192 



JOUBNAL OP HORTIOULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



[ December 3, 1874. 



able member of the Ceylon Civil Service, Mr. Sharpe, that 

 gentleman Btates that in his opinion a fine field for the- growth 

 of Tobacco exists on the banks of the Walaury river in the 

 southern province, the soil being extremely rich and fertile, 

 and water always to be had in ample supplies from the river. 

 In the report of the Commission appointed by the Spanish 

 Government on the cultivation of Tobacco in the Spanish 

 colonies, it is stated that Tobacco flourishes in rich, cool, and 

 dry soils, and also in those of a stony or sandy nature, pro- 

 vided there be a foot depth of vegetable mould. Virgin forest 

 land and meadows will produce excellent crops for many years 

 without manures. If the soil has borne other crops previously 

 it must have a six-months fallow, and be well manured. 

 Whenever Ceylon has the advantage of Chinese agriculturists 

 among the natives, aided with English capital, the introduction 

 of superior kinds of Tobacco, such as the Cuban and Manilla 

 Tobacco, will no doubt foUow. — E. Bawdon Powee, Ceylon 

 Civil Service {Retired), Tenby, South Wales. 



HELIOTROPIUM PEBUVIANUM. 

 What a valuable decorative plant this makes for winter, and 

 yet how often is it neglected for novelties of inferior merit ! 

 It is a good, old-fashioned, all-year-round kind of a plant, not 

 particularly showy, but in point of sweetness it ranks with the 

 Violet or Mignonette, and like them it possesses an odour 

 peculiarly its own — a distinct and grateful perfume being quite 

 as acceptable to many as a showy flower or a plant of graceful 

 habit. This plant is very readily propagated from cuttings 

 put in any time during the spring months. These make sturdy 

 little specimens in two or three mouths if potted-on in rich 

 sandy compost, and pinched once or twice, bo as to make 

 them bushy ; a few hundred plants so grown in either 

 large 60's or 4S-sized pots come in very handy for winter- 

 furnishing, and can be brought forward in either turf-pits 

 or frames. If cut flowers are required, no system is better 

 than to plant out some good-sized specimens, and train them 

 up the pillars iu a warm conservatory, greenhouse, or corridor. 

 It is astonishing what growth and flower this plant produces 

 when so treated, especially if in a sunny position ; and if a 

 large supply of flowers is required, the cutting necessary to 

 obtain these will serve all the purposes of pruning. Strong 

 established specimens frequently attain a height of from 10 

 to 20 feet, and flower well throughout the year. There are 

 several newer varieties in cultivation ; but for free-flowering 

 qualities and sweetness, either for bedding or indoor work, none 

 ia superior or even equal to the old "Cherry-pie;" and I 

 find this is also preferred by most of the growers who supply 

 Coveut Garden with thousands of this plant alone throughout 

 the year. — F. W. B. (in the Gardener). 



KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



December 2nd. 



Fkuit Committee. — Alfred Smee, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair. 

 Mr. Woodbridge, of Sion House Gardens sent fruit of Musa 

 Champa, which received a certificate last year. It was excellent 

 in flavour, and again received the Committee's commendation. 

 Mr. Bennett, The Gardens, Hatfield House, sent fruit of Sutton's 

 Improved Sion House Cucumber. Messrs. Veitch & Sons sent 

 Veitch's Self-protecting Broccoli. The Committee admired the 

 stock, but expressed a wish to see it at a spring meeting. A 

 comparison was made between Messrs. Cutbush & Sons' Onion 

 Oscar and Bedfordshire Champion or Intermediate, and after 

 comparison it was decided, for the purpose of determining the 

 respective characters of the varieties, that they be sown at 

 Chiswick next year. Mr. John Robson, Bowden, Cheshire, 

 sent Dunham Red Celery, a good variety, but not superior to 

 Leicester Red. A very choice collection of Celeries was ex- 

 hibited from the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society at 

 Chiswick. The^e were remarkably well grown, and furnished 

 excellent examples of the different varieties. A cultural com- 

 mendation was awarded to them. 



Mr. Smeo's prize of Mo for the best dish of a new fruit sub- 

 mitted to the Committee during the year 1871, was awarded to 

 Mr. Pearson's new Grape, Mrs. Pearson ; and his prize of £5 to 

 the best new vegetable exhibited before the Committee iu 187t, 

 was awarded to the Seville Long Pod Bean, sent by Messrs. 

 Vilmorin, of Paris. 



Mr. Veitch moved that this Committee recommend to the 

 Council that a letter of condolence be written to the family of 

 the late Mr. Daniel Nash, who was a member of the Committee, 

 and exprefissing their appreciation of the great services he has 

 rendered to the Society, and regret for the melancholy circum- 

 stance which deprives them of his presence. 



This being the last meeting of the year the Committee as at 



present constituted ceased to exist. A vote of thanks was pro- 

 posed and carried unanimously to Mr. Alfred Smee for the 

 abihty and courtesy with which he had filled the office of Chair- 

 man during the past year ; and a similar one to Dr. Hogg. 



Floral Committee. — W. B. KeUock, Esq., in the chair. No 

 certificates were granted to any of the new plants, but a plant of 

 Dracaiua Duflii, from Messrs. E. G. Henderson & Son, was asked 

 to be seen again; the leaves are broad, margined and occasion- 

 ally broadly striped with red. A Violet of the Neapolitan type 

 was sent by Mr. G. Brush, gardener to Lady Hume Campbell, 

 The Gardens, High Grove, Pinner. It is named Lady Hume 

 Campbell, but is not sufiiciently distinct. Physianthus albena 

 variegatus, a cool greenhouse climber, the leaves variegated with 

 creamy white, was sent by Mr. Green, Holmesdale Road, Reigate. 



The most attractive object at the meeting was a very fine 

 group of Cyclamens from Mr. H. B. Smith, of Ealing Dean 

 Nursery, Ealing. The plants were remarkably healthy, the 

 flowers brilliant in colour and unusually large. The same 

 exhibitor sent a dozen pots of a semi-double Primula. 



Messrs. Standish, of Ascot, sent twelve nice dwarf plants of 

 Poinsettia pulcherrima; some of them had heads of floral bracts 

 as much across as the plants were high. A collection of perpetual- 

 flowering Carnations from Messrs. E. G. Henderson & Son was 

 very pretty, but no names were attached to any of the plants. 

 To all the above collections votes of thanks were given by the 

 Committee. 



THE NOVEMBER PLUM. 

 I AM requested, iu answer to the inquiry of Mr. Douglas 

 regarding this Plum, to say — as Mr. Earley is precluded from 

 answering it personally — that the name in question was given 

 to the fruit of a solitary plant in his possession, and which ha 

 fruited for the first time last season. From all his experience, 

 and the researches he had made, he was led to believe that no 

 other Plum like it existed, nor had he the least knowledge that 

 anything similar existed in the neighbourhood previously. Not 

 deeming it necessary to question Mr. J. Douglas's assertion 

 should the similarity be so great, he only regrets not having 

 known of it sooner, and so have obviated giving rise to any 

 question of precedent. Mr. Earley may refer to this subject 

 again. — William Geeatrix Eaelet. 



DEATH OF MR. DANIEL NASH. 

 With great regret we announce the death of Mr. Daniel 

 Nash, the head of the old house of Minier, Nash, & Nash, 

 seedsmen in the Strand. The event happened last Saturday, 

 after a brief illness. Mr. Nash had been ailing for some time, 

 and those of his friends who knew him well remarked a change 

 in him at the last Fruit Committee meeting, but this was not 

 of such moment as to cause immediate apprehension. It was 

 only last week that serious symptoms became apparent, and 

 on Saturday he sank, the disease being, we understand, an 

 affection of the heart. Mr. Nash was the father of the London 

 seed trade, and has for nearly half a century occupied a position 

 in which he was held in the highest respect. 



THE STINGING TREE. 



One of the torments to which the traveller is subjected in 

 the North Australian scrubs is the Stinging Tree (Urtica gigas), 

 which is very abundant, and ranges in size from a large shrub 

 of 30 feet in height to a small plant measuring only a few 

 inches. Its leaf is large and peculiar, from being covered with 

 a short silvery hair, which when shaken emits a fine pungent 

 dust, most irritating to the skin and nostrils. If touched it 

 causes most acute pain, which is felt for mouths afterwards— 

 a dull gnawing pain, accompanied by a burning sensation, 

 particularly iu the shoulder and under the arm, where small 

 lumps often arise. Even when the sting has quite died away, 

 the unwary bushman is forcibly reminded of his indiscretion 

 each time the affected part is brought into contact with water. 



The fruit is of a pink fleshy colour, hangiug in clusters, and 

 looks so inviting that a stranger is irresistibly tempted to 

 pluck it, but seldom more than once; for though the Rasp- 

 berry-like berries are harmless iu themselves, some contact 

 with the leaves is almost unavoidable. The blacks are said to 

 eat the fruit, but for this I cannot vouch, though I have tasted 

 one or two at odd times, end found them very pleasant. 



Tbe worst of this Nettle is the tendency it exhibits to shoot 

 up wherever a clearing has been effected. In passing through 

 the dray-tracks cut through the scrub, great caution was ne- 

 cessary to avoid the young plants that cropped up even in a few 

 weeks. I have never known a ease of its being fatal to human 



