January 27, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
69 
wounded heroes and supplied their places with recruits. I have 
not, however, put them aside altogether, but have placed them in 
a sort of Chelsea Hospital, where, strange to say, although there 
is apparently no difference in the soil, they seem to recover them¬ 
selves in a very wonderful way. — D., Deal. 
the present season and during spring. It has slender graceful 
stems, and lanceolate, tapering, bright green, opposite leaves, from 
the axils of which the tubular flowers are produced. These 
characters are shown in fig. 14, except that, as it represents a 
VARIATION IN TOMATO FRUITS. 
Having noticed on page 25 that Mr. Iggulden has referred to 
the variation of Vick’s Criterion as grown here, I consider the 
characteristic of the variety very marked in that respect; and 
in my experience of it, it is more subject to variation than any 
other variety I am acquainted with. The first season it was sent 
out I had an opportunity of seeing at Hawkstone many plants 
fruiting in 10-inch pots on the south side of a plant house outside. 
The stems were about 3 feet in height, very strong, and the crop 
a heavy one, with the fruit just ripening from the bottom half 
way up. 1 must confess I was somewhat surprised at seeing so 
many forms of fruits upon Vick’s Criterion. Upon close exami¬ 
nation no good judge could have passed the corrugated fruits for 
others than the variety mentioned. The colour, which is so dis¬ 
tinct, was the same as in the smooth fruits. A number of cuttings 
of Vick’s Criterion were rooted and planted in August last from 
which to obtain a crop of fruit during the winter here. The first 
bunches that set took their own course, but the fruits were all 
smooth. When the plants attained 3 or 4 feet in height they grew 
very strongly and produced enormous trusses of bloom, which as 
autumn approached were fertilised with pollen from the small 
flowers at the end of the truss, and nearly all the first fruits were 
corrugated, and several remain at the present time. Since the 
plants have become less vigorous the fruits towards the points are 
all smooth. Propagation by cuttings makes no difference after 
the plants attain strength, and the stronger they grow the more 
corrugated fruits they produce. 
Two years ago I grew a number of the variety Green Gage, but 
only the strongest plants produced slightly corrugated fruits. 
Seed 'was saved from these fruits, but the plants raised from all 
produced smooth fruits. I think Mr. Iggulden right in stating 
that it would be unwise to attempt to show the two forms from 
the same plant or plants, and so run the risk of being disqualified. 
—Wm. Bargney. 
MANETTIAS. 
Manettia is not a large genus, nor are the few species included 
in it so beautiful as some of its allies in the great order Bubiacem, 
which yields us so many handsome plants ; yet there are at least 
four species that would well repay for more extended cultivation 
—namely, those briefly described below. Except in the largest 
collections of plants, perhaps it would be scarcely possible to find 
them all grown in one garden, but in many one or possibly two 
are represented, and usually highly appreciated both by gardener 
and employer. They are of climbing habit, but differ considerably 
in the size they attain, some being well adapted for planting out 
in the stove and training up pillars and roofs ; others are better 
suited for culture in pots either in the stove or greenhouse. With 
regard, however, to the temperature they need, I have found that 
they grow and flower more freely in what is ordinarily termed an 
intermediate house—that is, where the temperature is not so high as 
that of a stove nor so low as a greenhouse, but where there is more 
abundant atmospheric moisture than in the last-named structure. 
M. bicolor certainly thrives satisfactorily in a greenhouse when in 
flower, but it requires warmer quarters in which to complete its 
growth. As to soil, Manettias are not very fastidious. I have 
found them succeed in a compost of fibrous loam, leaf soil or peat, 
and sand, with a small amount of well-decayed manure when 
grown in pots, and under the same circumstances very weak 
liquid manure may be occasionally supplied advantageously. The 
usual care must be exercised in providing good drainage, for 
though not particularly liable to suffer from neglect in that respect, 
they, like all other plants, give greater satisfaction when super¬ 
fluous moisture is not allowed to accumulate around the roots. 
The species of very strong growth need a little judicious pruning, 
but their requirements in that or any other point are not trouble¬ 
some, and few in cultivating the plants will encounter difficulties 
of much importance, or such that a little skill will not over¬ 
come. 
Manettia bicolor .—Though the flowers of this species are not 
individually so large or brilliant as those produced by the other 
forms, they amply compensate for their deficiency in size by the 
abundance in which they are borne and the distinctness of their 
colours ; and further, the adaptability of the plant to culture in 
pots renders it of considerable value for decorative purposes at 
Fig. 14.—Manettia bicolor. 
lateral flowering spray, the 
leaves are smaller than upon 
the main stems. The corolla 
is a bright scarlet at the lower 
portion and yellow towards 
the apical part of the tube, the 
four small lobes being of the 
same tint. When the plant is 
grown in a pot a trellis of some 
form must be provided, and 
over this the branches may be 
trained so closely that it will 
appear a mass of foliage and 
flowers. A balloon-shaped trel¬ 
lis is the most suitable, and 
neat specimen plants can be 
obtained in 32 or 24-size pots. 
In the latter size I have had 
examples about a yard high 
that have attracted consider¬ 
able attention when placed 
in a greenhouse during the 
earlyjmonths of the year. A 
succession of flowers may be 
easily obtained by forwarding 
some plants in additional heat 
and retarding others. Cuttings of the young shoots strike readily 
in fine sandy soil, the pots being plunged in bottom heat. 
The history of the species is brief. It is a native of the Organ 
Mountains, Rio Janeiro, where the noted botanical traveller Mr. 
William Lobb found it, and from him Messrs. Yeitch of Exeter 
obtained their stock nearly forty years since. 
M. cordifolia .—This is of slightly taller habit than M. bicolor, 
but may be also grown in pots, though it is more frequently em¬ 
ployed as a climber in stoves or slightly cooler houses. It is very 
distinct from the one last described both in the form and colour 
of the flowers, which are also larger, but are produced in a similar 
way ; the corolla bright orange-scarlet in colour, trumpet-shaped, 
with very small re volute teeth ; and the leaves are cordate at the 
base, tapering, with very short footstalks. The plant blooms at 
different times from December to early summer months, and is 
useful for cutting, as the flowers are freely and successionally 
produced. In its native home, Brazil, it is said to abound in the 
borders of forests, where it trails luxuriantly over small trees and 
shrubs, appearing very beautiful when in flower. It was there 
discovered by Mr. Tweedie, who forwarded seeds to a celebrated 
gentleman at Edinburgh, in whose collection flowers were first 
produced in the year 1832. The species is noteworthy as being 
the only one possessing any economic properties, for in Brazil the 
powdered bark of the root is considered as a highly beneficial 
medicine in dropsy and dysentery. It is also used as an emetic. 
M. micans .—Unquestionably one of the most beautiful species 
when well grown, either in pots or planted out, in a stove or 
a moderately warm conservatory. In pots it may be trained 
according to the grower’s taste, but, as mentioned under M. bicolor, 
a balloon trellis is the most generally approved form. It is very 
free in growth and flowering, bearing abundant panicles of rich 
orange-coloured flowers, similar in shape to M. cordifolia, but with 
comparatively broad lobes of a yellow tint. The leaves are heart- 
shaped at the base, with a bright shining green upper surface, and 
