Notes and Gleanings. 379 



Begonia Chelsonii. — The remarkably distinct and beautiful Begojiia boli- 

 vicnsis, with its vermilion-colored petals, has, as might have been expected, given 

 rise to a numerous progeny of hybrids, some of which are of a very ornamental 

 character. The B. Sedeiti was one of the first of these, while B. Chelsoni is 

 another more recent production, and one of great beauty. Messrs. Veitch & 

 Sons, by whom it was raised, speak of it very truly as one of the finest of the 

 flowering begonias, a description which is indorsed by the first-class certificates 

 awarded to it at the meetings of the Royal Horticultural and Royal Botanic 

 Societies. It is the result of a cross between B. boliviensis and B. Sedeni, to 

 which latter it will form a fine companion plant. It is of free growth, with erect 

 branching stems, ona-sided, shallow-lobed, narrow pointed leaves, and large 

 drooping flowers, of a bright, glossy red. The plant, we learn, blooms on frona 

 May till November, so that it cannot fail to become useful for the summer dec- 

 oration of the conservatory. Florist atid Potnologist. 



Androsace carnea, var. eximia, is a charming little Alpine plant figured 

 in the Botanical Magazine, and described as growing in tufts of from six to 

 twelve inches broad, of a lively green, formed of numerous almost globular ro- 

 settes, one inch in diameter. The flower is of a very fine rose purple color, with 

 a yellow eye. 



Gathering Everlasting Flowers. — All everlastings should be gathered 

 before they expand fully. To preserve the whiteness of the white ones, we sup- 

 pose attention to the rule just given to be of the first importance, and, next, to 

 keep them always protected from dust. The white everlastings of the shops are 

 probably bleached by means of sulphur vapor. Floral World. 



The Sultan Plum. — This is a seedling raised by the Messrs. Rivers, from 

 the Belle de Septembre, in 1864. It bids fair to be a valuable culinary plum, as 

 it is large and excellent when cooked. Its productiveness is something astonish- 

 ing, as every stem is covered with fruit, and it forms a compact and most fruit- 

 ful pyramid. Its fruit is of a deep purple, shaded with bright red. The tree 

 sent to us was no more than two feet high and two years old. It had on it six 

 plums, each the size of a large Orleans, six inches in circumference, and like it, 

 its season is August. Its dwarf pyramidal habit enables it to be planted in 

 rows six feet apart, and four feet apart in the rows. 



Eiiglish yournal of Ho}-ticult7ire. 



Destroying Grasshoppers. — A correspondent of an Adelaide newspaper 

 recommends to gardeners and others the following method of destroying the 

 grasshoppers, which in some seasons commit great depredations in various parts 

 of the colony : " The plan is to sow borders or rows of the common Larkspur in 

 gardens ; in vineyards it might be sown between the vines. The Larkspur has a 

 very pretty flower, and the leaf is so green that it attracts the grasshoppers at once, 

 and when eaten, is sudden death to them. I have seen them lying dead by 

 thousands under the Larkspur borders in Adelaide." The writer adds that he 

 has adopted this plan for years with much success. 



