APRIL. 



but it would not be uninteresting, to make out a list of the seedling Fuchsias 

 advertised during the last five years which have never made their appearance 

 on the public boards. 



That new and beautiful varieties exist, which are improvements on the older 

 kinds, I allow. What, then, can be done to induce these most exquisite of floral 

 beauties to present themselves for public admiration ? I can only suggest one 

 reason why gardeners do not take as much interest in the cultivation of the 

 Fuchsia for exhibition as they do in that of almost every other flower. It is 

 this : The specimens sent to our horticultural meetings for competition are 

 usually (I do not say always) tall, gaunt, woody plants, three, four, or even 

 five years old, and resembling Poplar trees, with diminutive foliage and in- 

 significant flowers ; indeed, with nothing to recommend them beyond (if such 

 be a recommendation) the huge pots in which they are grown. I do not 

 intend to say that a fine well-grown Fuchsia tree is not very ornamental in a 

 conservatory ; but no one in his senses would expect to find the same excellence 

 of flower or foliage in a plant of this age as in one of more recent growth, nor 

 is it fair to put it in competition with the same. 



The remedy I propose is this : Let prizes be offered for Fuchsias to be 

 exhibited in 8 or 10-inch pots, the plants of not more than twelve months' 

 growth, and we shall then soon be gratified with the sight of many new 

 Fuchsias. That gardener who cannot make an elegant and fit specimen for 

 exhibition in six or eight months has something yet to learn. Let the prize 

 be offered, and I have no doubt that many Fuchsia-growers will compete. 



May we not hope, this eventful season, to see some enterprising amateurs 

 coming to the rescue of this neglected flower, and proving to the world at 

 large that the beauty and elegance of a Fuchsia consist not in its old age, but 

 in the prime and vigour of its youth ? We shall hope to be able to form an 

 opinion on the merits of the numerous double varieties sent out, some of which, 

 if we may judge from their coloured representations, are marvellous indeed. 

 We not unfrequently meet with persons who object to the present form of the 

 flower of the Fuchsia ; the wide expanding corolla and reflexed sepals are 

 offensive in their sight. It would be interesting to have specimens of the 

 older kinds, F. gracilis, virgata, or Groomii, exhibited against the modern form. 

 I feel quite certain of the result. The two forms of flower not inaptly repre- 

 sent two styles of well-dressed ladies, the one with, the other minus, a crinoline. 

 Chacun a son gout, X. 



ON PEARS CRACKING. 



It is well known that some kinds of Pears are more liable to crack during 

 their growth than others ; in general, the rough or brown sorts are more sub- 

 ject to this than the smootb green ones. Some of these, however, are diseased 

 in cold wet seasons ; for instance, the Glou Morceau. But this excellent Pear 

 is sometimes of a russet colour, spotted by mildew ; while the smooth green 

 Napoleon seldom cracks, even in seasons when the Gansel's Bergamot and com- 

 mon Crasanne are rent open to the core. This happened in the cold wet season 

 of 1860, while the few fruits on the same trees in the succeeding fine autumn 

 were sound. From this it may be inferred that the brown kinds of Pears hold 

 more moisture upon their rough skins to encourage the growth of mildew than 

 the smooth ones which produce the cracks on them. As these swell or grow 

 larger, the diseased or mildewed spots burst into small fissures, which gradually 

 increase in size as the fruit comes to maturity. Sometimes the cracks are star- 

 shaped, and at others in rings half round the fruit, especially on the sides 



