814 
THE GARDENERS 
‘= CHRONICLE. 
[DECEMBER 25, 1875. 
gracefully pendulous habit of its branches, clothed 
as nd are with the richest feathery foliage, renders it 
t unapproachable as an ornament 
may perhaps be 
nted for from the plant Ысы been placed in 
situstions unsuited to its requirements, and by that 
ed b 
of light а менск 
the rich c t betw 
ander ses of the leaves, ined it са 
notice oreground of plantations or 
other Актин situation. ^ Most of Be Mya assume 
form 
the p id ^ e habit 
Spruce is generally more i hee and peer and it 
may on that unt be used with good effect where 
many of the would be quite out of character. 
Its d habit, 
rooping, pendulous eep green 
colour of its foliage: render it just the plant for 
cemeteries, or for planting in groups near the margins 
i ich positions they would form 
In the older settle- 
e tree most fre- 
ough a mere scrubby bush 
; y 
Although the habit sn 
spreading, it inky with very little trouble be made 
to assume a pyramidal shape by a timely removal of 
is found to decay 
rapidly it at all exposed to tie y Weimar. Ж. Sheppard, 
Wolverston, 
_ Anthracite е answer to “Т. S.s" 
7, respecting the action of oe coal on 
ee years, and I find no enois action 
on the Dei whatever. Coke also conta 
amount of sulphur, but I very much prefer the coal to 
the coke, as I think I may say it pet double the time, 
is quite smokeless, and a very strong heat-producer. 
Е, 
of purity among anthracitic as amon 
tà ins scarcely a trace of dm. It is 
on this account that it is largely used for malting an 
chemical manufactures where a pure fuel is indispens- 
able. If your co communicate with 
me, I can give him the names of nurserymen who 
have anthracit essc for a long while, and who, 
I have no doubt, ‘vill wer his inquiries. Arthur 
H. Gibson, General Mise. David Lloyd & Co, 
do not think it is 
Tuoi ids Me gardener something li 
years, and duri latter part of that time I had 
ample opportunities of learning to prune. Perhaps 
. some of the ners who have already written 
to you are 50 ing like myself when I first went 
into a garden at the age of seventeen. I thought that 
I was going to prune Vi P trees, all 
to prune Vines and 
the rest of it, but I soon жут that I had something 
o learn before I came t t However, I found 
I had ample opportunity “я learning by the 
the process 
1 as helping lf. Forinstance when a Peach 
house was ready for pruning, the h ardener would 
ing my paint and dress the trees over 
o me t 
after him. Having to go over mgd shoot to Led 
it, and s to tie it, I sho in common 
lance, be a noodle if I did not know how to. prune 
| Wilts Oe Die tame loc lat fetta Massi apne 
2. M., Basford, Notts. 
" Royal Horticultural Society.—I attended the 
meeting convened by co their 
the Council to 
Fellows’ | 
wp. | 
geua issued to the Fellows stated that the meeting 
convened in сонеч nce of sundry objections 
favi been raised t ge “devise d the 
Council, and from "s remarks t ell 
assembled Fellows it was quite evident the 
oA mp were jos gs d not to 
se I was amused by the нбни АУА made by 
oat ere President, whe twitted Lord as 
for presiding over a Council of gar rd Мт 
with having been too much Sena 
Ll in the formation of the new 
| miserably failed in everything they nir un save in 
placing a relative in a salari e, and in 
in he question 
t presents itsel m is, 
the present Council under existing circumstances do 
re they to struggle on against t condition in 
ОВ 
which the aroma f is ques or инее the partner- 
shi So long as the Society has to expend its 
entire incom элен e quare garden, how is 
it possible to maintain its expe garden at 
wick, or the 
advancement of the NE Pd horticulture? If 
the c A of the Soc at South Ken- 
in n n pd income derived 
from the attractions oftered there, how is it to com- 
P i e various institutions by which it is 
surrounded? The ў us our shows 
ar inferior to those of the pne and Alexandra 
many country shows 
now we have the Westininater Aquarium 
ofring nearly £ Ты in prizes for its flower show 
n the y: —— offer 
advocating the abolition of prizes for flower shows at 
South Pepe altogether. We have hear 3 it pro- 
posed that s "iig fireworks, Дайе &с. 
should be adopted à as a means of su pplying the funds 
ps 
these are the views of the late member of Council, if 
so it is e certain he is , not E horticulturist. 
t d socie ty 
is Fellows one Nein could suggest such mean 
support ? Surely Mid жср that such a society 
as to lend its name to dignify а d keep up a mer 
recreation ground. The Royal Нос ым Society's 5 
connection with South Kensington ought to have 
ceased long ago ; its partnership with "s 
Commissioners, who fai 
stand alone upon its own amen it is a power o у 
common order, its workings are transparent through- 
out the length and breadth of the land, it is firmly 
rooted in 
m its present fetters it can never т fal fil 
its mission, or be entitled to the royal and honourable 
name it An Observer. 
Carnations and Picotees,— The many — 
уш devolve on m Eos ons at this seaso 
my excuse erring my answer to Ms. 
Doiwelis strictures Ў cupi next week, in the mean- 
I may say that there are no two names to which - 
I should Py greater deference in the matter than his 
and that of my lamented friend the Rev. G, Jeans. 
D., Deal. 
Plumbago a eat b кау to “rs Ollerhead’s 
inquiry as to how lon ve been 
flowers o 
sa 
am writing, some looms of the above that were 
placed in their ir present position on Saturd. 
and which (Monday evening) with the 
looking just as fresh as 
to the remarks 
7 t if the plants 
were p moderate heat, so as to be near the 
l UTE expand, they would 
found to stand + well in a cut state Such 
exception of “thie Та 
when cut. If your correspondent refers 
I made he will there find I stated tha: 
v. 
states, 2 feet from a glass, and — on a stage 
r pi w 
natural Werne of petal c aren b 
uch a pme on, ind t at may account for 
ours when cut. What I 
opinion 
when growing flowers for that EE pose. 
have had much to do with cut flowers must have 
lasting in a fresh state 
and exposed to the TENIS changing temperatu 
n e thin-petale d потен 
such as those of the Plum mbago rosea, cannot be ex- 
pected to last long in any position, however favour- 
e; but even with these and others of a like 
at en time of year by having 
glass and in a suitable kim e ure while dE 
their blossoms. As I before remarked, much кеа s 
on the ec ns in which after 
f 
being cut as to the time they may be rab ibat to last, 
d 2 the fireplace the moment the door is open. 
indow recesses, bein — Pi of e 
moisture fig is — iss 
bns air d no ye 
indo here are in a m idi 
more favourable position T aati than they are if 
иер = Lux other portion of the room, $. Sheppard, 
Wolver. 
Я 
A Gold Fish Tank.—Having a нун into 
which we are going to put hot-water pipes, and a tank 
d gold and silver fish, and being desirous, if posible, 
o breed them, I would like to know from any b your 
pipes under the t 
ow and return, the tank resting on them. that 
i a proper temperature, and what kind 
give t er 
of — and plants would be most suitable for the 
purpose? Any information relating to the above will 
abies. сая аы Gr., Sedgemoor House, St, Austell, 
Cornwall, Dec. 
HELLEBORUS NIGER MAJOR. 
І AL WAYS fancy that Н. niger major, Н. maximus, 
and H, ее are merely provisional names for 
this d Christmas Rose, but as yet it has no other, 
With reference s 2 tiia valuable winter-flowering bue 
it has been said 
маа here, I am enabled to give. It seems to me 
that a plant that will not seed, nor strike by cuttings, 
nor divide like Dactylis, nor chop up like Verbena 
venosa, can never be, олчаан ga 
increased. 
It is about six years since Mr. M*Nab told me how 
to propagate this particular Hellebore from the root, 
and in conversation with Mr. P. Robertson, of Trinity 
Nursery, he suggested as a suitable time when the 
leaves were at their ripest, that being the rule in ^ed 
lecting the roots of the Hellebore of commerce. 
these two hints I worked, having a large nd of 
plants to operate upon, and I do not 354 we y 
most successful from the first, and have 
plant by the hundred ; notwithstanding “this it wil 
always be a neg рч to propagate. - 
The clumps ated on must be well established 
plants, that have Ро root-stocks иче; — m 
another couple of years—four years in short : that is a 
long time to wait for a Christmas Rose. By J ни 
| interesting work, lifting only two or three clumps at ata 
In breaking up the plants in а оу | 
