JSfotcs and Gleanings. 361 



apple of Messrs. Standish & Co., a very highly-flavored early sort, having all the 

 characteristics of La Constante, but being much earlier. 



In the vegetable department, improvement has hitherto been mainly effected 

 by careful selection of the general stock ; but now the hand of the hybridizer is 

 upon them, and in peas especially, a great revolution has been effected. In 

 Messrs. Carter's Cook's Favorite we have one promising addition. In potatoes, 

 Mr. Fenn's Rector of Woodstock, an early, round variety of first-class excellence, 

 is a sterhng acquisition ; and Mr. Turner's Beaconsfield Kidney is a large and 

 beautiful, clear-skinned tuber, of fine quality. The American varieties, of which 

 so much was expected, have proved of but little value. In salad roots, Messrs. 

 Veitcli and Sons' Chelsea beet has rarely been surpassed for uniformity of 

 growth and sweetness of flavor. In lettuces, the sugar-loaf is an improved 

 variety of the Brown or Bath Cos. In cucumbers, the winner of the past year's 

 rac>-, was Blue Gown, a long, handsome, black-spined variety, of fine quality and 

 prolific habit, now in Mr. Turner's hands. Florist and Pomologist. 



"JoRXAL DE HORTICULTURA Pratica " is tlic title of a new periodical 

 devoted to horticulture, and intended more especially for Portuguese readers, as 

 the exponent of the practice and necessities of gardening in Portugal. The first 

 number, dated January, 1870, contains articles on Aralia pap3'rifera. Hibiscus 

 speciosus (accompanied with colored plate), Cabbages, Coleus, Portuguese Agri- 

 culture, with a Calendar of Operations, Chronicle of News, etc., etc. The 

 business office of the Journal is at 6 Rua do Carmo, Oporto. We heartily wish 

 this new venture a speedy and a great success. Gardener's ATagazine. 



New Plants. — Androsace pubescens (Bot. Mag., t. 580S). — A lovely Alpine 

 native of the Pyrenees and Swiss Alps, often occurring near the glaciers. The 

 plant forms an elegant tuft, and produces its white flowers in the utmost profu- 

 sion. 



Blandfordia anrea (Bot. Mag., t. 5809). — A fine liliaceous plant, perhaps 

 identical with B. nobilis. The flowers are a fine deep orange, the three outer 

 segments tipped with green spots. 



Gladiolus cruentus (Bot. Mag., t. 5810). — A splendid species from Natal. 

 The flowers are four inches in diameter, brilliant scarlet ; two of the segments 

 have curious lanceolate white stripes. "Considerably upwards of one hundred 

 species of Gladiolus have been cultivated in Europe ; indeed, upwards of one 

 hundred and ten reputed species have been figured from living specimens : the 

 greater proportion of these are, no doubt, lost to cultivation, and probably no hor- 

 ticultural establishment boasts more than a fraction of them. The genus belongs 

 to that immense class of South African and other plants which were the favorites 

 of our forefathers, were suited to the atmosphere of their plant-houses, heated by 

 currents of dry air, and the cultivation of which is not understood by the gener- 

 ality of gardeners of the present day. It is greatly to be desired, now that such 

 amateurs as are disposed to leave the beaten track of ordinary green-house and 

 stove culture, should take up the culture of these and similar tribes, which would 

 well repay all their care, and advance our knowledge of some of the most inter- 

 esting and beautiful of our colonial floras." 



