1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
101 
so on alternately, building up the heap in a py¬ 
ramidal form. Earth is put over the outside of 
the heap sufficiently thick to prevent freezing, 
and a roof or shelter of boards is built over it 
to shed rain. Stored in this manner, the pota¬ 
toes come out perfectly sound in the spring. 
s 
winter-blooming begonia.— (B. hydrocoiylifalia.) 
tive, and eminently desirable in cultivation. 
There is but one obstacle to its becomiug popu¬ 
lar : its roots being quite too large for trans¬ 
portation, it must be raised from seeds, and the 
seedling plants are a long while in coming into 
flower. We have seedlings three years old. 
occurring on the table-lands and water-courses, 
in some localities, in the greatest profusion. A 
number of years ago one of our subscribers in 
Colorado sent us specimens for determination, 
which proved to be this plant, and proposed to 
send us a root, which offer was gladly accepted. 
Of course this would not answer for a cold 
climate. It is very important to the success of 
any method of keeping, that the potatoes be 
dug and handled with great care, as cuts or 
bruises induce decay. We place Mr. Peabody’s 
name as the author of the article, as it is essen¬ 
tially his, although, in compiling it from three 
different letters, we have used our own language, 
and while we give his facts, he is not responsi¬ 
ble for the manner in which they are presented. 
The Slender-Leaved Ipomoea. 
The traveler in the “ far West,” which in the 
present case we use for the country in and near 
the Rocky Mountains, however indifferent he 
may be to flowers in general, can not fail to 
notice the abundance and beauty of what ap¬ 
pears to be a bushy Morning-glory. The plant 
was first discovered in 1820, by Doct. James, 
the botanist of Maj. Long’s expedition, but his 
specimens were imperfect, and it was not de¬ 
termined until the plants collected by Fremont, 
in 1842, were reported upon by Doct. Torrey, 
who named it Ipomoea, leptophylla, which may 
be translated as the “ Slender-leaved Morning- 
Glory.” It appears to be more abundant than 
elsewhere in what is now the State of Colorado, 
The root at last came; it nearly filled an ordi¬ 
nary shoe-box, weighed 60 or 80 odd pounds, 
(we have now forgotten which), and had the 
appearance of an enormous ruta-baga. A good- 
sized well was made in the garden, and the 
root planted, but the summer being wet, and 
the root badly bruised in its journey, instead of 
growing, it decayed. The friend who sent it 
said that this was only a “ medium-sized ” 
specimen, the full-grown ones being too diffi¬ 
cult to dig. This root, and our subsequent ex¬ 
perience with the plant, made it very evident 
that it was very far from being an annual. 
Doct. James reported it as an annual, and Prof. 
Porter, as late as 1874, mentions it as “ an¬ 
nual (?).” The root throws up numerous stems, 
two to three feet or more high; these produce 
a great many branches, some of which starting 
from the base, give the whole plant a dense, 
bush-like aspect. The very narrow leaves, from 
two to four inches long, acute at each end, are 
somewhat fleshy. The flowers, one to four to¬ 
gether on a short stalk, are from two to two- 
and-a-half inches long, and of the shape given 
in the engraving, which shows a portion of a 
branch reduced in size. The bright, light pur¬ 
ple color of the flowers, their great abundance, 
and the delicacy of the foliage and stems, all 
combine to make the plant remarkably attrac- 
that have shown no disposition to bloom, and 
we do not know how large the roots must be 
before flowers may be expected. This, how¬ 
ever, is an objection only to those impatient 
gardeners, who forego many good things that 
must have a year or two to grow and get ready 
before they will flower. This Ipomoea is well 
worth waiting for, and the root being perfectly 
hardy, it can be left in the ground to take its 
own time. Our plants have been in the open 
garden, near New York, for three winters, and 
there is a plant at the Botanic Garden at Cam¬ 
bridge, that has endured the winters for some 
20 years without injury, and flowers every 
summer. We learn that Messrs. B. K. Bliss 
& Sons have received the seeds of this plant, 
which are now offered for the first time. 
Begonias and their Uses. 
In looking over a list of Begonias, with the 
dates of their introduction, we were surprised 
to find that many of those which are still 
far from common, have been in cultivation 
from 80 to 50 years, and some that are 
figured and recommended in recent works, 
were known 25 years or more ago. It is only 
within a comparatively few years that Begonias 
