256 
the COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 24, 1860. 
that no fine wine was made, and that the vintage 1859, in point 
of quality, must bo looked upon as a total failure. The impor¬ 
tation of port wine into Great Britain during the past year, as 
per statement annexed, amounted to 14,530 pipes, being in 
excess of 1858 by 2938 pipes. These supplies have been placed 
upon the market with so much good judgment, that prices have 
been very little disturbed, the trade having taken them up only 
upon positive requirements, and not as heretofore, in anticipation 
of demand. This feeling wc think will prevail until we get 
vintages on which we can more confidently rely, and may be the 
means of keeping down prices; notwithstanding the palpably 
decreasing stocks held duty paid and in bond, which latter 
depreciation amounts to at least 4000 pipes upon the year, and 
is 11,400 pipes less than in 1858. We continue to hold a 
favourable opinion of the 1858 wines, but past experience tells 
us that vintage wines require much more careful treatment than 
the trade in England have been accustomed to adopt, both in 
fortification and in being constantly racked from their lees ; we 
therefore advise our friends not to neglect these necessary pre¬ 
cautions, which have ever been most carefully observed in every 
well-regulated Lodge in Oporto, aud for want of which attention, 
so many wines kept two or three years in bond have been injured 
or become utterly worthless.” 
SOME OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS.—No. 4. 
THE MIMULUS. 
There is no flower that I am acquainted with deserving of 
more notice than the Mimulus ; and had there been one-half the 
pains taken with it which have been bestowed upon the Calceolaria, 
I believe it would long since have surpassed it both in richness of 
colour and beautiful markings. 
The Mimulus has long been a great favourite of mine, and I 
generally grow a collection : therefore I am in a position to state 
that no flower is more showy than large specimens nicely grown, 
and certainly no flower is more easy to cultivate. 
I have frequently wondered why prizes are not offered for a 
collection of Mimuluses. Prizes have for years been given at all 
the great London exhibitions for a collection of Calceolarias. 
The competit ion in these was never very great—seldom more than 
two or three collections were ever staged at a time either by the 
nurserymen or private growers; and very indifferent, indeed, at 
times were the specimens shown. Now I would suggest, as 
an encouragement to the cultivation of the Mimulus, that 
prizes should be offered for it, and I am certain the compe¬ 
tition would be greater in this class than in that for the Calceo¬ 
laria. Then, and not till then, shall we see the Mimulus grown 
as it should be, or, as they say in the north, “ in its Sunday 
clothes.” The offer of a silver cup for a collection would bring 
such specimen plants on the table as probably were never seen 
before. Perhaps the most successful raiser of this flow'er is 
A. Clapham, Esq., of Scarborough, to whom we are indebted for 
some fine varieties. 
I trust Mr. Beaton will chance to read this paragraph. If he 
take as much interest in this flower as I do, and think it really 
worthy the exhibition-table, it cannot be in better hands to be 
brought out; and should he take any interest in it, we may soon 
expect to see such plants of the Mimulus exhibited as will 
astonish the old admirers of the so-called “ Monkey Elower.” 
No plant can bo propagated with more facility than the 
Mimulus, for it strikes root from nearly every joint. Cuttings, 
or pieces, taken off early iu autumn will, no doubt, be sufficiently 
rooted to admit then’ being potted at once into five-inch pots, 
which should be placed in a cool frame and liberally supplied 
with water, frequently watering the plants overhead with a fine 
rose. But little air should be given during the first fortnight; 
after which admit it freely in the morning, closing rather early 
with the afternoon sun. As soon as they have filled the pots 
with roots give them a liberal shift into eight-inch pots, and 
carefully peg down each shoot in the mould in order that they 
may emit fresh roots. Continue to frequently sprinkle them 
over head in dry weather, and on dewy nights leave them fully 
exposed, as they delight in plenty of moisture. 
But little is gained by stopping the Mimulus more than once; 
for if kept well pegged down the shoots break out at nearly every 
joint, aud soon form sulhciently large and handsome specimens. 
The last shift should be given them about January, when liquid 
manure will be found very beneficial. If the plants have been kept 
sulhciently moist, green fly will not bo found at all troublesome. 
Little more can now be done to secure good specimens, with 
the exception of neatly tying and keeping them sufficiently moist. 
If from neglect they become pot-bound, they will be benefited by 
being placed in a pan of water during their blooming season. 
After they have done flowering and the seed gathered, the flower- 
stems should be cut off, and the plants placed in a shady situation 
or turned out into the open borders, where they will flourish 
freely ; and if a little fresh compost be placed round them they 
will quickly take root, and may be parted in the autumn into 
portions best suited to the convenience of the cultivator. 
The pots should be thoroughly drained, and the soil should 
consist of one-part fibrous loam, one-part leaf mould, one-part 
rotten cow-dung, one-part sand or mortar rubbish, with a portion 
of fibrous peat, all thoroughly incorporated together and used in 
a rough state. 
Seed may be sown from May until July in pans or in the open 
border. The soil for this purpose should be very fine and 
pressed firmly down previous to the sowing of the seed ; which, 
in consequence of being so very small, should not be covered but 
merely pressed down. The young plants for pot-culture should 
be potted off as soon as they are sufficiently large to handle, and 
should receive the treatment described above. Those intended 
for borders should be pricked out into a kind of nursery-bed. 
The Mimulus may be successfully cultivated out of doors ; and 
if covered with ashes, sand, or old tan during the winter, it will 
make a fine spring display of various-coloured flowers. 
Seedlings should be carefully attended to and protected from 
| slugs until they become sufficiently established, when they will 
be found to repay amply the care and trouble bestowed upon 
them.— Edward Bennett, Osberton. 
HEATING A VERY SMALL GREENHOUSE. 
Will you inform me what the best mode would be of warming 
a very small greenhouse (some nine feet by five feet) ? I wish an 
apparatus that will entail as little attention, and at the same time 
be as economical as possible. Gas is not obtainable here. Coke 
the same. I am, therefore, reduced to coals and cinders as fuel. 
I have used for some time one of Deane’s “ suspension stoves,” 
using cinders instead of coke, but I cannot make the fire keep in 
all night, and, consequently, am unable to maintain the necessary 
temperature in severe weather. Iu the late frost the thermometer 
sank below 32°, and I lost several of my pets. I wish the night 
temperature never less than 40°. 
Will you also kindly tell me what soil is best suited for the 
Deoclara ?—A. R. 
[The very smallness of the house is the difficulty. You do not 
say where the house is situated. Could you not heat it from 
your dwelling-house ? We are not sure if we know exactly what 
kind of stove you have. We have no faith in any stove for 
a greenhouse that does not have a pipe or chimney to convey the 
smoke, &c., outside. If the stove is very small, it would not 
burn all night if you w r ent to bed early, nor would that be often 
necessary, as the heat contained in it, and thrown into the atmo¬ 
sphere of the house, would keep out any common frost. The 
frost we had was very severe, and in such a case, if the stove were 
very small, it would need fresh filling a few hours later than 
usual. We mention this, because w’e know of cases where the 
stoves were blamed, when the carelessness of the person that 
attended to the stoves was rather in fault. In such a small 
house a large stove would be a great annoyance, and a little 
extra attention in severe weather would be by far the lesser evil. 
We were told lately of a house five times the size of yours, heated 
by a flue, when during the late frost most of the best plants were 
irreparably injured, and the flue got all the blame, and a little 
woi'k is likely to be afforded to some of our friends who put up 
their hot-water apparatus so well. It is all good for trade ; but 
the truth must at times be spoken, and that flue we firmly believe 
was quite sufficient to raise the house to 60°, even in the hardest 
frost we have had this season. But when an amateur takes all 
the management, and goes to bed at the usual time, and puts on 
as much fire as would keep out two or three degrees of frost, ho 
pays rather dear for his want of outlook, by tumbling down a 
good flue and substituting a hot-water apparatus. Under the 
same circumstances we predict that the water would be less ser¬ 
viceable than the flue, as the pipes would sooner cool than the 
flue after the fire went out. Our correspondent, therefore, we 
are sure will excuse us if we would advise a further trial with 
his stove, or one a little larger, if it is very small, instead of any 
