100 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
a little sun heat, of from 70° to 75°, is maintained. During hard weather 
the temperature at night often falls as low as 55° or 50°. 
The Kidney Bean when comfortable at the root, will stand any reason¬ 
able amount of heat or cold. I find them to be most forward on the side 
of the bed next to the liot-water pipes, delighting in the heat, which is 
there found to he the greatest; and this alone gives a fair* succession of 
Beans, even from a plantation which has all been sown at the same time. 
The Kidney Bean is not very particular as to the kind of earth in which it 
is grown. I have had tolerable success with almost all sorts of soils, but 
that which I use generally is of a loamy texture—often old Melon soil, or 
the surface of an old Mushroom-bed, mixed with a little fresh sandy loam. 
Perhaps the best key to the successful culture of the French Bean is to 
have a thorough knowledge when to give water. At the time of planting 
there ought to be sufficient moisture in the earth to carry them on until 
almost showing flower; at this stage, if the earth really appears dry, they 
should get sufficient water to carry them over the flowering period; and 
when all are well set they may have another, which will in most cases be 
sufficient to last until the Beans are ready to gather. Abstain from giving 
water under any consideration while the Beans are in flower, and prefer 
rather that they should appear to suffer from drought, than administer water 
injudiciously at this stage. 
My own practice is to exercise a close watchfulness as to watering 
during the above stages, and I believe it is to this that I may attribute my 
success My principal crops, as I have stated above, are planted out in 
the bed in successional lots; and to fill up any casual gap which may occur 
auxiliary lots are brought forward in pots. I am not an advocate for the 
too free use of the syringe on the plants, and trust more to maintaining a 
moist atmosphere by keeping the evaporating-troughs filled, and by wetting 
other surfaces. 
During four months of the past winter, and with weather at times cer¬ 
tainly not the most propitious for either Bean or other forcing, I have 
gathered 10,000 Beans, averaging about six hundred weekly—nothing very 
prodigious either, but showing an amount of success considerably removed 
from failure. The sorts I grow are Fulmer’s Early Forcing, Wilmot’s, 
Negro, and Mohawk. The latter I observed dwarf and prolific in the open 
ground last summer, and I have since tried it successfully for forcing. 
Combe Abbey Gardens. Wm. Miller. 
THE MORTALITY AMONG THE ROSES. 
In all directions rosarians have been pouring forth lamentations over 
their lost favourites ; and though the experience has been dearly purchased, 
it has the merit of being eminently practical and useful. The various reports 
that have been published from all parts of the country seem to show that 
the greatest losses have been sustained amongst standard Roses, and next 
amongst dwarfs on the Manetti, whilst those on their own roots have suffered 
least. The standard Rose, from its height, always presents an awkward sub¬ 
ject to protect during the winter months ; and probably, as one consequence 
of the great tliinning-out they have recently had, Rose trees in that form will 
in future be less grown than hitherto. But Roses on the much-vaunted 
Manetti have not escaped, notwithstanding that they present no difficulty 
