260 BRIEF REMARKS. 



to strike cuttings in ; and I also wish to try and preserve plants in it 

 during the winter. The zinc tray having no drainage at the bottom, 

 the mould in it becomes extremely wet ; and I (as well as two other 

 ladies who have lately purchased Wardian cases) should be very glad if 

 any of your correspondents would give a few practical hints or informa- 

 tion as to the management of plants in them. I have a little book, 

 published by Mr. Ward some years ago ; but it gives very little in- 

 formation to a gardener. I want to know if they are always made 

 without any escape for the rain, which will come in when they are 

 placed in a garden in the summer; and also if they are placed in a 

 balcony open to the south, how one is to avoid the mould becoming 

 saturated with rain in the winter. Any hints will be most acceptable 

 to me ; and as I have taken in the Floricultural Cabinet from 

 the very first of its being issued, I shall hope to see some information 

 in one of the Numbers very soon, as I always read them with great 

 interest. — Victiana. 



(We applied to N. B. Ward, Esq., for information, who very 

 obligingly forwarded the following. — Editor.) 



" To answer your correspondent's inquiries in full would require much 

 more time than I can now possibly spare. I am about to publish a 

 new edition of a little work ' On the Growth of Plants in Closed 

 Cases,' in which it is my intention to satisfy, if possible, the gardener 

 as well as the botanist. There are, however, one or two points in your 

 correspondent's letter which I have much pleasure in attending to. 

 She mentions the mould becoming too wet in consequence of the admis- 

 sion of rain, and the want of drainage. Both these causes are defects 

 in the construction of the cases, which should in all cases be made suf- 

 ficiently tight to prevent the ingress of water from without or its egress 

 from within ; and there should invariably be an escape for any super- 

 fluous water from the bottom of the case ; and this is the more requisite, 

 as, although there may not be too much moisture in the first instance, 

 it is requisite sometimes to give a little additional water, or to pour 

 lime-water through the mould to destroy slugs, &c. The other esseti- 

 tial points are to imitate as closely as possible the natural conditions of 

 the plants with respect to the amount of heat, light, moisture, and 

 periods of rest which the plants may respectively require, and which 

 are very variable in plants from different regions and localities. Much 

 may be done in a small case by a little management. Thus — Cactuses 

 and Ferns can be grown together, by intervention of a little arch in 

 rock-work, built up in the centre of the case, where it is obvious that 

 the plants in the top of the arch will have double the amount of light 

 and half the quantity of water which the plants in the bottom obtain. 

 A small case of this kind may be seen in the north transept of the 

 Great Exhibition. I regret that time will not allow me to answer 

 more fully at present. — N. JB. Ward. Clapham Rise." 



New Seedling Dahlias. — The following have been shown at the 

 recent meetings held in or around London, and received certificates or 

 commendations from the judges:- — 



Dr. Frampton. — In the way of Princess Radziville, with superior 



