December 12. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
201 
but they seem quite as easily managed as the older and 
larger kinds, and, from their dwarf size, will he very 
valuable for windows, as most of them that I have seen 
may be bloomed at from twelve to eighteen inches in 
height. Very nice little plants may oasily be procured 
from cuttings in spring; but when dense little bushes 
from a single cutting are wished for, that cutting must 
get bottom-heat early in April; be kept in a hotbed, the 
heat decreasing as tho days lengthen, until towards the 
end of May ; it will stand the open air, either plunged or 
planted out, having previously received several stoppings, 
to secure the necessary number of equal-sized shoots; 
these being trained out regularly, something in the 
shape of a half-circle. Our window-gardeners will find 
they can have very ornamental bushes without all this 
trouble, by merely shaking the earth from tho small 
plants they now have, nest April, repotting or replant¬ 
ing them again, shading until fresh growth is freely 
taking place, and then thinning out the shoots, or 
shortening some to produce more according to the cir¬ 
cumstances of the case, keeping in mind, that a similar 
sized pot will carry double the number of shoots of 
these, that would be desirable in the older, tall-growing 
kinds. 
7. These Lilliput Pompones do away with the objection 
that many had to Chrysanthemums, as they can be 
made very symmetrical as a bush, which it was next to 
impossible to accomplish with the other. I find, how¬ 
ever, that dwarf as they are, some would wish to have 
them dwarfer,—the flowers merely a few inches above the 
surface, and, therefore, I may add, I have frequently 
found two modes very useful for securing these little 
plants. The first, is to take off cuttings of the joints of 
shoots, just as the buds are forming at the end of 
August, and insert three of these in a small GO-sized 
pot, placing the cuttings at equal distances close to the 
sides, and plunge them, if in a mild hotbed all the 
better, though beneath a close hand-light will do, 
syringing and shading to prevent tho cuttings flagging. 
Ere long, roots will be formed, and when the pot is 
getting full, transfer the cuttings, without disturbing 
them, to a 48-sized pot, and though giving air, keep 
them closish for a few days; as the pots are getting 
filled with roots, apply manure - waterings, and the 
bloom will be of a fair size on very tiny plants. 
The other mode has often been referred to. About the 
same time, lay the points of shoots growing out-of-doors 
into small pots, plunged in the ground, and take them 
up when rooted. In layering, you can hardly make a 
tongue, as you would do with a Carnation, the stems 
are so brittle. I have done it successfully by two ways. 
First, by twisting the part to go in the earth, so as to 
facilitate the protrusion of roots. And, secondly, by 
splitting the stem, by inserting a sharp-pointed knife 
through the middle, and carrying it along for an inch 
or two longitudinally, and placing a chip of wood or 
so to keep the incision open. This presents a large 
space of liber and alburnum matter for the protrusion 
of roots, and there being no cut across the shoot, there 
is little or less likelihood of its snapping. These modes 
may often be adopted in layering other things brittle 
and apt to snap. Lists of tho very best sorts have been 
lately given. R. Fish. 
RHODOLEIA CHAMPIONII. 
Captain Champion's Rhoclolcia. 
If one of the old gardeners, that I knew in my young 
days, could rise from his grave with all his old notions 
of gardening and knowledge of plants, and was to 
walk through a large well-filled greenhouse or stove, 
he certainly would be not a little astonished, both at the 
mode of culture, and the great additions made to our 
collections of plants, lie would find very few of the 
plants that he knew in cultivation at all. I remember, 
very vividly, my first master in gardening telling me 
I knew nothing of plants ; and on my modestly saying 
that I did know a few of them, he asked me what was 
the name of that tall plant in the corner of the green¬ 
house, with large, laurel-like leaves (which, by-the-by, 
rarely flowered). It so happened, that that plant had 
taken my attention, and I had learned its name, and, 
therefore, was able to tell him that it was Justicia j 
Adhatocla, that it belonged to theLinnsean class Diandra, j 
first order Monogynia ; had purple flowers; grew ten feet 
high, and was a native of Ceylon. So pleased was he 
with my reply, that he ever afterwards, as long as he 
lived, was a good friend to me. Now, the knowledge of 
that plant, and its place in the Linmean system, I 
learned from the then best catalogue in existence,namely, 
“ Don’s Hortus Cantabridgiensis,” a book given to me 
by a young friend, long since departed this life. At 
this day, no young man, with a tolerable memory, and 
an observing mind, and a quick eye, need be ignorant 
long of any plant that may come under his notice; aud 
to increase the means of his acquiring a knowledge of the 
names of plants, and the best known mode of cultivating 
them, Mr. Beaton, Mr. Fish, and, I may venture to add, 
myself, write every week in The Cottage Gardener, the 
name, description, and culture of such plants as we know 
deserve to be grown. We send our papers to our good 
friend the Editor, and he puts them in order, and, like a 
good general, places them in battle array, to overcome 
and disperse the enemies to improvement—ignorance 
and prejudice. 
This week, my attention was drawn to the plant placed 
at the head of this paper, by a correspondent requesting 
some information about it. We, I speak in the plural, 
meaning myself and my two able coadjutors above- 
named, are always glad to receive, and answer, in full, 
such inquirers. 
The Rliodoleia Championii is a plant recently intro¬ 
duced from Hong-Kong in China, where it was found 
growing in open woods ; forming a small evergreen tree, 
with beautiful, roundish-oval leaves, placed alternately 
on its green twigs, and of a bright green on the upper 
surface, and silver-grey beneath. It has not yet, I 
believe, flowered in this country; but I have seen a 
drawing of its flowers, in “ Van Houtte’s Flore de la 
Jardins de 1’Europe,” and most lovely they appear. 
They are a most lively rose-colour; produced in 
bunches of four or five, at the ends of the shoots. The 
floral leaves, for they are not a true coralla or flower- 
cup, but rather a kind of bracts, or, as the botanical 
term designates them, an involucre, which spreads, when 
open, from two to two-and-a-half inches wide, enclosing 
a great number of yellow stamens. There are a double 
row of leaflets (little leaves), forming the involucre; 
hence, the flower appears to be semidouble. The leaves 
of the tree, and its blooms, have a considerable resem¬ 
blance to a half-double Camellia; but, in reality, it 
belongs to a different class and order, approaching more 
to the genus Pcconia, ivhich is placed by Linnteus in 
his thirteenth class Polyandria, second order Digynia, 
Natural Order Hamalidese. It is said to flower in its 
native woods in February, and will, most probably, 
flower with us in April. 
Culture. —Hitherto, on account of its rarity, it has 
generally been kept in a stove, or intermediate house, 
where it grows rapidly. No doubt, such treatment has 
prevented it blooming. Plants now may be had at a 
moderate price, as it is not difficult to propagate. 
Having procured a nice, young, healthy plant, some¬ 
time in early spring, prepare to give it a shift, by first 
procuring the right soil. Such a soil as will grow a 
Camollia will suit it admirably; but, to be more precise, 
—take some good, fibrous, heath-mould (not bog-earth), 
