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JOURNiTi OF HORTICULTaRE AND COTl'AGE GARDENER. 



September 16, 1875. 



some member of his family to be selected by himself. This 

 little compliment, I am sure, is quite due to one who has done 

 BO much to add to our enjoyments, yearly increasing, in one of 

 the great luxuries of our table, and for which I thank him. 



I cannot close this article without alluding to the extraordi- 

 nary season through which we have just passed, not only in 

 the midland district, but generally throughout the country ; 

 the enormity of the Strawberry crop, which has been almost 

 unparalleled ; the large amount of fruit which has been totally 

 spoiled by the incessant wet weather ; and the consequent 

 general lack of flavour in all but a few of the very best sorts. 

 — W. RoDEN, M.A., M.D., Morningside, Kidderminster. 



THE WATER GAEDEN. 



Ir there is one branch of gardening more neglected than 

 another, it would seem to be that which relates to the culture 

 of aquatic plants, both hardy and tender. It is not possible, 

 or even desirable, to grow the Victoria Lily in every garden ; 

 but there are smaller and scarcely less beautiful Water Lilies, 

 which only require a tank a few feet square in which to culti- 

 vate them very successfully ; and in the majority of cases the 

 extra expense of a shallow slate tank is amply compensated by 

 the minimum amount of attention which the smaller aquatic 

 plants require when once planted compared with ordinary 

 decorative plants in pots. Many of the most beautiful and 

 Interesting of all exotic water vegetation may be grown in an 

 ordinary plant stove during the summer months, and their 

 introduction would do much to break that everlasting monotony 

 and sameness of material one generally finds in such structures. 

 A slate tank, about 4 feet square and 1 foot or U inches in 

 depth, is amply sufficient for one of the smaller Nymph£Bas ; 

 and a few smaller plants, as Pistia stratiotes or Limnocharis 

 Hamboldtii, only require an inch or two of space around the 

 sides. A series of these shallow tanks might occupy one side 

 of a plant stove during the spring and summer months, and 

 thus, at a slight expense, afford the means of growing a very 

 interesting collection of aquatic plants. These tanks are of 

 a very portable size, and are readily emptied and removed in 

 the autumu, when the plants have died down or are at rest, 

 in which condition one tank is often sufficient to keep the 

 tubers of such plants as Nymphsas, which should never be 

 dried off. 



Most aquatics grow well in a compost of fibrous loam and 

 manure, and they may either be planted in pots or shallow 

 wicker baskets (which for the larger kinds are batter), plunged 

 beneath the surface. 



Aquatics are now kept in stock by most of the principal 

 nurserymen, so that they are readily obtainable. Now it is 

 the fashion to plant out our conservatories on the natural 

 style, it is advisable to make provision for aquatic or sub- 

 aquatic vegetation. Even if it is a cool or unheated structure, 

 our common white Water Lily and the American Nymphiea 

 odorata, together with the fragrant and perfectly hardy Apono- 

 getou diatachyou, may be introduced with success ; but if the 

 water is heated by a circular coil of piping, the selection of 

 plants may be increased by planting the lovely and free-flower- 

 ing bine and rosy Nymphfea, Papyrus, and the beautiful um- 

 brella-leaved Nelumbium or Sacred Bean should always find a 

 place. Even where no regular aquatic pond or tank is provided 

 by the architect in heated conservatories or plant houses, the 

 Nelumbium, Papyrus, and other distinct and effective sub- 

 aqnatics, m^y be grown with every success by plunging tuba 

 or barrels down through the middle in the beds or border, so 

 as to afford the necessary means ol supplying them with the 

 requisite amount of moisture. I have seen this plan adopted 

 in several cases, and most interesting and surprising effects 

 may be obtained in heated houses by these or similhr means. 



Outdoor tanks, streams, ponds, or basins may be rendered 

 doubly attractive by the addition of white Water Lilies, Apono- 

 geton, and Richardia jethiopica, whilst their moist spongy 

 margins may be judiciously planted with Agapanthus umbella- 

 tus, Arundo donax, or the hardier Arundinarias and Bamboos. 

 Even the humblest window garden need not be less ornamen- 

 tal or pleasing on account of the absence of aquatics, when 

 such a lovely plant as the Hawthorn-scented Aponogoton may 

 be grown and bloomed all through the autumn and winter in 

 an inverted bell-glass or ordinary parlour aquarium. There 

 are many of our commonest decorative plants which double or 

 treble their vigour when grown as aquatics, and this is especi- 

 ally the case with Cyperus alternifoUns, C. laxus, and the white- 

 spathed Lily of the Nile (Richardia). The golden-flowered 



Limnocharis Humboldtii blooms freely every summer in the 

 open air, planted in a shallow tank in the Jardin dea Plantes, 

 and succeeds perfectly in a sunny greenhouse in this country, 

 although generally grown in the stove. The fresh-green water 

 Fern, Ceratopteris thalictroides, also grows well in a pot 

 plunged in a pan full of water. 



Apart altogether, however, from the beauty and interest of 

 aquatic vegetation in our plant houses, the introduction of 

 water tanks influences the climate of such structures to a 

 wonderful extent by keeping them constantly in a state of 

 genial humidity; indeed, the introduction of water vegetation 

 in (ho manner above suggested is indirectly a saving of labour 

 in other ways, and is certainly worth more general adoption. 

 Between the two extremes of a gigantic and expensive aquarium 

 for the great Victoria Lily and the modest inverted bell-glass, 

 there are hundreds of intermediate means of growing aquatic 

 plants which deserve the attention of all amateurs and gardeners 

 who are not completely led on by habit or fashion in this as 

 in many other matters relating to the embellishment of our 

 gardens. 



The following list of aquatic plants may be useful to some 

 in making selections : — Nympha-a pygmasa, white; N. ccerulea, 

 blue; N. alba, white ; N. odorata, white; N. rosea, bright rose ; 

 N. rubra, rosy crimson ; Pistia stratiotes or Water Lettuce, 

 bright green tufted foliage; Vallisneria spiralis, bright green 

 leaves and curious spiral flowering stems; Nelumbium speoio- 

 sum or Sacred Bean of the East, bright rosy flowers and large 

 peltate foliage, borne on long stalks, which give them the 

 appearance of so many umbrellas ; Cyperus alternifolius. 

 Umbrella Sedge of Madagascar; Ceratopteris thalictroides, 

 aquatic or water Fern, Limnocharis Humboldtii, yellow; Thaha 

 dealbata, fine glaucous foliage ; Aponogeton distachyon , white ; 

 and Richardia rethiopica, white Trumpet Lily, perfectly hardy 

 if plunged 1 foot or 10 inches below the surface, so as to guard 

 against frost. — F. W. B. (in The Gardener). 



SNOWFLAKB AND EUREKA POTATOES. 

 Having seen several accounts of the crops raised from single 

 pounds of seed of the above-mentioned varieties of American 

 Potatoes, I venture to forward an account of the produce grown 

 here from the same quantity of seed. As I am a competitor 

 for the prizes offered by Messrs. Hooper & Co., the Potatoes 

 for planting were weighed, the sets counted and planted, and 

 the produce weighed in the presence of their agent besides a 

 number of other witnesses. They were planted on the 13th of 

 April, and Snowflake was lifted on the l.Sth of August, the 

 produce being 638 lbs. Eureka was lifted a week later, and 

 the astonishing quantity of 1082 i was the produce of 1 lb. 

 of seed. Snowflake is a remarkably handsome Potato, but with 

 me has suffered severely from the disease. Eureka is a later 

 and more robust variety than the preceding, and produces 

 very large Potatoes, three hundred tubers weighing 36!U lbs. 

 It appears to suffer less than Snowflake from the disease. — 

 F. FoBi>, Till- Gardens, Capestliorne. 



COVENT GAEDEN. 



The neighbourhood of Covent Garden abounds with objects 

 of historic and architectural interest. Now dedicated to the 

 goddesses Flora and Pomona, its market held in high repute, 

 its stalls crowded, and its surrounding streets bustling with 

 the traffic of the great city, it was once the garden of a con- 

 vent, afterwards a fashionable part of town, the residence of 

 persons of rank, opulence, and literaryfairfe. In the days of 

 the early Georges it was the resort of men 15 hose names crowd 

 the canvas of the most brilliant picture of the time. Looking 

 back weS ndthat before the suppression of the religious houses 

 this spot was a garden or burial-ground; hence the name 

 "Convent" or "Covent" Garden; it then devolved to the 

 Crown, and the property was first given to Edward Seymour, 

 Duke of Somerset. At his attainder it reverted to the Crown, 

 and was granted to John Earl of Bedford in 1552. The area 

 of Covent Garden, devoted to the sale of fruit and vegetables, 

 has since 1(330, the year when it was first laid out as a square 

 by Inigo Jones for Francis the fourth Earl of Bedford, expe- 

 rienced many vicissitudes. What the original design of Inigo 

 Jones was for the square or " market-place ' may be gathered 

 from the few vestiges we have of it, though Mr. P. Cunning- 

 ham seems to think the square was never completed, if fully 

 designed. The Piazza, as designed by Jones, is said to have 

 been suggested by the square at Leghorn ; the colonnade was 



