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JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



strike different palates differently ; but we should say Monstera tastes of 

 Bananas pounded to a pulp with a little Pineapple juice thrown in. 

 What does the fruit look like ? Well, what two people would ever 

 describe a thing in the same way ? But we should say Monstera fruits look 

 as if bees had built green-coloured honeycomb all round and all over a 

 fairly long ruler ; and it all takes to pieces when ripe — comes into 

 hundreds of small long conical tubes, coming to a point in the centre 

 where they touch the core, and presenting on the outside the appearance 

 of a green hexagon like a bee's honeycomb cell. 



A Fellow writes that last year he had a plant which set three fruits, 

 but they did not ripen properly. One was cut, and after lying in the 

 greenhouse for some time it got a little juicy, and one still clings to the 

 plant, having apparently dried up. This year four large blossom spathes 

 have formed, and he wants to know how to treat it. On inquiry, we 

 learn that the aerial roots should be syringed daily twice, as the plant to 

 a very great extent depends on these and not on its base roots for 

 moisture. Soot- water and other fertilisers should be given occasionally. 

 But the greatest care should be taken not to wet the fruit itself more 

 than can be helped, as it quickly decays at the stalk if this be done. 

 Indeed, the fruits will decay before they are half grown if the house is 

 close and damp, or cold. Being a native of the West Indies and tropical 

 America, it likes an intermediate house temperature or even warmer — not 

 below 50 to 55 deg. in winter and 60 to 70 deg. in summer. The fruit 

 is formed in summer or early autumn, and ripens in the spring. 



Banana Disease. 



A report was received from a correspondent in Egypt that a disastrous 

 disease had broken out in a plantation of Bananas, the more extended 

 cultivation of which he was endeavouring to introduce into the lower 

 provinces of the Delta. One of the diseased stems was sent for, but no 

 trace of fungus could be found. The decayed parts were swarming with 

 nematode worms, which are usually regarded as scavengers removing the 

 result of disease, and not as causing it themselves. It is now suggested 

 that the plants are suffering from a disease which is well known in many 

 parts of the world, which generally first shows itself in the crown, on 

 the sheath, or on the leaf. The remedy advised is nitrate of potash, 

 a handful to be sprinkled at a distance of about 18 inches round the 

 stool, and repeated every ten weeks from the time of the plants first 

 beginning to grow. 



"What is a 48 Pot ? " 



Such is the question a Fellow asks of us. And a very difficult one it is 

 to answer, because the pot-makers (and we have consulted three, in a very 

 large way of business, in diff'erent parts of England) do not seem to be 

 agreed among themselves. However, we shall endeavour to explain the 

 matter as it appears to us, and if we fall into error perhaps someone with 

 clearer insight will put us right. 



At every pot-maker's yard a certain measure of clay is taken and 

 is made into a "cast" or "tally" of pots. Observe, the "certain 

 measure ' ' of clay is the same in each yard, never mind how many or how 



