January 18,1887. ] 
31 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND 
COTTAGE GARDENER. 
variety of well-grown plants. Among these is one of the largest and best 
Latania borbonica yet exhibited, which, in spite of repeated trips, looks 
as freah as ever. This apparently unwieldly specimen only takes Mr. 
Lock and assistant fifteen minutes to neatly “bundle up ” and pack along 
one side of the largest van, but it must be very heavy work. Another 
telling plant, Dasylirion acrotrichum, that requires much less room, was 
atone time too taU in the stem, and this has been successfully shortened. 
A good sized pot was split in halves, and with this a quantity of peat and 
sand was enclosed round the stem just below the lower leaves and kept 
carefully moistened. When well rooted the top was severed from the old 
stem and at once shifted into a larger pot, this rendering it a most service¬ 
able exhibition plant. 
The immense Crotons, for which Mr. Lock is noted, are very effectively 
grouped in a fairly large house above alluded to, every plant being given 
plenty of room and light without appearing unduly favoured. Most of the 
largest of them, including C. Williamsi, Queen Victoria, and Princeps, have 
been to six or more important shows, but not a damaged leaf is to be seen, 
and Mr. Cleave may well be proud of them. At the present time they are 
in the summer they, early in November, are freely pruned, and then 
placed i» beat to form fresh strong growths. They are rested or ripened 
in the spring, and it is these winter-formed growths that give the profusion 
of well eolouiei bloom in July and August. Clerodendron Balfourianum 
is treated in much the same manner, only they are started earlier, the 
young growths at the time of my visit being well up the roof of a small 
plant stove. 
All the best varieties of Ixoras, including a fine specimen of the very 
showy I. Duffi, are well grown, and Mr. Lock will soon flower a fine 
batch of seedlings. They are the result of a cross between Prince of 
Orange and Fraseri, and there is evidently, judging from the foliage and 
habit, a good variety among them. There is also a strong pan of seedling 
Anthuriums to be seen, some of which, it is to be hoped, may be improve¬ 
ments on existing forms. The berries are gathered fresh from the spadix, 
was cleared of the pulp, and at once sown on the surface, a pan of 
chopped sphagnum and peat. Kept close and moist the seed soon 
germinates, but it usually takes two or more seasons to grow them to a 
flowering size. Mr. Lock has a very fine form of Anthurium Andreanum, 
Fig. C.—Newcombe House, Crediton. 
kept rather “ quiet,” that is to say, are not subjected to high tempera¬ 
tures, and are kept rather dry at the roots. Early this month they will 
be freely shortened back and encouraged to break strongly, when they will 
be turned out of their pots, have about one-half of the soil removed from 
the balls, and be repotted into the same sized pots. The compost found fo 
suit them well consists of three parts of good turfy loam, and one of peat, 
river sand and charcoal being freely added. They are kept carefully 
supplied with watfr, are syringed frequently, and given a night tem¬ 
perature of about 70°, with an increase of 10° to 20° by day. They are 
not “ stewed ” in any way, but are given plenty of light and air 
when the weather permits, in order to fit them for subsequent exposure. 
At the time of our visit (early in November) the Allamandas were un¬ 
tied from their trellises and were being rested and ripened near the glass 
in a small stove. They will shortly be cut hard back, being started into 
active growth late in February, soon after which they are shaken out and 
repotted, using good loamy soil. The r; quisite numbers of young growths 
are trained up near the glass, and these strong well matured shoots are 
freely shortened back about ten weeks before the plant may be required 
for exhibition, the short growths resulting being easily trained and pro¬ 
duce abundance of large fresh blooms. Alter the August shows are over 
the plants of Bougainvillea glabra are kept in the conservatory, where 
they remain gay till November. In order to have them at their best late 
this being much superior to another grown under precisely the same 
conditions. It is the distribution of this spurious form that has led so 
many to speak disparagingly of the variety. Mr. Lock always excels with 
Dipladenias, but it is in a poor little house on the north side of the 
principal range, and glazed with rolled glass, where they are grown. The 
young shoots are trained up strings on the north side of the house, and 
probably facing the sunshine may have something to do with their free- 
blooming habit. A small house is devoted to Ericas. These are kept near 
the glass, and are well recovered from the effects of placing them too 
near the glass, in which position an unexpected and early spell of hot 
sunshine crippled them so seriously as to render the majority of them 
unfit for exhibition last summer. They were badly missed, nothing telling 
better than good Heaths, but as these, Azaleas, and a few other hard- 
wooded plants are now in a promising condilion, our friend Mr. Cypher 
must “ look out.” 
In addition to the show plants there are plenty of ordinary decorative 
plants to be seen, and all in good condition. Gloxinias are grown in 
quantity, and they always have some in flower. Eucharis amazonica is 
also abundant and healthy, and with these, and a variety of Palms, 
Crotons, including beautiful standards of C. Warreni and C. angusti- 
folius and other plants, Mr. Lock contrives to arrange some of the best 
groups for effect to be seen in the western counties. 
