1G 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Januaht, 
name of the Cactus Dahlia. In the ordinary florist’s 
Dahlia the florets are rolled up so as to resemble so 
many short quills open at the ends, but in D. Juarezii 
the florets are all flat, or nearly so, strap-shaped, like 
the outer florets of the original species (ray florets), 
and of a rich crimson colour. The appearance is, 
therefore, very striking, and suggestive of a new 
race in Dahlias analogous, in some respects, to the 
Japanese Chrysanthemums. The roots of this Dahlia 
had been received from Messrs. Ant. Roozen and 
Son, of Overween, near Haarlem, under the name of 
D. Juarezii. It was imported from Mexico iu 1872 
by Mr. Van der Berg, of Juxphaas, near Utrecht, 
and named by him after the President of Mexico. 
It forms a dwarf compact-growing plant, the flowers 
being produced among the foliage. 
— f»R. W. Ingram, of Belvoir. writing of 
the Double Violet Marie Louise, remarks 
(Gard. Chron .):—"I do not' think too much 
can be said in praise of this Violet. Its con¬ 
stitutional vigour is as remarkable as the freedom 
with which it produces its large and highly-perfumed 
double flowers; in colour, it is of a darker blue 
than Neapolitan, and with a distinct and well-defined 
white centre. It is of a hardier nature than the old 
variety, and blooms with the greatest profusion in 
the autumn and throughout the winter and spring. 
It was planted out in beds in the spring garden last 
year, and stood well through the trying winter of 
1878-9, and formed a most attractive mass in the 
Violet garden. Those who describe it as only differing 
from the Neapolitan in its darker flowers, cannot 
have the true, or at least the variety I am fortunate 
enough to possess.” 
— ®he new hybrid Gladiolus Lemoinei, 
shown during the past summer by M. Lemoine. 
of Nancy, and certified by the Floral Com¬ 
mittee, is the offspring of G. purpurea-auratus fer¬ 
tilised by one of the garden varieties of the ganda- 
vensis type. It is distinct in form, approaching 
that of the old G. viperatus,—that is, with the three 
upper segments projected over the stamens and 
pistil (the middle one here broader) and the three 
lower ones smaller and spreading. The colour is 
pale creamy, with a flush of salmony-red, the lower 
segments having a narrow maroon crimson patch at 
the base and another of yellow beyond. The plant 
is of rather slender habit, and has stood in the open 
ground without injury for three years. 
— ©ne simple fertilising agent valuable 
for flower-garden use is Charred Refuse. 
Tliere is always in large gardens a great accu¬ 
mulation of rubbish of various kinds, including the 
clippings of hedges, rotten wood, spray from timber- 
trees, weeds, &c., to utilise which a lire should be 
started with dry wood, so as to get a good body of 
live embers, and the accumulated rubbish gradu¬ 
ally throw on to this, taking care to mix the less in¬ 
flammable with the woody material, so as to keep 
the tire smouldering—the object iu view being, not 
cremation, or reducing the mass to white ashes, but 
simply to submit it to the action of heat and the 
percolation of smoke, in order to destroy the ger¬ 
minating power of whatever seeds of weeds may be 
present, and at the same time to maintain as 
great a bulk of the material as possible. Indeed, to 
increase this when there is a good body of fire, a 
layer of earth,—any rubbish, even clay will do, may 
be spread over it. Thus, with a little attention, the 
time for which may well be afforded during the 
winter season, a flue heap of material, which Mr. 
Cox expressively calls “Amendment,” far superior 
as an application to flower-beds and borders than 
the same material turned over for two or three 
years, and reduced to the condition of mould, may 
be secured. 
— 3t a recent meeting of tbe Societe Cen- 
trale cVHorticulture de France , M. Lavallee, 
Secretaire-General, produced some branches of 
Rosa rugosa bearing very large, handsome fruits. 
This rose is very common in Japan, and has produced 
numerous forms, which have been introduced to cul¬ 
tivation under different names. The B. Ywara is 
one of these forms. 
©trituat^ 
-- f»R. Joseph Kefford, for nearly sixteen 
years gardener to Lord Skelmcrsdale, died at 
Latliom, on November 13tk, aged G2. At 
Lathom House he made himself famous as a fruit¬ 
grower, and numbers of choice Con if era; and shrubs 
were planted by him in the pleasure-grounds. His 
taste for outdoor pursuits was doubtless acquired 
when, as a lad, he worked with his father, the late 
Mr. Richard Kefford, who for a period of twenty- 
five years was gardener of Pampesford Hall. 
— *Hr. John Thomas Willmer, an old 
celebrity in tbe floricultural Avorld, and for forty 
years proprietor of the Sunbury Nursery, died 
on November 20th, at the advanced ago of 93 years. 
He was a true lover of florists’ flowers, and did more 
perhaps than any other man in his time to advance 
and extend the taste for these beautiful objects. He 
was not only the successful raiser of many new 
Dahlias, Tulips, Auriculas, Carnations, Picotees, and 
Pinks, but a most successful exhibitor, having during 
his career won at various exhibitions nearly 400 
prizes in plate and money. In 1847 he obtained her 
pi’esent Majesty’s Royal warrant as florist. Mr. 
Willmer was one of the founders of the first 
Gardeners’ Benevolent Institution. 
— /Hr. Thomas Kettles, gardener to Lady 
M. C. Nisbet Hamilton, at Archerfield, died on 
December 2nd. He was a gardener of first-class 
attainments, and under him Archerfield maintained 
the reputation it had long held, especially in the 
flower-garden department. 
— ftfR. Serjeant Cox died on November 
24tli, in his 70th year. He claims a record 
here as' a true lover of horticulture, who had 
latterly greatly interested himself in the collection 
and cultivation of Orchids. Mr. Serjeant Cox took 
the chair at the last anniversary dinner of the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
— SMilliam Farnell Watson, Escp, J.F., 
of Redlees, Islewortli, died on November 30th, 
aged 53. He was a well-known patron of 
horticulture, and his garden has long been famous 
for its fine strains of Calceolarias and Cinerarias, 
strains that arc almost unique for massiveness nnd 
beauty, in the cultivation of which, his gardener, 
Mr. James, has unfailingly received from his lato 
employer all the assistance and encouragement that 
wealth and a love for flowers could give. The exhi¬ 
bition plants from Redlees were always amongst the 
foremost at the metropolitan shows. 
