Februaiy 12, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



145 



whole year to sow for producing really good Celery, and not 

 February or the beginning of JIarch, as many would now have 

 one believe. Sow late and thinly, prick-out as soon as large 

 enough to get hold of, transplant finally with good balls before 

 the leaves touch, and never allow it to receive a check. These 

 are the only secrets in growing Celery or Celeriac— W. Tayloe. 



VAEIETIES OF POTATO. 



On reading his remarks on "Varieties of Potatoes" in last 

 week's Journal, I have been greatly amused with the self-suffi- 

 ciency of a contributor signing himself " A.," and I have no 

 doubt the Eoyal Horticultural Society and Irish Farmers' 

 Gazelle will be equally so. 



" A." professes to have great knowledge, and on the strength 

 of this assumes at once the attitude of censor and of judge. 

 What his qualifications are to either of these positions I do 

 not know, but he betrays in his communication such an 

 amount of ignorance on the subject upon which he writes, 

 that I am led to think that his pretensions cannot be supported. 

 To justify what I say, I ask you to refer to his communica- 

 tion. "A." asks, " What is Kentish Ashleaf ?" He ought to 

 have acquainted himself of this before he wrote and presumed 

 to call in question the decision of the Committee who do 

 know it. I will tell him. Kentish Ashleaf is that form of 

 the Ashleaf which has been grown in Kent and by the great 

 market gardeners round Loudon for years before " A." was 

 born, unless he is more than a century old, and is quite dis- 

 tinct in many respects from the old Ashleaf. It is a much 

 stronger grower, and greatly more prolific than the old Ashleaf, 

 which is easUy distinguished by its dwarf growth, small leaf, 

 and earlier maturity, on account of which it is preferred for 

 forcing in frames. I find the true characters of the different 

 Ashleaf varieties well described in the " Gardeners' Year- 

 Book " for this year, to which I refer "A.," as he does not 

 Beem to know that there are three types, perfectly distinct, 

 known by the name of Ashleaf. 



In speaking of " Lapstones," " A." says that Yorkshire 

 Hero was raised from the seed of that variety, and does not 

 appear to know that Mr. Almond raised, or believes he raised, 

 it from a graft-hybrid. So long as "A." confines himself to 

 write on subjects he understands he writes well and instruc- 

 tively ; but when he goes out of his way to run a tilt at such a 

 body as the Committee of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, 

 and sets up his limited means of observation against the in- 

 finitely greater advantages of the Society, he is doing himself 

 an injustice, while he does the Committee no harm. 



Does " A." know that, in making the attack upon the Com- 

 mittee of the Society, that he is setting his opinions against 

 such men as Dr. Hogg, Mr. Barron, Mr. Fenn, Mr. Dancer, 

 Mr. Douglas, Mr. Becord, Mr. Barley, Mr. Woodbridge, Mr. 

 Perkins, Mr. Beale, Mr. Barr, Mr. Nash, and a host of other 

 practical men, whose sole object in these trials is to elucidate 

 the truth from data which " A.," unless he has extraordinary 

 opportunities, cannot possibly possess? — J. P. 



grown out of doors it must be planted under a north wall, or 

 screened from the sun's influence by a fence, for it will not 

 flourish except in the shade. Until its hardiness in the 

 northern and eastern counties has been more fully tested we 

 would not recommend its exposure during the winter months 

 without some protection. A small hand-glass or a large in- 

 verted flower pot will offer a ready means of warding-off the 

 effects of frost; and to these may be joined, as an auxiliary, a 

 small heap of coal ashes. Where there is the convenience of 

 a cold frame, the roots may be potted in the autumn and pre- 

 served with less risk. 



FLOWEKS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 26. 



MITKABIA COOCINEA.— SciBLET MlTnAniA. 



MiTEARU cocciNEA has the merit of being the only hardy 

 plant of its order yet discovered. We do not, however, use tho 

 term " hardy " in its most extended sense ; in very severe winters 

 some protection would, doubtless, be necessai'y : but Messrs. 

 Veitch, of Exeter, the importers of this fine plant, are of 

 opinion that it would bear ten or twelve degrees of frost 

 without injury. 



The habit and general appearance of the Mitraria will be 

 sufficiently understood by a reference to our figure. Its stems 

 are unusually slender, branched, and, in specimens of sufficient 

 age, reach the height of about 3 feet. The foliage is small, 

 and somewhat brittle and succulent, with a number of short 

 hairs scattered over its upper surface. The flowers are nume- 

 rous, and produced singly from the axil of the leaves, on foot- 

 stalks 2 inches long, with a ventiicose corolla, from the mouth 

 of which protudes the long slender style. Its season of bloom- 

 ing extends from May to the end of June. 



The soil most suitable for its cultivation is a mixture of good 

 turfy peat and loam, in the proportion of three parts of the 

 former to one of the latter. Where this is not at hand any 

 soil containing a tolerably large proportion of leaf mould may 

 be used, avoiding those of a poor sandy character, as well as 

 pure loams deficient in decayed vegetable matter. When 



Mitraria coccinea. 



I If grown as a pot-plant it will be necessary to provide it 

 I with a cool, shady window; and an arid atmosphere must at 

 j all times be avoided. Especial attention must be paid to the 

 I drainage, for the soil in which it appears to succeed best being 

 of a retentive nature, too great an excess of moisture must be 

 1 guarded against by a good supply of broken crocks. 



Gesneraceous plants, as weU as all others with tuberous 

 roots, usually require to be kept quite dry when at rest ; but 

 with the Mitraria a somewhat different treatment will be 

 necessary, for its fibrous roots will not bear the complete 

 withdrawal of moisture. It will, therefore, need an occa- 

 sional watering during the winter months, though the soU 

 must be kept only in a slightly moistened condition, and the 

 plant should be placed in a cool situation — by no means in a 

 warm apartment. 



Its propagation presents no greater difficulties than that of 

 the other plants of its order. The easiest mode of increasing 

 it is by division of the roots in spring ; but cuttings may also 

 be taken at any time during the spring and summer months, 

 and struck in any Ught vegetable soU under a bell-glass or 

 tumbler. 



It is a native of the Island of Chiloe, a circumstance which 

 will explain both its comparative hardiness and its preference 

 for a cool moist atmosphere and partial shade. — (IF. Thompson's 

 English Flower Garden, Revised by Ike Author.) 



ALARUM THERMOMETERS. 

 When in Edinburgh recently Mr. Bryson, philosophical in- 

 strument maker, Prince's Street, called my attention to a most 

 ingenious arrangement of thermometers and galvanism, by 

 which the temperature of the external air, or that of any glass 



