458 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 20 , 1890. 
propagating frame in sandy soil, or, better still, all sand. They may be 
inserted thickly together in pots or pans, and transplanted into others 
when rooted. They flourish in any stove where the atmospere is close 
and moist, if a shady position is found for them. They are effective 
growing amongst the moss in pots of Vandas, Aerides, and other 
Orchids of a similar nature. 
Fittonias (frier.'). — A few good pans of these are effective in the 
stove, and should find a place where the object is to maintain this 
Structure attractive throughout the season. For this purpose insert 
cuttings at once. They root freely in any close, moist, and shady 
position if placed amongst chopped sphagnum moss and sand. When 
well rooted plant them in the pans in which they are to grow. They 
are most effective when well elevated in the centre. They grow 
luxuriantly in the compost advised for Bertolonias. Where small 
plants for various forms of decoration are in demand few surpass these 
in beauty when mixed with Mosses and small Ferns. 
Thrips on Perns (E. F. 6.).—Yon cannot smoke too soon. Do 
it gently, yet fill the house with smoke. Do this two nights in succes¬ 
sion, syringing the plants the morning after each smoking. You must 
have the foliage dry before smoking, though you may and ought to 
sprinkle every available surface with tepid water twice daily, taking 
care not to wet the fronds. This will surcharge the atmosphere with 
humidity or moisture, and that is what Ferns require. 
Heating Power of Conical Boiler (.71, Old Subscriber'). —The heat¬ 
ing power of a boiler the size you name is equal to about 120 feet of 
4-inch piping, but as you only require it to exclude frost or maintain a 
temperature of 4.1° we think it will be sufficiently powerful to heat 
both structures ; but you say nothing as to the size of the houses. If 
ordinary lean-to’s of 10 to 12 feet width the water will not require to be 
kept very hot in a flow and return pipe running the whole length of the 
■structure to maintain the temperature required in severe weather, and in 
that case your boiler will answer, not otherwise. There is no occasion 
whatever to move the boiler, as the water will circulate as freely one 
way as another. The sideways may be used in the manner you propose, 
making sure that one is a flow and the other a return socket. Keep 
the piping in both houses as near as possible on the same level to insure 
the water circulating uniformly. 
Fuchsias from Seed (S. T. R .).—We have raised many hundreds 
of plants from seed, but few of them on flowering proved equal to 
existing varieties ; still the pursuit i3 interesting to amateurs who desire 
to have something new of their own raising. The pods should be care¬ 
fully gathered when ripe. As the seeds are enveloped in a pulp it is 
necessary, in order to preserve them, to cleanse them effectually. This 
is done by washing ; bruise the berries with the hand, and mix them 
with water ; as soon as the pulp is all washed off pass the liquor through 
a hair-sieve fine enough to catch the seed, wash it repeatedly till it is 
quite clean, then dry it gradually ; put it up in brown paper, and keep 
it in a dry room till spring. Sow now in a mixture of light sandy loam 
and peat, cover slightly, and place the pots in a gentle hotbed. When 
the seedlings are half an inch high transplanc them in rows across pots 
5 inches wide—these will hold about twenty or thirty plants each—and 
Then replace them in the hotbed. In these pots they may remain for a 
month or sixjweeks, andjthen they will require placing singly into 3-inch 
pots. Place them for a few days in a cold frame, and keep pretty close 
and shaded till fresh roots are formed, and then they are then able to 
bear the full light, and a moderate admission of air. Give plenty of the 
latter as they acquire strength, and when the pots are full of roots give 
another shift into 4-inch pots, and let them remain in these till they 
flower. Many of them will flower the first year, and then is the time 
to make a selection. The selected ones should be repotted, and grown 
to the end of the season to prove them. Cuttings of the best may be 
inserted, and the whole kept in the coolest part of the greenhouse 
during the winter. 
Profitable Flowers (,/. T.). —There is a good demand for Bouvar¬ 
dias, but by far the best prices are obtained in provincial towns. The 
London markets would appear to be well supplied with them, large 
quantities being grown in Kent and Sussex especially, and as a conse¬ 
quence prices are low, from 3d. to fid. per dozen sprays being all that 
•can be obtained. Unless exceptionally well grown, whole houses being 
given up to them for a few weeks, they do not pay well at the London 
prices, but in the principal provincial towns it not unfrequently happens 
the prices range from Is. to 2s. per dozen, and in this case Bouvardias 
are decidedly profitable. The doubles are the best for the purpose, as 
although the singles are the most beautiful they are not serviceable 
enough for the markets. The two favourites are A. Neuner (white) and 
President Garfield (pink), and a trial might well be given to Thomas 
Meehan (double scarlet) and Victor Lemoine (bright scarlet), this also 
being a^ double-flowering variety. For local purposes we can recom¬ 
mend Vreelandi (pure white), Candidissima (an improved Jasminoides), 
Dazzler (rich scarlet), and the newer President Cleveland (bright 
•scarlet), these being very floriferous single varieties. If not unduly 
shaded by the Marechal Niel Bose, an intermediate temperature being 
maintained, the Bouvardias would succeed far better than semi-double 
Zonal Pelargoniums, the latter, though flowering freely in heat, being 
most impatient of shade. For the markets you cannot have any better 
'Pelargoniums than F. V. Raspail and La Cygne, the demand being 
greatest for these at Christmas, any scarlet and white flowers selling 
well at that time. 
Barilla (G. B.). —The plant to which you refer bears the name of 
Salsola or Halogeton sativus, which was grown extensively at one time 
for the production of soda salts. “ In the cultivation of the plant the 
seed is sown in January and February in the same manner as other 
ordinary seeds, and requires no special care. The seed becomes worth¬ 
less if not sown the season following its collection. The plant is gathered 
in August. It is pulled up by the root, spread for two or three days, 
and then collected in small conical shaped piles, so that in case of rain 
the water may not penetrate so much into the interior and rot the 
plant. It is left thus about a month to thoroughly dry. If not then 
required to be burnt it is stacked and covered with esparto or rush to 
preserve it. The manufacture of Barilla is carried out as-follows:— 
A hole is dug out in the form of a large round earthenware pot, about 
H foot in diameter at the mouth, about 4 feet at the bottom, and depth 
about 3h feet, the inner part of which is well beaten, and then covered 
with a slight smooth coating of- mud. A small quantity of wood is then 
burnt to ashes in this hole to dry and heat it, when it is cleaned out and 
a couple of iron rods or bars are placed across the mouth, over which 
bars a quantity of the plant is placed and fired, more being added 
continually as it is consumed for about twelve hours. Then the bars 
are removed by means of a large, bent, two-prodded, wooden fork, the 
boiling substance in the hole is thoroughly stirred, till it becomes even 
and smooth on surface like molten lead ; then the bars are replaced, 
and the same operation repeated until the hole is filled, when the entire 
mass is finally stirred as described. The mouth of the hole is then 
closed up, and the Barilla is left about a week to cool thoroughly, 
during which time it hardens and cracks into pieces. The hole has then 
merely to be dug around and the Barilla taken out.” 
Cannas in Pots (B . D.). —C. iridiflora, broadly acuminate leaves, 
the whole plant attaining to a height of 6 feet or more. Its flowers are 
Iris-like, large, rose coloured with a yellow spot on the lip ; the spikes 
droop gracefully, several emanating from the same spathe. C. iridiflora 
hybrida has large blood red flowers, very effective, the foliage green 
and bold. It also attains to a height of 6 feet or more. C. iridiflora 
Ehemanni, immense foliage of an attractive reddish hue, flowers bright 
crimson, perhaps the noblest of all Cannas. C. Bihorelli, leaves red in 
a young state, changing to deep bronze with age, flowers deep crimson, 
very freely produced, height 5 to 6 feet. C. gigantea major, leaves 
green, petioles having a velvety down covering, flowers large, orange red 
or scarlet, very ornamental, height G feet. C. nigricans, dark bronze 
stems and foliage, red flowers, one of the finest, height 4 to 6 feet. 
C. Annfei, green glaucous-foliage, flowers salmon. This is perhaps the 
most glaucous of all the kinds ; height G feet. C. Premices de Nice, an 
exact counterpart in foliage of C. Annrci, of which it may be a variety, 
flower large, bright yellow, height fi feet. C. zebrina, fine deep green 
foliage, passing into dark red rayed with purple, stems dark violet red, 
in foliage very effective, flowers small, orange, height 6 feet. C. musac- 
folia maxima, fine large green Musa-like foliage with dark petioles, 
stately in contour, flowers orange red, height 4 feet. C. grandiflora flori- 
bunda, foliage dark, flowers large, red, freely produced, height 3 to 
4 feet. C. Van Houttei, foliage green, rayed and margined purplish 
red, flowers large, scarlet, and very freely produced ; height 3 to 4 feet. 
C. Chatei sanguinea, leaves ovate elliptic, deeply tinged purple, red 
flowers, height 3 to 4 feet. C. nobilis, leaves rayed and margined red, 
flowers red, height 3 to 4 feet. The two last are undoubtedly varieties 
of C. Warscewiczi, dark foliage, blood red flowers, height 3 feet. There 
are many other fine species and varieties, but commencing with C. iridi¬ 
flora Ehemanni, probably thirteen choicer varieties do not exist for 
decorative purposes outdoors, being in respect of foliage and flowers 
highly effective. Cannas, however, need improvement in the direction 
of the flower in form, substance, and size ; indeed, there is no reason 
why they should not be as remarkable for the beauty of their fbwers as 
they are now for their unique grandeur of foliage and habit. 
The IVIovements of Leaves (J. J. R .).—Spontaneous movements 
of leaves, or those in response to some direct irritation, are interesting. 
They have been subjected to close scientific study in the case of such as 
the Dionrea and Droseras with surprising results, the carnivorous plants 
having enjoyed a notoriety far exceeding the “Weather Plant.” The 
infolding of the leaf lobes in the Dionrea when some substance is intro¬ 
duced is familiar to many now, as also is the rapid drooping of the 
Sensitive Plant leaves when touched. There is, however, an occupant 
of the stoves in some botanic gardens which displays a still more remark¬ 
able phenomenon in its leaves, and which is not nearly so well known. 
This is the Telegraph Plant. Desmodium gyrans, a member of the 
Leguminosm, and a native of the East Indies, an! by no means a novelty. 
Though Mr, Darwin and others have determined that most plants have a 
spontaneous motion in their growing stems and roots, these are so 
extremely gradual that they are not readily observed, and can only be 
tested by careful experiment. In the Desmodium, however, we have a 
spontaneous movement that is visible and strongly marked. The leaves 
consist of three leaflets, the centre one large, oblong, or elliptical, and at 
the base on each side is a small narrow leaflet, which possesses a peculiar 
property. When the plant is healthy and growing these leaflets rise 
alternately by a series of little jerks until they are nearly perpendicular, 
and then descend in a similar way, to resume their action when the other 
leaflet has gone through a similar process. This takes place without the 
application of external stimulant beyond that afforded by light or heat ; 
the rapidity of the movement varies greatly, however, and in dull 
weather it is much reduced or ceases altogether, as it does when the 
plant becomes unhealthy or old. Sometimes the motion is confined to a 
few leaves, but it seems to depend chiefly on the age of the plant, the 
weather, or the conditions under which it is grown. In cold or a dry 
house it is much lessened, and does not continue so long. 
