THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ March, 
time, and tlien for nearly two months had to contend with bitter east winds, and 
almost nightly frosts ; and though I cannot say I lost a single bulb outright in 
the early season, the evidence of the struggle for life was plain to the most care¬ 
less observer, in the stunted growth, and pale, sickly foliage of the entire stock. 
About the middle of June things began to mend, and thenceforward a rapid 
growth took place, but the main bloom was later than usual, and there was a 
marked deficiency in the rich vigorous appearance of foliage and brilliancy of 
spike, which a good grower is fairly entitled to expect as the reward of his 
labours. I planted all my stock about 8 in. deep, and top-dressed them in June 
and July. I watered gently every day (as soon as the real summer weather set 
in), from the end of June to the middle of August. 
My note-book tells me also that a large proportion of my stock did not bloom 
at all, being marked late—that is to say, that the check in the early summer 
was too much for them, and that all they were able to accomplish was a growth 
of about 2 ft., but no bloom. In those late cases the bulb has almost invariably 
come up sound, which is a consolation to a certain extent. 
The novelties of the past season have in several instances proved decided 
acquisitions, and the following, from our greatest producer, M. Souchet, seem 
likely to hold a leading position for some years to come. I give them as I meet 
them in my note-book, not necessarily in the order of merit:— 
Thomas Met^ven ***. —Purple shade of crimson, shaded with rose ; good spike, and good 
substance ; better than Homere^ also a new flower, and rather similar. 
Monsieur Legouve ****. —Brilliant ponceau, white throat, faint lilac blotch ; large solid 
flower; very like an old favourite of mine, Mar^chal Vaillant, but finer in all respects, and, 
what is of great importance, fully a month earlier. 
Madame Desportes. —^White, lightly feathered with rosy lilac, blotch of same shade; large 
flower, and splendid spike. 
Argus ****.—Kich ponceau, feathered with a darker shade of the same, pale straw throat; 
fine spike. 
Schiller .—Splendid pale straw, rich bright velvety crimson throat; very fine spike, quite 
distinct, and a great gem. This note was taken on August 25, and as a matter for amusing 
comparison, I next give a description taken on September 27 of another spike of the same 
variety in a neighbouring bed :—Blush, pale straw throat, with rich blotch of bright velvety 
crimson, heavy rose feathers, grand spike. The lapse of a month made aU the difference ; but 
the two spikes were so unlike that, could it have been possible to bring them together, they 
might have been shown side by side as two separate varieties. 
Racine ****. —Bright rosy crimson, shaded with white ; splendid spike. 
Buffon ***. —Bright crimson and rose shaded, striped with white and crimson flakes. 
Madame Dombrain .—Splendid soft rose, bright rosy crimson throat and feathers, good 
spike and good shape ; one of the very best. 
Virgile ****. —Bich glowing ponceau, crimson blotch, good spike. 
Marie Stuart ****. —^Whitish blush, rosy crimson throat and feathers, grand spike. A 
second spike from the same bulb, soft white, faintly tinged with lovely pale pink on throat and 
feathers ; both different, but grand in either state. 
Of seedlings, a few fine things have been shown in Dublin ; one splendid 
flower, shown by Captain Nicholson, of Glenmore, near Drogheda, one of our 
most successful exhibitors for the past two years, was named Glenmore, after his 
own place. It was a most brilliant flower, good at all points, and reminding one 
