2G6 



JOUKJSJAL OF HORXICULTtJEE AND COXTA&E GARDENER. 



[ April 4, 18G5. 



width-, this had white spines, but both promised to i-ival tjie 

 Wigandias, Fei-dinandas, and other plants of similar cbai'aoter 

 now used. Of those which might be more correctly desig- 

 nated as stove plants there were some fine things. Thus 

 there was Saurauja sarapigicnsis, with a broad Spha?rogyue- 

 like loaf, the leaves measuring 19 inches long by S wide ; 

 the midrib being of a bright carmine, antl the rest of a 

 lighter shade of the same colour; when well grown this 

 will be a noble-looking plant. Of a somewhat similar' cha- 

 racter was Spha'rogyne cinnamomea, of which the stem, ribs, 

 and under siulace of the leaves were of a bright cinnamon 

 colour. There were also a fine Cupania undulata, of graceful 

 pendant habit ; and a new species of Leea, of a beautiful 

 drooping habit also. Pandanus, which has so many orna- 

 mental species already, was represented by Pandanus 

 Lennffi, somewhat like elegantissima, but with white spines; 

 and curiously enough the spines in the midrib turn down- 

 wards while those on the edge turn upwards. With this 

 there was Pandanus Vandermeerschii, a fine delicate leaf 

 with white spines, a sweetly pretty variety. And what shall 

 we say to a bright sky blue Amaryllis F This I did not see 

 in flower; but in Imperatrice des Brazils Mr. BuU possesses 

 such a glorious subject ! Its flowers are said to equal in 

 size Ackermanni and others of the same character, and to 

 be a genuine bright blue. 



I ought to mention, too, a plant which will be interesting 

 to many from the associations connected with it — Salvadora 

 persica, the Mustard tree of Scripture, and which Mr. Bull 

 has already announced for distribution. AUamanda Hen- 

 dersoni, said to be the very finest of its class, is also here in 

 Mj. Bull's possession, and promises to be a great favoui-ite. 



And now, as ladies are said to reserve the pith of their 

 letters for the postscript, so have I reserved to the last 

 mention of a very curious, and, as far as I could judge, a 

 very beautiful tribe entirely new to us — viz., some new 

 Urospathas from South America. They belong to the Aroideaj, 

 the leaves having somewhat of the curious winged character 

 we see in some of the members of that family, but still more 

 fantastic. They dill'er from Alocasias in two very important 

 particulars — instead of having bulbous roots they have long 

 creeping rhizomes like some of the creeping Ferns, and 

 instead of being deciduous they preserve their foliage all 

 the winter — a very decided advantage. Then this foliage is 

 marked in a most beautiful and singular manner. In some 

 there is a red ground netted all over with green, others have 

 a creamy white ground interspersed with green, others are 

 blotched with red, and in fact it is hardly possible at present 

 to say what strange forms and colours they will present ; 

 but I think enough is seen to enable one to say that they 

 will indeed prove one of the most decided acquisitions in 

 ornamental- foliaged stove plants that we have had for some 

 years. AA'hen I add that the entire stock of many of the 

 most prominent and beautiful of the preceding plants ai'o 

 exclusively in Mr. Bull's possession, those interested in such 

 things (and who are not r) can form some idea of the treat 

 in store for them by a visit to hie establishment. 



And 80 must end my notes. Will any one wonder after 

 seeing all this, and having the words "now," "novelties," 

 Sec., ringing in my ears, that when I " turned in " for the 

 night my diroams should have been coloured by what 1 saw r' 

 — that 1 fancied Mr. BuU was clipping oil' the few hairs I 

 had left in my rapidly decreasing locks, and was inserting 

 them in thumb-pots, and dosing them with " thine inimi- 

 table oil Macaasar," as an entirely new sort — that my digits 

 were expanding into creeping rhizomes, while all over me 

 there wa« a general sprouting process going on which threat- 

 ened to exhaust all the tissues of my poor body — and that 

 an admiring bevy of botanists wore minutely surveying my 

 poor self, and disputing as to what new genus they should 

 a.scribe rae to. Onliappily I was not in my own home, so 

 that I had no friendly nudge to startle me out of my visions 

 by " My dear, you must have oaten something that dis- 

 agreed with you;" BO tliat it went on until 1 was heartily 

 g:lad to awake and find, as old John Bunyan hath it, Behold 

 it was all a dream. — 1>., Deiil. 



Luton, and at Woodlands, Kedhill, respectively, 42 feet in 

 circumference, and 14 feet high ; 44 feet in circumference, 

 and 19 feet high. It may be interesting to know that a fine 

 specimen is growing here which measures 24 feet in height, 

 and 54 feet in cu-cumference round the branches at the 

 ground and for two-thirds of the distance up, the tree 

 thence forms a cone to the summit (the latter grew 2 feet 

 long last summer above the uppermost tier of branches) ; it 

 thus assumes a cylindrical form, ending in a cone. Doubtless 

 there are other specimens of it in the United Kingdom, 

 which for size outstrip this. — W. Gabdinee, Eatingion Park, 

 Stratford-OH-Avon. 



MY OECHAED-HOUSE 



Is now passing out of bloom ; there has never been such 

 a fair promise of fruit before, and this is the eighth season. 

 Our numerous visitors display an undiminished interest in 

 the hundred varieties of the choicest Peaches and Nectarines 

 in existence, now so beautiful. The season has been back- 

 ward but shows signs of change. The equinoctial gales 

 came from the N.E., a sign of a di-y summer. 



Not sufficient account is taken of the difference of colour 

 in the flowers of the Peaches and Nectarines in classifying 

 them into two divisions of large and small. At any rate 

 colour forms an unerring guide, and an observer will dis- 

 cover many distinct shades, all indicative of parentage. — 

 T. C. Brehatjt. 



Larob Picea i-insapo. — In your Numbers of February 

 2Stb, and March 7th, coiTOspondents describe the size ol 

 specimen* of that noble Conifer, Piooa piasapo, growing at 



NUMBEE OF WOEKING HOUES FOE 

 GARDENEES. 

 Fbom your article with the above heading I rather differ, 

 I am of opinion that when gardeners are paid their full 

 wages all the year round, which is my case, they should not 

 be over-nice when the work is pressing, and the days are 

 long. I feel confident that my man for many days to- 

 gether, and that frequently in the winter, does not do work 

 worth 9s., when his wages are 18s. per week. I think both 

 master and servant in such cases should give and take. For 

 months in the winter there are not ten hours daylight, and 

 for some time only from eight to nine, when the dinner 

 hour is taken out. Even if the weather is suitable a man 

 can do little towards earning the wages he is paid ; and of 

 this I feel confident, if a gardener knows work is greatly 

 required to be done, and wUl remain occasionally an hour or 

 so longer, he, in the long run, loses nothing by it, but, on 

 the contrary, gains greatly in the esteem of his employer, 

 and in many other ways. — A Many Yeaes' Subsckibee, 

 near Birmingham. 



[You say that you differ from us, though we, in the main, 

 do not see clearly where the difference lies. Wo also ad- 

 vocated the give-and-take principle as to time, and even 

 advocated the propriety of the gardener not taking without 

 the knowledge and sanction of his employer. In thorough 

 contradiction to the old proverb, that " stolen waters are j 

 sweet," we believe that in the end they are very bitter, and I 

 hence have contended that for a gardener ever to enjoy a * 

 change or a holiday thoroughly, he must have that holiday 

 with the sanction of his employers. In all such cases as 

 yours, however, where much is expected in summer, to ■ 

 make up for the short days of winter, it will always be ad- ^ 

 visable not to trust to any custom, itc, but to have the 

 terms explicitly stated. This would at once prevent un- 

 pleasantness, so long as the mutual relations of master and 

 servant continued. Though we give this opinion under the 

 circumstances, we do not thoroughly agree in your con- 

 clusions. 



1. A gardener out of doors in winter is placed in much 

 the same position as other workmen, who receive the same 

 pay as in summer, because there is much more discomfort I 

 in doing work at that time, and also because the employer 

 knows if he did not so give employment in winter, he would l 

 not be able to get the labour he wants in summer. This 

 fact applies to a gardener merely as an out-door labourer, 

 and where he has no glass or plants under glass to attend 

 to. Kvon then there are numbers of jobs that may be done 

 in bad weather, and thus permit of more straightforward 



