122 THE GARDENER. [March 



Daring a short stay last autumn in the Isle of Wight, I had the 

 pleasure of seeing, in an old kitchen-garden, an old Fig-tree Avith per- 

 haps the finest crop of fruit on it I ever saw. It had once been trained 

 to a wall, from which for years its branches had got quite away. The 

 crop was plentiful, rich in appearance, and pleasant to the taste. 

 The rampant character of the branches forcibly reminded me of the 

 Figs I have just described. lioBERT Mackellau. , 



PLANTS SUITABIjE POE, WINTER DECORATION 

 AT MESSRS VEITCH'S. 



Business called me to London in the first week of the new year, and I thought 

 I would try and glean some information that would be useful to the readers 

 of the ' Gardener' : with this object in view, I paid a visit to ]\Iessrs Veitch's 

 Eoyal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. To give a description of these extensive nur- 

 series is not my intention ; I merely made a few notes of some of the most 

 useful plants for decorative purposes at this dull season of the year, and with- 

 out any further preface I place them before your readers. 



"What are called "foliage plants" have been introduced in large numbers of 

 late years, and of this class the Palm holds undoubtedly the first place. They 

 ai-e just as useful in winter as they are in summer, and are adapted for the small- 

 est as well as for the largest houses, and for table decoration they are- always 

 ready when wanted. There is a very large and select collection here ; some 

 of them, can also be obtained at a cheap rate. 



Of the most desirable Palms there is Areca lutescens. Plants of this can 

 be grown 3 feet high in 5 -inch pots; it has elegant pinnate leaves, and is a 

 fine table variety. Areca Verschaffeltii is a noble and graceful Palm, the leaves 

 beautifully arched and pendulous. Geonoma Scottiana is another fine variety 

 well adapted for table decoration. 



Of fan-leaved Palms there is Livistonia altissima and L. rotundifolia, both very 

 beautiful. Stephensonia grandifolia and Verschaffeltii splendida are majestic- 

 growing plants, with very large entire leaves, and are only adapted for large 

 houses. There is here a most beautiful specimen of Cocos Weddelliana. The 

 plant is in an 11-inch pot, is 5 feet high, and as much through the spread of the 

 leaves. This is certainly the most graceful and elegant Palm yet introduced to 

 English gardens ; the stem is slender, leaves pinnate and beautifully arched. 

 Messrs Veitch's plant is now throwing up three flower-spikes. 



Of Palms that succeed in a greenhouse temperature, there is Chamserops ex- 

 celsa, Fortunei, and humilis ; of these, Fortunei has proved to be hardy in some 

 parts of England. There is also a variegated form of the well-known Eaphis 

 flabelliformis, introduced froai Japan, where it has long been cultivated for orna- 

 mental purposes. Seaforthia elegans is a well-known and very beautiful Palm : 

 S. robusta, or Areca Bauerii, a very noble greenhouse variety. 



The Yucca is another plant which forms a distinct and striking feature in the 

 conservatory. There is a large house, light and airy, built on the ridge-and-fur- 

 row principle, entirely devoted to this class of plants. Conspicuous in the back- 



