78 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



plants is one of the easiest tasks in horticulture. The two prin- 

 cipal agents of production are heat and moisture, and given these, 

 there is' really very little to be said by way of direction. The ste- 

 nogastras, in common with others of the family, require a rich soil 

 and a half-shaded position. The plant before us produces lovely 

 lilac-tinted flowers in the style of a miniature gloxinia. Another 



pretty plant of the same genus is Stenogastra conchina, which has 

 rich violet-coloured flowers dotted with purple. In case any critical 

 botanist should read this note, we are bound to add (just to show 

 that we know all about it) that Stenogastra multiflora is pronounced 

 by Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, to be a cross between Stenogastra 

 concinna and Mandizola lanata. 



New Mulberry. — The Revue Sorticole speaks of a peculiar seedling variety 

 of a mulberry, raised by M. Brun, and which is remarkable for its extremely dwarf 

 tufted habit. During three years the stem has not attained more than about .18 

 inches, while other seedlings of the same batch have, in a like period, attained a 

 height of 9 or 10 feet. Kow, in the ninth year of its existence, the dwarf v.nriety 

 has a stem of less than 6 feet. The leaves are large, and retain their tufted cha- 

 racter. Apart from its curiosity, the dwarf variety is important in relation to the 

 plan of rearing silkworms in the open air, a plan alluded to by us in 1873, p. 773, 

 and recom'mended as a remedial or preventive measure in some forms of siikwonn 

 disease. 



