IS"!).] 
BEGONIAS FOB WINTER.-IBIS KiEMPFEEI. 
71 
ultimately greatly benefit the health and morals 
of the country, as well as add to the wealth 
and luxury of the people. It can give rise to 
no bad habits ; but, on the contrary, sociability 
and temperance would be promoted by making 
a fruit-garden an appendage to every country 
dwelling. It is a well-ascertained fact that 
there are hundreds of acres of land in Great 
Britain and Ireland suitable for the cultivation 
of the apple at the present time, either entirely 
uncultivated or only partially so, and on which 
sufficient employment might be found for every 
available gardener, or garden labourer, in the 
three kingdoms. It may be argued that the 
apple crop is uncertain, and that every second 
or third 3 mar we have an almost entire failure ; 
but I contend that if the cultivation of the 
apple once became universal in this countiy, 
we could generally calculate on an average 
crop, owing to the great diversity of soils and 
situations employed, and a thorough knowledge 
of the kind of apple best suited to such soil 
and situation. As it is, we are gradually be¬ 
coming dependent upon foreign countries for 
our supply ; this need not be. If due attention 
were paid to home culture, a few j'ears would 
suffice to supply the home demand, and every 
man might enjoy his cup of cider. When Par¬ 
liament shall enact such a law, there will belittle 
need for temperance refonners.—I?. Buleen, 
Glasgow Botanic Gardens. 
BEGONIAS FOR WINTER. 
have found several varieties of the 
J ^ ^^Oonia very useful during the past 
winter and spring, on account of their 
long continuance in flower. They are of ea.sy 
growth, and not much liable to be attacked 
by insects. Cuttings should be struck in 
June, and potted into small pots, placed in close 
warm pits, until they have taken well hold of 
the soil, when they should be gradually 
hardened, so as to stand in a cold frame until 
the middle of September. They require to be 
regularly attended to as to watering, and 
shutting up in the afternoon, with sun-heat. 
In this way they will grow on into nice stiff 
plants. They should not be put into too large 
pots, but rather fed well with dung-water, as 
soon as the pots get well filled with roots. 
B. sanginnea and B. fnchsiokles are two 
very pretty and bright scarlets, and are much 
thought of for the hair, if cut before the 
blooms open, as they are then very effective. 
B. nitida is almost always in bloom, and wdien 
it can be planted out and trained to a back 
wall, or on any portion ^Yhere it can run, 
blooms may be cut from it on most days of the 
year, when it is kept in a proper temperature. 
B. hgdrocotglifoUa., B. vianicata, and B. 
Iii/lrida nndtijiora we find all useful, either as 
tableplants or for cutting from. B. ftwlisiold(s, 
B. sanguinea, and B. hjjhvida mnitijiora, when 
the leading shoot is tied to a single central stick, 
and the straggling side-branches are pinched in, 
make very effective and neat plants. There 
are many other useful sorts, but these we have 
proved good, and can recommend them all,—- 
A. H., Tlioreshg. 
IRIS KA^IMPFERI. 
HIS fine Iris [twm varieties of which 
have been figured by us in pi-evious 
volumes] is comparatively unknown in 
this countiy, and therefore the acquisition by 
Messrs. Barr and Sugden of the seedlings raised 
at Leyden by Von Siebold, will render season¬ 
able a few words upon its merits and proper 
usage. It is the most sportive of the Iris 
family, save the infinitely variable I. ger- 
manica, and as it is known on the Continent, 
and more especially in Holland, it may be con¬ 
sidered a proper candidate for admission into 
the family of florists’ flowers. It was origin¬ 
ally introduced from Japan by Von Siebold, 
and is a native of East Siberia, from the Baikal 
and Dahuria to Kamtschatka, the Amur dis¬ 
trict, and Korea, extending thence to the 
northern parts of .Tapan. Sir J. Hooker con¬ 
siders it synonymous with the earlier known 
I. Jeevigata. 
In the standard books now current, Iris 
Kwmpferi has no place. The reason is that 
the authors of those books have not grown it. 
On the appearance of the figure in Illustration 
Ilorticole (in 1857), I secured some roots, 
through the late ]\Ir. Standish. The heavj’' 
soil of the garden wherein they were planted 
did not suit them, but they succeeded well in 
pots grown in the same way as Iris 7'eiicidata. 
Observation has taught me that Iris Kwmpferi 
is as easy to grow as any Iris in cultivation ; 
but its needs are definite, and it will not thrive 
anywhere and anyhow. I have made note of 
two particularly interesting features in the 
nurseries of klessrs. Krelage, of Haarlem. One 
