478 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1881. 
dwarf bronzy-foliaged R. Gibsoni is very effective for 
margins. It usually produces seeds very freely, and tliey 
frequently ripen out of doors iu warm summers. Solan- 
11ms, treated in the same manner, are also very effect- 
ive. The spiny-leaved S. robustum, the elegant cut- 
leaved S. laciniatum, and S. Warscewiczi make beautiful 
single specimens or edgings to groups of taller plants. 
Wigandias, Ferdinanda eminens, and Melianthus major 
are likewise all beautiful plants, treated as annuals ; 
and among dwarfer subjects that can be raised with 
them I may mention Brazilian beet, with its richly 
tinted leaves and midribs ; Acacia lophantha ; Amarantus 
in variety ; Cineraria maritima ; and ' Centaureas, with 
their silvery, elegantly cut leaves. There are, moreover, 
the dwarf thistle-like Chamrepuce diacantha and Cassa- 
bonas, Echeverias in variety, Stachys lanata, and many 
other dwarf plants suitable for edgings or carpeting 
beneath tall-growing subjects. 
Of hardy or permanent plants in addition to those 
already enumerated, I may mention the many beautiful 
varieties of maples, from the well-known Acer Negundo 
Tariragatum to the beautifully cut-leaved A. polymorphum 
and its varieties. These, treated as dwarf standards, 
with the ground covered with dwarfer plants for contrast 
are very beautiful. Boceonias, 'with then- tall spikes of 
graceful flowers and noble foliage, make effective and 
permanent plants for isolated groups. The Pampas grass 
and Arundo ought also to find a place in every garden, 
for they are beautiful at all times of the year, and on 
the margins of water are quite at home. Several 
varieties of Rhus or Sumach have very beautiful foliage, 
Rhus glabra laciniata being especially elegant. Aralia 
japonica is also well adapted for flower garden decora- 
tion, as are likewise Betinosporas, Junipers, and Cu- 
pressuses among conifers. Of dwarfer plants for edgings 
or carpeting we have the gold and silver Euonymuses, 
golden honeysuckle, and a variegated vine. The Trito- 
mas, with their fine rush-like foliage and flame-like 
spikes of flower, the Funkias, the variegated grasses 
such as Poa trivialis argentea, the Polemonium ccera- 
leum, the Vincas or periwinkles, Santolina, Stachys, 
Sedums, Cerastiums — these and many more are all use- 
ful jflants in the flower garden. In fact, the material to 
select from is unlimited, even if we confine ourselves 
to fine-foliaged plants ; but there is no reason why 
beautiful flowering or berry-bearing plants shoidd not be 
utilised with excellent effect — as, for instance, ornamental 
gourds, egg plants, the Cape gooseberry, &c; while 
tuberous-rooted begonias, and may equally brilliant plants 
that do not fall in with the ordioary bedders, might 
in some places be associated with the fine-foliaged plants. 
As to arrangement, in all cases beds or sets of beds 
of the simplest design are the best. Shelter from wind 
is also of the first importance, and for this reason recesses 
in shrubberies or banks clothed with foliage form the most 
fitting background for beds or groups to nestle in. 
Avoid Musas or Caladimns, the leaves of which tear 
into shreds if winds cannot be entirely shut out ; also 
plants that look unhappy on the occurrence of a cold night 
or two ; and concentrate your efforts on subjects that 
grow and look luxuriantly under nearly all conditions. 
If a dell or garden overhung by trees is at command 
where ordinary flowering plants run all to leaf and 
refuse to flower, take advantage of it for fine-foliaged 
plants. It will form a channing change from brilliant 
bedding plants or severely geometric carpet beds to come 
npon a garden where each plant spreads broad its delic- 
ate foliage on the grass, even in our variable climate. 
J. G. 
Pmiaffin. — In the Colonies and India it is stated that 
a thick vein of a peculiar substance, containing half its 
weight of pure paraffin, has been discovered at Hawke's 
Bay, New Zealand. It is said to be worth £40 a 
ton. — Nature, August 11, p. 34. 
Phaskomylia Tea. — Dr. Xavier Landerer, writing in 
the Chemist and Druggist, says one of the street cries 
of Athens is "Buy Phaskomylia tu bunu," or the Sage 
plant of the mountain, the apple-bearing Sage. The 
herbalists gather it, and tie it in bundles, which they 
sell in the market for about 10 leptas. A tea made from 
this herb is drunk in all chills and gripes, as a matter 
of course, without consulting the doctor ; it is sold, too, 
in the coffee-houses and confectioners' shops. The plant 
is called apple-bearing, because the puncture of the insect, 
Cynips salvias, causes the growth of galls known as 
Gallse esculent*, and like little green Apples. These are 
collected and eaten after being steeped in water to 
remove the bitter and styptic constituents. The plant 
is very common in the mountains of the district of 
Maina, and the galls are collected and boiled in honey 
or sugar, the consere thus made being used like other 
sweetmeats, or mixed with water as a beverage, a tea- 
spoonful to a tumbler. This Sage plant is found in all 
houses of the poorer sort, and on board ships and on 
cold days Phai-komylia tea is drunk. The plant is also 
kept on hand in all the coffee-houses, even as far as 
Odessa, and its infusion is a favourite beverage. In 
Odessa a kind of punch is made of it with nun. — Gar&entiV 
Chronicle. 
Wood Pulp fob making Barrels. — The latest novelty 
hi the application of wood pulp comes to us from America, 
namely, for making ban-els for holding both solids and 
liquids. The following account of this manufacture is 
given in a recently issued report from America: — 
"Wood pulp, so conspicuous of late years as a material 
for the manufacture of paper, has been found to afford 
one of the best means of making light cheap, and 
durable ban-els, adapted for all piu-poses for which these 
useful packages are demanded. The ban-el is made in 
one piece of coarse wood pulp, subjected to a pressure 
of 400 tons. The heads are made in the same way, 
giving a degree of compactness of grain that is sufficient 
for every use. When the bai-rels are put together they 
are very light, very strong, and very satisfactory in 
every way. Two kinds of barrels are made — one for 
fruit, flour, and other dry substances ; the other for 
oil, lard, beef, pork, and liquids of all kinds. These 
latter are made impervious to the infiltration of oil and 
other liquids by a simple process. The flour banels 
are so strong, that when filled they can be dropped 
from a waggon without injury, and fruit packed in them 
keeps a long while, being excluded from all contact 
witn the ah-. These packages can be made for half the 
cost of ordinary ban-els." — Ibid. 
Root Pruning. — Unpruned trees are benefited by root 
pruning, like other trees; but they do not require it 
nearly so often, because, being allowed to extend, they 
run themselves out into fruit. Praning is one way of ' 
lessening the effects of root pruning, and curtailing its 
usefulness. Keep up the demand for food by encourag- 
ing a large breadth of branches and leaves, and reduce 
the supplies by cm'tailing the roots, and a decided 
check is given to over-luxiuiance at once. This is the 
philosophy of root pruning. I may just add that I 
have for many years tried the effect of tree growth and 
shoot extension with a minimum amount of praning, or 
none at all, upon many other kinds of plants — among- 
which may be named the hawthorn, Crataegus pyracantha, 
and other hardy shrubs, the Bougainvillea, Clerodendron, > 
Stephanotis, Allamanda, roses, &c. — and always with the 
same result, that is, of running the plants into flower ' 
or fruit abundantly at an early age. The Crataegus, 
pyracantha, it is well known, does not fruit freely when 
young; but we have a number of quite young plants 
here, growing in a strong soil, that fruit in the most 
profuse manner. Let the branches extend, and never 
shorten them, and each one will produce dense wreaths • 
of berries. It is only when you begin to crop the 
shoots, as they do pears and apples, that they cease 
to bear fruit.— J. S. W.— Field. 
