194 GENERAL REVIEW. 



China and Japan have stimulative qualities : the leaf-stalks of 

 the Rhubarb-like Gunnera scabra are farinaceous and edible ; 

 while the delicate rice-paper used by Chinese artists is prepared 

 from the pith of Aralia papyri/era. .Our native Ivy is, next to 

 the Holly, one of the best examples of the variation in colour, 

 size, form, and habit which may be induced or facilitated by 

 cultivation. Gunnera may be increased by careful division 

 from root-cuttings, or from seed when obtainable. Many 

 Aralias are best increased by root-cuttings sown in moist 

 compost on a genial bottom-heat : or grafting cuttings on 

 pieces of root by cleft or splice grafting is successful ; and as 

 the roots of some of the common species may be employed, 

 this mode is often more to be recommended than cuttings of 

 the root. The operation should be performed neatly, the 

 root stock and scion firmly tied, air and wet being excluded 

 by mastic or wax ; after which pot the cuttings so treated in 

 light rich sandy compost, and plunge the pots in a close case 

 or under a hand-light on a genial bottom-heat (or tan bed) 

 of say 70 to 80. In the ' Illustration Horticole ' is described 

 an excellent method of propagation and this is to select 

 only the lateral, or, as it were, adventitious shoots which 

 are formed on the main stem. These should be taken off 

 young and at once placed in heat, just as we should treat 

 ordinary soft-wooded cuttings. This simple system has been 

 successfully employed by M. Cornells, head - gardener to 

 Viscount Vigier, at Nice, in the propagation of Oreopanax 

 dactylifolia and other difficult species. In order to facilitate 

 the production of lateral shoots, or the development of latent 

 buds, it is often necessary either to cut off the terminal growing 

 point, or to remove it in a rooted state by ringing or girdling, 

 and surrounding the cut part with soil or moss. The choicest 

 variegated forms of Ivy may also be grafted on cuttings or 

 seedlings of the common Hedera helix, or on those of the 

 Irish Ivy as stock, cuttings and layers being also successful. 

 Cuttings are best inserted on the shady side of a wall or fence 

 in October or November, where they may be allowed to remain 

 until the following autumn. 



THE HOYA AND STEPHANOTIS FAMILY (Asclepiadacece). 



The plants of this highly interesting order are readily known 

 by their monopetalous flowers, superior ovary, and waxy pollen- 

 masses similar to those of many Orchids. In our gardens 

 they are represented by many species of Asdepias, A. cur as- 



