THE COTTAGE GARDEN EE AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Febioxaey 21, 1860. 
319 
j Flesh yellowish, fine-grained, buttery, melting, and very juicy, 
rich, sugary, and with a most delicious flavour. 
A dessert pear of the greatest excellence, in use from November 
till February. 
The tree is a small grower, hardy, and an excellent bearer. It 
forms a handsome pyramid on the quince stock, and is well 
adapted for bush culture. For orchard-standards it requires to 
be worked aloft on somestronger-growing variety, such as Lammas, 
Summer Bergamot , or Swan's Egg, its own habit being not suffi¬ 
ciently robust to form an orchard-standard of itself. 
This variety was raised by M. Nelis, of Malines. 
NOTES ON SOME BEDDING PLANTS. 
The idea of producing a tropical appearance in some part of 
the garden out of doors has lately been brought prominently 
before the readers of The Cottage Gabdenek. It is a capital 
idea, and should be thoroughly worked out. This end will be at¬ 
tained if gardeners will give us the fruit of their experience with 
regard to any plant which has produced “an effect” with them. 
I have seen many kinds of Gourd succeed well trained over a 
rude rustic fence ; but the finest effect I ever saw them produce, 
was when planted at the top of a terrace, and allowed to trail 
down a turf-covered bank facing the south. 
The usual plan with the Cannas, and similar plants, upon the 
Continent, is to take them up in autumn and keep them quite 
dry under the stage of a greenhouse, or other convenient place, 
and to start them in a hotbed in the spring. They are seldom 
used in the same beds with Geraniums, Verbenas, or the like 
(even if they were, half their effect would be lost). The soil 
used for them would be too rich for most bedding plants. The 
usual plan adopted at places where they are grown to the greatest 
perfection, is to take out the soil to the depth of two feet and a 
half, to fill up with dung only partially exhausted, and cover in 
with part of the old soil. The plants are shaded for a few days 
after planting ; with plenty of water they soon produce an ap¬ 
pearance which is quite surprising to one who sees them for the 
first time. They do not always get such good treatment, it is 
true, but they well repay the trouble bestowed upon them when 
they do. Canna discolor, from the bronzy colour of its foliage 
is the great favourite, but it seldom, if ever, flowers. C. Indica, 
on the contrary, blooms well. 
I recollect a circular bed in front of a mansion, around which 
the carriage-drive was carried. The centre was occupied by the 
variegated variety of Arundo donax, with five or six plants of 
Indian Corn next it; then a circle of Canna discolor; and the 
whole edged with Begonia discolor —a very good rival to the 
Perilla Xanlcinensis. I have never seen the effect of this bed 
surpassed. As a mass of foliage it was really grand. 
In the same garden there was a walk crossing the lawn, on 
each side of which were small circles, and in these alternate 
pairs of Eumea elegans and Papyrus antiquorum. The effect 
was charming. They were daily supplied with water, parti¬ 
cularly the Papyrus. A few of them had, by way of experiment, 
received rations of manure water, and proved their gratitude for 
this by their greater luxuriance. 
The red variety of the Castor-oil plant should never be lost 
sight of as an ornament to stand singly on the lawn. It should 
be raised from seed the previous year and kept during winter in 
a corner of a warm greenhouse. I doubt if any soil can be too 
rich for this fellow’s palate ; indeed, like an alderman, it would 
never attain its imposing appearance without high feeding. 
Xanthosma violacea, with purplish stems and leaf-stalks, does 
well out of doors in summer, as do also several of the green- 
leaved Caladiums. One called C. macrophylla, produces four or 
five gigantic leaves like green shields, three or four feet in length. 
I have tried Musa Cavendishii out of doors, but have always 
been disappointed by it. The leaves split up transversely into 
ribbons, as they are reported to do in their native country, and, 
consequently, look ragged and unsightly. 
The pleasing character of the continental gardens is much 
enhanced by the introduction of festoons of climbing plants. 
Pylogyne suavis is often used in this way between standard 
Roses, or similar situations. I tried unsuccessfully to obtain 
this plant in England a few years ago, but it has since been in¬ 
troduced by Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich. Your lady readers 
would, I am sure, be pleased with its neat, graceful wreaths of 
closely-packed little leaves. The flowers are very minute and in¬ 
conspicuous, its pretty habit is its great merit. It requires only 
the ordinary bedding-plant culture—that is, it must be protected 
from cold and damp through the winter. In spring it is only 
necessary to plant it out and place wires or string in the position 
you wish the plant to assume, it does not even require tying. 
By the side of walks in the public parks, festoons of the 
Virginian Creeper, or sometimes even the common Vine, are 
carried from tree to tree, and produce a very pleasing effect, par¬ 
ticularly in autumn, when the leaves assume their brilliant 
colours. The Wisteria sinensis would suit for this purpose ad¬ 
mirably.— Kael. 
SUBSTITUTE foe the YELLOW CALCEOLAEIA 
—EEENCH MARIGOLDS. 
It is always a pleasing duty to reply to a correspondent on any 
subject on which a difference of opinion exists ; and my inquiry 
for a substitute for the Yellow Calceolaria having induced “A 
Shbsceibee,” page 257, to recommend a Marigold or a Pansy 
for that purpose, I herewith, in the same friendly spirit, reply to 
the suggestion there made. At the same time I beg to thank 
him for his kind offer of a plant of the Yellow Pansy ; but I fear 
it will be of little use to me, as the whole of the family, except 
the double ones, have been scarcely able to live through the dry 
summer we have had lately, and were at no time ornamental 
enough to deserve a place in the flower garden, where a long- 
sustained mass of bloom of a decided colour was wanting. But 
I will further explain, beginning with the Pansy. 
For several years I grew a clear yellow Pansy named Hon. 
Mrs. Harcourt, of rather a robust growth, and in the months of 
April and May there was often a good display; but, the hot 
weather setting in, the plants invariably became mildewed, flowers 
became small, and finally the whole bed had a rubbishy half-dead 
appearance. This was prior to 1857, the first and warmest of 
our last three dry summers. The introduction of the Double 
Pansy about that time led to the Single one being discarded—or, 
in fact, they ceased to exist, the Yellow one being the last to give 
up. But with all deference to the opinion of “ A Shbsceibee,” 
I never at any time saw a bed of Pansies, or even a single plant, 
that could at all compete with the Calceolaria for brilliancy of 
colour. Pansies invariably open to the sun, and will consequently 
have their backs to the most important point in which by far the 
greatest number of flower gardens are viewed from—“the north.” 
This essential feature disqualifies many other showy flowering 
plants as well as the Pansy. In fact, in the warm, dry, southern 
counties of England, the north side of a wall is the only place 
where I have ever seen a good bloom of Pansies after June; and 
but rarely have I seen them showy then. The flowers are never 
sufficiently numerous to hide much of the foliage, so that I fear 
Pansies cannot be accepted as a substitute. Let us now turn 
to the other plant mentioned by “ A Subsceibee.” 
Yellow Maeigold. —I wish our correspondent had been 
more explicit on this head, as I have much more faith in this 
plant answering our purpose than the Pansy. There are three 
distinct varieties, I might say botanical species, of the Marigold— 
the Common, the French, and the African. The first of these is 
very showy so long as it lasts ; but I have never seen it in good 
condition more than a month, and often much less. The French 
Marigold, however, is a more enduring plant, and it continues to 
flower until cut off by frost. Two or three years ago a dwarf 
variety of it was introduced, which probably is the one “ A 
Subsceibee ” has grown, as he does not mention whether it was 
the Common or French one he had. I have not, however, grown 
it, but have seen it form a rather compact and pretty edging to 
something else; but the colours were mixed brown and yellow on 
the same plant, and consequently useless when clear and distinct 
colours are wanted. 
While on this subject I may mention that the French Marigold 
may be propagated by cuttings in the autumn as freely as V cr- 
benas; but it does not keep well through the winter, and in 
spring makes very tardy progress. So that, alter all the trouble 
of keeping it, the plants so propagated do not flower any sooner 
than those raised from seed in the ordinary way. A iavourite 
kind may be kept by this means; but I never could obtain a 
satisfactory result. 
If a dwarf compact French Marigold of a bright yellow colour 
could be obtained by seed, and a certainty of that seed pro¬ 
ducing plants of the same colour again, we should have a rather 
formidable rival to the Yellow Calceolaria, and one well worthy 
of trying for; but the brown stripes or tips, however much they 
