April 25, 18S9. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
335 
rabble and crocks, good coarse sand being added. They should not be 
over-watered. Cinerarias, of which we now have some very fine strains, 
produce a rich display of colour. They are most easily grown from seed, 
but where there is a good strain, and it is decided to keep the strain pure, 
the object is attained if the suckers are taken and potted off. The com¬ 
post should always be made rich and light, and never on any account 
pot very firm. Richardia (Calla) cethiopiea, or the Trumpet Lily, will 
not fail to be greatly admired. How useful it is found if, as sometimes 
happens, the gardener is called upon amidst his multifarious duties to do 
a little church decoration. Hyacinths, Tulips, and the ever-welcome 
Lily of the Valley, with its delicious fragrance, will during the period 
greatly help to keep the conservatory gay. I must not pass over that 
charming and stately greenhouse shrub, the Camellia, which is sure to 
find a place in every conservatory, and rightly so, as where well 
looked after, it amply repays us for all the attention that may be 
lavished upon it. 
What more charming in spring than a well-grown bank of forced 
Roses, with their delightful perfume pervading the structure ? By this 
method of cultivation we anticipate, as it were, and get bright, joyous, 
and beautiful glimpses of the summer Queen of Flowers before she has 
begun to assert her regal dignity in the outdoor garden. 
Amongst foliage plants that will serve to tone down the colours of the 
flowers of the several classes of plants enumerated the following are 
especially useful :—Seaforthia elegans, Latania borbonica, Kentia can- 
terburyana, K. Fosteriana, Areca sapida, and Araucaria excelsa. 
Graceful and elegant Ferns, of which we have now such a rich 
selection, make, it is quite needless to remark, capital foils. Dracaenas 
are also very acceptable, such as D. australis, D. indivisa, and D. 
Banksi. 
The above list, although by no means exhaustive, will be found to 
contain sufficient plants to maintain the conservatory gay from Christmas 
to Easter. I now allude to those to form a succession from 
EASTER TO THE END OF AUGUST. 
The flower garden will now be attractive, and perhaps owing to this 
the gardener will not be able to devote so much of his time as hitherto 
to the conservatory. Nevertheless, attractiveness, beauty, and interest 
should be maintained in the structure. Zonal Pelargoniums grown in 
pots will be very effective, as there are some fine varieties in cultivation. 
The Ivy-leaved varieties also will be exceedingly useful. Fuchsias, not 
not nearly so well nor extensively grown as they deserve to be, should 
find a place in every conservatory. Herbaceous Calceolarias, most 
pretty and effective, rightly claim notice. 
Campanula pyramidalis is a very fine conservatory plant when 
well managed, each stem being wreathed with large blue salver-like 
flowers. The ever-popular (though humble) fragrant Mignonette 
imparts an interest to tbe structure peculiarly its own. Referring to 
sweetly scented flowers reminds me that I must not omit mention of 
the Heliotropiums, and another everybody’s plant, Harrison’s Musk. I 
need not here dilate upon its many good qualities, they are too well 
known. How charming, too, Gloxinias and the bright Tuberous Begonias 
will now be. With the two last-named classes of plants we seem to 
have reached a state of perfection difficult to pass, but there would 
appear to be no limit to excellency when our raisers and growers set 
themselves to work. How effective and graceful the Gloxinias may be 
made to appear when arranged in a setting of Ferns ! Lilies in pots are 
charming when well grown, their delightful fragrance being an additional 
recommendation. 
Achimenes when in flower are so beautiful that it would be an act 
of floral heresy to omit mention of them. A bank of bright Petunias 
will provide good colouring matter and plenty of variety. Amongst 
desirable “ cool ” greenhouse plants that we have in flower during this 
period is Streptosolen (Browallia) Jamesoni. The flowers on first 
opening are of a pale colour, changing to a brilliant cinnamon-red. 
Grown in pots it developes vigorously, growing into handsome, compact, 
specimens—bushes, in fact, of from 3 to 5 feet in height, forming a 
charming floral picture. Several classes of stove-flowering plants may 
be safely introduced at this season of the year if properly hardened 
previously, thus rendering the structure additionally attractive, interest¬ 
ing, and beautiful. 
Ornamental-leaved plants will render substantial service. Brightly 
coloured Coleuses, prettily marked Caladiums, together with Dracsenas, 
the elegantly cut Aralias, noble Alocasias, Phormiums, Pandanuses, the 
very pretty Grevillea robusta, and Crotons, of which we now have such 
a rich variety, all help to make the conservatory gay and attractive 
during the summer months. Novelty may be indulged in by intro¬ 
ducing a selection of the beautiful Japanese Maples. AVhat variety in 
the forms of the leaves they give us, many being so elegantly dissected 
as to be quite Fern-like in appearance ; and then the extreme richness 
of the coloration, varying from delicate rose to deep crimson, and from 
pale to dark green. As pot plants they are extremely useful for con¬ 
servatory decoration. I now proceed to the merits of the 
PLANTS FLOWERING IN SEPTEMBER, 0Cr0 3ER, AND 
NOVEMBER. 
Salvias will now render good service. During these months they 
are easily grown ; and what a range of colours ! the most intense blue, 
rose, purple, scarlet, striped, and numerous other welcome shades difficult 
of accurate description. The showy Marguerites are also useful, being 
bright and elegant, and admired by all. Vallotas, with their 
splendid Amaryllis-like flowers, are also charming just now. Celosia 
pyramidalis is well worthy of cultivation for the decoration of the 
conservatory during the autumn months. C. plumosa grandiflora is a 
magnificent strain, its long feathery plumes varying from pale yellow to 
the deepest crimson. Bouvardias, with their deliciously refreshing 
odours, are attractive, and what fine sorts we now have 1 W hen grow¬ 
ing and flowering the plants are greatly assisted by an occasional 
application of liquid manure. It is not generally known how admirably 
adapted for the autumn decoration of the conservatory are many 
varieties of the Verbena, giving us gayness and a most agreeable 
perfume. Here, then, is a practical use for the Verbena, which now 
appears to be almost banished from the outdoor garden, where in the 
good old times, as a bedder it was considered almost indispensable. 
Zonal Pelargoniums may be made to constitute attractive features 
during the months named, as a visit to any of the nursery firms who 
make this useful class of plants a speciality will abundantly testify. 
Tree or winter-flowering Carnations are deservedly appreciated, for they 
bloom freely and continuously, and the flowers are unsurpassed in 
beauty. Perhaps one of the finest winter-flowering greenhouse and 
conservatory plants is Luculia gratissima, so attractive with its de¬ 
liciously sweet bright pink or rose-coloured flowers. 
Now I come to consider, and that only briefly, what has been very 
rightly designated as the autumn queen of flowers—the Chrysanthemum. 
About this time it will be in the full tide of its beauty. What would 
drear November be without this immensely popular flower 1 How effec¬ 
tive are well-arranged banks of the various sections, imparting quite a 
distinct feature to the conservatory. A special paper would be required 
to treat in an at all adequate manner of them, and with our present 
knowledge any dry cultural details are simply unnecessary. The florist 
is gratified by the magnificently finished (if somewhat formal) incurved 
blooms which now grace our exhibition stands, while he who does not 
so mathematically consider the various points which go to constitute a 
good flower is gladdened by the sight of the noble Japanese in their 
glorious informality. 
FINAL OBSERVATIONS. 
It will be noted that I have not treated my subject culturally, except 
in a very few instances ; moreover, the title does not seem to require it. 
My endeavour has been to put the matter as popularly as possible, 
although I may not have so done. I take it that in the conservatory 
we have placed for our admiration the plants that have been manufac¬ 
tured, so to speak, in less pretentious though more practical structures, 
concerning which we may well be silent, our present task being quite 
sufficient for this essay. 
Then with regard to grouping. Much may be done in this way to 
render the conservatory attractive, beautiful, and interesting at the 
various seasons ; but different styles of buildings lend themselves to 
different styles of treatment or arrangement. Positions, as well as 
individual and collective tastes, have to be considered and dealt with 
accordingly on the spot, so that this portion of the matter, important 
though it be, does not admit of our drawing any hard-and-fast lines in 
a paper of this description. 
FRUIT CULTURE FOR PROFIT IN ENGLAND. 
A papee under the above title was late y read by Mr. William Paul, 
F.L.S., at a meeting of the Society of Aris, and the following extracts 
indicate its character. It will be seen the author is not deluded by clap 
trap, but recognises facts as they have come under his notice during a 
period of forty years, drawing therefrom deductions that fruit culture 
on sound lines can be profitably conducted and should be considerably 
extended in this country. There is much practical information in the 
paper, and if published in its entirety by the author it would be of 
