Decejiber 10. 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 
203 
I 
i 
I 
ton’s plan. He has, it appears, a foundry of his own, 
and casts all his own pipes, guaranteeing any desirable 
amount of heat during the most severe weather, ilr. 
H. tells us, that he is higlily qualified to give practical 
instructions in tlie way of erecting stoves, having had 
much experience tliis way. We have no personal 
knowledge of IMr. Davis, hut Mr. H. points to him as one 
peculiarly eligible to tliose within his reach. Another 
hint; —Tliorason, Esq., Greenmount Hall, Harpurhuy, 
near ^Manchester, has some true .Jamaica Pine plants to 
dispose of; or those that are by some called IMont- 
serrats ; which are, at all events, the best kind for 
winter, and by no means the worst in summer; added 
to wliicli they are not, by any means, second as to culti¬ 
vation on the Hamiltonian system. E. Eriungxon. 
BULBS. 
{Continued from page 102.) 
Antiiolyza.— The species of Anizanthus are now re¬ 
ferred to Antholyza by common consent, but there is no 
feature by which they can be distinguished from Gladi¬ 
olus, except the fore-shortening of the front or lower 
petals, that part being, as the botanist says, abbreviated. 
Antholyza being almost united to Gladiolus, through 
this section having the lip abbreviated, it is immaterial 
whether we join Sweet’s Anizanths to Gladiolus —their 
true position—or to Antholyza, whose flowers are more 
Anizanthus-like than like Gladiolus flowers. I never 
heard if these two forms of Antholyza, or even the 
Anizanths, could be crossed with some of the nearest 
Gladioli, such as Watsonias tristis, and concolor. 
The whole order of Irids, to which these plants 
belong, stands much in want of a thorough revision. 
Meantime, gardeners and amateurs might greatly assist 
in this reformation by instituting e.xperiments, perhaps 
not so much for the purpose of increasing popular 
varieties, as to determine how far they will stand the 
test with the pollen. Try if Antholyza JEthiopica, 
ennonia, or splcndens, will cross with any wild Gladiolus, 
or with any cross Gladiolus, that may have the flowers 
less regular than usual. Is it possible to cross An- 
tholyza with Watsonia ? Should these experiments fail, 
try them differently; let the species of Antholyza be 
first crossed with each other; Watsonia the same ; and 
then see whether the crosses, or any of them, will unite 
the two genera, or fall hack to Gladiolus through some 
one of its numerous crosses. 
Antholyza JEthiopica, cunonia, and splendens, are the 
best three in this genus for the flower border, and they 
hardly ever refuse to grow in any kind of soil that is 
not too stiff. In pure, fresh peat they will luxuriate and 
produce abundance of fresh offset bulbs; the same in a 
deep, light, rich border of sandy loam and very rotten 
leaf mould; and they are more accommodating than the 
Ixias, for they may be planted any time from the end of 
Sej)tember to the end of April. At the Ca])e, they would 
seem to be stifled in the hard brown coats and remains 
of the old bulbs, but that is the best condition for them 
to drain and throw off the wet from them, and with 
such natural guards they may remain for many years in 
a border without being disturbed. 1 have seen splendid 
examples of them in pots, in very rich, light soil, but 
not so good as 1 have seen them in an oi>en boi'der, 
being planted si.x inches deep, and supplied largely with 
water from the time the flower-stalks appeared. 
Antholyza prrealta. —This is the next best after the 
three scarlet ones, and, like them, it grows from two to 
three feet high. The flowers arc orange with a tinge 
of red. 
Antholyza niontana. —This is comparatively a small 
plant for an Antholyza, and is much more like one of 
those curious species of Gladiolus one often secs from 
the Cape; and when we remember that it was through i 
1 Gladiolus tristis-, the oddest thing you ever saw, that Dr. 
; Herbert laid the foundation of the beautiful races of | 
them which we now so much admire, dare we assert 
what is “ looming in the future ” of this montana ? '• 
Antholyza quadranjularis is another anomaly in its ' 
; way—indeed, it would take a clever botanist to say , 
i what it is; and after that a few touches of the pollen I 
i might prove that it was no such thing. The flowers 
i are narrower and less shortened in front than those of 
cunonia or splendens, and the colour is that faintish 
yellow which few admire; but the plant is as strong 
and as easily managed as cunonia, or any of the more 
fashionable Gladioli. 
I Babi.vxa. —A common observer could not tell aBabiana 
I from a Sparaxis, nor some of the latter from Ixias, and 
, some species of Ixia run so close to Tritonia that, with¬ 
out knowing the “private mark,” no man could know 
I the one from the other. The colour, size, or texture of 
the seeds is no criterion of generic difl’erences among 
these Ixia-like plants. The insertion of the stamens, 
here or there, in the flower would carry the same w’eight 
I with a pollen master. Versatile anthers, smooth or 
jagged spathes, and other marks of distinction, have 
been useful enough hitherto as “ private marks ” for 
■ telling present arrangement ; but sooner or later the 
whole must be laid aside, and a reconstruction of Ixias 
bo made ; therefore, cross all the species as if they were 
\ in one genus already,—if they do not mix, that is no 
sign of a natural difference, and if they do, it will prove 
useful in two ways—an improvement in the garden 
varieties, and a check on the labours of the systematist. 
All the Babkinas arc quite dwarf plants, and more fitted 
' for pot-culture than out-of-doors. 'They prefer sandy 
I peat when confined in pots, but out in a border they 
1 will do without a particle of peat, if the soil is very 
I light. Four inches is deep enough for the bulbs, and if 
i a handful of clean sand is put round half-a-dozen of the 
‘ little bulbs in a patch, they may remain undisturbed for 
i several years. Whether in pots or in a border, they 
i ought to be planted early in October, and not to receive 
I more than the first watering at potting time until the 
! leaves are well up above the ground; and there is not a 
plant in the whole order (Irids) that likes to be without 
a free admission of air during every period of its growth. 
There is about a score of species in this genus, but 
tbeir culture being so uniform, I shall not waste space 
with separate accounts.of them. Under Sparaxis I 
shall show a good way of growing a collection of such 
bulbs in the open air. 
Barnardea scilloides. —'riiis is a small, half-hardy 
bulb from China, with purplish small flowers. I think 
it was introduced by the Horticultural Society ; at any 
! rate, I recollect it as among the earliest plants that 
I Dr. Lindley named on his own account. A figure of 
i it first appeared in the Botanical Eegister in December, 
just twenty-six years ago, when I was at Altyre, and 
the late Lady Gordon Gumming sent for it at once. It } 
did not seem to like pot-culture, and I have not seen or 
heard much about it these twenty years ; but if it is in 
' cultivation it is well worth having, as few bulbs of its ' 
small size flower at the same time—the height of i 
: summer. A light, sandy soil will suit it best; and if i 
' grown in a pot, the bulb ought to be freed from the j 
, soil as soon as it rests, and be kept in sand in a dry | 
place; it might bo so kept all the winter, and planted ; 
’ early in Eebruary. | 
I Beatonja A'ruATA, curvala, and purqnirea. —These are I 
small Mexican brdbs, that are very nearly hardy. Pur- \ 
purca, on which the genus was founded by Dr. Herbert, j 
was discovered in Mexico, by Galeoti, growing along 
with the -lacobtca Lily, Sprekelia formosissima. All 
throe refuse to grow in peat, and prefer a good, loamy j 
soil, made light with sand; they grow and bloom during j 
