October SO, 1887.] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
335 
(October 10th) a row of Webb’s Chancellor well furnished with large 
partly filled pods, and from which, should the weather continue as it 
had been the weelc or ten days, we shall yet hope to gather a good dish 
or two of Peas. 
I may add that our rows^of Peas had several good waterings at the 
roots during their growing period. I may also remind Mr. Iggulden 
that Peas and Cauliflowers could be grown satisfactorily enough in 
America during the summer months, provided they were kept moist 
enough at the roots. It was the insufficiency of moisture that 
caused so many failures of these crops this season, the failures being 
■especially noticeable in light and “ shallow-cultured ” soils. Those who 
attended the Shrewsbury Show in the middle of last August and that at 
Cheltenham a month later could not help being impressed with the 
■grand samples of kitchen garden produce so admirably staged at both 
shows. The soil must be very rich, stiff, and retentive of moisture in 
those districts to yield such praiseworthy specimens during a season like 
the last. These facts prove conclusively enough that where soil is rich 
and deep, and the various kinds of kitchen garden crops were kept suffi¬ 
ciently moist at the roots, the best possible results have been secured 
during the past intensely hot summer. Such, at any rate, is the ex¬ 
perience of— A Grower and Exhibitor. 
I AM much pleased with “ A Thinker’s ” reply to Mr. Iggulden 
respecting Potatoes and Lettuce on Celery ridges. Mr. Iggulden has 
several times before placed himself in the same false position. Un¬ 
doubtedly “ Thinker ’’ is right in his statement that the Lettuce and 
Potatoes were better because of their having deeper, warmer, richer, 
'rooting medium by the fact of having two surface soils in the space of 
■one ; or, in other words, double the quantity of soil of eq'ual fertilitv in 
a given superficial area. 
I commenced a system of deep cultivation by bastard-trenching in 
1875, and I have continued that system to this day, and shall do so in 
the future. Each year strengthens my faith in the system—heavier 
crops (about double) of vegetables and fruit, and each of higher quality, 
being produced from the same area of ground. Any tendency to coarse¬ 
ness, as in the. case of Beet, is obviated by leaving the plants closer 
together than is usually the case ; we thus get double the quantity of 
juicy and tender roots. 
IV hen I came here my employer complained to me about the 
hardness and stringiness of the Beetroot they had been having all that 
winter and the previous winter. Thinking that, perhaps, the Beetroot 
was not so bad as she stated, I tried them for myself, and found them 
uneatable ; I also came to the conclusion that the sole cause of it was 
that they had been grown on poor shallow soil. I adopted my usual 
method, of culture, with the result that there has not been a word of 
-complaint about the Beetroot. We have had a constant supply of 
Cauliflowers and Peas up to the present date. Cauliflowers that were 
-on untrenched land nearly all went “ blind ” in the summer. Our 
supply was kept up by those planted on a border that was bastard- 
trenched last winter 2 feet deep. No water was given them except in 
spring shortly after being planted. I intend to bastard-trench every 
available square yard of this kitchen garden, all being well.—A Noble¬ 
man’s Gardener. 
. Allow me to explain that it was “ A Northern Gardener ” who de¬ 
tailed his exploits in the way of growing “ Beet for the pigs,” large 
Celery, big Onions, and other vegetables that the cook would invariably 
reduce to a serviceable size. I do not admire “ A Thinker’s ” style of 
conducting a discussion, and the first paragraph of his last epistle was 
anything but kind. Perhaps he was anxious to convey a delicate com¬ 
pliment, but why do it at my expense ?—W. Iggulden. 
MINA LOBATA. 
Occasionally instances are brought under notice of old plants 
that have been lost sight of in gardens for years again coming into 
favour, and one of the most recent examples of such a recovery 
is afforded by Mina lobata. This plant was introduced from 
Mexico in 1841, when seeds were sent to the Earl of Burlington at 
Holker by G. Frederick Dickson, Esq. From Holker plants were sent 
to the London Horticultural Society, but being exposed in severe 
weather they were lost, and only two seeds saved. It does not appear to 
have extended beyond the gardens of a few who were interested in 
curious or rare plants, and it either gradually died out or became so 
extremely scarce as to be practically unknown to the majority of 
cultivators. A short time since Messrs. Haage k Schmidt re-introduced 
it to Europe, and now it is in the hands of most of the British seedsmen 
and nurserymen. 
The genus Mina was named in honour of a Mexican celebrity, Don 
Francisco Xavier Mina, and this species is said to have been generally 
grown in Mexico for a number of years for ornamental purposes. It 
is nearly related to the Ipomasas, which it particularly resembles in the 
foliage, but the flowers are totally dissimilar both in form and arrange¬ 
ment. They are in one-sided racemes, which attain the length of 
16 inches, the flowers gradually expanding from the base to the tip 
w r hich continues to elongate throughout the season. The corollas are 
ovoid in the bud, when they are of a bright red colour, the expanded 
flower being tubular and varying from red through jellow shades to 
white. The older flowers at the base of the raceme are of the lighter 
tints, and there is thus gradation in each from white or yellow to the 
deep red terminal buds, giving a strangely varied appearance to the 
plants. 
Mina lobata is a rapidly growing plant and covers a high wall in a 
month or two. When in such fine condition as we saw it last month at 
Baby Castle, Darlington, it has a most remarkable effect, and could 
scarcely fail to,become popular. Writing in reference to the system of 
culture adopted, Mr. B. Westcott observes as follows :—“ The seed is 
sow r n in February in a stove temperature, and the plants kept in the same 
house until established in 3-inch pots, using light fibry soil, gradually 
reducing them to greenhouse and cold pit temperature. By that time 
they should be in 6-inch pots, which will be sufficiently large until they 
are planted out about the second week in J une, which should be on a 
well-raised border against a south wall. The soil should wholly consist 
of light fibry loam, mixed with a liberal portion of half-decomposed 
cow manure. The plant, which is of coiling habit, should be trained on 
strong cords, and the shoots will soon reach the top of any ordinary 
garden wall. The plants here reached the top of a 13 feet wall this 
season and then ran horizontally, flowering at every joint and maturing 
a quantity of seed. The flowers have a novel and most pleasing effect 
in bouquets.” 
