September 27, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
271 
2 lbs. 8^ ozs., and the heaviest 44 It)3. From one bunch four berries 
without the stalks weighed 24 ozs. As with other practitioners, Mr. 
Dewar considers the extension system the best for this variety, allowing 
the main laterals to run 2 to 3 feet before stopping them.” 
- Mr. W. Waterfield, The Quarries, Exeter, writes :—“ In your 
■number of August 30th, page 196, you notice that the root and stem of 
Datura Stramonium are smoked like tobacco for the relief of asthma, 
but are followed by disagreeable effects. A much milder, yet very effica- 
, cious remedy, is to dry the leaves, powder and bottle them like sweet 
"herbs, and for use to sprinkle some of the powder upon a square of 
touch paper (brown paper soaked in a solution of nitre or saltpetre till 
it will smoulder without bursting into flame), then light the paper and 
inhale the fumes.” 
- A useful plant for covering a division or wall in a house is 
Begonia ulmifolia, a species of climbing habit not in general culti¬ 
vation, but included in a few botanic gardens. The leaves are of 
moderate size, and, as the name indicates, bear some resemblance to 
-Elm leaves. The stems are furnished on the under side with small 
suckers or rootlets, which adhere closely to any substance with which 
•they are in contact, climbing and gradually covering it with rich green 
foliage. Wood seems to suit it best for this purpose, as the rootlets 
more readily obtain a secure hold, and the plant thrives better. Another 
excellent wall-covering plant is Pothos celatocaulis, which, however, 
requires a higher temperature than the former, succeeding well with 
Nepenthes. It has a beautiful effect, the leaves being quite flat on the 
wall, like some of the Marcgravias. 
- Mr. Rivers of Sawbridgeworth has sent us specimens of 
•Souvenir du CongreS Pear, which are marvellous examples of good 
-cultivation. One of them weighed 174 oz3., lificl the other 15 ozs. 
Accompanying them were specimens of Golden Eagle Peach weigh¬ 
ing 94 ozs., and measuring 34 inches in diameter ; and of Gladstone 
Peach weighing 9 ozs., and also measuring 34 inches. The flavour of 
all of them was very fine, and we longed to have the opportunity of 
producing on our own account such examples. Golden Eagle Peach is 
-of the deep yellow-skin and yellow-fleshed varieties, and Gladstone is a 
new variety with a pale skin like Noblesse, and with the faintest tinge 
of mottled red on the side next the sun. Both are freestones. 
- “ D. D. ” writes—“ The robust habit generally possessed by the 
more common species of Rudbeckia, such as R. laciniata, R. maxima, and 
others, better fit them for the shrubbery than the herbaceous border. 
Rudbeckia hirta, however, is of less robust habit, seldom attaining more 
than 2 feet in height at its best. It is very susceptible of damp, and in 
such situations is apt to be destroyed ; when planted in a light dry soil it 
grows luxuriantly, and will continue increasing for a number of years 
without division. The flower stalk is naked, about a foot high, ter¬ 
minating with a large pretty yellow flower ; ray florets very stiff, slightly 
indented at their points with a very prominent dark purple disc. A 
succession of flowers continues from July until they are destroyed by frost. 
Leaves undivided, oval-shaped, three-nerved, with serrated edges covered 
with rough hairs.” 
- The Rockery at Kew has throughout the present season 
Been steadily increasing in beauty, and has now become one of the 
permanent attractions of the gardens. The air of newness is leaving 
it, as the plants are covering the more exposed portions of stone; 
•and as planting has been continued with much judgment and taste, 
it has now assumed a furnished appearance that is very pleasing. 
When first constructed this rockery was subjected to rather severe 
■criticism by some, and almost equally undeserved praise by others. 
'Jt undoubtedly had faults, as a work of such a kind must have, but 
"they were few, and not of fundamental importance—such, indeed, as 
admitted of being gradually removed or counterbalanced. This con¬ 
tinued attention and readiness to remedy defects has resulted in the 
;.greatly improved character above noted, which will, undoubtedly, be 
still further advanced another season. The waterfall and marsh are 
quite successful, and the recesses devoted respectively to peat-loving 
•■plants, seashore plants, and others requiring particular habitats, possess 
much interest. The old rockery near the Economic house is, we under- 
-stand, to be devoted solely to Himalayan plants, which appear to 
thrive particularly well there. This will render it highly interesting 
if consistently carried out. 
- Messrs. H, Cannell Sc Sons, Swanley, send a collection of 
Dahlia flowers representing some useful and brilliant bedding 
varieties. Foremost in distinctness and richness of colouring is the 
Cactus Dahlia, D. Juarezii, some of the blooms of which are 6 inches 
in diameter, with broad pointed rich scarlet florets, which impart a most 
striking character to the blooms, proving the appropriateness of the 
popular name. Next is the remarkably floriferous Glare of the Garden, 
both scarlet and crimson forms, neat blooms, which are produced in 
great profusion. We recently saw this producing such a striking effect 
in a nobleman’s garden that the gardener suggested it ought to be 
called the “ Blazer.” The white Cactus Dahlia Constance is also useful 
and good, but the blooms are smaller than the scarlet type, the 
florets broad but less pointed ; it is, however, very free. A white 
variety, unnamed, we take to be Camellimflora, an old form that 
is not very often seen in gardens, though it merits attention, as the 
bloom certainly bears some resemblance to a white Camellia. A pink 
variety, also included, is very pretty, the florets being broad but with 
the margins infolded, giving a quilled appearance, and the upper 
portion being cut still further adds to the distinctness. 
- In describing the vegetation and scenery near the River 
Congo in CENTRAL Africa, the correspondent of a daily contemporary 
gives the following :—“ The vegetation that clothes the precipitous 
shores on the south side of Stanley Pool, near the entrance from the 
Upper River, is one of the most magnificent spectacles that the Congo 
offers. Rising nearly perpendicularly from the water the forest climbs 
the hillsides higher than the eye can reach without a single break in its 
luxuriance. The variety of colours, too, at this season, when most of the 
trees are in blossom, is particularly striking. One tree-top will be 
covered with scarlet flowers scattered with a liberal hand, another has 
pendulous flowers of a pinky white hanging gracefully by their long 
stalks amid the sombre masses of foliage, while errant creepers in 
exuberant growth trail their yellow blossoms over the victims they 
entwine. There is every note struck in the gamut of green, and the 
trees that form this mass of foliage may vary in tone from blue-green 
to greenish-yellow, and from greenish-white to russet-red, and they will 
differ equally in form and aspect. While some are compactly massed in 
their leafage, others grow erratically and in disordered tufts. Beautiful 
Mimosas dominate their fellows, clothed in foliage of dark green velvet; 
Dracaenas raise their spiky heads here and there from out of the soft 
verdant mass. The large flat leaves of a Fig alternate with the feathery 
Palm fronds, while many stems are completely disguised by the network 
of graceful creepers which mask them like a vegetable cobweb. A 
climbing Palm makes a sort of latticework fence, rising straight up 
from the water’s edge, and seems effectually to forbid trespassing in 
these fairy forests, while along the river’s brim lines of white Lilies 
stand like sentinels to see the barrier is not passed.” 
- Doubtless not a few of our readers have seen and admired, 
or at all events read of, the large Black Hamburgh Vine which 
some years ago was the glory of the fine range of vineries in the Vice¬ 
regal gardens, Phoenix Park, Dublin, and entirely filled one of them, 
producing annually a quarter of a ton or more of splendid Grapes, and 
which when seen at this season, with its extended horizontally trained 
rods almost mathematically strung on either side with their sable 
pendants, was a sight to wonder at and admire. It was not merely an 
example of a large Vine, but, what was more important, a grand example 
of successful Grape culture. It was a source of regret when some three 
or four years since this noble Vine (whose life history was somewhat 
peculiar) came to grief from a peculiar affection of the bark and wood, 
and ultimately died. The defunct will, however, soon have its place 
filled and its glories surpassed by a worthy successor in the shape of 
what promises to be a more than equally imposing Black Alicante, 
which the clever head of the department, Mr. Smith, has already 
educated to fill a third of the space occupied by its predecessor, and is 
just now heavily laden with beautiful bunches. By reason of the greater 
size of its bunches, the greater depth of colour and thickness of bloom, 
and the much greater length over which the season of the Alicante 
extends, the aspect of the house, when the young giant fills it, will be 
finer and more imposing than it was when its predecessor, the famous 
Black Hamburgh, won the admiration of all .—(Irish Farmers' Gazette .) 
- A writer in the American Gardeners' Monthly has the follow¬ 
ing notes on the effects of cross-fertilisation on fruit: —“An 
opinion seems to be gaining converts among some careful observers of 
facts that cross-fertilisation not only modifies the characteristics of the 
