256 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
the Society, the blossoms of several of them being of very fine quality; 
and some plants of the pretty Swan River Trichinium Manglesii, came from 
Mr. Bull. 
In the notice of the Crystal Palace Show (p. 231), it is inadvertently 
stated that second-class certificates were given to Messrs. Kelway & Son for 
four seedling Gladioli. This should have been first-class certificates. The 
name of the first-mentioned was Mr. Robinson. -o 
OUR MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 
Horticultural Drawings. — A new 
aspirant to honours in this department of 
horticulture, in the person of Miss Emma 
Fothergill, Somerset House, Old Shirley, 
Southampton, exhibited some paintings of 
fruits and flowers at the meeting of the Floral 
Committee on the 15th of October. Prominent 
among them were two groups of leaves of 
Variegated Pelargoniums : the one of Messrs. 
F. & A. Smith’s new Gold and Silver Varie¬ 
gated Zonal kinds ; the other of Mr. Wills’s 
new Gold and Bronze Zonal varieties. The 
execution of these was especially truthful, 
and this self-taught young artist bids fair 
to take a good position in the future as a 
delineator of flowers, fruits, and plants. 
Allium carinatum.— This was formerly 
considered as a British species, but the plant 
figured for it in “ English Botany”, and what 
has since been gathered for it, have proved to 
be mere broad-leaved varieties of Allium 
oleraceum. The Northamptonshire Field 
Club has, however, brought to light, from the 
neighbourhood of Newark, an undoubted 
specimen of the true A. carinatum, charac¬ 
terised not only by its lilac flowers, with the 
concave connivent divisions of the perianth, but 
by the exserted stamens. It grows on sandy 
wet soil, mixed with a little lime, amongst 
rushes and coarse grass; and was found by 
the Eev. W. T. Hampton, Hector of Stubton, 
between Brandon and Doddington. It quite 
accords with the Hungarian Allium flexum. 
Boyal Ascot Grape. —The productiveness 
of this Grape is extraordinary. After every 
successive stopping fresh bunches are de¬ 
veloped on the young shoots put forth. The 
regular crop has for some time been cut, but 
numerous bunches of a second crop, left to 
test the fruitfulness of the variety, are now 
ripening, while there are others with the 
berries as large as Peas, and others, again, 
from recent stoppings, younger still. So 
prolific is it, that the young plants just struck 
from scarcely ripened buds are in almost 
every case showing clusters which promise to 
grow on and perfect themselves during the 
winter or early spring. It seems impossible 
to repress the bearing propensities of this 
Grape; and this quality, it'maintained, coupled 
with its size and fine quality, mark it out as 
a grand acquisition for Grape-growers. 
Datura areorea. —A bed of tree Daturas 
well repays the trouble of cultivation. They 
require to be planted out in May, and dur¬ 
ing summer should have their leaves syringed 
constantly, and plenty of water and liquid 
manure given them two or three times a-week. 
On large plants hundreds of flowers open 
at once. The single ones yield two displays 
of flowers yearly, but the double with fewer 
flowers at a time, are in constant bloom dur¬ 
ing the summer. The plants when taken 
up and housed for the winter, are got up 
with as much earth as possible, placed on a 
narrow border behind the stage of the green¬ 
house, and their roots covered with leaf 
mould, both leaves and roots being kept well 
moistened. They lose part of their leaves and 
die back a little, but easily recover in spring. 
Dipladenia amcena. —Mr. Dean, of Shipley, 
has sent us blooms of this charming novelty, 
raised between D. splendens and D. amabilis, 
and which we hope to figure in due course. 
The flowers are large, of a delicate rose pink, 
deeper in the throat and towards the edges, 
and paler towards the centre of the lobes. 
The leaves are oblong acuminate, downy on 
both surfaces, and of a deep green. The 
flowers are of the splendens type, but have 
more colour; and the plant is said to be a 
much freer bloomer than even D. amabilis, 
itself the freest amongst the Dipladenias al¬ 
ready known. 
Test for Alkalies.—A new and highly 
sensitive re-agent for alkalies and alkaline 
earths has recently been discovered by Pro¬ 
fessor Bottger in the leaves of Coleus Yer- 
schaffeltii. The re-agent is prepared by 
digesting the fully developed leaves of this 
plant in alcohol, and impregnating slips of 
Swedish filter paper with the solution obtained. 
This test paper is of a beautiful red colour, 
which becomes green under the influence of 
an alkali or alkaline earth. It is not affected 
by free carbonic acid, so that it may be used 
for detecting carbonate of lime in water. 
Potato Disease. —Mr. Jennings, nursery¬ 
man, Shipston-on-Stour, has published a little 
brochure, the object of which is to tell how¬ 
to grow the Potato free from disease. As this 
insidious enemy has been busy in certain 
localities during the present season, it is clear 
that we may not relax in our endeavours to 
do battle w-ith it; and hence we desire to in¬ 
vite attention to Mr. Jennings’ very practical 
