48 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ March, 
chemical composition. According to these experi¬ 
ments, the ashes of white leaves of Acer Negundo 
contain 4505 of potash, while those of the green 
contain but 1261. The white leaves contain 10 89 
of lime, the green 39'93. Quantitative analyses 
upon Hedera Helix and Ilex Aquifolium show about 
the same proportion of difference between the 
variegated and green leaves. We may infer, there¬ 
fore (says the Rural New Yorlcer), that if we wish 
to preserve or increase the variegation in plants, 
they must be fed with a maximum of potash and a 
minimum of lime. 
— 3The Rev. H. Harpur-Crewe has recently 
flowered the beautiful Iris Kolpakowskiana, 
which is one of the Xiphion group, and a 
native of Turkestan. A couple of bulbs received 
from Dr. Regel in the autumn were crushed nearly 
flat in the post, but planted in prepared charcoal 
—a wonderful restorative for injured or diseased 
bulbs—one has recovered sufficiently to flower. It 
is a very distinct and lovely species, and a meet com¬ 
panion for its beautiful siscers Histrio and reticu¬ 
lata. The bulb somewhat resembles that of reticu¬ 
lata. The leaves are two or three in number, short, 
obovate, lanceolate; stem little or none; limb pale 
lilac, shaded with white; falls obovate, tapering to 
a sharp point, at the base pure white, tips bright 
lilac, the keel bright yellow, feathered with purple 
towards the base, the standards and claws pale 
lilac minutely freckled with white, giving the 
appearance of reticulation. It was flowered in a 
pot in a cold frame. 
— ®he Richmond Horticultural Society 
is prospering under the presidency of tlie Duke 
of Teck, ■who takes a lively personal interest in 
its affairs. The schedule of prizes for the Show on 
June 27 is now issued, and should bring together a 
good exhibition. We are glad to see that the society 
is well supported by the nobility and gentry of the 
surrounding district, who cannot do a better w'ork 
than forward the interests of a well-managed 
horticultural society. The Society this year gives 
the winners the option of receiving their awards in 
medals or money. 
— C^uite recently it has been found that 
the Luculia gratissima can be managed like 
the Hydrangea ; and that treated much in the 
same way, it will give a dwarf plant in a 5-in. or 6-in. 
pot, crowned with a large head of rosy-tinted flowers, 
possessing a fragrance not surpassed by those of 
any other shrub. To Messrs. Osborn, as noted in the 
Garden, is due the credit of showing how this grand 
plant may be utilised. Young plants of this beau¬ 
tiful greenhouse shrub were blooming finely about 
Christmas in their nursery at Pulliam. They were 
struck from cuttings just before the flower-buds 
showed themselves, and the result was the forma¬ 
tion of neat plants, from 6 to 8 inches in height, in 
5-in. pots, surmounted by a large head of deliciously 
fragrant blossoms. Grown in this way, the Luculia 
will be one of the most popular of market plants at 
the festive season, when fragrant flowering plants 
are specially in request. 
— ®he New Zonal Pelargonium White 
Vesuvius is a white-flowered sport from the 
well-known scarlet type, which it resembles in 
habit and general good qualities,—in fact, it is a 
veritable counterpart in white of the glowing 
scarlet from which it originated. For flower- 
garden decoration, or for culture in pots for winter 
flowering, it may therefore be expected to prove 
specially valuable. 
— new double white Violet, Belle de 
Chatenay, has lately been introduced from 
France, and will form a good companion to 
the Neapolitan. The plant is a profuse bloomer, 
and comes into flower during winter with very 
little forcing. Its flowers are about an inch across 
and very double. They are of a delicate mauve in 
the bud state, but become pure white as they 
expand. 
— ftlR. Williams is now sending out the 
new high-coloured Primula sinensis fimbriata 
coccinea. It is a brilliant variety, and was 
certificated when shown recently at South Kensing¬ 
ton. The leaves are palmatifid, the flower-truss 
bold and firm, and the flowers large, finely rounded, 
with a full-frilled edge, the colour being a bright 
crimson-magenta, similar in tint to Brown’s Exqui¬ 
site, but a better shaped flower of greater substance. 
— ®he Timber of the Sycamore (Acer 
Pseudo-Platanus) is very extensively employed 
in Lancashire in the construction of the heavy 
rollers used by calendrers and cloth-finishers, and 
when of a size suitable for that purpose, 18 inches 
or more of quarter-girth, it is in much demand, and 
realises good prices. The Journal of Forestry states 
that the boles of four moderate-sized trees, contain¬ 
ing in all 200 cubic feet of timber, averaging 20 
inches in the quarter-girth, were lately sold on the 
Earl of Wilton’s estate of Pilsworth, near Bury, at 
2s. 6d. per foot, realising the handsome sum of £2o 
for the four trees, without taking into account the 
limbs or large branches, which are used in the 
manufacture of bobbins, &c., and realise a paying 
price when sold for that purpose. 
©tHtuara* 
— tf*R. John Keynes died at Salisbury on 
February 17, in his 73rd year. In early life 
he was established in business as a brushmaker, 
but from youth upwards was an amateur culti¬ 
vator of florists’ flowers, his first fancies being the 
Pink, Carnation, and Picotee. Subsequently, he 
became a professional florist, and at a later date 
proprietor of Moody's Nursery, where he gradu¬ 
ally developed a most prosperous nursery and seed 
business. Mr. Keynes was one of the most renowned 
and extensive cultivators of the Dahlia. Latterly 
his three specialities have been Dahlias, Pot Vines, 
and Roses, the latter being admirably grown and 
shown by him. In 1872, Mr. Keynes was twice enter¬ 
tained in public by his floral friends, the occasion 
being his having attained his 50th year as a florist. 
He was Mayor of Salisbury in 1877. By his death 
one of the last links of the chain connecting the 
old florists with the present generation is broken. 
— Professor Elias Fries, the veteran 
mycologist, lias recently died at Upsala. 
— W * Philippe Victor Verdier died on 
February 3, in his 75th year. Pie is known as 
the raiser of Madame Furtado, Francois 
Lacharme, Olivier Delhomme, Vicomte Vigier, 
and other of our better sorts of Roses. 
