1879 . ] 
RAT, AND HIS NAMESAKE APPLE.-PHLOXES AS ELOEISTS’ FLOWERS. 
55 
It should be provided with plenty of ventila¬ 
tion, and should be dry, and out of the direct 
influence of sun-heat. When I first came to 
'Welbeck, the vinery in which the latest Lady 
Downe’s and West’s St. Peter’s, were grown, 
showed the bunches hanging on the vines in 
April mixed with the young shoots, and of 
course the flow of sap had burst some of the 
berries, and spoiled their flavour. 
I am in hopes that a seedling Grape I have 
raised here, a cross between Lady Downe’s and 
West’s St. Peter’s, will prove to be a late Grape 
of the very best quality. I believe I shall be 
able to keep it as late as Lady Downe’s, and the 
flavour of the berries is as rich and vinous as 
that of West’s St. Peter’s. It is very distinct 
from any other variety I know, having a 
purplish tinge on the young wood, and on the 
midribs of the foliage.— William Tillert, 
Welheck. 
RAY, AND HIS NAMESAKE 
APPLE. 
Cfip ATELY, a f riend gave me a large green 
1 Apple, and inquired its name, because 
the kind bloomed late, and thus escaped 
spring frost better than the early kinds. I 
found it was the Ray Apple, which I formerly 
knew in the North by the same name, and 
understood it was named so in memory of Ray, 
the father of English botany. The accom¬ 
panying outline figure represents the same 
Apple, and the kind is readily known by its 
large white blossoms. The fruit lasts till the 
end of January, but after that period becomes 
insipid and unfit for kitchen use. 
I have said but little on this old Apple, to 
make room for a brief remark on Ray’s career 
as a botanist. He was born on November 29th, 
1629, at Black Notley, Essex. Ilis father w’as 
a blacksmith, yet had means to give his son 
a college education at Cambridge. Doubtless 
Ray was the first in this country who arranged 
plants into families according to their kinds, 
which began the natural system of botany ; and 
this, after being improved by others, upset the 
long-cherished sexual system of Linnaeus, on 
which some of our best books on botany were 
founded. The sexes of plants were, however, 
spoken of by Ray before Linnaeus’s time, and in 
fact, some persons consider that the illustrious 
Swede took from Ray the hint of the sexes of 
plants, which is the corner-stone of his artificial 
system. Anyhow', the French kept to Ray’s 
plan, now styled the “ Jussieu system,” yet it is 
fair to remember that our countryman began it. 
Ray’s fame caused jealousy among other botan¬ 
ists of his day, and being a clergyman, he was 
persecuted for “ conscience’ sake.” But he was 
not the man to doubt the sanctity of an oath, 
and for this he was deprived of all he had won 
at Cambridge, except his honour. Luckily, his 
old pupil, Willoughby, never forsook him, but 
opened his door and purse to him, and both 
went on hand in hand together—the naturalist 
among his animals, the botanist amongst his 
plants. Perhaps Ray’s fault was being too 
sensitive to sudden inroads on botany. In 
after-life, he retired to his native place, and 
there is a tablet in the village churchyard to 
his memory. But his fame as a botanist is his 
best monument.—J. Wighton, Cossey Parl\ 
PHLOXES AS FLORISTS’ 
FLOWERS. 
HE Phlox is an excellent flower for the 
herbaceous border and the front part 
of the shrubbery, as the plants con¬ 
tinue to throw up trusses of bloom in the same 
place for many years, but each year after the 
third the size of the trusses and quality of the 
flowers deteriorate; and to grow them of suffi¬ 
cient quality to satisfy a florist, a fresh lot of 
plants must be provided annually. To this end 
the young plants should be propagated as 
early in the spring as the cuttings can be 
obtained. If the plants are wintered in pots, 
and the pots are plunged in a cold frame, the 
