February 26, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
171 
to select a good variety all may succeed. Cucumbers may be grown with 
two objects in view, one being for table and market, the other for exhi¬ 
bition. For these objects many will be inclined to try two types, and as 
matters generally stand they will be right, as long Cucumbers are usually 
esteemed most for exhibition ; while the shorter ones are best for the 
table, and, in my opinion, for market too. I would never wish for a 
Cucumber more than 12 inches or 15 inches long for table, and if I were 
buying them in the market I would never have anything to do with fruits 
2 feet in length. Very long fruits may be interesting to some, but they 
are not profitable to grow, as they are not so abundant as the short 
ones or so good in flavour and convenient. 
For exhibition purposes I am very much in favour of fresh finely 
firmed short fruits, and I would sooner give a prize to neat ones 15 inches 
or so in length than recognise others double that length with nothing 
but their size to recommend them. However, I know everyone is not of 
this opinion, and long Cucumbers must be grown to suit some, and where 
this is the case I am sure there is no better variety than Tender and True. 
It is, I believe, one of Mr. J. Douglas’s productions, and was sent out some 
years ago by Messrs.Yeitch. Strictly speaking, I have found it rather tender 
m constitution, not excessively productive, but in other respects it is 
valuable. The fruits usually attain a length of 30 inches, are dark green 
in colour, very handsome in form and excellent for exhibition where large 
fruits are preferred. It is much better as a summer variety than for 
winter, and may be grown in frames in the summer, but it comes to 
greatest perfection in a house where the plants are tied up and the fruit 
hang down. 
Of good all-the-vear-round Cucumbers what has of late years become 
known as Carter’s Cardiff Castle variety heads the list. It has a splendid 
constitution, fruits freely in a house all the year round, does capitally in 
a frame in summer, and is most profitable at all times. The fruits average 
12 inches in length, are of a capital form, being as thick at each end as 
in the centre, and they are produced in great numbers. The quality is all 
that could be desired, and as a Cucumber for market or home use it 
cannot be too highly recommended. Some time ago a writer in the 
Journal gave interesting accounts of some wonderful Cucumber crops 
grown ia Lancashire, and we obtained seed of the varieties grown there, 
Out we cannot put the same value on them as on the Cardiff variety.— 
A Kitchen Gardener. 
NERINES. 
As the excellent drawing of N. Futhergilli major—the best of all 
the Nerines—which occurs at page 132 in the Journal, is likely to make 
these handsome greenhouse bulbs sought after, a hint on the treatment 
that is most suitable for them when grown in this country may be added 
to the descriptive note which accompanied the figure referred to. Success 
in the cultivation of Nerines, or at least of the garden kinds, depends 
almost entirely upon their being grown in a little warmth during winter, 
resting through summer, and allowed to flower in the autumn. It will 
be perceived that in this respect Nerines differ from the majority of 
popular bulbous plants, which make their growth in summer, are rested 
in winter, and brought into flower in spring and summer. This latter 
fact has, no doubt, caused many to treat their Nerines along with such 
plants as Hippeastrum, Coburghia, &c., with the result that the Nerines 
were a failure. When it is remembered that the Nerines are all natives 
of the Cape, about Table Mountain, the difference between the time when 
they are most active and the growing season of Hippeastrum and other 
New World bulbs will be easily understood. The same rule applies to the 
majority of Cape bulbous plants when grown in this country, and 
although some of them are not so particular as regards the time of 
growth as others, yet better results are obtained where these plants are 
allowed to rest in summer and started into active growth again either 
in winter or very early in spring. The success of Mr. Roberts and 
others who grow Nerines is due to a full recognition of the importance 
or this rule in regard to Nerines, and we commend it to those who desire 
to grow these plants and have a good yield of bloom every year. 
After a Nerine has flowered its roots should be examined, and should 
they be healthy and the soil and the drainage good, it will not be neces¬ 
sary to repot them into larger pots. Many bulbous plants thrive best 
when root-bound, food being supplied in the form of liquid manure or 
guano when fresh growth is being made. As the cold weather approaches, 
or, say, in October, a hotbed should be made up in a frame, dung and 
leaves being the usual material employed. A layer of cocoa-nut fibre 
or ashes should be placed on the top of the bed, and into this the Nerine 
pots should be partly plunged. The sunniest possible position should be 
chosen, so that the plants may have the full benefit of what little sun 
light there is in winter. A temperature of about 55° will be quite high 
enough, though on bright mild days it might rise to CO’. Ventilation 
sufficient to keep the atmosphere in the frame fresh, and to allow ex¬ 
cessive moisture to escape, will be necessary. Keep the soil moist without 
watering it to seddenness, and for strong bulbs in small pots, or which 
have not been repotted for some time, liquid manure, or a top-dressing 
with some of the patent manures, will be found helpful to vigorous 
growth. By the time winter is over growth should have been completed, 
so that the plants may be then gradually hardened by exposure and 
withholding water. This will cause the leaves to wither. During 
summer the plants may be placed upon a shelf near the glass in a cool 
greenhouse or frame, and allowed all the sunshine possible. Water must 
be entirely withheld. By the end of July the flower scapes should begin to 
appear, wl en water will be again necessary, after which the soil may 
bj kept n.oist and the flowers assisted by supplies of weak liquid manure. 
It will be seen that at no period of the year is shade required by 
Nerines ; they enjoy all the sunlight they can get, both when growing 
and when at rest. The soil preferred by Nerines is a rich light loam 
without either sand or leaf mould. The pure loam lasts longer, and 
preserves the roots and bulbs better when at rest than any other mixture 
would. Mealy bug sometimes attacks Nerines, as it does most bulbous 
plants, and it is no easy task to free bulbs of any kind from this pest 
when once it has gained a footing upon them. The only cure is by 
removing all the dead scales from the bulbs, and especially from the 
necks of the bulbs, where the bug lurks in waiting for the appearance of 
young leaves. A weak solution of petroleum may be used, but care must 
be taken to prevent it running into the hearts of the bulbs. 
Although popularly known as N. Fothergilli, the plant represented 
in the figure above referred to is a variety of the well-known N. samiensis 
or Guernsey Lily, of which, in addition to the above, we have several 
distinct and beautiful forms. N. pudica is a handsome-flowered species, 
the flowers being large, pure white, except for a streak of red down 
the middle of each segment. Other handsome kinds are mentioned on 
page 132. There are several pretty and distinct hybrids in cultivation now, 
which have been obtained by Messrs. Henderson and Herr Max Leichtlin, 
so that altogether the genus Nerine comprises a goodly collection of 
extremely useful greenhouse bulbs, which by attention to the particulars 
mentioned above may be successfully managed by anyone possessing a 
greenhouse and frame.—W. 
GUM ON CAMELLIA LEAVES. 
I am much obliged by your having submitted my question as to the 
gum on Camellias to a skilful grower of the plant, and for his full and 
instructive answer on page 141. I am sorry that I did not forward a 
specimen of one of my plants, but I now send one. I may remark that I 
notice this last day or two that the exudation has become thinner and less 
glutinous than it was. 
With all deference to the opiaion of the skilful expert, I cannot 
think the gum on my trees arises from scale or ordinary blight, as I 
cannot detect any, or next to none, on the plants. I shall be very 
much obliged if you can give me any further information on an inspec¬ 
tion of the shoot I now send you. 
In answer to your inquiry on page 162, I beg to say that the only 
climbing plants on the roof of my house within many feet of the large 
Camellias are a Tecoma jasminoides and a Tacsonia Van Volxemi. The 
Tecoma is trained to a single rafter directly over—at about 2 or 3 feet 
distance—the Camellia most affected, but hardly, if at all, over the other 
Camellia. The Tacsonia is similarly over the other Camellia, but not for 
more than, if so much as, 1 foot in length. The Tecoma has been 
growing on the roof for some years, but is not of thick growth, and 
flowered beautifully last year. This was trained and looked over last 
autumn, when it was found to be clean, except, I think, a very little 
mealy bug on it. The Tacsonia was only planted last year, and did not 
grow up so as to overhang the other Camellia till the autumn, and 
is, I feel sure, quite free from blight. The plants in my conservatory 
would, I think, be pronounced by anyone as very clean, except perhaps 
a few Abutilons in pots, and about 5 or 6 feet high, which have a little 
green fly on them, and two or three of which stand near and under the 
Camellias, and a large Habrothamnus planted out at the opposite end of 
the house to the Camellias, and which certainly has some quantity of 
green fly on the flower trusses. 
To show that the gum does not proceed from other plants overhanging 
the Camellias I may remind you of what I mentioned before, that a 
small Camellia in a pot which I myself cleaned, removing a large 
quantity of scale and washing with a sponge and soft water every indi¬ 
vidual leaf, did on the following day show on one or two leaves two or 
three fresh spots of the gum, thereby indicating, as it seems to me, that 
the mischief must be the result of some constitutional malady, so to speak, 
and not arise from an external cause.— Borderer. 
[The glutinous matter that is often seen on Camellia leaves arises 
from two causes, the first and most common being the presence of insects 
such as scale on the plants themselves, or insects such as mealy bug and 
aphides on other plants either above or contiguous to them ; the second 
by drought at the roots, which results in inspissated sap, thickened as in 
liquors by the process of evaporation, and this thickened sap, not being 
able to circulate freely, oozes from the pores of the leaves. Each person 
can now determine the point for himself; but with the object of aiding we 
sent a portion of the specimen referred to to the gardener whom we first 
consulted, and whose practice is wide and successful. We also sent a 
specimen to Mr. Lynch, the Curator of the Cambridge Botanic Garden, 
a practical and scientific horticulturist, who has given special attention to 
this subject of gumming. We cannot do better than publish your letters 
with those referred to, as the subject is of general importance, and we 
will readily insert communications pertaining thereto, whether they are 
in accordance with our views or not.] 
Mr. Lynch’s Letter. —“ In reply to your letter of the 15th inst., I am 
pleased to state my opinion with regard to the glutinous manner on the 
Camellia leaf. I have little doubt in believing it to be an insect excreta. 
There is no sign of its having exuded from the tissue of the le^f, which is 
uniformly healthy so far as I can see either with or without the microscope. 
It dissolves easily in a little water applied to the leaf, and may be re¬ 
moved in a short time with a hair pencil, when the epidermis appears to 
be quite sound. To me this has precisely the appearance of an insect 
deposit, and such I believe it to be, because while the leaf is normal aud 
