282 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ April 9, 1868. 



with Tonr address, and order " Heating, by R. Fisb." you will have it 

 sent free by post. It contains very full information on the subject. 



CttiBiR Bean ( JZcrficiii).— The most accessible account is in that e!i- 

 cellent work of reference now completed, "Chambers's Encyclopsedia, 

 from which we extract the folloxrint' :-" Calabar Bean, a very remarkable 

 medicinal agent, which has just been introduced into the new edition of 

 Se "British Pharmacopa-ia" (1867). It is the seed of Physostigma 

 venenosum, a twiniuK, half-shrubby plant, a native of Western A rica, of 

 the natural order Le?uminos.T?. sub-order Papihonaceas, nearls allied to 

 the Kidney Bean, but of a genus distinguished by the hood-shaped stigma, 

 and the deeply furrowed hilum of the seed. The following are the lead- 

 in" characters of the Bean itself. ' About the size of a very large horse 

 bean with a very firm, hard, brittle, shining integument, of a broB-nish 

 red iale chocolate, or ash grey colour. Irregularly kidney-shaped, with 

 two flat Bide?, and a furrow running longitudinally along its convex 

 margin, ending in an aperture near one end of the seed. ■S\ ithm the 

 shell is a kernel, consisting of two cotyledons, weighing on an average 

 about forty-sLx grains, hard, white, and pulvensable, of a taste like that 

 of the ordinary edible leguminous seeds, without bitterness, acrimony, or 

 aromatic flavour. It yields its virtues to alcohol, and imperfectly to 

 water ' It is used in the form of an emulsion by the natives of Africa, as 

 an ordeal when persons are suspected of witchcraft. About twelve years 

 a"o Dr. Christison very nearly fell a victim to his zeal for science in ex- 

 perimenting on some specimens of this Bean which had been sent to 

 Edinburgh by some African missionaries. In twenty minutes after taking 

 twelve g?ains of the powdered seed, be was seized with giddiness and u 

 treneral feelin" of torpor; on which he took an emetic, and thus emptied 

 his stomach The giddiness, weakness, and faintness, however, increased 

 fy, snch a deirree that the phvsicians who were called in found him pros- 

 tot^and pale! with the hLut and pulse very feeble and irregular, and 

 the faintness so "reat as to threaten immediate death, the mental facul- 

 ties remaining perfectly clear. Ho complained of no p.ains or uneasy 

 feeUngs nor did the faintness of the heart's action give him any discom- 

 fort Under the use of stimulants, warmth, pulsation, and the power of 

 moving graduallv returned, and the next day he was quite well. In 

 1854 fiftv children were poisoned by eating these Beans, which were 

 swept ont of a ship at Liveniool. A boy aged six years, who ate six 

 Beans died verv rapidlv. It has been tried medicmally in small doses 

 lone to four grains of the powder, or one-sixteenth to one-fomth of a grain 

 of the extr ict) in chore.!, tetanus, and other diseases of the nervous system ; 

 but its value as an internal medicine can hardly be said to be as yet 

 established. Its principal use at present is to produce contraction of the 

 nnnil This can be done bv introducing into the eye either a minute 

 miantity of the extractor of paper, or gelatine rolled in a sheet, saturated 

 with the extract, and divided into small squares, one of which is sufli- 

 cient to produce the. desired effect, which commences m about ten 

 minutes, and lasts for about twenty hours. It is regarded as a very 

 valuable addition to our ophthalmic remedies." 



NtjRSEHYMEN (B. M.I.— We never recommend tradesmen. The plants 

 could be supplied by any nurserymen who advertises in our columns. 



Portable Boiler for Conservatory (G. .f. ff.).— Any of the portable 

 boilers advertised in our columns would suit your purpose. A small 

 saddle-back boiler, if fixed in the passage beneath the conservatory, would 

 also suit the puqiosc. Two 4-inch pipes in front of the house would keep 

 out frost. We do not much fancy two inch pipes, but three d-mch pipes 

 would do, and would heat sooner. However placed, the pipes wiU be an 

 eyesore on the floor so paved with ornamental tUes. We would have had 

 all the heating medium beneath the floor. We presume you will have 

 no difficulty in taking the smoko from the boiler or stove m the passage. 

 The simplest plan of all to heat such a house would be to make a brick 

 ^- ^ -■. *-- ' ' * ;*• bmld a chamber all 



ti- 



wall 



have 



stove in the passage, with smoke funnel from it^ 



round, with 6 inches of an opening, and from that chamber bave an 

 openiM for the heated air to rise into the house. The walls of a dwelling 

 house give great protection. In a glass case nearly double the width o 

 voors and not quite so loftv. Scarlet Pelargoniums stood for the last and 

 ihe preceding winter without any artificial heat, except opening the door 

 that led from the U\-ing-room for an hour in a very cold night. A gas 

 stove in the house would give least trouble, as it could be taken away 

 from the middle of March to the end of October; and a stove for the 

 burner at one end, and the heated air passing through a pipe to the other, 

 would be the simplest. For the whole system of heatmg by gos, see 

 plans and explanations in a recent nnmber. It is well to think of heatmg 

 before laying the floor down. The stove would be the simplest, and an 

 opening m the floor if near the middle of the house would be sutheieut to 

 keen out frost. One objection to such stoves is. that tbey will not draw 

 vrith a long horizontal pipe unless that is taken to a lofty chimney. If 

 vou disliked a brick stove vou could have a small iron stove, with funnel 

 tor smoke, 4c., and sunoiind it with a case of sheet iron, after leaving a 

 vacant space all round. Some stones and gravel could be placed m the 

 lower part of this space, and if that were kept moist the heated air that 

 passed through the small grated opening, say a niches square, would be 

 as humid as desirable. Better still, a vessel of water could be placed, not 

 on the top of the stove, but 2 -or 8 inches from it ; and the dry air would 

 be sufficiently moistened without being too much satm-ated before enter- 

 ing the house. 



Shutting up Stoves. &c. {C. P.).— The time for shutting up forcing 

 and orchard houses depends on the weather and what is wanted. As to 

 the orchard house, we shall have remarks next week. GeneraUy houses 

 are kept open too long. Sun heat is the best and cheapest heat. In such 

 weather as we have had in the last days of March and the beginnmg of 

 April from three to four o'clock would be a good time. In a range of 

 houses with a wall at each end, we generally shut up the west end first- 

 say about three o'clock, the east end latest, and the intermediate dmsions 

 accordingly. Supposing vour night temperature to be 65' or 70 , we 

 should not object to tlie temperature of the house rising to SO or 8o' with 

 sun heat after being shut up. in close-glazed houses we would shut off 

 the bulk of the air earlv in the afternoon did we even leave a little air on 

 all night, and this we would do where fuel is cheap. By leaving on full 

 air until five or six o'clock vou must use much more fire heat ; or by 

 shutting up then vou will have as high a temperature in the evening and 

 at night as you had in the afternoon ; whilst the teaching of natm-e would 

 say. Proportion your heat to the sunhght. 



White Marseilles Figs Fallikg (J. S. Gordon).— Yon should have 

 told us how you grow your Figs. If in pots, they will cast some fruit 

 every time the soil becomes dry. They will do the same if grown la a 



narrow border. If von have given plenty of water, and not so much as to 

 make a morass froin nndrained soil, and they still drop, ringthe branches 

 by slipping out one-eighth of an inch of bark some distance below the 



RriiBOM Border IWestm:mter).—'We presume yon mean seeds that yon 

 can sow at once; then the following would look well, beginning at the 

 back or north side of the 4-feet border— viz., first row. Blue Branching 

 Larkspur ; second row. Prince's Feather, or Love-lies-bleeding ; ( hird row, 

 Coreopsis Drummondi ; fourth row, Silene pendula ruberiima. 



PELARGONims (Homunculu*).— Both of your two lists. It anything. 

 Lucy Grieve would tnm the scale. It is a lovely phlnt. Victoria Rcgina 

 is also good. 



Vines ( IF. H. T.).— Your proposed Vines in pots are well selected. We 

 would plant out thiee Black Himbnrghs, one Buckland Sweetwater, one 

 Royal Muscadine or one Bowood Muscat. For the late vinery we would 

 have three Hambuighs as proposed, two Lady Downe's, one Calabnau 

 Raisin, and one Bowood Muscat. 



Graftiho Hollies inrr).— Your Green Hollies about the thickness of a 

 lead pencil would answer well for grafting, and no time should be lost in 

 performing the operation. You may graft them close to the ground, and 

 after claving draw the earth to the stocks so as to cover the clay. It 

 would not do to take the stocks up and graft them before planting. They 

 should be left where thev have been for the past twelve months. Whip- 

 grafting is the best. If newly planted, we fear the grafts would not take, 

 but we have not tried it. 



Wire Trellis for Stone Wall (A. O. H.).— The sloping buttresses will 

 not prevent your having horizontal wires. As the buttresses only reach 

 about half-wav np the w.^ll, the upper part can very easUy have horizontal 

 wires fixed, and a straining plate of iron will only be required at each 

 end for that part of the wall, and between each buttress you have only to 

 put the same number of straining plates, close to each buttress, and you 

 will thus treat the space between each as if the wall terminated there. 

 The buttresses, of course, will not be wired. It wiU be less costly to wire 

 the wall horizontaUv than verrticaUy. For the latter you will reqmre a 

 plate of iron at the 'top and along the bottom of the wall, and the mre.s 

 must be put up perpendicularly. The expense wiU be about double that 

 of horizontal wires, and in our opinion the trelhs will not be so good for 

 lining You may have diamond-meshed treUises that would cover the 

 all to a nicety, and if ^vith 4-inch meshes they answer very well. We 

 are a trellis of this kind, and it looks well. It is thus made : qnarter- 

 inch wire all round serves to form a frame, and from this the wires, ^o. 1 J, 

 run obli(iuely and form -l-inch lozenges. It is galvamsed, and fixed to the 

 wall with holdfasts. 



Lifting Pyramid Pear Trees (I<km).-So long as the trees remain 

 fruitful, making no gross growths, and forming bloom buds plcntifuUy, it 

 is not necessary nor desirable to Uft and root-prune them ; but if they 

 grow very vigorously, and make a quantity of wood that cannot b^ 

 stopping or summer-pruning be induced to form flow-er buds, then lifting 

 won d be desirable, as it checks growth and tends to encourage the for- 

 mation of fruit buds. In your soU we should thmk liftmg would not he 

 often required, if at all. 



Repotting Ferns {PerpUxit,j).-The best time to repot Ferns is March 

 or when they arc recommencing growth November and December arc 

 the worst months in the year for repotting Ferns. liepotting at that 

 time woiUd no doubt help to canse their death ; but we think their being 

 ke.it in a cold vinery would be sufficient to canse the desti-nction of such 

 kinds as Nephrolepis, which need a temperature of not less than 4o- at 

 night. If kept in a cool house they should not have much water -no more 

 than enough to keep them fresh. 



PocRixo Water on Hot-watek Pipes in Fernery (B. R. f-'-I"^ 

 a bad practice, and worse than useless for the destrnction of the mealy 

 bu" The black fungus will disappear when the mealy bug is destroyed. 

 Instead of pouring water on the pipes we would advise you to spnnkle 

 the floors, walls, and every available surface with water twice daily, morn- 

 ing and evening, keeping them always moist, but avoid wetting the fronds 

 of the Ferns. As to the mealy bug, we would lay all the plants mfested 

 on their sides, and svTinge them forcibly on the under side of the fronds 

 with water at a temperature of l-30°, turning them ronnd. A few -aash- 

 in.'s will, prob.ablv, clear the plants, and they may be kept clean aftei- 

 wards by going over them frequently with a moist sponge and wiping ofl 

 Ivery trice of the mealy bug. You may by pouring water on the W- 

 tater pipes so damage the fronds of the Ferns that a twelvemonths 

 "rowth will be required for their recovery. 



' Leaves Fohwing Bdds (licm).— You will find a full cxplsnation of the 

 theoiy of propagation by eaves, for which we cannot afford space, m 

 Johnson's " Science and Practice of Gardening," pages 268 to 277 inclusive. 

 You can have the book post free from our office for 3s. Wd. in stamps. 



Birds rerm-s Polyanthcses iF. P. G.).-The only plan we know of 

 that win keep tbem off is to put in small sticks, and about 9 '"ches out 

 of thi ^oun'd,and stretch black worsted i\''Z "''% .ZllrLftZ 

 1 double Une of worsted along each hue of plants. We find it best to pat 

 the Uneso? worsted about inches from the plants on each side, crossing 

 the worsted from stick to stick as weU as stretching it strais-ht along the 

 rotr It is placed 8 or 9 inches from the gi-onnd. We find this effectual. 

 Hyacinths after Flowering [A. ff.).-The plants should be kept in 

 the pots in a light airv position in a cool house or frame until the foliage 

 is well rinene Thc^ought not to be exposed to frost, and should be 

 weUsunnlied with water ; when the foliage turns yeUow gradually dis- 

 " n mrwa'teriig ; withhold water altogether wb™ '^^^ °>,'»ej;»X"''^i 

 When it is completely so, turn the plants «"' ?« '^e pots, ^'"''^«/\^y^»'^ 

 the soil and place them on shelves in a cool airy shed to dry. "hen 



thnroiohlv dried remove the dead leaves, old roots, and aU offsets, 

 thoroughly anea remove ^j^^^^ jj_^ 



iiaii> tieoajBu ic«i lu , : , ,i,„ winter, and be neatly pointed-m in 

 ^^ fh'°'Yr,^mreby'\u°'ihlt we'doVot advise the j;o^«ing of Hya- 

 duths'in po?s the second year ; but we consider them verj- desirable and 

 fine for out-door decoration. 



SowivG Passiflora eduus Seed (.4dal.-The seed should now be sown 

 in poisw^S toned and filled to within half an inch of the rua with a 



