574 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
These are valuable in greenhouses and con- 
servatories, because they bloom when flowers 
are somewhat scarce, and fill the house with 
perfume. The Cyclamen, with a little good 
management, may be had in flower from 
October till May ; and there are now three 
very good and distinct varieties ; the old one, 
which is white, with a sort of lavender or 
amethyst eye ; the pure white ; and the pink, 
or rose colour. But, although Cyclamen per- 
sieum is the best of them all, there are others 
nearly hardy, and those which are not so may 
be planted out at such times as will render 
them safe. C. coum and C. repandum, both 
pink varieties, are more dwarf plants, abun- 
dant bloomers, and admirably adapted for the 
choice little beds of a fancy garden. All the 
species may be grown in rich sandy loam, 
with a little well-decomposed dung from an 
old melon bed, or leaf-mould. They require 
plenty of light, if in a house, because if they are 
drawn up the flower-stems become weak, and 
do not sustain the flower in a good position. 
The bulbs may be potted, so that half is in 
the mould, and placed in the greenhouse ; any 
that are wanted forward may be put from 
time to time in the hot-house, and they simply 
require that the soil be kept moderately moist 
as soon as they begin to grow ; and this is 
really all they do want. — G. 
Pricking out Peas for early Crops. — 
M. Tamponet, one of the oldest of Parisian 
horticulturists, having remarked the frequent 
failure of peas sown in November and De- 
cember, has latterly sown them in January, 
on a bed of moderate warmth, and covered 
with a light : he generally sows pretty thick. 
When the weather is favourable, after the 
plants have come up, he pricks them out under 
lights, or most frequently along the walls, or 
other situations which are well sheltered. By 
this mode they seldom fail, while they grow 
as vigorous as if they had been sown two 
months sooner. M. Tamponet has observed 
that peas pricked out in this way are earlier 
than those that are sown. — Ghent Annales. 
Camellias in Rooms. — "We have lately 
seen a novel application of the cultivation of 
the Camellia, for household decoration. This 
charming plant, as is well known, has no 
smell, and but little danger is therefore to be 
apprehended from having it in sleeping rooms. 
In the house of M. Vandenbrouck, of Brussels, 
it is grown with perfect success in the bed- 
room, in the following manner : — A table- 
bureau, surrounded by a wooden frame-work, 
placed at the bottom and the side opposite the 
window, serves as a vehicle to a gallery filled 
with peat, and masked by a covering of ta- 
pestry. In this gallery, so constructed as to 
prevent the water running down, the Camel- 
lias in pots live and thrive, without requiring 
to be placed in a house to mature and swell 
their buds. They bloom freely, and are ex- 
ceedingly ornamental. — Ghent Annales. 
The Calochortus is a genus of liliaceous 
plants belonging to the north-western portion 
of South America, and extending over all the 
Mexican plains. They are of a simple bulbous 
structure, having ensiform sheathing leaves. 
The flowers, which are handsome and pretty, 
grow in the manner of a simple umbel or 
raceme ; they are generally of a purple, yel- 
lowish-white, or violet colour. The genus is 
composed of two divisions, viz. Calochortus 
(Pursh), characterised by the perigonium 
having sub-calycinal, linear, beardless, exter- 
nal leaflets ; those in the interior, petaloid, 
somewhat unguiculate, much broader than the 
outer ones, and hairy in the interior ; and 
Cyclobothra (Don,) in which the perigonium 
has the leaflets sessile, nearly equal ; those of 
the interior being shorter and hairy. These 
divisions have been disregarded by some 
botanists. The name Calochortus is derived 
from two Greek words ; ko\6q, kalos, beau- 
tiful, and \6p-oc, chortos, herb, which signify 
literally, beautiful herb. Baron Karwinski, tra- 
velling in Mexico, collected the species of this 
genus ; and the dried specimens, transmitted 
to M. Von Martius, and the late Zuccarini, 
were sent to Dr. Julius Herman Schultes, at 
Landshut (Lower Bavaria), who described 
eight species, in a paper inserted in the fourth 
volume of the Bijdragen tot de Naturkun- 
dige Wetenschappen, an excellent scientific 
Dutch journal. The calcchortuses require a 
peaty, sandy soil, which should be used at the 
re-potting in February or March. Plenty of 
drainage is indispensable. They may be 
grown in a cold frame, or even in the open 
ground. In a state of rest they should not 
be watered, but when they begin to grow 
watering must be frequently attended to ; at 
the same time, care must be observed not to 
subject them to excess of moisture ; and they 
must be kept from frost in the winter. The 
flowers expand well enough in a moderate 
greenhouse, and they may be forced in a 
stove. The plant may be successfully propa- 
gated from the small side bulbs. 
Austrian mode of growing Asparagus. 
— At Vienna, though the cultivation of vege- 
tables in maraiches, or market-gardens, is 
very far advanced, the Asparagus forms an 
exception ; for, if it is good and well grown, it 
is dear, even when in full season. The tem- 
perature of Vienna being cold for a long period 
of the year, the gardeners employ a very in- 
genious method of preserving asparagus from 
the late frosts. As soon as the shoots begin 
to push out of the ground, they are covered 
with wooden cases or boxes, perhaps similar 
to sea-kale pots, fixed in the soil by means of 
