November 16, 1871. ] 



JODBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



375 



of the oSaeta taken off nnlesa increase be wanted, and then they 

 are removed with good roots, and placed in pota that will hold 

 them without cramping. The old plants are put into pots that 

 will hold the ball, and allow of about 1 inch or Ij inch of fresh 

 soil all round, and it is put in firmly while rather dry. Good 

 drainage is given, and the compost used is light turfy loam, with 

 one part of leaf soil or old Mushroom-bed dung. The plants 

 are set in a slightly shaded position, and have water rather 

 sparingly, then they take their own time in starting into fresh 

 growth, which will generally occur about the close of August. 

 They are next brought to the front, have a light position, and 

 by October they are in fine leaf, and the pots are full of fine 

 white roots. Then if you desire to see thia plant at its beat, 

 shift it into pots 4 inches wider, using the aame soil as before, 

 with plenty of sand. Water gently up to March, when, if the 

 plants do not throw up for flowering, keep them dry — but not 

 so dry as to cause the leaves to flag — for a month or sis weeks ; 

 then water again. With me the result is in May, aa fine a 

 plant for foliage and flowers aa ever graced a greenhouse or 

 conservatory. Watering is continued until the flowering is 

 over, and then it is lessened. 



I do not believe in the plant being an aquatic in this country, 

 though it will live in tanks out of doors in summer, or in a 

 greenhouse all the year round ; for aquatic treatment it should 

 be taken back to the Nile, and there have the heat and dry air 

 to which it is not exposed in our moister climate.— G. Abbey. 



GOLDEN CHAMPION GRAPE. 



I WAS pleased to see your defence of Golden Champion. I 

 have had it splendid here. It was ripe in July, and when I 

 knew the Prince of Wales was to be here, I kept it till then, 

 the 19th October, and the Grapes were certainly the most 

 magnificent I ever sent to an employer's table ; they were like 

 pigeons' eggs, and as yellow as Dr. Hogg saw them at Archer- 

 field in 1860. The Grape was taken special notice of. The 

 last bunches were sent in on November Ist, plump and fresh, 

 while those of Backland Sweetwater in the same house all 

 turned bad — were rotten and fell from the staLka. — D. Thoiison, 

 Dnimlanrig Gardens. 



[The above-detailed, and other facts that have come to our 

 knowledge respecting this Grape, are a anflioient reproof to 

 those impetuous writers who either have not the skill to pro- 

 duce some varieties of fruit in their best state ; or who do not 

 give a thought that there are conditions of soil and situation 

 which do not suit all varieties of fruits alike. — Ens.] 



ROSES AND GERANIUMS. 



Setekal other correapondents having sent you their expe- 

 rience with regard to bedding Geraniums and Eoses, I also 

 send you mine, and may remark that I have this year grown 

 about eighty varieties of Geraniums, and the same number of 

 Bases. 



To begin with the former. If I were asked to select the 

 best twelve Geraniums for making a display, I should name 

 the following : — Foremost I must place Veauvius, which baa 

 been with me a perfect mass of bloom all the season, and next 

 I must select Indian Yellow, William Underwood, Rebecca, 

 Scarlet Perfection (Sutton's), Waltham Seedling, Morning 

 Star, and International ; then I should conclude with four old 

 and well-known varieties — viz.,'ToQi Thumb, Stella, Trentham 

 Scarlet and Christine. 



In vases or pots the following twelve have done well with 

 me: — Mrs. W. Paul, Acme, Lord Derby, Donald Beaton, Mon- 

 sieur Martin, The Hon. Gathorne Hardy (an immense trusaer), 

 Kentish Fire, Chieftain, Monsieur Comner ; and of the double 

 varieties, Gloire de Nancy, Madame Lemoine, and Capitaine 

 L'Hermite. 



No two gardeners will give the same list of the best twenty 

 Eoses, as different kinds of soil cause them to grow so differently. 

 Those that have done the best with me are Charles Lefebvre, 

 Baroneas Rothschild, Marguerite de St. Amand, Felix Genero, 

 Maurice Bernardin, La France, Edward Morren, Francjois 

 Lonvat, Boule de Neige, John Hopper, Fisher Holmes, Gloire 

 dn Ducher, William Griffiths, Mdlle. Marie Bady, Olivier Del- 

 homme, Charles Lawson, Vicomtesse de Veains, Lord Clyde, 

 Professor Koch, and Monsieur Woolfield. 



Marechal Niel has not bloomed with me this year, being 

 very much injured by the severe frosts last winter. My best 

 tOTir Roses this season have decidedly been Charles Lefebvre, 



La France, Maurice Bernardin, and Baroness Bothschild. 

 — E. C, Oalcham. 



JARDIN D'ESSAI, ALGIERS. 



In 1832 the then French Government conceived the idea of 

 forming near the town of Algiers a botanical garden, in which 

 all plants likely to be easily grown in Algeria, and which might 

 be useful either for their ornamentation or for their economic 

 value, should be kept for distribution or for sale. A portion 

 of ground, about two miles from the town, situated between 

 the sea and the public road, and occupying the place of an 

 old hamma or marsh, was selected for this purpose. In 1867 

 the Emperor of the French conceded thia eatablishment to 

 the " Socifiig G^n6rale Algerienne," under whose auspices, 

 but under the direct superintendence of M. Auguste Riviere, 

 the gardens at present are. 



In addition to the level swamp, the gardens now also occupy 

 the slope of a low hill on the opposite aide of the road. The 

 level ground is laid out in alleys which open out into a circular 

 boulevard which surrounds the whole garden. Carriages are 

 admitted to the circular drive only, foot passengers to the cross 

 walks. A stream of fresh water runs through the grounds, 

 forming in one place a small lake. 



One fresh from the botanical gardens of Europe is astonished 

 at every atep taken in the gardens by the wondrous vegetation 

 which is shown by all the semi-tropical plants. Descending 

 a few steps from the circular drive, a great Palm avenue is 

 entered. This avenue was planted in 1847, and is formed of 

 about eighty trees of the Date Palm, nearly as many of the 

 Latania borbonica, and about 150 of the Dragon'a-blood tree 

 (DraciEaa Dxaco). The avenue is about 10 yards wide, and 

 between every two of the Date Palms there are two of the 

 Dragon's-blood tree and one Latania. It terminates in a 

 clump of Palm trees, which are planted almost to the border 

 of the sea. When it is borne in mind that the Date Palms 

 are from 20 to 50 feet high, the Litanias averaging about 

 12, and the Draesnas about 8 feet in height, the general 

 effect of this splendid avenue may be imagined. All the 

 trees were in December last in full flower or fruit, the golden 

 truaaes of the Date Palm contraating well with the more 

 brightly-coloured clusters of Latania berries. It would require 

 more space than is at our disposal to describe the contents 

 of all the various small avenues that branch off from the 

 main one. The most remarkable smaller avenues are, perhaps, 

 the one formed of Bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea), planted in 

 1863, and forming an immense mass of foliage, the stems 

 supporting which are from 40 to 50 feet high, and that formed 

 of about one hundred plants of Chamferops excelsa, each 

 about 10 feet in height. But remarkable as are these charm- 

 ing sub-tropical alleys, the visitor is more than surprised 

 when, on going towards the portion of the garden where the 

 plants are grouped somewhat according to their natural 

 orders, he finds specimens 15 feet high of Caryota urens and 

 C. Cummingii, growing with vigour and covered with fruit; of 

 Oreodoxa regia, from Cuba ; several plants upwards of 25 feet 

 in height ; and a plant of Jubsea spectabilia, which is 12 feet 

 high ; and then just a few steps more and a parterre allotted to 

 the natural family of the Musacese comes to view. As both the 

 Plantain and Banana are grown in large quantities for their 

 fruit in another portion of the grounds, the family ia here 

 chiefly represented by such genera as Strelitzia and Ravenalia, 

 Magnificent specimens of the latter genus, with sterna 9 to 

 10 feet high, exhibited great combs of flowers. We are not 

 aware if the Traveller's Tree has flowered in Europe, and we 

 were not prepared to find it in full flower in Algiers. It has 

 not, however, matured its fruit in this garden. Near this 

 grand parterre stood another with many fine spec-mens of 

 Yucca, also a magnificent plot of Araliaa — A. papyrifera, in 

 full fruit and very handsome ; the fine A. leptophylla and 

 A. pra^morsa, thickly covered with spines, and the very orna- 

 mental A. farinifera ; and then one's attention is caught by a 

 large tree (Carolinea macrocarpa) from Brazil, with a couple 

 of dozen of ita fruit, each as big as a Cocoa-nut ; by a small 

 forest of Anona Cherimolia in full fruit, which is nearly as 

 good as that of the closely related species which yields the 

 Custard Apple. Near these is an immense tree some 30 feet 

 in height, covered with fruit of the Avocado Pear (Persea 

 gratissima) ; and at its feet is a quantity of the Guava tree 

 (Psidinm Cattleyanum) crowded with its perfectly ripe, large, 

 pear-shaped, golden fruit. Growing up into the trees, and 

 forming numerous and never-ending festoons, were some speei- 



