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strong for sheep. The centre support between out the game in the general pleasure ground

the pronged standards gives it additional security, rendering it comparatively free from

Hexagonal Wire Netting.

getting uneven. While it is a useful fence, it is also an ornamental one. It is much used in large policies, where it is an object to shut

from the choice flower garden or parterre. It is also used where hedges form a boundary. The latter are generally good enough fences for cattle, but game find their way through the openings on the ground line, and often commit depredation among the choice plants. A wire fence of this kind commands the desired security. Some ornament these fences with training climbers on them, and very suitable ground work for training they are Others prefer to keep them nicely paintedeither way is eye-pleasing. To all who require such fencing, we would recommend them to adopt something after this style, as it has neatness and durability to recommend it.

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NEW AND RARE PLANTS.

THYRSACANTHUS RUTILANS.

ROM time to time, we intend noticing some of the beautiful plants that have been introduced into cultivation, irrespective either of their novelty or their rarity. Properly speaking, some of them might come under the category of neglected plants; others may be rare, but all we shall select will at least be notable. In the rage for novelty, there is a disposition to be led away from a just consideration of old and familiar plants. This cannot be countenanced by those who ask justice, and a fair and equitable consideration of the merits of the old as well as the

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engraving. Thyrsacanthus rutilans, when offered first to the public within the last twenty years, was the subject of much attention, and commanded no little admiration. As time wore on, it was less and less seen in our plant stores, and now it is even pressed out, not of the full catalogues, but of those having a list of selected plants. Why it should be so, we are at a loss to understand. There can be no good reason for discarding it from an or namental point of view, for its graceful drooping racemes of scarlet flowers are about as elegant and showy as can well be imagined. Indeed, among the whole race of tropical flowering plants, it has not a single equal for the temporary decoration of the dining table, when it is under a high state of cultivation. Many, for want of success, that are not spirited enough to persevere, have allowed it to die off in their hands, and thus they have influenced others against it. Give a plant a bad name, and it is scarcely in a better position for safety than the dog. True, the Thyrsacanthus is not so free growing a plant as many. Moreover, it has a disposition to shed its leaves as it grows upward, and so, when the flowering season comes

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a showy, eligible plant then. This non- It is also very subject to be infested persistency of the foliage has had something with scale. This insect is a great pest

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to do with the plant losing a character, in hothouses and where plants of an exotic which it readily received when first shewn. character are grown generally. When, how

New and Rare Plants

CYPRIPEDIUM SUPERBIENS.

53

ever, we have such a useful specific as Bos- rection afterwards turn out but only a partial ton's Ne plus ultra, no one need be at a remedy. loss for keeping insects under without danger to the growth or appearance of the plant. These accumulated ills, as we have already said, told against the popularity of the Thyrsacanthus rutilans, and we wish now to shew how they can, in a measure, be met. We have already given an excellent specific for scale, or coccus, of any kind; and now we have to take measures to guard against the non-persistent leaves. Get healthy young plants to begin with from the nursery. Place them in the mild moist atmosphere of an intermediate stove, not too hot, nor yet too cold. A happy medium is the desideratum. Let the pot in which the plant is growing be plunged in leaves, or tanbark, or gravel, or sand of any kind, to give a little more ground than surface heat, and to prevent too great fluctuations from a drought or moisture point. It will grow away vigorously, and require during the season a little extra growing space. Repot carefully in a good compost, with sufficient sand, and fibre and charcoal, to maintain agood physical state. Pinch out the leading growths to give a branched character to the plant, and don't allow it to flower the first season after it has been made to take on responsibility on its own account. Keep the plant quiet in winter—that is, do not give it either too much heat or too much moisture till spring returns. It only wants light, and a minimum temperature, of say 50 deg., not to impair the constitution. Early in spring, it will reward the grower with flower racemes, quite as plentiful as represented in the engraving, and the foliage will not be destroyed as in old or neglected plants. When done flowering, grow the old plant on in heat, to get cuttings from. So soon as this is done, throw it out to the rubbish heap. It is no advantage to attempt to grow it on a third year. If the reader wishes heathy nice plants, treat this fellow as a biennial, and do not allow it to become sere-looking through inattention by the various checks which plants in general are submitted to, as all the attempts at cor

Chief among the bearded Lady's Slippers is the striking Cypripedium superbiens. It is one of the many fine plants discovered by Mr William Lobb, while collecting for the Messrs Veitch, in Singapore. He discovered this species on Mount Ophir. Although introduced into the country in 1858, it is yet one of the rarest of our Lady's Slippers. That it is singularly beautiful, few will deny. It has foliage very much like that of the common bearded Slipper (C. barbatum), but the ground colour is paler, and the blotches more vivid and distinct. Looking at the flower, the dorsal sepal is broad, as the engraving shews, and is white with lines of pale green, running into a browner hue towards the base. The inferior sepal is of like character. The petals are the most effective portion of the flower, indeed, they give it a prominence which has enhanced its value in the market. They are lanceolate, slightly undulating towards the extremity, of a white ground colour, with brownish green lines, upon which are planted numerous sanguineous spots. The edges are distinctly hirsute, and contrast well with the gouty slipper-like lip. This, like C. barbatum, is dark shaded brown, but much more inflated. The whole of the family of flowers are very persistent, remaining good for three months, in a proper temperature. This one in question we find agrees better with the warm, moist, intermediate temperature of a house kept so, than it does in severe sweltering tropical Archipelagan climate, shewing that its native habitat is evidently at a higher elevation than the flat swamps of Java or Borneo. Growers will find it advantageous to place a few bits of charcoal, and a lump or two of chalky lime in the fibry peat and sphagnum, generally selected as a compost. In this, and under the temperature we have described, near the light, but shaded from the sun, this will grow far better than we usually see it.

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