190 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Decl'mbkk, lyTu. 
— Amongst Winter - flowebing Zonal 
Pelargoniums of first-class properties, vari¬ 
eties wliicli gave promise of continuing to 
bloom onwards as long as tbe necessary stimulus 
was forthcoming, we recently noted the following, in 
Mr. Camiell's collection at Swanley ;— Sibyl Holden, 
a charmingly attractive deej) rose, with a dash of 
jjurple in the tinting ; Mrs. Pearson, a self-coloured 
salmony-rose of great beauty, quite an acquisition ; 
Henry Jacoby, the darkest crimson-scarlet in culti¬ 
vation, and one of the most attractive, flue in every 
way; Guinea, a bright, yellow - flushed salmon- 
scarlet, a most striking flower when seen in judicious 
contrast, and perhaps one of the most effective yet 
raised; Qathorne Hardy, a light orange-scarlet, a very 
pleasing variety of sterling merit; and 3Irs. Moore, 
a new oculate variety, white, with bright cerise 
inarkings round the eye, one which is said to eclipse 
everything in that style before obtained, and which 
is certainly a very beautiful flower, large and line in 
form, and making a splendid truss. 
— ®HE following recipe for the cure of 
Scale on Fecit-teees has been published by 
Mr. E. Tidmaesh, Curator of the Graham’s 
Town Botanic Gardens:—Into a round-bottomed 
iron pot put 8 lb. of soft-soap and 2 quarts of paraffin 
oil; place the pot over a rather slow Are, consisting 
of embers only, w'ith a stout stick, vigorously stir 
the mixture, till the soap has absorbed thewhole of the 
oil. To the paste thus produced, add 20 quarts of 
water, boiling if convenient, and leave the mixtiu’e 
to simmer till the whole of the soap is dissolved, 
when the resnlt will be a milky fluid, with little or 
no oil visible on the surface. The pot may now be 
taken off the fire, and stood aside till the liquid is 
cooled down to about new-milk heat, when it may 
be applied to the infected trees, a garden-syringe 
being used for the piu'pose. The application should 
be so managed that every part of the tree may be 
covered with a thin film of the mixtiu’e; to effect 
this with as little w'aste as possible, use the finest 
rose to the syringe, and drive the mixture with 
force through and about the foliage and branches of 
the trees. When the plants to be dyessed are in 
pots, let the branches be held over some vessel, such 
as a tin bath or a ijacking-case with a zinc lining, in 
order that waste of the mixture may be avoided. 
Before removing the plants from over the vessel, 
shake the branches, so as to dislodge any superfluous 
mixture ; then place them in a horizontal position, 
till nearly dry, so as to prevent the oily matter 
running down the stems into the soil. Any portion 
of the liquid that may not bo used at the time of 
luakiug will keej) good for months; a scum will 
form on the surface, but that will disappear, on 
again warming and stirring it. This mixture is not 
at all difficult to concoct, but to insure a good result, 
it is absolutely necessary to strictly observe the few 
words printed in italics. It is hardly necessary to 
observe that the number of pounds of soap and 
quarts of paraffin and water arc simply quoted as 
proportions. 
— ^TIE rare DiSA mageantha lias been 
* 
flowering this autumn in the plant-houses at 
Glasnevin. It may be compared to a pure 
white form of D. grandiflora, with tlio divisions of 
the perianth dotted with luirple towards the throat 
and somewhat smaller. Tlie flowers grow in an 
erect spike of about half-a-dozen together, white 
spotted with deep purple, reminding one of those of 
Colax jnyusii.s. It requires the same kind of treat¬ 
ment as the better-known U. grauiliflora. 
— ®he remarkable distinct DxsA geandi- 
floea vae. rsiTTACiNA has been flowering in Mr. 
Williams’s nursery at Holloway. Its blossoms 
are about the same size as those of the type, but the 
upper hood-like portion of the flower is of an 
orange-yellow colour, and more distinctly veined. 
The sepals are green at the base, and also at the 
tips, the intervening space being of an orange-red 
hue, altogether affording a striking contrast of 
colour, and aptly suggesting the name of the Parrot 
Disa. So says the Garden. 
— JTlowees of Clematis Dueandi, a 
rather new Continental Clematis, have been 
kindly sent to us by Mr. George Paul. It is 
a near representativo of the hardy herbaceous 
Clematis integrifolia, and has, like that plant, simple 
leaves, and deep, dull purple flowers, larger, and 
considerably broader in the sepals than in the older 
species. We presume it does not run much, and so 
may be looked on as a tall herbaceous plant requir¬ 
ing support, rather than as a genuine climber. 
, DucHAETEE,at ouc of the recent meet¬ 
ings of the Sooiete Centrale tVHorticulture de 
France., gave an interesting explanation of the 
origin of some magnificent Mushrooms, which had 
been olitained direct from the spores by M. Charol- 
lois. The spores were sowm on a plate of glass, kept 
constantly moist, and dusted over with spent dung; 
under these conditions mycelium (spaivn) was 
formed, which when planted yielded the fine 
specimens in question. The remarkable result ob¬ 
tained by M. Charollois may possibly be turned to 
account in the culture of muslu-ooms, and — wffiich 
is still more important—it may lead to successful 
experiments in the cultivation of other kinds of 
Edible Fungi, which it would be interesting, to 
say the least, to be able to propagate, and the cul¬ 
ture of which has hitherto been regarded as all 
but impossible. We may mention, as examples of 
the kinds we have in viewq such sapid species as 
Agaricus procerus, Coprinus comatus, &o. Even 
the cultivation of the brilliantly-coloured Poisonous 
Fungi, as objects of ornament or instruction, may 
be in this way rendered practicable. 
— IKe. George Gordon, A.L.S., died on 
October lltb. He was long associated with 
the Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick, 
to which he was admitted as a student in 1828, on 
the recommendation of Mr. Henry Groom. He was 
born at Lucan, co. Dublin, on February 25th, 1806, 
and commenced his gardening career in 1820, under 
his father, at Sterling House, Meath. After being em¬ 
ployed at Lucan, Bethnal Green, and Colvill’s Nursery, 
Chelsea, he entered Chiswick Garden, where in 
due time, he was selected as one of the departmental 
foremen, under Jlr. Donald Muuro, the Arboretum 
being his appointed field of labour, and in this he 
had abundant opportunity of acquiring a knowledge 
of hardy trees and shrubs, of which he fully availed 
Inm.self. He made a special study of the conifera’, 
and acquired such a knowledge of them as to bo 
regarded an authority in all questions of garden 
nomenclature relating to them. In 1858 ho pub¬ 
lished the Fineftim, of which a Supplement was issued, 
and a second edition in 1875. His (Med specimens 
of conifers have been acquired by purchase fur the 
Herbarium of the Hoyal Gardens, Kew. 
