52 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t January 19,isss. 
species named above, however, is a recent discovery, and has 
very pretty though not showy flowers. It is a native of Central 
America, and received its name from Professor Reichenbach in 
honour of its discoverer, a Swiss collector. The flowers are about 
an inch in diameter, produced singly or in pairs on short peduncles, 
The sepals and petals are narrow oval, with the margins slightly 
undulated. They are white, each with a transverse bar of bright 
brown, the lip having a bright rose blotch in the centre. The 
plant is epiphytal in habit, and was shown by Messrs. Sander 
growing on a flat block and flowering very freely.—L. C. 
USEFUL POTATOES. 
I have read the interesting remarks of “ Scotchman ” on page 4, 
and in many respects I agree with what he says. There is such 
a wonderful difference in Potatoes when grown in different soils 
and situations, and under different kinds of management, that a 
Potato which one person finds answer his purpose very well does 
not give satisfaction in another. Although this is the case he 
speaks highly of the Magnum Bonum not only as a disease-resister 
but as being a Potato of good quality. I have heard complaints 
with regard to this Potato, and some people go as far as to say 
they never tasted a good one ; other people call it first-rate, and 
speak of it as one of the best for quality there is. My experience 
of it lies between the two. If we were to have a Potato Derby I 
think Paterson’s Victoria, Scotch Regent or Snowflake would 
probably come in before the Magnum Bonum in point of quality 
—that is to say, I do not think the best Magnum Bonum I ever 
tasted was equal to the best Scotch Regent. Notwithstanding this 
there is no fault to find with the Magnum Bonum grown on my 
land this year, and I should not be ashamed to send them to any 
gentleman’s table. I have packed up a small hamper for the 
Editor to report on, and to say whether they are not good boiled 
and also baked, in fact about as good a Potato as anybody need 
wish to eat. They were grown on garden land tolerably free from 
trees ; the soil is a light loam, and no manure was used with the 
crop, and the seed was a change, having been grown on land a 
few miles away. Tubers of a good shape and medium size were 
planted, and a few of the largest cut in halves. The distance 
between the rows was 2 feet 8 inches. 
With regard to the quality of the produce, I do not approve of 
very large quantities of manure being used, neither do I approve 
of planting in a poor soil without any. I prefer land in fair con¬ 
dition or a moderate quantity of manure. As to the time of 
harvesting, there is no necessity to be in so much hurry about the 
Magnum Bonum as some kinds, but there is more risk of disease 
when the crop is left in the ground a long time. Mine were dug 
up in October and were in very good condition. Then some sea¬ 
sons they might be lifted earlier, but you cannot very well lay 
down a hard-and-fast line for all soils and situations, and some¬ 
thing must be left to the judgment of the grower after all.— 
Amateur, Cirencester. 
[The tubers were just of the right size for table, not too large, 
and their quality excellent.—E d.] 
VINERIES AS PLANT HOUSES IN WINTER. 
There is at page 5 a remarkable paper by “ Nor’-Easter,” 
which I hoped to have seen discussed by those writers who have 
used vineries in winter successfully in the way “ Nor’-Easter ” 
uses his. There are, we fear, too many in your correspondent’s 
position, but not many, we imagine, have solved the problem so 
boldly as he has done. We use every available space under our 
Vines in winter ; but it is to store bedding plants, Fuchsias at 
rest, Deutzias, and other plants, which only require frost excluded 
from the structure where they are placed to insure their safety. 
The temperatures given by “Nor’-Easter” as suitable for 
resting Vines are a trifle over what most gardeners consider 
sufficient for starting Vines into growth. Does he ripen them 
very late, so that they will bear heat without starting ? or are they, 
like the skinned eels, used to it? “However it be, it seems to 
me” such treatment would not suit ours, for we find that when 
the temperature rises above 45° to 55° they are certain to start 
even in winter ; but then we ripen them early, and we accustom 
them to a low temperature afterwards. 
The vision of Pelargoniums in flower all winter in a vinery, 
and Azaleas, Heliotropes, and other plants as well, is rather 
tempting, for we are in such a position that a winter display is very 
difficult to provide for want of such conditions as might be had 
did we dare to risk our Vines starting before their time. 
We desire more light, for though not faithless and unbelieving, 
we should like to see a good array of trustworthy evidence before 
venturing on such thin ice. Is there anything more to be said on 
the point 1 —Wistful. 
HARDY GARDEN FLOWERS—POPPIES. 
The large perennial Poppies, during the splendid but brief 
reign of their flowers, are amongst the most showy plants which 
can be used in the back row of a long border. They also have 
this great merit, that the leaves die with the flowers, and that all 
the flowerstalks, unless one or two heads are wanted for seed, 
may at once be cut down to the ground without injury to the 
plant. Thus the dormant crown may be overgrown and forgotten, 
until the leaves, which are never untidy, appear again in autumn. 
The two finest Poppies of this class are Papaver bracteatum and 
P. orientale, of which the former is the best. I used to grow a 
row of it in my garden at Eton, at the back of a straight border 
70 yards long. All the plants had been raised by me from seed, 
and when once placed were never disturbed. They continued to 
flourish without any care for twenty-five years, until I left the 
place, and I daresay are flourishing still. Each plant used to 
produce six or eight flowers 6 inches across, growing upright on 
stiff stalks more than 4 feet high. They generally were in full 
flower on the 4th of June, which was our great show day at Eton, 
and my visitors used to call them my regiment of grenadiers, and 
often asked for some seed, though they seldom succeeded in 
rearing them. The Poppies were mixed in the row with clumps 
of Iris pallida, in flower at the same time, the colour of which 
was Eton blue, and very gay they certainly looked. 
The root of these Poppies is so large and long, being nearly 
like that of a Carrot, that they do not divide well or transplant 
well, except when young, and the best way of obtaining a stock 
is to raise them from seed. It is said that the seed of all the 
Poppy tribe germinates best when sown as soon as ripe, and if 
the seed which ripens in July can be induced to grow at once a 
year may be saved. I have generally, however, been more suc¬ 
cessful with those sown in spring. The seed, being very small, 
should be sown thinly in pans in fine soil and placed under glass, 
being watered carefully. The seedlings should be transplanted 
into boxes as soon as they are large enough, and encouraged by 
shading and watering to continue to grow ; but do wbat you will, 
after about two months’ growth the leaves decay and the plants 
disappear. At this stage the gardeners of most of my friends to 
whom I gave seed threw them away, being glad of an excuse to 
get rid of any of that despised class, hardy herbaceous plants, 
and failing to notice the minute live crowns and single tap roots 
which were hidden beneath the soil; but when kept and well 
used they start into growth again in October, and continue 
growing through the winter. In the spring of the second year 
they may be planted singly or two or three together in their per¬ 
manent place, which should be tolerably open and sunny, though 
they are not fastidious about either situation or soil. They will, 
perhaps, not flower till they are two years old, but when once 
established will continue to flower every June for at least a 
generation. Such is the history of Papaver bracteatum. I own 
it is rather a difficult plant to raise. I have often sown seed 
of it in the open ground, but have seldom succeeded in raising a 
plant in this way, and I have rarely seen a plant come from self- 
sown seed. Perhaps the experience of some of your readers may 
be different, if they are more favoured in their soil, and in the 
absence of slugs and worms and heavy rains. To those who wish 
to stock their gardens I would say, Make several sowings at inter¬ 
vals of a week ; one successful sowing will supply you with plenty 
of plants, but you may have some unaccountable failures. 
Papaver orientale is similar in habit to P. bracteatum, but it is 
not so tall nor so upright; the colour of the flower is distinct, 
being orange red instead of dark scarlet. It has a more spreading 
habit than P. bracteatum, and if left alone makes a larger clump. 
A new biennial Poppy, P. umbrosum, is a plant which I recom¬ 
mend to the notice of all gardeners who have not yet tried it. 
When grown as an annual it is not seen to advantage ; but the terms 
“annual ” and “biennial” are often used so vaguely that I must 
expain what I mean ; indeed, Nature allows plants to be indefinite 
and inconstant in this respect. Some plants called biennial never 
fiowmr in the first year of their growth from seed, some often live 
two or three years without flowering, but die as soon as they have 
flowered and ripened seed; some flowrnr the first year and again 
the second, and then die. Then as for annuals, some plants are 
called annual which do not observe seasons at all, but produce 
generation after generation tw T o or three times a year as fast as 
the weather allows them to ripen seed ; this especially applies to 
weeds of cultivation like the common Groundsel. But perhaps 
the simplest idea of a biennial is when the seed of a plant germi¬ 
nates as soon as it is shed when ripe, and, having passed a winter 
