March 18 . 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
astonishing how soon a free circulation, established by 
means of a very moderate yet certain entrance, coupled 
with as liberal an escape at a high level as circumstances 
permit, will disperse stagnated damps; granted, that all 
fresh applications of the means of producing atmo¬ 
spheric moisture are withheld. The frequent applica¬ 
tion of atmospheric moisture in hothouses is, of all others, 
j the chief cause of the immense superiority in modern 
plant and fruit culture. Indeed, our great orchid growers 
are so used to the watery element, that they may bo con- 
i sidered nearly amphibious. And not only the frequency 
of application, but the special provision for a perma¬ 
nency, which almost every hothouse of any pretensions 
; in these days contains, is eminently calculated to ensure 
success in cultural matters.. 
To lay down rules for its application is somewhat 
difficult, inasmuch as the inmates of our houses differ 
so much. As a maxim, however, all floors may be 
moistened three times every day, from the middle of 
Eebruary until the end of October, excepting houses 
containing ripe fruit, such as grapes, &c. All connected 
with forcing houses in which much artificial warmth is 
used should well consider the uses of water as a heat 
carrier. Much of what is termed scorching in vineries, 
might, doubtless, be prevented by a liberal application 
of water over floors, walls, the tan, &c., about eleven 
o’clock in the forenoon of very hot days. Very high 
temperatures are liable to be engendered suddenly by 
the intensity of the sun’s rays, especially in days when 
there is little wind, and some heat remains in flues or 
pipes. Some six or eight degrees may thus be dispersed 
in a very short period by that means, besides its purify¬ 
ing effects on the vitiated atmosphere. Most of our 
forced matters, too, enjoy applications from the syringe 
morning and evening, always excepting grapes in fruit; 
these we have long proved may be grown in the highest 
perfection without syringing, from the moment they 
show blossoms. 
As for light, this is scarcely to be placed in the cate¬ 
gory of controllable agents; without this, however, in a 
proper ratio, all the other applications will, in some 
degree, be negative. Let every one, at least, keep all 
his glass roofs, sashes, &c., perfectly clean. 
R. Errington. 
HYBRIDISING. 
If I had my own way, I should always prefer saying 
what I had to advance about any tribe or family of 
plants, in a consecutive order, and, after that, give a 
digest of the whole in the last article on that subject, as 
1 promised to do about the Roses last autumn, a promise, 
by the way, which still lies in the bud; but when such 
j hasty orders come in as that about packing trees for 
I Australia, this arrangement goes to the wall, and there 
| is no help for it. The subject of improving plants by 
; judicious crossing, however, is gaining ground more 
! aud more every year, and I must take advantage of every 
opportunity which offers for edging in a few notes on 
that subject as often as I can, because correspondents 
have thrown the mantle of the cross-breeder over my 
shoulders, and they will draw me out, whether I like it 
or not. To shew that I am right about the increased 
interest on this subject, it is only necessary to say, that 
a good part of the lecture given before the Horticultural 
Society the other-day was in illustration of it. 
Every subject brought before the Horticultural 
Society, at these meetings in Regent-street, is lectured 
upon according to the degree of interest the subject 
is known to require or command; and in a large 
room filled with people from all parts of the kingdom, 
anxious to catch up every sentence about a favourite 
subject, it is not difficult to find out which way the wind 
j blows. One of the prettiest cross-bred plants I have 
381. 
seen for years, was the cause of bringing this subject 
on the carpet at that meeting—it was a new Cyclamen, 
with white flowers, having pinkish centres or eyes, and 
raised from the Cyclamen count,, and the Persian Cycla¬ 
men, by Mr. Atkins, of Painswick, near Gloucester, and, 
after saying all tliat could be said about it, the lecturer 
strongly advised the company to examine the plant for 
themselves after the meeting was over, which they did 
with readiness, and Mr. Atkins was on the spot, who 
very politely answered every question about his seed¬ 
lings ; and if he sees this page, we, of The Cottage 
Gardener, would be very thankful if he would kindly 
send us a short paper about his experiments, for, as he 
himself acknowledged at the time, very few writers have 
hit on the right way of going to work with these Cycla¬ 
mens. From 1832 to 183b I crossed some of them every 
season, but my experiments at that time were not 
directed for the improvement of races, and to this day I 
really know very little about them. 
There was one more plant exhibited on this occasion, 
of much interest to the flower-gardener, and I am glad 
that I can confidently recommend it to every one who is 
fond of choice new hardy plants—it was an evergreen 
Berberis, from Nepaul, called BerberisNepalensis. It has 
the same habit, and much of the appearance, of the now 
common Berberis aquifolium, with one flower-head from 
tire top of the plant, composed of six spikes of yellow 
flowers in a cluster. It was stated in reference to it, 
that the fruit or berries were oval, and deep purple, with 
a beautiful bloom like some plum or black grape, and 
that there is another Berberis from India, much like it, 
from the Neilgherry range, called acanthus-leaved, but 
the fruit is quite round, and that, if seeds of the two 
were sent home in one packet, they could he easily sepa¬ 
rated by these marks—the oval berry and the round one. 
When Mr. Errington begins his promised notes about 
the crossing of fruit-trees and bushes, 1 hope lie will not 
overlook these evergreen berberies. I expect great 
things from them in the dessert some day. 
Another new plant, called Rhododendron ciliatuin, 
caused some interest, as being the first of the Sikkim 
rhododendrons which flowered in Europe. ’The plant was 
only a few inches high, the flowers a light blush, but they 
were forced, and will no doubt be of a deeper tint in their 
natural way; they were very large for so small a plant. 
Its merits as a dwarf novelty for the liybridiser were 
also lectured upon very earnestly. This is just as it 
ought to be—a public lecturer, or a public writer, on 
flowers and gardening, should never miss an opportu¬ 
nity of keeping the subject before the public, and sug¬ 
gesting improvements in all our doings as often as pos¬ 
sible. Along with these, and many others not within 
my beat, was a beautiful large specimen of Forsythia 
viridismna in full bloom. 
But let us return to the Wild Geraniums again. We 
left off a fortnight back with crassicaule, the best and 
purest white species for the cross-breeder, and, I regret 
to say, the scarcest one of them in Europe. T had a 
plant of it in my hands two years ago, and the only one 
then in England, and probably on this side of the 
equator. It was in a public establishment, but not in a 
nursery, so I must not name the place, for fear of 
the trouble it would cause by so many sending to ask 
for cuttings of it. But if I hear of it getting into the 
trade, or of being in the trade, I should name the firm 
at once, for I hold it to be no favouritism to name a 
nursery where a very rare plant, like this, is to be found 
It was on this principle that I named the nursery at 
Fool’s Cray, in Kent, the other day, where CEnothera 
speciosa is to be had on sale. 
Fulgidum. —This is the only real scarlet geranium yet 
introduced of its class, let us say the greenhouse class, to 
distinguish it from the “ Cape scarlet,” or bedding class. 
It is a very thrifty plant, and very easy to manage, also 
