366 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 7, 1858, 
alive, in bloom or not in bloom, to the meetings in Regent 
Street The wonderful sensation was rising like the garden 
thermometer in line weather, till I could perceive the thing 
was ripe for a “ go in, heads and tails.” That May I exhibited 
a whole tentful of curious, variegated, and line-leaved plants, 
at the Chiswick Gardens, not one of them in bloom, though 
the number exceeded 400 plants. That was the best hit I 
I ever made, and, although the Society looked black at me, for 
stealing a march on their own slow and timid progress, I 
have lived to see the thing in universal esteem, and to write 
\ about the first “ Illustrated Bouquet ” of plants, without 
flowers, which you may see as I havejust stated. 
Plate XVII. is occupied with G-ordonia citriodora , which 
| I spoke of last spring, from the Wellington Road Nursery. So 
please look back to that account, and I shall proceed to Plate 
| XVIII., on which are two heads of the most beautiful Rhodo¬ 
dendron I ever saw in print or bush. It is a Belgian cross, 
which beats all the Indians : the name is Bylsianum , after the 
Messrs. Byls, Brothers, nurserymen, of Ghent, Belgium, the 
parties who have been the fortunate raisers. This most 
splendid Rhododendron blooms late, after our frosts are over. 
The flowers are well formed, of a pure white ground colour, 
beautifully diversified with a rich rosy-carmine border or 
belt. 
Plate XIX. is filled with a Bhotan Rhododendron, named 
Calophyllum , a greenhouse kind, with a large, white, sweet- 
scented flower. The style of growth resembles that of 
Jl. Maddeni; and that style is just like the style of Ponticum, 
the best style for a Rhododendron. 
Plate XX. represents five kinds of the best new shrubby 
Calceolarias, with large flowers,—a distinct section, between 
the herbaceous Calceolarias and the common bedding kinds. 
The names are— General Outran, Lord Raglan , General 
Havelock , Queen of Oude, and Lady Palmerston. This class 
is by far the best for pot culture, to hold out all through the 
season j and in small places, where everything is in first-rate 
style, they will be the favourite bedders. But in large places, 
where the colours are seen at long distances, the small, clear, 
yellow Calceolarias alone are applicable. There is a great deal 
of writing, and useful information, besides these pictures, and 
the drawings are exquisitely done, and coloured to nature.— 
D. Beaton. 
PALMS FOR THE GREENHOUSE AND 
CONSERVATORY. 
No class of plants are more worthy of attention than the 
noble and extensive tribe of Palms, with their varied forms of 
growth, and graceful evergreen foliage, always lively and asso¬ 
ciated with tropical appearances. It is a general, but mistaken 
idea, that they are only adapted for large establishments, where 
a house is devoted especially to their cultivation. It is true 
that they, like most other tribes of plants, thrive best under 
such treatment, but they are equally suited for the adornment 
of a small greenhouse or large conservatory. 
No class of plants are more easy of management than they, 
and none more pleasing, when properly managed. Not only 
their magnificent appearance, but the history in connection 
with them, make them doubly interesting. 
Nearly every species produces some important article well 
known in commerce, among the comforts of ourselves, as well 
as of the natives of tropical regions. These productions are 
indicated by their popular names—as Oil Palm, Cocoa-nut 
Palm, Date Palm, Cabbage Palm, &c. 
A few remarks upon their culture, with a short description 
ol a select few, will, I trust, be found useful in assisting the 
amateur, as they are equally adapted for him as for the more 
experienced cultivator. 
The soil best adapted for their cultivation is three parts 
good yellow loam and one part well decayed manure, with a 
little sharp sand,—care being taken to use plenty of drainage 
nothing being more injurious than stagnant water around their 
roots. The same remarks are applicable to nearly every tribe 
ot plants. It is better to give water more frequently, than to 
allow it to become stagnant in the pots ; for stagnant moisture 
is certain to sour the soil, and to encourage worms. There is no 
.etter indicator of a plant’s prosperity, than to find it readily 
a >roi b the moisture which is regularly supplied. If I find 
water standing upon the surface of a pot a few minutes after 
being supplied, I am at once apprised that the drainage is 
imperfect, when immediate attention must be given in removing 
and replacing the drainage; otherwise sickness or death to 
the plant will be the certain result. 
Although. the Palm is connected in our minds with a 
tropical region, and its towering height of more than one 
hundred feet, even the tallest may be kept dwarfed for a long 
time, by being confined in small pots. Out of from more than 
one hundred and thirty known species, I have selected a few 
best adapted for general cultivation, and the exclusion of such 
noble objects as the Cocoa Nut Palm ( Cocos nucifera ), which 
is found very difficult of cultivation, even under the most ! 
favourable circumstances. The following will do well where 
a regular temperature of from 50° to 70° of heat can be 
secured, and they amply reward the cultivator for the little ; 
labour they demand. 
Cham.zedorea Ernesti Augtjsti, C. gracilis, C. elegans, 
C. elatior, and C. desmoncoides. —Cane-like Palms, with 
polished trunks and pinnate-sect leaves; disecious flowers 
(that is, producing male and female flowers on separate plants) ; 
fruit a bright red berry, produced freely, which has a very 
ornamental appearance. J 
Chamasrops excelsa, C. httmilis, C. Palmetto, and 
C. serrulata. —Dwarf Fan Palms, all well adapted for cul¬ 
ture in the low temperature of our greenhouses and conser¬ 
vatories. C. excelsa is supposed to be quite hardy out of 
doors in this country. 
Ceroxylon Andicola. —The Wax Palm of the Andes, 
so named on account of its stem being covered with a coating 
of wax, which is scraped off by the natives of Paramo of 
Quindui, and mixed with tallow, to form candles. It is a 
tree of slender growth, with graceful pinnate-sect leaves. 
Bactris.— This genera contains about forty species, all of 
which are well adapted for general cultivation, being of low 
stature, and, unlike most Palms, clothed with foliage to the 
ground. Tobago canes are produced from R. minor , B. maraja 
and B. melanocantha. 
Other Palms, similarly suitable for the warm greenhouse 
and conservatory, are— Astrocaryum minor , A. rostratum , 
Martinezia caryotafolia, Wallichia densijlora , Saba'l Blade- 
hour neana, Rhaphis Jiabelliformis, Phoenix ferruginea , P. 
Sylvestris (wild Date Palm), Jubcea spectabilis , Areca mono- 
stachya , A. pumila, A. lutea , Lwistonia Borbonica , L. Jenlein- 
sonii , L. australis , Thrinax parviflora, Morenia IAndenii 
and Cana de la Pibora (Snake Cane).— Hortitlanus. 
INFORMATION REQUIRED. 
Mr. T. F. Prosser, chemist, Tatlock Street, Yauxliall Road, 
Liverpool. 
Mr. S. Braidley, Oldhouse-at-home, Oldham, near Man¬ 
chester. 
Who these parties? "VYe advise our readers never to 
part with their plants or poultry without full information 
about the applicant. 
STAGED BANR FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
If ^ ie princely gardens at Cliatsworth, I lately noticed a 
mode of growing Strawberries, which I think might be ad¬ 
vantageously adopted elsewhere. They were grown on mounds, 
laised and boarded, so as to resemble the stage of a green¬ 
house, only instead of the boards being laid flat, which they 
are to receive potted plants, they are placed on edge, and 
secured there, and, being filled with earth, another set of 
boards is fixed as a tier above them, leaving a flat space of 
lfteen or eighteen inches wide, for the plants to grown on. 
llie boards being about eight or ten inches rise, and those 
I saw being returned at the ends and back, thus ending with 
one row ot plants along the top, and from four to five feet 
lngli, the whole had a useful appearance, and, when in 
bearing, the fruit would hang over the boards, in sight of 
company. 
The plan certainly deserves attention, and it may be made 
available many ways ; for instance, a steep bank might be 
planted this way, and water might be applied without the 
