JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 5, 1883. ] 
283 
indeed, referred to, but very slightly, by the old herbalists Gerard 
and Turner. Gerard calls Seakale the “ Sea Colewort,” and Turner 
designates it “ Dover-cole,” because he had picked plants near 
Dover. Both noted the fact that the species could grow without 
earth amongst the sand and pebbles. The eighteenth century was 
well advanced before Seakale came into any market. A corre¬ 
spondent of “ Notes and Queries ” states that it was introduced to 
Bath by Mr. Southcote, of Stoke Fleming, about 1775, and soon 
after sold at Exeter for half a crown a root. Another corre¬ 
spondent quotes a statement that some years previously a parcel 
of the roots had been sent to Covent Garden Market, but, the label 
being lost, they were thrown aside as doubtful. Near the end of 
that century Dr. Lettsom, who had a garden and shrubbery at 
Grove Hill, Camberwell, that attained considerable repute, grew 
Seakale, and recommended the culture of it from 
his own experience. He may have prompted 
Curtis’s pamphlet upon this vegetable, which 
appeared in 1822. In one page Curtis alludes 
to the indifference or dislike shown to Seakale 
whenever it had been sent to the London mar¬ 
kets. Quite a change has taken place these 
recent years.—J. K. S. C. 
in your valuable Journal, from which I have gained so much informa¬ 
tion. After having found the main run which the moles used I 
gathered as many Elder leaves, green and fresh, as I could hold in 
my hands, and after well bruising them until they smelt very strong I 
placed them in the main run, pushing them in with a small stick. 
1 did this six years ago, and not a trace of a mole has been since seen. 
This remedy was told me by an old gardener many years ago, and 
also one to destroy wasps, which I will send another time.—H. Y. 
CHOICE HAEDY PLANTS IN FLOWER. 
NARCISSI!?. 
The Daffodils are beginning to reveal their beauties regardless 
of biting winds and frosts. The Hoop Petticoat (N. Bulboco- 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Choice Stove and Greenhouse Flowering Plants. 
Third Edition. By B. S. Williams, F.L.S., 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper 
Holloway, 
The fact that two editions of this work have 
already been sold out is sufficient indication of it3 
merits, and now a third edition has been issued to 
meet the continued demand. It has been con¬ 
siderably enlarged, carefully revised, and nume¬ 
rous illustrations are added which render the book 
more attractive and instructive. Upwards of thir¬ 
teen hundred species and varieties of flowering 
plants succeeding either in a stove or greenhouse 
are described, the cultural details being both lucid 
and practical. It is this which renders the work 
of so much value to amateurs and to gardeners 
generally, for in the 378 pages is embodied the long 
experience of a most successful cultivator whose 
handsome specimen plants have carried his fame 
throughout Great Britain and the continent. The 
chapters preceding each division of the hook upon 
heating, shading, soils, potting, watering, propa¬ 
gating, insects, construction of houses, and miscel¬ 
laneous introductory matters are excellent, con¬ 
veying much valuable information under their 
respective headings. 
As an example of the method adopted we ex¬ 
tract the following remarks upon Habrothamnus 
elegans and its variegated form, the latter being 
one which Mr. B. S. Williams sent out a few years 
ago, and which the woodcut faithfully represents. 
“ II. elegans. —This plant is a member of a very 
large family, and is an old and well-known species, 
thriving under almost any treatment. It is espe¬ 
cially useful for covering a pillar, rafter, or hack 
wall in a conservatory. The leaves are alternate, 
entire, oblong-lanceolate, about 3 inches long, deep 
green above, pubescent beneath. The flowers are 
tubular, about an inch in length, of a deep reddish 
purple colour, and are freely produced in dense 
racemes. If the flowers are artificially impregnated 
they produce beautiful bunches of large deep red 
berries, which make the plant doubly ornamental. 
Cuttings of this plant root with the greatest ease. 
It is a native of Mexico, growing at an elevation 
of nearly 4000 feet. 
“II. elegans argentea. —This variety is useful alike for its beau¬ 
tiful variegated foliage as well as its flowers, which are the same 
as H. elegans. The leaves are soft creamy white, tinged with rose, 
and relieved with irregular blotches of light green. This ornamental 
foliage forms a charming contrast with the deep reddish purple 
flowers.” 
Fig. 70.—Habrothamnus elegans argentea. Garden variety. 
dium) is almost the first ; and what a lovely thing it is with its 
narrow acute perianth segments and its huge corona of the deepest 
yellow ! Where this thrives well it is a gem, but it is fastidious. 
It enjoys a stiff soil, cool and moist, and I think it does as well 
at the Oxford Botanic Gardens as anywhere, forming dense clumps. 
The various forms of the common Daffodil (N. pseudo-Narcissus) 
rapidly succeed the preceding. The typical form is scarcely 
out in the cold dull climate of Cheshire, but minor is. I refer now 
to the true minor of Linnaeus, which is decidedly distinct from 
Moles in Gardens.— Having been successful in driving moles from 
a garden by a very simple method, you may, perhaps, find space for it 
