JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 10, 1870. 



mellias ; whether the flowers or the foliage 13 considered, 

 were fine and extremely vigorous. — Eds.] 



MORE ABOUT POTATOES. 

 An this valuable tuber is now again attracting attention, 

 and as I have removed to a fresh locality, I have determined 

 this year on giving a trial to as many varieties that were new to 

 me aa I could. I had tried previously a good many, had come 

 to the conolUBion that many of them were not worth the trouble 

 of growing, and that with the Ashleaf, Myatt's Prolific, and 

 the Lapstone, one could get on very well, but that a Potato 

 which would follow the latter, and keep on until the new ones 

 came in, was still a desideratum. I must honestly say that I 

 am particular, and that I consider the Lapstone the perfection 

 of a Potato ; it is, however, not a large cropper, and will not 

 auit cold soils or cold climates. I have neither the one nor 

 the other. Round Potatoes, unless for some particular pur- 

 poses, I do not care to grow, but a few have been so strongly 

 recommended to me that I cannot but give them a trial. The 

 following comprise my trial sorts, and I give the sources whence 

 I have been kindly furnished. 



1, Yorkshire Hero 3, Early Upright 



2, Gryfie Castle 4, Bryanstone Kidney 

 The above had been sent to me by my friend Mr. Radclyffe ; 



unfortunately since I had them I have lost several in store by 

 frost, still I have a sufficient number for trial. The first three 

 Mr. Radclyffe has often praised in the Journal, the latter is 

 quite new, as he has stated in last week's Journal ; the two 

 tubers I have look beautifully clean and good. 



5, Rivers's Royal Ashleaf | 6, Early Ten-week 



7, Haigh's Kidney 

 These have been sent to me by Mr. Rivers, and I quite agree 

 with Mr. Fenn, that we must distinguish it by his name still, 

 albeit, the parentage is not his. At Deal I did not like it. 

 This soil may suit it. 



8, Bresee's Climax 10, Ashtop Fluke 



9, Bresee's Early Prolific | 11, Carter's Champion 

 These have come from Messrs. Carter & Co. The first two 



are American. I cannot say that I like their appearauce, but 

 they may be better than they look. Ashtop Fluke looks very 



12, Veitch's Earlv Ashleaf 



13, Shepherd's Early Kid- 



ney 



14, Sultan Pink Kidney 



15, Huntingdon Kidney 



16, Webb's Improved Kidney 



17, Coldstream Early 



18, Mona's Pride 



Messrs. Veitch &: Sons were good enough to send me the 

 above. 16, 17, and 18 I have already grown and condemned. 



19, Harris's Nonpareil | 20, Cutbush's Ringleader. 

 These are new to me, and were sent by my friend Mr. Cutbush, 



of Highgate. 20 I have heard highly spoken of, and it looks 

 like a good early sort. 



21, Headley's Seedling. 



Mr. Headley has left his mark in horticulture ; in Auriculas 

 he has raised the very finest we have in George Lightbody ; in 

 Tulips he has raised a great many very fine varieties ; and as 

 a cultivator he has ever been marked as a foremost man. If 

 the account given of this Potato by Mr. Fryer, of Chatteris, to 

 whom I am indebted for the sample I have, be borne out in 

 other localities, it will enhance Mr. Headley's fame for Potatoes 

 as well as for flowers. 



22, Beaconsfield | 23, Union 



These have come to me from Mr. Turner, of Slough ; the 

 former seems to be a fine strain of Lap3tone, but remains to 

 be proved. 



24, Early Rose 29, King of Potatoes 



20, Victoria 30, Scarlet Prolific 



26, Early Racehorse 31, Belgian Fluke 



27, Golden Blossom 32, Mona's Pride 



28, Early Goodwill 



For these I am indebted to Messrs. Sutton & Sons, of Reading. 

 Of 24 I hear very conflicting accounts, some saying it is utter 

 rubbish, ethers that it is an excellent Potato. My friend Mr. 

 Radclyffe condemns it. 25 I cannot like; it may be good, but 

 all I can eay is, I have never been able to eat it. 26 I con- 

 demned some years ago, but am giving it another trial. Of 

 29 and 32 I may say the same, but they are on trial again. 



My ground is a piece of freshly broken-up pasture of a good 



unctuous loam, not over-stiff, and I expect and believe it will 

 grow Potatoes well, for it stands high and is, therefore, well 

 drained. There is, as will be seen, no lack of varieties, and I 

 shall be very glad if we can find among them a Potato possess- 

 ing these qualities — to be as good in flavour as the Jjapstone, 

 with a better constitution, and keeping up to the time that 

 new Potatoes come in. — D., heal. 



ECHITES NUTANS AND ECHITES RUBRO- 

 YENOSA. 



Echites nutans is a milky-juiced climbing plant with opposite 

 lanceolate leaves, which are generally not more than 3 inches 

 in length, and 1 inch in width. It is well worthy of cultivation 

 on account of its magnificent foliage. 



Although this plant has been in cultivation for several 

 years, and may be obtained very cheaply, yet it is very seldom 

 met with, and very rarely do we see well-grown specimens, but 

 when grown well they form charming objects. The foliage is 

 of great beauty, the ground colour being dark green, marked 

 with a network of crimson veins. 



Echites rubro-vrnnsa. — Of the many finefoliaged plants 

 grown, none that I know equals this in beauty ; so exquisite 

 is the network which covers the leaves, that I think it yields 

 to nothing but the most brilliant of the genus Ana>ctochilus. 

 Its leaves, of a clear emerald- green tint, are intersected and 

 crossed by minute lines of bright red and gold colour, in the 

 style of the species of Anffictochilus. 



My treatment is as follows : — For soil I get a good fibrous 

 peat, pull it to pieces by hand, and well mix it with some 

 good sandy peat, adding a sprinkling of charcoal and silver 

 sand. The plants do well in this compost. It requires good 

 drainage. 



The foliage should never be washed by the syringe or in 

 watering, but the surrounding atmosphere must be kept as moist 

 as possible. Under this treatment the plants grow rapidly. I 

 place a large bell-glass over them to protect them from water. 

 During the middle of the day I shade from too strong sun- 

 light. 



They are difficult to propagate from cuttings. I take the 

 thick fleshy roots and cut them about an inch in length ; these 

 make plants very freely. I make the trellis to which the 

 plants are trained of small hazel rods the shape of the bell- 

 glass, which it very quickly covers. I place the bell-glass 

 on bricks, so that the atmosphere freely circulates all through 

 the foliage.-F. P. L. 



BEET AS A BEDDING PLANT. 



I give my experience of Beet as an ornamental plant in 

 compliance with the request of Mr. Peach, and I hope others 

 will do the same, for I am inclined to think that where Coleus 

 will not bed out Beet stands first among red-leaved plants. 

 As it is becoming fashionable, we may very soon look for great 

 improvements in colour ; I daresay that three years hence we 

 shall be in possession of varieties with leaves even brighter 

 than the young and central ones of Dracaena purpurea. 



March 20th, 1869, I sowed a packet of Dell's Beet and one 

 of Royal Osborne in boxes out of doors ; not a seed of either 

 vegetated. On April 24th I sowed a packet of Royal Osborne, 

 and placed the box in which it was sown on the top of a dung- 

 heap. It came up freely. When large enough to handle I 

 pricked the plants off into pots, placing about six in a 4-inch 

 pot. Early in June I put them in the ribbons and beds ; they 

 grew rapidly, and were the admiration of all who saw them. 

 In colour — crimson purple — in form, and in power of resisting 

 both sun and rain, Royal Osborne Beet is all that can be wished 

 for. Iresine planted close to it had to hide its diminished 

 head. You might see your face in the gloss of the leaves. 

 One bed was planted thus — the centre of Cineraria maritima, 

 then a double row of Beet, a double row of Flower of Spring 

 Pelargonium, and an outer ring of Iresine. Everybody who 

 saw it thought it beautiful. 



One great merit Beet has, is its durability. Coleus, Iresine, 

 Orach, Perilla, vanish — disappear ; but Beet holds on till yon 

 want your ground for bulbs. When I took my plants up, 

 October 18th, they were as bright as ever. I stored them in 

 sand, and I shall plant them out again in the beginning of 

 April, and expect them to make a beautiful edging to beds of 

 Tulips. They are now sending up a number of lovely magenta- 

 coloured leaves at the crown, and would, I am sure, be beautiful 



