252 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 26, 1885. 
are not as a rule so fine as those which follow, and these will have the 
full benefit of any top-dressings given to the plants now.—M. 
THE BOUVARDIA. 
Where cut flowers are much in demand the Bouvardia should he 
extensively grown, as it can be had in bloom for the greater part of the 
year ; but it is in the winter when it will be most appreciated. It is a 
native of Mexico, and therefore does not require a high temperature ; but 
in order to flower it early a brisk heat must be maintained, in which the 
fragrant blooms will open in succession for a long time. 
Bouvardias are comparatively easy to grow, yet we do not find them 
grown in private gardens as we ought to do. Where plants have been 
placed in heat through the winter plenty of cuttings will be produced by 
this time ; these should now be taken, inserted in small pots, and placed 
in a propagating pit, or, failing this, under bellglasses. The pots may be 
plunged to their rims in bottom heat, a hotbed made up for Cucumbers 
or Melons will be suitable for them, where they will s^on root, when they 
can be taken out of the plunging material, and more air admitted in 
favourable weather, being careful to shade from the sun. In a few days 
they will be ready for placing singly in small 60-size pots. 
The best soil is loam, leaf soil, and sand, and when potted the plants 
should be returned into heat until the roots have taken to the new soil, 
after this they can be more fully exposed to sun and air; hut they must 
be kept growing in a warm moist house until the end of July, when they 
can be placed in a cold frame. Although bushy in habit some shoots will 
be sure to take the lead, and these must be pinched back. About the end 
of September place the plants in a house where a little heat can be turned 
on when required. If wanted in bloom early a temperature of 60° may 
be maintained, if more heat is given the flowers will not last long when 
cut.—A. Anderson, Lea Wood, C/romford. 
YOUNG GARDENERS; 
It has always seemed to me that many of the hints to young men 
could be just as well written by young men themselves. As a general 
rule no kind of books are more futile than those of “ Advice to young 
men entering life.” We seem to enter life nowadays so much earlier. 
The Winchester scholarship papers for boys under fourteen are very 
nearly as difficult as those for the ordinary pass degree at Oxford or 
Cambridge. 
I have not had the pleasure of seeing any communication on this head 
other than “H.’s” on page 235. If a young boy, for most apprentices 
begin when leaving school, is impudent, in nine cases out of ten it is 
because the moral influence of the chief is feeble, and because he lets all 
his littlenesses and lack of independence and stability of character be 
observed. The necessity of doing things thoroughly, if not natural to a 
young fellow, can only be drilled in by the sharpest surveillance. To sigh 
and say that it used not to be so in bygone days is a very near approach 
to nonsense. Young men are to spend their time “ economically.” The 
phrase sounds well, and it is no doubt good, that a certain amount of 
time, especially in the winter, be given to a fixed idea of acquiring a good 
knowledge of some useful science or form of culture. But that cricket 
or manly exercises ought to be neglected for them is very questionable. 
What are the profitless amusements ? Is the reading of fiction one ? I 
know dozens of gardeners who would say so, but I know hundreds who 
would be far richer in the graces of demeanour, manner, and appearance, 
and more catholic in their sentiments, by having read books like Besant 
and Rice’s, Black’s, Miss Thackeray’s, and those of our pomological 
friend Mr. R. D. Blackmore. This is only to take contemporary novelists. 
Can a man who has been in a hothouse all a summer’s day, or monotonously 
giving the coup de grace to insects galore, be expected to dive deep in the 
evening into solid works P Rather let him play his game or take his walk, 
but put in his way the hooks of these novelists and he will soon awake 
to the problems of life and see that success means hard and high 
endeavour. 
It is common sense that the best way to improve character and 
manners is to take those of the men we admire as examples. Novels, 
if they are to be worth anything as moral and practical teachers, and 
few will doubt that they can be made so, must contain some noble type 
of character and some descriptions that will widen views. Young men 
living in lodgings, very often far from home or friends and with few 
chances of seeing men or things outside their garden walls, whence can 
they get types of character and knowledge of the laws of courtesy ? 
And then, again, though perhaps you will not insert the sentence, there 
is the hurry to get married so noticeable in young men of the middle 
classes. There are few things like marriage and children to knock 
originality out of a man who has a small income. His mental growth 
is kept back by the fear of not being able to make both ends 
meet.—C. A. M. C. 
THE OLD DOUBLE WHITE PRIMULA. 
The present is a good time to strike cuttings of this lovely 
and much appreciated old plant. If the plants have been kept 
n a good temperature throughout the winter months, many of 
the side growths will now have air roots protruding from under 
tbe base of the leaves. These shoots should now be taken off 
and either placed into thumb pots, one in each, using a compost 
of half sand to half soil, or preferably inserting them for a 
couple of weeks or more among the growing sphagnum in which 
Vandas and other Orchids are growing Every little bit is sure 
to grow in this. Shoots without roots may be left a little later, 
when they will root with greater certainty than they would at 
present. 1 have rooted them well in April inserted with cuttings 
of other plants among the sand in a propagating pit. The one 
danger to avoid with these is damping, and the best antidote is 
a high temperature, plenty of moisture, and a thoroughly open 
material to root them in. When rootlets have been produced 
the young plants are transferred into pots 2^ inches in diameter, 
the soil we employ being loam, dry cowdung, and coarse sand in 
equal parts. If a temperature of 55° is afforded the young 
plants it will be sufficiently warm to induce a steady and robust 
growth. They should be shaded from sunshine all summer. 
During the summer months the plants succeed very well in cold 
frames if they are sufficiently shaded. 
In May place the plants into 4-inch pots, and in July another 
shift into 6-inch pots will be necessary. Good drainage is in all 
cases very essential, and we like to press the soil in very firmly. 
From the beginning of September the plants are provided with sur- 
facings of manure, which are continued throughout the flowering 
period until the following spring. In the end of September the 
plants are removed to a structure where a temperature of 50° to 
55° is given them all the winter through. They must never be 
allowed to become dry at tie roots, as these are so fine and so 
easily killed, that dryness is more injurious to them than to 
most plants. 
Our stock is grown solely for supplying cut flowers, and as 
we are obliged to cut the trusses, we find the above conditions as 
to temperature, &c., well fitted to keep up a continued supply of 
fresh trusses to take the place of those cut. Those who merely 
want the plants to look at may find that a slightly lower tem¬ 
perature would suit their purpose better, and yield them a small 
supply of finer flowers, which will last longer fresh on the plants 
than under the condition we find it well to follow. It may be 
added that under the above cultural conditions this plant gives 
no trouble whatever.—B. 
CULTURE OF LYCASTE SKINNERI. 
In the Journal of Horticulture for March 19th, 1885, a woodcut 
illustration was given of the plant of Lycaste Skinneri exhibited by me 
before the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society on March 
10th. It was also suggested that a few remarks as to the culture adopted 
would be acceptable to the readers of the Journal, and these I now 
furnish. 
My worthy employer, S. Taylor-Whitehead, Esq, is a great admirer 
of this beautiful old Orchid. The plant from which the woodcut was 
taken is a portion of one purchased a few years since from Messrs. James 
Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, and is, as you say, a very beautiful variety. 
I exhibited it before the Floral Committee on March 28th, 1882, and was 
awarded a cultural commendation. The plant then had two growths, 
bearing twelve flowers. After this we considered it advisable to divide it, 
which was accordingly done. We have now two plants, the one exhibited 
at Kensington and another bearing eight fine flowers. 
Some cultivators recommend a cool temperature for this beautiful 
Lycaste, here we find it succeeds best in a much warmer one. We grow 
our plants in a mixture of good fibrous peat and small pieces of broken 
potsherds, with a liberal addition of sharp silver sand and abundant 
drainage. During the growing season water i9 given freely, and weak 
guano water occasionally until the bulbs have matured their growth. A 
moist genial temperature is maintained, and fresh air admitted on all 
favourable occasions. The plants are shaded only during bright sunshine. 
After the growth is completed the plants are kept moderately dry till the 
flower shoots show well above the soil, guano water is again applied as 
before stated, copious waterings being given as the flowers advance in 
growth. 
Before closing these few remarks I wish to give a just word of praise 
to Mr. A. Bushnell, my plant foreman here, for the creditable manner in 
which he carries out the work under his charge.— Water G. Gaiger 
Burton Closes Gardens, Bakewell. 
CELSIA ARCTURUS. 
Last week we noted a specimen of this interesting and beautiful 
plant which was sent us by Mr. Axford, and as it might be advantage¬ 
ously grown in many gardens we had a drawing prepared that shows 
(fig. 47) the principal features of the species. 
Under various names, such as Arcturus creticus, Yerbascum Arcturus, 
and others, this plant has been known for many years ; but it does not 
seem to have been grown in England until late in the eighteenth century. 
Writing in reference to it in 1818 Dr. Sims observed : “ The first notice 
we have of this plant occurs in a letter of Honorius Bellus, a physician 
of Cydonia, in the Island of Candia, to Clusius, published in the second 
volume of his “ Historia Plantarum.” It was again described and figured 
by Prosper Alpinus as a native of the same island, and afterwards by 
Fabius Columna.” It was brought prominently into notice about tbe 
same time by Messrs. Chandler & Buckinham of Vauxhall, who, it is 
