April 9, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
287 
boilers and tfce pipes in connection were covered with a cement which 
kept the surfaces almost cool, and must effectively protect them from 
oxidation. This, on inquiry, I found was called the Fossil Meal Com¬ 
position, and was applied an inch thick. It prevented in a wondeiful 
manner radiation and loss of heat; it is said to be similarly effective in 
preserving cold-water pipes from frost. I should like Mr. Bardney to 
direct his attention to this material, and as he lives near Liverpool, he 
might perhaps find time to call at 72, Regent Road, in that city and gain 
more particulars than I can supply. I suspect he will fiod that pipes in 
mains coated with this cement will not only be rendered prac ieally 
imperishable, but that the heat will be kept inside them—that is to say, 
with the water boiling in them the surfaces will be nearly or quite cool; 
the material is further said to completely resist the action of fire, so might 
be useful on that account in the setting of borders. 
Mr. Divers appears to be unacquainted with indiarubber rings for 
pointing hot-water pipes. I am able to tell him that by no other method 
■can pipes be fixed with such ease and celerity, provided care be taken in 
(the adaptability of the rings to the sockets—a point of practical im¬ 
portance. These joints are perfectly watertight; but while I have seen 
"the pipes removed with comparative ease, 1 am told that if they remain 
long undisturbed that the joints become as firm as those made with cement 
or any other material. One thing is certain—if the rings are of the right 
size no one can fail in making a good joint in, say, half a minute, that will 
last for years, but the rings must not be used close to the boiler. I see in 
the last issue Mr. Bardney is alive to this matter. As these rings are 
being very extensively used now, it would perhaps be well if your cor¬ 
respondent would state what he has seen wrong with them in large 
nurseries. One of the most experienced nurserymen in the kingdom has 
told me he prefers them to all other joints in his large establishment. 
There would seem to be something akin to a race for the greatest 
popularity between Daffodils and Orchids. A few weeks ago it was 
announced that a Committee of fifty-two persons had been appointed to 
■collect evidence pertaining to the doubling and singling of these flowers, 
and that experiments should be made at Chiswick, that pilgrimages of 
investigation should be conducted and deputations appointed for planting 
the bulbs. This will, no doubt, be very interesting occupation; but 
what about weather influences 1 Violets, Primroses, and I think most 
other flowers have a habit of “going single” when the constitution 
of the plants is impaired by poverty of soil and a severe check by drought; 
but perhaps Daffodils may be different. We shall see—perhaps. 
And now we are to have an Orchid conference and a committee of 
experts—not of fifty-two members, but a weighty body nevertheless. The 
plan of the proposed exhibition appears to be an excellent one, and doubt¬ 
less the proceedings in connection therewith will be highly instructive. 
The gathering together of these fascinating flowers can scarcely fail 
to be powerfully attractive, and the display must of necessity be of the 
most rich and varied character. One injunction of the programme is that 
exhibitors are requested to show duplicates as little as possible. Little 
duplicates will certainly take up less space than big ones ; but why if the 
collections are likely to be so overwhelming invite duplicates at all ? Pos¬ 
sibly, however, the printers have been erring again, and that as few 
duplicates as possible are requested, which is a slightly different matter. 
By the way, I heard a discussion on the proposed conference the other 
day, as to the advisability of appointing a sub-committee of practical 
Orchid growers to discuss matters of interest in connection with the 
plants, the results to be placed before the superior committee as a sort of 
senate for their decision thereon. It was thought that the labours of the 
eminent individuals, who have so many claims on their time, would be 
lightened, and that small matters of importance would be less likely to be 
overlooked if growers both in the trade and private establishments were 
to bring their experience to bear on certain points that it might be desirable 
to submit to a preliminary discussion. It was considered that as a com¬ 
mittee of this kind was found useful in connection with the Apple 
conference, it might possibly be of service in the conference in question. 
I observe that “ H. Notts," has been “ amused ” with some 
remarks of a correspondent “T. C. D.,” relative to the conduct or 
degeneracy of young gardeners. I was gratified with the letters that 
caused the veteran amusement. They were temperate, well expressed, 
reasonable letters, and a credit to the young man, if he is a young man, 
who wrote them. I do not admit the degeneracy of the young gardeners 
of the present day, about which some twaddle has been written, just as 
there has about the degeneracy of the army. I am of opinion that young 
gardeners, as a class, are better men to-day than probationers of the same 
age were at any other period since the days of the “ grand old gardener ” 
Adam. They are better educated, and are animated with the same desire 
to become efficient as ever they were, and certainly not a few who have 
been placed in positions of responsibility during the past few years have 
acquitted themselves well. Their conduct as a body is, I am convinced, 
at least equal to that of any other body of men in the land, and I am not 
going to join in the song of lamentation over the implied “ fall and 
decline ” of the future gardeners of Great Britain. 
I liked that letter of “ C. A. M. C.’’ on this subject, on page 252. 
I believe in young men working hard and pleasantly, studying attentively, 
gathering and storing up information that will be of service to them, and 
who will shame the careless and indolent out of the ranks by their own 
better demeanour. They are not less likely to do this by an occasional 
day in the cricket field, where I am not ashamed to say I have learned 
many a lesson that I would not willingly forget; and by striving to 
become “ captain ” in the field and secretary to the club in now bygone 
days, I lost nothing as a gardener, but, on the contrary, gained in more 
ways than can be detailed here, and which “ C. A. M. C.” and similarly 
broad-minded individuals will have no difficulty in comprehending. 
Choose a worthy form of recreation, and then, both in work and play, be 
earnest—“ Go in and win.” That has always been the endeavour, and is 
now the advice of—A Thinker. 
PENTSTEMON WRIGHTII. 
This Pentstemon is taken from the species producing red flowers, and if 
not the most valuable of its class, it is nevertheless one of the most interest¬ 
ing and distinct of the species. It is a native of Texas, and requires a little 
protection in winter, for most of the species from thence are somewhat 
tender ; but this will hardly prove an obstacle to its adoption in an age 
when greenhouse plants are so largely employed for open-air decoration. 
It is readily raised from seed, and if sown early the young plants 
would probably flower the first season. It is, however, best treated as a 
biennial, the seed being sown in March or April; for although the plant 
is reputed to be of perennial duration, and will often survive two or three 
years, so far as we have seen, it never blooms effectively more than once 
especially when allowed to ripen seed. 
It may be conveniently grown in pots the first season to allow of its 
protection in a frame during the winter months, but should be planted out 
the following spring as early as circumstances permit. It grows from 
2b to 4 feet high, and bears a very long branching panicle of flowers. The 
lower leaves are spathulate, and lengthened at the base into a narrow 
petiole ; the upper ones are almost heart-shaped and sessile ; all of them 
are smooth, and with margins destitute of serratures. The corolla is 
remarkable for its spreading limb, and has been compared, not inaptly, to 
that of the Achimene3 rosea, which it also resembles in colour. The 
intense rosy carmine of the flowers, which are borne in June and July, is 
quite unrivalled in the genus, especially for a few days after expansion 
subsequently this tint loses a little of its depth, but this rather adds to 
than detracts from the general effect. 
It was first introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew in 1850, and 
flowered there the following season.—W. T. I. 
ORCHIDS AT WESTBROOK, SHEFFIELD. 
It is now about twelve months since I referred in these columns to 
the above well-known collection, and stated that at one period during the 
lifetime of the late proprietor, H. Wilson, Esq., it had become one of the 
