THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 255 



The seed-vessels are ripe about mid-winter, and are then cut off with their twigs, 

 ■with a sharp knife attached to a long pole. The capsules are gently pounded, to 

 loosen the seed from the shells, and then sifted, to separate the sebaceous matter 

 with which the seeds are enveloped. They are placed iu bamboo sieves over 

 cauldrons of boiling water until thoroughly heated, then reduced to a mash in a 

 mortar, and removed to other sieves placed over hot ashes. The article procured 

 from these runs through and forms a solid mass. This is again heated, and poured 

 into moulds formed with bamboo hoops, three inches deep and twelve inches iu 

 diameter. These are laid on a little straw, and when full a thin layer of straw is 

 laid on the top. When the cakes are of a proper consistence, they are placed in a 

 rude kind of press, and subjected to sufficient pressure to cause the tallow to 

 ooze out. This is again melted, and then poured into tubs smeared with mud, to 

 prevent it adhering to the sides. When cold it is quite white, tasteless, very hard, 

 and ready for market. It is sent to market in masses of about eighty pounds, 

 generally realizing about five cents per pound. An oil, worth about three cents per 

 pound, is obtained from the kernels of the nuts. This is used for burning in lamps, 

 also for several purposes in the arts, and is supposed to have the virtue of changing 

 grey hair to black ; therefore it has a place in the Chinese pharmacopoeia. 



Eucomis Culture. — Ignoramus. — Give them liberal supplies of weak manure- 

 water now that their flower-spikes are pushing up, and keep close to the glass, with 

 plenty of air. After the beauty of the flowers is past, gradually dry them off, and 

 stack the pots on their sides until spring, and then shift into larger pots and place 

 in coid frame. A compost of good turfy loam, mixed with a small proportion of 

 manure or leaf-mould, will giow them to perfection. To increase the number of 

 plants, simply separate the bulbs. 



Propagating Bedding Geuaniums. — TV. TV. TV. — All these strike best in an 

 outdoor border. It is a mistake to keep them coddled in frames, as is frequently 

 done, both by amateurs and professionals. Dig the border, and then tread it, to 

 enable you to fix the cuttings firmly, and then dibble them in about two inches 

 apart each way. "When the young roots are about an inch in length, take them up, 

 and pot singly in three-inch pots, if you have room to house them in that way. If 

 not, put three in each pot, and pot off singly in the spring. It is a bad plan to let 

 the cuttings grow too much before taking up and potting, as they then feel the shift 

 and experieuce a severe check. Guard against over-watering in the winter, and in 

 the cutting-bed only give sufficient to prevent the leaves flagging. A sunny border 

 is preferable, and no shading is required. 



Striking Bedding Plants. — An Amateur. — The sooner you set about getting 

 up a stock of bedding plants for next year the better, as they will now root freely in 

 a cold frame, and leave plenty of time for them to get strong and well hardened by 

 winter. It is a matter of indifference whether you use pots or pans ; in either case 

 let them be well drained and filled with light soil mixed witli a liberal proportion of 

 sand, and a thin layer of sand on the top. This done, insert the cuttings, give them 

 a sprinkle, and place the pots in a cold frame. Shade from the sun until they 

 callus and keep close. The frame must be aired sufficiently to prevent the atmos- 

 phere becoming stagnant. A little observation will show how much air is necessary, 

 and remember that the lights must not be opened wide enough to cause the foliage 

 to droop. 



Rapid Production of Sea Kale. — R. N. B. — There is not the least occasion 

 to occupy a plot of ground with sea kale beyond one season in order to have fine 

 heads for forcing or to cut from in the open ground. If you will follow our advice to 

 the letter, the luxury of sea kale will cost you next to nothing. You will have 

 plenty of time to think about it, because the planting we shall recommend should be 

 done m March. Prepare by deep digging and abundant manuring a sufficient extent of 

 ground — this must be well done ; the ground must be rich enough to grow cauli- 

 flowers, and must be well broken up. Good stable manure is the best possible material 

 wherewith to enrich the bed, and if it is not very rotten all the better — in fact, it 

 may be quite green. Get some sea kale roots that have been forced, or obtain some 

 freshly dug from a plantation with all the lesser roots, such as we may call the tails 

 or thongs attached to them. It the lesser roots have been removed so that short 

 club-like stumps only remain, they will not answer so well, because we are to depend 

 upon these tails from plants, unless roots with tails attached are quite beyond our 

 reach. Prepare a sufficient number of what we shall now call thongs, from these thin 



