January 1, 1887. 
THE HARDENING WORLD 
281 
been using in the rooms. It is at all times better for 
the plants if they can be kept changed occasionally 
from greenhouse to room, and vice vcrsd. With care 
and due attention to the management of the plants, 
very small cost need be incurred after the first outlay, 
for the kind of plants most needed for this work are 
those with a hard and substantial foliage. The extra 
cost really required would be in the purchase of a few 
bulbs, &c., to give a little variety to the groups during 
the spring months. My idea of room furnishing is to 
make groups of plants rather than to use them singly, 
and really to hide all pots from view with the foliage of 
other plants. 
For this purpose I should recommend all who would 
wish for success in this work, to grow plenty of Isolepis 
gracilis, Selaginella Kraussiana and the variety aurea, 
and Sibthorpea Europea (the Cornish Moneywort). All 
these make capital plants for edging any groups in the 
winter season. At the back of these I would recoin- 
mend such plants as Ophiopogon Jaburan variegatum, 
An then cum variegatum, Coprosma Baueriana variegata, 
and for filling in the backgrounds, such plants in 
various sizes of the follow¬ 
ing : Lomarias, several va¬ 
rieties ; Grevillea robusta, 
Latania borbonica, Coryphas 
and Chanuerops, with a good 
spreading plant of Seaforthia 
elegans over the top, and 
interspersed amongst all 
might be worked Ardisias, 
Solanums, Ficus elastica, 
Dracienacongestaand rubra ; 
and if a fancy for Ferns were 
to be added, use only such 
as will not be injured by 
the effects of gas and dust. 
A few useful sorts are 
Lomaria Gibba, Polystichum 
setosum, Scolopendriums in 
variety, Cyi'tomium fal- 
catum and Lastrea aristata 
variegata, with others of 
similar constitution. 
For the work of corridors 
and halls, especially where 
they are not exposed to too 
much draught, plants of 
Phormium tenax and P. 
tenax variegatum make grand 
specimens, and being of a 
firm texture, they will last 
a long time in such a place 
without showing any evil 
effects. Ficus elastica may 
also be used with good effect. 
Y,ucca aloifolia variegata 
makes a good hall plant 
where there is plenty of 
space, but I should on no 
account recommend it or 
any of the other varieties of 
Yucca and Agave without 
there is ample room. 
Various-sized plants of 
Araucaria excelsa cannot be 
beat, for their splendid form and habit cannot be sur¬ 
passed. Those that I have named, with a few good 
varieties of the hardier Palms, as Seaforthia, Latania, 
Corypha australis, &c., should be a sufficient selection 
for anyone bent on making good groups of decorative 
plants ; and the majority of the plants named can be 
obtained at reasonable rates, and all depended upon 
for the purpose named. 
Plants in rooms should never be allowed to suffer for 
the want of water ; the general fault is to give them 
too little—a mere dribbling that will not permeate the 
whole ball of soil. This should always be avoided, 
and care taken that sufficient is given at one time to 
soak the whole of the soil. When the plants are 
taken from the rooms to the greenhouse, they should 
always have a good wash with the syringe. This 
cleanses all dust and dirt that may have accumulated 
on the stems or axils of the leaves, and also gives the 
plant fresh vigour to strengthen itself from any loss of 
sap it may have sustained from being confined in the 
rooms. 
Where the use of a greenhouse is not to be had, the 
cultivation of these decorative plants is not to be 
pushed on one side ; for, by the timely application of 
the syringe, the plants can be kept fresh for a whole 
season (the plants in this case should be stood out in a 
kitchen or yard to be washed), and will, I am sure, 
give pleasure to the attendants at many times when, 
perhaps, they might have nothing else to beguile their 
time with. — W. G. 
-- 
THE BLENHEIM ORANGE 
MELON. 
We are reminded by a close reader of these pages 
that we have not given many illustrations of fruits, and 
have, generally speaking, “ neglected the dessert.” Wc 
can but plead guilty to the indictment, and hasten to 
supply the omission. But what shall be the subject 1 
Really good new fruits are scarce, and those that are 
introduced require proving under various conditions 
before it is safe to give them a character. In the case 
of plants that can be easily propagated and grown, the 
merits of a “novelty” are soon proved, and if the 
result is unsatisfactory, why, there is no great amount 
of harm done, and the thing is soon forgotten ; but 
The Blenheim Orange Melon. 
when dealing with fruits the case assumes a very 
different aspect. The required proof of value cannot be 
so quickly obtained ; we have to exercise the virtue 
of patience, and bestow time, attention and money on 
the object of our solicitation, and a failure surely means 
loss and disappointment. Thus it is, that all cautious 
men are careful not to recommend their fellows to grow 
new fruits until they have good and substantial grounds 
for so doing. 
But there are fruits and fruits, and among them 
Melons, delightful and refreshing fruits to most people, 
and quite the reverse to others. Well, among Melons, 
there are good, bad and indifferent; every season brings 
a crop of new ones, and nine times out of ten, after 
about two seasons we hear no more of them. Now and 
again, however, something extra good makes its ap¬ 
pearance, and if in addition to good looks and flavour, 
it has the merit of being a good setter, the new comer 
is installed as a favourite, and is kept in the lists for 
years. Such an one is Carter’s Blenheim Orange, a 
variety which first made its appearance in the autumn 
of 1880. It was raised by Mr. William Crump, now of 
Madresfield Court, when at Blenheim Palace, near 
Oxford, and was one of three sorts only which, in 1880, 
passed the critical test of the Fruit Committee. It is 
a round, handsomely-netted, scarlet-fleshed variety, of 
unexceptionable flavour ; indeed it may truly be said to 
possess all the best qualities of a really good Melon. It 
is, moreover, a constant Melon, keeps fairly true to 
type, and nearly always cuts up well. This, to a great 
extent, is the secret of its popularity—it can be de¬ 
pended upon—and as an exhibition fruit it has few 
equals, for it not only catches the judge’s eye, but nearly 
always pleases his palate better than any other, and so 
more often secures the first prize. Messrs. James 
Carter & Co. had the honour of sending out this 
sterling variety, and it has done them credit. Whether 
it will remain as long a favourite as the Blenheim 
Orange Apple has yet to be proved. 
-- 
CULTIVATION OP CHRISTMAS 
ROSES. 
Some cultivators seem to be under the impression 
that Christmas Roses—even Helleborus niger and its 
varieties—are not sufficiently hardy to withstand our 
winters without protection. 
When labouring under such 
an idea, it is no matter for 
surprise to see them resort 
to various contrivances for 
protecting their plants 
during winter. Having cul¬ 
tivated and observed the 
cultivation of this species of 
Hellebore in various parts 
of the island—even in the 
cold northern parts—1 am 
convinced that more Helle¬ 
bores are destroyed by the 
drought of summer in the 
neighbourhood of London, 
where the rainfall, as a rule, 
does not exceed 21'24 ins. 
annually, than by the cold 
of winter. 
In many a cottage 
garden in the northern 
part of the island, where 
the climate is cooler and 
moister, and the soil never 
suffers that baking to which 
it is subjected in the dry 
south-eastern part of 
England, large clumps of 
the Christmas Rose might 
be seen with masses of flowers 
nestling under the canopy 
of a healthy and luxuriant 
dark green foliage that 
would drive the specialist 
and Christmas Rose fancier 
into ecstacies. These never 
have any but natural pro¬ 
tection afforded them, such 
as the shade and shelter of 
bushes, or even deciduous 
trees ; while, in numerous 
instances, they elbow their 
way amongst ordinary her¬ 
baceous plants in the open border. The whole of the 
evidence points primarily to the conditions that favour 
growth in summer than to protection in winter. If a 
strong and vigorous growth of foliage is induced during 
the growing season, there will be no deficiency of 
flowers in their proper time. The foliage alone would 
afford that protection necessary for the purity of the 
expanding flower-buds. 
The climatal or atmospheric conditions I believe to be 
of great importance with respect to moisture, but in 
some parts of the country where the soil is of a heavy 
or retentive nature and the rainfall considerable, culti¬ 
vators must see that the soil is well drained naturally, 
or render it so. Lime rubble has been found of great 
service in such cases to incorporate with the soil. This 
is not done with the intention of impoverishing the 
earth, as Hellebores delight in a rich, light, well-drained 
soil, with abundance of moisture during the period of 
growth ; and if the cultivator sets about securing these 
conditions he will be able to surmount many difficulties. 
If the root system is confined to a saturated medium, 
the temperature in that case must always be unfavour¬ 
able to the root action necessary for the proper develop¬ 
ment of flowers in the open air. I have observed 
