MISCELLANEOUS. 
31 
ing should be conducted, the winter months, or from 
the end of October to the beginning of April, is the 
usual time recommended for planting ; but for large 
plants, from six to thirty feet in height, the best 
time is early in the autumn, when the young shoots 
begin to attain a certain degree of consistency ; 
then the operations ought to be conducted with all 
possible expedition. The end of August is a good 
time to begin, September being the safest month 
in the year — selecting such plants to commence 
with as have matured their shoots. Another and 
a very important advantage is, that the force of 
the sun during summer, although now on the 
decline, has warmed the earth to a considerable 
degree and depth, so that the mutilated roots are 
comparatively situated on a bottom heat, which 
rapidly promotes cicatrisation, and frequently aids 
the emission of young spongelets during the cur- 
rent autumn. The exact period to commence these 
operations must however always be determined by 
the nature of the season, and the state of maturity 
the current year’s growth has attained; in some 
seasons an earlier beginning may be made than 
others ; some kinds of plants also ripen their wood 
much earlier than others. In hot and dry autumns 
some of the larger specimens will flag and droop. 
To guard against injury from this, water the roots 
well at planting, with pond water ; and plants of 
rarity may be occasionally syringed in the evening 
for a time after being planted. This, however, will 
not be required if the weather be moist or cloudy. 
The plants must then be securely staked, and ulti- 
mate success is certain. — R. Glendinning , F.H.S., in 
Journ. Hort. Soc., iv., 41. 
Treatment of Ipomcea Ficifolia. This species 
flowers in the conservatory from June to December, 
and is neither sparing in the number of its blos- 
soms, nor too rampant in its growth. Strike 
cuttings in the early part of the previous season to 
that in which they are required to flower; shift them 
into three-inch pots, and grow them in the cutting 
frame. When the pots are filled with roots, the 
plants are again shifted into six-inch pots, using 
light sandy soil on both occasions; place them on 
the front shelf of a cool stove in which the ther- 
mometer frequently falls as low as 40° during the 
early part of the winter. In the beginning of 
February shift them into twelve-inch bottomless 
pots, using rough peat and yellow loam in equal 
quantities, together with a small quantity of rotten 
leaf-mould and silver-sand; place them again in the 
stove and increase the heat as the season advances. 
Attach a piece of strong cord to the pots and con- 
tinue it to the roof immediately under the glass, 
fix it to the back wall, and train the shoots to it as 
they grow. Early in June take them to the con- 
servatory, plunge the pots to the rim in the border, 
suspend brass chains from the roof over the plants, 
and to these attach the cords of the plants. The 
shoots will run up the chains, and thus a column 
of rich purple blossoms is formed from each plant. 
— James Duncan in Journ. Hort. Soc., iv., 61. 
Culture of Lilias. The flowers of Lailia 
majalis will remain in perfection four or five 
weeks, if kept in the shade. The plant dislikes a 
strong and close heat; about 70° is sufficient even 
during the time of its most vigorous growth. It 
should be hung up where it can receive a little air 
daily ; during rest it should be kept quite cool, and 
receive but little water, with a temperature of 
from 50° to 60°. During the period of growth 
water well both root and top, and keep the atmo- 
sphere moist. When in flower dispense with 
syringing, and give a heat ranging from 60° to 
70°. Do not expose it to much cold at any stage 
of its existence, or it will at once show signs of 
suffering. It succeeds in an open, rough, wooden 
basket, filled with sphagnum and potsherds; it 
also grows freely on a block with a little sphagnum 
on it. 
Lailia anceps remains in blossom four weeks, 
the spikes grow from three to four feet long, and 
the plant should be treated exactly as L. majalis, 
as should also autumnalis, acuminata, albida, and 
superbiens . L. cinnabarina and flava should be 
grown in pots half filled with potsherds, over which 
is placed an inch of Sphagnum Moss ; then fill the 
pots with peat in pieces as big as a hen’s egg, mixing 
them with potsherds. The less water given during 
the season of rest the stronger will be the growth, 
and the more freely the plants will flower. Plants 
on logs without moss require more water than 
those in pots or baskets. Water twice a day during 
sunny weather, when the plants are growing freely. 
When very dry, take the log down, and dip it in 
water over head. Eain or pond water is the best 
to water with, and it must be nearly as warm as 
the air of the house in which the plants are kept. 
The temperature should be the same as for L. 
majalis. — B. S. Williams in Gard. Chronicle, Jan. 
6th, 1849, p. 6. 
Esculent Vegetables in Borneo. The heat and 
moisture of Borneo are too great for European fruits 
and vegetables in general ; but French beans, 
cucumbers, endive , tomatos, and asparagus, succeed 
tolerably. The Chinese, in Sarawak, have several 
gardens of native esculents near the town. The egg- 
plant there yields an excellent fruit ; and a large 
radish is much prized, which, when boiled, tastes 
like a turnip. Sweet potatoes, yams, earth-nuts 
(Arachis hypogsea), and various kinds of pulse, 
cucumbers, and pot-herbs, are grown for the use of 
Europeans ; also sugar-cane and pine-apples for the 
Malays, who are averse to the trouble of cultivating 
these esculents for themselves. Some kinds of fern 
afford an excellent vegetable in the unopened 
fronds, which are boiled, and preferred by 
foreigners to most of the productions of the island, 
except the cabbages of the various palms. Though 
several sorts of fern are eaten, the Marattia, which 
grows plentifully on river sides, is preferred. Of 
all esculent vegetables, however, the heart or cab- 
bage of the palm, called Nibong, is the most 
esteemed. It consists of the whole unexpanded 
foliage, and is delicately white, with a very sweet 
nutty flavour. It excels the cabbage of the cocoa- 
nut palm, but is inferior to that of the Pinang or 
Areca, which, however, on account of the value of 
the tree, is very seldom used ; the extraction of this 
edible part causing, invariably, the destruction of 
the entire tree. The Nibong Palms are very plentiful 
near the mouths of all the rivers, and are prized 
also for house-building, &c. — Low's Borneo in Bot. 
Mag., 74 Mis., p. 17. 
