272 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ December, 
beauty for years to come, for they are veritable immortelles , and when enclosed in 
glass cases with stuffed birds they will last a lifetime. I mention these well- 
known species to show the sweet and cleanly character of grasses when adopted 
for house decoration. 
Let no one think, much less speak , lightly of cut flowers to make home look 
cheerful and happy. And this luxury is within the reach of thousands, wherever 
there is a roadside or hedge-bank or a common. I have used bushels of cut 
flowers, grown on purpose, to adorn the apartments of noblemen’s mansions, and 
I have carried a few cut flowers to the table by the bedside of an invalid to cheer 
the dull surroundings of the sick-room by their lively looks and sweet odour ; 
but it is on festive occasions that the decorations of the table rise in the esteem 
and play an important part in the merrymaking ; and, like the music and the 
dancing, they are really part of the get-up , since the setting-out of the table on such 
occasions would be the talk of the guests for many years to come. It was only 
following the true spirit of merrymaking that made the Northern minstrel say :— 
11 A Christmas gambol oft would cheer 
The poor man’s heart through half the year.” 
—Alex. Forsyth, Salford. 
THE MADRESFIELD COURT GRAPE. 
MOST excellent Grape in some respects, being a good grower, of free 
habit, and a good setter, with large berries and good colour ; but the most 
important quality it lacks—it will not keep after it is ripe more than 
three weeks or a month. I have tried it two years, last year in a late 
house, and this year in an early house. In the first, or early house, it was very 
fine and handsome, with very large berries, of good flavour and good colour, but 
would not keep three weeks after it had become ripe. I kept one bunch four- 
weeks, but it was not fit to send to table. That was in June. At present 
(November 1)1 have some in a late house ; they have been ripe since the end of 
September ; now there is not a bunch fit for use. It is not so good as the Ham¬ 
burgh as regards keeping qualities. I would earnestly advise any one having a 
large demand in the autumn, to plant a good number of it for its beauty and 
flavour. I am disappointed in it only in one respect, namely, that it was said to 
be a good late Grape.—J. Freeman, Knowsley , Prescot. 
DRACiENA MAGNIFICA. 
jN their recent Catalogue of New Plan ts , the Messrs. Veitch and Sons speak 
of this as being probably the handsomest of all the Dracaenas brought 
from the South Sea Islands by the late lamented Mr. John G. Veitch. There 
is in this description no exaggeration. The plant is of free, robust, 
vigorous growth. The leaves, which are spirally arranged, attain a length of 
18 in. or 2 ft., the petioles being of a purplish colour, and the broad blade of 
