276 
THE FLORIST. 
turfy loam, adding a portion of silver sand, more or less, according to 
the nature of the other materials. 
Those \vho have room for the Luculia in the conservatory border 
"will find it a most eligible plant for such a situation. But it succeeds 
best, shaded from the direct rays of the sun from the beginning of May 
to the end of August; and in order to bloom it in perfection, it also 
requires to have the house kept rather close. It will not thrive in a 
temperature under 40° or 45°; for where the temperature does not 
average this the flowers are liable to damp off. Planted out, it will 
thrive perfectly in any light soil, whether peat or loam. It will be 
found to require some attention, in order to keep it clear of insects, and 
also the same treatment, with regard to stopping and cutting back, as 
recommended for young plants; but as it cannot receive any assistance 
in the way of heat and moisture, never stop later than the middle of 
July. S. J. 
A HORTICULTURAL GALLOP. 
Yes ! such a one as only the Iron Horse can enable one to take— 
Slough in the morning, Worton Cottage in the forenoon, Chiswick in 
the afternoon, and Sawbridgeworth in the evening. What floricultural 
gourmet would not be satisfied with such a day’s feasting as that ? 
Imagine taking your dejeuner at the Maison d’Or—dining at the 
Trois Freres—and finishing off with a petit souper at Verey’s. What 
visions of ragout and fricandeau, of Johannisberg and Chateau Lafitte, 
would fill one’s uneasy dreams. Would it be any wonder that Picotees 
and Carnations, new Pelargoniums, bedding plants of various hues, and 
fragrant Roses, should have given their colouring to mine? and although 
it is a very poor satisfaction to the hungry looker on to see the tempting 
morceaux that fill the wiridow where some bon vivants are going to dine, 
yet I may perhaps give some gratification to the readers of the 
Florist if I tell them of a few things that struck me as worthy of 
notice in my pleasant though hurried journey. Need I say to any who 
have ever visited Slough that Mr. Turner’s nurseries were as usual 
the very model of all that is clean, bright, and comely; and that in so 
favourable a season as this, the garden itself was specially gay on 
every side—foliage and bloom shewed how much attention had been 
paid to the proper arrangement and careful grouping of the various 
plants, ribands and beds vied with each other in beauty. I was 
most struck, I think, in the way of novelties, with a bed of Royal 
Scarlet Geranium, a very dwarf horseshoe kind of the Baron Hugel 
character, but having a very fine scarlet flower, and blooming very 
profusely; then Flower of Spring, variegated, with a fine pink 
flower, was also very good ; it struck me, however, that Reine d’Or 
is not any improvement on the old Golden Chain, there being too much 
green in the leaf, a fault not compensated for by the superiority of 
the flower; the best of the new golden variegated ones seems to me to 
be Cloth of Gold, though I question whether its foliage will be 
