OPERATIONS FOR APRIL. 
71 
MoRMO^DES ro\seo-a'lba. A sti'ange-looking object, as it flowers when the pseudo-bulbs are 
entirely devoid of leaves ; the flowers themselves being likewise rather wanting in colour. The 
blossoms are rather small, of a pale whitish hue, slightly tinted with rose, and having a fringe 
round the lip, which is exceedingly like the whiskers of some of the feline race. Messrs. Loddiges 
are blooming it at the present time. 
Onci'dium bicallo^sum. Noticed in a former page of this number, and here adverted to for 
the purpose of mentioning that Messrs. Loddiges possess a specimen which is flowering abundantly. 
The flowers are very handsome, but on comparison with those of O. Cavendishianum, (which are 
also expanded at this nursery,) they do not seem so large as they are represented to be. Still, the 
specimen may be but an imperfect one. 
Ro^YLEA e'legans. Described in an earlier volume of this magazine under the eri'oneous 
name of Roella elegans, which was the appellation by which it was then known, and was 
inadvertently copied into our pages. We now correct the mistake by giving the proper name 
Roylea. It is a very neat and elegant little shrub, flowering at all seasons of the year, and 
having blossoms of the most vivid cerulean hue. It may be seen at most nurseries. 
Siphoca'mpylus BETULiEFo'Lius. When this plant was figured by us, it was deemed a stove 
species, and treated as such by Messrs. Young, of Epsom, from whom we obtained it. It is now, 
however, found to succeed much better in a warm greenhouse, branching more freely, having a 
more robust and healthy aspect, and at present becoming thickly studded with its showy inflores- 
cence, which appears likely to make a very gay and brilliant appearance. A close greenhouse, 
such as suits S. bicolor, and one in which the temperature is not raised by fire-heat, but by keeping 
the sashes closed, while the atmosphere is moderately moist, seems to be altogether most 
appropi'iate. 
OPERATIONS FOR APRIL. 
As vegetation will now be putting on its lively verdant apparel, and many of the flowers will 
be assuming a gay appearance, the gardener should exert himself to keep everything in the 
highest possible trim. With this view, the shrubbery and other borders that have been dug over 
in winter should at once be raked, if they were not so in March ; soiled or moss-covered gravel 
should be turned ; and the edgings of lawns pared neatly. 
We feel hardly prepared to echo the objections that have been made by many whose opinions 
demand the greatest respect, to bare edgings for lawns. That they should not be deep or prominent, 
we are quite ready to affirm. But to the plan of having no edging at all, so that the grass is just 
on a level with the walk, and in fact, seems to unite with it, however much it may be eulogised, 
we cannot at all subscribe ; for, in such case, the grass can neither be clipped straightly nor 
neatly ; there will be no clear separating line between it and the gravel ; and it will always look 
slovenly, or occasion a deal of extra trouble from the grass that will spring up along the edge of 
the gravel, on account of the proximity of the turf to the latter. For these reasons, then, we 
conceive that a low but distinct edging, in which the grass is about an inch above the gravel, is to 
be preferred. 
In operating on the surface of any ground at this, and at all seasons, either for cleaning, 
raking, sowing seeds, or planting, it is of more importance than the majority of persons are aware 
of, to avoid trampling the borders when they are at all wet. To tread much on moist earth, is to 
bind up its surface, and destroy that lightness and porosity which are so essential to the health of 
vegetation. Great care should be taken, too, in working among shrubs at the present time, as it 
is so easy to rub off" their expanding buds by a very slight touch. 
Seeds of annuals, both hardy and tender, should be sown now and about a fortnight hence, for 
succession. The preceding observations concerning damp soil, apply also, in all their force, to 
seed-sowing, particularly where it is a bed that has to be sown, and the earth has to be raked. 
We remember once seeing a person sow some seed of a culinary vegetable in wet weather, raking 
over the ground after the seed had been deposited, A considerable period elapsed without the 
plants making their appearance, and at length the ground was lightly stirred with a fork, and 
