248 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ November, 
the expanding house, without in any way disturbing the first arrangement. This 
to many will be a great convenience, as in planting young trees the expense of 
a house to cover them need not be incurred until such time as they come into a 
fruit-bearing state. The extent to which this system of protection is being 
adopted is something surprising, and before another spring miles of it will in all 
probability be in use, as, I believe, it is being prepared not by hundreds, but by 
thousands of feet. 
Opinions vary as to whether the front of the preservers should have water- 
gutters or not. I think not, because except in very rare cases no more rain 
falls than is necessary for the use of the trees, and hence to carry it away would 
be a great mistake ; but in cases where the rain-fall exceeds 25 in., especiaUy 
upon heavy soils, I should, as a matter of course, take measures to regulate the 
supply, by carrying away the excess. 
Another point in connection with fruit preservers may be noted, and that is 
the force of the wind as it sweeps across the garden and beats against the wall. 
I have for many years held the conviction that this cold and thirsty wind, beating 
against the tender blossoms, and swallowing up their moisture, does more harm 
than perpendicular frost. To prevent, or at any rate to check, this drain upon 
the resources of the plant, I have long made it a rule to grow a row of early peas, 
5 ft. to 6 ft. in front of and parallel with the wall, and these thickly staked at 
the back with fir branches, formed a screen which broke the force of the wind, 
and to some extent supplied it with moisture. This management, even with 
ordinary protection, I always found advantageous, and no doubt it will be more 
so in connection with the fruit preservers. It is scarcely necessary to remark 
that these preservers are manufactured in connection with the patents taken out 
by Mr. Ayres, to whom I am indebted for the illustrations. Fig. 2 shows the 
addition, suggested by the dotted lines referred to above, merely as a glass case; 
while in fig. 3 the Preserver is converted into a permanent erection,—a Fruit- 
house of the very best description.—W. N., Newark , Notts. 
STATICE PROFUSA. 
M HOUGH much cultivated in Scotland, this fine hybrid Statice is not so 
aKP frequently seen in the hands of English cultivators as its merits deserve. 
K£\l Some fine plants have, however, lately made their appearance on the ex- 
hibition tables, so that we may look for it to gain admirers, as it becomes 
more familiar to the public eye. The plant is of hybrid origin, its parents being 
S. puberula and S. Halfordii , the latter a garden plant, less robust than S. 
macrophylla , but partaking of the character of that species, from which it appears 
to have originated. S. profusa is intermediate in size and habit between its 
parents, being larger in growth, and having longer leaves and taller stems than 
puberula , and being smaller than Halfordii , with the leaves much narrower in 
outline. It was raised in the Lothians, and made its first public appearance in 
England some ten or eleven years ago, at one of the exhibitions of the Royal 
