164 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ July, 
useful variety. In conclusion, I advise all to plant out the Climbing 
Devoniensis Rose, in a light sunny position. If grown well, it cannot fail 
to afford a goodly supply of bloom in succession, and to amply repay, with 
its delicate and delightful fragrance, the trouble and attention expended on 
its behalf. 
Digswell. William Earley. 
SKIMMIA JAPONICA. 
’HE extreme beauty of this plant during the latter part of the autumn 
Jy5j) and through the winter and early spring is so great that it needs 
only to be more generally grown to be appreciated more in accord- 
ance with its merits. The plant is perfectly hardy, and in a favour¬ 
able situation of a compact habit of growth. The flower heads, which 
expand early in May, are produced in the greatest profusion at the end of 
each little branch ; and the berries set freely, and on the approach of autumn 
become of a brilliant scarlet colour, in which state they remain until the 
spring, when through the action of the moving sap they gradually fall off. 
I consider the Skimmia to be infinitely preferable to the berried Aucuba as 
a winter decorative plant out of doors, as it is neither affected by frost, nor 
eaten by birds; and this latter is a valuable property. The Hollies here 
are often very beautiful in the autumn,.but as soon as frost comes on, a 
week suffices for the birds to strip every berry from the trees, while the 
Skimmia remains untouched; and, in fact, a more durably beautiful 
winter plant in the open border cannot be found. 
The culture is simple enough. The plants which I raised at this place 
from seed about 1852, are now several of them 8 feet through and covered 
with green berries. It will thus be seen that they are very slow-growing, 
in fact, they do not on an average, grow more than 3 inches a-year, and I 
am also of opinion that they should be left undisturbed. The seed was 
sown in a shallow pan, and kept in a cold pit through the winter; the plants 
potted singly into small pots in the spring, and kept in the cold pit until 
the following spring, when they were transplanted into a seed bed, where 
they remained some two or three years, and were finally transplanted to 
where they are now growing, which is the intervening spaces between some 
Ghent Azaleas, the beds for which had been prepared especially for them, 
and consisted of about equal parts of peat, leaf mould, and garden soil, 
with a trifling admixture of maiden turfy loam, and also in the course of 
mixing up this compost on the spot, a good portion of the clay subsoil 
became incorporated therewith, and I am inclined to think with more 
benefit than harm, for although in my younger days we used to consider 
that Azaleas and Rhododendrons could not be well grown with a compost 
of which the greater portion was peat, and in which clay was entirely in- 
