1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
101 
A New Japanese Euonymus.— {Euonymus 
Japonicus , var. sulphureo-marginatus.) 
How often is the question asked: “ What 
shall I do with my Hanging-Basket ? ’Twas 
only two weeks ago I refilled it with the hand¬ 
somest Ferns, Begonias, and Mosses I could 
find, and now there is scarcely a shadow of 
them left. What plants will live and thrive in 
it ?” There is a plant that suits the case exactly 
—the Sulphur-margined Japanese Euonymus. 
It makes a lovely contrast to Chinese Primroses, 
Cyclamens, and other flowering plants suitable 
for such baskets, and what is important to ama¬ 
teurs, is of as easy culture as a Rost. Geranium. 
This varietj r , which we found in the collec¬ 
tion of Bennett & Davidson, Flatbush, L. I., is 
a late introduction from Japan ; forms a com¬ 
pact, dwarf, conical plant, and will grow freely 
in common garden soil. The rounded-ovate, 
toothed leaves, are of a bright green color, 
broadly margined with a rich creamy yellow. 
When in a growing state, the marginal portion 
of the young leaves is considerably darker, 
thereby giving a striking and pretty appearance 
not possessed by any similar plant, and placing 
it in the first rank as a valuable addition to our 
half-hardy shrubs for lawn or parterre decora¬ 
tion during the summer and fall months. 
The golden-edged variety, Euonymus Japon¬ 
icus aureo-marginatus , and the older variety, 
with a large, golden-yellow blotch in the centre 
of each leaf, E. ovata aureo-pictus, are equally 
valuable for like purposes; while for a drooping 
plant for hanging-baskets, or a front ribbon row 
for garden decoration, nothing can surpass the 
lovely silver-edged E. radicans variegatus. 
The Perforate-leaved Scindapsus. 
It is very difficult sometimes to find a popu¬ 
lar name for an interesting plant. If we give 
the name by which it is known to florists and 
gardeners, it will look unattractive, and many 
will pass by the article who would have been 
interested in it had it a more attractive title. 
We are in a dilemma in the present case. The 
plant we wish to speak of is Scindapsus per- 
tusus, and the best we can do with it is to call 
it the perforate-leaved Scindapsus, a name which 
is not translatable, as it is a Greek word for 
some climbing plant that has been applied to 
this. The plant is not rare in our larger col¬ 
lections of hot-house exotics, 
and is one which arrests atten¬ 
tion both on account of its 
luxuriant growth, and the 
singular manner in which its 
broad leaves are perforated 
with large holes. These holes, 
which are sometimes so numer¬ 
ous as to completely riddle the 
leaf, are formed by the break¬ 
ing away of the tissues when 
the leaf is very young, and as 
it grows, they increase in size. 
The plant is a native of the 
East Indies, where it is found 
climbing upon trees by means 
of its stout, flexible stem, and 
the numerous aerial roots 
which it emits from all parts 
of the stem. The engraving 
gives a good idea of the ap¬ 
pearance of the plant, and 
shows the aerial roots as pene¬ 
trating the soil. The Scindap¬ 
sus belongs to the same family 
as the Calla, Indian Turnip, 
and Skunk Cabbage, and it re¬ 
sembles these in its manner of 
flo-wering. As in the plants 
we have mentioned, its in¬ 
conspicuous flowers are crowd¬ 
ed upon a fleshy stem, which 
is surrounded hy a sheath or 
“spathe,” as it is called, 
which often being showy and completely 
concealing the flowers proper, usually, as 
in the Calla, passes for the flower. In the 
Scindapsus, this spathe is of a dark green. The 
flowers are very fragrant. Recent experiments 
have shown that this plant, like many others of 
the same family, emits an appreciable amount 
of heat at flowering time. The air within the 
spathe has been found to be as much as 15 de¬ 
grees warmer than the outside temperature. 
This emission of heat is not constant, but varies 
considerably during the day. The fruit, shown 
in the engraving, has something the appearance 
of .a long, green, pine-cone. It consists of nu¬ 
merous pulpy, one-seeded berries, which, when 
ripe, are edible, and have something of the fla¬ 
vor of the pineapple. The Scindapsus is usu¬ 
ally found in collections and catalogues under 
the incorrect name of Philodendron, a nearly re¬ 
lated genus, from which it is sufficiently distinct. 
■-* - -«•«- -- —■ - - 
Three Crops in One Season, with a Sketch 
of the Man who Does it, 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
“ A little farm, well tilled,” has so often been 
our theme, that it would seem that we had ex¬ 
hausted the subject. Like many other axioms in 
horticulture and agriculture, it becomes neces¬ 
sary to preach from the same text again and 
again, to remind young and inexperienced read¬ 
ers that, particularly in the vicinity of large 
towns or cities, a farm of a few acres, “ well 
tilled,” will give each year such profits as 
farms counting their acres by the hundred do 
not often yield in a lifetime. 
I had almost thought that I knew all about 
market gardening in this vicinity, that was 
worth knowing; but a successful experiment, 
made last fall by one of my neighbors, John 
Reilly, proved to my satisfaction that I was not 
yet too old to learn. The neighbor in question 
is an old foreman of mine, who cultivates about 
8 acres, in the way usually practised here : first 
planting the spring crops of early cabbages, 
beets, lettuce, onions, radishes, etc., which, 
being sold off by July, the laud is again planted 
to the second crop, which is usually celery. 
This is all that we have been requiring of the 
soil, to give us two crops in one season. But 
this neighbor of mine is a man of more than 
ordinary shrewdness and a close observer; he 
saw that the long-continued drouth of last July 
and August was certain to seriously impair the 
fall cabbage crop, and that the consumer in 
consequence would pay high for a substitute. 
He knew that an excellent substitute was spin¬ 
ach, but his small farm of 8 acres was already 
planted with celery or other fall crops, and no 
other land rich enough to grow the spinach was 
accessible. He also saw that the drouth that 
was destroying the cabbage crop left the celery 
but little larger in September than when it was 
planted in July, and the three feet of space be¬ 
tween the rows of celery w r ere left uncropped ; 
this suggested that a row of spinach might be 
sown between each two rows of celery; at any 
rate, it might be worth trying. 
Twenty pounds of seed were procured, and 
about 6 acres of the ground planted with celery 
were sown with spinach. Mr. Reilly told me 
that the experiment netted him $1,500, clear of 
all expenses, and that, too, without detriment 
to the celery crop. 
The spinach was sown September 1st, and 
was all cut off and marketed in six weeks from 
the time of sowing, which gave yet ample time 
to do the work on the celery crop. I have not 
the figures giving the profits of the three crops 
per acre, but judge it to be not less than $1,000 
in the hands of Mr. Reilly, who has been, per- 
EUONYMUS JAPONICUS, VAR. SULPHUREO-MARGINATUS. 
PERFORATE-LEAVED SOINDAi’SUS. 
