520 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 9, 1886. 
I^saw one with the Gladioli packed in it, and not even the perverse 
ingenuity of destruction shown by railway porters could injure it. The 
central stake is about an inch square, and the Gladioli are packed 
back to back, so that they cannot rub, and when the box is closed the 
stake fits into the square place reserved for it, so that it cannot move, 
as the sides are covered with canvas. It is very light, and as half a 
dozen of these light frames would carry twenty-four blooms, they are 
very convenient. They would be of no use, of course, for those who 
bring up their 100 or 150 spikes, but for amateurs it is. I think, the 
best plan that I have seen. When they are laid on trays they are 
apt to get rubbed, and so the freshness of the blooms is spoiled ; 
but by this plan they are kept as firm as a rock. 
Messrs. Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co. announce twelve new varieties, 
all, with one exception, seedlings from Fontainbleau, which still 
have the name of Souchet attached to them, although the establishment 
is now conducted by Souillard & Brunelet. The exception is a seedling 
of Berger’s. There is one peculiar novelty in the set, a hybrid raised 
by them from the hardy Gladioli of Lemoine’s strain. When I was 
last at Fontainbleau they did not seem to value these for hybridising, 
but. I suppose they have altered their opinion. The following are 
their varieties :— 
. Dictateur. —Long compact spike, centre white, pale'lilac ground, 
with heavy carmine-red flakes. 
Fra Diavolo .—Grand spike of bright orange-rose flowers, flamed 
with violet-red on the edges of the petals ; large pale yellow spot. 
Enchantresse .—Superb compact spike, flowers well opened, of 
enormous size, pale satiny lilac-white ; violet-red line on one or two 
divisions. 
L Esperance. — Beautiful and curious plant, hybridised with hardy 
Gladiolus ; flowers very large and very open, which Lemoine's seed¬ 
lings are not, rosy lilac ; large carmine-red spot, deeper in the centre, 
and surrounded with yellowish-white upon the inferior divisions, 
bordered with rose. 
Magicien .—Medium plant ; compact spike of large flowers ; edge 
of petals wavy and fringed, centre passing to pale rose and white. 
This sounds like a curiosity. 
Magnificus .—Grand spike of extremely large flowers, sound and 
open, crimson-red ; beautiful white spot, with violet edge. 
Marguerite. —Plant medium height, but with long spike ; large 
compact flowers, nearly pure white, showing only a rosy or rosy-lilac 
eye, and a few light stripes of same colour. 
Minos .—Tall plant; long spike, with very large rosy-salmon 
flowers, largely flaked, and spotted with cherry-red ; amaranth band, 
and eye of same colour. 
Pasteur. —Superb long spike of grand flowers of a beautiful rose 
colour, slightly tinged with orange ; some crimson-orange stripes, 
rosy-white spots ; buds scarlet-red. 
Pollux. Dwarf plant ; compact spike, bright carmine-red, with 
some flakes of brownish-crimson at the edge ; beautiful white spot; 
flowers sometimes semi-double. 
Sirius (Berger)—Long spike, well furnished with flowers ; lovely 
rose, flamed and striped with carmine ; spotted with purple. 
Splendens .—Long spike, furnished with crimson-red flowers ; pale 
yellow spots on one or more divisions. 
Messrs. Kelway & Son also announce twelve. Many of these 
have been seen in London, and have all been awarded first-class 
certificates, so that, independently of the well-known character of the 
Langport strain, their excellence is guaranteed by the position they 
have thus taken. They are as follows :— 
Aner .—Mauve, flaked and shaded with purple. 
Caens .—Cerise, flaked with rose. 
Clarence .—Maroon, streaked with purple, and shaded red. 
Colonel Macfec .—Lilac, flaked on a white ground. 
Dora Thorne .—Cream, shaded and edged rose. 
Duchess of Westminster. —White, tinted and veined with rose. 
Lady Salisbury —White, tinted flesh, flaked with carmine. 
Lord Carnarvon .—Scarlet, with white throat. 
Lord Rothschild .—Scarlet crimson, shaded with purple. 
Miss Foster .—White, tinged flesh, flaked with rose. 
Prince Henry .—Purple, with white throat. 
These descriptions are much shorter than those given by the 
French raisers, but I do not think that they are any the worse for 
that; indeed it is often very difficult to imagine from them what the 
flower is likely to be. 
Of the flowers of last season I may have something to say by-and 
by (ii giving my usual notes from my garden) so far as I have seen 
them.—D., Deal. 
FORCING RHUBARB. 
I am very pleased to see that “ W. P. R.” has a better plan, accord¬ 
ing to his idea, than that recommended by me. His chief saving is in 
taking the Rhubarb roots to the manure yard. But does it not strike 
your correspondent that 50 per cent, of those whojforce Rhubarb could 
not do so for want of room in those places ? I think quite as much labour 
would be necessary in keeping up a succession and in lifting the roots, 
and as much ground occupied, as by having a row set apart for forcing. 
The question of applying fermenting materials is wholly a matter of 
local circumstances. Some may have his Rhubarb close to the manure 
yard on his frame ground, while others may not. I should certainly 
hesitate to recommend “ W. P. R.’s’’ rough-and-ready mode of placing 
his roots on the dunghill. I have seen stalks of Rhubarb that had come 
up outside the pots in the ordinary mode of forcing, rejected in the 
dining-room on account of their having a flavour of the manure. I 
should not like to say that Rhubarb forced in the centre of a steaming 
dung mass would be wholly free from the flavour of it.— A Woeking 
Gaedenee. 
TRACHELIUM CCERULEUM. 
Though cultivated in some warm districts of England as a hardy 
plant, the Blue Throatwort, Trachelium coeruleum, is best known in many 
gardens as a greenhouse plant. During the summer it will thrive in 
borders in almost any part of England, but it is liable to be destroyed in 
winter, and therefore can be scarcely claimed as a really hardy plant, 
though some have objected to its admission in classes for stove and green¬ 
house plants on this ground. It is a native of shady places in Italy and 
Levant, and has been found growing in rocky crevices on Mount Atlas. 
Parkinson and others mention it as being cultivated before the middle of 
the seventeenth century, but it was long regarded as a biennial, and 
treated as such, the seeds being sown in the autumn, and the plants so 
obtained transferred to the borders, 
This plant is remarkably well grown by Mr. Molyneux, Swanmore 
Park Gardens, Bishop’s Waltham, and an excellent specimen was shown 
by him at the Southampton Horticultural Society’s Exhibition last 
August. It was about 4 feet high and as much in diameter, with fifty or 
sixty grand trusses (6 inches or more in diameter) of purplish blue flowers. 
The stems were secured to stakes, but they were not too conspicuous, and 
the plant altogether was very satisfactory. It is well represented in 
the engraving (fig. 72) from a photograph, and the cultural notes 
by Mr. M lyneux, which follow, will show how such an admirable 
result was obtained. 
“ To secure small single-stemmed plants in 48-sized p ts, or even 
less, suitable for house or conservatory decoration, cuttings should be 
taken from the base of a plant, say in September, such shoots not having 
flowered the same season; make them into lengths of from 2 to 4 inches, 
insert in single thumb pots in sandy soil; a gentle bottom heat is an 
assistance in the quick production of roots. Care should be taken not to 
subject them to an excess of heat, or they will be drawn up weakly. A 
half-spent hotbed answers well ; failing this a cold frame kept close wilt 
suffice. As soon as they are well rooted, give them a shift into pots one 
size larger, or, if the cuttings are extra strong, into the 48-size at once, 
using a mixture of two parts loam, one part leaf mould, some spent 
Mushroom bed manure, a good sprinkling of finely ground bones, charcoal 
and coarse sand, pot firmly and return the plants to (he cold frame ; keep 
them close for a few days until established, then admit air freely to keep- 
them stocky. Winter the plants on a shelf close to the glass in a cool 
house ; attend carefully to them with water, and in the spring, when the 
flower stems commence growing, supply liquid manure freely, and in 
June and July handsome heads of blossoms, one to each plant, will be the 
result, which in some cases may require the aid of a small stake to keep 
them in position. These will last a long time in flower. 
“ To grow the plants into specimen size it is immaterial whether they 
be struck in the autumn or the following spring. The time when the cut¬ 
tings can best be procured is the main point, but the former period is 
preferable, as time is then gained by striking them early. As soon as the 
plants are rooted, top them by pinching out the point, to induce the pro¬ 
duction of side branches. These in turn must also he topped, training them 
in an outward direction by the use of stakes. A cool house simply free 
from frost is all the protection they require during winter. In the summer 
they may be stood out of doors in an open position. Still continue to top 
the branches, transferring the plants into larger pots until they are in 
those 12 inches in diameter. This size is large enough for the best 
specimens, using the same compost, except that when they are in large 
pots more charcoal and bones are required. Use the soil as rough as 
possible consistent with convenience in potting. Supply water freely 
during the summer, and syringe the plants in the evening of floe days. 
“ Towards the end of August a few of the strongest branches may be 
allowed to flower, but not the weaker ones. After this, prune those which 
have produced blossoms down to an eye or two below those branches not 
having flowered, and shorten any other growths which have become too 
long. Keep rather drier at the roots for a time, and winter in a cool 
house as before. Early in March repot the plants, first shaking off a great 
part of the old soil, afterwards shift into pots a size larger, which must be 
guided by the previous size. Keep the plants in a cool light part of the 
house, and early in May the flower stems will commence appearing, and 
the same cool treatment be continued, the plants will be in perfection 
from the middle of July to the end of August. As fast as the flower 
spikes grow (and all stems will produce blossoms, great or small) they 
should be tied somewhere near the position which they are to occupy when 
in bloom, finally staking the plants two or three weeks previous to the 
flowers expanding. The flower stems are best staked in an upright 
manner, the same as they grow ; twisting or bending them into unnatural 
forms does not answer. The largest heads of flower will be spread evenly 
