454 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 23, 1863. 



anticipate a better success ; and were it not on a popular subject 

 we Bhould not occupy our space, even briefly, by uttering a 

 word of warning concerning its contents. 



Miss Haling, like many other ladies, has a great love for 

 flowers, combined with excellent taste in arranging them ; and 

 she has frequently published in various forms her judgments 

 upon such arrangements ; but now that she offers to instruct in 

 flower-culture, we regret to have to warn our readers she must 

 not be accepted as a teacher. The practical cultural portions of 

 the present volume are chiefly derived from other sources, our 

 own columns amongst the rest, though in our case Miss Haling 

 does not seem to acknowledge the justice of the axiom, that 

 what is worth borrowing is worth acknowledging. We might 

 complain, also, if it were worth while, that each page, contrary 

 to all custom, is headed " In-door Gardening," the name of one 

 of our publications, although the title of Hits Haling's work i§ 

 "The In-door Gardener." 



As the first qualification required by a teacher is correctness, 



we should advise a page of corrigenda to be inserted, in case the 

 volume Bhould not reach to a second edition, for there are no 

 such names among plants as Gneorum — Chautini — Lyeopodium 

 apoda-cesium, &c. Such errors, however, with the exception 

 of repeated Dennstaetia, may be typographical, but there are 

 otherB more weighty. Eor instance, Loam is defined as " any 

 fertile growing soil, not exclusively formed of some one material 

 like peat, or clay, or sand, or leaf mould," which is such a tissue 

 of error ill-expressed, as would require more time to explain 

 than we are willing to bestow. 



Again, who ever heard before that " many gardeners never 

 use soil which has not been charred or frozen ?" or that " scales 

 are chiefly appendages of Camellias ?" Or — but we can occupy 

 our space no further ; and will only add that we shall be glad to 

 see Hiss Haling again in print when she has some more novel- 

 ties to communicate on the combination of colours and arrange- 

 ment of flowers ; for on those topics she is an authority. 



This introduction to our gardens from 

 has been raised by HessrB. Henderson & 

 Nursery, and was, we believe, 

 collected by Hr. Drummond, 

 who sent over so many of the 

 fine plants of that country 

 which now ornament our 

 greenhouses and conserva- 

 tories. The Stylidium amce- 

 num, without the gaiety of 

 many New Holland Bhrubs, 

 is decidedly pretty, and must 

 be a desirable addition to this 

 class of plants. It blooms in 

 June. The Stylidium nudum 

 of Lindley is now considered 

 to be synonymous. 



It is a herb — perennial, we 

 believe — having at the sur- 

 face of the soil a rosulate tuft 

 of leaveB, which are spathu- 

 late, 2J to 3 inches long, 

 tapering to the base, shortly 

 acute at the apex, and ter- 

 minating in an apiculus ; 

 they are paler on the lower 

 than on the upper surface, 

 and have ft broken cellular 

 hyaline, scarcely denticulate, 

 margin ; when fresh they are 

 scattered with transparent 

 dots ; the veins are dicho- 

 tomous, scarcely anastomos- 

 ing. From the centre of this 

 tuft rises the erect scape, 

 6 inches high, terminating 

 in the upper half in a pyra- 

 midal many-flowered raceme, 

 below which is a whorl of 

 linear-pointed bracts. The 

 rachis, pedicels, and calyx are 

 furnished with hairs tipped by 

 black glands. The flowers are 

 large, rOBe-coloured, measur- 

 ing five-eighths of an inch in 

 diameter. The pedicels are 

 Bhorter than the calyx, sub- 

 tended by small lance-shaped 

 bracteoles. The calyx, be- 

 sides itB gland-tipped hairs, 

 is marked with red dots and 

 streakB ; its teeth are linear- 

 oblong obtuse, thoBe of the 

 lower lip three in number, 

 narrower than the two form- 

 ing the upper lip, all being 

 shorter than the ovary. The 



STYLIDIUM AM(ENUM. 



the Swan River colony, I corolla is three times as long as the calyxjjiteeth ; the upper 

 Co., of the Pine Apple | lip consists of four oblong blunt, spreading |lobes, the lower is 



very small, with a gland-like 

 deltoid prominence at the 

 base ; a pair of short lateral 

 ears, or projections, which 

 become very indistinct in the 

 dried state, and a subulate 

 petal-like point; the throat 

 is furnished with a crown of 

 six clavate processes. The 

 column is flattened at the 

 base, becomes tapered up- 

 wards, and is bent twice in 

 the usual way. 



'JLhe Stylidiums should be 

 grown in sandy soil with a 

 preponderance of peat earth, 

 and require to be very care- 

 fully drained, for though they 

 like a good supply of water 

 while growing, they cannot 

 endure stagnant moisture. A 

 warm, dry, and airy green- 

 house is the best situation for 

 them. Hany of them are 

 very pretty, indeed showy 

 plants ; and, in all, the struc- 

 ture of the flower, and the 

 irritability of its column, are 

 so curious, that they have 

 good claim to the small space 

 they occupy. — (M., in Garden 

 Companion.) 



TANNER'S BAES 



FOE STBAWBEEBX-BEDS. 



Allow me to relate in cor- 

 roboration of a statement 

 made by a gentleman to Hr. 

 Eish (see page 422), concern- 

 ing the use of tanner's bark 

 for surrounding Strawberries 

 when fruiting, that I hap- 

 pened to visit the Viceregal 

 gardens the other day, and 

 when passing along a walk 

 with Mr. Smith I observed 

 his men throwing wet fresh 

 bark between the lines of 

 Strawberries. I inquired, 

 " Will it not give an unplea- 

 sant flavour to the fruit?" 

 " Not in the least," he re- 

 plied; "I have used it for 



