254 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



as they sometimes are in tying, and they keep much hetter in the blanched 

 condition. 



CusHANTS. — From Patras, the head-quarters of the Currant produce, we learn 

 that the crops during the past year have been highly satisfactory — the yield was 

 61,902 tons against 57,541 tous in 1873. The price for common quality averages 

 £16 per ton free on board, and £25 for choicest descriptions, which averaged about 

 ten per cent, less than was paid for the crop of 1873. Of the above total yield the 

 Uniied Kingdom took no less than 44,327 tons. It is said that the increase in the 

 Gunant crop is due to the very large extent to which waste land has been cultivated 

 in the Morea during the past ten years. The Currant plant requh-es seven or eight 

 years to come to its full bearing, and it is reckoned that with favourable weather 

 the ciop of the Morea will soon reach 80,000 tons. It is satisfactory to learn that 

 110 signs of the Phylloxera have yet been observed on the Currant vines, but it is 

 nevertheless considered advisable not to import cuttings of Grape Vines from France, 

 for fear of introducing the scourge. 



Improvements in Horticultikal Implements. — Agriculture and horticul- 

 ture should ever go hand-in-hand ; therefore it is appropriate that Messrs. Ean- 

 somes, who are so well known in connection with agricultural machinery, should 

 be known in connection with our garden implements. We refer to Messrs. Ran- 

 some's Automaton Lawn Mower, which is now, perhaps, as perfect a machine as 

 can be made. The latest improvements are as follows : — The handles can be raised 

 or loweri d to suit the height of the person using the machine ; either corrugated 

 or plain front-rollers can be supplied at pleasure ; extra side-rollers are sent with 

 every machine, free of cost, for cutting long grass ; an anangement is provided for 

 leaving the cut grass on the lawn behind the macliine, or delivering it into the box 

 in front, as preferred. The knives are made of steel and iron rolled together, 

 giving a sharp cutting edge, which does not wear round and blunt, but the iron 

 wears aw.ay, and leaves the keen steel edge always thin ; they are also speeded, so 

 that the cutting is almost continuous, and no ribs are left on the lawn. The 

 materials and workmanship are of the highest class, and the " Automaton " main- 

 tains the same reputation as Messrs. Eansome's other manufactures. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



SHAiiESPEAEE's WALLFLOWERS. — To every correspondent who forwarded a 

 directed envelope, a small pinch of seed has been forwarded. The long and con- 

 tinued rains delayed the ripening, lessened the quantity, and prevented our send- 

 ing it in the pod; for to make sure of sufficient, we had to ripen it artificially. 

 ^Ve advise that it be sown at once, or be saved until April next. 



Names of Plants. — Inquirer. — Caper Spurge, Euphorbia lathyrls. Tou might 



manage with the frame you propose, but we do not like such little things 



jp; _B. — Tlie pretty red-berried plant is Nertera depressa. W. Simpson. — Gris- 



liuia littoralis. £. W.B. — 1. Khododendron jasminifiorum ; 2. Slatice profusa ; 



3. Cotoneaster thymifolia. The others are imperfect samples, that we can make 

 nothing of. 



Pkimulas, bto. — A. W. £. — The beautiful primulas from time to time reported 

 on as raised and exhibited by Mr. E. Dean may be heard of by writing to him at 

 Ealing, Loudon, W. It is not likely he will sell seed. Very few raisers of first- 

 class plants ever sell seed ; for the truth is, the seed they have caiefully fertilized, 

 they want for themselves; and as for the chance seed, it does not usually pay to 

 save it. The only way to insure a good strain of any class of plants is to work it 

 up by years of patient practice, as the masters do, or else buy plants. To obtain a 

 -eally first-class strain from seed at one bound is simply impossible. 



CkOCUses from Seed. — A. W. B. says, if the seed of the crocus is sown in a 

 quiet corner, and kept free from weeds, the bulbs will flowrr the second year 

 superbly ; and if the seed was saved from mixed colours, tlie bloom of the seed- 

 lings will present a delightful variety. In A. W. B.'s garden crocuses are produced 

 from seeds by the thousand. The seed must be dried before sowing it. This cor- 



