MAY. 
115 
Heterocentrum roseum and album are both, useful and valuable, requiring 
no extra amount of labour in management: like the Thyrsacanthus, requiring 
plenty of water, liberal syringing, and a moderately warm temperature. They 
strike readily from cuttings, but old cut-down plants, on the whole, perhaps, are 
preferable, as these generally throw up strong suckers when partially cut down, 
and it is from these suckers the finest bloom is secured. They grow freely in 
any good rich compost. Their worst qualities are the short time they remain in 
bloom. 
Justicia speciosa is probably one of our oldest stove denizens, still a most 
useful plant for winter work. It would be somewhat difficult to mismanage this; 
it grows so freely under all circumstances, at the same time frequently indifferently 
flowered. I find old cut-down plants do not bloom so profusely as cuttings struck 
in early spring and grown on through the summer. It requires liberal shifting, 
an abundance of water, a good rich compost, with the free use of the syringe. 
Once or twice it should be stopped, and a bushy plant secured; a straggling plant 
is unsightly. 
Crom Castle. John Edlington. 
CULTURE OF THE HiEMANTHUS, OR BLOOD-FLOWER. 
This is one of the old and mucli-neglected plants, and one that is now very 
seldom seen. I cannot think why it should be so, for I know of no plant of more 
easy culture than the Hmmanthus, and one that will well repay any one so well 
for the little attention it requires. It is one of the Cape bulbous-rooted plants, 
and, consequently, requires but little artificial heat. Any one that has got a 
greenhouse or vinery may grow it in perfection. My own practice of growing 
the Hsemanthus is as follows:—I always grow it in a late vinery, with the 
exception of the time the plants are in flower, when they are taken to the con¬ 
servatory. I invariably give a long season of rest, which is generally from 
August till February. I consider this the most important point to make sure 
of fine strong heads of bloom. During the time they are at rest they require 
but little water—just as much as keep the leaves from shrivelling. For large 
specimen plants I pot them only once in two or three years, as I find they 
flower much freer for being a little stunted in the pots. The best time for 
potting is when the plants are starting into growth. The most suitable soil 
is one of open texture. I use the following—one half rough turfy loam, and 
the other half equal parts of rotten cowdung, fibrous peat, charcoal, and sand, 
with good drainage, and an abundance of water during the growing season. 
They are propagated by dividing the roots, or from seeds. If by the former, 
it ought to be done when the plants are at rest. There are several varieties of 
the Hremanthus, but to my fancy puniceus is by far the best. 
Highgrove. A. Ingram. 
REVIEW. 
Le Fraisier. Par Le Comte Leonce de 
Lambertye. Paris: Goin. 1864. 
Since Duchesne wrote his “Histoire des 
Fraisiers ” a hundred years ago, we have had 
no work of any pretension or with any claim 
to he considered a treatise on the Strawberry 
till th‘e appearance of that now before us by 
Count Leonce de Lambertye. When we 
consider the progress that had been made in 
the improvement of this fruit, and compare 
the varieties grown in those days with the 
British Queens and Sir Charles Napiers that 
are seen at our horticultural exhibitions, we 
cannot but feel that great advance has been 
made, and that the subject requires to be 
treated of in a way commensurate to its 
importance and the wonderful improvement 
that has taken place. 
The work before us is a complete thing of 
its kind, and bears on the face of it every 
evidence that it emanates from the hands of a 
person who has devoted much of his time 
and great ability to the study of the subject 
upon which it treats. It consists of nearly 
