October 28, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



341 



A stove filled with a mixed collection of fine-foUaged plants, 

 and others in flower, formed an interesting feature. In this 

 we noticed magnificent specimens of Croton variegatum, an- 

 gnstifoliam, and variegatum pictum ; handsome plants of those 

 noble Palms Stevensonia grandifolia and Verschaffeltia splen- 

 Jida, and of Alocasia metallica, zebrina, and Lowii ; Marantaa 

 of the newest and best kinds ; Fittonia argyroneura ; and under 

 the stage Gyuostachjum Verschaffeiti at least a yard in dia- 

 meter, a magnitioent specimen, which Jlr. Williams exhibited 

 at the International Horticultural Exhibition of 18C2. Dra- 

 ercnas, both new and old, the new Crotons, Eranthemum 

 igneam, a young stock of Bertolonias, and a host of other 

 beautiful-leaved plants are also grown here. There is also a 

 collection of Pitcher Plants, Nepenthes Raftlesiana and Hookeri 

 having very fine pitchers. Many of these are grown in baskets 

 filled with sphagnum and a little peat, and suspended from the 

 roof. Thus treated they have a much better effect than in 

 pots, the pitchers at the ends of the leaves hanging down over 

 the aides of the wire baskets. Among plants in flower were 

 large specimens of Dipladenia crassinoda, Franciscea calycina, 

 which blooms in long succession, Ixora coccinea, and Ixora 

 javanica; but showy as the latter is, Mr. Williams states that 

 it is surpassed by the new Ixora princeps. CochUostema 

 •Tacobianum, another new plant, also deserves especial mention, 

 as having handsome foliage as well as large panicles of flowers. 



Several other houses were occupied with Azaleas of various 

 sizes, from large exhibition specimens down to plants in 'J-inch 

 pots ; Camellias in tuba imported from the Continent, and 

 Camellias in small pots ; Heaths and Aphelexes ; Boronias, 

 Gcnetyllis, and various New Holland plants; Coleuses, Fuchsias, 

 Zonal Pelargoniums of different sections, and a variety of 

 other plants too numerous to mention in detail. A collection 

 of those beautiful but now neglected bulbous plants, the Ne- 

 rines, deserves notice, even though they were not in flower, for 

 they are so rarely seen, and some of them, as N. coruscans 

 major, have very showy flowers. 



The Pine stoves are a sight in themselves, containing such a 

 stock of plants in all stages as one could probably find no- 

 where else about London ; and of Vines, too, there is an ex- 

 cellent collection of well-ripened canes, including Mr. Thom- 

 son's White Lidy Downe'a. 



UNITED HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At the moutlily meeting of tliis Society, held at the Green Dragon 

 Hotel, Bishopsgate Street, October 11th, Messrs. E. G. Henderson 

 and Son, of Wellington Road Nurseries, St. John's Wood, exhibited 

 the following plants — viz., Achillea umbellata, a very dwaif and 

 compact silvery-leaved plant, to which a first-class certificate was 

 awarded as being useful for edging and surface purposes ; Bouvardia 

 jasminitlora, a new white, free-growing and fioweiing kind, highly 

 scented, blooming in autumn and winter, which must be a good addi- 

 tion to our cool greenhouse plants, and to which a first-class certiticate 

 was given ; Coleus Emperor Napoleon, with intensely dark foliage, 

 of dwarf robust habit, hardy constitution, and said not to drop its 

 leaves when exposed, like most of the other Coleuses, and a plant likely 

 tQ prove a rival to the well-known Perilla for bedding purposes — 

 Messrs. E. G. Henderson were requested to exhibit this again; — and 

 Crassula Cooperi, a pretty little free-flowering plant, 2 inches in 

 height, and which from its dense habit will be a useful plant for 

 marginal rows. 



An interesting paper on coloured-leaved plants was read by Mr. 

 R. H. Bard, of St. John's ^Yood, stating the merits and cultivation of 

 many of these. 



NUNEHAM PARK ONION. 



Seeing Mr. Cntbuih'a letter inviting your readers to give 

 reports of the different kinds of Onions grown by them, I send 

 the result of a trial carried out on a very small scale in a small 

 garden in a cold district of North Wales. 



The beds were 1-5 feet long and 4 feet wide, and the seed 

 sown about the end of March, six rows in each bed. All re- 

 ceived the same treatment. The crop of NunehamPark weighed 

 71 lbs., of White Spanish 51 lbs, James's Keeping and Brown 

 Globe not 50 lbs. The seed was brought from a house celebrated 

 for their strain. Would 71 lbs. be considered a heavy crop for 

 a bed 15 feet by 1 feet in Onion-growing districts ? — C''«;ir.o. 



I QtiiTE agree with Mr. Cutbnsh's opinion of thi.^ Onion. I 

 believe it to be the best in cultivation. I sowed with it this 

 spring a plot of ground 6} yards long and 2 yards wide in a very 

 hot and dry aituation, and I have harvested in the middle of 



August 156 lbs. of beautifully shaped and sized Onions. The 

 necka are now no thicker than common tsviue. I exhibited it 

 at two horticultural shows this summer, and took the first 

 prize at both of them. There were fifteen competitors at one, 

 and nearly as many at the other. — T. C. Thsnicliffe, Longdon. 



In 1867 I procured a packt't of seed of the Nuneham Park 

 Onion, and sowed it along with many other sorts. On taking 

 them up I found the Num-ham Park superior to any, Danvers' 

 Yellow being the next best. 



Last year I saved my own seed, and this year sowed it side 

 by side with Dauvers' Yellow, and I have no hesitation in 

 saying that the Nuneham Paik is far better in every respect. 



The seed was sown on the 27(h of February in drills 18 inches 

 apart, the plants thinned out to 6 inches in the row, and with 

 the exception of hoeing, nothing else was done to them till 

 harvested three weeks ago. Taking them on an average, they 

 measure 14 inches round ; some are 17 inches, and weigh 

 1 lb. 10 ozs. 



In case there should be any doubt respecting my statements, 

 I send for your inspection a fair average sample. — A. Donald- 

 son, Latimer Gardens, Clicsluim. 



[The Onions sent to us by Mr. Donaldson were very fine. 

 Not one of them was thick-necked. They were flat in form 

 like the Silver-skinned, and as mild as the mildest imported 

 Spanish. It will not be necessary to insert any more commu- 

 nications on this subject. — Eds.] 



GLOEDE'S PERPETUAL PINE STRAWBERRY. 

 I THINK there has been too hasty a condemnation of this 

 fruit. I can easily understand why it was ; nevertheless, 

 the fact, it seems to me, remains. My fiiend, Mr. Eadclyffe, 

 gave me half a dozen plunts of it, and 1 felt very much inclined 

 to throw thtm away this year, but they were left, and during 

 the present mouth I have gathered at various times some very 

 good and well-flavoured fruit. Had I possessed a couple of 

 rows, 'I have no doubt that I should have been enabled to gather 

 a dish two or three times. Now, it may not, and does not, 

 deserve the name of Perpetual Pine, but if we can obtain a 

 Strawlieny that will produce fruit for us in autumn, surely it 

 must be an acquisition. JuLiging from its habit, and the wiry 

 nature of the connecting portion of the runners, I should 

 think there must be S( me of the Alpine blood 'in it, although 

 the fruit has none of that flavour. At any rate, I am going to 

 try it again, and shall report progress. — D., Deal. 



COLEUS PLANTS RAISED FROM LEAVES. 



I HAVE just exhibited a set of sixteen Coleus plants at our 

 autumnal show, and taken the first prize. The officers and 

 others of the Royal Jersey Society have requested me to write 

 and mention that I have succeo'ded iu rooting the leaves o£ 

 these ornamental plants, and several of my standards had the 

 whole of the soil in the pot covered thickly with all the various 

 leaves of these handsome plants, the standard starting from 

 the centre. I cannot siy at present whether or not I shall 

 succeed in raising plants from the leaves, as is the case with 

 Gloxinia, Lime trees, &2., but I think so, as they root so 

 strongly and healthily. 



These handsome leaves make a moat beautiful edging for 

 dessert dishes, by placing the glass in an earthenware pan 

 sufficiently large to allow of leaves being placed all round it. 

 They root easily with a good damp bottom heat, and will. I 

 should say, last a long time. My pans have been growing for 

 two and "three months. I believe, from what I am told, that 

 this is a novel discovery. — E. E. Knatchbull, Col. E. A., Jersey. 



[Mr. Wills, Ashburnham Pirk Nursery, Chelsea, has raifed 

 Coleuses from their leaves. — Eds.] 



LIBONIA FLORIBUNDA. 



AiioNiiST the plants recommended in "our Journal" for 

 winter flowering, I have wondered at never seeing mention of 

 Libonia floribunda, known also as Abutilon megapotamicum 

 and A. vexillaiium. It requires so little attention, and this, 

 added to its protracted continuance in bloom, renders it de- 

 serving of a place in every collection. It is with me a great 

 favourite. All that is necessary to be done is to give it a little 

 warmth in the spring after flowering, to help it into growth, 



