THE E.ONDELETIA SPECIOSA MAJOR AS A “ SPECIMEN” PLANT 
269 
for the charming Lilies which adorn our own lakes and rivers, as the Royal Water Lily does the still waters of 
the tropical parts of the new world. We find here detailed all that has been made known respecting the Victoria; 
and there is also a very passable, though much reduced coloured lithograph, representing its aspect in its native 
scenes. The account of the English Water Lilies is illustrated by a coloured portrait, in a similar style, of our 
own white Nymphsea. We recommend Mr. Lawson’s hints for the more extended cultivation of ornamental 
aquatics, to the especial attention of our readers. Water and water plants, indeed, afford ample material for an 
improved arrangement of our plant structures, which, as Mr. Lawson remarks, have hitherto retained the stiffness 
and formality of former times, now almost banished from our out-door flower gardens. The discussion as to the 
proper name of the Victoria, referred to at p. 168, seems now to result in the confirmation of the name—Victoria 
regia.—M. 
Gunny’s Hand-book to the Fruit and Vegetable Garden , 8$e. By George Glenny, F.H.S., &c. London: 
C. Cox. 
This volume treats, in a plain and homely way, of the cultivation of those crops which are usually met with in 
the kitchen and fruit gardens, and takes in some others of which the names are more familiar than the culinary 
articles they represent. Good select lists of vegetables and fruits are given. The cultural directions are framed 
for the use of those who are then’ own gardeners, and are generally plain, and to he depended on. We must, 
however, find fault with the arrangement of the matter, which is miscellaneous and unmeaning.—M. 
The Beauties of Middlesex: being a particular Description of the principal Seats of the Mobility and Gentry in the 
County of Middlesex. By William Keane. Chelsea: printed for the Author, 
This little hook takes up the subject indicated in its title from a gardening point of view. It is an interesting 
work of reference, and a register of the present character of the principal gardens in the metropolitan county, and 
is modelled after the plan of the Beauties of Surrey , published a year or two since by the same author. The 
volume is interspersed with many highly useful and instructive remarks of a critical bearing. We quite agree 
with a remark of our contemporary, the Cottage Gardener , that the two hundred or more residences here described, 
taken as an average of the counties of England, give a cheering view of the more than ten thousand “ stately 
homes of England ”—each a centre of improvement and refinement, and tending to elevate the scale of gardening, 
and increase the home attractions, even in the poorest of adjoining neighbourhoods. The book under notice is not 
so free from typographical errors as we could wish.—M. 
THE ROHDELETIA SPECIOSA MAJOR AS A “SPEC TWE X” PLAHT. 
By Mr. WM. RUMBY, Chatsworth. 
1/jRHAT this plant possesses capabilities of no ordinary character, as adapted for decorative purposes, 
A will be questioned by few. Even in its natural state, in which no recognition of the hand of art 
is perceptible in regard to training, it possesses considerable attractions. In a collection of stove 
plants, its brilliant trusses of orange scarlet blossoms, are generally the first objects that engage 
attention. In addition to the attractive features of this Rondeletia when in bloom, it possesses 
intrinsic merits, which contribute very much to increase the value of it as a “specimen” plant; the 
great substance of the petals give it a decided superiority over those that are of a more “flimsy” 
character, rendering it capable of resisting for a longer period the tarnishing effects of the solar rays, 
and also of the humidity prevalent in plant stoves from physical causes. The facility with which it 
may be induced to flower at any season of the year, through a suspension of the system of “ stopping," 
which is one of the most essential points in its culture, is a consideration of no trivial importance. 
Some persons might imagine that, from its straggling habit of growth, it would be difficult to form 
this plant into a compact bushy specimen, but this may easily be effected by the aid of art. Indeed it 
is on such objects as the subject of these remarks, that a practical demonstration of what art can 
accomplish in modifying natural tendencies, when found incompatible with the highest degree of floral 
development, is most strikingly displayed. 
In order to obtain the highest possible cultural results in plants, natives of warm climes, which are 
cultivated for floral display, there are certain principles which it is indispensable should be recognized, 
that upon them may be based such a system of cultivation as is consonant with sound deductions 
therefrom. It is an axiom in horticulture, that the causes combining in producing the highest degree 
of accumulative vigour in plants are of a contrary character to those which induce the highest state of 
fertility; hence the paramount importance of a modification of the former causes, to the production of 
the latter. It is a well ascertained fact, corroborated by evidence furnished from daily experience, 
that plants possessing a tendency to bloom hi a comparatively young state, before they have attained a 
large amount of growth, are impeded in their progressive vigour in proportion to the amount of bloom 
developed, from the appropriation by the flowers of the organizable matter which would otherwise have 
been made available in the formation of young shoots. Hence the expediency of securing, in the 
