122 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULIURFj AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 7, 1884, 
the name of “ Mauritius Hemp,” and yields here a fibre of great length, 
extending even to 12 feet. The demand for 100,000 plants of Fourcroya 
mentioned in last annual report, unfortunately fell through before it was 
possible to comply with it, the gentleman who required the plants having 
in addition to a considerable number obtained from the Society, col¬ 
lected as many as he could make use of from other places. Large num- 
V>er8 of young plants, large and small, have, however, been distributed 
b th in and near Madras and to distant parts of the Presidency, and no 
efforts have been spared to collect and store in the nurseries a large stock. 
The Society has at present a requisition on hand for 40,000 plants for the 
West Coast, where in a moister climate it will be interesting to hear 
whether its growth will be more luxuriant than in Madras. 
Manilla Hemp .—The stock of Musa textilis possessed by the Society 
has been sufficient to meet the few demands for it made during the past 
year. The cost of cleaning and preparing this fibre has for the present 
apparently proved prohibitive ; but it is hoped that the trials and experi¬ 
ments now in progress in connection with the recent exhibition in Cal¬ 
cutta, may result in bringing to light a machine suitable in prime cost 
and economy of working for the wants of the many who would willingly 
devote attention to this and similar large and easily grown fibre plants. 
Rheea .—The failure of the many attempts to win the £5000 premium 
offered by Government for the producer of a cheap and efficient machine 
for extracting the valuable fibre of Boehmeria nivea, appears to have 
suppressed the interest formerly taken in this plant, and the large stock 
once possessed by the Society has unfortunately dwindled away to a few 
specimens. Recent experiments seem, however, to have awakened enter¬ 
prise in this direction, and some demands for plants and inquiries on the 
subject have been lately received. The stock in the Gardens will be 
increased as rapidly as possible. 
Ron'string Hemp .—The several species of Sanseveira of which the 
Society possesses four, passing in the Gardens under the names S. zeylanica, 
S. cylindrica, S. fasciata, and S. caniculata, have also met with consider- 
able attention. A large number of plants and cuttings have been 
distributed locally and to distant places, and some successful experi¬ 
ments have been made in propagation, which will enable the Society to 
comply with large demands on reasonable notice. Inquiries have also 
been received and answered as to the habits and capabilities of several 
other plants as producers of fibres and paper-making materials. The 
Manager of one of the Tambracherry Company’s estates in the Wynaad, 
is reported to have sent to England a fibre gathered in the forest on one 
of his Company’s estates, where it is said to grow in great profusion, 
which was valued in the London market at £70 per ton. The plant from 
which this fibre came is believed to be Conocephalus niveus, Wight 
(syns. Morocarpus or Debregeasia longifolia), a common plant on the 
Neilgherry Hills, belonging to the natural order of Nettles (Urticacese'), 
and well known to and much used by the jungle men and coolies woiking 
on the coffee and other estates. 
Calotrojns gigantea is again provoking inquiry. It is one of our com¬ 
monest wild shrubs, and contains perhaps the best fibre in India, producing 
also in abundance a plastic gum well worthy of attention. 
Paragxiay Tea .—From the report on the Horticultural Gardens, 
Lucknow, published last year, we learn that efforts are being made there 
to grow Ilex paraguayensis the source of “ Mate,” or “ Paraguay Tea,” 
now being advertised as a wholesome beverage in various English papers; 
that a healthy specimen is growing in the Wingfield Park at Lucknow ; 
and that eight millions of pounds are said to be annually consumed in 
South America.^ This Society has for many years past possessed several 
handsome specimens of this plant, from which, though they have not 
been observed to flower in Madras, no difficulty is found in propagating 
freely. The habit of the plant here seems to be that of a large, spreading, 
and umbrageous shrub, with large, dark green, shining leaves, forming a 
most desirable tree to plant as a screen for unsightly object-^, and one well 
worthy of being planted for its own beauty. 
The Society will be glad to distribute plants to anyone who will test 
and report on their economic value. That the plant as growing here has 
j^oj^rties which will bear investigation, is proved by the experience of 
the Honorary Secretary, who having chewed a fresh-gathered leaf found 
its effect on him to be that of a fairly violent emetic. A closely allied 
species, Ilex voinitoria, is said to be actually used by the natives in its 
own country for its emetic properties, a special pilgrimage being taken 
every spring to indulge in, or submit to its effects. 
T^ parent plant of those in the Society’s Gardens was brought out from 
Hew by Mr. Henry, when be entered the Society’s service as Superinten¬ 
dent in 1870, and specimens have since been sent to Bangalore, Poona, 
and other places. 
number of seedlings of Theobroma Cacao raised in the Gardens 
m 882, were distributed to planters on the Shevaroy and Neilgherry 
ill Is, and three or four plants reserved for the Gardens have thriven 
amazingly, so much so, that it seems to be almost possible that the 
members of this Society may one day consume chocolate grown and 
manufactured in Madras. A slightly older specimen planted out in the 
Cocoa-nut tope in partial shade, actually flowered and set fruit. Many 
previous experiments with cocoa in Madras have failed. It does well at 
Burliar. 
COREOPSIS LANCEOLATA. 
No one is scanty in his praises of the bright colours of Coreopsis 
tinctoi 1 i and its varieties C. Atkinsoniana, &c., but I think the finest in the 
whole genus^ is the lance-leaved Bug-nut (C. lanceolata), succeeding as it 
do;;3 so well in the ordinary flower border. It gives little trouble, requires 
no stalling, and flowers charmingly and freely even in such a dry season 
as this one has been, and that, too, near smoky London. So beautiful and 
attractive are its flowers that in a whole border of select plants this 
stands out prominently, well entitling it to its synonjm of C. grandiflora. 
The flowers are about the size of a crown piece, of a deep sulphur- 
yellow colour, with regular deep-notched edged rays. The prominent 
disk is unfortunately of the same tone of colour as the ray florets. 
The lance-shaped leaves are a pretty soft dark green, and the habit of the 
plant very neat. It is easily increased by seeds or by division of the 
roots, which is best done in autumn after the flowering is over.—S. 
HIMALAYAN PKIMROSES. 
To all lovers of Primulas, and there are few who have not some- 
interest in these charming early harbingers of spring, it is indeed no- 
jileasant confession that out of the forty-three Primroses found ib 
the Himalayas of Northern India not more than a dozen, if as 
many, are in general cultivation in this country ; and that, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that many seeds of various plants are collected 
in the hills yearly, the number of Primulas increase very slowly. 
If the collector, instead of going only at stated intervals, or perhaps- 
only once in a year, as is generally the case at present, hai a 
tempo.ary residence in close proximity to his hunting grounds, he 
could watch the plants coming on, in the meanwhile taking notes 
regarding their situation, mode of growth, and the conditions 
under which they grow, until the harvest season arrived, we are 
satisfied that his work would be greatly facilitated, and the number 
of good Primulas increased. It would almost be worth the con¬ 
sideration of some enterprising hardy Alpine plant firm to send a 
collector out specially, because many plants are over before the col¬ 
lectors reach them. 
With the exception of the one or two latest novelties introduced 
from these regions—and sufficient time has not elapsed to prove their 
hardiness—nearly all the others with ]iroper attention as regards 
posi-.ion and climate may be said to be hardy enough to withstand 
all but our most rigorous and damp seasons. The conditions under 
which they thrive can be imitated with very little trouble, although 
somewhat different from the majority of hardy plants in cultivation. 
In the first place, a shady cool nook is absolutely essential to their 
well-being, and it would not be hard to find such a nook in almost any 
garden. In the second, they must receive plenty of water without it& 
being stagnant; and in winter means must be taken to ward off the 
excessive damp, which may be easily done with pieces of glass or 
leaves, as the leaves all die in winter. The following are a few 
of the hardiest and best known. 
P. SIKKIMENSIS.— The Sikkim Primrose, of which the illustration 
(fig. 22) is a good representation, is, without exception, the easiest 
grown and the most floriferous of those generally cultivated. A short 
time since a clump of this lovely species was flowering with remark¬ 
able freedom on the old rockwork at Kew, in a semicircular bed or 
recess on a level with the walk. The plants were robust and healthy, 
the leaves being nearly a foot long; the flowers large and well 
coloured, emitting a fragrance vieing with the Stephanotis of our 
greenhouses. Another patch higher up on the same rockery w’as 
barely healthy. This Primrose has been grown Aery successfully in 
pots, and may prove very useful for early spring decoration, but to 
see it in all its beauty a few scores must be planted together. It has 
been well termed the pride of the alpine Primulas. The bed in which 
they were grown was raised about 3 inches higher at the back than 
the front, so as to give a free drainage for surface moisture, and to 
guard against it remaining near the crowns. The soil used is a 
mixture of half and half peat and loam, with a good dressing of 
strong manure, and the position shady, with just an hour’s sun in the 
early morning. 
The leaves are about a foot long, including petiole, obovate oblong, 
with donbly and very sharply serrated margins, of a very thin texture, 
clearlyshowing the pretty reticulated venation, bright shining green 
above, paler underneath, and sometimes mealy. The flower stalk 
grows about 18 inches high, carrying the umbel of from six to a 
dozen or more bright lemon-yellow flowers, about an inch in diameter, 
drooping. It flowers in May and June, and is a native of Lachen, 
and Lachong, where it is said to cover acres with a yellow carpet. 
It is increased from seed, which ripens freely. 
P. CAi’iTATA. —This has much the habit of P. farinosa, but Avitb 
much larger flower heads ; it is a very free and comparatively easily 
cultivated species, requiring dry gravelly positions, where it proves 
quite hardy. It grows about a foot in height, and the leaves, Avhich 
are produced from the croAvn, are about 6 inches long, oblong lancr- 
shaped, and covered underneath with a fine sulphury powder. The 
flowers, which are borne in crowded globose heads, are a beautiful 
deep purple, faintly fragrant. It should be planted so as to escape 
the noonday sun. It is a native of Sikkim Himalayas, and flowers 
may be had in succession during the greater part of summer. The 
varieties grandiflora, cocrulea, and violacea are all improvements on 
