142 



JOUENAL OF HOETICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE, 



[ August 24, 1871. 



£5 ; C. Leopoldi, £S 10s. ; C. superba, £6 10s. ; Lalia anceps Daw- 

 soni, £6 ; L. anceps Barteriana, £3 Ss. ; L. elegans, magnificent speci- 

 men, £20 ; L. elegans Tnmeri, £7 ; L. elegans Wolstenholmife, 

 £5 IDs. ; Phalffinopsis SchiUeriana, £5 ; P. grandiflora, fine plant, 

 £5 10s. ; P. amatUis, fine plant, £7 10s. ; P. grandiflora, nice plant, 

 £7 10s. ; Epidendrum vitelinnm and vitellinnm majns, £6 IDs. and 

 £5 10s., fine specimens in flower ; Oncidinm Eogersii, of which it is 

 said there are only fonr plants in Europe, a piece of the original 

 plant, £12 ; Cjpripedium Harrisianum, £5 10s. ; C. Teitchii, £7 and 

 £5, fine plants ; C. viUosum, extra fine specimen, £10 ; Vanda tricolor, 

 backer's No. 1 variety, vei-y fine, £6 ; Y. Lowii, magnificent speci- 

 men, £20 ; V. cEerulea, fine plant, £6 10s. ; Miltonia Candida major, 

 fine plant, £13 13s. ; Masderallia coccinea, £10 10s. ; Odontoglossum 

 nieveum majns, £6 10s. and £5 15s. ; 0. pulchellum, fine specimen, 

 £12 10s. ; 0. Phalffinopsis, splendid mass, £7 ; Dendrobium crassi- 

 node, £6 6s. ; D. Schrcederi, fine plant, frne, £12 12s. ; D. thjrsi- 

 fiorum, £12 ; Cjmbidium eburneum, £73 10s. ; C. Mastersii, fine 

 specimen, first-rate yariety, sbowing flower, £6 10s. ; Angrscum ses- 

 qnipedale, fine specimen, £5 5s. ; Sobralia macrantha (Woolley's 

 Tariety), very rare, £5 10s. ; Dendrochilium filiforme, magnificent 

 specimen, £18 10s. ; Saccolabium gnttatum, fine plant, £10 10s. 



AUTUMNAL- FLOWEEING CEOCUS. 



TsE Crocus, as one of the earliest ornaments of the flower 

 garden, is nnivereally admired, and, indeed, for neat, dwarf, 

 and compact growth, and yaried shades of colour. Crocuses are 

 unequalled for margins or edges of flower beds or borders. 

 They are among the first flowers that remind us of spring, but 

 the autumn-flowering kinds have no such reviying influence. 

 They tell of coming gloom, wet, snow, frost, dreary winter with 

 its storms and blasts. Should we value them less for that ? 

 They flower, it is true, at a time when flowers are plentiful, if 

 indeed, we may so teim blazes of scarlet, yellow, and blue, re- 

 presenting about half a dozen species of plants, which are all 

 we want as regards their profusion of bloom. But there is plea- 

 sure in variety, a charm that no repetition can eSect. I think 

 there is something very refreshing in autumn-flowering plants. 

 They seem to revive, to give life and hope in the declining year. 

 Springing-up close to plants that have been a mass of beauty, 

 they are enhanced in beauty — they give to Nature beauty even 

 in her decay. 



Autumn-flowering Crocuses differ from those which bloom 

 early in the spring, for, like the autumn-flowering Cyclamen, 

 the flowers appear before the leaves. These plants grow in 

 the dull autumn and winter months ; in fact, all their growth 

 is made and matured in the dullest, coldest half of the year. 



All that these Crocuses require is well-drained soil, thriving 

 best in a rich light loam over gravel. They succeed in the sun- 

 niest situation, and thrive equally well in partially shaded posi- 

 tions, doing admirably on the margins of shrubberies, and they 

 are gems by the margins of woodland walks, and at the foot of 

 rookwork; in fact, everywhere. They do not interfere with 

 the summer-flowering plants, which may be planted between 

 them. They should be taken up every second or third year, 

 and the roots divided. This is best done when the leaves begin 

 to fade. Enrich the ground with some well-decayed manure or 

 leaf soil, and replant at once. 



The autumn-flowering species are not numerous. So far as 

 I know ihey are confined to three, or at most four — viz. : 



Crocus sjyeciosus. — Flowers large, purplish-blue, beautifully 

 striped. It is the finest species of Crocus, being very free- 

 flowering and beautiful. It flowers from the middle of Sep- 

 tember. 



C. sativus. — Flowers large, pale purple, with long orange 

 styles. It flowers in September. It is synonymous with 

 C. antumnalis. 



C. serotinus. — Flowers violet purple, with a yellow throat. 

 It flowers in October, and continues to bloom in November. 



I should like to know if there are any others to be had, 

 except in their native habitats, and should anyone wish to 

 form a collection of Crocuses I know of no place where more 

 information is to be gained than from the late Mr. Beaton's 

 excellent descriptions, Vol. iii.. New Series, pages llJt and 

 135. — G. Ajebbx. 



CLIANTHUS DAMPIEEI AND PUNICEUS— THE 

 GLOEY PEA. 

 In your last number is a communication upon the culture of 

 Clianthus Dampieri. I beg to say that this is not the Glory 

 Pea and Parrot-beaked Plant of New Zealand. I have travelled 

 over the greater part of the island, and have never seen it. 



It is, rather, a native of Australia. Clianthus punieeus is the 

 true Glory Pea of New Zealand, and its native name is Kohai 

 ngutnkaka, or Parrot's Bill. Its magniflcent festoons of blos- 

 som are to be seen north and south. As far back as 1?45 I 

 sent seed to England, and on my rettun had the satisfaction 

 of seeing it in full bloom upon a south wall of a house, where 

 it remained several years, proving it to be hardy, and certainly 

 not an annual nor biennial. I consider that it requires merely 

 the ordinary care needed by a Tea Eose to keep it through our 

 winter. 



Clianthus Dampieri is much given to red spider, and should 

 be grown quickly. Its flower is similar in shape, but different 

 in colour, to that of C. punieeus. — G. E. 



TEA EOSES. 



Ii is common to suppose that the Tea Eose is hard to grow. 

 True that it may require a little extra care in winter, but you 

 may rest comparatively happy during the summer. Out of 

 three hundred plants, during the past winter I did not lose one, 

 although they were planted close to the water. I have been 

 driven frantic all the summer with every form of disease among 

 the Perpetuals — aphis, mildew, rust, and now they look most 

 ghastly specimens without a leaf. My Teas, however, have 

 not known " an ache or a pain." They are now, and have been 

 all the season, in full health and vigour. I have been most 

 successful in my showing this year, and I am sure I owe it all 

 to having plenty of Teas to cut. I am convinced that it has 

 been the fair face of Niphetos, the delicate shading of Eubens, 

 Souvenir d'Elise, and Madame Bravy shining out amidst the 

 glorious colours of Charles Lefebvre and Duke of Edinburgh 

 that have won their way to the judicial heart, and caused the 

 premier prize to rest on my twenty-four or twelve, in pre- 

 ference to much larger and perhaps more brilliant stands on 

 my right and left. 



I was present at a show at Glastonbury on the Sth inst.j 

 and there I saw the Tea Eose in its fullest glory. Mr. Pavitt, 

 of Eose Cottage, Bathwick, Bath, displayed six stands contain- 

 ing one hundred blooms of Teas. A more lovely sight I never 

 saw. The day was intensely hot, the cut-flower tent inju- 

 diciously placed in the full glare of the sun. The giants in 

 Mr. Keynes's prize twenty-four threes looked hot and drooping, 

 their colour cotild not stand such a roasticg. " The Perpetual 

 season was past," " The wrong time of year for showing Eoses," 

 were the apologetic words. True, no doubt ; but yet that we 

 could have Eoses in perfection, even in the midst of a burning 

 August, was proved by Mr. Pavitt's cases. There stood Souve- 

 nir d'un Ami, Catherine Mermet, Niphetos, Mesdames Bravy 

 and TVOlermoz, every form and colour, in perfect beauty. 

 Neither were they in size just flt for the button-hole, the general 

 destination of Tea Eoses, but flne imposing flowers, any one of 

 which would have graced a stand of twelve Perpetuals. I was 

 much amused at the remarks made by the many who lingered 

 before these stands. It was a new light to many a Eose-loving 

 heart, and many a vow was made that for the future their 

 rosariums should not be without a full complement of Teas. 

 I give it as my advice to all amateurs whom it may concern^ 

 Have some Teas. Order the strong growers this autumn on 

 short Briars, the more delicate on the Manetti in pots, to plant 

 out the first week in May. — Stitf Soil. 



CHEinCAL POWERS OF THE SUNLIGHT. 



[The following is extracted from a pap-?r by General Fleasanion, 

 read before the Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture.] 



At the request of my old friend and your respected President, 

 I have attended your meeting at this lime to impart to yon the 

 results of certain experiments that I have made within the last 

 ten years in attempts to utilise the blue colour of the sky in 

 the development of vegetable and animal life. 



I may premise that for a long time I have thought that the 

 blue colour of the sky, so permanent and so aU-pervading, and 

 yet so varying in intensity of colour, according to season and 

 latitude, must have some abiding relation and intimate con- 

 nection with the living organisms on this planet. 



In the autumn of the year 1860 I commenced the erec- 

 tion of a cold grapery on my farm in the western part of this 

 city. I remembered that while a student of chemistry I was 

 taught that in the analysis of the ray of the sun by the prism, 

 in the year 1666, by Sir Isaac Newton, he had resolved it into 

 the seven primary rays — viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue. 



