 



I AM glad to observe that many rosarians have adopted the 

 plan recommended by me in this Journal in October last year ; 

 that is by putting down younn Briar shoots as cuttings or 

 slips in October and November in the ordinary way, and have 

 flue rooted stocks ready for budding in the following summer. 

 I have letters from various parts of the kingdom from those 

 who have tried my plan, and in every instance they speak in 

 the most eulogistic terms of the quantity of fine fibrous roots 

 produced, and the vigorous growth of the head. I had about 

 eighty Briars transplanted early last mouth which were budded 

 in July ; they were all most beautifully rooted, quite as well 

 as some Manettis I was raising at the same time, and in some 

 cases much better. This is certainly saying a great deal for 

 my method. 



Your correspondent, " E. C," says he had not so much 

 success by this plan as I gave myself credit for. I do not 

 wonder at this, for much depends on the season, also on the 

 nature of the soil and the care taken of the stocks, and very 

 much depends upon the kind of stock selected. I have had a 

 good deal of experience in this matter, and I can assure my 

 friend " R. C. " that I rather under than over-rated my success 

 ingrowing Briar stocks. An instance just occurs to my mind 

 of a gentleman who put down fifty Briars according to my 

 directions ; he complained to me that nearly the half of them 

 died, but gave me credit in saying that the remainder did well 

 and rooted most beautifully — much better than any Briars he 

 had ever seen, and he intended following out the system. Now 

 I visited that gentleman's place in summer, and I was rather 

 surprised that so many of his stocks grew. In the first place 

 the soil was a stiff red clay, and the spring being very dry the 

 clay soil was so full of cracks that my surprise was that any 

 of the stocks grew. The soil was never watered, no protection 



given, and the stocks very small and of the very worst sort. 

 Nurserymen will agree with me when I say that many good 

 plants are lost simply for the want of a little attention and a 

 little common sense in their treatment. 



I find Briars succeed best In a cool rich deep loam, and the 

 soil requires to be kept moist in dry weather. My method is 

 to dig deep and keep the ground loose; plant them about 

 6 inches deep and 1 foot apart, then to cover the surface of 

 soil with a few inches of straw or any kind of litter. This 

 keeps out frost in summer, and prevents evaporation in the 

 drying months of spring and summer ; this is most essential, 

 for the Briar suffers much from drought. 



" R. C," I have no doubt, put in his Briars too soft ; unless 

 they are well ripened they are sure to die. They should be 

 of this year's growth, red in the bark, with well-developed 

 buds and taken off with a heel. If " E. C." will attend to 

 the above directions I have no doubt he will be successful. — 

 John Tubile, Peacefield, Portadown. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, and FRUIT. 



Calochoktus CITRIN03. Nat. ord.,hilia,aex. LiKd., Hexan- 

 dria. — " This is a fine new species of that section of the genua 

 Calochortus specially favoured by cultivators. The species 

 known previously are C. venustus, LeichtUnii, Guuuisoni, 

 splendens, macrocarpus, and luteus. They aU come from 

 either British Columbia, the Rocky Mountains, or California, 

 and, with care, are hardy in our London gardens. The plant 

 flowered last summer with Mr. G. F. Wilson in a cool gree n- 

 house at Weybridge, the bulb of which was given to him by 

 Mr. Elwes."— (Bo(. Map., t. 6200.) 



DiCRis AiBA. Nat. ord., Orohidacea. Linn., Gynaudria 

 Monandria. — " D. alba is most closely alhed to, if not a slender 

 variety of D. punctata, Sm., differing in the flower not being 

 lilac and spotted all over. It has also a more northern range, 

 from New South Wales to Rockingham Bay, whereas D. 

 punctata ranges from the former district southward to Victoria. 

 The plant flowered in August last in the open border from 

 tubers sent by Thomas Moore, F.L.S., Director of the Sydney 

 Botanic Garden."— (Z6id., /. 6201.) 



Gladiolus Cooperi. Nat. ord., Iridace;e. Linn., Triandria 

 Monogynia. — " When Mr. Thomas Cooper was travelling in 

 South Africa on behalf of Mr. Wilson Saunders, he paid special 

 attention to these enaiform-leaved Gladioli, of the group of 

 which G. cardinahs and G. psittacinus are the familiar 

 garden representatives. He discovered, or at any rate brought 

 into notice in Europe, no less than three very striking new 

 species, of all of which bulbs were sent home and duly and 

 successfully cultivated at Reigate, so that they all are now 

 established as inhabitants of our gardens, enlarging materially 

 the groundwork upon which hybridisers can carry forward 

 their experiments. It has now been spread about in gardens 

 for several years, but has never been botanioally named or 

 described."— (Z6/(Z., t. 6202.) 



Decabelone Baeklyi. Nat. ord., Asclepiadaceje. Linn., 

 Pentandria Digynia. — " The first discovery of this interesting 

 plant is due to H.E. Sir H. Barkly, who sent a sketch of the 

 plant in January, 1874, having found it three years previously 

 growing in the Karoo, near the Orange River. Shortly after 

 Dr. Shaw, who, as well as M'Lea, had found it in the same 

 locality, sent to Kew specimens in spirit, and a careful 

 analysis."- (Iftid., t. 6203.) 



Pernettya Penilandii. Nat. ord., Ericaoete. Linn., Deo- 

 andria Monogynia. — " A little evergreen shrub, a native of 

 the temperate and colder regions of the higher Cordilleras 

 from Venezuela to Chih, ascending to near the limit of 

 perpotnal snow, and varying greatly in stature, habit, and size 

 of leaf. The form approaches to the var. parvifolia of Weddel 

 (P. parvifolia, Bcnth.), which inhabits the Andes of Ecuador, 

 as Fiohincha and Cotopaxi, and has smaller leaves and short 

 pedicels. Pernettya Pentlandii was raised by J. Anderson- 

 Henry, F.L.S., from seeds sent from an elevation of 14,000 

 feet on the Qaitonian Andes by his late correspondent Dr. 

 Jameson; it flowered in June, fruited in November, and 

 proved quite hardy at Trinity Lodge, Edinburgh.— (ftii., 

 t. 6204.) 



Calathea ledcosiachxs. Nat. ord., Marantacea. Linn., 

 Monandria Monogynia. — " This is another fine Central Ameri- 

 can species of Calathea introduced by Messrs. Veitoh, to whom 

 also is due the credit of introducing the C. tubispatha, and 

 C. Veitchiana. As a species the present comes nearest the 

 C. Waraewiczii, Klotssch, (" Kegel Gartenflora," 1866, t. 575), 



