372 General Notices. 



What are called the slops of a large family, commonly produce a nui- 

 sance by being thrown into receptacles with more solid matters, where they 

 are allowed to remain until a still greater pest is created by the necessity 

 for removal ; this is the ordinary procedure, except in cases where common 

 sewers or dom-wells carry off such substances. It is obvious that these 

 slops are highly fertilizing, and are capable of doing much good, either to 

 fields or gardens, and we have for some time past employed them day by 

 day, as they are produced, upon various horticultural productions. The 

 pails are placed in a fixed spot by the housemaid, and the gardener applies 

 the contents, either unmixed or diluted, as the case requires, in the course 

 of the day. All the roses have had a plentiful supply more than once this 

 season. Asparagus, peas, and strawberries, have evidently been benefitted 

 by the application, especially the former, our practice being to pour some 

 of the liquid on all the places from which stems have been cut, on the same 

 principle as that indicated in the leading article above referred to, in rela- 

 tion to grass. We must quote a few lines of the passage, because they are 

 so exactly applicable to our purpose. " Cultivators who know nothing of 

 manure, except from the action of the solid, and sometimes not very useful, 

 materials produced in farm-yards, cannot believe that half-a-dozen crops of 

 grass per annum are possible, each heavier than the preceding. Neverthe- 

 less, such crops are attained by skilful men, and will one day be common. 

 Liquid manure works the wonder." To say the least on the subject, what- 

 ever goodness exists in the slops is disposed of in the most expeditious and 

 convenient way, and is made immediately available. The same observa- 

 tions apply to soap-suds made on w ashing days ; these are never allowed 

 by us to run to waste, but are at once applied where they seem to be needed. 

 {Gard. Chron., 1849, p. 389.) 



Achimenes. — Few plants are more attractive than the different varieties 

 of Achimenes now in cultivation, but they are seldom seen in that state of 

 excellence which they are capable of attaining. It is customary to grow 

 them in boxes, shallow pans, baskets, and pots, but I prefer the latter ; for 

 their bloom is soon over in shallow pans, baskets require too much looking 

 after, and stiff unsightly boxes, which always meet the eye when looking at 

 the flower, detract greatly from that imposing effect they create when prop- 

 erly arranged in pots, and trained in the way in which Pelargoniums are 

 shown at Chiswick, only a little higher in the centre than the Pelargoni- 

 ums, and allowed to drop a little over the edge of the pot. Nothing can 

 exceed the beauty and elegance of A. longiflora and patens grown in this 

 way. Instead of planting the tubers at first in small pots, and shifting 

 them into larger ones as they advance in growth, as is commonly done, 1 

 use pots of 10 inches wide and 12 inches deep. After covering the bottom 

 with a few crocks, I spread a layer of moss over them, on which T place 6 

 or 7 roots, and cover them slightly with a little leaf-mould, or well rotted 

 cow-dung and sand. As the young shoots lengthen, more soil is added un- 

 til the pot is filled to within 2 inches of tlie top, which space is afterwards 

 filled up with moss pressed down firmly with the hand ; the stems thus bu- 

 ried in the soil soon emit a profusion of roots which are never brought into 

 action when the tubers are planted near the surface. I have had pots of A- 



