HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



271 



the whole of the trees are then pruned, he has nearly every one 

 covered with foliage. He leaves the top shoots uncut until the 

 winter i when he again trains every tree, with tar-cord, raising 

 the tie a few inches annually j and although his trees have 

 been twelve years planted, he has a large quantity of them not 

 more than three or four feet high. He is also of opinion that 

 the same method is applicable to all fruits, except Peaches and 

 Nectarines on walls. 



Mr. Robert Fortune, Superintendent of the Hothouse De- 

 partment in the Society's Garden, laid before the Meeting the 

 following note upon Oxalis Deppei. 



In one of the early numbers of the Gardener's Chronicle 

 Professor Morren of Liege brought into notice Oxalis Deppei 

 as a new culinary plant. In England it has only been grown 

 for ornamental j)urposes, to decorate the conservatory and flower 

 beds, but in Belgium it has been much cultivated for table, its 

 leaves being dressed like sorrel, the flowers used in salad and 

 the roots eaten like asparagus in the Flemish fashion, or served 

 up like scorzonera and endive with white sauce. 



A few of its bulbs were therefore planted out in a prepared bed 

 in the Garden of the Society. The soil in which they were grown 

 was very light and sandy, being chiefly composed of decayed 

 leaves, sandy peat, and a small quantity of loam. They will 

 certainly not succeed in heavy stiff soil ; although they will 

 grow well enough and form a quantity of bulbs, the roots will 

 not grow to any size. The bulbs should be planted in rows 

 about nine inches or a foot apart, and about a foot between the 

 rows, and then slightly covered with soil. They should be 

 planted in April and taken up in October. If treated in this 

 way each bulb will produce a root of the same size as those 

 exhibited to day. After they are taken up they should be pre- 

 served in dry sand and kept free from frost. Each plant is very 

 prolific in the formation of bulbs so that it is easily propagated. 



Specimens of this root were exhibited and distributed to the 

 Members present. 



Mr. Fortune next presented a memorandum concerning the 

 cultivation of Achimenes longifiora. He stated that Mr. Hartweg 

 had found this beautiful plant growing in the ravines of Guate- 

 mala. The roots arrived in very good order^ owing to their 

 having been packed in dry loam, and sent home at that period 

 of the year when the plant is naturally in a resting state. 



Its stems were described as being of two kinds, some creeping • 

 along the ground and amongst the soil, and forming fibrous 

 roots and numerous imbricated buds resembling scaly bulbs 3 



