May 



26,1863.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 







37] 



Day | Day 



of ! of 



M'nth Week. 



MAY 26-JUNE 1, 1863. 



Weather near London in 1862. 



San 

 Rises. 





Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day of 



Year. 



Barometer. 



Thermom. 



Wind. 



Rain in 

 Inches. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Rises 

 and Sets 



26 

 27 

 28 

 29 

 SO 

 31 

 1 



Tu 

 W 

 Th 

 F 

 S 

 Sen 

 M 



Whit Tuesday. 



Ember Week. King of Han. 



Mistletoe flowers, [born, 1819. 



King Charles II. restored, 1660. 



Toadgrass flowers. 



Trinity Sunday. 



Stonewort flowers. 



30.110-30.005 

 29.903-29.830 

 29.860—29.831 

 29.872-29.824 

 29.672-29.418 

 29.938-29.825 

 29.993-29.S70 



degrees. 

 72—48 

 66—52 

 72-62 

 73—54 

 68-52 

 76—43 

 76-40 



S.W. 

 S.W. 

 S.W. 



s. 



S.E. 



w. 



N.E. 



.01 

 .09 

 .01 



.15 

 .02 



m. h. 

 56 af 3 

 55 3 

 54 3 

 53 3 

 62 8 

 52 3 

 £1 3 



m. h. 

 57af7 



58 7 



59 7 

 vur. 



2 8 



3 8 



4 8 



m. h. 



31 

 50 

 10 1 



32 1 

 58 1 

 31 2 

 rises. 



9 

 10 



11 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 O 



m. s. 

 3 17 

 3 11 

 3 4 

 3 67 

 2 49 

 2 41 

 2 32 



146 

 147 

 148 

 149 

 150 

 152 

 153 



Meteorology op the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-six yearB, the average highest and lowest 

 temperatures of these days are 67.6° and 41 6 3 respectively. The greatest heat, 9P, occurred on the 28th, in 1847 ; and the lowest cold, 32"*, 

 on the 31st, in 1857. During the period 148 days were fine, and on 104 raia fell. 



THE AMARYLLIS AND ITS VARIETIES. 



IPPEASTERS are now ge- 

 nerally to be found amongst 

 collections of plants, and are 

 increasing in public estima- 

 tion every year. Those spe- 

 cies which have been sent 

 home from the West India 

 Islands have reproduced 

 seedlings infinitely superior 

 in substance, more brilliant 

 in colour, and of finer form- 

 ation in both sepals and petals ; 

 which must be set down to the cre- 

 dit of in-and-in breeding and careful 

 selection of parentage. Nor must 

 we forget the powerful influence exercised by the pen of 

 Mr. Beaton, from the very time The Cottage Gardener 

 was in its infancy, in stimulating a zest towards their 

 more extended cultivation. His various papers, although 

 I am only speaking from recollection, have a very distinct 

 impression upon my mind, exhibiting as they do a per- 

 fect acquaintance with the whole genus, and conveying 

 valuable practical hints on their cultivation. No one, 

 not even excepting Dean Herbert himself, knew the 

 varieties by headmark even to their minutest parentage 

 better than he ; and, as Mr. Fish has well expressed in 

 one of his communications, his dissertations on the genus 

 and its subdivisions constitute of itself enough to per- 

 petuate a name. 



There is first and foremost formosissima, a most beau- 

 tiful velvety crimson sort with its peculiar contraction of 

 the lower sepals which, by the way, has hitherto defied, 

 so far as I know, all attempts at hybridisation. I have 

 tried it in various ways with first-rate pollen, and vice 

 versa, but to no purpose. This sort is invaluable for 

 spring decoration, flowering generally during April in a 

 cool house. It is an old-established favourite grown in 

 many places where no other variety is to be found. 

 With all the first-rate novelties there is none possessing 

 much better substance ; and therefore it has a decided 

 claim upon our sympathies — besides it is a great favourite 

 with the ladies. 



Then there is vittata, another comparatively hardy 

 sort, which has been the parent of a great many good 

 seedlings, of which we believe Johnsoni is one of the 

 oldest. The latter variety has reproduced numerous forms 

 almost an exact counterpart of itself, the best of all the 

 strains we have ever seen of it being Johnsoni precieuse. 

 This variety excels the parent in quality and substance 

 of bloom, and is likely to make an excellent sort to breed 

 from. We have pods of it now by the pollen of margi- 

 nata conspicua, which will in all likelihood have some 

 progeny fair to look upon. 



Then there is solandrceflora, a long-tubed sort, very in- 

 teresting and beautiful, which now also has a good many 

 representatives, of which Graveana, Crocea grandiflora, 

 and Delicata may be said to be the best and most pro- 

 No. 113.— Voi. IV., New Series. 



minent. Marginata grandiflora also partakes of this same 

 type, and all are exceedingly large as individual flowers 

 and free growers. 



There is aulica, an evergreen, requiring exactly the 

 same treatment as Vallota purpurea, but rather more 

 tender, and would suffer in a temperature which Vallota 

 would tide over with impunity. If there is any use in 

 recording a protest against the nomenclature, not uni- 

 versal nor general, but special as in this instance, why 

 is this brilliant orange-scarlet Vallota called purpurea? 

 There is nothing about it, so far as I can see, to justify 

 the name ; and the sooner it is changed the less queries 

 will be suggested about it. Occasionally people who 

 have no pretension to the knowledge of plants have been 

 surprised why it should have been christened with a 

 meaningless cognomen. 



It is strange that this Vallota will not intercross with 

 any of the Amaryllises. I have dozens of times tried it 

 upon the stigma of free-setting sorts, such as Ackermanni 

 pulcherrima, Marginata conspicua, Johnsoni, and others, 

 with no good results. I was the less surprised at no 

 effects on such sorts as organensis, Ackermanni, and 

 grandiflora, because the scape of any of them never pro- 

 duces more than two flowers ; but on such sorts as those 

 above mentioned, which often produce four flowers, there 

 was more room for comment. 



One variety which found its way into our collection by 

 a fortuitous occurrence, and which turns out to be some- 

 thing very distinct and fine, throwing up, as it has done 

 this season, two flower-scapes, each producing; eight 

 flowers, seemed to be a sort that would suit Vallota ; 

 but after two or three careful pollen-applications both 

 ways, there is nothing signified but barren results. I 

 have, therefore, come to the conclusion that formosissima 

 and this Vallota will not hybridise ; and I should like 

 very much to know if any of the readers of the Journal 

 have ever tried and been successful with either or both 

 of these. I know Mr. Beaton declared long since that 

 neither he nor anybody else could hybridise formosissima. 



All the other sorts, with one or two unimportant ex- 

 ceptions, seed freely by intercrossing, and thousands of 

 seedlings can be raised at will. 



The following are the sorts that have been proved and 

 found to be the very best out of a numerous collection. 



Ackermanni pulcherrima. — A very intense crimson of 

 extra fine substance, producing four flowers from the 

 scape. Form very good. This sort is easily known from 

 having a round flattish bulb, something like the form of 

 the Danvers Onion. 



Ackermanni. — This is a bi-flowered sort, possessing a 

 vigorous habit, and producing flowers often measuring 

 7 inches across. The form of this is not of the first style 

 of excellence, but it is altogether a good ornamental sort 

 of rich substance. 



Bierii. — This is one of the finest-formed of the whole 

 race of them, but a little deficient in substance. Colour 

 white and pink, beautifully suffused ; something in the 

 way of marginata conspicua, but paler. It is a very free 

 bloomer, producing from four to six flowers in the scape. 

 No. 765.— Voi. XXIX, Oed Series. 



