February i7, 1881 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 127 
calculating that it is better to have sure customers at the door 
rather than risk the expense and loss of time in transit and the 
precariousness of finding purchasers. Owners of large private 
gardens do not like the trouble and delay of attending to small 
consumers, preferring rather to dispose of all spare produce 
wholesale to the greengrocers. On the other hand, where there is 
little competition, we often pay more in the country than in a town, 
not for vegetables only, including Potatoes, but for butter, eggs, 
and poultry, which, affecting to be ruled by market prices, what¬ 
ever the quality may be, almost invariably stand at the highest 
figure touched at the current market day of the week. 
That we do not make the most of our vegetables I freely admit. 
Practical though our national qualities may be, patience, perse¬ 
verance, and thrift in cooking are not yet characteristic of our 
kitchens. Most vegetables, except, perhaps, Green Peas and 
Asparagus, can hardly be too much cooked, and most can readily 
be used up again. Potatoes, Parsnips, and Carrots are well 
fitted for the frying-pan when they have first been boiled. 
Stewed Celery and stewed Cucumber are amongst the creme cle la 
creme, and if served with a soup go n, of good curry powder well 
blended in the same, might with macaroni make a course of them¬ 
selves. An excellent pudding may be made of mashed Vegetable 
Marrow, sweetened and flavoured. In short, it is the will that is 
wanting. Hard indeed it is to find anything understood but 
waste. The gathering-up the fragments, the making the most of 
them for ourselves and others, goes still against the grain of our 
generous but mistaken English nature. Scientific training has 
still much to do in teaching just proportions and sounder know¬ 
ledge.—A. M. B. 
THUNIAS. 
In' most collections of Orchids, however small, at least one 
species of Thunia finds a place, and they all well deserve atten¬ 
tion, for if carefully grown they are really handsome plants. All 
the Thunias are natives of the East Indies, consequently they re¬ 
quire a moderately high temperature when growing. They are 
sometimes apt to be disappointing. I have experienced disap¬ 
pointments, and have seen good Orchid growers fail in flowering 
them satisfactorily some seasons. Each grower no doubt has a 
special method of growing these plants as with many others that 
come under his charge, but as it may afford a hint to someone I 
will state my experience, success, and disappointments. 
Thunias are, I believe, strictly speaking epiphytes, found grow¬ 
ing on the trunks and branches of trees, and should therefore be 
treated as such. I do not mean by this that they should be grown 
in baskets or blocks, for undoubtedly they succeed best in pots. 
They will soon be starting into growth, and should be carefully 
examined so as not to allow them to remain so long in their 
winter quarters as to check the young growth. Some gardeners 
repot their plants annually ; others allow them to remain for a 
couple of seasons in the same pots or pans, the second year only 
removing a little of the old soil from the surface, and giving a 
top-dressing of fresh compost. I prefer repotting every season, as 
Thunias are rather strong-rooting plants. I have tried several 
composts and do not advocate a rich material. Two years 
ago I potted my plants in good fibry loam, peat, and dung, sup¬ 
plying abundance of liquid manure when they -were well estab¬ 
lished ; the result was vigorous growth and no flowers. I never saw 
finer growths, some of them were between 4 and 5 feet long and 
nearly an inch in diameter. I was greatly disappointed at this, 
for I had taken much care with them. Last season I was more 
successful, treating them somewhat differently, potting them in 
fibry peat, sphagnum, and plenty of silver sand. The result was 
short stout growth and plenty of flower; some of the spikes of 
T. Marshallii had as many as eight and nine flowers. When I next 
pot them it will be in a poorer compost still, employing a fine 
peat and more sand. 
The best time for potting is when the young growths are push¬ 
ing, using clean pots or pans as the case may be. Drain the pots 
thoroughly, and over the drainage a thin layer of sphagnum or 
coarse leaves should be placed, to prevent the finer particles of 
soil passing into the drainage. Pots of various sizes may be 
employed—a 48-size pot is suitable for strong plants, and 32’s 
may be used for three plants, placed in the form of a triangle. If 
good large specimens are aimed at, five or six plants or even more 
may be placed in a pan. The pots should be filled to within 
about a couple of inches from the top with the compost. Place the 
plants in the position they are to occupy, and secure each of 
them to stakes, then fill in the compost to within half an inch 
from the top of the pot, and surface with a little chopped sphag¬ 
num and silver sand. If the growths are very long it is a good 
plan to bend them down so as to have them nearer the glass. 
They should occupy a light position in the stove, watering rather 
sparingly till the roots begin to take hold of the soil. After they 
are well established abundance of water will be necessary—in 
fact, they should never become dry at the roots when grow¬ 
ing. When the flowers are showing the plants will be greatly 
benefited by occasional supplies of liquid manure until the flowers 
commence expanding. By removing the plants to a cooler and 
drier house the flowers remain longer in perfection. After flower¬ 
ing has ceased and growth is finished they should be gradually 
exposed to the sun to ripen their growths, water also should 
gradually be withheld. The foliage will soon change colour and 
ultimately fall off, after which time they may be stored away in 
any cool house where the temperature does not fall below 45°, 
keeping them dry until the following spring. Thunias are readily 
propagated by cuttings. Take off the tops of the last-made 
shoots, insert them in a sandy soil, and place them in bottom 
heat in spring. All the species of Thunias are all worth cultivat¬ 
ing, requiring identically the same treatment. T. Bensoniae and T. 
Marshallii are by far the largest and most showy.—W. K. 
CORREA CARDINALIS. 
The woodcut (fig. 26) represents a small branch of this attrac¬ 
tive greenhouse plant, which is generally grown in gardens where 
Fig. 10.—Correa cardinalis. 
the numerous handsome Australian plants are adequately valued. 
The corollas are tubular, as shown in the figure, an inch or two in 
length, of a brilliant crimson scarlet hue tipped with green ; and 
as the slightly pendulous flowers are produced singly from the 
axils of nearly every leaf towards the apex of the shoots, a few 
specimens of moderate size, say in 48-size pots, are of considerable 
beauty on the stages of a greenhouse or conservatory during 
autumn or winter. The plant is not quite so compact as other 
forms in the genus, therefore a little judicious pruning is required, 
shortening the long straggling shoots, but with that exception 
its cultural requirements are similar to most Correas. A soil 
