August 24,1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 175 
It is a hardy herbaceous perennial, growing 3 or 1 feet high 
under favourable circumstances, with large coarse broadly lanceo¬ 
late leaves with serrated edges, green ; whereas the foliage of 
the plant often sold for L. cardinalis is deep crimson. The stems 
are terminated with the flower spike, with flowers about 1^ inch 
long from tip to tip of a peculiar form,'and intensely deep red 
colours ; lateral flower spikes are also produced, which greatly 
lengthen the blooming period. The flowers appear from July to 
October, and the plant is a native of the northern and eastern 
United States, being distributed over a very wide area. 
It should be planted in a damp situation in good rich loamy 
soil, rather stiff, as it speedily dies in positions at all dry and 
loose. It does well in the bog garden. I have seen it finer 
in such than in any position, and by the margins of lakes and 
ponds it thrives well. This plant is easily propagated by striking 
the young shoots in spring, or by cuttings freely produced in the 
leaf axils during summer, and struck in a cold frame, or from seed, 
which being small should be carefully sown during May or June 
in pots and placed in a cold frame. I have raised seedlings 
fairly well, observing the following items : Fill the pots with soil 
and water it freely, sprinkle the seed upon the surface, slightly 
cover it with silver sand, and place some fresh moss upon the 
surface, which keeps the seed moist and shaded, removing the 
moss directly after germination.—N. 
The big Gooseberry season being over, we are threatened 
by an incursion of Colorado beetles. A Colorado beetle having 
been found on board the Guion steamer “ Wisconsin ” from 
New York, the Privy Council were communicated with, and gave 
orders that the insect should at once be killed and forwarded to 
Whitehall. 
- We are informed that the popular work, “The Fern 
World,” by Mr. Francis George Heath, author of “ Autumnal 
Leaves,” has just reached its seventh edition. 
- Mr. S. L. Bourchier, Crosby, near Liverpool, writes :— 
“ Mr. Iggulden in his interesting note on double Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums has omitted the best of all—namely, Charles Darwin, 
very deep rich purple, with orange shade in upper petals; fine 
form and size, habit and freedom of blooming equal to any single. 
Candidissima plena is much the best white, as under no circum¬ 
stances is it ever even faintly tinged pink.” 
- A correspondent writes respecting Allium sacculi- 
FERUM as follows :—“ This is an extremely pretty pink-flowered 
species, received in the Cambridge Botanic Garden from Dr. Hegel. 
The heads are perfectly globular and dense, and a number to¬ 
gether form an attractive tuft a foot high. The leaves about equal 
the flowers in height, and are slender and graceful. A pure white 
variety has come from seed, and is being attended to. The bulb 
of this species is long and narrow. It appears to be rare in gar¬ 
dens. In the same garden the beautiful Lilium longiflorum is 
one of the most suitable Lilies for the dry soil. No other kind 
does better, and this without any preparation succeeds well.” 
- The schedule of the South Shields Chrysanthemum 
and Winter Flower Show states that the Exhibition of the 
present year will be held in the Public Library Hall, South 
Shields, on November 29th and 30th, when prizes will be offered 
in thirty classes for Chrysanthemums, both specimens and cut 
blooms, miscellaneous plants, and Grapes. In one of the regula¬ 
tions relating to the Chrysanthemum portion of the schedule it is 
stated that “for the guidance of exhibitors Cannell’s catalogue 
will be the standard.” 
- Mr. George Bunyard of Maidstone has sent us a dish of 
Bunyard’s Broad-podded Dwarf Kidney Bean, which is 
claimed to be “ the best flavoured in cultivation.” The pods were 
not particularly attractive, and were fully too old for cooking, the 
beans showing prominently ; yet, notwithstanding their apparent 
want of crispness, they were when prepared for table of excellent 
quality—tender, buttery, and possessing a flavour that is not 
possessed by all Dwarf Kidney Beans, and which is highly agree¬ 
able. Judging by the sample sent this is not a show variety, and 
we know nothing relative to the habit and productiveness of the 
plants. 
- Perhaps nowhere is what may be termed domestic 
floriculture practised more earnestly than in the suburbs of 
London, and local societies are established to give encouragement 
to window gardening, and to render the surroundings of homes 
enjoyable. One of the best-conducted of these that we have 
seen is the Shaftesbury Park Garden Improvement So¬ 
ciety, the annual Show of which was held last Saturday. Be¬ 
sides the competition in the classes, valuable contributions of 
plants were kindly and generously sent by Messrs. Yeitch & Sons, 
J. Laing & Co., and of cut flowers by Messrs. C. Turner of Slough 
and Cannell & Son of Swanley. The single Dahlias from Slough 
were particularly handsome, and being arranged on stands with 
foliage and buds as cut they had a much better effect than 
when staged in the usual manner. The Swanley Petunias 
commanded much attention. Messrs. Veitch’s plants included 
specimens of a number of their novelties, forming an important 
portion of the Show. The prizes consisted of various well-selected 
articles of a useful or ornamental character. 
- Mr. George Boothby, writing from Louth, states :—“ Mr. 
Luckhurst does not speak a word too much in praise of Violet 
Devoniensis. Here in East Lincolnshire, whilst the rest of the 
kingdom has been complaining for some weeks past of an excess 
of rain, we have been almost suffering from a want of it; conse¬ 
quently such plants as autumn-blooming Violets are not in a very 
floriferous state at present, but V. Devoniensis is in full bloom as 
usual. I generally find it and a seedling of mine, V. Floribunda, 
the first to bloom, and New York has sometimes been as early.” 
- Mr. William Connelly, Leagrim, writes :—“ I was glad 
to see the old favourite CatsheAd Apple brought under notice, 
and can fully endorse all that has been said in its favour on 
page 157. I have known it as long as I have known what an 
Apple was. It is a general favourite in Herefordshire, so much 
so that if a true old Herefordian had a dozen trees in his garden 
and one of them was a Catshead, he would prize it more than all 
the rest on account of its large size and good keeping qualities. 
It is principally used by the farmers and cottagers in country 
districts for making Apple dumplings and Apple bobs. An Apple 
bob is made exactly the same as a dumpling, only it is baked 
instead of boiled ; and in establishments where kitchen Apples 
are in great demand this good old variety should be cultivated.” 
- Relative to the Hop Harvest, Mr. E. Doust, Hop- 
factor, has stated in a daily paper that “ There has not been a 
year in the memory of any living man in which a less quantity 
of Hops was grown than is likely to be grown this year. It 
is certain that there are thousands of acres that never will be 
picked at all ; whole plantations can bring nothing but ruin on 
the luckless planters. Almost the only exception to this dreary 
aspect is where the planters have thoroughly washed to death 
the insect pests ; and even this effort, where it has not been 
efficiently done, has proved a failure, and, what is more, just now 
we are compelled to hear that the mould has set in even upon many 
of those plantations where the insect pests had been destroyed.” 
- A correspondent has given the following brief but 
dismal account of the Irish crops : —“ In the north-west of 
Ireland the crops are in a frightful condition, hay lying cut in 
