376 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 19, 1892. 
- Eucharis amazonica. —It ig not absolutely necessary by any 
means that this favourite plant should have large leaves to flovper well. 
Our plants flowered at Christmas, are fully in bloom again now,and will 
I expect flower again before next Christmas, yet their leaves are quite 
small as compared with the measurements given on page 335, The 
colour is a very pale green, and in some places they are scorched through 
standing in a house which is not wholly shaded. It is said that Eucharises 
should not get a glimpse of the sun after 9 A.M. nor before 5 p.m. That 
may be correct, but in our case the plants have to withstand much that 
would not be considered good by everyone. The points to be observed 
in cultivating them are to give plenty of moist heat, and water at the 
roots when the plants are making their growth after flowering, also 
when the spikes are throwing up, but at other times they do not need so 
much, I think a low and fluctuating temperature with the soil too wet 
when the plants are not particularly active are answerable for many 
failures in Eucharis culture. Many persons, I fear, lay the blame on the 
Eucharis mite.—E. 
- Seed and Seedlings. —Professor Marshall Ward, F.R.S., 
gave the first of a series of sixjlectures on popular botanical subjects 
in the museum of the Royal Botanic Society’s Gardens on May 6th, Dr. 
R. Prior, F.L.S., in the chair. The lecturer took as his subject “ Seeds 
and Seedlings,” dealing chiefly with the various contrivances by which 
the seeds of many plants are enabled to distribute themselves over very 
large areas ; some winged or provided with hair-like processes in which 
the wind acts as a transporting agent; others, again, whose distribution 
depends upon their attaching themselves to animals or birds ; and, 
lastly, where the plant itself does ithei]work, bursting the nut or fruit 
and throwing the seeds to a considerable distance, as in the Sandbox 
Tree, Squirting Cucumber, Balsams, &c. Among those plants taking 
particular care of their offspring, he mentioned the Mangrove tree, 
which, living as it does upon the extreme|edge between land and sea, and 
therefore more exposed to accident than most other plants, retains its 
seeds upon the branches until the first root has grown as long as a 
candle below the seed ; then, when at last it falls into the soft mud, it 
is quite ready to start into growth on its own account .—{Daily News.') 
- Banishing Scale and Mealy Bug on Vines. — At this 
time of the year it is difficult to know what to do with these pests, 
especially when they get into the minute crevices of the Vine rods. I 
prepared a wash for my Vines of boiling water poured on flowers of 
sulphur until the solution became like weak ale, and then added 
petroleum in the proportion of a glass to the gallon, and carefully 
brushed the solution, well mixed, into the Vine rods, especially near the 
junction with this year’s side shoots. The point to be careful about is 
that neither this year’s foliage [nor shoots be washed therewith, as of 
course they are much more tender. If any of the flowers of sulphur 
float on the solution so much the [better, as it will be a deterrent to red 
spider, which is very partial to Vine leaves in a warm vinery where 
constant syringing is not resorted to. I dressed my Vines thoroughly 
last winter, but this dressing seems to have completely banished both 
white scale and mealy bug, so common in amateurs’ vineries where 
plants are generally grown and housed during the winter in the same 
houses as Vines. If scale, bug, or red spider once get a firm footing in 
a vinery the crop will be ruined.—W. J. Murphy, Clenmel. 
- Bananas and Tomatoes in the Canary Islands. —In a 
lecture recently delivered before the Lincolnshire Gardeners’ Association 
Mr. W. R. Pennell said that the great industry which is now carried on 
in a portion of the Canary Islands is the cultivation of Bananas and 
Tomatoes. The Banana crop is very profitable, and indeed this is a 
wonderful plant ; the Musa paradisiaca (which no doubt in other parts 
of the world has different synonyms), whieh is the one universally 
grown there and in Africa, has a history older than any other cultivated 
plant, in fact we never can get to its origin. Thousands of years ago 
apparently it was the same as now ; it has never been found wild, 
wherever found it has most certainly been planted by someone ; it never 
produces seed, but is always propagated by means of suekers, which fact 
seems to contradict those who say that continual propagation of a plant 
by cuttings must end in destroying that plant’s constitution. When we 
consider that it is said more human beings live on Bananas than on 
flour, and that Manilla rope, delicate straws, and other useful articles 
are made from the fibre of the stem, it becomes a most important plant 
in the commerce of the world. A piece of land which will produce 
30 lbs. of Wheat can be made to produce 4500 lbs. of Bananas, so one 
may imagine upon what a small piece of land, and very little labour, a 
man and his family in a tropical country can exist. It is, moreover, a 
magnificent plant when well grown, attaining a height of from 14 to 
17 feet, with a huge bunch of from 300 to 500 fruits hanging from it, 
and its grand leaves lend to the landscape a rich and tropical tone- 
Extensive plots of Tomatoes are grown, which are almost all shipped to 
Liverpool during the winter months ; they are cut just before colouring, 
packed in shallow boxes, and, as they are only from six to eight days on 
the journey, they arrive in good condition, and fetch prices but little 
less than home-grown fruit. 
LIVERPOOL NOTES. 
Camp Hill, Woolton. 
On a recent visit to Camp Hill there were many attractive plants to 
notice in the well-kept greenhouses; but, as I propose to deal with 
the place at greater length later in the season, the following notes 
will suffice for the present. First came the Azaleas, and when we see 
such perfectly flowered specimens and in such fine condition, their use¬ 
fulness cannot be over-estimated. Beautiful as were the trained plants, 
there was one fine old specimen, some 5 feet high and 6 feet through, 
growing in a wooden tub, of the old variety alba, which was really 
charming. It was as perfect as one could wish to see, literally wreathed 
with its beautiful flowers, which to my mind are still unsurpassed for 
purity by any white in eultivation. No tie had been used, and there it 
stood alone, a gem any artist might envy. 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons were there in variety and full of bloom, 
but several huge plants of Veitchianum and fragrantissimum were match¬ 
less, loaded as they were with their enormous white flowers so prettily 
crimped at the edges. 
Mignonette Golden Queen is a capital variety for pot work, and a 
striking contrast to the white flowered varieties. It is dwarf, sweetly 
scented, and flowers profusely. Splendid p’ants in 6 and 8-inch pots 
carrying several dozens of flowers, which were staked upright, looked 
most effective in the conservatory. 
Though rather late for some of the Orchids, particularly the 
Coelogynes, which had carried over 300 flowers each, yet what I saw 
denoted the good cultivation they receive. Dendrobiums were very 
good, several plants of D. Wardianum being conspicuous. D. Devonianum 
and nobile were there in abundance, and grandly flowered. D. fim- 
briatum had twenty-six spikes, D. thyrsiflorum twenty-five spikes, 
Cymbidium eburneum eight spikes, and a grand piece of Cymbidium 
Lowianum had six spikes and ninety-one flowers. There were several 
fine forms of Odontoglossum crispum. 
The beauty of Cheshunt Hybrid Rose for colour, form, fragrance, and 
freedom of flowering was clearly demonstrated by a healthy plant, which 
covered the greater portion of one side of the conservatory. Everything 
showed the able management of Mr. Jellicoe, the gardener. 
Strawberry La Grosse SucrSe. 
Of the merits of this Strawberry I think there can scarcely be two 
opinions. I bought a few plants in small pots two seasons ago. One 
half were planted out and the remainder put into 6-inch pots for 
forcing. Last season they produced some very fine fruit both in the 
pots and outside. We are at present just finishing our forced fruits, 
which have been excellent, and those outside are showing some ex¬ 
cellent trusses. The fruit grows to a large size, is of good colour, and 
very firm, thus rendering it far superior to Vicomtesse H^ricart de 
Thury for packing. The fiavour, though inclined to acidity, is most 
agreeable. The heavy land around here—Liverpool—seems to suit it 
admirably. 
The Gooseberry Caterpillar. 
This has made its presence severely felt in several places near 
Liverpool. In one garden I saw a great number of trees literally 
covered with it and nearly devoid of fruit and leaves. It is not often 
it makes its appearance so early. Handpicking, though troublesome, 
proves one of the most effective means of exterminating it.—R. P. R. 
PASQUE FLOWERS. 
Amongst the many beautiful flowers which adorn our rock 
gardens and flower borders in the early spring months few are 
so interesting or more deserving our attention than the charming 
Alpine Pasque Flowers, a sketch of one of which (Anemone patens, 
fig. 66), accompanies these notes. Under their old name of 
Pulsatilla they were great favourites of the old gardeners. Miller 
notably being especially fond of collecting all the species and 
varieties in a little corner of his garden. Exactly as the pretty 
A. vernalis is seen on the snowclad Swiss mountains, so is 
A. pulsatilla seen still in many parts of England, though, alas ! 
becoming fewer every year owing to the depredations of travelling 
plant merchants. It is a really good rock plant, and next to 
A. patens, one of the showiest and best. It thrives well in a light 
gritty soil to which has been added about one-third of old mortar 
rubbish, and should be frequently raised from seed, which it ripens 
freely. 
A. patens is the only Pulsatilla found in America. It is plentiful 
in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, Missouri, and Platte, and 
is, curiously enough, identical with the form found in Siberia and 
