532 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 21, 1876. 



expensive, and managers and owners of gardens may well adopt 

 it as one of their New Tear requisites. 



The best-grown Primulas tbat we have this year seen 



are in the gardens of Munster House, Fulham. The plants, 

 which are in small 48-sized pots, are from 18 inches to 2 feet in 

 diameter, and are about 18 inches in height. We counted on 

 one plant 150 expanded flowers of superior quality. The seed 

 was obtained from Mr. B. S. Williams of Holloway, and the 

 plants are alike creditable to the seedsman and to the oultivator, 

 Mr. J. Pithers. 



We have received from Mr. Wipf, gardener to R. 



Clayton, Esq., Lincoln, a very fine head of Poinsettia ptjl- 

 chebeima. When placed on a sheet of paper and a circle was 

 drawn touching the points of half a dozen of the principal 

 bracts the diameter of that circle was 17J inches. Forty-one 

 bracts surrounded the central corymb of forty-one flowers, the 

 principal bracts being 1\ inches in diameter. The foliage sent 

 was of the deepest green, one leaf measuring 9J inches in 

 length and 6£ in breadth. The petioles of the leaves and 

 bracts were of a deep red colour, indicative of superior cultiva- 

 tion. Mr. Wipf also sent prunings of Lady Downe's and 

 Muscat of Alexandria Vines. The young wood is not so re- 

 markable for its size as its density and its email speck of pith. 

 The wood (which is as hard bb Oak) is three-quarters of an 

 inch, the pith being only one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. 

 We shall expect to hear of such exoellent wood producing 

 superior Grapes. 



An useful hint may occasionally be derived from 



humble sources, and we lately noticed a plan in a cottager'a 

 dwelling of kebiks Cauliflowers which is not known or 

 practised by every gardener in the three kingdoms. The 

 owner of the cottage was desirous of having Cauliflowers for 

 Christmas, and five weeks ago eut, some close heads, and which 

 are now as fresh and firm as ever. These Cauliflowers are sus- 

 pended in a cool pantry with their stalks or cut parts upwards. 

 The stalks are hollowed out by scooping away She pith, and 

 the cavity in each is rilled with water. As Shis is absorbed or 

 evaporated it is replenished, and tbe result is that the brads 

 remain aB fresh and firm as when cut from the garden. The 

 owner says he has thus preserved Cauliflowers for more than 

 two months. 



Perhaps the value of small Conifers in pots is not 



quite so fully appreciated for indoor decoration as is desirable. 

 For halls, corridors, vestibules, staircases, and similar places 

 few plants are more suitable and effective than thrse. Even 

 in conservatories the choio««t of them are adrme-.-ihle, rnah as 

 the most elegant of the Retinospora*, Junipers, Thujopses, 

 and Orypto-neria*. Of these there are variegated form.", which 

 are particularly attractive »nd are worthy of a place amongst 

 ornamental groups of plants of a more tender nature. The 

 common kinds of Conifers, also Hollies, &n., are nl«o highly 

 worthy of notice for rendering cheerful places which are too 

 dry or draughty for stove or greenhouse plants. At this period 

 of the year when rooms large and small, public and private, 

 are sought to be made specially cheerful, Bmall, trim, and 

 elegant examples of the shrubs referred to are eminently 

 worthy of notice as the most hardy and ornamental " Christmas 

 trees." 



Fur the erection of a monument to Linn^jus 36,000 



crowns have been subscribed. The monument will be ereeted 

 in Stockholm, and will be unveiled on January 10th, 1878, the 

 hundredth anniversary of the death of the great naturalist. 



■ At the meeting of the members of the Paris Academy 



of Sciences held early in the present month the report on the 

 experiments made by the Paris-Lyons Mediterranean Company 

 for combating thb Pbtlloxbra was read. They commend sul- 

 phide of carbon ind sulpho-carbonates, wkich should be ap- 

 plied when the products of the winter eggs have descended to 

 the roots — i.e , about July. The old Phylloxera of the roots 

 is thus treated as well. 



Wb noticed last week a remarkable display of Plumbago 



rosea at Wimbledon House, equally noteworthy is the hedge 

 of Euphorbia jacquinlefloea (pulgbns) now flowering in tho 

 Pine Btove in the same p arden. This hedge is 60 feet in length 

 and forms a background to the Pines, the Euphorbia having 

 been planted close to the back wall of the Pine pit, from 

 whence a portion of the tan was removed and replaced with 

 soil. The rootB of the plants have, however, evidently pene- 

 trated into the tan, for on no other assumption can the 

 wonderful growth of the plants be attributed. It is safe to 



say that thousands of the shoots exceed 6 feet in length, and) 

 many we noticed could not be less than 8 feet, with foliage of 

 the deepest green and flowers of unusual size. This " hedge " 

 neither interferes with the PineB nor anything else in the 

 house, and yields armfuls of brilliant sprays. In such pro- 

 fusion are they that a cartload could be cut if required. Mr. 

 Ollerhead has in another column detailed his mode of grow- 

 ing the wall of Plumbago rosea ; the history of this remarkable 

 " hedge of Euphorbias " would be no Ibbs weloomed by many 

 readers. 



In addition to the donations already announced, 



amounting to £105, which have been offered to the National. 

 Rose Societt, Edward Mawley, Esq., of Lucknow HouBe, 

 Croydon, offers 5 guineas for twelve Tea Roses, and J. F. 

 Curtis, Esq., of Chatteris, £1 Is. towards a special prize for 

 the best twelve Roses. 



From the recently published report of the Metropolitan. 



Board of Works we find that the parks, gardens, heaths, and 

 commons under their control comprise an area of 1,094 acres, 

 for which the Board had paid £313,859, and repaid £66,538. 

 The interest upon the balance unpaid and the cost of main- 

 tenance of all these parks and open spaces amount to a charge 

 upon the ratepayers of only one farthing in the pound. 



■ A novel and interesting exhibition or artificial. 



flowers and fruit is proposed to be held in March next at the 

 Crystal Palaoe, when valuable prizes will be awarded to the 

 most beautiful and natural specimens of imitative floral art. 

 The classes will comprise flowers (wild and cultivated), Ferns, 

 and fruit, and will fee so arranged as to provide for competition 

 amongst amateurs as well as amongst manufacturers. Another 

 new Show will be one of Auriculas, which will be held in the 

 early spring. 



Mr. George Hollidat, the gardener at Castle Hill, 



Bletchingley, informs us he has some very fine Poinsbttia. 

 pulcherrimas in bloom, measuring some 15, 16, and 17J inches 



i across them. The bracts are some 2 and 2J inohes wide. 



j They are grown in 6-inch pots. Suoh specimens are very 

 noteworthy. 



■ The fourth annual festival of the Gabeenbrs' Institute. 



was held in the Central Hall, Darlington, on the 11th inst., 

 when about four hundred persons sat down. After the tables 

 had been removed, the. Mayor (Mr. T. R. M. Plews) took the 

 chair, and stated that the festival originated with the young: 

 men connected with the Gardeners' Institute generously 

 founded some years ago by Mr. Edward Pease. The festival 

 had prospered so much that this year it had been found neces- 

 sary to engage the Central Hall in place of the Mechanics', 

 previously used. He hoped that it would be maintained 

 annually, and that aa large a company might be present as were- 

 tbere that evening. Whatever funds acorued were used for 

 the benefit of the Institute. A great part of the credit of the 

 sucoess was due to Messrs. Ford and Taylor, the honorary Se- 

 cretaries, and to Mr. W. Hodgson, their Master of Ceremonies. 



The Arborioultural Societt of Belgium will have its- 

 yearly meeting at Ghent on January 21st next. Besides the 

 formal proceedings there will be two discussions — 1, On the 

 merits of the varieties of Pears ; 2, On the disnse of pruning; 

 fruit trees. 



A correspondent writing from the neighbourhood of 



Gosport, states that Roses are blooming vbbt late. He 

 gathered from his garden during the present month many 

 blooms of Gloire de Dijon, also Devonieneis, Duke of Edin- 

 burgh, John Hopper, Turenne, President Willermoz, Perle de 

 Lyon, and Celine ForeBtler. 



Mb. R. W. Foster writes to us aa follows relative to 



DESTROYING WBBDS ON GRAVEL WALKS: — "I U86 a Solution of 



Calvert's No. 5 oarbolic acid, 1 part acid to 100 parts of water, 

 applying it with a watering-can. As the solution removes the 

 paint from the outside of the can if spilt on it, I use a plain 

 unpainted oan." We have other testimony that oarbolio acid 

 is an effective weed-deBtroyer. 



A great increase in the importation of Potatoes has 



ooenrred thiB year. The value is £1,631,808, and last year in 

 the eleven months £941,480. 



CAUTION. 

 Nursbrtmen are most liberal and honest men, but the com- 

 modities sent out are not always true to name. My two fa- 

 vourite hobbies are Roses, of which I have over 2500, and Peach 



