2O6 



Commercial Gardening 



and colour of the fruits. If Greenfly should appear, the houses or pits 

 must be fumigated or vaporized. Good bushy plants, well berried, will 

 realize from 9s. to 12s. per dozen in 5-in. pots. 



Other Solanums grown or met with frequently are S. Melongena, the 

 " Egg Plant ", an annual grown for greenhouse decoration in Britain and 

 for its edible fruits on the Continent. The ordinary variety has white 

 egg-like fruits, but there are others having long violet or purple fruits. 



S. jasminoides is a beautiful climbing plant, hardy in the mildest parts 

 of the kingdom, and remarkable for its drooping clusters of pure-white 



flowers during the summer 

 months. It is raised from cut- 

 tings of the half-ripened shoots 

 under glass. 



S. Wendlandi, from Costa 

 Rica, is a lovely climbing plant, 

 easily grown in a cool or slightly 

 warm greenhouse. One or two 

 nurserymen, however, of late 

 years have succeeded in pro- 

 ducing splendid bushy plants in 

 5-in. pots, smothered in lilac- 

 purple flowers each about 1 \ in. 

 across. The plants are easily 

 raised from cuttings, and may 

 be had in flower during the 

 winter or late autumn months. 

 It is worth the attention of 

 market growers (fig. 300). 



Several other kinds of So- 

 lanum remarkable for their or- 

 namental foliage are now largely 

 used for bedding out during the 

 summer months for sub-tropical effect. Amongst the best for this purpose 

 are S. guineense, marginatum, quercifolium, quitoense, robustum, War- 

 scewiczi all of which are easily raised from seeds sown in heat in spring. 

 What is known as the " Wonderberry " in America is identical with 

 our native weed, S. nigrum, the black berries of which are poisonous in 

 Britain, while they are said to be edible and nutritious in America. 



Sparmannia africana. An ornamental shrub with hairy leaves and 

 trusses of white flowers. Small plants are best for greenhouse work. 

 Grown in loam and raised from cuttings. 



Spiraea japonica. This plant is really not a Spiraea at all, but nothing 

 will make the market grower call it anything else. Its proper name is 

 Hoteia japonica. Hundreds of thousands of plants are grown under glass 

 for market every year from imported roots, although the plant is perfectly 

 hardy and flowers well in the open air during the summer months. The 



Fig. 300. Solatium Wendlandii 



