November 24. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
133 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
D 
w 
Th 
F 
S 
Son 
M 
To 
W 
NOVEMBER 24—30, 1853. 
Gray Wagtail comes. 
Oak leafless. 
Advent Sunday. 
Song Thrush again sings. 
Common Flat Body; gardens. 
St. Andbew. 
Weather near London in 
1852. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inche8. 
29 . 872 — 29.266 
47-27 
N. 
39 . 947 — 29.689 
54—41 
S. 
22 
29 . 483 — 39.426 
56—88 
s.w. 
70 
29-8S2—29.692 
49-39 
w. 
29.670—29.450 
51—28 
N.W. 
08 
29 .680—29.507 
39-34 
N. 
— 
29.954—29783 
42—25 
N. 
— 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
36 a. 7 
58 a. 3 
morn. 
23 
13 
5 
328 
37 
S7 
0 7 
24 
12 
47 
329 
39 
56 
1 25 
25 
12 
28 
330 
40 
55 
2 45 
26 
12 
8 
331 
42 
55 
4 9 
27 
11 
47 
332 
43 
54 
5 37 
28 
11 
26 
333 
45 
53 
sets. 
© 
11 
4 
334 
Meteorology of 
the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations durin*r the last twantw ... ..... , . , 
peratures of these days are 47.5° and 34.6° respectively. The greatest heat, 58°, occurred on the 30th in 18*35 - IndH? Io ~ est tem ' 
29 th in 1846 . During the period 94 days were fine, and on 88 rain fell. occurreQ ‘he 30th m 1835 ; and the lowestcold, 16 ’, on the 
NEW PLANTS. 
Bahia latifolia ( Broad-leaved Bahia). 
Captain Beechey’s Voyage in H. M. S, Blossom, and de¬ 
scribed in the Botany of that Expedition. It was again 
It is chiefly by the greater breadtli of its leaves, and its 
superior heighth, that this is distinguished from Bahia 
lanaia, and there seems small reason for separating them 
iroru the very descriptively - named genus, Eriophyllum 
(Woolly-leaved). Indeed, Bahia lanaia, in many botanical 
works, is to be found described under its synonymn, Erio¬ 
phyllum ciespitosum. They belong to the Natural Order of 
Composites, and to the Syngenesia superflua of Linnaeus. 
B. latifolia is an annual, and native of California. Stems 
branching and woolly; leaves covered with a cobweb-like 
down. Flower-heads solitary, on woolly stalks; florets of 
the ray from twelve to fourteen, broad, deep yellow, and 
handsome.—( Horticultural Society's Journal, viii. 319.) 
Schizanthus violaceus {Violet-coloured). 
This does not seem to be botanically distinct from S. 
piunatus, but it has been specifically named by M. M. 
Vilmorin, and is a good hardy annual. It differs from 
S. pinnatus, and S. Hookeri, by having no yellow stain upon 
its flowers.— {Ibid, p. 320.) 
Azalea crispiflora {Crisp-flowered Azalea). 
By crisped is meant that the edges of the petals look as 
if they were uniformly small plaited. This is a very showy 
shrub, introduced from China by Mr. Fortune, and raised 
by Messrs. Standish and Noble, of the Bagsliot Nursery. 
It flowers in April, requiring the shelter of the greenhouse. 
The petals are of a deep rosy colour, or crimson.— {Botanical 
Magazine, t. 4726.) 
Semeiandra grandiflora {Large-flowered, Semeiandra). 
It cannot be better described than as a Fuchsia with dis¬ 
torted flowers. It belongs to the Natural Order of Onagrads, 
and to Diandria Monogynia of Linneeus. Sir W. Hooker 
thus writes of it (Botanical Magazine, t. 4727) A re¬ 
markable genus, allied to Fuchsia, with singularly-formed 
flowers of a bright scarlet colour; the coloured calyx con¬ 
stituting the principal portion of the flower. Native of 
Mexico, first detected about Tepic, by the Naturalists of 
found in the Sierra Madre, on the road from Mazatlan to 
Durango, by Mr. B. Seemann, who transmitted to the Royal 
Gardens the seeds from which the plant represented in our 
plate have been raised. ‘ The Semeiandra grandiflora' says 
Mr. Seemann, ‘ grows in the temperate regions of North¬ 
western Mexico, at an elevation from 4,000 to 5,000 feet 
above the ocean, among Galphimias, Tupas, Cupheas, 
and Lobelias. It is a slender shrub, about six feet high, 
and its bright scarlet blossoms render it a desirable ac¬ 
quisition to every garden. When I met with it, towards the 
end of 1850, it was both in flower and fruit, making it pro¬ 
bable that it flowers more or less throughout the year.’_ 
With us (in Kew) it began to show its blossoms in March, 
1853.” 
It is not a little singular, that the question of the com¬ 
parative value of Quince stocks, and those called free 
stocks, or, in other words, stocks of the wild Pear, 
should have been constantly before the jikiblic for a 
century or more, and not yet by any means be settled. 
Even in the days of London and Wise, as we find in 
their edition of Be la Quintinye, dated 1710, the use of 
both Quince and Wilding are respectively recommended, 
according to circumstances, the recommendations pro¬ 
fessing to be backed by long experience. Thus, at page 
50, it is said of “ La bon Chretien de Hyver"— “ It should 
be grafted on a Quince stock, because, on a free stock 
the fruit grows spotted, small, and crumpled.” Again, 
| of “ La Bergamot”— ‘‘If the ground be good and light, 
they do best on a free stock; but if cold and heavy, 
on a Quince." Here we see a recognition, in those days, 
of the adaptability of the Quince to moist and adhesive 
soils. Again, at page 57, of “ La St. Germain” —‘‘It 
does best on a soil moderately moist, and on a free 
stock.” 
Here, then, we have a sort of antagonism in principle. 
That many persons have tried the Quince stocks and 
failed is notorious; and that some have succeeded is 
equally true; but, then, in the former case, let us ask, 
has the stock itself been done justice to? 
We long since attempted to show, in the columns of 
The Cottage Gardener, that the man who tried to 
cultivate Pears on the Quince, on soils adverse to the 
No. CCLXIX., Vol. XL 
