May 2, 1865. ] 



JOITENAL OF HOETICULTTJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE,. 



34.3 



Of the long terrace group we much prefer the central figure 

 or group. There will always be many opinions on such 

 matters. It is always a pleasure to see such matters not 

 only ably, but temperately stated. Perhaps lite heterodoxy 



and orthodoxy, we are all rather prone to make our own 

 " doxy," orthodoxy, and other peoples " doxies," heterodoxy. 

 We have striken against this Jailing in our Journal, and we 

 are glad to be so ably assisted by yon.] 



PALMS AS EOOM PLANTS. 



Dttking our recent journey to and from the International ; He assured us that they are the most manageable of 

 Congress of Botanists and Gardeners at Amsterdam we | room-plants. They are infested by no insect ; the well-known 

 visited some of the widely-famed nurseries of Belgium. On ' dryness of a dwelling-room's atmosphere, so injurious to 

 a future occasion we shall place before our readers some | most plants, has no perceptible effect upon the youno- 

 general notes upon those establishments, but now we ask I Palms. Then their leaves are of such a form and so 

 for special attention to only one subject they forced upon our ; firm of texture that the dust may be removed from them 



notice. 



We marvelled to see 

 the very great numbers 

 of dwarf Pahns in pots 

 that were in the stoves 

 and gr'eenhouses of those 

 nurseries. They were not 

 large specimen plants, 

 such as we see at Kew 

 and elsewhere, but vary- 

 ing in height from a few 

 inches to 2 or 3 feet. The 

 pots they were in were not 

 more than 6 or S inches 

 in diameter ; and to keep 

 up the supply we saw 

 numerous pots with the 

 Palm seeds, as usual, 

 merely placed on the sur- 

 face of the soil, and ger- 

 minating in those fan- 

 tastic forms which so 

 characterise them. 



Upon inquiring we as- 

 certained that this large 

 supply of Pahns was re- 

 quired for the in-door 

 decoration of the resi- 

 dences of the Russian 

 and German gentry. The demand for such purposes may 

 be appreciated by the fact, that of one species alone, Thrinax 

 elegans. Mi-. Versohaffelt, of Ghent, has sold 20,000 during 

 the last ten years, being an average of 2000 annually. 



1, Cerosylon andicola. 2, Chamaerops atauracantha. 3, Chaoijcaorea Enieati-Augusti. 



with a damp sponge, 

 readily and without fear 

 of injuring them. Nei- 

 ther is their price an 

 obstacle, for when of 

 a full growth for room- 

 decoration they cost only 

 about 4s. 6(J, of English 

 money. The usual tem- 

 perature of our sitting- 

 rooms is sufficiently 

 high for their healthy 

 growth; and their 

 growth is slow, so that 

 years elapse before they 

 have to be removed to 

 be replaced by more 

 juvenile successors. 



The following is a list 

 of some of those species 

 found to be most suit- 

 able for room-decoration, 

 and we are quite con- 

 vinced that if our nur- 

 serymen will obtain these 

 Palms from the nurseries 

 of either Mr. Van Houtte 

 or Mr. Terschaffelt, and 

 maintain a supply, it 



would soon become an extensive branch of their business : — 

 Ohamfflrops stauraoantha, Ceroxylon andicola, Thrinax ele 

 gans, Phceniciiophorum sechellarum, Chamcedorea Ernesti- 

 Augusti, several species of Pandanus 



r 



THE NEW JAPANESE EVEEGEEENS. 



As the introduction of new and untried plants that 

 eventually will become universal favourites is often difSoult, 

 from the uncertainty whether or no they are hardy in this 

 climate, the experience of every amateur who has tried them 

 and who has taken a fancy to them may be worth inserting 

 in " our Journal." Eirst and foremost come the Aucubas, 

 with their many variations of blotohings. Some years ago 

 one was sent out with large uncertain blotches on each 

 side of the midrib, but it did not take the fancy of pur- 

 chasers, for it was not nearly so effective as the old spotted 

 kind. Now, indeed, there is more choice to please all fancies, 

 for whether you select the picturata, with its centre golden, 

 or limbata, with its edges golden, or the himalaica with its 

 large, deep green, glossy leaves — all are handsome. We 

 country amateurs, with small gardens and small means, 

 for a long time can know new plants only by the catalogues 

 and by stray chances of rushing to Henderson's or to 

 Veitch's or other leading nurseries, and so are often puzzled 

 how to distinguish plants very much alike in name, habit, 

 and description. How, for instance, will you distinguish 

 Aucuba himalaica from japonioa? I knew the difference 

 of habit and of growth, but which was which I could not 

 tell. On visiting Garaway's nursery at Bristol the intelli- 

 gent foreman showed me, and I wiU now retail his informa- 

 tion. The japonica exactly resembles in its growth the 



well-known spotted kind ; when in bloom the petals are 

 purple, and the spike very short — in fact, compare it with the 

 old sort in bloom and the resemblance is complete. The 

 berries are close-set on the branch and are oval. The hima- 

 laica is of fi'eer growth; the leaves not so fiat and more 

 pointed ; the blossoms are on a longer spike, and the petals 

 are white or pinkish white, and the berries are round. 

 Garaways hope to keep a plant of, japonica in fruit till 

 the June show, and if it do not charm the Bristol people 

 I shall be surprised; its growth and condition were so 

 perfect I wotild have walked six miles with pleasure to see 

 it. The difference of growth and flower is that of Quercus 

 robur and pedunculata. The plants sent out as picturata 

 having turned out to be male, to the surprise of the pur- 

 chasers, have enabled very many more plants to be fruited 

 than otherwise would have been the case, and, doubtless, in 

 time we shall from this source obtain new varieties of colour. 



Having bought both the himalaica and japonica for the 

 Bath Park I can testify that both ai-e hardy ; neither have 

 had more shelter than being planted on the south side of a 

 wall ; the leaves of the himalaica were shrivelled and brown 

 from the snow and frost, whereas japonica was quite unaf- 

 fected by the winter weather. 



How can the catalogues promise that these plants shall 

 produce berries unless they supply at the same time a male 



