THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 35? 



•established. The plants in all stages of growth should be kept in 

 pots, rather small in proportion to their size. 



The best kinds for general cultivation are — 



P. elegaiitissiniiis, a beautiful green-leaved species, in the way 0/ 

 P. utilis, but smaller and more elegant in outline. Valuable in a 

 small state for dinner-table decorations. 



P. ornatus, a large-growing species ; useful for spacious house? 

 and exliibition specimens. 



P. graminifolius is a pretty species, of very small growth, with 

 elegant grass-green leafage ; small specimens are specially adapted 

 for drawing-room decoration during the summer. 



P. Veitchi is the most beautiful of all the kinds in cultivation; 

 the leaves are broad, elegantly recurved, and richly marked with 

 longitudinal lines of silvery white. It is far superior in attractive- 

 ness to P. Javanicus variegaius, and the spines on the leaves are so 

 small that they occasion no inconvenience when the plant is handled, 

 whilst the spines of the last mentioned are so large that they lacerate 

 the hands terribly, unless the greatest care is exercised. 



POT-CULTURE OF THE WATERCRESS. 



fEVEX years ago, I came into possession of a brook 

 suitable for the growth of watercresses. It passes 

 through two of my gardens, and then pursues its way 

 across a meadow, aflbrding me command of about a 

 quarter of a mile run of open water. I made it an 

 amusement to obtain as many distinct varieties as possible of water- 

 cresses, a few by means of seeds, but mostly in the shape of plants 

 from localities famed for distinct and fine production. These were 

 allotted separate spaces, and kept separate, so as to form a series of 

 distinct plantations for purposes of comparison, but the comparisons 

 made were always unsatisfactory, and many times the plantations 

 were renewed by means of fresh samples obtained, in many instances, 

 at considerable trouble. I might have gone on for the rest of my 

 life obtaining cresses from different districts without ever making 

 a comparison that was worth recording, or arriving at any con- 

 clusion, save that which I will now set before you. Every distinct 

 cress brought here loses its character in the very first new growth 

 it makes, and acquires another character which is peculiar to the 

 locality. Thus the beautiful brown cress from Springhead loses its 

 brown colour, becomes of a rich d;xrk green, and shows a decided 

 tinge of purple in the stem. It is the same with all other sorts. 

 A friend secured me a handsome bronzed cress from Bedford, and 

 a very metallic green cress from Grays, and they underwent 

 precisely the same transformation, coming out the same rich dark 

 green colour, with the same tinge of purple on the stems. As names 

 are useful and the plant acquires here a distinctive character, I 

 •call my plant the Stoke Newington Purple Cress ; but the name has 



December. 



