January 8. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
227 
to the point of safety, and increasing the exterior by any 
such modes of covering as we give to pits and frames. 
Heat will be radiated from the outside surface of the 
covering into the atmosphere, but there is the space 
between the glass and the covering, and the greater the 
space the better, provided the covering be air-tight; the 
heat radiated from the glass to the covering will, to a 
certain extent, be radiated back again, just as the clouds 
radiate back the heat to the earth in a cloudy night. 
And thus the glass, if covering sufficient be used, will 
never be so cold, as injuriously by its radiation, to lower 
the temperature inside; and if so applied to a house, as 
well as a pit, there will be no danger of ruining the 
plants by a dry atmosphere sucking their life-blood 
from them. 
Another difficulty some of our friends feel, is the ever- 
and-anon attention to light and air, recommended to be 
given to their plants, whether in pits or houses. And 
then, again, the talking complaisantly of keeping these 
and similar plants shut up in darkness, and no air 
reaching them for days and weeks, in severe cold 
weather. The difficulty vanishes-when you recollect 
that every growing plant almost that we cultivate, re¬ 
quires light and air when so growing. It is only when 
the growing principle is reduced to its minimum, that 
the shutting-up principle can be safely resorted to in 
the day as well as the night. Every stimulus to vital 
activity must be withdrawn. Heat, in unison with 
moisture, is the most powerful of these. Place plants 
in such circumstances, and the effects would be ruinous. 
I once saw a bed of Cinerarias plunged in a slight hot¬ 
bed, in a frame, in the end of February. A severe frost 
came, dung linings were placed round them, so cold was 
it, that they could not be uncovered for a week, and 
then they were such a sight ! In a cool temperature, 
ranging from 33° to 38°, however cold and stormy the 
external atmosphere, they would have received no harm, 
though deprived of sun and air for several weeks. Ex¬ 
ternal vegetation looks none the less healthy after being 
covered a month with snow. R. Fish. 
ALLOPLECTUS CAPITATUS CULTURE. 
A truly noble stove plant, belonging to that numerous 
order the Gesnerworts, but departing enough from its 
type, Oesnera, to cause it to be separated from it, and 
form a genus under the above name, given to it by 
Sir W. Hooker. It is a plant growing two or three ! 
i feet high, producing its head of flowers upon a stout 
crimson-coloured stem; the corolla is short, tubular, 1 
pale yellow, and thickly covered with hair-like append¬ 
ages pointing upwards; the calyx is five or six parted, 
short, thick, toothed, bent-back, and of a brilliant crim¬ 
son colour; the leaves are very large, opposite, of a 
dark green colour, with the centre rib of the same 
colour as the stem,—forming altogether, when in bloom, 
as fine an object as the stove produces. It was intro¬ 
duced to European gardens by Mr. Linden, of the 
Brussels Nursery, from the Andes of Columbia. 
Soil. —Like most of its relatives, this plant requires a 
light rich soil We have found the following suit it 
admirably:—Very turfy loam in lumps, not sifted; 
fibrous jieat, the turf cut into small pieces, and used in 
that state; and half-decayed leaves; all these, mixed 
together in equal parts, with a quantity—probably one- 
tenth of the whole—of fine white sand. 
Potting. —The best season for this is in early spring. 
Pot freely—that is, use pots twice the size of the pots 
the plants are growing in; drain well in the usual way, 
and cover the drainage with a thin layer of rough char¬ 
coal ; then place a layer of the roughest parts of the 
compost upon the drainage, and place the plant upon 
that, with the ball just level with the rim of the 
pot, fill in the soil all round it, pressing it down but 
lightly, and finish with a thin layer of the finer parts of 
the compost. When all is finished, give a gentle water¬ 
ing, and place the plants in a house where a good moist j 
heat can be kept up, such as that of a stove, propagating 
pit, or house. Use the syringe frequently over the whole \ 
plant, and encourage it to grow freely. It will, under 
such treatment, soon fill the pot with roots, and should 
then have a second shift. This will commonly be re¬ 
quired about the beginning of June. Continue the 
same treatment, as to syringing, heat, and moisture, till , 
July, and then remove it into the cooler stove, placing J 
it near the glass, but shading it daily from the sun. In 
this house it will soon show flowers, and the increased 
light and air will give it those high, bright colours which 
render it so attractive. As soon as the bloom is over, 
cut the plant down to about half its height, leaving all 
the leaves on below the cut. Give very little water till 
fresh shoots are made, then give a moderate quantity all 
through the autumn, and in winter only just enough to 
keep it fresh and healthy. It is a fibrous-rooted plant, 
like the Gesnera oblongata, and therefore must never be 
allowed to get quite dry like tke tuberous-rooted Gesner¬ 
worts. 
When the potting season returns, shake the most of i 
the earth oft' the ball, repot it, and subject the plants to j 
the same treatment as the young ones described above. 
With proper care, the plants will then produce several 
of their magnificent heads on each. 
Propagation: by Cuttings. —These are not produced ! 
very plentifully. When the plants are cut down, the 
top leaves may be used as cuttings. With a sharp kuife 
cut the stem across just under the pair of leaves, then 
pass it through the stem between the two leaves, leaving 
the bud entire at the base. Insert these leaves without 
mutilation under a tall bell-glass, supporting the leaves 
with clean, newly-made deal sticks, so as not to touch 
the glass; let the pots be filled in the usual way with 
light rich compost, and a layer of pure white sand on 
the surface. Blunge the pots in a bed of warm tanner’s 
bark, and keep the sand just moist, but by no means 
wet. Dry the glasses occasionally, and, as soon as 
growth is perceived, leave them off for an hour every 
morning. Roots will be perceived on the surface of the 
sand, and then the cuttings may be potted off, placing 
them under a hand-light till they have grown sufficiently 
to bear the full exposure and treatment, the same as for 
the older plants. The best cuttings, however, are those 
made from the young shoots which grow from the old 
plants that have been cut down. Exactly the same 
method to strike these must be adopted as that for leaf 
cuttings. T. Appleby. 
MR. GLENNY ON FLORICULTURE IN 1851. 
Another year of floriculture, as well as of the world, has 
passed away, and we may ask with real earnestness in what 
floriculture has advanced? What additions have been made 
to the number of its admirers ? What improvements have 
been made in flowers ? What increase has been discern- 
able in the confidence of florists ? To the first question, | 
there may be some inclined to say the advance is consider- j 
able, because, in some localities, we grant, that florists’ | 
flowers have been better cultivated; but, in our travels, and 
they are by no means circumscribed, we see a greater number 
of places where they are abandoned, and especially by those 
who can afford to purchase but few new varieties, and who 
have found those few are, in nine cases out of ten, useless. 
In other places the lessened number of exhibitors have in¬ 
duced the withdrawal of the prizes, which increases the 
discouragement to the rest. Still, if the committees would 
give more prizes, and of less amount, for the leading 
favourites, there are plenty of growers who might be in¬ 
duced to cultivate them. Every year has done something 
towards lessening the number of Auricula growers, but to 
