Febrnary 27, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTORE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



163 



VINCA MAJOR ELEGANTISSIMA. 



T^p^^^ INCA major elegantissima is one of the most 

 useful and ornamental plants in cultivation ; 

 and so tenacious of life is this hardy trailer 

 that no matter where it is planted, wliether in 

 the herbaceous border, the rockerj', the shady 

 shrubbery walk, or the briglit and cheerful 

 flower bed, it is equally healthy, and, what is 

 more to the purpose, equally in its riglit place. 

 In the last-named position no ornamental- 

 foliaged plant is more useful, or can produce 

 a more pleasing eti'ect than this does when rightly treated. 

 It looks well either as an edging or as a second row, for it 

 is most accommodating in its habit of growth. The leaf, 

 too, is one to which no fair objection can well be taken, 

 possessing as it does that classical outline and richness of 

 colour which are so generally admired and sought after, 

 equalling in ell'ect our most brilliant, golden- leaved Pelar- 

 goniums. 



Possessing such qualities as these, it is a matter of sur- 

 prise that it is not more frequently met with ; possibly the 

 reason is that if it is not planted very early it does not 

 look well the first season, and, therefore, as in most gai'- 

 dens a fi-esh arrangement of colours is required every 



If the Vinca can be introduced into the second year's 

 plan without being removed, it is found to have a richer 

 and better effect than in the first season. I may add that 

 my usual method of propagating this plant is to place a 

 spare frame on a south border in the autumn, to work in a 

 little sand witli the soil, and to prick it full of cuttings. 

 These are rooted by the fallowing spring, when they are 

 transplanted to the nurseiy, and after being stopped twice 

 or thrice, in Yankee parlance, they are "let go." 



.MILKY WHITE TOT.VTO. 



My curiosity was aroused the other day on reading 

 Messrs. Wheeler's advertisement, in which it is stated of 

 this Potato, that " ripening in August, it continues in splen- 

 did condition for cooking all through the autumn, winter, 

 and spring." I at once applied to this the maxim that " the 

 proof of the pudding is in the eating," by having a few 

 cooked, and certainly I was surprised and pleased with 

 the result. The few cooked were as wliitc and mealy as 

 one could wish, having none of that closeness of texture 

 which is almost invariably the case with all first and 

 second early Potatoes when cooked at this season. Now, 

 this is just what is wanted in Potatoes. A good cropper, 

 free from blight, ripening early so as to be lifted before the 

 autumn rains set in (so fatal as they are to the Potato), 



Cloth of Gold Pelargonium. 

 Iresine Herbstii. 



H. Vinca. 



■4. Lobelia speciosa. 



.5. Adonis Pelargonium. 



season, by the time the Vinca has become established, and 

 is ready to display most fully its attractions, it is removed. 



The mode of treatment which I have found to succeed 

 best is to take strong plants with at least a dozen shoots 

 !i inches or more in length : they are carefully taken up, 

 retaining as much soil about the roots as possible, and are 

 planted 1 foot apart in the beds. This is done as early in 

 the autumn as the removal of the other plants from the 

 beds will admit. In the following April the shoots are 

 shortened to within t> inches of their base, and pegged 

 down close to the surface ; they soon start into growth, 

 breaking freely at every joint. 



The young gi-owth is stopped at the first joint, and this 

 pincliing has to be continued during the whole of the 

 summer. The advantage of the pinching is found to be 

 not only keeping the plants to the proper height, but 

 also keeping up a constant succession of young shoots, the 

 pure yellow of which is most effective. 



In the past summer four parallelogram-shaped beds were 

 planted in the manner represented above, and were much 

 admired. The effect of the crimson Iresine placed between 

 the two shades of yellow was very telling. 

 NO. 361.— Vol. XTV., New Seeies, 



and continuing fit for table all tlu-ough the winter, the 

 Milky ■\Vlute must come into general cultivation, and I 

 hope it will prove to be the forerunner of a race possessing 

 qualities which appear to be the only effectual remedy for 

 the blight. 



Now, a word or two on cutting the haulm off Potatoes. 

 Last summer I was strongly advised to cut off' the haulm 

 immediately on the appearance of spot in the leaf, and as 

 I had seen this done by persons cultivating Potatoes more 

 extensively than myself, I resolved to give it a trial. 

 Accordingly I had a rather large breadth of the Red Apply 

 (a very strong-gi-owing kind, brought from Cornwall some 

 fifteen or sixteen years ago), cut down to within li inches 

 of the soil ; after a week or two these Potatoes were taken 

 up, and hardly a tuber was blighted, but the cutting 

 appears to have materially atfected the good cooking 

 qualities of this hitherto excellent winter I'otato, for in- 

 stead of its usual mealy appearance when cooked, it is 

 almost as close and " waxy" as an early kind. I am the 

 more inclined to think this the case, because some White 

 Rocks, of which the liaulm was cut at a somewhat later 

 period, have their cooking qualities affected in some mea- 

 No. lOlS.-VoL. XXXrx., Old Seeieb. 



