186 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ August, 
addition to our stores. The term “ double ” as applied to flowers has in garden 
parlance a very wide meaning, and includes all sorts of conditions of very different nature. 
In the case of this Poinsettia, the doubleness consists in a repeated branching or subdivision 
of the top of the flower-stalk, and a corresponding multiplication of the coloured leaves or 
bracts on which the beauty of the plant depends. 
- ^T a recent meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Eoyal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, Dr. Gilbert entered intp some explanations as to the growth of 
Fairy Rings^ as observed by Mr. Lawes and himself at Eothamsted. Mr. Lawes 
had chained analyses of samples of the soil from the ring itself, from the space within the ring, 
and from the earth outside it, with the general result that the quantity of nitrogen in the soil 
outside the ring was greater than in the soil beneath the ring itself, while in the centre -within 
the ring the amount of nitrogen was least. Under the green ring a quantity of mycelium 
was found. 
- Eoyal Horticultural Society’s Fruit Committee, at a meeting held 
, at Chiswick on the 10th ult., awarded to Messrs. Vilmorin et Cie., Paris, a First- 
class Certificate for Seville Long-pod Bean^ a variety which produces pods 8 in. 
to 10 in. long, of great size, and coming in four or five days before the earliest of the Broad 
Beans. Messrs. Carter and Co., High Holhom, also received a First-class Certificate for 
Carter's Mammoth Long-pod, which proved a superior selection of the best old long-pod kinds. 
- SLadies will find the Patent Siphonic Watering-Pot^ invented by 
Messrs. A. Smith and Co., of Bath, a very clean and useful implement for water¬ 
ing the plants in their greenhouses. The special advantage claimed over the 
older kinds is that the principle of the siphon is applied in such a manner that it can be used 
underhand, or elevated overhead by means of a handle. Gardeners, having their customary 
daily work to get through, can scarcely be expected,to appreciate these refinements, hut 
ladies who take a personal interest in plant-culture, and delight in watering their plants for 
themselves, will find the contrivance a very handy one for the purpose, irrespective of the 
advantage it offers of avoiding the necessity for mounting steps. The special advantages 
claimed for it are :—A steady and uniform flow of water, which may be regulated at pleasure; 
its adaptability for watering plants on the upper shelves of a greenhouse, as the pot. can be 
used without being tilted or inclined, at a higher elevation than can conveniently be reached 
by anyone using an ordinary watering-pot; and its adaptability to be used underhand, by 
simply pressing a spring above the handle. 
- ;f^ESSES. Standish and Co., of Ascot, wbo have raised a very promising 
batch of New Peas^ have just adopted the name of The Criterion^ for that which 
has been set apart as the best of the series. It is in every way an excellent 
Pea. Being one of the wrinkled marrows, it has a fine, sweet flavour. In ordinary seasons it 
grows about 3 ft. in height. It is in use a fortnight earlier than Ne Plus Ultra, and is a good 
bearer, with fine well-filled pods, resembling those of Laxton’s Supreme, and having thick 
fleshy husks. When cooked it is of a fine grass-green colour; and being of a delicate 
texture, it will, it is said, keep longer in use than any other Pea, partaking in this and in 
other respects of the character of Ne Plus Ultra, which was one of its parents. We look upon 
the Criterion as one of the most valuable of the New Peas. 
- ^The Libocedrus decurrens^ as is well known, has erroneously borne in 
our gardens the name of Thuja gigantea, the true T. gigantea being called T. 
Lobbii, an error which appears to have originated with French writers on Coni- 
feree. The complicated synonymy of the two plants is as follows :—Lihocednis decurrens 
(Torrey), otherwise Thuja Craigana (Murray), T. gigantea (Carriere, Gordon, and others), 
not of Nuttall. Thuja gigantea, Nuttall, otherwise T. Menziesii (Douglas, Gordon, and others), 
T. Lobbii (gardens), Thujopsis Standishii (Gordon), and T. japonica (Maximowicz), not of 
our gardens, which is a form of Biota orientalis. Professor Koch now tells us that Libocedrus 
decurrens cannot bo retained iii the genus, because it differs from the other species of 
Libocedrus in having an erect strobile consisting of six scales, whereof the two inner are 
grown together, fonning a central column, the two intermediate larger, with one or two 
