April  20,  1S90. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  OARDENEK 
319 
-  (jERIiKRA  Jamesoxi. — In  reading  your  Journal  of  ihe  i:Uli 
inst.  I  saw  the  answer  to  “  F.  C.”  rc  the  above  plant,  and  as  I 
happen  to  have  several  plants  which  I  can  spare  I  thought  it  might  he 
■worth  while  to  write  to  you.  I  have  sold  several  plants  to  Messrs.  Hugh 
IjOw  &  Co.  (who  showed  one  before  the  Iloyal  Horticultural  Society 
recently),  the"  ICarl  of  Scarbrough,  Hishop  of  Salisbury,  and  others. 
The  reason  I  have  some  plants  is  that  a  brother  of  mine  in  Africa  saw 
the  plant,  and  sent  me  some  seeds.  I  intend  advertising  plants,  both  in 
bloom  and  out. —  Hedley  II.  Coo.Mits. 
-  Fcheveria  METALLICA. — 'I'his  bold  member  of  the  Cotyledon 
tribe  is  known  by  many,  but  grown  by  few.  It  is  an  effective  plant  for 
the  centre  of  carpet  beds,  or  wherever  a  conspicuous  object  is  required  ; 
but  the  difficulty  I  have  e.xperienced  is  to  propagate  it,  though  perhaps 
other  readers  and  growers  may  have  been  more  successful.  For  some 
years  I  grew  about  a  dozen  stock  plants,  which  were  annually  planted 
out  in  the  summer,  lifted  in  the  autumn,  potte  i  and  stored  in  a  cool  house- 
Scarcely  any  water  was  given  during  the  winter,  but  the  plants  kept  in 
good  condition.  When  they  got  leggy  through  losirg  their  lower  leaves 
the  sterns  were  cut  off  at  planting  time,  and  though  the  plants  were  put 
out  with  scarcely  any  root  they  never  ajrpeiired  to  suffer,  anrt  when  lif.ed 
they  had  agrin  thrown  out  abundance  of  fibres,  Numerous  offsets  were 
.put  in  with  the  idea  of  [irojiagation,  but  invariably  they  ran  away  to  flower 
spikes  and  failed  to  make  [ilaiits. — H. 
-  Is  T.ME  CRt)Tf)N  Deceixing  — Perhaps  I  shall  get  pulled  up 
•short  by  Croton  lovers  for  suggesting  such  a  thing,  but,  like  Rose  Dartle, 
I  only  ask.  I  often  think  it  must  be  so,  for  there  does  not  seem  to  be 
anything  like  the  same  interest  taken  in  these  gaily  tinted  foliage  plants 
as  was  the  case  some  years  ago.  Possildy  the  decline  of  the  popularity 
-of  specimen  plants  has  had  something  to  do  with  it,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  tints  of  the  Croton  do  not  appeal  to  growers  as  they  did  of  3  ore.  I 
think  the  surest  sign  of  the  decline  of  any  plant  is  the  absence  of  new 
forms.  I  remember  when  there  v/as  a  kind  of  run  on  now  Crotons,  but 
'though  I  con  the  reports  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  closely  I 
have  s<'en  no  account  recently’  of  a  new  Croton  gaining  an  award,  or  even 
facing  put  forward  for  one.  Perhaps  the  cut  flower  demand  has  sjjoiled 
the  Croton’s  chances  in  private  establishments,  for  the  platit  requires 
«tove  temperature  and  a  good  deal  of  attention,  while  its  chief  use  is  for 
■table  decoration. — G. 
-  Ca.meleia  RETictJEATA. — For  three  or  four  weeks  at  the 
latter  end  of  March  and  beginning  of  April  the  large  specimen  of  this 
species,  growing  in  the  temperate  house  at  Kew,  makes  a  gorgeous 
-display  every  year.  At  the  present  time  it  is  at  its  best,  and  is  worthy  a 
-visit  from  anyone  interested  in  greenhouse  plants.  Although  ncjt  so 
jiopular  as  C.  japonica  and  its  varieties,  it  has  merits  which  warrant  it 
more  general  cultivation,  and  as  these  become  recognised  it  will  doubtless 
be  used  freed}’  for  the  decoration  of  large  houses,  in  general  appearance 
it  has  a  looser  and  more  graceful  habit  than  C.  japonica,  with  longer 
more  acuminate  leaves,  and  larger  flowers.  In  the  typical  plant,  which 
grows  wild  in  the  woods  of  Hong  Kong,  the  flowers  are  single,  those  cf 
the  Kew  plant  being  semi-double.  When  fully  open  they  measure 
from  b  to  7  inches  across,  and  closely  resemble  the  flowers  of  a  tree 
Pijcon}’.  They  are  rich  rose  coloured,  and  are  set  off  by  a  mass  of 
bright  yellow  stamens  in  the  centre,  which  mingle  with  the  petals.  It 
has  been  in  cultivation  for  a  long  time,  a  figure  being  given  in  the 
“  Botanical  Magazine,”  t.  2787,  as  long  ago  as  1827. — IJ. 
-  Profit  IX  Paemh. — “I  look  upon  these  as  a  safer  investment 
than  freehold  property,”  said  one  of  our  best  known  market  growers  to 
me  recently  when,  after  looking  through  some  score  or  so  of  houses  filled 
with  them,  I  touched  upon  the  financial  side  of  the  question.  And  there 
is  no  doubt  he  was  quite  right.  A  house  of  Palms  is  one  of  the  easiest  to 
keep  in  order  if  up  to  date  methods  of  culture  are  practised,  and  each  year 
all  the  jiopular  decorative  kinds  increase  in  size  and  therefore  in  value. 
Another  firm  of  grow'crs  in  Middlesex  has  several  houses  filled  with 
Kentias  of  the  more  popular  kind  ;  tens  of  thousands  of  plants  in  various 
sizes.  One  of  the  firm  assured  me  that  they  were  still  understocked,  and 
if  the  right  class  of  “stuff”  was  on  the  market  they  would  be  buyers  to  a 
large  extent.  The  demand  for  these  is,  in  fact,  unceasing  and  seemingly 
unlirnitable  ;  and  with  all  theory  out  about  the  unhealthy  London  fogs,  it 
is  a  remarkable  thing  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  decorative  plants 
are  grown  within  a  tew  miles  of  the  metropolis.  Fog  or  no  fog,  there  it 
is  grown  and  from  there  it  is  distributed  throughout  the  l.md.  Our  jmo- 
•vincial  nurserymen  rely  on  London  stuff,  though  possessing  equal  facili¬ 
ties  for  growth,  and  for  Palms  alone  much  money  is  annually  spent  by 
them  that  by  growing  the  right  class  of  material  might  be  kept  in  their 
own  pockets, — II,  li. 
-  IIviiRii)  .Musks. — With  the  excentlon  of  Harrison’.s  Musk, 
which  has  been  so  universally  grown,  and  is  known  by  all,  the  only 
real  hybrid  Musks  1  have  known  were  three,  (juito  distinct,  raised  b}’ 
the  late  Mr.  Clapham,  who  employed  on  the  common  .Musk  pollen 
from  Mimulus  cupreus,  and,  1  think,  .M.  lutea.  (3..“rtainly  his  major 
hybrid  was  a  fine  yellow,  lar;'e  in  bloom  as  Harrison’s,  but  clear  in  hue. 
Then  there  was  a  very  dwarf,  compact,  large-flowered  yellow  form,  and 
one  e.^actly  similar  in  habit,  but  having  flowers  of  a  cop])ery  red.  I'his 
was  certainly  one  of  the  cupreus  cross.  1  grew  and  proj)agated  thes(? 
for  several  years  at  Bedfont,  but  do  not  know  whether  they  are  still  in 
commerce.  Like  Harrison’s,  they  were  sterile,  no  fertilision  with  other 
pollen  jiroving  productive  of  seed.  Had  Mr.  Clapham  been  alive  he 
could  have  furnished  much  valuable  information  to  the  Chiswick 
Conference — A. 
-  Whex  Feowers  Sl.EEi*. — Foliage  for  the  most  part  sleeps  by 
night  only  ;  but  flowers  take  casual  naps  now  and  again  when  danger 
looms  in  the  daytime,  d’his  is  only  what  one  might  expect,  for  the 
flower  is  usually  the  part  of  the  j)lant  which  does  the  most  varied 
external  business  and  holds  the  most  specialised  intercourse  with  th<“ 
rest  of  nature.  The  leaf  has  relations  with  the  sun  and  the  air  alone  ; 
but  the  flower  has  to  attract  and  satisfy  all  sorts  of  fastidious  and 
capricious  insect  as^istants  ;  it  has  to  firodm-e  pollen,  hone}’,  and  seeds  ; 
it  has  to  provide  for  its  own  fertilisation  and  that  of  its  neighbours  ; 
hence  it  may  have  to  wake  or  sleep  in  accordance  with  the  convenience 
of  the  outer  world,  just  as  a  railway  porter  or  a  club  servant  must  get 
uj)  and  go  to  bed,  not  when  he  chooses  himself,  but  when  his  ernployer.s 
choose  to  make  him.  The  rule  with  flowers  is  this  :  they  ojicn  the  shop 
when  cuslorneis  are  most  likely  to  drop  in,  they  shut  it  when  there  is 
nobody  about  and  when  valuable  goods  like  honey  and  pollen  run  a  risk 
of  getting  dama'ied.  — (Grant  Allen  in  the  “Strand.”) 
-  ViOEAS. — It  is  great  advantage  in  the  employment  of  those 
dwarf  growing  plants  in  summer  bedding  arrangements  that  being  hardy 
they  <;an  be  jilanted  out  where  to  bloom  in  April,  and  thus  get  well 
established  some  time  before  the  tender  plants  are  put  out.  But  for 
spring  planting  none  are  better  than  are  those  grown  from  cuttings  put 
into  a  frame  or  shallow  boxes,  or  under  hand-lights  in  September,  as 
they  not  only  root  freely  during  the  winter,  but  because  entirely  from 
young  tops  make  more  liberal  growth  than  do  old  or  separated  plants. 
Violas  for  summer  bedding  are  preferably  used  as  carpets  on  which 
various  taller  or  decorative  [dants  grow.  Occasionally  pinched  to  induce 
the  formation  of  fresh  flowering  shoots,  and  especially  with  the  seed  pods 
regularly  gathered,  flowering  goes  on  over  a  very  long  season.  Probably 
no  plants  continue  to  bloom  longer  and  need  so  little  trouble.  '1  hen  Violas 
associate  admirably  with  other  plants  in  mixed  beds.  But  for  this  purpose 
the  looser  habited  growers -and  few  are  more  charming  than  Uuche^s  of 
Sutherland  or  Archie  Grant— do  admirably,  as  they  send  up  their  long 
shoots  to  intermix  with  other  plants  so  pleasingly,  although  any  variety 
grown  under  such  conditions  will  of  necessity  have  greatly  elongated 
shoots. — A.  Ki.ng.stox. 
-  Flturr  I’ROSi’ECTS,  —  The  showery  weather,  with  occasional 
gleams  of  sunshine,  seems  to  be  favourable  to  bloom  expansion,  for  whilst 
it  opens  slowly,  certainly  it  is  doing  so  strongly,  and  at  this  moment  of 
writing  the  earlier  Plums  are  as  white  as  snow.  There  will  be  no  fear 
of  harm  from  frost  whilst  the  showers  and  the  (doud  remains,  and  showers 
do  not  seem  to  check  fertilisation,  indeed  they  rather  aid  it.  Showers> 
too,  will  help  leaf  expansion,  and  tend  to  keep  the  young  foliage  from 
early  attacks  by  aphis.  Cold,  dry,  harsh  wind.s  encourage  these  pests 
material  y.  The  late  rains  have  thoroughly  moistened  the  roots,  and  should 
prove  helpful  in  inducing  the  fruit  presently  to  swell  rapidly.  The  other 
day  I  was  asked,  Doe.s  exceeding  abundance  of  bloom  on  trees  tend  to 
check  fertility,  seeing  that  poor  crops  so  often  follow  upon  great  bloom 
Also,  can  anything  be  done  to  correct  this  trouble  by  thinning  the  bloom 
I  replied  first  to  the  latter,  that  something  might  be  attempted  to  correct 
the  trouble  referred  to  in  the  previous  question  by  pinching  out  on  a  bush 
or  wall  tree,  or  any  other  tree  that  could  be  thus  controlled,  one-half  of 
the  flower  trusses,  but  not  tearing  away  the  woody  spurs  ;  that  would 
materially  relieve  the  tree  of  a  great  burthen,  assuming  that  a  heavy 
bloom  was  so  great  a  burthen  to  a  tree  that  it  rendered  fertilisation  through 
poverty  in  pollen  protluctioii  difficult.  It  is  a  direction  in  wiiich  many 
perrons  may  well  experiment,  and  it  would  be  a  very  practical  experiment. 
We  are  too  apt  to  regard  a  huge  bloom  on  fruit  trees  ’with  complacency, 
without  stopping  to  imiuire  what  its  general  cfl'ect  may  be  on  the  tree. 
Gooseberries  and  Currants  usually  bloom  regularly  and  evenly,  hence 
they  fruit  regularly,  but  Apple,  Fear,  and  Blum  tnes  in  particular 
commonly  go  to  extremes.  'I'he  variations  oftentimes,  diverse  as  they 
are,  give  us  the  same  barren  results. — A.  lE 
