696 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[December 15, 1888. 



The acreage under market gardens is this year 

 67,383 acres as compared with 62,666 in 1887 — an 

 increase of 4717 acres. 



Imports. 

 From a statement showing the value of products 

 imported into this country we extract the following 

 few lines, which may be read in connection with our 

 monthly summary of reports under the heading of 

 " stock-taking:" — 



Plant Notes. 



MAXILLAPJA PICTA. 



Imports enumerated. 1886. 



18S7. 



Difference. 



Fruit (raw), including 



Apples, &c., and other 1 



fruit not otherwise de- 



scribed , 3,635,650 



Vegetables— including Po- 

 p tatos, Onions, and " un- 



enumerated" 1,846,645 



3,273,904 

 2,191,947 



—361,746 

 +345,302 



From a statement showing the values of certain 

 imports we extract the following " yearly averages " 

 under the heading of " fruits, nuts, and vegetables " : — 



Years. 



Value. 



[Years.; 



1S76— 80 

 1S81— 85 

 1886—87 



Value. 



[1S61— 65 

 1866—70 

 1S71— 75 



£. 



2,014,547 

 2,469,991 

 4,352,181 



£. 



6,934,185 

 6,352,003 



6,253,035 



Possibly to some it may appear rather late in the 

 day to give these figures, seeing how near we are to 

 the close of 1888, but they will not prove so to such 

 as make a note of our monthly statements and are in- 

 terested in the thorough utilisation of English soil. 



The compiler concludes his introductory remarks as 

 follows : — " It may not be safe to say that the lowest 

 ebb in movement of prices has been reached, but there 

 are indications of early advance, if no monetary crisis 

 or business convulsion should intervene, of which 

 there are no immediate indications. An interest that 

 represents £480,000,000, and, including horses and 

 other animals in cities, not far from £600,000,000, is 

 one of the very first agricultural importance that de- 

 mands the most intelligent endeavour of farmers to 

 obtain the largest possible annual income from such 

 an investment at the lowest possible cost." 



We add the following " Summary of Agricultural 

 Produce Statistics (Wheat, Barley, and Oats) of 

 England, Wales, Scotland, and Great Britain, for 



Though not a particularly showy Orchid, it is 

 exceedingly free and profuse, and where cut flowers 

 are in demand this should find a place, as flowers 

 may be gathered from it in the way that one gathers 

 Violets, and with ordinary attention it never fails to 

 produce abundance of blossom. It has a very strong 

 odour, resembling that of Almonds. The scapes are 

 from 5 to 6 inches in height, the petals and sepals 

 are incurved, clotted and streaked with dull purple 

 and chocolate. It is a native of Brazil, and was 

 figured in Bot. Mag., t. 3154. W. Harrow, Botanic 

 Garden, Cambridge. 



Abutilon vexillarium 

 as a wall plant for sunny positions out-of-doors is 

 a great deal better than would seem possible, judging 

 the plant only by what it is when grown in a pot in a 

 greenhouse. It grows freely, is evergreen, and flowers 

 most abundantly in the autumn and early winter. 

 Last year it was gay with flowers even at Christmas. 

 It is covered with bloom now, in spite of severe 

 morning frosts and fogs. Each flower is lh inch 

 long, urn-shaped, with five prominent ribs, sug- 

 gestive of a Chinese lantern ; the colour is deep 

 scarlet and lemon-yellow, with a brush-like cluster 

 of stamens protruding beyond the mouth about half 

 an inch. The beauty of the branches when with 

 these flowers hanging from almost every leaf-axil is 

 easier imagined than described. A plant may be 

 seen under the conditions suggested above in flower 

 at Kew. W. W. 



Jacaranda (Blue Thee). 

 Under this name seeds of the above have been 

 received from Madeira, and this suggests itself as a 

 very suitable plant for dinner-table or other deco- 

 rative purposes. The leaves are bipinnate, and in 

 habit and appearance bear a resemblance to the 

 fine-leaved Acacias, though it belongs to the order 

 Bignoniacete. Its growth is very light and elegant, 

 and Mr. Lynch, Cambridge Botanic Garden, con- 

 siders it to be J. ovalifolia of Bot. Mag., t. 2327. It 

 differs from our plant of J. mimosfefolia, to which 





Estimated Total Produce. 



Acreage. 



Estimated Average Yield per Acre. 





1888. 



Bushels. 



6S,159,216 

 1,641,149 

 2,139,282 



71,939,617 



1587. 



1888. 



1887. 



1888. 



1887. 



England 



Wales 



Scotland 



Bushels. 

 70,874,902 



1,621.957 



1,825,888 



Acres. 

 2,418,674 

 . 76,828 

 68,735 



Acres, 



2,197,580 

 69,407 

 50,337 



Bushels. 

 28-18 

 2136 

 31-12 



Bushels. 

 3i-25 

 23-37 

 36 27 



Great Britain 



74,322,717 



2,561,237 



2,317,324 



t2805 



32-07 





Estimated Total Produce. 



Acreage. 



Estimated Average Yield per Acre. 





1888. 



1887. 



1888. 



1837. 



1888. 



1887. 



England 



Wa'es 



Scotland 



Bushels. 

 57,740,453 

 3,110,975 

 7,630,661 



Bushels. 

 55,112,560 

 3,154,151 

 7,034,283 



Acres. 



1,742,338 



117,866 



225,357 



Acres. 



1,759,636 



118,920 



206,600 



Bushels. 

 3314 



26.39 

 33-S6 



Bushels. 

 31-32 

 26 52 

 34-05 



Great Britain 



68,482,089 



65,300,994 



2,085,561 



2,0S5,156 



32-84 



31-32 



the former is said to belong. It should be grown as 

 a stove plant, for when subjected to cool-house 

 treatment the leaflets fall off prematurely. Cuttings 

 strike readily when the plants are in a growing con- 

 dition by placing them in a close case, or beneath a 

 bell-glass in bottom-heat for a fortnight or so, 

 potting them into a mixture of loam, leaf-mould, 

 and sand when rooted. 



ADHATODA CYDONI.T3FOLIA. 



This makes a very effective plant when trained in 

 such a style that its flowering branches hang 

 naturally in festoons or streamers. To tie it in 

 closely to stakes or on wire-shaped balloons means 

 simply subtracting from its beauty. The flowers are 

 borne in spikes in the axils of the opposite leaves, 

 generally in fours. The lower lip of the corolla is of 

 a dark purple, which is almost divided into two parts 

 by a streak of white down the centre. It should be 

 planted out in a well-drained position in a mixture 

 of peat loam and sand, and grown in a structure with 

 a temperature ranging between that of a stove and 

 cool-house. Cuttings strike easily at any time of the 

 year, but are best taken in the spring or summer 

 months, when if placed in bottom-heat beneath a bell- 

 glass root in the course of a fortnight or so. In a 

 flower before me there are two kinds of hairs borne 

 on the outside of the corolla — one long, the other 

 short, the latter being somewhat globular at the 

 extremity, but cannot say whether of a secreting 

 nature or not. W. Harrow, Cambridge Botanic Garden. 





Estimated Total Produce. 



Acreage. 



Estimated Avera 



^e Yield per Acre, 





1888. 



1887 



1888. 



1887. 



1888. 



1887. 



England 



Wales 



Scotland 



Bushels. 

 61,636,319 

 7,521,038 

 34,986,742 



Bushels. 

 01,441,920 

 7,915,271 

 31,926,201 



Acres. 

 1,616,344 



250,513 

 1,015,395 



Acres. 

 1,768,123 



255,431 

 1,064,432 



Bushels, 

 4011 

 30-02 

 34 46 



Bushels. 

 36-45 

 30-99 

 32-81 



Great Britain 



107,314,099 



107,283,392 



2,882,252 



3,087,989 



37-24 



34-74 



* Supplied by the Agricultural Department, Privy Council Office, under date December 11, 1883. 



t Estimators state that there is a large proportion, of light corn, and that generally the grain is inferior in quality, 



SATYEIUM CAENEUM. 



The accompanying illustration (fig. 98), prepared 

 by Miss Barr, from a specimen which flowered with 

 Messrs. De Graaft', Brothers, of Leyden, in August, 

 represents one of the earliest introduced of the Saty- 

 riums (1797), and still one of the finest of them. So 

 handsome, indeed, is its stately spike of rose-pink 

 flowers, rising from the flat, orbicular, and fleshy 

 leaves, that one is apt to be surprised that it and the 

 other representatives of this beautiful genus are not 

 more commonly seen in gardens. The fact is that the 

 n umbers of them which have fallen into careless hands, 

 and, therefore, failed to be satisfactory, have gained for 

 the genus the character of being difficult to grow and 

 flower. Such is not the case, however, provided the 

 plants be treated in a proper manner, and strictly as 

 cold-house or frame plants. My experience of Saty- 

 riums is that they thrive best grown in a frame from 

 which the frost is kept out or in an ordinary green- 

 house on a shelf near the glass of the roof. They 

 rejoice in abundance of light, but are easily injured 

 by direct sunlight. They grow well in a mixture of 

 turfy peat and loam-fibre, with a good supply of 

 sand added, or in just such a mixture as Hyacinths 

 are usually potted in, but rather more sandy ; they do 

 not like watering over the foliage, and require water 

 in the pot only like ordinary plants, and not in 

 abundance, as with Disa grandiflora and other 

 terrestrials of that class. 



The South African species here alluded to may be 

 said to be September flowering, although some may 

 come in in August and some in October. Imme- 

 diately after flowering the leaves decay, and from 

 that time until they show signs of growing again but 

 very little water should be given. Water may safely 

 be given from May onward until after flowering, and 

 in May any which require potting should be attended 

 to. Above all things, a close house or pit is bad for 

 Satyriums, for which free pure air is one of the most 

 necessary things. By observing the above rules I 

 have grown and flowered well S. carneum, rose ; S 

 Hallackii, fine rosy crimson ; S. acuminatum, pure 

 white ; S. coriifolium, orange ; S. candidum, white ; 

 S. membranaceum, pink ; S. maculatum, blush to 

 pink, with purple markings ; and S. erectum, pink 

 and purple. S. acuminatum I have even now out- 

 doors with spikes in bud, and with only the protec- 

 tion of a sheet of glass. Of this plant it may be 

 noted that the leaves, flowers, stalks and all, after 

 drying, are delightfully and lastingly fragrant — so 

 much so, that a correspondent informs me that it is 



