112 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t February #, im. 
appreciated, even though it has become a market plant of con¬ 
siderable value. It is one of the easiest and quickest to grovr, 
will stand almost any ill treatment, and yet well repay the culti¬ 
vator for judicious care and attention. I think that its remark¬ 
able hardiness is not fully understood. Last year I had some 
plants in a frame all the winter ; and though the temperature 
there on more than one occasion fell to 20° below freezing point, 
both soil and plants being frozen hard, the plants of E. melanthera 
did not appear to suffer in the slightest degree, and they are now 
flowering as well as could be desired. E. hyemalis, on the other 
hand, was killed in large numbers. The flowers of my favourite 
Heath are not, it is true, so showy and bright as some, but they 
are useful for cutting, and if tastefully arranged with other 
gayer flowers either in bouquets or for stands they are invariably 
admired.” 
- There is now a pleasing display of Primulas at Chis¬ 
wick both of the single and double varieties, though the latter 
have been in flower so long that they are getting past their best. 
Conspicuous among the single varieties are the richly coloured 
Chiswick Red ; the fine purplish crimson rubra violacea; the 
peculiarly tinted lilacina, a good white variety ; and alba mag- 
nifica, which is invariably greatly admired for the size, substance, 
and beautifully fimbriated margins of the flowers. Of the double 
forms the Old White is still invaluable, flowering profusely, while 
Mr. Gilbert’s varieties continue to maintain their character. 
Mrs. Barron, with the similar forms Marchioness of Exeter and 
Princess, is excellent, the flowers of fine form, pure white, and 
freely produced on long pedicels, which admirably suit them for 
bouquets. King of the Purples is the best of the purple-crimson 
varieties ; and Miss Eva Fish, though of a very unpromising 
habit, is worth notice for its curiously tinted flowers of the lilacina 
type. 
- We are informed that the Continental Company of Horti¬ 
culture (formerly J. Linden) will shortly send out a new bedding 
plant, Gynura aurantiaca, which was thus described by Mr. 
N. E. Brown of Kew in the “Illustration Horticole” for 1881— 
“Gynura aurantiaca is a hardy plant belonging to the Composite, 
and is of such an ornamental character that is not surpassed by 
any other plant of the same class. The stem and leaves are 
clothed throughout their entire length with a thick covering of 
hairs, soft to the touch, and of a beautiful deep violet colour, 
which gives an appearance of the richest velvet to the plant. 
This is more especially the case with the young leaves, and when 
combined with the brilliant orange of the flowers, the aspect of 
the plant is superb.” 
- Mr. R. P. Brotherston sends us flowers of three good 
Hellebores, and at this time of year hardy flowers seem espe¬ 
cially acceptable. One Helleborus atro-rubens is particularly 
fine ; the flowers of moderate size, the sepals neatly rounded in 
form and of a comparatively bright reddish purple hue. This is 
the finest of the trio, and is suggestive of H. abchasicus, which 
also flowers at the present time. H. pallidus has white and 
green-tinted flowers of good size, and very abundantly produced 
on vigorous plants. The third appears to be a seedling variety 
of H. purpureus, but much lighter in colour. Another form 
flowering at this time and not without attractions is H. guttatus, 
which has white or greenish flowers dotted on the upper surface 
with purplish red. 
-We have received the Annual Report of Transac¬ 
tions and Position of the Syndicate of Belgian Horti¬ 
culturists presented by the Permanent Committee to the 
General Assembly on the 29th January last. It deals very fully 
with the action of the Syndicate in relation to the restrictions 
laid upon the importations of plants by some governments, by 
which the trade of nurserymen was injuriously affected. It also, 
amongst other matters, supplies a full list of all the Ambas¬ 
sadors, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls of Belgium in all parts of the 
world. 
- Mr. L. Killick, Mount Pleasant, Langley, Maidstone, 
desires to have lists for the Apple election within a week 
from the present date, and he will be glad to have the names of 
the “ best twelve kitchen and twelve dessert kinds as a sequence 
for the season,” from those who can obligingly send them 
to him, not to our office. Blenheim Pippin when named to be 
placed in the former section. 
- The “American Gardeners’ Monthly” gives the follow¬ 
ing particulars concerning James Markey, the celebrated 
potter —“ On the evening of November 15th James Markey, 
who has gained a national reputation as an expert greenhouse 
workman, dropped dead of heart disease, near his residence on 
Jersey City Heights. Though only thirty-four years of age, he 
had been employed in the greenhouses of Peter^Henderson for 
nearly twenty-three years—having begun at the early age of 
eleven years. In all operations in the greenhouse Mr. Henderson 
always claimed he had no peer for rapidity^and neatness. In the 
operation of potting he daily did the work of two average men, 
and was paid accordingly. It will be remembered that some 
years ago when Mr. Henderson asserted in the columns of the 
‘ Monthly ’ that James Markey potted 7500 plants in ten hours, 
several of our readers questioned the fact. Long since then Mr. 
Markey had far surpassed even that extraordinary record, and 
had repeatedly potted 10,000 in one day of ten hours ; and on one 
special occasion, in April of this year, potted 11,500 rooted cuttings 
of Verbenas in 2^-inch pots ; a feat probably never equalled or even 
approached. Besides being an extraordinary workman, few men 
of his years were possessed of such varied and comprehensive 
knowledge of greenhouse work. Mr. Markey was a native of 
County Meath, Ireland.” 
POTTING CALANTHES. 
Calanthes are annually becoming more generally grown, and 
they deserve it, as their lovely flowers are produced freely in a 
stove temperature throughout November, December, and January. 
The potting now needs attention, and therefore a few words upon 
the subject will be seasonable. They are started into growth in 
very small pots and shifted into larger pots later on, but as a rule 
they succeed best with only one potting. These pots may be of 
various sizes according to the strength of the pseudo-bulbs ; three 
or four may be placed in a 10-inch pot, or singly in 6-inch pots, but 
the latter plan is preferable. Pseudo-bulbs of ordinary size in 
6-inch pots generally produce two new pseudo-bulbs during the 
season as well as from two to six fine spikes. 
We have just finished potting our Calanthes in the small size. 
As soon as the flowers were over the plants were kept a little dry, 
but were not removed from the pots until the new pseudo-bulbs 
were ready, then all the old material was turned out, the old 
roots being cut close at the base. The roots when fresh and 
growing are soft and fleshy, and they do not extend freely in a 
close soil, but they delight in a free open mixture and plenty of 
drainage. The finest Calanthes I have seen were growing in a 
mixture of rough peat, sphagnum, charcoal, and small potsherds. 
In this a surprising quantity of roots is formed, and when in full 
growth a little liquid manure aids them greatly. There is no 
danger of the blooms not opening freely, as this occurs only when 
the roots are half dead in a close wet soil. 
Each pseudo-bulb is half buried in the soil rammed very firmly 
round them. After potting they are placed on a shelf in the 
stove, and little or no water is given until the roots are growing. 
Calanthes may be checked for the whole season if too much water 
be given before growth has commenced, but this evil is more 
likely to occur when the plants are in a close fine mixture than 
with the open compost recommended above.—M. 
Double Pink Bouvardia. —A double-flowering pink Bouvardia 
is announced as having originated with Mr. David Allen, the gardener 
at Oakley Gardens, near Boston, the grounds of Miss Mary Pratt, 
whose name has been given to this new variety. The plants are 
