316 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 28, 186S. 



and the Hepatica. These plants are not fashionable now, and, 

 as a matter of course, are not to be attended to : consequently 

 there are few gardeners who are likely to know them by sight. 



The only adtice I can give " Town-bbbd," is to invite all 

 the gardeners and plantsmen in the neighbourhood to look at 

 his plants, and, if possible, to name them fjr him. One may be 

 able to tell him the name of one, and a second of another, till in 

 time he may learn the names of all ; for each would be willing 

 enough to impart what he knows, if only to show that he does 

 know something ; otherwise there is a work to be bad which 

 bears what I consider a high price, yet is not a dear work, it is 

 " Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Plants." There is also a work by 

 Curtis, the title of which I forget. These would aid him con- 

 siderably, if not effect all he desires. 



What I should like to know is, the reason why the border- 

 plants of other days are put aside for the sake of the more gay 

 tedders. Are not some of them, at least, useful for massing? 

 Cannot the same thing be done in the flower-borders as is often 

 done in the kitchen garden — that is, can there not be crop and 

 crop between P Supposing a border is to be planted with ribbons 

 of different colours, when they can be put out with safety, why 

 should the ground lie bare till the end of May ? Could not a 

 narrow ribbon of the Wood Anemone, and Anemone apennina, 

 be planted, of course to remain ? Their tops would die down 

 in the summer, and the ordinary bedders would close over the 

 spaces. They would come up and flower early in the spring, 

 and take off that bareness from the ground which is the most 

 disagreeable part of the bedding system. 



There are, I believe, among herbaceous plants many that are 

 adapted to massing, if not for the flower, at least for the foliage, 

 or for their earliness, as in the case alluded to, but I cannot 

 call them to mind at present. Yet I do happen to remember 

 many a gay bed of Primroses which bloomed for three months 

 in the year, and kept in good foliage during the rest ; the same 

 with Pansies and Daisies, and Polyanthuses and other dwarf 

 plants, which bloomed in a style that would not disgrace the 

 gay beds of half-hardy plants of the present day. 



I have a great fancy for the common Anemone, and have seen 

 masses of it that were worth going miles to see, and that in the 

 open ground without any shelter. In fact, the name Wood 

 Anemone seems misapplied here in Worcestershire, where it is 

 now blooming profusely in the open fields, along with the pretty 

 Celandine. This, I believe, is the case with several plants which 

 may be found sometimes growing in woods, but which flower 

 better and last longer without any shelter from trees, or, 

 at least, evergreens, and this ought to be taken some notice of 

 in making plantations of them. — F. Chitty. 



NEW BOOKS. 



SELECT OBCHIDEOT73 PLAETS. 

 -By X. Warner, F.R.H.S. Cultural Notes by B. S. Williams. 



Paot IT. is now published, and fully maintains the high 

 character we have previously given the work, both as to the 

 extreme beauty and faithfulness of the portraits, and the fulness 

 of the directions for cultivation. 



Xhe present Part contains — 1, Epidendmim nemorale majus y 

 " without exception, the finest of all the Epidendrums in our 

 gardens," and commonly, but erroneously, named E. verrucosum. 

 2, Saceolabiwn violaceum, " a magnificent plant, native of the 

 Philippine Islands." 3, Cypripedium hirsutissimum, " imported 

 about four years ago from India, and first flowered at the 

 Paradise Nursery, Holloway." 4, Cattleya Dawsonii, " a very 

 rare plant," which " may be a wild hybrid between Cattleya 

 labiata and C. Mossice," originally from Brazil. It is justly 

 observed by the authors that it is difficult to keep pace with the 

 rapid rate at which this genus is increased ; but we echo then- 

 hope that they will "yet be able to bring some other fine 

 acquisitions to its ranks within the compass of the present 

 volume." 



THE SCIENCE OF WINDOW-GARDENING. 

 A Lecture delivered by Walter S. JBosanquet, Esq., at tie 

 National School-room of St. George, Moomsbury, March 

 31st, 1863. Published by request. 



Any one who from the title of this pamphlet anticipates that 

 it is an abstruse descant on the sciences applicable to plant- 

 culture will have arrived at a yery erroneous conclusion. So far 



is it from being abstruse, that it is a series of good directions 

 how to grow successfully plants in pots, with the addition of in- 

 telligible explanations of the reason why each practice is needful. 

 It is well calculated for the use not only of town window-gar- 

 deners, but for other amateur cultivators of plants in pots. 



As an evidence that the lecture is practical, we quote the 

 following : — 



" The first thing with which you must supply yourself is, of 

 course, a flower-pot ; and the first question that suggests itself is, 

 What size is most suitable and convenient ? I think you will 

 generally find a four or six-inch pot — that is, one which measures 

 4 or 6 inches across the top inside the rim, to be the most con- 

 venient. There is no advantage in using a new flower-pot ; but 

 if you use a new one, you must be careful, before making any 

 use of it, to dip it into a pail of water, and allow it to dry. This 

 is done in order to expel from the pores the dry air, which 

 would absorb moisture from the mould, and cause it to shrink. 

 Ifyou use an old pot you must be careful to Bee that it is per- 

 fectly clean both inside and out. At both the Flower Shows 

 which have been held in this parish, I noticed that many of the 

 exhibitors had given their flower-pots a coating of bright red on 

 the morning of the exhibition. This no doubt adds very much 

 to the smartness of their appearance, but it by no means con- 

 duces to the well-being of your plants. On the contrary, the 

 lighter the colour of the exterior of the pots, the better will the 

 roots inside them fare, as the light colour will insure a more 

 equal temperature. A pot of a medium colour — that is to say, 

 something between white and red, will, perhaps, be more agree- 

 able to the eye than the former, and more suitable to the plants 

 than the latter. You may, if you like, paint your flower-pots 

 green, or, better still, of a Btonc colour ; and if you adopt the 

 latter colour, and desire to make them look as if they were made 

 of stone, you may achieve your object by sprinkling the paint, 

 while wet, with silver sand. Be careful, however, if you paint 

 vour flower-pots, not to make any use of them until the paint is 

 dry." 



CEYSTAL PALACE. 



The Directors of the Crystal Palace have Issued their pro- 

 gramme of arrangements for the tenth season, commencing on 

 the 1st of May. The matured attractions of this popular and de- 

 lightful place are now in their fullest perfection, and will amply 

 maintain its prestige as the most favoured resort of all lovers 

 of natural and artistic beauty and refined recreation. Hitherto 

 the price of season tickets has been either one guinea or two 

 guineas ; the holders of the former class being required on days 

 of special fetes to pay 2s. Gd. extra for admission. Eor the pre- 

 sent season it has been determined to issue only one uniform class 

 of ticket, at one guinea, and this is to admit the holder to the 

 Palace and park without any further payment, on all ordinary 

 and extraordinary occasions. The Directors have merely re- 

 served to themselves the right of excepting three days during the 

 year, should they hereafter think fit to give some special fete or 

 fetes which may render a separate charge for admission en those 

 days justifiable. 



Among the other arrangements for the forthcoming season 

 are the Great Elower Show on Saturday the 23rd of May and 

 the Rose Sbow on Saturday the 27th of June. These Shows 

 as conducted at the Crjstal Palace, always constitute leading 

 features of the London season, and have the important advantage, 

 as the Crystal Palace has at all times, of being thoroughly enjoy- 

 able in any kind of weather. 



Last year, notwithstanding the attraction of the International 

 Exhibition, 2,020,219 persons visited the Crystal Palace, and 

 with its varied features and the increased facilities above referred 

 to, an equally large attendance may be fully expected in the 

 ensuing year. 



WOEK FOE THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



Nothing gives a more finished appearance to the kitchen 

 garden than clean well-rolled walks with neat edges. If these 

 edges are of Box they must be kept regularly clipped during the 

 growing season. Box-edging is, however, at all times a great 

 harbour for slugs and other vermin, and, therefore, preference 

 should be given to permanent edges of slates, bricks, or some one 

 of the many patterns of Rosher's edging-tiles, if these could be 

 procured. With ordinary care any of these will last for many 



