February 23, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



143 



ture to maintain it. There are traces here and there of faded 

 grandeur, as if at one time more means had been at command 

 to keep the wheels moving. Nevertheless, the fernery at Black- 

 rock is alone worth a journey to Ireland to see it as it now is. 



In open-air gardening, besides the summer bedding plants 

 already noted, which aie to be found everywhere now, there 

 are several quaint rustic walks near the boundary walls of 

 the garden, the inner side being formed of a series of rustic 

 stone Gothic arches like the sides of a railway ; from these 

 other rustic arches are thrown across the path to the wall 

 at every lU or 2(1 feet. The idea is pretty good, but as carried 

 out it is scarcely bold enough in character to prevent it from 

 being called " toy." These stones and arches, however, are the 

 abiding place of a tine collection of British I'erns, not, perhaps, 

 so much a collection of varieties as in number, and they looked 

 well. Here, also, the Bamboo seemed to do well, and was 

 particularly striking in character. 



In another detached small garden were the fruit trees — the 

 very trees, as I was informed, of Apples and Pears which had 

 formerly been planted in the orchard houses. A line of fine 

 pyramid Pears on Quince stocks, S feet or so in height, planted 

 only Li feet apart, were bearing very heavy crops of fine fruit. 

 I observed Duchesse d'Angoulcme, Crlou Morreau, Chaumontel, 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey, and Marie Louise, as fine as ever I 

 have seen them anywhere. Apples also were unusually fine, 

 the crops immense on very little trees, conclusively showing 

 that, if attention were given, Ireland could become one of the 

 finest of fruit-growing countries. — B. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



Amaryllis Rayneki (Eayuer's Amaryllis). Nat. ord., Ama- 

 ryllidacefe. Linn., Hexandria Monogynia. — Nalive of Brazil. 

 Flowers lilac; leaves broad, sickle-shaped, and bnfl'-edged. — 

 {Bot.Mari., t. 5883.) 



GL.iDiOLus DRAcocEPHALns (Dragon-headed Gladiolus). Nat. 

 ord., tridacesE. Linn., Triandria Monogynia. — Native of western 

 Natal, at the foot of the Drachenberg Mountains. Flowers 

 lurid green, with lines of dull purple.— (Ifiirf., t. 5884.) 



CiRsiuM GK.AnA3ii (Graham's Cirsium). Nat. ord., Compo- 

 eilip. Linn., Syngenesia ffiqualis. — Native of low valleys in 

 New Mexico. Flowers bright anmson.— {Ibid., t. 5885.) 



PoGOGYNE DouoLASii (Douglas's Pogogyne). Nat. ord., La- 

 biatie. Linn , Didynamii Angiospermia. — Native of California. 

 Flowers purple, white-spotted.— (Jftii? , t. 5886.) 



Cyetanthera chrysostephana (Golden-crowned Cyrtanthera). 

 Nat. ord , Acinthacefe. Linn., Diandria Monogynia. — Native 

 of Mexico. " The flowers, instead of being disposed in a dense 

 thyrsus, or in axillary cymes, as in most species of the genus, 

 are collecied into a crown-like corymb at the tips of the 

 branches, and are of a bright golden yellow."— (/iicZ , t. 5887.) 



Double Tiger Lily.—" This beautiful plant has the habit of 

 the old, well-known, and popular Tiger Lily, L. tigtinum, but 

 is abundantly distinct from it as a garden flower on account of 

 its double blossoms. The stems, which reach 3 feet high or 

 upwards, are furnished with a thin covering of white cobwebby 

 hairs, and clothed with numerous scattered lanceolate leaves, 

 the lower of which are 4 to C inches long, the upper ones 

 tborter and broader, and beaiing the usual black shining bulbils 

 in their axils. The flowers form a fine spreading panicle at 

 the top of the stem, but in the smaller and weaker specimens 

 the stem was surmounted by only a couple of flowers. In this 

 respect the variety quite resembles its type, the ^eaker bulbs 

 produce one or two-flowered stems, the stronger ones a panicle 

 of numerous flowers, varying in number according to the degree 

 of vigour. The individual flowers are about 4 inches across ; 

 but instead of the leaves of the perianth forming a single 

 series, as in the ordinary Tiger Lily, there are in this double- 

 flowered vaiiety no fewer than six series of petaline segments, 

 which, for the most part, are opposite, and lie over each other 

 in their recurved position like the petals of the hexangular 

 Camellias. The colour is a bright orange, densely spotted ^rith 

 blackish-purple spots. 



"We aie indebted to G. F. Wilson, Efq., of Weybridge, for 

 the specimen figured, and which was exhibited by bim on the 

 3rd of August last, at a meeting of the Eojal Horticultural 

 Society, when it received a first-class certificate. The bulbs 

 were, we believe, imported from Japan by Mr. Ball. 



" There are some other remarkably fine varieties of the Tiger 

 Lily worthy of especial notice. One of these is the L. tigrinum 

 Fortunei, introduced by Mr. Fortune from China, and cul- 



tivated by Messrs. Standish & Co. This is remarkable for its 

 vigorous growth, and its immense head of flowers, which 

 branches out in three successive series from the main stem, 

 by which the blooming season is much prolonged. Another is 

 the L. tigrinum splendens, introduced to public notice by 

 M. Van Houtte. and which in its taller stature and ample 

 branching inflorescence bears considerable resemblance to the 

 var. Fortunei ; but is said to differ somewhat in colour, and 

 in the fewer and more prominent spots on the perianth. Both 

 are grand additions to the group of hardy bulbous plants."^ 

 (Florist and Pomoloijist, 3 s., iv. 2.').) 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Asparagus, make new beds with two-year-old plants, and fill up 

 old beds. Plant out Mizagan Beans trom boxes and pots ; sow 

 Long-pods. Plant out Cauliflowers from the frames or hand- 

 glasses, the lattertohave three or four left in each. Make a small 

 sowing of Celery on a warm border. Sow Leelis for a principal 

 crop. About the second week in March is an excellent time to 

 sow the main crop of Onions. One of the prima objects in 

 Onion cultivation ought to be to secure an early harvest, and 

 this is best accomplished by elevated beds unmaoured, unless 

 the soil is very poor. The land should be selected in No- 

 vember, generally a plot which has had one scourging crop 

 taken off after a good manuring. It is trenched and ridged 

 until the early part of March, when, being levelled down, it is 

 marked out into beds 42 inches wide, with 13-inch alleys. 

 Before the seed is sown the beds are raised 6 inches above the 

 ordinary ground level. When the beds have become dry the 

 seed is sown, and they are trodden twice over until they are quite 

 hard. A very light coating of soil is then strewed evenly over 

 the whole. The narrowness of the beds enables the operator to 

 weed clean with facility, and without injuring the plants. I 

 have found that hoeing, by loosening the surface, exposes the 

 Onions to the mercy of every storm, and if luxuriant throws ■ 

 them prostrate on the surface. Plants thus situated, having a 

 greater depth of soil than usual, grow with a more sturdy 

 character than those in highly-manured ground, whilst the 

 elevation of the beds enables the warm July sun to penetrate a 

 considerable depth into the earth, shghtly checking late 

 growth, and, of course, inducing the early formation of bulbs. 

 Fot Herbs should now be sown, or plantations made from cut- 

 tings. Plant early sorts of Potatoes in a warm situation for 

 earlier crops ; a few may be first planted in boxes in heat, and 

 transplanted to the open ground when they have vegetated. 

 Those growing in frames should have air given freely. Sow 

 Savoys for an early crop. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Proceed with pruning and nailing. If any planting still 

 remains to be done, let it be performed as soon as the ground 

 is in a fit state. Do not, as is sometimes done, over-manure; 

 it is a great mistake to induce the production of gross, long- 

 jointed wood in any stage of the existence of a fruit tree ; wood 

 of this description never becomes thoroughly ripened, and in 

 the case of stone fruits, gum, canker, and premature death are 

 sometimes the result, whilst from Pears anything deserving 

 the name of a crop is never obtained till the gross habit in- 

 duced by planting in over-rich soil is overcome. Ground 

 intended for fruit trees should first be drained efficiently, and 

 then trenched to the depth of 2 feet, and if the natural soil is 

 found to be too poor for the health and growth of the trees, a 

 sufficient quantity of fresh turfy loam should be added, but 

 rich stimulating manures should not be used, for they are soon 

 exhausted, and the trees are left to depend upon the natural 

 soil for their support, and when treated in this way never give 

 sitisf action. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Bourbon, Tea, and other tender Eoses must not be dis- 

 turbed for the present, but as soon as the weather has become 

 more favourable let them be pruned, and the beds be manured 

 and lightly forked. Eoses, however, do not dislike a rather 

 firm soil, and care should be taken not to injure their roots by 

 forking or digging too much. The best manure for them is 

 well-rotted cow dung which should be applied after carefully 

 loosening the soil, and an inch or two of fresh mould sprinkled 

 over it will obviate any unpleasant appearance it might other- 

 wise present if kept near the surface. Auriculas, generally 

 speaking, have sufl'ered little from the past severe winter, and 

 having braved the weather so well hitherto it would be a matter 

 of regret should any collection suffer from lack of a little at- 



