35 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 19,1858. 
by some other species. 4. Clianthus Dampicrii, —which 
I have never tried, but which is generally represented as 
one of those beautiful, miffy things, which baffle the skill 
of many of our best cultivators,—is here growing 
vigorously,—threatening, some day, to occupy as much 
space as its neighbours the Fuchsias,—blooming pro¬ 
fusely, and, what is best of all, seeding plentifully. 
Beautiful as the Clianthus puniceus is, it is nothing to 
Dampieni. Those who have never seen it, may form 
some idea of it by imagining a large black moth’s-head, 
like a patch, placed in the centre of the blossom of 
uniceus : altogether it has no rivals in its pretensions to 
eauty, except some of the most lovely of the Orchids. 
So well have they managed to get this fine plant to thrive 
here, that Mr. Veitch contemplates trying it as a bedding 
plant. They have not been without their failures, too, 
and chiefly arising from the attempt to shift and resliift 
it from pot to pot. Like the generality of other plants, 
whenever it gets to any size, shifting it from one pot to 
another is almost sure to injure, if not kill it, from the 
habit it has of sending down its roots as deeply as pos¬ 
sible, and the great ease with which these roots are in¬ 
jured. Mr. Veitch said it was found in poor, deep, 
sandy soil; and transferring the plants when very young 
to such soil, in a pot of good size, or to ground of that 
character, seemed to be the only mode to get it to grow 
successfully. A good specimen in a pot would be a fine 
object, and I hope some friends will get very young 
lants, and try them on the one-shift system. It must 
ave no stagnant moisture about its roots. 
Those who cultivate large collections would revel in 
the fine assemblages of stove plants and Orchids,—all in 
f ood health, but few of which were then in bloom. 
'rom among the mass, I must select some features as 
especially worthy of notice. First. The hybrid Orchids 
raised from seed by Mr. Dominy. One was a purple 
Calanthe, perhaps not so interesting as veratrifulia, or its 
male parent, but valuable as showing what may be done 
in this new field. The others were chiefly Cattleyas, all 
somewhat different from their parents, and with no great 
improvement in either; but also showing that Orchids 
may, with a man like Mr. Dominy, be made to sport like 
Calceolarias and Pelargoniums, and then what will 
become of many of our specific distinctions. 
A second feature is the great variety and luxuriance of 
Pitcher plants,—producing their forests of flowers, not in 
scores, but hundreds. Let no one suppose that such 
success can be equalled in a cool stove. I believe the 
success here to be greatly owing to giving the plants the 
very treatment they like, as the whole of the Nepenthes, 
&c., seemed to be thoroughly at home. The house has a 
path round it, and a tank for its centre, and on supports 
across this tank, as well as on its sides, the Pitcher Plants 
are clustered. The water in the tank is kept in motion 
by means of turning a wheel. A high temperature, and 
an atmosphere saturated with moisture, could thus be 
easily obtained. The results show that they like what 
they get. 
In this house, and elsewhere, were assembled a few 
striking novelties, which will be heard of ere long. The 
first is a Caladium, with strong hastate foliage, like a 
Strelitzia, but the leaf hanging down, almost parallel 
with the stiff, upright leaf-stalk, as if hinged at the top. 
The leaf is blotched with white along the middle. 
Secondly, two small, neat Selaginellas, — different from 
what I have before seen ; and two larger-growing ones,— 
one, with the exception of the greater size, slightly re¬ 
sembling umbrosa, and the other finely pinnated, like our 
best-leaved Acacias. Thirdly, and here I must stop, a 
beautiful, new, strong-growing Fern, forming its fronds a 
little in the way of Adiantum pubescens, only tho main 
part extending to a great length. The ground colour of 
the main part, and also of the base subdivisions, is of a 
pale green, with a broad stripe of a mealy-white down 
the centre, being the only instance, so far as I am aware, 
where such variegation has presented itself in Ferns. A 
Fern-grower could hardly keep his mouth from watering 
at the sight of it. 
I have already alluded to the fine specimens of 
Araucarias, &c., along the cross walk from the conserva¬ 
tory. In moving these, a number of years ago, a man 
pulled at one plant, which was rather unmanageable, so 
vigorously by the head, that he and the head together 
went plump into a neighbouring ditch. I need not say 
where a great many would have sent the man afterwards; 
but, though the Araucaria was planted, it was felt very 
unlikely that it would ever make a fresh head for itself. 
However, the wound healed over, a protuberance formed, 
a young shoot issued forth from that protuberance as a 
new leader, and now—with the exception of the tree 
being thicker there, and the side branches rather nearer 
each other—this identical tree is as fine, if not finer, than 
its uninjured brethren. I lately met with several in¬ 
stances of this noble tree forming a fresh leader for itself 
when the top was destroyed. Whole quarters of 
Araucarias, Deodars-, &c., of good size are planted in 
large tubs, and then the tubs plunged out of sight, so 
that, by paying a little more, a gentleman can thus make 
a fine effect at once, without the risk of a plant dying, or 
suffering by moving. 
The trained trees of Peaches, Apricots, Cherries, &c., 
on the wall, were so strong and healthy, that I involun¬ 
tarily thought of the lopping such trees, as lately referred 
to, when taken to a gentleman’s garden. A house, ap¬ 
propriated to Vines on the roof, had a bed in the middle 
so thick with young Vine-stems that you could not see 
through them, and yet the buds seemed nice and plump. 
They were to be removed to the front of a wall, to com¬ 
plete the ripening process. In an orchard-house, Mr. 
Veitch had been trying some of his new Peaches and 
Apricots, especially those from Syria. Already an ac¬ 
count of some of these has appeared, and here, and also 
on walls, some looked very promising, especially late 
kinds. The trees in pots, that had fruited, had already 
been partially pruned. The new kinds on the walls were 
in the highest luxuriance, and, therefore, every chance 
was given of proving what they would be worth. Part 
of this experimental wall was covered with sashes. The 
Stan wick Nectarine was grown on the exposed and the 
covered part, and, though in both cases the fruit was 
plentiful and fine, many of the best had an unmistakeable 
tendency to crack. I suggested what I thought would 
be likely to counteract the cracking, and, it is rather 
singular, the only tree I saw at another place, that was 
heavily loaded and free from all cracking, was enjoying 
the suggested conditions. These new fruits will bo 
judged as to their merits by the highest authorities. The 
suggestion as to the Stanwick was simply this, that it re¬ 
quired more heat, to expand the epidermis, or skin of tho 
fruit, to meet the supply of nourishment which it was 
absorbing by the roots. The confirmation of this idea 
will appear in a future number. 
In conclusion, I will allude to two facts. The first is, 
that neatness and order were everywhere apparent; and 
the grounds were so clean, that if there were many weeds 
about above one inch in height I failed to discover them, 
though possibly such might be found by those who knew 
where to look for them. A gardener, now no more, once 
offered me half-a-crown for every weed that I could find 
an inch in height. Few of us would be certain of bread 
and water, were we to offer such rewards for such peculiar 
discoveries. 
The second fact is, that on entering the grounds, late 
in the afternoon, I noticed several groups of private 
soldiers, leisurely walking about by themselves, and ad¬ 
miring the shrubs and flowers. The privilege had been 
long enjoyed by the different regiments and battalions 
quartered in Exeter. The same benefit had also been 
freely enjoyed by the people of the neighbourhood. Such 
facts are honourable to all parties. I was, therefore, 
