Hi 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTTJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ October 24, 1872 



two mouths ill perfection. It must be planted in well-drained 

 soil to do well. Native of Mount Taurus. 



Brodi.ba coccinea. — This is a bulbous plant, belonging to 

 the natural order Liliacea?, a native of California, and per- 

 fectly hardy in this country. The leaves are upwards of a 

 foot long, linear obtuse, and dark green ; the scape is longer 

 than the leaves, and the flowers are borne upon a terminal 

 umbel, the number varying from ten to twenty ; the blooms 

 are tubular, drooping, 1J inch long, and of a deep blood red, 

 tinged with yellow towards the end, whilst the lobes are pea 

 green. It blooms during May and June, and is a grand addi- 

 tion to our border plants. Native of California. — Expekto 

 Csede. . 



GLADIOLUS CULTUBE. 



I am extremely pleased to see the prominent place that is 

 given to this flower, aud the valuable contributions the Journal 

 is obtaining from various cultivators ; and I gladly respond to 

 the challenge of " J. B." to give my estimate of the varieties 

 sent out last autumn. There are other points touched upon 

 in these papers of more importance than even this, and on 

 these points I hope to say something. 



I am always sorry to differ from my excellent friend Mi-. 

 Douglas, for I have a sort of lurking suspicion that I shall be 

 found on the wrong side of the hedge when I do so ; but so 

 far from thinking the sorts sent out last autumn the worst 

 set we have had for some years, I think them one of the 

 best. Comparing them especially with those of 1870, which 

 were much more numerous, I think that there are more good 

 .flowers to be found in them than iu those of that year. Phoebus 

 I regard as the finest Gladiolus yet sent out, and in this opinion 

 I am confirmed by my friend Mi'. Edward Banks, of Sholden, 

 who is the largest amateur grower of the flower that I know 

 of. To this I may add, Lord Hawke is equally strong in his 

 high estimate of it. On September 9th I sent to Brighton a 

 spike, in my opinion the finest of its colour that I have 

 ever seen. I also sent a spike to the Eloral Committee, which 

 was not noticed; at this I am not. at all surprised. It is evi- 

 dently a seedling of Legouve, and has the good qualities of 

 that flower in a higher degree. It is of nearly the same shade 

 of colour, but the white blotch and the white lines in the 

 petals are much more decided, while its thick leathery sub- 

 stance ensures its lasting a considerable time. The spike is 

 large and the habit seems to be very vigorous. It has one 

 i <iult — it is a late bloomer. I could not get any blooms in for 

 either Kensington or the Crystal Palace, so I fear it will not be 

 of much use to northern growers. Beatrix I have seen very 

 fine. Whether it will equal Madame Desportes or Norma I 

 do not know, but I differ from Mr. Douglas in thinking it like 

 the latter flower; it is entirely different in shape, and the 

 white is of a different shade. The one doubt I have about it 

 is whether it has substance enough. Jupiter I look upon as a 

 decided acquisition. It received the award of a first-class cer- 

 tificate when shown by Mr. Wheeler, of Warminster, and 

 myself at the Crystal Palace, and attracted a good deal of 

 attention. It is a striking flower — a deep rich crimson with 

 blackish crimson flakes — a great improvement on Newton, 

 which it resembles, and not unlike a seedling of Mr. Kelway's 

 which 'he had at South Kensington, named Helle. Ariane I 

 had but one spike of ; but with me it was not like Delicatissima 

 either in colour or shape. The flowers were set very closely 

 together and faced well ; indeed this is one character of all the 

 four above named, as far as I have seen them. Minerve, Mr. 

 Douglas thinks, like Phidias. I confess I do not see the like- 

 ness, and I am rather inclined to ask whether he has the right 

 sort. Lord Hawke sent me a flower which he had received as 

 Phcebus, but which was evidently Minerve. The colour of 

 Phidias is more purplish than Minerve, and the marking quite 

 distinct from that variety. Antigone is, I think, likely to be 

 a useful flower, having a grand long spike. Virginalis is very 

 similar to Marie Stuart, but I should not be surprised to find 

 that it is an improvement upon it. Celemine is a second-rate 

 flower, and the same may be said of Antiope, Ossian, and 

 Didon ; while neither Alcyon or Arsinoe will be retained unless 

 by those who wish to have a large number of varieties. 



With regard to the varieties now being .sent out I know 

 nothing. I was at Fontainebleau early in July — too early to 

 see anything. All that I could gather from M. Souchet was 

 that he had des belles fieurs to send out in the autumn. As 

 an observation somewhat similar to that referred to by Mr. 

 Harrison Wen' was made by me, I may as well explain what I 



said, or, if I did not say it, what I meant — it was not that 

 good seedlings could not be raised in England, but that I had 

 never seen in any stand but those of the raiser any English 

 flowers that could compete with the French ones. I again 

 repeat it ; nay, more, I have never seen in any stands staged 

 for competition any English flowers, except by the raisers. 

 Why this is I do not pretend to say. A clue to it may be 

 afforded by the fact that two year's ago Mr. Douglas exhibited 

 a fine seedling of which Mr. Standish became the purchaser, 

 but he could do nothing with it the second year, it came so 

 very indifferently, and I know Mr. Douglas does not speak 

 very hopefully of his seedlings. While I think we have this 

 to bear in my mind, as " J. B." has well said, the flowers may 

 be fine and attractive now, but they can hardly be sent out for 

 five or six years, and who can tell what we might have by 

 that time ? 



I do not think that "J. B." is far out in his lists. I should 

 put the best and second twelve thus — 



6. 



BEST TWELVE. 



Adolphe Brongniart. 

 Madame Desportes. 

 Meyerbeer. 

 Horace Vernet. 

 Monsieur Legoiwe. 

 Michel Ange. 



7. Norma. 



8. Madame Furtado. 



9. Marie Stuart. 9 



10. Orphee. 10 



11. Phoebus. 11 



12. Jupiter. 1: 

 I have not added Shakspeare, for it is too early for us in 



the south. Moliere, I know, often comes amiss, but when 

 caught is very fine, while Yirgile is splendid in colour. 

 I hope to return to the subject next week. — D., Deal. 



SECOND EESI TWELVE. 



1. Enrydice. 

 Beatrix. 

 Moliere. 

 Elysse. 

 Schiller. 

 Aimide. 

 Yii-gile. 



Madame Vilmorin. 

 Delicatissima. 

 Sir J. Franklin. 

 Primatrice. 

 Nestor. 



THE POTATO DISEASE. 

 [Concluded from -page 307.) 

 It is easy to see from the figure (fig. 2, page 307), the damag- 

 ing effects the fungus must have upon the plant : the fungus 

 stems protrude from its mouths, and prevent the emission^ of 

 perspiration ; the Potato plant thus gets surcharged with 

 moisture, which rots the stems and leaves, whilst the mycelium 

 preys upon the tissues. 



Fig. 3.— Peronospora infestans, spores and zoospores, enlarged foul' hundred 

 diameters. 



When the mature spores (g, fig. 3) fall from their apices, 

 they readily germinate, as at h, h, by rupturing then- outer 

 coat, and discharging their contents : these contents im- 

 mediately take the form of confluent mycelial threads, and 

 produce the characteristic brown colour in the cellulose. The 

 spores in this figure are enlarged four hundred diameters, or 

 to the same scale as fig. 1. In Jig. 1, however, it must be 

 remembered that the spores represented are immature. In 

 the perfect condition of the Potato fungus, certain privileged 

 spores acquire greater dimensions than others, as shown at 

 J, fig. 3 ; the contents of these privileged spores become differ- 

 entiated, and produce within themselves a number of distinct 

 nucleated cells, which at length are set free in the form of 

 active zoospores, each zoospore being furnished with two 

 thread-like processes (k), with which, when in fluid, they are 



