80 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOOIST. 
[ April, 
perhaps the best kind of apple for baking or drying purposes, and when of full 
size always fetches a good price. I have known Beefings bring 20s. a sack, while 
other kinds sold for 5s. 
Norwich is famed for drying or preserving Beefing apples. I am not exactly 
acquainted with the process; still I know that the apples are picked nearly of 
equal size and packed on the top of each other in tin cases, and are weighed or 
pressed down during the process of baking, but as in many other operations, the 
chances of success depend upon practical experience.—J. Wighton, Cossey Parle. 
EOELLA CILIATA. 
'HIS is a pretty and distinct-looking plant, when managed with success. It 
is not, however, held in favour with some cultivators, in consequence of 
its tendency to become rusty in the foliage; but this is caused either by 
the plant being placed in too cold a draft, or by allowing it to become 
dry at the root. To begin with a young plant, it should be one not too much 
pot-bound. April is a good time to give a shift into a size-larger pot, using for 
soil good fibry peat, with one-sixth of its bulk of loam, and adding to this a liberal 
quantity of sharp sand. Give ample drainage, and after potting place the plant 
in the greenhouse near to the glass, and where it will not be subjected to cold 
currents of air. Slightly bedew the plant with the syringe on the afternoons of 
bright days, and pay careful attention to watering at all times. Take off the 
tops of all shoots gaining an undue lead, in order to equalise the growth of the 
plant. As soon as the roots have reached the sides of the pot, give another 
shift, and proceed to treat as before directed. If stopping is discontinued by the 
last week in May, the plant will bloom in July, and its pretty bell-shaped flowers 
will well repay the cultivator for the attention bestowed on this Poella .— 
Henry Chilman, Somerley Gardens. 
CULTUKE THE CHIEF SOUECE OF IMPEOVEMENT. 
^jHE subject of the improvement of races, whether amongst animals or 
vegetables, is, to say the least, one of great and abiding interest. It 
seems to me, however, that one view of the subject has never had due 
weight accorded it by horticulturists. I disclaim any desire to uphold the 
theory of evolution beyond the limit to which the ideas herein expressed may lead. 
My proposition is that cultivation—cultivation pure and simple, and apart from 
cross-fertilisation—has a far greater influence upon the improvement of races than 
we are accustomed to accord to it; and that herein “ cause and effect ” are so 
intimately associated as to be inseparable, whatever hybridists and others may 
advance to the contrary. 
That the hybridist lays far greater weight on the process of cross-fertilisa¬ 
tion than on all the arts of culture, I need not attempt to prove, since it 
is well known that a successful cross is regarded by him as the only road 
to the attainment of his successful “ breaks,” and he holds that by the aid 
