48 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ February, 
honne-hoiiche of all the race hitherto raised; its seedless, long narrow berries are 
crisp, juicy, and rofroshing, with a sweet agreeable flavour, and may be eaten, skins and all, 
•with the greatest gusto. It is likewise one of the very best black Grapes for using in jellies, 
its very long, small-shoiildered bunches yielding an immense supply when clipped off in small 
clusters for that purpose. 
- use of Sublimed Sulphur^ as a means of checking Vine Mildew, 
is sufficiently familiar. According, however, to the observations of M. Mares, 
flowers of sulphur, when cast on the soil of vineyards, is also effectual for the 
same purpose, becoming converted into sulphuric acid, which then combines with the lime in 
the soil to make sulphate of lime. Whether the chemical change takes place merely from the 
direct action of the oxygen of the atmosphere, or from the sulphuretted hydrogen emanating 
from the manure in contact with the sulphrir, does not appear certain, but it is found that its 
effects are very beneficial in the repression of the Vine mildew. It would clearly be a great 
gain, both to Vine-gi’owers and Hop-gi-owers, if the parasite could be thus arrested, and it 
would be well worth the attention of our more intelligent cultivators if they would make 
experiments with the view to determine this point. 
- She Pentstemon has lately undergone considerable improvement at the 
hands of the florist, and the Continental novelties have proved remarkably good. 
The following may be taken as some of the best :—Eichard Llanour, lilac-purple, 
beautifully pencilled throat; George Bruant, white, suffused with lilac ; Surpasse Victor 
Hugo, scarlet, with conspicuous white throat; Pauhne Dumont, pale rosy lilac throat, beauti¬ 
fully pencilled ; Indispensable, rose, rich crimson pencilled throat; Bons Villageois, dark red, 
throat white, faintly pencilled ; Grinchu, purplish lilac, white pencilled throat, large, and very 
distinct; Leon la Provoste, crimson ; Grande Conde, deep crimson, conspicuous white throat; 
Josephine Dumont, a lighter-shaded crimson, with a richly-marked throat; and Richard 
Gutterman, scarlet, very showy, and one of the best. Some varieties are remarkable for their 
dwarfness of growth, and compact free-flowering habit, and of this very pretty and useful class 
the following are amongst the best:—Emile Chate, crimson, pencilled throat; Moli^re, of a 
pale lilac tint, with deeper-marked throat; Apollon, scarlet, white throat, large and fine ; Due 
Job, rosy red, deep crimson throat; Maria Heed, pale lilac, pm-e white throat; and Henry 
Rerson, rosy scarlet, with white, faintly-lined throat. 
- ^HE conditions under wbicli Pisa grandijlora grows on tbe summit of 
Table Mountain have been described by tbe late Dr. Harvey in these terms :— 
This summit is very frequently enveloped in mist, especially at the season when 
the Disa blooms. It is very cold also, and the mist comes accompanied with a strong cold 
south-east wind. After this succeeds the scorching sun of lat. 33°. The plant only giuws 
along the steep, boggy, spongy margins of a stream, vmich has water in it at all seasons, but 
which in winter must be so swollen as to cover the plant. The margin is completely clothed 
with the Disa, but immediately beyond is a margin of Restias, which, bending over, afford con¬ 
siderable shade to the roots and foliage, leaving the flower-stalks room to peep out at the sun. 
- John Sladden, surgeon, of Ash, near Sandwich, died on January 
3rd, in his 58th year, after a painful illness. He was not only a keen florist, but 
a most estimable man ; and also occupied a prominent position as a raiser of new 
flowers, the Gladiolus being one of his special favourites. As an occasional contri¬ 
butor to our pages, we owe this brief record as a tribute of respect to his memory. 
- John Brown, for many years gardener to the late Lord Herbert of 
Lea, at Wilton House, died on December 23rd, at Newton, Bromley, Kent, in 
his 71st year. When, owing to impaired health, he retired, in 1860, an annuity 
of £100 was settled upon him for life. 
