1868. ] 
THE STEELITZIAS. 
137 
growth, and so continuous in flowering that it is only checked by the frosts 
late in the season. I can fully confirm his statement of the good qualities 
of Anna Alexieff, Baronne Prevost, Beauty of Waltham, and Prince 
Camille de Rohan ; and, in addition, I find Francois Arago, Simon St. Jean, 
Moss Lanei, and Ville de St. Denis, particularly well adapted for the 
purpose in the soil of this place. These I have proved, hut I have many 
other sorts under trial only, so that I cannot yet write of them with any 
confidence. 
We always take extra care in the formation of the beds intended to he 
planted, and if Roses have been previously growing in them we take away 
the whole of the soil and replace it with new materials, consisting of strong 
maiden loam and well-decomposed manure. If the subsoil is a good stiff 
clay so much the better; it may he trenclied-up and partially mixed with 
the new soil; hut if it is gravel, or rock, or any very porous dry substance, 
the bed should he excavated to a greater depth than w T ould he necessary 
with, a cooler subsoil. After planting, the ground is made firm, and we 
commence at once to encourage growth—not by heading-hack, hut by 
pegging every shoot down firmly on to the surface of the bed. This in its 
effects is equivalent to heading-hack, because as soon as the plants get 
settled they throw up very strong shoots from the centre close to the 
surface, which may either he pegged down at once, or left to grow upright 
until the pruning season, at which time I usually cut out all the old wood 
from which the flowers were produced the previous year, and peg down the 
young shoots in all directions over the surface of the beds, only shortening 
them when they come too near the edges of the bed. By this mode of 
treatment the beds soon become completely covered, and in due season 
a profusion of bloom is the result. I find it to he an advantage to top- 
dress every year, which is done when the pegs are removed for pruning. 
It is worth mentioning that I always use pegs made from the Yew tree, if 
possible, and they are best made during the winter, and laid by to season. 
Reclleaf . John Cox. 
THE STRELITZIAS. 
’HIS splendid genus of Musads is, I think, not so much grown as 
their great beauty merits. I had last February a plant of the dwarf 
species, S. humilis, in flower, with twenty-seven spikes on it, and 
few plants looked so gay and interesting at that wintry season. This 
plant was grown in a warm conservatory amongst greenhouse Ferns, 
dwarf Palms, and other plants, and I find the way to flower it in per¬ 
fection is to give it plenty of room for its roots either in a very large pot or 
tub. My plant in flower was shifted into a large tub about two years ago, 
and it now forms an immense mass of foliage and flowers. The Strelitzias 
