August SI, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE! GABDEMEE. 



157 



removing. Some time ago, in an evil hour, I introdueed it 

 into a small garden of choice wild flowers, and in a short time 

 it oyerrnn the entire place. — J. G. 



THE CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA IN 

 BELGIUM. 



Much has been written of late in the jonrnalg devoted to hor- 

 ticulture on the subject of the culture of the Camellia, and 

 many things have been insisted upon as absolutely necessary 

 for success ; but I am inclined to think that it is a plant which 

 will accommodate itself to various circumstances and thrive in 

 various soils. I remember when I was at Deal constantly 

 seeing one which never seemed to leave the window of the 

 sitting-room, was not I know for years repotted, and yet which 

 was always vigorous and always flowered well. We know also 

 that Mr. Pearson, of Chilwell, has long maintained that the 

 proper soil for its successful culture is loam, and strongly de- 

 precates the misture of loam and peat, and, although I have 

 never had the pleasure of seeing h'is, I can well believe that 

 they are pictures of health ; but at the same time I have seen 

 wondrously fine examples of good culture in all peat, and in 

 other cases in loam and peat mixed, while I have known many 

 cases where each and all of these plans have been tried and 

 without success. This I can only account for from the fact 

 that there is a vast difference in the quality of both peat and 

 loam ; and when I re4d of the latter being pared ofi rocks 

 and nearly all fibre, such as I have seen it from the Dablia 

 mountains, I can at once see how different that is from the 

 loam I am accustomed to use, which comes off some of the 

 rich lowland pastures of Kent. 



At the time that the discussion was going on, a good deal was 

 said of the Belgian cultivation. It was acknowledged on all 

 hands that this was good. We could judge this to be the case, 

 for every year we have been accustomed to see the large im- 

 portations which are brought over, too often, indeed, to wither 

 and die in stifling London dining-rooms, but which are pictures 

 of health and vigour ; and having lately had the opportunity of 

 running through some of the Belgian establishments, I give 

 now the result of my observations and inquiries. 



1, Soil, on which so much depends. The Belgians grow their 

 Camellias entirely in leaf mould, but it is leaf mould of a pe- 

 culiar character, most of it probably thirty or forty years old. 

 It is obtained in a manner I think accessible to ourselves, from 

 the woods and forests, in those ravines and undulations in the 

 ground where the leaves have fallen year after year and have 

 never been disturbed, and where they have formed a thick and 

 dense bed of decayed matter. I rather fancy most people who 

 live in a wooded country can get this. It approaches more 

 nearly in appearance to peat than the leaf mould we generally 

 use, while it differs very considerably from peat in its texture, 

 and is also much lighter when wet, and gives more thorough 

 drainage, a point on which the Camellia is very tenacious. In 

 Baying this I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not 

 pretend to say that the Camellia will not thrive in other soil ; 

 I am only giving the Belgian system, and I know nothing to 

 hinder us from having the same success if we can use the same 

 soil. 



2, Potting. — This would seem to be a matter about which 

 there can be no second question as to how and when it is to be 

 done. But I flnd that the Belgian plan differs entirely from 

 ours. I have always remarked the extreme smallness of the 

 pots in which their plants reach us ; but I have always con- 

 sidered this was simply a matter of economy of space, and that 

 as they were grown for exportation they were kept in as small 

 pots as possible for the convenience of packing : but this I found 

 was a mistake. It is done advisedly, and they maintain that 

 the Camellia does better and flowers more regularly with its 

 roots restricted. They say that we judge our plants of all sorts 

 by the size of the pots, they by the size of the plants. If 

 B nurseryman with us adverlises any it is that they are in 

 60's, 48's, 32's, while they say the plants are so many centi- 

 metres high. For the same reason they do not pot so frequently 

 as we do — one nurseryman told me once every three years, 

 others do it every two years. The first year they say the plant 

 makes a long shoot, the second a shorter one, and, indeed, you 

 can see it in the plants, while in most instances they set their 

 bloom buds also. 



3, Summer Culture. — As to this, I see with many it is insisted 

 upon with us that they ought not to be turned out of doors. 

 Bat the Belgian knows no such rule. They are invariably put 

 outside in shaded alleys and remain there till late in the summer, 



and yet the climate of Ghent is not very different from that of 

 the south of England. I notice corn is about equally forward, 

 and that the Hops bear much the same bad aspect around them 

 that they do in Kent ; but I can quite understand that if the 

 plants are overpotted, or if the soil is tenacious, that the heavy 

 rains will sodden the soil, cause the bloom buds to fall off, and 

 injure the general health of the plant. 



Such are a few things I have noted amongst the Belgian cul- 

 tivators, and I shall be glad if they be of any use to the admirers 

 of this lovely flower at home. — D., Deal. 



THE AMATUNGULA AND KEI APPLE. 



Having a familiar and personal acquaintance with both the 

 " Amatungula " and " Kei Apple " of South Africa in the fresh 

 state, I venture to offer a few remarks concerning them in that 

 condition, by way of supplement to Mr. Jackson's interesting 

 paper in No. 16 of the " Food Journal," which draws attention 

 to these fruits in their preserved state. 



The Arduina grandiflora, which bears the Amatungula of 

 the Zulu Kafirs, is an apocynaceous plant, belonging to the 

 same tribe as the Periwinkle (Vinca major and minor), of our 

 hedges. It is a very beautiful stiff evergreen shrub, a few feet 

 high, with dark glossy leaves, armed at the base with remark- 

 able bifurcated thorns, which remain green until quite old. It 

 grows in sandy and boggy places along the Natal coast in the 

 close neighbourhood of the sea ; the Ivory Nut Palm (Phytele- 

 phas), the wild Strelitzia, and the Aloe of various colours and 

 forms being its ordinary companions. The fruit, which is cor- 

 rectly described as varying considerably in fize, looks very 

 much like a small Plum, and has thence acquired for itself the 

 name of the Natal Plum. It is reddish at first, but becomes 

 of a dark violet hue as it ripens. When ripe it has a white 

 milky jaice^ of an agreeable sub-acid flavour, and is very ac- 

 ceptable and refreshing during the South African coast heat. 

 The milkiness of the juice is obviously due to the presence of 

 caoutchouc, which is yielded in abundance by some members 

 of the tribe. There are other plants in the family that are 

 favourably known on account of their fruits. The Carissa 

 Carandas, which elsewhere furnishes a well-known substitute 

 for Bed Carrant jelly, is closely allied to the Arduina of 

 LinnaBUS. 



But it must also be added that there are other members of 

 this particular family which are by no means of so agreeable a 

 repute. The Tanghinia veneniflua of Madagascar, which is a 

 sort of flrst cousin of the Carissas and Arduinas, has a fruit 

 with a kernel not larger than an Almond, which is so energetic 

 a poison that one kernel is a deadly dose for twenty men. The 

 Oleander, which is also of poisonous power, belongs too to 

 this family. Indeed, this is one of the notable instances of the 

 development of harmless fruit by some members of a very 

 baneful tribe. From my own experience I should be inclined 

 to doubt whether the ripe Amatungula would be found to be 

 altogether wholesome if very freely indulged in, although, on 

 the other hand, I have never heard of any actual mischief 

 following upon its use ; but that it would bo very materially 

 improved as a fruit by garden cultivation there can be no 

 doubt. The wonder is rather that the fruit should be so good 

 as it is in its rude state, than that it should have some ques- 

 tionable qualities. There are few wild fruits that have not a 

 hair-oil-and-furniture-varnish essence of some sort to be ex- 

 tracted or dissipated by the refinements of horticulture, before 

 they can be said to have become worthy of a place in the 

 dessert as well as in the desert. In the case of the unrefined 

 Amatungula the soup^on is certainly of the " waterproof " kind. 

 If, however, this fruit ever have as much done for it by cul- 

 tivation as the wild Crab had before it was turned into the 

 Eibston or Newton Pippin, it will most probably prove a valu- 

 able addition to our gardens. 



The fiower of the Amatungula is formed like that of our 

 common Periwinkle, but it is white, and very much smaller 

 than the blue flower of the Vinca of our hedges, notwith- 

 standing the specific appellation grandiflora, which for some 

 reason has been conferred by the botanist upon the species. 

 The flower is, nevertheless-, very bright, star-like, and pretty 

 when it appears among the dark glossy leaves. It is commonly 

 seen upon the plant at the same time with the red and violet 

 berries of the ripening fruit, and in some measure suggests 

 the thought of the Jasmine, until the eye detects the very 

 curious armament of green-forked spines. 



The Amatungula is very commonly employed as a preserve 

 by the Natal coast settlers, but this preserve is for the most 



