1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
461 
flowers from a single plant I and that plant not 
more than four feet in diameter ! At that rate 
a moderate greenhouse filled with Dendrobium 
nobile would be a little fortune ; but it must be 
borne in mind that special culture is necessary 
for this family of plants, a knowledge of which 
is not so easily attainable as is the culture of 
Fuchsias or Geraniums. 
The stove or hothouses were next visited. 
Here a most remarkable plant of Stephanotis 
floribunda, covering a width of 6 feet by up- 
wards of 70 feet in length, was conspicuous, 
and must be a grand sight to see when covered 
with its clusters of fragrant white blossoms. 
Near it was another climber, Attamanda Een- 
dersoni, literally covered with its immense 
golden-colored flowers, measuring five inches 
across. Some fine specimens of Allocasia 
Sedeni and Veitchi were remarkable for the 
metallic luster of their leaves. Another plant 
interesting to the florist for Us comparative 
rarity we here found in great abundance — 
Eucharis Amasonica, of which Mr. S. had about 
50 plants, some averaging 4 feet in diameter. 
The white lily-like flowers of this plant are 
much valued for cut-flower decorations. Per- 
haps the most interesting of anything in this 
hothouse collection were the Pitcher plants, 
Nepenthes, of which there are some eight or 
nine species, and most of them very rare. A 
most wonderful species, Nepenthes Ilafflcsiana, 
had " pitchers " some of them large enough to 
hold a pint; the color greenish yellow, speckled 
and dashed with crimson spots. Our native 
Pitcher plants, Sarracenias, which belong to a 
different family, have their pitchers formed by 
the infolding of the broad leaf-stalk, but in 
these East Indian species the pitcher is a super- 
numerary appendage hanging from the ends of 
the leaves, and each pitcher is furnished 
with a lid. 
The palm-house, 25 x 120, contains many 
splendid specimens; quite a number of them 
have cost Mr. Such from $50 to $75 each to 
import, receiving them in the usual half-dead 
condition at that. These plants are getting in 
demand for horticultural exhibitions, and Mr. 
Such may soon begin to profitably realize on 
his heavy investments, for I understand he has 
the field in this matter pretty much to himself. 
Our last visit was to the fernery, which, like 
every other department at South Ambo}-, was 
teeming with rarities and fine specimens of the 
better known sorts. Among the finest things 
was a plant of Adiantum Farleyense, upwards 
of four feet in diameter. They showed me in 
London last year, at some of the leading florists' 
places, much smaller specimens of this fern as 
something wonderful. 
It is to be regretted that this collection of 
rare plants is not more accessible ; but a new 
railroad line will soon make it so. Americans 
who visit Europe go into ecstasies over plant 
collections in London or Paris, not knowing 
that one of but little if any less merit is almost 
at their doors. In a few weeks' stay in London 
last summer I examined nearly all such collec- 
tions, and with the exception of that of Veitch 
<fc Sons I saw none to surpass, as a whole, this 
of Mr. Such ; many, of course, were larger, 
but for a well-selected collection of well-grown 
tropical plants, with the above exception, I saw 
none ahead of it. The superintendent of Mr. 
Such's establishment is Mr. James Taplin, late 
gardener to the Duke of Devonshire. Mr. Tap- 
lin has good reason to be proud of his work; he 
Is evidently an enthusiastic cultivator, holding 
the details of his varied charge well in hand, and 
the most carping critic would have difficulty in 
pointing out anything with which to find fault. 
The taste for the culture of fine plants has vastly 
increased during the past five years, the fostering 
care of the horticultural societies of Boston, 
Philadelphia, and Cincinnati having had much 
to do in bringing it about. Previously, all nur- 
serymen who had engaged in the growing of fine 
specimens of stove and greenhouse plants met 
with so little encouragement that hardly one of 
them made it a pecuniary success. That Mr. 
Such will make it so there is hardly a doubt, if 
our fall auction sales of such articles this year is 
any indication ; for the few small plants of rare 
kinds that were offered, even in the darkest 
days of the "panic," quickly sold at high prices. 
It may be interesting to know that Mr. Such 
started as an amateur florist a dozen years ago, 
entirely ignorant of either nomenclature or cul- 
ture, did not, as he says, know a Gladiolus 
from a Tuberose; and that in that short time 
he has left far behind establishments of similar 
lands that have been in existence for 30 years 
and carried on by professional florists, which is 
certainly much to his credit, showing in this 
business as in all others the necessity of the 
right man for the rigb t place. 
[We had intended to give an account of Mr. 
Such's establishment, but Mr. Henderson has 
anticipated us. We cheerfully give place to 
his article, as, coming from one of the trade, it 
will not be likely to be considered as overdrawn. 
This general account of a most remarkable col- 
lection of plants is entirely within hounds, and 
we may at another time have something to say 
of some of its more striking features. Mr. 
Such's success as a florist is a marked illustra- 
tion of the fact that a gentleman of education 
and energy is likely to succeed in whatever 
direction he may devote himself. If we mis- 
take not, Mr. Such's horticultural career began 
in a very modest; way. He had read one of the 
Agriculturist's onion essays, and was induced 
to try what he could do in raising onions. He 
went to work, followed directions, and had the 
pleasure of harvesting a fine crop. Nor was 
the crop all that resulted from his labors. The 
pleasure derived from watching the growth and 
development of the plants was such that it 
aroused a taste for cultivating that could not 
be satisfied, until from one thing to another he 
went on, and now he has a collection of plants 
the like of which does not exist elsewhere in 
the country. We trust that Mr. S. will pardon 
this somewhat personal allusion, which we 
make only as an encouragement to others who 
would gladly cultivate plants "if they only 
knew how.'' Mr. Such's example is proof that 
it is not difficult to learn how. Mr. S. has no 
hesitation in saying how positively ignorant ho 
was at the beginning, and we know that in an 
immense collection he not only knows the 
name of every plant, but all about it horticul- 
turally and commercially. — Ed.] 
- i «♦— — >-» 
The Late Planting of Bulbs. 
Some years ago one of our dealers in 
closing out his stock sent us a peck or more of 
Hyacinth and Tulip bulbs, good and bad, but 
mostly unpromising. Having already potted a 
supply of good bulbs, we did not care to de- 
vote pots to a rather poor-looking lot, so we 
took a couple of the oblong hampers in which 
champagne is imported, and about half filled 
them with a mixture of old moss (sphagnum) 
and earth, and planted the bulbs in this. The 
hampers were put in a cold, dark closet, and 
left to themselves. Sometime during the win- 
ter, when roots had formed, they were placed 
in a room where it was light but not warm. 
As the plants slowly developed — and to our 
surprise the most of them did — and showed that 
they were likely to flower, the most forward 
of them were lifted with a bunch of the mixed 
earth and moss, and placed in pots where they 
weDt on and bloomed. We never had more 
pleasure from bulbs than from this rubbishy 
lot. The question is often asked if bulbs will 
bloom again after having been forced in the 
house. Not well enough to be forced again. 
When the flowers fade, cut away the stalk 
and put the pots in a spare light room where 
the leaves can grow on as long us they will ; if 
still growing when the ground opens, turn 
them out in some spare place, and leave them. 
They will gather strength in a few years and 
give a fair bloom, but will never become 
" fancy " bulbs again. One word more : Un- 
less you are a bulb fancier — and a novice is 
not likely to be — do not select expensive named 
sorts from the catalogues, but go to some well- 
known dealer and tell him how many bulbs 
you want, and ask him to give you the best ho 
can of assorted colors for the money. A be- 
ginner will at any reputable establishment get 
what will satisfy him quite as well a3 if ho 
had made his own selection, at half the price. 
- i ■♦» i ■ 
Coal Ashes for Garden "Walks, 
In years past we have published communica- 
tions from several correspondents commending 
coal ashes for making garden walks. Living in 
a locality where gravel can only be had at a 
great expense, we had our choice between as- 
phalt of some kind, concrete, and coal ashes. 
The soil is excee dingly light and sandy, and we 
made the experiment with coal ashes without 
any great confidence in its success. The bed of 
the walk was first leveled and made slightly 
elevated in the middle, then about three inches 
of fine coal ashes were applied, but carefully 
spread ; a little soil was scattered over the 
ashes, the whole wetted down by water from a 
watering-pot and rolled. The walks have been 
made for more than a year; they were quite 
satisfactory in 3 few days after they were laid, 
and have been improving ever since. They 
are sufficiently firm, afford a pleasant surface 
for the foot, and are of a pleasing color, much 
more so than any asphalt that we have seen. 
It was anticipated that the ashes would cause 
annoyance by adhering to the shoes and thus 
be a trouble to the housekeeper, but there is no 
difficulty of this kind. Weeds will grow in a 
walk of this kind just as they will in one of 
gravel, but a scuffling over when needed, adding 
fresh ashes where the surface is uneven, and an 
occasional rolling keep the walks in excellent 
order with very little trouble. Of course, our 
ashes are those from anthracite coal. We have 
had no experience with bituminous coal ashes, 
but believe tliey are satisfactorily used in Eng- 
land. Not long ago we visited one of the finest 
and best kept places in the neighborhood of 
Boston, and found ashes in use upon a portion 
of the walks. The proprietor informed us that 
he was well satisfied, with paths made of this 
material after it had become well settled. 
Mtjshkooms seem to be unusually abundant 
this year in England. A correspondent of the 
Times states that from Bangor station special 
trains have been sent laden with mushrooms, 
in one case of 25 and in another of 18 trucks. 
