JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 11 , 1882. ] 
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each variety are planted together in rows, and are thus admirably 
situated for comparison with others both as regards habit, colour, 
and quality of the flowers. Viewed as a whole the visitor is enabled 
at a glance to form an excellent idea of the extent of variation 
which has been effected in the Tulip, and those especially fitted 
for beddiug purposes can be readily detected. It need scarcely be 
said that of the three hundred varieties grown a large proportion 
are comparatively worthless and will be discarded another season, 
though several others that have not been tried will be added, and 
the collection then, though it may be smaller, will be much more 
select. Some have the colours dull, the flowers small or of short 
duration, the plants being tall, with weak stems, that give them a 
straggly, loose, unsatisfactory appearance, and by carefully ex¬ 
cluding all these, and selecting the best of those that remain, 
Captain Patton gives the following list of single varieties as in¬ 
cluding only those that are really valuable and which he can 
recommend for general culture. Some of these are already well 
known and appreciated for that purpose. 
Slingelhandt, rosy crimson, base nearly white ; Mulus, fiery 
red painted with yellow ; Lac d’Asturia, magenta margined with 
white, foliage variegated, very strong in growth ; Purple Kroon, 
deep crimson scarlet, foliage variegated, very strong growth ; 
Netscher Satinde, a dwarf variety with large purplish lilac flowers, 
admirably suited for marginal rows in beds, a'd a great favourite 
with Captain Patton ; Moliere, deep rose ; Keysers Kroon, red 
margined with yellow, a well-known variety ; Globe du Regent, 
purple feathered with white ; Proserpine, magenta and pink ; 
Joost Van Vondel, both the white and red varieties; Hecla, 
bright deep crimson ; Californian, a beautiful large, bright yellow 
flower ; Commandant, scarlet suffused with buff : Belle Alliance, 
rich scarlet; Perle Blanche, pure white ; Von Schiller, a beautiful 
new variety with fine well-formed flowers, bright red margined with 
orange yellow ; Ophir d’Or, very dwarf large yellow flowers. The 
White, Red, and Yellow Pottebakkers are tall and good ; Yellow 
Prince, an excellent yellow variety ; Bacchus, one of the strongest 
growers, scailet, very good colour, foliage variegated ; Chrysolora 
yellow, very bright; Joost Van den Vondel, a pretty new variety 
with pure crimson flowers feathered with white ; Mon. Trdsor, 
dwarf, yellow ; Samson, crimson ; Wouvermann, purple ; Feu 
de Moscow, salmon feathered with crimson ; Thomas Morus, 
orange yellow, feathered scarlet ; Caaymans, lilac, edged white ; 
Drapeau Rouge, deep rose pink. The double varieties at the 
time the above list was made were not sufficiently advanced to 
determine their respective qualities. 
Useful as the above list undoubtedly is, considering that the 
selection has been carefully made from such a large number of 
varieties, the following is still more serviceable, as the varieties 
best suited for associating in bedding arrangements are named 
together, regard being had to period of flowering and height. 
In each case they are named in the order of their height—that is, 
the tallest are placed first, these being the best for the centre of 
beds, and the second of each pair for the margin, or where more 
than two are named the last should form the marginal row. 
White Joost Van Vondel and Netscher Satinee, Keysers Kroon 
and Proserpine, Due d'Orange and Perle Blanche, Mulus and 
Slingelhandt, White and Red Joost Van Vondel, White Joost Van 
Vondel and Commandant, Moliere and Hecla, Bacchus (varie¬ 
gated) and President Lincoln, Feu Eclarte, Slingelhandt, and La 
Latiere, Californian, Bacchus, and President Lincoln, Purple 
Krcon (variegated) and Lac d’Asturia ; White Pottebakker, Globe 
du Regent and Californian ; the two first of the last three with 
Joost Van Vondel. The best doubles for beds—Gloria Soli3 and 
Arabella, Gloria Solis and Blanche Hative, Yellow Tournesol and 
La Surpassant. 
One circular bed has been planted with Keysers Kroon and 
Proserpine—a very handsome combination ; another has been 
devoted to White Pottebakker and Vermilion Brillant, the former 
variety being very good, but the latter has not been satisfac¬ 
tory, as, though the colour is good, the plants are of bad habit, 
very irregular, and apparently not at all suited for bedding. 
Similar results have also been observed in other establishments 
with regard to this variety, which has induced many to discard 
it for bedding though retaining it for culture in pots. Several 
ribbon borders are occupied with a few of the best varieties 
already mentioned that mostly have flowered extremely well, and 
have a bright pleasant effect in contrast with the neat and ad¬ 
mirably kept lawn. 
Much credit is due to Captain Patton for the care he has taken 
to form so large a collection, which is both interesting and in¬ 
structive, as in few establishments can so many varieties be grown 
for comparison and selection. With considerable liberality he has 
also freely invited all visitors interested in his collection to inspect 
both that and his collection of Narcissi. 
Mr. McIntosh of Duneevan has some beautiful beds, his selec¬ 
tion, determined after much experience, being Chrysolora, La 
Belle Alliance, Moliere, and Wouverman. 
In the Middle Temple Gardens, Regent’s ami Victoria Parks, 
Tulips have also been advantageously employed in bed3 ; and 
though the collections are less extensive than the preceding, they 
comprise, some of the leading effective varieties very well ar¬ 
ranged, and serve to brighten the beds considerably until it is 
necessary to make preparations for their summer occupants. 
CUCUMBER CULTURE. 
We occasionally hear of Cucumbers “grown by express,” but 
it is not within the reach of every grower to adopt the express 
system. The majority of growers cannot command a house to be 
entirely devoted to Cucumbers ; in fact, many have to be content 
with an ordinary frame, and where plenty of heating material is 
at hand with which to make a hotbed success usually follows ; 
but there are some who with plant houses have not the frame, or, 
if possessing that, cannot obtain the material necessary for the 
hotbed, and it is principally to those that I address the following 
remarks. 
Here we have plant and fruit houses, but do not possess a house 
that can be devoted entirely to Cucumbers. W r e have plenty of 
pits and frames, but our employers prefer seeing the Cucumbers 
hanging, therefore we have to devote a portion of one of the 
plant stoves to their culture. The house in question is a span-roof 
running east and west. On the north side there is a pit about 
18 inches deep. It is in a part of this pit that our Cucumbers are 
grown. After clearing out the Cucumbers in the autumn we place 
a quantity of manure in the pit, and there Eucharises are flowered. 
We do not remove the manure in the spring, as there is a flow 
and return of hot water immediately under in the slates which 
form the bottom of the pit, and which give us sufficient heat for 
the Cucumbers. 
As we have been very successful this season it may be as well 
to describe the compost and treatment. The seeds were sown on 
the 9th of January in leaf soil and sand. The compost prepared 
for the plant consists of two parts loam, one part peat, and one 
part spent Mushroom material, and was placed in the pit about 
the middle of February. The plants were at this time strong and 
sturdy in 6-inch pots, and were placed on the beds on the 16th of 
February. They were allowed to grow till they reached the trellis, 
when they were stopped. Lateral shoots from the stem were 
stopped at the first leaf, and no fruit was allowed to remain on 
any of the shoots below the trellis. As the plants progressed they 
were stopped at the first leaf in advance of the fruit. As a proof 
that they like the compost I may mention that there are many 
strong leathery leaves measuring upwards of 20 inches across and 
more in length. We commenced cutting fruit at the end of 
March, when some were from 15 to 18 inches in length. The 
plants are liberally supplied with liquid manure, which is obtained 
from a tank in which the drainings from a large brewery and 
manure heap are deposited. They are watered with this diluted 
about 50 per cent, with clear water once a week ; at other times they 
receive a little soot water. We are not able to keep a high night 
temperature owing to the early vinery and Peach house being on 
higher ground than the stove, and frequently the temperature is 
as low as 63° or 65° in the morning, and in frosty weather still 
lower ; and judging by the healthy fruitful state of our plants I 
am inclined to think that the orthodox temperature of 70° is not 
essential to their well-being. 
There is one drawback to the cultivation of Cucumbers in a 
plant stove—viz., they are so liable to be infested with mealybug ; 
but when this pest appears it may be destroyed by that best of all 
insecticides paraffin, if applied in such proportions with softsoap 
and tepid water as recommended by “ Single-handed ” in a 
previous number of the Journal. 
I may add that cur compost is broken a3 roughly as possible. 
The roots of the Cucumber seem to resemble those of many Orchid¬ 
aceous plants. They delight in an open loose soil.— Cantab. 
PHLOXES. 
These are perhaps the most showy and useful of hardy herba¬ 
ceous plants for early and late flowering that we possess. The 
early-flowering varieties are especially valuable ; their dwarf 
habit and free disposition to bloom both in pots for indoor deco¬ 
ration as well as outside commend them to the notice of all. 
Plants in pots that have been stored in frames during the winter 
will, with the mildness of the season, be growing rapidly. These 
if not too advanced can be increased by division, or, better still, by 
striking the young growths, which root quickly at this season in 
