Barosma 



( 103 ) 



Bartonia 



instrument, is displacing the old mercurial tube 

 barometer, lint, the latter is good enough for garden 

 purposes, and may be made with care by an intelli- 

 gent man, the chief requirements being the L-la.-s 

 tube and the mercury ; a piece of board to fix it to, 

 and a scale copied on to the board from another 

 barometer would also be necessary. Home-made 

 instruments have been used for several years, and 

 found very reliable. 



BAROSMA. 



Kvergreen shrubs (ord. Rutacese) with showy 

 Heath-Tike flowers. The plants are all natives of 

 the Cape, and thus may be grown in a greenhouse 

 temperature. They are possessed of a powerful 

 and agreeable smell, which is chiefly centred in 

 the glands in the leaves. Cuttings of tips of the 

 ripened shoots soon root if placed under a bell- 

 glass in a cool house, in spring or autumn. One- 

 'ihird loam, two-thirds peat, and sand, suit. 



Principal Species : 



ht-tiiliiiii, 2', Feb., Sep., scoparia, IV, Ap., pur. 



wh. (".'/" tlioica). 



creuuhita, 1', Jy., wh. serratifolia, 2', Mch., Je., 



uvata, >', My., wh. wh. 



liulcliella, 2', Feb., red, 



pur. 



BARREN FLOWERS AND 

 PLANTS. 



Though most really double flowers are necessarily 

 barren, through the conversion of their reproductive 

 organs ininpetals, yet the term is often erroneously 

 <i|rplicd by gardeners to the male or staminate 

 flowers of the Melon, Cucumber, and Vegetable 

 -Marrow. These are readily distinguished from the 

 female or fruit-bearing flowers by the absence 

 from their ba>e of the embryo Melon or Cucumber, 

 which always accompanies their sister blossoms. 

 The gaudy yellow corollas of the latter flowers are 

 eminently adapted for the attraction of insects, 

 by whoso agency they are frequently fertilise! 1 ; 

 still, tin-gardener who wishes to ensure a satisfactory 

 crop of fruit will do wisely not to trust entirely to 

 I he good offices of the insects in the case of Melons, 

 but on a dry, hot day carefully bring the anthers 

 of the male blossoms into contact with the viscid 

 stigma found in the centre of the fruit-bearing 

 flowers. 



Barren fruit trees may be generally rendered 

 fruitful by making a trench some 3' from the main 

 stem, and carefully cutting back all the roots met 

 with ; or if barrenness is caused by unskilful prun- 

 ing, it may easily be rectified by following the 

 advice given under "Priming." Strawberry plants 

 are frequently barren to the extent of whole beds, 

 and here good cultivation has been known to 

 entirely fail in bringing about fertility ; while 

 runners taken from these barren plants have 

 proved as sterile as their parents, neither flowers 

 nor fruit being produced. Many Orchids and other 

 exotics are barren in this country, though flower- 

 ing freely, owing to tl>e absence of the insects 

 upon whose assistance they depend for fertilisa- 

 tion. 



BARREN SOIL. 



This term is generally applied to soils wherein 

 one form of earth, such as chalk or clay, undiiU 

 predominates ; but such predominance may be 

 neutralised by Incorporation with other soils. 



Excessively \vet and boggy soils may be reclaimed 

 by draining, and dry, aritl soils rendered fertile by 



deep cultivation, green manuring, or, in extreme 

 cases, by irrigation. Waste land, to which the 

 name is also often applied, may be by no means 

 barren, as the many thriving garden plots on the 

 sites of old brickfields eloquently testify. 



BARRINGTONIA. 



Stove evergreen trees and shrubs (ord. Myr- 

 tacere), not easy to grow, and of no particular 

 decorative value. They may be increased by 

 cuttings of the ripened side shoots, inserted in 

 sand under a hand-glass, in bottom heat. A 

 compost of two parts loam, and one of peat, with 

 coarse sand, is required ; and plenty of water must 

 be given at all times. Temperature, from t>0 min- 

 imum to 90 maximum. 



Principal Species : 



echinata, 20'. wh. sampensis, My., sc. 



racemosa, 30', sum., red. speciosa, 6' to 8', pur., wh. 



BARROW. 



An indispensable garden vehicle, varying in 

 character according to uses. Ordinary wheel- 

 barrows are mostly of one pattern, made of wood, 

 and put to many purposes. Grass and leaf barrows 

 are useful in pleasure grounds. They have tall 

 sides, and are suitable for holding large quantities 

 of light material. Galvanised iron barrows are 

 serviceable in removing hot cinders and clinkers 

 from stokeholes. Water-barrows are arrangements 

 in which wooden and galvanised tubs are swung 

 on pivots, and, where water has to be removed for 

 garden use, they are extremely handy. The frame- 

 work and pair of wheels are usually made of light 

 wrought iron. Plant-barrows are furnished with 

 flat tops and wheels, and are used for the removal 

 of pot plants. Hand-barrows are without wheels, 

 and have a pair of handles at each end. They are 

 generally furnished with four legs, and are mani- 

 pulated by two men. Their chief use is for trans- 

 ferring plants from place to place, standing the 

 pots on the flat, table-like top. Another useful 

 hand-barrow is made on the same principle, but 

 without legs. It is fitted with sides, and is 

 excellent for moving plants, soil, and other loose 

 material up and down steps. 



BARTHOLINA. 



Tliis genus (urd. Orchidacese)consists of one small 

 terrestrial Orchid from the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Pectinata, 1', November, lilac, is grown in the 

 cool house, but so far it has not been cultivated 

 successfully in this country. A sandy compost of 

 loam, peat, and chopped sphagnum appears to s'lit 

 it best. 



BARTONIA. 



Pretty hardy annuals or biennials, propagated 

 from seeds sown under glass in March, or in the 

 open border in April. They can be grown in any 

 good soil, but the biennial species are wintered 

 under glass. The Bartonias are classed by 

 botanists under Mentzelia, the plants they recog- 

 nise by the name Bartonia belonging to the Order 

 Gentianese; while those now under notice belong 

 to the Loasaeeae. The best species is the annual 

 Bartonia aurea, which makes a good spring plant 

 if sown in September. If sown in spring, it 

 blooms in autumn. It has yellow flowers witli 

 finely cut downy foliage. Others are albescens, 



Ilin-i-i-iiiriirt ix.r l-:/iiiiii-<l;in). 



Iliirrntia (see l'andanu). 



