303 



JOUKNAL OP HORTICULTTXEB AND COTTAaB OAEDEKER. 



[ M *7 », VUS. 



Bay, the green-leaved female Ancuba — is a recent introduc- 

 tion from Japan, and is, no doubt, the typical form of tke 

 species, of which our commom blotched-leaved Aucuba is 

 one of the many varietiea having variegated foliage. Hand- 

 some as the spotted Aucubas are, the green-leaved form is 

 still handsomer, on account of the better contrast it presents 

 •with the coral-coloured fruit. Mr. Fortune himself observes : 

 — 'The green-leaved I look upon as the most valuable of 

 them all. It forms excellent dwarf hedges, and its glossy 

 evergreen foliage is very ornamental, particularly during 

 the spring months, when the rich coral-coloured berries may 

 be seen peeping out from amongst its leaves.' Our prin- 

 cipal figure represents this plant in fruit, but we are unable 

 to give the true brilliancy of colour, which is that of the 

 finest glossy sealing-wax. In the upper comer of the plate 

 is a small sprig of the blossoms of the male form, which has 



wrought such a change in the few plants as yet brought 

 within its influence ; and which, when well established and 

 planted out in our gardens and shrubberies, is to work similar 

 changes on the many forms of Aucubas which henceforth — 

 thanks to Messrs. Siebold, Fortune, and Veitch— will adorn 

 them. 



" That the common variety will be equally ornamental so- 

 far as the production of berries is concerned, is now suffi- 

 ciently evident ; for it has already been exhibited in a fruit- 

 ing state by Mr. Laing, of Twickenham, who produced, at 

 the Eoyal Botanic Society's Show, on the 18th of March in 

 the present year, two or three small bushes with the bunches 

 of glossy scarlet fruit very well developed, in which state, 

 on account of the larger size of the berries, it is decidedly 

 more ornamental than the Holly, and that is sufficiently 

 high praise. — (^Florist and PomologUt, iii., 65.) 



FLOWER-GAHDEN PLAN. 



I HAVE lately taken charge of quite a new garden, and 

 the enclosed plan, on grass, has fallen to my lot to bed out 

 at the proper season ; and I wish to submit two methods of 

 planting for your inspection, and to ask you to tell me which 

 of the two would look the better, and be the more suited to 

 the plan ? As I am not very well versed in the arrange- 

 ment of colours, I trust I shall not be asking too much if 

 you will criticise the two arrangements, and let me know 

 the result in your Journal. I may also add that I shall 

 have to buy every plant, and that the work is entirely left 

 to me.— T. E. 



[Of your two proposed modes of planting we prefer the 

 first, where the beds are to be edged. There is nothing 

 wanting to make such a plan complete of its kind, except a 

 centre bed for 2, 2, and 3, 3, on each side. Your proposed 

 plan of planting has, no doubt, for its object making one 

 figure as it were of the whole group. This gives a reason 



for your cross-pairing throughout. No doubt such a plan 

 would look well. Perhaps we are wrong, but we think a 

 simpler plan would look better. The very outline gives 

 you a centre and two wings. This is farther made apparent 

 by the proposed mode of planting, where the centre of the 

 two wings, 2, 2, 3, 3, and repeated, are planted to balance. 

 The simpler plan we would propose would be — make a centre 

 and two wings throughout. Thus, for the centre, instead 

 of banding Christine with Stella, we would make Stella, as 

 the strongest-growing, the centre. Then, instead of crossing 

 4, 4, we would cross as pairs 4 and 6 and 5 and 7. Then 

 for the wings we would cross 5, 9, and 4, 8, 6, 8, and 7, 9. 

 We would aJso like to edge 2, 2, 3, 3, repeated. We think 

 this would do more justice to the figure, and be more- 

 simple. If you should think so, and you proposed planting, 

 we will criticise. Tour own plan wiU look very well, but 

 pass the above through your mind.] 



The beds are 4 feet wide, except the central bed, which is 

 20 feet wide, and 2, 2, 3, 3, which are 8 feet wide ; the 



No. 1 PLAH of I-BOroSED PLABIIBr.. 



1, Centre. Chrislinc Geranlam; band of Stella; edge, while Verbens. 



2, 2, Purple King Verbena. 



3, 3, MunRlefii Gcraniam. 



4, <, Baron Il.iKfl Geranium ; cdee, while I'v-Icaf Gernnium. 



5, !>, Alma Gtranium ; f dR", Kohincon's Defiance VL-rbcnii. 



6,6, Prince ot Oranne Calceolaria ; cdRC, Arloslo Improved Verbena. 



7, 7, Rom o( Knijland Geranium ; cdce, yellow Caiccoluria. 



8, 8, Stella Geranium ; edce. Alma Geranium. 



9, 9, Heliotrope J.ilin Otiell ; cdne, Tom Thumb Nasturtium. 



10, 10, Verbena Lidy Cotu.n Sbcpherd. 



11, 11, Cf-ant del. I!atallli« Verbena. 



12. 12, Cloth of Gold Ger.nium; cd(jc. Lobelia Poxtoniana. 



18. 13, Mrs. Pollock Geranlcm ; edge, Lobelia speciosa. 



whole is surrounded by grass, except at one end, where there- 

 is a conservatory. 



No. 2 Pl*n of peopobkd flantiiio. 

 1, Same as No. 1 Plan. 



2, 2, Same as ditto. 



3, 3, Same as ditto. 



4, 4, Ge int dos Bataillcs Verbena. 

 .*). 5, Yellow Calceolaria. 



C, G, Verbena Ariosto Improved. 



7, 7, Prince of Orange Calceolaria. 



8, R, Stella Geranium. 



9, 'J, Kose of England Geranium. 



10, 10, Almu Geranium. 



11, 11, Golden Chain Geranium. 



12, 12, Cloth of Gold Geranium, mixed with Lobelia Paxtoniana. 

 13, 13, Mrs. Pollack Geranium, mixed with Lobelia speclosa. 



ON THE CULTURE AND CROSS-BREEDING OF STRAWBERRIES. 



I STATED in an article at patje 2:t3 that if plants of La 

 Constante Strawberry had been anywhere found to suffer 

 from scorching it was to bo attributod either to want of 

 attention to timely and effectual watering in dry soil, or to 

 planting or transphinting without having previously re- 

 moved the ball of earth about the roots. At page 287 



" li. S." aska if the latter precept is coiTect. No one having 

 replied Mr. Kaddyfro thinks it incumbent on me to do so, as 

 I was the atithor of tiio proposition ; and as some explanation 

 on this point may bo useful to other cultivators as well as 

 " G. S." I gladly undurlako to answer his inquiry. 

 Grow six Strawberry plants in pots for six months or more,. 



