SEEDLING FUCHSIAS.

AGAIN we present our readers with an illustration representing some of the productions of our friend, W. H. Story, Esq.

We followed out to the letter our published intention of making coloured memorandums of the best seedlings which reached us during the last season, and figuring the finest, whosever they might be. Of this we gave ample notice; and those who may possess any seedlings which eclipse those here presented, have only themselves to blame for not sending them We were promised a drawing of a light variety we saw at one of the exhibitions, but neither the figure nor flower ever reached us. We allow Mr. Story to describe the character and flowers himself, because they accord with the judgment of our censors on the cover of No. XXIII. for November 1849.

to us.

I am aware of the impossibility of new subscribers obtaining the Volume of the Florist and Garden Miscellany for 1848, and yet I cannot do justice to my subject, or to the many readers who possess it, without remarking that at page 10 of that volume will be found some remarks upon the method I had pursued for a series of years in the attempt to raise something superior in hybrid Fuchsias. Elegantissima and Newtoniensis-two varieties now well known—were the first of the race I submitted to public criticism: I am happy to hear from many quarters that they have given much satisfaction.

The seedlings of 1848 produced a vast number of superior flowers, requiring much consideration, and many consultations with my floricultural friends, in selecting the best for proving a second year. About twenty-five were set apart for this purpose, when, on their second flowering, another council was held, to reduce them to five or six. Ultimately seven, deemed sufficiently distinct to be grown in any one collection, were put aside, care being taken that quality, colour, form, &c. should not be compromised, except in the one instance of that most distinct and novel production, Striata, whose elongated corolla, striped (carnation-like) with a dark rich purple, was considered a new and remarkable feature. Duplex was also thought to possess much novelty, by a cluster of very dark purple leaflets, forming a compact double corolla, somewhat beyond the ordinary proportion to the size of the flower, the colour of the tube and sepals being very brilliant, of great substance, glossy, and smooth. The remaining four, Ignea, Unique, Mirabilis, and South Devon, are noble flowers; smooth, waxy, and brilliant; large fine corollas of the ordinary form, but perfectly distinct from each other. The sepals of Mirabilis are somewhat narrow, but the exquisite form and colour of the corolla more than compensate for that defect. Striata, Duplex, and Multiplex, have proved quite constant.

VOL. III. NO. XXVII.

F

ON THE CULTIVATION OF ACHIMENES.

FEW plants are more interesting than Achimenes, and few better reward the cultivator for his care and skill. We first had A. coccinea, which still keeps a firm hold of our affections; and, indeed, how can it be otherwise,-for who could look on a specimen of it, four feet in diameter, quite round, and covered with little scarlet flowers, and not admire it?

Then came A. longiflora, an equally valuable species; and, if my memory serves me rightly, this was succeeded by A. grandiflora, rosea, some recently introduced species, and hybrids, altogether forming one of the most handsome tribes of plants with which we have to deal.

My mode of cultivating the different species is as follows. As soon as they have done flowering, they are placed under cover in some convenient corner, and watered two or three times, with a view to aid the swelling of the tubers; for they grow for some time after they have done blossoming. They are then allowed to become quite dry, previously to being cut down; the pots are laid on their sides, and piled up one above the other in any snug corner below a stage; but they should not be exposed to a lower temperature than 35°; 40° minimum would be safer. They winter better in the pots they were flowered in, than if taken out and placed in drawers, as under such circumstances they are apt to rot.

With a view to keep up the best series of successions, the first batch of tubers should be started in the beginning of February, the second in the beginning of April, and the third in the latter end of May, or at any time between these periods, according to circumstances; but if excited later than this, they would do little service to the amateur who has not the assistance of a stove.

The tubers (before starting them) should be shaken out of the pots in which they have flowered, placed in small shallow pans, with a little fine earth about them, and transferred to a cucumber or melon frame, in which a temperature of between 70° and 80° is kept up. But if a heat of this kind cannot be obtained, then 60°, with rather an abundance of atmospheric moisture, will suit them equally well. Move the plants from the pans in which they were excited when they are an inch or two in height, and put them into their flowering pots at once. In doing this, the requisite number of tubers is placed at equal distances over the pot,-five is the number we employ for a wide-mouthed 6-inch pot: we prefer this pot to the more upright kind, for it contains a greater surface, and the roots of Achimenes run rather shallow. For growing fine specimens, pans should be used a foot over, and six inches deep, ten plants being employed to fill the pan.

The soil I use is a mixture of turfy loam and peat, with a little well-decomposed cow-dung and silver-sand, all in rather a rough

state, with a good proportion of drainage. In filling the pots, I place the rougher soil at the bottom, and fill up with the finer. The plants are then inserted, with their tubers an inch below the surface. They are watered with a little chilled water (using a fine-rosed pot), to settle the soil about their roots. Thus potted, they are again placed in heat (about 60°), with rather a moist atmosphere, and plunged in a gentle bottom-heat.

Tubers excited in April, and after that, will not require this heat; and even those first started would do without plunging, but I find them to succeed better with it. Where a stove and plunging materials cannot be had, a dung-bed frame, with a gentle bottom-heat, would effect the same purpose; with this precaution, that a little air must be given at night, increasing the supply by day; and in bright weather the plants will require shading, or the action of the sun on their leaves, when covered with the vapour from the bed, will blotch them, which would spoil their beauty. Indeed, however well you treat them afterwards, all of them like a little shade, by which the leaves are kept more healthy, and the flowers brighter, and the latter hang longer. A late vinery, or a greenhouse with creepers up the rafters, suits them very well.

The plants should be stopped back when they have grown four or five inches in height; this causes them to break freely, and makes them handsome. I allow grandiflora to grow about nine inches high before I stop it; this prevents it from making shoots, but it has the tendency of producing a greater abundance of flowers, and, when a pan of it is well tied out, it is a handsome object. I stop-back pedunculata twice, leaving four eyes each time to break from; and I shift them out of the 6-inch pots when the latter become pretty full of roots into a 9-inch size, as I find this is not too large for this variety. In this way I have grown pedunculata with fine effect; its flowers being, in my opinion, little inferior to those of picta. This last-named species seems to be better adapted for winter culture; and when grown in a moist stove, the foliage puts on that beautiful marbling which makes it appear very interesting.

Several of the varieties of Achimenes are subject to mildew. As soon as you see it, attack it with sulphur vivum, which prevents its spreading. On a watchful eye after this, and a few slight fumigations, depends greatly the success of the cultivator.

I may add, by way of conclusion, that where a supply of flowers is required for decorating the drawing-room, conservatory, or greenhouse, during the summer months, the Achimenes are most useful plants; and if persons will attend to the directions I have just given, I have no doubt that the result of their labour will prove satisfactory, T. R.

GROWING SEEDLING GLADIOLI.

THE raising of these fine plants from seed has hitherto not received that attention it deserves. The late Dean of Manchester did much in this way, and with the best results; but nevertheless much yet remains to be effected. It should now be the business of the present growers to put into practice the principles the dean laid down, and, by hybridisation and careful management, to improve on his practice, and introduce such an amount of novelty and beauty into the field as will bring these plants within the pale of Florists' flowers. They possess every inherent quality essential to their reception into that class; and, if we may judge from the comparatively inconspicuous first parents of the now gaudy and highly-developed Pelargonium, the difficulties to be overcome before they can be worthily acceptable will be easily surmounted.

The first step to be considered is, the best means of raising seedlings. About the second week in February, not having a dung-pit here, sticks were placed three feet deep, and eighteen inches wider than the frame intended to be put over them; turfs were used to cover the sticks with, and then the frame was put on. Six inches of soil composed of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf-mould, with a little sand, was put into the frame in a rough state; and on this was sifted about one inch of the same material to form a smooth surface. Drills were drawn in this about half an inch deep and six inches apart, and in these the seed was sown thinly, and covered slightly; the lights were then put on, and were allowed to remain about a fortnight, merely protecting the frame from frost. In the mean time some stable-manure was prepared for linings by turning it two or three times in order to sweeten it, and to prevent it from emitting rank steam or generating too much heat; the lining was placed round the frame and up to its top, about three feet in width, which produced from 65° to 70° of heat in the day. This, with the assistance of solar warmth until the seed vegetates, which will be from a fortnight to a month, according to circumstances, was sufficient. Air and water were given when necessary, and the above temperature was kept up during the day; but it was allowed to be 10° lower at night, and, when necessary, shading was applied. This treatment was continued through the spring and summer months; about August, watering was discontinued, but plenty of air, night and morning, was given, closing the frame in the middle of the day, unless it was very hot.

Under such treatment, about November they will be fit to be taken up, when some of the Cardinalis section will in all probability be found growing again. They will require potting, and placing in a cold frame; and they should be protected during the winter. House the others until they shew symptoms of growth; and should that be before March, pot and place them in the frame with the