156 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
"Show" condition, a result which was of course 
anticipated from the additional amount of solar 
influence they had experienced since adorning the 
tents of Chiswick. 
There was a similar striking absence of novelty, 
and new plants were individually as scarce at the 
Regent's Park meeting as at that of the Horticul- 
tural Society. 
Mitraria coccinea. A good specimen of this 
hardy evergreen shrub was exhibited in a pot at 
the Royal Botanic Society's Meeting, by Messrs. 
Veitch. It is a highly ornamental plant, perfectly 
shrubby, and if quite hardy, as Messrs. Yeitcli 
believe it to be, will be found a neat and interesting 
specimen for the Arboretum, or Shrubbery fore- 
ground. It is well worthy of pot-cultivation also ; 
its vivid orange-scarlet blossoms, which are freely 
produced on the young wood, presenting a pleasing- 
contrast with the neat sub-Fuchsia-like, evergreen 
foliage, from the axillse of which they gracefully 
depend on long filament-like peduncles. It is a 
Patagonian plant, and was introduced from the 
island of Chiloe, by Messrs. Veitch, of Exeter. 
Bhododendron azaleoides Leeanum. A large 
specimen in a tub, furnished with about twenty 
good trusses of rather fragrant pale yellow flowers, 
the upper portion of the corolla distinctly marked 
with bright orange-colour, was exhibited at the 
Royal Botanic Society's Meeting. Rhododendrons 
in this way are rather scarce, and the subject of 
our notice will prove an attractive addition to col- 
lections. It was from the nursery of Messrs. Lee, 
Hammersmith. 
Rhododendron aureum. A good variety, with 
yellow flower heads, the upper petals of an auri- 
ferous hue, and spotted with greenish orange. 
Exhibited by Mr. Gains, of Battersea, at the 
Regent's Park Meeting. 
Pimelea Henderso7iii. This fine specimen, a 
yard through, and as much in height, was bloom- 
ing profusely at the Regent's Park exhibition on 
the 16th May. It is a robust grower, and the rich 
rosy-pink flowers, when fully developed in profu- 
sion over a large plant, exhibit a specimen of great 
ornamental efiicacy. From Messrs. Henderson's 
Nursery establishment, Pine-apple Place. 
Gardenia Stanleyana. An umbrageous tree of 
this fine stove evergreen, bearing a profusion of its 
highly-fragrant trumpet flowers, was brought to 
the Botanic Society's Meeting from the Dowager 
Duchess of Northumberland's collection at Sion 
House. It was growing in a pot, but the best 
situation for this noble Gardenia to display itself 
to advantage is in the border of a stove conser- 
vatory, where, with ample space for its numerous 
roots to extend, and its branches unencroached 
upon by their neighbours, it will soon attain the 
umbrageous habit of a low tree, and display hun- 
dreds of its rather curious tubular flowers with all 
the freedom, and less of the unsightliness of a tree- 
Brugmansia, which, when contrasted with the 
handsome, shining foliage, would produce one of 
the finest ornaments the warm conservatory could 
boast of. 
Gardenia Fortunianct. One of the most attrac- 
tive specimens brought to the above meeting was 
this beautiful variety of G. florida. 
It was altogether a luxuriant plant, and exhibited 
about a dozen flowers as large, and not unlike a 
double White Camellia when fully blown, but 
with the additional charm of fragrance the most 
delicious. The flowers were full four inches in 
diameter, and in going off", change from pure white 
to light bufi" colour, forming a pleasant contrast 
with the deep verdure of the fine broad leaves. 
Exhibited by Mr. Green, gardener to Sir E. 
Antrobus, Bart., Cheam. 
Toasted Grains of India. These grains are 
eaten by the natives in Scinde, and, indeed, in 
India generally. They are very useful for jour- 
neys, and are prepared on hot sand in an iron 
vessel ; some — as Jawar {Sorghum vulgare), and 
Muhaiee {Zea Mays), which swell, and become 
light and white — are called Phulla, i. e.J'Swell-ies, 
Some, as Chaur (Rice), are also called Phidla ; but 
these do not turn light and white. Wheat and 
grain are merely burnt and toasted, and not changed 
in look. Grain {Cicer arietinum, lentils) is further 
rolled in powdered sugar-candy, and becomes a 
kind of comfit. Grain-flour is made up with sesa- 
mum oil into a mass, which, rolled in sugar-candy, 
forms a kind of sweetmeat. 
Culture of Ferns. By Mr, Thomas Moore. 
Ferns do not, in a general way, under cultivation, 
associate with other plants. Orchids, however, are 
an exception; the degree of humidity kept up, 
and the shade afforded, in the case of Orchid- 
houses, being favourable to their growth. Low 
buildings are preferable ; and if they face the 
north, the plants can receive more light, without 
the danger of the sun's rays. Of atmospheric 
moisture these plants need an abundant and almost 
unvarying supply ; even in winter this is necessary 
for those in a growing state. Deciduous kinds are 
the better for being kept somewhat drier, from the 
time the fronds decay until they again renew their 
growth. Shading should be used in bright sunny- 
weather, during the whole of the summer season. 
The propagation of Ferns is effected by division 
and spores ; those species which creep horizontally 
and form underground stems, throwing up fronds 
at intervals, may be increased by dividing the 
caudex with a portion of the roots and fronds ; 
and the same method can be adopted with those 
which do not creep, although the opportunities of 
doing so are less frequent than in plants of the 
first character. The separated plants should be 
fixed firmly in small pots, the crown being just 
clear of the surface of the soil ; and, after being 
gently sprinkled with water, they should be placed 
in a situation where the atmosphere is rather closer 
than is required for established plants, until they 
have begun to grow. The smaller and more deli- 
cate kinds are greatly benefited by being covered 
for awhile with bell-glasses. Propagation is also 
effected by spores. Half-fill some shallow, wide- 
mouthed pots with broken crocks, and on this 
put a layer of about two inches of little lumps of 
spongy peat soil, mixed with soft sandstone, broken 
in small lumps of the sizes of Nuts or Peas. This 
compost should not be consolidated. Next, shake 
a brush very gently over a sheet of white paper, or 
frond of the species to be propagated; the fine 
brown dust thus liberated is to be regularly and 
