NOVEMBER. 
247 
foliaged plants, and the colouring of the whole so harmoniously blended as to 
be both novel and striking ; while the effect is considerably heightened by a 
few. plants of Cineraria maritima, and Geranium odoratissimum variegatum 
being placed at regular intervals on raised pots. Among the most conspicuous 
of the sorts used are Cloth of Gold, Golden Fleece, and Mrs. Milford, of the 
Gold-leaved section without the green disk; Golden Harkaway, Stella, yellow 
variegated, Cybister. The Empress, Rosy Gem, Rose Queen, Oriana Improved, 
Amy, Butterfly, a charming variety, with light bronzed zone, margined with 
light gold ; Eastern Beauty, Gold Pheasant, Italia Unita, Lavinia, Mrs Pollock, 
The Queen’s Favourite, The Fairy, Glowworm, Cheerfulness, and Gold Leaf, 
together with a few of the older varieties so well known as effective bedders. 
The sight is indeed a glorious one, and well worth going a little out of the 
way to see. 
Gardeners, let us be up and doing ! Here is a lesson worth learning. If 
this house looks so charming when fair Flora is dethroned, cannot our dreary 
halls and corridors be rendered more sightly and pleasing in the eyes of lovers 
of nature by like means ? This is surely worth our while troubling about, 
because it gives us the chances of turning our this-year’s-struck plants to 
good advantage. 
While at the Royal Exotic Nursery, I had an opportunity of seeing the 
two new hybrid Cattleyas raised by Mr. Dominy (who, by-the-by, has just 
taken charge of the Chelsea collection). C. Devoniensis is very pretty, with 
narrow white petals, and deep purple lip; and C. Dominiana alba is a white- 
flowered hybrid of the charming Dominiana; both were awarded first-class 
certificates at the meeting of the Floral Committee on the 11th of October last. 
K. E. W. 
CULTURE OF THE PINE APPLE.—No. III. 
We are now come to the operations of the potting-bencli. The back row 
or two of large plants being removed to the fruiting-pit, the other successions 
are all taken out, and if some of the plunging materials at the front has 
become pretty much decayed, a portion should be taken out, and the desired 
quantity of leaves added, and well turned and intermixed by one set of work¬ 
men, while another is shifting or repotting those plants that require it. Take 
care to keep the front part of the pit highest—that is to say, let the lights 
slope to the south, and the fermenting bed, or plunging materials towards 
the north or back. The reason of which is, first, there is the greatest 
command of heat at the back of the pit; second, more depth is required for 
placing the largest plants preparing for the next remove to the fruiting-pit; 
third, it brings all the plants in rotation up to one uniform height to the glass, 
light, air, and sun. The fermenting materials in the front linings, of course, 
through their not being such a depth, is more subject to moisture and darkness; 
there is more depth inside suitable for plunging in thickly the suckers, where 
they are just in their element to quickly root and grow on in readiness for the 
succeeding shift or repotting. 
Repotting. —As the soil stack is pretty convenient to the succession-pits, 
all the potting from beginning to end is finished previous to the plants being 
removed to the fruiting-pit. In this locality fine weather is chosen for this 
kind of work. The potting-bench is placed near both the soil stack and the 
pit to save labour. Clean dry pots are chosen, and are well drained with large 
hollow sherds placed methodically over their bottoms, with some rough lumps 
of charcoal. A few fibrous lumps of soil are first placed over the drainage, 
