January 8, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
27 
be_ cut and confiaed in the form of dwarf bushes, or they will run up to a 
height of 10 feet and 12 feet in a few years. 
They are not expensive, as a dozen of them may be bought for the 
same price or less than single specimens of some Conifers would cost; but 
their value must not be judged by this, as they are surpassingly beautiful 
in the foliage. The present is a good time to plant them, and they may 
be shifted as long as the growths have not advanced much. Of the soil 
best suited for them I need say nothing, as they may be successfully 
grown without making any special preparations.—M. M. 
MAXILLARIA. 
This genus, although now relieved of many of the species that formerly 
swelled its ranks, is still a large one as regards both the number of the 
species and of the varieties. Unfortunately the majority produce only 
small flowers, and consequently cannot be recommended to the notice 
of an amateur in such a limited number as here selected. Some, never¬ 
theless, deserve to he in every collection ; and when the fine kinds which 
are stdl unknown in our plant houses shall have been brought home in 
a living state, the genus will, I am sure, become much more popular 
amongst Orchid growers than it has hitherto been. 
Maxillarias are extremely easy to grow. They should be potted in 
fibrous peat and sphagnum moss in about equal parts, and require an 
abundant supply of moisture both to the roots and in the atmosphere 
during the growing season, but less will be required afterwards. They 
should not, however, be subjected to a severe period of drought. 
M. venusta. —Who does not love white flowers during the winter? 
None of my fair readers will answer in the negative, I am sure. Well, 
in this plant you have a perfect gem. The flowers are borne singly upon 
long scapes ; they are very large, pure snowy white, bearing two blotches 
of crimson on the lip. The flowers appear about November, and con¬ 
tinue to grow up from the base of the pseudo-bulbs for about two months; 
and as they last in their full beauty either upon the plant or when placed 
in a vase in the drawing-room, they cannot fail to please even the most 
fastidious. The plant is a native of New Grenada. 
M. luteo-alba. —A fine handsome evergreen plant, with stout pseudo 
bulbs and broad dark green leaves. The flowers in the best variety are 
very large, they stand erect upon short scapes, the ground colour being 
creamy white suffused with blotches of tawny orange. Its flowers are 
produced in great abundance during spring and early in summer, and 
frequently again towards autumn.—E. C. 
A POOR NECTARINE. 
Greater fruitists than I may aspire to he could rightly affix the 
stigma of the above heading to a Nectarine of ill deserts ; but from my 
experience with divers varieties of this gentle fruit I should never have 
applied the term “ poor” to Rivers’s Lord Napier. The raiser’s name is 
trusty for a fair opinion, and though I have not just now at hand his hook, 
“ The Orchard House,” yet I think he therein speaks of Lord Napier as 
one of the seedlings in which he had always felt confidence and pride. 
With me it is great and good, a fruit beauiifully and softly marbled 
with red and primrose, deliciously scented outside and flavoured within; 
but pale green fruits of it, if horn to a position of poverty as to sun and 
air, are—as in what case not—of a watery and tasteless nature. How¬ 
ever, I have never forced it or any other. I only afford these fruits glass 
enough to secure a certain, not an early, crop. I do not know that I grow 
them under all the most advantageous circumstances, and therefore I am 
the more emboldened to say a word for Napier. 
Our Peach and Nectarine trees form the summer crop of the south 
front Auricula houses. They are kept to pyramids of 3 to 5 feet high in 
pots ; and from the beginning of November till the pink appears in the 
downy bud cases I plunge them in the coldest part of the garden. Hence, 
I have no splendidly established trellis trees; hut from the very dependency 
of all plants under pot life that cannot safely be left to take pot luck, so 
to say, the Peach and Nectarine trees get from me very much of the same 
love and constant watchfulness that favourite florist flowers do. 
Thus the trees have all fulness of light and air, and are constantly 
turned about, so that no fruit is condemned to perpetual shade. The very 
exigencies of their case demand regular care as to ventilation, watering, 
top-dressing, stopping of shoots, cleansing from insects, and renewal of 
soil—all vital points of culture—and so they have risen with me to the 
estimate and position of favourite plants, Lord Napier, the most grown of 
any one variety, and never a poor Nectarine. These plants are twice 
beautiful in the year, and always interesting. Napier is a handsome 
large-flowered kind, paler than any I have except Rivers’s White. I 
wonder if Mr. Muir has it true—an easy matter to secure—or whether, as 
all rules have exceptions, his situation may happen not to agree with 
this freely fruiting generous sort. If it should be so, the blame lies not 
upon a pleasant fruit.—F. D. Horner. 
CULTURE OF GLOXINIAS. 
Gloxinias are now becoming very popular plants, as they are very 
useful for general decorative purposes. By judicious management plants 
may be had in bloom the whole year round. They may be propagated 
from seed or from the leaves. The latter are inserted whole or cut into 
pieces round the edges of well-drained pots filled with light soil, or they 
may be placed close to the surface, the midrib being cut through at 
various places, when each piece will form a plant, which should be placed 
singly into small pots and grown on as will be advised for seedlings. 
Seed should be sown early in January to produce plants for flowering in 
July and August, or in the middle of April for flowering during the 
autumn and winter months, and in July for spring blooming. The earliest 
flowered plants if potted when starting into growth and grown on will 
also bloom during the early spring months, and with another batch later 
on, up to the time the earliest plants commence flowering. 
The seed should be sown in well-drained pots or pans, the soil to 
consist of equal parts of finely sifted leaf soil and loam, with a good 
addition of sand. It should be pressed into the pots rather firmly, and 
made smooth on the surface. The seed must be sown thinly, just covered 
with fine dry sand, and receive a gentle watering. Cover the pot with a 
piece of glass, and place it in a shaded position in a moist heat of 65° to 
70°. Care must be taken not to let the surface soil become dry, or the 
seed will fail to germinate. With proper attention the seedlings will 
soon appear, and after they have grown a little let them be exposed to 
light, but no direct sunshine, as the Gloxinia is a shade-loving plant. 
When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them off into well- 
drained pots or pan- - , the soil to be the same as that the seeds were sown 
on, but with less sand. As soon as the plants touch each other transfer 
them into small 60-sized pets, the soil being in a rougher state, which should 
receive the addition of a little peat. The plants must be grown on in a 
moist atmosphere at 65° to 70°, or higher with sun heat, to he shaded 
from direct sunshine, not to receive any water over the foliage, and the 
ventilation to be regulated according to the weather. 
The plants which are from seed sown in January are grown for 
flowering at the time formerly stated, while a few from the April sowing 
are grown for autumn flowering, and the rest we place in a cold frame 
after they are established in their pots for the winter. Whilst in the 
frame water must be carefully supplied, ventilation is freely, though 
carefully, regulated, and they are shaded from bright sun. . Early in 
September, or later if the weather is favourable, we place them in a warm 
house, and winter them in a night temperature of 60°, in which they 
bloom freely. The plants from the July sowing are grown carefully 
in the same temperature through the winter months. 
